Monday XXXVII

Happy Memorial Day, America!

Always keeping it real!

Japandroids - Post-Nothing (2009)

Canadian lol-fi garage rock about getting a ride to Bikini Island to kiss some french girls, worrying about dying, girls being as cold as the North Pole (they know because they've been there), and then quitting girls all together.

The hype ship has pretty much set sail on this album since its blog-talkative release in 2009, but I still like to listen to it. It surely hasn't lost any relevancy with me yet.

Oh, and I guess they have a new album... I don't know.

Bandcamp
Last.fm

Halfway to Holland - Discography

Halfway to Holland is pre-Algernon Cadwallader, a band I was fortunate enough to see the other night. If you know Algernon Cadwallader then this is a little more emo and with a bit more Blink 182 pop punk flare. If you don't know Algernon Cadwallader, you should check them out first. I'm not saying the prequel isn't as good as the sequel, it's just, you will get a good kick out of this a little more if you heard what they became. If that makes any sense.

My favorite track has to be, "It Comes With the Territory" which features the voice of Bill Murray from the almost perfect movie for this time of year, Meatballs (and Sexual Awareness Week). Give it a go!

By the way, Algernon were totally awesome and played up a storm as much as they could for how late it got when they finally were on. That also meant they couldn't play as many songs as I hoped they would. Plus, Pachangacha just had to show up and steal the whole show. Also, I felt a little bad afterwards about not grabbing up any of Algernon Cadwallader's merch or meeting them after the show but I had only just learned Chalk Talk's side project (that's Pachangacha) would be playing with them the night before. So yeah, I got a little overzealous about that. Algernon was still great though, don't get me wrong. The show actually went so well that I would have to say it was better than Men in Black 3. Yep, you heard it here first; Algernon Cadwallader live is better than Men in Black 3 at the drive-ins. Men in Black 1 and 2 would be different story of course.

Last.fm

The Devil and a Penny - Roots. (2011)

Along with Algernon Cadwallader, Pachangacha, and the local pop punk rarity Laces Out, there was also a band on the bill called The Devil and a Penny and when I asked around about them no one seemed to know who they were, not even the other musicians that were playing last night. So when I went down to see them (since it was a house show at a punk house), I was kind of surprised to find five pretty diverse looking people with instruments at hand. The singer in particular reminded me of Hardy Morris of Dead Confederate though when he began to sing it sounded almost like he was going for a Bradford Cox of Deerhunter (and Atlas Sound) impression. But the music going on behind him did not just sound like drowned out indie rock with reverb to go along with reverb. No, actually the accompaniment of the four other normal looking characters were actually playing some groovy beats and noodly riffage. All in all, these mysterious guys (and gal on the bass), where quite the surprise and definitely kept me entertained. I was always interested in hearing what that had to play next.

"Roots." is not necessarily a good example of what I had seen of The Devil and a Penny but more of the blueprints of probably what started as one of the musician's little hobby and now is a full-fledged band with full-fledged sound. The recordings that I've heard so far jump around from indie rock to folk to ambient and back again just to prove that The Devil and a Penny are as diverse in sound as the people in the band.

Members of this band are also in the band Flesh Forest and The Elephant Only Zoo. I say members but I think it may just be the lead singer. Please don't quote me on that though. I do know however, that they release their music on the indie record label, New Neighbor. Check it all out!

Last.fm

Dead Confederate - Dead Confederate EP

And speaking of Hardy Morris, Dead Confederate, and even Memorial Day, Dead Confederate's 2007 debut self-titled EP features all of the above.

It also features a less polished than the LP version of "The Rat", dusty psychedelic/miserable southern rocker jams like "Get Out" and "Shadow The Walls", a straight-up psychedelic epic in "Tortured-Artist Saint" and one of the saddest songs I have ever heard called, "Memorial Day Night".

Even though I may have since grown out of my Dead Confederate days, I still come back to this EP once and a while to remind me of how much of an impact it has had on my life. And every Memorial Day I listen to "Memorial Day Night" to remind me just how somber and emotionally gripping it is. Along with being on my personal saddest songs of all time list, I would have to say it also has a spot on my top 20 favorite songs of all time along with "The Rat" and "Goner".

