at The Vera Project

Nana Grizol played The Vera Project on Tuesday, Jan. 19th along with Max Levine Ensemble, iji and A Million Years Ago. If you didn't already know about this show... see here, here, here, here, and here.

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I am fairly certain that imaginary keenan and I have created an airtight case to get yourself to the Vera Project on Tuesday {1/19} to see Nana Grizol {exhibits one, two, three, four}, but here are a couple more reasons to get you and your posse there:

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{Nana Grizol photo by Jon Manning}

Update! Looks like we found another pair of tickets! Folks who've already entered are still eligible! Details after the jump!

There are some bands that we could go on for hours about how much we love. Athens, GA's Nana Grizol are no exception. I've personally taken to describing them as a combination of the Thermals and the Weakerthans with a horn section, but that barely even scratches the surface of their sometimes 8-infinity piece band awesomeness (complete with floppy hair-ed jumping up and down). Their songs are so heartwrenchingly beautiful and meaningful, complete with lyrics that make you rethink your entire attitude towards life (ex: "Cynicism isn't wisdom/it's just a lazy way to say that you've been burned" from their new album Ruth).

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{Jens Lekman photo by Trickshot Photography}

Here's a group of songs that have pretty much changed my life in the last 10 years. I don't know what I would have done without these songs, but I certainly wouldn't have been as happy. Some of them fit into amazing albums, as a perfect little puzzle piece completing a work of art, and some are just amazing stand out tracks. I have probably listened to each of these at least several hundred times. Each song has either a video, an MP3, or a streamable file, so listen along with me! I hope I help create a new obsession, or remind you how much you love a song. Enjoy, and please feel free to post your own lists in the comments!

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{press photo}

Reading press releases at work has it's downfall. If you read something really awesome, it's hard to not react too much or look too excited. Case in point when I found out about Maintenant, the premier release by (the mostly Canadian) Gigi - a "supergroup" of sorts, with songs written in the classic 60's Brill Building/Phil Spector style by Vancouver's Nick Krgvich (P:ano, No Kids) and vocals by Mirah, Zac Pennington of Parenthetical Girls, Rose Melberg, Karl Blau, and more. I am a huge sucker for 60's pop. Start that reverb soaked thump-thump-thump-clap beat with some crooning lovelorn vocals, and chances are, I'll be won over. These two early release songs are no exception. "No My Heart Will Go On" features a chorus of ladies, and "Strolling Past the Old Graveyard" features an extra melancholic Karl Blau at the helm. File this under release I'm ready to pee my pants over in 2010.

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As you might have seen yesterday in my best of the decade list, I LOVE Beulah. I'm such a sucker for Miles Kurosky's songwriting, and sadly, I didn't discover my love for Beulah until after their demise as a band. Every time I put on The Coast Is Never Clear, I wonder what it would have been like to see Beulah, and I always make some comment that they're one of the bands I would travel back in time to see if I could (also on that list - Elvis Costello in 1977-80 and REM 1980-84). And now, though it's not a Beulah reunion, it's good enough for me, Miles Kurosky is coming out with a new record this year titled The Desert of Shallow Effects, AND he's going to be playing with a full band in Seattle at the Tractor on April 10th!

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{stylish photo by nancyo23}

I hope I'm not getting too granular with my listage, but given the empowering nature of  turning the page on the decade, I can't help myself--I wanted to make sure that that certain song gems didn't go unrewarded for their brilliance.

Thusly, I compiled the below list of songs released in the last decade that are total A+++, but who's album didn't make it on my favs of the decade list... either because the song is from an EP or single; the album is good, but not as solid as the 75 albums that made my list; a bunch of other albums by the band/artists appeared on the list; or I just was bad with tabulating and this should have been on the list based on the strength of said song alone.

Please enjoy the below a recap of the top 10 songs from the last decade that amaze me beyond belief (and didn't make my favorite albums of the decade list). What amazing splashes of song brilliance rocked your 2000-2009? I bet between all of us we could make the most amazing quad-mix cd ever!

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{Long Winters photo by Trickshot Photography}

Because I'm some kind of masochist and a total nerd, I've been slaving over this list, keeping it brief (harder than you'd think!) at my favorite 20 albums of the decade without duplicating a band (even harder). Side note: I've probably forgotten something I really, really love, so let's just call this how I feel right this minute. These are the albums I know every note and breath of by heart and I love as complete albums with all of my soul. These are albums that in my humble opinion have no skipable track and are works of beauty in their entirety. I'd also like to point out that these are my favorite albums, as I tend to shy away from calling them "the best", as really, it's just my opinion, and who am I to tell you that you're wrong for not liking these records? (Though, if you catch me in a potentially altered state, I may completely negate that and call any number of these THE GREATEST of all time and call you wrong to your face if you disagree.) I digress. Here they are!

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Yesterday I divulged my favorite albums of the year. Today I am ready to let go of my latest obsession: My album recap of how I spent my 00's.

The below listage rant is my own little time capsule to remind myself why 2000-2009 musically ruled. As with my other list posts, I'm certain I totally forgot to add something really important to my end-all-be-all-recap. It's up to you to remind me by posting your favs of the 00's below.

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For some reason as stressful as it is sometimes to do, I found myself compiling a bunch of year end and decade end lists over the holiday weekend. So many so, I decided to spread out all my lists throughout the week. Today we'll start with the meat of the list -- my favorite releases of 2009.

As long as I've been making lists, it's always been apparent that I'm partial to Pacific Northwest bands... and this year it's especially so. I'm sure I've forgotten something that I love beyond belief.. but here is the list as of *right now*. What are your favorite local and non-local releases of 2009?

 

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