Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Yakuza Heart Attack II


Yakuza Heart Attack - Yakuza Heart Attack II

Instrumental band made up of 8bit/noise-loving keyboardists usually described by music media as "keyboard-driven art rock." I would describe it as compositional genius. Please do yourself a favor and listen to this.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Panda Bear: Live @ ATP



This is a link to a rip of Panda Bear's live set this past September, when he performed at All Tomorrow's Parties. It was pretty much his only solo show this year, I think? It was broadcast by WFMU (there are some significant glitchy sounds in parts, but overall it remains tolerable), recorded to a computer and then split, tagged, and EQ'd by Collected Animals user Maxwell Hell. I can't believe I haven't posted this yet, because it's quite amazing -- better than the other live bootleg I posted a while ago. It's a totally different set of songs as well, including his "remix" (which is actually more of a rewrite) of The Notwist's single, "Boneless", as well as "Ponytail" and "I'm Not" (two songs he didn't perform on his last tour) and two new songs. And a reworked version of Chores, with an intro that some speculate may represent the vocal melody that will be on "I Think I Can", the last track on Animal Collective's upcoming EP, Fall Be Kind. Have I given you enough incentive to download this yet?

BIBIO (Two EPs)

This is a dude I would never have listened to if it wasn't for Collected Animals' overwhelming enthusiasm regarding the Ambivalence Avenue leak. And now, that's one of my favorite albums this year. Thanks AnCo bros. (We call each other that sometimes, in the CA. lol j/k not reely)



Here are his two recent EP releases: The first,


Ovals And Emeralds
, is in the style of his older releases, like Vignetting The Compost. As far as I can tell, this was a limited edition vinyl only available in stores. Weird decaying guitar loops that carve out a tunnel to some 70's folk festival drug trip. The second,


The Apple And The Tooth
, is actually a double EP. Or a four-song EP with seven bonus remixes? Whatever. And hey, guess what? The remixes are actually worth listening to. I'm only saying that because (and I'm sure most of you will agree) it is rare that one encounters a decent, entirely listenable remix album. With this EP, I barely feel an itch to skip any of these tracks. They mostly stay true to the AmbAve-era "Bibio spirit", if you want to call it that. One of the remixes is a killer reworking of "The Palm Of The Wave", done by Bibio himself. Another could be called a "fully realized" version of "All The Flowers", extending it three minutes past the original track's teasingly short running time of 63 seconds. Buy it from Insound (I sure did!), "housed in a gold foiled sleeve and strictly limited to 1000 copies." Sounds fancy!

Myspace

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Best Coast


Myspace

Remember Pocahaunted? How you couldn't go two months in 2008 without finding out they were releasing something new? And then it all stopped for some reason? And then Bethany started writing songs with a heavy 60's pop influence and recording them in the sunny California heat with the lo-fi haze of her former band? And how it was really awesome? I forgive you if your memory of this isn't as strong as mine, because for me it just happened yesterday.


Make You Mine 7"



Art Fag 7"

Endless Endless Endless


"Our band is a post-noise duo that plays guitar and gameboyDS."

Try looking into those eyes and telling me you don't want to jam on a DS with those dudes.

Here are two of their sweet albums. Reminds me of early Black Dice mixed with newer Black Dice but also Wet Hair and other Not Not Fun Records psych/drone/noise. Also sounds like if the apocalypse was friendly and ice cream was milk churned until the infinite black parts of the internet where the data is stored were suddenly visible and tasty. Imagine that melting from a sugar cone onto your lap in the summer? Kinda blows the mind.


Black Talisman (2009)
- Buy it!


Sprawl (2008)

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Thee Oh Sees



This is a band I have not been able to stop listening to lately. I'm pretty sure it started as a solo-side project of John Dwyer (Pink and Brown, Burmese, Coachwhips) and is now a 4-piece. They've also had a few name changes along the way. The sound is kinda low fi rockabilly but also lots of high energy fun stuff. Really fun to see live, definitely check em out if you get the chance. If you've never heard these guys before I'd say your best bet is to start with the album "Thee Hounds of Foggy Notion". It's an album of all live field recordings in lots of cool outdoor locations and it's compiled of songs that could be called their greatest hits of that era. Next, move on to one of their newer albums released in early 2009, titled "Help". Both of these albums are flawless, every track is a winner. And lastly, I'm giving you guys a link to check out their newest full releases and it's called Dog Poison.


Thee Hounds of Foggy Notion



Help



Dog Poison

Friday, October 30, 2009

M. PYRES


CAST OFF / COLD MONTHS


This is one of the best ambient records I've heard in a while because it's so organic, unlike most of the other ambient stuff I've been into -- that of the synth-based and spaced-out set. This album is more like the end of The Shining as opposed to the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey, if that makes sense. I'd recommend this to fans of Super Minerals and other things I can't think of right now -- for some reason, I want to say the quieter parts of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, or if The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place was buried in a bomb shelter and recorded through a drain pipe. Most of it is guitar loop streams and feedback rivers flowing down delay mountains, if I'm not mistaken (I probably am, since I've neglected all valleys and clearings); hence, the post-rock tag.

I'll be posting three other records from this band in a few days, but I figured I should put them in a different post since they're all somewhat different from this one. You'll see. In the meantime, familiarize yourself with a record I'm surprised isn't more widely hyped.

Myspace

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

For You.Earth


For You.Earth - The Oldest Songs

Russian mathy hardcore.
The screams are high and pretty intense, and the music is gloriously chaotic. i've run some of the lyrics through translators (speaking russian is, sadly, not in my skill set). the first repeated lyric i ran through was: "you will be taken with the ground"
not bad, right?
right now their album isn't for sale in the states, sadly, but they're looking for a us/europe label so that they can get here.