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

Band Of Horses

"Infinite Arms" by Band Of Horses
Indie Folk Columbia 2010



Sorry no download (this just came out)

Recently released Inifinite Arms is another staple by under-rated staple indie band Band Of Horses. Akin to other indie folk bands of their kind, this band boasts great dynamics and great song writing.

Infinite Arms opens up with one heck of a song called "Factory", a great song that sounds like a mixture of the Yo La Tengo great "The Story Of Yo La Tengo" and any great Fleet Foxes song. The album opens up with strong with several great dynamic songs and starts to quiet down around track six with the only song of questionable quality ("On My Way Back Home" kinda sounds like a Hannah Montana song.) They pick it back up with the quieter title track and ride into the sunset with the last closing tracks.

Band Of Horses is a band that obviously enjoys what they're doing and doesn't feel like they need to experiment or find a new sound. (Because they might fall flat on their faces like with MGMT's newest effort)

Another thing to point out, in context of the music industry as a whole, is that the popular music review site Pitchfork gave this a low score. It could be said that they did this because Band Of Horses is on a big label now, it could be said that Pitchfork are just a bunch of assholes. What should really be learned here is that never should a review site be taken so seriously, it is your opinion that matters to yourself after all.

Cheers

For Listeners Of: Fleet Foxes, Beirut, Iron And Wine, Animal Collective, Devendra Banhart, The Decemberists, Akron/Family, Plants And Animals, Neutral Milk Hotel, Bright Eyes

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

"The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart" by The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
Shoegaze 2009 Slumberland



Download The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

What The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart prove, along with other bands like Fucked Up, Titus Andronicus, and The Depreciation Guild, is that when you mix shoegaze techniques with a few other genres, you can get something amazing. Here The Pains mix Shoegaze with Dance Punk and 80's pop. They do this with great avail, from Kip's gret singing, to Kurt's energetic drumming, to Peggy's great job of being the token cute asian.

This self-titled album is a teenage oddsysey through angst, good times, and greater music. The album is filled with great lyrics and adolescent anthems. Each song is catchy, a great sing a log, and high energy, so this album is perfect for your next road trip.

What the album does best is not lean too much on any of its chosen influences, never does it sound too much like My Bloody Valentine, nor The Cure, nor The Pyschedelic Furs. At all times, one can hear these influences at work to create their unique sound. Again, it isn't just the influences at play here, these guys are truly unique talented musicians.

They also share members with the amazing band The Depreciation Guild (whose album In Her Gentle Jaws we covered some time back)

All in all, if you've somehow missed this here album, make sure to check it out. Maybe download it for free with the above link.

Happy Listening,
My Warm Blood

For Listeners Of:My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, The Cure, The Psychedlic Furs, Fucked Up, Titus Andronicus, The Depreciation Guild, The Smiths, The Rapture, Surfer Blood, Cymbals Eat Guitars

Loveliescrushing

"Bloweyelashwish" by Loveliescrushing
Shoegaze/Drone Projekt 1999



Download Bloweyelashwish

Few artists capture the word "Desolation" like Loveliescrushing does. Lovesliescrushing is an artist that sonically exists perfect shoegaze groups as My Bloody Valentine and drone artists such as Emeralds.

What is interesting about Loveliescrushing are the unique sensations that are evoked with the music. Never with any other artist have I been walking a huge crowd of people and felt completely alone and cold. Lovesliescrushing is a master of creating his own lonely worlds.

Bloweyelashwish album is an interesting romp through Lovesliescrushing's sound craft, with songs ranging from 40 seconds to 10 minutes. Some of the shorter songs seem a bit superfluous, but ultimately add to the ebb and flow of the album as a whole. Bloweyelashwish is a great memorable album as it utilizes similar themes throughout and truly explores them with techniques similar to Classical composers.

For Listeners Of: My Bloody Valentine, Flying Saucer Attack, Stereolab, Astrobite, Emeralds, Infinte Body, Remora, Star, Auburn Lull, Bethany Curve

Slowdive

"Souvlaki" by Slowdive
Shoegaze Creation Records 1993



Download Souvlaki

Other than My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive is probably the most accesible of shoegaze bands. This album is testament to this fact. Souvlaki is an odyssey through a perfect stylized genre blending and an example of shoegaze worthy to be in the same sentence as Loveless.

What adds to this album's greatness is its production work, by none other than the great Brian Eno. With his help, Slowdive created an album of smooth sounding atmospheric pop song craft.

Slowdive's accessibility can be attributed to a lack of harshness in sound and great male-female vocal styles. There are some great songs to be found here, such as the Slowdive classic "Alison", the epic borderline post-rock "Souvlaki Space Station", and the intimate acoustic "Dagger".

Conclusively, Slowdive is one of the great shoegaze bands and should be regarded with great esteem because of this. Souvlaki is one album that should never ever be forgotten.

