recent picks

alright, here's a cut and dry list of new downloads. i'm sure i've missed a few and there may be some repeats form earlier posts, just going thru my downloads list:

johann johannsson - fordlandia
- haven't listened to yet, but if you like his IBM record...

califone - deceleration one
- mostly instrumental, more experimental than their folk/country roots

the gaslight anthem - the '59 sound
- got good reviews, but it hasn't stuck with me. rather poppy.

carolina chocolate drops - dona got a ramblin' mind
- frenetic bluegrass, a bit repetitive/ redundant. i thought the first two songs were the same on first listen.

crooked still - shaken by a low sound
- slick-production bluegrass. "ain't no grave" is a standout track, otherwise a bit meh.

collections of colonies of bees - customer
- instrumental. highly recommended.

illa j - yancey boys
- j dilla's youngest brother. keeps the jazz/rhyme style alive.

enrique villegas - encuentro
- solid mid-60's bop

famous l. renfroe - children
- a "gospel" record. lo-fi. a gem.

flying lotus - 1983
- mostly instrumental hip hop. good stuff.

styrofoam - a thousand words
- worst pick of the year

the new year - the new year
- quiet, pleasant.

king khan and the shrines - the supreme genius of
- over the top booty rock

the shakey hands - lunglight
- solid rock n roll, recommended. i really like this guy's voice.

Sonic Youth: J' Accuse Ted Hughes

Ted Hughes was a poet and the famed husband of Sylvia Plath. Why someone would accuse him of anything, other than making the wrong marital choice, is not clarified in the new SYR7 recording.

piggy-backing on a lot of what i wrote yesterday, J' Accuse Ted Hughes is a pair of live tracks recorded by the band proper in 2000 and 2003 (respectively?).

Kim handles the vocals on the first track "J'Accuse Ted Hughes", and her moaning is a surprising change from he speak-sing style. "You are a poet-tah/Take a wrong way hooooome-muh." Then drones, then Kim asserting "I will fuck you-huh" She sounds more like witch than gutter-punk.

23 minutes of drone. And the last 3 minutes are the best part, I'm sure this sounds sexier on vinyl.

Track two "Agnès B. Musique" is a vast departure from the standard SY catalog: chilled out ambient. after being accosted by KG (and sexually aroused?) "Musique" is a welcome change. The fuzzed out synth drones and sly guitar feedback may feel more comfortable on a Mogwai record perhaps, but no less interesting. And the last 5 minutes, once again, make the previous 14 minutes all the more worthwhile.

Original Silence

i often wonder how i came across some of the albums i save or download. The First Original Silence can be counted among that Bermuda triangle of memes that float through the transom. I certainly keep an eye out for new music, especially when there are only two tracks which is highly valuable when getting to the end of the monthly paydirt.

so OS (that's a palindrome, yo) is a[nother] noise assault from the Sonic Youth family tree featuring: thurston moore, jim o'rourke, free jazzers from the Thing, a pair from the Ex plus the bass player from Zu. (I'm not going to pretend i know their names, and had to look up who constituted OS. thanks wikipedia. but looking at the lineup, the lineage from find to download makes a bit more sense.)

the record is more akin to the Ex than any of the other players involved (see their 2000 release Exhibition), considering a howling sax and driving drums make up the backbone of the songs. i picked up In the Fishtank 5 which they recorded with Tortoise maybe a year or so ago. The Fishtank series pits two bands together to write and record 30 minutes of new music in a weeks time. the record has its moments, but is a bit uneven. I guess the beauty of The First...- with it's 2 songs spanning 60 minutes- is that while a track may loose focus, there is ample time to correct course and end on a high note. In The Fishtank is more structured and looses spontaneity in its formal construction.

but it should by no means be considered an Ex record just as it cannot be considered a Sonic Youth record because TM is involved. there's plenty of crunchy distorted guitars and other electronics to provoke stylistic meandering. the second and more intriguing track (running 45 minutes) begins with bleeps, becomes the soundtrack to your worst nightmares, resurfaces underwater, hits a mellow jazz streak only to twitch to death on a surgeon's table. glorious.

Chikita Violenta - The Stars and Suns Sessions

I don't want to waste a lot of mental energy on these guys, so I'll attempt to keep this brief without going on too much of a tangent as to why this album is so terrible.

Let me start by saying I love Broken Social Scene. L-U-V. They're a band that who collectively, and through individual efforts from their members (Kevin Drew, Feist, Emily Haines, Apostle of Hustle, Stars, Jason Collett, Do Make Say Think, et al) have--in my eyes--yet to make a bad album. And their self-titled album is without question in my top 10 of all time. They deeply resonate with me. And while I can't necessarily explain it (am I part Canadian?), and certainly can, and do, embrace it.

