NFT's Favorite Songs of 2015

Music is dead. Smash all your Apple products and invest in a dope dirt bike or speed boat.

101. Beyond Alive - Death Grips
100. Debt - Night Life
99. Water - Yowler
98. Ritual in Light - Guerilla Toss
97. How's it feel? - Trash Compactor
96. The Sickest Fuck of Them All - The I.L.Y's
95. Handmade Flaws - Spylacopa
94. New Year's Eve - Jon, the Archivist
93. Cream On Chrome - Ratatat
92. Pitch Black ft. Rome Fortune - Toro y Moi
91. Ideal World - Girlpool
90. Powerful Man - Hop Along
89. Not Right - Big Neck Police
88. Wheel - Stolen Jars
87. Soft Focus - Doubting Thomas Cruise Control
86. .38 Airweight - Doomtree
85. Settler - Vattnet Viskar
84. Cardboard Armor - Bearded Youth Quest
83. Have Fun Tomorrow from Ozzy / Stella - Gnarwhal
82. Turned Into Data - Stone Tools
81. The Gift - Kowloon Walled City
80. Corrective Measure - Corrective Measure
79. Failure Breeds Failure - Foundation
78. I Remember - Bully
77. Through Our Hands - Line of Sight
76. Hamper - Mouth Washington
75. Roadside Cross - Loma Prieta
74. Walk, Cycle, or Take Transit Like Jehu - Needs
73. Confidante - Youth Funeral
72. Raising the Skate - Speedy Ortiz
71. Frozen Tundra - Bobby Raps & Corbin
70. Society's Rule - Stick Together
69. Municipal Geography - Pneu (bonus: Hinges)
68. Splende - O
67. Thanks For Nothing - Guppy
66. Devil - Blazing Eye
65. A Desert of Human - Toe
64. Via - KYOTY
63. Poser Disposer - Clay Davis
62. Alright - Kendrick Lamar
61. Dinner Alone - STATS
60. It G Ma (ft. A$AP FERG, Father, Dumbfoundead, Waka Flocka Flame) - Keith Ape
59. Boneyard - Gravel
58. Alchemy in the Subyear - Dragged Into Sunlight & Gnaw Their Tongues
57. 'Til Our Ears Bleed - The Saddest Landscape
56. L'Amour Au Temps De La Peste - Potence
55. Exchange - Dying
54. The Legend of Chavo Guerrero - The Mountain Goats
53. Processional - Weedeater (bonus: Bow Down)
52. Swallowing Light and Sweating Diamonds - Giraffes? Giraffes!
51. God's On Vacation - Black Tusk
50. Shake - Bellyache
49. Canal St. - A$AP Rocky ft. Bones
48. Outcast Stomp - G.L.O.S.S.
47. Drunk Tank - Drug Church
46. Tony West Pt. 2 - Duck. Little Brother, Duck!
45. Torturer - Krill
44. The Maw - Blank
43. Transgression - Axis
42. The Hills - The Weeknd
41. Sun Bleached - Dogs on Acid
40. Processed - Yautja
39. Descent - Funerary
38. Frances Quinlan Will Have Her Revenge On Philadelphia - The Superweaks
37. Oscillator - Leveret
36. Low Beams - Touche Amore & Self Defense Family
35. Why Does it Shake? - Protomartyr
34. When I Was Done Dying - Dan Deacon
33. Celebrity Reduction Prayer - Open Mike Eagle (bonus: Dark Comedy Late Show)
32. De Qualche Parte, Nel Momento - Øjne
31. The Metal East - Lightning Bolt  (bonus: Runaway Train)
30. Never Worth Your Name - The Body & Krieg
29. Your Life in France - Ceremony
28. A Good Life - Cult Leader
27. New Alhambra - Elvis Depressedly
26. Limousine - GDP
25. I've Been Bored - Superheaven
24. Wolfman - The Front Bottoms (bonus: West Virginia)
23. the outstanding debt - grafted, i am
22. Dead Actors - KEN Mode
21. Beyond the Realms of Dreams, That Fleeting Shade Under the Corpus of Vanity - Thou & The Body (bonus: The Devils of Trust Steal the Soul of the Free )
20. Dolor (Part 1) - Fórn
19. Mookie Island - Sea Monkey See
18. Washerwoman - Bosse-de-Nage
17. Perpetrator - Red Death
16. Much - Busdriver
15. Flirting With a Cop - So Stressed
14. Mr. Fish - Pile
13. Re: Animist - Milo
12. Slaves Beyond Death- Black Breath
11. Out of Rage - Turnstile
10. Satan - Brother/Ghost
9. Hypernight - Title Fight
8. Brainbuster - Soda Bomb
7. Doomsday (ft. Siren) - WebsterX
6. Your Sweetness - Adventures (bonus: Absolution, Warmth Requited)
5. Red Roulette - Dirty Dishes
4. Vernon (ft. Vernon) - Show Me The Body
3. Law of the Land - Harm's Way
2. Lavender Chunk (ft. Hemlock Ernst) - Scallops Hotel
1. Bench - Spraynard

