DJ Top 5 Lists
We regularly ask some of the CHIRP Radio DJs to put together a list of the 5 albums they are currently enjoying the most — four from current rotation and one older pick from the back catalog. You can check them out here.
Matt Garman 09.05.10
- Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin Let It Sway (Polyvinyl)
First off, I am a whore for pop music, and this Springfield, Missouri quartet’s third album is loaded with exuberance and fun. Exhilarating choruses and catchy hooks that literally make my heart race are everywhere, recalling pop stalwarts Big Star and classic Fountains Of Wayne. Their strongest effort yet in a ten-year history.
- Les Savy Fav Root For Ruin (Frenchkiss)
Sure, this band is notorious for frontman Tim Harrington’s crazed, frequently-half-dressed live persona; plus, he looks like a shop teacher. What keeps me riveted, however, is the meaty hooks and eloquent lyrics. You can totally dance to this, some of the sharpest cathartic jams of 2010, making these art stars poised take over the mainstream…maybe?
- The Sword Warp Riders (Kemado)
The Sword plays fist-pumping, head-snapping heavy metal riffage with skill and zeal. They are a rumbling crucible for an unholy union, with Zeppelin and Sabbath influences vividly apparent, and that is an unironically good thing. This is a loose concept album, a tale of good vs. evil and countless bong hits. Believe: The Sword does not fuck around.
- The Bismarck Great Plains (Pride of Dakota)
The Bismarck make loud, angry Midwestern post-hardcore that speaks to my repressed inner punk. I admire their dark, blistering, snarky rock, full of vitriol and relentless heat, screaming vocals and frenetic guitars, and that they are named after a battleship, a city, a statesman, a pudding-filled pastry, all of the above, or nothing at all.
- Public Enemy It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back (Def Jam)
This album changed my life. I was in my mid-teens when it was released, smack dab in the golden era of hip-hop, and I was captivated by its intensity, strangeness, and funk. Chuck D’s off-kilter rhymes, booming voice and brazen politics permanently informed my outlook. The production is a cut-up thumping mass of insanity that sounds fresh almost 25 years later. Stunning.
Sara Miller 08.30.10
- The Books The Way Out (Temporary Residence Ltd.)
If someone collected all the audio riff raff discarded in alleys around the city, then polished them up and pieced them all together, creating something totally strange and different, but definitely something you’d want prominently displayed in your apartment, this is what it would sound like. Clinkity-clankity layered musical goodness – totally captivating.
- Sebastian Blanck Alibi Coast (Rare Book Room)
Sebastian Blanck broke my heart a little bit with Alibi Coast, which, admittedly, is probably why I like it so much. When someone can so deftly write about life, and about life’s losses (in this case, Blanck’s brother) it’s hard not to feel involved. Blanck’s writing is straightforward and honest, his melodies are lofty and beautiful; despite the often sad subject matter at hand, Blanck leaves you feeling much more hopeful than depressed, which is a feat in and of itself.
- Shawn Lee Sing a Song (Ubiquity)
This has been a great summer for soul and funk music, with recent releases by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Orgone, Kings Go Forth, and now this new album from Shawn Lee. Sing a Song runs the gamut from Motown-inspired soul tracks to funk to pop-infused hip hop and back again. It’s an album guaranteed to keep you moving all the way through.
- Mt St Helens Vietnam Band Where The Messengers Meet (Dead Oceans)
From a math rock album steeped in Americana, Where the Messengers Meet has totally grown on me since our first encounter. I’m terrible with first impressions, and this was no exception. After putting the album aside for a while, I picked it back up and just like that we were spending summer evenings together at my apartment drinking beers. Give this solid sophomore effort by Mt St Helens Vietnam Band a few listens; it just might wind up being a summer favorite of yours too.
- Fol Chen Part II: The New December (Asthmatic Kitty)
“In Ruins” is the track that first caught my attention earlier this year when Part II: The New December was released. Described as the most danceable post-apocalyptic track of the summer, it’s a dark and cryptic tale of romance that’s completely addictive. Each track on Part II: The New December has its own distinct identity, from the heavily percussive “This is Where the Road Belongs” to the club mix sounds of “C/U,” and Fol Chen uses this confluence of sounds to tell a cohesive tale of destruction that’s worth getting lost in.
Micha Ward 08.23.10
- Stornoway Beachcomber’s Windowsill (4AD)
This band makes me think of the Decemberists and that’s all right with me. “The Cold Harbour Road” is the standout track on this record as it’s folky guitar, piano and simplified drumming takes a back seat to the soaring vocals and story.
- Shapes and Sizes Candle To Your Eyes (Asthmatic Kitty)
Hailing from Montreal but not Of Montreal, Shapes and Sizes is the kind of lo-fi goodness you’d be apt to hear coming from any basement in Brooklyn. Fuzzy vocals over reverb heavy guitar and hand claps makes for a fun album to put on in whatever mood you’re in. Try “Too Late for Dancing” for a low groove and Mazzy Star-like vocals but really, nothing on this record disappoints.
- Junip Rope and Summit EP (Mute)
As a lover of all things Nordic, Swedish band Junip caught my eye initially with their national lineage. The band guaranteed that my ears wouldn’t be jealous of my eyes with songs of understated pop and lyrics that are enhanced by distortion heavy production. I debuted the title track on my show and it has since fostered multiple listenings and more than a few late night “Turn that down!” from my elderly neighbors. Worth it. Immensely.
- Lower Dens Twin-Hand Movement (Gnomonsong)
CHIRP’s own Matt DeRose said of this record, “If Beach House’s Teen Dream is an agreeable, easygoing beauty, then Twin Hand Movement is her cynical, black eye-shadow wearing sister — just as pretty, just a little more difficult to reach.” That made me listen to it; the music made me love it. You will too. “I Get Nervous” is the standout in my opinion.
