EAR FARM's Top 15 Albums Of 2007

This is a re-post of EAR FARM's Top Albums Of 2007 list. Regular posting will resume Wednesday, the 2nd of January. Be sure to read the reader-decided 100th 8+ if you haven't already. Otherwise, have a look at EAR FARM's Tops of '07 Lists below and feel free to share your thoughts, criticisms, and/or your own lists.

Here's hoping you have a very happy New Year, and we'll see you in 2008!

What you'll find below is a list of our "top" 15 albums released in 2007. What does this mean? Favorites? Bests? Both, yes. These are the bests of our favorites. The most favorite-bests. We worked together as a team to come up with a list we both agreed on, fought and clawed for our favorites, and had to let go of some of them for the greater good. Ultimately, we're extremely pleased with the list we've come up with. So, after you check out the teaser list below, have a look at the big list inside by clicking through to continue reading/view comments. Once there, click the title of the album to purchase it, click the artist's name to go to their site, click the (+) to read what a variety of critics have to say, and click on the song name to listen to an MP3 from the respective album. As always, we welcome you to comment, complain, leave your own "tops of '07" list, or tag the comments to this post with graffiti.

EAR FARM's Top Albums Of 2007 #'s 15-11
15. Let's Stay Friends by Les Savy Fav
14. Red Album by Baroness
13. Marry Me by St. Vincent
12. Autumn of the Seraphs by Pinback
11. Eardrum by Talib Kweli


EAR FARM's Top 15 Albums Of 2007

15. Let's Stay Friends by Les Savy Fav (+) - listen: "Patty Lee"
The real star of this album is guitarist Seth Jabour. Alternating between understated rhythms lurking at the back of the mix to insanely catchy lead lines dictating the entire direction of a given song, he gets my "Slash Award" for 2007. This isn't in recognition of technical virtuosity but rather for stuffing an entire album full of guitar parts that I can whistle along to from memory (except I can't whistle, so maybe just hum). Top to bottom, this is a really fun, uplifting, fist-pumping party album. - Mike

14. Red Album by Baroness (+) - listen: "The Birthing"
Red Album is 2007's finest metal album and one I'm pretty sure you'd love if you only gave it a chance. I know, you scoff. You're ready to skip over this album because you don't need metal in your life. Oh but you do! And on this record Baroness has crafted an album that's just as heavy as it is ethereal, just as balls out riff-rocking as it is accessible. A metal album that's not very far off from what you might expect to hear from Isis, and yet entirely "Southern" and even partially "indie rock-ish". Huh? Trust me. For those about to rock, look no further. - Matt

13. Marry Me by St. Vincent (+) - listen: "Now Now"
After spending time as a member of Sufjan Stevens' band and the Polyphonic Spree, Marry Me finds Annie Clark (St. Vincent) bursting into the music world like an excited child who's just returned from the zoo. While the record could've ended up sounding like an overly anxious artist's long awaited (messy) moment in the sun, Marry Me is anything but. Instead, it's a near-flawless debut and I can't wait for the follow up. - Matt

12. Autumn of the Seraphs by Pinback (+) - listen: "Good To Sea"
When I heard grumblings that this was just like every other Pinback album I thought, "you mean it's filled with interlocking rhythms executed with swiss-clock precision beneath a bed of minor-chord hooks and twisting harmonies?", before leaving a vapor trail in my midst on the way to the record store. Knowing Rob Crow's tastes, if their last album was titled Summer in Abaddon and this one Autumn of the Seraphs, what are the odds their next one will be Winter in Middle Earth? - Mike

11. Eardrum by Talib Kweli (+) - listen: "The Perfect Beat (feat. KRS-One)"
A two sided truth: I'm calling Eardrum 2007's best hip-hop album (yep, better than recent records from El-P and Pharaohe Monch) but it's possible that it could've been even better if Kweli (and his army of producers and guest stars) had been more stingy with the number of tracks included on the record. That's not to say there are bad songs dragging the album down, just that there was really no need to max out all 80 minutes on this CD by pumping it full of 20 tracks. It's perhaps the most disjointed and sprawling album on this list of great albums. So what I recommend is to split it in half, split it in thirds, listen to one song each day for the next three weeks - take it in in whatever way works for you, but whatever you do, don't miss it. The production and guest appearances are top notch and Kweli really goes above and beyond with his delivery/flow and, most of all, with his lyrics. The best in the business. - Matt

10. Strawberry Jam by Animal Collective (+) - listen: "Derek"
As they've gotten more popular, the fidelity of Animal Collective albums has improved drastically. Listen to Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished next to Strawberry Jam and the difference is startling. I always identified the lo-fi soupy sonics of their previous albums as just another signature element of their sound, and when the sparkling-clean production of Strawberry Jam power-washed these imperfections away, it left me a bit cold. BUT, coming back to this album recently I realized that all along I guess I secretly wanted their older albums to sound better and bigger to do their songs proper justice. Guess what? Strawberry Jam does just that, and the album cooks as a result. It's also perhaps their most accessible effort as well. - Mike

9. Fort Nightly by White Rabbits (+) - listen: "While We Go Dancing"We considered doing a nerdy list of best song sequences within albums, and for me that idea was partially born from listening to tracks 3-7 on Fort Nightly on continuous loop. And this isn't to suggest the album is front-loaded either, it's just THAT good. From songwriting and arrangements to instrumentation and delivery, this is an incredibly strong full-length debut. Good songs prevail. - Mike

8. All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone by Explosions In The Sky (+) - listen: "It's Natural To Be Afraid"
I'm not a long-time fan of this band, but I know people who are. And I know they probably don't consider this the "best" album from Explosions In The Sky, but I'll tell you what: they're wrong. All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone is Explosions at their pinnacle, they've totally perfected their signature dramatic post-rock formula to create one of the most solid and complete works of art of any kind to come out in 2007. With tonal and melodic themes that seamlessly run throughout, it flows almost more like a symphony than a rock record. Listen to this alone, listen to it while driving, listen to it with headphones on, or listen on your stereo and wake up the neighbors. However you chose to experience this record, beware. Because if you let it, it will completely take over. - Matt

7. Friend Opportunity by Deerhoof (+) - listen: "The Perfect Me"
Possibly better than The Runners Four, possibly Deerhoof's finest album, but not my favorite of theirs. It is, however, much better than most of the records released this year and has more than its fair share of fantastic/genius moments. - Matt

