Tom Moon's 1,000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die

That's right, I can read too! I don't just listen to music. I picked up a copy of Tom Moon's 1,000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die this weekend because these end-of-decade lists that are popping up (check out Pitchfork's as well as NPR's All Songs Considered) made me interested in the notion of documenting what is "important" in the past several decades of music. But really, how can anybody do this? How do you listen to Beethoven, Miles Davis, Dr. Dre, Stevie Wonder, and the Beatles and explain what a new set of ears need to hear?

Well, this book makes about the most solid attempt I've ever seen. 1,000 Recordings beautifully documents a critics obsession of music. Tom Moon tries to provide a starting point for anybody who has ever wanted to collect music and some new things to discover for those who already do. The artists are arranged alphabetically making no separation between genres or decades, only 1,000 brief pieces (half to one page each) on the recordings that are landmarks of whatever genre or decade they are from. With each recording, he also provides records to continue to if you liked the one you read about, therefore when you get obsessed with Springsteen's Born To Run, you'll know to move on to The River and Nebraska. Tom Moon knows that this book can't contain everything, but you have to start somewhere.

I have my complaints about this book as any opinionated music snob would (Where is Nick Cave? Is Mutations really the best Beck album?), but this is an extremely satisfying way to spend twenty bucks and a few hours. I haven't counted yet, but I probably own less than half of these albums, so I suppose I have a lot of work to do.

Read, listen, discover, enjoy. Have a great Thanksgiving.

Atlas Sound's Logos

I've always been a big fan of solo projects. Some artists need to get ideas out that are not possible in the context of a band. A few examples from the past few years: Ben Gibbard's techno-pop Postal Service record, Thom York's brooding electronic solo record, Panda Bear's masterpiece of samples and layered vocals, and Eddie Vedder's amazingly tender folk record. None of these albums could happen as a collaborative effort of a band, and all of them were distinctive new takes on vocal talents that we thought we knew.

Deerhunter's Bradford Cox, coming off last years brilliant Microcastle, released his second solo album this year under the name Atlas Sound. Logos shares more in common with the aforementioned Panda Bear than anything Deerhunter has done. Whereas every Deerhunter song feels driving and carefully written, this album floats along in blissful uncertainty the way Person Pitch did. The opener, "The Light That Failed", is a blur of acoustic guitar, electronic flourishes, and meandering vocals that barely form a verse or chorus.

It makes perfect sense that the album's best track is a collaboration with Panda Bear. "Walkabout" is blissfully playful and childish, with two talented vocalists harmonizing over fast high-pitched synths - the chorus "what did you want to be when you grew up?" exemplifies the mood here. The albums other amazing duet is with Laetitia Sadier from Stereolab, whose voices rings over a light dance beat and a dreamy atmosphere of noise.

Every track on Logos is solid and Bradford Cox proves that between his solo work and his Deerhunter records, he stands up with the best names in modern indie music. This record is a blessing in an already generous year for great music.