Conversations at the End

so, what'd you think?

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Dogleg  - “Kawasaki Backflip” - 2020.

You and I have stanned a lot of cool kids coming out of Detroit over the years, but Dogleg is one of the first great Detroit bands that are so much younger than us that we have to call them “kids.” They play smart, thrashy emo-punk, and they know their history -- they’re named for the song “Broken Dog Leg” by the great Detroit punks Bear vs. Shark, featuring my buddy Brandon on drums. This is going to land high on my list of 2020 records. Lots of ink has been spilled about sweaty Dogleg shows that might have been, but I love this record for its winking slyness even more than the live show potential -- Dogleg knows exactly what we want but throws a twist every time our ear gets lazy waiting for a 2002 hook. These guys are doing a lot more than playing Smash. 

--Chris

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Briston Maroney - “Freaking Out On The Interstate” - 2018.

This one got me immediately. I had never heard of Briston Maroney, even though he lives in Nashville and has been around for awhile. I was watching a bunch of Treehouse Sessions because a buddy shoots them and they’re cool, but after hearing this performance I stopped dead and listened to every Briston Maroney song I could find instead. I guess he was on American Idol at one point, but the only thing Idol about him is that he’s like the lovechild of Casey Abrams and Car Seat Headrest. His guitar tone is perfect. His lyrics are aching and heady. His music makes me feel like I’m 16 again, driving down Michigan dirt roads under blankets of stars, wondering what the future will look like. 

-Lucc

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Chris’ Favorite Songs of 2018

Spotify playlist here.

HONORABLE MENTION:

Charli XCX - “No Angel”

Kim Petras - “I Don’t Want It At All”

TWINKIDS - “Jigoku Tengoku”

Cardi B - “Be Careful”

Troye Sivan - “My My My”

Tunde Olaniran - “Vulnerable”

The Knocks ft. Foster The People - “Ride Or Die”

Ariana Grande - “no tears left to cry”

Alt-J ft. Twin Shadow and Pusha T - “In Cold Blood (Twin Shadow version)”

Gabriel Garzón-Montano ft. Junglepussy - “The Game (Remix)”

Christine and the Queens ft. Dâm-Funk - “Damn, dis-moi”

Amber Mark - “Love Me Right (ADP Remix)”

Protomartyr ft. Kelley Deal - “Wheel of Fortune”

10. Janelle Monae ft. Zoë Kravitz - “Screwed”

9. Christine and the Queens - “Doesn’t matter”

8. G Flip - “About You”

7. Kim Petras - “Heart to Break”

6. Kelela ft. Princess Nokia, Junglepussy, cupcakKe, & Ms. Boogie - “LMK_WHAT’S REALLY GOOD REMIX”

5. Amber Mark ft. DRAM - “Put You On” 

4. Years & Years - “All For You”

3. SOPHIE - “Immaterial”

2. boygenius - “Me & My Dog”

1. Snail Mail - “Pristine”

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Chris’ Favorite Albums of 2018

Spotify playlist here. 

HONORABLE MENTION:

Deafheaven - “Ordinary Corrupt Human Love”

A.A.L. (Against All Logic) - 2012-2017

Lykke Li - “so sad so sexy”

Now, Now - “Saved”

Amber Mark - “Conexão”

Twin Shadow - “Caer”

Roosevelt - “Young Romance”

Blood Orange - “Negro Swan”

Iceage - “Beyondless”

Saintseneca - “Pillar of Na”

IDLES - “Joy As An Act Of Resistance”

Christine and the Queens - “Chris”

10. Janelle Monáe - “Dirty Computer”

9. SOPHIE - “OIL OF EVERY PEARLS’ UN-INSIDES”

8. Swearin’ - “Fall Into The Sun”

7. Kacey Musgraves - “Golden Hour”

6. Let’s Eat Grandma - “I’m All Ears”

5. Parquet Courts - “Wide Awake!”

4. Years & Years - “Palo Santo”

3. boygenius - “boygenius”

2. Snail Mail - “Lush”

1. Shame - “Songs of Praise”

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My fall playlist is here. This one is organized around the awesome Lucius cover of Freelance Whales’ “Ghosting,” plus the fantastic Kelela remix album featuring an amazing verse by Junglepussy (who also shows up “adding some gravy” to Gabriel Garzón-Montano). Other themes include Year of the Twink and nostalgic remakes of mid-aughts favorites. 

