Toaster's Year-End Top Five: Albums
photo cred.
ah, the Top 5. seeing as i grew up with High Fidelity ringing in my ears, i've decided to cut through the norm and shed the extras of the "Top 10," or the "Top 25," for that matter, and in their places i'm paying homage to Nick Hornby (and in some respects, John Cusack) by turning up the pressure and reducing all choices to just one: The Top Five. only, if you know hornby, he's much more unassuming about it. it's just the top five.

the decision-making process was much different than you may expect. all works were chosen almost entirely based on the resounding impact they had on me, and not by play count or overall blog popularity or anything else. music tends to pick at my emotions and cozy into the corners of my everyday, and if they manage to define a period of time and act as an umbrella over everything else i was listening to -- i essentially consider it for my top five. i'll have a sprinkling of different categories for you, but most applicable to this process are the albums and tracks, and that's what i'm starting with. might as well get right down to business, eh?

so here we are, "desert-island, all-time, top five":
[quick reference guide]

5. Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies
4. Band Of Horses - Everything All The Time
3. Annuals - Be He Me
2. Regina Spektor - Begin To Hope

1. The Long Winters - Putting The Days To Bed


the release of this album marks a turning point in my ability to listen to music i didn't know. i knew all about Destroyer and from whence he came, but i hadn't given him a chance -- staying true to old favorites, being a general bore. but this album wrecked all of that hesitation. it's absolutely brilliant and complex, and it deserves the top five everywhere.

5. Destroyer
Destroyer's Rubies

this band instantly found itself on my list of all-time favorites during the opening notes of the first song that i ever heard. i'm not joking. and Ben Bridwell's voice? nothing short of hypnotizing. they single-handedly defined a time period of my life and irrevocably influenced my taste in music. all in 2006. incredible.


4. Band Of Horses
Everything All The Time

this new act came later in the year and still deserves -- yes -- the number three spot on my list. i am in love with their sound, with their unique arrangements and most of all the refreshing range they can pull off from track to track. there isn't a song i skip on this entire album. most impressive is their age and fresh-faced efforts, so that i cannot wait until their next release.

3. Annuals
Be He Me

this woman amazes me. besides being completely in love with her, she is so fucking talented. those lyrics, sung by that voice, make her an absolute powerhouse. and this album, though maybe not my favorite up against Soviet Kitsch (yes, really!) still makes it to the number two spot on my list, and certainly sent her through the indie roof on everyone else's. man, she deserves it all.

2. Regina Spektor
Begin To Hope

no one is more surprised than i am that this is my album of the year. kind of like The Decemberist's Picaresque (didn't like it at all) versus The Crane Wife (adore it), i was just never an enthusiast about Roderick's When I Pretend To Fall. i say Roderick because he was the variable between the albums which had that make-or-break effect, just as Meloy was -- his lyrics were always impressive, interesting, and mostly a riot, but his voice could be jarringly prominent, mixed too far forward for me to really get into. but Putting The Days To Bed floored me, and slowly. over time i was drawn to it, drawn back again, sucked in irreversibly and made to learn every word, and now it's important to me; legitimately important to me. it has managed not to define a few months or a single event, but the feeling of an entire year, and there was absolutely no question in my mind when i set out to do this top five which album would be number one.

1. The Long Winters
Putting The Days To Bed

stay tuned over the next week for several kinds of top fives, from the best to the worst to the silliest, and all very fun. let us know what you think and most importantly, share your top fives if you'd like.

Labels: lists, series, top five, year end

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  Toaster Does Santa, Day 2: EXTRAVAGANZA. Rilo Kiley, Grandaddy, The Walkmen, The Lips -- and too much more. dear lovely readers. this post comes to you wrapped in Please, Please Open This Before Christmas. Please Rejoice, Dance, Sing, Frolic even. Please Break It Down. because your insane blogger here at NfT let the insanity level rise a little too high over the last week and a half (almost two weeks, oh, my god!) and found it beyond impossible to sit down and shed a little self-importance and write for the good of other people. sigh, sigh. but now - here i am, just a few days before the holidays - and i'm getting into the spirit. i'm learning... like... ha! you know who i'm like?

