LIARS

LIARS come charging at us with their follow-up to last years Drum's Not Dead with a self-titled endeavor that seems to have a "we can head bang to this if we want to" kind-of vibe.

MP3'S

Cycle Time

Plaster Casts of Everything

Clear Island

Houseclouds

Adem

I came across Adem (aka: the bass player for the band Fridge) sometime in late 2004 when he had just released Homesongs. I had not come across it in stores, and I did not (nor do not) order online. So, I had not listened to it and had waited for his second effort to come out. Now that I have Love and Other Planets in mp3 format on my laptop, I cannot seem to play anything else.

Okay, Launch Yourself reminds me of Hot Chip (which is funny because they must have thought so too, because they did a remix for it) Crashlander reminds me of some of Coldplays best work they never did, also, a little Radiohead (maybe Kid A era) You and Moon reminds me of Adem at his best, a shapeless and meaningful personality overture.

Maps & Atlases

Maps & Atlases come barreling at us from Chi-Town, where the winds are wild and the girls are even wilder... but what do I know? Actually, I only know one girl who resides in the windy city... but none of that matters because I wanted to tell you about this band and how the music that they create is willing to be re-created in your own head. Now, doesn't that sound appealing? This music is not a first listen kind of buzz, the hooks aren't necessarily catchy, and it's certainly not accessible pop, but the music holds up well up against the timely lyrics and guitar picking.

MP3'S

The Ongoing Horrible

Every Place Is A House

The Most Trustworthy Tincans

PS: The lead sounds like he singing out of his nose
but it's one of those rare forms where it actually does the music justice.

Track of the Week

Je Suis France - Whalebone

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

Explosions In The Sky

Memorial (mp3)

Track of the Week

Wilco - What Light

Happy Mother's Day

John Lennon's
Mother (mp3)

Windmill

Hailing from the UK is Thomas Dillon, known as Windmill. Thomas creates piano-driven melodies with sad saga undertones and a voice that will stick in your head, disregarding your preference.

Puddle City Racing Lights out now on Melodic and is a very stable and fortunate album. Thomas sounds like he is a school-boy trying out for a chorus solo.

MP3'S

Tokyo Moon

Asthmatic

Newsflash

Fluorescent Lights

Plastic Pre-Flight Seats

Françoise Hardy

Je N'Attends Plus Personne (mp3)

Mark this one under songs you could listen to forever
& Françoise, as a woman you could admire forever.

Now honestly, how many people are this deserving of two pictures?

Justin Timberlake

My Love (Diplo remix) (mp3)

This remix is featuring LCD Soundsystem

Could you ask for something better?

M.I.A.

"I'm too cool to be a Rocawear Model"

MP3'S

Bird Flu

Bird Flu (Crash Berlin Mix)

The Ten Most Influential Albums of All Time

The Velvet Underground & Nico
Self-titled (1967)

Heroin (mp3)

without this there would be no:
Art Rock
David Bowie
Arcade Fire

Bob Dylan
Highway 61 Revisited (1965)

Like a Rolling Stone (mp3)

without this there would be no:
Let's just say,
Bob invented modern music

The Beatles
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

Fixing a Hole (mp3)

without this there would be no:
Pop Music
Psychadelic Rock
Possibilities are endless

Beach Boys
Pet Sounds (1966)

God Only Knows (mp3)

without this there would be no:

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Kraftwerk
Trans-Europe Express (1977)

Trans-Europe Express (mp3)

without this there would be no:
House
Trance
Techno

The Smiths
Self-titled (1984)

This Charming Man (mp3)

without this there would be no:
The Queen Is Dead
Belle and Sebastian
& Indie music would be very different

N.W.A.
Straight Outta Compton (1988)

Express Yourself (mp3)

without this there would be no:
Rap

Pink Floyd
Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)

Bike (mp3)

without this there would be no:
Reason to eat magic-mushrooms
Roger Waters on lead vocals
Dark Side of the Moon

Black Sabbath
Self-titled (1970)

Behind The Wall of Sleep (mp3)

without this there would be no:
Death Metal
Metallica
Iron Maiden

The Clash
London Calling (1979)

Spanish Bombs (mp3)

without this there would be no:
Versatile Punk Rock
Fun

The Great Arcade Fire

Funeral shook the hearts of millions (including David Bowie, who would hand the album out to his friends) while arguably becoming the album of the decade. The reason being is because it's so perfectly aligned, it's like a painting of death drawn by the hand of God. While their sophomore effort Neon Bible is praising and appraising God, and drawn by the hand of man. This being visibly so in that somehow Neon Bible's errors add up to something even more rare than what we perceive as perfection.

