Post-punk Industrial Complex

Another set of great blog posts

2009-04-15T17:27:00.002-04:00

Earlier this year I linked to some posts on other blogs that contained music I loved. And now I'm doing that again. Here goes

Everything Fudge related on Willfully Obscure (1, 2, 3, 4) - I might have mentioned Fudge before but I didn't put up any music. Before seeing these posts on Willfully Obscure I had only heard Girl Wish from a compilation. Having liked that song and knowing the band was from my home city I wanted to hear more. Spavid has put up downloads of the band's singles, first album, and even two v/a releases containing tracks by two bands with member of Fudge. I recommend Drive and Girl Wish from the singles and Waterfall from Peppermint Stick Parade.

Birdsongs, Beesongs Compilation by Eardrums - Since last year Eardrums has been putting out seasonal compilations for free. These compilations feature a wealth of recent indie pop bands and always contain a few gems. Check out the newest compilation called Birdsongs, Beesongs. Ony volumes A and B are out right now but two more should follow in the future.

Remember Fun/Emily Flexi at I Wish I Was A Flexidisc - Every post at this blog is great, but I particularly like the Emily song. I'll try to remember to post some Emily stuff later on.

Cold Cave - Love Comes Close

2009-04-11T21:56:00.002-04:00

Cold Cave opened for Crystal Stilts and Comet Gain at the Black Cat last week. I had never listened to them before and didn't know what to expect beyond the genre tag of darkwave which I admittedly know little about. I just knew there would be synths (and there were a few). For sure this band was the low point of the night since the other two bands put on great performances (peaking at the Stilts' performance of their new single Love is a Wave which may be their best song yet). Still, I liked this song enough to look Cold Cave up and find it and download the mp3 from MySpace.

Love Comes Close is great because it isn't entirely synth and has a nice but minimal guitar riff. The singer obviously takes inspiration from Ian Curtis in both vocals and writing and this track reminds me of early New Order. Cold Cave has a few singles out but this track is unreleased. Check them out on MySpace.

Love Comes Close mp3

Red House Painters - Rollercoaster

2009-03-31T18:10:00.002-04:00

Red House Painters isn't a band you want to listen to when sad. It leads to nowhere. Kozelek's songs are too depressingly beautiful to ever drag you out of a ditch.

Nor should you listen to Red House Painters when happy, because it will make you unhappy.

I guess you just have to be content in staying low. I need to stop listening to Rollercoaster but I can't.

I thought you'd come over
But for some reason you didn't
Glass on the pavement under my shoe
Without you is all my life amounts to

Katy Song mp3
Strawberry Hill mp3
Rollercoaster Part 1, part 2

Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs

2009-03-22T20:24:00.003-04:00

I read about the debut album from this band being a mix of black metal and indie pop. That's a good description, but only if it is also mentioned that the two genres mix between songs rather than within them. The songs where the female sings are great and do a better job of mimicking post-punk than a great deal of the more popular revival bands. The good songs flow from poppy guitar work with Joy Division-ish bass lines to shoegazey walls of sound and its all overlain by sweet female vocals.

I can't stand metal so I have to skip a few tracks from the album. I really hope the band goes on to focus on the poppier sound. I read that the girl singer has a solo project so maybe that will be worth looking up.

The good tracks are Les Ruches Malades, Faux Semblants, Video Girl, Le Reine Trayeuse, and Amesoeurs.

Preorder from Tower (best price I've seen)

Faux Semblants mp3
Download album

As a side note I have been spending way too much time playing Broken Picture Telephone. It's basically an online version of the telephone game but instead of whispering a phrase around a circle you try to convey a consistent message while alternating between pictures and words. Try it out!

The Vandelles - S/T EP

2009-03-11T20:25:00.003-04:00

Recently I have gotten into surf music so I thought I would follow up on a previous post by uploading The Vandelles' self titled EP. This isn't surf but the influence can be clearly heard throughout the EP. The 60s girl group influence is also obvious with the -elles suffix. I'd call the music surf-y noise pop and it is great! Fizzbombs are a good comparison and I wonder if The Vandelles have listened to them.

So this EP. Noise pop is "in" right now, with Wavves and The Pains coming out as best new music on Pitchfork, but The Vandelles have escaped attention. They certainly deserve some recognition for this EP. Swell to Heaven sounds you're submerged in the surf with half of your ears peeking above the crackling foam. Lovely Weather is another great song, with a loud guitar starting things off noisy real quick.

This self titled is a great debut and I can't wait for the album that is supposedly coming this year. The surf approach is great and I'm on the prowl for more of this sound. So if anyone reading knows some send me a message!

Visit The Vandelles on MySpace. I don't know if you can still buy the CD, but it's being rereleased by SVC records soon.

Swell to Heaven mp3
Lovely Weather mp3
Download EP

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Primary Phase

2009-03-05T16:57:00.002-05:00

I read the HHGttG series in middle school and they immediately became my favorite series of books. Douglas Adams' writing is hilarious and the Hitchhiker's series beats any other science fiction novel in terms of comedy.

Before the books were written the HHGttG was a radio show written by Adams for the BBC. The story has actually been retold multiple times but Adams always made sure to vary things between the radio show, TV show, and novels so no one is a copy of the other. Recently I have been listening to the radio show and must say that it is great.

The radio show takes the form of 30 minute episodes. There are twelve in the original series which includes the Primary and Secondary phases produced in the 70s. In 2003 the series was picked up again by the BBC and an additional three phases were created. The show is incredibly well done and worth listening to even if you have already read the books.

The files are too large for Mediafire so I had to make a split archive. Download all four parts then extract "Primary Phase.zip.001"
Download Primary Phase (1)(2)(3)(4)

The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa - Pigment

2009-02-28T22:34:00.003-05:00

This EP is the first (and my favorite) release by the Czech shoegaze band The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa. Pigment and the following album, Sussurate, both washed in with the wave of shoegaze in the early 90s. After Sussurate the band began to play electronica so I have not given any later albums a listen. But the first two releases, in particular the album, follow the MBV/Cocteau Twins sound.