For Listeners Of: My Bloody Valentine, Spiritualized, Pale Saints, Chapterhouse, Ride, Lush, Bethany Curve, Lovesliescrushing, Flying Saucer Attack, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, The Depreciation Guild

Swirlies

"Blonder Tongue Audio Baton" by Swirlies
Shoegaze/Noise/Twee Taang! 1993



Download Blonder Tongue Audio Baton

These days in indie music, there is a movement of bands that sound down-right shitty in their recording techniques and their tones, like Wavves and Times New Viking. This is nothing new, and credit must be given to the originators of this movement.

Introducing Swirlies

Swirlies creates music akin to My Bloody Valentine, just a bit rougher and cuter. They have the same elegance in sound and atmospheric bliss included, just with some angry stuffed animals thrown into the mix. The main way to describe Swirlies's aesthetic is "I'm late to school! I don't give a fuck!".

Swirlies has great song writing masked by unrecognizable buzzes and noises and lots of fuzz. This is heavily apparent in the songs "Pancakes" and the borderline post-rock "Jeremy Parker"; these are my favorite songs on this album, but the whole thing is great.

Music history goes in circles, and this is proof that even the weirdest of genres have some sort of foundation. Nobody is really that weird, and Swirlies helps you realize that.

For Listeners Of: My Bloody Valentine, Beat Happening, Times New Viking, Sebadoh, No Age, Wavves, K Records, Cool Rays, The Go Team, The Halo Benders, Lilys, Astrobite, Medicine, Drop Nineteens, Black Tambourines

Professor Murder

Professor Murder "Rides The Subway"
Dance Punk/New Wave Kanine Records 2006



Download Rides The Subway

No this isn't some horrific gangsta rapper, nor is it metal

Professor Murder is a New York band that creates amazing dance punk EP's. One of the immediately memorable things one notices is their incredible use of cowbell.

'Nuff Said.

Just kidding, this isn't one of those here's album art and a free link blogs!



This short EP, clocking in at 16.4 minutes, succesfully creates a flash party. The album comes and goes in such a small party, it is reminiscient to a thirty minute rave with three hundred people in one tiny dorm room. Not only is this music fun and catchy, it's well made and there's love put into it.

The guys in this band seem like they grew up in the 80's and never grew up from partying and dancing. This is expressed through syncopated drums, great vintage synths, repetitive on purpose vocals, and the recording techniques.

The only bad thing about the album is that it leaves you wanting more as it comes and goes so quickly. Looking at the band's discography, with three EP's just like this one, it seems that this is their job. As most music goes, form fits the social context, so maybe Professor Murder as a band just shows up at parties blows people away with amazing dance music and leaves.

Ultimately, nobody will ever say "Needs More Cowbell"

For Listeners Of: The Rapture, Interpol, Tokyo Police Club, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, !!!, The Faint, LCD Soundsytem, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Q and Not U, The Kills

The Notwist

"The Devil, You + Me" by The Notwist
Indie/Electronic Morr Music 2008



Download The Devil, You + Me

The Notwist is a German group that sneakily makes music in whatever genre is great in the underground, starting with Grunge in 1990, metal in the late 1990's, and Indie Electronica in the 2000's.

Now, The Notwist is a band who makes subtle electronic music. This is the first of genre wandering with which they have achieved relative success. They do it so well that it's hard to believe they use to be a Metal band. I for one think they should stick right where they are for the rest of their careers (instead of making Lady Gaga music like one might next expect).

What makes The Notwist so great is the combination of their great song-writing and Marcus Acher's voice. With his voice, he creates the sort of "makes me wanna cuddle" music that other indie electronics do well or try to do well.

Their songs are a mixture of guitar and electronics, with some wavering between the two. Some songs are predominately guitar, such as album opener "Good Lies" and some are almost all electronics, such as "Sleep".

The Notwist is one band within the genre that can give The Postal Service a run for their money. In comparison, The Notwist is much more consistently good but lacks one amazing song such as "Such Great Heights." This rivalry is apparent in the fact that when I was a good bit younger and had sketchy .mp3's I had a mislabeled Postal Service sond that was actually a Notwist song, and it was one of my favorites.

But, I recommend listening for yourself.

For Listeners Of: The Postal Service, Dntel, James Figurine, Four Tet, Caribou, Electronic Radiohead, New Order, Depeche Mode, Slut, Blackmail, 13 & God, Console, Tocotronic, Lali Puna, Ms. John Soda,

Fortress Of Swatches

"Captains of Captains" by Fortress of Swatches
Math/Twee/Hardcore Self-Released 2007



It is a rare occasion, but every once in a while you catch a local band that blows your mind. Fortress of Swatches is one of those bands. I went to a show once to see my friend’s band play, and Fortress was headlining said show. When the husband-wife duo went on, I was thinking “Please don’t play brainless indie rock, I’ve seen this one too many times…” They then went on to play one of the most mind fucking sets I have ever seen. I literally spent the rest of that night rethinking everything I knew about music, I didn’t think two people could generate that much noise.

