Hey folks, still here. Sorry if you've emailed me regarding wanting to be posted: it's actually super cool that I can't keep up with it. That sounds sarcastic, I admit, but I'm being serious. I'm now at the point where, if this pace keeps up, I'll be able to run this blog solely on artist submissions. So keep 'em coming. I've got a lot on the backburner right now, so if you've emailed me in the last couple weeks then just hang tight, it will be coming!
In the meantime, been five kinds of obsessed with this jam, so dig on it while I take care of life.
music is ok
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
skinnypricks
High in One Eye - Skinnypricks
[noise rock, hardcore]
Recommended if you like: Lightning Bolt (but they feel too tame for you), Jesus Lizard (but they're not noisy enough for you)
Download/stream here.
Less than 10 minutes of spontaneous, lo-fi aggression, apparently written and recorded in the space of two hours. This either is completely your thing or it is not at all, but it's free and less than ten minutes long, so make it your thing. It's surprisingly good for something more or less unplanned; there's a lot of really cool ideas going on. Especially in the drum-heavy assault and battery of "Tease" (best vocals on the EP?) or downright doom-laden "Jack-of-all-trades". Which eventually segues into 80's thrashy black metal worship before devolving into Daughters-esque dissonant riffing. But really, you saw that coming. Absolutely primal.
High in One Eye bandcamp page
(also includes another EP and a single up for free)
[noise rock, hardcore]
Recommended if you like: Lightning Bolt (but they feel too tame for you), Jesus Lizard (but they're not noisy enough for you)
Download/stream here.
Less than 10 minutes of spontaneous, lo-fi aggression, apparently written and recorded in the space of two hours. This either is completely your thing or it is not at all, but it's free and less than ten minutes long, so make it your thing. It's surprisingly good for something more or less unplanned; there's a lot of really cool ideas going on. Especially in the drum-heavy assault and battery of "Tease" (best vocals on the EP?) or downright doom-laden "Jack-of-all-trades". Which eventually segues into 80's thrashy black metal worship before devolving into Daughters-esque dissonant riffing. But really, you saw that coming. Absolutely primal.
High in One Eye bandcamp page
(also includes another EP and a single up for free)
Friday, October 8, 2010
Neil Milton - Elements
[modern classical, ambient]
Recommended if you like: aching beautiful modern composition; elegant piano work; An Accidental Memory in the Case of Death by Eluvium
Too Many Fireworks
Neil Milton
[modern classical, ambient]
Recommended if you like: aching beautiful modern composition; elegant piano work; An Accidental Memory in the Case of Death by Eluvium
Neil Milton - elements (2mf012dd) by beneathusthewaves
Download "Air (or, The Dragonfly)”
Neil Milton is relaunching his label, Too Many Fireworks, with a personal EP dubbed Elements - devoting a track to each of the four elements and its finale to “Aether”- and talk about making a comeback: fans of Eluvium and early A Silver Mt Zion material should take note, because this is minimalist modern classical at its finest.
A brisk eighteen minutes divided into five tracks is ideal: enough time for thematic development and listener engagement without becoming rote like so much “ambient” music can. I'm not entirely sure if music this lovely can really command attention; I'd say it politely requests it and you'd have to be inhuman to say “no”. In any case, it never becomes background music, as each of the tracks does bring an idea to the table, like the fluttery “Air” or the appropriately weighty, tectonic “Earth”. Hands down the best part of the release is its subtle adherence to theme: “Air” doesn't begin with sampled wooshing and “Water” is entirely devoid of prefab waterfall recordings. Instead, a track like “Fire” excites with its vibrant strings and “Aether” is minimal, spacey and gorgeous. You're forgiven for your preconceptions, though, because such a broad and general subject matter could be handled entirely tactlessly. Thankfully (mercifully) Milton handled the concept wisely and colours his compositions with the concept instead of forcing them to fit it.
The whole thing streams for free right there, a few inches up, so you have no excuse to not already be listening to it. For your listening convenience, you can also download an MP3 of the first track. And if you're the type to do so, please support both Neil and his revived label. At the very least check out the stream: this is truly sincere and majestic music.
Too Many Fireworks
Neil Milton
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
chin up
Former Ghosts - Welcome to Old Love
[electronic, synthpop, post-punk]
Recommended if you like: sad 80's bands (New Order, The Smiths), sad 00's bands that sound like sad 80's bands (Cold Cave)
Download.
I dare you to find an artist who is simultaneously as prolific while remaining as [relatively] unknown as Freddy Ruppert. This Song is a Mess But So Am I put out a ton of great, great music before he retired that moniker and started work on Former Ghosts, where he's finally beginning to get some of the attention he deserves.