What a shame this was released way back in January. If they had pushed it to coincide with "blog awards season" like Oscar contenders do every fall, Friend Opportunity would probably be at the top of most lists, EAR FARM included (and c'mon, inclusion on these lists is comparable to winning an Oscar, right?). As it stands, this is just another run-of-the-mill Deerhoof album, meaning it's a kaleidoscopic cocktail of ingenious time shifts, starts, stops, freak-outs and childlike melodies that will knock you flat on your ass. I will always be anxiously awaiting whatever Deerhoof does next. - Mike

6. Friend And Foe by Menomena (+) - listen: "The Pelican"
I've been told to check out this band in the past, I didn't listen. But for some reason one day at work I threw this album on and was hooked immediately. By what? By the rhythm and melody, rhythm... and melody. And also by the fact that this is one of the finest (pure) indie rock records I've heard since Funeral. Tops. And also, gotta love the sax work. - Matt

Two of my closest friends whose taste in music I will never question had been oohing and ahhhing about Menomena - and this album in particular - for quite some time. Late to the party as always (I also had cable tv taken away from me as a kid), the high expectations I already had for Friend And Foe increased even more upon nerding out to their incredible album art. So basically I was sold before I even pressed play. Turns out the album sounds incredible too. My friends are smart. - Mike

5. Person Pitch by Panda Bear (+) - listen: "Take Pills"
Unlike most of the music dork world I didn't fall for this album in a big grand 'love at first listen' moment. I knew it was great, but I avoided overdoing it for the most part and took it in small doses. I'm glad for that. And though seeing Lennox perform (and by perform I mean ruin) Panda Bear material live nearly destroyed my appreciation of what he's accomplished here, it simply couldn't because the album is so damn good. - Matt

I must have listened to this for three weeks straight when it first came out. I listened to it in the car, on the subway, at my desk and even while watching NCAA March Madness (on mute) on television. Therefore, it's entirely my fault and not Noah Lennox's that Person Pitch gradually lost some of its magic as the year wore on. Listening to it again, traces of its original irresistible charm still come through, and if we were making this list according to how we felt upon first hearing an album this would no doubt be my numero uno. - Mike

4. Sky Blue Sky by Wilco (+) - listen: "You Are My Face"
Whoa whoa whoa, what's with all the "dad-rock" hullabaloo surrounding this album? Really? Guess what? If this is "dad-rock" then fuel up my minivan and put socks under my Birkenstocks because it KICKS ASS. Yes, I too was head-over-heels in love with "experimental phase" Wilco and I kinda sorta feel your pain, but how did Sky Blue Sky become labeled as a simple, paint-by-numbers album? Tweedy may have traded in some of the overt weirdness of his previous two albums for a more coherent and band-oriented sound, but in doing so he managed to capture for the first time on record Wilco's standing as the tightest and most musically gifted rock band in America. - Mike

3. We Are Him by Angels Of Light (+) - listen: "We Are Him"
We Are Him is the best album released in 2007 that nobody is talking about. It's exactly what I'd always hoped for when listening to other Angels Of Light records, what Michael Gira has always hinted at but never quite achieved. It's frightening, difficult, droning, hypnotic, intimate, sprawling, lonely, paranoid, communal, unique, confrontational, abrasive, beautiful, and perfect. It's a good step or ten darker than most Goth rock you'll find kids with black fingernails listening to - it's what The Doors must've sounded like in their peyote fueled dreams, hoping for a sound they never quite realized. It's like Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, but better. The song posted here is simply to offer you a taste; however, this is truly a record to be experienced as a whole. Like a great book, you must work through the album with patience and fortitude and get familiar with its landscape before it will really payoff. And when it does payoff (multiple times throughout the album), I'll betcha dollars to donuts that you end up agreeing with Gira's proclamation that he is, indeed, “the god of this fucking land”. - Matt

2. Boxer by The National (+) - listen: "Mistaken for Strangers"
Alright, go ahead and check me in to hyperbolics anonymous. "Hi, my name is Matt and I like to exaggerate." Right? Oh wait, I haven't offered the proof yet. Here: Boxer is a perfect record. Yeah? Is that good enough? I've only said 'perfect' some 35 times in the last hour. So it seems. Actually, I've only said 'perfect' twice, but then my hyperbolic statement regarding how many times I've recently said the word 'perfect' should be proof enough that I've got an exaggerating problem. We all do. Look, I know it's not going to blow your mind when I tell you this, because it's being said in so many places, but what The National have achieved on Boxer is nothing short of a masterpiece. They one-upped themselves; no actually, they've plain and simply blown Alligator right out of the water. I tried my damnedest to not be one of the many who love this record, thinking that I might retain some fraction of individuality by doing so. How idiotic. You know what? You're right. Boxer is not as good as all of us weenies are saying... it's better. - Matt

I don't have quite the obsession that Matt does with this album and I attribute that to being a bit underwhelmed by seeing them live and having that taint Boxer just in the slightest. That being said, I still spun it on repeat for a 10-hour round-trip car ride and didn't even consider listening to anything else. This is like The Blob of 2007 albums. It slithers and oozes forth and seeps into you and wraps itself around you until you have no choice but to submit and be one with it. - Mike

1. In Rainbows by Radiohead (+) - listen: "House of Cards" + "Up On The Ladder" (from disc 2)
Are you excited to read yet another yokel's opinons about In Rainbows? Gooood. I'll try to keep it somewhat short...and in doing so will go back to 1995. That year a new tradition started with The Bends in which I would try to buy every subsequent Radiohead album on the day of its release (including hunting down Kid A in Australia in 2000). That mini-streak ended with In Rainbows. Not only did I not "buy" it on its "release day", but I didn't even pay anything for it when I did get it. Charlatan! I know I know, let me explain. Having been disappointed all year with the efforts of other heavy-hitters (cough cough Arcade Fire) I couldn't bring myself to be let down by another big band's big release. Now, two months later I can breathe easy again. Isn't it nice and orderly when the best band in the world also delivers the best album of the year? It makes me think all is momentarily right. Now excuse me while I go redeem karma points by purchasing this on vinyl. - Mike

