#29: Tourist History

Tourist History

Two Door Cinema Club

2010

Kitsuné Records (Europe, based in France)

Glassnote Records (US)

Peak position on the charts:

#33 - UK Albums Chart

N/A - US Billboard 200

Ironically, and I swear I didn't know this at the time, I've started this countdown with two debut albums by artists from the British Isles who signed with Glassnote Records in the United States. At that point, though, the similarities between Two Door Cinema Club and Mumford and Sons end.

Two Door Cinema Club formed in Northern Ireland in 2007 and gained their roots by posting their music on MySpace. Followers of the group grew to the point that the band decided to drop out of the university they attended (where the members met) and pursue a career in music. Three years later, Tourist History was created.

A mix of the riffing guitars of Les Savvy Fav, the sounds of Vampire Weekend, and a hint of vocals that can be compared to those of Ben Gibbard, Two Door Cinema Club have developed a unique conglomeration of styles already produced by established bands. What results is an upbeat, thick-but-clean set of songs that are very easy to listen to.

Tourist History as a whole is extremely consistent; never will you find me skipping a song in anticipation of the next one. Each song is comparable in strength to the one before it.

That very consistency, though, is somewhat of its downfall.

I kept expecting, as the album wound down, to find at least some resemblance of a slow song, a song with a relaxed beat and softer guitars and lyrics (as almost all albums seem to), but it was not to come. (The first fifteen or so seconds of "Eat This Up, It's Good For You" offer what seems to be the start of soft tune, but the fast-paced electro-beats immediately set you straight.) This, of course, is not an automatic knock off its overall rating, but the ten songs that make up Tourist History are all nearly identical in structure, sound, and style, leading to what appears to be a lack of depth and creativity.

That being said, though, there's a reason I placed this album above Mumford and Son's Sigh No More. Mumford and Son's may offer a bit more complexity, and definitely more variety, with their offerings, and several of the songs on Sigh No More are better than anything Tourism History has to offer, but outside of Mumford's great songs are a few that seem to miss the mark. As I go through the tracks on Sigh No More, it just seems to fall off somewhere after the end of "Little Lion Man". Tourist History keeps pumpin' til the very last second. Literally.

And while I said Two Door Cinema Club never really changed their structure and sound throughout Tourist History, the fact remains that the structure and sound they did use was remarkable. Each song is catchy, masterful, and just plain fun to listen to.

The music world can only hope for a Cage-The-Elephant-esque explosion of experimentation and creativity in their next album. It should be fantastic.

Below I have embedded a link for "I Can Talk", as well as a full track listing for the album (since I couldn't really recommend a set four or five).

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Track Listing:

1. Cigarettes in the Theatre (3.33)
2. Come Back Home (3.23)
3. Undercover Martyn (2.47)
4. Do You Want It All? (3.28)
5. This Is the Life (3.30)
6. Something Good Can Work (2.43)
7. I Can Talk (2.56)
8. What You Know (3.10)
9. Eat That Up, It's Good For You (3.44)
10. You're Not Stubborn (3.11)

#30: Sigh No More

Sigh No More

Mumford and Sons

2009

Island Records (UK)

Glassnote Records (US)

Peak position on the charts:

#2 - UK Albums Chart

#2 - US Billboard 200

Let me start off by noting that this album received a 2.1 out of 10 rating over at Pitchfork, showing that review sites don't always get it right.

Rising out of what British media called the "West London folk scene" (a label Marcus Mumford himself found preposterous), Mumford and Sons toured throughout Europe with nothing but loaned instruments and a four song EP entitled Love Your Ground. They quickly gathered an underground-type following, and rose to grandeur when British producer Markus Darvs, famous for his contributions on such albums as Coldplay's Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends and Arcade Fire's recent Grammy winning The Suburbs. Signing with Island Records in the UK, and briefly after with Glassnote Records in the US, Sigh No More came into full fruition and was released in October of 2009. The lead single off the album, "Little Lion Man", was well-received, reaching #1 on the US Alternative Songs chart and making them a main-stage band for the first time in their brief careers. At the 53rd Grammy Awards in 2011, Mumford and Sons was nominated for two awards, Best New Artists and Best Rock Song for "Little Lion Man", but won neither.

