Matthew Berlyant: August 14, 2011

1. Sonic Youth with Wild Flag and Kurt Vile – Williamsburg Waterfront (Brooklyn) – August 12, 2011

   Please see my full review here.

2. Yung Wu with Wild Carnation – Maxwells (Hoboken) – August 13, 2011

   Please see my full review here.

3. The Gerunds with Milo Aukerman – “Clean Sheets”

   At a show at the Record Collector in Bordentown, NJ last week, Descendents singer Milo Aukerman showed up and sang “Clean Sheets” with current and former members of The Gerunds. Watch it here.

4. Dum Dum Girls – “Bhang Bhang, I’m a Burnout” EP (Slumberland)

   The titular A-side is a fantastic original from last year’s debut full-length I Will Be and the B-side is a cover of The Misfits classic “Last Caress”. Both sides are great!

5. Various Artists – Midlake’s LateNightTales (Late Night Tales)

   One of the latest in this series of artist-selected compilations features well-known artists from the ’60s and ’70s like Nico, Scott Walker and The Band alongside folkie obscurities from the same era like Bread, Love and Dreams, Lazarus and Jimmie Spheeris (film directorPenelope Spheeris‘ brother). Also included are newer artists like Beach House and Espers, both of whom owe debts to the older artists on this compilation, as well as Midlake themselves covering Black Sabbath‘s “Am I Going Insane”. They even have the good taste to include gems from Bjork (“Unravel”) and Rodriguez (“Crucify Your Mind”). This mix works really well, especially for early morning or late night listening.

6. Best Coast – “How They Want Me to Be”

   If this newly available demo, released online just a few days ago, is any indication, Best Coast is only getting better and that’s a wonderful thing indeed. Hear it here.

7. Steve Almond, Jennifer Egan and others on the Current Minnesota Public Radio

   Listen to the most recent broadcast here. Almond talks about Joe Pernice and Egan talks about Nada Surf and the late ’70s San Francisco punk scene in this amazing radio broadcast about authors and their favorite music.

8. Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations (Travel Channel, Monday)

   The most recent episode featured Anthony visiting his friend and Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme at his home in the California desert, so I’m including it here.

9. Queens of the Stone Age – Songs for the Deaf (Interscope)

   Playing this 2002 gem (it’s almost a decade old), it’s apparent that it’s held up quite well. Working better as an album statement than as individual tracks (though the singles “No One Knows” and “Go With the Flow” are both excellent), Homme’s last album with Nick Oliveri is a concept album with skits recited by folks like The Dwarves‘ Blag Dahlia commenting on the then sorry state of rock radio (hence the album title as well). In the ensuing decade, many deserving bands who were shunned by radio programmers are now commanding large and even in some cases arena and ampitheater-level audiences while the nu-metal that this album rails against has been thankfully relegated to the dustbin of history.

10. Squeeze – Argybargy (A&M)

    This is an absolute classic and one of Squeeze’s best albums. Though most known for the fantastic “Pulling Mussels from the Shell”, songs like “Misadventure” and especially “Vicky Verky” are just as thrilling.