I’ve been stuck in a rut lately.  I’ve been swamped and work and when that happens I generally listen to a very small set of music over and over and over again.  The problem with this is that no new music coming in means no new music going out.  What happens is terrible.  So to spice it up I decided to bundle together another volume of BOTR (Best of The Remix).  If you’d like to check out all the previous BOTR volumes click here.

Enjoy the music.

mp3 : The Beach Boys - Wouldn’t It Be Nice (The Girls Can Hear Us Remix)
I love this remix.  It takes a classic summertime song by the Beach Boys and updates it just enough to make kids born in the last two decades appreciate the talent of the original surf rockers.

mp3 : David Guetta - Memories (feat Kid Cudi) (Armand Van Helden Vocal Remix)
Don’t be fooled by the opening forty five seconds of this remix.  When the vocals from CuDi drop in you’ll realize that you’re in heaven.

mp3 : Duck Sauce - aNYway (Black Noise Disco Remix)
I wasn’t quite sure what I thought of this track on first listen.  It sounds a lot like it’s from the late seventies, but the remixed aspect of the the song gives it a nice 2010 worthy veneer.

mp3 : Florence and The Machine - Dog Days Are Over (Breakage Remix)
This is by far the most depressing Florence and The Machine remix that I’ve ever heard.  And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  Some days it’s good and well to be melancholic.

mp3 : Kinkiez - Nothing New (We Plants Are Happy Plants Remix)
The band is an act you’ve never heard of, but the track is worth a listen simply because We Plants Are Happy Plants has touched it.  WPAHP seems to have carved out a clever niche in the remix game and to date there hasn’t been a true competitor.

mp3 : Lady GaGa - Telephone (Crookers Remix)
I have no idea why anyone likes GaGa other than she tries really really hard to be even more abstract than Madonna ever was.  One thing can be said; even though her lyrics are Fergie-terrible at least the delivery is somewhat palatable.

mp3 : MGMT - Of Moons, Birds and Monsters (Holy Ghost Remix)
I thought this remix was appropriate what with MGMT having a new album due out this year.  Although this remix isn’t exactly club worthy it’s not problem, MGMT have always been more closely aligned with drug use anyway.

mp3 : MSTRKRFT - Bounce (OH SNAP!! Bootleg Vocal Remix)
To be honest MSTRKRFT are much better when remixing instead of creating original music, but this track had me at “all I do is party, ha ha ha ha.”  Makes me think of the Real World.

mp3 : Phoenix - Fences (The Pointdexter Remix)
If the previous remix was a mouthful of random club beats and party music this simple remix is a smooth sorbet, a sort of aural palate cleanser, a chilled out relaxing moment in the sun.

mp3 : Phoenix and Peter Bjorn and John and Victoria - One Thousand Nine Hundred and One Folks (Immuzikation Remix)
It’s been a long time since I listened to an Immuzikation Remix.  It’s been far too long.  At one time he alone sat atop the list in the remix world and here’s a nice example why.

mp3 : R Kelly vs Major Lazer - Ignition (The Hood Internet Remix)
No remix set is complete without one completely gratuitous R Kelly song.  Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce…

mp3 : Shout Out Louds - Fall Hard (Passion Pit’s Summertime Radio Remix)
If any remix could serve as the exact opposite, a counterpoint, to the previous R Kelly remix then this is that track.  Smooth and sugary like molasses this remix sounds like I usually feel on a hot summer day.

mp3 : Wale - Good Girls (A. Clark, Quix Remix)
This remix further cements in my brain that Wale and CuDi will end up being two of the most influential (or at least most long lasting) rappers in the current generation.  His rhymes remind me a lot of the iconic day of rap when Biggie and 2Pac were still around.

Insert some clever outro here.

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Last night one of my favorite bands, The National, used Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (another favorite of mine) to debut a new song from their upcoming album.  As is par for the course when performing live on a late night talk show the sound quality isn’t exactly brilliant, but the song has a certain shine anyway.  Have a listen.

mp3 : The National - Terrible Love (Live)

Terrible Love will appear on the upcoming album High Violet which is due out on May 11.  If the rest of the tracks are as solid as Terrible Love we’re all in for a treat.

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Strange things happen when you’re a music blogger with a passionate stance on what constitutes “good music” and you’re seeking to reconcile those views with what is “wedding appropriate.”  You’ll find yourself watching endless youtube clips and scouring the web for anything that remotely meshes your personal taste with something passable in a formal setting.  Believe me, this is no easy task.

