Top 10 Tracks of 2009: Six

07 Dec 2009, Posted by Charlie McSpadden in End-of-Year Lists, Music, Playground, 4 Comments

10. Chiddy Bang. “Kids”
Xaphoon Jones, one half of Drexel duo Chiddy Bang, just knows how to sample fellow former collegiate band MGMT (his Bob Marley mashup I Wanna Know Now is unreal). “Kids” is a justifiable jam, featuring absurd lines that reference Anchorman and Twitter and a seriously satisfying call out of Asher Roth. The new middle-finger-to-the-failed-economy-future anthem for last and this year’s seniors is clearly: “Cause life is a party/and I’m never growing up.”

09. The Dodos. “Fables”
Listen to this song while driving through a fall landscape and you will understand its magic. Bright and crisp chords kick off the song and it spirals off into a pleasing harmony.

08. Passion Pit. “Little Secrets”
Passion Pit continues to impress after releasing quite possibly the most addicting song of the 2000s, “Sleepyhead”, back in 2008. Their first album Manners continued the trend and this track is uptempto, mxing their trademark high-pitched lyrics with some killer beats. Their recently released, mindblowingly out of this world music video doesn’t hurt either.
(more…)

Duke Student Film Showcase Today from 5-11PM

04 Dec 2009, Posted by Andrew Hibbard in Film, Playground, 0 Comments

(full disclosure: film editor Charlie McSpadden contributed to one of the films)

The Fall offerings from Duke’s budding filmmakers will screen today from 5-11 p.m. in White Auditorium on East Campus. Classes participating are instructor Fred Burns’ Film Animation Production and 16 mm Production, instructor Gary Hawkins’ Introduction to Production and The Documentary Experience and AMI associate director Josh Gibson’s Experimental Filmmaking. Two Fall individual projects under the guidance of Gibson, the trailer for the upcoming Clearing Waters and the individual project by Meenal Misal, will also screen along with a film made at a summer course in Arezzo, Italy, taught by Gibson and production teaching fellow Shambhavi Kaul.

Top 10 Tracks of 2009: Five

04 Dec 2009, Posted by Kevin Lincoln in End-of-Year Lists, Music, Playground, 0 Comments

10. Demi Lovato. “Here We Go Again”
Being a pitch-perfect piece of pop-punk from a teenage girl not named Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato’s “Here We Go Again” was overshadowed in 2009 by the ubiquitous “Party in the U.S.A.” This is unfortunate: Lovato uses her angsty sneer of a singing voice to imbue the anthem with a pathos that Cyrus’ offerings lack, something that helps the track appeal to more than just tweens and Top 40 junkies.

09. Woods. “Military Madness.”
A cover off of Woods’  fantastic Songs of Shame, this protest song is a Dylan-quality exercise in folk agitation. Falsetto, acoustic guitar and tape hiss all help construct a track that would’ve fit like a missing puzzle piece into a classic Neil Young album, and Jeremy Earl’s vocals sounds like they could have been phoned in from the same era, blurred by the trip across time.
(more…)

Top 10 Tracks of 2009: Four

03 Dec 2009, Posted by Andrew Hibbard in End-of-Year Lists, Music, Playground, 2 Comments

10. The Books ft. Jose Gonzales. “Cello Song”
Sample-mavens The Books strip down their colossal production to just a beat and—you guessed it—a cello for a stunning Nick Drake cover. A highlight from the indie compilation Dark Was The Night.

09. Junior Boys. “Parallel Lines”
French-Canadian techno duo Junior Boys mix elements of house and pop vocals to great effect on Begone Dull Care. “Parallel Lines” is like Air but harder edged.

08. Akron/Family. “River”
New York-based Akron/Family makes beard-folk danceable on “River.” A jangly guitar line accompanies rice-shaker beats; the song explodes with the echoed chorus of “You and I and a flame make three.” Like a campfire? Sure, why not.

07. Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys. “Empire State of Mind”
Perhaps the only song from Blueprint III that stands up to the first two of the series, Jay’s tribute to his New York is the best top-40 song of the year. Alicia Keys’ gorgeous chorus begs to be shouted from dingy basements and stretch limousines alike. Check out her solo “Part II” on YouTube as well.

06. Atlas Sound. “Sheila”
Is Bradford Cox capable of making bad music? Deerhunter front man moonlighted as Atlas Sound for a second time, releasing the fantastic Logos. Blending electronic elements with straightforward indie pop, the album surpasses 2008’s Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel. “Sheila” is Cox at his morbidly poppy best.

05. Discovery. “Orange Shirt”
This is my song of the summer. Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij and Ra Ra Riot’s Wes Miles teamed up to produce the techno-funky Discovery LP (Take that Postal Service). I didn’t know these guys could get down like this. What screams teenage love like, “Can I sleep inside/I know you’re nervous though/So I promise to leave when your mother wakes up in the morning”? Roll your windows down and you’ll look so cool playing this song.

04. Phoenix. “1901″
The French band put out their best work yet in this year’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Being on an iPod commercial has made good bands world-famous before (see John, Peter Bjorn and), and the infectious beat and singalong chorus of “1901” is enough to propel Phoenix to the top of electro-pop. LDOC, anyone?

03. Girls. “Lust for Life.”
The single from Girls’ stunning Album accomplishes a good deal in 2:25. Opening with Kinks-esque rhythm guitar, Christopher Owens packs in all his angst (“Yeah I’m just crazy/Fucked in the head”) while a dreamy SoCal beat floats along in the background. Girls are one of the most promising new bands of 2009.

02. Dirty Projectors. “Useful Chamber.”
Many bands make do with a single vocalist, but Dirty Projectors has three. Winners. Uber-literary dude/musical genius Dave Longstreth’s stretchy falsetto is complemented by DP’s two soaring female voices. Surging synthesizer and finger-picked acoustic guitar gives way to a trip-hop beat and Longstreth’s inviting whisper. Then all hell breaks loose as he shouts “Bitte Orca, Orca Bitte!!!” You may not know what’s going on, but play it loud!

01. Animal Collective. “Brother Sport.”
There are several songs that could occupy this spot from Merriwether Post Pavilion, Animal Collective’s nearly perfect 2009 record. But as am I partial to the influences of Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear), the closer “Brother Sport” barely defeats “My Girls.” The song builds frantically to a gorgeous final chorus, complete with Panda’s classic looping. By the time it finishes, your hair is unkempt and your shirt’s probably on backwards. Go ahead and start the album over.

–Jake Stanley

Top 10 Tracks of 2009: Three

02 Dec 2009, Posted by Andrew Hibbard in End-of-Year Lists, Music, Playground, 1 Comments

10.Tiesto (ft. Tegan and Sara) “Feel It In My Bones”
When DJ Superpower Tiesto teamed up with shrill-voiced indie goddesses Tegan and Sara, something amazing was bound to form. Tegan and Sara’s vocals add an ethereal quality to Tiesto’s supremely crafted beats making a driving dance track unparalleled this year.

09. Ida Maria “Oh My God”
Ida Maria forced herself into the music industry this year with “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked,” and the rest of her album proves she deserves some attention. “Oh My God” is so full of emotion that every strained note feels like a rend to the heart. The lyrics are a bit silly, but the feelings beneath carry the weight of the world.

08. Shakira “She Wolf”
Eighties-influenced dance music was everywhere in 2009, and Shakira’s She-Wolf is the best of the bunch. Her Latin sizzle is turned all the way up on this track that will make you howl.
(more…)