Shins Member Arrested

Rut-row. This doesn't look like good news, Shins keyboardist Martin Crandall has been jailed for striking his girlfriend, Elyse Sewell. The full details are here, and this is what she wrote on her livejournal regarding the incident:

Think you had a shitty weekend? Nah. Why not compare it to mine? . . . On the drive home (home?) from Albuquerque to Portland, my ex-boyfriend got sh*tfaced and roughed me up in a Sacramento hotel. I escaped from the room through a blitzkrieg of violence and talked to hotel security, who called the fuzz.

This isn't a good thing, ever. Hopefully there's some mistake here, but from first glance, it's disappointing. It really sucks when people who's music you admire, or anyone you admire for that matter, does something incredibly stupid like this.
This is something that should NEVER EVER be tolerated.

Caring Is Creepy - The Shins


Just to clarify, both were arrested, because they both blamed the other. They're both due in court soon.

The Top Ten Albums of 2007

The following list was at times very, very hard to come up with, while at other times was very easy. Early on, I knew what my top album of the year was from when I heard the first song on it, as was the second and third picks. The rest required quite a bit of deliberation.
There was a lot of good music this year. I added 2257 new songs to my music library this year, 6.3 days and 12.63 gigabites. That's a lot of music. I found a lot of new albums that I'd never heard, rediscovered some old music and generally immersed myself in everything. Along the way, I came across a lot of good music, and some bad music.

Here's ten albums that I really liked, but they just didn't crack the top ten:

20 - Say No To Being Cool, Yes To Being Happy, The Softlightes
- I loved these guys sound all the way through, great first album.

19 - The Flying Cup Club, Beirut
- They've followed up their first with more Balkan-flavored sounds.

18 - The Reminder, Feist
-1,2,3,4 was stuck in my head for much of the summer and fall. There are plenty of worse songs out there, so I'm fortunate for that.

17 - In Our Nature, Jose Gonzalez
-Jose Gonzales followed up his fantastic first album with a fantastic second album - another cool cover and more acoustic rock goodness.

16 - Good and Reckless and True, The Alternate Routes
- Ryan Adams fans might like this one. It's an all around solid rock album.

15 - Kismet,Jesca Hoop
- Hoop brought a fanastic, unique sound that really was pretty cool.

14 - Dylan, Bob Dylan
- This compilation of Dylan's music pulled together a fantastic set of his entire career. A must.

13 - Neon Bible, Arcade Fire
- These guys had some really good cuts off of this album - it's tight, together and really well done all around. Canadians were on fire this year.

12 - Little Voice, Sara Bareilles
- This first album really impressed me from her first song Love Song, but overall, the entire thing did really well, and was really solid.

11 - Who You Are, Cary Brothers
- Cary Brother's first album was a long anticipated one from me - I don't think that there was a track on here that I didn't like. From the fantastic Who You Are to Blue Eyes, this is another guy who's going to have a good career ahead of him.

Here are the albums that I loved:

This was an earlier album in the year that's come up and down on my list before settling here at number ten. I've been a fan of The Shins for a while now (Yes, I found them when the rest of the world did with Garden State), but I loved both of their earlier albums. This one didn't disappoint, with the fantastic Phantom Limb, Sea Legs, Australia and Girl Sailor. They brought along their fantastic sound and even better songwriting skills for a third fantastic time.

This album showed me that not all country is bad, and more importantly, reinforced that country songs are really storytelling songs, and that they can be really good at it. Here is a fantastic concept album of the use of horses in warfare throughout history. The title track blew me away, and as a historian, really impressed me with some of the songs.

Spoon was a band that took a bit of time to grow on me, but I was incredibly impressed with Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, their latest independent album, which is at best described as minimalist, with some fantastic new songs from them, such as Underdog, Don't Make Me A Target, and Rhythm and Soul. It's a great addition to their already really good repertoire.


Brandi Carlile's follow up to her first album really surprised me this time around - my first impressions of her was lukewarm, but right from the start, this album really impressed me, and after seeing her live in concert, her energy and sound completely blew me away.

One In the Sea impressed me from the start A Fine Frenzy's voice. It's delicate and powerful at the same time, and coupled with her songwriting, was an incredible first effort. Her songs are both light and somber, especially with Ashes & Wine, Rangers, Hope For The Hopeless and most of the others on there. Seeing her perform with Brandi Carlile this year was a big highlight here.

This was apparently one of the most anticipated albums of the year, and for good reason. Rilo Kiley pulled out a fantastic effort here, bringing a sound that reminded me a bit of Fleetwood Mac, but with an angry indie-rock singer edge to it.

Dreamworld - Rilo Kiley

I caught Josh Ritter opening for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals earlier this summer, and really had a fun time - their latest album, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter is a marvel of storytelling and a nice bridge of country-folk and rock music. There's some really cool stuff here musically, and their song writing skills are certainly sharp from some of the songs here.

Rumors - Josh Ritter


I first was introduced to Ferraby Lionheart with Vermont Avenue, which sort of lurked at the back of my head for a couple of months while I heard more and more from him over the summer. Quickly, his unique sound won me over with some really great songs from this album. Like A Fine Frenzy, this is a fantastic debut album from a newcomer that I'll be looking forward to hearing more about.

