Carl Sagan Presents: The Body in the Kelp

The Body in the Kelp - The Body in the Kelp (2013)

The Body in the Kelp were born in 48 hours. These songs, they were born in 48 hours. Everything about this album, 48 hours.

Well sort of. The Body in the Kelp is a band made up of four musicians who, before participating in the 5th annual Portland Space Gallery 48 Hour Music Festival, had never played music together. See, the 48 Hour Music Festival is simple, you put a bunch of musicians together randomly and make them come up with a 20 minute set and a band name in 48 hours. Then they play said songs for a sold out crowd at the Space Gallery. The Body in the Kelp and this EP are just that; the 20 minute set the four musicians came up within 48 hours and played at the show. It's a bit more polished and re-recorded now, but the premise its still there: this is 48 hour music.

This EP opens with an amazing sample choice of Bert and I, a Maine humor classic, and then an ambient bassline leads in to rhythm guitars and drums before the vocals pierce through. From there we get more samples including a Martin Luther King speech along with more riffs, sliding guitar, doomy textures, and dirty rock 'n' roll vocals. Need I say more?



48 hours this stuff was thought up. Four amazingly original songs. Wickedly good stuff. Get it.

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NFT's Got You Covered - RSO tackles Flippers' Generic Album!

RSO - Generic (2013)

Filthy blues crust, RSO takes on Flipper's punk rock essential, Album - Generic Flipper or just Generic.

I had the interesting pleasure of seeing RSO play a show in a dirty warehouse behind the train station about a half a year back and was very surprised to find that "RSO" was just one guy who stands on a platform, wails on his guitar, shouts bloody none sense, and stomps all the while wearing a tuxedo. I'm not sure if this is always RSO or the rest of the band just couldn't find the warehouse's coordinates but I thoroughly enjoyed his performance none the less... my girlfriend on the other hand, not so much.

Truthfully, this guy in the tuxedo and the uncontrollable erg to play blues and stomp as hard as he can is actually Ryan Owens, formerly of New Jersey but now residing in good ol' Maine.

RSO (I'm guessing those are his initials?)'s money rendition of Generic also comes with a double take of "Living For The Depression" and a few live renditions as well.



My only question now: where is "Sex Bomb"?

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Dirigimus Cooperative
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Bonus:

Correspondences - Christmas // Devil Town (2012)

Correspondences of Portland, Maine released this 7 1/2" at their farewell show back in November... Without me knowing, of course.

It's got two tracks, an original number called, "Christmas (Baby, Please Don't Go)" and "Devil Town" - a doom rendition of Daniel Johnston's haunting a capella about the struggles of living in a devil town with vampires as friends that you didn't know were vampires.




So yeah, it's pretty great!

I'm guessing this album is labeled Lee as in the drummer, Lee King. I'm almost positive it's all Correspondences, though.

Anyways, enjoy!

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MONDAY X(-Mas)IV Winter Edition

I really wanted to focus my attention on the Martin Smith memorial post last week therefore, I really did not get a chance to post anything Christmasy or wintery. So this one goes out to all the bad boys and girls out there. Merry Chrimbus!

La Dispute - Winter Tour Holiday CD-R (2008)

This little EP only features two songs but both are very much christmas type holiday songs. One is a very merry La Dispute version of Twas the Night Before Christmas and the other is a song listed as First Snow In Silent Grand Rapids. The tracks were included as part of a limited winter tour edition of Hear, Here II.

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Mono - Hymn to the Immortal Wind (2009)

With tracks like Ashes In The Snow, Pure As Snow (Trails of the Winter Storm), Follow The Map and Everlasting Light, this album has become one of my favorites during the winter season. It's chill, soothing yet cold, and very much perfect for the slow and lazy sundays here in these few months of cold as balls time. Especially in Maine.

Every track has a little story that goes along with it and is included in the album itself as a short story. I have not read it, but rather, tried to develop my own little story behind the music and imagery for which I interpret and feel.

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Men As Trees - Weltschmerz (2008)

Weltschmerz is very much a winter album. It features some pretty cold samples of mountain men, slow avalanches of building post rock and brutal season's beatings of aggression and passion. My favorite of the post-rock screamo blend bands and I mostly only listen to them during the winter season because it just clicks more... It makes sense. Go all Bon Iver and find yourself a cabin in Alaska but only listen to this. Bon Iver didn't do that. That would be cool though. Hah. Cool.

Men As Trees now go by Locktender, I believe.

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Also:

iLiKETRiANS have themselves a free Christmas cover. It's Last Christmas. From last Christmas.

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Fuck the Winterman.

NFT Presents: 1993

It's my birthday. This a birthday post. If you count back from 2011 to 1993 you can find out how old I am. Let's not get too personal; I'm only doing this to post music.

Wu-Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)

The album that introduced us all to our favorite characters: ODB (RIP), Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, GZA the Genius, RZA, Inspectah Deck, Masta Killa, U-God and that other guy...

This album came out 4 days before my birthing.

Still to this day it is bringing da ruckus.

Wu-Tang Ain't Nuthin to Fuck Wit.

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Tom Waits - The Black Rider (1993)

The Black Rider may not be my favorite Tom Waits album or one I am really familiar with but it does have some really good instrumentation running through it. Plus it's Tom Waits. How can you go wrong?

The song, November is probably the most relevant song right now for me. I've been listening to all week.

Love me some singing saw.

The Black Rider is another one of those Tom Waits releases that were also a soundtrack for a play. This one being The Black Rider by Robert Wilson. Waits also provided music for Wilson's play Alice and Woyzeck. The music from each were than released as Tom Waits' Alice and Blood Money.

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Beltbuckle - Judas Suicide (1993)

This 7 inch is the side project of Lou Barlow and Bob Fay of Sebadoh and Eric Matthews. It's a pretty sweet lesser known Barlow side project as well as a nice introduction to Eric Matthews. Not to be confused with the older brother on Boy Meets World.

All I really know about Eric Matthews (other then this project and his other project Cardinal) is his rock n roll cover of Elliott Smith's Needle in the Hay.

Do not put things in your head

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Here, Hear: La Dispute

La Dispute is a very passionate and attention seeking band. They play a post-hardcore and emotional choice of music with a unique way of belting out their lyrics that they are trying to sell you. And boy am I sold. This though, this is La Dispute's Ep series Here, Hear (all recorded by the drummer, Braid). It's much more of a look at their influences on mythological stories and literature. The first Here, Hear is mostly all spoken word and kicks off with an exert from Tim Robbin's Still Life With Woodpecker and moves on to other stories that I'm not too familiar with. The second installment is a lot like the first; continuing with the spoken word but adds a little more instrumentation. The third Here, Here is my favorite and is even a little bluesy. All four tracks on Here, Hear III are styled a bit differently. It still incorporates the spoken word aspect that runs through the whole series while introduces a much fuller and atmosphere bed room or DIY recording sound that I really enjoy. I could talk more about the La Dispute sound and Jordan's intoxicating vocal delivery but Here, Hear is different. And it's right here, here:


Here, Hear. (2008)

Here, Hear. II (2008)

Here, Hear. III (2009)

Guess I still don't see the difference between real purpose and that urgent adolescents 
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No Sleep Records
Also be on the look out for their new album out October 4th, 2011.