Okay computer, please don't let me mention how Mike needs to hurry up with buying In Rainbows on vinyl before the karma police come after him with knives out; because, I might be wrong but, that would be a bit of a let down for me to pun so poorly... shit, is this thing on? Damn. Remember how awful peoples' puns and references to Radiohead used to be back in the late '90s? I do. It was "ok computer this" and "karma police" that. Ugh. I remember. I also remember how good Pablo Honey was, how great The Bends was, how (here I go again) perfect Ok Computer and Kid A were, how great Amnesiac was, and how Hail To The Thief saw Radiohead (in my mind) return to just simply "pretty great". That's what happens when you set impossibly high standards as a band. Each time Radiohead drops an album I expect perfection, and while I'm not yet 100% sure that In Rainbows is "better" than Boxer, I WILL be sure in mere minutes when I open this package sitting in front of me and finally get to hear this sucker on vinyl with headphones on. UPDATE: No joke, I'm writing this now an hour and a half later. Today I received my special edition In Rainbows box set (all kinds of awesome artwork and packaging along with the album on vinyl (2 discs) and a bonus CD of b-sides) in the mail and it turns out that it was worth the wait, and worth every penny I paid for it. In Rainbows, on vinyl, with proper headphones on, my goodness. Also, disc 2 contains at least four tracks well worth checking out. As a test subject in the great Radiohead marketing/distribution experiment of 2007 I must say that I'm completely satisfied on all levels. But most importantly, the music... In 2007 Radiohead proved, once again, that they're simply in a league of their own. - Matt
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And there you have it. EAR FARM's Top 15 Albums of 2007. Sure, the top two spots might not have shocked anyone, but when there are albums out there as good as Boxer and In Rainbows, what do you expect? That we ignore the truth and force something else into the top spot just to be different? Yes? Okay, well maybe next year. For now you'll have to deal with the list above. Or, if you're still thirsty for even MORE list action, check out the extra bonus lists below.

Beyond that - now it's your turn. Go ahead and offer up your criticisms and questions and name calling and all the whatever you call it... Mostly we'd like to see YOUR "tops of '07" lists, or links to your lists elsewhere, or whatever else you've got for us - so let us have it/them. And, as always, thanks for reading.


10 albums (5 from each of us) that nearly made EAR FARM's top 15

5. Dandelion Gum by Black Moth Super Rainbow - From the first note this album pulls you, floating and weightless, past tangerine trees and marmalade skies as if you're a character in one of Timothy Leary's dreams. My God, the SYNTHS! - Matt

Listen: "They Live In the Meadow"

4. In Advance Of The Broken Arm by Marnie Stern - I'm not the first person to say so, but if this album were 6 songs shorter it'd be a masterpiece of an EP. 'Addition by subtraction' is my key phrase of suggestion to musicians for 2008. - Matt

Listen: "Every Single Line Means Something"

3. I'll Sleep When You're Dead by El-P - Paranoid, introspective, sci-fi infused, a near-masterpiece, and the perfect hip-hop soundtrack for nerds who live in the city. - Matt

Listen: "Tasmanian Pain Coaster"

2. Untrue by Burial - An icily stark (in a Martin Hannett kind of way) and dark "dance" record that truly furthers trip hop/garage/dubstep by shining a soft light on what made the genres such underground favourites in the '90s. - Matt

Listen: "Raver"

1. Ire Works by Dillinger Escape Plan - Combining their ferocious chops with a fearless desire to explore elements of prog and hardcore, metal and math-rock, jazz (?!) and (at long last) pop-rock (see the song below), Dillinger Escape Plan have made one of the very best albums of the year. Easily. - Matt

Listen: "Black Bubblegum"

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5. Armchair Apocrypha by Andrew Bird - Haunting, shimmering, contemplative, dramatic, and just out-and-out purrty. This album really surprised me and is certainly worthy of all the hype and praise it's received. - Mike

Listen: "Imitosis"

4. The Good, The Bad & The Queen by The Good, The Bad & The Queen - Perhaps unfairly dismissed for failing to sound like a proper "supergroup", the disarmingly relaxed and casual vibe of this album actually works in its favor and throws a relaxed and casual middle finger at those who feel differently. - Mike

Listen: "Green Fields"

3. The Stage Names by Okkervil River - A wonderfully ambitious and rock-solid album that also contains some of my favorite lyrics of the year. You had me at "hundredth luftballon" Mr. Sheff. - Mike

Listen: "Plus Ones"

2. Shaky Hands by The Shaky Hands - Largely ignored, this self-titled debut is an endearingly messy pop postcard from the Pacific Northwest and winner of the "Sounding the Most Like a Sub Pop Album Without Actually Being on Sub Pop" award. - Mike

Listen: "Maker Make"

1. Random Spirit Lover by Sunset Rubdown - A mini masterpiece and overall my favorite record not on the big list above. Spencer Krug has the productivity of Lil' Wayne and the mad genius vibe of Brian Wilson. - Mike

Listen: "The Mending of the Gown"

EAR FARM's Top 7 EPs Of 2007
Arizona - Frameseeker and the Mono
British Sea Power - Krankenhaus?
Dead Confederate - Dead Confederate
Goes Cube - Beckon The Dagger God
Grizzly Bear - Friend EP
The Muggabears - Night Choreography
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - IS IS


10 albums that just aren't our thing, no matter how good everyone else says they are
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Beirut - The Flying Cub Cup
Dan Deacon - Spiderman Of The Rings
Deerhunter - Cryptograms
Dirty Projectors - Rise Above
Justice - †
Miranda Lambert - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
Kanye West - Graduation


10 albums from this year that let us down
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Art Brut - It's A Bit Complicated
Band Of Horses - Cease To Begin
Brakes - The Beatific Visions
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder
Dungen - Tio Bitar
PJ Harvey - White Chalk
Liars - Liars
Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga


15 artists whose 2008 album we're really excited about
Ambulance LTD.
The Breeders
British Sea Power
Built To Spill
The Cure
Goes Cube
Guns N' Roses (nudge nudge wink wink)
Islands
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
Morrissey
Nine Inch Nails
The Secret Life of Sofia
Silver Jews
Tapes 'n Tapes
Wolf Parade

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See also:
- EAR FARM's Top 8+ Posts Of 2007
- EAR FARM's Top Songs Of 2007
- EAR FARM's Top Ten Bands To Emerge in 2007 & Ten To Watch Out For in 2008
- EAR FARM's Top Concerts of 2007

OPP

Warner Music Group embraces Amazon's DRM-Free Music Store

Are the Kinks the next band to reunite?

Brian Wilson honored at Kennedy Center ceremony by.....Hootie & the Blowfish?

Former Rogue Wave member Evan Farrell dies in apartment fire

Madonna's directorial debut set for Berlin Film Festival

And least impressive, the top YouTube videos of 2007

8+

"Master of Puppets" by Metallica which clocks in at 8:36

I'm not really sure who this kid in the picture here is, but I do know quite a bit about him...

