I know it's less than a month into the new year. . .

. . . but I'm pretty sure I already have my two favorite albums of the year.

I know I'm far far far from the first to say this, but Animal Collective's latest album, Merriweather Post Pavilion is incredible. From track 1 ("In the Flowers") to the final song ("Brother Sport"), I don't think there's a minute where I'm not just totally enamored. I recognize a lot of these songs from the shows last year, including "In the Flowers," the first single (from I gather) from the album - "My Girls," and my personal favorite, "Summer Clothes."

"Summer Girls" performed at Coachella

Animal Collective - "My Girls" video

I mean, how can you not like that? And really, you should go to the youtube page for that video, and click on the "Watch in HD." It's beautiful. (maybe a post in the future will be about my current addiction to HD youtube videos.) And listen with headphones. or very loudly. That's how it should be heard. TRY NOT DANCING IN YOUR CHAIR, OR GETTING UP AND SHAKING YOUR RUMP. I'm hoping to see these guys again on their current tour, it'll be part of Flenker's 2009 vacation plans, since they're aren't coming anywhere near me. Oh well, I think it'll actually work out splendidly.

It's really early to say this, the year isn't even 1/12th over, but this could be the best album of 2009 already. Really. If you haven't listened to it, do it now, please. By any means necessary. And should you hear this album through "illicit" means, just promise that you'll eventually buy it for real. Because dammit, you should. It's the best album of the year!

And I mean that as no slight to this next album. They (he?) put a valiant fucking effort into it, and is rewarded with a very very solid spot at #2 for 2009. Of course I mean Emil Svanängen, aka Loney, Dear, and his latest album, released today, Dear John.

Loney, Dear - "Airport Surroundings"

This album has a slightly different sound from the previous releases, but it's a totally natural progression, not a shock to hear. And it's done so well. The "older" sound is still there in some songs, the quiet, desperate at times vocals with minimal instrumentation, but some hints of almost, but not quite, electronic sounds come out in some of the tracks, like the above "Airport Surroundings." Emil (yes, I feel like I can call him by his first name. He's given a hug to one of my best friends in the whole wide world, who has in turn hugged me. it's like he's hugged me through her) creates an album full of beautiful songs, shows off a wide vocal range, and just makes me want to pack up and move to Sweden (don't think I haven't considered it) Malin Ståhlberg, if you happen to be reading this, I love you. Move to Kansas City, we'll have a magical life together, we'll make music, start a family, and just be happy together, I'm sure of it. I'm going to most likely be at the Des Moines show, you can just hitch a ride back here with me, and we can conquer the world.

So, in summation, Animal Collective and Loney, Dear are awesome. Each and every one of you reading (all 3 of you) should listen to them over and over and over again, see them in concert, and spread the good word of this righteous music.

If only it would not get into the 90's for just one day

Another weekend has passed in Austin, and this time I actually did stuff! Well, not on Friday. I didn't do a damn thing that day. Or really Sunday, either. I don't know if I left the apartment on either of those days. But Saturday, phew, that was a packed day!

Adam's taking a couple of classes in addition to his full-time job, so Saturday was his day to study. And since I was feeling rather restless, as well as just feeling like a turd after sitting around all day Friday, I thought I'd get a ride with him to the University of Texas campus and check things out. The plan was that he'd meet with his study group, then work on a paper, then we'd find somewhere to watch the Iowa game before we went to the Animal Collective show. Of course, I had to wear my Iowa shirt, so I thought I'd be hearing about it all day long. Much to my surprise, I didn't hear a single comment about the Hawkeyes. And I had never seen so much burnt orange in one place in my life. I would estimate that about 85-90% of the people I saw were wearing the color, and I'm being totally serious, not exaggerating at all. It was honestly kind of scary. I thought all of the Longhorn fans would turn to me with glazed eyes and try to eat my brain and then drape me in a shirt proclaiming my love for all things Texas. I think the Iowa shirt actually helped me out, though, they were probably too busy trying to figure out if "Iowa" was a foreign country or a band. Like "Iowa and the Hawkeyes" or something like that.

Anyways, the campus is pretty nice, definitely a different style than any I've been on. There are very few green areas, mostly buildings one right after the other. The architecture is a nice change from the usual university-type that I'm used to. Plus, they have a couple of fountains and a turtle pond, which I thought were nice touches. (again, I've taken pictures, but they're with Adam's camera, so I need to get them off of their. I'm pretty terrible about that lately. . . sorry)

We ended up going to the bar where the Iowa Alumni meet to watch games, which I think will be a regular weekend spot for me. The parts of the game that we saw were great, the Hawks leading 10-7 when we had to leave for the show. Unfortunately, things didn't end as well, as they lost 17-13. And it killed me to not be able to watch the end. We didn't have to leave, but I paid $15 for the ticket and I really wanted to see Animal Collective again. Although, we probably could have stayed for the rest of the game (which ended around 11 pm central time) and still made it in time for Animal Collective (doors were at 9, show was supposed to start at 10, the opening band didn't start until shortly after 11). So that put me into an even worse mood, especially when I decided I wasn't in the mood for the openers. So what do I do to make everything better? Order a Jack and Coke!