Later as I became friends with Joe and Selena Kelley, I continued going to their shows and buying their records. “Captains of Captains” is their second album. It shows a mature mix of many styles of music, some songs so quiet you have to turn the volume up, and others ear drum destroying-ly loud. They can be as gentle as a twee pop band, and then in the same song play with more intensity than any hardcore band I’ve seen.

The couple shares duties, some songs featuring Joe on guitar and Selena on drums, and then vice-versa (which also makes an interesting part of their live show). Throughout the album the lyric contents change from captains to thieves and cobblers, their lyrics are as varying as their songs. Overall, this is a great mixture of math, indie rock, punk and even more. But really, Fortress of Swatches transcends most labels, and is really just damn good music for the listening.

For Listeners Of: The Minutemen, Shellac, Maps and Atlases, Lightning Bolt, Hella, Dilute, Don Caballero, Fugazi

The Depreciation Guild

In Her Gentle Jaws" by The Depreciation Guild
Shoegaze/8-Bit/Pop Kanine Records 2007



Download In Her Gentle Jaws

The Depreciation Guild is a rising band for good reason, few bands have a more unique, refreshing sound than this New York 8 Bit/Shoegaze Band. That genre hybridization is a shock at first, thinking My Bloody Valentine (see previous old post) mixed with Pac-Man.

But fuzz and blips has never sounded sooooo good. This thrown in with a pop/dance punk aesthetic and you have one awesome nerd turned indie god sounding band. Sounds a heck of a lot like The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart (partly because the drummer of The Pains is the singer/guitarist for them) with a bit different approach.

What's great about this mixture of Famicon, Fenders, Fuzz, and Reverb is that no song leans to heavily on one of the weapons. Every song is the perfect blend of each aspect, which makes every song sound well balanced and awesome. They also boast a very strong, but small discography (as this album being their first release was released in 2007).

I've seen this band live and watched a few of their live performances, and one thing that makes them even more awesome is their live performances. One would expect a shoegaze band to stand there and be somber, hence the name, but this band does not leave out opportunity to impress. The band has a great stage presence that's not pretentious, good energy, and very friendly mixed with a awesome visuals of digital collages and flashing colors that fits the aesthetic. This is one band that has their artistic direction down pat.

The only negative that could be said about this album is that the quality of songs, ironically enough, Depreciates in quality. In other words, the great memorable songs are right in the front and the second half is still good but doesn't match the first.

All in all, this is an amazing unique band that nobody should look past.

For Listeners Of: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Sweet Tripp, Ringo Deathstarr, Letting Up Despite Great Faults, Airiel, The Radio Dept., The Fauns, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Swirlies, Brand New

Death Cab for Cutie

This song is just so amazing that I needed to post it. State Street Residential is definitely one of my favorite songs of all time. It's also reason as to why Death Cab got so damn famous.

90's emo mixed with 90's indie/early post-rock/slowcore with the quintessential Death Cab flavor, so hard to beat.



Enjoy

Ambient Music - an introduction and summary

Ambient Music is described by Wikipedia as "a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality."

Ambient music is very different for a lot of people, it can be anything that is "chill", "crazy-sounding", or "meaningful". Few genres have this large scope in reactions, some love it to death and give their life to ambiance and some think it's boring and move on.

With slow focused music such as Ambient and Drone music, the composer creates a more realistic approach to music making and is less filtered as other genres are. What else is important from a composers perspective is that you are not forced to immediately impress as the song in its entirety and the world you create is what is truly important. This all creates much more heartfelt, genuine pieces. Few ambient pieces are gratuitous attempts to make the music just to be cool, all pieces are true expression.

Fennesz

"Endless Summer" by Fennesz
Ambient/Glitch Mego 2001, 2006 Re-Issue



Download Endless Summer

Fennesz's sound is so deep and expansive that in most songs the listener can mentally visualize a shape for the song. Most songs ending up being quite spherical in shape, while others have expressive indescribable shapes.

Endless Summer is a feat in solo electronic composition, showing such a range in sound and a finesse in structure.

Fennesz shows us all how meticulous composition and production mixed with a few simple musical arrangements can deliver sounds that are as profound as they are varied. This is especially prevalent in this album, as Fennesz focuses on more thematic work, with melodies and themes more seen throughout this album than his other efforts.

This a great album for napping to, doing work, wandering around on foot, and driving aimlessly. This album is another one of those albums with so many layers and textures, that it will take many many listens to pick them all out.

Happy Listening

For Listeners Of: Tim Hecker, Oval, Belong, Andrew Weathers, Alvanoto, William Basinki, Microstoria, So, SND, Pan Sonic, Ryoji Ikeda, Brian Eno, Steve Reich

Emeralds

"Solar Bridge" by Emeralds
Drone/Ambeint Hanson 2008



Download Solar Bridge

Emeralds seems to be the giant right now in the newer underground Ambient Drone world. It seems everything I read and see says things like "this is some great drone, but it doesn't touch Emeralds". This reputation is what made me gravitate to this here group.

Boy was I amazed.

