Monday XXXXXXXI

RIP Jason Molina

Black Mask. - Black Mask. (2012)

Finger licking good hardcore that falls right off the bones! From Pennsylvania.

At first I though this was another Black "something" band but then I saw the period.



Get mad.

Bandcamp
Last.fm

Scavenger - Cynical (2013)

Scavenger are a hardcore troupe from northern Maine that are quite reminiscent of early hardcore punk that requires a cassette player and big giant 80's speakers. Not bad, not bad.



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Songs: Ohia - The Lioness (2000)

While clearly not as recognized as Magnolia Electric Co. or as truthfully and down right sad as Axxess & Ace (one of my favorite albums to play when I'm sad), The Lioness definitely has its moments of both sadness and glory that makes it stand out in my top three Jason Molina albums list.

Highlights include: "Lioness", "Being in Love", "Coxcomb Red", and "Nervous Bride"

Bonus:

Joe Beats's remix of "Coxcomb Red":

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Friday Streaming!

Here's some music to listen to...

Modern Baseball - Sports (2012)

Modern Baseball are a little indie emo band from Philly.

While I'm not too sure what to think of Sports, Modern Baseball's debut album released back in November, I do enjoy the sort of 90's indie rock feel to it that I usually always enjoy.

These guys remind me of The Front Bottoms but a little less clever and not as catchy. Modern Baseball though, like The Front Bottoms, still possess that attitude of "yeah we sound like we are from the 90's or something but we're still going to sing about taking pictures with our phones and twitter".

Truthfully though, I also hate that twitter song Modern Baseball have called, "@chl03k". I really don't want to hear about "checking tweets" or "Facebook statuses" in my music. It's a pet peeve of mine; even if they are making fun of the whole loss of real human interaction with the invention of internet friends and all that jib-jab.

 It just makes my skin crawl. 

But this isn't about me, this is about music...

So check these guys out:

Last.fm

Creepoid - Horse Heaven (2011)

This debut album by Creepoid - also from Philly - entitled, 'Horse Heaven' is not your average No Idea Records release. 

Unlike what I expected from such a band that has recently been signed to No Idea Records, this is not Hot Water Music - Orgcore-type music (not that that is a bad thing) by any means. No, Creepoid is really much more of a grunge band than a punk band; the kind of grunge band that also incorporates a bit of slowcore and heavily distorts their music with old music recording devices and dirt.

Creepoid reminds me of another one of my favorite acts, Dead Confederate. The small differences here would be that Dead Confederate have a bit more of a southern tinge to them and Creepoid take more influence from bands like Low or Spain. However, the way that both bands have that nice and slow build-up into a big pile of layered sound is definitely what made me think of mentioning these two bands' similarity.

My current favorite track off 'Horse Heaven' would have to "Grave Blanket" which has a very visually-interesting music video to go along with it...

Creepoid also has a nice split with slowcore labelmates, Shores - which is very easy on the ears - as well. Hint, hint: It'll probably be featured in my next all-split post coming soon!

No Idea Records

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Lord Earth - Napalm, Baby! (2012)

I'm not sure how I missed this one, but according to my sources, not only is this new instrumental metal group known as Lord Earth from the Portland (ME) area, they are actually from my hometown of South Portland - that place that is south of Portland with the big brick building (according to a Portland local I met once).

Lord Earth's debut album, 'Napalm, Baby!' was released last March without my knowledge and the boys behind this death machine called a band have supposedly been putting on some pretty rockin' metal shows all over Portland ever since.

Lord Earth play a mix of sludge-y doom and heavy metal with zero vocals, letting their sweet rhythms and guitar-work do the talking/singing/shouting for them.

I also must note that while 'Napalm, Baby! sounds incredibly good production-wise, I have a feeling that these guys are much heavier in person than what their album is sharing with us...

It looks like I'll be putting Lord Earth on my must-see list for 2013, no doubt.

Oh yeah, and No Doubt too!

They're back right?

Last.fm

Enjoy your weekend and stay out of the cold!

Swaath/Correspondences Split

Swaath/Correspondences - Split tape (2012)

Swaath is a slow-brewing doom-y mess from the mean streets of Portland, Maine.