The show that Animal Collective put on was enough to pull me out of my pissy mood (for the most part). They put on one of the best live performances I've seen both times I've gone, so I would really recommend seeing them if they head to your area. They can attack you with a huge sound, and then a minute later be playing a delicate melody with some light, airy vocals floating over top. They played a great mix of songs off of their new album Strawberry Jam, as well as some older ones and yet-to-be-released songs (one such song is one of my favorites of theirs, so I'm hoping it'll be on some upcoming release). While they didn't play their song about kitties, or the one about puppies, they had enough great material to make the show enjoyable throughout. I'm glad that this was my first show in Austin.

Here's a video I'm "borrowing" from youtube that someone took from this show. It's of an okay quality, of a great song, so enjoy! (I'm pretty sure this is the same song that I posted a video of from when they played in Iowa City. Weird!)



Now tomorrow is a big day for media releases, the new Iron and Wine comes out, as well as the new Weakerthans album. Also, on DVD, Knocked Up will be available. But the biggest, most hyped item hitting the shelves will be Halo 3. Now if I had an xbox 360, or $700 to spend on one and the game, I'd definitely be buying it. Seeing as how that's a substantial chunk of the money I have (without any more coming in at the time), I think I'll pass. I'll just try to make friends with people lined up for it, maybe they'd invite me over.

Alright, time for me to go out and buy some new sheets. Exciting, right? Well, there may be some more excitement, and if there is, I'll definitely post pictures. Promise.

A new friend and some music vids!

First, I want to point out a new link to one of my friend's blogs. I know Sarah D through her boyfriend: we graduated from high school together, and he's in Racoo-oo-oon with my roommate Daren. Sarah's supercool, though. We ran into each other at the Animal Collective show, then hung out with some friends afterwards. So say "Hi" to Sarah.

I'm feeling a little better tonight, but still have a sore throat. I hate that. And my nose is stuffed up. I hate that too. But I made it through work, and now have a day off tomorrow to just lay around and do what I please. Which will probably be going downtown somewhere to use a little more reliable internet. It's been pretty spotty here, but I can't really complain too much. You get what you pay for. There's a chance of thunderstorms the next two days, so I'm very excited. For one, rain will help knock down some of the pollen in the air, and two, I love thunderstorms. It'll give me the perfect chance to listen to Lucy's mix CD she sent me, which she titled "Rainy Day." I've listened through it once all the way through, and hit a couple songs again, and I like it! I think it'll be a nice thing to have playing on a rainy day, so I hope I have the opportunity to enjoy it as it's meant to be heard. Also, I have to give mad props to Lucy, she went all out and made a different themed CD for each person participating in the exchange! That's going the extra mile! Maybe I'll figure out the best way to have everyone talk about the mixes they received... We'll see. For now, just soak them in and enjoy.

Also for your enjoyment, here are some video clips from Friday's Animal Collective show, stolen from YouTube! Check it out and be jealous that I was there. The last clip is my roommate's band Raccoo-oo-oon. They're currently on tour now, so if they're heading to your neck of the woods, go check them out, tell them Flenker sent you. Maybe they'll give you a sticker or something. (disclaimer: I don't know if they really have stickers or not. but they do have records for sale. buy them, so Daren can pay me his part of the energy bill. Thanks)

(Second disclaimer: this clips don't do the show justice, the sound is crap compared to the live thing. But it'll give you a little idea of the awesomeness that rock my balls this night.)







Just for fun here's the actual video for that last song- "Who Could Win a Rabbit"


Raccoo-oo-oon (excuse the cheesy editing)

Animal Collective 2 - The Show

Show last night: awesome. My roommate and I headed down around 5-ish and got a wrist band, which assured us of a ticket. Which was good, apparently they ran out of the wrist bands pretty soon after we got ours.

The opener was alright, Sir Richard Bishop. He played mostly guitar instrumental songs, at least one by Django Reinhardt, and was pretty good. He did sing for a couple of songs, but I wasn't quite as into those. They were kind of funny, but I prefered the guitar playing. The song he played that I liked the best was a medley of "Over the Rainbow" from Wizard of Oz, and The Beatles' "Nowhere Man." He called it "Nowhere Over the Rainbow." It actually worked pretty well as a medley. I thought it was clever.

Animal Collective rocked pretty hard. (Though I do wish I would have brought some ear plug, or some sort of ear protection. . . We were about 7 feet from a speaker. My ears are still ringing.) They played a lot of new stuff early, and then ended with some of their older songs. The crowd was into the show the whole time, and supplied deafening applause after the last song. Maybe it was just deafening to me, seeing as how I had spent the last 2.5 hours taking an aural beating. But it was well worth it, the show was great, if anyone reading this is in or near a town where they're going to be playing soon, I'd strongly recommend you go see them. The band is full of energy, and it comes through in their music. Definitely something you don't want to miss. I'll try to find some photos or movie clips from the show last night, if I can steal them from someone.