Speaker For The Dead

Speaker For The Dead - I Hope You Have Fun While You Sleep (2011)

While visiting friends on my first night back from school for Winter Break, I got a chance to see the nightmare fuel Portland folk outfit, Butcher Boy perform one of their last sets before packing up their things and voyaging off onto their nationwide-ish tour. The church-turned-performing arts venue on Mayo Street where Butcher Boy were playing also featured a band I had yet to witness called Speaker For The Dead, a Worcester-born folk punk collective with a bit of a pep in their step fronted by Greg McKillop, the gentleman who put on this whole wonderful event.

And while not knowing what to expect from a band that seemed to be half a folk punk band and half a brass section that I thought would play ska music (but ended up playing more of a gypsy rock accompaniment), Speaker For The Dead definitely made a tremendous impression on me that night. It was the kind of clean fun and excitement that I needed and hadn't experienced in a long while.

Seeing these folks was a real nice treat to me on my first night back and a hell of a way to ease into my winter vacation. I suggest anyone who likes upbeat punk music with horns and blacksmiths wielding guitars to check SFTD out! Or even, if you just like music that makes you jump out of your chair (remember those at shows?) and dance around with strangers like there's no tomorrow!

Speaker For The Dead can surely do that to a person!

Speaker For The Dead have lots of music to choose from in their discography but 'I Hope You Have Fun While You Sleep' seems to be their most accessible album to date. It's also their most recent not counting Greg McKillop's new solo album that was released a month ago today.  

Highlights: "Journal", "Pile of Dirt (Allenby Beardsly cover)", "If You're Dead Please Raise Your Hand", and "I Hope You Have Fun While You Sleep Pt. 2"

And: For all you book readers out there, I'm pretty certain that the name of this band comes from the Ender's Game series written by Orson Scott Card, a series I almost read as a kid (which doesn't sound like much, but for someone who doesn't read anything, this is a big deal).

Official site

Bandcamp

Last.fm

12 Days of Nostalgia For Tomorrow Christmas

Something about being away from home has caused me to miss the little things in life... Normally I wouldn't be excited about covering by blog with Christmas related posts and being in a 'seasons greetings' mood. Bahumbag! But I miss the simpler times nowadays; the times when I had nothing better to do but wait for Santa to show up at my house (even though I never had a chimney), eat my cookies, drink (most of) my milk, and hopefully leave me the right action figures I had asked for.

So, in the spirit of the great horned hunter god, the Christmas ham, Krampus, Satan, and Saint Nick himself, I present The 12 Days of Nostalgia For Tomorrow Christmas! Sit back, relax, drink some eggnog, and get excited about Christmas again!

Day 1.

Music:

Listener & Dust - Just in Time for Christmas (2005)

Yes, Listener has a Christmas album. But it's not the same 'talk music' Dan Smith that we all know from Wooden Heart. No, in 2005 Dan Smith was still rapping and rapping well for that matter... even if it was about Santa and behaving for the good list. Of course that's not really what this Christmas related album is all about; it's actually much more about real topics like faith, the true meaning of Christmas, poverty, consumerism, and other more serious things than 'hey, it's Christmas! Here's a generic Christmas carol because there's no real-world problems during X-mas".

You don't have to be a religious person to appreciate this little gem either, just remember that Christmas, like any other day, or any other season, will never be perfect. It can actually be a really shitty time...

But let's not dwell on that.

Listener is also accompanied by his friend and Deepspace 5 mate, DJ Dust AKA Nate Corrona of Mars ILL who can be heard on the last track, "That Leaf Sure is Heavy, But You Have to Turn it Over" (I believe).



Love it or hate it, this is an original Christmas album. Anyone can cover 8 classic Christmas tunes - and they do i.e. every pop star who has ever been popular ever. And while not a lot of folks are listeners of Dan Smith for his Deepspace 5 Christian rap days material, it's still him. I mean isn't talk music rap, anyways?

Interesting things to note: Dust is a name of 18 different artists according to Last.fm and, according to Wikipedia, DJ Dust's real name is Adolf Hitler. I kid you not! That sure puts a damper on this whole Christmas album thing if that is true...

Dan Smith's official site (cleverly titled 'thedancemyth')
Last.fm (Listener)
Last.fm (Listener & Dust)

Bonus:

This year for Christmas, Santa Claus is not going to be giving out coal for all you boys and girls on the naughty list. Nope, instead those of you who decided to misbehave this year will receive and must watch beginning-to-end, A Christmas Story 2.