Neon Bible also happens to be my album of the year, to date.

Well, before all the hype and fame and even before their hard to swallow but still very exciting EP, there was a demo entitled 2001.

Here is that demo.

MP3'S

Winter For A Year

My Mind Is A Freeway

Accidents

Goodnight Boy

Asleep At The Wheel

In The Attic

Can't Let Go Of You

You Tried To Turn Away My Fears

Instrumental

The Great Arcade Fire


A Special Thanks To :

Captain's Dead

The Long Winters

It's 4/20 and we all know what that means...
So I have a few tracks for you, and to start it off is The Long Winters attempt at "Smoke On The Water" by Deep Purple along with some other tracks by John Roderick and his boys.

MP3'S

Smoke On The Water

Pushover

The Commander Thinks Aloud

Blue Diamonds

Dntel

In 2001 when Jimmy Tamborello released Life is Full of Possibilities, the lo-fi indie rock masterpiece, there was a new genre of music being created, it wasn't just electronica or pop or folk anymore, it was more. His collaboration with DCFC's Ben Gibbard started The Postal Service, which broke open like an egg and poured out onto weary hearts and set the tone for "popular" indie-tronica. In the five years it has taken Jimmy to put together his follow-up, other than Postal Service, he has also been included in the band Figurines and he also has the James Figurine moniker for his more techno focused pop songs.

Dumb Luck, the follow-up to the phenomenal Possibilities is more aware of itself as it shape-shifts through genres, but keeps the basis the same. A steady wave of resilience from the collaborators (which include: Bright Eyes, Grizzly Bear, Lali Puna, Jenny Lewis, Mystic Chords of Memory, etc.) is what keeps the music grounded, but it's Jimmy's defining song structure that lets us swim freely through each track. The collaborations make Dumb Luck a versatile album, but it's Jimmy Tamborello that makes it a Dntel album.

MP3'S

Dumb Luck

To A Fault (ft. Grizzly Bear)

Rock The Boat (ft. Mia Doi Todd)

Natural Resources (ft. Fog)

Breakfast In Bed (ft. Bright Eyes)

Paper Airplanes

The Fences (mp3) is more timid than taunt for an indie song that has been released in the last few years, this being released late 2004 on the album Boyhood. It sounds very mature and has a natural feel, and in turn, very open for the first listen, and each listen that follows.

Paper Airplanes take you under their wary wing, and they help you feel a little more assured. Expect a follow-up to their debut (hopefully) in 2007.

Track of the Week

Pop Levi - Skip Ghetto

Hot Chip

Hey, it's Friday the 13th!

MP3'S

Hot Chip - Bad Luck

Death Cab For Cutie

"Do you remember the JAMC and reading aloud from magazines? I don't know about you but I swear on my name they could smell it on me, I've never been too good with secrets..."

Death Cab For Cutie's Transatlanticism reminds me of many things; long car rides, life-changing experiences, waking up on the beach in Atlantic City at 4 in the morning, an idyllic girl, etc. Death Cab For Cutie have crafted a truly beautiful album. If a woman can be considered beautiful, and a car can be considered beautiful, then Transatlanticism is definitely on the same pedestal.

2003 was a stellar year for music with new releases from Sufjan Stevens, the Books, the Shins, M83, Rapture, Wrens, Xiu Xiu, Cat Power, Blood Brothers, and even TV on the Radio's Young Liars EP. But the year belonged to 'Ben and the Death Cabbers'. After their release of We Have The Facts, and Photo Album they already had the indie-rock feel and production down. It was now inevitable for them to create something more understood and evaluated, to the point where it doesn't leave your head or your heart.

MP3'S

We Looked Like Giants

A Lack of Color

Title and Registration

Transatlanticism

Transatlanticism is truly a definitive chapter in my life.

Handsome Furs

Remember Wolf Parade way back in 2005? Remember how good they really were? Remember Spencer Krug becoming the Man of the Year in 2006? Remember how you would worship him? Remember how "I'll Believe In Anything" was your favorite song? I sure do. Well the only reason Wolf Parade started as a band is because the Arcade Fire needed an opening act and they asked Krug to get a band together. You know who he contacted?

