Vacation are a pop punk band with a bit of a lo-fi/garage rock feel to them. They'll be playing a sweet punk rock house show somewhere in Portland, Maine real soon. Tell your cops friends!
DL The Do Shit Disc for free over at the always mega-cool internet website, If You Make It Dot Com.
This split features two of Portland's own experimenting with electronics and drum machines, Mr. NEET and Conjjjecture. The two respective bands have a song to share on the split, including a new recording of "Only Rabbits", and one collaborative among friends and former band mates. The recordings were done by Mike Cunnane at Cut the Shit Recordings and featured everyone from the Portland post-whatever rock legends, Huak.
Also be on the lookout for Conjjjectures new album, Living For Dead Labor. Facebook (Mr. NEET) Facebook (Conjjjecture)
Solid Space was a minimal wave/synth pop, two person act from the future. They would be the hippest thing going today if they decided to time travel to this year in time. Space Museum was their only release here on Earth in 1982, unfortunately...
This is the chaotic hardcore Hivemind from New Zealand (not the hardcore Hivemeind from South Florida). They play loud and fast like a good band of their status should. There's even a couple of gnarly spoken samples included inside MMXI, like George Carlin's "The American Dream" speech and another that sounds like Steve Buscemi. Hivemind also has some nice metal tendencies which is really what I've been diggin' and looking for lately.
Though MMXI is a quick one with only four tracks no more than 2 minutes a piece, there is definitely a lot to hear and get behind. Be sure to check out any of their other stuff (Demo 2010), if you like what you hear!
I'm pretty fucking pumped to see Spraynard tonight! That's right, to-fucking-night! The venue they were original supposed to play at went on hiatus a few weeks back and I was a little worried that this wouldn't actually happen after all. Luckily, the cool cats on Poland Street will be entertaining the local and travelling punks tonight with their space instead. Mad props to those guys as always. I don't wanna give away who else is playing, however; it will ruin the surprise for my posts later this week!
I like to say that Spraynard is the less serious RVIVR, a band that I was overjoyed to see last year at this time! Spraynard are definitely one of the best edgy pop punk acts out there today and I would even go out on a limb here and call them the funniest. I mean look at that artwork above... Look at their silly song titles... Look at who is in the band for god's sake:
spooky, scary white boys.
Even their name cracks me up. All I can think about is Spraynard Kruger from Tim & Eric's Awesome Show Great Job everytime I tell them to a friend.
Your son's name is Spray?
Yes, It's short for Spraynard...
Spray-Spraynard is his full name?
"Spraynard Kruger"
He didn't do very good in school this year.
There will be a lot more Spraynard in the future on this blog for sure after tonight. I even hope to pick up their new release, Exton Square while I'm there! Check back in for more!
At first I was having a little trouble with this find. What bothered me most was the constant use of percussion and other effects that are always going on in this release by New Paltz band of friends and their friends, Klessa. I felt it was a bit too clunky and much too noisy for such a project. A few more listens to Aloha Demons though and I started to enjoy the "everyone just grab an instrument and play on it" kind of friends jamming and having a good time vibe (kind of like the band Typhoon). To that degree, I started to become a little jealous that my experiences with getting a big group of pals together to jam out were not as good as what this sounds - if that makes any sense - and from there I really started to enjoy this big group of music makers. maybe it's just the fact that they have a singing saw (or at least it sounds like they do) or maybe it's how they have a clarinet, an instrument that I've seen in a lot of band's lately, but have not heard it played the way it is here. Either way it is a perfect sounding album for NFT and the Monday post, so here it is.
Cathedraal is a french band that likes to experiment. Experiment with what you ask? Oh, you know.. cool stuff. I like to think that these guys are what it would have sounded like if Daitro started making more songs like Part IV. With that being said, I think I am more glad that Cathedraal are not Daitro because then I'd be mad as hell they stopped being heavy and went with a more contained sound. Voix Blanches still sounds great and does have its moments of chaos.
Sometimes it also sounds like a french Mike Patton project or My Own Private Alaska (you may agree to disagree).
You can telecharger it for free! That means free DL!
I keep finding myself trying to write about the negatives of these goodies I have picked up along the way. I apologize if my comments are a bit on the hurtful side, I just wanna be a good blogger and there's no better way to do that then to bury things you don't like and praise the stuff you think other people should. But seriously, I'm working on being a little less negative and sassy and a little more positive and witty.
Here's something that made me chuckle. I forgot about this album and how I was totally going to post it!
This is a mixtape by D.C. rapper Wale called Mixtape About Nothing, a heavily influenced and sampled Seinfeld release. Wale has seen every episode of Seinfeld and is here to prove it with his first Seinfeld inspired mixtape with a sequel in 2010 appropriately called More About Nothing. Wale is supposedly a very successful rapper now and probably doesn't watch as much white boy sitcoms as he used to. I could be wrong though.
The album features J Dilla beats, production by Best Kept Secret (oops! I told!), The Roots on a song called "The Roots Song Wale is On", The Budos Band, Lil Wayne on a song called "The Cliche Lil Wayne Feature (It's the Remix Baby!)", Bun B, Pusha T, Tre, Tawiah, and even Julia Louis-Dreyus AKA "Elaine" herself! Seriously, she is...
...and so is Kramer saying the N word. Yep, and it's not Nostalgia.
The beats tend to sound a little goofy and bumpin' all at the same time which makes Wales raps sound a little sillier than you'd think. Unfortunately, I don't think this is for everyone and even if it has Seinfeld written all over it (not literally), I don't think all Seinfeld fans would enjoy this hip-hop epic. If you are like me though, you will understand that there is only two ways to listen to hip-hop... ironically or not at all. Just kidding Aesop.
PS I chuckled because of an inside joke about Seinfeld, you wouldn't understand.
Mai, Mai is a "chamber and popular music" based project by a local Portland, Maine (I believe) mulit-instrumentalist, Sean Morin. I found out about this gentleman from a show he played at a few weeks back. He wasn't playing as "Mai, Mai" but was actually in a band made up of other local musicians who came together just two days before the show. They had never played with each other before and had only 48 hours to come up with a 25 minute set along with four other frankenstein-y bands just like them that night. The event is the 48 Hour Music Festival and it is in its fourth year. I meant to mention it before but I figured if you were cool you would have already heard and went.
Sean Morin was in a band with my home boy, Jesse Gertz AKA Glass Fingers, along with the bassist from grrl punk outifit, The Outfits and the drummer of Sunset Hearts among other things. I'll post the full set for all of you who are not cool or had to stay home and feed your cat rather then hike up to Maine to witness the awesomeness or awkwardness (I don't know the difference) that was Clitt Romney (down below). Oh yeah... that was their band name for the night and are rumored to actually be going into the studio and record some stuff some day.
For Sean's own music, it is a worth wild look at what this guy actually plays for music. I thought the whole, "I play the keyboard" thing was a joke. Guess not! Ch-check it!
I would mention the rest of the bands who played but I don't want to leave anyone out of get their names/information/instrument/band wrong. I have a habit of that.
They are Clitt Romney and they are here to get you off!
Yes this a split album. But I have never been able to find the Amelia side of it, so this is purely just a Pheramones post. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Pheramones - Amelia Split (2009)
Classic pop punk DIY whatever mixed with demanding keyboards that push their sound into some kind of dance punk hybrid. Don't think electroclash though, think keyboardcore...
Pheramones features Steve from the Cleveland, Ohio pop punk band, The Sidekicks and Pat from Shout Out Loud Prints.
These six quick tunes from the split are fun and easy to get through. They are also perfect for those cold winter days where you sure to god wish it was spring already. Enjoy!