There are four tracks on the EP and to me 1& 3 stand above the others. Maybe it has something to do with both titles containing apostrophes, but more likely the reason is that What's and Who's are poppier than Square Wave and Honeyrain. Still, the two lesser songs take notes from Loveless and are not bad at all. So listen to 1 & 3 if you like Isn't Anything and 2 & 4 if you like Loveless. Hopefully you, like me, love both and listen to the whole EP!

What's mp3
Who's mp3
Download EP

A flexi mix

2009-02-19T21:28:00.002-05:00

I recently discovered the awesome blog I Wish I Was A Flexidisc. This guy has put up a ton a obscure flexis that are mostly from the C86 era. After listening to a few I recognized and wanted to hear I decided to go and download them all and there are certainly some gems. Here is a mix containing 12 of my favorite tracks so far (haven't listened to everything yet). Add this blog to your RSS feed!

Track Listing

Heaven Is Blue - The Groove Farm
All You Ever Say - The Mayfields
Everytime I Open the Bottle - The Morrisons
Forevermore Starts Here - St. Christopher
Happy Birthday - The Bluebells
I Don't Need You - The Enormous Room
I Know I'm Nothing Special To You - The Williams
If You Were the Only Girl in the World Would You Take Me - The Soup Dragons
Roundabout - Esmerelda's Kite
Skink - A Riot of Colour
Spin - The Darling Buds
Twist Me - Splendour in the Grass

Hopefully the tracklisting and album/artist tags work properly. This is my first shot at making a mix downloadable.

Download mix

Dirty Looks - Dirty Looks and Turn It Up

2009-02-17T12:28:00.006-05:00

Dirty Looks was a power pop band from Staten Island, New York that formed in 1978. They are one of the best power pop bands but sadly receive little recognition and are even overshadowed by a crappy glam metal band of the same name.

Dirty Looks recorded two albums. The self titled is fantastic. Nearly every track is great and 12 O'Clock High is the best power pop song ever. Theband doesn't fall victim to the generic power pop sound and lyrical content that so many groups of the era adopted. Many of the songs have a darkness to them; they are songs for the lonely and confused youth. Dirty Looks makes me want to hop a train and leave the known world for awhile.

Turn It Up only has a few good tracks, apparently due to trouble in the studio because the producer/label wanted a more mainstream sound. Various issues caused Dirty Looks broke up in 1984.

You can buy a 2 CD set containing both LPs plus some live recordings at Amazon.

12 O'Clock High mp3
Accept Me mp3
Download Dirty Looks (Part 1)(Part 2)
Download Turn It Up

Ceremony and Thrushes live on WMUC

2009-02-08T23:06:00.003-05:00

My college's radio is horrendous so I've taken to listening to other university stations online. Right now the University of Maryland has some great shows and DJs. They also pick up awesome bands for interviews and live performances. Today Thrushes and Ceremony were on the show. Thrushes is a shoegaze/dream pop band from Baltimore and Ceremony is a shoegaze band from Fredricksburg (look here for my post on their split LP with Screen Vinyl Image).

Thrushes were up first and I was surprised at how good they sounded. I listened to their debut album, Sun Come Undone, a while ago and nothing caught my ear. On the show they played new material that will appear on an upcoming releases. I especially like the second song, Trees.

Ceremony sounded great too. They played my favorite song, For Her Smile, and a few I had not heard before. In the interview they mention an already recorded album coming out this year. Cool!

You can download the complete radio show from WMUC's website. Right click and "save as" the Third_Rail_Radio_1800_2100 mp3. And tune in tomorrow at 1 PM for a live recording of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart!

Ringo Deathstarr

2009-02-07T19:49:00.003-05:00

I am so glad to have stumbled upon Ringo Deathstarr through a listing on Pheer.com. I saw them live last year and bought the EP at the show. Just a fantastic band. I think this CD came out in 2007 and there is still no followup. But I just read that the EP is being rereleased on vinyl this March by Fan Death Records! And there will be more vinyl releases by the band this year. Give this EP as listen if you like shoegaze/noise pop. I had it on repeat for a while last year.

Go to their MySpace to find the dates for their March shows where you'll most likely be able to pick up the vinyl for cheaper than mailorder.

I can't wait to see them again in Arlington. And it's a house show too. Before they played in a tiny pizza place and it was perfect. Here's to small venues. Oh and The Vandelles will be there too. Another EP worth hearing; maybe I'll post it in the future.

Starrsha mp3
Sweet Girl mp3
Download S/T EP

Beyond the Implode reissue on Siltbreeze

2009-02-06T17:48:00.004-05:00

Siltbreeze continues to be an awesome label with a reissue of four tracks from Beyond the Implode. BtI released a lone 250 press EP in 1979 and since then their songs have appeared on Chuck Warner's Messthetics compilations. This 7" from Siltbreeze includes two tracks from the EP and two unreleased tracks. There are only 300 copies so if you love 70s DIY music like the Desperate Bicycles hurry up and get your order in over at Siltbreeze.

This Atmosphere mp3

HoZac Hookup Klub

2009-01-28T00:48:00.002-05:00

Like 2008, 2009 looks to be a good year for 7 inchers. HoZac Records recently announced a singles club. $65 (US residents) gets you ten singles mailed over the course of the year. The pressings are limited to 500 and won't be available anywhere else.

The bands will be:

DUM DUM GIRLS
http://www.myspace.com/dumdumgirls

IDLE TIMES
http://www.myspace.com/idletimesband

WOVEN BONES
http://www.myspace.com/wovenbones

ART THIEVES
http://www.myspace.com/wearetheartthieves

FLIGHT
http://www.myspace.com/inflighttunes

WHITE MYSTERY
http://www.myspace.com/whitemysteryband

TEEPEE
http://www.myspace.com/teepeeasel

MOTHER OF TEARS
http://www.myspace.com/motheroftears

BOX ELDERS
http://www.myspace.com/boxelders

TEETH (side project of BLANK DOGS and SPIDER)
http://www.myspace.com/teethareforeating

Just the Dum Dum Girls, Box Elders, and Teeth stuff warrants signing up for the club. And knowing HoZac the rest of the groups will be great (the last three 7"s were killer).