NFT's Got You Covered - Favorite Covers of 2015!

Back from hiatus because I love lists and I can't resist talking about my favorite things of the year. So, to get the boulder that is list season rolling, here are some of my favorite cover songs of 2015!

Hot Chip - Dancing in the Dark from Dancing in the Dark EP

If you are like me, then you probably only know Hot Chip from the wacky music video for their 2010 single, "I Feel Better". Well, now I also know that they also do a pretty nerdy synthed-up version of "Dancing in the Dark" by Bruce Springsteen. This cover of one of my favorite Boss jams includes an Everything is Terrible-esque music video and a sprinkling of LCD Soundsystem's "All My Friends" towards the end. A lot of this cover plus the music video seems overplayed at times but I still enjoy it for what it is; tacky.

Tigers Jaw - In Between Days/Kevin Devine - Lovesong from Devinyl Splits No. 3


Two sincere Cure covers.

Girlpool - Cut Your Bangs from Chinatown

This cover of Radiator Hospital's "Cut Your Bangs" from last year frequently came on while I rode to work on my new bike this summer. Every time I was completely floored by how genuine it was. I personally like both tracks equally but I can't help but think that this version here is a bit more accessible to folks who can't stomach Radiator Hospital's unique vocals. Hell, I'm already seeing videos of people covering this version titled "Me covering Girpool's cover of Radiator Hospital". 

Somebody Kill Me Please - LVL UP from Faux Real II



Faux Real is a compilation of cover songs curated by Father/Daughter Records. The covers are that of fictional bands and singers from TV/films such as The Rutles, Sadgasm from the Simpsons, and The Blowholes from The Adventures of Pete and Pete. My favorite one of the batch this year comes from LVL UP and their rendition of "Somebody Kill Me" via the Wedding Singer. The original sung by Adam Sandler's character had been listening to a lot of The Cure at the time.

Tiny Rick (Let Me Out) - Sorority Noise from Tiny Rick (Rick and Morty Cover)



Another cover from pop culture. Didn't listen to a lot of Sorority Noise this year and I wished I watched more Rick and Morty. Smash this link to listen to the original.

Thou - Even in His Youth from Whatever Nevermind



Another year, another Nirvana tribute album. Out of this year's covers of Nevermind curated by Robotic Empire, I had to narrow it down to the bonus tracks by Thou, especially "Even in His Youth", as my favorites of the pack.

Went with because even with Thou's own signature mutilation, there is still some poppiness that bleeds out from time to time. Well, maybe not "pop" per se, but it does have a little groove to it for a Thou track.

Spazzin' to the Oldies - A Tribute to Spazz 



Probably my favorite tribute album this year, Spazzin' to the Oldies is a 26 song nail gun full of grindcore nails to the face. This is a tribute album for the one and only Spazz. Spazzin' to the Oldies features some damn good grindcore/powerviolence/spastic metal acts from today such as Purge, Godhole, God's America, Brainshit, Chinsniffer and OSK (to name a few that I recognize). If I had to pick a favorite here, I would have to go with OSK's cover of "Spazz vs. Mother Nature" because it includes the banjo outre (no mouth harp, though, but I'll still give credit where it's due).

