We All Want Someone To Shout For

The Black Lips play some nitty gritty garage rock. They impressed me live when I saw them open for The Raconteurs. GVB has made me aware that a new song has surfaced called ‘Starting Over’ The song is off their new album 200 Million Thousand (Album #5 for the band) which will be released on February 24, 2009. Some nice melodies, pretty mellow song overall but I enjoyed it. Same Black Lips style even if it is at a different pace. Oh wait……..Those screams at the end are more like them!

Give it a try:

[mp3] : Black Lips – Starting Over

I usually never go off topic on We All Want Someone To Shout For, but today I figured I would make an exception. Most of you guys probably have realized I am from NYC with all the concerts I have attended in the city. I haven’t mentioned it in any posts but I am an absolute die-hard Yankee fan. So recently the Yankees have given themselves, and all their fans many early Christmas presents. First it was the signing of C.C. Sabathia, then A.J. Burnett. Just an hour or so ago I found out that they inked first baseman Mark Teixeira. So lets see…3 players for how much money? Over 420 million dollars? Thank god they have a new stadium coming that is set to bring in a billion dollars worth of revenue. Then again we are the Yankees..we can afford this!!

So lets take a look at the infield alone. Posada, Teixeira, Cano, Jeter, Arod. Then you got Matsui, Nady, Damon, and Swisher. Our pitching staff consists of C.C., A.J., Wang, Joba, Hughes and whoever they sign next. They better get some rings ready.

[mp3] : Vampire Weekend – The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance (Chromeo Remix)

The RIAA apparently is going to abandon the mass lawsuit style of preventing music piracy. Instead the RIAA will note the internet service providers in order to threaten to take their internet away. For some reason, I don’t know how well this will work. Here is an article that I found that gives an example of what a letter would look like if they noticed you downloaded music illegally:

Copy of RIAA’s new enforcement notice to ISPs

The recording industry dropped some big news Friday, announcing that it will no longer take a broad approach to litigating against alleged filed sharers. The Recording Industry Association of America has enlisted the help of internet service providers to act as a sentry and help discourage customers from pirating music.

Below is a copy of the form letter the RIAA will send to ISPs to inform them one of their customers is accused of file sharing. The notification is similar to those the group has sent to college campuses for years and shows very clearly that the group retains the right to sue people for copyright violations.

VIA EMAIL
*ISP*
*Date*

Sir or Madam:

I am contacting you on behalf of the Recording Industry Association of America, Inc. (RIAA) and its member music companies. The RIAA is a trade association whose member companies create, manufacture, and distribute approximately ninety (90) percent of all legitimate music sold in the United States.

We believe a user on your network is offering an infringing sound recording for download through a peer to peer application. We have attached below the details of the infringing activity.

We have a good faith belief that this activity is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law. We are asking for your immediate assistance in stopping this illegal activity. Specifically, we respectfully request that you remove or disable access to the unauthorized music.

We believe it is in everyone’s interest for music consumers to be better educated about the copyright law and ways to legally enjoy music online. The major record companies have actively licensed their music to dozens of innovative services where fans can go to listen to and/or purchase their favorite songs. A list of many of these services is available at www.musicunited.org.

It should be made clear by this letter that downloading and distributing copyrighted songs via peer to peer networks is not an anonymous activity. Not only is distributing copyrighted works on a peer to peer network a public activity visible by other users on that network, an historic 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision affirmed the unmistakable unlawfulness of uploading and downloading copyrighted works. The website www.musicunited.org contains valuable information about what is legal and what is not when it comes to copying music. In addition to taking steps to notify the network user at issue about the illegal nature of his/her activity, we strongly encourage you to refer him/her to this helpful site.

Please bear in mind that this letter serves as an official notice to you that this network user may be liable for the illegal activity occurring on your network. This letter does not constitute a waiver of our members’ rights to recover or claim relief for damages incurred by this illegal activity, nor does it waive the right to bring legal action against the user at issue for engaging in music theft. We assert that the information in this notice is accurate, based upon the data available to us. Under penalty of perjury, we submit that the RIAA is authorized to act on behalf of its member companies in matters involving the infringement of their sound recordings, including enforcing their copyrights and common law rights on the Internet.

