Monday LXXV

Still Monday somewhere...

Iron Chic - Spooky Action (2013)

Spooky Action is Iron Chic's (Long Island, NY pop punk) new 7incher for their European tour this year. It features three tracks including a Butthole Surfers cover that also contains a sample of "Suicide is Painless" - the theme to M.A.S.H.

The Butthole Surfers cover is "Goofy Concern".



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Elvis Depressedly - Holo Pleasures (2013)

Fuzzy lo-fi from Matt Cothran (who is also Coma Cinema). This is his new album, Holo Pleasures under the  Elvis Depressedly name.



Fans of Coma Cinema, monotone singing, lo-fi recordings, short songs, Teen Suicide/Julia Brown, and cigars will most definitely hate Elvis Depressedly.

Also, be on the look out for Coma Cinema's new album rumored to be released in May.

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Mark Daniels - Emotional Chi: A Tribute to Life Without Buildings (2011)

Emotional Chi is a remix album using only songs from Life Without Buildings' super underrated album, Any Other City (2001).

Mark Daniels puts a nice spin on the already catchy song styles of Sue Tompkins, a musician I happened to find at the height of my Scottish accent addiction a had a few years back. So catchy!




These remixes are sure to put at least a little pep in your step today.

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There Will Be Fireworks

There Will Be Fireworks - There Will Be Fireworks (2009)

Since I mentioned this album in my last post, I figured I'd post it now for your enjoyment and your ears. Plus, it really does go hand and hand with 'Travels In Constants 13' by Appendix Out, in my opinion.

There Will Be Fireworks is an indie/post rock/shoegaze-y band from Glasgow. Their self-title debut was self-released in 2009 and features a whole bunch or scottish accents, spoken word by Kevin Macneil*, orchestral instrumentation and fanfare, emotional and angsty autumn/spring feels, and yes, even fireworks.

Maybe.

With all the twists and turns of this album like that of changing seasons, you can absolutely tell this album took a year to record. Take it for what it is and ignore the name. Or the haters. Or love the name. Or love the haters.

*The three spoken word bits are performed by:

Kevin Macneil, who lent his voice for the first track, "Columbian Fireworks". The narration was written and recorded exclusively for the band.

and

Marshall Craigmyle, the bands soundman, on the track, "A Kind of Furnace". He was reading a passage from the Ian McEwan book, Enduring Love.

and

Lastly, Edward R. Murrow quickly appears on the end of "Says Aye". Murrow is sampled from a 50's US Government informercial about nuclear warfare.

I sound like I know a lot about this album but I really just read this play-by-play article I found on Scotsman.com. Check it out after or before listening if you want, depending on if you like ruining surprises or not.

Similar acts/sounds: We Were Promised Jetpacks, The Twilight Sad, Frightened Rabbit, Idlewild, My Latest Novel, Arab Strap, The Appleseed Cast, Moving Mountains and more post rock with words/scottish accent bands.

Bandcamp
Official site
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Happy May Day! + more

Get your maypole out, kids. It's May!

Appendix Out - Travels In Constants Vol. 13 (2001)

Appendix Out (or Appendix: Out) was a one-time moniker and band lead by the scottish folk singer-songwriter, Alasdair Roberts. Some may know him by his solo career or that he is the other guy from Amalgamated Sons of Rest along with indie folk superstars, Jason Molina (Songs: Ohia, etc.) and Will Oldham (Palace Music/Brothers/Songs, Bonnie Billy, etc.) or maybe you know Appendix Out, that's cool too. Well anyways, Appendix Out lasted from about 1994 to 2001 and in that time of releasing a few EPs and full-lengthers, the band also released a limited edition CD called 'Travels in Constants Vol. 13' (right around the end of their tenure as a band) which is the name of the now defunct recording collection series by Temporary Residence records that was essentially a big studio release version of Peel Sessions or like the In the Fishtank series. In other words, it was just a cool little thing that Temporary Residence would do by inviting artists from and outside of their label to come and record some stuff. But enough about that, it's what is inside that matters here.

What is inside exactly, is perfect music for this season and/or the month of May in general. With Robert's scottish accent and laid-back folk landscape that is either accompanied by little sound collages or interrupted by spoken word and even the time and temp lady, there is so much to take from this album. I'm not even joking about the time and temp thing either; I swear the female voice in the song, "Daylight Saving, Gibson Room (Part Two)" says, "today is Tuesday... May...". Wait a minute... today is tuesday... and it's May... and this album's about the first day of May...  and it's the first day of May...! It's crazy to believe, I know, but it's true. Honestly though, I have been trying to figure out this album out and its story it tells for some time now, especially the song, "Speech" about May 1st festivities that are either called 'melting day' or 'belting day'. I'm really not sure which one it is and if it is a real thing, but I find the speech itself very interesting, maybe even more so due to another scottish band, There Will Be Fireworks who have a very simular sample/speech in the hit song, "Columbian Fireworks". The speaker sounds exactly the same in both band's songs and even mentions festivities and kids getting excited. Yep, I'm going to leave it that way... 

What I'm really trying to say here, is this: this album is perfect for May Day and this time of the season (or 'that time of the season' as I like to call it), it's full of fun little noises and samples, and has a nice spring time folk flare to it. I haven't even really listened to a lot of Appendix Out's stuff other than this and I'm not sure how I even came across it... All I know is that I have it and listen to it every May Day.

All jokes aside, check out the Travels In Constants releases. bands like Explosions in the Sky, Mono, Mogwai, Low, Jason Molina as Songs: Ohia, Papa M, and even Rumah Sakit have really sweet Travels In Constants releases. 

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