8. Muchacho / Phosphorescent

The D Man wrote the following run-on sentence for his review.  The only rules were no editing and no going back and doing it in less than five minutes.  It was for the best.

Phosphorescent is Alabama bred Matthew Houck and his album Muchacho is a stirring Southwestern romp pluck full of horns and guitars and a strange bubbling synth layer underneath with fits and starts like a geyser and a band of marauders camping by the fire bemoaning their predicaments and someone pulls out a sad guitar and sings about the loves he lost and the relationships he ruined and the peace he never found and the scars he never revealed and the end result was the saddest but truest campfire ever assembled on the dust-riddled plains and out sprung "Song for Zula" which is easily one of the best tracks of the year and those string flourishes and bass thumps were unlike anything else and the riffy rock of "Ride On/Right On" was as cool as it gets and the video was even better because Houck hipped around in his rhinestone cowboy duds and sparkled and danced and made you wonder with his sincerity and whether the performance was even an inside joke and the songcraft is so beautiful and brutal and wistful and hopeful and how can this not be one of the best records of the year and an original statement that moves in the same circles as Okkervil River or other literate folkies and alt-country dropouts but this even moves beyond that into a haunting and pastoral place that opens up the night stars or sears under the blazing heat of the sun depending on which track you are listening to and there should be no question that "Muchacho's Tune" will be featured in some canteen scene where the hero is drowning sorrows in a beer and the bartender looks on with a towel draped over his shoulder and then maybe later in the film "A Charm, A Blade" comes on when the hero gets his horse back and decides to ride toward the encampment where he knows that danger and salvation waits but his love will forever be out of his reach.

9. Woman / Rhye

Woman luxuriously ruminates over the joys and difficulties of intimacy.  A smooth soul album dedicated to marital bliss and romantic connection, Woman displays an appreciation for high-minded togetherness and celebrates the beautiful women in our lives.  Push play.  Embrace.  Make love.

The Canadian/Danish duo of Robin Hannibal and Mike Milosh embellish their stripped-down R&B with mystery.  They do not appear in their videos.  They do not conduct publicity rounds.  Even when they appeared on national television, they flooded the stage with lights and fog to recede into the background of their orchestrations.  Everything is about connecting to the words and feelings.

But one thing is clear: Milosh's rich falsetto is always at the forefront.  His voice is one of the best things about music in 2013.  And his ear for unforced melodies is commendable in an era with little restraint, especially in a genre where crooners are often indulgent and lyricists trade sophistication for sex.  He knows when to soar and when to pull back.  He knows substance over sleaze.  And he sings with a weight that belies his high register, and with a warm sensitivity for the subject matter that never slips into adult-contemporary cheese.

"Open" may be the most romantic song in years--the very sound of earnest, young lovers.  And "The Fall" is not too far behind in its yearning.  Some listeners have compared the record's easy tempos to Sade, and the duo's deft arrangements and elegant horns and strings make some of those similarities apparent.  But Rhye can also move forward with more thrust, as demonstrated in the groovy directness of tracks like "3 Days" and "Hunger."  Although Rhye is not afraid to get you on the dance floor, their expertise is in the flickering firelight of the after-party.  So grab your woman.  And get moving.

10. The 20/20 Experience / Justin Timberlake

The ten reasons why Justin Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience made the Top Ten:

• Jay Z.  Well, okay, so that isn't a reason.  But Jay Z!
• My favorite song of the record is called "Strawberry Bubblegum."  Don't hate me.
• "Mirrors" is a bona fide radio jam worth listening (and singing!) to in your car.
• Hop into my spaceship coupe!  There's only room for two!  JT wants to take you for a ride in his spaceship coupe!  For real!  Think about that for a minute.  Chillin' with JT in his spaceship coupe--got the windows special tinted for the stars that get too bright!  Man, his spaceship coupe.  
• That part in "Strawberry Bubblegum" where he says it was such a mellow mellow mellow mellow mellow mellow day . . . when you walked by.  Ahh! Ahh!
• Old-school Motown vibes that are actually worthy of old-school MoTown.  That girlllllllll.
• "Tunnel Vision" is cooler and badder than just about every other radio hit.  It is chock full of the hyper-production values that Timbaland greases into every 20/20 track.  Swirly little keyboard things.  Off-kilter little drum beats.  Quick little string strikes and piano runs.  Just lush, dude.
• The best song that Gloria Estefan never wrote.
• That part in "Strawberry Bubblegum" where he breaks it down with a prolonged coda and he even references his former N'Sync hit.  And then I'll love you 'til I make you pop!  Yes, my life is boring as hell.
• #TheDManlovesJustinTimberlake

11. Settle / Disclosure

Disclosure's debut album Settle has an argument to make for the top spot.  The stylish house record is brimming with youthful energy and teeming with in-the-zeitgeist moments.  In a year of endless EDM releases, Settle is the romantically-charged, intelligent, aurally-pleasing pinnacle.  Bookish electronica?  Check.  Sly samples?  Check.  Select live instruments and drums?  Check.  Outstanding guest vocalists?  Check, check.

British brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence (incredibly, 22 and 19 years of age) garnered critical acclaim with their confident debut and grabbed three Top Ten singles in the UK with the infectious "Latch," "White Noise," and "You & Me."  The duo's songwriting feel for electronic music is intuitive and impressive--rarely do lyrics mesh with the underlying beats in such a seamless fashion.  Much like Daft Punk's record, the duo invited excellent collaborators to sing and play on the album, a glossy list of contributors such as Jessie Ware, Sam Smith, and AlunaGeorge.  The guests' unique vocals on almost every track elevate the heady music to communal club-hopping, leaving little doubt that Settle is the music of today.

