Fishpork’s 10 Favorite Shows of 2011
While 2010 may have been the year we got to see Jeff Mangum play five songs, who would have thought we’d get to see three full Mangum sets in 2011?! It’s hard to compare that experience even in a year that was loaded with unforgettable performances. We were also lucky to catch James Murphy bid farewell to LCD Soundsystem, Tapes N’ Tapes proved why they are one of the best live bands on the planet, and Portishead blew the roof off of Asbury’s Convention Hall twice in ATP headlining performances. ATP recently announced that it will be returning to Asbury Park next year for another round of I’ll Be Your Mirror Performances, a guarantee that 2012 will have much live music to look forward to. Until then, here is our very biased list of favorite shows of 2011:
1. Jeff Mangum @ Paramount Theater
2. LCD Soundsystem @ Terminal 5
3. Portishead @ Convention Hall
4. Tapes N’ Tapes @ Johnny Brenda’s
6. Avey Tare @ Johnny Brenda’s
8. Black Moth Super Rainbow @ First Unitarian Church
9. Amon Tobin @ Brooklyn’s Masonic Temple
10. Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise @ Knitting Factory
Album Review: Monkeytown
With Monkeytown, Berlin-based electronic maestros Modeselektor have released their best album to date. Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary’s tastes are beyond eclectic. In an interview, the pair labeled Modeselektor as “happy metal, hard rap, country-ambient, Russian crunk” and stressed, “We don’t like it if people tag us as being a certain style or school or scene or whatever. We don’t really care about all that.” The duo certainly do not limit themselves to genre on Monkeytown.
After numerous listens, “Pretentious Friends” may just be the track of the year for me. Among the guests on Monkeytown, LA-based emccee Busdriver is the standout. His humor and fluctuating speed of delivery align perfectly with Modeselektor’s frantic beats on the only hip hop-infused track on the record. The mid-song phone call “was fabulous!”
Modeselektor “Pretentious Friends” feat. Busdriver (MONKEYTOWN015) OUT SEP 30 by Modeselektor
Much of the press around the album centered on Thom Yorke appearing on two of the tracks. Yorke is a huge fan of the band, and Modeselektor has supported Radiohead on tours overseas. Yorke has expressed that the band is one of his inspirations for getting so deep into electronic styles with recent Radiohead and solo releases. On Monkeytown, both Yorke appearances are stellar. His vocals are looped throughout much of “Shipwreck,” fitting nicely with the off-beat drum and bass. Yorke delivers three brilliant, high-pitched verses in the track using an original vocal delivery. It’s like nothing I’ve heard from him before. The second Yorke track, “This,” features more looped segments of different vocal pieces. There are no standard verses, but the use of these vocal fragments play nicely off Modeselektor’s intensely layered composition.
Album standouts include “Grillwalker,” and “Green Light Go.” The latter may be the most straightforward track on the record in terms of traditional song structure, and features Australia-based experimental rockers PVT. “Berlin” may be the most single-friendly and chartable track on Monkeytown, featuring a catchy R&B hook and guest appearance by Romanian-German singer, Miss Platinum. The slowly building “Blue Chords” and the subdued “War Cry” serve as beautiful bookends to a near-perfect album. I’m not sure how Monkeytown will be topped as my favorite album of 2011. I haven’t been this excited about an electronic album since LCD Soundsystem’s This Is Happening. This one deserves to be part of your vinyl collection. It’s 56 minutes of aural bliss.