Although he mostly listens to the radio, the records at his mom's dance studio, and the three 7" records he borrows from his parents and pretends to own ("Jack and Diane", "Holiday" (favorite), and "Another One Bites The Dust"), this kid's mother just bought him the very first album he'll officially own. It is Quiet Riot's Metal Health, and it's going to rock his world. Everything is going to change. An intangible force is about to enter his life, pull the strings, and drive him headfirst into the land of METAL.

In no time he'll be banging his head and thrashing around to whatever heavy metal MTV decides to throw in his general direction - listening to Twisted Sister and feeling rebellious like that kid in the video, watching Van Halen and identifying with Waldo, loving every single (slightly) scary moment of the video for "Metal Health (Bang Your Head)" and making plans to ditch his alto sax for an electric guitar and a Peavey amplifier as soon as his parents are game for it. The Thriller posters in his room will be replaced by hair metal lords from Poison, Ratt, and Mötley Crüe, but only for a brief time before those give way to Guns N' Roses, Megadeth, and Metallica. It's an all too familiar tale of American suburban male ennui: forces beyond this little boy's control are about to turn him into a metalhead.

It starts when he's the age he is in the picture above (roughly 8), with Quiet Riot, but it doesn't truly take off until some four years later in 1987. When his friend who is a year older than him lets him borrow a tape. The tape. The tape of all tapes. A tape he'll immediately listen to on the way home while riding his hot pink Diamondback freestyle bike and rocking the trusty Sony Sports Walkman; wearing lime green swim trunks (always ready to swim, just in case), an orange tank top, neon yellow Oakley sunglasses, and standard issue Air Max high tops. This is a tape he'll waste no time in high-speed dubbing on his own brand new hot-shit boombox. When he hears the intro to the first track on this tape ("Battery") for the first time, the little boy in the comfy striped shirt pictured above is going to think, for a brief moment, that he might like to study classical guitar. For a good four or five minutes, this tape will inspire him to believe that he could become the Joe Satriani of classical guitar. The notion fades quickly, but this single album is going to rock the smiling kid pictured above to the core six ways to Sunday and turn him into a beast. After all, the album is Metallica's Master of Puppets.

In 1987, Metallica was as intangible to this kid as a fine bourbon, quantum mechanics, or the female body. All three of these things were but dark forces that existed on the periphery of the charted territory of his little world. Each would soon enough pull him savagely towards knowing all there was to know; he no more than a willful puppet operating under their magnetic control. Someday this little boy would grow up to love the taste of finely aged Kentucky Whiskey, would seek out reading books about quantum mechanics on his own accord, and would awake in a haze of amazed disbelief the day after he first kissed a girl. Someday. But first, in 1987, this kid was going to let Metallica do the thinking.

If the album Master of Puppets could be held solely responsible for making little bowlcut stripedshirt (pictured above) turn into a mullet having metalhead, then it most surely was the song "Master of Puppets" that inspired him to cover a stone washed jeanjacket with metal related patches and try chewing tobacco while playing little league baseball. In fact, most stupid, overtly masculine, things that this boy would some day grow up and do might very easily be blamed on the song "Master of Puppets". While it preached a lesson of nonconformity, it beckoned boys to listen to the testosterone within and become enraged blockheads.

Ask this boy what song he was listening to in 1993 while driving two friends home from a youth church activity one night...in his mother's car...what song called to him in a way that left him with no other option than to furiously thrash about in the driver's seat - headbanging, air guitaring, air drumming, yelling "MASTER" as loud as he could - until he briefly lost control of the steering wheel and smashed into the curb, seriously denting the right front wheel of the car...which song brought about this minor accident? Which song was he listening to (same Sports Walkman) in 1988 while laying out at the neighborhood pool, with his eyes closed, when his friend hit him (hard) in the face with a wet Koosh Ball - what song incited him to pick up the Koosh and turn around and sling it back in the direction from whence it came? What song helped him quickly ignore the fact that the Koosh he hucked in the direction of his friend didn't actually hit its intended target, but instead hit a poor helpless two year old girl in the face, causing her to wail in pain and causing him and his friend to get kicked out of the neighborhood pool permanently? Which song did they go and listen to back at his house while jumping around like caffeinated jackhammers declaring "that pool sucks anyway" as they vowed to simply sneak in and use the pool at night? What song made this adorable little boy you see in the picture above into an animal??

MASTER!

After spending a very long, exhausting, thirteen hour long second day at Woodstock '94, which song called to an 18 year old bowlcut stripedshirt in a way that left him with no other option but to charge like a bull into the infinite insanity that was the mosh pit, bringing about high fives, cheers, punches, and gropes from fellow moshers... What song turned this little geek into a Woodstock mosh pit superstar?

MASTER! MASTER!

Which song was said to be Metallica's original bassist Cliff Burton's favorite Metallica song? Which song was ranked as the 3rd greatest (but should've been the 1st greatest) heavy metal song ever by VH1? Which song was ranked #1 in Martin Popoff's book The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs Of All Time?

MASTER. Master...master...master...

Twenty years after little bowlcut stripedshirt (pictured above) first heard it, which song would have the power to reign over three of the immortals of classic rock ("Stairway to Heaven", "Roundabout", and "Money for Nothin") in a reader poll intended to decide the song that should appear on bowlcut stripedshirt's music blog, eventually beating out all competitors by the margin of one single vote*? Which song was simply destined to appear here as EAR FARM's 100th 8+?

"Master of Puppets" by Metallica.

Buy Master of Puppets on Amazon/on iTunes.

*be sure to take a look at the results of the poll on the upper right hand side of this page, and thanks for voting!

EAR FARM's 8+ is a weekly feature that showcases songs longer than 8 minutes. In the recent past these songs were featured on EF's 8+:
British Sea Power - “Lately”
The Decemberists - “The Mariner's Revenge Song”
Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Free Bird"
Ludwig van Beethoven - "Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 - Allegretto"
Gioachino Rossini - "La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie)"
The Fiery Furnaces - “Inspector Blancheflower”
Morrissey - "Moon River"
Miles Davis - "So What”

To see a full list of every song featured in EAR FARM's 8+ click HERE.

OPP

Radiohead to perform In Rainbows in its entirety on New Year's Eve Webcast (and on Al Gore's channel too)

The A.V. Club ponders the Least Essential Albums of 2007

Stereogum premieres a new Fiery Furnaces Video for "Duplexes Of The Dead"

Iron Maiden plan 80s-throwback tour complete with gigantic custom 757

Brooklyn Vegan looks at what's going on between Christmas and New Year's

Jeff Bridges talks the Dude and making music with the Seattle Times

I Want My MTV - Happy Christmas

Christmas greetings from sunny (and extremely windy) Southern California! Below are ten videos that exude the spirit of today, each in their own way. EAR FARM wishes all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.


