the toaster talks

2010: The List

2010-12-31T18:50:00.010-05:00

It's 3:08 a.m. on New Year's Eve

2010-12-31T03:09:00.007-05:00

and I believe we have it down to 100. I'll post tomorrow.

Thanks, peoples*, for your help. (Not you, John Roderick. Not you.)

*Principally: @bankbryan, @stgramophone, @jamestweeting, and the friends who chimed in on Facebook. All in all, about 25 of you gave me your recommendations and I hope I did well by all of you.

Gah

2010-12-31T02:00:00.003-05:00

Research continues. I forgot how horrifying this album cover is.

Existential crisis (thank you, John Roderick)

2010-12-30T20:05:00.004-05:00

This year's year-end list is under construction -- nearing completion. (Scattered applause)

But I just had an existential crisis at the hands of Long Winters frontman, John Roderick.

Mr. Roderick published his "Top 10 Reasons I Hate Year-End Top-Ten Lists," and OK, so dude is right. These things are all basically the same (Yes, we all think Arcade Fire and Kanye would be pretty even without their makeup). And, as he writes, ranking songs -- even from 100 to 1 -- "does not reflect the way we actually experience them."

Well, shit. Do I quit and end a tradition entering its 16th year? I could do that. But then this jumped out at me:

"Ranking things in order of how much you like them is a coping strategy of 9-year-old girls."

Sounds like me. So I'm back at work.

Toaster out.

The Best of 2009: Songs 100 to 1

2010-01-09T19:25:00.005-05:00

A little late, admittedly...but I wanted to fully process all of those 12/29 releases. Select downloads below.

100 >> Condo Fucks, “What’cha Gonna Do About It?”

99 >> Devendra Banhart, “Baby”

98 >> Ah Holly Fam'ly, “All Unfolding”

97 >> The Soundtrack of Our Lives, “Flipside”

96 >> Lily Allen, “The Fear”

95 >> The Flaming Lips (feat. Karen O), “Watching the Planets”

94 >> Speech Debelle, “Spinnin’”

93 >> Lou Barlow, “Too Much Freedom”

92 >> Erin McKeown, “The Foxes”

91 >> Annie, “I Don’t Like Your Band”

90 >> Art Brut, “Summer Job”

89 >> Kurt Vile, “My Best Friends (Don”t Even Pass)”

88 >> The Antlers, “Bear”

87 >> Patrick Watson, “Big Bird in a Small Cage”

86 >> Dent May, “26 Miles (Santa Catalina)”

85 >> Bob Mould, “I’m Sorry Baby, But You Can’t Stand in My Light Anymore”

84 >> Blame Ringo, “Garble Arch”

83 >> Liechtenstein, “Postcard”

82 >> White Rabbits, “Percussion Gun”

81 >> Here We Go Magic, “Fangala”

80 >> Marina & the Diamonds, “Mowgli’s Road”

79 >> Jail, “No Mindless Love”

78 >> Matt & Kim, “Daylight”

77 >> The Mountain Goats, “Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace”

76 >> Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, “Natural Light”

75 >> Burning Hearts, “I Lost My Colour Vision”

74 >> Ben Kweller, “Fight”

73 >> Dinosaur Jr., “I Want You to Know”

72 >> Monsters of Folk, “Say Please”

71 >> Andrew Bird, “Oh No”

70 >> The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, “Everything With You”

69 >> The Raveonettes, “Suicide”

68 >> Deer Tick, “Easy”

67 >> Wye Oak, “Take It In”

66 >> Wussy, “Muscle Cars”

65 >> M. Ward (feat. Zooey Deschanel), “Never Had Nobody Like You”

64 >> Cuddle Magic, “Expectations”

63 >> Handsome Furs, “I’m Confused”

62 >> Young Galaxy, “Destroyer”

61 >> Fruit Bats, “My Unusual Friend”

60 >> Immaculate Machine, “Sound the Alarms”

59 >> Neon Indian, “Deadbeat Summer”

58 >> Woods, “Get Back”

57 >> Regina Spektor, “Folding Chair”

56 >> Tegan and Sara, “Hell”

55 >> The Thermals, “Now We Can See”

54 >> Miike Snow, “Animal”

53 >> Lady GaGa, “Poker Face”

52 >> Surfer Blood, “Swim (To Reach the End)”

51 >> We Were Promised Jetpacks, “Roll Up Your Sleeves”

50 >> Daniel Johnston, “Mind Movies”

49 >> St. Vincent, “Actor Out of Work”

48 >> Crocodiles, “I Wanna Kill”

47 >> BOAT, “Name Tossers”

46 >> Vic Chesnutt, “Flirted With You All My Life”

45 >> God Help the Girl, “Come Monday Night”

44 >> Bishop Allen, “The Ancient Commonsense of Things”

43 >> Eels, “My Timing Is Off”

42 >> Ha Ha Tonka, “Close Every Valve to Your Bleeding Heart”

41 >> Camera Obscura, “My Maudlin Career”

40 >> Fanfarlo, “I’m a Pilot”

39 >> Southeast Engine, “Preparing for the Flood”

38 >> Telekinesis, “I Saw Lightning”

37 >> The Decemberists, “Annan Water”

36 >> Jay Reatard, “Wounded”

35 >> The Swell Season, “Feeling the Pull”

34 >> Lonely, Dear, “I Was Only Going Out”

33 >> Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, “Cardinal Rules”

32 >> J. Tillman, “Though I Have Wronged You”

31 >> The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, “Contender”

30 >> Girls, “Lust for Life”

29 >> Tegan and Sara, “The Ocean”

28 >> The Mountain Goats, “1 John 4:16”

27 >> Matt & Kim, “Good Ol’ Fashioned Nightmare”

26 >> Vetiver, “Everyday”

25 >> Dirty Projectors, “No Intention”

24 >> The Swell Season, “The Verb”

23 >> Wilco (feat. Feist), “You and I”

22 >> Arcade Fire, “Lenin”

21 >> Harlem Shakes, “Sunlight”

20 >> Neko Case, “I’m an Animal”

19 >> The Avett Brothers, “I and Love and You”

18 >> Cave Singers, “Beach House”

17 >> El Perro Del Mar, “Change of Heart”

16 >> Animal Collective, “My Girls”

15 >> Sharon Van Etten, “Much More Than That”

14 >> Phoenix, “Lisztomania”

13 >> Bowerbirds, “Northern Lights”

12 >> A.C. Newman , “There Are Maybe Ten or Twelve”

11 >> Cains and Abels, “My Life Is Easy”

10 >> Emmy the Great, “MIA”

9 >> The National, “So Far Around the Bend”

8 >> Bon Iver, “Blood Bank”

7 >> Andrew Bird, “Natural Disaster”

6 >> Grizzly Bear, “Two Weeks”

5 >> Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Hysteric”

4 >> The Antlers, “Two Weeks”

3 >> Neko Case, “People Got a Lot of Nerve”

2 >> Dirty Projectors and David Byrne, “Knotty Pine”

1 >> Phoenix, “1901"

Download the top 25:

Part 1 (No. 25 to 16): http://bit.ly/2009_25to16

Part 2 (Top 15): http://bit.ly/2009_top15

The links are good until 1/16. After downloaded and unzipped, drag+drop both folders into iTunes. Then sort by track number, which will display as a countdown (The #1 song will be listed as Track 25.)

Top Albums of 2008

2009-01-25T21:49:00.004-05:00

10 >> The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride
09 >> Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
08 >> Jay Reatard - Matador Singles '08
07 >> Beck - Modern Guilt
06 >> The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
05 >> Mates of State - Re-Arrange Us
04 >> TV on the Radio - Dear Science
03 >> Kathleen Edwards - Asking for Flowers
02 >> Okkervil River - The Stand-Ins
01 >> Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

The Best of 2008: Songs 100 to 1

2009-01-01T13:38:00.001-05:00

100 >> The Ruby Suns, "Oh, Mojave"
99 >> Marvelous Toy, "Waiting for the Fire"
98 >> Beau Jennings, "Tulsa Sound"
97 >> Kid Dakota, "Stars"
96 >> Nine Inch Nails, "1,000,000"
95 >> Breathe Owl Breathe, "Toboggan"
94 >> Joshua James, "The New Love Song"
93 >> Coldplay, "Violet Hill"
92 >> The Lodger, "The Good Old Days"
91 >> Tilly and the Wall, "Pot Kettle Black"
90 >> Beyonce, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"
89 >> Albert Hammond, Jr., "GFC"
88 >> TV on the Radio, "Family Tree"
87 >> Okkervil River, "On Tour With Zykos"
86 >> Conor Oberst, "Danny Callahan"
85 >> Mates of State, "The Re-Arranger"
84 >> School of Seven Bells, "Half Asleep"
83 >> Ezra Furman & The Harpoons, "We Should Fight"
82 >> Nada Surf, "I Like What You Say"
81 >> The Mountain Goats, "Lovecraft in Brooklyn"
80 >> Jay Reatard, "See Saw"
79 >> She & Him, "Sentimental Heart"
78 >> Of Montreal, "Id Engager"
77 >> Spiritualized, "Soul on Fire"
76 >> The Broken West, "Auctioneer"
75 >> The Rumble Strips, "Time"
74 >> The Dodos, "Fools"
73 >> Santogold, "L.E.S. Artistes"
72 >> Vampire Weekend, "M79"
71 >> The Ting Tings, "Keep Your Head"
70 >> Jennifer O'Connor, "Here With Me"
69 >> Islands, "The Arm"
68 >> Fleet Foxes, "He Doesn't Know Why"
67 >> Thao, "Beat (Health Life and Fire)"
66 >> Beck, "Gamma Ray"
65 >> The Very Most, "When Not Being Stupid Is Not Enough"
64 >> Girl Talk, "Still Here"
63 >> Noah and the Whale, "5 Years Time"
62 >> Hot Chip, "Ready for the Floor"
61 >> Cold War Kids, "Something Is Not Right With Me"
60 >> The Hold Steady, "Stay Positive"
59 >> Lindsey Buckingham, "Love Runs Deeper"
58 >> Death Cab for Cutie, "Bixby Canyon Bridge"
57 >> The Tallest Man in the World, "The Gardener"
56 >> David Byrne/Brian Eno, "Strange Overtones"
55 >> The Weepies, "All This Beauty"
54 >> Estelle (feat. Kanye West), "American Boy"
53 >> Fleet Foxes, "Mykonos"
52 >> Brian Wilson, "Midnight's Another Day"
51 >> The Magnetic Fields, "Drive On, Driver"
50 >> Sigur Ros, "Gobbledigook"
49 >> Kanye West, "Heartless"
48 >> Lykke Li, "Dance Dance Dance"
47 >> The Mae Shi, "Run to Your Grave"
46 >> Jenny Lewis (feat. Elvis Costello), "Carpetbaggers"
45 >> Kings of Leon, "I Want You"
44 >> Kathleen Edwards, "Buffalo"
43 >> Rihanna, "Disturbia"
42 >> Cut Copy, "Strangers in the Wind"
41 >> The Submarines, "The Wake Up Song"
40 >> Martha Wainwright, "Love Is a Stranger"
39 >> Los Campesinos!, "Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks"
38 >> Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!"
37 >> TV on the Radio, "Golden Age"
36 >> The Fireman, "Sing the Changes"
35 >> Gnarls Barkley, "Run"
34 >> Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, "Think I Wanna Die"
33 >> Beck, "Profanity Prayers"
32 >> Coldplay, "42"
31 >> The Mountain Goats, "Sax Rohmer #1"
30 >> Young Jeezy (feat. Nas), "My President"
29 >> Final Fantasy, "The Butcher"
28 >> The Broken West, "Perfect Games"
27 >> Cut Off Your Hands, "Happy as Can Be"
26 >> Vivian Girls, "Where Do You Run To"
25 >> Chairlift, "Bruises"
24 >> Nada Surf, "Weightless"
23 >> Chad VanGaalen, "Willow Tree"
22 >> Mates of State, "My Only Offer"
21 >> Lykke Li, "Little Bit"
20 >> She & Him, "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here"
19 >> Alphabeat, "Fascination"
18 >> Frightened Rabbit, "The Modern Leper"
17 >> Okkervil River, "Pop Lie"
16 >> R.E.M., "Living Well Is the Best Revenge"
15 >> The Mae Shi, "Lamb and the Lion"
14 >> Santogold, "Lights Out"
13 >> Fleet Foxes, "White Winter Hymnal"
12 >> Jay Reatard, "Always Wanting More"
11 >> Death Cab for Cutie, "Cath…"
10 >> TV on the Radio, "Halfway Home"
09 >> Kathleen Edwards, "Asking for Flowers"
08 >> Sun Kil Moon, "Harper Road"
07 >> Coldplay, "Viva la Vida"
06 >> The Hold Steady, "Constructive Summer"
05 >> Blitzen Trapper, "Furr"
04 >> The Submarines, "You, Me & the Bourgeoisie"
03 >> Fleet Foxes, "Ragged Wood"
02 >> Okkervil River, "Lost Coastlines"
01 >> Mates of State, "Get Better"

A Return (And the 2008 Toasties)

2008-12-31T18:20:00.000-05:00

Well, the ransom has finally been paid and Mister Toaster has safely returned to Toaster Talks, Blogosphere. Thanks for those who sent love notes and nail files during his extended absence.

On programming note: It is official. The Toaster Talks, due to residual laziness, will no longer be a weekly publication. Instead, we hope to post regular reviews and mixes on a not-so-weekly basis. Let's start with this year's Toasties (below). Next up is the Top 100 Songs of 2008 and the Top 10 Albums of 2008.

Toaster Odds and Ends Awards 2008

Best Band Name: Alphabeat

Worst Band Name: She & Him (sic)

Best Album Name: Albert Hammond, Jr., Como Te Llama?

Best Song Title: The Very Most, "When Not Being Stupid Is Not Enough"

Best Comeback From Oblivion: Lindsey Buckingham

Biggest Let-Down: Matthew Sweet

Best Follow-Up to Greatness: Okkervil River

Biggest Surprise Love: Fleet Foxes

Best Summer Song: The Hold Steady, "Constructive Summer"

Best Winter Song: TIE: Kathleen Edwards, "Buffalo" / Fleet Foxes, "White Winter Hymnal"

Best Attempt at Bringing Despair Down All Around Us: Death Cab for Cutie, 76-minute intro to "I Will Possess Your Heart"

Best Album to Get Blotto To: The Hold Steady, "Stay Positive" (I think this category was made for The Hold Steady)

Worst Moment by a Great Artist: The wearing sexual deviance on Of Montreal's Skeletal Lamping. (We get it, guys.)

Best Opening Act: Okkervil River (for The New Pornographers)

Incident/Artist That Yielded the Most Cases of Music Blogs Losing Our Respect: The inclusion of Bon Iver and MGMT on so many 2008 best-of lists when they were clearly around last year.

Biggest What-the-Fuck?: All the "Fuck"-named bands.

Biggest Where-the-Fuck-Have-They-Been? (or, They Released an Album in 2008?): Keane

Most Concise Song: Jay Reatard, "Always Wanting More"

Most Imitated: Feist

Most Anticipated Albums of 2008: A.C. Newman, Franz Ferdinanad, Andrew Bird, Bon Iver, The Decemberists, Doves, Neko Case, Condo Fucks

Worst Lyrics: Britney Spears, "Womanizer"

Best Lyrics We're Not Sure We Understand: Fleet Foxes, "White Winter Hymnal"

Best Live Show of 2007 (Witnessed by The Toaster Talks): Okkervil River / The New Pornographers, April 22, Beachland Ballroom

Best Marketing Concept: Nine Inch Nails, like Radiohead if they had released 85 albums and given away a lot of it for free

Worst Marketing Concept: The gross gold vomit on the Santogold record

Best Soundtrack: Slumdog Millionaire (thanks to the inclusion of M.I.A.)

Best Release from a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer: TIE: R.E.M., Accelerate / Brian Wilson, That Lucky Old Sun

Best Song That Scares the Shit out of Me: Still M.I.A., “Paper Planes," because it's still everywhere

Biggest Tragedy: Mister Toaster's kidnapping and subsequent period spent as bait for ransom.

The Andrew Bird Eerie-but-Damn-Catchy Award: Frightened Rabbit

NEW TOASTIES:

Worst Album Name: Beyonce, I Am...Sasha Fierce

Consistency of Quality Award: Beck

Most Successful Attempt to Reach Beatlesque Hugeness: Coldplay, Viva La Vida Or Death And All of His Friends

Best Song Co-opted by Apple: The Submarines, "You, Me and the Bourgeoisie"

Best Side Project: TIE: She & Him (M. Ward); The Fireman (Paul McCartney)

Most Topical: Young Jeezy (feat. Nas), "My President"

TOASTIES on hiatus (at least in 2008)

Worst Release Date
Best Release Date

A Closer Look at the Top 10

2008-01-08T17:38:00.000-05:00

Another year over.

Due to overwhelming demand, I'm posting a few of the top tracks from 2007's top 100 songs. The plan is to resume regularly scheduled programming next week.

No. 10
LCD Soundsystem, "All My Friends"

Many folks had this as their number 1 or 2 song of the year, and it's hard to disagree with the sheer awesomeness of the song. Still, if you know me, you know that any song longer than 4:30 starts to make me twitch. This is one of the rare exceptions where I can actually handle the length (not to mention the repetition) and still come out loving the song. A top 10 placement for a song this long is like my voting for a Republican. Sure, I knew it'd happen someday, but it would have to take something out of this world to get me to do it. "All My Friends" qualifies, with its incredible lyrics that hits everyone going through the quarter-life crisis as hard as a best friend's wedding (the wedding, not the movie).

No. 7
Iron & Wine, "Flightless Bird, American Mouth"

It's not a surprise that Sam Beam put out another great album. This track is one of the prettiest songs he's ever written, and it puts a beautiful cap on what came to be one of my favorite albums of the year.

No. 6
Patrick Wolf, "The Magic Position"

The magic in Patrick Wolf's 2007 release started to wear off a bit by the end of the year, I think in part due to the rise of Andrew Bird's album starting to win me over. Something about the two of them remind me of each other and so it's hard not to compare. But "The Magic Position" is one of the year's best tracks hands down, and I've never wavered on that. Right down to the happy ringing note at the end, it borders on perfection. Love songs this catchy or well written don't come around very often anymore, and I'm glad to see so many people take note when one did.

No. 5
Spoon - "The Underdog" - The only Jon Brion-produced song on Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, this song is directly responsible for my picking this album up. I've always enjoyed watching Spoon from afar, but something about "The Underdog" got me excited, probably because I have this problem where I view everything I do in an underdog-versus-establishment paradigm.

No. 2
Band of Horses - "The General Specific"

Band of Horses made the best album of the year in 2007, and it wasn't hard to pick my favorite song from the bunch (picking among the other songs was MUCH harder). This song has the whole kaboodle here - great harmonies, a melody that fucking soars, an simple, yet driving instrumentation and a little humor to boot. Only the Arcade Fire hit me harder last year with their No. 1 song, "Keep the Car Running."

The Best of 2007: Songs 100 to 1

2008-01-02T10:02:00.000-05:00

OK, finally. It's a little late, but I made it extra good to make up for it. That said, there are no links until next week. If you'd like to see a particular song posted, let me know and I'll get on it.