- St. Vincent Marry Me (Beggars Banquet)
Anyone who knows me personally (and you should all know me personally — let’s go get ice cream and beer!) knows that I have an irrational love for Annie Clark. After stints backing Sufjan Stevens and in the Polyphonic Spree, St. Vincent’s debut album, Marry Me, confirmed that I would do just that. “Now, Now” and “Paris Is Burning” are must plays. Although not on any record, if you can track down her beautiful cover of Jackson Brown’s “These Days,” it will be well worth your time.
Scott McKenna 08.15.10
- Fennesz Daniell Buck Knoxville (Thrill Jockey)
Seriously? These guys, as three pillars of ambient noise music, never having met before, shake hands, plug in plugs and improvise this? It’s simply astounding. This is the kind of soundtrack I love for walking around the city and seeing how the world and its sound effects synch with what I’m hearing in my headphones. Try it, now. Grab your iPod, put the volume a hair higher than medium, and walk out the door. Let the music pull a fully immersive experience out of the everyday. It’s seriously experimental, seriously stunning.
- Jammer Jahmanji (Ninja Tune)
Grime is so, so good. England has been effectively pushing hip hop forward for about a decade and Jammer has been at the center of it all. Yes, the East London patois is incredibly thick and difficult to understand sometimes, but that’s beside the point. The point is that this legendary garage/grime producer, collaborator and label owner has finally stepped out on his own with his first proper solo album, planting a massive Union Jack in the heart of progressive hip hop. You can have your Dirty South; I’ll wallow in the LDN Grime.
- Max Richter Infra (FatCat)
This is an expanded version of Max’s score for a ballet inspired by T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land. If that’s not heady enough to inspire to you to listen to this record, then someone may imply that you might be a simpleton. Not me, though — I love you. That being said, if you’ve never really ‘got’ classical, this is a great place to start. Max moves gracefully between elements of ambient electronica and non-traditional classical compositions. All of the tracks have reasonable listening times, so give it a shot. It is likely to engross you to such a degree that it’ll be over before you realize it, and you’ll find yourself pressing ‘play’ again.
- School Of Seven Bells Disconnect From Desire (Ghostly International)
The trio moves a bit away from the center of shoegaze for their sophomore effort, stripping verses down and clearing up the ladies’ fine vocals, eschewing any potential ‘slump’ whatsoever. They evolve the genre here, and it’s a shift that is long overdue. The overall moodiness and atmosphere remain but each track is so well produced that every detail is clear, not muddled or fuzzed over as shoegazers tend to do. What should we dub this newer, stripped-down genre, Sandalgaze? Discuss…
- Starflyer 59 Everybody Makes Mistakes (Tooth & Nail)
I’ve never understood how a band (well, it’s mostly just songwriter Jason Martin) with a 17 year career can keep it up while being so criminally ignored. For starters, Jason’s coming to music is a great story in itself: Raised as a devout Christian, kept from popular music, a boy hears The Smiths’ The Queen Is Dead, his head figuratively explodes, begins music career. Awesome. This release finds Jason as I always expect to find him, in fine songwriting form with the usual understated melodies and hooky riffs. Don’t be a criminal, it’s mean.
Lawrence Peters 07.04.10
- Konono N°1 Assume Crash Position (Crammed)
A rattling, fiery trance of a record from the Republic of Congo. The ideal mix of tradition and DIY technology. This record is what summer was made for.
- Ty Segall Melted (Goner)
Glammy, T. Rex influenced rock, formerly on much-loved Chicago label HoZac. Some of the songs get lost in a noodly haze, but standout tracks like “Girlfriend,” “Imaginary Person” (once it gets going), and “Bees” might inspire one to shake a tail feather.
- Orgone Cali Fever (Ubiquity)
An amazing album of vintage-style funk and r&b that doesn’t sound like a collection of used parts. This is that rare group that manages to deliver the grooves, without ruining them with self-consciousness, or modern updates. It sounds like the real thing, because it is.
- Kathryn Calder Are You My Mother? (File Under: Music)
An charmingly recorded album from this newer member of The New Pornographers. The best songs here are little gems of folky, indie-pop sweetness, or gently soaring piano sketches. There are many moments here that are like looking through a box of old color photographs with a favorite relative.
- Frank Budgen The Legend of Frank Budgen Vol. 1 (Specific)
This is my favorite record of the last few years: a posthumously compiled EP of dark, driving melodies and intense and honest lyrics. Little is known of Budgen, but in these six songs he makes it clear that he lived his life with few filters, feeling everything fully, and channeling the experiences into his work. This is the kind of record that many musicians aspire to, but few manage to make, and it is likely that this uncontrolled burn is what took him from us so early.
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Listen to Win! Tickets to see LCD Soundsystem!!! CHIRPRadio.org will be giving away tickets to what will surely be one of the hottest shows of 2010. LCD Soundsystem, along with special guest Hot Chip, will be blowing the roof off of the Aragon Ballroom on October 25th, and we’ll be giving away tickets to this awesome show before they even go on sale to the public! Be sure to tune in this week for your chance to win!!!
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Titus Andronicus, Best Coast, Free Energy, and Male Bonding! Oh, my! Don’t miss this killer lineup at the Metro on Saturday, September 18! CHIRP’s giving away tickets to this show on Wednesday and Thursday! Listen to win!
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Listen to Win! Tickets to CHIRPRadio.org welcomes Sam Amidon September 10th at the Old Town School of Folk Music! CHIRPRadio.org is pleased to welcome modern day folk singer Sam Amidon with very special guest and local fave Via Tania to the Old Town School of Folk Music on Friday September the 10th! To celebrate we’ll be giving away tickets to this great night of music. Be sure to listen for your chance to win!
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