::::Alfie! The Elf! John Denver & The Muppets - Medley: Alfie & The Christmas Tree

it makes sense that i would slip that in, because it's essentially everything to do with my childhood wrapped into one sentimental mush-ball of a classic. it's pretty wonderful.

so are you getting the apology thing, yet?

let's not pretend this whole thing didn't happen, but learn from a mushy little tale and pretend i'm just learning about the joys of christmas. and then reap the freakin' benefits, yo, because i'm about to go Christmas-Day-Scrooge on all of you.

read on for an explosion of worthy Christmas tracks, and a rushed finishing of all that is the Noise For Toaster advent series.


[continuuued..]

Day 11
i just love the name - and you love this guy, and things are happy.
::::Badly Drawn Boy - Donna & Blitzen

Day 10
OH YES I DID.
::::Nsync - Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

Day 9
you know, a little sad, a little sweet, a little sappy, a lot of David Bazan and the old moniker.
::::Pedro The Lion - I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day

Day 8
i found this track on the B-Sides a few years ago and i never forgot it - in that beautifully, mystically haunting kind of way.
::::Damien Rice (with Lisa Hannigan) - Silent Night

Day 7
Jenny Lewis at her sad, sappy best. follow this up with a sugar spike, and you'll get the best of both worlds.
::::Rilo Kiley - Xmas Cake

Day 6
here, Weezer was worthwhile. and that's all i need to say.
::::Weezer - The Christmas Song

Day 5
i was waiting to post this until sometime toward the end, and technically Day 5 would've been a good day. this track is so damn good.
::::Guster - Donde Esta Santa Claus?

Day 4
clever, rockin', Grandaddy. they're so awesome.
::::Grandaddy - Alan Parsons in Wonderland

Day 3
i had to pay tribute to this "original indie man" with this almost-depressing tune which is absolutely beautiful.
::::Neil Finn - Sweet Secret Peace

DAY 2, AKA TODAY.
you didn't know they had two Christmas tunes, did you? that's what i'm here for.
::::The Flaming Lips - A Change At Christmas (Say It Isn't So)


BONUS! (oh, obviously.)
::::The Walkmen - No Christmas While I'm Talking
you wouldn't expect this, right? no kidding. it's really the same band. they have another track called Christmas Party up on their myspace.
Save Ferris - Christmas Wrapping
one of my favorite songs of all time is their cover of Cyndi Lauper's Dexy's Midnight Runners' Come On Eileen. and this is one of the best renditions of this song, ever. so. there you go.
Destroyer - Every Christmas
instrumental, and very short, but a nice finisher to this long, explosive post. take a deep breath! it's Destroyer.

Labels: series, Toaster Does Santa

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  Jackie Period: rare Sunset Rubdown

okay, let's face it. we're all pretty much going to have Shut Up I Am Dreaming on our best-of's (mm, have to get on that soon). so why not prep ourselves ahead of time and get tuned with a few rare EP tracks? it's the kind of thing Jackie does. shan lets the unknowns have their day in the sun, but not Jackie. Jackie is frigging cheap like that.

::::they're good tracks, though, i mean, come on.
Sunset Rubdown - Jason Believes Me, You Can't Trust Your Dreams

Sunset Rubdown - Three Colours II

the first is my favorite.

i remember when this came out, and NfT was just starting up. i'm a little too embarrassed to go back and look at the post about it. oh, Spencer Krug, weirdest looking ladies' man i know.

Edit: heyo! you anonymous commenters are ruthless. the pic was indeed Frog Eyes - sorry for the confusion - but lay off on the rarity of the tracks, maybe? if you're a veritable SR connoisseur then i suppose they aren't rare to you, but they're not from Shut Up I Am Dreaming. don't want 'em, don't take 'em, yo.

