I was watching the new Werner Herzog doc "Encounters at the End of the World" the other day and was blown away by this clip. It's a recording of seals calling underwater.

Posted by Stephen Glicken
stephen@greenowl.com

Been a long time coming...but here it is! Enjoy!

Posted by Stephen Glicken
stephen@greenowl.com

Goner Records has confirmed that Jay Reatard passed away:

"It is with great sadness that we report the passing of our good friend Jay Reatard, Jay died in his sleep last night. We will pass along information about funeral arrangements when they are made public."

This is truly a loss for the entire music community. While controversy seemed to follow Jay Reatard, he was without a doubt one of the most prolific performers of his generation, with more than 22 full length releases and more than 50 ep releases. He didn't necessarily grab headlines when he was alive, however his death has been reported by Rolling Stone , The New York Times, NME, and NPR, which is truly a testiment his importance within the music world. Check out this short documentary about Jay below:

Waiting For Something - a short documentary about Jay Reatard

Jay Reatard | MySpace Music Videos

Posted by Sam Donahue
Sam@greenowl.com

Consequences is a project started by the NOOR photo agency. The mission is to document the detrimental effects that climate change has on our world, not in the future, but today. The result is a collection of touching and educational photography, that captures the urgency of the climate problem. 

"They choose subjects that include a massive pine beetle kill in British Columbia; genocide in Darfur; the rising sea level in the Maldives; Nenet reindeer herders in Siberia; Inuit hunters in Greenland; a looming crisis in Kolkata, India; coal mining in Poland; oil sand extraction in Canada; and the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest by Brazilian cattle ranchers."

For more information visit Global Post. 

Posted by Sam Donahue
Sam@greenowl.com

We've heard that Jay Retard has passed away.  Our hearts go out to his family, friends and fans.

posted by Benjamin Bronfman

ben@greenowl.com

Photographer Richard Barnes spent a number of year documenting swarms of birds in Europe. Above are just a few examples of the results.

Posted by Stephen Glicken
stephen@greenowl.com

When I was a younger man than I am today, I had a vision of the Great Plains transformed: buffalo roaming across great tracts of tallgrass prairie studded with wind farms that powered the whole Midwest. Tribal communities, farmers and ranchers and young people all working together to develop an economy that could sustain the people and restore the land. Maybe even a little folk school, something like the Highlander Center in east Tennessee, to bring everyone together to sing and dance and strategize together.

As I've learned, usually the hard way, big visions only become reality through perseverance, hard work and often a bit of luck or good timing. I only lasted six months in Grand Forks, North Dakota, all of which were somehow during the winter, but one of the things I remember best was that any of the plans we devised had to contend with the 800 pound gorilla in the state. Basin Electric, a rural electric cooperative with 2.8 million members across Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming was the populist face of big dirty coal. Headquartered in Bismarck, ND, they seemed to run state politics and they weren't interested in wind.

So when I saw the headline "Rural Electric Cooperative Completes $240 Million Wind Farm in 4 Months" I almost couldn't believe my eyes. This 115.5 MW project will be the largest wind project entirely owned by a consumer cooperative, AND IT WAS COMPLETED IN JUST 4 MONTHS!! Basin, which got 94% of its power from coal in 2005 (and only 1% from wind) now has a goal to reach 20% wind by the end of the year.

As we work towards a rapid and massive ramp-up of clean energy across the country, we should look to consumer cooperatives and municipally-owned utilities, both of which are non-profit, community-controlled structures with jobs and revenues that stay in the communities they serve. In 2008, rural cooperatives expanded wind energy capacity 65% compared to just 25% nationally, and municipal utilities, like in Long Island and Austin, are implementing some of the most innovative and aggressive renewable energy and energy efficiency programs in the country. Check out the American Public Power Association, which represents over 2,000 community-owned utilities, for more information.

DARPA, the government agency that invented the internet 40 years ago, sent out a challenge to see who could find 10 balloons placed in random locations around the country. A group from MIT found them in 8hr52min using social networks! The internet is amazing. 

Posted by Stephen Glicken
stephen@greenowl.com

If you find yourself in West Texas, make sure to visit Marfa. It is a small isolated town filled with art galleries, friendly residents and good food. As you are driving towards Marfa there is an art installation of a fake Prada store in the middle of nowhere on the side of the road. Not the kind of thing you would expect to find in Texas. On the other side of town are the Marfa Lights, an unexplained display of flickering and moving lights at the base of a mountain. First discovered in 1883, they are still an unexplained phenomena. Above are some long exposure shots I took of them while I was there.

