Australia is probably most famous, or infamous at least, for having more species of lethal critters per capita than any other place on earth. There are crocodiles, all manner of snakes and spiders, box jellyfish, blue-ringed octopi, and on and on. It was kind of an exciting idea – moving to this raw Southern Hemisphere wilderness with animals that are just itching to kill you around every bend. Dr. O’C comes home almost daily with some tale about encountering a ‘killer spider’. I haven’t seen any kind of spiders. In fact, I have yet to encounter any native fauna that could be described as anything other than cuddly, nevermind deadly. I mean, I guess a kangaroo could beat the crap out of you a la Sylvester the Cat, but I was beginning to think this dangerous continent of deadly denizens thing was as mythical as the Australian summer.
Until today. While walking the dog beach with Boy Z and Timmins, I saw a huddle of a half dozen people on the shore looking nervously out at a shadowy form in the surf. We jogged over to have a look and saw what was very clearly a fairly large shark about five meters from shore. (I know that I recently misidentified a coromorant as a penguin, but today there were others their to confirm my i.d.) Regrettably, I didn’t have my camera, but I’ve got to tell you it was pretty exciting. I suspect the big guy had figured out that the dog beach was a good source for little canine treats. Since my close encounter, I’ve been reading about shark attacks in South Australia. This is something that I need to stop doing right now.
But that’s not what I came here to talk about today. I came to talk about the sixth best album of the year by an unsigned or independent artist. Just a reminder of where we’ve been thus far:
10. The Hold Steady – “Stay Positive”
9. The Black Angels – “Directions To See A Ghost”
8. Sun Kil Moon – “April”
7. Frank Turner – “Love, Ire & Song”
I love a good pop band. Unfortunately, most Top 40 radio is populated by really crap pop bands. So, when I find one that is exceptional, it’s easy for me to fall in love. And earlier this year, I fell in love with New York’s Vampire Weekend. There’s nothing exceptional about their self-titled debut (XL), it is just masterful, joyful, ska-inspired pop music. But I challenge you to listen to them and not be almost immediately smitten. I was living in Oxford at the time the album came out and spent a good couple of months skipping along to “Oxford Comma” even though I’m sure that the song has pretty much nothing to do with the university town in the south of England. Have a listen to that track and if you like what you hear, buy the album from 
.
And that just leaves your daily reminder about the December giveaways here at A Free Man. I’ve got a metric ton of great new music to give away and two contests currently running. There are a lot of good entries for the Tagline Contest, but none that I’m completely sold on yet – so there’s a window of opportunity to win some free music. All I need from you, gentle readers is a new pithy tagline for A Free Man. Leave your inspired creation as a comment on this post. The Noble Savage is ahead in the limerick contest by a nose, but there’s a lot of time left. Head on over and vote for your favorite.
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by headbang8
16 Dec 2008 at 21:44
If you walk into a fish ‘n’ chip shop in Adelaide, and don’t specify what kind of fish you want, you’ll get something called “flake”. It’s shark.
More specifically, it’s by-catch. Many sharks linger too long in a nice, rich school of whiting, only to find the’ve been drift-net fished along with the rest of them.
So you can get your own back, quite easily.
HB8
P.S. What’s this bullshit about not having a camera with you? You call yourself a blogger?
by SSG
16 Dec 2008 at 22:17
yeah vampire weekend, lik’em a lot.
you reviewd this album before did you not?
I want to go home work is boring
by JChevais
16 Dec 2008 at 23:02
Yeah! Vampire Weekend. A colleague of mine, who also just provided me with a list of “tolerable” French bands, gave me a CD with VW on it to plug into my iTunes. Am loving them.
by The Unbearable Banishment
16 Dec 2008 at 23:15
This is the umpteenth mention I’ve see of Vampire Weekend in the past few days. My friend just saw them in Manhattan and loved the show. There is plenty of media about those guys. Okay. I’ll ride the crest. Next stop, iTunes…
by Joe
17 Dec 2008 at 01:22
I had to read the “no camera” line a couple times. Why didn’t you lie to us? You could have said that your camera wouldn’t power on and was currently in the repair shop. Instead, we all know that the lack of imagery falls solely onto your shoulders.
I read about VW just 2 days ago on another site. This must be my “sign” to check them out.
by Rol
17 Dec 2008 at 01:40
“There’s nothing exceptional about their self-titled debut, it is just masterful, joyful, ska-inspired pop music.”
I think that’s the best summation of the whole VW experience I’ve yet read. They’re not gonna change the world, but they’re having fun. Good on ‘em.
by Gypsy
17 Dec 2008 at 01:47
As an editor, I can’t help but love the Oxford Comma, musical or otherwise. I gave Vampire Weekend a listen and you’re right: excellent.
Although, after the listen, I don’t really approve of their stance on the Oxford Comma. Because I do give a fuck about the Oxford Comma. And you should, too.