That's right! This year Hollywood not only tried to recycle old toys to movies (again) and 80's flix that the kids today don't know about, they also did THIS. This right here is just plain silliness. Than again, one man's angry rant is another man's (my) pleasure. I actually don't find these things as horrible and "OMG my childhood has been raped in its terribly metaphor-ed anus " as internet people badger on about with shitty things like this. I understand why these kinds of blasphemy-inducers are conceived; it's a cheap way to make some quick money and piss people off. Seriously though, no one asked for this piece of presumable garbage but hey, I might actually make the best of it and watch the damn thing. I won't pay for it or anything but I may have to witness just how bad it really is for myself. Because I'm human... I love watching horrible things.

For anyone who would like to hear more about the sequel to probably the best Christmas movie ever made, I'd suggest checking out the review on Wrestlecrap.com, a site that is usually dedicated to the very worst of pro wrestling - which there is never any shortage of. Trust me.

I don't want to give anything away.. but at one point, a supposedly 15 year old Ralphie, supposedly since he looks old enough to drink through this movie, ends up doing this:

Courtesy of Wrestlecrap

Merry first day of Christmas everyone!

Monday XXXIII

Music: yes.

Holagrams: no.

2049 - Torches (2010)

2049 was a screamo band from Cleveland, Ohio that experimented with La Dispute story-telling vox and sporadic keyboard action. Torches, is a little all over the place with ideas but they all seem to be things people like and have heard before. I'm not too sure how much of the direction they had on this one they continued on with in Old Phyrexia (just a two song EP) but all came to an end in summer 2010 when they called it quits, so we'll never know what else they had in store for us.

Shit happens.

RIP Dead Man's Clothes.

Last.fm

Diving - Places And The Objects You Find There (2010)

Their name is Diving and they have a duck on their cover. What's there to hate?

Definitely not the fact that they also play twinkly math rock, of course...

Last.fm

Listener - Wooden Heart Poems (2010)

Since it's the last day of April, which is national poetry month, here is Listener's poetic masterpiece, Wooden Heart. This time though, it's the more stripped down and even more "talk music" version that does include some acoustic guitar here and there but is mostly just Dan Smith reciting his little spoken word numbers from the original Wooden Heart with no instrumental accompaniment. Definitely a must have for anyone who likes Listener or poetry! Hope you guys had a good April by the way.

Last.fm

Various Artists - Making Music's For Pussies #001 (2012)

Girlfriends, one of the various artists on this compilation by Big Scary Monsters, tipped me off to this super sick thing of super sick awesomeness on his Facebook page. It's a compilation that you can get free when you buy a shirt with that very same cover art like the one up there on it! Being the impulse buyer/secret wrestling fan, I instantly started marking out and bought the thing as fast as I could find the add to cart button. Forgetting that Euros are less than American dollars and things shipped overseas is a little more expensive, I was a little put back by what I had done when I finished my order and saw the receipt but it's really not that bad, considering I was so pumped about the shirt I forgot about the music, and in the end it comes out to be no more than the price of a brand new, vinyl LP. So yeah, it's totally worth it.

For the compilation and the music itself, I haven't gotten the package yet at this time of typing and usually don't like to give away the surprise of a new CD (or in this case, digital download), so I haven't listen to it yet. But, I can say that Tall Ships, Socks And Shoes Off, Crash of Rhinos, Girlfriends (just "Untitled #3", so no surprise there), and Oh No! Yoko will be on it along with some other new names I've have previously not heard of like, Killington Fall, Bear Cavalry, Delta/Alaska, Doctrines, and Adults, The Elderly And Children.

I may have not listened to it yet, but feel free to give it a try yourself. While you are at it, buy the shirt! See if I care... You'll surely have the honor of owning the same shirt as the writer and creator of this blog. Cheers!

Buy the 10 track comp and pink and blue Ultimate Warrior/Making Music's For Pussies T-shirt here.

PS: can't wait to see what they got in store for the #002!

PSS: did I mention I'm fucking pumped!!!

Insert crazy Warrior ramblings here.