Seriously though, Swaath play some nice waves of riffs with the echoing vocals and all that good sludge stuff. I saw Swaath the other night with Sylvia (a chaotic metal outfit filled with ex-members of some legendary Maine metal band, Ocean) and a new metal act (featuring members of Shabti, Hessian, and Paige Turner), Eastern Spell, and these Swaath punks have a real knack for making some dastardly delicious music. Folks may not have been bouncing off the walls like they were for Sylvia, but necks were definitely snapping to these guys and their haunting doom music.

Swaath are currently on a New England tour right now until the 12th.

This tape by Swaath is also half of a split with Maine's bass/cello/drums all chick all doom band, Correspondences.

Correspondences, who I may or may not have mentioned here before, are a very interesting treat no doubt about it. They have traded in traditional electric guitars for a cello to give their music/set a much more atmospheric, yet spiraling-into-the-pits-of-despair feel that is both fun to watch and fun to hear. Correspondences are a must-see for any local music fan around dees pahts.

Hopefully Correspondences are playing some shows in 2013. For 2012, they not only opened for Dead Dog at a "Pussy Riot Legal Defense" show but also opened for Thee Silver Mt. Zion this summer with Awaas which was top-notch stuff.

Swaath's Last.fm

Swaath's B-spot

Correspondences's Last.fm

Correspondences's F-book

Monday XXXXXIV

It's getting a bit nippy out there...

TotorRo - Home Alone EP (2012)

TotorRo are post rock/metal act out of Rennes , France. These gents (or should I say, hommes) are on the same label as KYOTY and AmanRa, if that says anything. Which it should since those aforementioned cats are crazy good, too. The label is Tokyo Jupiter Records, of which I've hopefully mentioned before to y'all.

'Home Alone' is the name of this new EP here and is just a taste of what's to come via their upcoming album.



Tokyo Jupiter Records
Last.fm

Brightside - Seconds Matter (2012)

Brightside of Pittsburgh play a wonderful array of emotionally fun-filled indie rock and punk-y music. The band itself is comprised of ex-members of Code Orange Kid and The Edukators. And that's 'bout all we need to know.

Oh, and their bandcamp page hurts my eyes.



Last.fm


if and it - Grrr Boo Hiss (2012)

Local dreary folk warlords, if and it have been releasing so much music this year that I can hardly keep track of it all. It probably doesn't help matters that I heard about as much if and it I wanted to listen to for a whole year, last New Year's Eve, but that's beside the point. 'Grr Boo Hiss' is their newest work to be released this year following Bleeding Moon (released last summer) and Sparkly Gold (released in May) and honestly, I don't think I would have given it the time of day - until, say, next year - but the fact that it was recorded in a cabin somewhere in New Hampshire during hurricane Sandy, well.... how I couldn't not give it a proper listen? That would be un-American of me or something.

Cheers to these guys for daring the elements for the love of rock 'n' roll last week. Wish I could say the same for the HMS Bounty...



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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. 

Last.fm

NFT's Got You Covered! With Carissa's Wierd

Carissa's Wierd - Scrapbook (2003)

While not completely a cover album, Carissa's Weird's, Scrapbook is a nice little look at some of CW's unreleased/demo/remixes/covers recorded between 1996 and 2003. The covers include (in order by appearance), "Asleep" by The Smiths (track 5), "Chelsea Hotel" by Leonard Cohen (track 6), "Gauze" by Red Red Meat (track 8), "Isolation" by Joy Division (track 9), and "Curtains" by John Frusciante (track 10).

Carissa's Wierd show off their deadly sadcore/slowcore style with the covers they picked on Scrapbook. To be straight, the album's not as good as I remembered it when I first discovered it but that's partly due to my lose of interest in the Mat Brooke (pre Band of Horses/Grand Archives) and Jenn Ghetto (pre S) starting point that is Carissa's Wierd. I still recommend these guys and their covers on Scrapbook even if you are not a fan of Band of Horses, Grand Archives or Carissa's Wierd (which is much different than those other too...) for that matter. This release is the reason "Asleep" is one of my favorite Smiths track (not to be confused with Fugazi's "I'm So Tired"), the reason I know about Red Red Meat and the reason Chelsea Hotel is one of my favorite songs to be covered and to hear covered.

