Noodle Salad

Brian Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets (1974)

2010-05-19T12:15:00.001-04:00

Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92

2010-05-14T12:29:00.002-04:00

Staying very much in the electronic vein here. These are some of my oldest and dearest electronic jams. hypnotic and introspective.

check it

Autechre - Oversteps (2010)

2010-05-09T14:35:00.002-04:00

WOAH, I still have a blog? sweet. Anyways I just heard this new Autechre album today. I was a little bit confused the first time through, but after the second listen I found myself liking it more. It is a very dense and abstract piece so one should not expect to be enthralled and completely won over the first way through. It is quiter, and less beat oriented than other work of theirs that I have heard. I get a real sense of introspection from the album, there is a feeling of inner journey and reflection to it. but yeah totally check it out they have some cool sounds and textures going on here. its icy

boom

Daturah - Daturah (2005)

2010-02-27T18:28:00.002-05:00

Some of the dankest post rock i've ever come across. three tracks, each of them completely epic and beautiful. this record is truly a trip as the name suggests.

check it out

Papercuts - You Can Have What You Want (2009)

2010-02-27T12:55:00.002-05:00

Really nice smooth milky indie dream music thats perfect for a saturday morning when there are mountains of snow all around.

listen

John Cage - Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano (1948)

2010-02-23T23:21:00.005-05:00

OHHHH MAN. The piano reinvented. So mind-bendingly original and influential. A little history for you from allmusic:

"Students of music history have probably seen photographs of pianos fitted by Cage with all sorts of foreign objects -- bits of rubber stuffed between strings, hammers fitted with tacks, perhaps even a wooden spoon poking out from the instrument's entrails at an odd angle. The so-called prepared piano, for which the Sonatas and Interludes are composed, provides the means by which a single instrument is able to evoke a wide variety of colors, timbres, and textures...The sound is immediately engaging, and because of the differences between various pianos and the numerous varieties of weather stripping, thumb tacks, and wooden spoons available, each performance or recording is distinct. The work conjures a world of sound that is variously serene, haunting, percussive, and surreal...Each movement examines a particular emotion, with a palette drawn from the Indian tradition that includes heroism, eroticism, wonder, mirth, sorrow, fear, anger, and tranquility."

This music is a head trip of serious intensity. Very exotic, very otherwordly, sometimes beautiful, sometimes frightening, sometimes funkalicious, but always--as allmusic says--surreal. Feast your ears on this shit and feel these unearthly noises resound in your soul. Awesome. This dank performance is brought to you by Maro Ajemian, who premiered the work and to whom it is dedicated.

check it

Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children (1998)

2010-02-02T22:57:00.002-05:00

I've been totally obsessed with this for the past few days. Deeply beautiful, haunting, disturbing, powerful, fragile. Every song is so simple and moving, and it is a damn near perfect essay of electronic music in my opinion. Cerebral. Behold the primal power of the beat.

check it

Gkfoes Vjgoaf - Magic Days (2009)

2010-01-24T20:23:00.002-05:00

Got this recently off weedtemple i believe. I wasnt really expecting much but I cant stop listening to it. The fidelity is low but the feeling is hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh. Some of the tracks are very beautiful with droning guitars and chimes and bells with no lack of wierdness. I totally recommend this and look forward to getting more acquainted with this album and his others. You can get them all off his myspace.

space out

Scientist - Scientist Rids the World of the Evil Curse of the Vampires (1981)

2010-01-11T12:32:00.002-05:00

awwwwwwwwwwwwwww ye. chill

Grizzly Bear - Vekatimest (2009)

2010-01-10T12:25:00.004-05:00

One of my favorites of '09. Its just such sublime pop music, I think its irresistible. veckatimesatiastkied

Ween - The Pod (1991)

2010-01-09T14:18:00.003-05:00

Mankind's brownest record. Doctor Rock

Sigur Ros - Takk... (2005)

2010-01-04T01:17:00.002-05:00

Another one of my favorites. There's a lot of shit you can say about this bands' sound but after seeing them live it really goes deeper than just words. If you're in the zone, this album is an enveloping and intense musical experience. i think. sorry i don't mean to get all lame on you but its the truth, this band definitely has got some serious energy behind it and it is definitely some powerful stuff.

i need to visit iceland.