Kolya

Kolya were a late 90's emo band from the midwest that featured narrative type vox and slint like instrumentation. The band has since broken up but their spirit still lives on in mediafire links, lucky fans who have had the chance to grab up their physical copies and music forums, blogs and Last.fm. After breaking up, members went on to form the short lived band, The Union Ares and I'm not sure what happened to them after that. I will say though, that with only two 7inches and self-titled LP they released, this band and their music is something to not forget about or let get lost in the ends of time and space somewhere. I mean it.

Kolya 7" (AKA 'Iditarod 7"') (1998)

Kolya 7" (2000)

Kolya LP (2001)

Kolya is just one of those bands that you need to hear everything by because, well, there really isn't a lot that exists and all the stuff that does exist is amazing. Their discography only consists of 13 or so songs. A Shame, I know, but it is what it is and what it is, is super good music, especially for fans of Slint, June of 44, Sun Pelt, 90's emo in general and/or narrative spoken word music. Take a listen to the first track I heard from these guys called "Still Life With Candle" from their first 7" released by One Week Records with another song called "Iditarod" below.

The lyrics (and delivery of the lyrics), like the ones in the very beginning, "Are you going to bed yet? I hadn't decided/I might have to go to the bathroom/And I had planned on eating something...", remind me of the song "To A Husband At War" by a slightly different emo band, I Hate Myself except, in Kolya's case, the music and energy builds and builds but doesn't become chaotic. The noise just settles and we never hear Todd Giles (the singer/guitarist) lose his cool. There's no change in the tone. It's really not him who is giving off the full emotion for this "emo" band but the sounds from the instruments on and around him that are giving off this feeling of (emotional) content. A sense of somberness but not sadness. It's that subtleness about them that makes them stand out and goes to show you just how different these guys where than other "emo" bands of their time and the ones now.

Similar sounds/acts: Slint, Native Nod, The Union Ares, June of 44, Bells on Trike, Storm and Stress, Rodan, I Hate Myself, Plunger, and a few other 90's math rock or 90's emo pioneers or influenced acts.

PS: Sorry for the little/bad quality cover art of the 2000 7". It's the best I could find... If you have a better one, please send it my way! Thanks!

Fun (with Wikipedia) facts: Kolya is the nickname for the Russian name, Nikolay as well as a 1996 Czech film.

Myspace
Last.fm

The Exploration

The Exploration are a band that play some sweet twinkly stuff. Kyle the lead singer uses the Michigan singing/poetry reading approach as La Dispute and Victor! Fix The Sun have to bring in a really cool sound that is both moving and groovy. The music itself is somewhere in the middle of those bands; not as heavy but still pretty noodly and technical. Not super technical though, just technical sounding.

They have only released two demos, Basement Demo and Summer Demo. Winter Demo is in the progress now as Kyle and gang (or maybe just Kyle...) began to work and build on new ideas. Hopefully there is a EP in this bands future and a tour to the Northeast. ;)

Basement Demo (2009)

Favorite tracks: All four of 'em!

Summer Demo (2009)

all three of 'em on this one!

Similar artists/sounds: Victor! Fix the Sun, Palmkite, My Head in Clouds, Merchant Ships, Native, Old Gray, stopsigns and The Exploration.

Discography
Bandcamp (with Winter Demos)
Last.fm

Meanwhile, Back In Communist Russia...

Meanwhile, Back in Communist Russia...  - Indian Ink (2002)

More post-rocky balboa stuff. This time in the form of laid back instrumentation and somber tones and narrative vocals. Female narrative vocals! Provided by singer, Emily Gray. The music that surrounds vocalist Emily Gray, created by keyboards, guitars, samples and drum machines, is very dark and decaying. It flows dramatically over Gray's poetic monologues every time. You soon catch on to what this band was capable of playing but there's nothing wrong with that.

Despite the clever name, they were actually from Oxford, UK. Hence Gray's additive accent. 

The band called it quits in 2004. They released two studio albums, a 7 inch featuring the tracks "No Cigar" and "Morning After Pill", a split with a Moonkat, three Peel Sessions, and a 10 inch. They were also the winners of a "worst band name" poll by BBC Radio 1 in 2003 according to Last.fm. 

Similar sounds/artists: Arab Strap, A Silver Mt. Zion, HRSTA, iLiKETRiANS, A Whisper in the Noise,  Valley of the Giants, Slint and more post rock bands that I could name because they are also post rock...

Last.fm

I've made for you a pedestal that lifts you higher up the harder I try and knock you down.