Following up on Boy Wonder's music recommendations

For those of you who aren't loyal readers of the Boy Wonder's blog, I had asked Matt's former roommate and all-around BFF for recommendations for new music for my sweetiecakes. We had been listening to the same stuff for years, and I decided to surprise him for his birthday with a large new array of CDs for his/our listening pleasure. I was attempting to introduce us to some new things, and challenge our tastes somewhat as well (some people have commented in the past that I fear new things. Really?!?) I consulted the B.W., a couple of my brothers, and read a ton of stuff on NPR. Here's what Matt opened (actually, the boys opened them) on his birthday:

1. Avett Brothers -- Emotionalism. One brother of mine is a huge fan, and it was on an NPR Best of 2007 list. So far, Matt's a fan. I haven't heard it yet, so I have no comment thus far.

2. Iron & Wine -- The Shepherd's Dog. Also from an NPR's Best of 2007. Pretty cool, although I think Matt likes it more than I do.

3. Vampire Weekend, per the B.W. Irene, you are insane. This is AWESOME! I completely love the entire CD, and Matt does to. (For the record, by Matt saying, "Yeah, that's pretty cool," that means he's completely in love, too.) And please consider what personal issues I had to overcome just to buy the thing -- I hate vampires!! I get the heebie-jeebies about all things "evil" (which includes zombies and their love of brains, so let's avoid all those jokes, okay 3A dorks?). Why would a perfectly decent band pick that terrible name?

4. The New Pornographers -- Challengers. We're also big fans of this one too, and so is Luke. The kid LOVES IT! We now make sure we have it in the car with us to distract him if he starts to freak out. He likes to dance to the entire CD by moving only his left hand, pointer finger extended. I think he gets his dancing prowess from his daddy.

5. Feist -- the Reminder. I'll admit, I wanted this one. I've been singing "1234" ever since those darn ipod commercials. Then I heard "I Feel It All" and liked it, too. The rest of the CD is more mellow than those two songs, but still pretty decent.

6. Robert Plant & Allison Kraus -- Raising Sand. Heard tons of good reviews about this CD. I was trying to draw Matt's tastes out a bit, but I figured he wouldn't like it. And he doesn't. Not at all. I do. So we'll keep it.

7. Matt Pond PA -- Several Arrows Later. Brian's recommendation, and we totally love it. It's one of the biggest hits of the group. I just ordered Last Light.

8. Tabu Rey Rochereau -- The Voice of Lightness: Congo Classics from the 1960s and 70s. This one came from NPR, and the review said "it's some of the most beautiful singing that exists," so I was intrigued. And it is -- absolutely gorgeous. It's great music to have on around the house during the day, while we're cooking, etc. Highly recommend this one for anyone wanting to try something a little different.

9. Lucinda Black Bear -- 'capo my heart' and other bear songs. This is a band from Brooklyn that NPR considers one of the best unknown bands from 2007. Here's their summarized review: "Brooklyn's Lucinda Black Bear is a new project led by Christian Gibbs. The band plays carefully written folk-rock with stunning arrangements. Capo My Heart and Other Bear Songs is a melancholy collection of songs that are expressive and moving. With Kristin Mueller on drums, Chad Hammer on cello and Clare Burson on violin, they paint lonely, deserted images with dark minor chords and complex melodies." That kind of thing isn't usually my cup of tea, but Matt usually digs that kind of stuff, and who doesn't want to support folks from the old 'hood, right?

10. Blizten Trapper -- Wild Mountain Nation. Described on NPR as "a little like Grateful Dead meets Pavement." I don't even know what that means. But I knew that neither Matt nor I had ever heard of these guys, and but they'd been getting a lot of press lately, so I thought it was worth a try. I haven't listened to it yet, but Matt artfully describes it as "pretty cool."

11. Stars -- In Our Bedroom After the War. Saw it on several "best of" lists for 2007. I made Matt listen to the samples on line before we opened it. Apparently, it's getting returned.

12. LCD Soundsystem -- Sound of Silver. See #11, supra.

13. Backyardigans -- Born to Play. Having won widespread acclaim by some tough critics in our circle, we decided to take a chance. While "Surf's Up, Ho Daddy" is always a crowd pleaser, we're finding ourselves more frequently humming "Almost Everything is Boinga." "Dragon Mountain," however, is currently receiving the most requests. ... Okay, okay. This wasn't one we wrapped up for daddy, but we did buy it. And "we" LOVE IT!

14. Mates of State -- Team Boo. Another B.W. recommendation, and another hit. Our Constant Concern is on our current list of "to-buys."

15. Nada Surf -- Let Go. Got great reviews on Amazon, but I can't for the life of me remember why I bought it. But he likes it, so yay me.

16. White Stripes -- Icky Thump. This CD was a testament to how much I love my husband. I'd heard some of their stuff before, and I hated it. And just the looks of 'em freak me out. But I thought Matt might like it, so I bought it anyway. As predicted, he thinks its decent, I still hate it.

Notwithstanding what I said re: 16, I didn't love my husband enough to buy him the new Radiohead CD. I just couldn't bring myself to do it -- I've hated Radiohead for so long that I thought it would be compromising my principles to purchase it. But I ordered for him today, as gesture of good will, because I knew he wanted it and it served as a replacement for one of the ones we're returning.

So, there you have it. As far as B.W.'s other suggestions, Matt already had the Shins CD Brian had burned for him, so I didn't buy that one. I didn't get Regina Specktor because I knew once he found out about the Grey's Anatomy thing, he'd be predisposed to loathe her, and since I was already foisting Feist and Allison Kraus on him, I didn't think poor Regina would fly. Comment at will to convince him otherwise. And re: The Strokes, Brian just didn't give me enough there to motivate me.

As an aside, I have recently fallen in love with all of the Putumayo CDs (currently buy 2, get 1 free at Barnes & Noble, along with several other "indie" selections including Matt Pond PA's Last Light & Rainbows), which are world music compilations organized by genre. I'm digging Arabic Groove, Turkish Groove and New Orleans right now. Just ordered ones on Mississippi Blues and Gypsy music. And for those you looking for gift-giving suggestions for the youngsters in your life, the kids "playground" compilations are fantastic -- the boys are absolutely loving the "Sing-A-Long" CD right now and Matt and I don't mind listening to it (over and over again) at all.


(And don't comment on any typos -- I haven't had time to proofread adequately because my mad lullaby singing skills are being requested at this very moment by a little boy down the hall).