Happy holidays all. I am fairly confident that our output should remain consistant throughout the week, but these times always find a way of paralyzing you out of no where, so I'm trying to remain half ready for it.
The always rad Belle & Sebastian have posted a new single, "Are You Coming Over For Christmas?", on their myspace. It's available there for download just for today, but in case you miss it, I've posted it here. No need to rush now, though it is a wonderful pop song.
NOTE: Happy birthday Mom. Just for you, here is post #5 from my personal list of the 15 greatest songs of 2007. Faaaaantastic.
It is so rare when you hear a song that sounds like nothing else and it's even more rare when it turns out that the song is actually good as well. Not only did I get this from "What's A Girl To Do", but honestly Bat For Lashes' debut lp "Fur And Gold" delivered an album full of unique pop music.
"What's A Girl To Do" has those thundering drums and great loops I love so much, with it's infectious chorus and honey sweet vocals from Lashes' mastermind Natasha Khan that will fucking cut you if the timing was right.
It's also impossible to post about this song without mentioning the just-as-incredible video shot for it. There is a reason it showed up on everyone's favourite video lists this year, so if you haven't caught it yet, please enjoy it below.
NOTE: Awwww yeah suckas, day number 4 from my personal list of the 15 greatest songs of 2007. Maybe more posts today, maybe not, but I'd check every now and then just in case. Either way, these posts are coming daily so come on back tomorrow at least. Wonderful.
I try not to post about my friends here too much without having them involved in some way, but since this is my top 15, I'm going for it.
Lawrence, Kansas' own Fourth Of July released a fantastic record titled "Fourth Of July On the Plains" this year on Range Life Records (friend of the blog) that is chock full of fantastic music that will stick to your head like gum on shoe (that you purposely stepped on).
When they went on tour this fall, they released 3 "tour singles" of all new music that were freshly recorded and ready for the public's ear to enjoy. And enjoy we did, as they had already topped themselves months after the gem they just dropped on us. For me, "I Don't Want To Lose You" was the stand out of those 3 incredible songs, with it's irresistible hook and it's overall sincerity coming from a band of rock geniuses.
NOTE: We're still at it mother fuckers, the 3rd day of my personal list of the 15 greatest songs of 2007. Don't stop looking, some days will probably have more than one post (hint: probably today), and you don't want to miss out on pure gold! This shit might continue to be posted daily as I haven't been slacking much. Alright!
Grinderman's self-titled debut this year was really one of the best things to happen to 2007. It gave us that raw edge that rock and roll has been missing for so long (and in some ways had never seen) as well as giving us bits and pieces of tenderness as only Nick Cave could deliver. Back in March, Matt introduced us to "No Pussy Blues", certainly one of the stand out tracks from the lp, but the one that constantly stunned me was the opening song "Get It On". And while I could go on and on about how amazing it is, really all you need is what could be the greatest lyrics ever penned:
"He drank panther piss and fucked the girls you're probably married to."
NOTE: I am counting down my personal list of the 15 greatest songs of 2007. I may put up a couple a day, and I do plan on doing our regular posts as well so please keep checking back, as we could double up in that day. If all goes to plan, these songs will be posted daily. Sweet.
One of the most endearing and representational tracks of Akron/Family as a whole was, to me, "Don't Be Afraid, You're Already Dead" from this year's "Love Is Simple". It not only captures an emotion, but has an entire song written around it, becoming even stronger with the group's four part harmonies and delicate instrumentation. Lyrically, it's the album's strongest (my main beef with the lp was the quality of lyrics, a strong point in Ak Ak's previous efforts but mostly absent in this round) and it has everything great about Akron/Family: rising build up to a grand finale, in this case it's audible love. As they sing the titular line over and over, you realize it's very true: love is simple, especially when it comes to loving Akron/Family.
I fucking hate say what I'm about to say, but here goes: dude sounds a lot like Will Oldham. It's nobody's fault or anything and it's actually kind of awesome because thankfully, he writes songs that sound like Paul Duncan songs and they're totally great.
"Above the Trees" came out this year and I didn't get to spend a lot of time with it. I've had it since before it came out and really was mostly excited about it's beautiful cover art (seriously its the best album cover of 2007 hands down), but this past week I dusted it off and haven't stopped listening to it. Oh Hometapes, why must you be the best label ever? Well done as always.
WeloveNo Age, and this performance at Other Music in NYC during CMJ time is proof further why us musical blogs get erect for such rad jams from these gents. Dig that new song "Sleeper Hold", is it showing up on the Sub Pop debut mayhaps? Oh and "Neck Escaper" never gets old, rock that shiz for life. I will.