Thank you in advance for your prompt assistance in this matter. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail at antipiracy2@riaa.com, via telephone at *Phone Number*, or via mail at RIAA, 1025 F Street, NW, 10th Floor, Washington, D.C., 20004. Please reference *Case ID* in any response or communication regarding this matter.

Sincerely,

RIAA

This isn’t a shocker, the lawsuits against people who are “illegally downloading” have not been too successful. I think that they are going to keep trying to find a new way to stop it. What they should be trying to do is embrace with the changing times and work with the public to find a way to help the artists without sending people to jail for downloading a few minutes of music.

[mp3] : Hot Chip – Over and Over

Girls are quite good. You know, the bright new band that pulled in at #100 on Pitchfork Best Songs of the year. They are the duo of Christopher Owens and Chet White. Hailing from San Francisco they make lo-fi songs, mixing shoe-gaze with relaxing acoustic guitar melodies. The songs take a honest approach to issues such as heartbreak. The vocals are really perfect for the music, and just give it a sincere feel (they are getting Elvis Costello references). Hellhole Ratrace is an amazing showcase of the talent that Girls have. The song starts simple but gradually develops into a heavy layered pop gem. It is something worth hearing right NOW.

GVB has been covering this band for a while. I am late on this band, but better late than never I suppose right? This is some really great stuff. They have not released anything official other than singles but they are getting some pretty good buzz. They will make a big run in 2009 once they release their debut LP. Bank on that. I am excited to see what else these guys…I mean girls can do!

[mp3] : Girls – Hellhole Ratrace
[mp3] : Girls – Lust for Life

Myspace

If you have recently read my blog you will know that I think that The Chairs are a band to watch for 2009. They are hard at work on material and have taken some time off to record “O Come O Come Emmanuel” in order to celebrate the holiday season. The tune continues to showcase the strong vocals and playing that this young band has to offer. I really like their style of playing.

Give it a download below:

[mp3] : The Chairs – O Come O Come Emmanuel

I absolutely love upbeat pop-rock done right. That is what Mona Lee aims to do, and it delivers on all levels. Mona Lee is the first single from The Sweet Serenades first album Balcony Cigarettes. The band hails from Stockholm, Sweden. Martin Nordvall and Mathias Näslund started the bands after being friends since 1991, and starting the band in 2001. Last year they released an EP with the title “First Taste”.

They are described as “the woodsmen of indie pop“, “and “jungle rock” making songs influenced by good music, broken hearts, and sexual frustration. Their musical influences are as diverse as they come. The bands range from Arcade Fire, The Strokes, AC/DC, ABBA, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and The Shins. There is a lot of energy and pop sensibility in this first single that gives me high expectations for a big album from these boys.

[mp3] : The Sweet Serenades – Mona Lee

Video for Mona Lee | Purchase The Single | Myspace

Things have been rather slow for me and the blog. I am still working on my best of songs/albums list. Things have been weird for me lately and I haven’t been able to blog nearly as much as I want to. Hopefully this break will allow me to change that. Anyway here are the songs that have been getting a lot of play time lately. Most of this stuff is pretty mellow stuff that builds up to a big anthem. The type of stuff I live for!

[mp3] : TV On The Radio – DLZ
[mp3] : Beach House – D.A.R.L.I.N.G.
[mp3] : Little Joy – Don’t Watch Me Dancing
[mp3] : Bon Iver – Skinny Love
[mp3] : Santogold – Lights Out
[mp3] : Sigur Rós – Gobbledigook
[mp3] : Chairlift – Bruises
[mp3] : The Walkmen – The New Year

The Chairs deserved a post a lot earlier than this. I have been enjoying their November EP for a few weeks now, but somehow I managed to push this post back. The Chairs are a band from Wisconsin that are slowly gaining lots of blog buzz thanks to their very strong EP. One of the EP highlights right from the get go for me was their cover of the masterful Neutral Milk Hotel’s ‘In The Aeroplane Over The Sea’.

‘Dark Clothes’ is a solid way to start the EP setting the mood just right. The NMH cover is absolutely on the money. Lead singer Alex Schaaf displays impressive vocal’s, along with his bands fine instrumtation that give a call to one of the best modern rock songs of all time. Dark deep bass gets ‘Fire And Ice’ started along with simple yet effective drumming and leads into a modestly paced song. The simple but effective playing is what makes this debut so impressive. There are some cool effects hidden beneath the surface, letting Alex’s vocals do most of the talking.