Each member of the West London quartet is quite musically inclined; each member is a multi-instrumentalist. Rarely, in concert, will any member play the same instrument for consecutive songs. In part, their mix-and-match ability helps to energise their performances. Really, the only measure of pure consistency within the band itself is Marcus Mumford's vocals.

Frankly, though, his vocals are what propels Sigh No More above anything else that has come out of the West London folk scene.

The tenderness of his voice often leads into a breakpoint of harshness and what sounds like built-up anger. (This is particularly evident in the lesser-known songs, such as "White Blank Page" and "I Gave You All".) The lyrics are of a heart-broken man who is still trying to figure out where he went wrong:

"So tell me now, where was my fault

in loving you with my whole heart?"

-- "White Blank Page"

until the point that he figures it out:

"But it was not your fault but mine.

And it was your heart on the line.

I really fucked it up this time

didn't I my dear?"

-- "Little Lion Man"

and:

"Align my body, my heart, my mind

to face what I've done and do my time."

-- "Dustbowl Dance"

The band is not purely bent of vocal beauty, though. For every transition to soft and sorrowful to brash and upset is an equal wonderful instrumental buildup, from a soft, simple guitar line to a thick, fast-paced banjo paired with a mandolin, full drum set and occasional dirty electric guitar riffs (if they can be called that). The overall musicality that Mumford and Sons brings to Sigh No More -- their debut album, no less -- is expertly done, and the complexity of what they put together, while easy to overlook, is certain evident.

Well done, Mumford and Sons. You have put together a truly beautiful album.

A link to a youtube video of "Winter Winds" is embedded in the Recommended Tracks section below.

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Recommended Tracks:

The Cave (3.38)

Winter Winds (3.40)

I Gave You All (4.20)

Little Lion Man (4.07)

Top 30 Albums

For the next month or so, I'm going to try to consistently count down my top 30 albums from 30-1, once a day.

Each entry will include the album artwork, artist, and production company, along with any description of the album necessary to understand its place on the list. Also, I will most likely tag in a paragraph of personal ranting that expresses what it is that attracts me to the album.

If I wind up doing this on Tumblr, too, I may consider posting a song from the album... but I'm not entirely sure how legal that is. So I may not. We'll see. :P

Next up: # 30!

Top 150 songs

The last time I sat down to make a top songs list, I was eating macaroni and cheese at Panera the weekend of Halloween. It was a Top 25 list.
I decided it was time to blow that list out of the water.

Thus, I present my very first Top 150 songs list.

This list is very easily subject to change and is no way set in stone (as music charts rarely are anyway). The top ten, for example, contain a Dr. Dog song, who I may still be a little high on after the Richmond concert, and a Keane song, fresh off what Curtis labelled "a Keane kind of day" yesterday.

So is this list completely objective?

...

OF COURSE NOT.

Is that even possible?

The list is organised based off two primary categories:

1. Musical quality. A complex song is given more consideration than a flat one. (But yes, "simple" songs can also be complex, if that is their aim.)

2. Personal attraction to the song. Bluntly, songs I like more are obviously going to have a higher ranking than songs I'm not too crazy about.

That being said, a song that might be a personal favourite of mine could easily be much lower ranked than expected, due to its lack of musicality. For example, Profanity Prayers is among my favourite songs by Beck, and is in fact my favourite off the album Modern Guilt, but there really isn't much to it, frankly, and so lands at # 102, and is the fourth of the songs off the album to appear.