Upon first listen to Solar Bridge, I was immediately impressed by the ambient wall of sound the opening (1 of 2 tracks actually) song "Magic" gave me. Much like my first listen to Loveless, I was already excited to keep listening over over again to discover new layers of sound within this gargantuan sound.

What is great about Emeralds though is their track lengths, Solar Bridge contains two tracks "Magic" and "Quaking Mess". Each track may be long by conventional standards, but song length such as this gives the listener time to listen and get wrapped up in the sound and forget time itself. What is also important about long running songs is actually getting the time to study the sound and listen to each layer, compared to traditional songs where you listen for three minutes to so many different parts that you can miss a whole lot.

For Listeners Of: My Bloody Valentine, Infinite Body, Lovesliescrushing, Andrew Weathers, Full Spectrum Records, Remora, Silber Recordsm, Sun O))), Mark McGuire, Steve hauschildt, Oneothrix Point Never, Skyramps, Robedoor, Sam Goldberg, the sounds of a car driving on a highway

Andrew Weathers

"A Great Southern City" by Andrew Weathers
Ambient Drone Full Spectrum Records 2010



Download A Great Southern City

Now, here I have the newest album from Andrew Weathers, the Greensboro based ambient artist creating what could be interpreted as an album dedicated to Greensboro itself. Which would not be out of the question, as Greensboro is indeed A Great Southern City.

Andrew Weathers is known for his stellar minimalist compositions, as found in previous albums In Gold and . In this album though, he throws some new weapons into the mix. Those being acoustic guitar, some strings, and, most welcoming, a few vocals. What this culminates to is an engaging, accessible romp through folk, ambient, noise, and drone.

The album starts with "Anchor", a track mostly composed of acoustic guitar that welcomes the listener into the album's sonic abode. This then goes smoothly into the next piece, "Dusty Summer Ghost"a smooth 9 minute ambient piece. What is to note here especially is the fantastic production work, akin to yesterday's Atlas Sound album.

The track that stands out to me is the third track "First Front Porch Brooklyn". This song perfectly integrates the folk aspects with the ambient style. The textures work well together in creating moments that are some of the most intricate on the album.

What makes this album standout is its variety in sounds. It varies from sounding like acts like Charalambides, to Atlas Sound, to Infinite Body. But through this trekking, one never loses a sense of Weathers. Comforting also are the sparse vocals, reminding the listener of humanity's existence; as it's always easy to forget everything with ambient music this good.

For Listeners Of: Emeralds, Charalambides, Atlas Sound, Vacation Dad, M. Pyres, Non Horse, Sky Limousine, Grouper, Infinite Body, and Endless Endless Endless, stop/eject, Fira Fem, Acid of All Ruins, Pushmi-Pullyu, Rogaland Hot Club

Atlas Sound

"Weekend EP" By Atlas Sound
Ambient Self Released 2007



Download Weekend EP

This is the very album that got me into slow, ambient music. This concept album is put out by Atlas Sound, the solo project of the famous Bradford Cox, prominent for his work in Deerhunter, his work with Panda Bear, and for Atlas Sound itself.

What is so great about this album, and what gives a good identity for a gateway ambient album is how engaging it is on most levels. Firstly, I was immediately drawn to it because of the track listing, which goes as follows:

1. Friday Night We Took Acid and Laid on Matt's Bedroom Floor Staring at His Ceiling Fan While His Parents Watched T.V. Downstairs (7:28)
2. Saturday Night We Went Swimming And There Was A Light In The Water (7:07)
3. Sunday Evening We Relaxed In Our Rooms and Called Each Other on the Phone (13:36)

Friday Night is achieved through it's slow repetitive nature. The Ceiling fan is a interestingly achieved through a constant rhythmic tone that seems circular. What also adds to it is the atmospheric yet unintelligible vocals. These represent to me aimless friend to friend banter.

Saturday is the track I find to be perfectly pulled off. The shimmering distant sounds give the perfect sense of water and swimming. The whole song uses very warm, friendly tones that express a sense of friedship and even the "Light In The Water."

Sunday night is just as good and I will leave its enjoyment to yourself, as I don't wanna tell you what exactly to enjoy, that's not the point.

Happy Listening

For Listeners of: Infinite Body, Deerhunter, Panda Bear, Sigur Ros, The Antlers, Andrew Weathers, Emeralds

Infinite Body

"Carve Out The Face Of My God" By Infinite Body
Ambient Drone Post Present Medium Records 2008



Download Carve Out The Face Of My God

Infinite Body is the ambient project of a mister Kyle Parker. Infinite Body uses subtle themes within drones to create a compelling relaxing universe, this use of themes is most prevalent in opening track "Dive". "Carve Out The Face Of My God" is a minimalist's digital fantasy.

Thematically, this album expresses veneration, a forgotten elegance, and an intimate sort of retrospective perspective on live. It achieves these through crooning, digital legato strings, distorted vocal drones, and great song composition. For an ambient album, the songs are pretty short (but pretty accessible) with two songs clocking in at seven minutes and the rest no more than three minutes, save the 5:31 "Dive". What this does is give the album variety, not choppiness like one would expect having heard other bands long sound scape albums (See Emeralds Solar Bridge).