Head over to HoZac's MySpace and sign up for the newsletter for ordering info.

Blog posts worth checking out

2009-01-25T23:47:00.004-05:00

I try to keep the content here fairly original and not repost stuff readily available on more popular blogs. So I'm going to link to some of the best posts I've seen recently.

Singles of the year (2008) at The Finest Kiss - I've heard most of the releases on this list and agree with all of them. Definitely give Catwalk, Sexy Kids, Twig, and The Tartans a listen. A few of the mentioned singles can be found on my blog as well (Nodzzz and Moscow Olympics).

Metro Trinity's Die Young at Take the Pills - I listened to Just Go over and over last week. It's an excellent song.

Just Waiting For a Friend at Another Day On Earth - This guy sent me a random friend request on MySpace last week. Apparently he is writing, recording, and posting songs every day of the year. As with any other incredibly prolific band you have to dig around to find the good songs. This is my favorite so far.

Dum Dum Girls on Skatterbrain - Another noisy pop band from California. Yay!

Real Estate at Cum Horizon - "Breezy lo-fi beach pop that'll make you forget about the harsh winter months" is a good description of this 7".

A Manchester Collection at Last Days of Man on Earth - An awesome compilation LP featuring a bunch of Manchester punk/post-punk bands. The first Grow Up song is excellent (and they have a CD out on the great LTM label) as is the Manchester Mekon's track (if the melody sounds familiar it's because Joy Divison borrowed it for Love Will Tear Us Apart).

Unreleased McCarthy track

2009-01-19T13:15:00.002-05:00

While I was looking through the excellent McCarthy lyrics archive I saw that lyrics were posted for an unreleased song called Who Will Rid Me Of These Turbulent Proles. The site said the track was "Recorded during the same time as Banking... but never mixed, this unreleased and previously unheard track is said to be one of Malcolm's favorites. Unfortunately, band mates Tim and John didn't agree."

It's a great song and would fit well on I Am A Wallet. Malcolm Eden passed it around the internet a few years ago and you can listen to the song here. Right click and "save as" to download.

Meat Whiplash - Don't Slip Up b/w Here It Comes 7"

2009-01-18T23:15:00.004-05:00

Meat Whiplash were blatant Jesus and Mary Chain knockoffs but I like the A-side of this single enough to forgive them. This band was around for a very short time and these songs were the only two they ever recorded. They are most famous for being the opening act for the JAMC at North London Polytechnic in 1985. A member of Meat Whiplash tossed a bottle back into the crowd that had been thrown onstage and a riot ensued, resulting in four hospitalizations and a wrecked venue.

Don't Slip Up is a great song filled end to end with a buzzing guitar. It has deservedly been comped a ton. I don't like the B-side too much but it isn't as easy to find online as the A so here you go.

Don't Slip Up mp3
Here It Comes mp3
Download

Lung Overcoat

2009-01-16T12:48:00.003-05:00

Lung Overcoat were a post-punk band from San Antonio, Texas that formed in the early 80s. At a time when hardcore punk was springing up in Texas the band took up a style of music that very few in the US played. Their biggest influences were English gothic bands such as Bauhaus. This (unofficial?) MySpace page has a detailed biography of Lung Overcoat.

I pulled two songs from the MySpace and found the rest on Soulseek. Tracks 1&2 are from the first 7", 5-8 from the Climbing Up The Hill 12" EP and the last track is from a compilation. I guess the others come from a Peel session, but I'm not sure.

Internal Silence mp3
Find the Time mp3
Download

Pens

2009-01-15T17:51:00.003-05:00

Pens is a three piece punk band from England. They have released a split cassette (sold out) and a split 7" (buy it at Rough Trade if you're in the UK or can stomach paying $8 + shipping for a single). Pete did the best job of describing the trio on the Slumberland records blog.

The above band are called Pens. They’re three girls from London, making what can only be described as Shambolic Pop.
They used to be in the (better named, but worse musically) Look Look Dancing Boys. I haven’t seen Pens yet, but i have seen LLDB. they were, without a doubt, the most untogether band i had seen in years.

There was something refreshing about that. The lack of ego in their playing, the thrill of discovery, the getting to the end of a song as a major accomplishment. This is even more evident in Pens.
Freddie (yes, their myspace picture page confirms it’s about mr Kruger) is everything that a shambling band should be; constantly on the verge of falling apart, it’s held together by the sheer ‘i can’t believe we’re doing this’ forward motion of the song. The vocals are distorted. Everything’s distorted. They obviously just plugged everything into a pedal, thought it sounded punk, and went for it. Fantastic. There’s crosstalk, and stick clicks; it was obviously recorded live on some antiquated four track- not in a Toerag/Daptone posing way, but it’s genuinely all they had to work with.

Pens have an LP coming in February on De Stijl. Here is a zip file with the mp3s Slumberland posted along with the songs on Pens' MySpace.

Freddie mp3
High in the Cinema mp3
Download

Culturcide - Tacky Souvenirs of a Pre-Revolutionary America

2009-01-14T22:22:00.005-05:00

Culturcide is an experimental punk band started in the early 80s by Perry Webb and Jim Craine. The band takes popular songs and dubs over them with their own vocals and instruments. It's very poor; you can hear the original lyrics behind what Webb is shouting unless its covered up with a loud guitar riff. But I think this has a positive effect overall.

Tacky Souvenirs is Culturcide's most well-known album and it earned them a few legal threats (though they didn't catch it as bad as Negativland). My favorite songs are Bruce, a comedic critique of "The Boss," and Industrial Band which mocks the industrial genre.

Check out this site for a complete discography and more info on Culturcide. The CD rereleases of the band's catalogue can be found on eBay, Amazon, etc.

Bruce mp3
Industrial Band mp3
Download

Streamable songs on Last.fm

2009-01-13T14:41:00.003-05:00

There are tons of little known artists who have uploaded their music to Last.fm. Here are a few surprising finds along with recommended songs. Check them out.

