think tank

In June

2008-06-30T16:54:00.005-05:00

photo by bill ellison

The Island came into town last Tuesday with Awol One from the Shapeshifter crew. I really like the new Islands album but I missed them the last time they came by this year so I marked my calendar months back for the this show and forgot till the day of. They put on a good show, I like the show they did the first time they toured around here but the new material sounded great live.

photo by bill ellison

Awol One I've heard featured on some tracks here and there, I didn't really leave my house in time to catch his whole set but I liked what I heard and did some research when I got home. It turns out the guy has some really good tracks out there and he is not that bad of a rapper. Also he has a weird resemblance to my roommate from few years back.

Awol One - Rhythm [ysi]

The show was most satisfactory.

I had a nice little gap there in post because of the following reasons:

1. My computer I had been using for years would not boot up and I couldn't figure out how to fix it.
2. The day after I left for Las Vegas for a bit, got back and tried to fix it and figured I could survive without a computer for a couple of weeks till I figure out what to do.

Now I'm back, on a new computer. The downfall is that my desktop had a really high-end sound card that made every thing sound so good. Also a hard drive went down which contained everything I acquired in 2008 as far as audio, video, spread sheets, bookmarks... etc.

Something I did do before the computer went down was back up everything I had previously acquired in the years before 2008. I just got a new external with tons of space and I thought why not. Looks like it wasn't as bad as it could of been.

Oceans Will Rise

2008-06-01T18:28:00.003-05:00

I finally got a taste of the new Stills album, Oceans Will Rise. The first two songs I heard have a close resemblance to both of their previous albums Logic Will Break Your Heart and Without Feathers, the former being my favorite out of the two. The single sounding like it was plucked (yea i had to) from Without Feathers and Rooibos/Palm Wine Drinkard out of their debut LWBYH.

The Stills - Being There

The Stills - Rooibos/Palm Wine Drinkard

the perfect human voice.

2008-05-31T01:28:00.004-05:00

Researchers say they have worked out a mathematical formula to find the perfect human voice. -- BBC News

Click to hear the perfect human voice.

bonus:

7L & Esoteric - Imperfect Person (808 Version) (2)

MGMT - Electric Feel video

2008-05-30T14:42:00.003-05:00

Still pushing that psychedelic vibe. They have some other interesting videos including their first trip to London here.

MGMT - Destrokk

"The End's Not Near"

2008-05-23T16:28:00.003-05:00

Four years after the album came out, a music video appears. Good song.

Anticipating

2008-05-04T01:04:00.002-05:00

Rza - Digi-Snax

I heard few tracks already and its sounding pretty good.

Weekend warriors

2008-04-11T20:38:00.007-05:00

Three tracks for the weekend warriors out there:

The Cool Kids - Oscar
A new track from The Cool Kids soon to be out mixtape.

Spoon - Cherry Bomb (country/acoustic)
Spoon demo.

J-Live feat: Oddisee & Posdnous - The Upgrade
From J-lives newest album Then What Happened?, out on 26th May.

I've been pretty busy lately, I had few projects I was working on most of them completed with great results others not so much. I fully recovered my phone (see post below). Yesterday two of my favorite shows, 30 Rock and the Office(US) finally came back on air, the break was just way too long and I was ecstatic to see them both back on. I'm a bit of a tv junky and I was reaching for anything during that break and it wasn't pretty.

Rain

2008-03-19T22:54:00.005-05:00

Monday night was St. Patrick's day and I wasn't going to do much since it was a Monday and I thought I celebrated enough on the weekend but I got a call from one of my friends and he thought it would be worth while to see what was going on at the local bars. Somehow he convinced me and couple of bars later I'm sitting at my house wondering where my cell phone went. It rained a lot here the next day, for about 16 hours straight, my phone got about 3 hours of that. Here is what I have now:

I have a spare phone I'm using but going from a Windows Mobile PDA/phone to a nearly decade old samsung gets irritating. Today I have been working on recovering my T-Mobile Dash, I read couple of articles and I have the pieces under a heat lamp. I am 73% sure I can recover the phone. Any tips?

Ellen Allien - Naked Rain

New Islands single and Anti's Spring 08 sampler

2008-03-17T18:02:00.006-05:00

Anti is one of the better record labels around and in my own opinion is far more relevant than their parent label Epitaph. They have pretty a good roster of very diverse artists and to show case their new releases and future releases the label compiled a Spring 2008 ANTI Digital Sampler. I wasn't aware that the Islands signed to Anti so I went snooping around for something new by them and found this sampler which contains a new track from the new album In Arms Way and many other notable tracks from artist such as Cadence Weapon, Tim Fite, Man Man, Billy Bragg, DeVotchka, Lyrics Born and so on. The highlight for me is that new Islands track just because of my heightened anticipation to hear the follow up to Return to the Sea.

Islands - The Arm

ANTI sampler, Download it here

and lastly a preview of the music video for The Arm

Animal Collectives Water Curses

2008-03-16T21:19:00.007-05:00

I've been listening to the title track to Animal Collectives newest EP Water Curses repeatedly. I think I irritated few people at work listening to it so much, everyone already thinks I listen to weirdest music and I don't think this helped at all. There is just so much going on, its like a soundtrack to a carnival montage. What would the world be without ~~insanity laced with beauty~~ beautiful insanity. As a whole its a great EP, the title track stands out a lot but the supporting tracks all have their own merits. The first three tracks on the ep were from the same sessions that gave us Strawberry Jam and the last track recorded later. Its definitely worth picking up on May 6th on 12" and CD.

Animal Collective - Water Curse (-)

The Devil, You + Me

2008-03-05T14:19:00.003-06:00

Finally, a new Notwist album is on the horizon with a new track titled Good Lies made available today. The album is titled The Devil, You + Me and they have been working on it the past 2 years and also already have a tour starting in April. I expected something more electronic, this more closely resembles their pre-Neon Golden era sound, not the metal one but the indie rock one. I like what I hear but that better not be the best track on the new album. The new album should be out May/June 2008.

The Notwist - Good Lies

New home

2008-02-26T21:15:00.006-06:00

After much movement and rearranging I am settled into my new dwelling, what does that mean?

I have cable television for the first time in 3 years which is good I suppose

I have a blazing fast internet connection.

I am living by myself without any roommates for the first time ever, I was living with my brother but now I'm in a house by myself.

I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to setup surround sound and perfect my media center/home theater.

So thats my excuse for only one post this month, not an excuse but my reason. How can I tied this into a musical entry, take it away Chris Walla:

Chris Walla - Everyone needs a home

Not bad of an album...well one or two strong tracks, with some great production throughout the whole album. Recommended for fans of Death Cab for Cutie or was that obvious.

I am going to try to work in some consistency and do a post a week, its just that I think my readership is nonexistent so I am not very motivated and I am not very motivated so my readership is nonexistent.

Valentines Day covers

2008-02-15T03:39:00.007-06:00

Yesterday the Mobius Band put up on their web site a free valentines day covers EP for download titled Love Will Reign Supreme. If you read previously on Think Tank, we have much love for the Mobius Band (they had a spot on the favorite albums of the year post).

Mobius Band - Hallie

Love Will Reign Supreme EP

1 Razor Love (Neil Young)
2 Baby We'll Be Fine (The National)
3 True Love Will Find You In The End (Daniel Johnston)
4 Mobius Band In A Green Cotton Sweater (Casiotone For The Painfully Alone)
5 I'll Keep It With Mine (Bob Dylan)
6 Digital Love (Daft Punk)

Come outside

2008-01-25T22:50:00.000-06:00

Here is what I have been up to (other than keeping indoors with the weather being in the 30s all day today in Dallas): I reformatted my computer and reinstalled everything, started moving into another house the next city over and getting two of my guitars in working condition (still waiting on parts in the mail).

I'm very optimistic about the current year in music. For the first quarter of the year the outlook is very good and here is why:

Why? - Alopecia
Finally the follow up to Elephant Eyelash, very rewarding album so far.

Why? - The Hollows

Stephen Malkmus - Real Emotional Trash
This album has some great moments but it still ranks at the bottom of the SM solo album list. There are those moments though... those moments.

Stephen Malkmus - Baltimore

Destroyer - Trouble In Dreams
Pretty good as usual from Bejar

Destroyer - Foam Hands

Chris Walla - Field Manual
Hey looks like this is really coming out. Still haven't formed a complete opinion on this album but of course its going to be wonderfully produced.

Chris Walla - Sing again

Then there are those wild cards that surprise you, those are the best.