The list:

#		Artist	Song	Album	Year
1	//	Beck	Cellphone's Dead	The Information	2006
2	//	The Black Keys	Psychotic Girl	Attack & Release	2008
3	//	Cold War Kids	Hospital Beds	Robbers & Cowards	2007
4	//	Keane	Sunshine	Hopes and Fears	2004
5	//	Radiohead	Reckoner	In Rainbows	2007
6	//	MGMT	Of Moons, Birds & Monsters	Oracular Spectacular	2007
7	//	Dr. Dog	The Girl	We All Belong	2007
8	//	Beck	Lord Only Knows	Odelay	1996
9	//	Radiohead	Lotus Flower	The King of Limbs	2011
10	//	Coldplay	Fix You	X&Y	2005
11	//	The Shins	Sea Legs	Wincing the Night Away	2007
12	//	Beck	Broken Drum	Guero	2005
13	//	Cake	Easy to Crash	Showroom of Compassion	2011
14	//	Islands	Rough Gem	Return to the Sea	2006
15	//	Cold War Kids	Saint John	Robbers & Cowards	2007
16	//	Broken Social Scene	Romance to the Grave	Forgiveness Rock Record	2011
17	//	Beck	Farewell Ride	Guero	2005
18	//	Radiohead	Climbing Up the Walls	OK Computer	1997
19	//	MGMT	Siberian Breaks	Congratulations	2009
20	//	Sun Airway	Your Moon	Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier	2010
21	//	Beck	Volcano	Modern Guilt	2008
22	//	Mumford & Sons	The Cave	Sigh No More	2009
23	//	Cold War Kids	We Used to Vacation	Robbers & Cowards	2007
24	//	Local Natives	Wide Eyes	Gorilla Manor	2009
25	//	Two Door Cinema Club	I Can Talk	Tourist History	2010
26	//	Cold War Kids	Relief	Loyalty to Loyalty	2008
27	//	Dr. Dog	Army of Ancients	Fate	2008
28	//	Small Black	Hydra	New Chain	2010
29	//	Grizzly Bear	Cheerleader	Veckatimest	2009
30	//	Ra Ra Riot	Ghost Under Rocks	The Rhumb Line	2008
31	//	Keane	She Has No Time	Hopes and Fears	2004
32	//	MGMT	4th Dimensional Transition	Oracular Spectacular	2007
33	//	Broken Social Scene	World Sick	Forgiveness Rock Record	2010
34	//	Fleet Foxes	Mykonos	Mykonos - Single	2009
35	//	Beck	Chemtrails	Modern Guilt	2008
36	//	The Flaming Lips	Watching the Planets	Embryonic	2009
37	//	Radiohead	Jigsaw Falling Into Place	In Rainbows	2007
38	//	Bon Iver	Flume	For Emma, Forever Ago	2008
39	//	The Black Keys	Strange Times	Attack & Release	2008
40	//	The Shins	Split Needles	Wincing the Night Away	2007
41	//	The Avett Brothers	I And Love And You	I And Love And You	2009
42	//	Charlotte Gainsbourg	IRM	IRM	2009
43	//	Band of Horses	Is There a Ghost	Cease to Begin	2007
44	//	Beck	Paper Tiger	Sea Change	2002
45	//	A Band of Bees	These Are The Ghosts	Free The Bees	2004
46	//	Metric	Satellite Mind	Fantasies	2009
47	//	Beck	Strange Apparition	The Information	2006
48	//	Cake	Dime	Pressure Chief	2004
49	//	Beck	Blackhole	Mellow Gold	1994
50	//	Broken Bells	The High Road	Broken Bells	2010
51	//	Radiohead	Idioteque	Kid A	2000
52	//	Oasis	Wonderwall	(What's the Story) Morning Glory	1995
53	//	Arcade Fire	Rebellion (Lies)	Funeral	2004
54	//	Dr. Dog	Worst Trip	We All Belong	2007
55	//	Vampire Weekend	Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa	Vampire Weekend	2010
56	//	MGMT	Flash Delirium	Congratulations	2009
57	//	Louis XIV	God Killed the Queen	The Best Little Secrets Are Kept	2005