---Chris

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There’s no reason to watch mediocre “Like A Version”s --- there are way too many good ones! HAIM doing Shania is a recent favorite. And, see previously on our blog for #1 Dads and Tom Snowdon (who are now officially a band called No Mono) giving us there best Aussie finger-snappin’ FKA Twigs. 

I never got as into Dananananaykroyd as I should have, given my love for yelly powerpunk. I think I was listening to too much Stellastarr* that year. 

Envelope - “I’m Not Poor (Just Broke)” - 2005.

Envelope (Tony to friends) is the greatest rapper from Clintonville, Columbus, Ohio. (Ok, he’s the greatest rapper from the whole city, but it’s goofier to plant him in Clintonville, which is not a very rappy neighborhood.) Every time I hear the damn Khalid “Young, Dumb, and Broke” song, I wish I were in a sweaty bar in Columbus hearing Tony rap about his bike courier business and how he’s got “enough loot for Pabst Blue Ribbon.” Other lines that make me crack up every time: 

“I don’t get, like, factory machinery caught up in my limbs and shit, or vice versa”

“We ain’t dog in a bag rich, but shit man, I’m 40 in a bag rich”

“I don’t live in like a mud hut....I’m about to move into the neighborhood with the nice mud!”

--Chris

P.S. For Columbus local politics nerds, “Clippers vs. Yankees” is an essential (dated) Envelope joint. The conceit is that the Clippers were at that time the AAA minor-league affiliate of the Yankees, and Tony draws an analogy between the baseball hierarchy and the ruling classes/plebeians of Columbus. This one name-checks the gay former county Republican chair, the school board member who banged his shoe on the table to stop the giveaway of a public radio station, and the former mayor’s makeup choices. (Mayor Mike Coleman never became governor, sigh.)

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Hi. I miss you. I’ve missed this. The California teenagers are keeping me cool all summer, so let’s talk.

I must admit, Twin Shadow never does much for me. Tell me what I’m missing.

Dananananaykroyd - “Infinity Milk” - 2009.

We watched a bunch of mediocre Like A Version episodes in class the other day and Dananananaykroyd covering DEVO was utterly charming. Here I like the groove and the yelling. Glasgow powerpunk at it’s finest. 

-Lucc

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Twin Shadow - “When You’re Wrong” - 2018.

Spring turned to summer in the middle west. Lucci is on a mountain and I can fully bend my arm again. Spring brings us the comeback of Twin Shadow, one of my all-time favorites, who I was worried we had lost when his guitar hand was badly injured in a tour bus crash a few years ago. But George Lewis is back to his best form with the new album, Caer, and this is my favorite track. It’s all in the HBCU-marching-band-sousaphone-realness bassline. (The single featuring HAIM is also great but could stand to lose HAIM.) Can’t stop thrusting my shoulders to this one.

--Chris

P.S. Some of us had a lavish pool party last weekend, and my new buddy Karsten Sollors mixed Chris Isaak into what was otherwise a very chill house set. It was very on brand for our blog. 

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That Cosmo song picks up on our mutual love of sea shanteys, but the goofy two-step is adorable, too. I feel like it’s less of an acid-trip musical theater than a drunk-off-Robitussin musical theater, but the point stands.

I never reacted to Jack Garratt. I dug it so hard, but you know I’m a sucker for island pop. It was north of 50F in Chicago today, so I spent the day ordering short-sleeved Oxfords on ASOS and rubbing scar cream into my elbow fracture repair. The sun is coming back, kids. It’ll come out, tomorrow. 