Old Witch - Gallows from Keeper Split



Old Witch's interpretation of CocoRosie's macabre tale, "Gallows" is definitely my favorite kind of cover song. While there were plenty of true-to-the-original covers I heard this year on and off the internet, I always love a good rework of a song from a different genre or a song given new life. Isn't the whole point of a cover putting your own spin on someone else's work? Isn't playing a song exactly the way it was intended Karaoke?

I'm starting to digress here for a sec but I honestly wish I could list Weekend Nacho's cover of "Tired of Sex" by Weezer. Yes, Weekend Nachos covered Weezer this year. No, it was not the most violent retelling of Pinkerton's #1 hit known to mankind. Instead it was strictly "Tired of Sex" performed as Weekend Nachos playing Weezer. Well hey, there's also "In the Garage", maybe they were just joking around and this is the Weekend Nachos cover I was expecting. Nope. Whistling and all, it's a great cover, but it's no Weekend Nachos cover. Then again, maybe my opinion will change once I get a grip. Maybe I'm just mad they didn't cover "El Scorcho".

Honorary Mentions:

Screaming Females covering T. Swift's "Shake it Off" for the AV Club
Ironlung with Wizard of Ozz covering B. Sabbath's "Electric Funeral"
Leftover Crack covering B. Raum's "Left Legs"
Corrective Measure covering A. Front's "Discriminate Me" (gotta rep Maine Hardcore)
Holy Filth covering M. Otorhead's "Iron Fist" (gotta rep Maine Metal)
And a thanks to any bands that I saw this year cover stuff... a heard a lot of it and it was pretty good most of the time.


Also, I'm sure I missed something very dope.

NFT's Got Your Covered with Monoliths.

Monoliths. - Black Santa Rides The Fire Train (2014)

Monoliths. play some experimental hardcore from Medway, Mass.

Black Santa Rides The Fire Train includes six different covers from some of Monoliths.' biggest influences. There's Botch's "Transitions from Persona to Object" from the legendary album, We Are The Romans, Converge's intoxicating metal-banger "Sadness Comes Home", Infest's fastcore number "Terminal Nation", and one of my favorites by Self Defense Family, "I'm Going Through Some Shit". Hell, there's even a Cursive and The National cover that are both listenable and don't remind me of my embarrassing mixtapes I made in the 8th grade. Then there's the Death Grips cover. Probably the stand-out track, Monoliths. rendition of "No Love" featuring Charlie Mansion (not to be confused with Charlie Manson from that other DG song), is a reminder of just how powerful MC Ride's "noided" yell-rapping is and how well it can be turned in to a hardcore track. It might not be the same without Zach Hill's stomping electric drums, but it an interesting interpretation nevertheless.


Bandcamp
Facebook
Last.fm

NFT's Favorite Songs of 2014!

Room for one more?

