Indie-licious

Happy Valentine's Day all! For those of you who don't have a valentine today (and even those who do, I'm not that picky!), local Indie-licious favorites Takka Takka (Myspace) have just released a brand-spankin' new 3 song EP entitled Talk Faster, which is now available for a free download from their website. What are you waiting for? Check it out now!

In other Takka-related news, the boys have one remaining NYC area date scheduled, February 22 at Southpaw, along with The Forms, Charles Bissell of The Wrens, and Other Passengers as part of BAM's Brooklyn Next Festival. After that, it's across the pond for three shows in London. Catch 'em while you can!

Crackers United have put together another killer line-up for this month's FRICTION show, with Indie-licious album of the year finalists Bound Stems, one of CMJ's highlight acts Ra Ra Riot, local pop favorites The Muggabears, and self-professed "Boat-Rockers" Tall Hands. Free Sparks from 9-10. Visit the Crackers for more details and some mp3s.

Here it is folks, the moment you've all been waiting for: My picks for the 25 best albums of the year that was. Enjoy, and feel free to comment away and tell me how right on or way off I am.

• 25. Oakley Hall - Gypsum Strings
• 24. Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
• 23. Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass
• 22. The Thermals - The Body, The Blood, The Machine
• 21. Girl Talk - Night Ripper
• 20. Takka Takka - We Feel Safer At Night
• 19. Grandaddy - Just Like The Fambly Cat
• 18. The Lovely Feathers - Hind Hind Legs
• 17. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
• 16. Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
• 15. TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
• 14. Danielson - Ships
• 13. Elvis Perkins in Dearland - Ash Wednesday
• 12. Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I Am Dreaming
• 11. Bound Stems - Appreciation Night

There you have #'s 25-11, on to the ubiquitous Top Ten list, the members of which probably shouldn't come as much of a surprise for many of you that know me.

• 10. M. Ward - Post-War
• 9. O'Death - Head Home
• 8. Band of Horses - Everything All The Time
• 7. Bruce Springsteen - We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
• 6. Man Man - Six Demon Bag
• 5. The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls In America
• 4. Grizzly Bear - Yellow House
• 3. Islands - Return To The Sea
• 2. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
• 1. Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies

So there ya have it, kiddies. Stay tuned, I'm working on writing up brief blurbs about each of my Top 25 so you know why they are where they are. In addition, My favorite EP's of the year, favorite shows of the year, and a general Year In Review should be on the way in the next week or so. Thanks for reading, guys.

Sorry for the late notice and lack of updates; work's been crazy, because as everyone knows, the holidays are the busiest season for cancer research. Just kidding. But anyway, the Knit is the place to be tonight for Indiana's orchestral country-metal rockers Murder By Death (Myspace). I like these guys more and more each time I see them, and if you've yet to catch their one of a kind act in person, don't miss out tonight. Check out my reviews of their Maxwell's show of a few months ago and their killer performance at ACL. MBD are third in tonight's lineup, and should probably go on around 9-ish. Chicago's The Hush Sound headline. Also, for those of you not in the greater NYC area, make sure to check MBD's Myspace for additional upcoming tour dates.

One of 2006's bigger surprises was the discovery of Montreal's The Lovely Feathers (Myspace), who first appeared on my radar at their wild performance at the Mercury Lounge back in June. I really like their album "Hind Hind Legs," but the energetic live show was what really blew me away. Two chances to see them in New York in the next week, plus a handful of other Northeast and Canadian tour dates remain over the next several weeks. Bring your dancin' shoes, and prepare to be rocked.

Tour dates are as follows:

• Nov 29 2006 - Union Hall, Brooklyn, NY
• Nov 30 2006 - PA's Lounge, Boston, MA
• Dec 1 2006 - Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA
• Dec 2 2006 - Piano's, New York, NY
• Dec 7 2006 - Cabaret, Montreal, Quebec
• Dec 8 2006 - Pepperjack's, Hamilton, Ontario
• Dec 14 2006 - Higher Ground, Burlington, Vermont
• Dec 15 2006 - Barrymore's, Ottawa, Ontario
• Dec 16 2006 - Mavericks (ALL AGES), Ottawa, Ontario

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Still digesting/recovering from the long weekend of food, football, food, wine, food, way too much time in the car, food, and The Hold Steady in DC. Have a few half-finished posts sitting in the ol' draft folder, plus plenty of new stuff to come in the next few weeks; yes, including the ubiquitous year-in-review best-of lists. Stay tuned, kiddies.

Yeah, I know it's been a while already, but you're gonna havta bear with me for two more days of CMJ Recaps. I hope the suspense hasn't been too much to handle. Friday was easily the busiest day of the entire festival for me.  Throughout the course of the day and night I was treated to performances by Colin Meloy, Lo-Fi-Fnk, ¡Forward, Russia!, The Changes, Cadence Weapon, Chin Up Chin Up, Oxford Collapse, The Thermals, The Decemberists, Ra Ra Riot, and The Horrors.

   

 (via tammylo's flickr)

   

Keep reading for lots more from a jam-packed Friday at CMJ.

