These two songs came out this week and you should probably stop what you're doing and listen to them.

The first one is from a band my sister introduced me to during Christmas, Future Islands. If you haven't seen their recent live performance on Letterman you need to look it up on YouTube. I can't explain why it's good, you just need to see it. The song is called "Seasons (Waiting On You)".

The second is from Conor Oberst's new album due out in May. It's a good mix of Bright Eyes and his solo albums. This jimmy jam is called, "Governor's Ball".

1.  Modern Vampires of the City – Vampire Weekend: Not only is this my favorite album of the year, but it’s my favorite album over the last five years. No other album this year was more relatable. I felt like Ezra Koenig was either singing to me or singing about me. This album is deep with thoughts on getting older, religion, relationships; it’s all there and told beautifully.                                                     
2. MCII – Mikal Cronin: The best follow up to Pinkerton Weezer never put out. Lyrically it’s really similar to the Vampire Weekend album, musically not so much. I guess power pop is the technical term for the genre, but I prefer to call it rock n roll.
   
   
3. Reflektor – Arcade fire: Arcade Fire get better with every release. Some people were turned off by the ambition of a double album, all the hype around the release and the (not mandatory) dress code at their live shows. Get over it! This album is so good.                                                                             
4. Mucahco – Phosphorescent                                                                                                               
5. Trouble Will Find Me – The National                                                                                                
6. Evil Friends – Portugal. The Man                                                                                                      
7. Fade Away EP – Best Coast:                                                                                                            
8. Regions of Light and Sound of God – Jim James                                                                              
9. The Magpie and The Dandelion – The Avett Brothers                                                                      
10. Let’s Be Still – The Head and The Heart                                                                                             
11. 20/20 Experience Volume 1 – Justin Timberlake                                                                               
12. Cool Cocoon – Spinto Band                                                                                                              
13.  Country Sleep -  Night Beds                                                                                                             
14. Volume 3 – She and Him                                                                                                                      
15. Southeastern – Jason Isbell                                                                                                               
16. Winter Games – Chris Garneau 

The dark lord himself (not Voldemort), Tim Kasher released a new solo album, Adult Film, last week. It's what you would expect from a Kasher album. It's filled with disdain for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If you're looking for an album to uplift and inspire you this album is not for you. But if you want to hear Tim Kasher's take on life and relationships then listen away. It's a very honest album, that's not say I agree with the Cursive front man's take on life, but at least he's true to himself and his views of the world.

He's become the Charles Bukowski for millennials and like Bukowski he might not be the most positive guy but, he's a helluva writer.

8.4 out of 10 

Key tracks: "Truly Freaking Out" and "The Willing Cuckold"

You can stream Best Coast's new EP, Fade Away here on Wires and Waves via an embedded code from Sound Cloud below. I just finished it and I feel like it's their best work yet. Both their song writing and sound have come a long way since their debut and even since last years release, The Only Place. The lyrics are much deeper and clever. The themes of past songs are still present, but yet this EP feels like a complete makeover.
The sound is what sets this album apart. I feel like I'm listening to Mikal Cronin, Weezer, and Patsy Cline all rolled into one. It's very surf rock inspired like always, but it's much cleaner. Usually more production means a loss of grit and rawness, but the sound on Fade Away is neither of those things. The fuzz and distortion are gone, but this is huge leap forward for Best Coast.
It's an EP, but at seven songs feels more like an album. Album or EP it's one of the best releases of 2013.

9.0 out of 10 

Key Tracks: "Fade Away", "Who Have I Become"

The Avett Brothers played Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday and totally rocked it (of course they did). They played "Another is Waiting" from their album The Magpie and the Dandelion, due out Oct. 15.
They're playing Fallon again tonight with Chris Cornell from Sound Garden and Audioslave, so tune in.

This has actually been my favorite song for the past three summers not just this one. It's the most incredibly happy (although if you read the lyrics first you wouldn't think they're happy), catchy, amazing, summer song. It's my favorite. If the f-word offends you then you shouldn't listen to it, just a heads up. Anyway, don't just watch the YouTube video below. Download this song. Buy it or steal it, put it on your phone or iPod, roll down your windows and turn the volume to 11. The song is "California On My Mind" by Wild Light

Justin Vernon is starting to rival Jack White as the busiest man in rock n' roll. Earlier this year JV released a blues rock album with one of his side projects, The Shouting Matches. Now he's reunited Volcano Choir (another side project) to release his second album this year.

