Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows Tracklist

1. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver – Bruised Orange (Chain Of Sorrow)

2. Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band – Wedding Day In Funeralville

3. My Morning Jacket – All The Best

4. Josh Ritter – Mexican Home

5. Lambchop – Six O’Clock News

6. Justin Townes Earle – Far From Me

7. The Avett Brothers – Spanish Pipedream

8. Old Crow Medicine Show – Angel From Montgomery

9. Sara Watkins – The Late John Garfield Blues

10. Drive-By Truckers – Daddy’s Little Pumpkin

11. Deer Tick featuring Liz Isenberg – Unwed Fathers

12. Those Darlins – Let’s Talk Dirty In Hawaiian

matt pond PA

I really love this group a lot and in fact I find that almost their entire catalog fits that autumnal season very well, especially Several Arrows Later.  But instead of choosing a track from that album I thought I would kill two birds with one stone and include this excellent cover of another band that fits the fall season very well, Neutral Milk Hotel.

matt pond PA – In An Aeroplane Over the Sea (Neutral Milk Hotel)

Iron & Wine

Here is a guy I am sure you are all familiar with by now.  Someone who like Nick Drake also got his first big exposure through the “Garden State” soundtrack. Well I find his contemplative lo-fi folk music to be great company on a sunny fall afternoon.  One of my favorite things to do is to go for a drive in the fall while the leaves are in transition and this song I chose for you here is one of my favorite companions along the way.

Iron & Wine – The Trapeze Swinger

M83′s Saturdays = Youth

Saturdays was an album that I heard last year and it went in one ear and out the other without making much of an impact.  But this fall it has penetrated down to my very core and has become one of my favorite records.  And I attribute a lot of that to the season in which it was heard, both physically and in my personal life.

M83 – Graveyard Girl

Explosions in the Sky’s The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place

One of the best experimental quartets around.  They were the first instrumental band that I was able to really get into and I find myself consistently going back to this album each fall. You might recognize them from their work for the soundtrack to “Friday Night Lights,” the television show.

Explosions In the Sky – Your Hand In Mine

The Radio Dept.

Here is another group that I would say has an autumn feel to their entire catalog.  Something about their music just takes me back.  It just puts me in this very retrospective mood. It’s not uncommon for music from my past to take me back to the time when it first captured me. But I just discovered this band about a year ago. I don’t know how they do it.

The Radio Dept. – Pulling Our Weight

Here are a few more tracks to help round out the playlist.

TV on the Radio – Family Tree

Grand Archives – Torn Blue Foam Couch

Broken Social Scene – Guilty Cubicles

Conor Oberst + Gillian Welch – Lua

Monsters of Folk – Say Please

MONSTERS OF FOLK FALL TOUR DATES

October

13 Vancouver, BC- Orpheum

14 Portland, OR- Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

15 Seattle, WA- Paramount Theatre

17 Oakland, CA- Fox Theater

18 Los Angeles, CA- The Greek Theater

20 San Diego, CA- Spreckels Theatre

21 Phoenix, AZ- Orpheum Theater

22 Santa Barbara, CA- Santa Barbara Bowl

28 Omaha, NE- Holland Center

29 Minneapolis, MN- Orpheum Theatre

30 Chicago, IL- Auditorium Theatre

31 Louisville, KY- Louisville Palace Theatre

November

02 Toronto, ON- Massey Hall

03 Boston, MA- The Orpheum

06 New York, NY- United Palace

08 New York, NY- Beacon Theater

09 Philadelphia, PA- Academy of Music

12 Stockholm- Philadelphia Church

14 Berlin- Huxleys Neue Welt

15 Copenhagen- Vega

17 London- Troxy

18 Paris- Elysee Montmartre

19 Koln- E-Werk

21 The Hague- Crossing Border

22 Antwerp- Crossing Border

M. Ward, Conor Oberst & Jim James – Girl From The North Country

Bright Eyes – Lua

Jim James & Calexico – Goin’ To Acapulco

M. Ward – Helicopter

Straying even farther away from the early Bright Eyes sound, many songs off of Outer Lives, such as the incredible closer, “Snake Hill”, reminded me of something that could be found on a Counting Crows album in the mid-90′s.  I absolutely love the way these guys use the electric organ on songs like “Roosevelt Room” with this jammin’ southern rock style they have going.  I can’t wait to hear what these guys have in store for 2010.