Posted by Stephen Glicken
stephen@greenowl.com

Pink Reason is the brainchild of Kevin De Broux, a Wisconsin native currently residing in Brooklyn. The diversity in the structure and tonality of Kevin’s numerous releases truly separates him from the vast number of indie bands that call New York their home. In the handful of times I’ve seen Pink Reason I’ve never found myself disappointed or bored, in fact I would venture to say that I’ve never seen Pink Reason play a song the same way twice.  Their 2007 release on Slitbreeze entitled cleaning the mirror is distinguished by a neofolk and gothic sound reminiscent of Death in June's album Nada. Borrowed Time, Pink Reason’s 2008 release on Fashionable Idiots, lends itself to a more traditional lo-fi garage-punk sound, with a straightforward composition and distorted guitars. The simplicity of Borrowed Time doesn’t detract from its aesthetic beauty. I highly recommend checking Pink Reason out. Streaming below is Motherfucker off Cleaning the Mirror and Borrowed Time.

Motherfucker

Borrowed Time

Posted by Sam Donahue
sam@greenowl.com

Byrds of Paradise - "Rowena" from Elise Oh on Vimeo.

Tropical, grungy, whatever you want to call it Byrds of Paradise knows how to write a catchy song. Recently Byrds of Paradise has been picking up a lot of steam, with two upcoming 7", a host of local shows, and some positive attention from Pitchfork. Streaming below is Rowena, it kinda reminds me of Circle Jerks meets the Meat Puppets. Byrds of Paradise is lead by guitarist Kenny Brown, with the recent addition of Jared Jones, and Brenden Britz of the Dustheads, and Alan Yuch of The Mongoloids.

Posted by Sam Donahue
sam@greenowl.com

NPR gives a little love to the very best on morning edition in a series called "music we missed". 

Posted by Stephen Glicken
stephen@greenowl.com

Here is a special year end mix by our good friends at Midnight Rockers Express.  You can download here:http://soundcloud.com/midnight-rockers-express/mre18 01. Rakim - I Know You Got Soul (Greg Wilson Remix) 

My first best-of list since middle school, when Weezer’s debut album narrowly beat out the Smashing Pumpkins b-sides collection for album of the year and the Pulp Fiction soundtrack had a strong showing. Here goes nothing…

The-Dream—Love vs. Money (Radio Killa/Def Jam)

I haven’t tried writing about this album yet because it’s still startling and overwhelming…there are a lot of different ways to approach it, but more than anything I’m blown away the arc of the album. You get the sense that after frontloading the album with three (excellent) singles, The-Dream really decides to begin the album with “Sweat It Out” and then presents a series of story-songs that chronicle the dissolution of a relationship, the blame that ensues, and finally some kind of resolution and acceptance. (Though I guess you can read “Can we fuck now?” in a number of ways…maybe…) This is an album that is entirely comfortable with melodrama and also enriched by tiny details that continue to reveal themselves months after first listen. Love vs. Money is sonically inventive, emotionally engaging, and most importantly, infectious. It’s so obvious that The-Dream is in love with the album format, making something that flows from beginning to end with references to other songs on the album and in his catalogue, and while it’s still possible to argue that Love/Hate has better songs, this is a real achievement and a complete statement. It’s more cinematic than most movies and certainly more quotable.

Treetops—As I Gaze; Exercise—Field of Dreams; Bryter Layter—Imprinted Season (Arbor)

No one pulled me down the rabbit hole of limited edition cassette releases faster than Mike Pollard and his label Arbor. This year I have spent more time than I am comfortable admitting to scouring online distros and Discogs trying to learn more about the network of musicians throughout the country who have been tweaking drone and ambient music through a variety of fidelities, influences, and instruments (with a particular emphasis on analog synths). In particular, I’ve been drawn to the output on Arbor this year, of which there is much to celebrate. I enthusiastically recommend Evan Miller’s LP of gauzy lap-steel guitar pieces and Raglani’s anxiously epic Classically Sprained, but these three releases mentioned above are my favorites, and they (coincidentally?) all feature Pollard. As I Gaze, reportedly his last solo recordings as Treetops, is anchored by huge, pensive blocks of chords that ultimately give way to glimmering meditations on side B that echo Eno’s work on Apollo. Field of Dreams, maybe my favorite of the three, offers two sidelong pieces that take their time to unfurl but ultimately become ecstatic, slo-mo fireworks. Bryter Layter, a collaboration with Raglani, presents fantastically buzzing, chirping restlessness sewn together by beautiful, plaintive tones. I also love the unified aesthetic of this label—consistently the most eye-catching artwork of any imprint.