Infinite Body creates an interesting aesthetic that is reminiscent of both dawn and dusk. The album starts with a strong dawn aesthetic with what is evocative of the sun rising and early morning laziness. Around the 4th track, it fast forwards to a dusk-drenched sound present in a slowly darkening sound.

At times, this album even touches on the swirling analog synth beauty of the great Boards Of Canada. Words says that Infinite Body creates a better live experience than studio efforts can express. This simple fact scares me.

For Listeners Of: Emeralds, Atlas Sound, Vacation Dad, M. Pyres, Non Horse, Sky Limousine, Grouper, Andrew Weathers, and Endless Endless Endless

Dilute

"Grape Blueprints Pour Spinach Olive Grape" by Dilute
Math Rock/Post-Rock 54 40' or Fight 2002



Download Grape Blueprints Pour Spinach Olive Grape

Dilute fills the space between American Football and Hella in the audio spectrum, with calm spindly angular guitar with very relaxed moments to loud energetic moments as well. This band has wonderful dynamics.

Also, what Dilute does that bands like Hella don't do is expand the repertoire to a full band, where Hella is two members, Dilute is several members. The singing is also wonderful, with Marty Anderson (famous for his side project Okay) singing with his creepy yet still intimate voice. This album is worth many a listen. I recommend mostly for when working on something that needs focus. It's just repetitive enough to get lost in but dynamic enough to casually enjoy and not have to think about.

For Listeners Of: Hella, Don Caballero, Lightning Bolt, Dilute, Maps and Atlases, ughgod, Tortoise, American Football, anything Zach Hill has ever touched

Hella - Hold Your Horse Is

"Hold Your Horse Is" by Hella
Math Rock 2002 5 Rue Christine



Download Hold Your Horse Is

Hold your horse is as seamless and smooth as math rock can get, with great track to track transition.

Starts with blippy intro song "The D. Elkan" and jumps right into "Biblical Violence." Right at this point, you know exactly what to expect for the rest of the album, impossibly fast, equally as ridiculous, alternative meter drumming with angular math guitar. Just like Zach Hill's drumming, the album does not have one boring or resting point. The entire album is an assaulting pleasure on the ears of any ADD member of our generation.

Hella's songwriting approach seems like a foray into the mind of a distracted virtuoso musician, with theme after them coming and going. Sometimes brilliant themes that a normal musician would use for a whole song are introduced and thrown aside in thirty seconds time.

Hella is true talent mixed with a fun-loving, energetic approach. Sometimes after listening to a Hella song you even have to catch your breath.

For Listeners Of: Don Caballero, Lightning Bolt, Dilute, Maps and Atlases, ughgod, Tortoise, American Football, anything Zach Hill has ever touched

The Smiths

"The Smiths" by The Smiths
Rough Trade Records 1984




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Some bands that come around and join together are considered perfect bands, The Smiths might just be one of those bands. The perfect combination of music and lyrics came together with Morrissey and Johnny Marr with The Smiths.

Few lyricists match the prowess of the great Morrissey, not also to mention his angelic voice, equally as peerless. Johnny Marr's music is no shorter a feat itself with great arpeggios and chord break downs.

The bands self titled effort in 1984 is a great example of that. Sometimes one must just listen, as a great man once said, "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture."

For Listeners Of: The Cure, Joy Division, Interpol, Bauhaus, Morrissey, The Psychedelic Furs, Echo and The Bunnymen, The Stone Roses, Oasis

Andrew Jackson Jihad

"People That Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World" by Andrew Jackson Jihad
Folk-Punk Asian Man Records 2007



Download People That Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World

Angst is a topic covered to a considerable degree across many fields of music. From Neil Young to Wu Tang Clan, angst serves as great inspiration to many musicians. Angst, however, can often breed some of the shittiest music imaginable (i.e Avril Levigne), and so musicians must tread cautiously when approaching the subject matter.
The Arizona duo Andrew Jackson Jihad has found a formula for angst that works wonderfully.... take the inspiration of early American folk (Woodie Guthrie) add in the anger of late 70’s punk and come out with a truly unique album that has you singing along about a Nazi and a rapist living in your heart. People Who Eat People Are The Luckiest People Are The Luckiest People On Earth is the masterpiece for everyone who has ever felt like say “Fuck You” to the world.

But underneath the anger is a sentiment of hope for fellow man, as stated in the song “Personal Space Invader” (which perhaps sums up the album perfectly) “Welcome to this world have as much fun as you would like/While helping others have as much fun as you’re having/Be kind to those you love/And be kind to those you don’t/But for God’s sake you gotta be kind’”.