Slow start

2008-01-08T16:58:00.000-06:00

Late December to early January is one of the slowest times concerning new music. Things are starting to pick up, I just went to the Sub Pop site and there are some new tracks up and I checked few other places and it seems to be a trend.

Never really got into the Helio Sequence but I did have few friends that did and this track isn't too bad, it sounds a different from what I'm used to from them. The new album is called Keep Your Eyes Ahead and it will be out January 29 on Sub Pop.

The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead

It seems like an eternity since I heard anything new from Kelley Stoltz (more like 2 years) but this year you can expect a new album titled Circular Sounds February out on Sub Pop.

Kelley Stoltz - Your Reverie

Both releases can be purchased from the Sub Pop store although I tried and it went no where, you can pre-order from insound, those guys are reliable but you do have to pay $2 more.

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Something completely unrelated:

|Do Monkeys Pay For Sex?| Time had this article that caught my eye, actually the title did but its an interesting article.

best of 2007

2007-12-30T17:13:00.000-06:00

After some very enjoyable lazying around Think Tank has finally put together the annual best of list which consists of ~~our~~ my favorite releases of the year, it was created a little more than 3 weeks ago but I wanted to marinate on my selections. The two weeks after that I was just busy.

Andrew Bird - armchair apocrypha
Mr. Birds Armchair Apocrypha straight on in is a winner but after a number of listens I realized this was going to be an album that I would come back to often.

Andrew Bird - Heretics

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Winner of best church organ moments of the year.

Arcade Fire - Black Mirror

Kevin Drew - Spirit If
Its weird, I'm a BSS fan and have clocked in hours with all their albums but this solo release by one of their key songwriters has gotten more listens than all the BSS albums combined.

The National - Boxer
I think the National should release all their album in the Fall because it just seems to suit the weather best.

The National - Mistaken For Strangers (youtube video)

Okkervil River - the Stage Names
Follow ups to great albums always get heavily scrutinized by Think Tank, I had to get over this album not being Black Sheep Boy 2. But after I listened past that I heard a wonderful album with very moving lyrics.

Okkervil River - Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe

Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Person Pitch has this mysterious vibe that just tells me that no matter how many times I listen to this I will never completely get it and that makes me want to listen to it again.

Panda Bear - Comfy Nautica

Spoon - GaGaGaGaGa
These guys rarely let me down. Should I expect a Britt Daniel solo album in 2008 because I expected it this year based on what he said.
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Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam

Beirut - the flying club cup

Born Ruffians - Born Ruffians
One very promising debut and this release contains one of my favorite instrumental interludes.

Busdriver - Roadkillovercoat
Favorite hip hop album of the year, there are a few other notable hip hop releases this year but this is the only one that I still listen to. Plus Sun shower is one my favorite tracks of the year.

Clear Tigers - ep
Not a bad song on this EP.

Deer Tick - War Elephant

Gruff Rhys - candylion
I never really listened to Super Furry Animals but I do like what I hear on this solo release. This reminds me of something but I just can't put my finger on it.

Gruff Rhys - Cycle Of Violence

Iron and Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
Leaked on the internet very early and because of that the momentum of this album wasn't as strong as it should of been. Some of Iron and Wines most interesting moments can be heard on this album.

LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver

MGMT - MGMT
Lot more people need to listen to this album, there are a lot of good things going on here. Officially this album doesn't physically release until next year but its available as a download purchase. If thats not enough Kevin Barnes ranked it on his top 10 of the year.

Mobius Band - Heaven
A nice handful of good singles.

Mobius Band - Friends Like These

Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna Are You The Destroyer

St. Vincent - Marry Me

St. Vincent - Now, Now

Two Gallants - Two Gallants
Their best album so far, the sound fits perfectly in Texas, especially in the summer.

Two Gallants - Despite What You've Been Told

Vampire Weekend (Blue CD-R)
Those hooks just glue themselves onto my brain.

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This year Think Tank was not as active as the previous years mostly because my lack of free time. I have few plans for the blog for next year, mostly appearance and a set schedule for posts nothing too big. I don't really have many people who visit TT anymore but its a fun hobby and thats why I do it and continue to do so in 2008. Its gonna be lots more fun because it an election year.

Before the wipe out

2007-12-07T18:23:00.000-06:00

It is December and there are two things I do every December, Year-end-music-lists and reformatting my hard drive. So the logical thing to do is the list before the wipe out. Right now the list is done, I just need to add few blurbs here and there. Just give it a day or two. In general though, the year was alright for album releases, not spectacular.

Metric - The List

Catch up

2007-11-27T20:52:00.000-06:00

I can't tell you how many times I sat to create a post and got distracted. Its a slow time of the year for new releases so I'm starting to revisit some of my favorite albums from years back. What have I been up to you ask, I got a new car and in a few weeks I'm moving to a new place. Other than that just working.

Single Frame - New Car Smell

New Cadence Weapon album Afterparty Babies is coming out soon, there are some live tracks floating around and one album cut,

Cadence Weapon - In Search Of The Youth Crew

What ever happen to Urban Sprawl in North Texas, I liked that concept.

Weekend Wars

2007-11-11T20:16:00.000-06:00

I've been listening to lots of debuts recently, right now its the MGMT's debut Oracular Spectacular. I missed them last weekend at the Granada in Dallas, I caught the end of the last song and was in disbelief that I missed it. Grand Buffet and Of Montreal were great and I'll catch the MGMT when they come around next time, most preferably headlining.

Their album has some great tracks and shows lots of potential for future releases, they really can go two different direction with their musical progression as a band on a major record label (Columbia Records). Hopefully creativity wins over the dull.

Not my favorite debut of the year but damn are those tunes catchy. I can't believe Indie Rokkers didn't make the album cut.

MGMT - Weekend Wars

My plate

2007-10-31T18:35:00.000-05:00

I just finished making my Halloween mix cd, something I've done for about 5 years around Halloween time. I thought I'd offer up some of my favorites and essentials. On top of that I've only posted 2x this month, thats insane. Lately I've had a lot on my plate but on the up side it looks like my efforts are paying off.

Nada Surf - See these bones
I just like this track and the anticipation for the new Nada Surf factors in.

Flaming Lips - Halloween on the Barbary Coast
This song is a reoccurring track on my Halloween mixes.

Starlight Mints - Pumpkin
This was just random, didn't include it in the mix just saw it and thought why not.

John Vanderslice - Lifeboat
This is the perfect soundtrack to a haunted house, everyone loves the mood it creates.

I have a lively night planned and I'm sure this will get me and perhaps you, by.

Clear Tigers

2007-10-16T22:03:00.000-05:00

I've been obsessing over the songs on the Catbird Records released EP of Clear Tigers, and wait in anticipation for their debut full-length. I used to have a fairly long commute from place to place ranging from 4 hrs to 45 minutes. That was my favorite time to listen to albums, now years have passed and my commutes average 15 minutes, about 3 songs. I got trapped in rush hour traffic in West Plano last week and went through some important listening material and it was then I realized how much I liked this EP. Thanks to Catbirdseat, for the heads up on this gem. Too bad this release is out of print.

Clear Tigers - Igloo

Some tiger related tracks:

The Comas - Tiger in a Tower
Luna - Tiger Lily (live)

Missed opportunity

2007-10-10T19:18:00.000-05:00

I don't keep up with the online music scene as much as I used to, the weird thing is that I doubt I really missed anything. I keep up with the important stuff and I'll read a review or two daily but my daily reads have been cut down dramatically to just a handful of sites.

I wanted to see Mobius Band last night at the Granada with Matthew Dear but I had too many things to do last night, if they were to headliners or played an hour later I would of most definitely been there. The new album, Heaven, rocks.

Mobius Band - Friends Like These
Mobius Band - Hallie

Of course the big release this week is the new Radiohead album, In Rainbows in glorious 160kbps. The site was pretty bogged down earlier but it looks freed up now. I ended up getting it elsewhere but I still plan of downloading from there and I might get that physical release if the packaging is worthwhile which more that likely it will be. They did win a Grammy for the Amnesiac packaging.

Aceyalone...Lightning Strikes

2007-09-23T22:22:00.000-05:00

Aceyalone, one of the most underrated voices in hip-hop, is about to release his newest album Lightning Strikes, a dancehall inspired album. His last album, Magnificent City was entirely produced by RJD2, this his 8th(?) album is entirely produced by Bionik, "who’s known for crafting dub, dancehall, and reggae inspired tracks".