Labels: Jackie Period, series

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  Toaster Does Santa, Day 12: Ryan Adams, Boy Least Likely To!!

don't worry guys, i know this is really turning into the countdown for the last time that you have to see that picture. but i know you won't get sick of the jackie period! why? because it's amazing. those ducks get me every time.

today is day TWELVE. day TWELVE is a special day, because it's the day that my true love (and yours) will send me (us) a whole TWELVE drummers drumming. [if you're just tuning in, let these lyrics get you up to speed.] now, we're not going to do some uber-corny advent-meets-the-twelve-days-of-christmas campaign - don't worry. it's not like i have chocolate peppermint soy milk in my coffee this morning. (wow, that sounds gross. but it's actually true.)

anyway, what does the TWELVE mean? twelve, 12, 1-2, 1 defers to 2, so you get TWO tracks this morning, and you'll be really happy.

::::because Ryan Adams at your house means a fucking good party:
Ryan Adams - Hey Parker, It's Christmas
this is just a great song. it has a special quality to it that makes me wish it weren't about Christmas so I could play it over and over, all the time, all year long. you know, maybe i might anyway! who cares! he wouldn't. this is off of the Christmas 7" and it even has some awesome cracke-pop in it.

::::and because i don't know what we would do with Boy Least Likely To.
Boy Least Likely To - Little Donkey
exclamation point exclamation point!! oh, how i do love this band, and this little tune proves it even more. you know, i always feel like they are my good friends. (we hang out.)

twelve drummers drumming. oddly appropriate, huh? pipers piping, ladies dancing... lords a-leaping... swans a-swimming... swan lake? god, i could make the cheesiest series ever and have every song i post be relevant to those lyrics. i wouldn't be able to live with myself, don't worry. what would i do for five gold rings? record myself singing it. oh yes. yes i would.

Edit: okay kids, i'm not on top of things today. it's Jackie period for a reason, you know. apparently the twelve days of christmas don't start until the eve of the twenty-fifth -- thank you nice anonymous commenter -- and i was totally unawares, although the preposition "of" begins to ring in my ear [twelve days of christmas, therefore starting on christmas...] but in any case, if you love/pity me, just let it be the representative twelve, and enjoy the two tracks.

Labels: series, Toaster Does Santa

  shan  7:34 AM  |  view comments (6)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Toaster Does Santa, Day 13: Of Montreal

and it occurs to me, wait - it's Christmas - shouldn't we be spreading the love everywhere? shouldn't we be caring about all life, all vegetation, birds and bees and road signs -

but Of Montreal knows.
::::Of Montreal - Christmas Isn't Safe For Animals

we all need to watch our Red-Nosed Reindeer clay people special a bit more often, wouldn't you say? and then we'd all understand.

oh, my god, is it really under two weeks already?

Labels: series, Toaster Does Santa

  shan  10:04 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Jackie Period: Rock Kills Kid, Rogue Wave... discrimination is bad.

look. i'm the first person to see the words "The O.C." and run groaning with frustration into the other room. in fact, it happens frequently. so when i saw that the mainstream-indie goldminers at "The O.C. Soundtrack" offices made an album of all covers by "independent" artists... i more than groaned. i was pissed off, and i discriminated. i judged.

but, what do you know! there are a few gems. here are two of them, one from Rogue Wave -- one of my Top 5 Favorite Bands Ever And Ever Probably, in which they completely transform the Pixies' song "Debaser." i mean, completely. the other is from Rock Kills Kid, who is more of Alex's favorite than mine, but continues to impress both on the stage and in every recording they pull off. by the way, this one is the better out of the two (i heart Spoon), so what do i know?

::::oh, O.C.... why'd you kill off Mischa... (so the girlie mags/People tell me. sigh.)
Rock Kills Kid - I Turn My Camera On (Spoon cover)
Rogue Wave - Debaser (Pixies cover)

just to let you know, the album isn't half bad. there are a few almost unbearably emo-poppy-punky things on it (Goldspot covering "Float On" was a bad, bad idea) - but there's one track on there, Tally Hall covering "Smile Like You Mean It," which is better than the original song. move over, Flowers. far, far over.

p.s. anyone who came here for the first time from the Best Week Ever post yesterday must have been scratching their heads - "who the fuck is Jackie?"

