WATCH THIS

Danielson: A Family Movie (or, Make a Joyful Noise HERE)
@ Red Vic Movie House
1727 Haight Street San Francisco, CA 94117
1/25-27 (thurs-sat)

It should be weird times at the movie house.

http://www.danielsonmovie.com/
http://www.redvicmoviehouse.com/

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The Blanton 55: 50-41

Wow. What great luck! Once I decide to honor the beast of a man known as Joe Blanton, his name comes up in a very serious rumor that has him packing his bags for New York (for the ridiculously radically-named Lastings Milledge aka "Da Edge"... yes, if the deal goes down, next year's year end list will carry that moniker in some way).

In any case, let's move ahead with the Blant list, after the jump of course.

50. The Knife - Silent Shout (Mute)
While it is true that I hold a little less interest in the electro-trance set, these P-fork darlings (ahem, IDOLS?) are really from another world. Retaining only an essence of their past poppier creations, the bro-sis duo embarked on a crusade of very dark proportions, leaning heavily on unique rhythms and minor-key melodies. Silent Shout is an achievement undoubtedly, but like many pop-rock enthusiasts like me, I don't like being grinded on.



49. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere (Downtown)
Sometimes an idea is all you need. In the case of Gnarls Barkley, a fantastic, quirkily magical melding of larger-than-life soulman Cee-Lo Green and biggest-beat producer Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton, one idea stretches itself a tad thin, leading to an inconsistent record. But it's flashes of brilliance (and one huge blast called "Crazy") that keeps St. Elsewhere's discombobulated head afloat.



48. Man Man - Six Demon Bag (Ace Fu)
Reference Big Trouble in Little China an you shall be granted a spot on the list. Not to mention, these insane gentlemen are one of the top live acts on the circuit today. The album? It's alright.




47. Charlotte Gainsbourg - 5:55 (WEA International)
Daughter of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, star of the my fave film of '06, collaborator of Air, Jarvis Cocker, Neil Hannon and Nigel Godrich (who lent his production hand to 5:55), and a platinum selling artist in France, Charlotte Gainsbourg, plainly put, is IT. With her breathy vocal, spiced with an accent half British and half French, she just might be the most charming lady in the whole world.




46. Liars - Drum's Not Dead (Mute)
Let me present an entry from David Kamp and Steven Daly's Rock Snob*s Dictionary: "Rewards repeated listens. Euphemistic phrase employed by rock critics to confer value upon a dubious musical work that, given the reputations involved, has to be better than it sounds." I'm not sure Drum's Not Dead was just beaten into me through repeated listens, or if the inventive tribal drums and drone soundscapes than scored my afternoon naps for a week (acting as catalysts for unbelieveable dreams) turned me. But dude, after writing it off following the first three listens, this blew my mind.




45. Envelopes - Demon (Brille)
In my mind, Envelopes are Sweden's B52s... but rough around the edges. Demon is crafted recklessly with really no sense of care or delicacy. Like a ball pool or a romper room, it's exhilarating, footloose and fancy free. This is pop sitting in the muck making mud pies in the rain.




44. Cat Power - The Greatest (Matador)
Jesse Steinchen once told me that the first Cat Power record you hear first is usually your favorite, that is why Moon Pix will always my favorite and You Are Free his. Now that I've established that the ironically-titled The Greatest is not my end all be all Chan Marshall record, I can sing its praises of stepping out of the box. Marshall enlisted the Memphis Blues Band (Al Green's guys) which upps the "soul"-rating by a hundred thousand and compliments her low-register vocal to almost preposterous ends (hear: "Love and Communication") . But yeah, Moon Pix is the best.




43. Malajube - Tromp L'oeil (Ninja Tune)
French Canada is a breeding ground of these art-rock outfits. Malajube plays with the fervor and frenzy of Wolf Parade and mixes in the sweeping minor chord melodies of The Arcade Fire. On top of that, their avant-pop is powered by French singing without the slightest bit of pretention, because of the unabashed exuberance and complete lack of self consciousness that surrounds it.



42. Built to Spill - You in Reverse (Warner Bros.)
You in Reverse marks a sort of clever return of the Idaho-ians (help me out here), one in which they ditch the sleek stylings of Phil Ek's production and just go for that crunchy jam. While the hooks are still there, they seem to be a little dirtier and more hapahazard, as Doug Martsch and company show that a machine with little grime and clunkiness is just a solid way to show people that the parts still work and strive on character.




41. Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor (Atlantic)
What can I say? Chicago has my heart. Fiasco's witty accesibility and thoughtful flow glide through decent enough beats and appearances from Jigga, Kanye and The Neptunes and never really stop soaring. The pearl of Food & Liquor lies in the coupled "Kick, Push", a hook-laden explosion of energy and the plinking pianos of the Dr. Dre-esque "Kick, Push II". Chicago, what a wonderful town.

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The Blanton 55

Sorry about the delay, dudes. There were some techincal difficulties that thankfully were tuned up. Now I can post this crap I wrote a week ago today! Let's make a deal... I'll keep up if you keep up. Stay tuned for 50-41 next!


Jeezer, Blanton.

It's finally that time of year. Gush time. Last year, we celebrated the best records of 2005 and honored a great baseball player and great man, Dave Parker. This year, I wanted to supersize it. Trust supersizing something the girth of Dave Parker ain't easy. At first I considered doing The Kiko Calero 50, and though that's got a great ring to it, I've never really believed you could get it a job done with just one pitch, as nasty as his slider is.