The first single features someone who I have noticed has been "featured" a lot lately, Chali 2na, formerly of J5.

Aceyalone - Easy feat Chali 2na

Aceyalone - Shango

Look for this release on Oct, 2 on Decon.

Two Gallants

2007-09-19T16:09:00.000-05:00

I've been listening to the Two Gallants self titled album, their second for Saddle Creek, for about a week or so. After hearing this years The Scenery Of Farewell EP I was expecting a more stripped down Two Gallants sound on this album based on the EPs prominence of acoustic guitars and piano on the last track, not their best release but I knew they could build on the sound. I guess I was wrong. As a whole, its probably my favorite from these guys. Go pick up the Two Gallants self-titled album when it comes out next Tuesday (9-25) or get it now at the online store (where you can stream the entire album).

Two Gallants - The Hand That Held Me Down

Two Gallants - Despite What You've Been Told

Cowboys, Salim, Eef, and charts

2007-09-12T15:59:00.000-05:00

I need to quit with these large gaps in updates. I just don't have all the free time that I had previously, most of the blame should be put on the start up of the NFL season and the anticipation of. It looks like the Dallas Cowboys had a nice start to the season against the NY Giants but I'm not going to get my hopes up until after the first quarter of the season is over, those injurys that the Cowboys have to deal with are going to hurt in the games to come.

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While on that Dallas note, Dallas' own Salim Nourallah has a new album out on Tapete Records titled Beautiful Noise. Here's a track from it:

Salim Nourallah - Don't Be Afraid

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Speaking of singer songwriters, Eef Barzelay has a new album coming out titled, Eef Barzelay. Remember he gave a live preview of two tracks on Daytrotter? I'm a fan of his last solo album Bitter Honey and his Clem Snide work so this album should be great.

From the new album

Eef Barzelay - Apocalyptic Friend (zshare) also (ysi)

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side note:

Yesterday was a big day in album releases especially with the Kanye West vs. 50 cent thing that I'm sure the marketing of which was enough boost both their sales with the photo ops and such. Kanye West is obviously going to win this one, 50s single barely made a mark on the charts plus he lacks talent anyway. I hope he follows through with his promise of this being his final album if Kanye out sells him.

From the Corner to the Block

2007-08-22T15:30:00.000-05:00

Among the albums releasing today the new Galactic album From the Corner to the Block on Anti- is one of the highlights. The New Orleans jazz-funk band infuses various styles into their music to create something unique. Most of the songs on the album features vocals from some of the best that hip hop has to offer including Lyrics Born, Mr. Lif, Chali 2na, Gift of Gab from Blackalicious, The Coup's Boots Riley, Juvenile, DJ Z-Trip, Lateef the Truth Speaker, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Soul Rebels Brass Band, Digable Planets' Ladybug Mecca, Nino Moschella, Vursatyl and Ohmega Watts. Quite the list, need I say more about this album after that list? Nope.

Galactic - I Got It (What You Need?) feat. Lyrics Born (mp3)

Galactic - Think back feat Chali 2na from Jurassic 5 (wma)

Look for them on Jimmy Kimmell Live on September 6, also watch them live on their Fall 2007 tour.

My Rights Versus Yours on Letterman

2007-08-22T15:05:00.000-05:00

I watched the beginning of the Late Show with David Letterman but stepped out before the The New Pornographers got to play at the end but in the back of my head I knew I could rely on youtube the next day to catch the performance.

One of my favorite NP songs.

Beat Konducta vs Oh No

2007-08-13T17:05:00.000-05:00

Beat Konducta Vol 3-4: Beat Konducta in India is Madlibs newest instrumental album under the alias of Beat Konducta. In my opinion it is his most inspired Beat Konducta album. I just can't help but to wonder if Madlib just used this material for a new Madvillain album, what would the outcome be. I'm sure it would be something crazy, wild and one of many highlights of his career. The samples are great and as usual Madlib works his magic to bring it all together in to a cohesive album. If you enjoy hip hop instrumentals or some vintage Indian music this is definitely worth checking out.

Beat Konducta - Masala

Oh No, another Stones Throw records artist (and Madlibs younger brother) has an album that just recently dropped Dr. Oh No's Oxperiment and it is also an instrumental album. I've been enjoying his albums since he put out Disrupt, his first on Stones throw few years back. His new album is described as "an audio tour of Turkish, Lebanese, Greek & Italian psyche funk: chopped, flipped & ripped." Thats sounds about right. The album puts Oh No in a whole new terrain of music, the terrain of instrumental hip hop that his brother Madlib has championed many times over. The album is getting some much deserved hype and some great reviews but we have all known that the praise was well overdue.

Oh No - Action (rap version)

Who wins in the battle of the eastern Euasia sample heavy album: Madlib of course. I didn't really have to put much thought into it, that guy fucking owns.

New Calexico with Notorious B.I.G. mash

2007-07-24T20:47:00.000-05:00

Everyones favorite indie/alt country band Calexico is touring Europe with a new tour album in tow titled Toolbox. The album is an instrumental affair which is something that Calexico does very well.

"The instrumentation on the album features a wide range of instruments John and I have collected over the years including acoustic/electric guitars, drums, upright bass, cello, vibes, accordion, glockenspiel, cuatro, banjo and a new addition to the guitar collection, a waylacho from Mexico. For the recording process John and I ping-ponged parts and popped out the album in three days. We wanted to go back to basics and see what we could do with just a handful of instruments played between the two of us."

Toolbox comes highly recommended (by me) and is available in the Calexico Store and at their upcoming shows.

The first track off the album:

Calexico - Above the Branch

Bonus mash of the song above and the Notorious B.I.G.'s Party and Bullshit:

The Notorious B.I.G. vs Calexico - Above the Bullshit (zshare)

I think Calexico recorded this song with the intent of Notorious B.I.G. rapping over it. word.

Oracular Spectacular

2007-07-17T18:49:00.000-05:00

Hey MGMT got some p-fork love today. Its about time, even though it was only really two sentences. They have lots of potential, wait for this debut album to drop I tells ya. But if you want a taste go to the Cantora Records page and order a copy of the Time to Pretend EP for $9 (well worth it) or go to Amazon and spend $64 for the same thing if you are in the mood to throw down some cash. There is still a short wait (September?) for their debut album, Oracular Spectacular to drop on Columbia. Also worth mentioning is that the legendary David Fridmann produced the new album.

They have tour dates with Of Montreal which happens to have a stop in Dallas, check the tour dates here.

From the Time to Pretend EP:

The MGMT - Time To Pretend
The MGMT - Destrokk

Spoon video

2007-07-06T15:47:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure if I mentioned Spoons new album, I figured that every other blog out there did already so I had no need to. Great album none the less, I'd say it would rank #2 in their incredible discography. Anyway check out the new video for Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga album highlight, The Underdog. Is that Jason Reece from Trail of Dead playing the bottles? Sure looks like him.

Also there is a limited edition bonus EP you get with the album, pre-order from Merge Records. Or go to Target on Tuesday and get it for $8? When did Target start to matter? Here's a track from that ep.

Spoon - Mean Mad Margaret [zshare]

The Rentals cover The Rentals

2007-07-02T22:00:00.000-05:00

There is this snow-cone place on my route back from work, I stop by on especially hot days to indulge myself in its cooling magic. Last time I felt I need something a little bit more in my snow-cone so I upped the ante, threw 50 more cents down and got extra juice. Too much blueberry sweetness. It made for one of the worst snow-cones ever but I still took down the majority of it....see it was hot, I think I mentioned that. In the long run I learn the lesson that it was too much to handle and I had to pace myself on the juice.

Thats how my music to do lists is going. June has so many new albums that are so good that while I'm trying to give them all a fair share its just over load. New Interpol, Super Furry Animals, They might be giants, Bumps, John Vanderslice, Okkervil River, Bishop Allen, Rentals, couple others all pretty much fell in my lap around the same general time.

The most recent would have to be the new Rentals EP titled The Last Little Life . I was a huge Rentals fan by way of Weezer. The Rentals were the band that introduced me to heavy snyths mixed with power pop, a formula which if done right, will never bore me. This EP is the first Rentals release since 1999's, 7 More Minutes, which was embarrassingly under-appreciated by the majority of the public and was assumed to be the end of The Rentals. You can expect a new full album in 2008 from Matt and co. but lucky The Rentals leave us this EP to savor on while they cook up something new in the studio.