People Who Eat People is full of catchy songs. From the opening track “Rejoice”, which sets the tone for the anthem perfectly by screaming ”Rejoice despite the fact this world will hurt you/Rejoice despite the fact this world will kill you/Rejoice despite the fact this world will tear you to shreds/Rejoice because you’re trying your best”, . The rest of the album follows suit, keeping the upbeat tempo with the thumping upright bass and aggressive guitar and lends us some gems as “Survival Song,” “No More Tears,” and “People II: The Reckoning” There is no dropping point in this album; it manages to stay strong throughout, making for an almost perfect album.
In conclusion, this album, though being a reprise of common themes and a mixing of genres many consider to be past their prime, manages to usher in a fresh, unique sound. Even if you are not a folk or a punk fan, this album deserves at least one listen.

You May Also Enjoy: Ghost Mice, Those Poor Bastards, Wingnut Dishwashes Union, Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains, Early Electric Bob Dylan.

Greensboro Music Festival

Hey there to any Music fans living in Greensboro or surrounding areas.

If you enjoy music, especially independent music, you should check out this here festival to be happening in the upcoming week in Greensboro, NC. It's focusing on independent composers and their work.

It's called North "Carolina Acoustic Electronic and ElectroAcoustic Student-Run Brand New Music Festival Festival" or NCAEaEAS-RBNMF Festival.

Definitely worth checking out. Catchy title too.


Festival Page

A Tribe Called Quest

"People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm" by A Tribe Called Quest
Rap\Hip Hop Jive Records 1989



Download People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm

When first sitting down to research this amazing rap album, I stumbled upon the Wikipedia article and glanced at the genres that A Tribe Called Quest are filed under. Never before have I seen a more appropriate filing. It said:

"Jazz Rap/Golden Age Hip Hop"

Perfect. Nailed It. Good Job Wikipedia. (maybe soon it'll change it to Neo-Classical Metal/Zouk though, knowing Wikipedia)

Anyway, to get to this here album quickly, People's Instinctive Travels is one of the smoothest pieces of rap music I've ever heard. The Tribe consists, on a nuclear level, of Q-Tip, Al Shaheed Muhammad, and Fife Dawg.

What got my attention for this album was the lead single, and most famous Tribe song "Can I Kick It?". Why, yes you can Tribe, yes you can. This song is a great example of the Tribe, featuring great smooth rap poetry, amazing sampling (Lou Reed's Walk On The Wild Side is sampled, possibly my favorite sampling to date), subtly comedic lyrics, and great structure for a rap song.

A Tribe Called Quest is definitely one of the most overlooked rap groups of the early 90's, sometimes overshadowed by rap giants Wu-Tang, Public Enemy and the like.

For Listeners of: Wu-Tang Clan, Public Enemy, Run DMC, NWA, Gucci Mane, Notorious BIG, or Tupac

You Forgot In People

"You Forgot It In People" by Broken Social Scene
Indie 2002 Arts & Crafts



Download You Forgot It In People

Sorry for the tiny delay between recommendations, but I've got a great one here for you.

Broken Social Scene (BSS) has been one of the flag bearers of the 00's Indie movement, especially the Canadian sector, that being Stars, Metric, Apostles of Hustle, Feist, and Tokyo Police Club. BSS is a legendary super group of members of all of these bands (except TPC). Sometimes live acts get up to 19 members on-stage, albums reaching even more than that in appearances.

This is the album that brought them to the forefront, and for good reason. "You Forgot In People" is one of those albums that you feel like you need no other albums. Ranging in energies, dynamics, and styles.

Early songs in the album are high energy and catchy songs, "Stars and Sons" and "Cause=Time". The latter half is a more intimate venture through jazz and folk, "I'm Still Your Fag" and "Lover's Spit". Only a few bands in recent musical history mix genres so well but still keep their "sound," the other band that comes to mind is Yo La Tengo.

Another song that really stands out is the "Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl" that features Metric singer Emily Haines singing about the pressures and the "no rest" lifestyle of being a seventeen year old girl while beautifully crafted string arrangements accompany it in the back.

Few bands sound as well crafted and focused as Broken Social Scene, every line sounds intentional and well thought out. With 18 appearing musicians on this album, it's hard to believe that anybody could pull it together quite as well as these guys.

For Listeners Of: Metric, Stars, Feist, Tokyo Police Club, The Strokes, The White Stripes, Indie, Animal Collective

"Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space" by Spiritualized
Space-rock, Dream Pop, Shoegaze Dedicated (1997)


Download Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space

For Listeners Of: My Bloody Valentine, The Cure, The Stone Roses, Radiohead, Blur, Beach Boys, Pop music in general

Though shoegaze is a fitting genre for this kind of sound, this album goes a bit deeper than just clouding a pop song behind layers of flanger and distortion, Spiritualized goes a step further. Gospel and blues play a large role in the songwriting, and the horns and harmonicas on certain tracks such as "Come Together" (not a Beatles cover) turn what would have been good songs into spectacles. One of the reasons that Ladies and Gentlemen is such a great album is that the album is extremely diverse while also being extremely focused. In other words, each track is a unique experience, while still maintaining an otherworldly, uniform sound.

