Hip-D’s Top 20 of 2007: 4-1

4. The Ike Reilly Assassination – We Belong to the Staggering Evening

“After the good, but sobering Junkie Faithful, The Ike Reilly Assassination is back and ready to kick your teeth in if you even so much as look at them crooked. Ike, I love your rockabilly punk style.” – stacey

3. Okkervil River – The Stage Names

“It isn’t lyrically obtuse, but it’s still great rock and roll and manages to sustain itself through the entire disc.” – Patrick
“New to Okkervil River with Black Sheep Boy, I was expecting more of the same. When I didn’t get that, though, I wasn’t disappointed. The Stage Names is like one-stop shopping. It’s poppy and dirty-rock-y and a little Motown-y and I even love how they throw ‘Sloop John B’ in on near the end of the CD. This just gets better and more enjoyable with each listen.” – stacey

2. The National – Boxer

“The buildup at the end of ‘Fake Empire’ is one of my favorite moments on record this year. A great album start to finish.” – Patrick
“I knew nothing of The National until they came near my town this year and a friend insisted I see them. I had actually begun to tire of going to shows alone, so the idea of seeing a band I had never heard and having to go it alone didn’t really appeal to me, but I found myself at their show anyway. I also found myself buying their entire output of CDs a week after the show. The National became my sleeper hit of the year; to not see a ‘guy and guitar’ at the top of my list truly is a feat, but the more I listened to them, the more I liked their subtly intense sound. They’re like a less epic Frames and I’m a sucker for piano, horns and string spattered pop music.” – stacey

1. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

“Purists might disagree. This could be the best example of what Spoon does.” – Patrick
“Most of the time I forget about Spoon. It’s not that I don’t like them, I just forget they exist. Then I hear a song on the radio and before you know it, I’ve popped a CD in the stereo and it’s stuck in there for days. Ga x 5 was a grower for me, but once my favorite radio station started playing ‘Don’t You Evah.’ I was hooked once again. There are chimes and horns and crack cocaine, I think, because I can’t stop listening.” – stacey

Hip-D’s Top 20 of 2007: 8-5

8. Wilco – Sky Blue Sky

“This is Wilco getting older.  This is more Wilco than Tweedy and it works nicely.  My dad probably would like this CD, but so would my young, hip dad circa 1976.” – stacey
“Much better than A Ghost is Born.” – Yail Bloor

7. Babyshambles – Shotter’s Nation

“I like it. It kicks my ass. Long live Pete.” – Yail Bloor

6. Black Francis – Bluefinger

“I don’t know if this is what’s called “included by default” but there is not one bad song on this album.” – Mark H.
“…this guy can shit in a cup and feed it to his bass player and it will still be better than almost anything out there…” – Yail Bloor

5. Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

“‘March to the Sea’ may be the song of the year.” – Loog
“I liked it on first listen…it’s still good tunage.” – Mark H.

Hip-D’s Top 20 of 2007: 12-9

12. Band of Horses – Cease to Begin

“I don’t care what you say, if you liked Everything All the Time you should like Cease to Begin and not only like, but maybe like it more.  Do me a favor and put this on in your car during your next trip to wherever.  I accept cookies as a form of thank you.” – stacey

11. Josh Ritter – The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter

“If Animal Years was Ritter’s Guthrie, this is his Dylan.” – Patrick
“The Historical Conquests may not be quite as good as last year’s The Animal Years, but Ritter knows what he’s doing.  He knows where he stands musically and he’s going to explore every corner of that.  Keep it coming, Josh.” – stacey

10. The Broken West – I Can’t Go On I’ll Go On

“Catchy power-pop in the vein of Wilco’s summerteeth.” – FT
“…quite enjoyable…perfect for the fine weather we are having here these days.” – Loog

9. Kings of Leon – Because of the Times

“Good rock and roll rekkid with some slow southern burner action going on.” – Loog

Hip-D’s Top 20 of 2007: 16-13

16. Tim Armstrong – A Poet’s Life

“Everything after #2 is debatable, and more just a random list of albums.” – Loog

15. Deadstring Brothers – Silver Mountain

“The addition of a female voice is a bit jarring at first for those familiar with their previous albums, but this ends up being a solid effort at the end of the day.” – FT

14. John Doe – A Year in the Wilderness

“Is it just me or is this the first time that a deadline has ever been adhered to?” – jasmine

13. Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha

“Keep coming back to it.  One or two duds, otherwise perfect.” – Patrick
“Rock music for the intellectual in your life, Bird branches out a little with ‘Armchair Apocrypha’, but largely stays true to himself.  The guitar is a bit more pronounced than we’re used to, but it’s mixed with the same whistles, piano, violin and witty lyrics we know and love.” – stacey

Hip-D’s Top 20 of 2007: 20-17

20. The White Stripes – Icky Thump

“Jack and Meg never forgot how to bring it.  A searing rock album.” – Patrick
“They got me.  I’m buying anything they put out at this point.  This does not disappoint.” – stacey