In my intrepid wanderings I stumbled upon a collaborative effort that goes by the name of Vitamin String Quartet.  Chances are you’ve heard of them, but for me it was a new revelation and I’ve been enjoying listening to their compositional renditions of more contemporary artists (check out their wikipedia page for a “partial” discography which is quite ridiculous in the amount of artists they’ve covered).

mp3 : Vitamin String Quartet - Hoppipolla (Sigur Ros Cover)

I love the beautiful simplicity of this track and the string arrangement is divine.  Now if only they sold their sheet music I would be set.  And for those that are wondering the rest of their canon, available largely from either amazon or itunes, is solid as well.

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What would you get if you blended together the compositional sounds of Sufjan Stevens with modern day sing song pop folk and then poured that topping over a cake made out of Final Fantasy?  (And I guess I should clarify here; this Final Fantasy cake is the live version of Owen Pallet’s shows, not the quasi lame studio albums he continually puts out).  Stumped?  Well you won’t be for long.  What you get is Anders Ponders (and coincidentally one great album that I simply didn’t get to listen to last year.  It might have wormed its way into my best of 2009 list if I had just given it a listen last year.  Sigh).

mp3 : Anders Ponders - The Discus Incident
mp3 : Anders Ponders - Slowest Motion Miracle

From the start of the album, 2009’s Nodes of Overtones (amazon) (itunes), the similarities to Final Fantasy should be evident.  Every track contains ample amounts of violin (or possibly viola, never could tell them apart), a depth of arrangements, and the lyrics on each song tell a catchy story.  The one main deviation from the parallel comes in the content of those lyrics.  Where Final Fantasy sings songs about random events, (such as on He Poos Clouds), Anders Ponders tells short vignettes about Icarus (track 4) or his favorite fruit, Pomegranate (track 2).  In his own words he describes his sound as “A Fairy Home Companion” and I would definitely agree with that.

The allusion to Sufjan Stevens becomes more and more apparent the longer you listen to the album and culminates on the last track, Slowest Motion Miracle, where if you weren’t listening closely you could easily mistake it as a Sufjan song.

The bottom line is that Anders Ponders has created an infectious debut album that all readers of The World Forgot should listen to as soon as they can.

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The debut album by Mumford and Sons, Sigh No More, is quite simply one of the most brilliant albums I have ever heard.  Other than that very serious statement (one which I have pondered over for the past) I cannot figure out what else accurately captures the mood of this album.  Far and away this has already become the album to beat for 2010 (and yes, I know it was released in 2009 in the UK, but as I’m currently based in the USA this will officially be on my list for 2010).

I’m struggling with how best to summarize an album that is beautiful, poignant, and brilliant throughout quite literally every single track.  It’s an album so good, so compelling, it prompts me to go back to my old ways of burning copies of CDs and literally forcing everyone I know to listen to it from start to finish.  It’s an album that is so well constructed that I’ve listened to it now about nine times and I honestly cannot figure out which two songs best represent the talent and craft that is apparent within each track.

For reference the following statements say nothing about the actual sound of the band, the type of music the create, but it’s the easiest way for me to explain how .  This album reminds me a lot of the debut Third Eye Blind album in that every sing song is well crafted and worth listening to.  This album reminds me a lot of Funeral by Arcade Fire in that the scope of the entire album is so epic and so moving you’re compelled to start it over again and again and again.  This album reminds me a lot of Is This It by The Strokes in that the first time I heard it all I could think to do was to immediately run around forcing everyone I know to listen to this brilliance.  This album reminds me a lot of The Weakerthans and Cloud Cult in that every song is infused with inventive storytelling.  This album reminds me a lot of Sufjan Stevens in that the composition and frequent use of layered crescendos adds to the overall impact in a way that is genuinely smile inducing, foot bouncing, simply joyous fun.

mp3 : Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More
mp3 : Mumford and Sons - The Cave

Perhaps the best way to sum up how I feel about the Mumford and Sons album Sigh No More (amazon) (itunes) is this; if I could I would force everyone who visits The World Forgot to download the entire album and listen to it before being allowed to visit any other website, go outside, or take a restroom break.

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If you’ve been hanging around these parts for any length of time you’ve probably come to accept the fact that I am quite the rabid supporter of all things Cloud Cult.  Recently I’ve been digging through old mp3 discs that are stuffed in my car (I drive an ‘05 Scion xB that has a stock stereo capable of playing mp3’s directly from a CD).  Lately I’ve been fascinated with my Best of 2007 disc that includes Cloud Cult’s album The Meaning of 8 (amazon) (itunes) as the best album released that year.