MP3:Iron Maiden - The Number Of the Beast NOTE: Today's FUCK YEAH! contribution comes from my life partner Matt Giordano, who sent this in forever ago (October 4th to be exact) but I never got to it. Literally, I never even read it so this is just as new to me as it is to you. Enjoy the weekend, stay warm and don't let the snow kill you. Even though that would be so metal.
Some days you just want to be rocked, so you have turn back to the classics. Most modern music just isn't rocking enough, save a few, but it just seems to lack the qualities of the older lot. It could be the newer recording techniques compress the sound waves so that everything sounds flat and the quiets and louds are wrongfully balanced. Anyway, Iron Maiden fucking slays, and, if you disagree, you're a fool, and, give the beast a chance.
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks have given us a taste off of their upcoming sure-to-be-a-fucking-facemelter/gash-slayer "Real Emotional Trash". If "Baltimore" is any indication (and I think it is), we're in for a treat with sexy harmonies, usual Malkmus guitar shredding and excitingly loud and brutal drums from everyone's favourite rock and roll drummer and new "Jick", Janet Weiss. We'll have to wait until March to be rocked, but hopefully Matador or the bloggers will be kind enough to leak a couple of tracks every month or so to keep our respective smiles large.
In the meantime, look for every blog to make some sort of quip about Baltimore while posting about this track. Our quip? Baltimore fucking sucks. This song? It does not.
Too hard not to enjoy this last minute entry for best video of 2007 for "Loose" off the impossible to hate Bangers & Cash ep. Everyone loves women on the toilet, titties and Spank Rock playing bitchs' asses like bongos. Enjoy the video and download the track from when we posted it here. There is mad breasts and almost gash in this, so obviously NSFW. Fuck yeah!
NOTE: Today's contribution comes from adventurer Matt Giordano, who hopefully enjoyed his Moral Orel dvd collection I watched him purchase over the weekend. Fuck yeah!
Sadly for the music lovers, this time of year brings the stress of recollecting the best of the year, and trying to catch up on what we've missed. This track is a combination of the both, but a bit more of the latter. Homeboy David Lizmi was playing this the other night, and it's über-catchy 80's pop mimmicking just got to me. This song will get your booty shaking Don Johnson coke party style.
Hey duders, I certinally enjoyed my birthday week (the official day being yesterday, fuck yeah), but here it is: Monday and back to business.
The Terrordactyls are the duo of Michael Cadiz and Tyrel Stendahl, and together they make some fantastically fun, fantastically glum and just plain fantastic music. It's honestly honest and really the perfect record to dissect, and throw on mixtapes with the pure intention of it sticking out like a sore thumb. Each song works by itself easily, but as a whole these 14 songs flow like a river compliments by everyone's favourite instruments along the way: kazoos and toy pianos.
Kimya Dawson even found time to stop on by, singing on the albums standout track "Devices", by far a last minute favourite of the year for me. I've posted that, along with a gem titled "I Want to Cry" and finally, the boys gave us blogs a holiday bonus along with the note: “Dear Mr. Blogs: Here is a song about traditions; ones that we make no effort to perpetuate, but that we continue to carry with us anyway... mostly just because.” – Michael and Tyrel, The Terrordactyls.
Finally, here is their video for the song "Decoration Daniel". If anything, you can't say these dudes aren't giving. Score!
Don't make those best of lists just yet! With a new Ghostface album that dropped yesterday and a new Wu Tang to follow next Tuesday, it seems some of our favourites are popping up in December to challenge all previous discs with the promise of being more fresh in our minds and also being just as awesome. Case in point? Aloha's "Light Works", which hit shelves yesterday.
I still haven't taken it all in, but what a lovely little ep we've got here. First, the art is amazing. A beautiful cover, graced on a digipak with materials made from recyclables in a gentle package. Quite honestly, I could roll with the word "gentle" for this whole post. An ep meant to tide over fans before dropping a new lp in 2008, Aloha shows a gentle side that has been hinted at over the years, but finally delivered completely for the first time (and hopefully not the last!). The 7 songs go by somewhat quickly, just under a half hour, which is enough time to fall in love and replay for countless repeated listens.
They're all highlights honestly, but look out for the 2 gems I've posted here, "Passengers" which flows nicely with lovely harmonies backing Tony's sweet pipes and the closer "Equinox", which is a song built around around an improvised piece. It's all so carefree and inviting, very much worth checking out, even if you're not familiar with the band (but thankfully we all know that's not true).