101. Enabler - New Life
100. Riff Raff - Aquaberry Dolphin (feat. Mac Miller)
99. Locktender - The Piazza
98. Homeboy Sandman - Fat Belly
97. Criminal Instinct - Fever
96. Bad History Month - Staring at My Hands
95. Father - Look at Wrist (feat. I LOVE MAKONNEN & Key)
94. Bastions - Empty Vessel
93. Vulture Shit - I Love My Job
92. Kite Party - Halflife
91. Cara Neir - To Sprout from Decay
90. Dungeon Kids - Wife Out
89. Single Mothers - Marbles
88. Chance the Rapper - Wonderful Everyday (Arthur's Theme cover) [ft. The Social Experiment]
87. You Blew It! - Award of the Year Award
86. Baths - Ocean Death
85. RATKING - So Sick Stories (feat. King Krule)
84. Krieg - Circling the Drain 
83. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - High (feat. Danny Brown)
82. Adebisi Shank - Chaos Emeralds
81. Cold World - Hell's Direction (feat. Kool G Rap)
80. RVIVR - Goodbyes
79.  Solids - Over the Sirens 
78. The Body - Manic Fire
77. Attic Abasement - Talk
76. Ab-Soul - God's Reign (feat. SZA)
75. Cunninlynguists - Strange Universe (feat. Del the Funk Homosapien)
74. Kal Marks - It Was a Very Hard Year
73. Roomrunner - Slow
72. Sun Club - Cheeba Swiftkick
71. Idylls - Lied To
70. Go Yama - Kiki's Delivery Bump Truck
69. Never Relaxed - Safety Net
68. My Fictions - Wake Anxious
67. Grass is Green - Vacation 2.0
66. Lil B - Fuck KD (Kevin Durant Diss)
65. La Dispute - Woman (Reading)
64. Dog - Living stone on the cave of the vapor
63. Big Ups - Rash
62. Totorro - Chevalier Bulltoe
61. Radiator Hospital - Cut Your Bangs
60. Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting For You) [BADBADNOTGOOD Reinterpretation]
59. Tombs - Severed Lives
58. Zammuto - Hegemony
57. Cruel Hand - Monument Square People 
56. Speedy Ortiz - Everything's Bigger
55. Psymun - Blind (feat. Spooky Black & Bobby Raps)
54. Thou - Into the Marshlands
53. Hive Bent - Fedora
52. Saintseneca - Happy Alone (bonus: Fed Up With Hunger)
51. Tobacco - Eruption (Gonna Get My Hair Cut at the End of the Summer)
50. Special Explosion - Clotheslined
49. Kool & Kass - C.R.E.A.M.
48. Rosetta - Soot
47. Jerkagram - Olee-Wah
46. Earth - Torn by the Fox of the Crescent Moon
45. Ted Nguyent - My Body is the Temple of Doom
44. Helms Alee - Dangling Modifiers 
43. Falls of Rauros - Spectral Eyes
42. Buck 65 - Love Will Fuck You Up
41. Krill - Peanut Butter
40. Goat - The Light Within
39. Kool A.D. - Hickory (feat. Talib Kweli & Boots Riley)
38. Demonbrother - Journey to the End of the Night
37. Salem's Pot - Dr. Death
36. Hail Mary Mallon - 4AM
35. UltraMantis Black - Biomonster DNA
34. At the Gates - At War With Reality
33. The Caution Children - Psalms
32. Baptists - Dissembler 
31. Code Orange - Slowburn
30. Lovechild - Perfectionist (Perfectionism)
29. Angel Du$t - Let it Rot
28. Owls - The Lion...
27. SZA - Childs Play (feat. Chance the Rapper)
26. Open Mike Eagle - Doug Stamper (feat. Hannibal Buress)  (bonus: Informations)
25. Wreck and Reference - Stranger, Fill This Hole in Me
24. Run the Jewels - Blockbuster Night Part 1
23. 100 Onces - Boreder Patrol
22. Serengeti - No Beginner
21. Trace Mountains - Buttery Sprouts
20. Eyehategod - Parish Motel Sickness
19. Busdriver - Ego Death (ft. Aesop Rock & Danny Brown) (bonus: Eat Rich)
18. Soft Power - LVL UP
17. Protomartyr - Scum, Rise!
16. Mayor Creep - Bike Lane
15. Bearcubbin' - High School Field Trip to Murder Island
14. Flying Lotus - Dead Man's Tetris (feat. Captain Murphy & Snoop Dogg)
13. Tigers Jaw - Slow Come On
12. Sangharsha - Dharaap
11. Mantar - The Berserker's Path
10. Shellac - Riding Bikes
9. Butcher Boy - New Home
8. SLOTHS - Breadcrumb Trail (Slint cover)
7. ScHoolBoy Q - Man of the Year
6. Milo - You Are Go(o)d to Me
5. Swans - Bring the Sun/Toussaint L'Ouverture
4. Have a Nice Life - Cropsey
3. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra - What We Loved Was Not Enough
2. Yautja - Faith Resigned
1. Spooky Black - Without U

NFT's October Mix (warning: spooky)

Nothing says Spooktober like watching cheesy B slashers, Nicolas Cage's Wicker Man, listening to lots of horror-influenced metal music, and trying to figure out what you do for Halloween as an adult.