100 >> Tunng, "Take"
99 >> Okkervil River, "Plus Ones"
98 >> The National Lights, "Midwest Town"
97 >> Deerhoof, "The Perfect Me"
96 >> Windmill, "Plastic Pre-Flight Seats"
95 >> Rihanna, "Umbrella (feat. Jay-Z)"
94 >> The New Pornographers, "Myriad Harbour"
93 >> Dntel, "Roll On (feat. Jenny Lewis)"
92 >> They Might Be Giants, "The Mesopotamians"
91 >> St. Vincent, "Now Now"
90 >> Kanye West, "Stronger"
89 >> Jens Lekman, "The Opposite of Hallelujah"
88 >> Of Montreal, "A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger"
87 >> Pelle Carlberg, "I Love You, You Imbecile"
86 >> Chromeo, "Fancy Footwork"
85 >> The National, "Fake Empire"
84 >> The Shins, "Australia"
83 >> Voxtrot, "Introduction"
82 >> Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew, "TBTF"
81 >> The High Llamas, "The Old Spring Town"
80 >> Nina Nastasia & Jim White, "In the Evening"
79 >> Black Lips, "O Katrina!"
78 >> Iron & Wine, "Carousel"
77 >> Andrew Bird, "Fiery Crash"
76 >> Immaculate Machine, "Jarhand"
75 >> Bruce Springsteen, "Radio Nowhere"
74 >> Blonde Redhead, "23"
73 >> Basia Bulat, "The Pilgriming Vine"
72 >> Super Furry Animals, "Run-Away"
71 >> Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, "Sons of Cain"
70 >> Matt Pond PA, "Wild Girl"
69 >> New Buffalo, "Cheer Me Up Thank You"
68 >> The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, "Aspidistra"
67 >> Band of Horses, "No One's Gonna Love You"
66 >> Deer Tick, "Dirty Dishes"
65 >> Aqueduct, "As You Wish"
64 >> Bon Iver, "Re: Stacks"
63 >> Christine Fellows, "Nevertheless"
62 >> Beirut, "Elephant Gun"
61 >> The Fratellis, "Whistle for the Choir"
60 >> Wilco, "What Light"
59 >> Dinosaur Jr., "We're Not Alone"
58 >> Ryan Adams, "Everybody Knows"
57 >> Field Music, "In Context"
56 >> Maria Taylor, "Lost Time"
55 >> Patrick Wolf, "Bluebells"
54 >> Son Volt, "The Picture"
53 >> The 1900s, "When I Say Go"
52 >> The Shins, "Turn On Me"
51 >> Arctic Monkeys, "Flourescent Adolescent"
50 >> Southeast Engine, "Ostrich"
49 >> Dear and the Headlights, "It's Gettin' Easy"
48 >> Modest Mouse, "Dashboard"
47 >> The Sheds, "Reflection of the Sun"
46 >> The Thrills, "The Midnight Choir"
45 >> Okkervil River, "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe"
44 >> Let's French, "Genevese"
43 >> Justice, "D.A.N.C.E."
42 >> Moonbabies, "Take Me to the Ballroom"
41 >> LCD Soundsystem, "Watch the Tapes"
40 >> The National, "Start a War"
39 >> The Weakerthans, "Tournament of Hearts"
38 >> M.I.A., "Paper Planes"
37 >> Stars, "The Night Starts Here"
36 >> Immaculate Machine, "Dear Confessor"
35 >> Of Montreal, "Suffer for Fashion"
34 >> The Innocence Mission, "Into Brooklyn, Early in the Morning"
33 >> John Vanderslice, "White Dove"
32 >> The New Pornographers, "My Rights Versus Yours"
31 >> The Polyphonic Spree, "Section 22 (Running Away)"
30 >> Blitzen Trapper, "Wild Mountain Nation"
29 >> Kings of Leon, "Fans"
28 >> Seabear, "I Sing, I Swim"
27 >> Jens Lekman, "Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo"
26 >> Arcade Fire, "Intervention"
25 >> Beirut, "The Penalty"
24 >> Tegan and Sara, "Dark Come Soon"
23 >> Deer Tick, "Diamond Rings 2007"
22 >> MGMT, "Time to Pretend"
21 >> The Broken West, "Down in the Valley"
20 >> Band of Horses, "Is There a Ghost"
19 >> The National, "Mistaken for Strangers"
18 >> Bishop Allen, "Rain"
17 >> Feist, "1234"
16 >> Bowerbirds, "In Our Talons"
15 >> Art Brut, "Pump Up the Volume"
14 >> Tunng, "Bullets"
13 >> Andrew Bird, "Heretics"
12 >> Of Montreal, "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse"
11 >> The Weakerthans, "Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure"
10 >> LCD Soundsystem, "All My Friends"
09 >> The Fratellis, "Flathead"
08 >> The Shins, "Phantom Limb"
07 >> Iron & Wine, "Flightless Bird, American Mouth"
06 >> Patrick Wolf, "The Magic Position"
05 >> Spoon, "The Underdog"
04 >> The New Pornographers, "Challengers"
03 >> Christine Fellows, "The Spinster's Almanac"
02 >> Band of Horses, "The General Specific"
01 >> Arcade Fire, "Keep the Car Running"

Top Songs Snowed Out

2008-01-01T21:58:00.000-05:00

Dear readers,

A fitting end to 2007, I must say. The top 100 songs list is complete, but it is not where I am. I am snowed in at an apartment in Cleveland; it is in a house in a nearby suburb.

I promise to find a way to post the list tomorrow.

-Mr. T

10 Records You Should Buy With the Gift Card You Just Got

2007-12-25T16:55:00.000-05:00

Oh what fun it is to laugh and sing a Slayer song tonight.

Continuing in the year-end goodness, the Toaster Talks brings you on this lovely national holiday the first of its two lists. It's the lesser, to be sure. This one takes about an hour or so to crank out, whereas next week's Top 100 songs of the year list kicks my damn ass...still a dozen or so hours to go on that front. Until then, enjoy your Xmas and your Boxing Day (all you crazy Canadiens!) and I'll see you on the 1st.

A little on the methodology here: These are my ten favorite records of the year. It isn't necessarily the best or the most deserving of awards, although I'd like to think they are. There are no soundtracks, no reissues, no cover albums, no tributes and no box sets. And, due to a lost bet 17 years ago, I'm not allowed to include any Jethro Tull. It gets tougher every year...

MY TOP TEN ALBUMS OF 2007

10. Southeast Engine – A Wheel Within a Wheel

For me, this is the biggest surprise of the year. And I’m sure it is for you, because I’m pretty sure 95% of you have never heard of these guys. Well, they’re from Athens, Ohio, and I wrote a little a few weeks back. I am biased here, as I’m very familiar with their work. The more I listen to Wheel Within a Wheel, though, the more I’m convinced it stands up to the best albums of the year pretty well. Its two closest competitors in their genre – Ryan Adams and Wilco – pale in comparison to this refreshingly honest material from a truly gifted songwriter and a bunch of guys who could have easily been just support. Instead, the arrangements are inventive and interesting. All in all, it’s a record that hasn’t stopped growing on me. Compared to the rest of the list, these guys might be obscure, but I have a feeling they won’t be for long.

9. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver

I was pretty much sold completely on my first listen to “North American Scum” and haven’t looked back. Some of the longer numbers – “All My Friends” and “Someone Great,” in particular, are making me reconsider my general distaste for what I deem to be unnecessarily long songs. For others, this could easily be the best album of the year, but considering most of what LCD Soundsystem does isn’t really up my alley, a No. 9 spot says a lot about how good this one is.

8. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible

Funeral probably changed how I will view modern music. So in my eyes, at least, Arcade Fire were destined to disappoint. Neon Bible is a somewhat hodgepodge collection of dark, vaguely seditious songs that doesn’t resonate with me the way it intends to (or the way it does for so many others who have them topping out their lists). Still, upon revisiting the record, I still find it very, very good – a follow-up effort that just shouldn’t be compared to its predecessor. (It’d be like panning Magical Mystery Tour because it’s not as complete and life-changing as Sergeant Peppper…).

7. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

I’ll admit that I resisted this one and its critical acclaim. I just didn’t think Spoon had this in them. Sure, I enjoyed “The Underdog,” but something about the bandwagon that sped off from the starting gate irked me – not to mention the misspelled song titles or the album name itself. But I kept popping it in my car stereo on many of the long drives that filled my fall and winter. I realized the change in me in September when I found myself really enjoying “The Ghost of You Lingers” and the stereo dynamic that is almost breathtaking in the car (I initially hated it in my headphones.). There’s no question – Spoon has made a fantastic album with this one.

6. The New Pornographers – Challengers

Many of us – myself included – were really counting on the New Pornographers to give the summer’s pop scene a kick in the mouth. You know, more smart power-pop from the folks who have done it so well since Mass Romantic.

What we got instead was much more an indication that The New Pornographers had outgrown their nascent sound and frontman Carl Newman was trying hard to branch out. There are new lead singers (Immaculate Machine’s Kathryn Calder) and a seemingly conscious conservation of Dan Bejar and Neko Case (the latter gets only two leads on the album).

As a whole, Challengers feels disjointed, a mix of would-be solo Newman songs, a few new Pornographers standards and a third batch of songs that almost deserve to be assigned to a third nom de plume. (The best example of this is the 6-minute “Unguided,” which is probably one of the most intelligently crafted songs of 2007.) Still, the album proved itself to be the grower of the year, due to Newman’s pop sensibilities and the raw talent that this band has on hand.

5. Iron & Wine – The Shepherd’s Dog

Much like Challengers, The Shepherd’s Dog is an evolutionary album. Sam Beam finally gave in to the full-band sound, and what a relief! Before The Shepherd’s Dog, I had never been able to listen to a full-length Iron & Wine release without taking a break.

It had to be done. Since teaming up with Calexico in 2005 to make In the Reins, the intimate vocals and sparse (but secretly complex) arrangements that had come to characterize the Iron & Wine catalog no longer satisfied as it used to. It’s hard not to think that it would have been far easier for Beam to continue down the path toward Nick Drake-like mystique. But the urge to play around with his sound clearly got the best of him.

This couldn’t be more evident than on “Carousel,” a disarming track that puts Beam’s vocal through what sounds something like a Leslie Cabinet. In the end, the experimentation is refreshing but it’s the sheer beauty of moments like “Flightless Bird, American Mouth” that make this album a must-own.

4. Jens Lekman – Night Falls Over Kortedala

At the very least, this album deserves credit for finally settling the nagging pronunciation issue. It’s Yens. Thank you.

This album is baroque pop at its ripest. Lekman steps up to the plate with his cute, clever Swedish singer-songwriter shtick and hits an absolute home run. Songs like “Postcard to Nina” and “Your Arms Around Me” show that he is one of the best indie storytellers out there. Night Falls Over Kortedala is the kind of album that is good and consistent enough that the listener never really thinks that Lekman could be capable of producing anything less. It’s why it’s one of the last albums I remember when trying to piece together my “Best of” list; it doesn’t play like a masterpiece, perhaps because it doesn’t need to.

3. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?

I’ve never been a huge Of Montreal fan, but they certainly have my attention now.

Hissing Fauna…? isn’t just a great album, it’s also managed to get mentioned in the same breaths as stunning concept albums that have left the rock world struggling to figure out what the fuck just happened. Perhaps the best comparison is Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral, which saw a respectable and risky artist put everything on the line in the name of making a strong statement. Hissing Fauna…? is a bit more subtle (how could it not be?) and perhaps a little lighter on the self-hatred in its tales of drug use, depression and longing. And while this album isn’t an instant classic, due mostly to a slight weakness in its later tracks, its ambition is hard to deny.

For me, I always got hung up on the 12-minute “The Past Is a Grotesque Animal,” finding its repetition and length a bit obnoxious. Then one day this fall it clicked. And all of a sudden the song stuck, finally landing (at least in my mind) the triple axel it attempts.

And then it was decided – “This is a fucking fantastic record.” Because I apparently am the decider.

2. The National – Boxer

This was my far-and-away front-runner favorite album released this year up until about two months ago (not long after Cease to Begin was released, and I finally turned the corner on the Of Montreal album). In a way its greatness was due to its role as a utility infielder for my soundtracking needs. I could throw Boxer on no matter the situation. I first discovered this in the car, realizing it was a great driving record. Then I put it on in the apartment on one night before a party and found it had night-starting qualities too.

Bryan Devendorf’s drumwork drives this album. Sure, the songwriting has merits of its own, but the lyrics take on a necessary subtlety under the stark, popping rhythms. Matt Berninger’s signature drone puts his vocals into a much different category (something more along the lines of Crash Test Dummies, perhaps) without the dark-city-on-a-late-night backing arrangement. But without Berninger’s songstylings, the result would uninviting – an exercise in depicting cold isolation, perhaps. Instead, we get an album that, if you let it, will pump your blood for you.

1. Band of Horses – Cease to Begin

While last year’s Everything All the Time catapulted Band of Horses straight into indie hearts everywhere, I always found the album to be a bit uneven. Don’t get me wrong – it’s a great album (and an outstanding debut at that) but it didn’t sound like a complete work to me the way that Best Albums of the Year do.

Cease to Begin does. And it’s evidenced by the fact that there aren’t any masterpiece tracks like last year’s “Funeral” and “Great Salt Lake” on this album. And yet each track takes me in and propels itself along in a way that doesn’t just make the album feel whole; it makes it feel brief. For a band that put me in a trance that could have lasted hours in concert, this is no small feat.

There’s no question Cease to Begin gets an A on the Toaster grading scale. Still, I’m always nervous when there is no heir apparent album of the year. And I’m left for weeks second-thinking my choice. This year will be one of those years, I’m afraid, as the #2 and #3 albums could both have easily stolen the throne.

The 2nd Annual Toasties!

2007-12-18T18:11:00.000-05:00

Holy cow! It's that time of the year again - the time we music bloggers get on our pedastals and tell the world just how it did this year. It's time for lists galore and endless mentions of how Earth-shattering that damn Panda Bear release was...

Save for a few missteps, 2007 is turning out to be a pretty damn good year in the music folder anyway. So, without further ado, I give you this year's Toasties, the music world's barely coveted superlatives. (There will be no mp3 posts this week.)

Toaster Odds and Ends Awards 2007

Best Band Name: I’m From Barcelona

Worst Band Name: Shout Out Out Out Out

Best Album Name: A Hawk and a Handsaw, A Hawk and a Hacksaw and the Hun Hangar Ensemble

Best Song Title: Des Ark, "If by 'Gay' You Mean 'Totally Freaking Awesome,' Then Yeah, I Guess It's Pretty Gay"

Best Comeback From Oblivion: Dinosaur, Jr.

Biggest Let-Down: Rilo Kiley (bailing out a sadly mediocre Voxtrot)

Best Follow-Up to Greatness: Band of Horses

Biggest Surprise Love: Of Montreal

Best Summer Song: Spoon, “The Underdog”

Best Winter Song: The Shins, “A Comet Appears”

Best Attempt at Bringing Despair Down All Around Us: Of Montreal, “The Past Is a Grotesque Animal”

Best Album to Get Blotto To: LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver

Worst Moment by a Great Band: The first and second halves of Under the Blacklight

Best Opening Act: The Bowerbirds, for The Mountain Goats

Artist That Yielded the Most Cases of Music Blogs Losing Our Respect: Seriously, still Lavender Diamond

Biggest What-the-Fuck?: Rilo Kiley

Biggest Where-the-Fuck-Have-They-Been? (or, They Released an Album in 2007?): Travis

Most Concise Song: Tegan and Sara, “Soil, Soil"

Most Imitated: Belle and Sebastian

Worst Release Date: July 7, 2007 - The Smashing Pumpkins

Best Release Date: July 10, 2007 – Interpol, Spoon, They Might Be Giants - like a normal American band, damn it

Most Anticipated Albums of 2007: The Mountain Goats, Nada Surf, Kathleen Edwards

Worst Lyrics: Rilo Kiley, “15”

Best Lyrics We're Not Sure We Understand: “Flightless Bird, American Mouth”

Best Live Show of 2007 (Witnessed by The Toaster Talks): The Swell Season, July 26, 9:30 Club

NEW TOASTIES:

Best Marketing Concept: Radiohead, obvs (thank God I didn’t have to pick Paul McCartney's teaming up with Sbux)

Worst Marketing Concept: The Eagles' release available exclusively at Wal-Mart

Best Soundtrack: Juno

Best Release from a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer: Bruce Springsteen, Magic

Best Song That Scares the Shit out of Me: M.I.A., “Paper Planes”

Biggest Tragedy: Indefinite hiatus of Let’s French

The Andrew Bird Eerie-but-Damn-Catchy Award: Patrick Wolf

Winter in a Car

2007-12-11T19:09:00.000-05:00

>> Featured Artist: Beirut

I'm going to be completely honest - after two songs, I get a little sick of the Beirut sound. I can't really make it through a listen of an entire Beirut album unless it's there to soundtrack my Sunday morning chores. I think it's his voice or those precious carnival-like arrangements. Something is just a little too much.

Still, each song taken on its own - out of its album context, I admit - really gets my musical senses going. His newest album The Flying Club Cup is chock full of these buggers, and my personal favorite right now is "The Penalty." (And not just because New Jersey is about to do away with one of its.)

>> Album Lookout: A Wheel Within a Wheel

Southeast Engine - Released: October 16, 2007 Misra

Southeast Engine is a band that is near and dear to my life - and not just because they hail from Athens, Ohio. No the connections run even deeper. They headlined an Elliott Smith tribute show I organized, and their guitar player produced half of my band's first album. So it's hard for me to conceptualize that these guys are on their way to the toppermost of the poppermost. But it's almost as hard for me to think of a band that deserves this recognition more.

For the record, they're not quite there yet. But their trajectory is a very distinct ascent and I wouldn't be surprised if A Wheel Within a Wheel, which displays songwriter Adam Remnant's honest-everyman's lyrics in the context of musical urgency. It could be the weight of the subject matter - much of the album plays as a straightforward conversation about religion and Remnant's progression toward/away from the light. I'd like to say I've witnessed his songwriting mature over the years, but the truth is the material has never really been anything but. If anything, the songs on Wheel are fascinating in that it appears he mostly threw out the verse-chorus-verse formula for a much more progressive song structure, often leading to very short songs. It's clear that this album isn't intended to be taken individually; they're works in a whole.

But enough about Remnant; don't frontmen get enough attention? The guitar layering on this album and the intensity of Leo DeLuca's drumming make it a good listen with or without lyrical content (and I'm not really an instrumental guy). And though I decided it'd be tough to take one song and point to it as representative of what makes the album great, I'm going to do it anyway.

Take a listen to "We Have You Surrounded" and see why a Paste writer listed this album as the second best of the year.

>> Reverting to: Tonight

No reverting back to tonight. Instead, I'm going opine briefly on my latest obsession - Chicago Public Radio and its never-ending source of brilliant podcasts! Maybe it's just me, being trapped in a car a ton lately, but if you haven't subscribed to This American Life or Sound Opinions yet, you need to start doing so now. It's free. There's no excuse.

On that note, the guys over at Sound Opinions seem really down on the much-hyped Feist. Admittedly I'm not familiar with a whole bunch of her work. Sure, we all know the iTunes tune - "1234" - but is she really a corporate-sponsored force destined to send indie rock to its breathy demise? I don't know.

A little housekeeping: this concludes the Toaster's regular content for the year. The next three weeks will feature the year's awards - superlatives (next week), best albums (Xmas!) and the annual Top 100 songs of 2007 (Jan. 1).

Still Catching Up (yeah...)

2007-12-04T19:05:00.000-05:00

>> Featured Artist: Nellie McKay

Oh, Nellie McKay. You're practically oozing with...whatever good things ooze out of musicians. Now that she's put that run-in with her former record label behind her, she sure does seem to have gotten productive. Sure, she has a charts-worthy voice. Sure, she's funny. But what keeps me coming back is the sedition in her lyrics.

For Christmas, she had so many targets available to her. So naturally she decided to take on the Christmas tree industry (and thank our Christian God she calls them "Christmas trees"). In "A Christmas Dirge" she doesn't just plead to stop the cutting down of evergreens with lines like "please don't sap her veins, but let them sing," she also issues the fun reminder that "death is no requirement for your happiness." (Speak for yourself, Nellie.)

And the best part about it is that she allows you all to donate to the cause. All proceeds go to The Nellie McKay Disaster Fund or, more accurately, the voluntary donations "will go directly into Nellie McKay's bank account."

>> Album Lookout: The Stage Names

Okkervil River - Released: August 7, 2007 Jagjaguwar

Brother Aarby first discovered these guys from his lair on the Left Coast, and I gave him credit then for being onto something good. There's really no reason why I didn't get around to picking up the new album until now other than I'm a very busy man.

I'd say it was well worth the wait, but that doesn't really make sense (because the wait didn't make the music better, right?).

"Our Life Is Not a Movie Or Mayb e" is already on a rapid ascent on the list of my favorite songs of the year. It has everything you want from an indie rock band - clever lyrics, sharp hooks and a level of intensity that allows us all to feel like we're listening to something relevant. With those criteria, Okkervil River hits it out of the park. They're catchy, but not overly so. And every time it feels like they could really amp one up and turn into a Jimmy Eat World sound-alike, they choose a less predictable course. And in that way, their hooks are equally deadly.

Prediction: This one will make a lot of end-of-the-year lists.

>> Reverting to: 1996

At least I can be up-to-date when it comes to out-of-date bands reuniting for no reason other than to pad their retirement portfolios. Of course, to be fair, this "band" never really ventured outside of that mindset when they were relevant.

The Spice Girls reunion mostly just makes me shrug. It's not that I don't care they're reuniting; trust me, I always care about things like this. It's just that I know it won't affect my life in any way whatsoever. And while I'm glad that the Spices are once again exploiting vague notions of feminism and "coining" phrases like "Girl Power," I'm just not as into it this time around. That said, it doesn't make "Say You'll Be There" any less goddamn catchy.

Meet Mir(anda): Part II

2007-11-27T17:44:00.000-05:00

>> Featured Artist: The Hives

Perhaps the least expected choice Mir(anda) made was taking a song from Tyrannasaurus Hives. I must admit I've never really followed the Hives. Nor have I ever felt compelled to listen to them. You'd imagine my surprise as I ran home to Google lyrics from a song I heard while waiting to get my hair cut. The Hives?! Sounded more like Screamin' Jay Hawkins to me (check out "I Put a Spell on You" - not on Mir(anda)).

Once the immediate panic subsided I decided to find the song and tuck it away in a folder to be revisited on a more sober location (for the record I hadn't been drinking, but I had just had a number done on my stylish locks - and I was also ripped from a whipped cream charger). Revisiting "Diabolic Scheme" took a few weeks, but I still found the whole tune strangely compelling. I found it gave Mir(anda) a much-needed lift in her middle parts, which were starting to grow a bit saggy.

>> Album Lookout: Because of the Times

Kings of Leon - Released: April 3, 2007 RCA Records

The Toaster has a soft spot for Kings of Leon. Every since its rough-and-dirty hit "Wasted Time" found its way into our lives, I've pretty much at least mildly enjoyed everything I've heard from these Nashville guys. I was a bit unnerved though that I had completely overlooked their new album, which came out in APRIL!

So I made up for it by giving "Fans," a non-single from the album a prominent spot in the No. 2 position on Mir(anda). What a fun song to feel rough and dirty to!

>> Reverting to: 1971

How can you have a fall mix without a Bob Dylan song? Mir(anda) dug deep and found "You Ain't Going Nowhere" (which features the Band accompanying the Dyl). The song was first found on a 1968 bootleg called The Great White Wonder, but it didn't see the legal light of day until Dylan put out his second Greatest Hits volume in '71. (They later co-released the song in 1975 with a beefed up version of the '68 bootleg called The Basement Tapes). Beyond the neat history to this tune, it's just a nice, fun-lovin' way to kick off a car ride - or a mix, in this case.

