Vacations

I WAS BIKINI / BUT RAIN AFRAID

I was originally going to post this for the amazing non sequitur album title. Then I was going to post this because it features Bobby Burg of my favorite Joan Of Arc Family band, The Love Of Everything. It also features two members of the somewhat Joan of Arc related band Chin Up Chin Up that broke up some time ago and whom I admit I never was totally into (awkward sentence structure ftw). Then I was going to post it because I started listening and was all like, holy smokes, this is actually really good. And then I remembered, damn, last time I posted something from Record Label it was taken down by Mediafire.

And then something amazing happened. I visited their Myspace and made the incredible discovery that they are offering the album on a pay-what-you-want basis. Fate has been kind to us today, folks.

Oh yeah, and if you're wondering what it sounds like -- kind of a cross between the aforementioned bands and then some Ukulele.

Bygones

You might have seen this when I posted it a while back. I'm only posting it again because it's a better bit rate -- high VBR, around 250 kbps. Oh wait, also, this is one of my favorite records of the year. Nick Reinhart (of Tera Melos) and Zach Hill (of Hella and fucking everything) present something ridiculous and mathy and poppy and heavy in a way that only they could pull off. Whatever man, you probably either already have this or you're not interested. If you're neither of those, the whole album is streaming on Myspace and Bandcamp. Check it out, and then BUY IT!

9/17 Megapost

Sure, I'm late with some of these, but aren't they all good records? And doesn't that goodness last beyond the "discovery" stage? I'd like to think so.

I tried to make this a noise/electronic post, but Bibio offered me an opportunity to transition into a few links I've been meaning to post for a while. Enjoy.

Eric Copeland - Alien In A Garbage Dump - Full length! Not the vinyl-only EP that was released last year. This album is that EP and the recently released companion EP, Al Anon (also vinyl-only). Pretty amazing. Buy the CD from Paw Tracks, or the Al Anon twelve-inch from Catsup Plate (only 500 copies pressed!).

High Wolf - Animal Totem - Killer cassette released last year (?) on Not Not Fun Records. Tropical loop noise.

Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue - Folk and IDM? In the best way possible, this dude on Warp Records marries the two. I don't know why I'm suddenly name-dropping all these record labels.

Ganglians - Monster Head Room - Part of that whole "lo-fi" thing, but ultimately, the songwriting here makes you forget it was likely recorded in someone's basement. Kinda like Beach Boys, Fleet Foxes, Woods. Buy the CD from Woodsist.

Hermit Thrushes - Slight Fountain - Maybe I'm off my rocker here, but this band reminds me of, like, if maybe Cough-era Black Eyes (I've spent about 10 minutes trying to find a better band for this analogy, but nothing else works) was really tired, so they turned off the distortion and invited Phil Elverum over to sing a little, and then all of them realized that Joan of Arc was pretty good. Buy the CD here.

MAY-GAPOST

Foreword: This was all written approximately six weeks ago. Thus the month pun title. I'm pretty sure I never posted it because I thought I'd get around to writing descriptions for the rest of the albums. Obviously I didn't -- until now (somewhat). Anyway, I'm leaving in the "jokes" at the beginning because I am convinced that I am "so goddamn funny".

Get it? I'd hope so, idiot. [/dwightschrute]

So yeah, second post in a row like this. Might become the standard, as far as I'm concerned. Are you concerned? Don't be. There is nothing to be concerned about. Except SWINE FLU, AMIRITE? [/topical]

This week (not to imply that I will be doing this every week) I've got nine super-hip Rock 'n' Roll albums from various corners of the world! But really, they're probably all American. Which is probably for the best!! [/xenophobe]

Japandroids - Post-Nothing - (Myspace)
All I have to say is,

Wet Hair - Dream - (Myspace)
Two dudes who formerly participated in the epic psych forest adventure band, Raccoo-oo-oon. They obviously currently reside in a bathroom, their heads in the sink, passed out and probably hallucinating. GET IT??