I tried making last month's mix sound kind of like all those things above sans Nic Cage. There's also some modern flair that went in to this mix and some stuff that obviously was just what I happened to listen to in October. Listen and enjoy (alone and with the lights off):

Also, if you're interested in all the spooky/thrilling/suspenseful/Halloween-y stuff I watched this October, I decided to share my Spooktober views over at IMDB.  

NFT September Mix

The mix is back. Featuring David Lynch stuff, lots of Hellfyre Clubers, hardcore rap, and some spooky stuff. Check it out:

Monday 105

All aboard.

SLOTHS - Twenty Years (2014)

Along with recording probably my favorite cover song of this year (Slint's Breadcrumb Trail), SLOTHS have a super emotional and intense release out right now called Twenty Years. It may only be three songs, but in that 12 minutes you will definitely feel the passion that these guys possess. Yeah, the name of this Portland, Oregon band is SLOTHS, but this is not a meme; this is genuine music.



Last.fm


Nnamdi Ogbonnaya - Bootie Noir (2013)

Nnamdi's sooper dooper secret side project. Bootie Noir includes a number of incredibly well crafted and sometimes bizarre pop songs feature all sorts of great musicians including Alicia Waters  (Oshwa) on track 4, Nate Kinsella (the Kinsella cousin from Birthmark and Make Believe) on track 11, Dave Davison (Maps & Atlases) on track 17, Bobby Burg (Make Believe/Joan of Arc), Peter Helmis (Algernon Cadwallader) on track 18, just to name a few. Check out all the guest stars here and sample Bootie Noir down here:

 

Last.fm

Lovechild - Migraine Music (2014)

Picking right up where In Heaven left off, Lovechild's Migraine Music sounds like the final boss of all circle pit battles. From modern hardcore to old school in-your-face punk rock n roll, this is some refreshing punk music you do not want to be sleeping on if you wanna stage dive at a Joyce Manor concert.



Have a lovechild with lovechild.

Last.fm

NFT July Mix

July was cool, I guess.

Feel free to follow me @newkeith69 (that's Twitter) for music/humor/wrestling related news and updates.

NFT's June 2014 mix

Not sure what happened to my March mix but here's a perfect summer mix for your Spotify machine I made to usher in July.

Features songs about basketball, Hannibal Buress, lots of math, summer witches, and the My Mother The Car theme song.

Enjoy and have a summah!

NFT's April Mix

Had to take a week off for finals but I'm back. Here's April's mix featuring pizza, 420, parting with Bill Murray, skateboarding, piss, and lots of 90's goodies. That stuff is still cool, right?

Enjoy and happy May!

NFT's March Mix

Never thought I would ever make a mix with Cee-Lo Green in it, yet here we are in 2014 with a Nostalgia For Tomorrow mix about Cee-Lo Green.

Shaq's in there, too.

Enjoy!

NFT's February Mix

This mix is mostly about wrestling, hoverboards, the return of Shamrock shakes, and the Lego Movie.

Enjoy!

NFT's January 2014 mix

New year, new mix.

Also, a cool thing happened recently where you can listen to music on Last.fm using Spotify, which was a solid idea and the best thing Last.fm has done since making their users pay to play their radio. Good job, Last.fm... you did something people will exactly like.

NFT's December Mix

Lost some creative juices this past week and still haven't finished my part 2 best of whatever list. I have however been making lots of mixes lately. here's one right now:

Enjoy!

PS: There's no Christmas music. 

NFT's 69 + 31 Favorite Songs of 2013!

Despite what my lack of posting may show, I actually listening to a lot of new music this year. So much so that a 69 list just ain't gonna cut it anymore and I'm going to have to whip out the 69 + 31 (that's 100!) list as I countdown all my favorite tracks this year. The list is in order best I could do, but towards the end it was more via what did I listen to the most kind of rating scale.

