While there is always great music being made and released, not every year yields a windfall of quality albums.  The last year I recall being overly excited about new releases was 2008 and so far, the class of 2012 is looking nearly as solid.  So rather than wait until the end of the year for a wrap-up, I thought I’d share a few of the albums that have impressed me most in the first five months of this year.  These three selections glaringly show my Anglophile tendencies.  Only one of these bands is American, though you could make the argument that they sound British. 

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Django Django - Django Django
Released on 1/30/12

At this point in the still young year, London-based quartet Django Django are the unlikely forerunner for making my favorite album of the year.  Their percussive art pop with slide guitars, percolating synths and strong stacked vocals offers a nice mix of modern sounds and organic simplicity.  The songwriting is clever and subtle, but the arrangements give the songs some muscle too.  It’s the rare album that is both intelligent and exceedingly fun.  I’ve played this debut probably more than any other album I’ve heard in the last six months.

Band Website: www.djangodjango.co.uk

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South South Million - Wind Hand Caught In the Door
Released on 3/6/12 

This side project from Zoos of Berlin co-leaders Trevor Naud and Daniel I. Clark is an elegant pastiche of odd jazz and classical samples, gently fractured beats, shimmering guitar work and understated hushed vocals.  Zoos of Berlin are one of my favorite bands in Detroit and this new project seems like a logical extension of the things I like about Zoos’ music.  Some of the tracks roll by like ambient rambles laden with reverb, but many others are structured and lyrical songs formed over the odd samples.  Cool in both tone and premise, this is a great chilled out summer record.

Band Website: www.southsouthmillion.com

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The Futureheads - Rant
Released on 4/2/12

Known for their guitar-based angular new wave pop, U.K. group The Futureheads took a risk by making their fifth album entirely a capella.  Adapting several tracks from their previous releases as well as a choice set of covers, they took what could have easily been a mere novelty record and actually made a solid release with a lot more gravity than you would think.  Much of Rant’s charm is in its limitations.  The band has always been strong on intricate vocals, but when stripped of their instruments you hear their flaws as well.  Although many tracks are layered in vocal overdubs, the album has a very human and organic property to it which is appealing in this era of tiresome overly clean Glee type singing.  It sounds to me like four well-rehearsed lads working hard to meet a challenge and usually succeeding. There are some complex arrangements here that are worthy of respect no matter how they approached and executed their craft.  My total lack of Top 40 knowledge prevents me from recognizing what are apparently some well known modern songs (Kelis, Black Eyed Peas) and my enthusiasm for British folk music causes me to exalt in their traditional adaptations of “Sumer Is Icumen In”, “The Old Dun Cow” and “Hanging Johnny” as well as their excellent cover of Richard Thompson’s “Beeswing”.  Regardless of how it is received, I’m inspired to hear a band boldly trying to reinvent themselves.

Band Website: www.thefutureheads.co.uk

Another classic poster from the wildly talented Jenny Harley.  This is for my upcoming show at Woodruff’s in Ypsitlanti, MI on June 2nd.  I have a small blue manual Smith- Corona typewriter very similar to the one on the poster.  She did a great job tapping into the vintage noir mystery vibe with this design. 

In addition to my praise for Jenny’s work, let me also add that I’d like to invite you out to the show!  Joining me will be three excellent Michigan bands Skeleton Birds, The Walking Beat and The Redettes.

Cheers!
TM

I just read about the orchestral overdub session for “A Day in the Life” in Geoff Emerick’s excellent memoir Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the The Beatles.  They made all of the session players wear fake bald pates and clown noses while playing their instruments from the lowest to highest notes over the course of 24 bars. I was glad to see that this historic “party session” was actually documented on film.

I’d take any of them.

Shot of a submarine from the Pearl Harbor exhibit at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, TX. This is a beautifully curated museum in the heart of the Texas hill country.

Painted on tin and found at an antique store in Tecumseh, Michigan.

Another year older. Glad for the sunshine and a peaceful hike on the Penosha Trail in Brighton.

Frequently when I’m reading a book I will stop to copy down a quote or passage that seems intriguing or is especially well written.  The same goes for words and terms I don’t recognize and I try to make a point in looking up their meaning.  Often, I end up using those words later in my song lyrics.  Below are some quotes and definitions I’ve copied down over the last couple of years.

QUOTED TEXT:

“Friendship is provisional. You have to keep earning it.”
- Howard Norman (What Is Left the Daughter)

“I swear, if she didn’t exist, she would have to be invented.”
- Sebastién Japrisot (One Deadly Summer)

“A guitar is like a warm little room.”
- Haruki Murakami

 ”Everything that succeeds creates the conditions for its own demise.”
- Tom Drury (The Driftless Area)

“Later he eschewed the blaze of improvisation for the steady warmth of patient toil.”
- Steven Millhauser (Edwin Mullhouse)

“I used to be a swirl in the devil’s fingerprint.”
- Eric Puchner (Model Home)

“He excavated a boot print she left on the snowy step outside his apartment and preserved it in his freezer.  To be in love was to be dazed twenty times a morning.”
- Anthony Doerr (About Grace) 

“In those halcyon times, when rivers ran with strong ale and the supply of spirits was inexhaustable…”
- Edmund Crispin (The Moving Toyshop) 

- “… and Una, so raven-like and quarrelsome.  A rib of Manhattan torn out to make a woman.”
- Jonathan Lethem (Chronic City)

A mnemonic for learning the names of the planets in our solar system:
Mother Very Easily Made a Jam Sandwich Using No Peanuts 
- Kevin Brockmeier (View From the Seventh Layer)

WORDS & TERMS:

Son et Lumiére - a technique of presenting a historical spectacle esp. at night before a monument, etc. using special lighting effects and live or recorded music or narration

Voluptuary - a person devoted to luxurious living and sensual pleasures

Palimpsest - a parchment, tablet, etc. that has been written upon or inscribed two or three times, the previous text having been imperfectly erased and remaining, therefore, still party visible

Tatterdemalion - a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe.  Wore secreting chemical agent on hands which could dissolve paper.  Dressed as a tramp.