Aside from the gospel and blues elements, as with anything related to shoegaze, this album gets pretty fucking noisy, usually to a stellar effect. Frontman Jason Pierce begins "All of My Thoughts" with the declaration "Don't know what to do by myself/ cause all of my time was with you" with instrumentation that is equally as somber. The direction of the song quickly changes as the bass begins its groove and the guitar fuzzes out of comprehension, reflecting that instead of letting these truths to depress him, they energize him almost to the point of spite.

The album and (near-perfect) title track begins with an eerie yet soothing announcement from keyboardist Kate Radley that names the album, and sums it up better than I can. Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space may be one of the most appropriately titled albums I've ever heard.

Key tracks: Title track, "Come Together", "Electricity", all of them really minus "The Individual"

"Cove" by A Weather
Slowcore/Folk 2008 Team Love



Download Cove

Because this band just released an album and reminded me of their incredible existence, I've decided to recommend their first full length (instead of the new one, nonsensically of course, which is called Everyday Balloons)

Anyway, to the description \/

A Weather is a sad band. This is true. Not in a "woe is me, everyone is against me" way, but more in a cuddle up and escape from the world kind of sad. They describe themselves as "The things that stuffed animals would tell you if they've had a few too many." Duo-ed by two singer-songwriters Aaron Gerber and Sarah Winchester with lovely intertwining boy-girl harmonies you've probably come to love in indie music. Think Stars mixed with Beat Happening with Iron and Wine. Good stuff. Not actually stuffed animals.

Song that stands out for me is album opener "Spiders, Snakes," a simple beat with simple but great guitar and A Weather's trademark great vocals. This song is a great example of the band, with lyrics ranging from sadness (are you pissed that when things got bad/ there was only one set of footprints of footprints in the sand?), to cathartic isolation (do you read when you go to bed/or do you lay their shaking instead), and simple enjoyment (I want cinnamon buns in the morning air in airport waiting lines). There's even a reference to Bedhead in the song (see last post for more information).

Pretty much, A Weather is a great band that you'll listen to even when you're not sad, but just because they're just so great.

For Listeners of:
Neutral Milk Hotel, The Magnetic Fields, Beat Happening, Boy Most Likely To, Stars, Iron And Wine, Norfolk And Western, Bedhead, Kings Of Convenience, Belle And Sebastian, Math And Physics Club (<-- expect a review of this band soon)

Thank you friends

"Beheaded" by Bedhead
Indie/Slowcore 1996 Trance Syndicate


Download Beheaded

Indie is a word that is thrown around like it doesn't mean anything anymore, a word that is to soon have a cliche existence such as Alternative or Punk also live in. Indie as a genre defining term was first used in England to describe late eighties independent musicians such as Lush, Primal Scream, The Cure, The Smiths, Jesus And Mary Chain and such bands. These bands were truly independent and creating a new sound and are now referred to as British indie and put into sub genres such as Shoegaze and Britpop.

America saw its birth of Indie music in early 90's acts such as Bedhead. Bedhead can be easily heralded as the most unrecognized influential band of the 90's. Their influences reach as far as Explosions In The Sky, to American Football, to Spoon, to A Weather, and to most any band that calls themselves Indie.

This album was one of the albums (along with WhatFunLifeWas) that helped solidfy Bedhead's importance to early indie and post-rock. It was released in 1996 on the Butthole Surfer's Trance Syndicate label.

Beheaded is a casual, dynamic, and polyphonic experience through many different themes. Bedhead's sound is created by three intertwining guitars, an often capo-ed bass, and backbeat drumming. Their songs are generally dynamic and have a mellow intro/verse/chorus/verse/chorus/loud climactic part structure (think Explosions in The Sky with lyrics). What also makes this band stand out is the singer's voice, which to me sounds like a combination of Yo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan and Velvet Underground's Lou Reed; which makes for an amazing mellow, alto, sort of raspy voice.

Thematically the album discusses multiple themes such as escapism, human relativity, and creative output and its reception by others. Not only does it convey these through lyrics, but also through song structure and compositional techniques.

For Listeners of: Spokane, Thee More Shallows, Explosions In The Sky, Spoon, Carissa's Wierd, Do Make Say Think, El Ten Eleven, Maserati

"Hospice" by The Antlers
Folk/Post-Rock 2009 Frenchkiss Records


Download Hospice

The Antlers were started by lonely musician Peter Silberman who then found a band and created this here album. This was my album of the year last year, coming completely out of nowhere.
Stylistically, this album lives somewhere between well crafted, emotional, and intimate folk music of Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, and Grizzly Bear and dynamic, "epic" sounding bands such as Mogwai or Sigur Ros.

Dynamic is THE word to describe this album musically. What is also important to note is how well the arrangements work with the thematic elements of the album. Thematically, Hospice mulls over the rising and falling of emotions that go alongside a new relationship, a marriage, discovering the loved one has cancer and its aftermath. With this gives a range of emotions, all of which have undertones of jaded nostalgia. The arrangements fit this in expressing how these feelings were dealt with, by hiding. This is expressed by the vocalist, Peter Silberman, sharing his story with twisting metaphors and colloquialisms then escaping to hide behind a backing bands crescendo and support. This is to express , something we all as music lovers find, the utilization of music as a healing device or catharsis.