The last track on the EP is a reworking of the Rentals classic Sweetness and Tenderness originally from their debut album Return of the Rentals. Judging by this track and the others from the EP the Rentals have a looser sound to them in their recent incarnation, they still keep the male/female vocals going with some strings floating in and out but nothing strongly similar to either of the previous albums.

The Rentals - Sweetness & Tenderness [zshare]

Emerald City

2007-06-27T23:11:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite musicians is hitting the road in support of his new album. John Vanderslice will be releasing his new album Emerald City on Barsuk (July 24), and of course the album is now available for pre-order on cd and vinyl. Barsuk posted the track White Dove from the album recently, adding to the collection of downloads from 6 other JV releases.

John Vanderslice - White Dove

some other JV tracks here and here.

Tour dates here.

Misha

2007-06-27T00:07:00.000-05:00

I'm little late on the Misha boat and their debut album Teardrop Sweetheart, out last week on Tomlab. Better late than never. Nothing groundbreaking or terribly unique but a great soundtrack to these rainy weeks we've been having lately in Texas.

~~Misha - Scars (zshare)~~
Misha - Summersend

Mos Definite

2007-06-24T18:01:00.001-05:00

I'm getting kind of lazy, there are more than a few things that I wanted to mention since I last posted but never got to them. The only thing I remember is Mos Def.

Mos Def has a new album of unreleased tracks spanning his entire rap career called Mos Definite. Its not available in the US so good luck finding it unless you want to shell out $25+ at an online retailer. One of the stand out track is the legendary Beef, the first time I heard it was when it was played on the Dave Chapelle Show but I hadn't heard it since and pretty much forgot about it. In my opinion its Mos Def at his best.

Mos Def - Beef [zshare]

On repeat

2007-06-17T16:04:00.000-05:00

Band of Horses cover The New Year on their UK single for Funeral from last years Everything All the Time. The song originally appears on The New Years second album The End is Near from 2004. Its amazing how Band of Horses interpret the song, the strongest change is what Ben Bridwell vocals does to it. I don't think Band of Horses could of possibly done it any better. I've had this track on repeat for some time now.

Band of Horses - The End's Not Near

Tonight...

2007-06-08T17:56:00.000-05:00

Sage Francis is coming into Dallas tonight at the Granada Theater. He'll be bringing Buck 65, Alias, and Buddy Wakefield with him to open. His new album is my favorite in his catalog so I'm pretty excited to see him live. Also I don't really get a chance to see live hip hop often aside from drunk people free-styling.

Sage Francis - Hell Of A Year (ode to 2005)

Download couple of tracks here.

Queens of the Stone Age Cover Elliott Smith

2007-06-05T02:15:00.000-05:00

Kind of odd choice of covers, good song none the less but not something I would expect from QOTSA. The original appeared on Elliott Smiths self titled album on KRS, his best release in my opinion. This cover track is taken from QOSTA's cd single for 3's & 7's which was released yesterday/today. The single, 3's & 7's, is a track from QOTSA's newest and 5th album Era Vulgaris out June 12th.

Queens of the stone age - Christian Brothers [Elliott Smith cover] [zshare]

White Rabbits

2007-05-25T05:02:00.000-05:00

This past Tuesday White Rabbits released their debut album titled Fort Nightly. I thought the blogs would be all over this, especially after NME gave them rave reviews on their SXSW performance. I came across them on XM radio few days back when I heard The Plot, I scribbled the band name down and song titled on a napkin for further evaluation. They have this appeal to them similar to the Walkmen.

White Rabbits - The Plot

or Maybe

2007-05-22T22:44:00.000-05:00

A new Okkervil River album is floating towards us and I'm pretty excited after hearing the first single, Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe, which premiered on pitchfork.

I like the artwork from the other albums better than this one but maybe it will be more relevant when I hear the entire album.

Okkervil River - Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe

The new album, their 4th, is called The Stage Names and is out on August 07 on Jagjaguwar.

------

Also yesterday Adult Swim released another album of free downloads titled Warm & Scratchy. It features mainly indie rock bands and I definitely worth checking out. It features tracks from TV On The Radio, Les Savy Fav, The Raveonettes, Broken Social Scene and few others.

Download Warm & Scratchy

Giant Performances

2007-05-20T19:54:00.000-05:00

If you missed it, like I did, Human Giant took over MTV and MTV2 for 24 hours. The selection of musical guests was pretty decent and the good news is that you can watch the footage of all their performances. Some of the songs are titled wrong like the two tracks by The National being mislabel but its all there for a quick recap. The guests include The National, Albert Hammond, Jr., Mastodon, Ted Leo, Tapes 'N Tapes, Morningwood.

View musical performances here and some highlights at the their mtv page.

Ogre

2007-05-17T23:45:00.000-05:00

I took a little blog vacation. Not only did I stay away from the mighty tank, I generally stayed away from all my daily reads. No reason, not even planned. I guess I've been busy. Right now I'm setting up surround sound in my living room. Just some Polk satellites and a Harman Kardon AVR340.

------------------------------

I saw this video on Youtube of my favorite Japanese band, Ogre You Asshole. Its for a track called Advantage and it has a modest mouse quality.

I still have no clue what they are saying.

Jaylib reissue

2007-05-03T22:55:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if anyone noticed a little bit of a gap there in updates, my excuse: I was honing all my energies on the Mavericks playoffs. Tonight is game 6, a win would take us to game 7 to close the series, a loss will end the season. I didn't plan properly and will have to abandon tonights game towards the end to catch the first showing of Spider-man 3. Haven't seen the 2nd one but I did watch the cartoons when I was a kid so I'm sure I won't be lost.

Also two weeks ago I started watching Heroes from the beginning and I finished couple of days ago. It has found a spot as one of my favorite television shows. Heroes has a progression that engages you in to the story line. Unlike another show that has "Lost" my interest recently.

---------------

Stones Throw Records has unfortunately had to delay the Jaylib reissue of Champion Sound (delaylib), a 2 cd deluxe version which includes the original album with two bonus tracks and the second disc with previously 24 unreleased and hard to find tracks. The album was supposed to come out on May 8th but got bumped to a possible June 12th release because a glitch in the pressing.

Jaylib - Raw addict

Eef

2007-04-20T00:58:00.000-05:00

I'm a big fan of the Daytrotter sessions and Eef Barzelay is one of the better artists that they have had featured on the site lately, at least in my opinion. I started listening to Eef Barzelay on his solo album and worked my way back to his band, Clem Snides' albums. This session features songs from his solo and Clem Snide work.

Four Eef Barzelay tracks at Daytrotter here.

Pterodactyl

2007-04-19T01:00:00.000-05:00

Jagjaguwar have couple of albums coming out soon that are worth mentioning. One is by one of my favorites, Minus Story and this other band Pterodactyl, which I am fairly new to. Their name means winged lizard and their album starts out with the squawks of what I assume is a winged lizard and then breaks into the spastic drumming of the first track Polio. The album rampages through few tracks and ends with Esses, the track that peaked my interest in this album. Maybe it will do the same for you.

Pterodactyl - Polio
Pterodactyl - Esses

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And so it starts...With 67 games in the win column this year, the Dallas Mavericks first playoff match up is set, Saturday they will face the Golden State warriors. This won't be easy, the Warriors somewhat worries me but I think we can roll through them.

Human The Death Dance

2007-04-06T00:12:00.000-05:00

The front runner for hip hop album of the year has been playing in my cd player for the past week. The album is Human The Death Dance and the MC is Sage Francis. I've been a Sage Francis fan since his Non-Prophets debut album. His first Epitaph releases was good but this, his second, is a much greater achievement. Some of the my favorite albums I've panned on the first listen, this one started that way on first listen but it started to grow on me. Something clicked on the second listen, I think I started paying more attention to the lyrics and then eventually the albums production started to find more appreciation. Lyrically Sage is one of the best in underground hip hop so don't expect any less from him on this album.

Sage Francis - Hell Of A Year (ode to 2005) (available on Human The Death Dance, out April 2007 on Epitaph)

Few things related:

Dr. Nogatco (kool keith) - Live Dissection feat. Sage Francis & Sole
From Dr. Nogatcos' Nogatco Rd.

Non-Prophets - Damage
From Non-Prophets Hope

Sage Francis - Embarrassed (feat. Slug and Eyedea)
From Sage Francis' Sick of Waging War

Sage Francis - Mario Bros Freestyle
From Sage Francis' Still Sick... Urine Trouble)

More downloads here

I think I'm going to pre-order the double vinyl for $15, I think every album should come with this extras like this comes with:

... with a 36 page booklet containing the album's lyrics and background stories to the songs.