Cub Sport - “Good Guys Go” - 2018.

In the spirit of getting weird in 2018, I’ve been obsessed with Cub Sport, a band of Australian white twinks who do sultry R&B slow jams. This one is emblematic -- the church organ lurks behind a neon-bathed exploration of working way too hard for that guy who’s just not that into you, but you’ll still run into him on the roof of the Ace Hotel and kiss him a little too hard. 

--Chris

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2018, let’s get weird. This is the latest release from UK’s Cosmo Sheldrake. It has some serious Hazards of Love vibes, the Decemberists 2009 concept album that most reviewers didn’t enjoy and I adored. The beginning of the chorus is pretty much a straight lift from Alison Krauss’s “Down To The River To Pray,” before veering off into acid trip musical theater territory. 

Cosmo and his brother Merlin (yep) are the sons of the fascinating Rupert Sheldrake, a British scientist and purveyor of the controversial “morphic resonance” theory. By all accounts, even those who think he’s debasing the integrity of science still want to have a beer with the guy. 

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Chris’ Favorite Songs of 2017

Honorable mention:

Daniele Luppi, Parquet Courts + Karen O - “Flush”

The Breeders - “Wait in the Car”

Matthew Dear ft. Tegan and Sara - “Bad Ones”

Oliver ft. Chromeo - “Go With It”

St. Vincent - “New York”

Phoebe Bridgers - “Scott Street”

Charli XCX - “Boys”

Perfume Genius - “Wreath”

10. Kele Okereke ft. Olly Alexander - “Grounds for Resentment”

9. RAC ft. Rostam - “This Song”

8. Wolf Alice - “Don’t Delete The Kisses”

7. St. Vincent - “Los Ageless”

6. Hamilton Leithauser + Angel Olsen - “Heartstruck - Wild Hunger”

5. Lizzo - “Truth Hurts”

4. Grizzly Bear - “Mourning Sound”

3. Phoebe Bridgers - “Smoke Signals”

2. Now, Now - “Yours”

1. Rostam - “Bike Dream”

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Chris’ Favorite Albums of 2017

Honorable mention:

Japandroids - “Near To The Wild Heart of Life”

Kesha - “Rainbow”

Cloud Nothings  - “Life Without Sound”

Petit Biscuit - “Presence”

Wolf Parade - “Cry Cry Cry”

Destroyer - “ken”

Dude York - “Sincerely”

10. Alex Lahey - “I Love You Like A Brother”

9. King Krule - “The OOZ”

8. Wolf Alice - “Visions of a Life”

7. Protomartyr - “Relatives in Descent”

6. Perfume Genius - “No Shape”

5. St. Vincent - “MASSEDUCTION”

4. Algiers - “The Underside of Power”

3. Phoebe Bridgers - “Strangers in the Alps”

2. Grizzly Bear - “Painted Ruins”

1. Rostam - “Half-Light”

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Jens is superb. That is the most Velvet Underground tune I’ve heard from him. I dig. 

Caleb Hawley - “Addiction” - 2017.

Back to the present: someone put this record on at a party in Massachusetts last week. In between gin and tonics and yelling at Alexa, this song broke through the chaos and caught my ear. Normally I’m over the “island pop” thing these days, but this is just subtle enough and layered with little ear wormy elements. It’s a cool record. 

We also got into a whole thing about Jack Garratt. I still think he’s great.  

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It’s such a good record. I’m more of a “Los Ageless” boy, myself, but I agree “New York” shows off her brain in a way that the other songs show off her incredible shredding. 

You know about my general aversion to podcasts, but I’ll do my best! 

Jens Lekman - “Black Cab” - 2003.

Now that I live in Andersonville, I’m in constant Swedophile mode, and one of my favorite Swedes is Jens Lekman. I think Night Falls Over Kortedala is my favorite Jens record, but some of the earlier songs, like “Black Cab,” are just great. Jens seems to have spent the early 2000s in a constant low-level Nordic anxiety, bouncing from misunderstood English idiom to sexuality cover-up to underground haircuts from refugees to anti-globalization protest.