"Put the Lights on the Tree" by Sufjan Stevens (above)


"Christmas in Hollis" by Run-DMC (above)


"Holly Jolly Christmas" by Burl Ives (above)


"White Christmas" by Bing Crosby (above)


"I'll Be Home With Bells On" by Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers (above)


"Blue Christmas" by Kelly Clarkson (above)


"Last Christmas" by Wham! (above)


"Fairytale Of New York" by The Pogues (above)


"Twelve Days Of Christmas" by John Denver & The Muppets (above)


"Christmas Time is Here" by Vince Guaraldi Trio (above)

THE CHAMPIONSHIP, or Hangar 18: Bloggers vs. Rockers - Week 16

Week 16 of Hangar 18: the Bloggers v. Rockers Fantasy Football League was for ALL THE MARBLES. Team Arizona put their league-best record on the line against the third-seeded Muggabears in a championship battle that would once and for all dispel the myth that rockers don't know football (or at least the Dungeons & Dragons equivalent to professional football).
So, who won it all when the dust settled? Click below to keep reading and see the results from this past week as we coronate the Hangar 18 CHAMPION...

Oh good, you made it. Congratulations to the Muggabears! In outwitting, outplaying and outlasting everyone else - apologies to CBS' Survivor for stealing their slogan there - they nudged by Arizona to take the league crown. Now, only 9 more months until we start again...

Rockers vs. Bloggers Fantasy Football Championship (Week 16) Results:

The Muggabears (105) defeated Arizona (87)

And in the third place game...

Margot (119) defeated EAR FARM (85)

The Muggabears (team name The Dead Kids) CHAMPIONSHIP roster:

QB: Peyton Manning (Ind)
RB: Marion Barber (Dal)
RB: Marshawn Lynch (Buf)
WR: Randy Moss (NE)
WR: Terrell Owens (Dal)
WR: Mike Furrey (Det)
TE: Chris Cooley (Was)
D: Miami
K: Matt Stover (Bal)
BN: Marvin Harrison (WR - Ind)
BN: Jerious Norwood (RB - Atl)
BN: Eddie Kennison (WR - KC)


Listen:
"Hangar 18" by Megadeth

Today's NEW Releases

Merry Christmas! Not like "Merry Christmas, here are some awesome albums to choose from this week!" because that's not the case...we just wanted to say Merry Christmas is all...

• Queens of the Stone Age - Make It Wit Chu
• Young Frankenstein - Original Cast Recording of the new Mel Brooks Musical

OPP

Jay-Z "retiring" again, this time from position as Def Jam president

Pianist, jazz great Oscar Peterson dies at 82

Ringo Starr's new album also available as a memory-stick wristband?

The LA Times explores the legacy of the Troubadour

In the spirit of Christmas, Cracked has the 5 Least Surprising Toy Recalls of All Time (Jart sighting!)

Drowned in Sound lists their top read news stories from each month in 2007

Hit-or-miss

Listen:
"Good Morning, Captain" by Slint from Spiderland

View:
Image search results for Good Morning, Captain - above image is from the first page of results (and was originally from HERE).
--
In the recent past these songs were featured in Hit-or-miss posts:
"Septopus Theme" by Brendon Small
"Hilary" by The Fall
"The Weight Of A Rock" by Marnie Stern
"Where There's a Will There's a Whalebone" by Islands
"Pretender" by Madonna
"Talk Dirty to Me" by Poison
"Bandits" by Midlake
"Girlfriend" by Bobby Brown

To see a full list of every song featured in EAR FARM's Hit-or-miss (and to find out just what this Hit-or-miss is) click HERE.

OPP

Phil Spector badmouths Tina Turner at Ike Turner's Funeral

The Daily Swarm wonders: Is Idolator for sale?

A competitive field of Shortlist nominees include Wilco and Arcade Fire

Rush to hit the road yet again in 2008, break out the foot-controlled keys!

Vote for the best video of 2007 over at Rolling Stone

Spin reviews a Lemonheads show in Philly

EAR FARM's All I Want For Christmas Is Music Mix

"'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring — except for the four assholes coming in the rear in standard two-by-two cover formation." - Theo, in Die Hard (1988)

Ahh Die Hard, what Christmas would be complete without a viewing or two of this all-time Christmas classic? Die Hard?! Got that right. You may not agree, but in my opinion it's one of the best Christmas movies ever made; however, lucky for you, I'm not compiling a list of favorite scenes from holiday films here. This is, as it always is, about music.

Yes, it's true: all I want for Christmas is music. And I tend to enjoy giving gifts more than I do receiving them, so let's get the holiday spirit going with another EF mix. At first I set out to make a holiday mix, rather than a Christmas mix. In it I was going to be as current and non-holiday specific as possible with my song selections. After I finished putting this mix together I realized that none of the music really meant anything to me. So I scrapped it, started over, and then came up with the mix you'll find posted below. What we have here is a specially curated Christmas mix made up of twenty five of my own, personal, very most favorite Christmas songs; ranging from classics such as "A Holly Jolly Christmas" and "White Christmas", to songs from more current artists such as Sufjan Stevens and Yo La Tengo, to a few greats from the '80s, to an 8bit Christmas classic and a song from a certain movie that's an undisputed holiday classic whose title rhymes with "lie card". Excited? Me too.

Whatever your faith, denomination, system of beliefs, or family tradition might be, we here at EAR FARM hope that each and every one of you have a very happy holiday season and we wish you all of the best in the new year.

Click below to download and listen to EAR FARM's All I Want For Christmas Is Music Mix.

EAR FARM's All I Want For Christmas Is Music Mix
1. "It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas" by Perry Como
2. "I Saw Three Ships" by Sufjan Stevens
3. "A Holly Jolly Christmas" by Burl Ives
4. "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" by John Lennon & Yoko Ono
5. "I Believe in Santa Claus" by Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers
6. "Santa Baby" by Madonna
7. "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby
8. "Carolina Christmas" by Squirrel Nut Zippers
9. "It's Christmas Time" by Yo La Tengo
10. "xmas songs plastic sputnik arcade punk remix" by hally
11. "Winter Wonderland" by Cocteau Twins
12. "Oh Holy Night" by Kelly Clarkson
13. "Little Saint Nick" by The Beach Boys
14. "Blue Christmas" by Elvis Presley
15. "Christmas" by The Who
16. "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" by Harry Connick, Jr.
17. "Christmas In Hollis" by Run-DMC
18. "Last Christmas" by Wham!
19. "Christmas Wrapping" by The Waitresses
20. "Fairytale Of New York" by The Pogues
21. "Christmas in Killarney" by Bing Crosby
22. "I'll Be Home for Christmas" by Frank Sinatra
23. "The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)" by Nat King Cole
24. "When The River Meets The Sea" by John Denver & The Muppets
25. "Christmas Time Is Here" by Vince Guaraldi Trio

Download the entire mix as a ZIP HERE.

And, just to let you know what to expect next week - EAR FARM will be updated lightly next week, highlighted by the very special 100th 8+ on Thursday and a repost of our top albums of 2007 on Friday. So stay tuned, and be sure to vote (in the poll on the right) for the song that you'd like to see featured in this very special 8+.

OPP

Lou Reed will serve as the keynote speaker for the 2008 South by Southwest Music Conference

RollingStone readers select their 25 Top Songs of 2007

Warner Bros. orders removal of new Madonna/JT song "4 Minutes To Save The World" from websites

The Eagles turn down Super Bowl slot

Critics from The Seattle Times remember the Crocodile Cafe

LA Times: 2007 Best & Worst Music business survival tactics

David Byrne and Thom Yorke on the Real Value of Music

The Pitchfork Guide to New Year's Eve

David Byrne's Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists — and Megastars

Mac Fans More Likely To Pay For Music Than PC Users

Fluxblog posts an email conversation with Rob Sheffield about The New Pornographers song "Myriad Harbour"

rbally is back in the house sharing some live show downloads, at least for a little while

NY Mag Pie Charts Pitchfork's Top 100 Tracks of 2007

Idolator wonders, Music Bloggers: The Useless Widgets Of Music Criticism?

As always, Largehearted Boy's 2007 Year-End Online Music Lists post is continually updated

8+ (remix)

"Lately" by British Sea Power which clocks in at 13:59

"Oh bliss! Bliss and heaven... gorgeousness and gorgeousity!"

So said I, in a decidedly intentional Alex DeLarge moment, when referring to the song "Lately" by British Sea Power; some four score (divided by 20, plus two days) ago, in EAR FARM's first ever 8+. Those were the days... the 8+ feature had just been born out of an extremely brief brainstorming session similar to the one that produced the very title of this site. I was trying to come up with a new, more open-ended, weekly feature to take the place of EAR FARM's first feature, Overlooked Albums of the '90s. What I settled on was to do a weekly look at songs longer than eight minutes. A simple, and open-ended, enough concept to keep me busy for a while, I figured.

I began the series with a classically lazy approach: recount a dream! But it was oh so perfect because I'd just recently had a dream with the song "Lately" by British Sea Power in it. In the actual dream - nay, the song was actually a very major component of the landscape of the entire dream. Do you guys often have a soundtrack to your night visions? I do. All the time. And recently, I had another dream that featured this song (again), featured Slash playing guitar (again), and featured myself dressed up in an old-school British infantry uniform (again). Weirdo! I woke up with an idea: to revisit that original post and commemorate the two year anniversary of EAR FARM's 8+, to tell of this new dream and how it related to the original dream, and to re-post a new 8+ for "Lately" as some kind of remix of the original 8+...

(cue dream sequence special effects)

I woke up to what I thought were the sounds of waves crashing on the shore. Though I soon realized that the sounds I heard were the first few measures of "Lately" by British Sea Power, it was obvious that I'd washed ashore somewhere. I was laying in the sand - cold and wet and dressed like an English infantry soldier from the 18th century. Déjà vu struck me, hard. And this wasn't awake-time déjà vu, this was full-on dream déjà vu. A nearly lucid cobweb of confusion washed over me, taking place of the ocean water as it receded away. I was in the middle of a dream in which I'd already woken up (in the dream) to hear a British Sea Power song playing loudly on this desolate beach and I was dressed like a red coat wearing infantry soldier. Again? Ever so similar to the dream I recounted in the first 8+ I ever wrote except that I wasn't flying? It seemed so. But none of this really "clicked" with me as I sat and pondered life and the shore. And shoes and ships and sealing wax... I felt like I recognized this beach yet couldn't place it. But then I saw a man seated at a table just about a hundred yards inland, still on the beach. He had a top hat on and a guitar at his side. In my dream, unaware at this point that it was actually a dream, I considered it funny how much the scene reminded me of The Seventh Seal. Confused, I moved toward the dark figure as the music played on.

Dressed in black, with a black top hat on that allowed his long curly hair to sneak out just enough to completely cover his eyes, the man was sitting at a table drinking a dark liquid out of a nearly empty glass. Though he had a sunburst Gibson Les Paul at his side, it still didn't yet occur to me just who this man was. Death perhaps?

There appeared to be more of whatever it was that he was drinking in a decanter not far away. I thought of "Dallas" and the way so many people in that show seemed to have very nice crystal decanters full of a variety of liquors in their offices. Inevitably, the first thing they'd say when someone walked in was "can I offer you something to drink?" - I almost lost myself in this thought. A close call, it would've likely sent me dreaming away to J.R.'s office, causing my head to explode at the notion of rocking out to "Lately" with Larry Hagman circa 1980. But no, I remained on the beach. Right where I, and British Sea Power, seemed to fit in perfectly.

The sky way ominous and "Lately" was playing loudly, as if there were a live concert happening right there on the beach. There wasn't a concert though, the music just came from nowhere and everywhere as if it were part of nature. Part of this world. The wind had been replaced by 5 young musicians from Brighton and who was I to complain? The figure spoke.

"Can I offer you something to drink?"

Wow. Damn, the scary hairy guy was reading my '80s TV-fueled mind. "Is this your office or something?" I questioned, to myself. And I think aloud as well, though I can't be certain. There was no response. But I assumed it kind of was his place of business, as he seemed very at ease with the loud music and threatening skies and wind and sand. For no good reason I couldn't figure out who this man was - just couldn't place the familiar curly black hair/top hat combo as being the signature look of a certain member of one of my most favorite bands growing up. He just simply scared me, a little bit. And a lot.