So one bored afternoon at work I'm perusing through various BSS member's myspace pages when I start noticing a band I've never heard of constantly being listed in said BSS member's top friends list.

Enter Chikita Violenta. Apparently they're from Mexico. And BSS member David Newfeld produced this album. There's the connection!

I heard the default song on CV's myspace page and thought it sounded great. "I'm totally downloading this album when I get home.", I thought "There's no way it can be bad. Just no way."

WROOOOOONG

So wrong.

That default song I heard (the delightful "Laydown"), is the only stand-out track on the whole album. While other songs sound okay from time to time, this album lacks any moments that are pure Chikita Violenta. They just come off as a Mexican Broken Social Scene cover band. Also, they're a Mexican band that doesn't sing a single song in Spanish! Infuriating!

The writing was on the wall, people. We all know the track record of non-union Mexican equivalents.

The song "The Last Film" is one of the worst songs I've heard this year. Just dreadful. The lyrics...the music....muy malo.

I think one of the reasons I like Broken Social Scene so much is that I get the feeling their an extremely genuine band who are making music from their heart that they absolutely love. It's indie rock that, while it wears its influences on its sleeve, still has individuality in spades. The same cannot be said about Chikita Violenta. They've made a record that's frustratingly unoriginal, and sadly unenjoyable. At the very least, this record was not put out on Arts & Crafts Records. So I can still view that label as beacon for good indie rock with a spotless record.

In short, The Star and Suns Sessions will leave you feeling more sick than a 5lb bag of Mexican dollar store candy.

Dosh - Wolves and Wishes

WAZZAAAAAAAAAP?!?!

Quite a parallel can be drawn between Martin Dosh's The Lost Take and the tv show Martin starring Martin Lawrence.

While watching any episode of Martin, you ALWAYS knew what you were going to get. Seriously, try and remember the plot line of a Martin episode....still thinking....got nothing, right? Plot didn't essentially matter since you knew Martin was going to throw the same jokes and catch phrases at you every single episode.

And it was always funny for some reason!



With The Lost Take, Minnesota's favorite drum 'n loop virtuoso created a beautiful album that flowed seemlessly from one song to another. He never really strayed away from his winning formula--with one awesome song sounding very similar to the next-- and I didn't give a shit! In the iPod age where albums as a collective piece of art have become increasingly insignificant, Marty D made an album that I almost always have to listen to the whole way through.

Daaaaaaaaaaaaamn Gina! I mean, Dosh!

You just haaad to go try to push you music to grander new heights. While I applaud the effort, I just can't groove to Wolves and Wishes like I do to The Lost Take. While there are moments that make me think Martin Dosh is successfully pushing his music in a more sublime direction ("Don't wait for the needle to drop", "Kit and Pearle", "Keep up appearance"), there are too many moments on this record that feel cluttered and eventually get mentally disregarded as filler ("Bury the ghost", "First Impossible", "The magic stick").

I still think Dosh is brilliant; but I think this album could have used some fleshing out at points. And needless to say, Wolves and Wishes severely lacked it some Sheneneh.

OH MY GOOOOOOOOODNESS!

J Dilla - Ruff Draft

Frasier Crane, George Jefferson, Joey What's-His-Name form Friends

The Common thread? Supporting characters whose popularity catapulted into the spotlight of their own TV shows (with varying degrees of success...you suck, Matt LeBlanc).

J Dilla parlayed a very successful production career (The Pharcyde, Common, Tribe Called Quest among others) into a chance to step up and pull a Kanye. But sadly Dilla's career was cut short due to a rare blood disease.

Donuts, the instrumental record he produced from the confines of his hospital bed, released three days after his death, is one of my favorite albums of all time. It's fresh, smooth, and when it's done all I want to do is listen to it again. There's a palpable feeling of Dilla putting all he's got left into the work.

Now Dilla's solo career is seriously starting to resemble that of one Jeff Buckley. The whole death-after-the-completion-of-your-record-which-happens-to-a-timeless-breakthrough thing.

Let the posthumous parade of inferior records begin!

To call Ruff Draft (as well as the solid The Shining) inferior is a bit unfair since Donuts is so unbelievably serene. Ruff Draft was originally made three years prior to Donuts, while he was seemingly still honing his craft. Ruff Draft definitely has it moments where one will start bobbing their head, light up a joint and (hopefully) yell "That's my Dilla!", the album as a whole is a bit staggered in both pace and quality.