Scrapbook also features the teary eyed wonder "Sympathy Bush" as well as a remix of said track along with three other unreleased tracks, a demo called "Ugly Valentine" which maybe the blueprint to "All Apologies and Smiles, Yours Truly, Ugly Valentine"from You Should Be At Home Here (2001) and a remix of Heather Rhodes from I Before E (2004).

My interst in Carissa's Wierd may be pretty low right now but I have a feeling that that might change and it'll bounce back up. When it does I'll be sure to post some of their other stuff. I will also explain this whole sadcore/slowcore business...

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Profile on Hardly Art

Gregor Samsa & The Metamorphosis

Recently, I decided I wanted to catch up on some fine literature. I didn't want to read something too long, so I decided on a short story. I ended up reading Frank Kafka's 1915 novella, The Metamorphosis. A story about a man who wakes up to find his life flip-turned upside down. One day after school, while he was playing himself a nice little game of basketball, a group of troubled kids from neighboring hoods began to give him shit. He tried to stay back but also felt he should stand up to these hoodlums and scruff them up a bit just to show them a lesson or two. Unfortunately his mama got scared good by this and had no choice but to send him to his auntie's and uncle's in the lovely affluent residential communtiy in the hills of the westside of the city of Los Angeles, California to teach him class and etiquette. While there he grew content with his new life and family. That is until one morning he wakes up and finds himself to be a big ass fucking insect and can no longer go about his days fending for his family. It is not too long after that his friend and partner, Kay, has to go in from the outside of him (that's right! He get's eaten!) and blasts him away like the slimy, ugly, parasite he had become.

I wanted to listen to something as I read this, so I put on the only thing that would make sense and that's Gregor Samsa! Come on! That's the name of the main character in The Metamorphosis! It works perfectly though with the story as it is that kind of post rock that can be kept on in the backward. It is very somber, dark, and beautiful with all it's rhodes piano, bowed electric basses, and sparse male and female vocals here and there. And you don't have to choice from other bands that play a similar sound of post rock as Gregor Samsa do like Ef, The Ascent of Everest, Joy Wants Eternity, Bark Psychosis or Immanu El because their name is Gregor Samsa! It's as simple as that.

Gregor Samsa - 55:12 (2006)

Album of choice this time: 55:12.

Favorite track: Even Numbers

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Official site

Monday VI

It's music. Here's some Monday.

King Guava - King Guava (2010)

Mathy/twinkly emo with a banjo and grass. Vox remind me of Native/The Exploration/Victor! Fix the Sun.

Definitely an interesting blend.

Last.fm

Looshin / Connor Hattersley - Strong Soul High Split EP (2011)

For the life of me I can not remember where I found this. It's just been a tab on my computer all week.

Oh well. I've been listening to Strong Soul High a lot and it sounds really nice and sad to me. Every song kind of has a different style and could branch off into its own thing. The first track is a nice acoustic guitar piece, the second track starts out like an Adam Gnade song, the third track is a bone chilling atmospheric ambient jam, the fourth track sounds a lot like Hardy Morris of Dead Confederate (and the face on Deerhunter's record, Microcastles), the fifth track is a mega somber acoustic instrumental piece and the sixth song is a nice little demo perfect for any indie folk fan.

I'm guessing the first half is Looshin (a young musician from York) and the second is Connor Hattersley, (also a solo musician, not sure if he's also young or from York) but it isn't very clear.

Last.fm (both cats)

Thunderstorms - The Last Level EP (2011)

One man instrumental twinkly emo/punk from Ottawa. It's instrumental because he can't sing (not that should matter with a genre like "twinkle daddie"). I find it enjoyable known the less.

Last two tracks are super fun.

The Self Titled EP is also pretty well done but I don't think it has as much kick as this first release. I'm going to keep listening though and see if that opinion changes.

Last.fm

Autolatry - The Hill (2010)

Here's some more blackened death metal that tells of brutal tales of New England's illustrious history. A little more straight forward than fellow Connecticut heavy band Katahdin.

I'm not a huge death or black metal fan but if I was craving either, I would go for anything that represents New England and its illustrious history!

Props to Karl Chamberlain (vocals) for informing of this!

Last.fm 

Palmkite - Palmkite Demo (2009)

More twinkle for your toes.

Oh I know you. You're the kind of girl who'd love to be the kind of girl who fell in love with the thrill of uncertainty.


Last.fm