New Portugal. The Man album Streaming!

Top 5 Albums of 2009

My Top 5 albums of the year are;


1.Rx Bandits - Mandala

Favorite Track : "My Lonesome Only Friend"


2.Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

Favorite Track : "Temecula Sunrise"


3.Portugal. The Man - The Satanic Satanist

Favorite Track : "Mornings"


4.The Flaming Lips - Embryonic

Favorite Track: "Worm Mountain"


5.Big D & the Kids Table - Fluent In Stroll

Favorite Tracks: "Describing the Sky", "I I I", "Down Around Here"

Honorable Mentions;
Grizzly Bear - The Veckatamist
Soulive - Up Here
Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind EP
The Mars Volta - Octahedron
Everytime I Die - New Junk Aesthetic

Rx Bandits was my far and away favorite but the rest were kinda tricky. I wrestled between Dirty Projectors and Portugal. The Man, and although The Satanic Satanist has more staying power for me, I ultimately think Bitte Orca is the superior album. What initially caught my attention and ended up setting them apart for me was the excellent use of the human voice and harmony. The beautiful and intricate arrangements that David Longsreth and the crew put together in the name of pop music is just outstanding.

Embryonic was everything I didn't know I wanted from the Flaming Lips. They brought back their noisey past by way of kraut-rock inspired grooves. The fearless and dramatic turn that the Lips took really defines why they are one of my favorite bands.



The Veckatamist was close to making the cut but I had to give it to Fluent In Stroll. Big D really went for it with this record and it fucking payed off. Its a shame, but Big D is really the only band doing something new and creative with ska. But be warned, although ska influenced, it is by no means a ska record. What it is, is a record full of sunny and up-beat inventiveness.



Octahedron, which I thought was just ok at first, has grown on me quite a bit. Although not my favorite Volta, its a new side of them and makes for a great record in their long discography. The new Animal Collective EP is also great with "What Would I Want Sky" being down-right infectious.

What ended up winning me over this year were the bands that did something new and progressive with their sound. All the records in my top 5 are departures from the respective artists usual sound. This sense of freshness and exploration is what I love in music, and these bands really embodied it this year.

Downloading

Everyone downloads. Its no secret and I fully support it. Shit, thats how i've gotten into just about all the music that I listen to. But still, I buy cds and lps. Partly because I love my collection and the experience of acquiring a piece of music after the anticipation builded up (its like Christmas), but also because I like to support bands.

If you think that downloading an artists album doesn't hurt them, your simply wrong. The capital inflow of a label/band is very important and album sales is a major contributor to getting bands on tours, promotions, marketing, merchandise and generally keeping the band growing and sustaining.

Two blogs that EVERYONE should read about downloading and its effects on the independent artist are by two people that I highly respect and are doing some of the best and progressive things in all of music, John Gourley of Portugal. The Man and Cathy Pellow of Sargent House(Rx Bandits, Russian Cirles, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez) and they put into perspective just how much each purchase of an album means. Here are their links;

Sargent House Blog

Portugal. The Man Blog

Now these two people know full well that downloading has helped their acts grow and achieve the success that they have. Gourley and Portugal. the Man were one of the first to fully support it, even leaking their 2007 album Church Mouth two weeks early themselves. Sargent House also allow all of their albums for streaming on sites like
band camp and last.fm.

Sargent House is urging people to buy their artist Rx Bandits new record not for money, but to push their music into the limelight. If all fans of Rx Bandits abought their record when they come out next week, they say they would debut in the top ten on the Billboard charts, providing another reason to support artists you enjoy, to get shitty music off the airwaves and tv!! Still whether these calls to action will be taken seriously remains to be see, but they do provide insight to the other side of downloading.

I urge everyone to buy these two records and to support two great bands, Rx and Portugal. The Man, with both their new albums coming out this Tuesday. And for the next two days the new Rx album is only $3, so definitely hop on that.



Click Here

New Portugal. The Man

One of my favorite bands in the world, Portugal. The Man, is putting out a new record, The Satanic Satanist , in July and I couldn't be more excited. Not only from them putting on one of the best shows I've seen or my being completely enthralled with each of their albums, but also from their new track "People Say" which you can download here.

This song just gets me all excited for the continuing evolution that is their sound. With each album they've completely reinvented their sound and each time for the best, with time being no exception I'm sure.

They also have some more previews up on their website (http://www.portugaltheman.com), but I'm holding out to hear the album in its entirety. This album also has some insane packaging which I won't even try to explain. Just take a look;

Fuck it, we'll do it live

Welcome to Moose in a Box. This is my first post, and I thank you for reading. On this blog I'm going to post news, new songs/videos, album reviews, things I find interesting, and talk about my feelings on music/issues and hopefully try to see how it fits into life in general. But my first post is about perhaps my favorite aspect of music, live music.

Isn't it the best? I'm going to see what I expect to be some awesome shows this summer but am definitely looking for more in the Tri-State area. Any ideas, please let me know. Also, show me what your schedules are. So far here's mine;

6/30: Explosions in The Sky @ Central Park, NY
7/4: Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band @ NY (Free/pending work)
7/5: Algernon Cadwallader@ Piscataway, NJ (Free)
7/11: Reel Big Fish @ Starland, NJ
7/15: Dark Star Orchestra & Keller Williams @ Vasa Park, NJ
7/19: Warped Tour @ Oceanport, NJ
7/23-26: Gathering of the Vibes @Oceanport, CT (still pending money)
7/29: Rx Bandits @ TLA Philadelphia, PA
7/31: Soulive & John Scofield @ Brooklyn, NY (FREE!!)
8/5: Portugal. The Man @ Mercury Lounge Brooklyn, NY
8/12: Blink 182, Fallout Boy & Panic At The Disco @ Hershey, PA (I know, epic right?)

Luckily there's only one conflict this summer, between Rx Bandits and Yes which Rx will probably win out. Some other possibilities include The Flaming Lips in Philly with Explosions in the sky, Moe in Vasa Park, and Animal Collective in NY. Expect some sort of review for these shows.

For the bands that aren't touring this summer, we luckily have streaming video. Here are some quality full length streaming concerts. Check out the site the Circa show is from for a bunch of other cool shows too. Also, all these sets take place outside of the US. Weird.

Circa Survive in Australia


Radiohead in Japan


Tortoise in Werchter

Tortoise - Live at Werchter [full set] from Neil Moroney on Vimeo.