19. Nicole Atkins – Neptune City

“Do not write her off as another chick with a guitar.  You will not only be sorely mistaken, but you will also miss out on her ‘little bit psychedelic, little bit country, all pop candy’ goodness.” – stacey

18. Jim White – Transnormal Skiperoo

“An incredibly strong follow-up to his masterwork (Drill A Hole in That Substrate and Tell Me What You See) that gets better with each listen.  Jim White is an American treasure.” – FT

17. Jason Isbell – Sirens of the Ditch

“I didn’t do any blurbs.” – Yail Bloor
“You’ll get blurbs later, Poonami” – Loog

BlooGAR Show #9

Download or Stream Here

Yep, its the (sniff) last BlooGAR show…we’ll be reemerging soon with our “new” thing so don’t fear. I’d imagine that there is some postage due on this bugger, because it was definitely mailed in by all parties involved. Oh well.

Musical selections:
Freddy Lynxx & the Corner Gang – “Respectable”
The Good, The Bad, & The Queen – “History Song”
Nas – “Hip Hop Is Dead”
The Sonics – “Psycho”
Citizen Cope – “Back Together”
Supersuckers – “Before They Make Me Run”

The BlooGAR Show #8

Download or Stream Here

Happy New Year to all and welcome to the first show not only of 2007 but also on the WordPress site. We’re in some sort of weird transition where we are shopping for new names for the show so feel free to leave suggestions in the comments section. I’m sure “You Guys Suck” and “Please Shut The Fuck Up” will probably win, but we’ll see what else comes of it. Thanks as always for the support and the ears. Musical selections:

• The Bees – “Who Cares What The Question Is”
• Drive By Truckers – “Tornadoes”
• Joe Strummer – “Johnny Appleseed”
• Modest Mouse – “Dashboard”
• James Brown – “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World”

Special thanks to Dalen and Dri from A Tune A Day for the new Modest Mouse track.

Hip-D Top 20 of 2006 » #10 » Calexico – “Garden Ruin”

Garden Ruin opens with “Cruel,” a mid-tempo country rock number that sails along like a warm spring drive where maybe you’ve got a little something clouding your brain and your mind is starting to drift, right up until the 2:21 mark when “BAM” the mariachi horns kick in, and all of a sudden you press the accelerator a little harder, crank the volume a little louder, and move your seat up so you dont lose your concentration. It’s like a call to worship at the church of Calexico, where style often battles substance, atmospherics often battle hooks, and frustratingly so, fragments and instrumentals often battle actual songs.

But less so, this time out.

The beauty of Garden Ruin is that Calexico seems dedicated this time out to making an entire album of pop-y songs that retain their trademark Southwest-flavored sound, yet avoid some of the more indulgent pitfalls that caused earlier records to meander and feel less than cohesive. The result is a brilliant collection of songs — distinct, refreshing and (as always) well played — from one of America’s great musical treasures.

– Yail Bloor

Yail Bloor’s Favorite Track: “Bisbee Blue”

This album appeared on the following staffers’s lists:

• Yail Bloor (#3)
• jasmine (#7)
• Elvis Fu (#18)

Hip D Podblast » The BlooGAR Show » Vol. 7

Fresh off his recent wedding and just in time for the holidays, the Senator popped into the Redlands studios for a brand new show. Musical selections:

Young Jeezy – “I Luv It”
Cold War Kids – “We Used To Vacation”
Girl Talk – “Too Deep”
Babyshambles – “Fuck Forever”
Warren Zevon – “Dirty Life And Times”

We’ll try and squeeze one more out before 2007; in the meantime we hope everybody has a happy and safe Christmas or whatever.

Hip-D Top 20 of 2006 » #14 » The Format – “Dog Problems”

“The guy from The Decemberists wishes he could be the guy from The Format,” is the note I wrote myself on my desk calendar when I started to think about how to review Dog Problems, the wonderfully engaging album from this Phoenix, Arizona band. What does that mean? I guess it means that both bands seem to try and roll a lot of different stylistic things into their music, both often feeling a little on the carnival-esque side, even -– the main difference for me, though (and the certain reason for the envy), is that Nate Reuss can actually sing and sing pretty damn well.

Most people seem to immediately cite Queen as a singular influence on Dog Problems, and while they do emulate the layered vocal harmonies, weird tempo shifts, incredibly tight playing and sparkling production, Reuss also brings a softer, personal touch to his songs (largely about a breakup) that keep them from being either robotic or schmaltzy, even as the music is going off into schizophrenic territory. And they bring the rock. And the weird keyboard hooks.

– Yail Bloor

Yail Bloor’s Favorite Track: “Time Bomb”

This album appeared on the following staffers’s lists:

• Patrick (#4)
• Loog (#11)
• Yail Bloor (#16)