58	//	Keane	Somewhere Only We Know	Hopes and Fears	2004
59	//	Beck	Tropicalia	Mutations	1996
60	//	Twin Shadow	Shooting Holes	Forget	2010
61	//	Islands	On Foreigner	Vapours	2009
62	//	Aqueduct	Hardcore Days & Softcore Nights	I Sold Gold	2005
63	//	Radiohead	Give Up the Ghost	The King of Limbs	2011
64	//	Radiohead	Karma Police	OK Computer	1997
65	//	Peter Bjorn and John	Up Against the Wall	Writer's Block	2007
66	//	Fences	Girl With Accents	Fences	2010
67	//	Death Cab for Cutie	Cath…	Narrow Stairs	2008
68	//	Beck	Go It Alone	Guero	2005
69	//	The Flaming Lips	The W.A.N.D.	At War with the Mystics	2006
70	//	Keane	Is It Any Wonder?	Under the Iron Sea	2006
71	//	Yeah Yeah Yeahs	Gold Lion	Show Your Bones	2006
72	//	Foster the People	Pumped Up Kicks	Foster the People - EP	2011
73	//	The Rosebuds	Life Like	Life Like	2008
74	//	Vampire Weekend	White Sky	Contra	2010
75	//	Muse	Starlight	Black Holes & Revelations	2006
76	//	Rooney	When Did Your Heart Go Missing?	Calling the World	2007
77	//	Spoon	Black Like Me	Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga	2007
78	//	The Strokes	Machu Picchu	Angles	2011
79	//	The Dodos	Winter	Visiter	2008
80	//	The Postal Service	This Place Is a Prison	Give Up	2003
81	//	Radiohead	Last Flowers to the Hospital	In Rainbows (Special Edition)	2007
82	//	The Black Keys	Tighten Up	Brothers	2010
83	//	Dr. Dog	Shadow People	Shame, Shame	2010
84	//	Beck	Vampire Voltage No. 6	Chemtrails - Single	2008
85	//	Beck	Jack-Ass	Odelay	1996
86	//	The Shins	New Slang	Oh, Inverted World	2001
87	//	Charlotte Gainsbourg	Greenwich Mean Time	IRM	2009
88	//	Wilco	Solitaire	Wilco (The Album)	2009
89	//	MGMT	We Don't Care	Climbing to New Lows	2005
90	//	Radiohead	Paranoid Andriod	OK Computer	1997
91	//	Red Hot Chili Peppers	Dani California	Stadium Arcadium	2006
92	//	Phoenix	Lisztomania	Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix	2009
93	//	Beck	Lost Cause	Sea Change	2002
94	//	Radiohead	15 Step	In Rainbows	2007
95	//	The xx	Islands	xx	2009
96	//	A Band of Bees	(This Is For The) Better Days	Octopus	2007
97	//	Passion Pit	Make Light	Manners	2009
98	//	Sliversun Pickups	Lazy Eye	Carnavas	2006
99	//	Rumspringa	Shake 'Em Loose Tonight	Rumspringa - EP	2008
100	//	Black Kids	Hit the Heartbrakes	Partie Traumatic	2008
101	//	Mason Proper	Lock and Key	Olly Oxen Free	2008
102	//	Beck	Profanity Prayers	Modern Guilt	2008
103	//	Coldplay	Talk	X&Y	2005
104	//	Kurt Vile	He's Alright	Childish Prodigy	2009
105	//	Mumford & Sons	I Gave You All	Sigh No More	2009
106	//	Edward Sharp & TMZ	40 Day Dream	Edward Sharp & The Magnetic Zeros	2009
107	//	Spoon	Deep Clean	Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Bonus Track Version)	2007
108	//	Radiohead	Exit Music (For a Film)	OK Computer	1997
109	//	Florence and tM	Dog Days are Over	Lungs	2009
110	//	The Black Keys	Remember When (Side A)	Attack & Release	2008
111	//	Cake	Short Skirt / Long Jacket	Comfort Eagle	2001
112	//	Cage the Elephant	Back Against the Wall	Cage the Elephant	2008