Labels: Jackie Period, series

  shan  9:55 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Toaster Does Santa, Day 14: The Killers, John Denver & The Muppets
Day 15
seeing as it's deeply engrained into the very quick of my childhood holiday memories, there's no way i can go without posting a few of these classics along the way. this is a cover of another classic, so it's doubly cool.
::::John Denver & The Muppets - Little Saint Nick (Beach Boys cover) [1979]

Day 14
but -- mondays are for experiments. mondays are for rebellions. not tuesdays (you know better), not sundays (too tired) -- monday. nothing else will do but to rebel against monday. so today must be the perfect day for me to post this track.
::::The Killers - A Great Big Sled (feat. Toni Halliday) [right now]

merry christmas, kids! nothing like a wailing Brandon Flowers to get you in that holiday spirit.
but go on, listen... he wants to wish you a merry christmas.

er, for when the track gets pulled, here's the video (we're realistic here at NfT)

Labels: series, Toaster Does Santa

  shan  8:14 AM  |  view comments (2)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Jackie Period: Postal Service - rare tracks

i wasn't kidding.

here we are with the first installment of the jackie period. that is a picture of an oxford university experiment, and it's made me laugh harder than anything else recently. look at those ducks! they're all saying, what the hell is going on? in case you haven't been keeping score at home, i have the weirdest sense of humor. but anyway, on with what jackie has to say.

ah, tea. ah, burning hot tea bag. ah, morning duties, responsibility, 8 am doldrums -- the mail, i have to check the mail -- damn postal service and their sketchy unreliability... yes... that postal service, indeed... [humming]

aha! the postal service! that reminds me. [how'd you like that, kids, hmmm?]

::::i wanted to make sure you had these.
Postal Service - Suddenly Everything Has Changed (Flaming Lips cover)
Postal Service - Be Still My Heart (single release track -- not found on Give Up)
Postal Service - Against All Odds (Phil Collins cover. god, it's good.)

nice to have one version of the postal service to rely on, you know?
[yeah, yeah. merry whatever.]

Labels: Jackie Period, series

  shan  7:54 AM  |  view comments (4)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Toaster Does Santa, Day 16: Smashing Pumpkins, The Knife, Yo La Tengo

a lil' catchin' up. and on and on.

Day 18
::::Smashing Pumpkins - Christmastime
by the end of this advent series, this just might be your favorite track that i give you. it's probably one of my Top 5, which i'll pick out at the end of all of this. Corgan makes this a melodic, easygoing ride but makes it unmistakably Pumpkins - and what with their recording right now, you might just remember how good it all used to be...

Day 17
::::The Knife - Christmas Reindeer
the holidays just got a little brighter, didn't they? tell me this isn't amazing. do it. i dare you.

Day 16
::::Yo La Tengo - It's Christmas Time
there is officially no reason why i shouldn't give you two Christmas songs with the same title in the same post. this is a wonderful little tune. it's soft, mellow, and something i could listen to all year if they didn't repeat "It's Christmas Time" over and over.

more! more! more!
and more will come.

you greedy kids.

Labels: series, Toaster Does Santa

  shan  12:38 PM  |  view comments (2)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  the most important post ever in the next week, ever, always, forever, in the next week. alright kids. i'm going to be totally honest with you. the shan you know and love -- the one that says goofy stuff, tries to be at least a little creative, and always comes sprinting in from really (really) far left-field -- mhmm, that one -- is basically going to disappear for the next seven days. in her place will be robot shan, the one that says goofy stuff, tries to be a little creative, but quickly ducks in with about two sentences and a single track that you'll obviously like and will need very little introduction. in other words, i can't read up on my artists this week, guys. you'll still get the advent series Toaster Does Santa, but it'll have to come in bulk. we'll call this period


[img cred]
because i've decided that robot shan's real name is Jackie.

[just believe.]

all in all, i want you to drink lots of pumpkin spice lattes (or steamers, if you're like me and think the espresso ruins it), get sleep, eat warm dinners, and other things you're taking for granted. and if you live where it's still hot (remember, i'm in New England saying all of this), turn on the AC until frost accumulates in your windows and make some hot chocolate. do itttt.

i'll miss you,
shan
(the one you know and love)

Labels: Jackie Period, series

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  Toaster Does Santa, Day 19: No Doubt, The Flaming Lips

bet yer really likin' this pic about now. mm, only 19 more of it to go. best save it to your picture folder now.
go on. i'll wait.

hey there, lovers. ahem - holiday lovers. i have some music fresh out of the oven, no fire extinguisher this time, and i put some water in the kettle. you wanted coffee? hm. the instant's in the freezer, you can make that yourself.