This is my last effort in searching for Donuts: Part 2 in his discography. It was silly for me to think old EPs and and incomplete recording would match up; but I had to give it a try. Pick and choose songs you like, but a full-on purchase of this album may leave you feeling a but disappointed.

"That's My Dilla"

Do Make Say Think - Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn

One of the first things I noticed about Do Make Say Think was its default genre classification on iTunes. I was originally turned onto the band due to their involvement with Broken Social Scene. So you can imagine my befuddlement when I see DMST listed under Jazz.

What, really?

About a year ago, I purchased a CD copy of their latest record You, You're a History in Rust; and what I took away was much more a cousin to Explosions In The Sky, rather than anything akin Miles Davis or Bill Evans.

Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn is my third DMST album, and the first where I can actually see any sort of jazz-like parallel. In fact, this album wears several influences on its sleeve. You'll go from crescendo-core to afrobeat within a matter of songs, all the while keeping the DMST-sound in tact.

At least one download I made this month did very little to stray away from another more popular band's sound; and while their music's okay, it really comes off sounding like a cover band...more on them later!

Of the three DMST albums I own, this album harbors the least amount Broken Social Scene-ness, and I'm totally okay with that. Where in later albums they have relied on more pop-like song structure, this albums has the feeling of a band attempting to discover a new sound through spontaneous experimentation.

How...jazzy.

Gonzales - Solo Piano

An intriguing project from an interesting character. 

A native Canadian, Chilly Gonzales is a pea in the indie-white-rapper-who-isn't-good-but-is-popular-because-they-commit-the-hell-out-of-their-shortcomings-and-have-a-penchant-for-humorous-and-usually-raunchy-lyrics pod. If CG got together with Har Mar Superstar, Peaches (her and Gonzales have actually collaborated in the past), and Serge Gainsbourg's corpse, the four would make up a venerable Traveling Wilbury's of VD.

But beneath all the flows about pubic hair, Gonzales has some serious musical chops. And, to add another layer to his Gainsbourg comparison, has collaborated with Jane Birkin as a pianist.

Solo Piano is just that. While the record certainly offers a range of emotion it doesn't offer polar extremes (see: sledgehammering the keys, or a half-hour track striking the lowest key once every five minutes). Even with it's darker times, Solo Piano is quite a pleasant listen. This record has the ability to keep you attention while you sit in a beanbag chair with can-like headphones on your ears. It also has the subtlety to take a back seat while you study for a midterm or try and take a nap.

How you use Solo Piano is up to you. The important thing is that you do, in fact, use it.

Really good stuff.

May Picks[ii] - andrew [IN eMUSIC WE TRUST]

the benefit of a media subscription service is the ability to side-step the traditional forms of distribution. a few years back netflix began their own Red Envelope distribution service, which picked up independent films and hyped them up on the website. it's a pretty great business model which serves the indie community well.

so in the last few months our source has begun offering eMusic Selects; unreleased albums by unsigned bands. so far they've released 3 records and they occupy three of the five slots on the main page's "must haves" column. i'm sure emusic has a larger profit margin on these titles, and although they [probably] believe in the music, calling these records "must haves" is a little disingenuous. of course the butcher is going to tell you his prime cut came for his Holstein.

nevertheless i support the idea, and took them at their word when i picked up 03/07 – 09/07 from brooklyn duo High Places a few months back. i've rocked that record so many times it hurts. "If we never take the first step, we cannot go too far" from 'Jump In' has become my 2008 mantra.

so it came time to once again put my trust in the guiding benevolent hand of e* and pick up their other two acquisitions. I didn't preview the records, just clicked the download button. two very different records. where Breathe Owl Breathe has a patient country vibe Hands on Heads attacks like a Ritalin deprived monkey.

The Ghost Glacier EP opens with slow burner reminiscent of The National, but the following 7 tracks is where Breathe Owl Breathe get interesting. "Window" has a later-day David Byrne feel to it with its blend of violin, and xylophone.

The frontman sounds a bit like David Berman (Silver Jews) meets Jemaine Clement (especially on "Sabertooth Tiger")and has a good but forgettable voice. He's accompanied by a high tenored female vocalist throughout the record who adds enough interesting harmonies to levitate the lyrics.

The record is solid throughout, and upon the third listen the lyrics have invaded your head. I'm not sure if its a sign of a good record when it's immediately recognizable or so memorable. So I feel I could easily tire of the record, but for now it's as pleasant as an evening breeze.