The Room - An early 80s post-punk band that really sounds more like C86 than Joy Division, but they put out records long before the rise of indie pop. Listen to Things Have Learnt To Walk That Ought To Crawl

Valley of Kings - A post-punk band from Connecticut. Listen to Happy Hour

Nasty Facts - An English punk band. Listen to Drive My Car

Dreams So Real - REM-ish band from Athens. Listen to Love Fall Down

This Poison! - Short lived indie pop band from Scotland. Listen to Driving Skills

The Servants - English indie pop band. Listen to The Sun A Small Star

McCarthy - Anarcho-pop. Just fantastic. Listen to anything, though I Am A Wallet is my favorite album.

Creepy sounds from Saturn

2009-01-11T22:56:00.002-05:00

Saturn is a source of intense radio emissions, which have been monitored by the Cassini spacecraft. The radio waves are closely related to the auroras near the poles of the planet. These auroras are similar to Earth's northern and southern lights. This is an audio file of radio emissions from Saturn.
The Cassini spacecraft began detecting these radio emissions in April 2002, when Cassini was 374 million kilometers (234 million miles) from the planet, using the Cassini radio and plasma wave science instrument. The radio and plasma wave instrument has now provided the first high resolution observations of these emissions, showing an amazing array of variations in frequency and time. The complex radio spectrum with rising and falling tones, is very similar to Earth's auroral radio emissions. These structures indicate that there are numerous small radio sources moving along magnetic field lines threading the auroral region.
Time on this recording has been compressed, so that 73 seconds corresponds to 27 minutes. Since the frequencies of these emissions are well above the audio frequency range, we have shifted them downward by a factor of 44.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radio and plasma wave science team is based at the University of Iowa, Iowa City.

from NASA

Listen to Saturn's radio emissions

Sounds like background music from an old science fiction movie. Well, there's your science lesson for the day.

I want to believe! Haha

I Was A King - Losing Something Good For Something Better

2009-01-09T13:23:00.003-05:00

I first heard these guys on a free compilation from Eardrums which features their song "Norman Bleik." It instantly reminded me of JAMC so I searched around and found I Was A King had a CD out.

Losing Something Good is the band's first effort and though the album sounds more minimal and lo-fi than Norman Bleik it is still great. It only lasts for 17 minutes but that short time is filled with noisy pop songs mixed with lovably lo-fi, warm tracks that don't take more than a minute.

I Was A King have a self titled album coming out later this month in Norway, their home country. They also found a US label which will be releasing a 7" in late january and the s/t album sometime in April. You can find more info about the band and its upcoming releases on MySpace. Losing Something Good For Something Better can be purchased through CDBaby.

Best Wishes mp3
Break Away mp3
Download album

Mix #3 - Celebrity Music Party

2009-01-08T14:01:00.002-05:00

Songs about famous people sung by not-so-famous people.

Felt - Penelope Tree
The Go-Betweens - Lee Remick
James Dean Driving Experience - Sean Connery
The Bodines - William Shatner
Television Personalities - Where's Bill Grundy Now
Angst - Neil Armstrong
The Briefs - Silver Bullet
Minutemen - Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs

St. Johnny - High As A Kite

2009-01-07T12:57:00.003-05:00

I stumbled across two St. Johnny singles in a record shop the other day which made me think to post this. St. Johnny formed in the early 90s in Connecticut and self released a single which eventually led to being signed to DGC records. They released two LPs, Speed Is Dreaming and Let It Come Down, before disbanding around 1995.

High As A Kite compiles the band's early singles which are overall noisier than the albums, especially Let It Come Down. Thurston Moore helped get St. Johnny on DGC so if you like Sonic Youth I recommend giving this a listen. And if you like High As A Kite you should check out their first album. The second, Let It Come Down, has some good tracks (Wild Goose Chasing is actually my favorite St. Johnny song) but I prefer Speed Is Dreaming.

You can buy High As A Kite and St. Johnny's other two CD releases for dirt cheap on eBay or Amazon.

Go To Sleep mp3
Stupid mp3
Download

Dead Leaf Echo - Pale Fire

2009-01-05T15:44:00.003-05:00

Well this is cool. I never expected much to come out of this blog. I started it because I had way too much free time and figured I could spend some of that time introducing others to the bands I like. But last week I was contacted by the promoter for a group called Dead Leaf Echo. He offered to send me a copy of Pale Fire, the band's second EP, and after listening to some songs on MySpace I accepted.

Dead Leaf Echo come from New York and play shoegaze/dream pop with a tint of new wave. Think if Slowdive were from Manchester. Pale Fire starts off a bit rough with Warm Body which sounds out of place among the five tracks that follow. The second song, Thought Talk, is a better representation of the rest of Pale Fire with its male/female vocals and transition from soft and dreamy to noisy guitar sound about 3/4ths through. Other standout tracks are Tears and Cry The Sea.

You can listen to some tracks from Pale Fire as well as order the CD on Dead Leaf Echo's MySpace page.

Mister Loveless - My Share of Losing

2008-12-26T17:28:00.004-05:00

Someone on Last.fm asked me for this so I thought I would post it here for everyone. I first read about this band through a music blog that posted an mp3 of Scatterplot off this album. I liked Scatterplot so much that I went and ordered My Share of Losing. After a month's wait and some confusion due to my school's shitty mail system I got the CD in the mail along with Mister Loveless' newest EP Two Words (for free! Very nice people).

Mister Loveless' sound is a nice mix of shoegaze and post-punk. The singer's droning voice sounds Ian Curtis inspired and many of the songs have pronounced JDish bass lines. A few songs break from this so the album is all over musically; the first track, Twiggy, is a surfy instrumental and Scatterplot is a guitar filled shoegazy song. I like My Share of Losing a lot. The EP, Two Words, represents a big change in the band's sound and I don't like it too much. Perhaps it needs another listen.

Check out the tracks below or download the full album. If you like it, buy the album from the band.

