Monday LXXXXIV Best of 2013 part 1

Just some stuff that's not Yeezus, Reflektor, or Sunbather.

Mylets - Recton (2013)

Mylets is a one-man math rock excursion by Henry Kohen. Using the power of loop pedals and a super catchy vocal arsenal, Mylets is a simple meets complex listening experience. A must for any fan of Tera Melos, Girlfriends, Boyfrndz, Monster Machismo, or Adebisi Shank.

Favorite track: "Hungover Tehran"


Last.fm

Listener - Time is a Machine (2013)

I was surprised to see that Time is a Machine did not receive much attention after the large praise that Wooden Heart got a few years back. Still, Time is a Machine is not far behind where Wooden Heart left off and will certainly hold up in time for when people really start listening again.

Favorite track: "Eyes to the ground for change"


Last.fm

The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die - Whenever, If Ever (2013)

2013 was definitely The World is...'s biggest year to date. From the raise of the shitty "mememo" terms to someone behind Buzzfeed figuring out there's still a genre called emo and it doesn't suck, The World is... seemed to be the front runners of a cool new thing. They have a really long ridiculous name and just as ridiculous lineup, why wouldn't they be the stars of the next "emo revival" generation? Hell, maybe next year The World is... will be on SNL!

Whenever, If Ever really is a solid album though whether you wanna believe the hype or not.

Favorite Track: "Fightboat"



Serengeti - Kenny Dennis LP (2013)

Serengeti's alter ego, Kenny Dennis returned this year with a bang when the Chicago native dropped his LP on the world.  K.D.'s repetitive and sometimes incoherent rap style puts me in a hypnotic trance that makes me want to watch old NBA games and play Sonic on my aunt's Sega Genesis.

Favorite track: "Directions"

Along with Kenny Dennis's LP, Serengeti also released Saal, C.A.B. (a follow-up to C.A.R.), a single featuring a b-side about "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, and his Yoome project's (along with Renee Louise Carafice and Tony Trimm) June album.

Last.fm

Russian Circles - Memorial (2013)

Russian Circles just being Russian Circles. The groovy post metal lords even throw in a little number featuring vocal duties by Chelsea Wolfe which resembles a True Widow track that never was.

Favorite track: "Memorial (Ft. Chelsea Wolfe)" and "Lebaron" (for the more traditional RC experience)



Last.fm

Honorable mentions/already talked about:

Foxing - An Albatross
Toasted Plastic - June Highs
A Great Big Pile of Leaves - You're Always On My Mind
Phantom Glue - A War of Light Cones
One Hundred Year Ocean - Where Were You While We Were Getting High?
Rosetta - Anaesthete
The Reptilian - Low Health
Leveret - Infinity

So... what's left?

NFT's March Mix

Just finished up this bad boy!

NFT March mix:

Bonus:

If you are a Spotify user like me, I would highly recommend checking out The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die's already super rad mix that they've been working on called, The World is a Beautiful Mixtape. It's got lots of goodies!

Side note: It's always been an internet dream of mine to be able to post mixtapes sent in by bands that I could host exclusively for NFT. Someday maybe, someday.

Anyways, enjoy!

Monday XXXXXXIV

All this talk of MLK is making me thirsty...

SRVVLST - I Would But I'm Baroque (2012)

SRVVLST (yes, as in 'Survivalist') is a post-whatever - or as Last.fm puts it - a post-everything four piece from Ohio. 

They twinkle, they noodle, they shout, they get intimate, and they survive. 

In my book, that's about all a band needs to do to count as post-everything anyways. 

Last.fm

Sinforiano Diaz - The Moosup Seassions (2012)

Sinforiano Diaz is the solo moniker of This World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die's Tom Diaz. It also features Axel Diaz on guitar and John Bowles guitaring and singing some back up vox. 

Tom Diaz replaces the electric twinkly feels with acoustic, sometimes uke-driven, but still twinkly feels here on this little four song release entitled, 'The Mossup Sessions' after the session of which he recorded this, in Mossup, Connecticut. 

Fans of Crywank, Waxahatchee, Warren Franklin, John Galm, and other solo acoustic singer-songwriter acts will most likely dig this gravely.

PS: It has just come to my attention that Tom Diaz may not be playing in TWIABP anymore... which is lame. 

Last.fm

Iron Sword - Demo (2012)

Iron Sword is a super intense and sloppy stoner metal band from Burlington. 

They're going to be playing a neck-breakingly good show (from the looks of it) with hometown sweeties, WARANIMAL (if you live in Maine and like metal and haven't seen WARANIMAL play, I feel bad for you son!) along with The Proselyte (MA), Eastern Spell (ME), and Lunglust (MA) on the 25th!

I don't know if I'll be able to swing down to see this mega stacked line-up in Portland on Friday (that's when it's happening of course. Put it on your shredule if you haven't already), but Iron Sword is also playing a show the next night (Saturday) at Orono which looks to be a real rager as well and is much closer to my current location. ;)

Hell, maybe I'll just go to both!