TSIAMBSAI (oh, wow) was rightfully put to bed after it accomplished what it needed to, and its short but brilliant existence alluded to an incredibly heartfelt, sincere and disarmingly honest songwriter who, for a moment, seemed to have finished with music altogether. Luckily, he came back with Former Ghosts, which tackles much of the same musical territory but with perhaps a bit more reservedness, which is not meant to be a qualitative judgment in any sense. This Song was a deeply personal, cathartic outburst in the truest sense of the word: it was an outburst, it was violent, it was messy and noisy and tragic and equal parts full of energy and defeat.
Former Ghosts, by contrast, is more contemplative and refined, while retaining the personal intensity that Ruppert has become known for. And if the man has any other calling card, it's for working working working nonstop on whatever musical project he's invested in; I'd reckon Former Ghosts has more b-sides than album tracks. Welcome the Old Love culls together some outtakes from his forthcoming LP, New Love, again recorded with Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart and Zola Jesus, aka Nika Roza Danilova (who has since become a bit of a household name since the first Former Ghosts album dropped, I hear). Accompanying the b-sides are remixes and covers curated by Ruppert, highlighted by (personally speaking) "Chin Up" as remixed by Friendzone. Also worth noting is the unreleased "Old Love Introduction" featuring Sam Mickens and a blink-182 cover. Oh yeah.
[electronic, synthpop, post-punk]
Recommended if you like: sad 80's bands (New Order, The Smiths), sad 00's bands that sound like sad 80's bands (Cold Cave)
Download.
I dare you to find an artist who is simultaneously as prolific while remaining as [relatively] unknown as Freddy Ruppert. This Song is a Mess But So Am I put out a ton of great, great music before he retired that moniker and started work on Former Ghosts, where he's finally beginning to get some of the attention he deserves.
TSIAMBSAI (oh, wow) was rightfully put to bed after it accomplished what it needed to, and its short but brilliant existence alluded to an incredibly heartfelt, sincere and disarmingly honest songwriter who, for a moment, seemed to have finished with music altogether. Luckily, he came back with Former Ghosts, which tackles much of the same musical territory but with perhaps a bit more reservedness, which is not meant to be a qualitative judgment in any sense. This Song was a deeply personal, cathartic outburst in the truest sense of the word: it was an outburst, it was violent, it was messy and noisy and tragic and equal parts full of energy and defeat.
Former Ghosts, by contrast, is more contemplative and refined, while retaining the personal intensity that Ruppert has become known for. And if the man has any other calling card, it's for working working working nonstop on whatever musical project he's invested in; I'd reckon Former Ghosts has more b-sides than album tracks. Welcome the Old Love culls together some outtakes from his forthcoming LP, New Love, again recorded with Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart and Zola Jesus, aka Nika Roza Danilova (who has since become a bit of a household name since the first Former Ghosts album dropped, I hear). Accompanying the b-sides are remixes and covers curated by Ruppert, highlighted by (personally speaking) "Chin Up" as remixed by Friendzone. Also worth noting is the unreleased "Old Love Introduction" featuring Sam Mickens and a blink-182 cover. Oh yeah.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
'I don't wanna leave the swamp tonight'
Sun Hotel - Coast
[Post-gospel/swamp (indie-)rock]
Recommended if you like: the idea of country-doom era Earth having a teenage son with Fleet Foxes (oh yeah, we doin' this)
Download.
Sleeper hit of the year? I'm going there. Completely out of left-field, Coast arrived in my inbox recently and completely floored me, it came and perfectly filled a little void in my musical life where there was a quiet (hidden) craving for something uplifting and fantastically full of life. (Not to knock any of the brooding downers I've received lately - my heart is still with you cats (or not with you, if that's the more appropriate, brooding downing answer).
Seriously, though, click that big, blue link above and listen to "Palms". Go on, I'll wait. I'll even give you enough time to listen to it twice, because you will listen to it twice. You're welcome for that new mixtape staple. An absolutely perfect blend of melody, harmony, and dynamics; the sweetest, swampiest, most concise faux-post-rock you've ever heard. And that's it, you're hooked.
Sun Hotel have a wonderful energy about them, a youthful sort of abandon, but instead of throwing it all to the wind and hoping something comes out of it, there's an undeniable focus and maturity to the songwriting. There's adolescent desperation and earnestness coupled with sublimely refined vocal harmonies. I don't mean to tout my own analogies here, but really: give Earth a pulse and give Fleet Foxes some grit and you've got a vague idea of what's going on. Calculated clean guitar play can and will, at any minute, shift into tweedy Americana dirges and so to does the warm crooning twist into shouts and chants. This is probably completely brilliant live, so see to it that you catch them if they're in your town. Punk rock energy without punk rock bullheadedness.
Coast is really just an entirely charming record. Down-to-earth lyrically, undeniably infectious musically, and, above all, cohesive despite all its disparate elements. An incredible spark captured on tape - a bright, bright flash of brilliance and life you should already be listening to if you've read this whole entry/have faith in me. Have faith in me.