Little Kingdoms - The Willow EP - (Myspace)
American Football-y, Kinsella-esque. Young dudes. F'in Rad is a funky track. The rest is great too. I can't remember, but I might have put a "bonus" song in the zip.

Pterodactyl - Worldwild - (Myspace)
When I first started listening to this I came up with the following catchy descriptor: "Animal Collective meets Drive Like Jehu". I still haven't come up with anything better.

Real Estate - Atlantic City Expressway Tour CD-R - (Myspace)
Cool, lo-fi midtempo island indie jams. Guy from Ducktails is on guitar. Sweet driving tunage.

Pocahaunted - Live @ Ms. Bea's (SXSW) - (Myspace)
Quality's as good as your average Pocahaunted recording, but nothing else here is "average" Pocahaunted -- for one thing, there's way more jam than drone. This three-song set of brand new stuff is total groove central. Groove Central, I say!

Duck Duck Goose - Noise, Noise, and More Noise - (Myspace)
Every so often, a band really innovates the shit out of their genre -- nowadays, for a hardcore band, this means they have just enough imagination to make the music actually interesting. If you're like me, and you wish not all bands in the hardcore scene sounded awful and boring, go for this.

El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez - Cryptomnesia - (Myspace)
This album was recorded right after Mars Volta's Amputechture, and it's the most solid material Omar has released since Deloused. Don't get me wrong, I'm always a fan, but many of his solo albums are rife with filler. Maybe Zach Hill's labyrinthine drumming helped flesh this one out a bit. That's right, I said Zach Hill. Didn't you know? Get this now.

ULTRAPOST2

Okay, I guess it's been long enough, and boy (or girl), have I got some tunes for you. I hate to present them like this, but really, I don't. Enjoy the noise.

Magic Markers - Balf Quarry (192 kbps [VBR])
Myspace
A few of the tracks here are like nothing they've ever done before, in such a good way. And yeah, this is probably their best release so far.

Nodzzz - Nodzzz (320 kbps)
Myspace
Quick, summery noise-pop. This is how No Age would have sounded in the 80's. Totally recommended, obviously.

Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains (256 kbps)
Myspace
Half of these dudes are my age, and they already got "best new music" from Pitchfork. Here I am sitting on my ass blogging about it. This is some pretty transcendental indie-rock. Kind of sounds like Arcade Fire and Titus Andronicus, but that really does it no justice.

Magic People - You Are The Magic People (256 kbps [VBR])
Myspace
Kind of a spoken-word, mewithoutYou-style vocal, but there's no guitar involved, only analog synth and awesome distorted bass. I got addicted to this album while playing Donkey Kong Country 2.

Inverness - Forest Fortress (128 kbps)
Myspace (includes sendspace link to 320 kbps version)
Kind of a spacey, underwater Deerhunter/Atlas Sound feel. But more expansive, in a post-rock way, in that it'll make you almost forget about the impending apocalypse by predicting something entirely more painless. Plus, they're from Brazil. How exotic is that? Makes you want to jump into the South Atlantic and find out how deep they went to record this.

Pocahaunted - Passage (128 kbps)
Myspace
Another sweet, swirling set of tribal slow jams from the best of them. If anyone has a better quality version, help me out!

Snowing - Fuck Your Emotional Bullshit (320 kbps)
Myspace
Killer five-song EP from ex-members of Street Smart Cyclist and Boy Problems. If you don't remember them, think about Cap'n Jazz, Algernon Cadwallader, Braid, etc. I also get a shout out on one of the tracks: "I did some funny things with my best friend Patrick." John, I'm honored. Really.

Kickball - ABCDEFGHIJKickball (192 kbps)
Myspace
I've seriously been meaning to post this for over a year, no joke. It's kind of like minimalistic post-punk, with a vaguely Bobby Burg-esque vocal. Erm, yeah. They're friends with Paul Baribeau, if that helps you. Did I mention it might also change your life?

I was gonna post the new Dirty Projectors album, Bitte Orca, as well. But since they're on Domino now, I guess the links for it have been taken down just about everywhere. If I were to post it, though, I'd have to be pretty clever about it.