Conor Oberst – Air Mattress

Conor Oberst – Nikorette

The rest of the album can streamed here.

Conor Oberst posted a new song from his forthcoming album, Outer South, on his web-site to be streamed.  Click here to listen to “Slowly (Oh So Slowly).” Sounds like he is going to continue one with The Mystical Valley Band for at least one more record, which is great news for us.

New Leonard Cohen Album

If you head on over to NPR you can stream in its entirety the double disc collection Live in London by Leonard Cohen.  This is a great introduction for anyone who’s only interraction with Cohen’s music is the Rufus Wainwright cover of his epic “Hallelujah” found on the Shrek soundtrack.

The Killers Cover Bright Eyes

The Killers will relaese their song Spaceman off of their new record Day & Age as a single on April 14th.   Which wouldn’t be noteworthy at all, but for the cover of the very country Bright Eyes song, ” Four Winds” that was recorded for the B-side.

Where The Wild Things Are

The trailer for the new Spike Jonze interpretation of possibly the greatest children’s book ever, Where the Wild Things Are was released last week, and it looks awesome.  That partly due to how awesome Wild Thing looks, and then also because of the sweet version of The Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up” that is playing in the background.

Arcade Fire – Wake Up (ft. David Bowie)

New Death Cab For Cutie Record

Stereogum premiered a new Death Cab For Cutie record, The Open Door EP. Each day last week they would post one of the five tracks that were recorded during the Narrow Stairs process, but are definitely not outcasts.  My favorite might be the last track, which is the only unoriginal track of the bunch, a stripped down demo of “Talking Bird.”

ihopeyourearsbleed.com Music Video of the Week from Justin Metcalfe on Vimeo.

Here is the link to the HD version of the video if you don’t care to see my face:
http://www.vimeo.com/987234

Also availible as a video podcast: ihyebpodcast1

And make sure to check out the other videos by director Rick Alverson.

Songs featured in this video:

TV on the Radio: “Halfway Home”
Gregor Samsa: “First Mile, Last Mile”
Gregor Samsa: “Jeroen van Aken”
Conor Oberst: “Moab”

10 KaiserCartel – March Forth

One of the first bands I discovered via I Hope Your Ears Bleed mailbox that didn’t suck. In fact they didn’t suck so much that they made this list.  They are a cheery pop duo that kept me whistling all year with this fantastic debut. If you are a Mates of State fan check out this album for a double dose of pop candy goodness.  But don’t misunderstand that phrase and think that this album lacks substance or doesn’t leave you satisfied. Unlike most “pop candy” these guys have created something that will last. I will be enjoying this album for a long time to come.

KaiserCartel – Oh No

09 She & Him – Volume One

She & Him is made up of the gorgeous and very likeable actress, Zooey Deschanel and the him part is indie folk artist M. Ward. With her voice and song-writing combined with his gorgeous arrangements you get one of the most enjoyable and accessible records of the year.  I don’t know how anyone could not like this album at least a little bit.  Which might be why it ended up as Paste’s favorite album of the year.  It has a little something for everyone.

She & Him – Sentimental Heart

08 Anathallo – Canopy Glow

These guys are one of the most dynamic groups around. The orchestration on each song is very complex and they utilizes a wide variety of instruments, including horns, guitars, drums, piano, bells, strings, and the list could go on.  But what makes them so unique, and why love them so much is they also love to use tons of unconventional objects like chains, velcro strips, stomp boxes, pipes and even their own hands.  Plus they have incredible voices that they utilize as yet another instrument with great harmonies throughout the album.  Even with its late November release it has become one of the most played records of the year for me. Who knows how high it might have climbed the list had it been released earlier.