Twiggy mp3
Scatterplot mp3
Dream mp3
Download album

800beloved - Cassette Single

2008-12-23T13:29:00.002-05:00

800beloved is a shoegaze band from Michigan that takes its name from a 1-800 phone number. They haven't released much and what they have I don't know where to buy. There is an LP on the way titled Bouquet but no word on when it will be available. So here are two songs from a single I found on the web. Out of all the songs I've heard from 800beloved, The Skeleton Collection is my favorite due to it being the song with the most audible post punk influences. So check it out!

The Skeleton Collection mp3
Download single

Government Warning - Arrested 7"

2008-12-22T20:27:00.003-05:00

There are maybe eight good bands from Richmond and this is one of them. Government Warning plays fast, 80s influenced hardcore. I don't like a lot of hardcore but I love Arrested off this 7". The band is still active and has released an LP called No Moderation along with another 7" EP. Check them out if you like Black Flag, Zero Boys, and etc.

You can buy this 7" from Grave Mistake.

Arrested mp3
Download 7"

KG

2008-12-16T14:50:00.003-05:00

Here's an obscure shoegaze band I found on Soulseek. The only info on KG I found is from here.

This one-man show released some hard to find 7'inches. Fantastic JAMC overload meets MBV and Boyracer. Wow!

If you know something else leave a comment!

The JAMC comparison is spot on. The first song on the Candy 7", by far my favorite, sounds like something off Psychocandy. I love it. The other releases have a few good tracks but the standout is Candy.

Candy Loves Me So mp3
Love Me Forever mp3
Download Candy
Download 987
Download From innocence To Catastrophe
Download The Greatest Hits

Tally Ho - Takes Two To Do It + Wavves

2008-12-15T01:43:00.004-05:00

This is kind of interesting. Download these tracks and play them in repeat + shuffle. These five short mp3s blend together randomly to make a song. For some reason I listened for at least five minutes. I don't know why.

Download

Also, Wavves' best song, SO BORED, is Insound's free recommended mp3 of the week. Yay! I can't wait for the De Stijl release in February. I'll probably buy both s/t LPs because I love the cover art so much.

And the track listing for the De Stijl album is new to me. Maybe it is to you as well. I haven't heard some of these.

1	rainbow everywhere
2	sun opens my eyes
3	get in the sun
4	jetplane (staying on a )
5	no hope kids
6	more fur
7	so bored
8	summer goth
9	surf goth
10	goth girls
11	ghost ramp
12	killr punx
13	scary demons

Ceremony / Screen Vinyl Image Split LP/CDR

2008-12-11T15:22:00.006-05:00

Finally got this in the mail last week. I preordered months ago and the expected release was sometime in October but something came up and the split was delayed a long time.

Ceremony are from Fredricksburg, VA and formed from the remnants of Skywave when they broke up after the release of their second album, Synthstatic. They sound a lot like Skywave and are definitely on the noisier side of shoegaze. More Telescopes than MBV, maybe? Anyways, For Her Smile is now my favorite Ceremony track.

Screen Vinyl Image also come from north Virginia. DC, I think. I had never listened to them before this 12". I don't care too much for their songs on here but it is decent enough to warrant looking into whatever EPs they have out.

I need to catch both these bands live. I missed out on a show with both of them plus some other shoegaze band. Damn weekday metro schedule....

For her Smile mp3
Download LP
Buy it from Custom Made Music

Also, look what came in the mail today. It is beeeeeautifuuuuulll (click because it is best when viewed at maximum size)

Box Elders - Hole In My Head 7"

2008-12-10T18:35:00.003-05:00

I read about these guys on Jay Reatard's blog. Box Elders are from Omaha, Nebraska and formed in 2005 but so far only have this single to their name. I really like it, especially the A side tracks. For fans of Wavves and Reatards. Buy it from Grotto Records.

Hole in My Head mp3
One Foot in Front of the Other mp3
Download the 7"

Nodzzz - I Don't Wanna Smoke Marijuana 7"

2008-12-08T13:15:00.004-05:00

I don't wanna smoke marijuana
I just wanna get.... high
On another drug

I am very sad that both presses of this single sold out before I heard about Nodzzz because I love both tracks and neither appears on the LP. Nodzzz is three guys churning out short, lo-fi punk songs. They remind me of a sparser, punker Boyracer.

I think the title track on this 7" is their hit, but the LP is worth checking out. You can buy it at Goner. If anyone knows of a distro that still has copies of the single please tell me!

I Don't Wanna (Smoke Marijuana) mp3
We Are the Only Animals mp3
Download the 7"

Miracle Legion - The Backyard EP

2008-12-06T16:14:00.005-05:00

I don't know what weird mood is making R.E.M. sound so good to me right now but I don't mind it at all and have been listening to Murmur and Dead Letter Office a lot. I mention R.E.M. because they are an obvious influence on Miracle Legion, a band formed in 1984 in Connecticut. The Backyard is their first release and has my two favorite songs on it: The Backyard and Just Say Hello.

Anyone remember the Nickelodeon show The Adventures of Pete and Pete? It was created by two guys who were fans of Miracle Legion, and they asked Miracle Legion to write music for the show. Mark Mulcahy, the singer, accepted and formed a side project called Polaris. The music they wrote for the show was collected on a CD titled "Music From The Adventures of Pete and Pete." I've gotta give the Pete and Pete guys credit for their music taste. Iggy Pop was a main character in the show and there were guest appearances by people like Debbie Harry (Blondie), Michael Stipe (R.E.M.), and Sarah Shannon (Velocity Girl). Good stuff.

The Backyard mp3
Just Say Hello mp3
Download EP

Weird Paul - I Got Drunk At Chuck E. Cheese

2008-12-05T17:56:00.002-05:00

Another one-man deal. But totally different from the last one (by the way you should download all five MDID albums if you haven't. I listened to the rest and they're all great)! Rather than depressing post-punk this is... guess I will call it comedy pop. Weird Paul Petroskey has been writing and recording songs for about twenty years and has amassed a GBV-like amount of material (over 600 tracks). I don't really know where to start in the discography, and there is a distinct lack of sample tracks and information on the internet. Though thanks to the track in this video I'll probably be ordering 2001 through Weird Paul's website. I Got Drunk At Chuck E. Cheese has the best line I've heard recently: "I sat down right in front of my plate/and I was so messed up that my pizza tasted great." This is so true because Chuck E. Cheese pizza really does taste like shit. Go to Weird Paul's MySpace to listen to a few songs from his most recent album. Piece of Meat in the Tang is also great.

