Okkervil River

Hiphop and electronica figure prominently on our year end lists, but let's not forget our unabashed love of sweet rock n' roll. The Islands may be quirky goodness, but Austin's Okkervil River gives it straight up. Aside from some stellar songwriting, the band also has it's own peculiar sense of humour, as witnessed with their videos for their new album The Stand-Ins, made up exclusively of footage of their friends re-recording covers of all the songs. All of the videos are available on YouTube, and include the likes of A.C. Newman (shown here).



Not to be outdone, Tokyo Police Club, with their album Elephant Shell, has also been filling our sweet tooth musical cravings.

Music, Music, Everywhere

It's been a long time since we talked music here, and a lot of musical water has passed under the bridge. A few of the notable discs that have stayed resolutely in our players include Feist's The Reminder, alternating as it does between dirgy tunes like "Brandy Alexander" and poppier masterpieces like "1234" (available on seemingly every Apple commercial). A rough and tumble live album, recorded by Tokyo Police Club at the Chicago Lollapalooza stopover, has sparked our enthusiasm for their Saddle Creek full-length, duo out early next year. Similarly, Bassano del Grappa gets voluably excited everytime Stars' In Our Bedroom After the War comes on, speaking passionately about some kind of Dr. Zhivago-esque grand romance movie script locked up inside his head. Apparently only Stars hold the key.

Other noteworthy releases include Radiohead's In Rainbows (see earlier post). We finally got around to listening to Bright Eyes' Casadegga to only lukewarm response, but the Broken Social Scene's Introducing Keven Drew has grown somewhat on us.

A charming little surprise came to us in the form of New York anti-folketeer Jeffrey Lewis' acoustic covers of Crass songs entitled, surprising, 12 Crass Songs. Stripped of the screaming vocals, and buzzing guitars, couched in softer tones for more suburban surrounds, Lewis helps us think of a time when we were better (and poorer and more radical) people. Generally we solve this problem by listening to Nico's Chelsea Girls, and just descending into a deeply morose spiral best counter-balanced by more uplifting fare, like Tokyo Police Club.

Music Update

It's been quite awhile since we last talked about the music gracing the office airwaves of The Daily Wenzel, but lot's of music has come and gone.

First starters, a couple of EPs have caught our attention at the end of march, notably Tokyo Police Club's A Lesson in Crime. This Newmarket, Ontario band has generated a lot of buzz, through their constant touring and appearance at SXSW. They're currently scheduled to appear at Sasquatch later in May. The beauty and grace of The Good, The Bad, and The Queen's live EP kept us mesmorized for a week or two, as did the range of guitarwork displayed by The Ponys on their most recent full length, Turn Out the Lights.

Perhaps somewhat strangely, we have also been listening to Jose Serebrier and the London Philharmonic. Our leader, Elvis Bonaparte, noticed that Serebrier's Fantasia topped the eMusic.com top downloads the week it was released and brought it. It fits in quite nicely with the Storm and Stress self-titled debut and Sonic Youth's Goodbye 20th Century.

More significantly thought,