Each pre-sales order will come with these exclusive items:

An instrumental CD of the album (limited to pre-sales)
A "You Can't Kill Me Motherfucker" button (limited to pre-sales)
A signed 13 X 19 poster
A full color HTDD sticker
A Strange Famous Records sticker

Order the album at Sage Francis' record label Strange Famous Records.

April Shows

2007-03-30T02:04:00.000-05:00

So here is my live music picks for the month of April in the D/FW area. I haven't gone to any shows (not counting bands that I didn't know their names) this year other than the Of Montreal show back in Feburary which was pretty damn good. So this month I have one priority show and the rest are maybes.

--Mon 4/2--Explosions In The Sky/the pAper chAse-Granada Theater-Dallas

Explosions in the Sky - Day One

This Explosions In The Sky show is the one priority show just because I have yet to see Explosions In The Sky play live and thats just not right.

--Wed 4/4-TV On The Radio-Granada Theater-Dallas

TV On the Radio - Wolf Like Me (video on youtube)

This is a maybe, TV on the Radio is shit hot right now therefore I don't like them enough to see them at a packed venue unless I get bored.

--Thu 4/5-Ratatat/120 Days/Despot-Ridglea Theater-Ft. Worth

Biggie Smalls - Party & Bullshit (Ratatat remix)

I rekindled my appreciation of Ratatat with the new remix bootleg and I've been listening to Despot lately so I might go. Actually this a pretty good show, I should go.

--Fri 4/6-Ted Leo-Granada Theater-Dallas

Ted Leo - Ghosts

I have to be up early on Saturday but that hasn't stopped me before so we'll see...maybe.

--Sun 4/8-Yo La Tengo-Granada Theater-Dallas

Yo La Tengo - Beanbag Chair

The new album is motivation enough to see them live but its a Sunday show.

--Thu 4/26-Hot Chip-Granada Theater-Dallas

Hot Chip - Over and Over (video on youtube)

Now if this show was a year ago today this show would be more of a priority.

There are couple other great bands stopping by DFW worth checking out, I referenced Good Records.

New track from The National

2007-03-22T21:50:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite bands is finally breaking the seal off their new album with a new promo single. Today marks the release of "an official promo mp3 for The National's forthcoming album, Boxer, due out on May 22, 2007 (US) and May 21, 2007 (UK)". I haven't heard the new album yet but I know it going to be one of my top albums of the year.

From Boxer

The National - Fake Empire

New El-P video

2007-03-18T17:02:00.000-05:00

NY Times debuted the video for Smithereens by El-P from his new album I'll Sleep When You're Dead. The theme: prisoner torture. Its kind of graphic kids.

El-P - Smithereens (video stream from NY Times)

Live El-P video at Prefix from the Plug Awards.

New album out on the 20th of this month on Definitive Jux.

Also: hot pockets

Get Rich or Try Dying

2007-03-16T00:15:00.000-05:00

"With the work ethic of a hairbrush and the wit of a new sock...."1

Despot is a fairly new artist on Definitive Jux and was recently featured on the Definitive Swim comp, a collaboration of Williams Street (adult swim) and Definitive Jux records. His contribution was one of the stand out tracks and led me to further pursue his music and see what he is all about. He is currently working on his Def Jux debut with production by Blockhead and "other special guests". Right now he is on tour with Ratatat, the product of that tour can be streamed at Despots myspace page where he freestyles with Ratatat doing the instrumental.

Despot - Get Rich or Try Dying

Despot on Myspace
Despot on Def Jux 1

Pink Robots

2007-03-13T02:17:00.000-05:00

"Wayne Coyne revealed to us that the band has been in talks with legendary Broadway producer Des McAnuff, who is responsible for the stage adaptation of the Who’s Tommy and last year’s Tony-winning Jersey Boys. “We’re putting together a Broadway version of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots,” says Coyne. “As much as I love the more intense experience of being at a rock show, this could be great!”" -- Rolling Stone

I really hope this doesn't turn out to be like Christmas in Mars, the Flaming Lips movie that has yet to come out.

The String Quartet Tribute to the Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1

New Aesop Rock

2007-03-07T00:48:00.000-06:00

Pitchfork media posted a new track from Aesop Rocks new album None Shall Pass. I've been thirsting for something new and exciting in hip hop in 2007 and this might be it. At least till MF Doom and Ghostface release that album (this month?). The new track is the title track from the album and hints towards something spectacular. It features frequent Aesop Rock collaborator Blockhead on the beat which fills in perfectly.

Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass

The new album features a collaboration with Mountain Goat John Darnielle which is very much hyped up online. Here's a pic of the two from Aesops Myspace:

Knights

2007-03-01T18:45:00.000-06:00

I have developed into a tv junkie over the past year or so. I don't usually watch a show when it comes on but maybe a day or two afterwards. Like with The Knights of Prosperity, I watched the seasons episodes right before bed for the past week, two episodes a night. This is my new show. The thing about this show is that I'm pretty damn sure its going to get canceled after this season but I'm enjoying it while its still running. Last nights episode brought in a new enemy, Ray Romano, replacing Mick Jagger. The show has some good laughs, following an organized crime group mostly compromised of losers, as they scheme to rob Mick Jagger/Ray Romano. The way I see it, According to Jim is still on air and that show is horrid so how could this not out last Jim Belushi.

Here is a clip of the Knights choosing a theme song

and of course this classy little number:

Rush - Tom Sawyer

Warming up

2007-02-22T17:17:00.000-06:00

The season is changing and its warming up here in Dallas. Time to start basketballing again, maybe get some badminton in. I made this sun themed playlist in honor of the warm weather we've been having lately.

Busdriver - Sunshower
Mos Def - Sunshine
Elefant - Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid
Velvet Underground - Who Loves The Sun

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"I think that Donald Rumsfeld will go down in history as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history," McCain said to applause.

damn, Rumy got served

Man with sword mistakes porn for rape

I just like that title

Explosions In The Sky drops a bonus

2007-02-13T22:45:00.000-06:00

Explosions in the Sky has a new album coming out a week from today (Feb 20th) titled All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone which I believe I had mentioned last year. They are kicking of a tour next week and don't make it to my neck of the woods till April but its worth marking on my calendar as soon as I put it on the wall. Some versions of the album will come with a bonus cd which has remixes of every some from various artists (Jesu, Mountains, Adem, Four Tet, Eluvium, and the Paper Chase). My favorite remix you ask, the Four Tet remix of course but I do think I like the original better. The other are not bad at all though.

Explosions In The Sky - Catastrophe And The Cure (Four Tet Mix)

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I've been viewing this clip for couple of weeks, its one of my favorite videos on youtube. Its already been viewed 10k+ times but just in case you haven't seen it here is a "Japanese Mob Scare Prank". It has staying power, it still makes me laugh even though I've seen it many times already.

Japanese Mob Scare Prank

If the Ocean Gets Rough

2007-02-06T01:58:00.000-06:00

Willy Masons new album, If the Ocean Gets Rough release is approaching (March 6) with Save Myself as the lead single.

Willy Mason - Save Myself

download Willy Masons KCRW performance including his interpretation of the Message by Grandmaster Flash at the Daily Growl.

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Speaking of rough oceans, Modest Mouses album cover for We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank:

still rocking the anchored balloon.

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Speaking of dead, Minus Story has an interesting new release coming out titled Make the Dead Come.

"Adhering to the tried and true method of self-recording that we have “perfected” on previous releases (and neglecting to expand on the knowledge and experience gained from our studio visit in September), we returned to our basements and bedrooms with instruments in hand and mics in place to write and record songs of a particular dynamic and delicacy."

Order now, should be shipping this week.

Minus Story never disappoints.

Fat Jon and Styrofoam

2007-01-30T01:18:00.000-06:00

Fat Jon and Styrofoam snuck in late last year with an unusual but awesome collaboration, bringing together indie-electronica and hip-hop in an album titled The Same Channel. The album takes us to the future, a world with Space Gangstas, Acid Rain Robot Repair, and Generic Genes. As usual Styrofoam doesn't disappoint doing a his thing with the beats and providing backing vocals and Fat Jon doesn't disappoint with his lyrical presentation, this being my introduction to Fat Jon.

Fat Jon and Styrofoam - Space Gangsta

Head over to the Morr Music site to hear some previews of songs from the album.

