Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Lou Barlow - Goodnight Unknown (2009)

Man, this is a fucking great year for music. Great albums seems to keep popping up every week and this one from the member of Dinosaur Jr., Folk Implosion, Sebadoh and all around lo-fi indie rock pioneer Lou Barlow is another dank album. Some of the songs rock, and some of the songs are really smooth and tender. It is an extremely consistent album, strong and intriguing from start to finish. On first listen, I found it immediately clear that this guy is really putting a lot of thought, care, and heart into his work, and the results are inspiring. The songs are not necessarily anything groundbreaking but the way it all sounds and is put together is a little bit mindblowing. Check it out.

And here is a fascinating Youtube video that gives you a glimpse into how this album was made. Barlow is a genius.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

HOLY SHIT WAVVES AND BLACK LIPS FIGHT IN BROOKLYN OMG AWESOMEEEEE!!!!





ROCK AND ROLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! some major lo-fi indie rock mayhem went down on friday night this is halarious. Luckily, Pitchfork was on it like white on rice and has all the juicy deatils. Article.

I just feel a little bad for Wavves to be honest. All the other lo-fi rock bands hate him. I dunno, he seems like a chill dude to me? I like Wavves, i think his music is pretty cool. But like its just this poor 20-something year old guy who for some reason has all these big bad bands after his head. Black Lips obviously hate him, apparently the dudes from Psychedelic Horseshit hate his guts and think hes garbage too. I mean whatever, but like what did Wavves ever do to anybody. its not like his songs have flame-spewing lyrics calling out all the other lo-fi indie noise rock bands? all his songs are about smoking herb and doing nothing. Im just a little wierded out because i like wavves, but i like black lips too, and i like psychedelic horseshit too. am i some kind of indie rock fan traitor? whatever this whole situation is really funny, and i think its awesome that indie rock has some beef and some drama to pep things up from time to time. someones always got to be the badass so many thanks to black lips to stepping up to the plate and keeping things interesting. but ANYYYYWAYSSSS


Heres Wavves' self titled album from 08. its loud noisy lo-fi scuzz melodic rock. i think its pretty decent. check it.


AND here is Black Lips most recent album, 200 million thousand. I guess some people have dubbed them 'flower punk'. which makes some sense i guess. Its kind of lo-fi rock/post-punk, with a definite 60's psychedelic feel. Its also pretty cool. LEEESTEN

David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (2008)


This album is really nice. It's not as wildly intense as their previous collaboration, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, but it is nonetheless fantastic. I guess you could say that this release is on the verge of adult contemporary pop, but it is far too subtle and strange for that kind of lame-ass pigeonhole. Byrne and Eno explore everything from pop to americana, from folk to gospel, from electronic avant-garde wierdness on this release and it all goes together so well. It is very honest and subtle music. It is assured in its own worth that it simply presents great ideas for what they are, and it’s up to you as the listener to get wrapped up in its beauty. Brian Eno’s mastery of recording has never come through better than on this release. The album just sounds so fantastic and vivid, your ears will most surely thank you for putting such cool sounds into them. David Byrne is the fucking man, and Brian Eno is the fucking man, and their brilliance complements each other so perfectly. And it all comes together just for you. Definitely an album worth checking out. listen


Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Thom Yorke - Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses/The Hollow Earth "12 (2009)

So these are two new songs from Thom Yorke that came out this week. They're pretty cool. I'm not sure if I'm totally blown away though. It doesn't really seem to me like he is breaking much new ground here--sometimes to me this sounds like what Boards of Canada would sound if Thom Yorke was their singer or something. That being said, the first track has a wicked bassline that sounds like it came out of some psychotic funk jam. The electronic percussion going on is also pretty interesting. Both songs are really sparse and hypnotic, and they really sound amazing in headphones too. So yeah, I'm not sure if this is really the bombest shit to ever happen, but I'm digging these two new tracks from Mr. Yorke. listen listen!

They Might Be Giants - s/t (1986)


So I've heard the name a million times, and I've been reading all about them for like 5 years or something now, but I literally didn't take the time to listen to them until yesterday. Again, I'm kicking myself because this album is fucking amazing and it's such a good time. It's all based in super catchy melodic absurd new-wave pop, but they jump between so many different strange styles. Almost every song is about 2 minutes long and it creates this kind of hysterical musical kaliedascope. I've been finding myself a little bit blown away by how great all the songs are, and at the same time laughing my ass off because every second of this, the very existence of this music is hilarious. It's just a goofy absurd good ol time, and you should hear it. If you like Ween, the Flaming Lips, Devo, or the Talking Heads like I do, I can pretty much guarantee that you will completely love this immediately. Silly, silly, silly. Infectious as swine flu.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

AKRON/FAMILY


Through the ringing in my ears I've realized something--It's ALL about Akron/Family.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Safe as Milk (1967)