It sounds perfect in these winter days and can morph quite nicely for the holidays, if you so wish. Thank you Aloha, see you next year!
NOTE: Today's contribution comes from ho-zone Matt Giordano, is hopefully buying me a birthday pint this weekend. Also, these songs he sent are tagged really annoyingly, so download and enjoy at your own will. Fuck yeah? Fingers crossed!
The Come Along & Eat It were passed along to me last year, and it's always been one of the most challenging groups I have ever listened to. However, the rewards of this band are so great, mostly as a result of their reinvention of "indie" music. The boundaries have been pushed so far, you'd almost expect said boundaries to push back, yet they cannot. It's rare that a band can take such an cascadingly bland genre and make it their own.
It is a beautiful thing when you go to a show to see someone and walk out of the venue with a new band to love. This happened to me when in Chicago many months back to see Tom Brosseau on a Fat Cat tour and the opener happened to be the amazing David Karsten Daniels. After chatting a bit and purchasing the cd, I realized that I had seen this record at the shop I was working at and ignored it, because of the oft putting cover art of "Sharp Teeth" (it now makes sense in context, I promise!).
What I like about DKD is his ability to seamlessly weave between mellow and upbeat without it feeling forced. Also, as seen in "Beast", mother fucker knows how to work a buildup in song like no other. Sprinkle some quality lyrics in this cookie mix and you're going to bake yourself something delicious. Highly recommended!
NOTE: Today's contribution comes from a slice of home, Matt Giordano. For those of you whom may have missed it, a couple weeks back we introduced a new feature here called "GO TEAM". Essentially, these posts support our friends who we want to hype, people who were in involved in the song (be it artist, label, friend, studio, etc) or that support my home state of Connecticut. Matt was kind enough to send in his GO TEAM post this morning supporting his main man Hetero Steve , so with many thanks and without further adieu, here you are. Go team.
Pattern is Movement is now Andrew and Chris. Andrew sings like Pavarotti and Chris plays drums like a calculator. Chris is also a recording engineer at Gradwell House, a studio that has recorded some of the bands' whom work with the proprietor of this page, Joey Gantner. Hence, they're part of the team.
Getting to the point, the band has recently finished their third album, with a projected release date around March of 2008. In anticipation, they have just released a seven-inch in Technicolour for the first single, "Right Away", on Hometapes (who is also putting out the record). To put it bluntly, the song fucking slays. The orchestration fully weaves in and around Andrew's vocals, with Chris' beat providing the booty-shaking motivation.
Still full from all the tofurky this weekend, but I didn't want to leave you hanging. Dig on this Amanda Blank track (thanks to Pingletracks for the mp3) while my belly gets empty enough to get back on track for the week. Fuck yeah!
Marriage makes up Oh Astro in all possible ways. Of course that means the duo of Jane Dowe and Hank Hofler hold each other's hand, but the entire project can be seen as a joining of samples and originality. In fact, this is probably one of the most unique and exciting sample based groups I've heard in quite some time.
Everything is so chopped up and glued together it's often times completely unrecognizable (except Lionel Richie's "Hello" which I think I'll always know somehow in my heart) and becomes it's own beast. The songs are mostly projected as wide often landscapes, large but not empty, just so vast and straight to the point but also can explode into a million pieces of sounds entirely out of nowhere. It's really quite something that will sleepover in your brain. The band was kind enough to post a brief list of the samples they used on their myspace blog, which can be found right here.
I do want to note that you should check out one of my favourite tracks on this album, "Lucy Sees the Moon", sung by their daughter Lucy. I desperately wanted to post it here, but it's honestly not the best representation of the band or album if you're a new listener. However, linked below, is an e-card to stream the album thanks to your best friends at Fanatic Promotion. I highly recommend checking it out, as it is a work of pure beauty. {purchase oh astro releases from illegal art}
It's new release Tuesday, and I could name a few gems that came out today, but fuck it. It snowed, which means it's time to bust out "Age Of Winters" on your way to the shop to pick up the new split 12 inch the Sword did with Witchcraft that came out last week. Killer.
And you can throw this gem in your iPod to listen to in the car. It's a track that appeared on the insanely awesome "Invaders" compilation Kemado put out last year. The boys say they're rerecording it for their new lp they're working on. Sick.
"Faces In the Rocks" has been a tough one to put down to tell the truth and I certainly don't mind. Mariee Sioux has crafted a wondrous, timeless folk masterpiece that is sure to stick deep in your bones. Very much worth a damn, enjoy.
