PHASE ONE: Dominantly Sonic Youth
My years-long obsession with Sonic Youth continued unabated. Due largely to my recent love of Daydream Nation, an album which I used to scorn within the SY catalogue. This phase is marked by lots of SY plays, interspersed with some of my highlights from the first half of the year:


David Byrne and St. Vincent - Love This Giant
I've long been a St. Vincent fan, and as someone who adores big, brassy horns and a general left-of-the-dial aesthetic this whole album gripped me. Big and epic and even now when I listen I have to seriously wonder if this isn't my album of the year.
Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/4oRaFi044yhwH77gUXbH5I



Die Antwoord - Ten$ion
I saw these guys live in Philly and it was pretty good. Definitely more of a singles group than an album group, but there's enough stand out songs on this album to keep it rotation.
Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/0jwiWGAMyWtAN1oLxt4koE



Soft Serve - Good Mood, Bad Mood
Beefheart slash Art Bears. Really nicely done, imho. Love that piano work.
Not-Spotify: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Soft_Serve/

Phase 2 forthcoming.

i never noticed their faces on this. what the hell..

Also, Toots, we have yet to see David Byrne & Packers GM Ted Thompson in the same place at the same time.

PHASE TWO: In which I discover Sadie Dupuis
I was simply perusing the Free Music Archive when I stumbled upon the first full-length Speedy Ortiz album. I sampled it enough to give it the instant download. It's obvious love-anthem to 90's alternative slowly it started to take over my listening habits:

Speedy Ortiz - The Death of Speedy Ortiz
LINK:http://speedyortiz.bandcamp.com/album/the-death-of-speedy-ortiz

Didn't take long for me to encounter the Speedy Ortiz bandcamp page where I discovered a free EP.

Speedy Ortiz - Cop Kicker EP
LINK: http://speedyortiz.bandcamp.com/album/cop-kicker-ep

At which point I discovered that these two pieces were solely the effort of one Sadie Dupuis, who had started recording these songs on the side of her prior band, Quilty. These two releases (released Oct./Nov. 2011) lead to her making Speedy Ortiz her full-time gig and acquiring a couple of bandmates to flesh out the sound. So in a (very) rare move for me, I plunked down the cash to download their 2012 releases, a single and an EP:

Speedy Ortiz - Taylor Swift b/w Swim Fan
LINK: http://speedyortiz.bandcamp.com/album/t ... w-swim-fan


Speedy Ortiz - Sports EP
Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/5w89LHUItWXpCdgjan0pcH
LINK: http://speedyortiz.bandcamp.com/album/sports-ep

The full band added polish to the already super-strong songs Dupuis was writing. Thanks to being on Spotify (and thus listening at work) my last.fm account would cause one to assume the Sports EP is my favorite. I really freakin' love it, yes, but I tend to lean towards the first two releases as my go-to albums.

At the same time I downloaded the last two releases I discovered that Dupuis's prior band, Quilty, was also on Bandcamp, so I gave them a curious listen. That ended up being insta-love as well. Quilty feels a lot like Speedy Ortiz, just with louder, more abrasive guitars. Songs are a bit rougher, especially on the EPs, but they found their blessed way into my collection.

(Everything on the Quilty bandcamp is free to download--I'll just highlight the full length here)


Quilty - Clover/Coriander
LINK: http://quilty.bandcamp.com/album/clover-coriander

How much have I listened to Speedy Ortiz? I've been scrobbling on last.fm since 2006. In a mere half year Speedy Ortiz became my 3rd-most scrobbled artist of all time. I would expect within 2013 they will overtake #2 on the list (The Residents).

Phase 3 forthcoming.