Hands on Heads eponymous release on the other hand is a surf-shiv to your frontal cortex. If The Animals or ? and The Mysterians unleashed their inner Frank Zappa and increased their shouting five-fold, you'd be approaching the 12 songs that span 15 minutes. I hate to use comparisons like that as they always fall short. but i'd say e* is three for three in their selections.

[UPDATE] All FIVE albums in the "Must Haves" are on the eMusic Selects "label." c'mon guys, at least have a rotation of other records.

and for those keeping track, my 40 downloads this month total 80 minutes of music.

New Music Blog

found a new blogger site that has an interesting approach to music downloads. they just upload files to one of the many free data hosting sites and provide a link to download entire albums. nothing too out of the ordinary is available, and everything could be found on a torrent. their top albums are nothing too out of the ordinary, but there might be a few albums worth checking out.

http://lewisandclarkleague.blogspot.com/

May Picks [i] - andrew

We'll call this one live blogging as I'm checking out the debut record of Philly's Tickley Feather. I heard a bit of hype about her - Feather is the one woman act of Annie Sachs- a few months back, when she got signed to Paw Tracks, the label created by the boys inAnimal Collective.

Then I saw her a few weeks back at the Cake Shop, with about 20 people in the audience. Although petite and endearing in concert, the songs suffered from being partially pre-recorded or having slow delays in layering sounds/textures. While Andrew Bird and Owen Pallett are masters of this form, Ms. Sachs struggled to have the songs cohere. But what was lacking live is perfectly suited for studio tinkering.

Actually "at home" tinkering is probably more accurate. The songs have an amateur, lo-fi 8-track quality to them akin to label mate Ariel Pink. Clocking in at 33 minutes, breaking the record into 20 tracks is a bit overkill, especially as songs like the 46 second "ooooo" bleeds seamlessly into the following track, and it's unclear where many tracks start and end. Most of the brief tracks are front loaded, so the second half is packed with stand out tracks. The ethereal "keyboards is drunk", even with the keyboard stumbles, intentional or not, is haunting.

"Sorry Party" follows which layers Sachs' voice as she intelligibly throws out a call and response to herself. Truthfully, you pretty much can't make out anything she says on the record. Partly due to the layered vocals, partly due to the tremolo effects she puts over her voice, and partly due to her Bjork meets Nina Persson delivery and cadence (respectively).

She'll never find a large audience, and I can't say I'd see her live again without further enticement, but the record is a knockout. Not for anyone who wants to hum along to a strong melody, but for those with a tolerance and penchant for lo-fi.

godspeed you! black emperor: Yanqui U.X.O.

Blogger's not letting me post the album cover...just imagine two bombs falling from a plane in mid-dissent. Anyway....

Yawn.

I admittedly downloaded this because, as AST, I consider myself a completist, and I wanted to say tat I have the complete GYBE discography.

So...I've got it.

And what I got from this album was, i my opinion, their least inspired work to date.

Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven is damn near perfect. I remember it was a little over a year a go when I heard it for the first time. I was playing Playstation 2 while blasting the music from my bedroom. Roughly an hour and a half later, I turned the console off and asked myself, "Did I just listen to the best album ever?" I was absolutely floored.

Every album of theirs is good, but just not LYSFLATH-caliber good. And of all the GYBE to download, I'd have to put this one at the bottom of the list. It almost felt showy, and less sincere than their previous offerings. THis is pretty surprising considering Steve Albini was behind the controls for this one. I always think f him as a real no-nonsense kind of producer, but oh well.

In conclusion, If you haven't heard Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven, you're doing yourself a complete disservice. Get your ears on that shit post haste. But Yanqui is totally skippable, and is the lone blemish in my April downloads. Luckily GYBE's songs are ridiculously long and this didn't take up a bunch of DLs.

The Walkmen: Bows + Arrows

Hey Walkmen. How's it going?

This is a formal apology letter, from me to you. I'm so sorry for never making time in my schedule to listen to Bows + Arrows when it was first released. I had heard of you guys, but some reason figured I wouldn't dig ya'll. I admittedly illegally downloaded the song The Rat during this time. I think I came to the conclusion that you guys couldn't possibly make a album that could stand up to the awesome wonder which is The Rat. Serious, one of the most kick-ass rock songs of the new millennium.

But you know what? The rest of Bows + Arrows stands alongside The Rat quite nicely. While he songs wont knock you on your ass in the same way, they're all ever so solid. I have now listened to this album the whole way thru several times ad am always amazed at how well it flows.

In conclusion, you, The Walkmen are not some fly-by band who have nothing original to offer. You guys are like a grittier Interpol, and I'm sure you could totally kick their ass in a bar fight.

My deepest apologies The Walkmen. You've carved a place for yourself in my music-lovin' heart.

