This trippy frame-by-frame Flash animation by Ori Toor is an accurate representation of what Animal Collective does to my brain, except I never…really knew what it looked like. Until now. Animal Collective world = colors and blobs galore. This was Ori’s final project at the Shenkar School of Engineering and Design; I hope it gets him high marks, or makes his professors go, “Whoooaaaaoouhhhooohooooh.” [via Cartoon Brew]

This is an epic journey set to an epic song. Thanks, Neil Cicierega. And Adrien Brody. And starfish. And the Sun.

Last night while curled up in a ball under my sheets in my flu-ridden attempt to fall asleep, I put on my earphones and listened to The Big Black and Blue by First Aid Kit. Did it put me in snooze-land? Not so much—I think my body was way too high strung to be put to sleep by anything. But that late night listening session made me appreciate the album more.

First Aid Kit is the Swedish sister duo of Johanna and Klara Söderberg. Johanna is 19 and Klara is 17. Oh god—what was I doing when I was 17? Nothing this good. (Note to self: Find time machine, tell 17-year-old self to do something awesome.) I first got into First Aid Kit about one and a half years ago when they put up their beautiful cover of “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” by Fleet Foxes. Just two sisters wearing flannel, harmonizing in the forest (and even though I can’t see what they’re sitting on, in my mind they’re sitting on a giant log). And then I got hooked on their EP, Drunken Trees. And then just a few weeks ago I got their debut album The Big Black and Blue, a few months later than it came out because I’m just not “with it” when it comes to new music anymore, as evidenced by the lack of updates in this blog. Oops.

But better late than never. Initially, the only song that really drew me in was “Hard Believer,” but after repeated listenings I realized, “Oh nevermind, I like the whole thing.” So there’s your review: “I like the whole thing.” Yeah, I’m really selling it. If you like catchy tunes and sweet two-part harmonies and acoustic guitar and autoharp (er, that might only be on one song, but whatever) then you should be down with this.

Here’s another song few yew:

First Aid Kit – Waltz for Richard

They’re touring around North America in June. Perhaps I will be pulled out of my no-concert-zone. (If anyone wants to see them on June 15 or 16 in NYC, let me know!)

Why would anyone disconnect from this dude? This dude is awesome! You go, Merton. You and your increasingly tightening hood.

So y’all know this kitty:

Fatso the Keyboard Cat!

…Well, he died a while ago (the video was made in 1984). Fatso, you shall always be in my heart.

BUT THERE’S A NEW CAT IN TOWN, ensuring that the glowing torch of Keyboard Cat shall never burn out:

I hope Fatso is smiling down on the n00b.

[Thanks to Charlie Schmidt for going through the trouble of filming his cats while moving their paws so it looks like they're playing keyboards and then uploading the videos to YouTube so I can be forever amused.]

My music listening this year was rather paltry. Despite that, I still had a hard time whittling down my list to 15 tracks (limited to songs that were officially released this year, as far as the Internet can tell me), some widely popular, some less so, and hopefully as least one you haven’t heard before but end up enjoying. The theme of this list: dancey, pretty, or all of the above. Tracks are in order of how I’d arrange them in a mix CD, not by how much I like them.

1. Animal Collective – In the Flowers

Repeating what I said in January, this is my favorite song off Merriweather Post Pavilion. The 2:30 mark sets off this explosion of elation that could potentially result in dancing, if I weren’t firmly planted in my chair 110% of the time.

2. Kings of Convenience – 24-25

I wouldn’t place Kings of Convenience‘s latest album Declaration of Dependence above their previous ones, but it shows they’re still the best at playing beautiful, warm harmonies. And they’re still one of my favorite artists to see live.

3. Moderat – Rusty Nails

I just blogged about how much I love this song. GO LOOKIE.

4. Dan Deacon – Red F

OH MAN DAN DEACON, YOU’RE THE BEST. I can’t believe there was a time when I thought your music was irritating.

…Nah I lied, it’s really easy to see why his music could be perceived as irritating. Bromst made it easier for me (and probably many others) to get into. My ideal party would be Dan Deacon-powered. And have lots of balloons. That’s what his concert needs: more balloons.

5. Numéro# – Tonton Klaxonne

This song by Montreal-based duo Numéro# is super catchy, but if it weren’t in French I probably wouldn’t like it as much. Since blogging about it in April I never did bother to look up the translation…oh wait, what do we have here? NOOOO.

6. Passion Pit – Sleepyhead

Holy hell, I was obsessed with Manners this summer. I was determined to see Passion Pit live, so a friend helped me get tickets to their show in Philadelphia, which was the sweatiest experience of my life. Although it was fun, a lesson was learned: do not go to a concert at the First Unitarian Church in the summer ever again. Or at least bring a towel with you.

7. The Drums – Me and the Moon

The Drums make me feel ridiculously happy. HAPPY FUN TIMES NAO [jerks around]…yeah.

8. Le Matos feat. Coeur de Pirate – How Do I Let You Know

I listened to a lot of Coeur de Pirate this year, but as her album came out in 2008 I chose her more recent cover of this 80s-tastic song with Le Matos. More happy dancey-ness.