Deerhoof - Milk Man (2004)

2009-12-27T01:59:00.002-05:00

Life changing. Ill stake my life on it, im pretty sure Deerhoof is the best band of the past 10 years.

giga dance

Public Image Limited - Metal Box (1979)

2009-12-26T02:48:00.003-05:00

Well, I am completely loving this record right now. Bass sounds deeper than the ocean, brutally tight drumming, savage guitar playing sharp as knives--all creating a disturbingly groovy altar of sound for Johnny Lydon's anguished rant/singing. This is definitely avant-garde post-punk in its most twisted and intense form. Dig it.

And while we're at it - here's First Issue from 1979. Also a killer album, and my very first introduction to the band and it blew my mind. jamsassasasassmssss.

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) - Vignt Regards sur l'enfant Jesus (1944)

2009-12-24T23:34:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas!!!!! My favorite version of the nativity story. Super heavy ultra cosmic revelatory piano playing. This piece is too deep and I dont know how to put it into words but I like how allmusic does:

Olivier Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jésus (20 Contemplations of the Infant Jesus) are a towering specimen of twentieth century pianism. The work lasts more than two hours on those rare occasions when performed -- as Messiaen intended the pieces to be -- as a complete cycle. Written in 1944 and premiered the following year by Messiaen's wife Yvonne Loriod, whose masterful early performances and recordings of Messiaen's piano works did tremendous amount to bring his music to a wider audience in the 1950s and 1960s, the Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jésus plunge into the raw depths of Messiaen's Christian faith; the scintillating and frighteningly (but exhilaratingly) virtuosic fast movements prove once again how primal and joyful Messiaen's religion was to him, and the slow movements touch the sublime in ways that perhaps no composer of Western sacred or sacred-inspired music since J.S. Bach has managed with quite the same steadfast selflessness.

In this composition Messiaen created perhaps the quintessential twentieth century Christmas suite for piano. In it, he contemplates virtually all the figures associated with the story of the Nativity, and with many of the theological implications of the same event. Some of the movements are tender; others are full of roaring power, as Messiaen turns his attention to cosmic implications.

The Vingt Regards are brilliantly chromatic music; the work is, for many, the high point of Messiaen's so-called early period (which is usually considered to have ended with the Turangalîla-symphonie of 1946-1948). A number of symbolic musical motives appear throughout the score, creating a basic-level cyclicism; the most important of these is the God theme that we first hear in the very slow No. 1 "Regard du Père" and which then returns to prominence every few movements -- specifically, every five. The Vingt Regards are built as four groups of five pieces, but there are many other numerological schemes employed that overlap with that basic pentastyle design -- Messiaen himself explained some of these meaningful uses of number in a preface to the score. The score falls into two halves, the first of which features the electrifying fugal outburst of No. 6, "Par Lui tout a été fait," and the second of which concludes with the magnificent musical and spiritual peroration of No. 20, "Regard de l'église d'amour" -- a true peroration that recalls and reshapes many of the events of the past two hours, and music of extraordinary power.

And sorry for ignoring the shit out of my blog, ill try and start posting shit again.

Disc 1

No. 1, Regard du Pere
No. 2, Regard de l'etoile
No. 3, L'echange
No. 4, Regard de la Vierge
No. 5, Regard du fils sur le fils
No. 6, Par lui tout a ete fait
No. 7, Regard de la Croix
No. 8, Regard des hauteurs
No. 9, Regard du temps
No. 10, Regard de l'Esprit de joie
No. 11, Premiere communion de la Vierge

Disc 2

No. 12, La parole toute-puissante
No. 13, Noel
No. 14, Regard des anges
No. 15, Le baiser de l'Enfant-Jesus
No. 16, Regard des prophetes, des bergers et des mages
No. 17, Regard du silence
No. 18, Regard de l'onction terrible
No. 19, Je dors, mais mon coeur veille
No. 20, Regard de l'eglise d'amour

hello hello

2009-12-09T00:04:00.002-05:00

hey sorry my blog is dead right now...my free time has dwindled to a miserable nothing and i can hardly even sit down for a while and just listen to some jams but yeah. more posts after next week when the semester is over and i can chill a bit.