Seriously, The Rat's So Fucking Good,

PT

Free Download: Nine Inch Nails

third in a series










everybody's favorite post-industrialist is back with another record (are there really any others left?) while giving away only the first of four parts for Ghost, a rightfully lauded instrumental set, Mr. Reznor and co are giving away the baby and the bath water for The Slip, Nine Inch Nails' forthcoming LP. not only is it free, but it's available at least six weeks prior to hitting store shelves.

the NIN team seems to be cranking out the jams as Ghosts was physically release only a few weeks ago.

here's the link. just found out about it, so a review may be coming.

april eMusic picks have been chosen. reviews still pending. get off my back alright.

April Picks [II]: andrew [or Music For Train Passengers]

When I first moved out to NYC I listened to a lot of Sonic Youth. Somehow the music just meshed well with the drones and squeals of the subway, and they've become the quintessential New York band.

then i became directionless for a while, listening to whichever album was alphabetically next. But becuase I read on the train, and for a general lack of focus, I've been preferring to not have someone serenade me whist I read and ride. Or worse, I end up singing along in my head and find i've "read" five pages without actually following what i'e read. Ipso facto, I've been listening to a lot of instrumental (and the occasional instru-metal) records, which I'm sure my emusic account is beginning to reflect.

So, I find myself gravitating to the droning sounds of Rhys Chatham, two albums you'll find on eMusic. Two Gongs, which is just one 60 minute track of two gongs being rung at undulating force. The record is a test of tolerance and i find myself listening to it more often than is healthy (twice monthly is more than necessary.)

I also picked up Chatham's 3 CD set of Guitar Trio Is My Life! which is essentially one song performed live with different musicians and lasting anywhere from 10-20 minutes. I highly recommend it if you liked A Crimson Grail. However, I tired to listen to the Guitar Trio set straight through (approx 200 minutes in total duration) but only made it through the first half. Which was essentially four one-way trips to and from work. A great song, and it's remarkable the variations and permutations that occur with different lineups of musicians, but after the fifth or sixth time through even the most tolerant mind needs a dose of Rihanna.

So it should come as no surprise that i spent 18 of my 40 monthly tracks on the low, droning sounds of Stars of the Lid. I'll admit that picking up both records of ...and Their Refinement of the Decline (it's a 2 record set) is a bit much, but i'm a completest, so i couldn't just get the first. (I can't quite tell if there is much of a distinction between the albums. So i question why they bother splitting up the record when it's a digital download.)

while the record is very mellow, it sounds great played loud as hell with swirling strings, organs and synths. plus you get a better sense of the rich tapestry of sounds they are creating*. i hate to use the term "ambient" when defining this type of music as that tends to relegate it to background music, and undercuts the dense layers at work.

highly recommended.

oh, and emusic got a bit more dope with the addition of being able to preview tracks right in the browser, rather than having to open temp files in your preferred music player.

*while i agree with this, i just wanted to type "rich tapestry of sounds"

April Picks [I] - andrew.

alright, so i gotta get these posts up before my account resets in 3 days and i get backlogged with posts. so my downloading methodology is to have a large swath of musical styles in the event that i tire of one genre.

so this month found me passing from the low, ambient drones of Stars of the Lid (more on them later) to the stoner excitement of the early Black Mountain EP/single for Druganaut to the rauctous rockabilly guitar + drums pairing of Flat Duo Jets.

Black Mountain, who i discovered a year and a half back in the round-about way of fellow Vancouverites Blood Meridian and via Stephen McBean's lesser harolded, and more overtly sexual The Pink Mountaintops. I can't say that this EP offers much in the way of variation from their eponymous first record, but it still rocks the shit outta your eardrums and the 9 minute "Buffalo Swan" features the honey-voiced Amber Webber, who took on a greater roll in the band's second record. She's integral to the group, making "Swan" one of the best tracks the band has released.

Second up on the ole platter of sound we have a live set from veteran rockabillian group Flat Duo Jets. Two-Headed Cow is the "soundtrack" to a concert documentary that probably nobody saw, but is probably served best to be heard. The music is fast and furious and the two play like a pair of high-octane vin diesels. a few covers and the majority of tracks clocking in around 2:30, the album moves at a brisk pace with 17 tracks filling up 52 minutes.

but even at the relatively abbreviated length the album/concert wears thin. i've listened to the record at home and twice just walking around the city, and after less than 40 minutes i'm compelled to put something else on. I can't claim to be a huge rockabilly fan, although i do own a few select records. so i thought it'd be a welcome change of pace. but in the end, there's just not enough variation to put it on heavy rotation.

it's like an entrée from a Chinese restaurant, the noodles are good, the veggies are good, together they're good, but without the occasional egg roll, i get bored of the dish half way through.

