3am Mixtapes: Episode Eighty Four: Supergroups

Each week on the 3am Mixtapes podcast, I will share with you the Top Six Songs of a certain subject. The topics can be as general as best folk songs. Some might be a little more... specific. Top Six Misheard Lyrics. 

This week is a pretty basic theme, it's the Top Six Supergroups! Or collaborations, or whatever you want to call them...

Join together with:

Room 32 by The Lion The Bear The Fox
Young & Foolish (Warm Up The Hi-Fi) by Teenland
The Changing Lights by Broken Bells
Losin’ Yo Head by Monsters of Folk
No One Loves Me & Neither Do I by Them Crooked Vultures
Police Encounters by FFS

Any questions or comments or waffles or criticisms or suggestions for future themes are welcome!

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Favourite albums of 2009 (part the second)

In case you missed it, part one is here!
It's only a little late, but I finally got caught up on my backlog of albums from 2009 I wanted to review. I think I did just about every new album I picked up during 09 -- which was over 50! -- so now I might as well post my favourite twenty albums. And yes, that is "favourite", not "best", so while something may be technically "better", these were the ones I liked the most. Also, they are in order of release date, as I am terrible at numbering things.
Were I a more organized person, I would have sat down this long weekend and listened to all 20 albums and come up with something new and exciting to say for each, but with my laziness school term coming to a close, I just didn't have the time, sadly. But I have included links to all the previous reviews I did on the albums, which are still as valid now as they were then.

In A Quiet World by We Are The City (original review)
superb debut

"Fathers" EP by Black Hat Brigade (original review)
an EP with more substance than most full lengths

Dragonslayer by Sunset Rubdown (original review)
this is why SR is my favourite of all Spencer Krug's bands

Nice, Nice, Very Nice by Dan Mangan (original review)
the acclaim is much deserved

Bay of Pigs EP by Destroyer (original review[ku])
more proof of Bejar's musical genius

Monsters of Folk by Monsters of Folk (original review)
could've been messy, ended up awesome

Friends & Total Strangers by The Trews (original review[ku])
live & acoustic, shows their true talent

Vancouver by Matthew Good (original review)
favourite album of the year (surprise)

Islands Disappear by Said The Whale (original review)
possibly perfect power pop

Tic Toc Tic by The Zolas (original review)
insanely catchy


So, what do you think overall? Agree? Disagree? Think I missed something major? Just like to complain? Let me know!

Monsters of Folk by Monsters of Folk

The term "super group" seems to be thrown around a lot, especially as of late. And more often than not, they end up being a disappointment; a group of big name musicians banding together, then falling far short than the sum of its parts. Maybe the group members just don't "click", maybe the arrangement leaves something to be desired, but it's almost gotten to the point where "super group" is no longer a draw, but a buzz word. Maybe that's why most super groups now have the customary "don't call us a 'super group'" statement.
So when Jim James (of My Morning Jacket, using his alter ego Yim Yames), M. Ward (of She & Him and, uh, M. Ward) and Conor Oberst & Mike Mogis (of Bright Eyes) joined forces for Monsters of Folk, I was more than a bit skeptical. Especially since I love My Morning Jacket so much, but especially because I have never really cared for Bright Eyes. Sure, these artists all have similar musical backgrounds, but they are all distinct enough that you might not expect them to mix.

The self titled album starts out with "Dear God (sincerely M.O.F.)", which features each member taking parts of the song solo, which is the only time on the album you'll hear a division of their voices this blatant. First single "Say Please" sees Oberst up front in a catchy and upbeat tune, and the first time you hear them all together, any and all worries you may have had just melt away. Each song features either Ward, Oberst or Yames as lead vocals and the other two as backup vocals (Mogis sticks behind the scenes, as it were), and Ward's first track is the infectious alt-country "Whole Lotta Losin'". Oberst's "Temazcal" brings it down a with a song that lives up to its name, but things pick right back up a little with the jaunty "The Right Place", Yames' first "spotlight" song, and Ward's "Baby Boomer", a song that is nigh-impossible not to clap along to. One of my favourites off the album is, surprisingly, an Oberst song: "Man Named Truth", another fast paced and catchy song. "Goodway" is probably the most Ward influenced, though could have done without Oberst doing the spoken word outro, however he redeems himself with "Ahead of the Curve", a rich song which, again, features a great blending of vocals. Which is then almost perfected in Ward's gorgeous "Slow Down Jo". "Losin' Yo' Head" with its energetic country-funk, is the most blatantly Yames song, but then he brings it back down for the mellow "Magic Marker". "Map of the World" is another surprisingly good Oberst song -- not to pick on him or anything, but as I said, I was never really an Oberst fan prior to this album. "The Sandman, the Brakeman and Me" is Ward's great climax which finally perfects the harmonies. The perfected blend of vocals go on to end the album excellently with "His Master's Voice" -- featuring Yames, in a nice bit of symmetry.

The thing I love most about Monsters of Folk is how they all trade off duties. No one member does a specific job for the whole album, but rather everyone does everything at various times. It creates a more eclectic sound, rather than just being something like "Oh, drummer from band-x is playing with guitarist from band-y". Everything seems to flow much more naturally. There are still definitely influences from each band in the tracks, but their various sounds end up blending together so perfectly that it seems more like a band that has been together for years rather than a first-time collaboration.
And I touched on it briefly, but perhaps the most amazing thing this album does is to turn my complete and total apathy of Conor Oberst into somewhat of a liking. I am probably not going to run out and get all the Bright Eyes and Mystic Valley Band I can get my hands on, but I certainly like the man more than I previously did.


Download Man Named Truth

Download Slow Down Jo

Download His Master's Voice

Clicky to exchange monies for music

Monsters of Folk @ Commodore -- 10/13/09

The combined forces of Conor Oberst & Mike Mogis (of Bright Eyes), M. Ward (of She & Him and, uh, M. Ward) and Yim Yames (aka Jim James of My Morning Jacket), Monsters of Folk start their North American Tour last night at the Commodore. With the help of drummer and all around multi-instrumentalist Will Johnson, they played a sprawling set spotlighting all the bands.

Without an opening band they hit the stage, all suited up, a little after 8pm (the show was originally supposed to be at the Orpheum, so I guess they kept the same times) and played for damn near three hours. Playing not just Monsters of Folk tunes, but also songs from each artists respective band/solo catalogues. Members were on and off stage and they played just about every possible combination they could. Oberst and Ward, Ward and Yames, Yames and Oberst; most of the set, however, was the full five members out. There was no way I could have kept track of the setlist, but some of the highlights were, on the Monsters side, "Man Named Truth", "Slow Down Jo", and pretty much every song with Yames. They were best, however, when they worked in harmony with each other. Not just the MoF songs that had them all singing, but when they backed up each others songs. The three of them have pretty different voices but they manage to blend them together beautifully.
They "ended" with the awesome "Losin' Yo' Head", which came to an epic, climactic finish, but then were back out soon enough for the encore, which was one song from each artist, then ended with the last track of the MoF album, "His Master's Voice".

I have one minor complaint about the show, though, and that would be what seemed to be the lack of My Morning Jacket songs. True, Yames & MMJ are my favourite of the four members of the band, so maybe it just my perception, but what was definitely sad was that almost all the MMJ songs selected were older ones. There was only one song played from their newest album, Evil Urges ("Smokin From Shooting") and none from the one prior to that, Z. I suppose I can understand, as the older MMJ songs fit better into the rest of the show, stylistically. I just can't quite imagine them going from Slow Down Jo to Highly Suspicious. But still...

Ultimately, it was an incredibly show, which did the following four things for me:
Made me appreciate the album even more than I already did.
Made me actually like Oberst and Bright Eyes songs, which I was kind of apathetic about before tonight.
Made me realize I need more M. Ward in my collection.
Made me sad that My Morning Jacket has still not been here for a concert in all the time I have been listening to them.

songs of the indeterminate time period.

Hey look! It's another instalment of my song(s) of the week month "whenever I feel like it" segment!
Here are a few songs; ones that are new, newish, or new-to-me for your listening pleasure. I'll also try to include at least some diversity in the selected songs.


Folk legend M. Ward. Uber-musician/producer Mike Mogis. My Morning Jacket's Jim James. And... Conner Oberst from Bright Eyes (three out of four ain't bad). When their powers combined, they form the Monsters of Folk. It's hard to judge by the first single, but my immediate reaction is that it's not quite the sum of it's parts (perhaps the Oberst Factor), but it has the potential to be awesome. We shall see come September 22nd.

Download Say Please by Monsters of Folk
artists website where you may listen to more and exchange monies for music


It's only been two years since the self titled debut from Young Galaxy, but for some reason it feels like much longer. It also feels like the band dropped of the face of the earth. Well, they've finally released the info for the album, Invisible Republic, due out on the 25th of August. It starts as a pretty standard YG track with spacey riffs, twitchy synth and haunting vocals, but then the last minute or so just goes nuts and is completely infectious. This song along launches the album to near the top of my most anticipated for the rest of the year.

Download Long Live The Fallen World by Young Galaxy
artists website where you may listen to more and exchange monies for music


Flemish Eye sums it up much better than I can:
A warped and mutated blend of the futuristic and the organic, Snow Blindness is Crystal Antz is the debut album from Black Mold – the electronic alter-ego of songwriter Chad VanGaalen.
The more I listen to this, the more it makes sense. VanGaalen has always had hints of electronica to his albums, and now he gets to let loose with his homemade instruments and show even more of his brilliance. It's hard to call it experimental,since you get the sense that he knows exactly what he's doing.

Download Tetra Pack Heads by Black Mold
artists website where you may listen to more and exchange monies for music