9. The Octopus Project – Wet Gold

I’ve listened to The Octopus Project only sparingly over the last few years, which is silly since they’re…awesome. This song from their Golden Beds EP is my favorite.

10. Telefon Tel Aviv – Helen of Troy

It’s my favorite song off Immolate Yourself. I have yet to listen to Telefon Tel Aviv‘s other music…I should probably do that.

11. Mew – Hawaii

It took a few listens for me to get into this song, but it became my favorite off No More Stories Are Told Today Sorry… (my second favorite Mew album, after Frengers). Mew has the tendency to write epic songs; I feel like this one fits three acts into five minutes.

12. Phoenix – 1901

I wasn’t much into Phoenix until I heard Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. CUE THE FUN HEAD BOPPING. If only I could have caught them at Trocadero.

13. Annie – Songs Remind Me of You

I don’t like everything by Annie, but some of her songs are instantly addictive, like “Heartbeat” and this one from Don’t Stop.

14. Bat for Lashes – Daniel

It’s dark. It’s pretty. GOOD TIMES. This is the only Bat for Lashes song I really like, but that probably means I should listen to more of her other stuff.

15. This Will Destroy You – Freedom Blade

As soon as I started listening to This Will Destroy You, I bought all their releases (as should you). Not that there were that many for me to catch up on. This year they released two songs on Split, an EP with Lymbyc Systym. This song puts me to sleep, in the good way that achingly beautiful post-rock tends to do. It would also make a sweet soundtrack to watching a blizzard.

Moderat (Modeselektor + Apparat) isn’t recent, but my interest in them is. I only just got their self-titled album (the deluxe version is a CD + DVD despite amazon.com’s lack of any mention of the CD) after randomly coming across the video for “Rusty Nails” off a random blog. That’s how I surf the Internet: randomly, without memory of how I get from one place to the next. The discovery of music I like only happens once in every other blue moon, which would explain the lack of updates on this blog.

People + wind + lots of gray toned fabric + slow motion + geometric symbols + this awesome song = this awesome video. (My brain doesn’t feel like thinking of better words than “awesome.” I think you can deal with that.) I wish I had seen it earlier, but better late than never.

And here’s another good song to play while working on a blog entry, or attempting to sleep on the subway, or just when you want something wooshy and electronic and pleasant in your head:

Moderat – Les Grand Marches

ENJOY. Now I must go update another one of my neglected blogs.

Why is King of Convenience so awesome to see live?

• They look happy.
• They sound beautiful.
• …And effortless.
• …And intimate.
• They tell random funny anecdotes.
• Erlend does cute little dances.
• THEY ARE SO GODDAMN GOOD WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?

It took four and a half years for King of Convenience to come back to New York City. The first time I saw them was one of the most memorable shows I had ever been to. And Thursday night…I’d say was the same. And not just because I’m known for having a penchant for weegies. (That is, Norwegians, not Glaswegians.)

Feist!

They mostly played songs from their new album, Declaration of Independence, but tossed a few older ones in at the end to appease the audience, along with a cover of “It’s My Party.” There were many memorable moments—I was a particular fan of when Erlend said they had eaten at Kampuchea and that we New Yorkers were lucky to live in a city with such good food—but Feist appearing in the balcony during the encore, amplification-less performance of “The Build Up” was the final “you probably won’t forget this” moment. Her voice is what makes me love the song.

There was also that time that Eirik gave us his best steely male model pose.

Smile!

Actually, they both granted the audience their best poses in return for us not taking photos during their performance. DSLRs are too loud; I don’t blame them. (I only took a few photos after that moment, during times that I felt were the least obtrusive. I swear.)

Toot.

And there’s Erlend pretending to play a saxophone. Because. Why not?

Impulsive and good decision: seeing The Octopus Project two Sundays ago at Mercury Lounge due to Jim‘s suggestion. …After taking a two-hour car ride from small town Virginia to Washington D.C., a four-and-a-half-hour Bolt Bus ride from D.C. to NYC, and shoveling some mediocre food from Woorijip down my throat. Even with luggage in tow and layer of sweat masking every pore on my body, I still had a good time. And for a rare occurrence, I didn’t have to be familiar with all the songs to enjoy the music.

After seeing Yvonne Lambert rock the theremin, I feel like I ought to get reacquainted with mine at the risk of annoying the shit out of my roommate with screeching high pitched bleeps. (I bought a theremin in high school during my “I LIKE RANDOM INSTRUMENTS” phase. Fiddling with it showed me that, holy hell, this thing is hard to play. But it sounds cool. And superbly annoying if you don’t know what you’re doing—sort of like with a violin, but perhaps a smidge less painful.)

“Wet Gold” is my favorite song form their new EP, Golden Beds. You can listen to all the songs at peekaboorecords.com

After a night of < 6 hours of sleep, this is what I want to wake up to. PURE AWESOMENESS.

The Octopus Project is currently on tour in the US. Woot woot.