Be sure to also check out Hardy Morris in the super group of the year, Diamond Rugs and their new self-titled debut. Diamond Rugs is Dead Confederate + Deer Tick + Black Lips + Los Lobos.

Kinda fun fact: The cover is of their mascot, the 'Spider Bomb'. It has 10 legs.

Last.fm

Monday XXXI

Happy Emancipation Day, Washington, D.C.

How about some music..

Two Knights - Quilt Chamberlain (2011)

Two Knights are a twinkly math rock two piecer from Texas. Along with their super addictive tapping and fun for everyone drumming, the singer/guitarist has some splendid singing chops that I personally think are begging to be heard. You might disagree, I don't know. Whatever, it's what makes them stand out amongst the rest of the emo/twinkle toes playing around these days.

The members of Two Knights are also in a screamo band with a member of Innards. They are called Father Figure and are pretty swell as well.

Bandcamp
Last.fm

Crywank - Narcissist On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown (2012)

James Clayton himself tipped me off to his new album the other day and I couldn't have been more interested in hearing it (and more from him all together), especially since his last album was called, 'James Is Going To Die Soon'. Narcissist On The Verge OF A Nervous Breakdown is the name of the new release by James's moniker, Crywank and is very much a vehicle of coping with his sadness, hence the name - a play on the words of the expression 'tearjerker'. I'm not sure if I could ever say this release tops his last but that may in part be due to the number of short songs it holds. I have no problem with simple little songs, I just wish I could hear more out of them.

Soon after learning about Narcissist On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown, I found out about a little gem that James and his friend(s) recorded that not only features some early takes of tracks on Narcissist like "Thomas Saunders Lloyd Webber" and "Little Creepy" but also some silly covers and a goofy rendition of "Welcome To Castle Irwell" which is probably my favorite song by 'wank. The recordings I'm talking about are called, 'I Daren't Call This Stoner' and the genre of music is called "Gettin' blazed in Ric's Room". I can't say I condone such actions here but the results are pretty entertaining. It'll probably make its way on to NFT's Got You Covered some day. If I ever get my act together and stop forgetting to put up those posts.

Anyways, if you liked what you heard from Crywank last time I posted his work or even a little interested in this depressed singer-songwriter: download this one and give it a listen. It won't hurt and that's all he really wants anyways.

Tumblr
Last.fm

Isaïah - Ils Consomment, tuent et prient, mais ne pensent pas (2009)

A couple weeks back I posted about a band called Terraformer who where from Belgium, played math rock instrumental music and featured members from the screamo band, Isaïah. Well, this is Isaïah. They rock hard and are pretty brutal. They're also pretty epic. There's some epic bits here and there on this release that lead to spoken word. Presumably french spoken word. It's pretty, well... pretty. Fucking intense pretty.

Though Isaïah is from Belgium, they do speak French (or at least write their stuff with French) and therefore I would still consider them 'French screamo'.  I guess you could still call it Belgian screamo but who are we kidding... call it what it is: heavy-ass emotionally violent music!

From Belgium.

In French.

Bandcamp (free but probably not for long)
Last.fm

Rosetta - The Cleansing Undertones of Wake/Lift (2007)

I stumbled across this EP today while looking for things to post and remembered that I had forgotten about it. I forgot to remember that this was Rosetta's four track ambient noise piece that was released around the time of Wake/Lift. According to Wikipedia it is not meant to be synced up with its companion album despite what I have heard in the past. Either way though, Cleansing Undertones is still a really interesting listen and not just good for putting on right before bed to help you fall asleep. No, it actually has enough substance in it that you can actually sit down for a listen and it'll tell a story. What that story is... is up to you the listener.

Twelve minutes in we hear a male voice that comes in and out of the static that dares you to keep listening. Soon you start to wonder what will happen and where the music will take you. You try to hold on to the sound or that voice but it eventually dies out and all you are left with is a feeling of contentment and pressure. Once all noise has dissipated, the pressure is lifted. You are free.

You can also listen to The Cleansing Undertones of Wake/Lift in its interiority here on the youtubes.

