Ani DiFranco, The Divine Comedy, Sambassadeur, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Helium

I haven't been getting many of the new albums from 2012 yet, but one of the ones that will be on the top of my favorites list is Which Side Are You On? by Ani DiFranco. Here is one of my favorites off the album, Amendment, which is up there with my all-time favorites of her work:



I discovered The Divine Comedy's Bang Goes the Knighthood album and found this charming and acerbic critique of the bankers that caused the Second Great Depression:



I am still really liking the Los Campesinos Hello Sadness album. Here's the title track. It's a great video and as to be expected from their work, it is about troubled relationships:



Remake That Caught My Attention Lately: Sambassadeur remake of "Small Parade" by Tobin Sprout of Guided By Voices:



and the original:



Some Old Songs That Caught My Attention Lately: Maps by Yeah Yeah Yeahs A friend of mine posted this on Facebook and reminded me how good the song and video are. I love the emotion on her face from 2:20 to 3:00:



I watched Wild Flag live streaming from Coachella, which inspired me to watch some old Mary Timony and Helium videos. Here's Honeycomb off the Dirt of Luck:

Los Campesinos! and Parenthetical Girls Concert at the Echoplex, Echo Park, Los Angeles, February 11, 2012

Los Campesinos! and Parenthetical Girls put on a great show at the Echoplex on Saturday night, February 11, 2012. Lead singer Gareth Campesinos! mentioned that one of their first gigs was at the Echo, a smaller venue located upstairs from the Echoplex. It must have been poignant that they had come so far since then, yet not so far at all. Zac Pennington from Parenthetical Girls said that those of us who take photos and videos of them should make sure they are flattering. Zac, since I know you might be looking at my footage, I hope that it meets with your approval. Gareth and Zac both came out into the audience multiple times, and there was even some crowd surfing. Zac even jumped up on the bar! So, it was an exciting show. This was the first concert for my new full HD camera, a PowerShot ELPH 300 HS. The bass was so loud, or the camera is so sensitive, there unfortunately is some audio distortion on the videos. I picked three songs from Los Campesinos! and one from Parenthetical Girls. I also have Romance is Boring and You! Me! Dancing! posted on my YouTube channel. Enjoy!



Los Campesinos! - Straight in at 101



Los Campesinos! - By Your Hand
See my interpretation of the lyrics here: http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858880873/


Los Campesinos! - Hello Sadness
See my interpretation of the lyrics here:
http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858884213/


Parenthetical Girls - A Song for Ellie Greenwich

New Music from Los Campesinos!, The Mountain Goats, and John Wesley Harding

By Your Hand by Los Campesinos!



Birth of Serpents by The Mountain Goats



Queen of Hearts by F-ed Up



There's A Starbucks (Where The Starbucks Used To Be) by John Wesley Harding

Top Albums of 2011: The King in Yellow, Eureka, Secret Rituals, The Valley, Night of Hunters, Forever Today, The Belle Brigade, Mountaintops, Giving and Receiving, The People's Key, The Golem, Deerhoof vs. Evil, The Errant Charm, Moment Bends, and Join Us

Whether it is Pitchfork, Under the Radar, or KEXP, I am not liking most of what have been picked as the top albums of the year. So, to counter-act the poor choices of the hipster mainstream, here are my favorite albums of 2011:

1. The Dead Milkmen: The King in Yellow

Caitlin Childs



2. Mother Mother: Eureka

Baby Don’t Dance



3. The Grates: Secret Rituals

Sweet Dreams



4. Eisley: The Valley

Smarter



5. Tori Amos: Night of Hunters

Carry



6. I’m From Barcelona: Forever Today

Come On



7. The Belle Brigade: The Belle Brigade

Losers



8. Mates of State: Mountaintops

Sway

Mates Of State "Sway" from Barsuk Records on Vimeo.

9. Lake: Giving and Receiving

Within/Without



10. Bright Eyes: The People’s Key

Shell Games



11. Black Francis: The Golem

The Obedient Servant



12. Deerhoof: Deerhoof vs. Evil

Secret Mobilization



13. Vetiver: The Errant Charm

Wonder Why



14. Architecture in Helsinki: Moment Bends

W.O.W.



15. They Might Be Giants: Join Us

Cloisonné

Wild Flag, Cloud Nothings, and Gardens & Villa

This is "Romance," the first single off Wild Flag's new album. It is a fun video of the team causing havoc everywhere they go:



Here is another chaotic video, "Understand at All" from Cloud Nothings. What is it about? It almost goes without saying, you won't understand at all.



Instead of "more cowbell," you'll be screaming "more flute" after hearing "Orange Blossom" from Gardens & Villa:

Times New Viking and Yo La Tengo

This is the stop-motion video for "Ever Falling in Love" by Times New Viking off their album "Dancer Equired." Very nice:



Here is a fun video of Times New Viking pretending to be Yo La Tengo for Yo La Tengo's song "Something to Hide" off the album "Popular Songs":

That Dog Concert at the Troubadour, West Hollywood, August 28, 2011

Mime Crime opened. This troupe of mimes and a jester acted out performances of hard rock and heavy metal songs. Whenever anyone tried to sing along or clap, they shooshed the offenders. It was somewhat amusing. Let's leave it at that.

Next Maya Rudolph's Prince cover band Princess played a few songs.

That Dog (Anna Waronker, Petra Haden, Rachel Haden, and Tony Maxwell) played a mix of songs off all three of their albums. Here are a couple of favorites off their final album "Retreat From the Sun," one of the best albums of the 1990's in my humble opinion. Although it sounds like no widespread tour is planned, let's hope they work on some new material for the future!

"Never Say Never"



"Minneapolis"



Here are a couple of videos of Anna Waronker's solo work:

"Beautiful" off Anna from 2002:



"How Am I Doing" off California Fade from 2011: