When Wild Beasts came to New York City last fall, they found themselves in the pressured position of having a lot to prove. They’d made only one US trek beforehand, to SXSW. Members of the press came out in droves to hear and see the UK foursome, now on their second album, Two Dancers, which had been graced with Pitchfork’s coveted “Best New Music” moniker. The Beasts didn’t crack under the pressure, they roared, seducing all ears and eyes in their path. Closing out their first full US tour in Brooklyn, the Wild Beasts were relaxed and giddy, coming off what must’ve been a successful run of dates.

It helped, no doubt, that the crowd was rapturous and vocal in their support. “You guys are great and we’ve hardly even started,” Tom said after the second song, “We Still Got The Taste Dancing On Our Tongues.” One guy jumped up on stage during the boisterous “Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants,” to join the band in their singing & dancing.

And do they ever dance! None of this “sullen,” “tortured” act that too many artists try to use as an excuse for behaving as though they don’t enjoy their own music. Wild Beasts enjoy what they do, and they show it – jumping and swaying and shaking their bodies, and pumping their fists. They may have tried to hold back their smiles, but their cheeks puffed up with pride, belying their grins.

The crowd was dancing, too – it was hard not to. Their recordings are beautifully coated in vocals, and keys, and guitar, but their live shows draw out their rhythms, turning even the most atmospheric and moody tracks (“Two Dancers I,” “Two Dancers II”) into a dare not to move your body. But the beauty is all still there, in the fluttering notes of “Empty Nest,” in Hayden Thorpe’s operatic falsetto and erotic growls, in the opening line of “His Grinning Skull,” “How can you pine anymore?” Always a Wild Beasts talking point, but impossible to ignore, the contrast of Thorpe’s icy countertenor with Tom Fleming’s warm, robust lower register commune like the sweet and the salty, enhancing each other, complementing each other, and competing with each other, all at once.

Wild Beasts: “His Grinning Skull” (download)

Before closing with “Cheerio Chaps, Cheerio Goodbye,” Thorpe commented, “Thank you, this is incredible. This is the cherry on a very handsome cake.” It made for a sweet evening, indeed.

For more pictures & information, including the setlist, click the jump.

SETLIST
Fun & Powder Plot
We Still Got The Taste Dancin’ On Our Tongues
Vigil For A Fuddy Duddy
This Is Our Lot
Two Dancers I
His Grinning Skull
Two Dancers II
Please, Sir
Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants
All The King’s Men
Hooting & Howling
Encore: Devil’s Crayon
Empty Nest
Cheerio Chaps, Cheerio Goodbye

Wild Beasts Official Site
Wild Beasts on MySpace
Wild Beasts on Twitter

SEE THE FULL SET OF PICTURES HERE.

So, these are neither the most personal albums nor the albums that I think shaped the 2000s. They are a combination of those two things: The albums that shaped my personal taste in the 2000s. For an album to qualify, it either had to (a) suffer endless replay – including currently, not just the year it was released – or (b) be an album that completely redefined how I listened to and thought about music. If it fit both qualities, even better. This system cut out a lot of sentimental favorites that I haven’t touched since I outgrew them, albums that were so digestible as to be unable to stand the test of time, and a lot of “popular” or “experimental” albums that might’ve been more globally influential or genre-bending, but just weren’t my thing.

I didn’t dare number them. This list more or less represents the different genres/sub-genres of my taste leanings, and it seems unfair to pit rock against rap or americana against psych. So, the closest I came to ranking was dividing 25 albums into two groups: The 10 most important albums, and then 15 also very important albums.

In my mind, it is from the top 10 that all modern music I listen to was born from. Every album listed in the second group of 15 albums can somehow be linked to my love for one of the albums in the top 10. Everything current (and even some things older) you see on this blog can be traced to this list. (Which isn’t to say that all of these albums birthed their particular genre – as it just so happens, we don’t always ingest or fall in love with albums chronologically).

The T-Sides Top 25 of the 2000s – in somewhat numerical but mostly alphabetical order:

Group One: Top 10
	Broken Social Scene, You Forgot It In People I vividly remember the first time I heard “Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl.” I was in the dark, comfortable confines of a friend’s dorm room. It sounded like future music, a song beamed down from another planet, the kind of music I’d never live to hear created in my lifetime – except that it had been. You Forgot It In People with its dark cover and eerily gorgeous music felt like the work of some mysterious genius, which is probably why Broken Social Scene still seem otherworldly to me, despite their obvious growth in popularity since. (“Anthems” is now so absurdly popular that Kevin Drew laments having to play it at shows.) Broken Social Scene: “Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl” (download)
Death Cab For Cutie, We Have The Facts And We’re Voting Yes We Have The Facts And We’re Voting Yes is another album I can clearly remember the first time I heard. I was standing in the gift shop of the newly opened Experience Music Project during Seattle’s yearly Bumbershoot Festival. I had just started learning about Seattle’s local music scene, and had heard people talking about Death Cab For Cutie, but hadn’t listened to them yet. There was a listening booth for We Have The Facts…, so I stopped, put on the headphones, and pushed play. It took just the opening chords of “Title Track” to allure me, and having heard just that song, I bought the album, which remains an all-time favorite. Anyone who equates Death Cab For Cutie with their Transatlanticism output and beyond would be well advised to go further back in their catalog to the days when Ben Gibbard was sick of love instead of lovesick. Death Cab For Cutie: “Title Track” (download)
	Destroyer, Destroyer’s Rubies While I was interning at Rolling Stone, one of my fellow interns asked if I had heard “the album with the girl in the red dress on it.” I had no idea what he was talking about – and he wasn’t completely sure, either, since he couldn’t remember the artist or album name. Later, he did. I had been rendered utterly speechless trying to find comparisons or touchstones, anything that it would’ve made sense for this to spring from. But Destroyer’s Rubies is just that: a product of the finest gems, stemming from nothing and no one but Destroyer. This album was on one of the biggest personal moments of discovery in the 2000s, easily broadening what my ears found appealing. Destroyer: “European Oils” (download)
Jay-Z, The Black Album The Black Album wasn’t the first rap album I liked. It wasn’t even the first Jay-Z album I liked. It was, however, the first rap album I loved. I grew up on plenty of half-wit rap during middle school, which was enough to rub me the wrong way until much, much later. I’ve said before that The Black Album is the most “rock” that rap gets, and I stand by that – Rick Rubin’s presence is proof enough. There might be rap albums that try harder to cross that border, but I don’t mean it in the sense that Jay-Z is trying to be a rock star here, so much as the same aesthetics apply – there’s heaviness, a pounding to The Black Album. It’s an aggressiveness not just of ego or lyrics, but of the songs. The punches on The Black Album come as much from the music as they do from Jay-Z’s mouth. Jay-Z: “Justify My Thug” (download)
	The Notwist, Neon Golden One of the things that keeps me from listening to a lot of electronic-based music is simply the personal opinion that music made with, warped and distorted by computers doesn’t feel as warm, as personal. I’ll admit, as music moves more and more into the realm of sampling, and the use of computers in music has expanded, it holds less true, but it hasn’t been completely felled just yet. Regardless, The Notwist are responsible for a serious enhancement in my opinion of the genre. Neon Golden still stands as one of the warmest, most comforting and most emotional electronic albums I’ve heard. The Notwist: “Consequence” (download)
TV On The Radio, Dear Science There are a lot of artists on this list whose output I consistently adore, making it hard to choose which album to include. Can I honestly say that I like Dear Science more than Return To Cookie Mountain or Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes? On a personal level, not really. Desperate Youth was my mind-blowing introduction to the band, and Cookie Mountain is no less inspired. I can say that Dear Science is more consistent, so on that level, it gets the spot, but ultimately everything TV On The Radio has done deserves to stand here. TV On The Radio: “Halfway Home” (download)
	Two Gallants, What The Toll Tells I could also make a case for any of Two Gallants’ three albums – but What The Toll Tells is their most consistent, so it holds rank and file for all the others. Perhaps a bit childishly, I am still miffed at Pitchfork for assigning this album to a fuckwad who clearly didn’t “get it,” though the band reaped in plenty of good (deserved) press for “Waves Of Grain.” If I’ve convinced my friends and family of any band’s worth over the past few years, it’s Two Gallants, and I plan to keep on doing so, even if their current hiatus becomes permanent. (Please, please, please, please, NO.) (Same goes for TV On The Radio – what the hell is up with great artists going on hiatus?) Two Gallants: “Steady Rollin’” (download)
The White Stripes, Elephant The White Stripes have never seemed too concerned with a sex and leather and cigarettes image of cool, instead taking it back to the mysterious archetype – they want to fuck with your mind as much as they want to fuck you, with antics of identity surrounding their matching last names, or their trippy music videos. When it comes to the great garage rock revival of the early 2000s, it was The White Stripes that remade rock the way I like it. I don’t want my rock ‘n’ roll having too much sex with pop music – I want my rock music loud, fast and cocky as hell. The White Stripes are pretty consistent, but using the aforementioned qualifiers, Elephant is easily a perfect album from start to finish (if I ignore the last song, “It’s True That We Love One Another,” which gets annoying after the initial, “Aww, that’s cute,” listen). The White Stripes: “The Hardest Button To Button” (download)
	Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Show Your Bones Though it may lack some of the vim and vigor of their first or even most recent albums, Show Your Bones hoists an unbelievable emotional weight. The title could not be more literal. In an interview I read awhile back, Karen O called this album a “growing pain,” and there were plenty of rumors and talk about the band nearly breaking up while recording it. I’ll take the nitty gritty over the fluff nine times out of 10. Yeah Yeah Yeahs: “Turn Into” (download)
Yeasayer, All Hour Cymbals Go ahead and laugh at me for picking the debut album of a mega-hyped Brooklyn band for my Top 10 of the decade list. If you can comb through my music library and find another album from the past two years that I listened to this much that isn’t already on my list, be my guest – but it ain’t gonna happen. There’s no band I’ve seen live more often in the past two years, either. For some people, their love affair with Yeasayer might have dipped or disappeared after the initial bumrush, but they won’t be wearing out their welcome on T-Sides any time soon. (And yes, this includes Odd Blood - thanks early vinyl sales.) Yeasayer: “Wintertime” (download)
Group Two: Runners-Up
Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavillion Fiona Apple, Extraordinary Machine Explosions In The Sky, The Earth Is Not A Cold, Dead Place Decemberists, Crane Wife Dismemberment Plan, Change Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere Impossible Shapes, Horus Les Savy Fav, Let’s Stay Friends The Long Winters, When I Pretend To Fall Minus The Bear, Highly Refined Pirates Modest Mouse, Moon & Antarctica Pattern Is Movement, All Together Sleater-Kinney, The Woods Sufjan Stevens, Seven Swans Kanye West, Graduation

I’m truly sorry T-Sides and all related projects have been offline for so long. Chalk it up to summer, chalk it up to a quarter-life crisis, chalk it up to any sorry excuse for life taking us away from the things we love that require any amount of work. But let’s turn the focus on the positives. I’ve certainly continued ingesting and thinking about all things culture-related, just find myself less able to capture the associated thoughts. So, here’s a showcase of Top 15 things that have been on the T-Sides radar while we’ve been dormant (not in order of preference, simply in the order of thought). Click the jump to see!

1. TV on the Radio Remixes – Read Silence

Truth be told, remixes rarely appeal to me. A relationship with a song can be so personal, so intimate, that for it to be broken down into pieces and transformed can be like going to bed with someone you love and waking up next to a stranger. But holy hell, all three remixes on the Read Silence EP are breathtaking reinterpretations. The handy craft of Glitch Mob, Gang Gang Dance and Jneiro Jarel on these selections from Dear Science are perfect companion pieces to TV on the Radio’s compositions. It’s like finding out that someone you already love is an amazing cook or volunteers to teach children how to read or something.

TV On The Radio: “Shout Me Out (Willie Isz Remix By Jneiro Jarel)” (download)

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2. Neko Case, Neko Case, Neko Case

Oh, Neko. It’s quite possible that my girl-crush on her has gone too far, considering I’ve begun to imitate her promotional art in portrait form. Middle Cyclone enchanted me so deeply that I went back to listen to Fox Confessor… and Blacklisted, and more frequently than any other current listening habit I’ve developed, I have a tendency to just put those three albums on shuffle. It’s only a matter of time until I own and then do so with her entire catalog.

Neko Case: “Runnin’ Out Of Fools” (download)

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3. Mariah Carey, “Obsessed”

The reasons why this song is on repeat deserve their own list, because it mostly involves the lyrics, like “All up in the blogs,” and “Lyin’ that you’re sexin’ me,” but especially the line, “Got you all fired up with your Napoleon complex, seein’ right through you like you’re bathin’ in Windex.” Really. Oh, and it’s a Mean Girls reference. What’s not to love?

Mariah Carey: “Obsessed” (download)

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4. Ear Farm

Go ahead and call me biased since my name has appeared on the site a time or two, but truth is, it’s not bias, it’s bloggist envy! The crew at Ear Farm have been coming up with some ridiculously insightful, entertaining and impressively original features. From countdowns like the “Top 10 Most Metal Classical Music Pieces” to exposes about fake myspace accounts to dinnerviews, Ear Farm has me constantly checking their site for updates – and checking my brainstorming well for better ideas.

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5. Yeasayer

It’s not that I want these dudes to rush, by all means, I want them to take as much time as they need to write their perfect, perfect songs, but oh god I can’t remember the last time I was so prematurely excited for an album. All Hour Cymbals is still still still on heavy play because it is so so good, and “Tightrope” is so so good, and it’s just so so hard not to get so so anxious/eager/greedy for more! Their “Odd Blood” recording blog is a bright spot on my Google Reader every update, whether it be picture updates from their Woodstock recording cabin, random themes, crueal teasers or actual news. Between this and their upcoming Pier 54 gig, I hope my thirst for Yeasayer will be satisfied.

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6. Jay-Z, “DOA”

Hovy Hov, it’s not that I stopped loving you, but the leaks and singles since the American Gangster stuff have been… well, mediocre. Your “A Billi” version of “A Milli” is fierce, and “Brooklyn We Go Hard” is a serious jam, but it’s not going to be on Blueprint 3? That made me think you had something better coming, but nothing I heard has really topped that. I was ready to side with your detractors and brush you off as an old man, outta touch – which, truthfully, I don’t neccessarily completely disagree with. But there’s something about you, that swagger, that love of old soul samples, that epic, hit-making ear that keeps me coming back for more. So I didn’t lose all faith. And then you relased “DOA,” which deservedly rips auto-tune, has those hot brass and guitar riffs and references my other favorite big-time rapper (Young Jeezy). Not to mention, a seriously piiiiimp video, featuring exploding assets, you smoking a cigar in front of an NY skyline and playing poker with Harvey Keitel. There I was, finessed by you again.

Jay-Z: “DOA” (download)

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7. Music Direction on “The Sopranos”

Anyone who checks in on my personal tumblr has heard me talk about this before. I’m closing in on “The Sopranos” finale (and if you try to spoil it for me, I’ll cut your head off) after a couple years spent watching it via Netflix and friends’ copies of the show. Most HBO shows use music in the most incredible way, and “Nip/Tuck” is another great example of television music direction, too, but “The Sopranos” is so perfect, it’s as if they had an army of thousands, possessing the knowledge of every song to ever exist when selecting, as if they had brackets and votes and cage matches of which song is best for which moment. My recent favorite selection was the use of The Rolling Stones’ “Moonlight Mile” in the Season 6, Part 1 closer. And, yes, I do already know what the big finale song is – but that’s all I know.

The Rolling Stones: “Moonlight Mile” (download)

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8. Jaime Foxx, “Blame It”

I hated “Blame It” the first time I heard it. It’s demeaning to women no matter how you look at it – either we need liquor to have a one-night stand so as to not feel “easy” (women can’t be as sexually promiscuous as men), or Foxx is acknowledging that such a double-standard exists and is exploiting a loop hole (but is still, basically, trying to bone women by getting them hammered) – that stutter is annoying as hell if you’re not in the right mood, and someone should probably tell Foxx he’s not Usher (speaking of which, wherefore art thou, Usher?). That said, “Blame It” is club R&B gold, catchy and sing-a-long-able as all hell, and unsurprisingly fun to drink to (or get ready to drink to). I also acknowledge that the video is killer, though I probably only think so because it features an appearance from fellow redhead and The Music Man star, Ron Howard. Yep, that’s right. Ron Howard in a club video. Point: Jamie Foxx.

But I’d still love it if a woman did a version of “Blame It” targeted at male drinking stereotypes. (Hint: Ironically, it rhymes with frisky stick). Someone put me in touch with Beyonce and Rihanna’s agents!

Jamie Foxx: “Blame It (Feat. T-Pain)” (download)

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9. Built To Spill

The minute Pacific Northwest Rock Royalty Built To Spill were announced as headliners for this year’s Siren Fest, I pulled out Keep It Like A Secret and There’s Nothing Wrong With Love, and haven’t stopped listening to them since. As with Neko Case, it’s only a matter of time until I jaunt through their entire discography. Luckily I’ll be getting another addition in the fall, in the form of There Is No Enemy.

Built To Spill: “You Were Right” (download)

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10. VeniSin

From the gents who bear such musical fruits as Lilum and The Jobz comes VeniSin, an exericse in indulgence, masculinity and rock. You don’t need words, you just need to listen to this.

VeniSin: “Koadak Blues” (download)

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11. Jake One, “Home”

Click here to view the embedded video.

What’s that? I already posted this? You don’t say…

Actually, I don’t say, because it’s worth talking about again, between the opening shot at my beloved Dick’s Drive-Thru on Broadway, the Sir Mix-A-Lot cameo, the jokes about Seattle being a city of potsmokers, the digs at Seattle sports teams, and the laid-back, positive vibes. Seattle doesn’t get enough theme songs, so I’mma pimp this one, our best one, as much as I can. Even if you aren’t from the Emerald City, you can appreciate the skill of some of its best emcees.

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12. The Dead Weather

After playing witness to their in-store at Jack White’s pop-up Third Man Records, it’s hard to listen to Horehound, which lacks some of the intensity and complexity of the live performance. But, at the very least, on “Treat Me Like Your Mother” and “I Cut Like A Buffalo,” Jack White’s passion is infectious, and Alison Mosshart makes a great toughsexy frontwoman for him to spar with. The rest of the album requires more digesting on my end, but I may never get past the way both songs make me want to slinky-swagger my way down the sidewalk and spit in some dude’s eye, or the violent video for “Treat Me Like Your Mother.” Can you imagine if you and an ex could have a shoot-out, knowing you wouldn’t kill the other person? I also have to point out the deliciously sinister fact that it’s filmed right outside some sort of copycat suburban housing plot.

The Dead Weather: “Treat Me Like Your Mother” (download)

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13. Phoenix

The French popsters from the Lost In Translation soundtrack hit it big with this year’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, particularly opening tracks “Lizstomania” and “1901.” They have me smitten – me and everyone else, that is.

Phoenix: “Lizstomania” (download)

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14. Wilco

I’m fully aware of the fact that I’ve knocked Wilco before. Though I’ve admittedly warmed up to them, in some ways, I still stand by my original statements. It takes way too long for Wilco albums to hit home, longer than I’m usually willing to spend on an album without some amount of faith in the artist. After hearing some live recordings, though, I decided to splurge on seeing the band with Yo La Tengo (who I, regrettably, only saw the last song of), and came away something closely resembling a fan. My favorite moments involved songs from A Ghost Is Born and Sky Blue Sky and the incredible guitarmanship of Nels Cline, who made sounds I’d never heard before. I don’t know that I’d call Wilco a new favorite, but I came away from the show willing to put a little more faith in their hands.

Wilco: “You And I” (download)

15. Domino Records

So, about that job thing. After an exhaustive job hunt, I’ve taken a positon with Domino Records (US), fine purveyors of alternative artists. Being a critic and working at a label puts me in a right compromising position, one that will be solved by my not expressing opinions regarding Domino artists. This unfortunately means I’ll have to refrain from further editorializing on Domino artists I’ve written about before – Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, Cass McCombs, The Notwist, Arctic Monkeys – but is the best route to ensure things don’t get cloudy around here. There is a chance that I will decide to report facts - without critique or comment – from events I attend (for example, Animal Collective’s show at Prospect Park that I bought tickets for months and months ago), but should I do so, will disclose things of that nature to you, the T-Sides readers. Credibility and integrity still remain two facets I hold dear, despite being known as a blogger and the source of my current paycheck.

Van Morrison: “Domino” (YouTube)

Save the massive excitement surrounding what was claimed to be his first and only show in the U.S. (though it seems he played Chicago three nights prior), everything about Wolfgang Voigt’s show at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre on Friday night was minimal. Performing under the name of his popular ambient electronic project, GAS, Voigt was hardly discernible in the dim light of Petra Hollenbach’s video accompaniment, a white, triangular portion of his shirt more visible than his face.

Primarily known as a co-founder of the German techno label, Kompakt, Voigt made four albums under the GAS moniker, all of which were re-released as the box set Nah und Fern last year. Beginning in 1995, Voigt attributes the original inspiration for GAS to an LSD trip spent wandering in Germany’s Black Forest.

GAS successfully captures a natural atmosphere with ambient sounds akin to rain, wind, waves and rustling leaves. String and brass instruments float in and out, and techno beats are occasionally incorporated in a muffled manner, as though hearing someone bumping their car stereo from a couple blocks away.

GAS: “Vier” (download)

In an effort to make the performance more than just a laptop show, Voigt used a mixer to make subtle manipulations and transitions, though he primarily remained faithful to the original material. Video art from Hollenbach used Voigt’s own photography – also featured on the GAS releases’ album art – to create moving psychedelic forest images, stimulating the eyes in a similar way as the ears. Some audience members were lulled into unfortunately timed slumber while others softly nodded their heads. Drugs weren’t needed to feel Voigt’s desired affect – though they certainly would’ve been keeping with its inspiration.

Kompakt Official Site
Kompakt on MySpace

Also there:
NYT

Part of the reason why it’s nice to have contributors here on T-Sides is to get different perspectives and tastes. What’s covered on T-Sides is what most appeals to us in a wide sea of culture, but it’s impossible to thoroughly cover everything that’s worthy of attention. There are things we – gasp! – might not know about or be behind on. Enter friend of T-Sides Taylor Brown to talk about the music for Battlestar Galactica, a show we have heard many good things about, but have never seen – and her write-up just makes us want to see it even more. (Also, homboy’s name is Bear?! BAD.ASS.)

Supposedly there’s this guy named Bob Dylan? He wrote a song called “All Along The Watchtower.” That song was covered, quite famously, by this other guy – Jimi Hendrix. You guys heard of him? I wouldn’t have known either one, had it not been for Battlestar Galactica.

Growing up in a Billy Joel/Beatles partisan household, my music education has some significant gaps. Dylan and Hendrix are two. Of course, I knew of them – I wasn’t that far under a rock, but I’d come up for a loss if you asked me to hum some of their tunes. It wasn’t until Battlestar Galactica used “Watchtower” for dramatic effect that I became aware of the song as a piece of music in its own right.

The trend towards cross-promoting new and upcoming bands as a sort of product placement (“On tonight’s O.C., you heard music from…”) hasn’t really filtered into the science fiction genre yet. Then again, aside from John Williams’ scores, soundtrack music to epic space battles usually doesn’t make it to pop cultural consciousness. Already a fan of Battlestar, I came across a blog written by the show’s composer, Bear McCreary, where he explains the process of creating the score for each episode, from inspiration to instrumentation. It’s an education within itself, and the care and detail that McCreary puts into his process is evident. It’s somewhat technical for those of us not familiar with music theory, but McCreary takes the time to translate the nitty gritty.

Does the music stand on its own? I can’t answer that for sure, as it’s embedded into my appreciation and emotional response to the show, but as scores go, Galactica’s is deeply accessible. Familiar soundtrack instruments (violin, french horn) blend with more exotic combos (shaimsen, a Japanese string instrument, and bagpipes). The specific themes that McCreary has chosen for each season’s soundtrack are a good mix of shorter, two- to three-minute themes and longer seven-plus-minute acts.

