Cold Cave - Love Comes Close

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

Amesoeurs - Amesoeurs

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!

Beyond the Implode reissue on Siltbreeze

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

Lung Overcoat

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

Mister Loveless - My Share of Losing

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

My Dad Is Dead

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

Moscow Olympics - Cut The World

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

The Homosexuals post

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

Hotels - Thank You For Choosing

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