12. Chvrches / The Bones of What You Believe

CHVRCHES deliver immediate electro-pop music.  With several hook-filled singles released earlier this year, the Glasgow-based band collected their best stuff on The Bones of What You Believe, one of the most memorable debuts of the year.

It doesn't hurt that The D Man has a major musical crush on vocalist Lauren Mayberry.  Not only does she have a law degree and a masters in journalism, but she infuses her lyrics with a gravity that (almost) surpasses the fact that she is quite pretty.  She writes lyrics with a fierce physicality that belies her stature, and listeners are left to wonder how she could ever have a difficult relationship that would merit such tough verbal blows.

Given Mayberry's prominence, someone said the band is like M83 meets Taylor Swift.  Though this may be a decent shorthand to describe their sound, it probably undersells CHVRCHES capabilities.  Veteran musicians Iain Cook and Martin Doherty employ catchy synthesizers and vocal loops, and the trio push electronic boundaries in an accessible vein, finding the same pulse that listeners have come to expect from artists like Anthony Gonzalez or Passion Pit, and embracing of-the-moment electronic textures that never interfere with the underlying hooks.  The band's devotion to big-song melodies is charming and pure synth-pop pleasure.

The big singles carry the album: "The Mother We Share," "Gun," "Lies," and "Recover."  (How about that, a popular indie band with songs that actually sound like singles?)  But there are plenty of nice moments throughout the 12 tracks.  "Lungs" bounces and throbs like the best unreleased Debbie Gibson song.  (Yes, that is a compliment!)  And "Night Sky" and "By the Throat" build up to starry little epiphanies.  Hopefully this is the start of something big.  But if CHVRCHES never break new ground, and if there only success is this album and its hook after relentless hook, that will be enough.

13. Repave / Volcano Choir

Volcano Choir will always be known as Justin Vernon and his friends.  On the band's first album, Unmap, Vernon and his fellow Wisconsinites made an unconventional and meandering record of guitar strings, choir swells, and electronic bleeps.  The music slowly revealed a placeless beauty, somewhere in the void, where matter and sound are still taking shape, still fighting to combine with the emerging topography.  On their second album, Repave, the songs finally make landfall and the result is a strong, cohesive, experimental rock record.

The D Man watched a seemingly uneventful but excellent live performance of "Comrade" and shares his observations below:

• 0:00 - 0:25:  We are heading up a freight elevator somewhere inside an old tannery in Milwaukee.  The band wants us to know they are unassuming, authentic, and deeply-connected to their Wisconsin roots.  Or maybe the rent was cheap.
• 0:25 - 0:45:  The band's signature bloops and bleeps and instrumental doodles invite us down the hallway.  Is there another band that works so hard to sound so nonchalant?
• 0:45:  Two things happen.  The warm acoustic guitars kick in, which say hey, this is going to be an organic experience.  But right on their heels, Vernon starts singing with auto-tuned voice modulation, which says hey, this is going to merge the past with the present.  This tactic has worked very well for Bon Iver's ageless but in-the-moment sound. 
• 1:14:  Vernon lifts his hands to his head and reveals a punk-rock bracelet that he could have lifted from someone in Rancid.  Just because he plays with these guys in flannel and button-down shirts, doesn't mean he didn't party with Kanye, ya know?
• 1:26:  Vernon slides into his falsetto, which can slay dragons and bed the prettiest of ladies.  Remember, this is the same guy that wrote and sang "Beth/Rest," the greatest indie soft-rock song of all time.
• 1:49:  The drums pick up and the band plateaus into brilliant vistas.
• 2:16:  Like the best Bon Iver tracks, the musical comedown is even more powerful than the ascent.  In the negative space, Vernon's soul-crushed voice and the acoustic guitars' little curly-cues are even more affecting.
• 2:54:  Vernon messes with his voice even more.  He has found a way to have four signature vocal approaches: the guttural, low-end menace, the heart-wrenching falsetto, the modulated yelp, and the quiet folkie whisper.
• 3:24:  Here we go again: to the mountains! Large trees, heavy snows, endless nights, and crushing heartbreak to follow.
• 3:52: By now you should have noticed Vernon's hair.  Look, this is a dude who lived in a cabin for four months, killed deer with his bare hands, and recorded one of the loneliest sounding folk records of all time.  It's just hair, man.
• 3:59: A modulated F-bomb doesn't count.
• 4:04:  Vernon's intensity leads him to a brief moment of jazz hands.  And we close with more bloops and bleeps and instrumental doodles.

14. Amok / Atoms for Peace

Thom Yorke indulges his love for twitchy EDM and brooding dubstep on Amok.  He convinces his super-bandmates Flea and Nigel Godrich to drive at an insular sound that never escapes its own orbit, a tightly-wound and funky instrumental coil that never expands enough to collapse on itself.  Atoms for Peace are, after all, against going nuclear.

The record serves as a bookend to Yorke's lone solo album, 2006's The Eraser, an underrated performance of spare electronica.  Wanting to play tracks from The Eraser in a live setting, Yorke reached out to his friends Flea, long-time Radiohead producer Godrich, Joey Waronker (drums for Beck and R.E.M) and Brazillian instrumentalist Mauro Refosco, which eventually led to the recording of Amok.  Largely due to Godrich's field-of-depth production skills, Flea's typical bass funk, and Waronker's and Refosco's creative rhythms, the skittering beats are more forceful and abundant, and Amok is a notch better than The Eraser.  

