New player

Hello, fellow too poppy bloggers. I'm an old friend of Lee's, whom he invited months ago to join this fine discussion. I'm just now getting around to it. My screen name, country feedback, tells you a bit about my musical DNA; it's the title, as you probably know, of an old R.E.M. song, one of my favorites. Stipe and the boys were my first musical love back in the day. (that's if I don't count that high school obsession with rap, of course; public enemy, krs-one, n.w.a. - i was an angry black man trapped inside the body of a 16-year-old white boy) Anyway, here's another telling snapshot of my musical tastes: I've compiled my Top 10 albums of 2005, as well as some honorable mentions. I tend to stray toward the indie stuff, but, as Lee would say, I'm always just a sucker for a good melody, too. Here goes, in no particular order. (+ denotes "with highest honors")

* New Pornographers - "Twin Cinema" +
* Stars - "Set Yourself on Fire"
* Rogue Wave - "Descended Like Vultures"
* Spoon - "Gimme Fiction" +
* Wilco - "Kicking Television: Live in Chicago"
* Ben Folds - "Songs for Silverman"
* Sufjan Stevens - "Illinois"
* Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - self-titled +
* Fiona Apple - "Extraordinary Machine"
* Andrew Bird - "The Mysterious Production of Eggs" +

Honorable Mention:
* Wolf Parade - "Apologies to the Queen Mary"
* The National - "Alligator"
* Bloc Party - "Silent Alarm"
* Sleater-Kinney - "The Woods"
* The Decemberists - "Picaresque"
* Death Cab for Cutie - "Plans"
* Broken Social Scene - self-titled
* Feist - "Let It Die"
* Ryan Adams - "Cold Roses"

Thoughts? Comments? Any "if you like this, you'll like this" sort of suggestions?

Game on.

Music to Your Ears

A new Mates of State tune emerged right before the holiday. It's from their upcoming CD. Thanks for the link DirtyPop. Sounds good. Not groundbreaking, but good.

New MoS - Fraud in the 80s

All Your Feelings So Deep Inside

2Poppy's beloved Mandy is turns 21.

Men.Style.Com online has a very brief interview.

After Years of Waiting Nothing Came

Unlike Ed O'Brien, I would never, ever characterize a Radiohead album as "a little bit in the comfort zone." Nonetheless, that kind of thinking has led them to abandon their longtime producer Nigel Godrich for their new album. They still have plenty of recording to do so don't expect any new music for a long while.

If I Run I Can Free My Worried Mind

What do you do after your band is put on semi-permanent hiatus because three albums only produced one hit? Everything. Members of Semisonic are ridiculously prolific since putting the brakes on the band best known for Closing Time.

Drummer Jacob Slichter wrote a great read on the Semisonic story and the burdens of high expectations in the music business. The unfortunately named So You Wanna Be A Rock & Roll Star is a must for anybody who's wanted to know how a band grows, hits, and sputters.

Bassist John Munson has a few music projects currently underway. The most recent is The New Standards, a jazz trio that just released a CD full of curious covers. Consider this the jazz version of the Moog Cookbook. He's also in a band, either called The Flops or The Dark Nights (with Matt Wilson, Dan's brother). I don't think that's quite finalized, although The Flops already have released music. Finally, Munson is evidently a student of Chinese traditional music, although, I'm not quite convinced that's legit.

Guitarist and chief songwriter Dan Wilson is not taking a break either. The most talented member of Semisonic (in my opinion) has produced, written, and sung with others (including Glen Phillips of Toad, Mike Doughty of Soul Coughing, and even the Dixie Chicks) over the past couple of years. He's also had time to record his own original music, and evidently, his new CD will be released under the Warner/Reprise umbrella sometime in spring or summer.

And don't forget where they got started: Trip Shakespeare.

Phew. I'm exhausted just writing about them. Enjoy some downloads and previews:

MP3: Pleasure (Semisonic) - If I Run (demo) (via)
MP3 Preview: The New Standards - The New Pollution (Beck cover) (via)
MP3: The Flops - Drummer Like Me (via)
MP3: Dan Wilson - Everything I Own (Bread cover) (via)
MP3: Dan Wilson - What a Year for a New Year (via)

They Should Try To Hold On Best They Can

Great! I'm tired of hearing all about the Flaming Lips without hearing any decent new music (soundtracks, blah; covers, blah). So much buzz and their new album is finally coming out in April (wait, April?!?). Damn, I guess we're stuck with music-less buzz for a few months. At least there will be a new song released on January 10 and a newly remixed DVD of their classic Soft Bulletin on January 31.

We Only Acted Out an Imitation

In the spirit of the holidays, Splitsville has made available a free download of their version of the Who's Our Love Was. Enjoy, and merry holidays.

MP3: Splitsville - Our Love Was (Who cover) (via)