As for crocodiles, spiders, and sharks (Look! I used an Oxford Comma!), you’re from Florida, man! These should be child’s play.
by SSG
17 Dec 2008 at 03:38
is the editors gonny be in your top ten? is there a prize for guessing the best album? is there? is there? or was that no.1 last year? who won then?
by mickey
17 Dec 2008 at 03:44
That is a catchy album. Almost too catchy. We’ll see if I still like it in another few months.
by courtney
17 Dec 2008 at 03:51
A friend of mine sent me that Vampire Weekend album for my birthday a few months ago, and I was immediately hooked. “Oxford Comma” is my favorite; it just makes me smile.
by Nathan B.
17 Dec 2008 at 06:26
I really like this album, but then again, I like some of that crappy pop that AFM mentioned in his post. I think that may have sort of collateral damage to the quality of this album, the more I think about it.
by admin
17 Dec 2008 at 11:36
Headbang – That explains it. I got some really dodgy fish n chips a few weeks back. Now I know what was wrong with it.
SSG – Can’t remember, did I? Apparently so: http://www.afreeman.org/2008/03/11/the-real-deal/
JChev – I’d like to see that list. I can only think of 2.
TUB – All the kids are doing it.
Joe – I know. I actually thought to grab it on the way out the door, but figured that I’ve taken about 6,000 pictures on the beach lately. What else could there be to see?
Rol – that’s why I like it. I think we forget sometimes that music should be fun to listen to. This album really is.
Gypsy – I didn’t know anything about an Oxford comma until I worked there. I kept editing out the comma before an ‘and’ and my boss kept putting it back with the note “Oxford comma”. It’s not the only idiosyncrasy about Oxford, wonderful place in hindsight.
True enough about FLA, nearly as lethal – it’s the per capita thing.
SSG – No Editors – too 80’s. Why don’t you make your own list? Arcade Fire won last year.
Mickey – I know, we’ll see how it wears. Also see what they do next. Are they a one trick pony?
Courtney – I like the Cape Cod one.
Nathan – Are you still an ‘n sync fan?
by suzer
17 Dec 2008 at 12:15
I had no idea flake was shark!
by Agnes
17 Dec 2008 at 21:17
VW are good but all the hype about em has stopped me from totally embracing them. Oxford Comma is awesome though – I was living by myself in this massive student house for a couple of months at the start of the year, and that track always reminds me of a lazy summer afternoon I spent lounging about on a recliner in the backyard, playing it over and over again. I don’t find myself listening to them much anymore though – I think it’s a bit like Mickey said, they’re catchy but I’m not sure how much staying power they’ll have.
by Agnes
17 Dec 2008 at 21:20
Oh, and I can’t believe you haven’t encountered any Hunstmen yet! We’ve been overrun by em these last couple of months. The other night I was in the laundry and there was one on the curtains. I yelped and turned around so that I didn’t have to look at it, only to see an even bigger one just above the light switch that I had JUST TURNED ON!! Two inches higher and I would’ve touched the bloody thing. God they’re foul.
by sarala
18 Dec 2008 at 01:36
I spent a few days on a Greek Island a couple of years ago and their spiders gave me nightmares. I couldn’t walk out of the house without a large stick to swat away the webs.
by JChevais
18 Dec 2008 at 02:03
Here’s the list: http://noplacelikeit.blogspot.com/2008/12/hardly-music-to-my-ears.html (it’s in the comments). Some of the groups I know, some of them I’ve never heard of.
by admin
18 Dec 2008 at 08:42
Suzer – Nor I.
Agnes – I’ll tell you in a couple of years. Actually, a couple of albums from my list last year have worn thin. Bruce Springsteen’s for example.
Sarala – We were on Crete a couple of years ago and I don’t remember spiders but there were a lot of goats.
JChev – Thanks for that. Most I’ve never heard of, but Phoenix is very good!
by zayzayem
18 Dec 2008 at 17:43
Flake is the only fish I’ll eat.
It’s respectful to eat something that might eat you. Or bullshit like that…
We have a book at home: http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1601405
“Australia’s dangerous creatures : understand, identify, avoid, survive / [text by David Underhill]”
It gets pulled out whenever any North American relatives come to visit us in Queensland.
Kangaroos actually feature in it. Somewhere alongside wombats, dingoes and koalas. Kangaroos fight dogs a lot. They can not only give them a good kicking, but can drown them. There was also a rather dodgy farmer anectdote that one once plucked an eagle from the sky…
by admin
19 Dec 2008 at 08:05
Zay – I’m worried that my dog is going to end up on the wrong side of a kangaroo one day!
by Starrlight
20 Dec 2008 at 04:34
LOVE that song. It made my list of favorite songs of the year for this weeks Thursday Thirteen =)
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by Florida Girl In Sydney
25 Dec 2008 at 05:57
Omigod, I can’t believe you saw a shark– I still haven’t. And the part about no camera— what????