During the band's recent arena tour, they played numerous tracks from both albums, and the live performances were surprisingly pliant and energizing.  The only complaint may be that Flea was not left to wander further afield on the studio versions, as there are moments where the tracks could have opened up to allow more theatrics, especially when compared with the more accomodating live approach.  But we did see Yorke get his swerve on.  Though his guitar-work is interesting throughout and his trademark vocals float across the soundtrack, haunted and disembodied, we really just want to see him dance.  When the the ponytail is long and the dancing is loose, you know that a great Radiohead record is just around the corner.

15. The Terror / The Flaming Lips

This is what it will sound like if the robots win.  This is the soundtrack to the inevitable film.  The camera pans across the alien plains.  The morning sun rises, spare and desolate.  The hazy light slowly crawls over everything.  And the music cues, revealing the terrible truth . . . .

On their thirteenth studio album, The Flaming Lips expand their mastery of emotion with an unsettling sonic experience.  The cover art's blast of existential loneliness sums up The Terror's thesis: you are on your own.  And without the light of love, it is awfully dark.  Explaining this basic concept, Wayne Coyne said that "we wanted to believe that without love we would disappear, that love, somehow would save us . . . and if there is no love, there would be no life.  The Terror is, we know now, that even without love, life goes on . . . we just go on . . . there is no mercy killing."  Scary, indeed.

Unlike the free-wheeling and propulsive psychedelia of Embryonic, The Terror is purposefully restrained, and as the industrial acid-trips drone forward, conveying themes of isolation, fear, and bewilderment, the slow builds that never reach catharsis are almost always unnerving.  Steven Drozd's oddball arrangements carry the album and are built on his sobering synth work, and only the ocassional guitar squall interrupts the march of his ominous keyboards.  Wayne Coyne's accompanying lyrics are stark and declarative, and he sometimes buries his vocals in slight distortions to further alienate his listeners.  Coyne takes pleasure in the artistic freedom that comes with being the most adventurous major-label act that has lasted this long in the business.

As with the stunning turns in Embryonic, The Lips follow another strange path with this record.  Though the band could make new versions of "Race for the Prize" or "Yoshimi" over and over, holding their festival-ready pop like a comfort blanket, their committment to the emotional honesty in their lives--and by extension, their art--is impressive.  By plumbing depths of depression and confusion, they are not necessarily giving up, but merely sharing their deepest fear that the universe may not be on our side.  As a result, The Lips dive into another strange cacophony.

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16. Frozen

Look, The D Man still knows every word to "Part of Your World," arguably the best Disney song ever written.  ("You want thingamabobs?  I've got 20!").  Ariel's land-yearning number put tasteful teenage angst into the hearts of children everywhere, and it started the Disney resurgance that captivated an entire generation.

Long a sucker for movie musicals, I had no idea that is what I was walking into with my kids over Thanksgiving weekend.  The trailers for Frozen gave no indication that there would be singing--and certainly not the kind of singing that will make you stop reaching for your popcorn.  Fast forward fifteen minutes and The D Man was turning a little weepy by the close of the second number, "Do You Want to Build A Snowman?"  Damn, yes, let's build a snowman together . . . sheesh . . . let's build already . . . .

Frozen is the best Disney musical since the Disney renaissance films The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King.  The songs have clearly been written with contemporary, pop-heavy ears in mind, but they still retain that classical feel that begets the same magic from Snow White to Cinderella to The Little Mermaid.  No doubt a new legion of children will grow up reaching for the huge notes on "For the First Time in Forever," an excellent lead song that is reprised throughout the movie.  And no doubt Princess Anna and Princess Elsa will inspire the next crop of girls who will eventually make their boyfriends pay for every dinner.  (I kid, I kid).

The original songs by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (Avenue Q and The Book of Mormon) cover all the right terrain with the help of talented vocalists like Tony-winning Idina Menzel and Broadway veterans Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff, and Josh Gad.  There is the big song--here, an anthem of ice-castling liberation (see "Let It Go").  There is the funny, falling-in-love duet (see "Love Is An Open Door").  There is the clever comedy piece, where the snowman Olaf dreams of summertime (see "In Summer").  And there is the witty group sing-a-along, a show-stealing track from a bunch of trolls that recalls some of Disney's best (see "Fixer Upper").  The songs move the storyline forward, enliven the characters, and unthaw listeners' hearts.

Disney's stealth advertising reeled in some unsuspecting movie-goers over the holidays.  But plenty of goobers were grateful for the surprise.  I want to be where the people are.  And where the people are, let there be singing.

17. Free Your Mind / Cut Copy

The D Man is still running on the colorful fumes of Cut Copy's late October concert.  The Australian band's fourth studio album dropped a few days after the show, and it could not have come at a better time.  The album's sunny dance-pop can make any cold day better.  Ever the poptimist, frontman Dan Whitford said that "the record's concept of freedom is one that is universally positive and timeless, and whatever each person's version of that freedom is, it's a good thing to be reminding people or even just ourselves to be free."  Free Your Mind is a call to freedom, love, and the golden sun that shines on us all.  But really it is just an excuse to bob your head in the car, unashamed.