V/A - New York Noise, Vol.2: Music From the New York Underground, 1977-1984

2009-11-29T14:20:00.004-05:00

Picked this up yesterday, and it is beyond cool. A smoldering hot cauldron of afro-beats, funk, punk, jazz, avant-garde composition, disco, new wave, no wave all thrown together in a most chaotic, noisy and awesome way. Really exciting stuff from a very special, unique, and bizarre art scene. check it out.

The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds (1966)

2009-11-27T00:14:00.002-05:00

While we're on the subject of ultra-classic rock albums....HAPPY THANKSGIVING! right now im giving thanks to 1966, because holy shit it was a good year for music wasnt it? On any given day over this past summer you could have found me crusin in my blue minivan with the beautiful jams of Pet Sounds blaring. I mean, these songs are nothing short of life changing, some of the most perfect pop songs ever period end of story. I think most of the independent music scene right now is obsessed with trying to recapture this sound. this is the sound of sounds but you all obviously know that blah blah blah.......fuck it

The Beatles - Revolver (1966)

2009-11-25T22:07:00.002-05:00

duh.

Surfer Blood - Astrocoast

2009-11-24T19:45:00.002-05:00

This is all over the place right now. This is some seriously infectious and fun indie rock and I kind of hate how much I like it. I mean its nothing too deep or anything but it is just a real good time and I can't deny that. If you need to get in your daily quota of head bobbing jams check dis out.

Igor Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring (1913)

2009-11-22T23:50:00.003-05:00

Killer record. Hear rhythm and sound color like you have never heard it before. The Rite of Spring completely altered my conception of how music could feel and move. It is pure rhythmic tribal savagery and if you haven't heard it you really need to at least check it out. It may be the most important piece of (orchestral) music ever. And the bonus Scraibin tone poem is some old skool psychedelia and is a mind-blowing piece. if you only download one thing from my blog ever make it this one.

Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind EP (2009)

2009-11-22T21:26:00.002-05:00

Well, I couldn't NOT post it. I really like it. Seems to have all the best aspects of the newer and older sounds, and I think they recapture some of the experimentalism and weirdness that makes them so unique that I think they strayed from on MPP. listen

The Angels of Light - The Angels of Light Sing Other People (2005)

2009-11-22T17:52:00.002-05:00

Really sweet album from Michael Gira and company. Full of beautiful stories and entrancing sounds. The songs are all mostly calm and acoustic, but with much creative orchestration and construction. Haven't heard it in a long, long time and it goes perfectly with the cold winter. listen.

Ghana Special (2009)

2009-11-19T21:41:00.005-05:00

Hi, my name is Tristan and I'm addicted to Ghana Special. do it.

The Octopus Project/Black Moth Super Rainbow - The House of Apples and Eyeballs (2006)

2009-11-17T19:27:00.003-05:00

HOW WHY THE HELL IS THIS THE FIRST TIME IVE HEARD THIS WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME. what a fuckin delightfully tripped out record. A+. listen

Atlas Sound - Logos (2009)

2009-11-17T17:55:00.002-05:00

Super cool new album from the skinny frontman of Deerhunter. I love how all the Deerhunter and Deerhunter-related projects are fucking amazing. I think this is one of the more interesting things to come out this year. The sound of the album is so cool--a couple of layers of acoustic guitars, a couple of layers of vocals, some chilled out percussion and occasional drum set, and the occasional synthetic soundscape for dramatic effect. Its very spare and very well controlled and very worth your time. listen