Yo La Tengo: And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out

It's funny how certain fads--either national*, or something that's liked within your immediate circle of friends-- can completely pass you by. Personally, up until a month ago, I had never seen a Stanley Kubrick movie. I can't begin to describe how many film-related conversations I've had to zone-out to for fear of making a complete ass of myself. The number of HBO drama series of which I've never seen a single episode (Sopranos, Deadwood, etc. . .I've seen one episode of The Wire) is embarrassing considering how much I love TV. Yo La Tengo was one of those bands that a majority of my friends really enjoy; but for one reason or another, I had never come gotten around to checking them out myself. With that being said, ATNTII-O is my very first foray into the group that possesses perhaps more Indie Cred than any other export in the history of New Jersey.

My assessment? Yeah, my friends' years of Yo La Tengo love are justified...as much as one album can justify. I was drawn to download this record over other YLT efforts due to my mood at the time. I read somewhere--possibly on emusic--that ATNTII-O was one of the group's more mellow records. And the album delivered. I was looking for some music to get mad-contemplative to, and this totally hit the spot.

My only beef with this record is how I feel it wanders more than necessary at both the beginning and the end. It's as if half the songs on the record were all done in one take. I like these "wandering" songs, but if they were a bit more concise, I feel like this album would have made me completely lose my shit. Maybe Yo La Tengo always has a tendency to excessively jam? Am I missing the point with this observation? Again, this is my first record of theirs. Either way, the middle of the record is just about perfect. From "Let's save Tony Orlando's House" to "Cherry Chapstick" is absolutely stunning...and "Madeline" too. It's precisely what I look for in a mid-to-low-tempo indie rock record.

If you're like me, and have waited to give yo La Tengo a try, I suggest you get. up. on 'em.And if you've been a Yo La Tengo fan for a long time, big up Homes!

*- I have never seen Titanic, and will refuse to view that shitstorm until the day I die. Kiss my ass, James Cameron! Go ahead and admit your infinite inferiority to Jerry Bruckheimer. Do it! It will ease the pain.

My Teenage Stride: Ears Like Golden Bats

This record is such a fucking fun listen. Ears Like Golden Bats makes me wish I was of the time when credible musicians wore t-shirts tucked in to khaki pants. Big, plastic, thin-rimmed glasses...flay-away, homemade haircuts...all without the slightest bit of irony.

Nerd Pop, ladies and gents.

When I listen to this record, all I can visualize is a stage full of 4 or 5 of rocking Bill Gates. They move really awkwardly to their own music, while the audience dances the night away with moves borrowed from the prom-goers in Fast Times At Ridgemont High.

The Feelies, The Mekons, and Edwyn Collins/Orange Juice. Throw them in a blender and you get this album. My Teenage Stride has done nothing really to advance this little rock and roll sub-genre. But they have taken some of the best moves from the originators and made songs that are so very easy to enjoy. If you own a car, this would be great driving music.

Tell me Bill Gates, does My Teenage Stride make you swoon?



I thought so.

Band Most Likely

So on tuesday i had the good fortune to see the band most likely to be used on the Fall 2008 season premiere of Gossip Girl. I'm talking about She & Him of course. Pairing up indie film stalwart Zooey Deschanel and trubador M. Ward was a match made in indie fanboy heaven, and plenty haas already been written about them and their debut album Volume One so i'm not gonna rehash any of that. I will say I'm a huge M. Ward fan and have been since I saw him play the Turf Club in 2004.

So to crib a page from "So How Was The Show?" i will tell you how the show was. The tour was supposed to kick off monday night but was canceled due to an 'illness' and both shows were combined. This meant moving from the intimate Hiro Ballroom to the mid-level Webster Hall. Could somebody say "cheap ploy to sell more tickets yet play only one show?" that's what CPG and discussed over happy hour drinks. Arguably there'd be a better sound system, but who's to say what would be lost given the size and the potential for annoying patrons hanging out near the bar talking like this was the library. Or one of those assholes who go to Barnes and Noble to lay on the floor of the Science Fiction section and yak on their cell phones. Although I can't say i'm much better as B&N is the best place to relieve yourself when you've drank a carafe of coffee and have a twenty block walk before you. But that's not nearly as rude, right?

digressions.

when the band came out Zooey held up a hand-written sign saying "Hello New York", then grinned widely and in a meek voice apologized for losing her voice. A collective swoon passed through the audience. For forty minutes M, Z and Ward's standard 3 piece backing band played the jams off Vol. 1, with only one new track in the mix. Slight pauses between songs and Matt was a man of few words, with Zooey merely glowing at the audience's response, offering new signs and winning over the hearts and minds of iraqi's everywhere.

