by admin | Nov 24, 2010 | 2010, Album Review, Indie Rock
ALBUM REVIEW: The immediate happiness of Tapes n’ Tapes one feels comes to mind when listening to Warship by The House Floor band. Mainly due to the timber in the singing and low-fi-nesss of the recordings. Cheap microphones I don’t think so but certainly DIY in most respects meandering in spots while building you up in other places. I’d go deeper but the influences verge and teeter on Camper Van Beethoven and hum stylistically something closer to The Loon or The Shins. For more local reference totally remind me of Montagna & The Mouth To Mouth (track from them below). Certainly has just as much reverb as the song craft does not stick to any particular formula which makes this recording ambiently-free with just the right amount of twangy guitars for my taste. I am thankful there are no crappy keyboards or lame use of drum machines to be found so that is a big huge +. Nothing more annoying than that junk and having engineer like Andrew Maury give this mix some love certainly helps the end result. I can’t wait for their next record already.
My favorite part though are the song titles what I don’t like is that lyrics/singing are unaudible in parts and not a in a wrens sort of way but like small random pieces of paper you find that you wrote to yourself in your pocket only you may know what you scribbled. Some of these treasure titles are like kid’s notes from a childhood past or straight out of the song writers notebook. I’d say about 10 years of age or so. Which makes it a interesting theme album somehow tying the worlds together with an adult dialogue. I’d send you to one of their sites but it’s in Japanese or some shit but feel free to grab the whole record over at Listen Before You Buy. Great site they run there.
All Aboard / MLWR(LOL!) lead track from Warship
With Awkward Speech by Montagna & The Mouth To Mouth from L’avenir
The Day That Lassie Went to the Moon Camper Van Beethoven from Telephone Free Landslide Victory (1985) – Totally grab this record. Will give you an idea of what can be laid down without fear of what your cool indie friends will say in particular since all the words are clear in this style of jangle pop.[BUY]
by admin | Nov 13, 2010 | Album Review, Elvis Costello
ALBUM REVIEW: Huge change in what I’ll call introverted Elvis Costello for right now on National Ransom. This music is free in form with the subtle blues and that driving rhythmic bass pounding found on earlier Costello. And that is just on the title track! It’s a glorious intro and mix of style with a tip of the hat to New Orleans instrumentation. Great Americana without the “K”. Let him be your DJ for that hip holiday party. The voice is gritty and sounds like thunder in the evening neon lit clubs that are filled with sadness sometimes, broken bottles and those once smoke filled rooms. The haze is lifted. I believe this is progress in awesome string of records. The bar is set high for any solo singer songwriters. He does great with all these players with no fear. T-Bone Burnett and he have put together something amazing and classic.
Check out a track:
Five Small Words by Elvis Costello from National Ransom. This has great country blues swing thing going on. [Buy]
Little Triggers from This Year’s Model (1978)
by admin | Nov 6, 2010 | 2010, Acid Test, Album Review, Alternative Rock, Psychedelic, The Black Angels
ALBUM REVIEW: Working too much. Too tired to write or listen to music most of the time. I am so pathetic but i did just manage to pick-up Phosphene Dream by The Black Angels. It’s killer psych and i am willing to sacrifice my will.
This is music without the need for acid and the hang-over. [Insert pot reference here] All of it is in here though with the audio experience via tremolo and lots of reverb and stereo panning. Better and bigger than Passover but just as trippy with citar riffs and puffy clouds of dust. Psychedelic slow rock for your dreams. I saw them play during the day time at the All Points West fest and was impressed. This music is better suited for a Apocalypse Now type soundtrack as it floats you down a river of chaos. The track “Telephone” is the only odd ball throwback on here in a jonestown massacre kind of way. I swear it’s a Kinks or Zombies cover. All the tracks are great though and worth a careful listen.
