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Air – Le Voyage Dans la Lune

Air took us to the moon with their first LP, Moon Safari, and 14 years later they bring us back with Le Voyage Dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon).

I knew the title sounded familiar and it wasn’t until I saw the cover that I remembered my History of Film course in college. Le Voyage Dans la Lune (which can be seen here in its entirety, and it’s all of 13 minutes long so I highly encourage you to watch it) is an early, groundbreaking film directed by the ingenious Georges Méliès in 1902. Méliès was a French illusionist that arguably invented special effects with his “camera tricks,” mat shots, stop action, etc…

Air’s music has often been referred to as “cinematic,” Continue reading →

Tags: A Trip to the Moon, Air, Cannes Film Festival, Fritz Lang, George Melies, Giorgio Moroder, hipster, History of Film, Jean-Benoit Dunckel, Kelly Watch the Stars, Lava, Le Voyage Dans la Lune, Metropolis, Moon Safari, Nicolas Godin, outer space, Parade, sci-fi, Seven Stars, Sofia Coppola, Sonic Armada, soundtrack, Surfing on a Rocket, Talkie Walkie, Virgin Suicides

Sharon Van Etten – Tramp

6 Feb

Sharon Van Etten’s third album, Tramp, is an extremely introspective and emotional record. Have you ever walked in on somebody crying their heart out to a close friend of theirs? Instead of the “get the hell out of here!” teary-eyed look one would expect, Van Etten’s raspy yet soothing hum, akin to Kathleen Edward’s folkier acoustic work, welcomes the listener in as if to say “I don’t mind bearing my soul to a total stranger.” The album parks the listener Continue reading →

Tags: Aaron Dessner, Beirut, Bryce Dessner, Give Out, hipster, Jenn Wasner, Leonard, Matt Barrick, Self-Hating Hipster, Serpents, Sharon Van Etten, singer/songwriter, The Antlers, The National, The Walkmen, Tramp, We Are Fine, Wye Oak, Zach Condon

Indie Canon Inductee: Guided by Voices

30 Jan

Guided by Voices is a band that you may know by name but have never listened to. If that’s the case, this article will hopefully warrant a listen. I myself hadn’t listened to GBV until a few years back outside of a few tracks of theirs I had on a Matador Records sampler. Since then, they have become my most listened to artist according to last.fm, surpassing Beat Happening and Joy Division a few days ago thanks to my non-stop research over the past week. I wouldn’t consider Guided by Voices my favorite band, but there are reasons why I’ve listened to them as much as I have… Continue reading →

Tags: 8-track, A Salty Salute, A Trophy Mule in Particular, Acorns & Orioles, Alien Lanes, Andre the Giant, As We Go Up We Go Down, Atom Eyes, Bee Thousand, Buzzards and Dreadful Crows, Cleveland, Closer You Are, Cobra Verde, Cut-Out Witch, D.I.Y., David Lee Roth, Dayton, Don't Stop Now, drunk, Earthquake Glue, falling out, From a Compound Eye, Game of Pricks, GBV, Gold Star For Robot Boy, Greg Demos, Guided by Voices, Hot Freaks, Indie Canon, Isolation Drills, It's Like Soul Man, Kevin Fennell, King Shit and the Golden Boys, Let's Go Eat the Factory, lo-fi, Lord of Overstock, mainstream, Matador, Max Earwhig!, Mitch Mitchell, Moonflower Plastic, MTV, Pavement, Propeller, R.E.M., Robert Pollard, Roger Daltry, Scat, Secret Star, Sonic Youth, The Best of Jill Hives, The Official Ironmen Rally Song, To Remake the Young Flyer, Tobin Sprout, Tractor Rape Chain, Under the Buses Under the Stars, Vampire on Titus, Watch Me Jumpstart

Guided by Voices – Let’s Go Eat the Factory

26 Jan

Guided by Voices is a band that I didn’t start listening to until about two years ago. Since then, they have become one of my top 5 most listened to artists. Hearing of a new LP to be released on January 16, 2012 had me revved up for two reasons: 1) frontman Robert Pollard had officially disbanded Guided by Voices in 2004, and 2) the new LP, Let’s Go Eat the Factory, was to include the most celebrated GBV roster of Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Greg Demos, Mitch Mitchell and Kevin Fennell who hadn’t played or recorded together since 1996 when Pollard reportedly fired the rest of his bandmates after a falling out with Sprout. Continue reading →

Tags: Alien Lanes, Bee Thousand, Ben Franklin, David Letterman, GBV, God Loves Us, Guided by Voices, Let's Go Eat the Factory, lo-fi, My Europa, Propeller, Robert Pollard, Spiderfighter, The Unsinkable Fats Domino, Tobin Sprout, We Won't Apologize for the Human Race

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Categories Album Reviews
Author the self-hating hipster

The Self-Hating Hipster’s Top 11 Albums of 2011

2 Jan

This year in music has been a bit lackluster, but that doesn’t mean that there weren’t a few diamonds in the rough. 2011 seems to have been the year of dubstep/chillwave and indie rock rehashes of the past four decades in music. Some did it better than others.

