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)