Check them out:
Bad Vibrations by The Black Angels [Buy]
More music like this shit:
The Innerspeaker of Tame Impala This is also on my top ten list for 2010.
by admin | Sep 10, 2010 | Album Review, DJ Shadow, Harmonious bec, Henrik Purienne, The New Pornographers
ALBUM REVIEW: Harmonious bec from Japan’s record Her Strange Dreams is a winner. All the comparisons are true amongst the light sprinkling of traditional instrumentation. Her Strange Dreams is brought to you by Monotreme Records and offer a mix reminiscent of those glorious DJ Shadow record bin finds and that weird techno music present in the sound bed of Lost in Translation (at least in my imagination) for those round eyes that are paying attention. I’m not an expert nor have I ever heard of the duo ZaMaRoo and From Vapor to Water but in this case it does not matter. This is cool shit ethereal music. Not blast you out of your house, car or club techno but more what water would sound like if it had a ambient voice. This is the sound track for that dream soft-core dream taking place in a foreign film. You can’t quite place it actually. This is sexy stuff and strange at times in familiar joy division kind of way. Could be the soundtrack for a Henrik Purienne film for all you know so get inside the kimono and get comfortable.
Mp3 Downloads:
Progress by Harmonious bec comes out in November 2010!
Sing Me Spanish Techno by The New Pornographers. I’ve always loved this song it’s probably one of their best songs from Twin Cinema.
Trying To Make It New track by DJ Shadow ripped from the UK radio
by admin | Aug 15, 2010 | Album Review, Psychedelic
ALBUM REVIEW: Tame Impala’s InnerSpeaker is a jam band like no other in love with guitar effects, rubber soul and the mysterious retro parts of the Flaming Lips. Ok maybe they are more Pink Floyd but the thing is with the distortion and big drums things get like an ocean engulfed by pixies on the top with these spacey vocals that just make this album work. Right see key is here I said album. All of these tracks are woven together with guitars to create a great soundscape for that old black velvet 70’s nude psychedelic poster you have.
Tame Impala_02_Desire Be Desire Go
by admin | Jul 1, 2010 | Album Review, free Mp3, Pernice Brothers, Whiskeytown
ALBUM REVIEW: Something brilliant about how simple good songs can make the recording process sound deeper than it actually is. Joe Pernice’s latest effort Goodbye, Killer has horns and some 12 string strumming held together in a easy and balanced mix. Think Harvest but not as reverb drenched as previous Pernice Brothers records but with equally Honest lyrics make up the crackle in this home schooled american pop-music. The harmonies are as decent as the lyrics. Guitar play is what you would expect; and that is what you get. This Pernice record is like sober and clean shaved Whiskeytown.
The End of Faith – mp3
by admin | Jun 26, 2010 | Album Review, New Brunswick, The Gaslight Anthem
ALBUM REVIEW: Good and hearty tunes from Brian Fallon and the boys on American Slang. No doubt about The Gaslights Anthem’s 4th release is a winner. Could be it’s own reality show taking place in the suburbs of Jersey and spilling out across America. RXP is going to be playing the crap out of them no doubt. Classic diddling guitar riffs backed up by a solid rhythm section. Jersey bar bands needs to take lesson from these guys and they need to take some more risks too in my humble opinion but then again I always say that. A few too many rebel Clash punk cliches but ready made they are for mass consumption at your local Cheesecake Factory bar. I think I know “The Queen of Lower Chelsea”, she works at Bis.Co.Latte perhaps? The lyrics are the meat of this New Brunswick band, like a well planned tattoo, with a voice which is straight from the souls of rebellious youths who really don’t stand a chance. The bar is really high especially when you’re one of them kicking it up in the air.
by admin | May 20, 2010 | Album Review, Free Electric State, Free Mp3s, Tour News
ALBUM REVIEW: I like my 90’s rock and love it when bands take slices and load squealing droning distorted guitars and paste them up in their songs in a melodic format. This is not your monotone indie rock-band and I wouldn’t dare call Free Electric State’s – Caress retro in the least but there are hints of undeniable dark influences like Sioux and the Banshees backed with the equal nod to pop sentiment of The Breeders; mixed in there when the band breaks it down and turns the fuzz-off, you get a blast of warm vocal air. Holistically it’s raw enough to please your shoe-geezer crowd and way better than most ironically groomed facial hair bands.
The dueling guitars are led by David Koslowski and Nick Williams which are complimented gracefully by the vocals of Shirlé Hale. Koslowski and Hale are North Carolina transplants who had played previously together in Baltimore’s Gerty! and Ex-Members. Koslowski foremerly fronted local grungesters Liquor Bike and made infamous Melody Lane their home. Needless to say these folks can be my DJ’s anytime and that is saying a lot.