Sorry for not telling you about this sooner, but one of the under-the-radar bands that impressed me quite a bit with both their album and live show this year, The Picture (Myspace), is in the midst of a 3 date residency at Pianos. The first show was last week, but two chances remain to catch them live:

• Thu Nov 16 - 9:30 pm
• Thu Nov 30 - 9:30 pm

There ought to be time to catch the show tonight then hop over to Rockwood for The Heavyweights.

Don't miss the final Undisputed Heavyweights show of the year tonight at Rockwood Music Hall. Show's at 11 (get there early for a good seat!) and will be a great time as always.

Williamsburg's cozy Zebulon Cafe was the site for the first of four New York shows featuring one of the more recent pop sensations to cross the pond from Sweden, El Perro del Mar (Myspace). The relatively brief set (probably about 35 minutes or so) really seemed to captivate the packed standing room only crowd. Sarah's angelic vocals were certainly in the forefront of the performance, but I thought her small band was actually pretty decent, as well. She did, however, seem perhaps a bit nervous at her first show in the city this week, and I would have liked to see a bit more of her personality come through between songs in the set. It's not that I was expecting a show similar to what we saw from Sarah's fellow Gothenburg-ian Jens Lekman a few months back, but particularly in more laid-back singer-songwriter performances, generating some kind of connection with the audience can really go a long way.

As I mentioned, El Perro del Mar has three remaining performances in New York this week, and it's definitely worth the trip while she's in town. And hopefully after a couple shows she'll feel a bit more comfortable opening up to the crowds. Three more chances:

• Monday 11/13 - Joe's Pub w/ Emile Simon, 7 pm
• Tuesday 11/14 - Union Hall w/ Luke Temple and Jaymay, 8 pm
• Thursday 11/16 - Mercury Lounge w/ Evangelicals, 8:30 pm

Opening for Lolita Bras at The Annex, I had my first introduction to the relatively new local alt-country five-piece, The Morning Pages.  Despite the slightly untimely name in this Foleygate era in which we are immersed, these guys have a really nice updated Grateful Dead/The Band sound, minus the more jam-bandy trappings which some more amateur bands seem to tend to use a crutch almost.  But the country-roots rock set demonstrated a lot of potential here, making The Morning Pages more than worthy of "Find of the Week" consideration.

Take the jump for some more from The Morning Pages.

I had the opportunity to catch local sensation Lolita Bras (Myspace) in an intimate show at The Annex before they head out of town on a brief tour.  Oh My Rockness says that "NYC's Lolita Bras are a highly melodic band influenced by early U.K. bands like The Cure, Ride, My Bloody Valentine and early U2. And often, singer Patrick Harmon's vocals channel the emotive might of Morrissey."  The dark and contemplative post-punk packed the fans in for the loud emotional rock performance.

Keep reading for more from The Annex.

CMJ's Thursday did not offer a free Brooklyn Vegan show, but was still a blast nonetheless. Over the course of the day, I caught sets from Meowskers and Figurines at Cake Shop (I'd actually gone to see Irving, but they swapped set times with Figurines at the last minute, and I couldn't stick around for their set), then at Greenpoint's Studio B was Insound's "Save the Album" party featuring Apes & Androids, Thunderbirds Are Now!, French Kicks, Tokyo Police Club, and We Are Wolves.

   

   

Keep reading for lots more from each band's performances.

The CMJ craziness started for reals (for me anyway) on Wednesday, getting things kicked off properly with the first of Brooklyn Vegan's free shows, where I was able to catch sets by The Little Ones, Land of Talk, Foundry Field Recordings, Thunderbirds Are Now!, and CSS.

Following the BV Party and a quick food break, it was over to Bowery for their stellar showcase lineup, including great sets from What Made Milwaukee Famous, The Bird and The Bee, Robbers On High Street, Elvis Perkins, Dr. Dog, and Cold War Kids. I actually didn't stick around for Tapes 'n Tapes at this show. It was quite late by the time CWK wrapped up, I'd seen T 'n T several times over the course of the summer, and much to my dismay I did have to be at work early on Thursday. Oh well.

   

Plenty more after the jump.

I was so psyched when Cloud Cult added this show on Monday, since I had to miss their only show during CMJ. I was a relatively new fan of the band the last time they rolled though town, and my appreciation for their work has grown immensely since. The crowd was on the slightly thinner side at the Knit (people burned out from CMJ?), which is really unfortunate, as Cloud Cult put on one of the best shows I've seen in recent memory, complete with two artists painting during the set. Local rockers Slowlands were one of those bands I've been meaning to see for some time but never managed to, so seeing them as openers was an added bonus.

More from both bands (including the final paintings!) after the jump.

Whew, what a CMJ!  I'm still recovering.  Sorry for the lack of picks the last couple days, been too busy to post!  Hard to believe CMJ started just last Tuesday; feels more like a month ago.  So starting back at the beginning, on Halloween night I stayed in the neighborhood to catch the Tee Pee Records showcase at Northsix.  This was what predictably ended up being one of the loudest shows of the entire week.  Highlights of the show included the impressive performances from Kreisor, Hopewell, and Witch.

   

Keep reading for more from last Tuesday's showcase.