Dan Boeckner

And then from there on out they shared the song-writing duties and formed a band in the midst of it all. After releasing Apologies to the Queen Mary they were already legends. The album took a lot of people by storm and helped cause an avant-garde musical frenzy.

Remember how Sunset Rubdown's Shut Up I Am Dreaming was on 2006 year-end lists alike? Remember how Krug even had time to form Swan Lake? Well guess who's turn it is now?

Yup, Dan Boeckner's, and with his fiancee Alexei Perry, he has formed Handsome Furs. Seamlessly addicting and one of the relatively smarter bands of today.

I always knew he had it in him since "Shine A Light"

MP3'S

Dead + Rural

Dumb Animals

Handsome Furs Hate The City

The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack
(Live Liars Cover)

Happy Easter

Considering today is Easter, and even though the meaning of Easter may have lost it's value over the years, it still stays steadfast in my heart. Jesus died for our sins, and was resurrected, and today is the day we celebrate his resurrection.

So, me being the type to tie things into one another like a shoestring holding a pair chucks together, I present you with tracks off of one of the most over looked and highly relevant albums of all-time The Jesus and Mary Chain's debut wall-of-sound stunner, Psychocandy.

"It has been noted that the band was very fond of drugs such as LSD and methamphetamines and that the drugs influenced the ear-piercing, screeching feedback, which immediately became their trademark. The record received unanimously positive reviews and is now considered a landmark recording."

MP3's

Just Like Honey

The Living End

Taste The Floor

The Hardest Walk

The National

Since the overwhelming success and straight forwardness brought forth by The National about two years ago with the release of Alligator, the guys have brought back their sharp chords and melodies for more of a party instead of their last album's parade. Actually Boxer is more of a get-together, but who doesn't like the term party?

I'm pretty secure in saying anyone who can enjoy a good get-together will enjoy Boxer. It's edgy but not too risky, segued, but not inflected. Boxer is not a shadow of Alligator but more it's own self, casting it's own view. But just as Alligator has proven to, Boxer also gives us a stronger feeling of assurance with each new listen.

MP3's

Boxer track-list

Fake Empire (mp3)
Mistaken for Strangers (mp3)
Brainy
Squalor Victoria (mp3)
Green Gloves
Slow Show (mp3)
Apartment Story (mp3)
Start a War (mp3)
Guest Room
Racing Like a Pro
Ada
Gospel

Back 2 Back

Since the Florida Gators Basketball Team became the first "Back 2 Back" National Champion since Christian Laettner's Duke Squad back in the early 90's, I'll post a few "Back 2 Back" songs on albums of the past 2 years that I really seem to enjoy.

MP3's

Swan Lake - Beast Moans (2006)

4. A Venue Called Rubella
5. All Fires

The first of the two being the more experimental
...and the second being the godsend.


Dappled Cities Fly - Granddance (2006)

8. Granddance
9. Within Hours

Granddace is a good album as a whole but the
way the title track glides into the elegant and waving
'Within Hours' is almost flawless.


Loney, Dear - Loney, Noir (2007)

1. Sinister In A State of Hope
2. I Am John

'Sinister' is pretty and poised,
and 'I Am John' is hands down Song of The Year.


LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (2007)

4. Someone Great
5. All My Friends

A little over two years ago I said "James Murphy
is making the best music of today"
and he has not proven me wrong.

Track of the Week

DeVotchKa - How It Ends

Roommate

Roommate started as a solo project for Kent Lambert. Now a full band, based in Chicago, they have had some radio play in Belgium, but other than that they are pretty discreet. Songs The Animals Taught Us came out in 2006, and an early 2007 EP entitled New Steam has been released. If all goes as planned the band will release their sophomore effort sometime in 2007.

MP3's

Roommate - Tuesday

Roommate - Fresh Boys

Roommate - Hot Commods

Roommate - RP (Forget The Metaphors)

The Last track being a River Phoenix tribute, and my personal favorite.

Arms

Arms is Todd Goldstein. Todd is a guitarist for The Harlem Shakes. Todd is a very talented man. I do not know Todd, but if i did, I'd shake his right hand, look him square in the eye and tell him how if he hadn't written "Tiger Tamer" I would have. But I'm glad he did because it probably would have taken me a few years to write and record, and that would have been years missed listening to it.

This music stays with you like chap stick in the wintertime.
Sometimes you just need it.

