Miles Nighthawk

"Toothpaste" by Miles Nighthawk
Twee-folk/Outsider Folk Personal Records 2010



Go here to get in contact with somebody about getting your hands on a copy

Oftentimes, songwriters write songs that are emotional and grab your guts and swing them around. Other times, songwriters can write funny songs that are quirky and catchy. Very rarely, musicians like Miles Nighthawk capture both of these simultaneously. This is most apparent in album opener "Asian Girlfriend" where Miles sings about how bad he wants a cute Asian girlfriend, but can't get one because he thinks he's too big of a loser. If only he found an Asian who appreciated young mastery of songcraft.

Miles' songs fall into this great deep valley between singers with untrained, unforgettable delivery like Daniel Johnston and great, passionate songs of The Mountain Goats.

Oh yeah, and did I mention he covers gangsta rap songs too?


For Listeners Of: The Mountain Goats, Oh No! Oh My!, Daniel Johnston, Neutral Milk Hotel, A Weather, NWA

Some links:
Personal Records homepage
Personal Records Myspace with the referenced "Asian Girlfriend" included
Miles Nighthawk's myspace page with more tracks

For Bailey Ewing

Oldest Known Recording Of a Voice
Noise/Drone/Fuzzcore Silber Records 1860



As somebody who loves random noises and production, I love this recording so much. It goes to show you, no matter how old something is, a truly great recording stands the test of time.

For Listeners Of: Sunn O))), Emeralds, Sharamantis, Flying Saucer Attack, Lovesliescrushing

The Dodos

"Visiter" By The Dodos
Folk/Indie/Freak Folk Frenchkiss Records 2008
Look for an awesome Live DVD in the next year or so



Download Visiter

When finding bands, sometimes you are lucky to stumble upon bands who just seem to do everything you love in music and nothing else. The Dodos are one of those bands for me because they write awesome folk songs, have great energy, have an amazing rhythm section and have just plain awesome memorable songs.

Visiter is a tour de force presenting The Dodos great grasp of dynamics and song craftsmanship. Visiter has all the great archetypes of songs in one album. Great intimate songs in "Undeclared" and "Park Song", energetic hype songs like "Fools" and awesome sing-a-longs like "Red And Purple" and "God?".

Another thing this band does a great job of is having a very distinct clear cut sound. Whenever you hear one of their songs, be it familiar or new, you know it is these guys with their crazy drumming, distinct voice and lyrical style. The song "Undeclared" on this album is an example of my favorite type of song. One person singing great intimate lyrics over a catchy finger-picking pattern throughout the whole song.

For Listeners Of: Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, Deerhoof The Decemberists, Akron Family, Wilco, Page France, Belle And Sebastian

Wilco and Billy Bragg

"Mermaid Avenue" By Wilco and Billy Bragg
Folk/Alt-country Elektra Records 1998



Download Mermaid Avenue

When searching for music, you often stumble upon albums that have very cool intrinsic novelty, that you give a few listens because of some little quirk. Many of these albums are interesting conversation points but never really go beyond that. Often times, albums like this have a novel point to them and are also incredibly beautiful pieces of art. This is one of those albums.

Mermaid Avenue is an album of collected unreleased lyrics by the late great Woody Guthrie and re-imagined by the great Billy Bragg and the band Wilco. This album is just another testament as to why Woody Guthrie was one of the best we ever had and why Billy Bragg and Wilco are some of the best we have now.

What caught my immediate attention of this album was hearing the song "One by One" over the summer in my best friend Eric's car. This is one of those songs that was so hauntingly great, hooking and beautiful that I just had to further investigate. I had listened to Wilco before but never really been hooked by them, this song did it for me in ten seconds.

For Listeners Of: Wilco, Billy Bragg, Woody Guthrie, Loose Fur, Uncle Tupelo, Golden Smog, Son Volt, The Dodos, A Weather, Folk music in general

CAN

"Tago Mago" By Can
Kraut-Rock Spoon Records Rerelease 2004
Original Release 1971 by United Artists



Download Tago Mago

Oh, CAN. How important are you. I often talk about how influential bands are on this here blog, but none of which that I have covered yet can even reach the level of importance of this here amazing band.

First of all, just because a band is influential doesn't always mean their good or even good to our modern ears. This is completely untrue with CAN. CAN creates music unlike anybody else, now and especially at their time, with driving adventurous songs with touches of influences from World music, to ambient, to jazz. CAN is one band that is next to impossible to explain on paper.

CAN's influence has touched on most current genres, including and not limited to avant-garde, experimental, underground, ambient, punk, post-punk, new wave, post-rock, nu-kraut rock, and electronic music. Which all in all means indie music. CAN, alongside The Velvet Underground and Bob Dylan, are responsible for a lot of the styles of music that we white people all listen to today.

This album is no exception, this is one of the more free form and experimental of their albums and the one I listen to the most. It also does a great job of showcasing their wide array of musical techniques, any song can feature ambient textures, great guitar work, a crazy backwards singing vocalist, the greatest non-metal drummer in my opinion, and just great memorable themes and moments.

Finally, CAN is one of the best German kraut-rock bands around.

For Listeners Of: Faust, Neu!, Kraftwerk, Sonic Youth, The Velvet Underground, ambient, punk, post-punk, new wave and electronic music

How HP Lovecraft Took Over The World

Tonight in Roanoke, VA there is one great event going on.

Its title: "How HP Lovecraft Took Over The World."
Its purpose: To have an exposition on local talent. Artists, writers, and musicians all group together to celebrate a great man and his work. Namely, HP Lovecraft

Happenings: A book release of Mike Allen's "Cthulhu's Reign", Lovecraft inspired art by Bob Snare, a live theatrical performance, a visual work, and music by local musician Arte Povera (with a special cover just for the night)

This is going to be yet another perfect installment in the event series of the Emerging Artist Series. As always, it's a free show at the main library in Downtown Roanoke starting around 6:30 PM. These shows never disappoint, and this may be the best one yet.

So, come out for a horrificly creative night.

Here are some links:
Facebook Event Page
Arte Povera's Myspace page
Emerging Artist Facebook Page
Buy Cthulhu's Reign

The Radio Dept.

"Clinging To A Scheme" by The Radio Dept.
Twee/Post-Punk Labrador 2010



Download Clinging To A Scheme

2010 is shaping up to be a great musical year already, with great new albums by The National, The Hold Steady, Band Of Horses, Tree No Leaves, and lots more. There are even some great albums by smaller rising bands, such as The Radio Dept.

This is one band that should be watched, sonically they fall right between twee bands like Beat Happening and slightly electronic post punk music such as The Cure. Like any well influenced band, they blend these things together very well while maintaining a great original sound (see The Depreciation Guild, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, or most any great band ever).

The song here to really pay attention to is "Heaven's On Fire". This song is a great example of what this band can accomplish through great layering, great vocals, and respectable dynamics. I can see this song at a top of a lot of list of great songs of 2010.

Oh yeah, and they're Swedish and every Swedish band is amazing. Great music is coming out of that wonderful country.

For Listners Of: Melpo Mene, Kings Of Convenience, Letting Up Despite Great Faults, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Beat Happening, New Order, The Cure, The Mary Onettes, The Embassy, The Legends, Moscow Olympics