|
 |
Dusted Features
Every Friday, Dusted Magazine publishes a series of music-related lists compiled by our favorite artists. This week: Port O'Brien and Yndi Halda.
|
|
|
|
Listed: Port O'Brien + Yndi Halda
Port O'Brien
Port O'brien is an Oakland, California based band that makes their way up to Alaska's Kodiak Island every summer to work on commercial salmon boats. During those often dificult and draining months, they manage to document the special qualities of that environment through songs shot through with pathos, imagination, enthusiasm and warmth.
Onstage, their youthful vigor compliments their folkish sound in a way that feels exciting and new, as if Cap'n Jazz were translating a set of Will Oldham 's most approachable material. Their frantic and inclusive live shows have helped the band acquire many fans including M. Ward and Conor Oberst.
Their debut offering, The Wind and The Swell, will be released in July on the American Dust label and touring shall commence upon their return to California in the Fall.
Cambria
1, Amalia Rodrigues - Fado Amalia
I've reached the point in the year when I begin to crave the endless days in Alaska. I listened to this album nonstop last summer. Amalia's haunting voice provided a beautiful soundtrack to the wet docks and rickety old cannery. Listening to it now makes me feel one day closer to those times.
2. Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator)
Whenever I experience times of great change, I find I crave Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. The combination of her soothing voice and his beautiful guitar playing comforts me in even the most turbulent times. The title track on this record is one of my favorite songs of the past decade.
3. Yann Tiersen - Le Phare
This album is very inspirational to me when I'm working on any sort of creative project. I've spent a lot of time at home in Oakland this year with needle, thread, buttons, old lace, flea market finds, antique paper, and Yann Tiersen.
4. Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway
I've always been a fan of Kozelek's music, but this is the album that has had the most profound effect on me. We were lucky enough to recently work with the engineer who recorded this album, Aaron Prellwitz. It was great knowing that he played a part in one of my favorite albums of all time.
5. Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
I've been listening to this at least once a day at the bakery I work at. I bought it right before I left for Alaska last summer, and I quickly learned that its the perfect music to bake to.
Van
1. Lily Allen - Alright, Still
This album is relentlessly amazing. Lily's vocals are perfect, the arrangements are so diverse, and its so honest. Whenever Port O'Brien is in the car together, we put this record on and get pumped up. Listening to "LDN" while driving through Oakland is bliss.
2. The Passionistas - God's Boat
This is a San Francisco band that is just so fucking great. They deliver timeless rock and roll gems with great lyrics. My favorite part about their band is their videos they have on their Myspace. They are so funny and shed light on a usually too-serious scene.
3. Neil Young - Live at Massey Hall
The first time I heard this, I just lost it. I loved the first Archive live disc with Crazy Horse a ton, but this one takes the cake. I was never a fan of "A Man Needs a Maid," but the version on this disc just blows my mind. "Old Man" and "Tell Me Why" are also highlights.
4. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
Modest Mouse has been one of my favorite bands for so long. I didn't really like the last album, but the new album is so good. I love how Brock can transform the tone of his voice into so many different things, and feelings. I love the duets with James Mercer too.
5. Hole - Celebrity Skin
This is by far my favorite Hole album. The lyrics are so beautiful, and Courtney delivers them with great feeling. Go buy it now in the 1.99 bins at your local independent record store. The first four songs will convince you its worth a lot more.
Yndi Halda
Yndi halda are an instrumental band from Canterbury, United Kingdom. 'Yndi Halda' is Eddic for "Enjoy Eternal Bliss", also the name of their "self-titled" debut. The band writes expansive, cinematic music comparable to Sigur Rós, Explosions in the Sky and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, but are often considered more 'optimistic' or 'hopeful' than these bands, allowing them to stand between the 'traditional' post-rock genre and the more upbeat North American indie rock bands such as Arcade Fire, while their use of folk-influenced guitar arrangements occasionally sees them compared with Nick Drake and David Pajo (Wikipedia).
1. The Beach Boys - The 40th Anniversary Edition of Pet Sounds
Comes with a great DVD of studio footage and interviews and a completely insane promo video for "Sloop John B." Sometimes I forget how much I love all of "God Only Knows" and the string quartet in "Don't Talk."
2. Lead Belly - "In The Pines"
I don't own any recordings of this song, but would gratefully accept any suggestions as to where to find one; likewise, a good biography.
3. Whip - R. Mutt's Blues EP
Apparently, Jason Merritt/Whip (from Timesbold) has been musically inactive for the past year, but this EP and the accompanying LP Blues for Losers are both absolutely heartbreaking, and the former is probably going to be my favorite release of 2007 - so much so that I started a label to ensure its release.
4. Photographs of people who lived a long time ago
Specifically,Mathew Brady‚s American Civil War collection and Babbette Hines‚ book Photobooth - There is something indelibly fascinating about human life that existed before my own life, and the recognition of the fact that everything around me is pretty much entirely the product of human thought ˆ we are a species capable of great beauty.
5. The Lunchtime Sardine Club - [unreleased songs]
This is my best friend‚s solo project and it makes me very jealous. www.myspace.com/monkeyband
6. Audio recordings of Jack Kerouac
Anyone who‚s ever heard him read On The Road will surely attest that it's more like the book than the book itself, and genuinely stirring. Recommended: The Kerouac Collection (Rhino Records).
7. Papa M - Whatever, Mortal
From that huge choral vocal harmony in the chorus of "Over Jordan‚" to the drum part in "Krusty‚" to the psych-out eastern jam at the end, this is a really great release.
8. Sun Ra
Needs no explanation, so I'll write my favorite story about him instead: Sun Ra had some acute medical problem that required an ambulance collection from his home; the story goes that the on-call consultant neurologist (a white guy) says "This guy's crazy - he says his name's Sun Ra, and he says he's from Saturn," but the paramedic (a black guy) corrects him: "No man, he is Sun Ra, he is from Saturn."
9. Yann Tiersen
At the moment the Amelie and Good Bye Lenin! scores especially, but I hear the Black Session is worth looking into too. There‚s some absolutely beautiful orchestration and textures in both, especially the piano-led pieces from the Amelie score.
10. Seu Jorge covering Bowie in Portuguese
From the Life Aquatic soundtrack. "Life on Mars" is my favorite, I think.
By Dusted Magazine
|
View all articles by Dusted Magazine