Here’s to another 12 months of creative exploration, friendship and joyful eccentricity.  Here’s one of my favorite songs by The Feelies to get us started.  Let’s go!

Cheers!

-TM

Rather than make a typical “Best of 2011” list, I decided to list what was most important to me over the past year. 

Music:

I was pretty preoccupied with my own endeavors this year and really didn’t seek out very much new music.  Most of my favorite releases were by artists I already knew. 

The Beach Boys - Smile Sessions
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Zoos of Berlin - Pallister Chant
Gillian Welch - The Harrow and the Harvest

I also should give a special nod to Bjork’s Biophelia project.  Although I haven’t really absorbed the songs yet, the whole scope of the project was very impressive.  The app for the iPad was especially enchanting.

A few newer artists came to my attention through gigs, Bandcamp or were suggested by friends.  I really enjoyed these records as well.

Horse or Cycle - Flood Season
The Leisure Society - Into the Murky Water
PreciseHero - Wide-Eyed Serial
Absofacto - Sinking Islands

These are some of my favorite albums which did not come out in 2011.

Hui Ohana - Ono
The Books - The Way Out
Phantom Buffalo - Cement Postcard With Owl Colours
Bibio - Mind Bokeh
Breathe Owl Breathe - Magic Central

And there a few songs that aren’t on any of the above albums which resonated with me throughout the year.  Some are new, some are old.

Johnny One Time - Willie Nelson
T. Total Tommy - Mickey Newbury
Love Year Gone - Graham Parsons
Driving Home - The Mummers
That’s the Way That Love Goes - Lindsey Buckingham
A Call For the North Country - Jez Lowe

One of the things I like about this time of year is reading other people’s wrap-ups and “best of” lists.  I usually get exposed to a ton of great music that I missed and spend January catching up.

Books:

I couldn’t seem to find the time for as much reading as I would have liked.  I did listen to quite a few audio books while driving or doing certain projects at work and I also started listening to podcasts this year.  But of the books I did read and listen to, here are my favorites.

The View From the Seventh Layer - Kevin Brockmeier
Winter’s Tale - Mark Helprin
The New York Trilogy - Paul Auster
Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records - John Cook, Mac MacCaughan, Laura Ballance
The Wind-up Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
The Galton Case - Ross MacDonald
One Deadly Summer - Sebastien Japrisot

Businesses:

There were quite a few small businesses I supported this year, most of them in the food world.  These are some of my favorites.

Roos Roast - Free Speech Coffee / Ann Arbor, MI
Best coffee in Southern Michigan.
Biercamp - Artisan Meats / Ann Arbor, MI
Amazing handmade bratwurst, chorizo and other meats. 
Blissfield Antique Mall / Blissfield, MI
A giant and well-curated mall.  My favorite antiquing spot in Southern Michigan.
Original Gravity Brewery / Milan, MI
Still my favorite brewpub in the area. 
Woodruff’s Bar / Ypsilanti, MI
It’s hard to believe Woodruff’s is only 1 year old. Opened just in time to host last year’s Mittenfest, Andy Garris’s new bar quickly became the epicenter for good indie music, friends, craft shows and other odd events.  It feels like home.
The Bar at 327 Braun Court / Ann Arbor, MI
My friend Eric Farrel opened this classy new bar in Ann Arbor’s Kerrytown district just over a month ago.  Check it out!

Drinks:

These were my preferred beers of the year.  After our trip to the U.K. I started seeking out hand pulled and English style ales.  That being said, I’m still not above a nice cold 40oz or Budweiser.

Hangin’ Frank | Short’s Brewery - Bellaire, MI
Primordial Porter | Original Gravity Brewing - Milan, MI
Belhaven’s Best | Belhaven Brewery - East Lothian, Scotland
Boddington’s Pub Ale - Magor / Glasgow, U.K.

It was a big year for rum drinks at our house and the Dark and Stormy was our favorite.  We also brought home a special bottle of Islay Scotch from Scotland.  Here are my favorite non-beer drinks of the year.

Bunnahabhain Single Malt Scotch Whisky
The Matador (Mixed Drink)
Dark & Stormy (Mixed Drink)
Roos Roast A2 Cowboy Blend Coffee

Acquisitions:

For the first time in a very long time, I was fortunate enough to be able to make a few upgrades to my studio as well as some personal acquisitions.  Most importantly, I finally took the plunge and bought a MacBook Pro.  Like my old used cars, I’d always been waiting for the next thing to break on my two old PC’s and I was tired of the unreliability.  I’m so glad I did… this thing is a workhorse!  It was well worth the debt. Here are my favorite and most important acquisitions of the year.

MacBook Pro
iPhone
Electro Voice EV7A stereo speakers from the late 1960’s
Yamaha HS50M studio monitors
Dagger Zydeco kayak
An old beat up Regal parlor guitar