And here are the lyrics to the above song so you can sing along:

I got drunk at Chuck E. Cheese
on several of their bland chablis
I got drunk at Chuck E. Cheese
and I was asked to leave

I just wanted to know how their wine would taste
but I ended up so very faced
I guess you could say that I got trashed
but you also could say that I got smashed
Chuck E. Cheese is a talking mouse
and that kind of makes sense when you are soused
All I wanted was to cut loose
but I went to far and got totally juiced

I wish I could've helped Nicole when her mom got lost
But I wasn't worth a damn cuz I got tossed
I sat down right in front of my plate
and I was so messed up that my pizza tasted great
I thought of Scott Zodiack when I was wasted
When I saw the puppet's mustache so badly pasted

I got up on stage, I was pretty tipsy
people started throwing tokens but most of them missed me
You don't know what it's like unless you are plastered
when a 6 foot mouse calls you a bastard
he might not have hit me if he hadn't been goaded
but that's just how I am when I get loaded
it's no surprise that I got booted
cuz my brain was so chabli-polluted

LSD and the Search for God - S/T EP

2008-12-04T22:30:00.006-05:00

First off, isn't this one of the best band names ever? Very awesome. On this EP are five great MBV/Slowdive sounding tracks with breathy male/female vocals that I love and can put on any hour of the day. This Time is my favorite but really the whole album just flows from track to track like The Comforts of Madness and it all comes together in a mass of dreamy bliss.

Everyone should buy this from Deep Space Recordings so the band can have the monies to produce an LP. The vinyl is beautiful clear yellow but I don't know if there are any more in stock (only 200 pressings in yellow, 800 were black). I sent the mailorder guys a message and will edit this post once I have a response. Because if there are some in stock there's no reason to buy the CD rather than the LP.

UPDATE: Holy shit that was fast. The label replied to my message in less than ten minutes. There are still a few in stock. $13.65 through Paypal!

Download

My Dad Is Dead

2008-12-03T15:44:00.010-05:00

I've been on a bit of a one-man-band kick lately. Blank Dogs (check out The Fields cassette/LP/CD if you haven't. It's the best thing he has done so far), Wavves, My Teenage Stride, and most recently Captain Polaroid have all been getting a lot of plays. My Dad Is Dead is Mark Edwards, a guy from Cleveland, Ohio who has been recording since 1985. He has released eleven full length albums as well as some singles and EPs (full discography). I came across My Dad Is Dead while looking through some of my dad's records. The band name sounded neat so I looked it up online and found that Mark Edwards has released the first five albums as free downloads. I've only listened to the first two so far but they are both great and I highly recommend giving them a go. If you're like me it'll make you want to finally learn guitar and start your own band haha.

Mark Edwards is still recording music and has even played a few live shows in the past years (most notably SXSW 2008). You can buy CDs through his store.

Head over to MDID's download page to sample mp3s or grab the five albums + rarities compilation below (in chronological order).

...And He's Not Gonna Take It Anymore
Peace, Love & Murder
Let's Skip The Details
The Best Defense
The Taller You Are, The Shorter You Get Part 1 / Part 2
Rarities

Mix #2 - Perpetual Nervousness (American Jangle Pop)

2008-12-02T15:08:00.004-05:00

Sorry to any British fans out there. No June Brides, Smiths, or McCarthy. Maybe in the future!

1. She's Fetching - Big Dipper
2. J.E.B. Pharoahs - Love Tractor
3. Fa Ce La - The Feelies
4. Radio Free Europe - R.E.M.
5. How Come? - Dumptruck
6. Elizabeth Montgomery's Face - The Embarrassment
7. Alex Chilton - The Replacements
8. Volume - Pylon

The Muslims - S/T LP

2008-12-01T20:05:00.004-05:00

I don't remember how I came across these guys but I love this album. Classic garage punk that sounds a whole lot like The Stooges. Download and see for yourself. The Muslims also have a 7" coming out soon. You can sample the tracks and preorder it at I Hate Rock N' Roll.

Look for more releases by The Muslims under the decidedly less cool name The Soft Pack. I don't know why they changed it. Surely they don't expect to become big. Maybe they want to tour the Middle East?

Beside Myself mp3
Download the album
Buy LP+CD from Insound

Sourpatch - Demo

2008-11-30T01:32:00.006-05:00

I read about Sourpatch over at Skatterbrain and listened to the tracks they had on MySpace after seeing that there was a show in Richmond. Sadly their DC show was last night and I'll be back in DC tonight when they play in Richmond. Shame because I really like the songs I heard. I assume they are off Sourpatch's demo, which is the only thing they have out (you can buy it for $4 if you mail them). You and Fun are fast, poppy, punky songs that make you want to sing along. These two are my favorites by far. The others aren't quite as good (and I kind of hate the part of Toothache where the girl starts talking. If that were cut out the song would be so much better) and are a bit slower.

Sourpatch sound like the Vivian Girls with more pop, less feedback, and clearer vocals. So if you like the Vivian Girls try out the songs below. I found some program that lets you download mp3s from MySpace so that's where these come from. They aren't from the demo (which has 7 tracks). Once I get the CD I'll post if the seventh song is any good.

You
Fun
6 songs from Sourpatch's MySpace

Off the Charts: The Song Poem Story

2008-11-22T15:24:00.005-05:00

I saw this movie about two years back and it made me crack up. Off the Charts is a documentary on the business of song poems. Basically these are newspaper ads that say you can send in X amount of money along with a poem and someone will come up with music and vocalize the poem to turn it into a song. Then they send you a tape of the recording. Obviously song poems are ripe for comedy with all the strange people who would buy in to this sort of thing.