Any conspiratorial thoughts of the group to double the fun with extra sugar-free gum was merely a theory. CPG asked how it was possible that she couldn't speak yet sounded pitch-perfect through the show (there were a few minor stumbles which can be written off as endearing.) But Stevie Nicks used to be the same way on tour, refusing to speak in order to preserve her voice.

After less than an hour including an encore featuring Ward's "Magic Trick" (the S&H version can be found below, courtesy of the Music for ReadyMakers comp, with altered lyrics, natch) and a cover, it was over. Short and sweet. It was a good duration as the audience got swept up in the moment, but never bored to the point of chatty. One of the most respectful audiences i've been a part of in a club that size.

the highlight of the show was "You really got a hold on me." A lesser track on Vol. 1, Ward this time around sang the verses with Zooey, filling in the duet and warranting his back-up vocals on the chorus. CPG closed the night with the apropos statement "I didn't know M. Ward was such a badass." Yup.

Music for ReadyMakers Vol. 3 You Really Got A Hold On Me
Music for ReadyMakers Vol. 3 Magic Trick

Free Download: The Rosebuds

In our ongoing series of free downloads, Merge Records is currently offering Sweet Beats, Troubled Sleep A remix of the entire Night of the Furies record from the ever delightful Rosebuds (the band not the sled.)

i haven't had time to check it out yet, but with remixes from Bon Iver, Portastic and a bunch of other company i can't claim to have heard of, i'm sure it's worth the few minutes it takes to download. and god bless m. ward and the Merge crew for high quality 320 mbps MP3s and even higher quality lossy FLAC files. eat a dick iTunes!

i'll post an update once i leave work and can actually check the record out and offer a snarky review, but thought i should send out the APB.

andrewsaidthomas.

Download Numero Deuce

Mighty Sparrow: First Flight: Early Calypsos from the Emory Cook Collection

This past Chicago winter was the worst I've experienced during my seven years living in the city. We recently had our first 70+ degree day in over seven months. Seven! I don't want to jinx myself too hard; but I'm going out on a limb and saying Old Man Winter has packed his salt-stained bags for the season.

And what music goes better with dancing on Winter's shallow grave than Calypso? Enter Mighty Sparrow. Typically backed by a guitar, bongos, and a horn section, the Sparrow's sweet-swaying melodies will transport you a nondescript Caribbean island, where you sling back endless ginger beers while watching cliff divers plunge into the sea. Yes, this album has the relaxing groo....

...wait...what did Sparrow just say? Seriously?? Jesus!

While it may be easy to disregard Sparrow's words in favor of his islands grooves, his smart, witty, and oftentimes R-rated subject matter will give the astute listener a new level of appreciation. Whether dealing with social issues like underground arms dealers ("Gun Slingers", or making light of coming very close to date raping a girl ("Stella"), Sparrow will make you think while you move back and forth sitting in front of your computer...as I am right now.

This record is a quality way to welcome warm weather to your neck of the woods.

...did I mention date rape?!?!?!

First April Download

The Teenagers: Reality Check

Listening to this record is like vacationing in a copy of the world's foremost scenester-pretentious publication.

Allow me to paint the picture:

Let's say I'm a modern-day, urban professional Macaulay Culkin starring in The Pagemaster '08.

One eerie night in Wicker Park, my moped breaks down and I get caught in an unrelenting torrential downpour...without an umbrella! Drenched, I seek out the closest storefront do duck into while the storm lets up; but to my dismay, every store seems be closed. My new $200 jeans! Fuck!

Just as I'm about to give up, I see a dim light emanating from an otherwise abandoned-looking building. A bare-bones, handwritten sign that says "Records" is the only item in the window.

I enter and speak with the elderly off-his-rocker owner. Let's call him Christopher Lloyd. As he goes on and on about his days of opening for Peter Cetera, I begin to sift through his magazine offerings. I pick up a copy of Reality Check and the latest Vice magazine when, ZAP! CRASH! A colossal lightning bolt strikes the store and sends me flying through the air. I hit my head on stack of poorly drawn zines and go put cold.

As I come to, I wake up INSIDE the pages of Vice! I go skiing on Cocaine Mountain with Werner Herzog, then buy American Apparel models Rockstar and vodkas all night long at Sonotechque.

