A sleepy, smoky bar. Tall tables and ashtrays, scattered and half-full. A few barflies bellied up, backs turned to the stage. A golden guitar appears before the microphone.  The speakers bark as the cord slides home and one of the silent strangers glances over at the guitar. A pale hand grips the fretboard, its partner poised above the pickups. Twang, CHK, twang, CHK. Every chord, a heartbeat. Every heartbeat, a breath. Every breath, an ascension. Bar stools slowly swivel towards the spotlights. The barkeep has stopped sweeping up yesterday’s dust, his hands and chin resting on the end of the broom. The golden guitar speaks softly. Twang, CHK, heartbeats align, the room breathes in, the room breathes out.  The beats, the breaths, and the dust the only sounds, cutting away the darkness.

Bahamas is the soundchild of Feist’s touring guitarist, Toronto’s Alfie Jurvanen. Barchords is out February 7th on Brushfire Records. Stream the whole thing over at Paste.

Download “Heavy Metal” here free.

[via mp3med/npr]

Gayngs – Cry – This project isn’t new, but I’m finally listening to Jagjaguwar uber-band Gayngs.  Members of Bon Iver, Megafaun, The Rosebuds, and Solid Gold combine with rappers, songstresses, and a jazz sax player to create a 69bpm experiment in sound and collaboration.  The record, as you’d imagine, is pretty schitzo, but the successful moments are pretty special.  At the moment, I’m substituting this song for “Time After Time” at the end of Romy & Michele [watch it, muted, as you listen to this song].  It’s a beautiful, lurching slow dance. Time dragged to nearly to a halt. The camera spins, panning slowly across a sea of friends, then starts to ascend. As the screen fades to black I wonder to myself if everything in the world is suddenly right, or gone woefully wrong? [from Relayed|buy]

[Listen to the whole thing on a Spotify playlist here]

**added 1/16: Gotye – Somebody I Used to Know – This was my fifth-most listened to track of 2011, but somehow never ended up in my ‘Best of’ playlist that I compile over the course of the year. And then I forgot about it yesterday. The list is the list, so I’m not going to kick anyone out, but I thought I’d mention it. If you just found out about Gotye this year, you can read two pieces I did on him back in 2007 [here and here]**

25. The Civil Wars – Poison & Wine
24. Theophilus London – Why Even Try (RAC remix)
23. The Forms – Steady Hand
22. Jamie Woon – Waterfront [listen]
21. Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx – Night Call
20. NewVillager – Lighthouse
19. The Lonely Forest – Turn Off This Song and Go Outside
18. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – Morning Thought
17. Mute Math – Cavalries
16. Son Lux – All the Right Things
15. Gillian Welch – The Way It Will Be
14. Wye Oak – Civilian
13. David Bazan – Virginia
12. M83 – Midnight City
11. The Hood Internet – Without Kimmi (Usher vs. Twin Sister) [listen]

10. Keegan DeWitt Thunder Clatter | there’s a giddiness about this song and I quite enjoy. It smacks of bright raindrops on rooftops, of children spinning hands-held around a fire. The guitar was giggling; the leaves were rustling; it was written in the fall…

9. Penguin Prison Don’t Fuck With My Money | it seems every year, I go gaga for a Prince wannabe (Fyfe Dangerfield and The-Dream in 2010, Sam Sparro in 2008) and PP is this year’s entrant. It’s simple, really. Just take some emphatic synth, a booty-wiggling beat, some uber-exuberant vocals, and a ridiculously catchy chorus and you’ve got $$$. And don’t fuck with it!

8. Phantogram Don’t Move | every little thing clicks in this song, even the click itself at the end of every measure. Random samples come together in harmony. Electrofuzz can be a little annoying and in-your-face these days, but this is decidedly restrained and refined, plus it’ll make your toes want to tap in defiance of the song’s title.