Check out:
“Six is one” By Free Electric State
Catch them live in 2010:
May 20th CAT’S CRADLE w/ Silver CARRBORO, NC
May 28 THE WINDUP SPACE w/ Hammer No More The Fingers BALTIMORE, MD
May 29 The RED & The BLACK w/ Hammer No More The Fingers WASHINGTON, DC
Jun 4 NEW FRENCH BAR w/ Hammer No More The Fingers ASHEVILLE, NC
Jun 5 Annual Daniel Festival w/ Hammer No More The Fingers PULASKI, VA
Jun 10 RESERVOIR CARRBORO, NC
Jun 11 THE SOAPBOX WILMINGTON, NC
Jun 12 Art Bar COLUMBIA, SC
For more Free Electric State Shows go here | Fan them on Facebook
Because it’s relative man:
Free Electric State vs Panther
Ten North Carolina Bands You should hear right now
by admin | Jan 5, 2010 | Album Review, free Mp3, reissue, the Feelies
Album Relistening Review: the Good Earth by Feelies is like returning to memories of your first love. Thanks to Bar/none for this on cd! Featured on vinyl all the time on my podcast it’s nice to have a shiny version. Thanks to Amoeba in Berkeley for having a copy for me this xmas. This record was originally out on cayote records in 1986 and remember picking this lp up because Peter Buck(REM) was involved somehow with this jersey based band. Years later I had the pleasure of catching them live at a super club in Princeton in the early 90’s before disbanding and now apparently reuniting for awhile. All you wanna be folk crooners should aspire to this level of melody with out too much emphasis on the poetics. Their debut in Crazy Rhythms is great too don’t get me wrong but this softmore release was a lot smoother production wise for me and not as derivative to their obvious influences. What makes it really grea still to this day is that the vocals don’t over ride the simple and fast open riffs like bad pop music does. The guitars remind me of jersey fields somehow (maybe it’s the artwork). When the jams kick in it’s at the sonic level of the velvet underground for sure without being too noisy and just using mostly clean and well toned guitar melodies. ahh bliss.
If you this you might dig new bands like:
Point Juncture, WA (folky and handmade sounding one of the singers Amanda has killer sense of melody | choice mp3 link coming | last.fm
The Librarians (more smiths sounding in a coctue twins kind of way) | mp3 link coming
BUY SOME FEELIES
DID YOU FRIEND ME(daviso) ON LAST.FM YET?
by admin | Jul 1, 2009 | Album Review, Arizona, Brooklyn, free Mp3, North Carolina
Album Review: Glowing Bird by the band known as Arizona. I had a dumb idea for a comp the other day which would feature 50 bands from 50 states. Probably do-able but you would end up with some crap. Although we’re a little late to the game we are always weary of a band falling through the cracks. The good news is that these guys would be a good opener for said project. No doubt about it.
Studio geeks beware of the state of the band Arizona currently 3/4 parts Asheville North Carolina and 1/4 part of course Brooklyn. One band guy is still holding on apparently. Pretension aside, this band has none, this review is about the art of making an album. Something that is missing these days in 9/10 of the releases out there. More than likely because it’s so easy to make a record on a computer but composing one like this is a whole other level. It’s obvious they worked hard at the knob twiddling to create the ear candy on this shinning release borrowing
some from the reverb playbook with their brand of folk-electronica guitar rock and things that sounds like a melotron and um’ talent? Yes, it’s a damn fine release put out by echo mountain records with so many layers of feel good harmony in the vain of yes the Beatles (on the McCartney side), Sunny Day Real Estate, and contemporaries Okkervil River. A complete pleasure to listen to the two singers trade the lead role seamlessly that they seem as one. At times they get a little proggy and southern rock with their guitar jamming but it’s ok we forgive them for thinking big and letting it rip on the title track. They are best on the last couple simple ditties like “The Fairly Light” and “Whiskey Or Wine” which is mollusk-esque(Ween) but I say just go for it all. You can’t go wrong.
Mp3 Heath – BUY SOME
Mp3 The Fairly Light
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