Posts Tagged: Spoon
21
Jan 10
PMACAST No.026
Photo by Kevin Cooley
Last week the PMACAST celebrated its twenty-fifth installment on its one year anniversary — yet no one wished us a Happy Birthday! What rude listeners we have. 
Anyway, moving on to the twenty-sixth episode, we are looking at 2010’s first quarter in music releases. I’ve assembled a 17-song playlist that will hopefully give you a nice taste of the album’s we’ve liked that will be released in Twenty-Ten. Download the mp3 below, find the tracklist after the jump.
PS:Subscribe to the pmaCAST via iTunesor RSS feed to stay up-to-date on the newest episode updates!
MP3: PMACAST No.026: Play NowPlay in Popup
2173 playsDownload
M4A: PMACAST No.026 (w/ Chapters): Download
MP3: PMACAST No.026: Play NowPlay in Popup
2173 playsDownload
M4A: PMACAST No.026 (w/ Chapters): Download
16
Jan 10
Spoon Transference Album Review
Vinyl LP giveaway details at the end of this review. Don’t forget to rate album.
Spoon
Transference
Merge
out January 19th
69/100
[Rating Scale]
Spoon is a band that, for all its success, suffers from a condemning compliment. They are nothing if not inoffensive. I’m not completely sure why this is – maybe it’s Britt Daniel’s agreeable voice, maybe it’s the fairly standard instrumentation and orchestration found on their albums – but the feeling is inescapable. It’s tough to find someone who passionately dislikes Spoon. Instead, opinions range from “I love them” to “I don’t not like them.”
Sometimes, Spoon plays with this accessibility perfectly, striking a balance between catchy and complex. Describing my favorite Spoon tune, “The Way We Get By” from Kill The Moonlight, on PMA’s top songs of the decade countdown, I said “Nothing tangible makes ‘The Way We Get By’ stand out from other piano-based rock and roll, and perhaps that’s the quality that makes the song special – it’s a tribute to the mundane, a snapshot of the little moments made to feel as if the song itself is mixed up, somehow, in these day-to-day lives of ours.” On that tune, as in all their finest moments, Spoon is catchy and honest. On Transference, the band’s seventh full length, those moments are too few and too far between. The album isn’t bad – it’s just a bit bland. Continue reading →
11
Jan 10
Spoon Transference Album Stream
Stream Spoon’s latest album, Transference in its entirety @ NPR!
12
Dec 09
#13. Spoon – The Way We Get By
Artwork by Adam Sarpalius
As 2009, and the decade come to a close, PMA will be looking back at our favorite songs of the last ten years. We will update a list with 75 empty slots until we reach that song that changed everything. You can keep track of this list by keeping an eye on this page. We make these lists in hopes that you guys will chime in the comments and share your favorite musical moments of the noughties.
Is there a song that better summarizes suburbia than “The Way We Get By”? Britt Daniel bundles the world of millions into a tidy package, capturing the moments that make memories – walking through a rain storm, getting high in cars, breaking laws and making love. It’s a movie montage waiting to happen, Rushmore, American Beauty, and Garden State wrapped up in one.
And somehow, whether you’ve gone through these shared experiences or not, the song feels intimately personal. It’s a tune that was written for you and your friends to share, to fill slots on mixtapes. It’s accessible and catchy, sure, but there’s also a wrinkle here that separates it from the pack. A real nostalgia, except situated in the present.
Nothing tangible makes “The Way We Get By” stand out from other piano-based rock and roll, and perhaps that’s the quality that makes the song special – it’s a tribute to the mundane, a snapshot of the little moments made to feel as if the song itself is mixed up, somehow, in these day-to-day lives of ours. It’s Britt Daniel singing as one of us, a random kid in a random town doing random things. In reality, songs like this are the way we get by.
1
Dec 09
Spoon – Written In Reverse
Yesterday I shared the news of Spoon releasing “Written In Reverse” as Transference’s first single. I also shared a live track from who knows where to get a sneak peak at the track. It seems NPR (National Public Radioclit) has been streaming the track, so it was only a matter of hours before we had ourselves a nice little mp3 gift.
There’s a certain swagger found in Spoon’s recent work. It was faint in “Mystery Zone”, but it seems that Britt is hitting it head on with “Written In Reverse”. I had my doubts about Transference, but if every song is as good as “Written In Reverse”, we’re looking at a seriously great start to the next decade in music.
Transference is out January 19th on Merge. “Written In Reverse” will be released on January 5th. Listen to “Written In Reverse” below: Continue reading →
30
Nov 09
Spoon – Written In Reverse, Single
The first single to be released from Spoon’s forthcoming LP, Transference, will be “Written In Reverse” (not “The Mystery Zone“), if you don’t already count “Got Nuffin” as a single.
Transference is out January 19th on Merge, but you can expect a 7″ slab of wax featuring “Written In Reverse” on January 5th. The single will be backed with the exclusive b-side “Mean Red Spider”.
We have yet to hear “Written In Reverse” in its full mp3 glory, but we do have this live track from this year’s Pitchfork festival: Continue reading →
25
Nov 09
This Week’s Touring News
Photo by kris krüg
New tour dates have been announced for Spoon, Four Tet, Rogue Wave, The Magnetic Fields, Little Dragon, and jj (with The xx). Full dates after the jump: Continue reading →
14
Nov 09
Best Album of 2007 Poll
Best Albums of 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09
2007 might just be my favorite year for music releases this decade. Unfortunately, many, many great albums were left out of this list. It was pretty hard leave them out, but I couldn’t press the little blue “Publish” button without any of the following albums on the list:
A. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
B. Radiohead – In Rainbows
C. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
D. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
E. M.I.A. – Kala
F. Panda Bear – Person Pitch
G. Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam
H. of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
I. Kanye West – Graduation
J. Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
Albums we love but didn’t make the shortlist: Continue reading →
6
Nov 09
Spoon – The Mystery Zone
New Spoon! “The Mystery Zone” is another taste of Spoon’s forthcoming album, Transference. Indie superstar and Spoon ringleader, Britt Daniel, has announced that Transference is a “pure” Spoon album, being the first album the band self produced.
“The Mystery Zone” will be third track found on the hotly anticipated LP. “Got Nuffin’,” the lead track off the band’s last release, the Got Nuffin’ EP, will also appear on Transference (track 10).
Using “The Mystery Zone” and “Got Nuffin’” as judging points, the likelihood of Transference besting Spoon’s last three LPs is quickly diminishing. But Spoon is known for throwing us curve balls, and with numerous modern classics under their wings, who am I to doubt them?
Transference will be out January 26th via Merge. Another January release to put on your calendar. Listen to “The Mystery Zone” here: Continue reading →
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