The civilization portrayed on Battlestar is supposed to parallel all parts of our own – so McCreary dips into multiple styles and musical tradition: the relentless Irish jig of “The Dance” in season three, the Italian lyrics for “Battlestar Operatica” that translate to a joke aria (“Woe upon your Cylon heart/There’s a toaster in your head/And it wears high heels”), and the hard rock of “Black Market” (unfortunately placed in a dismal episode of the same name, one of the few missteps of the series). McCreary can’t take credit for the main title, a full orchestral version of the Gayatri mantra, as it was created by miniseries composer Richard Gibbs, but he takes the cue and includes Sanskrit vocals to match up to the religious themes in the show.

McCreary and his small army of instrumentalists who play things like the yialli tanbur and zurna aside, what captures me about these songs is the forward movement of every cue. A soundtrack is necessarily tied to the plot, but McCreary composes with such detail that it sounds the other way around, as if the music is driving the characters and the story. This idea becomes quite literal with “Watchtower” (spoiler), as the song creates the mathematical backbone for the coordinates that our heroes are destined to go to.

Bear McCreary: “All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan Cover)” (download)

McCreary tapped his own rock band brother, Brendan, to provide vocals on this version of “Watchtower” – it’s not my favorite – but his voice demands attention, even among the ghostly distorted guitars playing at 11 and a base line that drives it home. While the classic melody of the song stays the same, McCreary changes the guitar key and adds instruments (i.e. he replaces harmonica solo from Dylan’s version with a electric sitar and then adds harmonium and a variety of unique instruments) to create a distinctly Indian-inspired sound.

Bear McCreary: “Roslin And Adama” (download)

Battlestar’s score is a lot like the show itself: dark, worldly and very aware of the repetitious nature of the universe. One of the main reasons I’m glad McCreary writes the blog on his Battlestar score is the knowledge of how he creates a musical cue for each character, and in some cases, for relationships. One of the most heartbreaking and stirring themes, “Roslin And Adama,” revolves around the surprise love story of the show. First heard in season two, the theme crops up again played against dramatic cues both emotional and action-oriented. McCreary also changes keys on character themes, depending on emotional states. [Ed. note: Someone studied leitmotifs!]

McCreary’s reliance on heavy-handed percussion can wear you down over a season’s soundtrack, or in the show, but what makes this score more than background music is the way individual songs can stand alone, but combine to much more. One of my favorite songs, “Passacaglia,” in season one, mutates to three separate songs across seasons (“The Shape Of Things To Come,” “Allegro” and “Violence And Variations”) that resolve back to the original idea. Listening in for McCreary’s nods to musical and plot continuity in the last season was one of the great pleasures of the show for me.

T-Sides always welcomes contributors. If you’re interested in writing something you think would be appropriate for us, get in touch!

They may only have an album and a christmas EP behind them, but Glasgow’s Glasvegas are already performing like a big-time rock band.

Grabbing the attention of the US late last year with the release of their debut, self-titled album, Glasvegas have packed New York City venues of increasing sizes, including their most recent stop at Webster Hall last Monday.

Entering the stage amid blue strobe lights and fog machines, they opened with their hit, “Geraldine,” about a social worker, “I’ll be the angel on your shoulder / my name is Geraldine, I’m your social worker.”

Glasvegas: “Geraldine” (download)

The drenched guitars of their dream pop meets ’60s pop fell on the ears of a crowd that skewed older and more predominantly male than the average New York City indie rock audience. Both anthemic and cathartic, songs like “Fuck You It’s Over” and “Go Square Go” saw many fists (and beers) in the air. The band was equally enthusiastic, throwing themselves around the entire stage, and keeping in-between song banter to short appreciative statements, like “Thank you so fucking much,” and “What can I say, man, I fucking love you.”

In a live setting, frontman James Allan’s lyrics were particularly difficult to decipher through his thick accent, but this may have worked to the band’s advantage, since the lyrics tend to be the stuff of teenage LiveJournal entries. “I’m feeling so guilty about the things I said to my mum when I was ten years old,” he laments in mope jam, “It’s My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry.”

The set was short – they don’t have much material to choose from yet – but they managed an encore, and walked off stage with handshakes and gifts from fans. It’d be a safe bet that the next time Glasvegas come to New York City, the venue will be even bigger.

For more T-Sides pictures, click here. For the set list, a T-Sides video of “Daddy’s Gone” from this show and more, click the jump.

SET LIST
Geraldine
Lonesome Swan
It’s My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry
Polmont On My Mind
Fuck You, It’s Over
SAD Light
Flowers & Football Tops
Ice Cream Van
Go Square Go
Encore: Please Come Back Home
Daddy’s Gone

Click here to view the embedded video.

Glasvegas Official Site
Glasvegas on MySpace

Also there:
Brooklyn Vegan
Ska Punk Photos
Read Junk
Consequence of Sound
Dan Kantor
Prefix Mag
The Music Slut

As promised, T-Sides is once again tapping the writing well. There hasn’t been much in the way of live shows to whip us into a frenzy, but new release season is finally picking up.

Quick-witted Lily Allen has a new one that doesn’t quite live up to the pop accessibility of her first, and there are not one but two albums by actor-musicians that are actually quite good: Coconut Records, solo project of Jason Schwartzman, and Steve Martin’s bluegrass record.

