HELLO PORTLAND from sf via nyc: This Year's Album

Making Some CDs
Originally uploaded by Polish Carpetlayer.

It’s been a labor of love and after last year’s album, we decided to give a little more info on each song on this year’s album. People last year would ask us what song was what, what artist and what album each song was on (we can’t get the damn tracks to automatically populate with that info). Well this year, to get those answers and more, all you have to do is go to our website. Without further ado, here’s the info. We hope that it’s helpful and we encourage you to post a comment below about the music.

And, oh yeah, that’s me spray painting each and everyone of your CDs. To see more of me unleashing aerosol paint in a confined space, click here.

THIS POST IS STILL IN PROGRESS. I'M UPDATING IT STILL BECAUSE IT'S A TON OF WORK TO FINISH...BUT WORTH IT.

(Song / Artist / Album)
1. Dancing Shoes / Arctic Monkeys / Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I’m Not

Not only the most-hyped band of early 2006, Sheffield, England's Arctic Monkeys (led by 19-year-old Alex Turner) managed to accomplish what the likes of Franz Ferdinand and The Libertines couldn't do before them: set the UK record for fastest-selling debut album of all time.

Review on MusicOmh.com

Arctic Monkeys Homepage

Buy the CD Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I’m Not Not

2. La Familia / Mirah (Guy Sigsworth) / Joyride: Remixes

Mirah’s original album, Joyrides, was remixed and this album was born. Overall, I really enjoyed the album, but had to pick one song to share with everyone. Here it is. Mix a fun and upbeat musical track with a chorus that repeats, “If we sleep together would it make it any better? If we sleep together would you be my friend forever?” Indeed, I wonder how many people ask those same questions in their everyday life.

Click here if you’d like to read more about Mirah.

Click here if you’d like to buy her album.

One more thing. Mirah is from Olympia, Washington. Gotta love that NW connection.

3. Opie's Funeral Song / Sufjan Stevens / Mews TWO An Asthmatic Kitty Compilation

Sufjan Stevens is a favorite of ours and this year is no different. Opie’s Funeral Song starts out with the lyrics, “You make it beautiful my friend, you make it worth it to the end. You put a hole in my head, just like you put a fire in the tree.” The words come out of his mouth and linger. This is a beautiful song that gets better after each repeat listen. Yes, by the way, Sufjan is "influenced by the Lord" so to speak. We do not judge.

Click here if you’d like to read more about Sufjan.

Click here if you’d like to buy his album.

4. Night Knuckles / Clark / Body Riddle

No words. No voices. Just an instrument that sounds like a toy bell or a one of those kids’ xylophones that we all grew up with. This song reminds me of our days: fast, staccato and ever moving.

Click here if you’d like to read a review of the album.

Click here if you’d like to buy the album.

5. The CN Tower Belongs to the Dead / Final Fantasy / Has A Good Home

The person behind Final Fantasy (Owen Pallett is the string arranger for the Arcade Fire, guitarist/vocalist from Les Mouches, and member of Internet, Picastro, The Jim Gutherie Band, Hidden Cameras and King Tut) is a violinist, but his music won’t remind you of any violinist you’ve ever heard before. This song is up-tempo, interesting and filled with a steady violin beat that steers your towards your listening sweet spot.

Click here if you’d like to read the album review.

Click here if you’d like to buy the album.

6. Wet and Rusting / Menomena / Friend and Foe

Menomena is a Portland band and they’ve put out one of my favorite albums. The song Wet and Rusting from the album Friend and Foe made the final cut for our helloPortland 2006 album, but I could have easily picked four others. They’ve been called art rock by critics before, but I’ll just say that they make my ears happy.

Click here if you’d like to read more about Menomena.

The album isn't out yet, but it will be in early 2007. When it finally comes out you'll be able to get it here.

7. Savane / Ali Farka Touré / Savane

Ali Farka Touré is a legend, period. The man has been singing about the plight of his people for over 30 years. He is recognized as the originator and master practitioner of African Blues. Simply put, if B.B. King were born and raised in Africa, this is what his music would sound like. Sadly, Ali Farka Touré died this year. This is an amazing album and I highly recommend it. Savane has been universally recognized by the critics as one of the, if not the best album of the year. Enjoy.

Click here if you’d like to read more about Ali Farka Touré.

Click here to read the album review.

Click here if you’d like to buy the album.

8. Lonesome Side / DJ Rupture (Featuring Lily) / Special Gunpowder

I’ve had this song for maybe three years, but I finally broke down and bought the album this year. Good album, not great, but this song has lasted the test of time. It’s got an infectious raggea beat overlaid with some beautiful female vocals. Enjoy.

Click here to read and album review.

Click here to buy the album.

9. The Inkwell / Blue Scholars / The Blue Scholars LP

The Seattle based hip-hop rap group lays down infectious beats with a conscious. Imagine the intelligent and socially active Chicago rap artist Common crossed with the laid-back coffee, beer, rain and eco-centric leanings of the Northwest and you’ll start to get an idea of what the Blue Scholars sound like. This album was given to us by Gabe and Sarah (yep, the recently betrothed couple), which is quite fitting considering this records mixture of music and meaning. Hip hop with a message…that sounds oh-so-good. If you like Jurassic 5 or Blackalicious or any of their ilk, you’ll dig this album.

Click here to visit the Blue Scholars website.

Click here to read an interesting arcticle about the Blue Scholars.

Click here to buy the album, Blue Scholars: The EP.

10. Gold Lion / Yeah Yeah Yeahs / Show Your Bones

Nothing says "run like hell" like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on your iPod. I love listening to punk while I run or whenever I need a little blast of adrenaline. (by, michelle)

Click here to read a review

Click here to buy the album.

