Monday, April 27, 2009

O Pioneers!!!- O Pioneers!!! 7"


On this fairly recent (released in 2008) 7 inch Houston's O Pioneers!!! blend elements of both early Hot Water Music and early Against Me! without losing their originality, something that is hard to come by these days. I'll be honest, after several listens to the 3 songs on this 7 inch, I still have no clue what the fuck the singer is saying. For me it just makes the songs more raw and emotional and unique. I'd take a guy yelling out of tune over someone singing through an auto-tune every time. Also if you haven't picked up OP!!!'s latest album Neon Creeps, you need to because it is one of the best to come out this year (it's up on Quote Unquote Records' website for free download).

Link
Myspace
Track Listing:
1. Ben Says We're Gonna Make It
2. Now We Have Real Problems
3. The Adventures Of John Lock

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Tegan and Sara- Under Feet Like Ours


Under Feet Like Ours is the independently released first album from the indie-folk group Tegan and Sara. The album sports the more folk (maybe even folk-punk?) side of the duo that was present in most of their early releases (well.. everything except The Con). I'm a little divided on how I feel about this album. Some of the songs are completely amazing and some of my favorites by the band but a few songs on the album just get boring. The good songs on the album though, are T&S classics and shouldn't be missed. Some of the songs on this album are also on This Business of Art but are all pretty different versions.

Link
Myspace
Track Listing:
1. Divided
2. Our Trees
3. Come On
4. Freedom
5. Proud
6. More for Me
7. Hype
8. Clever Meals
9. This Is Everything
10. Heavy
11. Welcome Home
12. Superstar
13. Bye!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Neutral Milk Hotel- Invent Yourself A Shortcake


This is a self-recorded demo tape by the lo-fi/indie/folk band Neutral Milk Hotel. Because it's a demo and was originally recorded on cassette, the sound quality isn't that great. Despite this you should definitely take a listen, if not for NMH being an amazing band then for the sheer insanity that goes on in the recording. Some of the songs are melodic, while others just seem like organized chaos. "Synthetic Flying Machine" is a very early version of the song "The King of Carrot Flowers Part 3" from NMH's classic In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. I love Neutral Milk Hotel and this album is a good look their early days as a band.

Link
Band Website
Track Listing:
1. Digestion Machine
2. Calypso Part One
3. My Dreamgirl Don't Exist
4. Calypso Part Two
5. Chocolate Coffin
6. Sinking Ship
7. Random Noise
8. Jaw Harp
9. A&E Melody
10. Prank Call
11. More Noise
12. Synthetic Flying Machine
13. Charlotte
14. Love You on a Tuesday
15. Spooky Sounds
16. Preacherman

Jimmy Eat World- Jimmy Eat World [1994]


This is the debut album from the amazing alt-punk/indie band Jimmy Eat World. I'm a huge fan of the the old school JEW when Tom still sang lead, so this album seriously kicks ass in my book (Tom sings lead on all but one song, "Usery"). Jimmy Eat World is more straight forward punk rock than their newer, poppier releases. A few of the songs sound the same, mainly because of similar guitar riffs and effects but overall the album is really worth the listen.

Link
Myspace
Track Listing:
1. Chachi
2. Patches
3. Amphibious
4. Splat Out of Luck
5. House Arrest
6. Usery
7. Wednesday
8. Crooked
9. Reason 346
10. Scientific
11. Cars

If you haven't gotten Clarity Live yet, do so immediately. Clarity is one of my favorite albums of all time and hearing played from start to finish live is incredible. The only thing better is to have actually been at one of the Clarity x10 Tour shows.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Days Away- LSDEP


LSDEP was the second official release by the progressive rock/indie band Days Away. This ep was what made me start listening to the band and it's still my favorite of their releases. That's not to say that their full length Mapping An Invisible World isn't good, because it's amazing. I just prefer the earlier versions because there's less gloss and production in the way of the music. If you're a newcomer to Days Away, by all means start with the full length, both albums have their strengths and weaknesses. Also it should be noted that all of the songs on the LSDEP appear on Invisible World, just different versions. This is one of my favorite albums in a long time and you should definitely check it out.

Link
Myspace
Track Listing:
1. Stay the Same
2. God and Mars
3. Fight
4. Ideals
5. It Happens
6. T. Klines Decline

A few of the members of Days Away are now in the band Good Old War who are a great band as well as Anthony Green's band for his solo project. Go check both Good Old War and Anthony Green's solo stuff(Circa too) out!

Circa Survive- This Changes Everything EP


This is the first unofficial release from experimental/progressive rock/indie band Circa Survive. It's a three song ep (really only two songs), two different demo versions of the song "Handshakes At Sunrise" and a longer, and maybe even better, version of the song "Juturna" which showed up on the album Juturna as "The Great Golden Baby." The songs are definitely worth the listen, the two versions of "Handshakes At Sunrise" are different from the one on the Inuit Sessions Ep.