"Superman Returns the Soft Bulletin"

2007-01-29T23:44:00.000-06:00

I found this pretty entertaining but haven't tried it out yet. It involves one of my favorite albums, The Soft Bulletin (1999) by the Flaming Lips synched with Superman Returns (2006). Basically you skip to the last chapter of Superman and...well read up on it here.

The Flaming Lips - Waiting for Superman (in 5.1)

The Berg Sans Nipple

2007-01-18T22:29:00.000-06:00

Next week marks the first release for The Berg Sans Nipple on Team Love Records titled, Along the Quai.

The franco-american duo The BERG SANS NIPPLE consists of (but is not limited to) Lori Sean Berg and Shane Aspegren. The former is a suave Frenchman from the dirty rues of gay Parieee and the latter is a lanky Scandinavian-looking fellow who actually hails from the dusty plains of Nebraska. (via bsn myspace)

I would describe their music somewhere in the realms of electro-pop in an indie rock sense, does that makes sense. Didn't think so. For fans of Album Leaf and Manitoba/Caribou.

From Along the Quai
The Berg Sans Nipple - Mystic Song

The Visionaries

2007-01-15T19:32:00.000-06:00

The Visionaries fourth and most recent album, We Are The Ones (We've Been Waiting For) came out in back in October but its took me all these months to link 2mex to them and this album. The six member hip hop group got some help from some great producers on this album including J Dilla, Madlib and many others.

The Visionaries - Need to Learn (ft. Rakaa, Brother J, YZ, RBX, Sadat X)

Definitely check out this track from group member 2mex, get ready to get a song stuck in your head:

Songodson - Minors in the fire (ft. Busdriver)

ahhh Busdriver, has anyone checked out his new album Roadkillovercoat, I believe I mentioned it about a month ago. My favorite song of the year so far, Sunshower, is from that album. I know its early for a favorite track but that track has enjoyed the repeat button more than anything this year.

Busdriver - Sunshower

Cloud Cults The Meaning of 8

2007-01-11T13:47:00.000-06:00

I just got a preview of the new Cloud Cult album The Meaning Of 8, their follow up 2005s amazing Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus . Its out in April on Earthology but if you order at their online store you can have it by February and also give Cloud Cult a bigger slice of that cheese. Its absolutely worth checking out, Pitchforkmedia and Pop Matters both use the word genius to describe the last album. This album is the obvious next step in the life of Cloud Cult, its exactly what I expected.

From The Meaning of 8
~~Cloud Cult - A Girl Underground~~ (I was looking at few other blogs and I think the trend is that songs from this album will be asked to taken down.) Instead a live track from the album:

Cloud Cult - Chemicals Collide (Live at the Knitting Factory 4/17/06)
props to Lost in your box for the song

Songs from previous albums:

Cloud Cult - Breakfast with my shadow
Cloud Cult - Living on the Outside of Your Skin
Cloud Cult - Car Crash

Patrick Wolf shows us his Magic Position

2007-01-04T22:01:00.000-06:00

I've been anticipating the new Patrick Wolf album and when I finally got to listen to The Magic Position I was very much pleased. This reminds me of what Conor Oberst could be if he scrubbed all that emo out of his voice. Album out on February 26, 2007.

Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position

New Modest Mouse Single

2007-01-01T21:20:00.000-06:00

This low quality radio recording from Seattle radio station 107.7 The End is from yesterday when the first single Dashboard from Modest Mouses' new album We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank, debuted. I was browsing my usual message boards and found this gem and had to share it.

Modest Mouse - Dashboard (107.7 The End debut)

Do you hear that Marrness in the song? Apparently couple of songs feature James Mercer according to Paste Magazine who got a chance to hear a "sneak preview".

Couple of albums I enjoyed this year

2006-12-31T16:00:00.000-06:00

I made this list a weeks back but I ran into few delays (randomly reformatted my computer, got sick, got busy, didn't think anyone would mind).

Favorite albums of 2006

1. Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther
Why: I just couldn't stop listening to this album, it had too many standout tracks for me to get bored with it anytime soon.
Roscoe

2. Islands - Return to the Sea
Why: Catchy hooks, great songwriting and their great live show didn't hurt anything either.

3. Hot Chip - The Warning
Why: I was a really big fan of their sparse debut album Coming On Strong but this album tops the debut in every way possible.

4. The Blow - paper television
Why: As of the past week or so I've been listening to this album everyday. Dancable beats, with honest lyrics.
Pile of Gold

5. Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury
Why: It has staying power, I'm still listening to this album which is a long time for me and my short attention span.

Yo La Tengo - I'm Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
Why: So many good songs, it sounds like a best of compilation.
Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind

Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies
Why: Although it doesn't top Your Blues, Rubies launched Dan Bejar into another stratosphere which is always a good thing for such a talented songwriter.
Painter in Your Pocket

Ratatat - Classics
Why: It just my kind of music, it prominently features my two favorite rock instruments guitar and synth. I can't really
Wildcat

Band of Horses - Everything All the Time
Why: I really didn't give this album a chance except for The Funeral but I got sucked in after couple of causal listens.
Funeral

Built to Spill - You In Reverse
Why: Doug Martsch is still the great songwriter/guitarist we all remember, actually this is pretty much the same BTS that we all remember.

Lily Allen - Alright, Still
Why: Not my usual type of music but this is an exception to the rule

The Strokes - First Impression
Why: Excellent tracks as usual with couple of sounds new to they Strokes.

Cold War Kids - Robbers and Cowards
Why: The vocals really sell this album.
Hang Me Up To Dry

Eagles of Death Metal - Death By Sexy
Why: The most rocking record I heard this year.

The Rapture - Pieces Of The People We Love
Why: One of the best albums to put on during a party, dancy but not too dancy.

Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics
Why: Because it the Flaming Lips. Not one of their top ranking albums but still something enjoyable and exciting.

The Knife - Silent Shout
Why: Apparently my impression that all Knife songs sounded like You Take My Breath Away from Deep Cuts was completely wrong.

Conclusion: 2007 should be a better year for music, not saying that 2006 was bad but it could of been better.

Have a great new year.

I thought I just might combine to entries into one:

Top Hip Hop Album of 2006

This list is pretty simple for the most part

1
The Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury
Why: Those rhymes, that production. Everyone who "knows", knows about his album. I don't think this would of been so big if it wasn't for the record label bs that they had to go through. I call it the wilco effect.
2
7L & Esoteric - A New Dope
Why: I listened to this album so much. Everyones first impression when hearing it in my car is, "is that Jay-z" and I do hear that in Eso's voice but I would say more indie hip hop.
3
Nas - Hip Hop Is Dead
Why: Its a Nas album but on top of that its a good Nas album. One question though, where is that 2 million dollar beat? The N?
4
Ghostface - Fishscale
Why: Best thing to come out of Wu-tang, I've been following this guys solo work since Supreme Clientel and so far this is my favorite.
5
Spank Rock - YoYoYoYoYo
Why: It started with Backyard Betty and just went from there for me. I'd say it was mostly the prodution for me but it would be nothing with out MC.
6
Soul Position - Things Go Better With RJ & Al
Why: One of my favorite MCs and one of my favorite producers come together to give us this awesome album. Its probably more about Blueprint for me.
7
Oh No - Exodus Into Unheard Rhythms
Why: An improvment from his debut, this one had more put into it. Atleast thats what it seems.
8
The Coup - Pick A Bigger Weapon
Why: Its more of the lyrical element that placed this album. I like hip hop that engages you with lyrics, good production is a plus.
9
Snoop Dogg - Tha Blue Carpet Treatment
Why: Its has some tracks and atleast 4 great singles in it. I haven't been following his albums mostly his singles but this album is an enjoyable listen in morning traffic.

Stephin Merritt on Good Day Atlanta

2006-12-21T17:30:00.000-06:00

Great song, funny interview.

Alvin and the Chipmunks

2006-12-18T21:36:00.000-06:00

I pretty much made up my year end lists I just have to clean it up a little bit. ETA: Thursday. Till then...

This holiday season can't go by without the best Christmas song of all-time. Its just not Christmas without this Alvin and the Chipmunks song.

Alvin and the Chipmunks - Christmas, Don't Be Late

Keeping busy

2006-12-12T22:35:00.000-06:00

I can't believe the new Busdriver album isn't getting that much attention on the web. He's touring with Deerhoof right now so catch him if you can

Busdriver - Kill Your Employer (Daedelus Mix)

I've been keeping busy recently. Since last time I posted I finally fulfilled my dream of owning a mandolin and today got a new sound card for my computer. I'm right about to put in the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty. I've had bad luck with graphics cards but I'm optimistic about the sound upgrade. Let me nerd it up for you just a bit, it is THX certified and has DTS-ES and Dolby Digital EX decoding. I mostly got it for the midi inputs. The mandolin was a random purchase when I couldn't find the guitar strings I wanted. Nothing fancy just a Epiphone mm-30, a beginner setup. I still need a decent snare, or fix my busted one.

