TwoWordHeap

Here you are, kiddo’s! My Top 7 In 7 for this week. This week is more of a “who has the longest track listing” rather than an accurate cross-section of my week’s listening. If you want to tell me anything, please leave a comment or send an email to yaschuk [at] twowordheap [dot] com! Enjoy!

1. Talking Heads – Fear of Music and Little Creatures

   Some time ago, I found myself being enthralled by David Byrne’s incredible dance skills. I thought to myself, “Kyle, why haven’t you been listening to this band?” This was immediately rectified. I have since been slowly going through the Talking Heads catalogue, and I have not been disappointed. This band has all the grooves in all the right places. Check out “And She Was” and “Television Man” from Little Creatures, and I like “Mind” and “Life During Wartime” from Fear of Music.

2. John K. Samson – Slips and Tangles

   I was traveling the interblogs a little while ago, and I found out that before he left Propagandhi, John K. Samson (now of The Weakerthans fame) had released a cassette called Slips and Tangles. It was released in 1993, and although you can hear the youth come through in his singing, the promise of a great songwriter is there. When The Weakerthans recorded their 1997 full-length, Fallow, they re-recorded the closing track “Agonistes” as “Illustrated Bible Stories for Children”. Again in 2000, they remade the title track and used it on their album Left and Leaving. Other notables include “Velveteen” and “Little Pictures”.

3. Rites of Spring – End on End

   This band strongly influenced the hardcore punk scene of the mid-1980s. The violence and frantic energy that the scene was known for was built upon by this band, yet they changed some preconceptions when it came to song-writing. They chose to write more personally, rather than the politically left-wing, anti-Reagan songs that came from other bands like Black Flag, Minor Threat and Bad Brains. Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat) not only produced their self-titled album, but also formed the band Fugazi with two of the members when this band split up. Unfortunately saddled with the title of the first “emo” band, it’s my belief that because of this label, many people don’t take them seriously. Check out “Deeper Than Inside”, “Remainder”, and “In Silence/Words Away”.

4. Sigur Rós – Ágætis Byrjun

   This is the first “real” Sigur Rós album. It differs a lot from their 1997 debut, Von. This is the first album to feature what is now the regular line-up, and musically, it resembles most all of their work since. Heavily laden with strings and piano, this album is very atmospheric, and quite beautiful. The title means “an all right start” or “a good beginning”, from a friend of the band who had heard the first track they recorded, and was asked his opinion. Standout tracks: “Staralfur”, “Viðrar vel til loftárása”, and “Ágætis Byrjun”.

5. The Decemberists – The Rake’s Song and Live from Soho

   Okay, so the new Decemberists album comes out on March 24th, and I am very excited. They have released the first single from this album on their website, and it is terrific. Classic Decemberists lyrics — full of murder and darkness — with an amazing change in musicianship. The third week in March can’t come soon enough. The Live From SoHo iTunes exclusive EP is fairly good as well, bringing some classic tunes out and mixing them with new ones; nothing terribly exciting, but I would say it is worth it for those fans who crave completion.

6. Pixies – Surfer Rosa

   This is the first album I listened to by these guys. Many people claim this as the greatest Pixies album, but my allegiance still lays with Doolittle. Not to say that this isn’t a great record; it is, very much so. Kim Deal has the perfect voice for this record. Not too peppy, and smoky enough to cause intrigue. It’s too bad that she never got to sing more often. The guitars on this record, and Black Francis’s voice make this a pleasure to rock out to. Do yourself a favor and listen to “Break My Body”, “Cactus”, and “Tony’s Theme” again, because everyone knows “Where Is My Mind”.

7. Basia Bulat – Oh, My Darling AND Propagandhi – Less Talk, More Rock

   These two are tied for the #7 spot, so they both get written up.

   Basia Bulat is probably the cutest girl to be making music with an autoharp today. She makes pretty good music, too. This full-length album was nominated for the 2008 Polaris Music Prize, and deservedly so. Listen to “Oh, My Darling”, “In The Night”, and “Snakes And Ladders”.

   Propagandhi has been making music for angry vegetarians for many years now. I chose to listen to this one instead of How To Clean Everything this week because I was really liking the song titles. Favourites: “Nailing Descartes To The Wall – (Liquid) Meat Is Still Murder”, “I Was A Pre-Teen McCarthyist”, and “The Only Good Fascist Is A Very Dead Fascist”.

Until next time, keep fit and have fun.

Related Articles

• February 15th, 2009 – February 21st, 2009

  02.22.09 | Found in Top 7 In 7 | Read 70 times

• February 8th, 2009 – February 14th, 2009

  02.17.09 | Found in Top 7 In 7 | Read 102 times

• February 22nd, 2009 – February 28th, 2009

  03.03.09 | Found in Top 7 In 7 | Read 61 times

• January 25th, 2009 – January 31st, 2009

  01.31.09 | Found in Top 7 In 7 | Read 69 times

• March 8th, 2009 – March 14th, 2009

  03.14.09 | Found in Top 7 In 7 | Read 67 times