[Post-gospel/swamp (indie-)rock]
Recommended if you like: the idea of country-doom era Earth having a teenage son with Fleet Foxes (oh yeah, we doin' this)
Download.
Sleeper hit of the year? I'm going there. Completely out of left-field, Coast arrived in my inbox recently and completely floored me, it came and perfectly filled a little void in my musical life where there was a quiet (hidden) craving for something uplifting and fantastically full of life. (Not to knock any of the brooding downers I've received lately - my heart is still with you cats (or not with you, if that's the more appropriate, brooding downing answer).
Seriously, though, click that big, blue link above and listen to "Palms". Go on, I'll wait. I'll even give you enough time to listen to it twice, because you will listen to it twice. You're welcome for that new mixtape staple. An absolutely perfect blend of melody, harmony, and dynamics; the sweetest, swampiest, most concise faux-post-rock you've ever heard. And that's it, you're hooked.
Sun Hotel have a wonderful energy about them, a youthful sort of abandon, but instead of throwing it all to the wind and hoping something comes out of it, there's an undeniable focus and maturity to the songwriting. There's adolescent desperation and earnestness coupled with sublimely refined vocal harmonies. I don't mean to tout my own analogies here, but really: give Earth a pulse and give Fleet Foxes some grit and you've got a vague idea of what's going on. Calculated clean guitar play can and will, at any minute, shift into tweedy Americana dirges and so to does the warm crooning twist into shouts and chants. This is probably completely brilliant live, so see to it that you catch them if they're in your town. Punk rock energy without punk rock bullheadedness.
Coast is really just an entirely charming record. Down-to-earth lyrically, undeniably infectious musically, and, above all, cohesive despite all its disparate elements. An incredible spark captured on tape - a bright, bright flash of brilliance and life you should already be listening to if you've read this whole entry/have faith in me. Have faith in me.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
voiceless & floating
Mickey Mickey Rourke - Inner Gazing
[Ambient, drone, noise]
Recommended if you like: Birchville Cat Motel (but you wish Campbell Kneale didn't want to kill you with music), chill-as-hell dreamgaze or something like that I don't know
Download.
Massive collaborative introspective blissed-out drone excursions, boring straight into yr daydreamin' skull. Incredibly warm, full-bodied, slow-breathing tunes that will either pass right through you or entrance you, but eventually will add up to a meaningful experience. Not to say Inner Gazing isn't immediately gratifying - it absolutely is - but it's something you'll want to [digitally] spin a few times to let it sink in and really discover what the collaborators bring to the table.
If you're going to be uncooperative and demand immediate satisfaction, then just listen to "Stay With Me" (feat. Universe) because this is probably one of my favourite jams of the year. Maybe not the best representation of the album as a whole because it's decidedly darker in tone than a lot of what else is going on here, but it's insanely menacing, sort of in a Grouper or Giles Corey kind of way; a subtler menace. The Foxes in Fiction joint is pretty sweet, too - called "Koopa" - so a song featuring an artist you probably already know as being super cool and with a title referencing Nintendo should get you to at least check this out. I know you kids like Nintendo.
Additionally, there's a fairly expansive collection of Mickey Mickey Rourke tunes online, either for free download/stream or a dirt-cheap download, so if you're digging all this spaced-out drifting (and I can't see how you're not), then definitely check it out.
[Ambient, drone, noise]
Recommended if you like: Birchville Cat Motel (but you wish Campbell Kneale didn't want to kill you with music), chill-as-hell dreamgaze or something like that I don't know
Download.
Massive collaborative introspective blissed-out drone excursions, boring straight into yr daydreamin' skull. Incredibly warm, full-bodied, slow-breathing tunes that will either pass right through you or entrance you, but eventually will add up to a meaningful experience. Not to say Inner Gazing isn't immediately gratifying - it absolutely is - but it's something you'll want to [digitally] spin a few times to let it sink in and really discover what the collaborators bring to the table.
If you're going to be uncooperative and demand immediate satisfaction, then just listen to "Stay With Me" (feat. Universe) because this is probably one of my favourite jams of the year. Maybe not the best representation of the album as a whole because it's decidedly darker in tone than a lot of what else is going on here, but it's insanely menacing, sort of in a Grouper or Giles Corey kind of way; a subtler menace. The Foxes in Fiction joint is pretty sweet, too - called "Koopa" - so a song featuring an artist you probably already know as being super cool and with a title referencing Nintendo should get you to at least check this out. I know you kids like Nintendo.
Additionally, there's a fairly expansive collection of Mickey Mickey Rourke tunes online, either for free download/stream or a dirt-cheap download, so if you're digging all this spaced-out drifting (and I can't see how you're not), then definitely check it out.
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