The album was recorded in the band's hometown of Melbourne and later mixed by Dave Fridmann (of Flaming Lips fame) in his upstate New York studio.  Listeners can hear Fridmann's bright cosmic gloss on the 14 tracks, and there is never a moment when the record doesn't sound impeccably produced.  Though the album is not as cutting edge as In Ghost Colours or Zonoscope, the individual tracks are seamlessly connected and demonstrate the band's easy touch with cosmopolitan and starry-eyed dance rock.  Nothing here is forced, and there is a relaxed summertime vibe that underscores numerous references to the sun.  "Shine brighter, shine on / shine brighter than the sun," Whitford implores on the title track.  On "We Are Explorers," he proclaims that "we're on a journey to the morning sun / together."  Whitford believes the unifying light of the solar system will save us, and on track after track he marches on with such mantras.  "Keep my hands pointing to the sky / until the daylight comes, into our minds to rescue us."

The elemental lyrics, of course, have never been the point with Cut Copy.  Big, open-hearted anthems that get the masses dancing, well, that is the point.  After experiencing their recent live performance, it is hard to imagine any current band doing it better.

18. MCII / Mikal Cronin

The D Man supports power pop in all its permutations.  Slick, fuzzy, and everything in between, from The Lemonheads to Brendan Benson to Nada Surf.  So it is no surprise that Mikal Cronin's fuzzied-out guitars were satisfying listening throughout the summer of 2013.  Often a sideman to Ty Segall's blistering garage rock, Cronin's second solo album, MCII, sheds some of the noise for a cleaner and more polished sound, and the result is tuneful guitar rock from front to back.  Perhaps that recent B.F.A. in Music was worth the tuition, as he adds strings, pianos, and statelier arrangements to the feedback.

Cronin's guitar licks never seem to overrun his melodies and hooks.  The ten songs on the relatively short album are consistently strong.  "Weight" shuffles along with pianos and acoustic guitars until the chorus cranks up the fuzz.  "Shout It Out" has a West Coast feel--somewhere between surf rock and breezy Pacific Coast pop--and its infectious guitar squeals are a fun listen.  "See It My Way" displays Cronin's exceptional soloing amid more fuzziness, while "Peace of Mind" changes the pace with tasteful string arrangements.  On the fine closer "Piano Mantra," Cronin loses the guitars and sits behind a solitary piano, showing off his multi-instrumental prowess.  As the strings seep in, he asks can you hear me or is it in my mind?  As if to answer his own question, he picks his guitar back up and drives home the noise.

19. Hold On, We're Going Home (single) / Drake

Shout out to the best R&B radio jam of the year.  The D Man didn't even pick up Drake's new record Nothing Was The Same, but I stopped every time I heard his smooth joint "Hold On, "We're Going Home."  The two-stepping track finds the Canadian-born rapper in full-on Marvin Gaye mode: "I want your hot love and emotion, endlessly."  Enough said.

"Hold On" is a surprising melodic turn for the hardcore rapper.  Drake said he was channeling his inner Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson with the song's classic pop sheen: "I know we're not anywhere near that . . . In approaching this album, I was like man, it would be great if we had a record that was played at weddings in 10 years or that people that are away from their families in the army could listen to.  Something that just has timeless writing, timeless melody."  Mission accomplished.  The D Man foresees a long and happy life at weddings, proms, bar mitzvahs, and awkward church dances where there is a savvy DJ willing to push some boundaries.

20. Yore / Evenings

In the digital age listeners can cherrypick music from endless branches.  This can be a blessing because it allows instant access to untold artists, and it can be a curse because it often engenders distracted, surface-level engagement.  Another internet byproduct: listeners can enjoy music without knowing anything about its source.  This faceless interaction with artists is difficult to weigh in your hands or head.  No record needs to be purchased.  No recommendation needs to be considered.  Just click play on YouTube and do your taxes.

After streaming Evenings' excellent album Yore for several months at work, The D Man figured he should find out something regarding the maker of its hi-fi, sample-laden intricacies.  Recently signed to the Friends of Friends label, Nathan Broadus is a twenty-something student at the University of Virginia.  The warm prettiness of his music makes his very modern mashups sound as if they have been around for a long time.  But Yore is more than nostalgia, it is a record filled with surprisingly soulful soundscapes that deserve both ambient companionship and more meaningful listening.

Ten Best Musical Moments of 2013

The D Man cannot count his many blessings.  Even amid life's changes--the birth of my daughter Caroline, the death of my beloved Uncle Marv, the cancer of my mother-in-law Susan, there are too many reasons to be nothing but hopeful.  And the music still plays on and brings shape and color to the impermanence.

• 10. Listening to Perils from the Sea in my tent during a cold scouting expedition. Intimate nocturnal headphone magic.
• 9.  At just the right time, sending this video (via text) to Mrs. D Man.
• 8.  Kurt Vile's golden guitars during his set at the Urban Lounge.
• 7.  The Flaming Lips Terror-filled concert under the summer stars and a trippy version of "All We Have Is Now."
• 6.  A reunion with 2003: The Postal Service's excellent set at Saltair.
• 5.  The arena-worthy Cut Copy show that required non-stop gyrating.
• 4.  The Walkmen ripping it up at the Depot.  Remember, remember!  All that we fight for!
• 3.  Too many Daft Punk moments to count.
• 2.  The transcendent uplift during The National's performance at the Twilight Concert Series
• 1.  Curating the Mark Kozelek show in Salt Lake City.  The brilliant Sun Kil Moon and Red House Painters frontman delivered an incredible acoustic set in June at The State Room.  Mark even dedicated "Caroline" to me and my wife a few days before our daughter was born.  He was delightful, funny, and in-the-zone during his intimate two-hour set.  From finding the venue to arranging the date, from haggling over deal points to displaying the merchandise, from pick-up to soundcheck, it was a backstage experience The D Man will never forget. 