Psychedelic delta blues art rock. I feel like I'm in the sixties rolling in the mud with rainbow colored skies swirling above me. This was Beefheart's debut album, and I think the fact that he is a monumental creative force and unquestionably influential figure in the world of rock is pretty damn clear upon your first trip through this album. Just check out that bassline on 'Zig Zag Wanderer', GOD DAMN! This shit is an all-around asskicking experience for your body, mind and soul. Get DOWN.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (1991)




My desert island album. This is by far one of the most intense and cerebral albums I have ever come across. It is a nonstop psychedelic powerhouse. Beautiful indie pop songs buried in a sea of swirling, crushing guitar distortion and cooing vocals. I feel like I am sleeping on pink clouds when I listen to this shit. This is most definitely one of those albums that you want to sit down and listen to all the way through. I see it less as a compilation of eleven great songs, but more of a 45-minute sonic soul adventure. 'To Here Knows When' is a personal highlight for me, where all the instruments and sounds blend so perfectly together into a swirling, trippy, acid haze of a pop song. I'll be honest this is not social music. I like to put this on and completely withdraw and disconnect myself from everything, everyone. The ecstasy that this music makes you feel is that sensation of feeling completely adrift, gone, lost. It's hypnotic and mesmerizing, and it is the indie rock, dream pop, psychedelic rock Holy Grail.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Lotus Plaza - The Floodlight Collective (2009)




I've been really loving this one for the past few nights. Lotus Plaza is the side-project of the Deerhunter guitarist Lockett Pundt, and if you listen to Deerhunter, you will hear the similarities immediately. The album to me sounds just like the way the cover looks, like you're remembering some happy childhood memory but it's all a bit hazy and glowing, and time has slowly started to wash away those little details. This album is excellent. Every song flows together into a colorful psychedelic haze with beautiful melodies and endless layers of reverbed guitars and vocals. I think the influence of artists like My Bloody Valentine, Stereolab, and Brian Eno are very much present throughout the album. If you're into stuff like that as much as I am, I'm pretty damn sure you'll dig this. I really love the way all these songs manifest themselves and develop. They usually start with one main idea that endlessly repeats itself hypnotically, continuosly building in sound and energy, spiraling up and up into a rainbow colored sky. I can feel time stretching out to eternity when I listen to some of these tunes, simply because of the way that they are constructed. And it's awesome. If you are feeling particularly thoughtful or reflective tonight, throw this on and let yourself drift into a dream. Dis shit feels good mang. Schwa

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Ween - Chocolate and Cheese (1994)



From the sublime to the sublimely ridiculous. This is the greatest band on God's green Earth. But seriously, Ween has had an invaluable impact on my life and I think if you haven't listened to them, you are deprived of one the greatest things to ever happen to music since the cavemen started pounding their heads on the rocks. You may find them strange and bizarre, but the fact of the matter is, their music is the pinnacle of absurdist pop. No genre of pop music is safe from Ween's omnipresent musicality. Ween is straight up genius. Every song is a gem, every song is completely hysterical, and every song is so excellently constructed and well put together. What it comes down to for me is that Ween just makes you feel good. They make music that you love, by making fun and essentially reinventing the music you love. They'll make you laugh, and they'll make you cry, and they'll try your patience, but every second spent with Ween is a second well spent. Even though every album of theirs is different and unique, Chocolate and Cheese is definitely the most focused and is the perfect dive-in point for anyone new to their music. The joy is infectious. Let their ecstatically twisted music into your life and I promise you will start to feel the results. Long Live Boognish.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - Six Suites for Solo Cello (1717-1723), played by Pierre Fournier



The heaviest of the heavy. The Six Solo Cello Suites are are a landmark musical creation, and I consider them to be among mankind's most inspired artistic achievements. Every movement is a journey of the soul, every minute that I listen to this music I can feel my mind slowly expanding and growing along with the flowing, endless counterpoint. I think I love this music so much because I truly don't understand it. I will spend my whole life playing and studying these pieces, and I know that as time goes on I will only have a heightened awareness of their mystery. Listening to this music, playing this music, just being around it in any way is a mystical experience. It is purifying sound. It reaches down into the depths of my spiritual being and fills my life with meaning. Its fucking mind blowing, MAN. Fournier is also a god. Go there.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto - Getz/Gilberto (1963)



An instant double shot of 'feel-good'. I hit play and all of a sudden I'm on a white shore, with a spliff in one hand, tequila in the other, and a supermodel on my arm. This is without a doubt this is one of the most classic albums of all time, of any genre, of any time period. The songs are all very subtle and sophisticated, but they are all executed with a grace and ease that is truly mindblowing. Everything about this is Smooooooooooooooooth..............

