When bands get on Twitter just because someone told them they’re supposed to be on it, it kind of defeats the purpose because if you don’t genuinely feel the need to tweet, you probably make a really boring tweeter. Robin Pecknold is my gold standard, which is why I’ve just added a new category devoted to his tweeting activities. I hope to bring you (myself) his best of. It looks like he had a few prolific hours while I was out last night, and I returned home to these gems.
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rpecknold Passed a road sign that said “WALNUTS AHEAD.” That is a fine thing to have on a road sign. about 4 hours ago from web
rpecknold Feel pretty r.e.i. yuppie right now, in tie dye socks listening to NPR, at this rate I will be buying organic wool dog sweaters by sundown about 4 hours ago from twitterrific
rpecknold “excuse me brother, but is the packaging for this hemp iphone cover compostable?” about 3 hours ago from twitterrific
rpecknold Just to clarify, the hemp iphone cover exchange was a mental fabrication, the endgame of my descent into BOBO-dom about 3 hours ago from web
rpecknold In 30 years we’ll all be trying to show our lives to our grandkids and all they’ll have to look at is gmail and flickr printouts about 3 hours ago from web
rpecknold “Come little Zexalon, look at my old emails with your grandmother. I would show you photos but I forgot my password. Hrm.” about 3 hours ago from web
Where I list some of my favorite band names, based on the aesthetics of the words, the rhythm they create and the images they furnish. Bands for whom 2008 was a notable year in the advancement of their career were considered.
I generally find it difficult to wholeheartedly love music videos: in the given format, the number of things you can do is ultimately quite limited, and there is an overwhelming tendency to do the same things over and over again, out of which some that I’m wary of are: linear stories, a literal interpretation of the lyrics, a typical ending where something explosive happens and we revel in the band’s performance, dream-like fluidity where random otherworldly things happen, and an overemphasis on tricks and effects. These tendencies aren’t always bad by nature, but they do seem to make awesomeness especially hard in music videos.
Where I indulge in the overrated phenomenon of a year-end list and discover my bias for sullen songs over happy ones; 20 most-loved songs of the year, with a self-imposed rule of one song per artist so as to not make it entirely pointless.
Stereogum released its list of this year’s Gummy Award winners yesterday, as voted for by the website’s readers. Though this is not my ultimate “Best of 2008″ list, here’re my votes.
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Download “White Winter Hymnal” | This is an entirely overindulgent post–there’s only about a month to go, and I’ve been spending all of my free time obsessing over the elections (luckily I’m not blogging about it here), and I refuse to be overly optimistic, so my breath is held until November 4th. This post is comfort for these nerve-wracking times. It features tons of more photos from the Fleet Foxes show at Webster Hall–and these, taken by Kashish, are far better than the ones I previously posted. My only regret is that keyboardist Casey Wescott was too far off to the left for us to photograph him. And yes, there are a lot of Skyler Skjelset photos. He was standing right in front of us; he looked like a beautiful elf, and the lights were so pretty, and his guitar sounded like twinkling stars, so did you really expect us to restrain ourselves? (I’d like to remind you about these nerve-wracking times). PS. I picked up their vinyl and it features both the self-titled album and Sun Giant EP, plus those marvelous download codes.
All photos by Kashish. Videos by Sahara (from a tiny point-and-shoot, but the quality is surprisingly good–I’m going to add the new song in a while; the second one is “Katie Cruel” unplugged, literally).
The strength of a Fleet Foxes show is the same one you’ll find on their albums: beautiful songs and gorgeous harmonies; and if you aren’t in love with their recordings, you probably won’t fall in love with their shows. Last night, the comfort with which the band sailed through their marvelous songs, and the presence of cool mountain air these songs manage to evoke, was probably best encapsulated by guitarist Skyler Skjelset. His guitar was so crisp and audible, and he plays so many key parts burned in our memory of the songs, that I couldn’t help feeling terrified for him–one small slip of a note and we’d recognize it as if it’d been a personal betrayal. There were no such betrayals, however, and to our delight, the band was also quite chatty. (Update: Videos and more photos from the show)
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Download “White Winter Hymnal” | What are “hipsters”? People with boldly interesting haircuts? People who don’t like wearing boring clothes? People who live in certain areas? People who like Dan Deacon? People who revel in silly things? Every time I think I have a clear understanding of the term (loosely: people who are obsessed with seeking the good in what is new while looking pretty), someone uses the term in such a free, lazy, manner that the whoring of the word gets confusing again. There is a lot of uncalled for hipster-hating (especially since the meaning is still unclear to me, will someone bother explaining?), and one example would be: those freaking hipsters who bought tickets to the sold out Bowery Ballroom (tonight) and Union Hall (tomorrow) shows Fleet Foxes are playing, damn them! Let them burn in hell, those freaking hipsters! I wouldn’t mind being at the receiving end of that curse, but alas, I don’t have them tickets.
hooves on the turf is a mostly-music blog based out of brooklyn. i can be reached at hoovesontheturf [at] gmail [dot] com - please send me your lovely music as an attached mp3 or an mp3 link. if i like what you send, i'll be sure to ask for more.
Evan Hammer: and now i’m excited too! thanks for the new band.
Jens: Where can I order t-shirts from the Tallest Man On Earth online? Is it possible at all?
nat lyon: three cheers for secret garden! it’s been too long.
jamie: Yo! You should definitely check out this awesome video MPLS.TV just shot of Dark Dark Dark this week for City...
sarahana: they were taken with the new iPhone 4 using the Hipstamatic app