100. Bubble Butt - Major Lazer
99. The Rind - Aye Nako
98. Separations - Diarrhea Planet
97. Nosebleeds - Best Friends
96. Love and Death - Raein
95. 95 Til Infinity - Joey Bada$$
94. Sum Of All Parts - Crash of Rhinos
93. Havoc in the Forum - TTNG
92. Murmurer - Why?
91. You Can’t Be My Girl - Darwin Deez
90. King Shiv - Man Man
89. Lonely - Danny Brown
88. BATH SALTS - Future Death
87. Our Song - Radiator Hospital
86. Moving Parts - Boyfrndz
85. Bathroom Laughter - Pissed Jeans
84. Dakota - Tiny Moving Parts
83. Gravity, Metaphorically - Touche Amore
82. Yay Yay - Schoolboy Q
81. Dead Nostalgia - Junior Astronomers
80. In Black Roses - AFRAID
79. Watch You Suffer - Weekend Nachos
78. Vs. Jimmy - The Devil and a Penny
76. Dogfood - Sleeping Bag & Rozwell Kid
75. OK Corral - T. Hardy Morris
74. Bruane Brenn - Kvelertak
73. Reading Youtube Comments - Drug Church
72. He’s An Anteater, - Duck. Little Brother, Duck!
71. Sergue - The Explorations
70. Abandon - Baptists
69. Stardate/The Return - Deltron 3030
68. Spaghet - Two Hand Fools
67. I Have the Wine - Sate. Nite Duets
66. Back to School - A Great Big Pile of Leaves
65. Feeders - CUSS
64. everything around me - Trace Mountains
63. Pro Wrestling - Billy Woods
62. Proximity Anxiety - Pyres
61. Lindsey - Little Big League
60. La Resolve - Jel
59. Absurdities & Echoes - Wreck & Reference
58. Orchard - Windhand
57. PLEASANCE (WDGAF) - Kool & Kass
56. Bukowski - Moose Blood
55. HIDING - Pianos Become The Teeth
54. Awkward - FIDLAR
53. Bit by a Dead Bee pt. 1 - Foxing
52. When You Are Close, I Am Gone - My Fictions, The Saddest Landscape
51. Vacations - Dead Confederate
50. Nightshade (Mandragora II) - Botanist
49. Language Juice - Sun Club
48. Don’t Drive Angry - Iron Chic
47. Parking Lot - Kal Marks
46. Fog of Apathy - Vattnet Viskar
45. You might think he loves you for your money but I know what he really loves you for it's your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat - Death Grips
44. No Below - Speedy Ortiz
43. Hospital Town - One Hundred Year Ocean
42. Sweet Chin Music (The Fisher King’s Theme) - Milo
41. Creeper - True Widow
40. Washy - Nai Harvest
39. Fall - Leveret
38. Eyes To The Ground For Change - Listener
37. Pepsi/Coke Suicide - Elvis Depressedly
36. Glasgow - Øjne
35. Bow in the Dust - Phantom Glue
36. Throats & Tongues Alone - The Body In The Kelp
35. Hangout Tehran - Mylets
34. Because The Night - Screaming Females & Garbage
33. In The Middle of the Night Someone Tore Off the Ceiling and Sucked Me into the Sky... - Giraffes?Girafffes!
32. Getting Sodas - The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die
31. Blood In My Veins - Defeater
30. Greater Thinking - Toasted Plastic
29. Directions - Serengeti
28. Haunches - Sannhet
27. Black Dog - Spook Houses
26. Tropic Lame - Tera Melos
25. Blurry - Captain Hollow
24. Deny the Absolute - Pelican
23. You Don’t Turn Down - Marnie Stern
22. Bald History Month - Fat History Month
21. Keif Puck - The Reptilian
20. Watered Down - Swearin’
19. Trial One - LVL UP
18. Phobophobic - Conjjjecture
17. Boobies - Pachangacha
16. Impostor - Sirs
15. Grenville Pt. II - Dungeon Kids
14. Memorial (Feat. Chelsea Wolfe) - Russian Circles
13. Brass - Native
12. Promise - Adventures
11. Big Things Do Remarkable - And So I Watch You From Afar
10. Prayers (demo version) - Pill Friends
9. Visions - Saintseneca
8. Parts Mountain - An Anderson
7. Library (7'' version) - Julia Brown
6. You Are The Apple - Lady Lamb The Beekeeper
5. Paper Thin - RVIVR
4. Unbecoming - RAGANA
3. I’m Your Dad And You’re My Dad - Two Knights
2. VI (Worm Feeds God // God Fears Youth) - Code Orange Kids
1. Twin Size Mattress - The Front Bottoms

Calculator - This Will Come to Pass

Calculator - This Will Come to Pass (2013)

Calculator should not be new to this site. Unfortunately, as I look back in the archives to no other post of Calculator other than a mention, this is the first time I've posted anything by this band. It's a shame really because these guys are pretty sweet and deserve some recognition. Well shame no more, here's some Calculator!