"Do I have to play you in chess for the right to my soul?" I wondered, again to myself and/or potentially aloud in the direction of the imposing figure. Something made me pause for a moment and I considered my surroundings. Something about it all reminded me of another long song, not "Lately" but one about November thunderstorms... I noted the whiskey he was drinking, and the guitar. Something about the guitar. THE GUITAR. "Am I going - wait, or wait, are we going to have a guitar duel to..."

At that moment, it hit me like a thousand double bass drum pedals thunderously striking at once. I was seated across from Slash. How could I have been so stupid? He recognized my recognition, and then immediately referenced EAR FARM. I couldn't believe it. I was proud. And also a bit afraid and perhaps embarrassed. I couldn't really tell what I felt.

"Look kid," he said (I'm 32, clearly not a kid, but I didn't interrupt), "we all read that shit you wrote about us and that queer artsy rock band from England. About the video for 'November Rain' and how you were glad to be rid of Guns n' Roses..."

I felt fear. Afraid of Slash! Why? Why not?! He was clearly holding the cards here. Cards? Guitar. He picked up his guitar like it was a weapon. I considered running far far away.

"No, I don't remember writing that," I lied.

"Yes you do, I know. Because I'm in your head - literally," he explained in another nearly lucid moment, "you think I don't know? I remember all of it. Every word, even every hyperlink."

"Shit." I started backing slowly away.

"That's right, you said some nasty stuff about my band in that little 8+ column of yours."

"Slash reads EAR FARM?!" I thought to myself. Then I tried to remember that very first 8+ post, struggled. I couldn't fully think of it at the time, but I was certain that I didn't say anything too terrible. I mean, I love Guns n' Roses. Right? I'm not nasty! Am I?

"Don't remember, do you kid? Allow me."

And then Slash began to quote me. Dream Slash started reciting a portion of EAR FARM's very first 8+ post, word-for-word. Nailing each and every hyperlink with a detailed explanation of the address that each pointed to.

I think I had a dream soon after that where I was stuck inside the video for "November Rain" by Guns n' Roses [this was a link to our video for November Rain] (except in the dream, the church was on a seaside cliff) and I was dressed up like an old-school British infantry soldier, you know the "red coats" [this was a link to a page showing what "red coats" were]? Well the storm in the video got really fierce and windy, and the skies a very dark dark grey, and quickly Slash and Axl got blown off the edge of the cliff as I stood there and smiled. Then I took to the sky and floated around the gloomy coast for a while. A tall American dressed in an historic British infantry outift flying around the dark skies of an unknown seashore - happy to be rid of Guns n' Roses, if just for a little while. The whole time, the entire dream, THIS song was the soundtrack.

After he finished he brushed his hair away from his eyes and stared at me menacingly. My response?

"Banana boat station wagon."

I kid you not. I confidently blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "banana boat station wagon." Thinking back now about how strange it was, I'm reminded of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man moment from Ghostbusters. And, though it even seemed weird to me at the time, it also seemed like precisely what I should say. And I remember saying it so defiantly in my dream, as if these were the magic dragon slaying words that would make evil dream Slash vanish. Or perhaps I was hoping to make an actual banana boat station wagon (whatever that is) materialize, so that I could drive it far far away from Slash. It didn't work.

He stood up without looking at me, turned to find the decanter full of whiskey, took a big gulp, and stared coldly, right into my eyes like a snake coiled and ready to strike.

"BANANA BOAT STATION WAGON," I insisted this time with clenched teeth, finally realizing I could perhaps escape this madness if only I tried hard enough to will myself to wake up. It worked. At long last. But not before he could get out one final dream within a dream within a dream verifying query.

"Do blog dorks dream about blogging when they sleep? I know they do..." Slash tauntingly insisted, his words trailing off as he and the dream faded out.

I woke up again, right as "Lately" was climatically swirling to an end. It seemed like enough time couldn't have passed for the entire song to play, and yet it also seemed like hours may have passed. I was just as confused as when I woke up on the beach at the beginning of the song, but this time I was safely in my bed and not wearing any manner of infantry uniform. Thank goodness.

My first thought upon waking was of the ridiculous phrase I'd said. Good gosh, was I talking in my sleep? Did I say "banana boat station wagon" out loud as I slept? My cat was awake and staring at me, but he offered no answers. I'll never know. Whatever the case, it worked. I woke up and got away from Slash and... wait. His final question as I willed myself awake - I remembered it. It was as if I was making fun of myself for having such a dream, as I was having it. After all, I already knew the answer to the question. I was in the midst of the answer to the question as I posed it to myself in my dream. Clearly, in truth, blog dorks do sometimes dream about blogging. I'm proofus majorus of the fact: I have dreams about previous dreams about blogging that feature musical heroes taunting me about dreaming about blogging - youch! Proofus majorus, and dorkus majorus, that's a fact. How dreadful. I wonder how many other bloggers dream about blogging?

Whatever the case, have no fear blogging brethren, I'll never tell.

Buy The Decline of British Sea Power on Amazon/on iTunes.

*picture of military officer with red coat and epaulettes from HERE
**be sure to VOTE in the poll on the right for the song you would like to have featured in EAR FARM's 100th 8+ (next week - this one didn't count as it's a rerun of a song already done here; a remix, like it says)

EAR FARM's 8+ is a weekly feature that showcases songs longer than 8 minutes. In the recent past these songs were featured on EF's 8+:
The Decemberists - “The Mariner's Revenge Song”
Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Free Bird"
Ludwig van Beethoven - "Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 - Allegretto"
Gioachino Rossini - "La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie)"
The Fiery Furnaces - “Inspector Blancheflower”
Morrissey - "Moon River"
Miles Davis - "So What”
Tori Amos - "Yes, Anastasia"

To see a full list of every song featured in EAR FARM's 8+ click HERE.

OPP

PopMatters: The Best Metal Albums of 2007

Live Nation wants to compete with Ticketmaster by 2009

Nonesuch Records introduces online store

Beck's classic Odelay to be re-released as deluxe editon next month, yeehaw

Smashing Pumpkins to release acoustic EP via iTunes

Screaming Tea Party

Occasionally, we actually stand upright from our surroundings like curious meerkats to survey the broader plains beyond the NYC music scene. So what's that there on the horizon? London's calling, and it looks like, wait, no, must be a mirage, but I swear I see two Japanese men, one wearing a gas mask and the other a floral dress, followed by an Italian woman lugging a drum set. And from here it looks they're having a tea party....a screaming tea party?

Sounds weird you say? Just wait until you actually listen to the music...