Song of the Week

You will remember this joint the last time that James Mercer and Danger Mouse smoked together.  The duo's first album as Broken Bells was a success.  Check out "Holding On For Life" from the band's forthcoming sophomore effort, After the Disco.

Cut Copy

Superb dance-pop music can be difficult to find while surfing your FM radio stations.  Fortunately, Australian band Cut Copy were in town, curating their modern take on the dance-pop aesthetic.  The D Man, Rip, and Rizzo reveled in the globe-trotting band's cosmopolitan cool, with layers upon layers of starry-eyed synths, New Order guitars, and live percussion soaring through The Depot.

The fivesome played their best tracks from In Ghost Colours, Zonoscope, and the forthcoming Free Your Mind.  If The D Man told you they were absolutely phenomenal, even festival headlining material, you would say I was rubbing it in.  But they were.  Bonus? Dave Chappelle slipped into the show and hung out next to us, likely after slaying his nearby standup routine, and he totally grooved with the Halloween-inspired (and very white) crowd.

Dan Whitford's vocals were impressive, seemingly hovering on perfect pitch with every note.  Though one might have guessed he would need processed assistance, there was nothing of the sort to be found.  He can flat out sing, and as good as the band's records sound, their live presence was exponentially better.  A rare example of an anti-studio band, a made-for-live production.  Let's dance!

Five Things

(Milosh)

• Sun Kil Moon released a new track from next year's Benji.  The impressive "Micheline" is a lovely song that finds Kozelek churning out more lyrics than a poet laureate.  Try getting the "grandma" refrain out of your head.
• The Flaming Lips continue to do Lips-like things such as releasing an EP dedicated to Orson Scott Card's Enders Game.  Check out "Think Like A Machine, Not A Boy" from the forthcoming Peace Sword EP.
• Check out Volcano Choir's cool performance of "Comrade" in an old tannery in Milwaukee.
• Enjoy Pearl Jam's new single "Sirens."
• Rhye's Milosh will release his solo effort Jetlag soon.  Previously, Milosh explained that "Jetlag is an expression of my deep love for my wife, my happiness and excitement for a new place in my life, my sadness or fear of stepping out of my old life . . . and ultimately making a choice to be with someone, to fully commit to that life even though it's on the other side of the world."  Well, he wasn't kidding.  Check out the new video for "Slow Down," which intimately follows his wife while crying, laughing, singing, and driving in her car.

Song of the Week

The Killers are celebrating ten years as a band by releasing a greatest hits collection (and wringing as much cash as they can out of the big box stores).  Direct Hits compiles tracks from the band's four albums, along with a few brand new songs.  Check out the lovely new video for "Shot at the Night," a collaboration with M83's Anthony Gonzalez.

Song of the Week

Arcade Fire's fourth album, Reflektor, drops in just a few more weeks.  Enjoy the video for the dancey title track, complete with a David Bowie vocal cameo.

Five Things

(Arcade Fire's street art campaign)

So it begins.  The best time of the year for music.  Listening.  Slanted light.  Warm days and crisp nights.  Autumn.

• The D Man, Rip, and Rizzo enjoyed Kurt Vile's show two weeks ago.  Though he still needs more confidence in his live vocal delivery, his guitar playing was golden.  He played a righteous set--up close and personal in a small club--and his lustrous Americana, an amalgamation of classic, stoner, and folk rock, hit the right vein.  Recently his hometown of Philadelphia named August 28th Kurt Vile Day, and the city presented him with the Liberty Bell Award, apparently the "highest honor" Philadelphia offers.  Check out his video for "Never Run Away."
• Enjoy the video for Volcano Choir's "Byegone."  The band's second album, Repave, is out now and well worth a listen.
• Never spent much time listening to Drake.  But his new track is an undeniable vibe.
• TV On The Radio feeling some "Mercy.
• Check out the teaser below for Arcade Fire's new album, tentatively titled Reflektor if you are to believe the mysterious grafitti runes that have popped up in cities all over the globe.  The band recorded the album in James Murphy's New York City studio, and he recently promised the music will be epic.  Sure sounds like it.

Song of the Week

18-year-old Archy Marshall (aka King Krule) will release his full-length debut, 6 Feet Beneath the Moon.  His single "Easy Easy" and its accompanying video knocked The D Man's socks off.  Sure, there is the expressive and deeply-British voice, which is an obvious reason to stop and consider his seemingly precocious talent.  But there is something powerful simmering underneath his music, a deep-rooted tension that hints on desperation, despair, or worse.

The National

(The National at The Twilight Series)

When I was trippin', my face hung to the floor.  And I saw demon women.  -The eighteen-year old chatting and smoking weed next to me.

The National are not a marijuana band.  Drowning your sorrows in pink rabbits, sure.  But the clutch of teenagers hemmed in with us by the stage would not understand such a distinction.  They have never listened to Alligator or held down a real paying job.  So when my new friend offered me a joint and described his first experience with acid, he surprisingly touched on two things the band's songs do relate to: demons and women.

The D Man, Rip, Rizzo, and Stark the Vinyl Shark were tangled with the kids throughout The National's near transcendent set at Pioneer Park.  With the aid of the band's expert playing, Matt Berninger's dark-hued inner monologues hit the head and the heart.  When the kids--some half our age--started moshing during the climax of "Abel," Rizzo strategically positioned himself in the fray.  Every experienced concert-goer knows a moshpit is just a fight in embryo; Rizzo was ready to thrown down in the event one of his forearm shivers was met with foolish resistance.  (Hopefully the assailed would at least be in his twenties).  Stark laid some wood, too, and for the better part of the night we were able to ward off the wannabes and keep Rip and his closed-eyed reveries out of harm's way.

