[2011] Chapelier Fou - Al Abama EP

Holy crap I love everything about this.

[2011] Medication - Judgment Day

Remember Lo-Fi? Me neither. Maybe this will jog your memory. The vocals are low and dispassionate, the songs well written and dramatic. Everything I try to write to describe it sounds stupid so I'm just gonna stop there. It's short and it wouldn't kill you to just listen to it, you know. Do you want to hurt me? You know you're killing your mother, right? She just wants what's best for you. I couldn't find any sort of streaming link so click here to buy or maybe try spotify? link to try removed because I am a pussy.

p.s. I swear I listen to bands whose names don't begin with 'M' from time to time.

[2011] M△S▴C△RA - Silver Knight Gothic EP

Entirely instrumental, dark and weird and soothing with a tasty beat. not sure what else to say. witch house ep is witch housey. check out the track below.

I'm really into short records lately, not sure why. Too also, the EP just makes a lot of sense to me as a release format. A lot of musical ideas shouldn't be stretched out over more than 20 to 30-odd minutes, else they get tiresome. But they're still cool ideas and I want to hear them. I probably heard that in an interview somewhere and have just confused it for an original thought.

Shadow of Tonight by MASCARA

[2010] Waggers Over The Station - Upekkha first impression

Waggers... appears to be the work of one Casey Shew, an unsigned artist who mixes ambient soundscapes full of pops and crackles, thoughtful and engaging percussion, and ethereal acoustic guitar with vocal samples and mostly mumbling male vocals. Climaxes build out of howling wind, twinkling bells, nice thick synths, and escalating guitar, and you wonder if this is what Mount Eerie would have sounded like if it had been taken in a more instrumental direction. And that's just the first two tracks. Suddenly, traditional melody appears. Accordion, more croon to the vocals...is that a marimba? I'm thoroughly engaged - and just as quickly, the tone turns darkly vicious. The anguished shrieks are a bit too earnest and jarring, but on the whole, the transitions on this record are actually fairly smooth and feel quite natural. The pacing of this record will either really please you, or will have you hitting "delete" before the first song even really gets going. Only halfway through the album as I write this, I can tell it won't appeal to many, but this is the kind of self-indulgent turd-sculpting that I love most. I found it on Dying For Bad Music, my favorite blog that's also a label, and it says here that there's an overt Mount Eerie reference on the album, but I haven't noticed it. Maybe the tiles of the first & last track? Who care.

Since it's being distributed online for free, that means I can too. Click here to download Waggers Over The Station - Upekkha

[2010] Wires, Bunnies, Horses, & a Panda

Bare Wires - Seeking Love LP (Castle Face, 2010) Oh here comes the glam fuckin rawk! So sweet, like mother's milk. Maybe not the top album of the year but the title and opening track amount to the best kicking off I've heard and the quality sticks for all 23 & change minutes. As much as I liked the White Fence album, I have to admit that Seeking Love is the kind of thing I was hoping from them after first hearing those first couple of preview tracks back when (unfair comparison, but I shared it with you because we're pals). Oh man, this one track “Family Heat” has a great guitar solo… *drifts off* … anyway. This album has immediate love on lockdown and while I'm hoping for staying power, I know that I like it a lot right now so... I'm happy. BUY or taste a couple of tracks over at the ever loveable Raven Sings the Blues and here's the Official Bare Wires video for I (heart) You Tonite:



VA - Welcome Home_ Diggin' The Universe (A Woodsist Compilation) (Woodsist, 2010) Y'know, after falling absolutely head over heels in love with Moon Duo because of Escape I would have expected a good friend to let me know about this Woodsist comp that kinda passed over (under?) my radar, but no, I had to find out about Moon Duo covering Errol Dunkley (reggae maker of note) all by myself. These imaginary friends must think I’m a jerk. P.S. this is my diplomatic way of saying that the Moon Duo track is the saving grace here despite my liking a bunch of the bands. *sadface* BUY IT HERE

Electric Bunnies – Pretty Joanna 7” (Sacred Bones, 2010) Pretty Joanna is a loud anthemic rock track that’ll play well while you’re cleaning a garage somewhere or training for a fight (trust me on this). The B-side is upbeat, tone-deaf and retro, somewhere between a mid 90s MTV sketch comedy show theme song and another more annoying thing. Buy it if you hate me and never want to listen to good music. JK!

Super Wild Horses – Fifteen LP (Hozac, 2010) I want to like Super Wild Horses, and part of me does, but the other part of me says they compare unfavorably to the fucking Dum Dum Girls ARGH, isn’t that just so cliché? Anyway, they do. Upbeat girl rock with a modicum of vocal fuzz (just enough to give ya a little “how do ya do!” and no more), it is. If you like the DDG’s and want more, but with a little bit of Go-Betweens jangle thrown in buy Fifteen (I do, or at least thought I did).

Panda Bear – Tomboy 7” (Paw Tracks, 2010) s’good. It’s going to be tough to impress people after Person Pitch, but I’m very digging the emphasis on pairing things down here to just rhythm, melody, and vocals, then layering a bit. I’m really looking forward to a whole album of this stuff.

Five is enough! Thanks to PartyBus @ the CBox for letting me listen to some of this.

[2010] Wavves - King of the Beach | 1st IMP!

FIRST IMPRESSION: I feel neither high nor lows when I listen to Wavves. Not unlike a blowjob when you really want anal sex, they deliver but with slightly less exhilarating results than you had anticipated. As I crack open my obviously low-bit rate zip-file containing King of the Beach, I expect to have my opinion changed (THE NEW WAVVES IS DIFFERENT says folks! and oh, oh it is) but instead, I'm as bemused as the other album only less so. Whereas before I got about half a dozen enjoyable staticky listens before moving on and then never even thinking of the album again (wait, I LIE), this time I'm halfway through the Wavves when I think "MEH, where's the heart?" Super Soaker is like self parody and I could barely control my rage during Convertable Balloon. But since this is a "first impression" (i.e. dumb) I'll hedge and say that Idiot at least is a good tune + I'd feel like a complete ass saying anything negative about Baseball Cards. Their early release track Post Acid falls somewhere between (more towards the UGH side, tho!) Overall, despite it not being as entertaining and dangerously stupid / weird as the last album, Wavvves, I can see it being loved by many (that means YOU! and maybe me, in the future when I get over myself already, right?) Enjoy!

DL Post Acid here from the Mountain Dew Website What Makes With The Indie Music Nows.

[2010] zxyzxy - C.A.B. | first impression

At first glance, you might think you're in for something generically overwrought and devoid of surprises. The first track begins with guitar-driven postrock-by-numbers (Mono, God is an Astronaut), and while it's done well, you've heard it before. But there's a lot of range on this release. The second track builds out of electronic whistles and howls, melodic piano, and glitchy beats with a touch of good static. The live drums and dense synths kicking in halfway through give the song serious teeth. The next two go a bit more ambient for long stretches. More piano, more good static. Since all but one track clock in at over fifteen minutes, they can be difficult to characterize individually. It's mostly relaxing stuff and it's better on headphones. I probably found this on Exhale The Sound, but there's also a zxyzxy megapost on The Siren Sound that has a ton of stuff. This is my first listen, and this record is apparently not zxyzxy's typical sort of output, so you can bet I'll be checking out the others in short order.

III

[2010] Junip - Rope and Summit | first impression

I don't know Jose Gonzalez's solo work or Junip's first ep, but this kicks a little bit of ass. It's densely layered and satisfyingly percussive. The vocals are soft and the repetitive lyrics manage not to get old. These songs get better as they go along. Pretty sure I found it on Bolachas.

Rope and Summit