MP3's

Arms - Whirring

Arms - Kids Aflame

Arms - Tiger Tamer

Arms - Shitty Little Disco

Grand Archives

The computer oriented city of Seattle, Washington has a new band under their belt, fronted by Mat Brooke (formally of Band of Horses and Carissa's Wierd) along with four other members, who include Jeff Montano, Curtis Hall and Ron lewis.

I'd have to say this is a step in the right direction for Mat, who contributed to penning the songs "St. Augustine" and "I Go To The Barn Because I Like The" on last years Band of Horses debut.

Archives sound is noticeably different than both Band of Horses alt-country, and Carissa's Wierd emotional backbone. All four member contribute to singing, which brings out very pleasant harmonies. My guess is that this is what Mat has been waiting for.

MP3's

Sleepdriving

George Kaminsky

Track of the Week

Red Sea Station - The Streets Are Whispering

Brand New / The Honorary Title

Being a modern day teenager and going through a day of high school is as hard as ever, with all the drama and work that needs to be attended to, there seems to be no self absorbed time. The frame of mind that some might be in, could be to obtain a high GPA, so that they can go into college ready for the challenge of cramming and quizzing. Then there is the other side, parties and drinking, drugs and hanging loose. But no matter what path you decide to take, you can always rely on some bands to get you through it.

When I was in high school my musical mindset was the same as always, I liked to be different and I didn't listen to a band because they are "popular". I wanted to find out the difference between what my musical roots were, and what I intended them to be. I was drawn into the emotional music scene in early high school. It was all because of a girl I met that was from a different state, but not state of mind. She got me into bands and taught me a few things on how to find good, new music.

To do this day, there are emotional bands that I have to say have stayed with me over the years, and affected me in ways unexplainable. I have currently banished the genre as it is, because of the wrong direction it is going in. But who am I to critique?

MP3's

Brand New - Jesus Christ

Brand New - Okay, I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don't

The Honorary Title - Snow Day

The Honorary Title - Everything I Once Had

Panda Bear

On Panda Bear (aka: Noah Lennox's) Person Pitch, his third and most successful outing as a soloist, shifting away from the psych/new weird America band Animal Collective, Noah falls for samples and loops to make his way through history on creating one of the more generous sounds of the modern age. Based on works of minimalist techno and Pet Sounds era vocals, this modern day Brian Wilson has created an inevitable sound that we all knew existed somewhere deep within us. He seems to pull the plug on each song at the right time as well as shift from song to song without switching up the song at all, just the natural flow.

"Comfy In Nautica" which happens to be the opener reminds me of a parade of noise that seems to drift and show its flaws yet seems to keep a steady pace until free-falling into the extraordinary "Take Pills". As "I don't want for us to take pills / take pills / take pills" is spoken, it is meant. I read in a recent interview that the song is about the overuse of anti-depressants, and in turn, being able to make it through the day without them.

Now "Bro's" being the first cut I heard off this album (and the song that weaves through the album like thread and holds it together) I have to generally say that it is probably my "God Only Knows" of the album, enough said. "I'm Not" on the other hand reminds me of song a man would write after being drugged up for a long time, and then finding the will and desire to move away to a different part of the world and go forth in a different direction, which is exactly what it is. "Good Girl/Carrots" being the most delicious song on the album, is modest and brilliant from cover to cover, and it would probably even be a good read if translated into book form. "Search For Delicious" which you'd think would be the most delicious song on the album is actually the exact opposite, but still very subtle at times, and the title suits the song very well. The closer "Ponytail" is very vibrant and seems pressured, but carries a poignant being and leaves us wanting more.

Overall, a well received and well deserved album, 9/10.

MP3's

Comfy In Nautica

Take Pills

Bro's

I'm Not

Good Girl/Carrots

Search For Delicious

Ponytail

Mountaineer

It's 2007 and with Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse, Feist, LCD Soundsystem, Panda Bear, etc. all releasing new material, it's hard to listen to anything else. But, I have stumbled upon an act that has yet to release anything in 2007, yet I'm stuck on them just as much as any of the acts mentioned above.

The 2006 Sleeper Album of the Year goes to Mountaineer.

Released by Type Recordings on October 17th, When the Air is Bright They Shine is a beautiful record. I must have just overlooked this album because I was either too busy listening to Electric President over and over or I was concentrating on my studies. I'll go with the first one, just because I don't like to front. Now Henning Wandhoff on the other hand, really doesn't like to front. You can tell he doesn't want to go too far of course with his musical structure, or veer into a genre he may not be suitable for. He knows what he wants to bring forth with his prolific songwriting and harmonized voice. Comparisons include, Sam Beam (of the Iron and Wine fame) and Erlend Øye (of the Kings of Convenience fame)

On the song "Morning Mist" Henning croons

"The day is fast / And I am slow / But I walk steadily /
The rain will wash my face / And sand is gonna cover me"

This could possibly be the best chorus written in the year of 2006.
With it's joyus slur, it sounds as if there could be nothing else said in the entire song and it would still be utterly solid. But with this being a repeated chorus, it makes one of the best songs, on one of the most, if not the most underrated album of 2006

MP3's

Morning Mist

A Town Called Ivanhoe

Eliza (A Day For Every Hour)

Radical Face

Ben Cooper is a very talented 24 year old man. Maybe the most talented man recording in the shed behind his parents house. Last year him and Alex Kane put out my favorite album of the year.

This time around he's trying things solo, under the moniker Radical Face. He will be releasing Ghost through Morr Music on March 20th.

Yes, I am very stoked about this album, and yes, it is very critical as to how it is going to match up to Electric President's Self-Titled. But no, I do not have any doubts.

Optimism will prevail and I'm sure Ghost will explore a little more folk, found sound, and different varieties of music that will captivate the listener and keep the timely lyrics and solid instrumentation secure.

MP3's

Radical Face - Glory

Radical Face - Welcome Home

Radical Face - Wrapped In Piano Strings

Last Days of April

Back in 2005 Samantha posted on the Last Days of April. A handful of months have passed, a lot of coffee has been drank, a lot of people have gotten drunk, and a lot of trees have grown and gone.

And now I'll do the same.

Karl Larsson is the main creative figure behind this project, along with his solo work. He and the band are from Stolkholm, Sweden.

MP3's

Last Days of April - The Days That I Recall Being Wonderful

Last Days of April - Will The Violins Be Playing?

Last Days of April - It's On Everything

Last Days of April - Live The End

The Twilight Sad

The Twilight Sad were formed in 2003 and they are from the same geographical location as my way of life. Therefore, nothing. But I will tell you that they touch me in a much different way.

They are currently signed to FatCat records.

MP3's

The Twilight Sad - That Summer, At Home I Had Become The Invisible Boy

The Twilight Sad - And She Would Darken the Memory

The Twilight Sad - 3 Seconds Of Dead Air


Special Thanks To :

Girlpants & The Yellow Stereo

Skateboarding

Today I woke up, and went directly to the gym. After I worked out, talked to some of my friends and chased some girls I met up with my friend Nate and we went skateboarding.

Nate had me listen to:

Weezer - Pink Triangle
&
Weezer - El Scorcho

And I had him listen to:

TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me
&
The Spinto Band - Oh Mandy

Inlets

Sebastian Krueger is Inlets. He is also is the band My Brightest Diamond (backing up Shara Worden) Sebastian was brought up in Madison, Wisconsin and has been coming up with lo-fi bedroom recording ideas for some time. He has since released an EP entitled Vestibule. This EP is made up of multi-layered recordings, hushed vocals, heart of sleeve imagery and short-timed moments of serenity that seem to bloom into more of an organized sound that presses lightly on the ears, and never seems to go unnoticed.

Vestibule EP

Pictures of Trees

Decks, Up and Above

Straphanger

See Her, Seer

Roots on Sidewalks

Threads

Sunfed Shapes

You Are an Effigy

Ambulance LTD

Ambulance LTD - New English

Since the critically acclaimed LP (released in 2004) NY, New York's Ambulance LTD have only released a single EP titled New English. Though the band was formed in Spanish Harlem, New York in 2000, by singer and guitarist Marcus Congleton , Matt Dublin (bass), Andrew Haskell (keyboards), Benji Lysaght (guitar) and Darren Beckett (drums) all the members other than Marcus have left. (forming The Red Romance)

While rumors speculate a collaboration between the Velvet Underground's John Cale who's last collaboration was Le Bataclan '72 with Lou Reed & Nico, the two people who helped redefine an era and most of all, they got people making music, starting bands, etc.

It's a one man band now, hard to believe but true. Maybe we could see a little light at the end of the tunnel (that is if John Cale is still as bright as we know him to be)

MP3's

Ambulance LTD - Ophelia

Ambulance LTD - Heavy Lifting

Ambulance LTD - Stay Where You Are

Ambulance LTD - Primitive (The Way I Treat You)


A Special Thanks To:

CHRIS NEILES & THE BLUE WALRUS