Link
Myspace
Track Listing:
1. Handshakes At Sunrise (Demo)
2. Handshakes At Sunrise (Second Demo)
3. Juturna ("the Great Golden Baby" Demo)

Portugal the Man- Demos


These are some demos from the Waiter: You Vultures! album era of Portugal the Man. I've professed my love for this band many times on this blog and this is where all of the magic began. I'm pretty sure half of the songs on here have a drum machine playing and half have the real deal, which gives the songs even more of a r&b/soul vibe. Some of the vocals are pretty rough, but that's to be expected in a demo. Most of the songs that show up on Waiter have different tempos or different lyrics which makes it worth the listen.

Link
Myspace
Track Listing:
1. Clips Comprehend (Demo)
2. Showing Teeth (Demo)
3. Waiter (Demo)
4. How The Leopard Got Its Spots (Demo)
5. Pelican (Demo)
6. Monster (Alternate Version)
7. Bad, Bad Levi Brown (Demo)

PtM are releasing a new album July 21, called the Satanic Satanist. It will be amazing.

Manchester Orchestra- 5 Stories


I figured in honor of Manchester Orchestra's new album coming out today (it is amazing if you haven't heard it) I would post some old stuff. 5 Stories is the an ep released when singer Andy Hull was calling Manchester Orchestra a solo project. That being said, most of the ep is acoustic and has a sort of Decemberists feel to it. It's definitely not up to par with their other releases, but there are a few good songs here ("Marked Unknown", "Goodbye to the Liars"). If you're a die-hard Manchester Orchestra fan or just a fan of simple acoustic, charming songs, this is definitely for you.

Link
Myspace
Track Listing:
1. The Girl With Broken Wings
2. I Am A Book, Torn
3. Marked Unknown
4. Ladida
5. Goodbye to the Liars

You can get their new album here. I would highly recommend it. Mean Everything To Nothing is my top album of the year so far.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Bomb the Music Industry- Vinyl



Pre-Order for Bomb the Music Industry's amazing fourth album Scrambles started yesterday over on vinylcollective.com. So far the record is exclusively at vc on clear blue vinyl. It's limited to 300 so you should get it while it's there.

Weatherbox- Demos



These have been in their myspace player for a while but I figured since the new album, The Cosmic Drama, is supposed to come out this April (but I'm not sure how likely that is since no date has been set). I was a hug fan of the band's first album, American Art, and if you haven't picked it up yet, you need to. One of the tracks below is of singer, Brian, doing an acoustic cover of Animal Collective's "Fireworks" (it includes him getting booed with comments like "get a job, even though the cover isn't that bad). The second song is the demo of a song from the Cosmic Drama called "Don't Say Nice Things" which sounds very promising.

Myspace

Fireworks-Weatherbox
Don't Say Nice Things-Weatherbox

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Suburban Home- Spring/Summer Sampler



Since I still don't have my computer back I figured I'd post the Suburban Home Spring/Summer sampler. All of the bands on the sampler are worth checking out especially Drag the River, Yesterday's Ring, Joey Cape, and Ninja Gun. You can download the songs individually or all of them together here.

Track Listing:
1. Drag The River “I Remeber Now”
2. Drag The River “A Way With Women”
3. Yesterday’s Ring “Punx Not Dead…It’s Just Sleeping”
4. Jon Snodgrass “Remember My Name”
5. Jon Snodgrass “Song For Jake Nichols To Sing”
6. Mike Hale “Lives Like Mine”
7. Austin Lucas “Somebody Love You”
8. Austin Lucas “Precious Little Heart”
9. In The Red “Unlaced”
10. In The Red “Jet Breaker”
11. Stereotyperider “Twon Song”
12. Stereotyperider “Not Sayin It”
13. Two Cow Garage “Bastards and Bridesmaids”
14. Useless I.D. “Killing a Ghost”
15. Ninja Gun “Eight Miles Out”
16. Joey Cape “The Ramones are Dead”
17. Tim Barry “Tacoma”
18. Josh Small “Say Hello”
19. The Takers “Curse of a Drunk”
20. Jr. Juggernaut “Another Two Weeks”
21. Ghost Buffalo “Gold Disease”
22. Chad Price “Because It’s My Heart (Live)”
23. Chad Price “Hybrid Moments (Misfits Cover, Live)”
24. Two Cow Garage “Oh Darling (Beatles Cover, Live)”
25. Drag The River “Can’t Hardly Wait (Replacements Cover, Live)

Friday, April 3, 2009

Sorry...

Sorry I've been lacking in posts lately. My computer caught a virus and I had to bring it in to get it fixed (lame!). Until I get it back I have to use my friends computer so you'll have to go without some mp3s for a little longer. Until then here's some awesome videos:

Gaslight Anthem-Left of the Dial (the Replacements)


The Riot Before- We Are Wild Stallions

The Riot Before - "We Are Wild Stallions!" from Dave O'Dell on Vimeo.