Currently I'm formulating my year end top musics list, begining with hip hop. I already know the top 6 but now I'm just finding well deserved places for the other 2006 releases. Before that Clipse dropped I already had a #1 for a while, they rattled the setup.

The weather around these parts took a warm turn the past couple of days so the team and I are fitting in couple of basketball games till winter wakes up and notices Texas again then maybe we'll go back to table tennis.

I'm having fun.

Rob Crow, Living Well

2006-12-04T19:40:00.000-06:00

Rob Crow (of Pinback, Goblin Cock, The Ladies, Optiganally Yours, Other Men, Alpha Males, Heavy Vegetable, Physics, Thingy etc...) has a new album coming out and it almost squeaked by without me knowing. Then came Stereogum to the rescue with a song posted today titled Up. Check it out, you won't regret it. I went to the record label Temporary Residence Limited site to get further information and maybe another track and bam the track I Hate You, Rob Crow is available as a download. Unfortunately its an mp4 file even though it is listed as an mp3, good stuff though. Then I made my way to his Japanese record label Human Highway Records another track Bam Bam, the song title not the lame sound effect I use way too often. Of the three, I like Up best. Bearded Rob Crows new album titled Living Well is out late January on Temporary Residence Limited.

Rob Crow - I Hate You, Rob Crow
Rob Crow - Bam Bam

Soundtrack to the Snow

2006-11-30T15:26:00.000-06:00

Its a cold afternoon in Dallas with some mild snowfall, I went out and threw my obligatory snowball and came in quick and put together my soundtrack to the weather.

Snowflakes captured by snowflake photomicroscope.

Three tracks

2006-11-28T23:49:00.000-06:00

Pitchfork gave the new Clipse album a 9.1 which is very rightfully deserved, lately its been my hip hop album of choice when I feel like thugin it out. It pretty much cancels out that new Jay-z album (oh no he din'int). But I'm sure everyone is asking themselves whats the point of pursuing futher hip hop releases after listening to this masterpiece, okay maybe not but I have a point. That point is that the new Nas album is going to knock some heads. I've heard couple of parts of from the album and I can't wait to hear the whole.

Nas - QB true G's feat the Game

The new El-P album is being called "the most anticipated indie-rap release of 2007" by Rolling Stone, here's a track:

El-P - Smithereens (Stop Cryin)

Remember that Tom Waits video that I posted a week or so back, well I have been enjoying that track very much and I thought I might as well share it.

Tom Waits - Lie To Me

Not as cool as listening while watching the video but good none the less...

New Explosions in the Sky

2006-11-20T22:00:00.000-06:00

Our beloved Texas post-rock instrumentalists Explosions in the Sky have a new release after 4 years without an LP. Although their was The Rescue, which was Volume 21 in the Travels in Constants series and was created in 8 days without any songs written prior. The new album is called All of A Sudden I Miss Everyone and is going to be released February 20th, 2007 on Temporary Residence Limited.

From the new album:
Explosions in the Sky - Welcome, Ghosts

Looking back at previous releases...

From How Strange, Innocence (2000)
Explosions in the Sky - A Song For Our Fathers

From "Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever" (2001)
Explosions in the Sky - Yasmin the Light

From "The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place" (2003)
Explosions in the Sky - Your Hand in Mine

From "The Temporary Residence Ltd. Thank You Compilation"(2004)
Explosions in the Sky - The Long Spring

Download the all 8 tracks of The Rescue from the Explosions in the Sky website.

Shaft

2006-11-20T19:15:00.000-06:00

Today I read this article about two very recent hip hop songs sharing the same sample.

The "ubiquitous hip-hop sample of the moment" award goes to the horn loop from Johnny Pate's "Shaft in Africa."

The track, from the 1973 soundtrack of the same name, is prominently featured in "Show Me What You Got," the lead single from Jay-Z's new "Kingdom Come" (Roc-a-Fella/Def Jam), and "We Gon' Make It," the opening song from Diddy's recently released "Press Play" (Bad Boy). Billboard

Johnny Pate - Shaft In Africa (mp3)

When I first heard the Jay Z song on XM I thought that I was hearing a 90's classic then the song took a weird change and I realized it wasn't my beloved Rump Shaker made famous by Wreckx-N-Effect.

But I ain't into trickin' just to treatin'
And I ain't into treatin' every trick that I'm meetin'

Wreckx-N-Effect - Rump Shaker (m4a)

Cowboy

2006-11-20T18:21:00.000-06:00

Usually my Sundays start like this, around noon to 1pm I open my eyes and roll over for the remote. I flip through the NFL games and pick my favorite and watch till half time and then I actually get out of bed. The Cowboy game yesterday against the Colts almost made up for a string of disappointments this season by my favorite NFL team the Dallas Cowboys. The win over the undefeated, number one team in the league, Indianapolis Colts was something that all Dallas Cowboys fans needed and deserved. I've liked Romo but I hadn't believed in him much till yesterday, how could I not like the #2 ranked QB in the league. Payton Manning is my favorite player in the league but thats just because I admire his talent, it doesn't mean I was rooting for him against my team.

Albert Hammond Jr. - Everybody Gets A Star

Tom Waits - Lie To Me [video]

2006-11-14T21:13:00.000-06:00

Tom Waits' Lie To Me video is one of the best music videos I've seen in a while. The song, Lie To Me is from Waits' new album Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards, which is a 56-song, 3-disc collection out November 21st on Anti. Read about the album and each disc on Orphans on his label site. Also be sure to check out the video below.

K-os at the Disco

2006-11-14T20:38:00.000-06:00

There is a new K-os album ~~coming out soon~~ out right now titled Atlantis: Hymns For Disco. I heard this was coming out a while back but never got any news about it for sometime till few days back. Its doing rather well in Canada as he usually does but not a blip on the US charts. Its not as tight as his last album, Joyfull Rebelion and unlike his previous two albums is has less social commentary which was something I really enjoyed about those albums. He is still a talented producer and songwriter who does a great job not staying on one musical genre. The album has a great track featuring two Canadian songwriters one of whom is Broken Social Scene -er.

From Atlantis: Hymns For Disco

K-os - Valhalla (ft. Kevin Drew and Sam Roberts)

Live Modest Mouse feat. new songs

2006-11-09T15:15:00.000-06:00

Listen to a Nov. 6th live show by Modest Mouse featuring Johnny Marr on guitar, note the new songs from Modest Mouses' soon to be released We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.

Modest Mouse - Fire It Up
also
Busta Rhymes - Fire It Up (Knight Rider Remix)

watch a live video of Modest Mouse doing Fire it up via Youtube.

Download the whole show at Netzoo (link via Rolling Stone)

========================

I'm sure everyone who cares has heard that Donald Rumsfeld was cut from the Bush roster. My question is why now, it was apparent that this had to be done years back. Yesterday I was in the process of falling a sleep at a restaraunt and all of sudden I see a crowd of people surrounding a tv so I peaked in to see what interupted Montel. Watch via Youtube

Nas

2006-11-06T00:47:00.000-06:00

Today I finally heard a track from the new Nas album Hip Hop is Dead titled The N or Hip Hop is Dead (depends on where you read), I think its the new single. Its a departure from what I would normally think is the Nas sound. Its pretty good but it leaves me with the feeling that I just heard a remix of a Nas original. The new album, Nas' 8th, should be out December 19th on Def Jam/Columbia.

Nas - Hip-Hop Is Dead (the N) (another link)

De La Souls Impossible Mission

2006-11-02T23:20:00.000-06:00

De La Soul is back with another release, this time its an album that contains un-released tracks from the Buhloone Mind and De La is Dead era De La Soul titled Impossible Mission. It took little more looking around to figure that much out. There are couple of stand out tracks but I would much rather be listening to new De La Soul.

De La Soul - you got it featuring. Butta verses

Don't rock the boat

2006-11-02T14:25:00.000-06:00

Last night I made my return to the net. I didn't hate my time away but I did hate right when I finally got back online and saw all that I missed. I pretty much gave up on trying to read everything I missed from my favorite blogs and magazines, I'm just going to act like time stopped in the middle of October and continued in the beginning of November.

