You! Me! Friday 5!

December 7th 2007 by E..

The Magnetic Fields - “Three-Way” from Distortion

A far cry from the organic sounds of Stephin Merritt’s magnum opus, 69 Love Songs, the upcoming Magnetic Fields album is rife with feedback and the eponymous distortion…evoking the noise classic Psychocandy, Distortion shrouds its delightful pop tunes in walls of lo-fi screeching…this (mostly) instrumental lead track also throws a bit of surf guitar into the mix, securing this album’s place on my ‘Best of’ list for next year…

of Montreal - “Gronlandic Edit” from Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?

From the wildly creative mind of Kevin Barnes (who brought us one of 2007’s strangest videos with “Heimdalsgate Like A Promethian Curse”), comes this track from the former Elephant 6 members…much more minimalist in its instrumentation than other tracks on the album, “Gronlandic Edit” layers Barnes’ falsetto in a manner that recalls Russell Mael at his best…if that isn’t enough, Barnes tends to dress in outfits that make Elton John’s get-ups look like Johnny Cash’s…

Wire - “1 2 X U” from Pink Flag

There is some notoriety surrounding this punk band from the late ‘70s in that their first two albums both received “elusive” 10.0’s from Pitchfork…that really means a whole lot of nothing, as we all know…though the punk rock fare here is pretty good, there are plenty more records that are just as (if not more) worthy of a perfect score…then again, I guess it’s all a matter of taste…

Sufjan Stevens “The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders” from Come On Feel The Illinoise!

Indie rock’s already-forgotten savior has yet to deliver his third installment in the ‘Fifty States’ concept album series, delivering this record back in 2005…you might think that Illinoise, with its lush arrangements and frustratingly precious songwriting would be enough to make everyone forget that Sufjan ever said that he was going to make any more albums (about states or otherwise)…in this case, you’d be right…

Kasabian - “L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever)” from Kasabian

Recently reworked by mixmaster Mark Ronson for his album Version, this song from the British lads is an indie hit if ever there was one…count this one in with “I Predict A Riot” and, dare I say it, “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor” when making your next Britpop box set, Rhino…

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