Additionally, to celebrate Valentine’s Day, the Popdose staff chose to talk about things we love: books, movies, albums. I selected one of each, as did each staff member. There are lots of great selections. See if you can guess what I picked!

Brandy: “Where Are You Now?” (download)

Frightened Rabbit could not have been more different from the setting for their acoustic, all-request set at Le Poisson Rouge on Monday night. Le Poisson Rouge’s pricey beverages and bottle service attracted an audience more interested in being seen there than being there, as the sound of chatter rose above both openers, Joe Pug and Gregory & the Hawk. The scene was a stark contrast to the hairy, earnest Scots who took to the stage with plaid shirts and holes in their jeans. But try as they might have, a band as raw and emotional as Frightened Rabbit can’t be talked over.

Front man/songwriter Scott Hutchinson and crew were cheery from the start, which was a request for fan-favorite, “Backwards Walk,” from their second and most recent album, The Midnight Organ Fight. “That’s a poor choice,” Hutchinson jokingly chided before launching into the tune about the inability to stop returning to an ex. The song closes with one of their more memorable lyrics, “You’re the shit / and I’m knee deep in it.” That was all it took for the audience to stop talking.

Jokingly holding up blank set-lists, Hutchinson explained that the idea for the all-request show came along because after 10 months of touring, “We just wanted to do something that was going to be enjoyable.” And enjoy it he did, telling stories about the songs between swigs from a bottle of whiskey. “Everyone thinks it’s about my penis, but it’s not,” he remarked after playing “Snake,” which he elaborated is actually about his plans to surprise a woman in New York City by showing up with nothing but the clothes on his back and a draft snake he’d been keeping for her. As it happened, the girl was “less than thrilled,” so he wrote “I Feel Better” as a sequel, reusing the music from the chorus.

Frightened Rabbit: “Snake” (download)
Frightened Rabbit: “I Feel Better” (download)

The acoustic descriptor was less evident, with guitarists Billy Kennedy and Andy Monaghan using electric guitars and keyboards. Hutchinson went the more classic route, using an acoustic-electric guitar for the set, and jumping over to a piano for “The Twist.” The “acoustic” arrangements slightly diminished the anthemic quality of some of the songs, but allowed for more of a focus on Hutchinson’s voice, which he isn’t afraid to let quiver, distort or crack in the name of poignancy. The already heart-breaking “Poke” was even more affecting as his voice struggled through the closing lines, “And now we’re unrelated and rid of all the shit we hated / but I hate when I feel like this and I never hated you.”

But Frightened Rabbit never let a painful mood carry on for too long. Having played the bulk of their two-album library over the course of the set, for an encore they covered “Set You Free,” by British electro artist N-Trance. Echoing his sentiments from a recent interview with Aversion (“Although I’m dark and pessimistic at times, there really has to be hope, otherwise you might as well jump off the bridge”), Hutchinson ended the evening with a bit of faith as he sang, “Only love can set you free.”

To see more T-Sides pictures from this show, click here. For the setlist and more info, click the jump.

SETLIST:
Backwards Walk
The Twist
Old Old Fashioned
Square 9
Snake
Fast Blood
Music Now
Poke
The Greys
I Feel Better
Good Arms vs. Bad Arms
Modern Leper
Heads Roll Off
Go-Go-Girls
Keep Yourself Warm
Be Less Rude
Fake Empire (National Cover) > Christmas Song
Floating in the Fourth
Encore: Set You Free (N-Trance Cover)

Frightened Rabbit Official Site
Frightened Rabbit on MySpace

Also there:
Prefix Mag
The Tremagazine
Brooklyn Vegan
100 Bands in 100 Days
The Upsider
Zoom In
QRO Magazine

Best Album Cover:

Coldplay, Viva La Vida

As much as I hate to award Coldplay for anything, every time I saw the poster of this while walking in the subway, I thought, “That looks AWESOME!” I hoped it was a badass marketing campaign for a new movie or book or something, by the look of the paint scrawled over an old-fashioned painting, but alas. It was Coldplay. Shit.

Best One-Two Music Video Punch:
Young Jeezy, “Put On” + “Crazy World”
Watch these videos back to back. If you don’t feel riled up or uncomfortable… scratch that, you will feel riled up and uncomfortable. There’s just no way around it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Most Disappointing Change In Appearance:


Kyp Malone

When I first saw the new press photos of TV on the Radio with an afro-less Kyp Malone, I was struck by sadness over the loss of his luscious locks. Luckily, at their show at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple in October, it looked like he was starting to bring it back.

Best Beard Belonging To A Guitarist That Isn’t Kyp Malone:

Zac Holtzman, Dengue Fever

Congrats to Zac Holtzman, who’s got a beard that’s goin’ places. Like halfway down his chest.

Band We’d Most Like To Hang Out With:



Tie: Fleet Foxes, TV on the Radio, Yeasayer

It all comes down to talented, good-looking guys from northern, coastal cities who seem like they know how to have a good time, basically.

