for you, josh macdonald

So.

I was at the Atlantic Film Festival screening of “The Corridor” last night (a film I worked on that essentially spurned the creation of this website) and I was speaking with the writer, one Mr. Josh MacDonald.

He remarked that I had been neglecting my website. I could do nothing save agree with him completely. He commented on my “a bad friend returns with gifts” post and how he was looking for music recommendations. I immediately came up with a damage plan and told him that today I would be crafting a post simply titled “for you, josh macdonald”. I told him it would feature 10 bands that I’m listening to that I feel he’d enjoy. I am offering the same to anyone else who is reading this right now. They may not be “the latest and greatest”, but it’s what I can’t stop listening to right now (and the top 3 come with videos!).

When I get my wits about myself later today I will post my feelings on “The Corridor”. But for now:

10. All Tiny Creatures - Thomas Wincek of Collections of Colonies of Bees/Volcano Choir took up a new moniker as All Tiny Creatures. Standout track: Iris, featuring vocals from Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon.

9. ceo – Eric Berglund of The Tough Alliance goes solo with some fantastic electro-pop. Standout track: Come With Me

8. Four Tet – 2010′s “There Is Love In You” is easily Four Tet’s most accessible work to date but it still retains the pulse and tone that drew me into his previous albums. Standout track: Circling

7. Shearwater – I discovered this wonderful band upon the release of their 2008 album “Rook” and they returned this year with “The Golden Archipelago”. While filming “The Corridor” in February I pulled a lot of inspiration from their song, aptly titled “Corridors”. Standout track: Rooks

6. Sleigh Bells – I have a massive soft spot for noise rock and noise pop. Brooklyn’s Sleigh Bells fall into the latter and deliver some of the wildest most fun noise pop I’ve heard. Heavy distortion and mile-wide drums put this one right up my alley. Standout track: Tell ‘Em

5. The Honeydrips – I feel like Mikael Carlsson’s (Dorotea) pop outfit slipped through the cracks for a lot of people. Some may argue for good reason but I can’t help but fall for the starry-eyed 2007 album “Here Comes The Future”, regrettably the only album that will be released under the name as Carlsson has hung up his hat on the project. Standout track: Fall From A Height

4. Jonsi & Alex – Although tempted to push for Jonsi’s stellar solo album “Go”, I instead swapped it out for Jonsi & Alex’s collaboration record “Riceboy Sleeps”. I had to take a moment and examine which record has burrowed its melodies into my subconscious and “Riceboy” came out the clear winner. Both members of post-rock powerhouse Sigur Ros, Jonsi & Alex push into even more experimental and ambient territory (who even thought that was possible?) with the project. I once had a friend relay to me that “listening to this record is bound to put me in a coma,” to which I replied “it would be the best damn coma you’ll ever be in.” Standout track: Happiness

3. The Tallest Man on Earth – Despite constant knee-jerk comparisons to Bob Dylan, Sweden’s Kristian Matsson stands on his own as an impressive and raw folk act. 2010′s “The Wild Hunt” shows him in fine form and was well received and the freshly released “Sometimes the Blues is Just a Passing Bird EP” is garnering similar acclaim.

2. Local Natives – Although they’ve been around for the better part of 2010 if by any chance you’ve missed the boat on this band now is the time to get on. With an expertly crafted debut record titled “Gorilla Manor”, US harmonizers Local Natives released one of my favorite albums of the year to date.

1. Maximum Balloon – Dave Sitek, producer and guitar player for TV on the Radio, comes out guns blazing with this fun, synthy, colorful project. Maximum Balloon’s self-titled debut sports a massive guest list sprawling from Karen O to Dave Byrne. This one’s got me hooked right now. Refuse to let summer die by blasting this album. Although “Tiger” isn’t the best track the album has to offer, its zany video was too good not to post.

So, there you have it Josh. And friends. And enemies.

I’ll be back again soon. This time I’ll try not to fuck it up.

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