There are a few talentless rednecks who are horribly embarrassed after playing live. An old man with a scratchy voice sends in his poems all the time. But the best by far is Caglar Juan Singletary from Elmira, NY. He is just amazing and I want to hang out with him. Caglar likes to write about martial arts, ladies, religion, and science fiction. His song, Non Violent Taekwondo Troopers is a story of love, loss, and Priscilla Presley. I don't think Caglar knows how genius this song is and I am surprised that every new rock band isn't covering it by now since the movie has been out for five years.

Youtube clip of Caglar Juan Singletary in Off the Charts
Buy the movie
Non Violent Taekwondo Troopers mp3
From Off the Charts soundtrack

Moscow Olympics - Cut The World

2008-11-20T16:17:00.006-05:00

This could possibly be my favorite release of 2008. Moscow Olympics come from the Philippines and play catchy pop music that sounds like all my favorite genres mashed into one. Cut The World is their debut album (or mini-album. It clocks in at under 30 minutes) and it is spectacular. Not a dull song on this disc! Here is what IndiePages has to say:

This Filipino group was the talk of the indiepop world after their single last year, and this mini-album is just further proof of their greatness - in case one was actually needed! If you missed 'em the first time around, the band plays dreamy pop with a very noticeable New Order influence (especially in the guitar melodies), in the same fashion as bands like the Airfields and the Radio Dept. Simply put, the result is stunning, with a sound that's lush and beautiful and dense with jangling guitars and ambient synths, and with the requisite Pale Saints-ish lost-boy vocal style that often goes along with this kind of music. And the melodies are immaculate, as well. The only fault I found was the drum rolls in the chorus of "Safe", which were rather conspicuously off-time; I know it's one of those things that not everyone would notice, but it definitely stands out to me, though it thankfully doesn't hinder my enjoyment of the song. Brilliant and recommended!

Selected tracks:
Second Trace
Safe
Buy Cut the World from Tonevendor

The biggest fault of Cut The World is that it doesn't include Moscow Olympics' best song. Their only other release was a 7" in late 2007 and the A-side, Still, sounds like it could have been released on Factory in 1982.

Still
Talk Like This
Download the 7"
Buy it from Tonevendor

Extra: Moscow Olympics demo download

Some random tracks from Wavves

2008-11-17T15:49:00.004-05:00

Wavves is one guy making noisy pop songs that sound like The Circle Jerks and Jesus and Mary Chain crashed into each other while ripping up an empty backyard pool. Really catchy, really distorted. I ran across a folder of unreleased stuff on Soulseek. I don't know where these tracks originally came from. What I do know is So Bored, which I had heard earlier on Wavves' MySpace, is one of Nathan Williams' best songs.

Be sure to keep an eye on Woodsist for the upcoming CD release of Wavves' out of print first album.

Download here
or head over to Katie's blog and check out Wavves' self titled cassette

The Barbaras - Summertime Road 7"

2008-11-17T14:55:00.010-05:00

I picked this up over the summer after hearing some clips on The Barbaras' MySpace page. These guys are from the garage scene in Tennessee and two of them were in Jay Reatard's band.

Once you get past the cheesy sleeve and listen to the music you'll find some catchy pop tunes that sound like they were recorded with a tape player. The fuzzy guitar and vocals on Summertime Road make you smile and wish it were a breezy summer day so you could lie by the creek and forget about everything. The two tracks on the b-side have cleaner production but still sound great. I especially like Flow.

Summertime Road is The Barbara's first and so far only release. As far as I know they are still together. I hope to hear more soon, and if I do you will hear about it here.

Individual tracks
Summertime Road
Day at the Shrine
Flow
or download the whole 7"

Buy it at Insound (use the coupon code "insound_rocks_07" to get 10% off. Yay!)

Extra: Five live recordings from Gonerfest (with Jay Reatard on drums!)

The Homosexuals post

2008-11-14T17:20:00.003-05:00

This post is in honor of me not being able to go see one of my favorite bands play their first ever show in DC (god dammit). That band is The Homosexuals, a '70s punk band from Britain. But it's a bit unfair to label them punk since many of their songs sound less like Anarchy in the UK and more like something Gang of Four would put out. Post-punk sounding guitars and DIY production in punk fashion. The Homosexuals were around for 7 or 8 years but didn't release many records. What they did release didn't garner much attention mainly due to being on obscure labels. Their last output was an LP in 1984.

But now the reissue front is going strong and weird bands like this are being compiled on CD. Shortly after The Homosexuals' Record was reissued in 2004, Chuck Warner's awesome Hyped to Death label put out a three disc compilation that basically amounts to everything the band ever did. Stylistically it's all over the place. There are fast punk tunes like Neutron Lover, slower songs like Hearts In Exile, and numerous instrumentals. Go buy Astral Glamour at the Hyped to Death webstore. I promise it is worth the $21.

Now that the band has reformed (well, sort of. Bruno Wizard, the singer, is the only original member) there is a new 10" record titled Love Guns coming out next week on Serious Business Records. It is fully streamable on Last.fm and what I listened to sounded decent. The cool part is Bruno Wizard will be putting a slip of paper with lines from a story in each sleeve. It's limited to 300 pressings so if you want it go and preorder. And if you hate the record hold on to it for 10 years then put it on eBay!

You're Not Moving the Way You're Supposed To (Pt. 2)
Neutron Lover
Astral Glamour
Technique Street
Hearts In Exile
Snapshots of Nairobi

Mix #1 - We're Not In It To Lose (Texas Punk)

2008-11-11T01:26:00.006-05:00

Time to break away from the stuff I've been posting recently and put up some punk music. Forget indie pop ever happened and pogo to this little mixtape I whipped up. Special thanks to KBDrecords and Good Bad Music for some of these tracks. I'll definitely do more of these "small scope" mixes in the future (mostly out of necessity as the website I found only supports eight tracks).