Berninger fed off the crowd's overzealous response and seemed to recognize the undisputed urgency of a perfect summer night.  Deep into the set-list, the frontman's microphone brooding lorded over into maniacal yelps.  He even jumped into the crowd on two occasions, supported by several blistering guitar moments that punctuated the band's refined post-punk.  The Dessner brothers have obviously learned the art of turning their stately accents into all-out assaults.

In a span of just seven years, The National have gone from Kilby Court to the Barclays Center, a heady ascent that has expanded their melancholy into mass rock-n-roll uplift.  The set-list was sublime.  Impeccably sequenced to rise and fall, the band careened into something profound when they closed with the best version of "Terrible Love" they have ever played.

A longtime fan could not complain with the career-arcing curation.  Opening with "Fake Empire." Playing back-to-back Alligator tracks "All the Wine" and "Abel."  Closing with "About Today" before the encore.  Hitting Boxer standouts "Mistaken For Strangers," "Apartment Story," and "Slow Show."  Sharing fine new tracks from Trouble Will Find Me.  Bloodbuzz.  It was all as it should be.

• Fake Empire.  Those opening piano lines!  That horn-inspired fanfare!  We're half awake in a fake empire.  Indeed!
• I Should Live in Salt.  Like many of The National's tracks--and entire albums for that matter--this song is a grower.  It gets more poignant every time I hear it.
• Don't Swallow the Cap.
• Bloodbuzz Ohio.  I happened to have my Buckeyes cap on from playing golf earlier in the day.  (If ever a band hit the links, The National would be a top five bet).  I could tell that Berninger, a Cincinnati native, noticed me even as he was carried to Ohio in a swarm of bees.
• Mistaken For Strangers.  Is this the best white-collar song ever written?  The supremely-detailed opposite of a Springsteen song?  Showered and blue-blazered.  Fill yourself with quarters.
• Sea of Love.
• Demons.
• Afraid of Everyone.  Berninger said this was the only political song they have ever written.  Like the best ones (see here, here, or here), its specific references are tied to universal themes, allowing almost every listener to get behind the message.  The band slayed the singular thrust of the song's pathos--one of the best moments of the night.
• Conversation 16.
• Squalor Victoria.  Exhibit A for The National's elegant rock-n-roll musicianship.  The string and piano flourishes, the post-rock guitars, and the elliptically-precise lyrics underpin Berninger's world-weary baritone.  But when he shredded his vocal cords near the end of the song, raising heavenly glasses was met with surprising fury.  Another unexpected highlight.
• I Need My Girl.
• This Is The Last Time.  On every song, drummer Bryan Devendorf could be praised for his understated yet song-carrying syncopation.  In the on-stage set-up, he easily recedes into the background.  But his sticks cannot be overlooked at any time during the show.
• All The Wine.  I'm a festival, I'm a parade!
• Abel.  My mind's not right!  My mind's not right!
• Slow Show.
• Apartment Story.  A few years ago, The D Man wrote that this was one of the Thirty Best Songs of the Decade.  Though the band has many other songs that could make a compelling case, there is little doubt that this is majestic pop storytelling.
• Sorrow.
• Pink Rabbits.
• Graceless.  A standout from Trouble Will Find Me, this song is another in a long line of glorious and intelligent crescendos.  Can any other band build to more magnificent climaxes?  Plateaus on plateaus, vistas on vistas.
• England.
• About Today.  A touching and exquisite track that was recently featured in the closing scenes of The Warrior.  From the Cherry Tree EP.  The band has found a way to make it more muscular and potent, the initial dirge toppling into a guitar-strewn apex.
• Humiliation.
• Mr. November.  
• Terrible Love.  It's a terrible love and I'm walking with spiders!  The three-song encore closed with an inspired performance of the opening track from High Violet.  Though the album version is slightly underwhelming for The D Man, "Terrible Love" proved to be an excellent closer.  Berninger was still wading through the crowd as the Dessners and Devendorfs exceeded maximum velocity that had been building throughout "Humiliation" and "Mr. November." Saving the very best for last? Well played, gentlemen.

The Postal Service

(Jenny Lewis and Ben Gibbard from The Postal Service)

Like every college kid in 2003, I listened to The Postal Service.  I remember driving across the Olentangy River onto High Street, heading towards The Ohio State campus with my windows down on a humid fall day and blaring "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight."  The band's seminal (and only) album, Give Up, proved to be vital Ohio listening that year, along with Elephant, Ghosts of the Great Highway, It Still Moves, and Transatlanticism.  (Ben Gibbard had some year, right?).

I am also transported to the treadmills of the Dublin Rec Center, where the songs' Atari-driven backbeats gave life to my running.  Nostalgia is a strange elixir.  As I listened to The Postal Service's set last night, it was as if I had just stepped off from campus--or the treadmill--and my life was fast-forwarded in an instant to the concert, everything else falling away and leaving only the music from then and now.  It felt exhilarating.

Gibbard's command of the vocals was reassuring, while Jimmy Tamborello's electronic production was clean and precise.  And Jenny Lewis was even more alluring--especially with a guitar in her hands--than she was in that Corn Pops commercial.  The band sounded great, and there were more live drums and guitars than I had ever anticipated.  (Gibbard and even Lewis hit the kit several times throughout the night).  The crowd was a smattering of punks, hipsters, college kids turned suburbanites, and young people who clearly did not listen to Give Up ten years ago.  The D Man, Rizzo, J, and Stark the Vinyl Shark joined the throngs at Saltair and had a great time.  We all agreed afterwards that the show could be boiled down to its essence: it was a lot of fun.