::::from yesterday, Day 20:
No Doubt - Oi To The World
- - - hey, remember when Gwen had a band to back her up? no doubt you do (huh-ho!). this is an awesome track from way back when - well, from way back when they were really, really good, and everyone owned Tragic Kingdom, and they were this reggae ska Bostonesy party. yes, a party.

::::and from today, Day 19:
The Flaming Lips - White Christmas
- - - you know, Wayne Coyne sounds a little cracked out, and all of the instruments are warped a little (a lot), and the whole traditional Christmas tune is taken a little over to left field, dropped there and left to skitter through the blades of grass on its own... but you don't listen to the Lips to hear traditional, and you don't read this blog for everything to make sense. go paint something beautiful. something... white.

merry merry in nineteen more days. but you know you only have about fifteen more to buy presents. here's my recommendation: take all of my tracks, buy one big thing of blank cds, and burn all of your favorites into a mix. then pass them out with holly drawn on the jewel cases (it's okay if they look like gummi bears, i can't draw them either) and say you spent hours and hours collecting all the most cutting-edge and vintage-savvy Christmas tunes you could find. and smile a lot, that helps.

stay tuned for more "shan makes your life easier by 12%, guaranteed."

Labels: series, Toaster Does Santa

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  Toaster Does Santa, Day 21: Phantom Planet
i never, ever thought that at the top of my own post i would read the words "Phantom Planet" - let alone that i would ever give you one of their songs. nevermind the O.C. stigma and mostly cringe-worthy vocals, but they're Phantom Planet - they need no independent music source telling their story. they've pretty much got it covered.

but this morning around 7 o'clock, i started to look through this Christmas playlist i've been compiling over the years, sifting through tracks and bands and compilations, a little restless and a little unsatisfied. nothing would do for my readers this morning, nothing at all, nothing good enough. suddenly i glance over my shoulder out the window as the next song comes on, and what? what was that? a shock of white, great fluffy cotton balls hurling down from space, stark against the dingy buildings across the street. and what was playing? it was Phantom Planet's "Winter Wonderland," a song that just this weekend i was recommended (with more than a skeptical eyebrow-raise from me). ah, the irony. ah, my susperstition. ah, another decent poppy addition to the advent - and surely, mixed in with the rest, you'll be all about it.

::::Phantom Planet - Winter Wonderland

another excuse is that this is the antitype to the California song that makes you want to scratch your ears off, because it's about snow. go for it, i know you want it, even if it is the sketchy white chocolate of the advent sampler.

Labels: series, Toaster Does Santa

  shan  1:46 PM  |  view comments (1)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Toaster Does Santa, Day 22: McCartney, McRae and Orbison
i'm pretty sure i've been counting the days wrong. but it's okay! and on we go a' adventing...
ah, sundays. the perfect day for catching up with the advent calendar. i always forget on the weekends, anyway - the anticipation of what's beneath the flap on Fridays and Saturdays just isn't as cool as on weekdays, when you're procrastinating by every means possible. so, to make up for it, i'm going to give you three whole mp3s today.

the first is one you'll hear twenty-five hundred times this season on oldies radio and college stations alike. here you are with Paul McCartney's bright-'n-cheery-to-the-point-of-maybe-cringing 1979 hit, "Wonderful Christmastime." there's a very convenient little write-up of it here (yes, i linked you to bbc, who called him Macca. oh, my god).

::::Paul "Macca" McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime

just in case that song makes you want to kick something (i know a few people who have that knee-jerk reaction), here's an alternative version that i think you'll quite enjoy. it's a cover by Tom McRae, and my god, he takes the song and makes it this eery, melancholy, and simply gorgeous song, dark and with strings. this is the literal antithesis of McCartney's original song.