Meet Mir(anda): Part I

2007-11-20T11:48:00.000-05:00

>> Featured Artist: Kimya Dawson

I got a very special sneak peak at FOX Searchlight's big indie end-of-the-year release Juno last week, and I must say that all the hype is pretty well-deserved. And the film chooses to center a large portion of the soundtrack around the songstylings of Kimya Dawson and the Moldy Peaches. I didn't really care for the Peaches when they first emerged, but all that Kimya sure did get my attention (and a good chunk of spending on iTunes the next day). Here's the track that Mir(anda) chose: "I Like Giants." It's lighthearted and fun - two descriptors that could never be applied to "12/26" (a track I downloaded because it was seemingly named for my birthday - in actuality, it's named for the day that the 2004 tsunami killed thousands and thousands of people). Also, "XXX," a track featured at least twice in the film, is also near and dear to the heart for lyrical reasons.

>> Album Lookout: Nevertheless

Christine Fellows - Released (in Canada, yuck): November 6, 2007 Six Shooter

Anyone who has read the Toaster Talks since last fall knows of my probably unhealthy obsession for Christine Fellows. You might imagine that the release of her latest album would have me all a-twitter, and you'd be right. What's sad is that the album is only available in Canada right now, and even attempts to buy it via the Canadian Amazon proved that it'd be about $30. Not even iTunes has it for download. (This is a crime, and I suggest terrorists might be behind it).

So I only have a few tracks to tide me over until the tariff is finally lifted and I can enjoy Nevertheless in its entirety. That said, "The Spinster's Almanac" is an instant Fellows classic. I simply cannot get enough.

>> Reverting to: 1969

I got a big kick out of seeing The Darjeeling Limited end with this classic French pop song. The song for me, due to its omnipresence in my high school French classes, harkens back to a time when I believed Wes Anderson's works were flawless. So the pairing worked well. And now I'm eight years older; "Les Champs Elysée" is back in my life; and Wes Anderson has made another very good movie (a much-needed recovery after The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou). And if we can just return a Democrat to the White House, all may be right with the world after all.

More Catching Up

2007-11-13T17:20:00.000-05:00

>> Featured Artist: Jimmy Eat World

Very little appeals to me about a new Jimmy Eat World album. Futures never really grabbed me the way that Bleed American or earlier works had. And for some reason it's also left me feeling unexcited about anything forthcoming.

Clearly this is a band that can ooze talent and hooks on demand. It can scream emo or it can rock you straight. It can write songs that grab you and sit you down until the fade. But can it every do all of this well again?

Reviews are mixed on Chase This Light, the band's latest foray into rawking and feeling, etc. I'll sum up what I've read: Butch Vig produced it, so it's too glossy and too big-and-important sounding. It fails mostly, though, in that there's nothing adventurous really going on here. "Formulaic" - if not uninspired - is a word that seems to floating around a lot.

So now I'm really not all that excited. And the new single, "Big Casino" just kind of reinforces all of that (Though I was a bit into it when I heard it at a bar last night, but I think that's because it followed something awful). "Carry You" sounds like something off of Bleed American, which should be a great thing to say. But I guess I'm just not the same person (or, more accurately, age) I was when that album really moved me. Maybe it's me (it's never me).

>> Album Lookout: Hey Venus!
Super Furry Animals - Released: August 27, 2007 Rough Trade

Cue up the Wall of Sound, it's time for some Super Furry Animals. This is a band I've always liked from afar but whose appeal never last enough to actually make me buy an album. I came closest with 2003's Phantom Power. Somehow, after six or seven listens, it all starts to sound the same, and their efforts to sell me have all been cruelly thwarted.

I'm still open, however, to the prospect of picking this one up. "Run-Away" is a very catchy song, even if it does remind me a lot of later Pulp - and, for that matter, of everything else this band has ever done. But our music critic buddies are always so happy about everything they do, so we'll do a little more digging into what Hey Venus! has to offer.

>> Reverting to: 1992

Finally a shout-out to R.E.M., well deserved members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2007. I still remember "Stand" as the song I played over and over from the first mix tape I ever got (from my dad). In fact, a LOT of songs from that mix have ended up on the Toaster. As one of my friends put it, it's like those were the only songs the radio played back in those days. This isn't one of them, but it's one of my favorites from that era: "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite."

Cease to Be Dan

2007-10-30T23:03:00.000-04:00

>> Featured Artist: Kanye West

So we've never posted on something so mainstream. So we've never posted on a "hip hop" artist. Kanye is undeniable. He fucking sampled Steely Dan ("Champions"). Wait, you're kidding? He sampled Steely Dan?!

Old news, of course (we've been away...). Mister Toaster is really enjoying the new album - courtesy of car rides with DJ Bry. And here's that song that samples that "Grammy Award-winning American jazz rock band."

>> Album Lookout: Cease to Begin
Band of Horses - Released: October 9, 2007 Sub Pop

Well, we're so behind, we may have missed one of the best albums of the year. Release on John Lennon's birthday, it really couldn't miss, right? Not that it had anything to do with Beatle John. (Seriously, this got released two days after my friend Aaron's birthday. I sent him two other albums instead. I would have most definitely included Cease to Begin among them, if I had known).

This album doesn't mess around. It goes right after you with "Is There a Ghost." And it doesn't stop. There are no filler tracks, or anything that could be considered less than interesting. For a band that just hit my radar last fall/winter, this is remarkable.

With the album's Brian Wilson melodies (and vocals) and the aggressive song structure, it's hard not to think that something is being accomplished here. Look for this on the Top Albums of the Year list.

>> Reverting to: 1976

This would be the song Kanye sampled: "Kid Charlemagne." Wow, gotsta love the Becker-Fagen.

Catching Up

2007-10-23T22:18:00.000-04:00

Well, that sucked. (No, that really was a great season.) Anyway...we've missed so much.

>> Featured Artist: Jens Lekman

A Slate writer called Jens Lekman the greatest Swedish musical export, which says a lot, given Slate's fixation with ABBA.

Not only did we miss the release of Jens' latest full-length in all this baseball hubbub, but we also have failed to properly prepare for his upcoming Black Cat show. A friend of mine - the friend who bought the tickets - is going to proposition Mr. Lekman to play at wedding. There are few thousand bucks on the table, I'm told.

What's to be said about Jens Lekman, other than that I think he's so incredibly overlooked - and yet so incredibly overrated. I mean, this is Jens Lekman. Everything about his music is about a lack of pretension and refrain from overthought. (As you see in the Slate article, there are some folks who seem to be hoping he's the next coming of Christ/Lennon.) His music's greatness is based on the fact that it resembles something pure, I guess, if purity is something attainable through sampling and simplistic, straightfoward, honest lyrics.

There's something indescribably great about Jens - something that make

See here: "The Opposite of Hallelujah," a cut of the new album. I'm just hoping his live show lives up to the promises of his studio productions.

>> Album Lookout: Reunion Tour
The Weakerthans - Released: September 25, 2007 Epitaph

It has rarely occurred to me that the Weakerthans have become one of my favorite bands. And, to their credit, this has built entirely in the four-plus years since Reconstruction Site was released, never overly concerned about when the next material was coming out.

Well, while no one was paying attention, Canada's John K. Samson and Co. released their follow-up, the solid Reunion Tour. I've had the benefit of spending a few car rides taking this album in. Every time, "Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure" chokes me up a bit, which seems silly until you realize that Samson's songwriting taps into emotions and the everday importances that make our lives matter. Virtute the Cat, who was also featured in the first person on the last album (and whom I always read as "Virtue"), represents the perfect subject to illuminate the Weakerthans' songwriting prowess - emotion from an unlikely source. For a more typical Weakerthans song, though, check out "Night Windows."

Luckily, I'm also seeing this band in concert this Sunday at the 9:30 Club. Honestly, having seen them twice before (once, all by my lonesome on Oberlin College's campus), I can't wait.

>> Reverting to: 1984

I spent a little time on the road over the past two weeks (a LOT of time) and I ended up relistening to a lot of great music I haven't listened to in years. Bruce's greatest hits was one of those discs. "Born in the U.S.A." (video) sounds better every time I hear it.

Special Edition: Toast-tober Baseball (Part II)

2007-10-09T22:05:00.000-04:00

Well, we made it a second week. I admit that I was worried about playing the Yankees in the first round. I guess all that national hype got to me. But, alas, we outpitched them and our offense was scrappy and clutch - taking advantage of mistakes and capitalizing on opportunities. Carmona was incredible; Byrd was a journeyman; etc., etc.

And also Joba Chamberlain can't handle the midges.

Fionn Regan - Be Good Or Be Gone

The series before us will prove to be more difficult. It's hard to argue the Red Sox are overrated. I mean, they paid for what they have, but what they have is something special. Beckett has been at his pinnacle nearly all season; Schilling and Wakefield are pros; and Daisuke is overrated and overpaid (hey, I said worse about Melky Cabrera just before he gunned someone out at home and homered in Game 2). And that's just their starting rotation - not to mention their bullpen or Jon Lester. Or their hitting.

Tears for Fears - Break It Down Again

Yeah, the Red Sox are going to be tough. But not unbeatable. After all, the Indians have two Greek gods going in Games 1 and 2 (and 5 and 6, should we get there) and if the Red Sox are going to get by us, they have to get by them. If they do that, well, they will have earned a trip to the World Series.

If I'm the Red Sox, I wouldn't be bidding on World Series tickets just yet. The Tribe is now officially the hottest team in baseball's second half and postseason (with the possible exception of the Rockies). Their pitching is perhaps the best in the bigs (although the Sox have a superior closer) and their lineup has depth that most teams would dream for. Still, it's a young team and anything can happen.

But, frankly, I'd like to think the Indians just plain deserve it more.

OK Go - This Will Be Our Year

So here goes nothing. Let's hope the Tribe can pull four out against these Beantown boys. Next week, I'll be in Cleveland for Game 4, so I won't be blogging again until the ALCS is over. Here's to a Part III.

Special Edition: Toast-tober Baseball (Part I)

2007-10-02T19:56:00.000-04:00

It's official. My Cleveland Indians are heading to the playoffs for the first time in six years, attempting in the end to bring home a championship for the first time in 59.

In honor of the moment - and as long as the moment continues - The Toaster Talks is going to commemorate the fight in blog song.

First up is the Yankees in a short series. The Yanks scare the bejesus out of me in general - not because of how good they are, but simply because there seems to be a prevailing evil that arrives and ensures that its beloved pinstriped team goes all the way.

Mark Mothersbaugh - We Call Them Pirates Out Here

On paper, there is no question New York is the best team in the league. I mean, they paid for it, right? On the field, it's a bit more mixed. The Indians bested the Yankees record by two games and were even hotter than the sports writers' "hottest team in baseball" in the last 45 days of the season (five games better, in fact). But the Yankees won each and every time the two teams played this season. Yikes.

Eels - Losing Streak

They say the playoffs come down to pitching. That's good, because I'm not sure the Indians offense at its best is even in the same league as the Yankees best O. But if pitching wins championships, the Indians have a mighty good shot. They have two of the five best pitchers in the league going in Games 1 and 2. If they can hold their own and the Indians offense can produce, this series is the Tribe's to lose.

The Lovin' Spoonful - Do You Believe in Magic

Without a doubt the tone will be set by Game 1, with C.C. Sabathia - the man who should win the Cy Young Award - on the mound. If he pitches a gem (which he almost always does) AND if the Indians can get to Wang (which seems highly possible)...well, I'm not going to speculate. These are big ifs for October baseball. Either way, I'll be on hand to witness it.

The Mountain Goats - Going to Cleveland (thanks for the track, DW; sorry for the droning intro, folks)

The sports writers seem to think this is a pretty well-matched series. Still, most of them are giving the edge to the Yankees, mostly because they are the Yankees and I'm pretty sure it's already been decided that the Yankees must make it to the World Series.

The New Pornographers - Challengers

So I'm going to sit down tonight for my usual routine - a hopeful, brings-tears-to-the-eyes viewing of Major League. (Just the opening credits can give me goose bumps).

Randy Newman - Burn On

I don't make predictions, but I haven't felt this good about a baseball team I rooted for since the mid-'90s. As they say back in Cleveburg, it's Tribe time now.

God bless America.

On strike

2007-09-26T07:18:00.001-04:00

The Toaster Talks staff is on strike, demanding longer lunch breaks and a coffee machine that makes hot chocolate, too.

The negotiations are under way, and we expect to be back next week at our regularly scheduled time.

Until then: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co5DZl50OeQ

Iron and Wine Kind of Smells Like Fall

2007-09-18T10:44:00.000-04:00

>> Featured Artist: Pelle Carlberg

This Swedish songwriter Pelle Carlberg has apparently been tooling around in pop bands since the late '80s. Breaking solo in 2005, he seems to dwell in the pleasant-pop genre that been home to artists like Belle and Sebastian and, well, nearly all of the every other Scandinavian indie artists on the market.

Still, Carlberg has managed to bring something new to the table. His lyrics are well-written, even if they dance in and around theses and topics that have been explored time and time again. His music is part Beatles, part Beulah (even though Beulah is also certainly part Beatles).

"Clever Girls Like Clever Boys Much More Than Clever Boys Like Clever Girls" - easily the longest title of a song ever featued on the Toaster - is a cut reminiscent of the aformentioned Scottish indie pop outfit, from the diction to the way the dominant melody is much more complex than it seems - refusing to repeat three or four lines at a time. The track itself is more complex than comes across, building with layers that are not immediately heard.

Another interesting cut from Sweden, it would seem...

>> Album Lookout: The Shepherd's Dog
Iron and Wine - Due Out: September 25, 2007 Sub Pop

It's hard to write about Iron and Wine without a sense of awe. Everything Sam Beam does reeks of perfection and mystery. With next week's release of The Shepherd's Dog, Beam also now appears to be borderline compulsive in his output pace.

Since I caught the late show of Iron and Wine with Calexico last year, I've been high on expectations for whatever comes next. And, just as a true fan should be, I'm scared of being disappointed. After the Decemberists' Crane Wife and Rilo Kiley's Under the Blacklight (the latter, by the way, is far worse, but the Decemberists' follow-up to Picaresque might be the bigger buzzkill in my book), it's hard not to be a little wary of future output.

Apparently Sam Beam isn't scared. And, if "Boy With a Coin" is to believed, Beam and co. don't disappoint.

>> Reverting to: 1970

Admittedly, I'm a little light in my knowledge of "the greatest Irish songwriter" (as Glen Hansard put it at the Swell Season show last month). But this song, "Into the Mystic," which also happens to have been played during the Swell Season's encore, is as close as it gets to a masterpiece.

Sounds Like Summer Fading

2007-09-11T18:26:00.000-04:00

>> Featured Artist: The Bees

If The Bees keep making music like this, I'm really going to start forgetting they are a modern band. Seriously, was there not a British pop band named the Bees back in the late '60s-early '70s that imitated some of the best from their contemporaries and incorporated some obscure music-friendly influences to make us all get in the groove? Apparently not. But there is a band of the same name (they're actually Band of Bees on this side of the Atlantic) that are signed Virgin Records and are pumping out interesting cuts regularly from their homes on the Isle of Wight.

Take a listen to "Got to Let Go" and see if you agree.

>> Album Lookout: The Con (again)

Tegan and Sara - Released: July 24, 2007 Sire

I wrote about The Con a few months back, releasing to you all the song that everyone else had - before I had had a good listen myself.

Tegan and Sara have always had a warm place in my heart, due to their making me feel French, but before I had always viewed them as a talented pop group, making music that was almost too good for its supposed target audience.

The Con is the album I have been waiting for them to make. Yes, they're still writing as the same angst-filled protagonists. And the subject matter is still perfect for all you teens who read Toaster. But this album has something much stronger than we've seen on previous albums, something that was hinted to on So Jealous' title track. It's a depth and slight darkness seen both in their lyrics and the music that propels these songs.

"The Con," another title track, is a good representative of this blend of ambitious, confident dark-pop song that this band has come to perfect. I can easily see The Con hitting high on those darned end-of-the-year lists, which are already starting to haunt me.

>> Reverting to: 1985

A friend of mine recently admitted sheepishly to going to a Huey Lewis and the News concert this year. Who would be sheepish about something like that? Marty McFly wouldn't. Chief, you gotta be honest with the world or you're never going to be honest with yourself.*

NOTE: The "Web Sheriff" stopped by last week's post and told me the New P's don't want "Unguided" out there on the Internets. I've removed that MP3. Too bad; it's a great song.

* This might not actually be true, but we're considering starting a greeting card company...

Early Dispatches from the Stereo

2007-09-04T18:55:00.000-04:00

>> Featured Artist: Rilo Kiley

Someimes it seems a band can do nothing wrong. That's what I would have told you had you approached me a few months ago about the new Rilo Kiley album, Under the Blacklight. Then I heard the leaked single - "The Moneymaker" - but I reserved judgment, sending a "Seriously, guys?" email to the band's info@ address late one night instead.

So it was with sweaty palms that I picked up Blacklight (with the New P's release) a few weeks ago.

Two spins in is as far as I could get. This album registers just north of "pure shit." Whatever it lacks in inspiration and interesting storytelling (two things I never thought would dry up for this combo) is made up for by forced sex themes and otherwise depraved goings-on (e.g., a disco song. Yes, a disco song - and probably not for irony's sake, unless of course it's double irony - "isn't it ironic that we actually wanted to do this and not just for irony's sake?").

The lyrics - usually the band's strong suit - are consistently weaker than anything I've ever heard come out of this band. Nearly every chorus (actually, it MIGHT BE EVERY CHORUS) comprises one words or phrase, usually including the title of the song, repeated.

Looking for something nice to say...hmm...the guitar work is usually pretty good. And, yes, there are some tolerable moments (the sole Sennett-penned tune "Dreamworld," is interesting; the start-a-dance-craze numbers "Moneymaker" and "Smoke Detector" are somewhat fun if you're drunk; "The Angels Hung Around" - even though I'm pretty sure the chorus rips off somebody else's melody - and the title track grace us with some much-needed acoustic guitar and nice melodies). But even these songs would have been easily skipped on More Adventurous. And these unoffensive songs are almost entirely drowned out by the awful (awful!) songs - "15," "Breakin' Up" - the aforementioned disco track - and the lame, cliched "Give a Little Love."

To be completely fair, I respect Jenny Lewis and company for not wanting to make the same album over and over again. Now I just ask that they move - without hesitation (i.e., cancel all tours) - to make some music nothing like this one.

>> Album Lookout: Challengers

The New Pornographers - Released: August 21, 2007 Matador

After one listen, Challengers leaves New P fanatics a little confused. Could it be that Carl Newman actually made something MEDIOCRE? Could this make August 21st the most disappointing new-release day of 2007?

But Challengers has something that Under the Blacklight doesn't - subtlety. And on nearly every track, repeated listens leave you hooked - just like on previous albums. This time it didn't come as fast.

The Onion put it this way: "If previous New Pornographers albums are the musical equivalent of Jolt Cola, Challengers is the caffeine-free diet version: less sugary, more mature, initially not as invigorating, but ultimately just as addictive."

Exactly. "Unguided," (REMOVED at the request of "Web Sheriff") Newman's attempt at a 6-minute epic, is the perfect example of this (and we're no fans of the 6-minute song, generally speaking).

Honestly, this isn't a 5-star album as each of the first three were. It's probably more of a 4-star. But then again last week I would have said it was a 3.75-star album. You be the judge.

>> Reverting to: 1967

It's summer in the Northern Hemisphere, so it's time for The Toaster to get his Beach Boys fix. I've had Pet Sounds and Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE on the mind for the past few weeks as I read the new Brian bio Catch a Wave. And now you can join me!

Here's the stereo version of the SMiLE classic "Heroes and Villains" (single version from Hawthorne, CA).

Meet Sugar (Part III)

2007-08-28T17:49:00.000-04:00

And now for the final installment of SUGAR!

11 >> J-Roddy Walston and the Business, "I'll Tell You What"

12 >> The Innocence Mission, "Into Brooklyn, Early in the Morning"

13 >> Paul McCartney, "Dance Tonight"

14 >> The New Pornographers, "My Rights Versus Yours"

15 >> The Polyphonic Spree, "Section 22 [Running Away]"

16 >> Glen Hansard, "Say It to Me Now"

* * *

As we come down from the highs of last week, SUGAR opens up the tail end of this comp with a song from a lesser-known Maryland outfit whose MySpace quote is "suntooth/metal wind have a glory jockey wondermane." It's a big tent here, though, and the catchy screaming harmonies provides a perfect pick-me-up before what is going to be the most pleasant of come-downs.

* * *

Toaster Talks have been trying to squeeze an Innocence Mission song on mixes for at least 18 months. Nothing ever seems to fit - at least not perfectly. And then SUGAR found this sudden masterpiece off the band's 2007 album We Walked in Song. The band's standard weightless melodies and dreamy arrangements lead couldn't be sweeter on this track. In my limited knowledge of this band's output, this ranks among the top.

* * *
Oh, Paul! Of course, you can't have a summer-sticky sweet mix without a near-meaningless ditty from Macca. We've gotten a bit of flak for this choice - and perhaps fairly so. But what is important about this song is its triumphant simplicity. Even after an album of many serious, introspective songs, Paul returns to his penchant for the just-plain-nice. He makes no mention of politics or freedom (or, for that matter, taking tea in an English garden). If the man hadn't been going through a bitter - and bitterly public - divorce just prior to this album's release, perhaps it would have been a bit disappointing. But for Paul fans, this was a welcome return to form - and a strong signal that the Paul we've always known was still there after all. And behind all that simplicity is actually a pretty interesting arrangement driven by a loud bass drum and a crisp mandolin part. So, haters, tread lightly: It's Paul McFuckingCartney.

* * *
The New Pornographers have a new album out! Yay. SUGAR welcomes them into her arms to begin the denouement. Continuing the themes of empires and wheels and dabbling in the arts and dangerous levels of medicine that still won't sing, Carl Newman and co. give us a typically infectious piece of pop music - complete with the same vocal prowess and twists, turns, and unexpected et ceteras we've been celebrating for three albums now.

* * *
The Polyphonic Spree have always freaked me out. From their uniforms to their sheer army-sized stage ensemble, I've always expected it all to end in a KoolAid mass-suicide fiasco. Or at least a concept album about one. Still, they're making great pop music, specializing in the anthem. And it's at this point SUGAR's intentions become clearer. "Parades of this day will outshine them all." "I get around the world upon your freeways."

* * *
Even if Once isn't likely to be an Academy Award-winner, it's still one of the brightest spots of this year's movie scene. Even more, though, it's one of the best finds of the music year as well. The Swell Season had gone mostly unnoticed with last year's album and, if it hadn't been for this Fox Spotlight film, most of their now-swooning fans wouldn't know Glen Hansard from that guy who plays down by the Metro who never quite pulls off "Sweet Caroline." This track, while a bit of a surprise for most Toaster regulars (with the screaming and all), is a logic coda for SUGAR, who had spent 15 tracks having fun, dancing and doing recreational drugs. Perilously close to being misunderstood and with doubt clouding her saccarine path...well, yeah, I guess she just loves the movie Once.

I hoped you enjoyed SUGAR: There's dangerous levels of it here. The Toaster will be back to its regular programming next week.

Meet Sugar (Part II)

2007-08-21T19:15:00.000-04:00

Welcome back to SUGAR! Today, I'll walk you through her midsection:

06 >> Blitzen Trapper, "Wild Mountain Nation"
07 >> The National, "Fake Empire"
08 >> Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang, "Freedom of the Heart (Ooodily Ooodily)"
09 >> Let's French, "Genevese"
10 >> Justice, "D.A.N.C.E."

* * *
Blitzen Trapper has found favor on the blogs this summer, and I guess we're no different. SUGAR has chosen the title track from their LP as the crucial six-track, which bridges us from the heights of the beginnings to the end of the mix's first side. "Wild Mountain Nation" attempts to pull us into a nature theme, but SUGAR is clearly just in it for the blow. The song centers on a killer lead guitar hook that develops into a pretty nice, cutting solo - just in time to get you ready for the way the refrain brings you back to square one. Nicely done, Blitzen Trapper, wherever the hell you came from.

* * *
It's no secret that the Toaster is a big fan of Boxer. The lead track has always flabbergasted me. How do all those instruments playing competing rhythms come together, let alone in such a way that allows the song to continue to build until the final sustained chord. That strange piano part and Matt Berninger's low croon create a mysterious, devious tone that is eventually compounded by the attack of the drum kit. It's a tone that's held throughout the album, so if you don't dig it, this album might not be for you. And, man, that breakdown blows me away with those rivaling horn parts. You got me goin', SUGAR!

* * *
After the intensity of "Fake Empire," you're probably expecting something equally heavy. But the mood is lightened quickly with "Freedom of the Heart" - at least for those of you unfamiliar with indie film Chuck and Buck. For those who have seen it, you're probably feeling heavily disturbed, which I can only assume is just how SUGAR would have wanted it.

* * *
It is with a heavy heart that I have to say that this next track is by a band that no longer exists. The Toaster Talks' favorite DC band, Let's French, have disbanded. This makes the repeated "I can feel you changing; I believe that I'll be changing soon" all the more sad. Tears in heaven, guys. Tears in sweet, sweet heaven.

* * *
Dutiful subscribers to the Toaster know this song from the kick-ass (and VMA-nominated) video that got Toaster Posted a few weeks ago. It's a dance song, as its title states pretty clearly. And, for those of you who can't stand dance songs, just blame it on the French (cos they're from France).

Until next time...

Meet Sugar (Part I)

2007-08-14T11:58:00.000-04:00

SUGAR is a collection intended for summer's blinding, life-crushing heat. It's a little recipe passed down from Toaster's maternal great aunt, twice removed.

It aims to soothe.

01 >> LCD Soundsystem Watch the Tapes
02 >> Immaculate Machine Dear Confessor
03 >> Moonbabies Take Me to the Ballroom
04 >> Spoon The Underdog
05 >> Art Brut Pump Up the Volume

If anyone has a claim on anthemic summer songs, it's LCD Soundsystem. "Watch the Tapes" is one of many endlessly catchy hits to pop off of the band's latest LP. Take it in and wiggle your hips.

* * *
Immaculate Machine has come a long way (from Canada), paired with supergroup New Pornographers for tours and even lending co-lead Kathryn Calder to be a permanent member of said supergroup. "Dear Confessor" is a shipshape representative of the pop sensibilities they've honed over the past few years. The ballads, however, are where the band takes off. Check out "Roman Statues" if you get a minute. Keep the SUGAR on pause.

* * *
Every time I turn this song on I think it's Death Cab. Hmm. Still, once over the hurdle of realizing it sounds a whole lot like something from Plans, I am won over by this song's lush arrangement (sweet, sweet melodies). SUGAR finds it to be a perfect transition from the fun-fun-fun of Immaculate Machine to the more serious side of Toaster.

* * *
"Jon Brion-produced" is sometimes all you have to say to get my attention. I enjoy Spoon; don't get me wrong. But this song jumps from "enjoyable Spoon romp" to "team-sports anthem of the summer" in its lovely few minutes on SUGAR. She loves to be underestimated.

* * *
Fuck it. Art Brut is everything I want to be. The irreverent, we're-not-phonies rock they've churned out now on two critic-blessed LPs is a source of love - not the deep kind of long-term love that each of us deserves. No, this is more of the "summer fling, give me that pop music" love. Who hasn't been there before?

Next week, The Toaster will feature the next five songs from Sugar: There's Dangerous Levels of It Here.

Stay tuned. And stay hot, compatriots.

(Some would say this was a day late, but really I'm on vacation...in the future.)

Taking the Day Off

2007-08-07T17:45:00.000-04:00

Due to the severe heat, the broken AC in my apartment and my subsequent dwindling will to live (as well as the Band of Horses show tonight), I have decided to take the week off from blogging about that fine indie rock music.

Instead, I'm leaving with you the best music video I've seen in a long time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo_QVq2lGMs.

Sweet song, too, for Frenchies.

Next week, the Toaster will be back with a look at Sugar, the mix Al Gore blames most for global climate change.

Mistakes, etc.

2007-07-31T18:51:00.000-04:00

>> Featured Artist: Lonely, Dear

Oh, Sweden! You do so many things so well. I had danced around Loney, Dear's latest release Lonely, Noir for a while and never really honed in on any tracks.

Then one accidentally got left on my iPod. "I Am the Odd One," which brings us Brian Wilson-esque melody and arrangement with the lyrical idiosyncracies of a Sondre Lerche. Normally, these iPodial mistakes would be quickly rectified. But after a listen or two, I decided to keep it on their as my leaving-the-house-in-the-morning song. If you tune out the apologies and self-degrading lyrics, it's quite pleasant.

Two earbuds in!*

>> Album Lookout: It's a Bit Complicated

Art Brut - Released: June 19, 2007 Downtown

Even though I've loved this band's irreverent rock for a while, I've been slow to digging up It's a Bit Complicated.

"Direct Hit" is just as spot-on as the title indicates. Everything I've appreciated about this band - the conversational lyrics, subtle (and not-so-subtle) humor and social commentary along with damn-catchy hooks and powerful rhythm sections.

More to come, I'm sure. For now, it seems to be another winner.

>> Reverting to: 1985 (not 1982)

Speaking of Apple products, I was browsing the iTunes store yesterday and found a personalized list of songs that iTunes "recommends" for me. Looking down the list, I saw a bunch of indie-rock songs - most of which I already owned or had roundly dismissed every owning.

And then I spotted the No. 2 recommendation - Heart's "These Dreams."

After playing the :30 teaser, I decided, "Yeah, I guess they're right. I do need to own that '80s classic." (I cannot tell a lie.) But how did they know? HOW did they know?!

* This is not, and never will be, the Toaster's rating system.

Warm, Confused Places

2007-07-24T22:04:00.000-04:00

>> Featured Artist: LCD Soundsystem

Yeah yeah, I know I've already done my fair share of talking about songs from the new LCD Soundsystem. Still, as we find ourselves on the other side of summer, I've yet to find its anthem.

"All My Friends" might not be it. But there's no question that it's anthem material. So I'll submit it to you, fine constituents.

The hypnotic repetition of the piano alternates between irritating and mesmerizing, depending on which listen I'm on. And James Murphy's lyrics aren't too shabby, almost benefiting from the simplistic melody. "And if I'm sued into submission, I could still come home to this." Yeah!

The central question, in the end, is a good one for summer: Where are your friends tonight?

>> Album Lookout: Emerald City

John Vanderslice - Released: July 24, 2007 Barsuk

The warm spot in my heart for John Vanderslice can be directly attributed to his opening for the Mountain Goats on their 2005 tour. It's not so much the music that I care for, as it is the fondness I have for any person who would share a stage with Mr. Darnielle.

That is not say that Vanderslice doesn't, on occasion, wow me with one of his alterna-indie pop creations. On "White Dove," the free track from his latest album, released today, Vanderslice doesn't stray much from the confusing but imagery-filled lyrics. And the driving plugged-in acoustic give the song a good level of drive.Still, he opts for lifting a Tom Petty line in the middle 8 and loses me a bit.

Bottom line: it's enjoyable, if just a little too contrived.

>> Reverting to: 1982

In the Toaster world, there are few things valued higher than a classic Elvis Costello track. My love for picking out the meaning in his clever turns of phrase knows little in the way of boundaries.

To that extent, "Man Out of Time" has become the Holy Grail of sorts for me - beautiful in concept but impossible to realize. Just what do lines like "Cause the high heel he used to be has been ground down, and he listens for the footsteps that would follow him around" mean? Or "To murder my love is a crime, but will you still love a man out of time?" (Or is it "To murder, my love, is a crime..."?) Or "he's got a mind like a sewer and a heart like a fridge / He stands to be insulted and he pays for the privilege")?

My best guess - and this, I admit, has been influenced by my penchant to think to interpret art to be a statement on capital punishment - is that the subject here is an upper-class murderer who is facing the death penalty and the song deals with how this affects his family. But, wow, even that doesn't hold up to "the after-dinner overtures are nothing but an afterthought..."

And what's with this beautiful pop song bookmarked by guitar chaos? It is an enigma. And I am forever intrigued.

Memories Back in My Head

2007-07-17T18:39:00.000-04:00

>> Featured Artist: They Might Be Giants

I remember seeing this band for free back in 2002 and being impressed with what a fun show they had put on in the D.C. summer heat. Not that the fun part was surprising. Or that I was surprised with really liking the music. I guess it was just the kind of show that made everyone turn to their neighbor and smile and/or hug.

So now that we are reminded of TMBG three times a day during Malcolm in the Middle reruns, it's not so much a throwback to our middle-school days to get a hold of a new track. Since the dabbling in children's rock (a respectable field, I must admit), though, I've mostly lost track of interest in these guys.

So The Else, the band's latest LP, is a bit of an "Oh yeah!" surprise. I'll admit that not everything turns my crank the way a "Birdhouse in Your Soul" or "Dr. Worm" would. But "The Mesopotamians" certainly is a return to form - with the wordplay, syllable-loving and geographical/historical references that one comes to expect from the band that wrote "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" and "James K. Polk." And that says nothing for the nice vocal arrangements. I could easily see it being a fun song for those 7th graders to learn all the words to. Oh, the memories...

>> Album Lookout: The Con

Tegan and Sara - Due out: July 24, 2007 Sire

I bought 2002's If It Was You five minutes into listening snippets of it at a French record store. I thought I had discovered something amazing - and European.

Turns out they were Canadians and already doing decently well. Still that album soundtracked my three months abroad more than any other. And now they have a warm place in my heart. But it's not just nostalgia that keeps me coming back to this band.

Even though their songs seem to be written in the voice of a 17-year-old girl, each one is frighteningly catchy. And in the midst of some sort of innocence is a dark streak that turns what would normally be bubble-gum pop to something a little more eerie (maybe chewing-tobacco-imitating-bubble-gum pop).

"Back in Your Head" is the pre-released track. In the best way possible, it doesn't seem like anything has really changed.

>> Reverting to: 1995

To be filed among the things that make me feel old is finding out that Garbage - the band, not the garbage - released a greatest hits album today.

I still remember being wowed when they opened for The Smashing Pumpkins (a band that should have released a greatest hits album last week) back in 1996 and telling people I had seen one of the best concerts ever.

Ever.

Well, taking a look back brings back mostly nostalgia. It's amazing how you can almost hear the mid-1990s dripping off of these tracks. Take a look at the "Only Happy When It Rains" video. Perhaps you know it by its full title - ("Only Happy When It Rains (and When Objectified in Film)."

Dabble, Dabble

2007-07-10T18:56:00.000-04:00

>> Featured Artist: The White Stripes

Right now, I'm not too excited to give any Detroit shout-outs. You know why, Detroit. YOU KNOW WHY.

But I guess I would have already mentioned that The White Stripes have put out a new album if it wasn't for my personal hold-ups. So, I'm going to try to be ethical and maintain the journalistic standards you all know I have come to embody.

For the record, I have never been on this bandwagon. The Stripes, as their lazy fans call them, have always kinda-sorta grated me with their overbearing guitars and Jack White's grating voice. That said, there are plenty of exceptions; in fact I've come to have an appreciation for the times the White Stripes get out of their musical box and do something different. For just two people, they have weaved a pretty intelligent musical history. I certainly wouldn't deny their importance in the music industry, even if just for being an indie act to hit the big time.

The first single, "Icky Thump," however, does not appear to be one of the exceptions in my book. The signature style is in full effect - from the forboding bass drum to the heavy, guitar-driven hook. (P.S., wtf is that strange-instrument solos, other than annoying. And what are the actual guitar solos other than indulgent?) I guess this one just doesn't do it for me - which isn't to say I don't appreciate the line "went home and learned how to clean a bathroom myself."

Still, I'm going to pass. Maybe next time, Detroit...

>> Album Lookout: Our Love to Admire

Interpol - Released: July 10, 2007 Capitol

"No I in Threesome" is a song title I expect from The Offspring or LFO or maybe ODB. Not Interpol. But, then again, I guess all expectations should be thrown out the window if we are to take Our Love to Admire's cover art as a sign of things to come from this NYC band. I mean, at least it sounds like Interpol.

"Maybe it's time we gave something new a try"..."so just let us be free." This song really is a case for bringing another lover into the bed. Wow.

Wow.

The collective verdict seems to be all over the place on this album (which I guess makes my use of "collective" a little oxymoronic) - and the loudest voices seem to be a bit disappointed in this Antics follow-up. Considering I've never been able to take an entire album of this band, I'll be happy with a few solid hits. "The Henrich Maneuver," which I'm pretty sure details the life of a peripheral high-school friend, seems like the band's safe bet for a single.

Yeah, I could dance to that...

>> Reverting to: 1967 Nostalgia

I hate Beatles cover albums - that is, covers of Beatles full albums by "today's hottest acts." Sure, there might be an interesting interpretation here or there - take Sufjan Stevens' "What Goes On" - or a respectable cover with the artists' special touch - take Athlete's "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" from the BBC Sgt. Pepper's tribute (we regret the cut-off ending; but thanks to I Am Fuel,You Are Friends for posting).

Still, the disruption of the awful and/or embarrassingly ambitious covers (and there are always a few, if not more) completely destroy the album. And isn't the point of the whole thing to celebrate the album? I mean, the BBC seems to have done not-a-horrible job putting this one together (especially in retaining the flow of the album), but can this please be the last one, folks? Unless of course, you want a Daddy Gonna Kill Ralphie cover of "Sexy Sadie."

Progress Report, 2007

2007-07-03T18:43:00.000-04:00

It's been a grand old year for the Toaster. Looking back on the first half of the Year of the Cricket*, I have:

renewed contracts with suspiciously absent staff;
commandered the tone and person of the blog's language;
fired fictional staff, denying them severence pay;
purchased 15 albums, putting myself on pace to outmatch last year's purchasing habits by 43%;
bought a new mouse upon third-party diagnosis that the old one had an inoperable dysfunction;
ran into the New Pornographers while visiting the Cleveland Indians in Central Florida, reinvigorating my hunger for new New Ps material;
installed new mouse through third-party service and immediately realized how much better the world was;
figured out how RSS feeds work, leading to a near-clinical obsession with Google Reader; and
defended Paris Hilton's newsworthiness from the likes of Al Gore.

For those of you who are concerned with new-now-NOW, I will inform you that the new editorial material ends there for this week. The year in music has yet to really wow me. This is no 2005 - not yet anyway. Here's how I see it:

Honor Roll

The Shins - A
The National - A
Arcade Fire - A
Of Montreal - A

Good Marks
Patrick Wolf - A-
LCD Soundsystem - A-
The Hold Steady (Live acoustic) - A-
Beirut (EP) - A-
Let's French - A-
Elliott Smith - A-
Once (soundtrack) - B+
The Broken West - B+
The Fratellis - B+

Missing Something

Aqueduct - B

Son Volt - B
Sondre Lerche - B
Voxtrot - B-

Ehh...

Paul McCartney - C+

Nine Inch Nails - C

Still Researching
Wilco
Ryan Adams

Immaculate Machine

Rufus Wainwright

Dntel

The Polyphonic Spree

Arctic Monkeys

Andrew Bird
Maria Taylor

You Sure They Put Out an Album?
Fountains of Wayne
Bright Eyes
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Blonde Redhead

..What did I get wrong? What did I get right? What am I forgetting?

Regardless, the case is being made that there is a decent amount of good stuff already out there. Looking forward, the big players in the second half of 2007 appear to be the aforementioned New Pornographers, Iron + Wine, Spoon, Rilo Kiley, Interpol and maybe Jimmy Eat World and Smashing Pumpkins (maybe...).

* It is not the Year of the Cricket. I think.

So Much for Everybody to Know

2007-06-26T19:01:00.000-04:00

>> Featured Artist: Ryan Adams

For someone who has never bought a Ryan Adams album, I consider myself a moderate fan. His songstyling is so solid, his vocal performances so distinct and his high levels of both music output and (formerly) drug-alcohol abuse that it's hard not to be at least intrigued by this guy.

Everyone says this is a return to form - the way Ryan Adams sounded on Gold or, even better, Heartbreaker. Not having been a die-hard from the get-go, I don't really understand the complete dismissal of his middle solo works. Sure, there's a lot of crap he put out, but there's rarely an album without at least some classic Ryan Adams gems. (And his great songs are great enough to be called classics).

"Everybody Knows" - one of two songs leaked from his latest release Easy Tiger - didn't necessarily blow me away. It's a solid song with some great lines (especially "You and I together, but only one of us in love, and everybody knows" from the chorus); the harmonies are nice; and the guitar work sounds like James Taylor is in the studio either guiding Ryan how to pull of his sound, or playing the song himself.

But does it make me want to break my self-imposed, unintentional Ryan Adams record-collection sanctions? Eh...I'm waiting.

>> Album Lookout: Fables

Immaculate Machine - Released: June 11, 2007 Mint

I promised last week that I'd spend more time and give full due to Immacluate Machine's latest excellent pop album, Fables. I'm ready now.

As I said last week, I expect fun, fast pop songs from this band (not that their slow songs are bad). I expect songs that are so easy to like that it's hard to notice everything that is going on, all the ins and outs and whatnot.

"Nothing Ever Happens" is exactly what I'm talking about. Fables may not find its way onto many year-end lists (then again, who knows?), but it's going to be one of the records that defines this summer for folks like me.

Power pop me home.

>> Reverting to: 1970

Time for another Toaster classic. Eric Clapton's Derek and the Dominos outfit put out two classic love songs - "Layla" and "Bell Bottom Blues."

"Layla" is great, but it is nothing - nothing - compared to the latter. All that over-the-top guitar work in the coda of "Layla" doesn't just turn me off; it actually kind of hurts my ears in the most literal of senses.

"Bell Bottom Blues," on the other hand, plays a much more subtle hand - even if the entire band is screaming the bridge and chorus. The solo is so good it's tragic and the lead licks are so prevalent (and not in your face) that it's easy to see how this song gets second billing. I mean, at least this one isn't about George Harrison's wife.

There Probably Is Such a Thing, Actually

2007-06-19T19:52:00.000-04:00

>> Featured Artist: Immaculate Machine

With Fables released last week, I realize I'm a bit behind in covering it. So, as I did with Boxer, I'm going to highlight a past cut and get to the new album in the coming weeks.

I like this band not just because they opened at one of the best shows I've seen in the past few years (New Pornographers, 9:30 Club, October 2005), but because this band is fun and they sound like they're having fun. "No Such Thing As the Future" perfectly displays this - turning a cynical view of times to come is much more of a carpe diem number than it is an end-of-the-world piece.

What the band lacks - purposely - in gravity is made up in pep and catchy arrangements. Kathryn Calder and Brooke Gallupe have voices that harmonize in a Mates of State way - which gives it an urgency you don't always find in straight power pop. All this is to sayI'm excited to dig into Fables.

>> Album Lookout: The Fragile Army

The Polyphonic Spree - Released: June 19, 2007 TVT

I've never been a huge Polyphonic Spree guy, always getting a little put off by the airiness of the lyrics and the over-the-top arrangements.

That said, The Fragile Army is getting some great reviews - and who can resist that album cover? Still, the way the band has broken each track into section numbers (with parenthetical subtitles) irks me.

My test track was "Section 29 (Light to Follow)." Immediately, I was a bit shocked by the electronic intro. In fact, the arrangement grows in a way that is both interesting and not irritating. And the lyrics, while still a bit universal and lofty, are much more palatable. In the end, it's still the same band that can write the songs that can send shivers up your back while watching a commercial.

Combined, "Light to Follow," the rave reviews and that damn cover have more than piqued my interest and make me wonder if this could be The Life Pursuit of 2007?

>> Reverting to: 1995

Sometimes I just need a little Matthew Sweet pop music. It's taken me to the store to buy The Thorns album (which has Shawn Mullins on it - yeah...) and his syrupy vocals have made me like unnecessary cover songs that just aren't that good.

He's the kind of guy who, back in the late '50s and early '60s, would have been working in the Brill Building pumping out hit after hit. Instead, he was a minor solo success in the mid '90s - certainly one of the best of all the ugly white guy songwriters from that era.

If "Not When I Need It" doesn't hook you right away, wait until the sign-off a cappella coda that comes straight out of the Brian Wilson playbook. I swear I even hear Carl Wilson singing in there...

Some Enchanted Night

2007-06-12T18:13:00.000-04:00

>> Featured Artist: Arctic Monkeys

The new Arctic Monkeys LP has been widely well received, and it's not hard to figure out why. The brash attitude and headstrong songwriting that wooed British critics on last year's Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not has survived the hype. Boy was there a lot of hype. (I mean, NME called Whatever People Say one of the best 5 British albums - ever. Yeah...) Song to song, I enjoyed the band but I never got convinced that this was anything special.

That opinion is starting to be swayed.

With "Brianstorm," the Monkeys unleash a relentless drum mess that intros the April release, Favourite Worst Nightmare. Talk about brash and headstrong. Finally, the band sounds not just like a bunch of hipster pop, but like it's actually doing something important. And urgent (see the drum punctuation around 2:20 and the fidgeting lead guitar riff throughout the song).

If the rest of the album is like its opening cut, I could see it ranking very highly in the end-of-the-year lists.

>> Album Lookout: New Moon

Elliott Smith - Released: May 8, 2007 Kill Rock Stars

For those of you who know me, you already know that I would anticipate the release of a double CD of Elliott Smith rarities more impatiently than Christmas morning. It's a little strange, then, that I've waiting more than a month to post about New Moon.

Covered with outtakes from Elliott's KRS era, 1994-1997 - many of which have been leaked in poorer-quality MP3s on fan sites, this set doesn't feel like new music.

Rather, it plays like a scrapbook of an artist's ideas, which are (suprisingly) laid down with such care even though he probably never thought any of them would be more than a draft.

This puts New Moon into a different category - for a different audience than From a Basement on the Hill. It is not necessarily a must-have for the folks who enjoy a little bit of Elliott now and again (especially if you're familiar mostly with his fully produced Dreamworks).

But for us die-hards, it's remarkable - insight into the songwriter's craft.

Nowhere is that more evident than on an early version of "Miss Misery," the song that got him nominated for an Oscar for Good Will Hunting.

What's interesting is that the song is virtually finished as far as the chord changes and melody are concerned. The lyrics, however, sound as if they're in a rough second or third draft. Sometimes this makes for awkward phrasing (the interludes), but occasionally it shows a slightly different take on a line that perhaps would have been more emotive if left intact.

In fact, the referain (which would later become "Do you miss me, Miss Misery, like you say you do?") is much more hopeful - a rare, refreshing quality for an Elliott Smith song, tempering all the negatives with "But it's all right, some enchanted night I'll be with you."

And I particularly enjoyed "I can't hold my liquor, but I keep a good attitude," which would become "I don't have you with me, but I keep a good attitude."

If anything, it puts on display Elliott's perfectionism and his process. The mere fact that there's an audience for this sort of case study is indicative of how much lasting power the music has and how Elliott will likely go down as one of the greatest - and certainly the most depressed - songwriters of his generation.

>> Reverting to: 1997

Oh, and if you're interested in how "Miss Misery" turned out...

Selling Cigarettes to Mexican Children

2007-06-06T15:45:00.000-04:00

>> Featured Artist: These United States

As I was trained as a reporter back in my collegiate days, I am always on the lookout for news. I am, some say, an investigative reporter.

A few weeks back, D.C.'s own These United States opened for D.C.'s own Let's French for the latter's CD release party. During some of frontman Jesse Elliott's stage banter, he responded to a shouted request for what I can only assume is one of the band's fan favorites - "The Business."

Elliott responded first by saying the song was just too old to play (circa 2006, he said). Then he explained that the band had just emerged from a fight over whether to sell the song to a Mexican cigarette company who wanted to use it in ads. Faced with the opportunity to give more Mexican children lifelong addictions, it appears the band has refused. I mean, they didn't even make a counter-offer?

The band, its "integrity" aside, put on a pretty fantastic show. And "The Business," which the band eventually played, is a free download on their site. (Shh...don't tell the Mexicans).

>> Album Lookout: Once (original motion picture soundtrack)

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - Released: May 22, 2007 Columbia

I really wanted Once not to suck. After all the hype - from one of my favorite film reviewers A.O. Scott (New York Times) to the Chicago Tribune review that said it "may well be the best music film of our generation," I wanted to have faith. I may have said a Hail Mary or two.*

Much to my pleasing, the movie really met those steep expectations. Glen Hansard (of Frames fame) plays the lovable, everyman singer-songwriter street performer. And his Czech partner from The Swell Season, Marketa Irglova, plays the unexpectating other half of this unpretentious love story that miraculously (credit Mother Mary) sidesteps every cliche the film could have used.

Most importantly - and this is the reason it should be placed among greats like A Hard Day's Night, Almost Famous and maybe Hedwig and the Angry Inch - it doesn't just remind you why you love music; it makes you want to make music.

It's hard to pull one song from the film that conveys all of this to those who haven't seen it. "When Your Mind's Made Up" is a suitable track. In 5/4 time, this is the song the hodge-podge musicians nail on the first take in the studio. Yeah.
[Actually, aside from those director's conveniences, the recording scenes are particularly entertaining to those who have recorded on a low budget before.]

In the end, even if you don't really like the song, you should see the film. It's much more than a Garden State.

>> Reverting to: 1983

Ever find something in your music files and wonder where the hell it came from?

CORRECTION: A few weeks back, I posted the wrong links for Patrick Wolf. My apologies to Mr. Wolf and his fans.

* I don't know what that means.

Scheduljng Conflicts

2007-06-05T09:10:00.000-04:00

Due to scheduling conflicts, the Toaster Talks will post tomorrow, Wednesday, June 6.

Thank you for your patience,
Mister Toaster (and the Mgmt)

The Sun Is Only Getting Hotter

2007-05-29T19:00:00.000-04:00

>> Featured Artist: Get Him Eat Him

Clocking in at No. 73 in 2005's Toaster countdown, "Mumble Mumble" put Get Him Eat Him on my radar. The guitar-driven pop song is so chock full of hooks that I wasn't sure if it was a fluke - something that could be repeated. Or worse, a formula - something that would only be repeated.

The band prepares to launch its sophomore album next week, and I'm still withholding judgment. The leaked song from Arms Down is once again peppy and poppy - and full of those catchy hooks. While I admittedly really know only two songs by the band, it seems a little strange that both sound remarkably similar - especially in the use of the distinctive warbly vocal effect that lends itself so well to high harmonies. I hope I'm off on this, because I really like both songs outside of the context of the other (and who doesn't like that band name?). I just need to hear more, folks.

>> Album Lookout: Memory Almost Full

Paul McCartney - Due Out: June 5, 2007 (Starbucks)

God, I love Paul McCartney.

The one guy that I would never criticize for signing to Starbucks music label, Paul seems to never have lost his touch for crafting effortless-sounding melodies. The launch of Memory Almost Full, the first Starbucks album for Sir Paul, was kicked into high gear last week when the video for the lead-off track hit YouTube - "Dance Tonight" (YouTube).

This song - the only I've heard from the LP - isn't going to change anything you already think about Paul McCartney. For folks like me, though, it's just nice to hear his voice. The lightness of the tone, the catchiness of the lead, the choice to let Gondry direct the video (and is that Natalie Portman's ghost?), not to mention the cute sketch at the front - all heap on scary reminders that at 64 (going on 65), Paul still has a lot of whatever made him one of the greatest pop musicians of the 20th Century.

>> Reverting to: 1964

Yet another Beach Boys comp hit stores last week just in time for the pools to open. To my relief, though, it's MUCH heavier on the lesser-known, post-Pet Sounds stuff, which has long been my favorite Beach Boys era. Owning all the tracks already, I'm not sure I'll pick up The Warmth of the Sun (except for the odd, too-obvious cover of "California Dreamin'"), but it'd be a great introduction to anyone who's only heard the amusement park-boardwalk hits.

Fittingly, it ends with the title track. Enjoy.

Bridging the Atlantic

2007-05-22T19:15:00.000-04:00

>> Featured Artist: LCD Soundsystem

LCD Soundsystem proved their worth on "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House." The equation seemed pretty simple: fun hipster rock that is not just danceable, but also pretty funny. In fact, AllMusic reports that frontman James Murphy turned down an opportunity in the 90s to write for Seinfeld. Wow.

Heading into the band's 2007 release, Sound of Silver, it's not a surprise that LCD Soundsystem had a lot left to say. Chief among them, that they were from North America. Getting right to the point on "North American Scum," Murphy puts it all on the table: "And for those of you who still think we're from England. We're not. No."

The song somehow injects pride into the term "North American scum," an accomplishment that in itself should pretty much solidify the song's anthemic merits. And with another winner from LCD Soundsystem comes another summer of all-night dance parties.

>> Album Lookout: Victory

Let's French - Released: May 19, 2007 (self-released)

D.C.-based foursome Let's French won me over with their live show long ago. The band's first full-length was released this weekend at a well-supported Black Cat show (These United States, Death By Sexy), and I'm still digesting it. (I'm also still trying to get that goddamn stamp off my hand.)

But just on the mere strength of the band's songs and sound, Victory is sure to be a winner. Still, there's something that doesn't translate onto the recording. It's a come-down from the live, for sure. Perhaps it's absence of the daddy-long-legs drumming of Matt McCoy. Or maybe it's the sheer intensity of lead guitarist Max Sorenson, who treats McCoy's kit like a jungle gym that's missing.

Whatever it is, the album recordings are a little more polished - and just a little less visual (thanks to bassist Tim Gibbon's incredible album art). What does come out are the complexity of the song structure and the nice background vox - two things that separate them from other indie-cool bands on the scene these days. They're recipes for bigness. For now, I'm happy to see them for $10.

I suggest "Start a New Life" as a good follow-up to the "Boys and Girls" demo I posted a while back.

>> Reverting to: 1965

The between-set music at the Let's French show brought me once again to the Ringo Starr debate - for regular Toaster followers, you'll know I find myself embroiled in an end-the-world argument over the Beatles' drummer's value.

I'm pro-Ringo. Of course.

For those of you who might be skeptical, I submit "Ticket to Ride," which isn't just a classic Beatles tune, but one with a fantastic drum part that takes the song from pleasant to brazen - something that stood out among its contemporaries and still stands out today.

Bring it on, betches.

Hearing Voices

2007-05-15T19:05:00.000-04:00

>> Featured Artist: Blonde Redhead

Blonde Redhead were big in my ACRN days, and yet it never really caught my ear or break out from among the other college rockers.

But there were quite a few Lobsters who made the leap and fell in love with this band. I guess I always expected they'd finally get me.

On "23," the song that has alll the cool kids swooning these days, they might have finally done it. The melody soars above an urgent drum riff and takes a lot of really amazing turns before it hits its "nah nah nah nah nah" section.

Still, I can't tell if it's an angel singing - or a four-year-old. And the only words I can make out are the occasional title mention. It sounds important, if that counts.

So let "23" be one of the first summer songs of 2007. And let's see what this band can do.

>> Album Lookout: Boxer

The National - Due Out: May 22, 2007 Beggars Banquet

As promised, I'm giving The National yet another turn in the Toaster. And here's yet another song that seems to be more of a departure from what I expect from this band.

"Start a War," probably the centerpiece of Boxer, finds The National channeling Dire Straits. It's good enough for a West Wing emotional moment, for sure.

The song builds from a beautiful acoustic guitar hook, which is good enough to be repeated. This isn't a band that opens for Arcade Fire just to sing its fun and filthy "Mr. November" chorus. This is a band that, with the songwriting prowess exhibited here and in last week's post, has the potential to be one of the best bands of 2007.

>> Reverting to: 1956

They called him "Frogman." Clarence Henry's smash hit "Ain't Got No Home" might have helped earn him that nickname, you know, with his matter-of-fact statements that he can sing like a girl and he can sing like a frog. Then he proves it by belting out the 3rd and 4th verses with his best falsetto and croak.

But it's the "woo" intro and bridge that gets stuck in my head. And it will get you too.

A Bunch of Beggars

2007-05-08T18:46:00.000-04:00

>> Featured Artist: The National

Since "Mr. November" took The Toaster Talks by storm a year an a half ago, I've been a little eager to hear if The National's next effort would would live up to its anthemic beginning. After all, they did promise pretty clearly not to fuck us over.

I found myself stumbling on a track from 2004's EP Cherry Tree that caught my ear first. While I promise to double back and cover the band's May 22nd release Boxer in the coming weeks, I wanted to give credit first to a song that truly wowed me.

ON "All Dolled Up in Straps," the band shows some impressive depth - and not just in its lead vocals. The low-voiced verses are almost menacing, considering the repeated line is "Don't interrupt me" - and the bridge that finds its way into the song about a minute and half in is doubly so, with a breathy, creepy harmony. The chours - sigh - the chorus is as pretty as indie rock songs come these days. The chord change catches you off guard and as it switches into a major key. And, as a subtle piano part and simple lead riff bring the song to its intended fruition, the melody is conservative and intelligent. It's near perfect.

With these high expectation, I look forward to reporting on Boxer.

>> Album Lookout: Voxtrot

Voxtrot - Due Out: May 22, 2007 Playlouder

Speaking of high expectations, I believe I referred to Voxtrot's self-titled debut LP as one of the most anticipated albums of 2007. The much-celebrated EPs the band peppered the blogs with over the last few years have whetted everybody's appetite. Oops.

Initial response to the leaked MP3s from Voxtrot did not necessarily get the glowing reviews the previous songs had. Some of the less-polite bloggers actually seemed disgusted by the band's alleged downturn.

I dug in prepared to be disappointed, and - to be honest - I too wasn't impressed. Initially, that is. One song in particular sounded a little too easy (and maybe a little too precious) and some of the lyrics failed to wow me in the way I've come to expect Voxtrot songs.

Still, this band has never been about the details - at least not to me. They've been about excellent - and interesting - song structures, propelled by an excellent ear for melody and a consistent, cohesive sound led by the front-and-center vocals of frontman Ramesh Srivastava. The songs, they grow on you.

On "Introduction," I found the band in what I imagine is an intentional growth mode, starting from the introspective simplicity it had always been successful with - and growing into steady rock song. I really love the lead guitar work here, and I'm comfortable issuing an endorsement of this track - no matter what those other bloggers say.

Yeah!

>> Reverting to: 1982

It's that time of year again. Kickball season is off and running, and I find myself wanting to hear the songs I always liked to mock. Back in the weight rooms in my high school baseball days, Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" - a song that already had been abused and correspondingly mocked for 18 long years THEN - became an ironic anthem for me. I'd listen to it before final exams just to get a good laugh in to shake off some of the stress.

At some point, my sense of irony became ironic (or something else philosophical-like) - and it actually started to work.

And so now, as we head into Week Four of the DC Kickball season, it'll once again be all about the eye of the tiger.

It's a sad existence, indeed.

The Ease of Spring

2007-05-01T20:15:00.000-04:00

>> Featured Artist: Rufus Wainwright

Every time I put it on for people who have never heard the Rufus, I get antsy. His voice isn't made for modern pop music, and it grates at first listen - even though his voice is spectacular. As I heard somebody put it, he sings like a string instrument.

That said, I've been in a Want One mood lately, and I couldn't get "I Don't Know What It Is" out of my head today. With the upcoming release in two weeks of his fifth full-length, Release the Stars, it's good timing. After taking a pass on Want Two, I'm actually leaning toward picking up this one.

The track released, "Going to a Town," isn't shy about its politics. The words aside, the melody structure and arrangement sounds like one of Paul McCartney's darker numbers. At times, he even takes on a little Elliott Smith's phrasing. And, of course, he piles it on - especially at the end - as Rufus is wont to do.

It's a tough life decision, to be sure.

>> Album Lookout: Sky Blue Sky

Wilco - Due Out: May 15, 2007 Nonesuch

Honestly, I'm not a Wilco-head. I've enjoyed about half of what the band has put out, but never seeing the second-coming in Jeff Tweedy that everyone else sees. As long as we've established that, and you're still with me, we're going to be fine.

"What Light," the first single from the band's follow-up to 2004's A Ghost Is Born, caught me a little off guard at first - as Wilco's spiritual illusions have apparently climbed to the next rung. I can even get past Tweedy's mostly harmless Bono-esque hopeful preaching, because the song's musicianship and structure is top-notch. The chord changes and bright melody lifts are reminiscent of The Band, which usually means Wilco has hit its stride. And it bodes well the band's six album.

>> Reverting to: 1966

The Lovin' Spoonful is a weakness. The apparent ease of John Sebastian's pop melodies and the feel-good nature of the band's sound strikes some sort of chord in my musical palette, and it's exactly how I want to feel this time of year.
"You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" is a little heavy-handed in the last verse's backup vocals, but everything else is just so dang pleasant.

Back to (Sexy) Basics

2007-04-24T19:35:00.000-04:00

>> Featured Artist: Fountains of Wayne

I like to think of Fountains of Wayne as an underdog. But a decent amount of pop success has made it harder to do.

There's nothing overtly wrong with "Yolanda Hayes," one of the leaked tracks from the band's April release Traffic and Weather. And it took me a few listens to figure out what was keeping me from liking the tune. Some thoughts:

1) It's a bit formulaic. We have the "Getting Better" staccato guitar, but without the corresponding blow-your-brain bass work. We have a typical rhyme pattern.

2) It's about picking up an employee at the DMV. Have you seen the employees at your DMV? Have you?

3) When did Owsley become the songwriter for these guys? I swear to god this song has been on both of his albums.

Like I said, I still half-root for these guys. I want to enjoy their fun pop music. I just don't like "Yolanda Hayes," and I'm questioning how good the rest of the album could be if this was sent out as its representative.

For the Fountains of Wayne fanatics out there, that's a challenge to recommend something.

>> Album Lookout: The Magic Position

Patrick Wolf - Due Out: May 1, 2007 Low Altitude (U.S.)

Too much has been said about Patrick Wolf. And, by all I had heard, he was clearly fucked up, but you know, in an endearing way. But before I had enough time to jump completely on the bandwagon, I'm told (by Pitchfork) that the undisputed solo phenom indie prince of 2007 is stopping live performances in November. Wow. He also hints that he might cut off all "public communications." (What does that mean, by the way?)

My first thought is to Jens Lekman, whose retirement announcement back in late 2005 shocked the indie rockers - and apparently Lekman himself, as he recanted not more than a few months later.

All the hype aside, the music here is indeed quite the accomplishment. It's not something you'll love from First Listen, Note 1, but it's quite the grower. Once accustomed to Wolf's voice and intensity, the songs are almost trances. Note the layers on "Bluebells."

Let's hope Wolf is just pulling a Beatles maneuver, knocking out the touring to focus on the music. Or let's hope he was just drunk. Otherwise,I guess it's too late to issue an official request that Wolf tour with Andrew Bird.

>> Reverting to: 1972

A little Joni to welcome the spring, which is quickly turning into hot, muggy summer (thanks, Al Gore!). And, considering the looming end of Internet radio on May 15 when the new royalty rates kick in, I've chosen "You Turn Me On (I'm a Radio)" to commemorate the moment.

One of my all-time favorite songs, Joni sings sex as if it were a glorious road trip with the radio. Which it is. Obviously.

Meet Nestor (Part III)

2007-04-17T21:43:00.000-04:00

NESTOR (tracks 10 through 16):
11 >> The Fratellis |Flathead
12 >> Nick Drake | Which Will
13 >> The Shins | Red Rabbits
14 >> Andrew Bird | Heretics
15 >> The Hold Steady | Party Pit
16 >> Maria Taylor | Lost Time

* * *
The Fratellis, fresh off an iTunes commercial and a Toaster post, are clearly riding the momentum of newfound fame. "Flathead," the song from said iTunes ad, is an infection of a pop song. It is so packed with hooks that I required a thorough background check into the rest of the album before I could even trust it through an entire listen. Too many hooks make me nervous. The point where they finally hook me is the third chorus break where the "Bah-da-bahs" should be, but aren't. Good play, Fratellis. Good play.

* * *
I told Nestor from the very beginning that we don't use Nick Drake anymore unless we're making a John Cusack movie. And that there might not be any Nick Drake songs left to unveil. Still, he insisted and finally won me over in a demo version of the mix in which "Which Will" brought peace to me after the pop chaos that is Fratellis. These are three minutes on the mix I couldn't do without.

* * *
Following Nick Drake with the Shins must feel like a move straight out Zach Braff's playbook. And for that I apologize. "Red Rabbits," however is a texture-rich song that brings Nestor through a delicate moment to a point where the mix can come to some resolution. As James Mercer's melody evolves, the song grows continuously brighter - until his signature end-of-the-song slight twist in the melody. On "Red Rabbits" it couldn't have been more sweetly done.

* * *
O! Where we'd be without DJ Bryan! His discovery of Andrew Bird and Devin Davis in the summer of 2005 single-handedly changed that year for me. And I'm drawn to Bird's antics in "Heretics" - yes, even the lyrics that are nearly spoken - mostly because of the way his style reminds me how much I enjoy living in D.C. I can't explain that in a way that makes any sense. But, then again, Nestor never really wanted to make sense.

* * *
The Hold Steady are one of the best bands making music today. And, still being hooked on 2006's Boys and Girls in America, I didn't think I'd surprise anybody by going out on Nestor with "Party Pit." The simple refrain of "Gonna walk around and drink some more" at the songs fade always brings me so much joy.

* * *
In the original version of Nestor, "Party Pit" was followed by "Lost Time" and the mix was capped with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. It soon became clear that the mix ends with Maria Taylor's final lyric no matter what I put after it. And so I obeyed. The song, which is mostly unimpressive until the male harmony brings that perfect touch to the song - something that Taylor, in her previous efforts, has never failed to be able to do.

And now Nestor is yours to love. Treat him well. And go get a drink - on him.

Meet Nestor (Part II)

2007-04-10T18:03:00.000-04:00

NESTOR is a collection intended for the winter-to-spring transition, one that brings hope of a new beginning for all of us - only to crush it with a fresh dose of wintry reality.

Last week, I left you with some tracks to serve as an appetizer. To recap, we had:

NESTOR (tracks 1 through 5):
01 >> Clap Your Hands Say Yeah |Emily Jean Stock
02 >> Voxtrot | Soft and Warm
03 >> Aqueduct | As You Wish
04 >> Arcade Fire | Keep the Car Running
05 >> Gianni Ferrio | For Whom the Bell Tolls

To start a mix with a track off their latest LP is probably a bit unexpected. You might already know that I've never been with the with-it crowd on CYHSY. But, to be fair, this is one of the most fun songs I've heard this year. From the driving acoustic guitar that seems to sink into your skin to the handclaps and bell chimes to the nearly unintelligible lyrics (this usually pisses me off about these guys) to the bass/drum explosion breaks, "Emily Jean Stock" screams urgency. And so does Nestor.

* * *
Voxtrot has won me over time and time again, and "Soft and Warm" is yet another shred of evidence that this band has something Wilsonian in them. There's still many a jury out on whether this will hold up on the band's first full-length, due out later this spring, but for now I'm happy issuing a glowing recommendation.

* * *
Aqueduct is not an artist known for its subtlety, and so it came as no surprise when David Terry set about issuing his ode to The Princess Bride, it came out something like this.

* * *
"Keep the Car Running" gets Nestor closer to God.

* * *
When I caved and bought the Curb Your Enthusiasm soundtrack, it took a few listens just to keep from chuckling at each track change. Gianni Ferrio's "For Whom the Bell Tolls," once you get the image of Larry David out of your head, is Nestor's throwdown. He's calmly saying, "I beg you to bring it."

NESTOR (tracks 6 through 10):
06 >> Of Montreal |A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger
07 >> The Broken West | Down in the Valley
08 >> The Byrds | Jesus Is Just Alright
09 >> Dntel (feat. Jenny Lewis) | Roll On
10 >> The Long Winters | Ultimatum

* * *
Now that Of Montreal is doing Outback Steakhouse commercials, legitimacy issues abound. I mean, all I see are blooming fucking onions when I listen to their music these days. Not that that's a bad thing. At least not for Nestor.

* * *
The Broken West played a great show last week as a warm-up act for The Long Winters (below). Their take on California pop isn't completely unique, but it sounds effortless at times, especially on "Down in the Valley." A solid song for a solid guy.

* * *
You know, I toyed with the idea of subtitling this mix "He's My Jesus," but then decided against it, as the mix was being issued on Good Friday and I didn't want to beg the question of whether this is a concept album. Even though Nestor equals devotion, it is not a devotion to a higher power - unless that higher power is wonderful Vitamin C! The Byrds' version of "Jesus Is Just Alright" shows how vague, perhaps tongue-in-cheek, references to Jesus should be done. And those guitar licks knocks me out.

* * *
I don't expect much from Dntel, seeing as how I've already given all the Postal Service credit to Ben Gibbard. But teaming up with other letter carrier Jenny Lewis, Jimmy Tamborello reeled me in. I imagine it was more the fact that Jenny Lewis seems do no wrong in my heart and that damn melody would get stuck in my head for days on end. But the pressure that builds from the Dntel backing track provide a perfect complement for Lewis' songstyling and provide some depth to a song that would otherwise be a little repetitive.

* * *
I've posted "Ultimatum" before, and I've already confessed my love for The Long Winters, but Nestor wanted his share. And now look at where we are.

Next week, The Toaster will feature the last six songs from Nestor: An Offer That You Can't Refuse. Stay tuned.

Meet Nestor (Part I: a sneak preview)

2007-04-03T18:47:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year once again, folks. The first mix CD from the 2007 Toaster Talks Collection hits the shelves Friday, and the buzz is already starting to stir in the bushes.

This is the first of three weeks dedicated to NESTOR, a collection I hope you'll all embrace warmly but hesitantly - a similar embrace to the one you'd give Aunt Netty - before you fall dangerously in love with it. (And on that last point I think I'd prefer it if you dropped the Aunt Netty line of thinking).

But, because this is a sneak preview (and because I'm making my first jaunt - long-overdue - to Rock & Roll Hotel with fresh-out-of-Africa Bill to see The Long Winters, The Broken West and Stars of Track and Field tonight), I'll just leave you with some tracks to munch on:

NESTOR (tracks 1 through 5):
01 >> Clap Your Hands Say Yeah | "Emily Jean Stock"
02 >> Voxtrot | "Soft and Warm"
03 >> Aqueduct | "As You Wish"
04 >> Arcade Fire | "Keep the Car Running"
05 >> Gianni Ferrio | "For Whom the Bell Tolls"

Whet that appetite!

Disappoint. Instill hope. Repeat.

2007-03-27T22:19:00.000-04:00

>> Featured Artist: Nine Inch Nails

It seems that Trent Reznor lost his muse sometime during the making of 1999's The Fragile. While parts of that double LP reached the heights of Renzor's career, there was a notable drop-off in some points. And With Teeth (2005) felt like so forced and calculated that the title seemed to be poking fun at the band. Reznor's creativity and pop sensibility, both of which have never really left him, are apparent, but muted by horrible lyrics with no depth or meaning whatsoever.

Maybe it was far from the truth, but The Downward Spiral felt honest - like Reznor was putting it all on the line. He sounded desperate, he sounded fucked up, he sounded pissed. And believable.In 1994, NIN showed us what they meant. Since then, Reznor's outfit has mostly feigned these attitudes and feelings. I just found everything so hard to believe.

But, as we're told every time Trent heads back to the studio, they're saying the man is back. I'd love this to be true (even if to vindicate my youth).But from what I've heard of the forthcoming album, Year Zero, it's not. And yet while the clunkers still clunk, they aren't clunking as hard. And there are even moments of great promise - such as the refrain of "My Violent Heart" and the majority of "Survivalism," the first track of his in years that has sounded inspired.

It'll take another track or two of this promise that'll make me want to open up my wallet for NIN. Again. It occurs to me, though, that maybe it isn't just Reznor who is past his prime. More likely the root of this issue is that I have just grown up and out of my Nine Inch Nails era.

My faith, however, will continue. Perhaps he should try a country-western album.

>> Album Lookout: Cassadaga

Bright Eyes - Due Out: April 10, 2007 Saddle Creek

I've never loved Bright Eyes. Not like everyone else has at least. Not even close. There was always something just a little too precocious in his lyricism and something a little too wobbly in his voice.

Without fail, though, there is always at least one song on every album that is truly brilliant. On "Four Winds" Oberst takes another stab at a relevant political song. He seems to be going after a little bit of everythign - after war, religion, etc., etc.

Some lyrics tip off the "oh-god" meter, such as the line suggesting "if you burn [the Bible, the Torah and the Koran] together, you'd be close to the truth" and something about a genocide "sleeping" in South Dakota. But the song - with its fiddles and country overtones - survives. At moments its build even creates a sense of urgency.

>> Reverting to: 1972

I realized a few years back that no Cleveland Opening Day could be complete without Randy Newman's "Burn On." About to venture up to the "city of light, city of magic" for what will be my 19th of the past 21 consecutive home openers with my dad and a few compadres, I find myself with the same fresh hope that each new season brings.

No other day of the year competes in this arena.

And though Randy Newman wrote this with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek, it has acquired an anthemic quality to me. That lush breakdown before the final refrain has been known to bring a few goosebumps in its day.

And as the season begins next week and the Indians take the field, Cleveland will reclaim its spot - even just for a moment - as the greatest city I've ever known.

Burn on, big river, burn on

Lay Down Your Arms

2007-03-20T18:58:00.000-04:00

First, let me personally apologize for the technical difficulty experienced last week. This has been taken care of and I have taken the additional step of severing each and every unnecessary Toaster staffer. And, hence, The Toaster Talks has finally found the first person. - Love, Mister T.

>> Featured Artist: I'm From Barcelona

I've always known the Swedish love their repetitive lyrics. On "This Boy," which features Lonely, Dear, these strong contenders for 2006's best band name basically just add a vocal track to signify a reason to sing the verse again. And while this sounds pretty irritating, it isn't. Call it the foreigner soft-spot.

Today sees the U.S. release of I'm From Barcelona's Let Me Introduce My Friends and I'd be remiss if I didn't finally give them a Toaster shout-out. They've been in and out of rotation over the past five or six months, and I'm happy to say they've finally made it. And it's not just because I find the band name supercute.

>> Album Lookout: Costello Music

The Fratellis - Released: March 13, 2007 Cherrytree

Why am I always drawn into those goddamn iPod commercials? Even when the song is not particularly appealing to the Toaster taste (about 31% of the time), I perk up and pay attention. And no matter how much I hate those iPod headphones, they are forgiven because they look scrumptious. And because Apple will tell me what I like.

The Fratellis are among the bands who have actually stuck around in my head following all the flashing pinks and oranges and greens.

Other bloggers and music experts have placed this band (that has no evident relation to the NBA coach Mike Fratello) in the Arctic Monkeys of 2007 folder. The Arctic Monkeys, as much as I enjoyed a track here and there, never really outpaced the hype that accompanied them. And, even in perhaps the shiniest hype medium possible, the Fratellis have quickly transcended the talk.

On "Henrietta," the first track from Costello Music, they go for our pop throats - from cheeky lyrics ("Buy us some shoes and maybe take us for cola") to the mock vocal doubling of the guitar solo to the song's catchy changes themselves. And, maybe it's how much fun it sounds like they're having or maybe it's the effortless front they've created, but I'm becoming a believer. (And they're making me reconsider what I said about those headphones...)

>> Reverting to: 1962

John Lennon once referred to "Soldier of Love," the Arthur Alexander classic, as one of his favorite songs. The Beatles would record it; Pearl Jam would throw it into many a live performance. But Arthur Alexander's record company stuck it on Side B and it never really broke through the pop charts.

It could be the fact I've just fired my staff. It could be that war I've been hearing so much about these days. All I know is that it's resonating today.

Baby, I don't want to fight no more.

What Toasters Do in Florida

2007-03-13T19:25:00.000-04:00

Now with mp3 links!

>> Featured Artist: The New Pornographers

Having taken a trek down to Florida to take in a few spring training games, Mister Toaster was also lucky enough to catch The New Pornographers only non-festival show this spring. Having been duped by Pitchfork into thinking Neko Case would be joining The New Ps for the show, a considerable level of despair filled Orlando's Club Firestone when the stage was set up without a spot for the moonlighting singer-songwriter.

Never fear: Kathryn Calder (who hails from Immaculate Machine and happens to be a cousin of frontman Carl Newman) was quick to close the expectation gap with her best Neko impression - not just in the backing vox, but also taking lead on songs such as "Mass Romantic."

Even Bejar and Case-less, the band still put on one of the best performances in the Toaster's recent memory, making the case that the Carl Newman is not just the brains behind an all-star band, but perhaps one of the biggest stars himself.

>> Album Lookout: Armchair Apocrypha

Andrew Bird - Due Out: March 20, 2007 Fat Possum

Andrew Bird, in all his whimsy, takes a bit of getting used to. His lyrics, such as those in 2005's "Fake Palindromes" ("and I'm goinna tie your wrists with leather and drill a tiny hole into your head"), are unnerving, and at times nauseating.

On Bird's first Fat Possum release, due out next week, he takes up where he left off on Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs with songs with refrains like "Thank got it's fatal" and, regarding an airplane ride, "To save our lives, you got to envision the fiery crash." The latter is a lyric from "Fiery Crash," which is complete in the Andrew Bird style, which is characterized not just by eccentric lyrics, but also with interesting instrumentation, textured backing vocals and his signature whistle.

At the very least, it'll be nice having another album to hum along to while pretending not to hear the lyrics.

>> Reverting to: 1954

With all those old-timers down there in the F-L, that fifites music is EVERYWHERE. Everywhere.

This gets us thinking about all those damn white bands who turned the R&B classics into smash pop hits. It pains us to find that our childhood favorite movie, Clue, has forced into the Toaster hall-of-fame one of these song-napped tunes, the Crew Cuts cover of "Sh-boom." The skatty classic was originally a considerable hit for The Chords, who (according to Wiki) are often cited as being one of the first R&B groups to crossover with a pop hit. We're posting their version.

While we miss the "a-lang a ding-dong, a-lang a-lang a-lang" and the "yadda dada dada..." the Crew Cuts added, the middle 8 ("Every time I look at you / something is on my mind") is best represented in its unneutured version.

Thank god for rock'n'roll history class. Here's to you, wherever you are, Professor Gunderson.

Ruby Tuesdays

2007-03-06T20:18:00.000-05:00

>> Featured Artist: Cathy Davey

Irish singer-songwriter Cathy Davey has been winning over blogs left and right with her follow-up to 2004's Something Ilk - a demo. "Sing for Your Supper" is infectious. The snare-heavy drum beat and driving bass line allows an intensity to build around an otherwise playful song. The delivery of "One way or the other, I'll be making eyes at you" does not read as important as it sounds.

Of particular note is Davey's voice, which is interesting and hard to categorize (thank God). It is also not horribly offensive. And, for that reason, the Toaster is intrigued on the basis of one song - a rare feat.

>> Album Lookout: Lynn Teeter Flower

Maria Taylor - Released: March 6, 2007 Saddle Creek

On some days (particularly those when we forget about our obligatory indie love for Jenny Lewis), the Toaster Talks likes to posture controversially: Azure Ray might be the best artist ever to come out of Saddle Creek.

Maria Taylor, now two solo albums removed from Azure Ray, is not so removed from the vocal wonder that she helped define in the group. Her fantastic lead is still partnered with those spooky-beautiful whisper harmonies. And the music still resonates, to the point where The Toaster had difficulty picking between upbeat songs and the devastating slow songs.

Today we opted for a song with drums: "A Good Start," a solid dancy pop song sure to please the Imogen Heap crowd.

>> Reverting to: 1999

For those who haven't seen Children of Men, this post is significantly less impressive. The soundtrack, driven by a rarely noted John Lennon song from the Mind Games era - "Bring on the Lucie (Freda People)" - and a hauting cover of "Ruby Tuesday" by Italian songwriter Franco Battiato.

The latter is so remarkable in its rendition of the classic Stones song that it lingers with your relentlessly in the weeks after seeing the movie - until you finally download it and listen to it on repeat as you're falling asleep. Each chorus hits a different tone, which wasn't lost on the filmmakers, who used at least two of them for crucial moments in the film.

Us Kids Know

2007-02-27T18:24:00.000-05:00

>> Featured Artist: Son Volt

As Jay Ferrar preps his post-Uncle Tupelo outfit's fifth full length, the Toaster has to admit it was introduced to the bandwagon not more than a year ago by friend and coworker Michael S. Since then, it's been hard not fall for the songwriter who pretty much created alt-country as we know it.

The Search is due out next week on what is shaping up to be the biggest release day yet of 2007. Still, Mister Toaster insisted on featuring a Son Volt throwback. "Too Early," a mournful tale of "too much habit" from 1995's Son Volt debut Trace.

We can't completely put our finger on it, but there's something religious about the way the simple acoustic guitar changes interact with the accordian solos. It has kept the song on our playlist for months.

>> Album Lookout: Neon Bible

Arcade Fire - To Be Released: March 6, 2007 Merge

Arcade Fire has a knack for writing epic pop songs. It seems that, even when they're not trying, the sheer musical mass and the intricacies of each song's texture force each song into our "Holy Shit-Music to Change the Goddamn World" folder. They don't help things with all the use they get out of the choir.

For those familiar with the band's 2003 self-titled release, "No Cars Go" isn't much of a teaser of next week's Neon Bible release. While we're not always an advocate of rehashing old material to slip one by all those new fans, "No Cars Go" is an obvious choice for a revisit.

It's not just a perfect showcase for the bigness of the Arcade Fire sound, it's practically a childhood dream anthem. It's also a puzzle - a place where no cars, planes, ships, spaceships or subs go? Hmm. Then the devolution of the song into an into-the-lifeboats motif...Yeah, us kids know it's probably about sex and/or drugs. At least, we can only hope it is.

>> Reverting to: 1981

Now this isn't meant to coincide with the coda of Black History Month, but if you, the eager reader, want to read this post about an all-white synth-pop Brit trio with leftist sympathies that way, we can't do anything about that, can we?

A coworker made Mister Toaster a mix for his birthday with a song from each year he's been alive. The mix began subtly with Heaven 17's "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang." And his life hasn't been the same.

Fat Oscars

2007-02-20T17:43:00.000-05:00

>> Featured Artist: El Perro del Mar

As Mardi Gras comes to an end down in New Orleans, we're increasingly drawn to the creepy-pretty El Perro del Mar song "Party." From the minor-key insertion of "Be Bop a Lula" at the end of the chorus to the droning backing vocals, El Perro del Mar creeps us the fuck out.

Having lived in New Orleans for the summer of 2001, we're hoping that life in New Orleans' Mardi Gras carnivale/festival/parade/drunkfest has not become the minor-key rendition of its past.

Still, there's a party going on.

>> Album Lookout: The 79th Annual Academy Awards

Various Artists - Airing: Feb. 25, 2007 ABC

With the nominees for Best Original Song including the requisite Randy Newman song, a trying-too-hard political song by Melissa Etheridge for An Inconvenient Truth and the three original tracks (read: the underwhelming songs) from Dreamgirls, the Toaster decided to revert to one of the 51 songs that were submitted but did not receive nominations.

Though there were only a few indie tracks gracing the Oscar submissions this year, Spoon's "The Book I Write" for the impressive Will Ferrell vehicle Stranger Than Fiction stands out among them. Not only is it one of the better recent Spoon songs, but it adds a component to the movie that something like Etheridge's "I Need to Wake Up" or Dreamgirls' "Patience" didn't. It was a natural fit.

Our vote goes to Randy Newman.

>> Reverting to: 1965

Now that we've depressed you all, let's relish in one of the best Mardi Gras songs of all time, The Dixie Cups' "Iko Iko."

"My grandma said to your grandma, 'I'm gonna set your flag on fire.'"

Ice Ice Baby

2007-02-13T15:37:00.000-05:00

>> Featured Artist: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

Just more than a month after being awarded a Toastie for "Best Band Name," Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin cashes in with an even bigger mention from Mister Toaster, who is reportedly "moderately excited" by the band's fortcoming appearance at Black Cat with Chin Up Chin Up on February 22.

While "House Fire" on barely got out of the nineties in the best-songs-of-2006 countdown, its the most accomplished No. 89 song The Toaster Talks has ever seen. And comparisons to Weezer aside, there's a depth to SSLYBY that Rivers Cuomo never really attempted - perhaps we're confusing depth for a minor chord progression.

But those minor chords make the poppy chorus all the more sweet. But we'd be remiss not to mention the subtle harmonies that lace this song's more delicate moments.

>> Album Lookout: Or Give Me Death

Aqueduct - To Be Released: Feb. 20, 2007 Barsuk

Discovered in the lonesome months of winter 2003 by DJ Bryan and his mix CD ruffians, Aqueduct made good with Mister Toaster with "Heart Design." Now back with a new LP fresh for a new winter, Aqueduct - the work of one-man-and-a-drum-machine, Oklahoma-native David Terry - is touring with Of Montreal and ready to make another splash on our hearts.

The Toaster had a hard time choosing a song to feature on these pages, but "Living a Lie" seemed to be appropriately Valentine's Day-themed. It also seems most representative of Aqueduct's charm - the hook-drenched electrona-pop with clever lyrics. And we couldn't get enough of all those crazy drum beats. (They're everywhere.)

>> Reverting to: 1970

Though this song will always be a Jesse and the Rippers song to us, the Beach Boys claim to have "the rights" to it. Bastards.

Just the line "If every word I said could make you laugh, I'd talk forever" shows the genius of Dennis Wilson and his oft-forgotten songwriting. Brother Brian called "Forever" (featured here is the a cappella version from Hawthorne, CA) "a rock and roll prayer."

We strive for the separation of church and blogs, so we'll settle for calling it a great song.

In a Name

2007-02-06T18:20:00.000-05:00

>> Featured Artist: Veruca Salt

Still plugging away at those Beatles references*, Veruca Salt released IV last fall, and few of us noticed. It appears the band, which sountracked a small - but notable - part of the post-grunge '90s, is back again for another post-Nina Gordon full-length.

Many didn't like the schizophrenic third album, 2001's Resolver, as much as the Toaster, and we won't fault them for the bad reviews. (Hell, half of us are still reeling from the fact that that little brat actress from the creepy Gene Wilder movie is not in the band after all.)

The album was light on the clever schtick it had pulled off so well with Nina Gordon. And it was probably a bit too heavy on dead-weight numbers, songs that sounded like a band trying to imitate itself.

But a few tracks, namely Louise Post's incredibly honest ballad about losing Dave Grohl, "Imperfectly," the band was as close to greatness as it had ever been.

Which brings us to 2006, five years later and five more years past their prime. And Veruca Salt wants back in. Now on Sympathy for the Record Industry, the band sounds - good god! - like Veruca Salt.

While we're not ready to declare a return to greatness - after all, the sound is still very reminiscent of the 1990s - songs like "So Weird" announce at least a return to form, seemingly both poppy and alive.

While not quite back on the scene (lackluster sales mostly resulting from lackluster promotions), Veruca Salt is far from dead.

* The Beatles' American releases include 1965's VI. Two of VS's other albums, Eight Arms to Hold You (working title of the film Help!) and Resolver (a play on Revolver), are also Beatles allusions.

>> Album Lookout: Phantom Punch

Sondre Lerche - Released: Feb. 6, 2007 Astralwerks

Oh, thank the Norwegian god above! Sondre Lerche is back. Back, we say. And it's not more of that crooner act he tried on last year. One more move like that and we'll start mispronouncing your name - the pronunciation of which we still are kind of unclear on**

The biggest surprise about Phantom Punch is that it comes packed with one. That's quite a loud guitar you have there, Sondre. You can hear on songs like "John, Let Me Go" that Lerche hasn't lost one bit of his craftmanship, even though he's rapidly approaching the age of 25. On this album, he has confidently expanded his sound - and here's the important part - without it feeling forced, which is something we can't say for his Duper Sessions release last year.

It's certainly nice to have the Scandinavian back. Leave the crooning to us.

** According to Wikipedia, it's pronounced Sän-drə Lâr-Kĕ. Which we're pretty sure sounds like "SAUN-dre LEHR-keh." His asshole fans on his fan forum (who are so tired of having to answer this question to us folks that they appear to have taken down the past posts about how to pronounce it correctly!) say it's agree or disagree and say it's pronounced "SÅNDRE LÆRKE," with the first "A with a halo" pronounced like the "a" in "always," the "E" pronounced like the "e" in "egg," and the "A-E thing" pronounced like the "a" in "camp." Wow.

>> Reverting to: 1965

With the news that Apple, Inc., and the Beatle-founded Apple Corps have kissed and made up over iTunes, this seems fairly appropriate:

Video.

(Note the verse-to-chorus costume changes!)

Dance, you! Dance!

2007-01-30T18:15:00.000-05:00

>> Featured Artist: Hot Chip

Indie dancing didn't die in 2006, but little got us off our pensive asses to move our feet. Sure, pop megastars like Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado and Beyoncé did their fair share, but where were the indie kids?

Our hope is that they were all with Hot Chip, which made a surprise leap from near obscurity to hit Number 35 on the year (thanks to input from the Great Aarby Machine. In the end, few songs made us want to dance more in 2006 than "And I Was a Boy From School" off Hot Chip's June release, The Warning.

Not that we dance well.

Still, "Boy" effortlessly tosses together a winning melody, easy lyrics, soft harmonies and a nasty-catchy instrumental loop. Combined, it puts us in a trance - a trance of lovable indie electronic dance.

BONUS: Bless the folks at The Torture Garden for posting an acoustic version.

>> Album Lookout: Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?

Of Montreal - Released: Jan. 23, 2007 Polyvinyl

Still somewhat mystified by the pairing of Of Montreal and Outback Steakhouse, the Toaster wakes up to find the band has release another critically acclaimed LP.

We're not going to try to decipher the title, as we understand it's somewhat of a concept album and - after hearing only a handful of tracks - it's not clear where the hell it came from. Nor do we claim to know what/where/how Heimdalsgate is.

All that confusion aside, Of Montreal can't seem to shake us. Even though they put their pop instincts through a thicker bed of electronic dance music on this go-round, it's no less infectious than the band's previous releases. And, sticking with today's theme, it isn't short on the spirit either.

Though AllMusic characterizes Fauna as a "grower," we quickly found "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse" to be one of our fave Of Montreal tracks ever released. The way Kevin Barnes sings so buoyantly to his drugs to get him over a streak of depression is the ultimate contradiction. The conclusion: endearing happy-sad dance pop is off to a good start in '07.

>> Reverting to: 1965

Not all dancing is peppy, of course. Finding ourselves inside watching a rerun of the strange and sad (not to mention, addictively bad) biopic of the Temptations this weekend on VH-1, we started to recall better times for the Temps and happier times for the Toaster - back when a little shuffle and a finger snap could save the world.

And then we did a bunch of drugs and called it a day.

That said, here's to one of the greatest pop songs ever written (thanks, Smokey): "My Girl."

The State of the Toaster

2007-01-23T19:21:00.000-05:00

Mister Toaster presented the following address this evening to both houses of Toast:

"The state of the Toaster is strong. After the first meeting of the Toaster Talks Music Appreciation League this weekend [minutes below], I feel we are ready to enter the unknown with our heads high and our hopes for world peace and indie rock ever-so-slightly lower."

>> Featured Artist: Voxtrot

With three highly enjoyable EPs under their belt, Voxtrot head into 2007 readying a full-length, or so we're told. As frontman Ramesh Srivastava sings on "Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives," the title track from their May 2006 EP, "Listen, I've come to rock this boat."

Indeed.

The Voxtrot prescription for pop music is airy, catchy lead guitar riffs over a thick, driven rhythm sectio and all tied together with a vocal delivery that appears at first unremarkable, but quickly proves irresistible. (Maybe throw a little 'verb in there for good measure).

There's a reason theirs is among our most-looked-forward-to releases of 2007.

>> Album Lookout: Meet the Smithereens

The Smithereens - Released: Jan. 16, 2007 KOCH

We have an idea: Why don't the Smithereens take eight years off and come back as Beatlemania? Oops. Once again, reality beats sarcasm to the punch.

Even as resident Beatle maniacs, we're more than a little taken aback by this self-described "homage" to the Beatles' second album and first U.S. smash.

Don't get us wrong: It's not that it's bad. It's not. To the contrary, they faithfully recreate this classic 1963/1964 release. Aside from a few seemingly uninspired flourishes, it's note for note the same album, which is perhaps why these flourishes and a slight difference in the vocal mix on songs like "I Saw Her Standing There" give us the heebie-jeebies.

We don't want to sound anti-recreation of classic rock music...actually, scratch that. We do. New Toaster adage: Don't recreate an entire living work unless there's good reason (among them: artist is unknown; you've formed a one-of-a-kind band to do so, etc.). At the very least, if you must completely recreate something, do something interesting with it. Pull a Petra Haden. I mean, we're probably not going to buy that art student's recreation of "Starry Night" on Ebay. Unless that art student is our granddaughter.

"OK," you're saying, "Settle down. It's just the Smithereens here. They're just having fun. They didn't mean any harm."

Yeah, you're probably right. They probably didn't mean anything by it.

>> Reverting to: 1985

Video.

Word on the street is that Dan Aykroyd still has this on his resume (see 4:18).

>>Minutes: Mister Toaster unveils 100 songs. Crowd rejoices, cries with joy. Songs end. Peace becomes the night.

Rediscovery Galore

2007-01-16T18:14:00.000-05:00

>> Featured Artist: Bob Dylan

We have to admit: Modern Times didn't wow us the first time. As DW described it, it seemed like "too much shuffle, not enough stomp." Sure, we all liked the video for "When the Deal Goes Down," but we weren't sure we could separate our affinity for that video from its star, Scarlett Johansson.

Taking a second spin around, as we figure the guy probably has earned it, we suddenly got it. Songs like "Workingman's Blues #2," our personal favorite, popped out among all the shuffle as seemingly inspired works from the master himself.

We might not be able to give Modern Times the stellar reviews it got in the mainstream music press, but there's little question it's yet another solid Dylan album.

>> Album Lookout: Lon Gisland EP

Beirut - Due Out: Feb. 6, 2007 Ba Da Bing!

The Toaster Talks is admittedly a little behind on the phenomenon that is Beirut.

Upon first hearing the first few songs from Gulag Orkestar, it became clear that the music sent the listener into some Eastern European carnival to do one of two things:

1) Revel in our carefree abandon and let the breeze spread the sweet smell of elephant ears and french fries into our eager nostrils.
2) Ride those fucking spin rides until we vomit.

Just as one should be when walking into a carnival, we were hesitant. Now that the 20-year-old Zach Condon and his band have an EP coming out in February, we can safely say that nobody has hurled and we're all still very happy about that smell.

"Elephant Gun," the first track from the forthcoming EP, doesn't stray from the Gulag formula and proves to be yet another winner, maybe the best song he's released aside from the masterpiece "Postcards from Italy."

And who can help but love an according-led coda?! Get on the merry-go-round, boys.

>> Reverting to: 1985

"And She Was" is a permanent fixture in the soundtrack that was Mister Toaster's upbringing. With a father who went to law school and worked as a manager at a local Toledo record store, the Toaster house was always filled with new music. Most of it stayed in rotation on the record player for no more than a few months, which meant that Mister Toaster's adolescence would be filled with rediscoveries. As you might imagine, these songs tend toward the poppy - even the uncool (ahem, Starship's "Sara"...yeah...).

But the Talking Heads were different. They were cool. David Byrne still is cool, having almost coined his own definition of the concept.

And so we submit yet another song toward the Toaster Hall of Fame collection.

Please note the first-ever meeting of the Toaster Talks Music Appreciation League will take place Saturday, Jan. 20, in Washington, D.C. Inquire within.

Exploding Into 2007

2007-01-09T18:14:00.000-05:00

>> Featured Artist: Albert Hammond, Jr.

The way the organ in "Bright Young Thing" (#47 of 2006) interacts with its vocal melody still leaves us feeling warm about the Strokes' guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr.'s solo career. It certainly isn't the only bright spot on his debut album, Yours to Keep, which was released elsewhere in October (it was just annouced today that the album will have an official U.S. release in March).

Hammond wins us over not by proving he can do the Strokes thing, too, but rather in the moments he sounds nothing like them. This is not to say that there aren't Strokes-ish affectations on the record; to the contrary, there are a few rhythm guitar licks that sound familiar. But on some songs it sounds like Hammond has been listening to the Jon Brions of the world.

All indications are that the Strokes are doing fine, and we'd certainly not want to kill them off. What the Toaster really would like to see is Hammond to get a bigger role in the band's repertoire; perhaps Julian could turn off his condenser and hand the lead vox over to Hammond once in a while. We're not holding our breath.

Meanwhile, Hammond is touring with, of all acts on Earth, Incubus. We hereby bite our tongues.

>> Album Lookout: Wincing the Night Away

The Shins - Due Out: Jan. 23, 2007 Sub Pop

Mister Toaster was a little taken aback when he heard the first leaked song from the forthcoming Shins album, "Phantom Limb," blasting out of the speakers at the mall over the holidays, marking the third time he'd heard it in public that weekend. An endorsement from Zach Braff will do that, we suppose.

The single certainly meets the bar the Shins have set for themselves on past releases. The melody sails freely into patterns that sound somewhat unnatural at first and ever-so-natural on every listen thereafter. In that way, "Phantom Limb" is yet another Shins' calling card, the song that gets stuck in the head before the head can pick up what the lyrics are.

What's left to be seen is how the rest of the album stacks up; James Mercer has described Wincing in interviews as an album much more along the lines of Oh, Inverted World, except - and this excites us - with higher fidelity. Low-fi, after Chutes Too Narrow we guess, would just be disingenuous.

With releases from the New Pornographers, the Arcade Fire and others coming at us soon, giving us unreasonably high expectations for the first half of 2007, the Shins have to get us off on the right foot in two weeks.

>> Reverting to: 1970

With Saturday's passing of "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow, one of the world's finest pedal steel players, we thought it only appropriate to eulogize him with his own twang.
Thanks to 33/45 for posting a few Flying Burrito Brothers cuts and providing the Toaster and its listeners with the Burrito'd "Close Up the Honky-Tonks," which All Music tells us was intended for their second album, Burrito Deluxe.

The Best of 2006: Songs 100 to 1

2007-01-02T20:02:00.000-05:00

Mister Toaster can post mp3s of only the top five for now. We'll pepper future entries with others, we promise.

Please comment with any specific requests and we'll get them up, too. Dig in. We'll resume regularly scheduled programming next week. Happy 2007!

2006, a year in music:

100 >> CSS / Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above
99 >> Midlake / Roscoe
98 >> The Dears / There Goes My Outfit
97 >> Peter Bjorn and John / Young Folks
96 >> Division Day / Colorguard
95 >> Smoosh / I Would Go
94 >> And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead / Eight Days of Hell
93 >> I'm From Barcelona / This Boy
92 >> The Pernice Brothers / Somerville
91 >> Bob Dylan / Workingman's Blues #2
90 >> Yo La Tengo / Beanbag Chair
89 >> Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin / House Fire
88 >> Jeremy Warmsley / 5 Verses
87 >> Alexi Murdoch / All My Days
86 >> Pearl Jam / Marker in the Sand
85 >> The Mountain Goats / If You See Light
84 >> Voxtrot / Soft and Warm
83 >> Let's French / Boys and Girls
82 >> Beyonce / Irreplaceable
81 >> TV on the Radio / Tonight
80 >> The Weepies / The World Spins Madly On
79 >> The French Kicks / So Far We Are
78 >> Lily Allen / LDN
77 >> Arctic Monkeys / The View From the Afternoon
76 >> The Sleepy Jackson / I Understand What You Want But I Just Don't Agree
75 >> The Format / Oceans
74 >> Chin Up Chin Up / This Harness Can't Ride Anything
73 >> Justin Timberlake (feat. T.I.) / My Love
72 >> Asobi Seksu / Thursday
71 >> Neko Case / Star Witness
70 >> Barbara Morgenstern / The Operator
69 >> The Stills / In the Beginning
68 >> Razorlight / Hold On
67 >> The Sheds / Too Many Pictures
66 >> Apparitions / Electricity + Drums
65 >> The Futureheads / Skip to the End
64 >> Danielson / Time That Bald Sexton
63 >> Mates of State / Fraud in the 80s
62 >> Cat Power / Could We
61 >> Josh Rouse / The Man Who…
60 >> The Rapture / Whoo! Alright Yeah…Uh Huh
59 >> Jenny Lewis With the Watson Twins / Born Secular
58 >> Matthew Friederberger / Up the River
57 >> Nellie McKay / There You Are in Me
56 >> The Submarines / Peace and Hate
55 >> Will Stratton / I'd Hate to Leave You
54 >> Beck / Think I'm In Love
53 >> The Decemberists / O Valencia!
52 >> Sparklehorse / Some Sweet Day
51 >> Sufjan Stevens / The Henney Buggy Band
50 >> Angela Desveaux / Heartbeat
49 >> Belle and Sebastian / Sukie in the Graveyard
48 >> Snow Patrol / Hands Open
47 >> Albert Hammond, Jr. / Bright Young Thing
46 >> Guillemots / Trains to Brazil
45 >> The Long Winters / Pushover
44 >> Voxtrot / Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives
43 >> El Perro del Mar / Party
42 >> M. Ward / Chinese Translation
41 >> The Concretes / On the Radio
40 >> Mojave 3 / Most Days
39 >> Fionn Regan / Put a Penny in the Slot
38 >> The Pipettes / Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me
37 >> Band of Horses / The Funeral
36 >> Be Your Own Pet / Adventure
35 >> Hot Chip / And I Was a Boy From School
34 >> Ingrid Michaelson / Breakable
33 >> Phoenix / Long Distance Call
32 >> The Hold Steady / First Night
31 >> Regina Spektor / Fidelity
30 >> Sufjan Stevens / The Mistress Witch From McClure
29 >> The Flaming Lips / Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
28 >> The Lemonheads / No Backbone
27 >> Ben Kweller / Penny on the Train Track
26 >> Swan Lake / All Fires
25 >> The Elected / Fireflies in a Steel Mill
24 >> The Strokes / You Only Live Once
23 >> CSS / Music Is My Hot Hot Sex
22 >> Matt Costa / Cold December
21 >> Snow Patrol / Set Fire to the Third Bar
20 >> Camera Obscura / Let's Get Out of This Country
19 >> The Long Winters / Teaspoon
18 >> Jenny Lewis With the Watson Twins / The Big Guns
17 >> TV on the Radio / Wolf Like Me
16 >> The Weepies / Gotta Have You
15 >> Tilly and the Wall / Sing Songs Along
14 >> Neko Case / The Needle Has Landed
13 >> Beirut / Postcards From Italy
12 >> The Pipettes / Pull Shapes
11 >> Beck / Strange Apparition
10 >> The Mountain Goats / Woke Up New
09 >> Belle and Sebastian / Another Sunny Day
08 >> The Format / Time Bomb
07 >> Gnarls Barkley / Crazy
06 >> Band of Horses / The Great Salt Lake
05 >> Regina Spektor / On the Radio
04 >> Mojave 3 / Breaking the Ice
03 >> The Hold Steady / Stuck Between Stations
02 >> The Long Winters / Hindsight
01 >> The Decemberists / The Crane Wife 1 & 2

The Toasties (Odds and Ends), 2006

2006-12-26T18:25:00.000-05:00

It's party time at the toaster! As we celebrate Mister Toaster's birthday, there will be no mp3 posts this week. Instead, we proudly present the first-ever edition of the Toaster Odds and Ends Awards (or, what will hereafter be affectionately known as "the Toasties"):

Best Band Name: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

Best Album Name: Yo La Tengo, I Am Not Afraid of You And I Will Beat Your Ass

Best Song Title: Johnny Boy, "You Are the Generation That Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Deserve"

Best Comeback From Oblivion: The Lemonheads

Biggest Let-Down: The Killers

Best Follow-Up to Greatness: The Hold Steady

Biggest Surprise Love: The Long Winters

Best Summer Song: Belle and Sebastian, "Another Sunny Day"

Best Winter Song: Matt Costa, "Cold December"

Best Attempt at Bringing Despair Down All Around Us: The Mountain Goats, Get Lonely

Best Album to Get Blotto To: The Hold Steady, Boys and Girls in America

Worst Moment by a Great Band: When the Decemberists momentarily became Yes and Pink Floyd on "The Island"

Best Opening Act: (tie) The New Pornographers (sans Neko Case and Dan Bejar), for Belle and Sebastian / Christine Fellows, for The Mountain Goats

Artist That Yielded the Most Cases of Music Blogs Losing Our Respect: Lavender Diamond, love for

Biggest What-the-Fuck?: Nelly Furtado

Biggest Where-the-Fuck-Have-They-Been?: Sparklehorse

Most Concise Song: Neko Case, "A Widow's Toast"

Most Imitated: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Best Release Date: June 6, 2006 - be your own PET

Worst Release Date: January 1, 2006 - The Strokes

Most Anticipated Albums of 2007: The Shins, The New Pornographers, Voxtrot

Worst Lyrics: The Killers, "When You Were Young"

Best Lyrics We're Not Sure We Understand: The Long Winters, "Teaspoon"

Best Live Show of 2006 (Witnessed by The Toaster Talks): Belle and Sebastian w/ The New Pornographers, March 6, 9:30 Club

See you next week for the Top 100 Songs of 2006.

Preliminary Report Card - Oh-Six

2006-12-19T19:04:00.000-05:00

Though Pitchfork sent its tablets to the mount earlier today, the Toaster is taking a more informal approach. Following the format of our mid-year review from June :

Honor Roll

Mojave 3: So they decided to rock it a little harder this time around, and by all accounts, it worked. The standout tracks are stellar, and the songs that would normally merit only a listen or two actually become the album's draw. Bonus points for the album art, which distinctly reminds us of that art-kid in 7th grade's doodles. (A-)

Beck: Aside from our general "eh" response to Guero, Beck plows through with another batch of consistency in Beckdom. This might not be the best work of his career, but the dude still seems to be on top of his game and making music that is more interesting than almost everything else out there. (A-)

The Pipettes: Having finally gotten his hands on a copy of We Are the Pipettes, Mister Toaster proceeded to fall madly in love with their pop mastery. Tracks like "Pull Shapes" and "Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me" never fail to get us out of our seats (or, more accurately, singing in public with our headphones on). The madness that is Pipettes is highly endorsed. Even on the clunkers (and there are a few), the clear lack of pretension wins us over. (A)

M. Ward: Sure, we'd been enjoying M. Ward tracks we'd nabbed over the past couple years, but we were truly won over by his performance in Nashville in September. Post-War might not yield a lot of No. 1 singles, but the album plays like a pair of already-broken-in jeans feels. (A-) >> Highlight: "To Go Home" (Robert Johnston cover)

The Mountain Goats: Somwhere along the way John Darnielle got lonely. And dragged a few dozen of us with him and his new vocal approach - relying much more on a delicate falsetto that made its way onto a few tracks on The Sunset Tree than his typical straightforward vocal gait. It's not his best work, but it's hard to deny his prowess as a songwriter. We just wish there were a few more tracks we could bob to. (A-)

The Long Winters: Far and away, this was our favorite surprise find of the year. We'd heard a bit of these guys in the past and always dug what we'd heard, but on Putting the Days to Bed the band proves it's one of the most original and consistent indie rock acts out there. The art of writing a pop melody has advanced yet again. (A) >> Highlight: "Hindsight"

The Hold Steady: Looking back, the Toaster feels no shame in our premature declaration of Boys and Girls in America as the No. 1 album of the year. Craig Finn and Co. bring the house down in a way that complements Finn's compelling lyrics, recurring characters and themes of boozing, sexing and drugging. The sinning aside, this is an album about what it's like to be young. And it nails it. (A+) >> Highlight: "Stuck Between Stations"

Smoosh: Eels' opening act and Death Cab for Cutie friends Smoosh have warmed our hearts and won us over. Under ordinary circumstance (read: if Sufjan put out an album like this), it'd probably get a solid B, which is pretty remarkable considering these sisters were 12 and 14 when they recorded Free to Stay. (A-)

(from June...)

Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins: (A-)
Cat Power: (A-)
Neko Case: (A)
The Elected: (A)
Belle and Sebastian: (A+)
Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs: (A-)

Merit Roll

Camera Obscura: A solid album with Belle and Sebastian-esque song stylings that strays only occasionally from where we'd like to see it go. (B++)

Be Your Own Pet: "Adventure" is a classic and the album plays so fast and fun that we see why the reviewers have fallen in love with these teenagers. But occasionally BYOP starts to grate...and, well, no amount of hype or youth or happy sunshine can beat that. (B)

Snow Patrol: Man oh man, when we first rooted ourselves among D.C. indie rockers, all they could breathe was how freaking cool Snow Patrol is. So, naturally, we were excited to hear Eyes Open. Without much reservation, The Toaster can say it's a solid album with a few excellent songs ("Hands Open," "Set Fire to the Third Bar," etc), but some moments are greatly over-reaching and overbearing in a way that Coldplay can be on occasion. It's no biggie, just not or deal. (B)

The Decemberists: After swearing our undying love for them, the Decemeberists managed to find a way to underwhelm us. Not that The Crane Wife is a bad album; to the contrary, it's probably among the best of the year. But expectations are expectations, and Picaresque set the bar awfully high. (B+)

Sufjan Stevens (The Avalanche): Even his outtakes! Even his outtakes! (B)

Ben Kweller: Just as Ben Lee did to us last year with Awake Is the New Sleep, except probably not as egregiously or completely, Ben Kweller is slipping into some adult contemporary cocoon. And there are quite a few clinkers among only a handful of keepers. Still one or two songs rank among the better he's ever written, which is why he still earns the grade he does. (P.S. You don't get as many brownie points these days for playing all the instruments on your album, especially when your band would have actually made the album better...) (B-)

(from June...)

Laura Veirs: (B-)
Calexico: (B)
The Arctic Monkeys: (B+)
The Concretes: (B+)
The Streets: (B)
The Weepies: (B+)
Pearl Jam: (B)
Tilly and the Wall: (B++)
Gnarls Barkley: (B)

More end-of-the-year reviews to come next week...stay tuned.

Happy xmas, folks.

Stuffing Your Stocking

2006-12-12T19:48:00.000-05:00

>> Featured Artist: Let's French

From: The Toaster
To: You, Beloved Listeners

You might know this, but Washington, D.C., is the capital city of the United States of America! Congratulations, Washington!

Not only do Washington residents get to pay taxes without having voting representation in Congress (giggle), but they also get to get propositioned by its indie rock scene. Let's French, fronted by Randy Chugh, is a rock and roll band that wants to sexify the room everywhere they go. Their stage presence, if not their tongue-kissing prowess, is undeniable.

The comparisons to Interpol - made by pretty much everyone who's ever heard both bands - are well deserved because Chugh's vocal delivery is disturbingly similar, but in a way that just makes you wish Interpol was a more lively band. We recommend "Boys and Girls" from their self-released three-song EP.

Mister Toaster has frequented two recent Let's French shows in the D.C. and reports back that they might just well be the next band that make it outside the district. Happily, though, he also reports that none of them appears to be able to cast a vote in Congress. Thank god.

>> Album Lookout: Peace: Songs for Christmas, Vol. 5

Sufjan Stevens - Released: Nov. 21, 2006 Asthmatic Kitty

To: Man Who Died for Our Sins
From: Sufjan

Sufjan Stevens' declaration to the world earlier this year - "Bite me. I bet you Pitchfork will even eat up my outtakes with a spoon." - was bold. Perhaps even bolder was his next foray into published music, which was Volume 5 in his set of Christmas EPs. (It's like Jesus gets born every year.)

Sure enough, Pitchfork gave this one a rich 7.5, leading everyone on Earth to the conclusion that Sufjan can do no wrong. His next album will likely be the first in a collection of 7" records about all the vitamins in Flinstones vitamins.

But, in the sake of holiday spirit (read: we're always drunk), we're actually going to say positive things - again - about Sufjan. In reality, it's hard to be mad at Sufjan, especially when he's singing "Take it easy...You make it sound like Christmas is a four-letter word" on "Get Behind Me, Santa." And bonus points for the play on the White Stripes' title, not to mention the fact that it's a dialogue with Santa himself.

So, Sufjan, our neverending quest to discredit you has been foiled again. And we could actually get excited about that vitamin project...

>> Reverting to: 1979

To: Paul McCartney, 2006
From: Paul McCartney, 1979

Poor Paul. Wasn't 2006 the year that all of us were waiting for, with the promise of the "When I'm Sixty-Four" box sets and world tour?

Instead Paul is going through what appears from the outside one of the most vicious - and public - breakups in Beatle history.

So we're taking this opportunity to try to cheer Paul up.

An aside: You know, this song would be quite unbearable if it wasn't for that crazy synth and the occasional muppet-like sound effect, which have us whimsically bobbing our heads and, you know, feeling it.

[Thanks to our brethren over at Noise for Toaster for posting this, as well as a depressing take on it by Tom McRae, which is perhaps more appropriate for Sir Paul...]

Next week in the Toaster: A look back at the year in album releases; in three weeks: Top 100 songs of the year

Revealed: Ubu, the new blue blood (pt. 2)

2006-12-05T20:04:00.000-05:00

One last beautiful post about one last beautiful mix for 2006. We give you more Ubu.

>> Featured Artist: Red House Painters

The Toaster has developed some sort of unhealthy love for Mark Kozelek, whether he's being Sun Kil Moon, he's all on his lonesome or he's out with his old band, Red House Painters. And even though we ran into some dude who claimed his friend slept with a band member and set in motion the break-up of these guys, we can't claim we know these guys. At all.

At first, "I Feel the Rain Fall" feels like a too-simple alt-country number, perhaps something off a reel of songs meant for Johnny Cash to record (especially with that low note that caps off the verse lines). By the time it finishes, its unpretentious, catchy melody and lyrics stick around for another drink. And then we all end up doing something we will probably say we regret, but don't really. And here we find Ubu placing the Red House Painters firmly in the first half of November 2006.

>> Album Lookout: Ships

Danielson - Released: May 9, 2006 Secretly Canadian

While Secretly Canadian reports that, "in case you haven't heard, 2006 will be the year of Danielson," the Toaster is, to be honest, a little scared of that prospect. Though "Time That Bald Sexton" makes us smile and bop back and forth every time we enter a verse and commiserate with the lyrics we can decipher - "Oh, wasted on the job!" comes to mind - Danielson is just a little too out-there for the full Toaster endorsement. Ubu is on board, however. So take that how you will...

>> Reverting to: 1969

How can the Toaster issue a mix without a too-cute, too-short song to break up the monotony of three-minute numbers. And here we look to The Who's Tommy, the legendary rock opera that became an opera and a musical and probably a Saturday-morning cartoon, not to mention its story line being ripped off almost entirely by The Wizard.

Anyway, "There's a Doctor I've Found" fills its role well.

Thanks, Ubu, for baring all right here on The Toaster Talks. To request a copy, please contact Mister Toaster - in any way you can.

Revealed: Ubu, the new blue blood (Nov. 2006)

2006-11-28T19:58:00.000-05:00

One last beautiful mix into the sweet, sweet 2006 air...His name is Ubu.

>> Featured Artist: Band of Horses

When Band of Horses hit the scene with March's Sub Pop-released Everything All the Time, the Toaster found itself confused over the masses of music blogs swooning over "The Funeral," which Mister Toaster himself dubbed "an otherwise decent song."

The hype cruelly shattered with one swat of the Man Behind/Who Is the Toaster, we all moved on with our lives, leaving the Seattle band behind - you know, to think about what all those mp3 blogs had unwittingly done.

Meanwhile, one of our trusted blogger friends (we can't remember which one) posted "The Great Salt Lake." And Mister Toaster sent out a brief statement: "Oops."

This song, which begins the denouement of Ubu, combines a compelling melody with catchy stop-start instrumentation. We all hear a little Brian Wilson in the lead vocal, and - could it be?! - is that a remnant of that Christopher Cross song we hear?

Great tune, sure to do well on the 2006 charts.

>> Album Lookout: Two Thousand

The French Kicks - Released: July 18, 2006 Vagrant

The Toaster first got a taster for these guys when they opened for the Decemberists on the 2004 tour. After the show, everyone but the lead singer (typical...) came out to talk to fans and sign copies of their latest release, 2004's Trial of the Century.

Again, we remained underwhelmed by what got leaked and filed everything away for a second listen at a later date.

When Ubu started bringing the crew together, it kept coming back to "So Far We Are," which wound up slated as an alternate track and worked its way in to the Big Time after it kept getting stuck in Mister Toaster's head.

The rest of the mix is history; the rest of the album...um...we're still unconvinced.

>> Reverting to: 1964

Toaster mix connoisseurs have commented that Ubu has more than your typical load of "oldies." The Jewels' "Opportunity" is the cement that holds the mix's intro together, unstable as it is from all that new flava.

The Jewels' biggest hit may be deemed a classic by All Music Guide, but it gets drowned out by all the amazing music coming out of the early '60s girl group scene. What's more, The Jewels hail from our nation's capital, and we couldn't be prouder to give a shoutout to our fellow DCers.

A Quick Post While He's Away (for Thanksgiving)

2006-11-21T23:40:00.000-05:00

>> Featured Artist: Ruth Brown

It was a long, wonderful run for Ms. Brown. We'll miss you, Ruth. Here's "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean."

>> Album Lookout: LOVE

The Beatles - Released: Nov. 21, 2006 Capitol

The Beatles, or more accurately George Martin and his son Giles, have completed the Cirque du Soleil remix of the Beatles' classics. And, to much avail, they didn't screw it up. This isn't Mamma Mia, after all. Indeed, it's tasteful, even subtle at times, and interesting. Its take on "Strawberry Fields Forever" is particularly noteworthy.

While the Toaster hasn't heard quite enough to give it a ringing endorsement, our collective interest sure is piqued.

>> Reverting to: 1962

Previously we posted "My Sweet Lord." We've been notified by the authorities that we are required by law to post the Chiffons' Laurie Records' release "He's So Fine."

Thank you.

Some Things Last a Long Time

2006-11-14T18:38:00.000-05:00

>> Featured Artist: Daniel Johnston

Mister Toaster had been meaning to get out to see The Devil and Daniel Johnston for months. Sadly, the D.C. screenings were few and far between. And then we had to wait for Netflix to get it in stock. Alas, it arrived and lived up to all expectations.

There may not be a more fascinating true story in rock music today. Somewhere at the intersection of mental illness, fragility and Beatlesque songwriting talent lies Daniel Johnston, who - spiting all the sung premonitions of his death - is still alive.

Traveling in singer-songwriter circles, it's hard not to hear about Johnston, whose severe manic depression and striking and wildly honest, childlike and arguably schizophrenic performances have paved for him a road to an unassuming cult status. Voices all over the rock community - from David Bowie to Beck to Clem Snide - sing his praises and his songs.

Devil portrays an unstable, artistic, reclusive Johnston growing up in a conservative Christian home with parents that had no idea how to handle his talent and/or eccentricity. His expulsion from home leads eventually to his unlikely emergence on the Austin music scene and, later, drugs and a further psychological deterioration. His songs center around stories of God and the devil, good and evil and - most importantly - a single case of unrequited love that has served as his muse for more than 20 years.

The film, which is highly worth seeing, leaves the audience understanding that Johnston deserves every bit of his cult status.

In lieu of passing on something recent and well produced, here's a cut off his first homemade cassette, Songs of Pain. "Wicked World" shows the playfulness with which Johnston approaches songwriting. Not to mention his sincerity.

>> Album Lookout: So Divided
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Released: Nov. 14, 2006 Interscope

So Trail of Dead fanatics dug Worlds Apart just as much as they had its predecessor Source Tags & Codes, even if the critics didn't.

Still, So Divided comes out of a turbulent time for the band, which contemplated breaking up before it started work on this, the group's third album.

Trail of Dead's range is hard to miss - as it defiantly wavers between pop classicism and introspective guitar-heavy rock.

Most entertaining, the band's swagger is intact. On "Stand in Silence," the band , as it did on the title track from last year's Worlds Apart, starts with a sample of human screams - this time, it doesn't sound so much like cheering. What begins like a punk-pop outfit morphs suddenly into a airy, heroic piano-centric solo that screams of Beethoven's catalog. And then it's back to the attacking pop song as if to leave on a bang.

>> Reverting to: 1966

With the tragic demise of Tower Records comes good sales and opportunities for us all to beef up our record collections. Mister Toaster made a long-overdue foray into The Byrds catalog, having barely more than a classic rock-radio IQ when it comes to the jangle-, country-rock '60s.

"Eight Miles High" was introduced to a good lot of us in a rock 'n' roll history course as one of the most psychedelic, drug-ifnluenced songs in history.

To reduce this gigantic single in pop music history to drugs is a crime and will not be tolerated on the Toaster Talks. The song's driving bass line, angelic harmonies and jaunty (tripping, perhaps) guitar solo override easy drug references and place this song into a more appropriate category - as one of the most interesting pop singles of the 1960s.

Please, God, Let This Work (OR: Jinxing Everything With Music)

2006-11-06T19:43:00.000-05:00

>> Featured Artist: The National

The Toaster is getting up early to campaign in the V-A aujourd'hui. We are posting early with the knowledge that we're either going to be too ecstatic or too devastated (and, either way, drunk) to do it later. And because we have a history of jinxing our beloved Democrats with optimistic predictions.

The National made it out of 2005 as one of the most critically acclaimed newbies on the scene. In the context of today's election, "Mr. November" fits in nicely. In fact, we're pretty sure Sen. George Allen is using that "I'm the new blue blood. I'm the great white hope" lyric in speeches, and we all know that the president borrowed from the "I used to be carried in the arms of cheerleaders" line in his 2004 race.

>> Album Lookout: Declare a New State
The Submarines - Released: June 20, 2006 Nettwerk

So The Submarines missed a few opportunities to get into the Toaster Talks with their June release, Declare a New State. The album's title was begging for it, for sure, especially from us representation-less folks.

Still, every song is just a little too sad -- and understandably so; the album is a package of duets serving as an obituary to the fizzled relationship between the two songwriters. The happy epilogue is the the couple got back together and got married during the making of Declare a New State.

Even "Vote," which has nothing to do with voting, but rather a lack of motivation to do so due to that damn breakup. Lyric: "On Super Tuesday I wanted to die." In Mister Toaster's insistence about not getting too prematurely happy about tonight, The Submarines found their place in our post.

See, Republicans, we're sad.

>> Reverting to: 1999

Before everyone starts yelling about how our "reverting to" section is getting less and less dated by the week, we might point out that we have gone back in time six years from last week's all the way back to the last decade.

The Toaster Talks is tired of every damn campaign pumping out "Born to Run" and "Won't Back Down" at their rallies. Each time it reinforces the notion that these guys have absolutely nothing new to say. "No, sirs and madames, I too will not back down. I intend to stand my ground as well. Health care for all!"

So, the editors down here started coming up with dream songs for our indie candidate's campaign soundtrack. We sped through dozens, never really landing on the right one. The New Pornos "The Laws Have Changed" felt good; Salt 'n' Pepa's "Whatta Man" had potential, as long as we're talking about a male candidate who isn't afraid of being framed as a sex machine; "Mr. November" above might have been a bit too blunt; and "Hold On Hope," the classic Guided By Voices ballad just seemed a bit too hopeless.

Then came The Flaming Lips to save the world. "Race for the Prize" misses on a few lines as it's a song about scientists, not politicians. But we love the devotion and determination these "humans with wives and children" give toward the cause - the cause of winning. There are some great phrases one would think would be about campaigning - "forging for the future," "hope against hope," "where the pressure is too high," "for the good of all mankind," etc. Just tune out all the "microscopes" and the opening "two scientists are racing..."

It is decided.

We All Ain't Ready (a Halloween Edition)

2006-10-31T18:31:00.000-05:00

>> Featured Artist: Ben Gibbard

For Halloween, the Toaster dressed up as an amplifier. And The Toaster Talks has set its sites as a clearing house for "Thriller" covers (see our earlier Petra Haden entry).

Yes, this the ol' Death Cab-Postal Service frontman going solo on some MJ at some undetermined live show.

In the words of Camus, "I love me a good 'Thriller' cover." So do we, Albert. So do we. And, wow, some of those lines ("beast with 40 eyes"?), well, let's just say we never quite heard them so clearly before.

>> Album Lookout: Pretty Little Head
Nellie McKay - Released: October 31, 2006 Hungry Mouse

After a self-induced contentious split with Sony/Colubmia earlier this year over how many damn songs would be on Pretty Little Head, Nellie McKay is finally releasing the full version on her own label, Hungry Mouse (which, like McKay, doesn't seem to have an operating official site).

The good thing for McKay, though, is that the material seems to be just as strong as that on her debut double album, 2004's Get Away From Me. She's still clever - almost annoyingly so - and turns a mean lyric when you're not looking, a talent that would make Elvis Costello proud.

With the lovely-angry vocal delivery Nellie seems to have spent her 24 years mastering, "There You Are in Me" jumps out as an immediate winner, as do "Cupcake" and "Columbia Is Bleeding" (the latter, we're told, is not a dig at her former label).

Everyone you meet secures a wretched seat within your memory
Wipe their filthy feel upon the yearning of your soul
There you are in me

Ouch.

>> Reverting to: 2005

As the title of today's post suggest (other than that we ended up wearing angel wings and a eye masks in the makeshiftest of makeshift costumes) is that the release of K. Fed's long-awaited debut album has finally fallen upon us. Where were all the leaked MP3s and music blog previews? Where was all the promotional appearances on Inside Edition? Where is Britney in this critical time for her is-he-significant other?

And after a glace at the track list, where did "Y'all Ain't Ready" and "PopoZao," the two tracks that were test-leaked to the welcoming arms of music enthusiasts and pavarottis everywhere?

Mr. Fed, please issue an explanation. Until then, we'll leave with the preview snippet of our favorite "lost" K. Fed barnburner, "Y'all Ain't Ready."

[OK, we do love the lyric to "Privilege" (whose MySpace version is notably dirtier than the version streaming on his website), most notably "I'm in love with the herb just like my wife." How'd he get that one by Brit's publicist?]

A Brand New Toaster (or: There's Noel in Toaster)

2006-10-25T19:12:00.000-04:00

We apologize for the delay. Of course, we blame it on our brand-new toaster, Brando (above). See how Brando makes everything bigger!

>> Featured Artist: Aimee (F'n) Mann

Some of us are enthralled with fast cars. Others like beer. Or chocolate. In that way, Aimee Mann could sing us the back of a Neosporin tube and make us swoon.

Of course, she just violated all that's right in the world to release a Christmas album(!). We aren't kidding. The songs we secured from unnamed sources took us to the edge, Aimee. So we're going to forget about this transgression and just pretend One More Drifter in the Snow is an album filled with different versions of Joni Mitchell's "River" (the best "Christmas song" of all time, which doesn't appear on the track list, but was covered by Aimee here).

>> Album Lookout: Born in the U.K.
Badly Drawn Boy - Released: October 17, 2006 Astralwerks

Somewhere an indie songwriter is shedding a single tear. Badly Drawn Boy is broken. Yeah, that's three underwhelming albums in a row, and he's officially on indie probation. Hell, Born in the U.K. makes Have You Fed the Fish? look like Rubber Soul.

The title track wouldn't be painful if all Damon Gough's intentions weren't so blatantly relayed to us in the form of a Doves/Strokes/Killers-like drum track. We want to say, "He's trying too hard," but all the evidence points to one of two conclusions: 1) he's not or 2) he's washed up.

"Degrees of Separation," thus far into our listening, is the only thing that comes even close to being a song of Gough's previous caliber. But even it wouldn't be a standout track on About a Boy or Badly Drawn Boy's stellar 2000 debut, The Hour of Bewilderbeast.

We hereby on this 25th day of October, 2006, are officially calling on Astralwerks to drop him like he's burning. Maybe then he can go back to his four track and nail out something more his speed.

>> Reverting to: 1971

As previously referred to, Blue's "River" is a Joni Mitchell masterpiece, not just the best "Christmas song" around, but it has got to be the best song that could hit your headphones during those long, cold walks home.

(By the way, we'd like to point out that this year the Toaster finally commemorates the coming Christian holiday before Starbucks and its damned red snowflaked to-go cups. Thank you.)