This Will Come to Pass is Calculator's 2013 release packed with some great post hardcore and emo that flows very nicely and in a not so overwhelming manor. Calculator vocal duty also relies more on shouting than it does screaming, which is why I wouldn't necessarily write these guys off as typical 'screamo'. Nevertheless this is some cool material, especially from the instrumental stand point of things.

Highlights: "Gasping, But Somehow Still Alive", "Becoming / Whisperings in Sleep", "Permanent State of Daylight", "Reverie", and "Last Breath".


Similar acts/sounds: Ten Thousand Leagues, tongue, Innards, Jowls, Beau Navire, The Reptilian, Caust, William Bonney, and other stuff, I guess.

Last.fm

NFT's November Mix

Not sure what happened to November. More posts and music coming soon, though.

Lots of pop punk/power pop stuff in this one.

Enjoy!

NFT's October Mix

Almost forgot about this...

Starts with some regular jams and then at the end I put down some cool Halloween music I like for that full October feel. Check it out:

Enjoy!

Are You Afraid of the Dark? - The Tale of The Silver Sight

Last year I reviewed and sorted out some of my favorite episodes and films from one of my all time favorite childhood horror series, Goosebumps. It was a lot of fun and I was very proud of the outcome. This year I was planning on digging even deeper into the nostalgic pockets of my mind by searching for and reviewing my favorite Are You Afraid of the Dark? episodes. Unfortunately, as I started to dig and uncover what was going to be the ultimate blast-from-the-past trip-out of the last quarter century, I realized that I not only forgot many of the episodes, I also had not watched Are You Afraid of the Dark? since the last reruns stopped showing back in 2000. I did end up watching a lot of episodes, but I didn't feel it was appropriate to make any lists or "best of" posts. Plus, there are sites out there that already have the most obvious "best" episodes alongside the ones with Ryan Gosling, Melissa Joan Hart, Jay Baruchel, and other special guests you may not have known were in the show while growing up.

So, just as I was beginning to lose all hope, I managed to remind myself of one episode. It was a very different episode than the rest of the Are You Afraid of the Dark? series and I could only think of one part to help me search for it. So, I did a little research and actually came up with a result. What I discovered was more than your average episode of a Canadian kids fright show that aired almost 15 years ago; I discovered Are You Afraid of the Dark?'s greatest tale ever told, a 3 part episode called, The Tale of The Silver Sight!

The Tale of The Silver Sight was the first episode(s) of the last season, season 7, and is unlike any other Are You Afraid of the Dark? episode seen before (or after). A normal AYAOTD? episode starts with the Midnight Society getting together around the open fire in the deepest part of the woods with one of the members setting the mood for a story they were going to recite that night. In The Tale of The Silver Sight however, the episode does not start with the Midnight Society, or even someone telling a tale; it starts with Gary, the former president of the society who went off to college, having a nightmare and then getting a call of bad news from his grandmother. 

When Gary arrives at his grandmother's home, he learns that his grandfather passed away from an unexpected heart attack. Gary's grandmother then gives him something that his grandfather had left him; it's a broken piece of a record and a letter. As it turns out, Gary's grandfather was apart of the very first Midnight Society, where he and his friends conjured up a mystical artifact of some kind that helped them get anything they could ever ask for (because kids in the 30's had nothing better to do). The broken piece of the record is part of a guide that informs the listener just where this mystical object can be found and that the other pieces are with the original members who have not had unexpected heart attacks yet. 

Gary, after reading the note his grandfather left him with his piece of the record, shows his brother and new leader of the Midnight Society meetings, Tucker what he has just received and informs him that he'll be visiting the crew tonight for a very special meeting. As the episode rolls on, it is revealed that there is not a tale being told that night, but rather, the Midnight Society is in their own tale as Gary introduces them to the broken record, what the silver sight is, and why it needs to be destroyed. The current Midnight Society then split up like good mystery teams should and go on a search for the original members of the Midnight Society, the members' pieces of the record, and to destroy the silver sight once and for all. 