Mark McGuire—Losing Sleep (Wagon); Emeralds—What Happened (No Fun)

These two can also be reviewed together, as McGuire is one-third of Emeralds. I chose Mark McGuire as the first artist to write about on Green Owl simply because he captured my attention this year and I’ve been following him ever since. Losing Sleep is one of many cd-rs he released that barely existed in physical form but lives forever online. Honestly, I can’t say this one is clearly better than the others—all (holy shit) six of his releases this year are excellent and essential documents of his evolution—but this one’s warm, nocturnal glow holds a special place in my heart. His guitar work is featuring prominently on What Happened, and that cd, combined with the Emeralds tour releases The Overlook and “Landlocked” from their split with Pain Jerk, made 2009 such a banner year for all involved.

Jay Electronica—“Exhibit C” (no label)

I already wrote about this and don’t have a lot to add about how I feel, other than I’m thrilled this finally got officially released (digitally at least) and is getting radio play in New York, and it’s still a galvanizing track that carries with it a terrifying amount of potential. And as a nice little treat at the end of the year, this song was leaked and is wonderful. Jay’s writing is so imagistic…can’t wait to hear more.

Electrik Red—How to Be a Lady Vol. 1 (Radio Killa/Def Jam)

The-Dream actually co-wrote three albums this year—I haven’t really gotten excited about the Mariah Carey album, but this essentially ignored album is quite a gift. Electrik Red existed before their collaboration with The-Dream but his lyrical and musical trademarks fit them so effortlessly, you’d be forgiven for thinking he was their svengali. There’s a lot to appreciate here—the ballads (“Devotion”, “Go Shawty”, the sublime “9 to 5”) are what instantly hooked me, but it’s all pretty great. Some people have mentioned that if The-Dream is Prince, Electrik Red is his Vanity 6—that sells them short but gives you a good idea of where to start.

Animal Collective—Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino)

So many people have written about this, and I don’t have much to add. I like roughly half of this album a great deal, the rest is good, but I feel out of step with people on it…this band will always be dear to me but I might not ever feel as strongly about them again as I did in 2004 when Sung Tongs and Campfire Songs came out. I’m not really into the lack of guitar on the album and the mix sounds bad to me. I’m well aware that many people argue the exact opposite, but oh well. “Daily Routine” and the Dam-Funk remix of “Summertime Clothes” (on the remix 12”) were the highlights for me.

Earn—Person (Young Tapes)

Another blink-and-you’ll-have-to-find-a-mediafire-link release, this time from Californian Matt Sullivan. This is just a lovely, unassuming release of evocative, emotional miniatures that make me think of a more minimal, low-fi Tim Hecker. I’ve listened to this a lot in the past two months, it was the perfect accompaniment to the snowfall this morning on my walk to work and I look forward to a lot more music in this vein from Earn.

Greg Davis—Mutually Arising and Full Spectrum (Kranky/Digitalis Ltd.)

Maybe this is just my own interpretation of things, but Greg Davis seems to be consistently underrated. His albums on Carpark from earlier this decade are two of the finer syntheses of American folk music and laptop experimentalism, and he’s finished the decade with two impressive releases that focus on long form pieces. Mutually Arising is the heavier of the two, requiring patience and attention to detail, both of which pay off handsomely. These two pieces stand like obelisks but not, you know…terrifying ones. Gorgeous ones, ones worthy of worship. Full Spectrum, which is dedicated to Iasos and Laraaji, might be too much new-age for some but I am unabashedly very much into it. It’s music that feels weightless.

Oneohtrix Point Never—Memory Vague (Root Strata)

This is kind of cheating since it’s a DVD, but it’s also all original music by OPN, so I’m including it. My initial post about Daniel Lopatin’s forays into futureworld synth explorations included a link to one of these mesmerizing shorts that mines old footage from technology commercials (looted via YouTube) into something eerily familiar and original at once.

Keith Fullerton Whitman—Taking Away (Digitalis Ltd.)

And again, not to be repetitive, but you can hear a sample of this release in my post about Keith from last month. In that post I wrote, “There's great tension and atmosphere in this clip that threatens to bubble over but especially by the end, it coalesces into something disarmingly serene.” I look like an ass for quoting myself, so I’m just going to finish by saying that this was a release that I was happy to leave on loop for hours and really submit to its spell.

Hope this coming year is a healthy and happy one!

Posted by Ned Milligan

mistermilligan@yahoo.com

The first carbon neutral house on the East Coast.

Posted by Vanessa Bronfman
vanessa@greenowl.com