Before We're Dead - Ferraby Lionheart


This was almost #1. It's really, really close, because I love Sam Beam's sound, and to hear this album compared to his other ones is a huge jump. The sound became rich, with lots of peripheral instruments, while not loosing one bit of the fantastic sound and style that he employed for his first two albums. He's no longer a guy playing acoustic guitar in a closet, he's out there and brought a wonderful album with him. I can't wait to see what's next.

Innocent Bones - Iron & Wine

This is Somewhere was easily my most anticipated album of 2007, from the beginning of the year when I first learned that the Nocturnals were putting out their first studio album. I loved it from the beginning, and not because they're from Vermont. It's because they've got an incredible sound, and have moved to a somewhat more mainstream rock sounds that really works with Grace's vocals and the band's talents. Their first two albums were fantastic, don't get me wrong, but this album just plain rocked. And in person, these guys were like nothing else I've really seen, with an incredible amount of energy. Easily my favorite album of the year.

Mastermind - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

Tomorrow, the best songs of 2007.

Duet - Shins / Iron & Wine

This week's duet is of two Subpop artists who I paticularly like, covering a song from an album that really helped them break into the larger public consiousness, New Slang. It's originally by the Shins, and Sam Beam (I&W), joined them for this concert, I believe in Australia. It's a fantastic duet between the two of them, with their sounds really complementing one another's.

New Slang - The Shins and Iron & Wine

Hype - Buy - Look

Cover and Original

This week's Cover and Original is from two well known indie artists from the same label, Sub Pop Records. Back in 2004, The Postal Service released their first (and thus far, only) record, Give Up, with the track We Will Become Silhouettes. The video was directed by Jared Hess, who directed the somewhat over-rated movie Napoleon Dynamite. Like that movie, it's got it's own quirky feel to it that really fits with this song. Later, in 2006, The Shins covered the song (I think as a demo). They really give it their own acoustic sound, speeding it up, stripping away the electronic sound. The lead vocals here really suit the song well, and the song really fits as one of their own. They certainly make it sound that way.

We Will Become Silhouettes - The Postal Service
We Will Become Silhouettes (The Postal Service) - The Shins

As a bonus, there's another C&O that I wanted to share. For background, has anyone heard of the cult show Veronica Mars? Teenage detective drama that was on the WB and later, CW, starring Kristan Bell as the title character. Absolutely fantastic show, and one with an absolutely fantastic soundtrack to go along with it, one that's hundreds of indie, alternative rock, rock, classic rock and electronic songs. There's a complete list here. (Link to Veronica Mars Music Blog). Apparently, the creator, Rob Thomas (not the lead singer of Matchbox Twenty), is a huge fan of Spoon, because their songs are used a lot, and in one episode, Britt Daniels, the lead singer of Spoon has his own cameo during a Kereoke scene, where he sings Elvis Costello's song Veronica. I was able to rip a little of the audio from the scene, but only 30 seconds of it, as dialog kicks in for the rest of the scene.

Veronica - Elvis Costello
Veronica (Elvis Costello) - Britt Daniels

Hype - Buy

Evolution of... The Shins

The Shins are one of the bigger indie-pop bands out there, with considerable coverage and fame with their three main releases, Oh, Inverted World (2001), Chutes Too Narrow (2004) and Wincing The Night Away (2007). They've remained signed to Sub Pop records, which also has such bands such as The Postal Service, Death Cab for Cutie and Iron & Wine.

The Shins formed in 1997 in New Mexico as a side project to another band. They produced their first two songs, When I Goosestep and Nature Bears a Vacuum and released their first album, Oh, Inverted World in 2001 with a good sound, with their James Mercer's distinctive vocals and their retro-sounding guitar work. The group set themselves apart with their complex sets of lyrics that really makes one look twice or three times at the liner notes before moving on. Notable songs on the album include Know Your Onion! and The Past And Pending, as well as New Slang and Caring Is Creepy.

Know Your Onion! - The Shins
The Past and Pending - The Shins

It was those two songs that helped propel The Shins into a wider spotlight as filmmaker and actor Zach Braff used the two songs in the soundtrack for his film Garden State, with a direct mention of the band. While most indie-hipsters cringe at this, for the once relatively unknown band was now exposed to everyone who liked it simply for being in the movie. That might be true, but it's certainly exposed the band to huge number of people (and you have to admit, the Garden State Soundtrack is one of the best compilations out there) and it's brought the Shins from obscurity to fame.

New Slang - The Shins

Caring Is Creepy - The Shins

In 2003, they released their second album, Chutes Too Narrow, where they continued much on the same track, although this time, they've kept the same vocal work, but added a nice mix of acoustic and electronic guitar work with a laid back energy. This album feels to me to be more dynamic as there are fast and slower songs over the entire thing. Pink Bullets and So Says I are the best tracks on the album

Pink Bullets - The Shins

So Says I - The Shins

Earlier in 2007, they released their third full length album, entitled Wincing the Night Away, with Phantom Limb as the lead single. The band continued their streak with a third album with fantastic writing, and with a fantastic sound. Their sound has started to change a little bit, with less jangle from the lead guitar, with a bit of a softer, more rounded sound, abit one that's still highly unique. Wincing The Night Away produced several other fantastic new songs, such as Phantom Limb, Split Needles, Sea Legs and Turn On Me.

Phantom Limb - The Shins

Turn On Me - The Shins

The band continues to go out and tour, with a number of music videos out on the web. They'll be around for a while, and as long as they remain on the independent market, they'll certainly be the indie-darling band out there for people to listen to.

Hype - Buy - Look