• The District Sleeps Alone Tonight.  How can you open with anything else?  The first track from Give Up is still an original pop creation.
• We Will Become Silhouettes.  I'm not coming out until this is all over.  Arguably the most enjoyable post-apocalypse song ever written.
• Sleeping In.  Not surprisingly, I remembered almost every lyric from every song.  This number stood out in high relief during the set.  Gibbard's sharp vocals were effortless, and his lyrics have not been dulled by the past decade.  Don't wake me I plan on sleeping in!
• Turn Around.
• Nothing Better.  The "duet" from the album. This performance could be considered the Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn of the indie world.  Gibbard and Lewis appeared to be having a great time as they danced together and traded good-natured emotional barbs.  Their voices have always been perfect for each other.
• Recycled Air.  Still love this song.
• Be Still My Heart.
• Clark Gable.
• Our Secret.  An excellent Beat Happening cover.
• This Place Is A Prison.
• There's Never Enough Time.
• A Tattered Line of String.  The new songs that were released with Give Up's deluxe reissue fit in seamlessly during the show.
• Such Great Heights.  Gibbard thanked the crowd and reminded us that we were all here ten years later because we still liked the music.  When the song's initial bleeps started pouring through the speakers, the crowd began clapping in unison.  Everyone knew every word.  When Gibbard hit the lightning-quick guitar strums, The D Man experienced some kind of personal euphoria.  A few years ago I tried to capture the Thirty Best Songs of the Decade, the most essential tracks of the 21st Century.  Though the list may be a little different now, this massive pop song would still make the cut.  
• Natural Anthem.
• This Is The Dream of Evan and Chan.  The band's "first song" started off the encore.  From Dntel's Life is Full of Possibilities.
• Brand New Colony.  I knew there had to be another song coming from the album, but I could not remember what was left.  When the video game bloops tumbled out, the crowd went Super Mario 3 or something.  Since the band created their influential lap-pop masterpiece, thousands of wannabes have tried to make meaningful music from their computers.  But few have ever done it this well.

Lots of Things

(Sigur Ros)

The D Man's baby hiatus is over.  You know what it's like to have a fourth kid?  Imagine you are drowning, and then someone hands you a baby.  (Mostly) joking aside, The D Man is enjoying brilliant summer and will be hitting a string of great concerts in the near future.  I still have a Sun Kil Moon concert breakdown to share.  And Stark the Vinyl Shark wants to talk new classic rock.  So things are looking up!  Blog posts coming!  Baby and all!

• Check out Chvrches performing "The Mother We Share" on Fallon.
• Enjoy the television premiere of the enigmatic duo Rhye.  Damn that falsetto!
• Harrington just figured out that Muchacho is a fine album.  Welcome to the fiesta.  Better late than never.
• Pearl Jam announced a new album.  Check out "Mind Your Manners."
• The D Man has been obssessed with Evenings.  Check out this track from Yore.
• Finally stumbled on Inc.  Check out a track from No World.  Not that The D Man needs any baby-making music at the moment.
• Volcano Choir's second release, Repave, sounds expansive and promising.  Check out Justin Vernon and his mates doing their thing on "Byegone."
• We are getting round two of The 20/20 Experience.
• Beck released some new material.
• The D Man has been immersed in Random Access Memories, Trouble Will Find Me, and Kveikur.  Check out "Isjaki" below.  The lyric video will not be helpful.  But the music will.

Caroline

When it comes to naming children, The D Man prefers classic Anglo-Saxon names with strong allusory power.  Tapping into my familial roots and recalling bygone ages also helps to avoid the trendwinds of the day.  Dylan, for example, is decidedly from the Isles and their maritime climbs, and the name alludes to poets (Thomas) and troubadours (Bob) alike.  So it will come as no surprise that we have named our first daughter, Caroline.  Strong and feminine, it is a name fit for queens.

Caroline is also the greatest name in pop music history.  With that possibility in play, the choice was too easy.  Welcome to the show!  A musician's muse and a daddy's girl for sure.

• "Caroline, No" by The Beach Boys (1966).  Brian Wilson and Terry Asher penned this beautiful song as Wilson's first solo single, but it ended up on the magnificent Pet Sounds anyway.  Wilson said it was the prettiest ballad he ever sung.  Hard to argue with him.
• "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond (1969).  Hands!  Touching hands! You know this one!
• "Long May You Run" by Neil Young (1976).  With your chrome heart shining in the sun / long may you run.  Neil Young reminisces about the waves singing, what else, Wilson's "Caroline, No."  The D Man has been known to sing this throat-catching number--along with "Silver & Gold"--as bedtime lullabies to my boys.  Pretty girls will like this one, too.
• "Pretty in Pink" by The Psychedelic Furs (1986).  The Psychedelic Furs' title track from the John Hughes/Molly Ringwald movie.  Yes, the song is about Caroline.
• "Caroline" by Fleetwood Mac (1987).  From Tango in the Night, the final album released by Fleetwood Mac's classic line-up.  Lindsey Buckingham wrote the song and carried the vocals.
• "Roses" by Outkast (2003).  Caroline plays a starring role in a sweet-smelling track from Outkast's monster album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.  Caroliiiiiiiiine, all the guys would say she is mighty fine . . .
• "Caroline" by Old Crow Medicine Show (2008).  The popular touring band offers their lady some banjo.  She accepts.  Caroline, you do just fine.
• "Caroline" by Wolfmother (2009).  Even Australian pop-metalists sing about Caroline.  The D Man can already hear the soundtrack to a weekend of teenage rebellion, which, hopefully, will only consist of staying out past curfew and drinking too much Red Bull.
• "Caroline" (2013).  Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon) and Jimmy Lavalle (The Album Leaf) team up for this acoustic strummer bedded in beautiful electronic touches.  If there was ever a sign we picked the right name, this timely tune confirmed our hopes and expectations.  Check out a recent  live solo version of the song, which Mark (incredibly) dedicated to us at his recent Salt Lake City show.