Anathallo – The River

07 The Silent Years – The Globe
This album provided for me not just the best song of the year, but just an all-around great rock album.  If that’s what you want to call it. I have a hard time describing this album since it seems jump genres from song to song. But it does so gracefully.  It isn’t disjointed at all.  It seems like their drummer somehow seems to carry you safely from song to song.  Not to mention the song-writing and vocals of Josh Epstein are impeccable.  This is another album that utilizes a plethora of instruments. But I think my favorite thing about the album is the way they use silence as an instrument in this stand-out track from their great sophomore effort.

The Silent Years – Black Hole

06 Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend

While I think that this band is one of the more overrated bands out there, I couldn’t help but include it in this list.  I probably listened to this album more than any other this past year.  It is incredibly fun and very different than anything else that’s being played these days.  Not to mention their song writing is very clever.  There are many standout tracks on this album, and if somehow you made it through 2008 without hearing these guys you have to give this album a listen.  I absolutely love the way the strings open this stellar track.  It takes me back a couple centuries to a time when you still had to squeeze oranges to get fresh orange juice, yet you were still somehow more sophisticated than today.

Vampire Weekend – M79

05 MGMT – Oracular Spectacular

This album started with just two freshmen art students  playing pretend that they were indie pop stars.  They started off just playing around with some synthesizers and pre-recorded vocals playing shows and just having some fun.  Before they new it they had a long-term deal with Columbia Records and were the opening act for Of Montreal. Still not able to believe their good fortune, when asked who they’d like to have produce their record, they responded with Prince, Nigel Godrich, Barack Obama, and “not Sheryl Crow.” Fortunately for us, they were hooked up with Flaming Lips collaborator, Dave Fridmann, who helped them create one of the best psychadelic indie-pop albums around.

MGMT – Kids

04 Mates of State – Re-Arrange Us

So if you haven’t noticed, I’m a big fan of catchy sing-a-long pop.  That is so long as it doesn’t completely suck.  Like this fantastically addictive, emotionally charged, hook-laden pop masterpiece.  While they have injected a little more piano than in the past, they haven’t strayed too far from their roots.  Hammel’s slick and drumbeats still drive the entire album, and Gardner’s vocals are better than ever. It’s soft and loud, sweet and sour, cheerful and melancholy. It’s a fully realized album that will appeal to indie snobs and ignorant radio listeners alike.  So whichever you are, go out and buy this album today.

Mates of State – The Re-Arranger

03 Noah and the Whale – Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down

Here is the fifth debut album to grace my top ten list (it’s not the last).  Yes I am a sucker for folk-rock bands that use lots of strings and horns throughout their songs.  But it is Charlie Fink’s songwriting that boosted this mediocre debut into the top of my list.  It’s hopeful songs like “Give a Little Love” and its more melancholy successor “Second Lover” that make this album so great.  And who isn’t put in a better mood when they hear “5 Years Time” pouring through the tv set?

Noah and the Whale – Second Lover

02 Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst

This is one of the last album’s I expected to make my list this year.  But I have not been able to stop listening ever since I saw him live back in September. Just think of a happy and country version of Bright Eyes.  I am blown away at how well Conor is able to do southern rock.  Make no mistake though, this is not a solo album in the least.  This record would be nothing without the Mystic Valley Band.  Let’s hope that he doesn’t just kick them to the curb and that these guys have only just begun their musical journey together.

Conor Oberst – Get Well Cards

01 Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago

While this list was difficult for me make, choosing who belonged on top was not.  Justin Vernon isolated himself in a remote cabin in Wisconsin just looking to get away and take a break.  And he walked out with the best album of the year. There was a tiny bit added upon his return in the studio (horns, backing vocals, drums), but the majority of the album is just Vernon and his hauntingly enchanting voice.

Bon Iver – Lump Sum

Well I hope you enjoyed the list and found at least one new album to out and purchase.  And stay tuned for the albums we’re most excited about for 2009.  Here’s to another great year of music. Huzzah!

Here are some full-length versions of some of the songs you just heard on Justin’s Top Ten presentation.