--Chris

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That was a lovely read. Makes me wish my parents had moved to Columbus a decade later so we could have run around together as young punk pups. 

Great find on the Lilla Vargen Majical Cloudz cover! I agree. His songs are always listenable but teetering on the edge of precious. (Same re: BATHS). She took that song to a better emotional place. 

St. Vincent - “New York.” 2017.

Loved this song, listened to its Song Exploder episode, then loved it even more. She perfectly refers to those Jack Antonoff pre-chorus synth curls as “commas.” Annie Clark could read a cereal box and make it interesting. Her whole episode was studded with casually astute quips. 

This also seems like an appropriate time to publicly declare my absolute obsession with the podcast Song Exploder. It is an endlessly fascinating deconstruction of recorded music. Top-notch stuff. I can listen for hours on end. 

Anyway. This song has several great things going for it. The underwater piano. The stark winter-feeling of the whole arrangement. How many times she says “motherfucker.” This is St. Vincent at her very finest. 

-Lucc

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Almost exactly ten years ago, my little 18-year-old heart was thrilled by the opportunity to be the Guest DJ for an hour on (then) CD101 (now CD1025) in Columbus, the best damn independent commercial radio station on the planet. This playlist is the songs I played. When I’m home at Thanksgiving, I’ll upload the CD of the awesome hour I spent spinning tracks with Lesley James. A lot has happened in my life in that decade, but at the same time, it feels like nothing at all has. I just bought a vinyl of the SSLYBY record a couple weeks ago, and I just saw my first Wolf Parade show a few days later. You never stop having new experiences as a music fan.

CD101 is an essential part of the music scene in Columbus. It’s hard to imagine culture in Columbus (which is now one of the coolest cities in the country; I’ll fight you with my Schmidt’s-sausage-engorged fists) without its influence. DJs like Lesley, the immortal Andyman (RIP), Brian Phillips, and Tom Butler have been playing what’s next in alternative and indie well before anyone else gets to it. They’ve been rocking local, putting on incredible, cheap shows, and making taste for over 27 years, despite industry consolidation and all kinds of pressure against them. A lot of fantastic advertisers, investors like the incredible Randy Malloy, and dedicated music-heads have kept CD101 alive. I met so many bands in the Big Room -- even ones who weren’t playing a show in town but stopped by on the way to Chicago or elsewhere. More importantly, Andy and Lesley and the rest of the crew made me feel welcome even when I was a nerdy teen who had no business being at shows. Columbus is starting to become a big city, but it’s still the sort of place where you can know everyone. 

Economics kept them from streaming for most of the years after I moved away to Ann Arbor, and it was always a joy on the drive home down 23 when I’d start to pick up the signal again. I’m thrilled that they’re streaming again and I can listen to my station while I’m in Chicago. 

Here’s to Andyman, Low Dough Shows, Independent Playground, Summerfest, the Five Spot, the Beer Song, Lesley James, the Ice Cream Truck, the Invisible Hits Hour, and everything else that makes CD101 the best fucking radio station on the planet. 

--Chris

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I was in a coffee shop right after the Courtney and Kurt record came out, and as I was paying, one of the baristas said to the other, “I finally heard the Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile album,” and the three of us said, basically in unison, “it’s...fine.” It’s fine. I like them both ok apart; I like them both ok together. Nice posters, though. I’m digging the Empty Bottle one; that’s one of my new haunts. 

Lilla Vargen - “Downtown” (Majical Cloudz cover). 2017.

Lilla Vargen came out with this cover of Majical Cloudz recently, and I was spellbound when I heard it on MBE. This is the treatment this song was begging for. Majical Cloudz is fine, but I’ve always thought he takes himself way too seriously. This one keeps the spooky synth of the original but gives the lyrics the depth they’re due; I think. 

--Chris