As Gary and his brother Tucker go on a search for a member of the original Midnight Society called "The General", Quinn has to go looking for "The Prom Queen" at the dump, and Megan, the team's residential preppy girl, finds herself in the sewers. Along the way, a young boy with raggedy old-timey clothes follows the Midnight Society around and seems to be helping them on their search for the broken record pieces... or so it seems.

Tucker is the first to find another piece of the record. Tucker retrieves the broken record piece when The General disappears from his home on Tucker's return to pick it up and instead has to play human chess like in the first Harry Potter book/movie. Then Quinn gets his piece of the record from the Prom Queen's unlucky true love (who now works at the city dump) by trading him a picture he made that The General stole way back in the day. This is the part where I should probably also mention that The General was the trader of the group and stole the Prom Queen from the dump guy but that's really not important in the end, so I'm just going to move on...

Then there is Megan, who had to go down in the sewer. Megan was looking for "The Tycoon" but instead discovers a family living there due to the silver sight causing them such misfortune. Megan even finds herself a nice sewer boy down there, but once she mentions the silver sight, the family kicks her out. Luckily, the boy knew where the piece was and told her to come back later to pick it up. When she goes to pick it up, the whole sewer home the family was living in is dismantled and some other shenanigans happens until Megan finally finds the record piece inside one of the boy's school books (even though he lives in a sewer).

Finally there's the scarred-y cat crew of Vange and Andy who must find the ring in the well - I mean record piece. Once they do though, the team just needs to put the record together and solve the riddle. Since the last piece is from the original member named "The Riddler", who happened to also own an amusement park, it was a safe bet to guess that the silver sight would be somewhere in the park. So, the team figures out that the silver sight must be located somewhere on the carousel (according to the riddle told from the record) and that's where they must go next.

Eventually the Midnight Society finds the damn thing. I'm not going to give that part away, but I will say that this part of the tale is what I remember most from watching The Tale of The Silver Sight a while back. The picture above is an example of the part permanently burned into my memory.

While this tale is about the Midnight Society themselves, it still follows a very similar theme that a lot of the tales told on Are You Afraid of the Dark? revolve around. The theme to most of the tales told have something to do with a spirit of a dead person, usually a kid, getting stuck in this life and needing the help of living people, usually kids, to get them to the other side/cross over to the afterlife by fulfilling some sort of task. This tale, while somewhat complex for such a simple kids show, was all about fulfilling what the original Midnight Society could not and that was destroying the silver sight for good. Once the silver sight was destroyed, the demon was vanquished and all the souls it had captured were set free. 

Anyways, enjoy this long forgotten gem. Your Halloween will be that much better!

Phantom Glue - A War Of Light Comes

Phantom Glue - A War Of Light Comes (2013)

Here's some new-ish music from the Boston doomed sludge brigade, Phantom Glue.

I saw these guys a couple years back when there was a good number of metal shows at the Space Gallery in Portland. It was a hell of a show and these guys really bring the noise in the essence of powerful Neurosis-like sludge metal. Phantom Glue might not be playing in my neck of the woods anytime soon, at least not that I know of, but they are currently playing shows around New England and elsewhere with some very cool bands such as KYOTY, Pelican, Wreck & Reference, and Sannhet. So yeah, that's still pretty sweet.

I've been on a huge metal/heavy/intense music kick lately, especially doom-y sludgy sloppy stuff, and Phantom Glue provides me with all those wonderful things. This album is an incredible 7 track banger that I would easily put on my best of 2013 metal list if I had one, which I don't. Not yet, at least...

Highlights: All of it! Probably digging "Bow in the Dust" the most right now though.


Similar acts/sounds: Ramming Speed, Razormaze, Sylvia, WARANIMAL, Kowloon Walled City, Pyres, Neurosis, Black Tusk, Raise The Red Lantern, and other cool bands that don't sound like Phantom Glue.

Facebook
Last.fm