Screaming Tea Party is a London-based trio - by way of Japan and Italy - consisting of Koichi Yamanoha on bass and vocals (and the occasional woman's dress), Koichi "Niyan" Niizato on guitar (and gas mask) and Teresa Colamonaco on drums and vocals. Even if you can't imagine the above scene, you owe it to yourself to give them a listen, lest you miss out on such lyrical gems as: "At near that smallish bridge, Something was floating I saw, Clay, Egg, or Prostitute, Maybe it was time’s particles..."

Ultimately, the dichotomy between such images - gas masks at a tea party, men in dresses, eggs or prostitutes? - provides a fitting context from which to approach their music, itself a rigid and studied exercise in contrasts and opposites. Alternating between enchanting lullabies and scorched-earth noise collages, Screaming Tea Party doesn't so much play the loud/soft card within a given song but rather within the broader framework of an entire EP. It's as though they've established a precise code for songwriting: a given song can either be tranquil and whimsical OR loud and punishing, but never both.

As a result, their aptly titled Death Egg EP skips back and forth between mood and intensity in a way that seems counter-intuitive but makes perfect sense, lending each song added emphasis and gravity. The band's label - the UK upstart Stolen Recordings - has requested that we not host any mp3s from the EP but have instead provided streaming audio of several tracks on their MySpace page. So, with that caveat in mind, we suggest you head on over there and click on "Cracked up Dietrich" followed by "Between Air and Air" to get the most out of this duality. The aural equivalent is like shuffling between a sunshine-sweet children's song informed by Pachelbel's "Canon" and a B-side from In Utero. In other words, completely worth your time.

The band has yet to venture stateside but reports from over the pond describe their live show as nothing short of revelatory. Typical hyperbolic UK press or the real deal? Hopefully, Screaming Tea Party will touch down here soon and let us see that gas mask up close. For now, sate yourself with the following live videos, one soft and one hard of course.

Watch:
"Death Egg" live on YouTube
"Between Air and Air" live on YouTube

Visit Screaming Tea Party on MySpace.

Yeasayer @ Mercury Lounge - 15 December 2007

Yeasayer played Mercury Lounge this past Saturday, the fourth of four bands to take the stage at the December '07 incarnation of the ever-popular Friction concert series held by Crackers United. Because of all of the recent attention the band has been receiving, the show was full of hype, large expectations, and lots of people who materialized at the last second to catch only the final band. Sounds like a potential recipe for a big letdown, but that didn't happen on Saturday night. Thanks to Yeasayer, this most recent Friction show was sold out and packed and full of energy and goodness and mesmerizing song after mesmerizing song and it was, it was... awesome. And Peter Gabriel too.

During CMJ EAR FARM caught Yeasayer @ R Bar, so we were fully aware of what to expect from the band as they were welcomed into the room with headliner applause. We already knew they'd bring to the party a little bit of Talking Heads, early Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel, Men at Work, Grateful Dead, Nickelback(?), and a unified sound that is, without doubt, entirely their own. Song after song the band blazed through their set with an energy that's simply not present on their debut album All Hour Cymbals. On the album, songs such as "No Need To Worry" and "Final Path" come across as standard pseudo-hippie new wave rehash (think The English Beat meets Rusted Root) but when Yeasayer plays these songs live they are a revelation; bursting with energy, emotion, urgency, and an appreciation/love for their audience that was somehow (sadly) lost in the production process. Someone record their live show and release that as a record, for criminy.

Hype is a ruthless son of a bitch. In the rocky landscape of 2007, bands often get chewed up and spit out before they even consider to begin to "find themselves" within their own songs - this is never a good thing. And while it's entirely too early to go ahead and anoint Yeasayer and hand them the key to Brooklyn, their group charisma (highlighted at each performance by lead singer Chris Keating's ability to explode as if inhabited by the spirit of Ian Curtis at one moment and then calmly sustain a beautiful vocal moment the next) cuts like a lighthouse beacon through the fog of doubtful NY concert goers, converting the stoic arm-folders and leaving everyone equally impressed. Wait'll the rest of the country gets a load of these guys.

Listen:
"2080"
"Sunrise"

Watch:
"Wait for the Summer" live from this show (on YouTube, via Mr. Mammoth)

See Yeasayer LIVE in 2008:

01-16 Washington, DC - Black Cat Backstage *
01-17 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 *
01-18 Atlanta, GA - The Earl *
01-19 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon *
01-20 Houston, TX - Walter's on Washington *
01-21 Dallas, TX - Granada Theater *
01-22 Austin, TX - Emo's Jr. *
01-24 Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room *
01-25 San Diego, CA - The Casbah *
01-26 Los Angeles, CA - The Echo *
01-28 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill *
01-30 Portland, OR - Holocene *
01-31 Seattle, WA - Neumos *
02-02 Boise, ID - Neurolux *
02-03 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court *
02-04 Denver, CO - Hi-Dive *
02-06 Omaha, NE - The Slowdown *
02-07 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry *
02-08 Chicago, IL - Schubas *
02-09 Toronto, Ontario - El Mocambo *
02-10 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa *
02-12 Allston, MA - Great Scott *
02-14 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg *
02-15 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's *
02-19 Nijmegen, Netherlands - Doornroosie
02-20 Brussels, Belgium - AB
02-21 Paris, France - Nouveau Casino
02-22 St. Malo, France - Omnibus
02-23 Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz
02-25 Cologne, Germany - Gebaude 9
02-26 Berlin, Germany - Lido
02-27 Gothenburg, Sweden - Pusterviksbaren
02-28 Olso, Norway - John Dee
02-29 Stockholm, Sweden - Klubb Spark at Debaser Medis
03-01 Malmo, Sweden - Debaser
03-05 Birmingham, England - Bar Academy
03-06 London, England - ICA
03-08 Glasgow, Scotland - King Tuts
03-09 Manchester, England - Night & Day
03-10 London, England - TBA
03-11 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
05-09-11 Camber, England - Camber Sands Holiday Centre (ATP vs. Pitchfork) #

* with MGMT
# with the Hold Steady, Jens Lekman, Black Lips, Hot Chip, Les Savy Fav, No Age, Of Montreal, Man Man, Los Campesinos!, Caribou, Glass Candy, Dirty Projectors, Redd Kross, Marissa Nadler, Deerhunter, Wooden Shjips, Meat Puppets, the Black Angels, Shit and Shine, Sebadoh, Ween, Pissed Jeans, Fuck Buttons, Apse, A Place to Bury Strangers

See more pictures of Yeasayer (from this show, not taken by me) HERE.

Visit Yeasayer on MySpace.