11. All Fires / Swan Lake / Beast Moans

"Canada once again keeps rock’s supergroup tradition alive and well with Swan Lake, featuring Dan Bejar (Destroyer, New Pornographers), Spencer Krugman (Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown) and Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes). With Beast Moans, the band has created an eerie album of catchy layerings, melodious screeches and striking drones. Loosely packaged around a consumable pop format, Beast Moans features unwinding tracks spilling insight into each member’s songwriting prowess. They all draw from numerous sonically diverse projects, but with Swan Lake these paths cross in a promising fashion." (from the web)

Click here to read a review of the album.

Click here to buy the album.

12. Melt Your Heart / Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins / Rabbit Furcoat

Nothing is ever as good as it was
And what's good for your soul
Will be bad on your nerves if you reverse it

It's bound to melt your heart
One way or another
It's bound to melt your heart
For good or for bad
It's like a valentine
From your mother
It's bound to melt your heart

And with those lyrics we’re entered into Melt Your Heart, a beautiful Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins song off the equally beautiful album, Rabbit Furcoat. Miss Lewis’s voice will melt your heart. It slides over your existence and coats you with a warm feeling of comfort. Fans and critics alike have lauded this album and many have named it as one of the best CDs of the year. Michelle and I debated about putting any of the album’s songs onto our year-end album, helloPortland 2006, because we felt so many people had already heard them. But in the end, as we were listening to hundreds upon hundreds of different songs, deciding what would make the final album and what wouldn’t, we just couldn’t keep Melt Your Heart off of the album. We hope it does the same for your heart as it has for ours.

Click here to visit the artist’s webpage.

Click here to read a reviews of the album Rabbit Furcoat.

Click here to buy the album.

13. Hunting For Witches / Bloc Party / A Weekend In The City

The British band Bloc Party strikes again. The new album, Weekend in the City, comes out February 6, 2007, but one of the songs from the album made it onto the helloPORTLAND 2006 compilation. Lucky you! The song, Hunting for Witches, begins, “I’m sitting on the porch of my house with a shotgun and a 6-pack of beer.” Could he be in Estacada? Or maybe Gresham? It’s definitely a possibility. This is an up-tempo song that just keeps driving the beat forward, moving you along in time and space as your heads bounces to the music. The, album, by the way, is pretty good. If you liked Bloc Party before, you’ll really enjoy Weekend in the City.

To read more about Bloc Party, click here.

To check out the Bloc Party website, click here.

To pre-order the album, click here.

14. Sicily / Youth Group / Casino Twilight Dogs

Hands down my (michelle) favorite album of the year. The toughest part about it, we've been listening to the newest set from this Austrailian band since July but we haven't yet seen the actual CD. It won't be released in the states until January 2007. I can't wait . . . You can bet, tearing off that celophane wrapper will feel like Christmas all over again. I honestly can't get enough of this band.

Go to Youth Group's own website from here.

If you can't wait, purchase the import (ships from Austrailia) here.

15. Jenny Again / Tunng / Comments of the Inner

"The half-breed form known as "folktronica" is a sort of musical cyborg that many have unsuccessfully tried to master, from Momus - who invented the term - to more recent exponents on the fringes of the nu-folk movement. The best of these is surely Tunng, who here have balanced the bricolage of glitchy clicks, electronic tones, typewriter taps and sampled sounds with a phantasmagorical, fairy-tale songwriting approach that accentuates the music's folksy roots." (from the web)

The song, Jenny Again, tells a tale about a lover who is so into Jenny that he kills his main competition (perhaps that competition is his best friend). It's intriguing in its mixture of sweet, beautiful music and brutal poetry. Do we love so much that we would kill (maybe even kill someone else that we also love)? I can’t answer that, but I can say that this song made me stop, listen, re-listen and listen again to the lyrics. It’s a beautiful sounding song and an interesting exploratory into what the human animal would do for love.

Click here to check out the Tunng website.

Click here to read a review of the Tunng album Comments of the Inner.

Click here to buy the album. Unfortunately this album isn't being sold in the USA yet, so you've got to pick up the import version if your itching to hear the whole album. Personally I think it’s a good album, but I don’t know if it’s a spend-import-type-extra-cash-on-it album. That’s just my I've-listened-to-the-whole-album two cents.

16. The Funeral / Band Of Horses / Everything All The Time

This is another Northwest band. Biased? Maybe. Deserved? Definitely. Earlier this year I was listening to a podcast of the NPR show All Song Considered (great show by the way) and the host, Bob Boilen, said that Portland was the hottest place in the country for new, great music. Brooklyn has a lot of new good music too and I would say the whole Northwest is hopp’in.

That being said, Band of Horses is a great band and Funeral is just one of many songs we could have chosen off the album Everything All the Time. This album made many peoples 2006 top ten lists. I highly recommend getting a hold of it, plugging yourself into some headphones and spending an hour letting the music take you away.

Click here to check out the Band of Horses website.

Click here to read more about Band of Horses.

Click here to read a review of the album.

Click here to buy the album.

17. Punkrocker / Teddybears (Feat. Iggy Pop) / Soft Machine

Fresh, funky with just a touch of punk and Iggy Pop singing "Cause I'm a punkrocker yes I am!" over addictive synth hooks. "Punkrocker" is the best thing Iggy has done in years. Teddybears have created Iggy's next big hit using his iconic, punk-god status to its full as his deep, earthy voice belts out the completely appropriate lyrics "I listen to the music with no fear. You can hear it too if you're sincere. Cause I'm a punkrocker yes I am." (from the web)

HELLO PORTLAND from sf via nyc

Sunday, December 17, 2006

This Year's Album - helloPORTLAND 2006

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