Recently they released their first single from their forthcoming album, Repave. The song is titled "Byegone" and is nothing like songs from the previous albums. The last Volcano Choir album was a little too weird for me. "Byegone" sounds like it was meant to be a part of a soundtrack for Moby Dick. I hate the word epic, but there's no other way to describe this song, but that it's epic.

Just like with the Shouting Matches, JV ditched the falsetto for his own grizzly man voice and I love it. It makes me want to grow a beard and walk around with my flannel shirt unbuttoned, exposing my chest hair. This song makes me feel like Bryce Woodhouse (The most manly person I know).
This song is that good.

This spring in Oklahoma has been particularly scary. For the past two weeks we've been surrounded by bad weather. The big tornado in Moore was three hours away, but that same night a smaller tornado touched down about five miles away from where we went to take shelter.

Through all the bad weather this song plays in the foreground of my mind. . . .I hope it does.

This week Tori and I reviewed Born Ruffians newest release Birth Birks. 


Tori's Review
First, let me say that I initially fell in love with Born Ruffians for their spontaneous and unpredictable, upbeat and incredibly catchy rock and roll. (Side note: I just learned this great new term, "herky-jerky" and it's actually in the dictionary and it describes their music perrrrfectly). I will always love their album, Red, Yellow & Blue more than any of their others.

That being said, I really, really like their new album, Birthmarks. The more I listen to it, the more I like it. I may even eventually love it. But, I do feel that a lot of the herky-jerky was lost in this album. There's a vague familiarity to the style they're adopting. There are brief moments in this album when I feel like I'm listening to some one else. Songs like "6-5000" and "Cold Pop" I find reminiscent of Vampire Weekend and songs "Permanent Hesitation" remind me a little of Passion Pit. There's also a little Tame Impala mixed in there at moments.

This album is much more well thought out than the Ruffian's previous albums. It's definitely more musically, lyrically and thematically mature. (But is mature always better?) As the album progresses, more and more sounds not found in their previous albums started to slide in. Once you hit "Golden Promises" you might have to double check to make sure you're still listening to Born Ruffians. My favorite track on this album might have to be "Dancing On the Edge of Our Graves." While it is really different than "I Need a Life" off their second studio record, Red, Yellow & Blue (my all time favorite song of theirs), the bridge in it is killer. Gets me every time.

Side note: I saw them live a couple weeks ago. Amazing. I may venture to put them on the top 5 best shows I've ever seen. Seriously.


Zach's Review
Before listening to this album, my only exposure to Born Ruffians was a song called "Barnacle Goose", which I still really like. For some reason I never listened to any of the other songs on the album. I'm not sure why, because if I were to judge them by that one song, you would think they would be one of my favorite bands. I listened to it all the time. I think I even put in on mixes for some of my friends.

Fast forward six years and Born Ruffians have put out two more albums since then. Their latest, released this year, is called Birthmarks. The more I listen to this album the more I find that I like it. On the first song, "Needle", B.R. channel their inner Animal Collective. The vocals sound just like Avey Tare. It's also the strongest track on the album. I've found myself going back to this song all week.

The rest of the album is, simply stated, a very good pop album. It reminds me a lot of The Spinto Band's album also released this year, Cool Cocoon. It's not mind blowing but it's a solid album that I would definitely recommend and continue to come back to.

Almost five years ago a friend of mine introduced me to Last.fm and it changed my music listening life forever.
If you've never heard of it, in a nutshell it's a website that keeps track of everything that you listen to. You can see your top artists and songs for the week, month, three months, six months, year, and your overall top songs and artists.
You download an app to your computer that syncs with your iTunes account, Spotify, and your mp3 player or smart phone.
To get a better idea of how it works you can look at my profile by clicking HERE.
If you don't have one I highly recommend it. If you start an account, add me. It's fun to see what  my friends are listening to.

Posted by Zach