Two tracks that stand out in this album are the album's first real song and microcosm "Kettering"." Kettering does a good job of sharing what the album will be like but not quite giving it all away. It accomplishes this with an interesting use of slowly adding textures and instruments to give a sense of driving towards a goal.

Ultimately, Hospice is an album that is both meaningful and musically engaging, something that makes an album a long time favorite for any music lover.

For listeners of: Grizzly Bear, Fleet Foxes, Sigur Ros, Bon Iver, Mogwai, The Decemberists, Elliot Smith, Neutral Milk Hotel

New Member of The Family

Joining me in my musical meanderings will be my dear friend Daniel Blat. Posts will come soon

~~Jordan~~

Daydream Nation

Artist: Sonic Youth
Album: Daydream Nation
Label: Enigma (1988), Geffen Reissue (2007)
Genre: Noise-Rock, Post-Punk, Alternative Rock
Influences: John Cage, The Stooges, MC5, Television, The Velvet Underground
Influenced: Everyone who plays a guitar

Download Day Dream Nation

1988 was the year that Sonic Youth, the most notable underground band of the Reagan years, reached its apex. With a noisy, undecipherable debut in the early 80's underground scene known as No-Wave, Sonic Youth had been growing into something quite unlike its contemporaries. Starting with the 1986's Evol and followed by (my 2nd favorite) Sister in 1987, they had begun to allow pop and rock structures into their songs, not just belligerent noise. In 1988, they achieved the perfect balance of noise and rock, creating unforgettable 70 minute track by track perfection. The track that will catch everyone's first listen is the anomalous lead track "Teen Age Riot", a beautifully constructed rock song (arguably, the first real indie rock song ever written), displaying the chemistry within the guitars as well as within the rhythm section. The rest of the album, is a tad bit more abrasive, but instead of painfully abrasive as with previous records, the abrasiveness is not only tolerable, but sublime. "Hey Joni", my favorite track, is perhaps one of the greatest rock songs ever written. The already unbelievably hard riffs and driving beat explodes out of silence. And then steadily, the song builds and builds and builds to power that not even Led Zeppelin could dream of (which could be said for most of the album). Avoiding a track by track praise, I would like to sum it up and say that no where out there, is there a more complete album. Beach Boys quality songwriting with Bad Brains energy. What else is there?

-Daniel Blat

Albums I Have To Get Out Of The Way vol. 1

To even consider to be sharing music with others, there are a few albums that need to get out of the way before we start delving into great new things.

First
"In The Aeroplane Over The Sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel
Psych-folk 1998 Merge Records



Download In The Aeroplane Over The Sea


This is a legendary album that I think everyone should know, especially if one says they like inde/folk music. This album has touched on and influenced everything from Bright Eyes, to Beirut, to The Decemberists, even to Brand New. It's one of those albums that you love first listen and them more and more you listen, you understand it more and more and love it more everytime and never get tired of. Wonderful on all levels, especially lyrics.

For listeners of:
Beirut, Bright Eyes, The Decemberists, Barzin, Great Lake Swimmers, She & Him, Oh No! Oh My!, Of Montreal, Andrew Bird, Grizzly Bear, Joanna Newsom, and Indie/Folk

Second
"Loveless" by My Bloody Valentine
Shoegaze 1991 Creation Records



Download Loveless

Shoegaze was anthemed when this album came out, as Breathless is to the French New Wave, as The Bible is to Christians, as Bob Marley is to Reggae, Loveless is Shoegaze. Created by the ever meticulous Kevin Shields, also known for the soundtrack to Lost In Translation, Loveless is a hazy forray into and between all levels of sound, song, and the sonic world. Loveless was once described to me as "seeing The Beatles live through a broken piece of glass." Easily the deepest recording I've ever heard, everytime I listen to it I hear a new texture of sound.

For Listeners of:
Slowdive, Lush, A Place To Bury Strangers, Jesus And Mary Chain, Ride, Chapterhouse, Explosions In The Sky, Swervedriver, Jesu

Thrid
"The Glow Pt. 2" by The Microphones
Noise-Folk 2001 (reissued 2008) K Records



Download The Glow Pt.2

This album was a big transitional album for me, as it bridged the gap between folk music, my old love, and noise and experimental music, my newer love. This album is the perfect balance and juxtaposition of several opposite themes, both thematically, compositionally, musically, and lyrical. Those themes being, Beauty/Noise, Self/Outer World, Structured/Chaos, Consonance/Dissonance. The way this album treads between these worlds is why I consider it to be among the best albums ever made.

For Listeners of:
Charalambides, satanstompingcaterpillars, Thuja, Six Organs Of Admittance, Thanksgiving, Mount Eerie, Castanets, Gowns

First Post Intro

This is to be a music blog by Jordan Barger
I am pledging to be quite up to date about it
and being nice about it

I like music myself
I play music myself
I support music myself




Thanks future friends