7. James Vincent McMorrow We Don’t Eat | despite all the hype James Blake received this year, I prefer the raspy bare soul of this scraggly-bearded Irishman. A single piano note resounds throughout, lending context to the growth around it. [listen]

6. Miracle Fortress Everything Works | i do not fault (and rather enjoy) Miracle Fortress’ usual dreamy harmonized, beach boys-meets-the-clientele fair, but this is decidedly more straight-forward. With a beat, an arpeggiation, a hand-clap, and an overt channeling of Talking Heads, magic can happen. [listen]

5. Bon Iver Holocene | descriptions for Justin Vernon’s frigid falsetto folk have long since passed the point of hyperbole. He’s revealed before that he writes some songs mad-libs style, plugging in words for no other reason than because they sound good. Sometimes the multi-tracked whisp-like vocals unravel just enough to render the lyrics unintelligible anyway. But sometimes, there’s a line, or a word, or a breath, that cuts through the fog, through my skin, through my heart. And I realize the rest just doesn’t matter.

4. Scattered Trees Bury the Floors | Nate Eiesland has sung eloquently about grandparents passing before. I don’t know exactly what he’s speaking about here, but all I can think about is my own grandmother.  I imagine the pace-like tambourine to be her footsteps alongside mine. I can’t help but be moved by the melodically droning organ, the gravelly crescendo of harmonies, and “the stars, the stars, and the light on your face, replace the words on a page, to remind me, to remind me of…” [listen]

3. Beyonce 1+1 | before she debuted this song on Idol, Beyonce introduced it as “her favorite song” and I’ve got to admit that it’s mine too (of hers, anyway). Co-written by The-Dream (figures), it’s simply an incredibly moving expression of emotion from one of the signature voices of our generation.  This is “I Will Always Love You” with some serious gravitas. Kevin Costner would have had no shot with this lioness.

2. Bombay Bicycle Club Shuffle | “once you get the feeling, it wants you back for more…” this song put ants in my pants and made me do the boogie dance (all the way to france?). The recurring piano sample, the babbling bass and dancing vocals, the swirling insistence of it all literally propel me towards euphoria. [listen]

1. Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues | from the first furtive strum to final sigh of the guitar, this song spins gold from the plain straws of our common existence and laying claim to a place amongst its tiny recesses. Even in my heart, I could never have as accurately expressed the doubt and wonder at my future as this song so easily and beautifully does. [listen]

*view my lists for 2010,  2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006.

*Find the tracklists for Blankets V.1, V.2, and V.3!

I wrote this blip in October of 2006, a fact that only cements the reality of the time that has elapsed between then and now. Somewhat tragically, I could write an identical passage about Wesafari today and still be almost 100% factually correct. The slight statistical anomaly is actually the most important part: there is now a follow-up…

Wesafari might be the ultimate local band. Amazing(ly), obscure. A treasure you feel priveleged to know about. A small part of you just wants to keep them in your pocket forever, but the bigger part wants them to play packed rooms in every town. For the dynamic healing power of their music to fix scores of unsuspecting and previously unhappy people. For the artistic process, the sweat and tears and time it takes to make something great, to all be worth it in the end. This industry sucks so bad right now, it blows my mind sometimes that bands that fit Wesafari’s description (of which there are few) even exist at all.

Being such a huge fan of Alaska, I was almost afraid to listen to Sea Survivors. The fear was short-lived. Like Alaska‘s “Shooting Stars” before it, “Lions” is a killer opener here , but with a key difference: it’s not Alaska. My interest piqued, I plowed onward. A few things stand out. One of the only negative things I can say about Alaska is that it is relatively short (9 tracks). Survivors comes in a healthy 13 tracks long and is immaculately paced. Newest band member Trina Mills lends her vocals to a few songs, most notably “Eye for an Ideal”, where she and Rick Wright do a little back and forth round that I loved.  This still sounds like the Wesafari I love, but it’s warmer, more hopeful and lush. A little more golden. If Alaska was a snow drift lean-to, Sea Survivors is a blanket, beckoning you from the chaise lounge, ready to bring the heat back into your life.

Listen:
Lions
Matchbox
[from Sea Survivors|buy]
Shooting Stars
[from Alaska|buy]
BONUS TRACK!!
From Glacier to Sea
[live on KEXP]

*view my lists for 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006.