1. My Girlfriend Is A Rock - Nervebreakers
2. Narrow View - Big Boys
3. Nova Lust (Dick Lazer Meets Midge Meteoritz) - The Shades
4. Ultimate Orgasm - Non Compos Mentis
5. Zyklon B - Hugh Beaumont Experience
6. Monotony - The next
7. Crowd Control - Really Red
8. The Badge Means You Suck - AK 47

My Bloody Valentine - Two live bootlegs

2008-11-10T20:31:00.005-05:00

Seventeen years and hundreds of thousands of pounds later, Kevin Shields is again working on a My Bloody Valentine album.
Shields confirmed the rumours at the My Bloody Valentine-curated All Tomorrow's Parties festival this weekend, taking his earplugs out for long enough to talk to the New York Times. He will be returning to songs started over a decade ago, during abortive sessions for Island Records. "I realised that all that stuff I was doing in 1996 and 1997 was a lot better than I thought," he said.
-Guardian

When MBV tours for this album I will not miss them like I did this year.

Live at ICA, London June 13th, 2008 (first show in 16 years)
Tracks 1-10
Tracks 11-17
Live at Roundhouse, London June 21st, 2008.
Tracks 1-9
Tracks 10-16

Both end with a 20+ minute wall of sound. Enjoy!

Disco Ditto and other stuff by Az

2008-11-09T18:59:00.006-05:00

I'm posting about this mainly because of a freak coincidence. While searching SoulSeek for some music I ran across a guy named "Disco Ditto." The name seemed familiar and it took a few minutes before I remembered listening to a band with the same name on MySpace a few hours earlier. I asked him if he was in the band and he said yes. He then told me about another band of his called Stellarium. Now, if the "Shoegaze/Shoegaze/Shoegaze" tag on Stellarium's MySpace or the dozens of references on Disco Ditto's page didn't tip you off, these two bands are shoegaze. Well, I guess it's called nu-gaze now that we're in the 2000s but whatever. MBV and JAMC inspired noisy music.

Disco Ditto released a free EP titled Into The Void earlier this year. Here is what Az has to say about it:

For starters, here’s a brief info:

Disco Ditto started as a one man solo project that I did to do stuff bordering on how I feel and for nostalgic purposes. It was 2004, and I was concurrently in Valium, a post punk band, and in Athena Flight, a shoegaze band which had lotsa potential and songs but fell out in the end. So in the midst of being in those two bands I decided to do something for myself as a way to remember particular feelings and emotions. And that’s when I recorded Love in a total time span of 13 hours at home on my busted computer. A few other songs fell through from there, some good, some bad, but it was personal to me.

In the path through time, I met different sets of individuals who expressed interest and liking in the songs, though I thought they were merely simplistic and too personal for anyone to comprehend, these three individuals joined the band and now it has evolved into a complete band with different sounds entirely, in which I’m glad and interested in exploring. I have since decided to let go of the EP as a sign of a closing chapter, and the opening of a new one with the current line-up.

I hope you guys will enjoy it, and treat it as a walk down memory lane yourselves.

Love,

Az

Disco Ditto

Download Into The Void or head to MySpace and preview the tracks

Unlike Disco Ditto, Stellarium is not a one man project. You can head over you their MySpace to listen to some tracks. Drift, my favorite, has a definite Slowdive feel to it. Very relaxing and smooth.

As a bonus, here is a song Az had on his SoulSeek. It is from a band called Athena Flight which is yet another band he played in. In the quoted message about Into The Void he mentions Athena Flight disbanded. I'm not sure if there are any other recordings out there, but this one is nice.

Athena Flight - Away From The Sun

Hotels - Thank You For Choosing

2008-11-08T22:42:00.007-05:00

I bought this after finding it on CD Baby filed under "Sounds Like: Joy Division" and liking the previews. After listening the the album a few times I've come away disappointed, but still want to talk about three of the better tracks. The first, Atlantic, prompted me to buy the CD. Right away the Joy Division influence is obvious in the singer's vocals. Atlantic benefits from not being synthesizer heavy and drawn out like some of the other songs. A few of the instrumental tracks go on for too long and don't have enough hooks to be interesting. The one instrumental that does stand out is Farewell To Love. It clocks in at less than three minutes and has a fun bass line. Last comes Many Happy Returns. Again the Ian Curtis vocals are present and are joined by a Garlands-era Cocteau Twins bass sound which I love. Doom-y but pleasant sounding.

Here are the tracks I mentioned. If you want to hear the rest head over to Hotels' MySpace and order the CD.

Atlantic
Farewell To Love
Many Happy Returns
From Thank You For Choosing by Hotels

Either Deerhunter were so loud they puréed my bowels or I shouldn't have eaten Taco Bell

2008-11-07T23:13:00.005-05:00

Something clicked inside me when Deerhunter stopped playing and announced Barack Obama had broken 270 electoral votes. I felt as if the world had been altered. President Bush still sits in his throne and the economy remains in turbulence but my chest warmed to the news. For the rest of the set I completely lost myself in the noise. A blissful wall of sound underlain by Bradford Cox's vocals washed away every anxiety. And though I knew no promised change would be seen until January 20th, the streets of Washington, D.C. professed that it had come sharp at 11 o'clock. Hollers and sirens and honks echoed around the city blocks. People blanketed an entire intersection, blocking traffic. Bits of the 93% of D.C. that voted for Obama sprawled all of U-Street, cheering his victory. It was incredible. Never before have I seen such unity achieved through an election.

The DCist pointed out that perhaps Deerhunter made a poor choice in playing election night. For me, November 4th made the show. Decades from now some kid will be digging through my old CDs, find Cryptograms, and I will recall the night Obama was elected. I will tell him how everyone came together on the corner of 14th and U and hopefully he will have never experienced the opposite.

Deerhunter put on a fantastic show. They played tracks off both Cryptograms and Microcastle, their newest release. The sheer volume made up for the disappointing omission of Strange Lights. Days later my ears are faintly ringing but that has only encouraged me to fill silence with music. I eagerly await the band's next visit to D.C.

If you haven't listened to Deehunter yet, go buy Cryptograms and Microcastle right now.

Deerhunter - Oh It's Such A Shame
Jay Reatard cover from Jay Reatard/Deerhunter split 7"
Deerhunter - Agoraphobia
From Microcastle
Deerhunter - Strange Lights
From Cryptograms