Hermit Thrushes - Benaki (2008)

As promised. This band really knows how to treat its fans; not only did I get this full-length and their 7" split with Br'er (totally recommended, by the way) for only ten bucks, but they threw in a solo disc recorded by Andrew Keller, singer/guitarist, as well. Not to mention a hand-written note, letting me know about their next full-length (to be released before summer!), and a nice little sticker with their logo on it. Oh, also, did I mention how fucking neat this album is? Yeah. It's pretty neat. Trust me.

Myspace/Buy It!
Download (320kbps)

ULTRAPOST

I have not posted for over a month. I am making up for this today.

A good amount of the following albums were discovered on MORAL ADVENTURE (link on the right). So I guess maybe that's cheating.

O Lucky Man! - When I Was Young I Would Type Your Name Just To See It In Front Of Me
Sounds like Hella and Cap'n Jazz. Listen HERE. (Note: That page lists the album as having 7 tracks. The actual album only has five of those.)

Chromatic Flights - Favorite Cat
Sounds like: Dntel; Passion Pit?; Animal Collective. Listen on
Myspace. Also, check out his other band, Blind Man's Colour.

Animal Collective - Stuart Marconie's Freak Zone (BBC Session)
Includes new track "What Would I Want Sky" and a cool version of "Lion in a Coma".

Eric Copeland - RGAG
A collection of leftovers from various sessions.

Pocahaunted - Gold Miner's Daughters
One of their best releases so far.

Super Minerals - Multitudes
Sounds like Barn Owl, Grails, Pocahaunted. This is a no-brainer. Get.

Teeth Mountain - s/t
Like those three bands I just named, except somehow upbeat and almost, dare I say, fun. Listen on Myspace

Fantastic Magic - Witch Choir
Nathan from Wavves with a few more folks playing folky lo-fi stuff before Wavves.

Storm And Stress x2

EDIT: THESE LINKS ARE DOWN. They'll probably never go back up, because Touch And Go Records is on top of things. Same goes for Don Cab links. Sorry.

However, if you're reading this, please don't give up hope. These are my two of my favorite records of all time, and I implore you to continue your search. You won't regret it. This message has been approved by Bradford Cox.

Preview on Myspace
Buy

This band will more-than-satisfy you when you get tired of Ian Williams' other bands, Don Caballero and Battles. Ian locks his guitar in the basement and feeds it only yearning. He also sings to himself. The drums rumble freely and catastrophically but internally. Under Thunder also includes Eric Ehm, who played bass on the final Don Caballero album, American Don.

Storm and Stress (1997)

Under Thunder and Fluorescent Light (2000)

Dianogah x2

Preview on Myspace
Buy buy!

Hey this band is pretty good they got two dudes that play bass so it's got a nice jazzy post-rock feel like old Tortoise ya dig???

Millions of Brazilians (2002)

qhnnl (2008)

This Town Needs Guns - Animals (2008)

You won't believe how good this is until you hear it.
Sounds like Look Mexico, Owls, American Football, Piglet, etc.

Preview on Myspace
DOWNLOAD
Buy it! (CD)
Buy it! (Vinyl)

Maps And Atlases - You And Me And The Mountain EP (2008)

Somewhat different from their first EP, but still the same basic materials added up to make awesome.

Preview on Myspace
DOWNLOAD
Buy it!

Cowboys Aren't Indians (2005?)

This great EP is mostly a mystery I discovered on some livejournal community. Just listen, especially if you dig American Football and Owls and such.

Preview on Myspace
DOWNLOAD

Kitty Party - Baby Shark Quest (2007)

Short demo of a sweet little band with an ex-member of Look Mexico.

Preview on Myspace
DOWNLOAD

Algernon Cadwallader - Some Kind Of Cadwallader (2008)

This band is musically closer to Owls or American Football but vocally closer to Cap'n Jazz. Listen to their songs on myspace, obviously.

BUY IT FOR ONLY SEVEN DOLLARS.

(I've "retired" my link to this album because it exceeded a certain absurd number of downloads that I'm not morally comfortable with. Buy the record, support the band.)