Hopefully dese boys bring there samples with them from this demo - including the Dazed and Confused Matthew Mcconaughey sample at the beginning of "Stairway to Hell"! Check it out:

Here's the poster for the show Friday night for your viewing Lord of the Rings pleasure as well:

Last.fm

Splits II

Here's some splits.

Johnny Hobo And The Freight Trains + MANTITS - Love Songs For The Apocalypse (2005)

Features Pat the Bunny and his gang, their best rendition of DIY Orgasm, a bunch of political songs about war, freedom, and elections, The New Mexico song, and a fairly unknown acoustic folk musician who went by MANTITS at the time.

The track, "kicking your shins" by MANTITS is a pretty messed up but with a meaning behind it  kind of tune and is definitely another highlight from this DIY folk the police, punk the cops split of a better time.

Actually now that I think of it, most of MANTITS' songs are all very much sarcastic pokes at the government and depict some pretty gruesome realist thoughts. Just listen and you'll get the picture.

Johnny Hobo's Last.fm
MANTITS' Last.fm

Throats + Maths - Split (2008)

All around bitter hardcore in this one. The first time I heard this I had to stop after the Maths side because it packed so much of a punch. It's one of those albums that just doesn't quit and why should it?

Throats leaves no room to breathe on their side (while Maths actually has a song just for that called "Breathe As If It Were a Story"). Just constant hardcore through and through on these guys's part. No melodies, no apologies.

If you want a good example of two highly driven and way past just sounding pissed off bands from the UK...

You are (figuratively) looking at 'em.

Maths' Bandcamp
Throats' Bandcamp

Maths' Last.fm
Throats' Last.fm

Pg.99 and City of Caterpillar - Document #9: A Split Personality (2001)

This split has the honor of being right after the legendary Document #8 tape.

Get lost in it.

City of Caterpillar's Last.fm
Pg.99's Last.fm

Deer Leap and The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die - Are Here to Help You Split (2011)

One of the best splits of last year. Maybe.

Deer Leap's Bandcamp
TWiaBP&IaNLAtD's Bandcamp

Deer Leap's Last.fm
TWiaBP&IaNLAtD's Last.fm


Daitro / Sed Non Satiata - Split (2008)

Rumor has it Daitro is back from hiatus.

As the Maths/Throats Split was a good example of some of the best emotionally heavy bands from The United Kingdom, this split is probably the most honest example of the two best French screamo bands ever. Jamais!

Still not satisfied?

Sed Non Saita's Bandcamp

Daitro's Last.fm
Sed Non Satiata's Last.fm


Chalk Talk / Sirs - BVVVVVVV (2011)

This one probably deserves its very own post, but hey! Here at NFT, we save the best for last!

While I can't speak too much on behalf of the Sirs side of things (not that that's a bad thing. It's still jammin'), I can say that the two tracks by Chalk Talk are nothing we haven't heard before and trust me, we've all heard the Beach Boys summer jingle, "Wouldn't It Be Nice" before. But this split features a different version of "Misquamicut Has Bigger Waves Though", the song that got me hooked on these guys a year or so ago. And for that Beach Boys track that they have now made their own, which you may have already heard from the Biff Swenson cover compilation, 'Cover Up' that I addressed a few months back, it clearly shows that these Western Mass boys are no where close to California. Capisce?

I hope you are ready for all the cool new stuff coming out by both of these solid bands this summer! This is exciting!

Chalk Talk's Bandcamp
Sirs' Bandcamp

Chalk Talk's Last.fm
Sirs' Last.fm

Monday 10X

Monday Monday Monday Monday Monday Monday Monday Monday Monday Monday.

shoe - Orphans EP (2009)

Shoe is Sean Gibat. He's from Morgantown, West Virginia. He plays laid back musix. This is his short little EP, Orphans.

The way he sings reminds me a lot of Microphones/Mount Eerie with a more pop/electronic influence.  I'd check out the track "The Clock" for a good example of this. It doesn't necessarily sound like Phil though.

Last.fm

Kim Janssen - The Truth is, I am Always Responsible (2009)

I dare you to listen to this album and not be even a little sad. Do it. You won't.

Kim Janssen comes to us from indie band, The Black Atlantic, hailing from The Netherlands. His soft Dutch voice is very light and wispy yet it still has the ability to catch your attention (something not all singer-songwriters can do these days... at least for me). You may disagree.

This guy sure knows how to put a damper on things.

Last.fm

The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die - Formlessness (2010)

Don't let the name fool ya, this is legit shit.

Emotional indie rock with little bits of happiness here and there.

They are from Connecticut. This is their first EP.

Let's travel up the the floorboards.

Let's sing to the curtains.

 Last.fm

Lizards Have Personalities - In All Honesty (2010)

It took me awhile to give these guys a proper listen.

Intense angsty skramz for the little punk in you. Stick it to the man, man!

Last.fm