Due to the fact that I drag-assed on this article which was supposed to be released in 2011 (i.e. two days ago) but instead finds itself released on January, 2nd 2012 and because there were a few albums that were almost too close to call, the Top 11 has become the Top 12. Consider it either a late penalty or a bonus. Continue reading →

Tags: A$AP Rocky, Afternoon Delight, Alex Willner, Angel is Broken, Annie Clark, Anthony Gonzales, Arpeggiated Love, Atlas Sound, Baby's Arms, Best of 2011, Bradley Cox, Breezin, Chloe in the Afternoon, Clams Casino, Cullen Omori, cutesy, Daniel Lopatin, deep house, Deerhunter, dubstep, Dye it Blonde, Elliott Smith, Fat Possum, Father Son Holy Ghost, Feist, finger-picking, Flash Light, Fugazi, Girls, Hurry Up We're Dreaming, Husker Du, I Never Learned to Share, Iceage, Interpol, Is This Power, It's Up There, James Blake, Just A Broken Bone, Kodachrome, Koji Kondo, Kurt Vile, Lightworks, Limit to Your Love, LiveLoveA$AP, Looping State of Mind, M83, Marry Me, Midnight City, Mona Lisa, Nancy Sinatra, New Brigade, Oneohtrix Point Never, Parallax, Parliament, Pencil Pimp, Praveen Sharma, Praying Man, purple, Replica, review, Sepalcure, Sleep Dealer, Smith Westerns, Smoke Ring For My Halo, Sony, St. Vincent, Steve McQueen, Strange Mercy, Surgeon, Swell Maps, Te Amo, Tep and Logic, The Field, The One, The Shakes, The Wilhelm Scream, Then It's White, Thinking Fellers Local, Tom Petty, Top Albums, Travis Stewart, Unluck, Up, Venus in Furs, Wire, You Only Live Twice, Zelda

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Categories Album Reviews
Author the self-hating hipster

Album Reviews and This Year in Music…Pending

30 Dec

I figured I might write a disclaimer for those of you who may or may not be waiting for a “This Year in…” article from me. Every god damn blog has their year end articles. I will be releasing the Top 11 Albums of 2011 before the end of this year. I promise. If I don’t, nightly self-flagellation (with a whip, that is) and turkey bacon for a whole year.

I’m very meticulous when it comes to rating albums. I have a formula; seriously (please see my article on spreadsheeting). If I’m reviewing an album by itself, I listen to it no less than 10 times in it’s entirety. For this article, because of the volume of music that I’m attempting to speak intelligently about, I have made at least 5 (usually more like 7) listens in an album’s entirety obligatory.

Let’s do some math. Supposing that your average LP Continue reading →

Tags: hipster, Top Albums of 2011, turkey bacon

Tycho – Dive

12 Dec

My friend Andy recommended this album to me calling it a “solid effort.” If I were in the business of writing two-word reviews, I could have stopped there.

Tycho (Scott Hansen) is a San Francisco based producer, graphic designer and musician…a sort of modern day, electronic renaissance man. “Dive” is Tycho’s second LP and evidence of his range of talent. Aside from gorgeous cover art, the songs themselves force you to Continue reading →

Tags: A Daydream, A Walk, Ascension, Boards of Canada, Dive, Ecco the Dolphin, graphic design, hipster, Scott Hansen, Tycho

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Categories Album Reviews
Author the self-hating hipster

The Black Keys – El Camino

5 Dec

I was introduced to the Black Keys in college in 2004 right after the release of “Rubber Factory” by a girl who was trying to court yours truly. Like a modern-age Duckie, she decided that burning a copy of her favorite new album would win the key to my heart. Instead, I listened to the album, liked it a lot, and then stopped answering her texts like a total jerkoff. She was wrong about me being cool, but she was right about the Black Keys.

The Black Keys have been going strong since 2002 and have set themselves apart from Continue reading →

Tags: Attack and Release, Dan Auerbach, Danger Mouse, Dead and Gone, El Camino, Gold on the Ceiling, hipster review, Little Black Submarines, Lonely Boy, Mind Eraser, Money Maker, Patrick Carney, Rubber Factory, Run Right Back, Sister, The Black Keys, White Stripes

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Categories Album Reviews
Author the self-hating hipster

Indie Canon Inductee: Beat Happening

29 Nov

For anybody that knows me, this should come as no surprise. I’m wearing a god damn Beat Happening t shirt as I write this. I stumbled upon Beat Happening in 2005 when I was looking at some rando’s list of the best albums of the 1990’s. Since then, they have become my most listened to artist.

Beat Happening has been an indie rock staple for the past 25 years and had an enormous impact on their musical peers. They took a typical rock song and boiled it down to its bare essentials: no bass, no overproduction, no complicated solos (most Beat Happening songs are only three or four chords). The band, which formed in 1983 Continue reading →

Tags: Angel Gone, Ask Me, Bad Seeds, Beat Happening, Beck, Bewitched, Bis, Bret Lunsford, Built to Spill, Calvin Johnson, Cast A Shadow, Collide, Cool Rays, Dreamy, Dub Narcotic Sound System, Fortune Cookie Prize, Halo Benders, Heather Lewis, Heavenly, hipster, Hot Chocolate Boy, I Love You, Indian Summer, Indie Canon, International Pop Underground, Jamboree, K Records, L7, Left Behind, Melvins, Midnight a Go-Go, Modest Mouse, Music to Climb the Apple Tree By, Noise, Olympia, Pajama Party in a Haunted Hive, Pinebox Derby, Polly Pereguin, Red Head Walking, Screaming Trees, Seattle, The Go Team, This Many Boyfriends Club, You Turn Me On

Los Campesinos! – Hello Sadness

27 Nov

I decided to give Los Campesinos! another shot despite the fact that their 2010 release, Romance is Boring, was a total snooze-fest. This year’s Hello Sadness, though listenable and a step back in the right direction stylistically, still falls short.

I first heard of Los Campesinos! from a friend in 2008 right after the release of Hold On Now, Youngster… That album’s unrelenting pop energy was instantly inviting and pleasantly overwhelming. Continue reading →

Tags: Baby I've Got the Death Rattle, Chris Conley, Hello Sadness, hipster, Hold On Now Youngster, Life is A Long Time, Los Campesinos!, review, Romance is Boring, Songs About Your Girlfriend