The highlight of the EP is ‘Polly’. It starts off with space-like effects and develops into a solid rock jam. It is quite a song. This November EP is a very good introduction to The Chairs. There is a lot of talent here. The band showcases their ability to play simple rock songs, as well as adding distorted dirty guitars. ‘I Gotta Go’ ends the EP appropriately with a frenzy of distorted fuzzy guitars that floats near shoe gaze. These guys have a lot of different territory of sound that they can hit. I am excited to see what they sound like live, and to hear what a full length of theirs would sound like.

Don’t let the Chairs out of your sight. They are going to be making lots of waves in 2009.

[mp3] : The Chairs – In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
[mp3] : The Chairs – Polly

Download their whole EP for free

I have covered almost all of their lists this year, but this is the big one. This is where most people either praise their band for making it, or curse out pitchfork’s existence because they left out their bands favorite album. Overall the list is pretty good but where the fuck is Wolf Parade’s At Mount Zooner, and Okkervil River’s The Stand In’s? Meh. It was nice to see Vampire kept in the top 10, I had a bad feeling they would ditch them. Nice placement of Cut Copy at #4.

I am quite glad that Fleet Foxes got their #1. I thought they would give it to someone really obscure, just to be controversial. Fleet Foxes album definitely deserves a high spot.

Anyway here is the whole list. If you got any comments, I would love to hear them!!!

50 Ponytail – Ice Cream Spiritual
49 Crystal Stilts – Alight Of Night
48 High Places – High Places
47 The Tallest Man on Earth – Shallow Grave
46 Beach House – Devotion
45 Lykke Li – Youth Novels
44 Marnie Stern – This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That
43 Shearwater – Rook
42 Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Lie Down in the Light
41 David Byrne and Brian Eno – Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
40 The Very Best – Esau Mwamwaya & Radioclit are the Very Best
39 Times New Viking – Rip It Off
38 The Bug – London Zoo
37 Grouper – Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
36 Wale – The Mixtape About Nothing
35 Girl Talk – Feed the Animals
34 Arthur Russell – Love Is Overtaking Me
33 Frightened Rabbit – Midnight Organ Fight
32 Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
31 Fennesz – Black Sea
30 Los Campesinos! – Hold on Now, Youngster…
29 The Hold Steady – Stay Positive
28 Flying Lotus – Los Angeles
27 Max Tundra – Parallax Error Beheads You
26 Atlas Sound – Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel
25 Titus Andronicus – The Airing of Grievances
24 Gang Gang Dance – Saint Dymphna
23 Hot Chip – Made in the Dark
22 Santogold – Santogold
21 Kanye West – 808s and Heartbreak
20 Fuck Buttons – Street Horrrsing
19 The Walkmen – You & Me
18 The Mae Shi – HLLLYH
17 Fucked Up – The Chemistry of Common Life
16 Vivian Girls – Vivian Girls
15 Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles
14 Air France – No Way Down
13 Erykah Badu – New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)
12 Lindstrøm – Where You Go I Go Too
11 Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III
10 DJ/rupture – Uproot
09 Hercules and Love Affair – Hercules and Love Affair
08 M83 – Saturdays=Youth
07 Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
06 TV On The Radio – Dear Science
05 Deerhunter – Microcastle / Weird Era Cont.
04 Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours
03 No Age – Nouns
02 Portishead – Third
01 Fleet Foxes – Sun Giant EP/Fleet Foxes

[mp3] : Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal
[mp3] : Portishead – Machine Gun
[mp3] : No Age – Eraser
[mp3] : Cut Copy – Far Away

The Irish rock legends U2 have given the world details of their new album “No Line On The Horizon”. The album is set to come out on March 3rd, 2009. So far the only track names that I can confirm for you are Moment of Surrender”, “Unknown Caller”, and a title track. This will be their 12th album, and their first since 2004′s “How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb”. Has it really been 5 years??? Geeze where have the years gone? It seems like only yesterday that we were seeing Bono and the gang shred on those colorful ipod commercials.

[mp3] : U2 – Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)