113	//	Radiohead	All I Need	In Rainbows	2007
114	//	Keane	Unititled 1	Hopes and Fears	2004
115	//	Beck	Necessary Evil	Modern Guilt (Extended Version)	2008
116	//	Beck	Black Tambourine	Guero	2005
117	//	Mumford & Sons	Little Lion Man	Sigh No More	2009
118	//	Dr. Dog	We All Belong	We All Belong	2007
119	//	The Black Keys	Howlin' For You	Brothers	2010
120	//	MGMT	The Youth	Oracular Spectacular	2007
121	//	Broken Social Scene	Sweetest Kill	Forgiveness Rock Record	2010
122	//	Beck	Soldier Jane	The Information	2006
123	//	Edward Sharp & TMZ	Home	Edward Sharp & The Magnetic Zeros	2009
124	//	Cold War Kids	God, Make Up Your Mind	Robbers & Cowards	2007
125	//	Beck	Deadweight	Odelay (Deluxe Edition)	1996
126	//	Broken Social Scene	Highway Slipper Jam	Forgiveness Rock Record	2010
127	//	Radiohead	Separater	The King of Limbs	2011
128	//	Cake	Sick of You	Showroom of Compassion	2011
129	//	MGMT	Congratulations	Congratulations	2009
130	//	Beck	Ramshackle	Odelay	1996
131	//	Coldplay	Viva La Vida	Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends	2008
132	//	Islands	Creeper	Arm's Way	2008
133	//	The Flaming Lips	Do You Realize??	Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots	2003
134	//	Sun Airway	American West	Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier	2010
135	//	Radiohead	Codex	The King of Limbs	2011
136	//	Peter Bjorn and John	Amsterdam	Writer's Block	2007
137	//	Bon Iver	Skinny Love	For Emma, Forever Ago	2008
138	//	The Killers	All These Things That I've Done	Hot Fuss	2004
139	//	Julian Casablancas	Out of the Blue	Phrazes for the Young	2009
140	//	Franz Ferdinand	Take Me Out	Franz Ferdinand	2004
141	//	Cake	The Distance	Fashion Nugget	1996
142	//	Death Cab for Cutie	Soul Meets Body	Plans	2005
143	//	Kaiser Chiefs	Oh My God	Employment	2005
144	//	The Strokes	Reptilia	Room on Fire	2003
145	//	Beck	Brother	Stray Blues	2000
146	//	Julian Casablancas	Ludlow St.	Phrazes for the Young	2009
147	//	Fun.	Walking the Dog	Aim and Ignite	2009
148	//	The Ting Tings	We Walk	We Started Nothing	2008
149	//	La Roux	Bulletproof	La Roux	2009
150	//	Michael Franti & S	Say Hey (I Love You)	All Rebel Rockers	2008

Honourable Mentions:

The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army, Elephant (2003)

The Streets - Fit But You Know It, A Grand Don't Come for Free (2004)

Dr. Dog - The Beach, Fate (2008)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Rolls, It's Blitz (2009)

The Von Bondies - C'mon C'mon, Pawn Shoppe Heart (2004)

[untitled]

Is there anything here for me

anymore?

Rainy Days

This rain;

the days I used to look forward to the most,

when there wouldn't be a sun shining,

just a solid sky with falling water.

These days I used to relish,

and everyone deemed me crazy;

Blacksburg is making me hate them.

Portland

In 10 years

I see myself sitting on a collapsible chair,

strumming this same Ibanez

with an English Setter by my feet

in a small apartment

in downtown Portland.