Then it hit me like a Big Mac-induced stomach ache. 55. Joe Blant is a Giant. This list is a giant. So here we begin, another gag taken a bit too far. Today we begin with 55-51, the extra baggage as we know one of the reasons we love Blanton is his "extra baggage". So sit down and in Blanton-fashion, pick up a corndog or three, while I just rare back and throw a couple grapefruits right down the middle. Whatever that means.


55. Girl Talk - Night Ripper (Illegal Art)
To cut to the chase, Night Ripper is frenetic. This coming from the biggest of Fiery Furnaces fans. Gregg Gillis' insane mixtape is not so much a joy to listen to, but more tremendous fun to pick out every single famous song you've ever heard.






54. The Walkmen - A Hundred Miles Off (Record Collection)
While this record stands as Hamilton Leithauser and company's most average and perhaps least interesting release in the band's short discography, the swagger and ultra-cool vibe coupled with Ham's Dylan-esque ramblings still makes it a great listen. It's equally good bundled up on a crisp winter walk with your noise cans strapped on or completely wasted at a house party soaked in whiskey.



53. Sparks - Hello Young Lovers (In The Red)
20 albums in and The Brothers Mael haven't even made a dent in their endless stock of weird. Songs like "Dick Around", "Metaphor", and "As I Sit Down to Play the Organ at the Notre Dame Cathedral" should make you thankful that they aren't doing collaborations with Kelly Clarkson or something. A Jane Wiedlin duet is passable though.





52. El Perro Del Mar - El Perro Del Mar (Control Group/TGC)
Spector revival... blah blah blah. El Perro Del Mar's bittersweet tunes would strive under any pop costuming. Though the Spector-style vocal harmonies, subtle horns and string arrangments garnishes the songs with a timeless sound, it really is Sarah Assbring's lip-biting coo that drives songs like "Candy" and "God Knows (You Gotta Give to Get)".



51. Tapes 'n Tapes - The Loon (XL)
While "Crazy" was cleary the this year's "Hey Ya", I'd like to deem Tapes 'n Tapes this year's Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. A P-Fork fave, indie darling, the Minnepolis quartet took the 'lil world by storm, leaving nary a wounded PBR soldier unfinished and a bespectacled girl's heart unstolen. But underneath the shiny veneer lies hook-laden rock and roll force, solid and blue collar, blazing down a road paved by greats such as The Pixies and Pavement. Worthy of the hype? Perhaps not. Worthy of a steady head nod? Undoubtedly.

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Booyah Achieved.

Now I can listen to Sheer Heart Attack whenever I damn well please.

I'm a 30th Century man.

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Distractions

The Shins: Yeah, pretty distracting.

Turkey day is here and the Top 50 is taking major shape. I've gone back to listen to some records with heightened attention to make sure I do this thing right. As my reviews have a few and far between this fall, this should be pretty fun and perhaps exciting. There were a ton of great records exposed to me in '06 and I'm ready to let loose.

There's only one thing holding me back: the new year.

2007 is creeping harder than ever on the horizon, and evidently the word of the upcoming year is "leak". My "research" has been greatly led astray by the shiny, glistening records of future year. Here's what I have to deal with (in descending order of pant-soiling excitement)

The Shins - Wincing the Night Away

Seriously, the Portland-via-Albuquerque uber-mega-stars are still the clever pop outfit you fell in love with before Zach Braff did. I mean, didn't we all have a Shins moment where it "changed your life"? No? Well, don't I feel like an asshole? Wincing the Night Away is yet another testament of James Mercer's seemingly effortless ability to combine glorious melody with his literary wit. While it's damn near impossible to best their first two efforts, the third offering is kinda like Return of the Jedi: stll awesome no matter how much you argue against it. (is this thing on? tough crowd tonight.)

of Montreal - Hissing Fauna: Are You the Destroyer?

I've recently been delving into the back catalogue of the Bee Gees thanks to the suggestion of Jesse Steinchen, and it's becoming more and more apparent that of Montreal are the Bee Gees of this decade. They've left behind the intricate pysch-pop stylings that defined them so heavily for disco duds and dance-floor shaking basslines. While admittedly this Hissing Fauna shit is really fucking good, perhaps the best concoction of their "new style" and Kevin Barnes' ingenius pop writ, can I be a broken record here for sec and say that I miss Coquelicot and the Gay Parade?

Deerhoof - Friendly Opportunity

There has never been and will never be another band like this. That's really all I need to say. That and "The Perfect Me" does for woodblock what "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" (and Will Ferrell) did for the cowbell.

Menomena - Friend and Foe

Following the exquisite instrumental Under an Hour, Portland's Menomena brings a more conventional blueprint on their Barsuk debut, if convention defined by blaring saxes, plinking pianos and their signature experimental composition. Oh yeah, there are vocals again.

See what I have to deal with?

The Shins: http://www.theshins.com/
of Montreal: http://www.ofmontreal.net/
Deerhoof: http://deerhoof.killrockstars.com/
Menomena: http://www.menomena.com/

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HOLY CRAP.

THIS IS AMAZING.

I ran into the big guy, Brian Brophy on the street Saturday, and I felt ashamed that I have been neglecting you so. But you know what time of year this is... LIST MAKING TIME. That's right the Dave Parker Top 39 Albums of the Year List has gained a few pounds and will now be a girthy Top 50. Stay tuned.

Oh yeah. VOTE.

p.s. I usually vote democratic but this year I voted for Arnold to put a Kindergarten Cop sequel on the fasttrack. Make it so.

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Too Little Too Late

I'm not one for self promotion but what the hell.

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