::::Tom McRae - Wonderful Christmastime

a little like sunday drivers, we're going to take it down a notch and throw you this holiday curveball. can you believe me? it's Roy Orbison's "Pretty Paper," written and also sung by Willie Nelson. very slow, but pretty great, and the lyrics make it for me.

::::Roy Orbison - Pretty Paper

edit: this link no longer leads to McCartney's song, but rather to the intended treat from Roy Orbison. thanks to the anonymous commenter for pointing it out.

ah, the advent overwhelm! don't worry, more tomorrow, back to one-a-day. sheesh, now the advent is like a vitamin... how many themes can we come up with, here...

Labels: series, Toaster Does Santa

  shan  9:34 AM  |  view comments (4)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Toaster Does Santa, Day 29: matt pond PA
and now for the next day in our mp3 advent calendar series...

only when i'm quiet, when i've lost the capacity for words or explanation or grand detail, great sweeping descriptions which always distract but maybe not inform - that's when you know it's big. it's very rare, and it's sure to spark possessive and perhaps unhealthy obsession, but it does happen periodically, and it happened with matt pond PA. i have been married to this band. it's hard to say more.

so it's only appropriate that i share with you one of their Winter-themed songs. while the whole Winter Songs EP is quite beautiful and works its magic as a complete piece, i'll give you this song as a sign of good will and with hopes that you'll be inspired to love and be loved by this music (and that you'll buy the album).

just before they cover Neutral Milk Hotel's "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea" (oh now you're interested) is the second-to-last track "Holiday Road." i'm told it's from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and even though i know that's a movie with Chevy Chase, i have to admit i don't know much else. if this makes me a failure at pop culture, i apologize. all i know is the mesmerizing quality of his voice, the lulling and the sweet darkness he always exudes in his song writing and style. it's a great alternative addition to your christmas collection.

::::and such beautiful strings:
mpPA - Holiday Road

ah, love it. wait, what's that? you're a fan? you want more mpPA, in the spirit of everything important (and their show here in Boston on Saturday)?

wish granted: mpPA - Snow Day

loveliness overwhelms.
head to the hype to find out who else wants to sell you one of my very favorite bands of all time (the claims! oh, the claims! but true).

Labels: series, Toaster Does Santa

  shan  9:09 AM  |  view comments (3)  |  post a comment  | links to this post  

  Toaster Does Santa, Day 30: The Polyphonic Spree

as the holidays draw near i've decided to create a sort of advent calendar of mp3s. so each weekday you can pop over here while we count 'em down and grab a holiday tune that we've found or heard forever, from a bunch of different styles and ages. i'll tell you straight off that holiday music is terribly lacking in the nondenominational department, so the vast majority of songs are geared for the Christmas audience. it's also as a result of my upbringing, i suppose. i'm not religious in any sense, but every year we had a tree and santa showed up and all. so now, over the years, i've twisted the meaning of the holidays into my own bright celebration of new england's cold weather, shameless commercialism, family parties, and hot 'n frothy beverages.

so here it is, NfT's newest feature, Toaster does Santa.

so! with all of that said, i'm going to start you off with a lovely little jaunt from The Polyphonic Spree covering Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." i don't quite do word shortenings - for instance, you'll never read "dunno" or the classic "lol" or "omg." but it's truly "Xmas," as Lennon and Yoko intended, so it's Xmas here damn it.

The Spree makes one of the most depressing Christmas songs ever made into still one of the most depressing Christmas songs ever made. it's a switch for them, however, highlighting vocals like they never quite do, sounding just the slightest bit like Wayne Coyne (Lips) on, say, "Do You Realize??." it works perfectly, with the chorus of children in the background singing exactly the part you would have them sing - "waaaarrrr iiiiiiss ooooooo-ver.."

::::so this is Christmas, and what have you done? (sob.) :
The Polyphonic Spree - Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

this track appears on the compilation Maybe This Christmas Tree, released in 2004, featuring a few other great artists that we might be throwing in for the rest of this mp3 advent calendar.

Labels: series, Toaster Does Santa

  shan  7:11 AM  |  view comments (0)  |  post a comment  | links to this post