The song that has caught my attention lately has been Criag Minowa’s tribute track to his late son, entitled Your 8th Birthday, who passed away unexpectedly when he was only 2 years old.  It’s quite brilliant lyrically and I cannot imagine the emotion that was poured into the writing and recording of this track (let alone the decision to include it on a studio album).

mp3 : Cloud Cult - Your 8th Birthday

Cloud Cult is currently on hiatus from touring as Craig and Connie are having a child.  They plan to begin touring again in late spring of this year although there are no plans, as of yet, to record another album.

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I realize that this review is a full six months late.  And if you’re going by the date the album was first leaked it’s probably close to nine to twelve months behind.  But I care not.  And neither will you after you listen to this little EP that could.

For most bands an EP signifies a brief flirtation with a new sound, a different path for the band to wander along for a handful of tracks.  And that is exactly what Modest Mouse has done with No One’s First and You’re Next (amazon) (itunes).  Except they’ve done it with a slight twist.  You see this side path diversion they’ve taken is one they’ve been on before.  And in fact it’s the best path they could be on.  This EP takes them back to the raw grit that flowed deep into arguably their best overall album The Moon and Antarctica.  Gone are the traces of pop influence and radio ready hooks that subliminally slipped into their previous two full length albums.  What you’ll find here is a collection of tracks, their leftover brilliance, that easily could have been released as a proper full length last year.

mp3 : Modest Mouse - Satellite Skin

This is the lead off track from the album and it’s my favorite of the bunch.  The venom that drips from Isaac Brock’s trademark vocal delivery is absolute perfection (especially during the second verse).

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If you’ve watched TV in the states over the past year or so there’s a good to great chance that you’ve become familiar with this track on a Lincoln MKV commercial.  I personally don’t watch live TV (basically I don’t watch commercials anymore) so it took me longer than most to figure out that Lincoln had chosen to go with Shiny Toy Guns to propagate the idea that their flagship car is more of a spaceship and less of a boring old sedan.  I must give kudos to the ad wizards who came up with this one.  Not only is the song choice spot on but the commercial is actually rather effective.

mp3 : Shiny Toy Guns - Major Tom (Welcome Home) (Shiny Toy Guns Remix)

For the curious three that are still reading after the music link has been posted I would like to point out that Major Tom is originally a track recorded by German artist Peter Schilling who was essentially retelling the story behind the track Space Oddity by David Bowie.  Yes folks, it’s true, everything has already been created, we’re simply rehashing history now.  (But honestly, who cares if a rehash sounds this good).

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I will freely admit that when I heard a single track from Freelance Whales I audibly groaned “oh no, not another derivative, sappy, knock off no talent hack like Owl City.”  Thankfully I was wrong in assuming that this band was going to become as simple pop attention whore with a laptop.  Their debut album, Weathervanes (which is out already as a download) (amazon) (itunes) is a solid trip through musical adventures akin to mashing together Postal Service and Sufjan Stevens.  That really is the best way to describe their sound.  Listen for yourself.

mp3 : Freelance Whales - Generator First Floor
mp3 : Freelance Whales - Broken Horse

I know I’m a scant few weeks from proclaiming my best albums of 2009, but I’m not sure I can imagine a future where this album doesn’t make it onto the best of 2010.  It would have to be a mighty fine year in music to knock this to number eleven or below.  (note : yes the album has been out as an mp3 download for awhile but I usually count an album’s release year as the year it was first published in a physical format.  And yes, I acknowledge the physical format is dead or dying, but that’s an easy way to keep everything level across the board for now).

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Another weekend fast approaches (and for those of you in the UK and east you’re already there) and who better than Cudi to ease you into your Friday night.  This song falls under the “it’s been stuck in my head for more than a day so I thought I should post it and pass the obsession along” variety.  And let’s be honest, Cudi is rapidly becoming one of the most consistent rappers of his generation.  Enjoy.

mp3 : Kid Cudi - CuDi Zone

For the completionists out there; this track hails from Cudi’s 2009 album Man On The Moon: The End Of Day (amazon) (itunes).

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Normally I don’t watch music videos.  They just don’t do it for me (and I can’t watch music videos while I work or play games).  For some reason I actually clicked through to watch the latest video for I and Love and You by The Avett Brothers the other day and I haven’t been able to dump it from my brain since.

youtube
mp3 : The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You

For the curious folks out there this song appears on The Avett Brother’s 2009 album I and Love and You (amazon) (itunes).