Just as I'm about to get punched in the face by some lame graphic designer--whom I offended by calling him Colin Meloy's muse-- KABOOM! WA-ZAM!

I wake up in my bedroom tucked under the covers. It was all a dream! Or WAS it (I roll over to see Werner Herzog, shirtless and sleeping with his moth open. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!)?

Dun dun duuuuuuuuun...

Depending on your opinions of Vice, my little story may or may not have turned you off of The Teenagers. Looking at what I just wrote, I know I would be all "Ewww. No. I hate that type of crap."

But for one reason or another, I really, really like Reality Check. As much as the band members give off the typical "Gross, you read pitchfork?" attitude, their lyrics are just as funny as they are explicit (kudos on working Shannon Doerty and Jared Leto references into your tunes). This London band has a penchant for suburban teenage culture. Talking about anything from fucking a slutty american teen on vacation, to their love for Scarlett Johannson (whom they also want to fuck). The Serge Gainsbourg influence is ridiculously strong. Future dirty old men in the making.

The result is a a group of witty, self-aware yet self-important songs. I doubt I'd ever be friends with The Teenagers in real life. They're probably huge assholes. But I dig their stuff nonetheless.

Next time on Pagemaster Reference Theatre: Pat gets hit by lightning while listening to Boz Scaggs and reading Riding Lawnmower Maintenance For Dummies.

Free Download: Fog

Fog fans, Daytrotter just posted a four song live session. Link. All the tracks are from Ditherer.

Daytrotter continues to be the greatest source of free, new music. At least someone out there understands the way the music wind blows.

andrewsaidthomas.

March Picks: andrew.

Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther:
Kinda standard acoustic indie rock. I guess they could be compared to Travis in musical approach and harmonies. The jury is out on this one.
update: I've come to really like this record, quite subtle in it's textures. give it about 3 listens all the way thru.

She & Him - Volume One:
Yes it's M. Ward and Zooey Deschannel making suite music together. It sounds like early 60s girl pop. Zooey definitely ups the ante for the forthcoming Scarlet Johansen record. It's actually quite catchy.

Plants and Animals - Parc Avenue:
A highly diverse collection of sweeping semi-orchestral pop-rock without the typical cringe factors, some swell steel guitar, a funk jam, and other elements that were all the rage in the early 70s.

Bang On A Can All-Stars - Music For Airports:
Brian Eno composed it, so it's like the soundtrack to airplanes on a tarmac. In the quiet, contemplative sense.

Calexico - Ocean Of Noise:
The B-side of Arcade Fire's "Intervention" single, with Calexico's take on "Ocean of Noise." Worth your time.

February: andrew.

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
the much hyped release on jagjaguwar. the guy sounds like an acoustic TV on the Radio.

Smithsonian Folkways Sampler
a wide variety of tracks from audio taken from the watergate tapes to soviet lullabies to pete seeger. good for a random playlist just to mix things up. and it was free.

High Places - 03/07 - 09/07
Something tells me i need to stop downloading bands that sound like animal collective. this time with a female singer. good, but maybe more of the same?

Disco Not Disco 1974-1986
a dope sampling of obscure tracks from contemporaries of Blondie, Talking Heads and other bands not ashamed to create disco-influenced rock. "Can I have a lick of your ice cream? Can I eat the crumbs off your table? ... No! Mind your own business!"

Rhys Chatham - A Crimson Grail (For 400 Electric Guitars)
for those of you who wanna know what Sigur Ros conducted by Steve Reich would sound like. three 20 minute drones sans vocals. and it's live. good for background music or for those hour-long stan brakhage screenings.

Rhys Chatham - Two Gongs
ibid, Crimson Grail. this time with 2000% more gong! it's one 60 minute track, it's headache inducing and it's completely fascinating (to me). not for the feint of heart... or ears.

Thom Yorke - Harrowdown Hill EP
meh, had 3 extra downloads. always good to be a completest. a remix plus two unreleased tracks from the Eraser sessions. if you like that, you'd like this.

...and on another note: i just heard a track from the new mike doughty record (played on the current) and sucks even more than old mike doughty sucked. produced by dan wilson no less. somewhere someone is paging Hear Music (no offense chris)

January: andrew.

Black Mountain - In The Future
Stoner Rock. Superior to their self titled debut.

Bodies Of Water - Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink
It's Arcade Fire meets the Polyphonic Spree, with a dash of the new testament.

Enrique Villegas - Encuentro
late 60s Argentinian Jazz. great cool down.

Okkervil River - The Stage Names
Country, Folk, Singer-Songwriter with eMusic exclusive track.

and follow this link for free Okkervil River and Cold War Kids EPs