Mikal Cronin: MCII

The D Man supports power-pop in all its permutations.  Slick, fuzzy, and everything in between, from The Lemonheads to Brendan Benson to Nada Surf.  I have really been digging on Mikal Cronin's fuzzied-out guitars on MCII, which never seem overrun his delightful melodies and hooks.

Song of the Week

Vampire Weekend just released their third album, Modern Vampires of the City.  Somehow, the band have made a record that is tighter, stranger, and arguably stronger than their first two classics.  The college kids have become adults; the arch insights have given way to arresting ruminations, heavy things like relationships, belief, and death.  All while still sounding like the most accessible pop band on earth.  Check out the lyric video for "Ya Hey."  (Yes, for you Old Testament fans and Bloom readers, that is a play on Yahweh).

Kurt Vile: Never Run Away

Kurt Vile's guitar-driven jams just seep into your consciousness.  The D Man cannot get enough of Wakin On A Pretty Daze, especially with the sun out and the windows down.  Check out the video for "Never Run Away," a series of Philly-is-my-town clips from the laid-back six-string king.

Wild Nothing: Empty Estate

Wild Nothing is releasing a seven-track EP titled Empty Estate.  In the wake of Nocturne, this is important news.  The video for "A Dancing Shell" is laid-back new wave and reminds The D Man of a track that would have appeared on Kidd Video.  Just for evoking that awesome Saturday morning experience, the track and video score a perfect ten.

Song of the Week

The D Man has been derelict in his duties.  There is some great stuff going on in music right now.  So I will be throwing up something new every day to make amends.  Check out the new video for "Sea of Love," a track from The National's forthcoming album, Trouble Will Find Me.  The concept is a homage to this punk rock favorite beloved by the band.  They are coming to town for Rip's birthday.  Happy brooding!

Song of the Week

Daft Punk is back.  Our favorite robot duo, not surpisingly, stay up all night to get lucky.  Check out the disco-dripping groove for first single "Get Lucky," which is apparently only a small portion of the full song.  With clever advertising for the release of Random Access Memories, Daft Punk seemingly has everyone stirring, longtime fans and casual listeners alike.

Five Things

(Atoms for Peace. Yes, that is Flea)

The D Man has a little rhythm.  A little.  But I have been feeling the dance groove lately.  Check out these recent tracks that have dance all over them.

• Strawberry bubblegum, anyone? You know you like it.  Yes you do.
• Check out "Last Dance" from Rhye's splendid album, Woman.
• Passion Pit's new video for "Like A Ghost" starts out with a chick dancing and goes from there.
• You could dance to "All This Time" by CHVRCHES.  Definitely roller skate.
• Thom Yorke gets his swerve on.  'Nuff said.

Five Things

(Vampire Weekend)

• Vampire Weekend will release Modern Vampires of the City in May.  Check out the exquisite lead track, "Step," and the vibrant bounce of "Diane Young."  Right in the wheelhouse, right?
• Justin Timberlake spent a full week performing on Fallon.  Check out a medley of his hits, another history of rap, and a barbershop quartet version of "Sexyback."
• Phoenix has a new album on the horizon.  Check out the very Korean video for "Entertainment."
• If Phosphorescent's new album, Muchacho, sounds like this, count The D Man in.
• R.I.P. Jason Molina.

Song(s) of the Week

Rhye's debut album is shrouded in mystery.  People love that sort of thing, including The D Man.  As discussed by various reviews, the pair of Mike Milosh and Robin Hannibal have largely kept their identities and motivations under wraps.  They have refused to say what Rhye refers to, and their full names don't appear in the liner notes to their spectacular record, Woman.  What we do know is that Milosh's voice is a lovely, gender-defying instrument that magnifies the intimate romance of the duo's cosmopolitan, R&B-inflected songs.  And if "Open" isn't the best easy listening/adult contemporary/love song I've heard in the past several years, well, it just is.  Break it out, gentleman.

Consistent with their practice, Rhye initially released the videos for standout tracks "The Fall" and "Open" anonymously.  The videos trace the story of two couples figuring out their place in love, and the intersection of their grass-is-greener sighs is compelling watching.  Pay close attention or you may just miss it.  Though the clips demonstrate love's complexities, the songs themselves, like the rest of the album, are powerful reinforcements for the allure of deep-rooted and lasting relationships.

Song of the Week

The Glasgow band CHVRCHES delivers immediate keyboard-based pop music.  With a slew of recently released singles, they expect to release an EP and an album sometime this year.  It doesn't hurt that The D Man has a major musical crush on vocalist Lauren Mayberry.  Not only does she have a law degree and a masters in journalism, but she infuses her lyrics with a gravity that surpasses the fact that she is quite pretty.  Given her prominence, someone said the band is like M83 meeting Taylor Swift.  Though this may be a decent shorthand to describe their first few singles, it probably undersells CHVRCHES unique capabilities.

Enjoy this live performance of "The Mother We Share."