COOL

2009-11-12T22:23:00.003-05:00

Record Club: Skip Spence "Little Hands" from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking (1988)

2009-11-12T21:13:00.003-05:00

I guess I'm in a mood so im going to post this. I still love this album but it was my high-school self's sacred book of wisdom. i definitely dont listen to much music like this at all anymore but they have got to be one of the most mystical and creative hard rock bands ever. Unfortunately in more recent years they dont really come off that way:

but they definitely were cool when they were younger:

Perry Farrell I think is one of the most powerful and influential musical forces in the past 20 years, not only as a singer and musician, but as a thinker and impresario too. This band to me was on a different level creatively than anyone else in that time or genre, and the music to me sounds like it is exploding with a wild, reckless, shamanic, and above all, honest creative spirit. No one says 'fuck the world' quite as beautifully and gracefully as Jane's Addiction. Whatever I just think they're underrated. If you haven't heard this listen

And while we're at it--their other masterpiece.

Listen Listen

Talking Heads - Remain in Light (1980)

2009-11-10T18:33:00.002-05:00

CLAAAAAAAAAAAASIC!!!!! listen

Real Estate - Real Estate (2009)

2009-11-05T22:45:00.002-05:00

Wow, I love this album. It's carefree chillness and nonstop smooth vibe are just hitting me so good right now. It will remind you of the lazy hazy summers and the good sunny days and the warmth. This album has no agenda, not even the slightest hint of agitation or ill will. The dude from Ducktails plays guitar in this band and you can definitely hear the influence and it is so great. They sound a little bit like Woodsist-label bros Ganglians at their chillest, and sometimes like the slower Grizzly Bear jams but more honest and down-to-earth. It seems like people are comparing them also to Girls, which I guess makes sense except for the fact that this band is sweet and Girls are shit. But I guess thats just me? Anyways, I'm looking forward to getting to know this album better and you should too. Check it.

Liars - They Were Wrong, So We Drowned (2004)

2009-11-03T17:51:00.002-05:00

SUCH a sweet album. I think I heard this back when it came out a few years ago, and as a youngster of fourteen fresh into high school, it scared me shitless. It is a like a dance party straight out of your worst subconscious nightmare. The mood is one of relentless suffocating terror, dread, and paranoia--and it is a trip of the most intense kind. I know I'm a few days late but this is the PERFECT Halloween album. Drones, drums, tolling electronic bells that sound like a death knell. Totally recommend this. We are the army you see through the red haze of blood.

Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs (2009)

2009-11-02T21:16:00.002-05:00

My computer is fixed and my music isn't lost YES! And just as a warning, my posts are going to start getting pretty half-assed because my free time is starting to seriously dwindle, so yeah. But I'm totally digging this new Yo La Tengo album. "Avalon or Someone Very Similar" is a beautiful Stereolabby jam and just a blazin song. Loving the low, moody, electro of "By Two's", which explodes nicely into the thrusting fuzzness of "Nothing to Hide". And Ho-shit the holy ghost of The Beatles makes an appearence on "Periodically Triple or Double". They have me totally on board, this is for sure a notable 2009 release. SOLID.

OW

2009-10-28T16:47:00.001-04:00

I guess my computer got hit by a pretty dank virus last night...........soooooooooooooooooo yeah. fuck

Woods - Songs of Shame (2009)

2009-10-27T23:07:00.003-04:00

How about something a little bit lighter. I think Woods is one of the best bands on the New York lo-fi freak psych label Woodsist. If you listen to this, I think you will agree. These guys really took me off guard at first and it took me at least a month to really let their sound to sink in. They are definitely in the lo-fi folk campfire wierdo vein, but their sound is very strange to me--"skeletal psychedelia" as the woodsist label says. The singers distant and reedy voice also had a lot to do with my initial shock, but it really grew on me with some time. This is for sure one fantastic album with some really killin jams on it. Probably the standout moment for me is 'Gyspy Hand' which almost sounds like if you played a Velvet Underground LP at 45rpm. It's a brisk folk jam with some beautiful soaring vocal harmonies that crescendo in a wild psyched out noisy dueling guitar jam session. FANFUCKINTASTIC SONG! If you find it odd at first, dont throw it away, give it some time, give it some space, and I'm sure you will find it odd and delightful soon enough. listen

Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 9 (1909)

2009-10-25T20:39:00.002-04:00

Time to drop some of the heaviest sounds I know of. This is one of my favorite symphonies, and it is some seriously black music. Every second of the piece is infatuated with the thought of death--it is full of irony, violence, tragedy, nostalgia. It is a deep meditation on the passing of life by a powerful mind who was about to die himself. It is relentless in intensity, and it is inescapably grim and beautiful. listen.

Os Mutantes - Os Mutantes (1968)

2009-10-21T23:24:00.002-04:00

Classic Brazilian lysergic pop insanity. Recommended for all humans.

Frog Eyes - Tears of the Valedictorian (2007)

2009-10-19T23:16:00.002-04:00

Killer album from an awesome band. Disorienting, manic psychedelic indie rock music. The songs all seem to sit right on the edge of euphoria just before plunging into total schizophrenic breakdown. JJJJJJJJJJJJust listen to it. love it

Fuck Buttons - Surf Solar (2009)

2009-10-18T22:22:00.002-04:00

Had not heard of these guys before about a week ago which is a bummer because this is pretty sweet. Its like total spaceship take-off music. Soaring, neon colored sheets of electronic noise flying high in the atmosphere above thumping, propulsive drumbeats. There are seven long songs, but the album really plays more like one hour long entrancing cosmic jam sesh. I'm really digging it so far. I totally recommend this if you are into the newer Animal Collective and Black Dice music, or if you were wondering what Dan Deacon's music sounds like when played at half-speed. The feeling is out-of-body bliss. Great band name. Also, I think it deserves special mentioning that there is a song on here named after the coolest roller coaster ever--Space Mountain. JAMALAM.

Fall Break

2009-10-14T18:49:00.003-04:00

Sooooo, I'm going home for fall break and I'm leaving my computer so no posts for the weekend...BUT before I go here are a few good autumnal albums that are perfect for this moody, contemplative time of the year.

Elliott Smith - Elliott Smith (1995)

This one completely blew my mind when I first heard it. It was almost too intense back in Freshman year of high school, and it immediately became one of my favorites. It remains to this day a very powerful album to me--its sadness and beauty have never ceased to get under my skin. Its almost sounds as if the Beatles made an acoustic album that was darker, angrier, sadder, starker, more intense, and more beautiful than anything they had ever made before. I'm guessing most people have heard this, but if you haven't, now may be the perfect time. Listen

Panda Bear - Person Pitch (2007)

One of my favorite space-out albums. Beautiful, heavenly cosmic jams that sometimes I wish would go on for eternity. Nostalgic, reflective, ecstatic, and lonely music. Listen

Skip Spence - Oar (1969)

The stunning and moving statement of a fragile, brilliant, and damaged mind. The story goes that Spence spent six months in a psych-ward after spinning out on LSD and trying to chop down his bandmates' hotel room door. Upon his release from Bellevue (where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia) he hopped on a motorcycle in his pajamas and drove to Nashville, and recorded this album, completely solo. It is one of the most incredible, heart-wrenching albums I know of. You need this one.

Beck - Sea Change (2002)

I know I just posted Beck, but I really can't leave this one out. Seriously. Saddest album ever? Just about.

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) - 4 ballades Op.10, 2 Rhapsodies Op.79, 10 Intermezzi

Brahms is the ultimate autumnal master, and Glenn Gould would have to be his painfully introverted and equally autumnal modern counterpart. They meet in time and space on this album and the result is mindblowing. The ballades and rhapsodies are awesome, but if you want to get to the heart of it, the REAL deep shit, go straight to the intermezzi and prepare yourself for some seriously revelatory moments. check it

Jelly Roll Morton - The Piano Rolls

2009-10-11T20:37:00.003-04:00

.............And all of a sudden I'm having a knee-slappin' jumpin up and down good time. These piano rolls are from 1924 and are captured MAGNIFICENTLY on this disc. Incredibly clear and alive sounding...almost as if the man himself were right there blowin your mind just for you. This music feels so good--it is all at once simple at its core, yet endlessly complex and virtuosic. Its very rare that you get music that mixes all of this, while being incredibly fun and easy to listen to. He is the self proclaimed "inventor of jazz", and despite him being insanely pompous, his proclomations are not too far off. It really slays me everytime I listen to it, because this grooves just as hard, if not harder, than anything I know of. Enough already. I don't like to make promises, but I PROMISE you, that if you listen to this, your day will be substatially improved had you not heard it. Go ahead, throw that smile on.

Abe Vigoda - Skeletons (2008)

2009-10-11T00:50:00.002-04:00

Heard this today and I love it. Animal Collective and Deerhoof go down to Brazil and party it up at Carnaval. This is what I dream that jam session would have sounded like. It's a little bit more like my high-school taste than most things, but whaaat the fuck EVER. Thumbs Up.

Claude Debussy - La Mer, Prelude a l'Apres midi d'un faune -- Maurice Ravel - Daphnis et Chloe, Pavane

2009-10-06T20:00:00.003-04:00

Some of my all-time favorite shit right here. If you take a listen, I'm sure you will agree with me that psychedelic and ambient music owes quite a bit of their sound and ideas to these 20th century Frenchmen. This music is all about color, light, translucent textures, subtlety, atmosphere. It will show you vibrant hues of pink, purple, yellow, blue-orange, and green. This music is absolutely mystical and words are a pathetic understatement to its power and ecstasy. If classical music isn't really your bag--or even if it is--you should forget everything you know and let this music come over you with open ears and open heart, and I can almost guarantee you that you will be amazed and deeply moved. Experiencing this music is like drifting into a euphoric dream, and I do not exaggerate this. Everything about it is unreal. CHECK IT.

It kinda sounds like this:

and this

Animal Collective - Sung Tongs (2004)

2009-10-05T23:45:00.002-04:00

Without a doubt this is one of the most tripped out, mind-altering pieces of music I know of. I can still vividly remember the first time I heard 'The Softest Voice" come trickling out of the speakers, feeling as if I was blowing away in the wind. This is euphoric and disembodying music. This album is full of character and spirit, using mostly acoustic guitars and percussion instruments. It is an acid-drenched campfire. In my opinion, this is one of the most unique and special albums of the 21st century. LISTEN.

Monks of Sherab Ling Monastery - Sacred Tibetan Chant (2003)

2009-10-04T16:44:00.002-04:00

lose yourself in it

Miles Davis - On The Corner (1972)

2009-10-02T01:16:00.002-04:00

On The Corner is the most intensely hypnotic, fiendishly otherwordly, funked up jam I know. Funkajazzadelica from Neptune--or maybe the center of the earth--i dont really know whats going on right now...its like that or whatever or i forget yeah listen to this.

Lou Barlow - Goodnight Unknown (2009)

2009-09-29T20:02:00.002-04:00

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.

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

2009-09-27T21:59:00.003-04:00

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)

2009-09-27T21:25:00.004-04:00

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

Kurt Vile - Childish Prodigy (2009)

2009-09-24T10:21:00.002-04:00

FUCK. YEAH. This is Kurt Vile's new album coming out on October 6th on Matador. And god damn it is amazing. My impression so far is that this album absolutely blows away just about everything that has come out this year thus far. Impressions aren't always right, but thats where Im at right now. I don't really know how to describe it, its kind of like some super psyched-out lo-fi 70's blues folk rock? maybe? beats me. its pretty wild and every song is fantastic. I really like how he doesn't stick to one style or mood throughout the album but touches on all sorts of different headspaces. There's some out-of-control psych-garagebandy jamming going on on the opening track, and the pulsing, trance-inducing "Freak Train". But there also these eerie reverb washed nocturnes like "Dead Alive" and "Heart Attack". Vile obviously has some serious brilliance to him, and his music is for some reason so familiar yet at the same time I'm completely at a loss for words and can't even begin to express what is going on in this album. You really need to hear this it's clearly one of the best things I've come across this year. jams.

