Local Natives Update

First we got Breakers, and now we have another new song, Heavy Feet, from the forthcoming Local Natives album, Hummingbird.

AM & Shawn Lee, Again

Dude, I wasn't there. Here's AM & Shawn Lee performing at Oregon Public Broadcasting's studio back on September 14, 2011, just a couple of days after I left Portland and MFNW 2011 and a full year before I saw them up in Seattle at Bumbershoot.

Embarrassing confession of the day:  I caught myself not only singing along, but actually rocking out, to the canned music in Publix's Supermarket today, although in my defense, the song playing was The Style Council's You're The Best Thing That Ever Happened.

Dude, I Was There!, AM & Shawn Lee Edition

AM & Shawn Lee at Bumbershoot, September 2, 2012

Happy New Year!  Here's AM & Shawn Lee, who have a new album, La Musique Numerique, coming out in 2013, performing in Seattle during last year's Bumbershoot back on September 2.  You can see the back of my head bobbing up and down right in front of the dude with the laptop throughout most of the clip.

The dude with the laptop from my vantage point in the audience:

And finally, one of my favorite songs from their last album, Celestial Electric:

Grand Prize Winner For This Year

Father John Misty / J Tillman at Terminal West, October 18, 2012

It's New Year's Eve, the traditional date for posting a "Best of 2012" for whatever category in which one is interested.  Best album of 2012?  Best song of 2012?  Best concert of 2012?  Best book of 2012?  Best interpretive dance of 2012?

I don't have it in me to make a Top 10 list for any of these.  Yesterday's Top 10 Concerts of 2012 included 14 shows, and didn't even include the winner of all of the above categories:

Best Concert of 2012:  Father John Misty, Terminal West, Atlanta, October 18

Best Album of 2012:  Fear Fun, Father John Misty

Best Song of 2012:  Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Father John Misty

Best Book of 2012: The voluminous liner notes to Fear Factor by Father John Misty

Best Interpretive Dance of 2012:  Father John Misty, various moments during October 18 performance at Terminal West

The coveted Water Dissolves Music Grand Prize for 2012, therefore, goes to . . . Father John Misty.

Dude, I Was There!

One of my favorite concerts of the year was held during MusicFest Northwest, but wasn't actually a part of MFNW, when My Morning Jacket played an outdoor show in McMenamin's Edgefield in rural Troutdale, Oregon.  Some magic combination of MMJ's epic jams, the beautiful setting, the sunset, and the fact that my being there was totally unplanned (my itinerary had me seeing Kishi Bashi in the basement Doug Fir Lounge over in Portland) all made it a very special show.  The quality of this fan video isn't professional but it isn't all that bad either, and it does give a fairly good impression of what the show was like.  As I recall, this number was about a third of the way into the set.

I don't like to rank anything as "Concert of the Year," as that's such a relative title, and many shows deserve top ranking for one aspect of the performance or another.  But, because such things are traditional at the end of the year, here in chronological order are some of my favorite concerts of 2012:

1. Akron/Family, Drunken Unicorn, January 14
2. Thurston Moore, The Goat Farm, February 8
3. Allo Darlin' & The Wave Pictures, 529, April 28
4. Damien Jurado, The Earl, May 23
5. Sonic Generator performing Steve Reich's Drumming, The Goat Farm, July 27
6. Dirty Projectors, Variety Playhouse, August 9
7. M83, Bumbershoot, Seattle, September 3
8. Low, Bumbershoot, Seattle, September 3
9. Black Mountain, Doug Fir Lounge (MFNW), Portland, Oregon, September 8
10. My Morning Jacket, McMenamin's Edgefield, Troutdale, Oregon, September 9
11. Animal Collective, The Tabernacle, September 30
12. David Byrne & St. Vincent, Cobb Energy Center, Marietta, Georgia, October 3
13. TOPS, Farm 255, Athens, Georgia, October 6
14. Sharon Van Etten, Terminal West, October 27

Winter Doldrums

No one on tour, no interesting shows at any of the local venues, and a particularly lackluster selection of New Years offerings.  I haven't been to The Earl in over two months now, a recent record for me.  Nothing new even on television - even the reruns of Portlandia are showing the same episode run just two weeks ago.

The Wiinter Doldrums are getting to me.  Here's to hoping I can maintain sanity until March Madness comes.

My Year-End 4x4

No getting around it - this is pretty much what I was listening to this year.  Here are some random clips grabbed from the above.