I'm glad I remembered this one finally.

Enjoy.

Last.fm

MONDAY XII

You now the drill, Wayne. It's Monday.

Aesop Rock - Bazooka Tooth (Headphone Science Version) (2005)

The sick rhymes of complicated rap/hip-hop artist, Aesop Rock (not be confused with A$AP Rocky, obviously) mixed with some really the pounding IDM and electronic beats of Headphone Science (Dustin Craig).

Bazooka Tooth itself features some pretty swell tracks including: No Jumper Cables, Babies with Guns, Freeze, as well as tracks featuring El-P (We're Famous) , Mr. Lif (11:35) and more.

I would still recommend the originals if the remixes are too much. I think they give new life to the original tracks, though. They're what the kids call dank, I guess.

Aesop's Last.fm
Headphone Science's Last.fm


Mr Tumnus - Mr Tumnus (2011)

That is not the real artwork. I just prefer this rather than the artwork on the bandcamp but then again, I'm not one to judge a band by its cover...

I am however, one to judge on a band's name. And my judgement is this: I'm going to listen to a band named Mr Tumnus.  Come on!

For sound, Mr Tumnus A.K.A. Alex Thomas, plays a very sparse and soundscape-y type of ambient meets psychedelic music with a lot of samples and drawn out phrasing. Blah Blah Blah. In other words, it doesn't really ever go bang bang bang or faster than a fast crawl. You can put it on right before you go to bed or while you are trying to do work son.

It's definitely interesting if you want to listen to a band named after a creepy faun from Narnia.

last.fm

Conifer - Crown Fire (2008)

Conifer was a Portland, maine band that I never got to become fully aquatinted with during their existence. Yes, unfortunately I missed the boat on this band even after they got their name around all the world with the power of the internet. But luckily for me, these guys have not completely given up on music altogether. No. Two members of Conifer (vox and axe) are now in a new band going by Awaas (or AWAAS) which features some of the same directions and sounds that their previous band has infused, including psych, krautrock, and hard to pin down post-rock. On top all this news, I was actually lucky enough to check these guys out last weekend! It was totally rad considering just getting together resonantly with another legendary Maine band, Ocean's Drummer and putting on a very solid performance, despite the lead singer being sicker than a dog and that most of the other bands there that night were playing completely different music than each other.

AWAAS have yet to put out anything official other than a nice little music video for their song "Burial Ground". An EP is rumored to be recorded and released sometime in the year 2012. So, until they do and I get a hold of it, I have Conifer's Crown Fire to help me catch up on all the racket these guys can produce.

Last.fm
AWAAS's Facebook page

Monday II

It's Monday again. Great. Here's music.

Time Columns - Sunsetinthesea (2009)

Chill Instrumental rock from Baltimore. Math rock, "hook-heavy", and loop-y. The song Summer has this really catchy looped out part towards the end that reminds me a lot of Irepress for some reason! Sweet EP that's worth a listen for sure.

Last.fm

Behzad Mehrnoosh - Vildmarken (2011)

Swedish post rock from Sweden. Haven't listened to a lot of these guys yet but most of it sounds good to me so far. There's some singing now and then as well as some ambiance. It's definitely not your average straight forward round and pound post rock album or band (more of a one man side project I believe).

Last.fm
Bandcamp

Clever Advisor - Simple Songs for Youthful Dreaming (2011)

Little electronic ditties. A side project of Byé Lai Mar I believe. Kind of cute.

Last.fm (really no info or help)

Guidelines - Rules of the Sife (2010)

Skramz from Jersey. Short and sweet. Last song, Taken Hand, has a small sample about children's values. I'm a sucker for samples or spoken word especially about children's values. Just kidding... Maybe.

Last.fm

Andrew Jackson Jihad - Knife Man (2011)

New Andrew Jackson Jihad. The song Zombie By The Cranberries By The Andrew Jackson Jihad is not a cover of The Cranberries' song Zombie. Unfortunately, I know. There's also a new "People" entitled People II 2: still Peoplin'.  Back Pack is probably my current favorite of this new release. Check it out or buy it...

Last.fm
Official site