Posts Tagged ‘The Morning Benders’
Best Coast – Crazy For You
Easily one of our most anticipated records of the year, after several listens Crazy For You lives up to the hype. Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno make it sound so easy on their debut LP, blending 60′s girl-group harmonies with 90′s alt-rock riffs. Cosentino’s simple lyrics, which occasionally border on silly, offer an earnest yet self-assured perspective on yearning and heartache.
Best Coast – “When I’m With You”
Buy at Mexican Summer
Menomena – Mines
The exact opposite of the Best Coast record. A challenging but ultimately rewarding listen, Mines finds the Portland experimental-rockers at their most ambitious. The record is littered with inventive production and masterful musicianship, particularly on the sprawling, Weekend Mixed “TAOS” and the slow burning “Tithe.”
Buy at Barsuk
Futurebirds – Hampton’s Lullaby
This is what alt-country in 2010 should sound like, an eclectic mix of pedal steel, indie pop melodies, and four-part harmonies.
Buy at Amazon via Autumn Tone
Seu Jorge and Almaz – S/T
No Bowie covers, but this time around we get the Brazilian singer/actor’s take on classics from Michael Jackson and Kraftwerk, among others. This is Jorge’s first album with his newly formed band, Almaz.
Seu Jorge and Almaz – “Everybody Loves The Sunshine”
Buy at Now Again
Jaill – That’s How We Burn
Genuine rock n’ rollers from Milwaukee release their sure-to-be-breakout LP, their first on Sub Pop.
Buy at Sub Pop
Miniature Tigers – Fortress
This Arizona/Brooklyn quartet’s second album features production from Chris Chu of The Morning Benders and Neon Indian, who produced the XMU favorite and lead single, “Gold Skull.”
Miniature Tigers – “Gold Skull”
Miniature Tigers – “Bullfighter Jacket”
Buy at Modern Art Records
Weekend Mix – 7.2.10
For those that don’t know, we recently partnered with The Fayetteville Flyer, which is a great local site that highlights news, art, and culture in our hometown of Fayetteville, Arkansas. For now, we are contributing our Weekend Mixes to the Flyer, and will hopefully be collaborating more in the future. Since this is a music blog, I should also note that the Flyer editors are in a pretty great band called The Good Fear that you should all check out.
After taking a week off to give you the Best Singles of 2010*, we’re back with ten of the best tracks from the past week, plus a few we can’t stop listening to.
Right Click – Save As to Download.
Singles:
The Thermals – “I Don’t Believe You”
Dax Riggs – “No One Will Be A Stranger”
Wild Nothing – “Your Rabbit Feet”
Chromeo – “Don’t Turn The Lights On”
The Kills – “Pale Blue Eyes” (Velvet Underground Cover)
Frankie Rose & The Outs – “Little Brown Haired Girls”
Vermillion Sands – “Miss My Gun”
The Morning Benders – “Stitches” (Yours Truly Session)
The Mix: For Extended Listening
Best Singles of 2010*
Here it is, our favorite singles of 2010 so far.
Right Click-Save As to Download. Don’t forget to download the entire mix as a single track at the bottom of the list.
Singles:
1. The Morning Benders – “Excuses”
From Big Echo, out on Rough Trade
2. Beach House – “Norway”
From Teen Dream, out on Sub Pop
3. The New Pornographers – “Crash Years”
From Together, out on Matador
4. LCD Soundsystem – “Dance Yrself Clean”
From This Is Happening, out on DFA
5. Broken Social Scene – “Forced To Love”
From Forgiveness Rock Record, out on Arts & Crafts
6. Drake – “Over”
From Thank Me Later, out on Cash Money
7. Dr. Dog – “Shadow People”
From Shame, Shame, out on Anti
8. Local Natives – “Airplanes”
From Gorilla Manor, out on Frenchkiss
9. Fol Chen – “In Ruins”
From Part II: The New December, out on Asthmatic Kitty
10. Kanye West – “Power”
From Upcoming LP
11. The National – “Bloodbuzz Ohio”
From High Violet, out on 4AD
12. Vampire Weekend – “Cousins”
From Contra, out on XL Recordings
13. Gorillaz – “On Melancholy Hill”
From Plastic Beach, out on Virgin
14. White Flight – “Panther”
From “Panther” single, out on Range Life
15. The Black Keys – “Tighten Up”
From Brothers, out on Nonesuch
The Mix: For Extended Listening
Best Albums of 2010*
The best albums of 2010 halfway through the year anyway. We pooled our individual lists and tallied up the points to arrive at this, the official Tale of The Tape Best Albums of 2010* List. Interestingly, Teen Dream was the only consensus pick with regard to position and selection. Quite a few albums to go this year so we’re interested to see how this holds up when we reconvene to make our year-end lists. If you’re up on some or all of these albums jump in the thread and we can compare notes.
1. Beach House – Teen Dream
2. Black Keys – Brothers
3. The Morning Benders – Big Echo
4. Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record
5. Local Natives – Gorilla Manor
6. Dr. Dog – Shame, Shame
7. LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
7. The New Pornographers – Together
9. The National – High Violet
10. Vampire Weekend – Contra
Also in the discussion: Sleigh Bells – Treats, Gorillaz – Plastic Beach, Harlem – Hippies
Check back tomorrow for our Best Singles of 2010* List. It’s here now.
Weekend Mix 6.4.10
These are the ten freshest tracks of the week plus some that we can’t stop listening to.
Download them either in Single form or as a complete Mix.
SINGLES:
Bodies of Water- “Rise Up, Careful”
The Morning Benders – “Cold War (Wallpaper Remix)”
Jenny Wilson – “Only Here for the Fight”
The Idaho Falls – “Cloudy Day”
Blitzen Trapper – “Dragon’s Song”
The Mix: For Extended Listening
Latest video for a Tale of The Tape approved album features some PG players in rather R-rated situations. Check out our review.
The Morning Benders – Big Echo
The Morning Benders’ debut LP, 2008′s Talking Through Tin Cans, was a nice collection of pop songs that suggested a sound somewhere between Brendan Benson and The Shins, but it sure didn’t hint at what the band was capable of. Produced by singer/guitarist Chris Chu and Chris Taylor from Grizzly Bear, their latest record, Big Echo, is a big step forward for the Berkeley foursome, in particular the stunning opener, “Excuses.” A track as good as “Excuses” could carry an entire album, regardless of the quality of the remainder of the record, but luckily it doesn’t have to. ”Promises” is up next and while a faster paced affair, it continues with the sunny harmonizing and twinkling keys while also adding some riffs on loan from the Veckatimest sessions. Taylor’s brilliant production is evident throughout the album, but is especially thrilling on “Promises” and the toe-tapping “All Day Day Light.” The latter track finds the Benders at their rock n’ roll peak and you can hear Chu fully relishing his role as frontman. Anchoring the 10-track LP is the slow burning “Sleeping In,” which makes you believe the album is heading to a low-key trough before flipping the script with some riffs that would sound right at home on a Crazy Horse record. The album is highly recommended and is out today on Rough Trade. Buy the album at iTunes or Insound. If you do anything at all today, make sure it includes watching the video for “Excuses” below.