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

2009-09-23T23:36:00.002-04:00

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)

2009-09-23T10:10:00.002-04:00

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.

AKRON/FAMILY

2009-09-17T01:10:00.003-04:00

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

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

2009-09-15T00:15:00.003-04:00

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.

My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (1991)

2009-09-13T14:50:00.003-04:00

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.

Lotus Plaza - The Floodlight Collective (2009)

2009-09-12T18:44:00.003-04:00

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

Ween - Chocolate and Cheese (1994)

2009-09-10T22:06:00.004-04:00

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.

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

2009-09-09T19:05:00.003-04:00

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.

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

2009-09-07T12:02:00.003-04:00

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..............

Loscil - Submers (2002)

2009-09-06T17:37:00.003-04:00

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

Rephrase - Swaps (2008)

2009-09-04T20:08:00.003-04:00

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.

Serge Gainsbourg - Initials SG (2003)

2009-09-03T18:49:00.003-04:00

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

ALASKAS - Set Yourself Free (2009)

2009-09-02T21:00:00.003-04:00

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

Myspace

Highfives and Handshakes Records

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

2009-09-02T20:11:00.002-04:00

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)

2009-09-02T18:39:00.002-04:00

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

The Velvet Underground - s/t (1969)

2009-09-01T00:14:00.003-04:00

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

RUBBLEBUCKET ORCHESTRA

2009-08-31T22:52:00.006-04:00

I had the pleasure of seeing this phenomenal band on Friday night, and for the fourth or fifth time now, I got my mind blown. What really fucks me up is how every time I see them they are a mIIIILLION times better than the last time I saw them. They have a new album coming out in October, and i think they are poised for success on a big big scale. They've been touring extensively and are really kicking shit into high gear. I fucked up my neck so bad from rocking out so hard. When they play live, it is a primal experience of the most intense kind. Their horn players have a sound so thick and huge that comes down on you like electric sheets of brilliant colors. The rhythm section grooves so hard I found myself slipping into unconctrollable fits of ecstasy. I ask myself, how is it possible that they jam so many styles, vibes, and energies together without the sound getting gimmicky or sloppy or overcooked? I hear fela kuti, i hear radiohead, i hear bjork, i hear talking heads, i hear deerhoof, i hear too many things to even begin to wrap my mind around it. i hear Rock, pop, heavy funk, afro beat, psychedelia, electronica, minimalism, all focused into explosive, creative, well written, mesmerizing songs. Sound like too much? One thing too many going on? Fuck no. Its a new genre and its called Rubblebucket. Wander over there for a few minutes and I guaruntee you will find your time is rewarded with musical joy. Remember the name, because youre going to be seeing it around.

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) - Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 5 (1830)

2009-08-30T21:37:00.003-04:00

This piece is a total trip. It hit the streets in 1830, only 3 years after the death of Beethoven, and it was truly ahead of its time. I'm pretty sure this is one of the first pieces of straight up balls to the wall romanticism ever. It's all about falling insanely in love, going to wild parties, smoking opium, getting fucked up, wierd ass witch orgies, and just being nuts in general. Berlioz rewrote the rule book with this piece and completely blew away conventions about rhythm, harmony, color, blah blah blah. Its off the wall and you should check it out. This performance is by the fucking insane legendary conductor Georg Solti, who was one seriously nuts Hungarian dude. listen listen

Here's a cool video about Solti being crazy. It's full of old people being old too.

Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms EP (2009)

2009-08-30T20:14:00.002-04:00

Miami Vice throwback fuzzed out psychedelic electro lo-fi pop goodness. I wish I heard 'Deadbeat Summer' sooner because it would have been my summer anthem. 'Should have taken acid with you' is also one of the coolest little pop songs i've heard in a while. This is nothing really too deep but its really fucking cool. jams

HEALTH - Get Color

2009-08-28T19:15:00.003-04:00

So I just heard this today and its fucking amazing. It coming out in September on Lovepump United. Its like a Gang Gang Dance-Black Dice jam session at a sacrifice in the jungle. I highly highly recommend this. get ready its heady

Girls - Album (2009)

2009-08-28T16:02:00.006-04:00

Yeah, so it seems like some people are totally losing their shit over this new Girls album. I think its pretty cool but I guess I'm still kind of on the fence about it. I like how the sound builds and builds on 'Hellhole Ratrace', 'Big Bad Mean Mother Fucker' seems a little gimmicky to me though. I dunno. There are definitely some interesting sounds going on but some of it sounds cheesy and weak to me, but definitely worth a look see. Check it out for youself.

Black Moth Super Rainbow - Eating Us

2009-08-27T23:37:00.002-04:00

These guys are fairly new to me, but they have quickly become one of my favorites.Their newest album, Eating Us, is totally kickass and shows the band taking an interesting new direction. It was produced by Dave Friedmann, who incidentally produced The Flaming Lips’ Soft Bulletin, and there are definitely parallels between these two pieces. What struck me right off the bat was how far they have expanded their sonic palate from their past releases. The album is very well produced and has a bit of a sheen to it which is in direct contrast with their earlier sound which was a bit more lo-fi and scuzzed out. Both sounds have their pros and cons but the way this new album sounds to me completely opens up a new level of complexity and color. As for the songs themselves, I think the band is taking more chances than ever, and it comes off very well. The melodies are stranger and full of odd contours, and they have added a prominent string section to several of the tracks. The symphonic aspect of some of these tunes adds a wholly new and intriguing angle on their potent brew of freak-psych-sunshine-dream-noise-pop. It’s like eating a Reese’s cup on Halloween and an hour later wondering if maybe something a little extra had been dripped onto your delicious chocolate treat. It’s sweet. It’s sour. It’s tangy. It’s trippy. It’s fucking awesome.

The Flaming Lips - Transmissions from the Satellite Heart

2009-08-27T22:55:00.000-04:00

This is a brand new discovery for me and holy fuck am I glad I finally got around to checking it out. I think it’s been a while since I’ve heard an album that is so psychy and fuzzed up yet still so full of tasty pop gems. It is so whimsical and exploding with pure joy I don’t know if I can even handle it sometimes. The second track, Pilot Can at the Queer of God, makes me feel like I’m drunk and doing cartwheels on Mars. Coyne’s bizarre lyrics remind me of Beck’s surrealism and Ween’s off the wall humor, and his words are just so fun to listen to like on “She Don’t Use Jelly”. I am especially digging how friendly and familiar all the songs feel, yet there is still definitely this intense undercurrent of sonic experimentation and psychedelic weirdness. I highly recommend this album to anyone who is into great songs, bubblegum melodies, and weird psychedelic noise-freak outs all mashed up together. Similar bands I think would be shit like Mercury Rev, Ween, Pixies, Beck, etc.

P.S. Theres a link in the comment box

Hell Yeah

2009-08-27T22:20:00.001-04:00

Hello my people, my name is Tristan and this is my lame ass blog. I am a cello student studying music at Ithaca College. I am also a guitarist and a general music fiend. I'm completely new to this blogging shit so it will take me some time to get this really happening. My goal for this site is to post some of my favorite music because you can never have too much of that right right? I am going to try and wade through all the music that has been piling up on my hard drive and bring it right to YO FACE with rapidshare links and probs a short little rant about the album to steer you in the right direction. I plan to be sharing all sorts of music from the new to the old, to the very new and very old, and from all sorts of genres and styles. Who knows, maybe if I can get my shit together I will start posting my own musical creations. Anyways, I hope you dig the blog and just bear with me because there isn't shit to look at right now on here but hopefully the wheels will start rolling soon. See ya