Conor Oberst – Souled Out!!!

Greg Laswell – How the Day Sounds

Dr. Dog – My Friend

Samantha Crain – The River

TV on the Radio – DLZ

The Silent Years – Aging Gracefully

Right Away, Great Captain! – Cutting Off the Blood to Ten

Bon Iver – Re: Stacks

Anathallo – All the First Pages

Colour Revolt – Ageless Everytime

I wasn’t too sure how much I was going to enjoy the Jenny Lewis set.  Although I am a huge fan of all things Rilo Kiley,  I was not too impressed with Rabbit Fur Coat.  Although it had a couple of great tracks it never really set well with me as a record.  It was a gospel album being sung by somebody who didn’t understand the gospel.   I think she felt the need to use all of this sort of redemptive jargon because of the genre of music and it just didn’t seem real or true for her.  But Jenny has got one the most incredible voices I have ever heard and she and her band, which included the very talented Johnathon Rice,  put on a mesmerizing show. I was sucked in the from the moment they took the stage.  I am now convinced that I need to give Jenny Lewis, the solo artist, another shot.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Acid Tongue ends up on my year end list.

Jenny Lewis – Acid Tongue (removed 2/13/09)

What I was even more surprised about was how much I enjoyed the performance by Oberst and his Mystical Valley Band. Oh how far he has come since the early days of Bright Eyes and Saddle Creek.  There was no skin tight jeans.  His hair wasn’t in his eyes.  No songs or comments about how much America or Bush suck.  And I actually saw him smiling, twice.  Not to mention that sound has changed drastically as well.  Words like bitter, angst-ridden, melancholy, and emo which have been so commonly attached to his name have to be thrown out the window when trying to describe the musical style of this new band that he has assembled.  Well he might still have a tiny bit of angst but he’s expressing it in a poppy and upbeat way (I Don’t Wanna Die In a Hospital).  Now I’m not suggesting that Oberst has lost his musical identity in any way.  Everything that he is doing today is still uniquely his, but it is incredible how much his sound has evolved over the years.  I for one am not about to complain about this musical evolution.  The fact that I was able to watch Oberst rock out in a barn with a southern rock band and an electric organ is just plain awesome. Some highlights of the night would have to be an acoustic version of Milk Thistle to close out the set and then a rockin’ version of I Don’t Want To Die (in a hospital) to finish up the encore.  And then we also had the privilege of hearing an incredible song that they wrote earlier that day.  It was possibly one of the most cleverly written songs I had heard from him in a long time.  I really hope that this isn’t the only time that he records with this all-star crew that he has assembled.  But in case this is a one time deal, make sure to catch the show when they come your way.

Conor Oberst – I Don’t Want to Die (in a hospital) (removed 2/13/09)

Jim James and his alt-country band My Morning Jacket released their fifth studio album, Evil Urges earlier this summer.  I haven’t had the chance to get my hands on the whole album yet. But everything I’ve heard is innovative to say the least.  It’s different but great. And from what I hear, their live show is not something to be missed.

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My Morning Jacket – Highly Suspicious (removed 2/13/09)

On the contrary Oberst has left his alt-country band behind and released a new solo effort?  Yeah I don’t know if that is exactly true.  Because Bright Eyes was basically a solo project already. So now with a not so new sound he is recording as Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band.  Here is a great acoustic track off of the self-titled album that was just released this August.

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Conor Oberst – Milk Thistle (removed 2/13/09)

So as for our good friend M. Ward, he has teamed up with actress Zooey Deschanel(Elf) to form the indie-pop duo She & Him.  She has such and lovely and playful and inviting voice.  And apparently she is a fantastic songwriter as well.  I just assumed that with Ward’s talent that he would end up writing all the songs for the project, but he didn’t write a one. I really hope that the title of their oh so catchy spring release is signifying that we should expect more albums from the duo to come in the future.  Well here is a glimpse of the charming and light-hearted She & Him.

She & Him – Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? (removed 2/13/09)

Here is a little glimpse of what we hope is to come. Hope your ears and eyes bleed.