“Crowdsourcing killed indie rock. You wanna know why? Because crowds have terrible taste.” – Christopher R. Weingarten

After 3 years of self-induced blog anxiety I’m finally coming to terms with my random and infrequent posting schedule. There are so many blogs and sites and tweets spewing information and repeating each other that it’s become an exercise in futility trying to make sense of it all. I hate posting unless I feel that it’s something unique. It’s become impossible to actually listen to all the new music coming out let alone write about it (which is frustrating because it’s so easily accessible and I’m somewhat of a completist).

I recently opined that there hasn’t been a year which produced as many of my favorite albums as 2003 and I don’t think it’s coincidence that those were mostly albums which I was introduced to through word of mouth. My friends and I actually purchased Give Up by The Postal Service on a road trip to Montreal and we listened to it the whole way home. Imagine that? Paying money for a record and sharing the enjoyment of the first listen with friends? That shit just doesn’t happen anymore.

The ease with which music is obtained isn’t as much of a problem as the ubiquitous and pointless commentary that surrounds it. I agree wholeheartedly with what Christopher R. Weingarten says in the following speech from the 140 Character Conference – especially how reviews are simply reporting on trends. I’m guilty of it too; my first post was about Voxtrot for crying out loud.

I enjoy forming my own opinions about music, but I also enjoy reading descriptive critiques which help me form those opinions without heavy-handedly telling me what I should think. Those reads are becoming harder to find as they get drowned out by the citizen media mass.

Chris seems upset that he doesn’t get to help people “discover” music like he used to, but his point about the masses deciding what is covered by media outlets is very true. Perhaps I’m sympathetic to his speech because I totally agree with his number one example of a terrible band that everyone is fawning over. In any case, I liked what he said enough to post the whole thing here. It’s an entertaining speech.

All that being said, I’m working on some recordings from the Northside Fest from some great young bands. I’ll be self-employed in a few weeks so I will probably find more time to share live recordings again.

In summary, stop wasting your life reading all the pointless comments on Brooklyn Vegan and Stereogum. Stop basing your opinions on lists. Go to shows. Lots of them. Make it there in time for the opening band you never heard of and buy their record. Explain to your friends why [insert band here] is awesome. Elaborate. Discover music at your local record store. Just TRY to wait until a release date and actually remember what it’s like to ANTICIPATE an album. Get away from your computer. I am contributing to the problem. Stop reading this. Bomb the blogosphere! And rebuild it with substantive opinions.

After the Jump presents New Year’s Eve 2007
New York City
taking over two levels of the
Knitting Factory
in support of
Education Through Music

with
Dirty Projectors
Foreign Islands
Care Bears on Fire
Senryu
Poingly
after-party hosted by Cex, with special guests Ecstatic Sunshine, Alan Astor, Wzt Hearts

Tickets on sale now via ticketweb or ShopText through the Knitting Factory site

curated by the people behind:
themusicslut . batteringroom . disconap . earfarm . ryspace . irockiroll . musicsnobbery . merryswankster . softcommunication . theunderratedblog . sitdownstandup . watercoolergossip . bumpershine . themodernage . productshopnyc . yetidontdance . slapyouinpublic . subinev . punkphoto . poptartssucktoasted . stereoactivenyc . fingeronthepulse

for more information, please email:

booking: booking@afterthejumpfest.com
charity: charity@afterthejumpfest.com
sponsors: sponsors@afterthejumpfest.com
publicity: publicity@afterthejumpfest.com

Live Music Venue of the Year

My Vote: If you know me at all, you’ll know that Bowery Ballroom is my favorite place on Earth. But this year’s lineup at the Mercury Lounge was far better and they get my vote. McCarren Pool was a unique venue that would have a chance if the sound was better on average.

Prediction: Will all the New York options cancel each other out? If so, I think Emo’s wins being the only venue in Austin. I’m a little bit surprised Stubb’s isn’t nominated as well.

Left Out: I love the New York scene and Plug obviously has a New York bias, but I’d like to see some other venues from around the country. Maybe the 9:30 Club in D.C. or one of the nicer venues in Seattle? Union Hall is a great place, but I don’t know if it belongs on this list yet. And Cake Shop? If Cake Shop makes the list why not The Hook, Northsix, Pianos or any other better-than-average venue in New York? I think venues should be nominated based on events held in the current year. For that reason I’m impartial to the Crystal Ballroom in Portland which housed Sleater-Kinney’s farewell shows, even though their typical schedule is not as heavy on the indie music as other places mentioned.