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01 : Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (amazon) (itunes)

I don’t like a single other album that Animal Collective has ever made.  Most of their career (including their latest EP) sounds like simple repetitive noise void of any melody or musicality.  Merriweather Post Pavilion is an entire different beast.  Although the middle of the album drags a bit it easily tops the list as the best album of the year.

mp3 : Animal Collective - In The Flowers
mp3 : Animal Collective - My Girls

02 : Noah and The Whale - The First Days of Spring (amazon) (itunes)

I simply love sad and somewhat depressing music.  Noah and The Whale has taken a melancholic lyrical style and draped it over the perfect mood setting melodies.  At times this album reminds me quite a bit of the slower side of The National.  Every song is worth a listen (and if you choose the second track below you simply must listen to the very end).

mp3 : Noah and The Whale - Blue Skies
mp3 : Noah and The Whale - My Door Is Always Open

03 : Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (amazon) (itunes)

Phoenix has long led the charge from radio friendly pop music to the purest pop sound imaginable.  This entire album is pure pop candy.  There exists not an errant second in the entire trip through perfectly crafted pop genius.

mp3 : Phoenix - Girlfriend
mp3 : Phoenix - Love Like a Sunset

04 : We Were Promised Jetpacks - These Four Walls (amazon) (itunes)

They have a whimsical name, they share a homeland with Frightend Rabbit, and they titled one of their songs after a rather obscure physics principle.  What more could you possibly want?  Oh, and their music is top notch.

mp3 : We Were Promised Jetpacks - Quiet Little Voices
mp3 : We Were Promised Jetpacks - This Is My House, This Is My Home

05 : Matt and Kim - Grand (amazon) (itunes)

Matt and Kim proved in 2009 what can be accomplished with a minimal setup and the simple direction of making crowd pleasing dance pop.  With catchy hooks and repeated lyrics their are tracks on this album so insidious that you’ll be silently dancing to them well into next month.

mp3 : Matt and Kim - Daylight
mp3 : Matt and Kim - Lessons Learned

06 : Metric - Fantasies (amazon) (itunes)

Most of my Metric listening comes in the form of brilliant remixes of their tracks.  For the most part their studio albums always felt flat on repeat listening.  This is the first time they’ve broken that cycle and have truly created the masterpiece of their career.

mp3 : Metric - Blindness
mp3 : Metric - Sick Muse

07 : Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It’s Blitz (amazon) (itunes)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs have gone the route of Metric and finally created a masterpiece album to sit atop their collection.  The only way this album could get any better is if they could go back in time and steal their previous track Maps and put it on this album.

mp3 : Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll
mp3 : Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Skeletons

08 : White Lies - To Lose My Life (amazon) (itunes)

If The Killers ever feel the need to make another album they need look no further than White Lies to see how high the bar has been set.  White Lies have found a way to incorporate the grandiose with the melancholic and yet make every song something to sing along to.  Brilliant.

mp3 : White Lies - Death
mp3 : White Lies - From The Stars

09 : Deer Tick - Born on Flag Day (amazon) (itunes)

Deer Tick is quite possibly the greatest bar band you will ever hear.  The most interesting part of their repertoire is that their trademark live sound is captured perfectly on their studio albums.  If you like them live then you’ll love their southern rock infused albums.

mp3 : Deer Tick - Hell On Earth
mp3 : Deer Tick - Song About A Man

10 : The xx - xx (amazon) (itunes)

This album is subtle genius and yet almost forgettable.  The band recorded the album in a neighborhood garage after dark and the rumour goes that this setting contributed greatly to the whisper quiet nature of most of the tracks.  It’s by far the most mellow album on the list.

mp3 : The xx - Islands
mp3 : The xx - Stars

And there you have it, albeit somewhat belatedly.  Those are my top ten albums for 2009.  If you’d like to see my previous lists follow these links; 2008, 2007 (or click here to see all 3 years on one page).  Although this past year wasn’t near the brilliance we were presented with in 2008 it was still a solid year for music fans.  Honorable mention should be given to a few bands that were just barely nudged off of this list for some reason or another.  Modest Mouse made one of the best albums of the year but it failed to make this list on a technicality (it’s actually an eight song EP).  While albums by Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros, White Rabbits, and Julian Casablancas all scattered tracks of pure top ten worthiness, but sadly failed to sustain those moments throughout an entire album.

Until the next time around keep reading and, as always, enjoy the music.

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I was listening through my TWF archives the other day (I’ve posted about 1000 tracks now) and one song kept playing through my head and I realized that I simply didn’t have a copy on any of my drives.  Thankfully the internet still exists and I was able to find another version of this track which has become one of my all time favorite songs by one of my all time favorite bands.

mp3 : Radiohead - Fog (Again) (Live)

In my original post, way back in April of 2006, I had this to say.

“Radiohead never fails to impress. And this track is no different. Included below is one of their finest live reworkings of a song. The song, Fog, first appeared on the album Knives Out after being launched as “Alligators in New York Sewers” in Caesaria on July 9th, 2000.

From that first play, where Thom Yorke introduced it as “kind of a silly song,” it has matured and grown into something at once melancholic and beautiful.”

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