The Books performing “The Classy Penguin” @ the 2007 Wall of Sound Festival in Ft. Worth, Texas at LaGrave Field (Sept. 22nd)

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Red Choo Choo is getting into the holiday giving spirit by offering readers of FoeWeel a 10% off coupon.  Just enter the discount code: ‘FOEWEEL‘ at checkout.  This coupon will expire on Dec 11, so act now.

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Bon Iver & St. Vincent – Roslyn – From the mega tween hit Twilight: New Moon soundtrack, this is another slow burner featuring Annie Clark.

Animal Collective – Bleeding – This track is off of the Fall Be Kind EP, and it’s another trippy journey into AC’s outter world of pop and dreams.

Tune-Yards – Real Live Flesh - The re-release, remastered version of Bird Brains includes this new R&B track which is one of the highlights from her live show. I’ll post up the live version pretty soon.

Prefuse 73 – So Much Over Time - A spliced-up number from Meditation Upon Meditations (The Japanese Diaries), which will be released shortly. Tourettes-inspired beats?

Milinal – Burn In Sky Ya - From Russian producer Yakovlev Valentine, and off of Audiobulb. This ambient flavored album features a Brendan Monroe design for the album cover which is similar to the Awakening shirt at Red Choo Choo.

-Apple Tablet ?   Who cares, where’s my iPhoneWatch ?

-Can’t wait to see The Brothers Bloom, from Rian Johnson, the writer and director of the Brick,  the excellent portrayal of a dystopian society ruled by teenagers.

-I hate hipsters. They pervade every inch of the Mission district where I live and it’s starting to look like the Marina district, but instead of Polos and BMW’s, it’s mopeds, Ray Bans and Docksiders.  This style, or lack of style comes from kids going to goodwill and buying whatever seems different at the time (see Texas style shirt) and then once it catches on, all the desginers get a hold of it, and then mass market it to kids searching for an indentity.  Please stop the madness.

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This is the week of shows, and here’s a sampling…..

Flight Of The Conchords – Too Many Dicks – From the second season, and one of the dance tunes that was written by one of the funniest and musically talented duos out there right now.

Animal Collective – Summertime Clothes - Off of one the most rewarding albums of the year, Merriweather Post Pavilion. If the Beatles, circa Sgt Pepper, joined forces with the Beach Boys, of the Pet Sounds era, you would get a little glimpse of what Animal Collective has been preaching for years.  And one of my favorite songs…Fireworks.

Nalepa – Monday - Black Moth Super Rainbow is one of the other shows I will be going to this week, but I thought this crusty, static-tinged bubble would work better especially if it was played in the forest, or at the California Academy of Sciences.  I think the song could get everything to move, including some of the people.

Wighnomy Brothers – Metawuffmischfelge – This mix is provided by the Square Productions blog, which has produced Speaking in Code, a documentary about the secret language of electronic music, mainly techno which has the power to communicate with everyone. I can’t wait to see it. The Wighnomy Brothers will be playing the 4 year anniversary of Kontrol, and from their incredibly syncopated productions and live sets, I have waited a long time for them to come to San Francisco. Pele Bloss – a 2005 classic from Wighnomy Brothers.

It’s always such a strange thing for me to sum up an entire calendar year, to take a snapshot of it. Either the framed picture is actually a better portrayal of the year than it actually was, or it cannot fully encapsulate the grandness of it. It’s been a positively turbulent year for me personally, and as far as music, the four albums that stick out in my mind are Sigur Ros’ Med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust, Lykke Li’s Youth Novels, TV On The Radio’s Dear Science,, and Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago, which was on my list from last year as well–yeah, it’s that good. They are all great albums that work cohesively as an album and not just as filler for a few singles. I think the Sigur Ros and Bon Iver albums are masterpieces. The four albums mentioned above should grow old gracefully and they won’t make your kids, or grand kids cringe when you play them on your hi-fi stereo. So, here’s a toast to my incredible (y)ear, and below are the rest of my notable albums of the year.

Here at the offices of FoeWeel, we hope for this holiday season, and for the new year that your lips be less chapped, the ability to breathe be at least through one nostril, and may both of your ears be open to music, in all of it’s many forms.

Sigur Ros – Med Sud i Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur (Within Me A Lunatic Sings)

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
re: Stacks

TV On The Radio - Dear Science,
Love Dog

Lykke Li – Youth Novels
I’m Good I’m Gone

The REST (in no particular order)

Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III - (Lollipop (Featuring Static Major)) – one of hip-hop’s strangest artists who embraces the mainstream as well as the underground. I can’t explain why Wayne is probably the only mainstream hip hop artist who resonates with me, but I guess when you have an entire genre of crap, it’s not hard to rise to the top. Unique delivery with always an interesting perspective, all masked with the hip hop bravado.

Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend – (The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance) – almost every track on their debut self-titled album is a pop single ready to be unwrapped and consumed for all of it’s sugary goodness. Take harpsichords, cellos and sparse reggae beats not seen since the Police, and you have an album that may be enjoyed by that housewife who lives in the suburbs with 3 kids who mistakes boredom for blandness.

Nina Simone – To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story (Box Set) – (I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl (Live)) - A true artist. They should make a biography about her, and please don’t get Beyonce to play Nina. I think Gweneth Paltrow would be wonderful. Her range as an actor is beyond comparison and her hubbies band, Coldplay could do all covers of Nina’s songs. Wow, what a brilliant idea.