Indie Rock Album of the Year

My Vote: I had to vote for Dirty On Purpose here. As “indie rock” becomes a broad label, I think they are a good example of the core of the genre. In my meticulously organized iPod, Belle and Sebastian are listed as “pop”, while Silversun Pickups and the Hold Steady are listed as “rock”. Maybe it’s because most things I listen to are “indie” by definition and you could throw that label in front of the labels I give to my music. And then bands like Dirty On Purpose, Broken Social Scene and Bound Stems would be “indie indie rock”. (Did I lose you yet?) By that token, Annuals would be my runner up.

Prediction: The Hold Steady are the hands down favorite to take this category.

Left Out: Bound Stems released a great indie rock album this year. And did everyone forget about Destroyer? I feel like that was the first album of the year that everyone expected to see on year-end lists. Asobi Seksu also put out a great album. Perhaps their orange jewel case will propel them to victory in the album art/packaging category, but Joanna Newsom will be hard to beat.

Electronic/Dance Album of the Year

My Vote: I think electronic and dance could be two different categories, even though one usually falls under the umbrella of the other. Hot Chip and Junior Boys put out great albums, but my vote goes to Herbert who combines samples in absolutely incredible fashion to create well-crafted songs with a truly unique sound.

Prediction: Girl Talk appeals even to people who know nothing about electronic music, which is one reason I think dance should be a separate category. The Knife probably wins if Gillis does not.

Left Out: Vitaminsforyou – The Legend of Bird’s Hill. I cannot believe that there hasn’t been more said about this CD. You can expect to hear me sing it’s praises as the year comes to a close. Venus Hum, Ms. John Soda, B. Fleischman and Oppenhimer also top my list of electronic albums.

Male Artist of the Year

My Vote: I feel like this category is full of people who could have won this award last year, but didn’t do all that much in 2005. Jamie Lidell and Sufjan Steven both released material to supplement last year’s great albums and I enjoyed John Darnielle’s material from last year more than Get Lonely. Greg Gillis made a really fun album and I do consider remixing an art, but I can’t hold it as high as something wholly original. Beirut may be the brainchild of Zach Condon, but I prefer the full live band to the record and have trouble seeing them/him as a singular male artist. In the end, I voted for Jamie Lidell who really is a one-man band and puts on a great live show.

Prediction: Everybody loves Sufjan.

Left Out: My favorite male artist this year and every year is Ted Leo, but he didn’t release new material so I’d give my imaginary write-in vote to Jens Lekman. As forerunners of the Swedish invasion, Lekman and Jose Gonzales both had great albums, which were originally released late last year but didn’t seep into my consciousness until 2006. Gonzales may be a better pick because he did actually have new material this year (his work with Zero 7) but Jens put on the best male solo performance I’ve seen in the past year and this opinion doesn’t count for anything so I’ll use whatever rationale I want. I’ve recently heard John Roderick, Will Scheff and Colin Meloy all perform solo and think that they are engaging enough sans-band to be mentioned.

New Artist of the Year

My Vote: Beirut. They truly came out of nowhere and lived up to the internet hype when so many others did not. They went from playing a shaky first show, to well-reviewed gigs at Northsix and Mercury, to selling out two nights at Bowery before touring to the point of exhaustion. In six months, their career trajectory rivals bands that have been around for years. And I believe that they are far from dropping into obscurity.

Prediction: I think Beirut is a little too niche to win the category. I predict Voxtrot, although depending on who votes, I could see Arctic Monkeys winning. I try not to base my opinions on buzz and press, but I probably would have liked them a whole lot more if NME had liked them a whole lot less.

Left Out: ¡Forward, Russia! Hands down, my favorite new act of 2006. There were very few bands who released such an energetic rock album and had the live show to back it up. I can’t figure out if Oppenhimer can be considered new or not, but they were another one of my favorite discoveries this year.

Album of the Year

My Vote: The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls In America. Silversun Pickups were a close second in my book, however their live show is far better than the album. Same goes for Beirut. I expect both of their follow-up albums to be amazing. The Hold Steady did a great job of capturing their stage presence on record, which is something I always look for in an album.

Prediction: The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls In America. Every album on this list has its share of fans, but I sense that the Hold Steady has more than anyone else. Then again, I might just have my head up my blogger butt. And I will never use that phrase again.

Left Out: Though they aren’t technically indie anymore, TV on the Radio and The Decemberists both put out great, creative albums this year. Peter, Bjorn and John may have made the ballot if the album came out earlier in the year.

This week I finally saw a show at the newish Nokia Theater in Times Square. I have to hand it to whoever designed the acoustics there. The walls and ceiling are covered with sound absorbing panels, practically eliminating reverb and allowing the engineer to have total control over the sound. However, everything sounds lifeless and the experience is not intimate at all. The sound doesn’t even appear to be coming from the stage. It’s as if you are listening to the band’s album surrounded by annoying drunk teenagers. Thanks, but I can do that at home and save $31 while not having to repress the urge to kill the inconsiderate jerks in front of me.

Modest Mouse – Float On (live at Nokia Theater)

Now, last Friday I found myself on the opposite end of the acoustics spectrum. I saw The Shondes at the Brooklyn Lyceum in Park Slope in a cavernous room that was too reverberant for it’s own good. This place makes Webster Hall sound like the Bowery Ballroom. Still, I haven’t been able to get this song out of my head.

The Shondes – What Love Is (live at the Brooklyn Lyceum)

So on one hand, you have a older band that I’ve loved for years, playing an acoustically “perfect” venue for two hours. On the flip side, there’s a young band that I’d recently heard for the first time, playing in an echo chamber for half an hour. And here’s the moral that you probably saw coming for a while now. I enjoyed watching The Shondes play much more than I enjoyed Modest Mouse.

The Modest Mouse show was one of the most disappointing concerts I’ve been to this year. Blame it on the annoying crowd, blame it on their setlist, blame it on the Tetons… or blame it on the sound in Nokia. Even if they were trying to sound exciting, the message would have been lost by the time it reached the speakers. And don’t get me started on this new “dance rock” version of “Tiny Cities Made of Ashes”. I was really pulling for them to play songs from my favorite album – until I heard this. I still like Modest Mouse a whole bunch, but they’re not the same band who recorded the albums that made me fall in love with them.

Modest Mouse – Tiny Cites Made of Ashes (live at Nokia Theater)

The Shondes (Yiddish for “disgrace” or “outrage”) are a young Brooklyn band who refer to themselves as “queercore” and revel in being outcasts among outcasts. Their songs combine energetic distorted guitar, frantic drums and multiple vocal lines to create politically charged indie/punk rock in true riot grrrl fashion. This gentile can’t claim to fully understand their politics, but I am fascinated by their passion and desire to use music as a vehicle for their beliefs. Read more about them at their website and in this article from the Village Voice.

The Shondes – I Watched The Temple Fall (live at the Brooklyn Lyceum)

[The last residual effect of my completely destroying the website two weeks ago is that I haven't been able to edit the sidebar (which I realize has said "August" for three months). You should be aware that Limbs is on my radar this week - Thursday night at NorthSix.]

After viewing the lineup for the Austin City Limits festival in September it became a consideration. Once I saw the price it was decided. It’s not as cheap as the Pitchfork festival, but $110 for a three day festival is still a good deal. Two tickets to the festival for less than it would now cost me to see Radiohead in New York. I’d link to eBay to prove that, but that would almost be like supporting it. I’m still in disbelief over how many tickets ended up there. (I did manage to get tickets for one night in Philly. Hurrah.)

I’ve never been to Austin but I’m terribly excited about the trip. The hotels seem to have jacked thier prices for the weekend, but as of now I’ve reserved a bed at the American Youth Hostel for $20 a night. It’s 45 minutes by bus from Zilker Park due to transfers, but I’m thinking I’ll just rent a bike ($10/day) and pedal 3 miles or walk. Now I just need a flight. JetBlue flies there now but they’re actually more expensive than most other flights I’ve checked out. Total estimated cost for the trip is around $500. Not bad for 130 bands and a vacation from New York.

While I’m looking ahead to Austin I’m also looking around the corner to SASQUATCH! next weekend. I’ve decided that’s the proper way to type it. You’d probably scream too if a big ol’ Yeti was bearing down on you. They finally released the schedule and I just realized Stephen Malkmus was added to the festival. I’ll have to catch the end of his set after Sufjan’s 50 minutes. Wish they could give him some of Ben Harper’s two hours. (I better learn to like him though; he’s also headlining in Austin.) A lineup as good as this one is bound to have it’s share of conflicts and disparities.

The beautiful thing about The Gorge is how easy it is to bounce between stages. The Main Stage is at the bottom of a large hill which acts as a sound barrier for the other two stages. The Yeti Stage is just over the top of the hill and the Wookie Stage is only a little further away. Last year I managed to get pretty well burned in just one day so I’ll be packing lots of sunscreen. I’ll be there Saturday and Sunday because I couldn’t see paying $55 for a few bands on Friday. Maybe I would have gotten the “Three Day Pass” if it wasn’t exactly three times the cost of the daily tickets.

SASQUATCH! is sponsored in part by my favorite radio station KEXP who have been broadcasting from New York this past week. In a few hours I’ll be down at Gigantic Studios to watch Land of Talk and Dr. Dog play live on the air. Land of Talk also plays tonight at Mercury Lounge with Slowlands and three other bands.