Listen to excerpts from the album below or stream the entire thing on the album player on the right side of the page [via Spin]
MP3: “Nervous” by Pikachunes
Pikachunes is New Zealand producer and musician Miles McDougall. MusicNinja.com says Pikachunes has “all the flavor of LCD Soundsystem while maintaining a freshness rarely seen in new indie-electronic outfits.” His self-titled debut album comes out on September 6 via Lil’ Chief Records. McDougall will venture to the US for shows in September and October. See below for dates with more to be announced. Download the first single “Nervous” by Pikachunes here or stream it below:
Pikachunes Live
09/07 Brooklyn, NY @ Union Hall w/ Princess Chelsea, Lips, Mighty Moon
09/16 Brooklyn, NY @ XPO 929 w/ Princess Chelsea
09/24 Philadelphia, PA @ The Fire w/ Princess Chelsea
09/30 New York, NY @ Pianos w/ Princess Chelsea
10/07 Brooklyn, NY @ Goodbye Blue Monday w/ Princess Chelsea, Preston Spurlock, Ching Ching
LCD Soundsystem @ Terminal 5
LCD Soundsystem played their fourth consecutive sold out show at Terminal 5 on Thursday night, which leads to Saturday night’s farewell gig at Madison Square Garden. The extended set list for this final club show went on for an astounding three hours and fifteen minutes. The band practically played their entire three-album catalog, save a few covers, with minimal breaks, incredible intensity and the volume turned to max. The 41-year-old James Murphy even joked that drummer Pat Mahoney was suffering from severe back pain, citing “reason #700″ why the band was retiring.
From the opening rendition of personal favorite “Dance Yrself Clean” to the epic closer “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down” during the band’s encore, the show was one for the ages. Props to Terminal 5 and the band’s techs for the amazing sound! If you weren’t at one of these final shows, you certainly missed out on seeing one of our generation’s most talented musicians retire LCD Soundsystem in grand style. [Images via BrooklynVegan]
Here is the epic, 3+ hours setlist:
Dance Yrself Clean
Drunk Girls
I Can Change
Time to Get Away
Get Innocuous
Daft Punk is Playing at my House
Too Much Love
All My Friends
—————-
You Can’t Hide (Shame on You) w/ Reggie Watts
Sound of Silver
Out in Space
Ships Talking
Freak Out/Starry Eyes
—————–
Us vs. Them
North American Scum
You Wanted a Hit
Tribulations
Movement
Yeah
Someone Great
Losing My Edge
Home
ENCORE
All I Want
Jump into the Fire (Harry Nilsson cover)
New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down
And some vids we took:
Fishpork’s 10 Favorite Shows of 2010
2010 will be remembered as the year we saw Jeff Mangum play five songs. It’s hard to compare that experience even in a year that was loaded with unforgettable performances. Deerhunter solidified themselves as Fishpork elite, Arcade Fire showed why some consider them the best band on the planet, and James Murphy all but burned down NYC. Here’s is our very biased list of our favorite shows of 2010:
1. Jeff Mangum @ Le Poisson Rouge
2. Deerhunter @ Starlight Ballroom
4. LCD Soundsystem @ Terminal 5
5. Arcade Fire/Spoon @ The Mann Center
6. Tobacco @ First Unitarian Church
7. Atoms For Peace @ Roseland Ballroom
8. Owen Pallett @ Bowery Ballroom
9. Modest Mouse @ Williamsburg Waterfront
10. Faith No More @ Williamsburg Waterfront
The Fishpork 20: Favorite Albums of 2010
We’re wondering if the end-of-the-year list makers have actually listened to Sufjan’s Steven’s The Age of Adz more than once (or even at all). It’s truly and unquestionably our favorite release for 2010. While we enjoyed some of the popular choices (This Is Happening, Halcyon Digest, The Suburbs, etc.) just as much as the next guy, there were some less popular albums that we really appreciated over the past 12 months (Down There, DISCO2, Shame, Shame). And is there any reason why a soundtrack cannot get some love? Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross may be the reason why The Social Network wins a Best Picture Oscar this year! Here are our favorite 20 albums of a tremendous year for music:
1. Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz
2. LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
3. Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles II
4. Caribou – Swim
5. The National – High Violet
6. Avey Tare – Down There
7. Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
8. Owen Pallett – Heartland
9. HEALTH – DISCO2
10. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
11. Yeasayer – Odd Blood
12. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – The Social Network
13. Jonsi – Go
14. Dr. Dog – Shame, Shame
15. Girl Talk – All Day
16. Vampire Weekend – Contra
17. The Magnetic Fields – Realism
18. Holy Fuck – Latin
19. The Walkmen – Lisbon
20. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
Honorable Mention:
Seven Fields of Aphelion – Periphery
Most Disappointing Albums of 2010:
Elf Power – Elf Power
MGMT – Congratulations
Of Montreal – False Priest
Fishpork’s 50 Favorite Tracks of 2010
2010 started off strong, producing some of our favorite tracks off the summer playlist. As the weather heated up, things fell into a summer doldrum. Now, as we develop our end-of-the-year lists, we’re finding the year coming to a conspicuous end. Similar to 2009, the list is somewhat album-heavy, as we were drawn to several stand-out records among our favorite artists. Here is our very biased list of our 50 favorite tracks from 2010 (give the page a minute to load the SoundClouds):
1. LCD Soundsystem – “Dance Yrself Clean”
2. Caribou – “Odessa”
3. Sufjan Stevens – “I Walked”
4. Deerhunter – “Helicopter”
5. HEALTH – “USA Boys”
6. LCD Soundsystem – “I Can Change”
7. Crystal Castles – “Empathy”
8. Avey Tare – “Laughing Hieroglyphic”
9. Broken Social Scene – ‘World Sick”
10. Owen Pallett – “Lewis Takes Off His Shirt”
11. The National – “Afraid of Everyone”
12. Autolux – “Transit, Transit”
13. Sufjan Stevens – “Impossible Soul”
14. Jonsi – “Boy Lilikoi”
15. Arcade Fire – “The Suburbs”
16. Sufjan Stevens – “Vesuvius”
17. Caribou – “Jamelia”
18. Crystal Castles – “Not In Love (feat. Robert Smith)”
19. Beach House – “Norway”
20. Arcade Fire – “We Used To Wait”
21. The Black Keys – Tighten Up
22. Yeasayer – “Mondegreen”
23. Deerhunter – “He Would Have Laughed”
24. Owen Pallett – “Midnight Directives”
25. The National – “Bloodbuzz Ohio”
26. Crystal Castles – “Vietnam”
27. How To Destroy Angels – “Fur-Lined”
28. The National – “Terrible Love”
29. Sufjan Stevens – “Too Much”
30. White Lies – “Bigger Than Us”
31. Panda Bear – “Slow Motion”
32. Avey Tare – “Lucky 1″
33. Liars – “Scarecrows on a Killer Slant”
34. Dr. Dog – “Jackie Wants A Black Eye”
35. Ratatat – “Party With Children”
36. Tobacco – “Lamborghini Meltdown”
37. The Walkmen – “Angela Surf City”
38. Middle Class Rut – “New Low”
39. HEALTH – “Before Tigers (Gold Panda Remix)”
40. Four Tet – “Plastic People”
41. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – “Bright Lit Blue Skies”
42. Jonsi – “Tornado”
43. Menomena – “Five Little Rooms”
44. Yeasayer – “ONE”
45. Of Montreal – “Like a Tourist”
46. Matthew Dear – “You Put a Smell On Me”
47. Delta Spirit – “Bushwick Blues”
48. Avey Tare – “Oliver Twist”
49. MGMT – “Flash Delirium”
50. Flying Lotus – “…And The World Laughs With You (Ft. Thom Yorke)”
Fishpork’s 10 Favorite Videos of 2010
MTV might not play them anymore, but that doesn’t mean the music video is dead. 2010 saw a resurgence of the art form. While there were a ton of worthy videos this year, we narrowed down a list of ten favorites. Featuring two videos from iconic director Spike Jonze, an homage to the French horror scene, and a web exercise that places the memories of the viewer into the experience, these are Fishpork’s 10 Favorite Videos of 2010:
10. Flying Lotus – Kill Your Co-Workers (Directed by Mike Winkelmann)
9. Holy Fuck – Red Lights (Directed by Brian Borcherdt & Michael LeBlanc)
8. Deerhunter – Helicopter
7. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs (Directed by Spike Jonze)
6. Nosaj Thing – Us (Jon Hopkins Remix) (Directed by Anthony Ciannamea & Mark Wisniowski)
5. Amon Tobin – Esther’s (Directed by Charles De Meyer)
4. How To Destroy Angels – The Space In Between (Directed by Rupert Sanders)
3. LCD Soundsystem – Drunk Girls (Directed by Spike Jonze)
2. HEALTH – We Are Water (Directed by Eric Wareheim)
1. Arcade Fire – We Used To Wait
http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/
Album Review: This Is Happening
LCD Soundsystem’s Sound of Silver (2007) was a critics’ darling that most felt set the bar too high on a potential follow up. LCD Soundsystem’s third (and possibly last) album is an epic masterwork that doesn’t only meet impossible expectations created by that release but exceeds them on all levels. It solidifies James Murphy as one of the best songwriters to find their way onto our pool party playlist in recent history. And the thought that he might retire from releasing original music as LCD Soundsystem makes this release bitter sweet. Hopefully, it’s just a marketing ploy of a middle-aged guy suffering from a midlife crisis.
This Is Happening opens with the 9-minute epic “Dance Yrself Clean.” Upon first listen, our staffers agreed it was the best track he’s even done. The anxious build-up of this song pays off with the most addictive synths imaginable and glaring, unpredictable drum and bass that will have sober heads bobbing. I can’t help but compare it to a more danceable Phil Collin’s “In The Air Tonight”moment. The main difference between This Is Happening and Sound of Silver is that the skippable tracks are absent. There weren’t many on the last release, but the thought doesn’t cross your mind here. Additional highlights include “I Can Change,” which features Murphy’s most impressive lyrics and delivery to date supplemented by an 80s style bass and synth groove. “All I Want” pays homage to David Bowie’s “Heroes” and features a repetitive back beat in the vein of “All My Friends” if you replace the piano with guitar and dream-like synths.
What makes the album so strong is its staying power. Only two of the nine tracks miss the 6-minute mark. Repeated listens reveal the many layers within each lengthy composition and the studio wizardry of an elite songwriter and producer. For example, take the first two tastes of the album we got earlier in the year, “Drunk Girls” and “Pow Pow.” Droves of fans were instantly disappointed and worried that we were hearing the best on the album. In retrospect, we were, as both tracks, in the context of the rest of the album, work flawlessly with Murphy’s playful, confessional, I-Know-More-Than-You-About-The-Classics, tongue-in-cheek vocal style. As far as music in 2010 goes, it will be difficult to argue that someone released a better album.
This is Happening Preview by Tamato
LCD Soundsystem @ Terminal 5
James Murphy and company tore a hole through the floor of Terminal 5 on Saturday with LCD Soundsystem’s third of four scheduled shows at the venue with an unrelenting set, daring the audience to sit still. Pat Mahoney’s drums on “All My Friends” plowed through the crowd with reckless abandonment, sparing no one from the power and beauty of arguably the best song off of 2007′s “Sound of Silver.” The surprise of the night was the emphatic bass drops that shook the walls during “Pow Pow,” injecting elevated energy into the track off their latest record This is Happening.
Song after song, the set refused to bring you down and the energy level peaked with a vivacious version of “Yeah” that grew with each verse and became the exclamation point of the show. For the encore, we got a little bit of everything: “Someone Great” into “Losing My Edge” with the city appropriate closer “New York, I Love You But Your Bringing Me Down.”
The only disappointment in the set was the absence of the best song so far of 2010, “Dance Yrself Clean.” That aside, it was the best dance party of the year. See more pics and setlist (same for all four nights) below:
Setlist:
Us v Them
Drunk Girls
Get Innocuous
Yr City’s A Sucker
Pow Pow
Daft Punk is Playing at My House
All I Want
All My Friends
I Can Change
Tribulations
Movement
Yeah
Encore:
Someone Great
Losing My Edge
New York, I Love You But Your Bringing Me Down
Empire State of Mind