Flying Lotus – Los Angeles – (RobertaFlack feat. Dolly) The closest thing to blending abstract beats with hip-hop. Everything may appear to be slightly off, but it’s actually in the proper vestabule for your brain. One of the most forward thinking beat producers out there today, and the nephew of Alice Coltrane. It’s in the genes.

Hauschka - Ferndorf - (Rode Null) – A perfect soundtrack for a Tim Burton film, an animated one because most of his live action films aren’t that good anymore. It sounds as if Volker Bertelmann is conducting an orchestra with the players all inside his piano.

Liam Finn – I’ll Be Lightning – (Wide Awake On The Voyage Home) – the son of pop songsmith Neil Finn, of Crowded House fame. Another case to show that talent runs in the genes, an ecelectic mix of pop songs that continues his father’s excellent solo outings as well as the great career of Crowded House. Too much Yoko in Sean?

Kangding Ray – Automne Fold - (Quarante) – My mom once told me that the size of the bone on your wrist and the size of your ears determines your success in life. I wish I could remember this whenever someone is having one of their self-righteous moments. I think anyone who purchases a Ford, GM, or Chrysler should have this CD stuck in their CD player. You figure that one out.

Greg Dulli – Live @ The Triple Door - (Candy Cane Crawl) the former frontman for the Afghan Whigs, current member of the Twilight Singers and the Gutter Twins. If I could be reincarnated as any musician, it would probably have to be Dulli. Blues and alcohol drenched evenings on the road while wearing his heart on his sleeve. Puss and blood make a great combination for a guitar solo.

Goldmund – The Malady Of Elegance – (Image-Autumn-Womb) Just for the record, any statement can be made in to a sentence. The beauty of writing is that it can be freeform, and not the new James Frey variety, but one that makes sense and deliver the goods-TWSS. It has always been tough to sift through the crap. You have the ad agencies stuffing everything down your throat, which is supposed to be better, stronger, faster, but how do you know what is real, what is true. Go read a book, and not one that is recommended by Oprama. Stop watching TV, listen to KCRW, or WXPN and don’t trust anyone who lives within 5 miles of a strip mall.

Girl Talk – Feed The Animals – (Set It Off) – it’s a mashup of everything, and I mean, everything. It has a ton of 90′s hip-hop which I largely ignored for good reason, but it won’t cause constipation like listening to Coldplay.

Fennesz – The Black Sea – (Vacuum) – I make soup, yeah soup, to Fennesz’s music. It takes some time, but it usually turns out pretty well. It seems to put a smile on me lady’s face. Listen closely, it’s actually the Beatles played at indistinguisablly low levels. You have to enhale all of the cleaning solutions in your house to understand this one, but it’s worth it, once you get out of the hospital.

Flight Of The Conchords – Flight Of The Conchords – (The Most Beautfiul Girl (In The Room)) – Seriously…..witty lyrics, great melodies..how can you not like these guys. It truly is a tear on my face, and not just rain if you don’t understand the genius behind these guys.

The Dodos – Visiter - (Park Song) – Yes, they are from San Francisco. I like the DooDoos. Do they still live here? Local music here is pretty lame. Subtle across the bay are pretty good, but as far as smaller bands, musicians, where are they ? Maybe the heyday has been laid to rest by such greats as Sammy Hagar, Huey Lewis, Pointer Sisters, Metallica, Mark Kozelek (kidding), DJ Shadow, Amon Tobin (??), American Music Club (??) and Journey.

CLP – Supercontinental – ( I’m So Trill feat. Tunde Olaniran) – Phon.o and Chris de Luca tone down their breaks for people to talk over. I think they should just get Beans and Lil Wayne to wrap all over their beats. Who else is a good wrapper?

aus – Antwarps – (Lethargic) Do your feet ever just start sweating when you are wearing shoes ? Random foot sweats. I’ve noticed that my armpits seem to sweat more than when I was younger. Instead of wearing deodarant/anti-whatever, I just play aus for a bit after I get out of the shower and keeps me dry in the places I need to be dry during the daylight hours.

Animal Collective – Water Curses EP – (Street Flash) If the Beach Boys were actually good, or if they would have progressed beyond Pet Sounds. Scratch that. Familiar music made in unfamiliar ways. They are getting better with each new release. If we lived under water, this is what music would sound like to us.

Adele – 19 – (Best For Last) – you might say that it’s another female soul singer, another Winehouse, but is that bad? A little more pop, and a little more health. No boob job or tats, yet.

Byetone – Death Of A Typographer – (Heart) – If you take some of the excess felt/cloth off of the Q-Tip before you use it, you might be able to get more wax out. If you get more wax out, you will be able to hear the subliminal messages in Coldplays’ music (some examples: GP is the greatest actress ever), and you will be able to appreciate music’s progression in the form of Byetone. If not, just shove the whole Q-Tip in there and leave it there for a few days.

enjoy your turkey, tofurkey, turduken or whatever you choose to digest on t-giving.

Animal Collective – Fireworks (Alternative Rock) – in the vein of arcade fire, this group who counts panda bear as a member is amazing. the album, ‘strawberry jam’ presents mayhem and sugar coated melodies in a journey worth repeating.

Miles Davis – I Thought About You (Jazz) – from the live blackhawk sessions in san francisco in 1961. for my trip back east last week. miles’ tone always conveyed his soul. a dark one it was.