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Loscil - Submers (2002)




This is like entering a dream. This is some really fucking cool ambient music, really spare, really soft, fluid. It's like being submerged in some sort of blue gel. It is definitely very cerebral, and it is a journey into the subconscious. Don't be looking for hooks, don't be looking for beats, but absorb yourself into the soundworld, and let yourself be consumed in the atmopshere. If you drift off to sleep, thats totally cool because just on the edge of sleep is when I think this music is most effective. space out

Friday, September 4, 2009

Rephrase - Swaps (2008)




AWWWWWW SHEEEEEEET YEAH ITS FRIDAY AND ITS TIME TO PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Throw this shit down and you'll have everybody getting down and having a good time. Two CD's worth of funky fat fresh beats, remixed by Rephrase and other DJ's. Dig it.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Serge Gainsbourg - Initials SG (2003)



Probably the best greatest hits compilation of one of the coolest mother fuckers to ever live. This is the sexiest French music you can find anywhere. Gainsbourg is one of the best genre hoppers of all time, and with one quick trip through this compilation you will find it immediately apparent. He effortlessly blends jazz, smokey-blues, world, pop, pyschedelia, reggae, and any sort of style he feels like exploring, all done in the most drunkenly suave way. The man was a walking scandal--the song 'Je t'aime....moi non plus' was a number 1 hit in the UK in 1968 and featured a recorded orgasm of his lover Jane Birkin. His music was banned in many countries and the Vatican made a public statement denouncing the song. All in all, the man was a poet and genius, and has been cited by many musicians as a major influence. He is a hero to me. Listen to his music, he holds the key to your heart. l'amour


Wednesday, September 2, 2009

ALASKAS - Set Yourself Free (2009)



Woah. WOAAAAAAAH. I am listening to this right now the first time through and I am a little bit blown away. This is a 25 minute sonic whirlwind. Its like a really aggressive, powerful, intense, and loud Panda Bear or something. Unlike Panda Bear who creates long, swirling, unfolding cosmic jams, ALASKAS songs are sharp as a knife. They submerge you in an altered state of rhythms and swirling hymn-like vocals that sound like they are bubbling up from the center of the earth. If you like mesmerizing rhythms of Animal Collective and Panda Bear, and if you like visceral noise jams, you really might want to give this a listen. I'll warn you though, this shit is LOUD. I'm definitely going to be checking back in with this one. poop

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Highfives and Handshakes Records

The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat (1968)



Now before you get lulled to sleep by The Velvet Undergrounds' self titled album, here's your wake up call. Of all the loud, abrasive, violent, drugged out, fucked up, ear splitting rock albums ever made, there is one that towers above all the rest, and it is this album. This is the noise rock rule book. There are no rules. This is completely insane. I'll be honest its not an easy listen, and if you're looking to sit back and chill out, this is not quite what you are looking for. This is 40 minutes of intense, disturbing, avant garde rock and roll. I think I love this album so much partly due to that fact that no one living in 1968 would have even kind of been ready for this shit. It's 2009 and I'm still breaking out in cold sweats. This record sounds so fresh and in your face it could have been recorded yesterday, but its 41 years old, and that is a true accomplishment. Can you tell I'm on a Velvet Underground kick right now? CrAAAAANK it up and get your musical brain aneurysm for the day here.

Silje Nes - Ames Room (2007)



So this is my new favorite Sunday morning album. It's great for any time of day, any day of the week, but especially then I guess. Silje Nes is a really really pretty Norwegian girl, and this album is full of beautiful melodies delivered in her sexy dreamy whispering voice, with a lot of gently strummed guitars, chill electronics, and a giant list of bizarre and obscure instruments. This is really some amazing stuff. On every track, she creates a musical fabric that is so lovingly crafted and delicate to the point that every time a new instrument enters the mix, it truly is a special moment. The entire album is just super well put together and every sound and note serves a very specific and magical purpose. A lot of these songs are basically bedroom pop I guess, but I think experimental composition is probably closer to the mark. The first track, 'Over All', is a great example. The song is basically a chill little folk pop tune, but on a closer listen, you'll notice that it's full of surprising dissonances and its just really strange music over all. Or if you want youre daily dose of fairy dreamland jangly indie pop, check out 'Dizzy Street'. It's such a cool listen. If you're into bands like Mum, or any sort of folk pop electronic experimental music, this is definitely worth your while. check it OWT

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

The Velvet Underground - s/t (1969)




Probably the greatest rock band to ever exist. Popular music would be a lost, hopeless mess without them. This album is something beyond words for me. Every song is so beautiful, so sincere, so restrained. I think some of the most perfectly crafted rock songs that have ever been created are on this album. Yeah, there is really nothing for me to say about this. You just have to hear it. And hang tight because im going to be posting their other albums as well because all four of them are equally important and miraculous. diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig