Modeselektor at Coachella

Half of Deadly Boars went to Coachella last weekend, and I'm finally taking a much needed sick day to recuperate. This has got to be one of the best performances I saw all weekend, hands down.

I'll try to post more stuff as it comes to mind. And don't forget to check out the live stream of this weekend's Coachella to catch the same lineup.

guess it's not being streamed a second time, sorry.

fradleybox not-radiohead live mix

Click here for the download link. Does what it says on the cover. Sorry for deliberately mangling the band names in the track list below but we live in a very litigious internets these days. Dates ate in YYYY.DD.MM format.

01 B*ck & The Fl*ming L*ps - The Golden Age - 2002.12.24 KCRW (FM)
02 Ir*n & W*ne - Sunset Soon Forgotten - 2005.06.20 Norfolk (live album)
03 The ******* Fire - No Cars Go - 2008.01.23 Live at the Wireless (FM)
04 The Delgados - The Actress - 1998 Black Sessions (FM)
05 D*ves - The Man Who Told Everything - 2001.06.13 WBCN (FM)
06 Blonde Redhead - Here Sometimes - 2010.09.27 Black Sessions (FM)
07 Califone - Funeral Singers - 2009.12.03 KEXP (FM)
08 Wilco - Impossible Germany - 2008 (live DVD)
09 Br*k*n S*c**l Scene - cause = time - 2004.08.07 Stockholm (FM)
10 P*rt*sh**d - Nylon Smile - 2008.05.20 BBC (FM)
11 Broadcast - Look Outside - 2001.04.08 Oneworld (FM)
12 Andrew Bird - You Woke Me Up! - 2009.12.xx Fingerlings 4 (live album)
13 múm - K Half Noise - 2002.09.21 Barcelona (unknown source)
14 The P*xies - Where is my Mind - 2004.05.01 Coachella (livedisc)
15 Feist - Lover's Spit - 2000 Black Sessions (FM)

[2011] Evenings - Lately

Oh hey, this is still here

Oh hey, Evenings released their (his?) first full-length at some point this year and I just noticed.

[2011] Chapelier Fou - Al Abama EP

Holy crap I love everything about this.

[2011] John Maus - We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves

I have been waiting my whole life (I think?) for someone to make an album of meaty songs that bridges the gap between cold-wave and space disco, so thank you John Maus. In his newest We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves (I don't think I'll ever remember that title, I keep typing Ancestors instead of Censors) we are given layers of murky synths, cheesy synths, raw synths, sexy synths, and other kinds of synths. The key thing to remember is "synths."

The opening track "Streetlight" is practically a brightly lit flashing sign of what's to come, brazenly announcing that if you in any way shape or form have been dreading the day that the Ghostbusters soundtrack become something worth mining for musical gold, now is the time to walk away. "Quantum Leap" is upbeat, hooky and reminds me of last year's hit Gary War single "Born of Light." I want to believe that "Head for the Country" is an ode to Tears for Fears, specifically "Head Over Heels" the video of which I couldn't get out of my head listening to the Maus track. As "retro" as it is, it also feels brand new to me and I won't bother reconciling that unless someone makes me.

The vocals are entrancing throughout the album (particularly in "Cop Killer" and "We Can Breakthrough"), and I can only try to sum the sound up as "Ariel Pink forcing Gregorian monks at gunpoint to sing Big Country covers." However, the final track "Believer" strikes a much different chord, and has an aimless "best of: shoegaze" thing going on, and seems much shorter than it is because you don't want it to end. Try both Quantum Leap and Believer below:

John Maus - Quantum Leap by RibbonMusic

John Maus - Believer by RibbonMusic

[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] Melodium - Petit Jama

For fans of Múm. No vocals though. It's a tad sugary, at times, but I like that shit.

[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

[2001] BOaT - RoRo

I almost never post about old music here. I've been sitting here, stuck for something to listen to for an hour or more, and came back to this album on a whim. After finding it on the excellent WE FUCKING LOVE MUSIC a few years ago I'd had it on constant repeat, then put it away until now. It's better than I remember. I don't know anything about the band except that they appear to be Japanese, this was their last record, and they're NOT the similarly named "Boat".

I don't really know how to describe the music in terms of identifiable genres. Lots of long stretches of nothing but guitar and drums. Some of it is quite twee, but not as twee as japrock can get. It's definitely sentimental, not that there are any lyrics I can understand. there's a pop song or two. let's just call it "rock". Just listen to it.

[2011] Arctic Whisperings - óvænt lán

For fans of hauschka, sigur ros, and the minecraft volume alpha album (which I simply cannot put down, lately). some minimal stuff, some thick postrock, all points between, all twinkly. I'm gonna buy this. Found it on Musical Coma.