Band We’d Least Like To Hang Out With:

Billy Corgan / Smashing Pumpkins

It always sounds fun in theory to hang out with someone this batshit crazy, but in reality, it’s the very definition of a buzz kill.

12. The Notwist @ Webster Hall, October 13th

Full review here. Excerpt: In their recordings, the Notwist might give off the impression of being a sleepy little electro-pop band, but don’t let that twist your notions of what their live show is like. Sure, they hide behind the gentle guise of glasses (four out of the five touring members wear them), but in a live setting, their post-rock and hardcore roots really start to seep out.

11. Joanna Newsom @ BAM, January 31st

Full review here. Excerpt: A Joanna Newsom album has never sounded as good as she did when she played at the Brooklyn Academy of Music last Thursday. Even the most middling of fans, the most ardent of critics, could not possibly have walked away unswayed by the remarkable skill and charm she emanated throughout the evening.

10. Liz Phair @ Hiro Ballroom, June 26th

Full review here. Excerpt: Wearing a vest with a hot purple bra, short shorts and heels, Phair was sexy, but not forcibly so. Often labeled as having stage fright, but looking comfortable, she acknowledged her worries in past terms, “This tour is a big deal to me–I was nervous.” She was talkative and flirtatious.  “I need a guy,” she remarked, when she needed help adjusting a mic stand. “I love guys.”

9. Wolf Parade @ Terminal 5, July 31st

Full review here. Excerpt: The music also takes on an anthemic quality in a live setting, whether it was the chemistry of the band and the crowd, or simply hearing it while it was being created is hard to say. But every song was a fist-pumper, an ass-shaker, a shout-a-long, including their 10-minute long masterpiece “Kissing the Beehive,” which closes out their new release, At Mount Zoomer, and closed out their set before the encore.

8. Broken Social Scene @ Siren Fest, July 19th, @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple, October 24th

Full review of Siren here. Full review of Brooklyn Masonic Temple here. Their set at Siren was incredible, despite Kevin Drew being sick. Their set during CMJ was incredible, despite Kevin Drew being an asshole.

7. Dengue Fever @ Southpaw, March 5th, @ SummerStage, July 5th

Full review of SummerStage show here. I’ll admit it, I didn’t review their show at the Southpaw because I was thoroughly enjoying the drink special ($2 Singhas!). But believe me, it was awesome. Excerpt: Dengue Fever are one of the most exciting, energetic and interactive bands currently performing. With constant smiles on their faces, they jump up and down, have special parts for audience sing-a-longs, and Nimol enchants with swirling hands and exotic dance moves. The group communicates through facial expressions and body language, like a group of longtime friends or even family. In a way, watching them feels akin to being in some sort of secret club.

6. Fleet Foxes @ Bowery Ballroom, June 9th, @ Webster Hall, October 6th

Full review of Bowery show here. Full review of Webster Hall show here. Whether sick or healthy, Fleet Foxes are talent-wealthy. Excerpt: If Fleet Foxes can do this much with just 16 songs in their catalog, they’ll prove to be a band worth seeing again and again and again for years to come.

5. Sigur Ros @ United Palace, September 17th

Some concerts just can’t be put into words. Some concerts can only be summarized in twitter updates.

4. Yeasayer @ Bowery Ballroom, February 26th, @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple, April 11th, @ SummerStage, August 4th, @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, December 6th

Full review of SummerStage set here. Yeasayer gets the distinction of being the band I saw more than any other this year… and they didn’t even put an album out! There’s a reason why I saw these hard-working gents from Brooklyn so many times. Excerpt: Even just frontman Chris Keating is fun to watch because he’s so spastic. Contorting his face into painful expressions and twisting his fingers and hands in this or that way, one would guess he was high on something or simply losing his mind. But when they took to the mic between songs, the men of Yeasayer spoke like any other guys from Brooklyn, chill and down to earth.

3. TV on the Radio @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple, October 15th

Full review here. Excerpt: Seeing TV on the Radio at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple on Wednesday wasn’t just about how amazing TV on the Radio is, it was about how exhilarating music can be in general.

2. Jay-Z & Mary J. Blige (Heart of the City Tour) @ IZOD Center, March 28th

Full review here. Excerpt: Blige uses two words to describe Jay-Z: “Brooklyn swagger.” Anyone expecting otherwise from the wildly successful rap star and entrepreneur would have been disappointed.

1. Nine Inch Nails @ DCU Center, November 9th

Full review here. It’s incredibly unfortunate that there won’t be a DVD of this. When Trent Reznor broke the bad news, he said, “This was FOR SURE the best show of the year and any bullshit end-of-the-year poll you may read in the next few weeks that says otherwise simply has it wrong. Those of you who saw it know I’m right.” And you know what? He is. Excerpt: It would go against the trail-blazing spirit of Trent Reznor to use him as any sort of guideline, but it must be said that any arena rock band should turn to Reznor’s live show for inspiration.