So has anyone heard the new shins, of course you have and shame on you for downloading it before its release. I'm not saying I'm a saint but still shame on you and I. My anticipation to hear this album reached a high point right before I got booted off the net. Stream the Phantom Limb on The Shins myspace page. Order the single for less than $4! It will be available on the 21st but you can still pre-order at the Sub Pop store. I wish they would also release this on vinyl, I'd definitely order it.

As of now I have to go to the polls to cast my vote, I've held on to decide which candidate had a better chance to defeat Texas governor Rick Perry. Then their is Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst(R) who I have met before, he's very very likely going to win re-election against Democrat Maria Luisa Alvarado and Libertarian Judy Baker. David Dewhurst is a man who has plans to climb to the political top, as far high as the president from what I picked up hearing him speak of his political ambition. After hearing him talk to a small group of about 15-20 people, including me I have come to the conclusion that he is more of a robot than a man. I have never really had the opportunity to be there in person to hear politicians speak in a q&a type of session but damn was this guy well scripted and prepared. His entourage was there too to help him with answers. He was very much a politician, not giving definite answers, making sure not to rock the boat. After hearing him speak I decided to vote against him in every election until he has a worth while issue that I can support. To the polls.

I'm gonna do my best to post again today with some music.

Soon

2006-10-23T23:48:00.000-05:00

So here is the deal, I'm in between ISP's right now so there going to be a little gap until I decide what I'ma gonna do about this situation. There are quite the few albums that I want to write about but this is kind of holding me back especially since I have to use computers that are available instead of my own. Right now I'm kind of riding low from a Dallas Cowboys loss that had so many opportunities to be avoided. I've been rocking the new Malajube, the new Trail of Dead, the new Swan Lake and listening to some older stuff. Check those out if you can, other than that I'm going to be back on the net soon.

POS

2006-10-17T21:46:00.000-05:00

P.O.S. is this weeks guest on Daytrotter doing a 4 song set, I think is their first hip hop guest. I believed I've mentioned his last album, the critically acclaimed Audition, remember? It was released this year on Rhymesayers. He sounds like this:

P.O.S - P.O.S Is Ruining My Life

Give his daytrotter set a listen

check out some live videos at ScheduleTwo

Earlimart

2006-10-12T20:13:00.000-05:00

I was late to jump on to the Earlimart boat but earlier this year I finally gave in. I was weary when I heard all the Elliott Smith comparisons but after few recommendations I decided to look past that and give them a chance, I was happy I did. Earlimart have a new album coming out and they gave pitchfork a song and have 2 more to be revealed from the new album.

From the new album:

Earlimart - Nevermind the Phonecalls

Indie Cred

2006-10-12T20:12:00.000-05:00

Got cred? Do you have what it takes to walk the walk and talk the talk in the indie scene, a scene that thrives on snobbery and does not look kindly on newbies? Take CNN.com's Indie Cred quiz and find out.

Link via Stereogum, one of my favorite daily reads.

Indie cred

Trail of dead

2006-10-06T15:44:00.000-05:00

I've been slacking this week on the blog especially when considering all the new music I heard this past week. I've been kind of busy I suppose. I did buy some drums so thats kind of cool, I have them mostly setup minus a thing or two.

I've been listening to the new Beck, Hold Steady, Four Tet, Mercury Rev, Arab Strap, and Cold War Kids but now I finally found the time to listen to the new the new Trail of Dead album So Divided. I'm liking it more than the previous album Worlds Apart but not nearly as much as the album before that, Source Tags & Codes. The new album features couple of guests including King Crimson drummer Pat Mastelotto and Dresden Dolls vocalist and pianist Amanda Palmer.

From Billboard: "So Divided" is the follow-up to 2005's "Worlds Apart," which has sold less than half of "Source Tags." "I put everything I had into that record, and recording it was a miserable ordeal," group member Conrad Keely told Billboard.com in July. "After its reception I was pretty much ready to retire from music and find another career, convinced that I wanted nothing more to do with making music for anyone. But when we started this new album, which was meant to be an EP, I had a different attitude. Mainly, I tried not to care at all, and approach it with a more 'I don't give a f*ck' outlook."

The album really is worth checking out, expect it in stores November 14th.

The Interface with Spoon (Brit Daniel)

2006-09-29T17:00:00.000-05:00

AOLs The Interface had Spoons Brit Daniel in for their latest podcast, he played 3 songs with his ipod backing him up. I sliced up the podcast and seperated the 3 musical tracks, I'm a cool like that. Here is the result of the 4 mins of work I put in with Audacity.

Brit Daniel on The Interface (podcast)

or just the tunes

Britt Daniel - Spoon - Metal Detektor (Live on Aols The Interface)
Britt Daniel - Chips and Dip (Live on Aols The Interface)
Britt Daniel - They Never Got You (Live on Aols The Interface)

Stillness Breathes (Essential Mercury Rev)

2006-09-27T18:30:00.000-05:00

It is very odd to me that Mercury Rev doesn't enjoy as much success as some of their contemporaries especially at their home country of the United States. They are often compared to one of my favorite bands The Flaming Lips in sound, you can call it a mix of dream pop and psychedelic rock in a modern sense. The Flaming Lips had actually shared Jonathan Donahue who appeared as guitarist on two Flaming Lips albums, In a Priest Driven Ambulance and Hit to Death in the Future Head. More importantly the Flaming Lips' long time producer David Fridmann played bass for Mercury Rev and still has a hand on producing their albums.

Mercury Rev have a new best of compilation coming out on V2 compiling songs from 1991-2006 titled Essential Mercury Rev: The Weird Years 1991-2006. Its a great intro to a band that has a great collection of under appreciated songs. I'll have to admit that I'm only familiar with two Mercury Rev albums and this album really helps tie together some of the loose ends and missed tracks that would of been a crime if I hadn't heard. There were some tracks that I was surprise that was not on this "best of" like Vermilion from last years Secret Migration. I recommend this album for fans of the Flaming Lips, Polyphonic Spree and Sparklehorse.

Mercury Rev - Good Times Ahead
Mercury Rev - Opus 40

Ben Kweller

2006-09-23T23:30:00.000-05:00

Ben Kweller third solo album Ben Kweller was released this week on ATO. At first listen I thought it was his weakest but still something pretty special. After some more listens I have grown quite fond of it. I'm kind of strapped for time so I will keep it short. Ben Kweller on making this album, "A bonus for me, and you, is I think I might have written my best song while I was in the studio. It's called Thirteen. It's very personal and almost hard for me to listen to." I like the song very much and I think it is worth a listen to anyone who is curious regarding the best song BK has written statement. I don't know about best though, its good none the less.

Ben Kweller - Thirteen

Yeah Yeah Yeahs cover the Rentals

2006-09-19T01:00:00.000-05:00

This is such a great song, I don't know why there are so few covers of The Love I'm Searching for albeit any of the songs from the 1995 album Return Of the Rentals by the recently regrouped Rentals. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are featured on AOLs The Interface this week doing three songs; Cheated Hearts, Turn Into and the cover of The Rentals The Love I'm Searching For. I'm still kind of down that I didn't see the Rentals when they came by Dallas recently, I was just feeling so lazy (that month). I'm still hyped up to hear future material from one of my favorite bands of the 90s, The Rentals. Oh yeah, the YYYs are great too.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - The Love I'm Searching For
(Thanks to Culture Bully for the track)

Download the entire podcast

Bright Eyes' Noise Floor

2006-09-11T18:40:00.000-05:00

If EPs hold about half the weight of an LP, rarities and b-sides albums holds probably a quarter of the weight of a newly recorded LP. Another musician on the Fall rarities boat is Bright Eyes with Noise Floor, a collection of rare tracks spanning 1998-2005 to be release on Saddle Creek on October 24th. I highly recommend it for Bright Eyes fans, their are some gems in there.

From the Saddle Creek website:

On October 24th, Saddle Creek will release Noise Floor, a collection of Bright Eyes singles, one-offs, unreleased tracks, collaborations and covers recorded between 1998 and 2005. Variously recorded to cassette four-track, minidisc, reel-to-reel tape machine, ADAT and computer, these songs trace Bright Eyes' evolution from basement project to band of international repute. Many of these gems previously lost to out-of-print obscurity are hereby resurrected.

One of his finest rarities that will appear on this release is the two tracks from the Sub Pop Singles Club March 2001 release.

Bright Eyes - I Will Be Grateful for This Day
Bright Eyes - When the Curious Girl Realizes She Is Under Glass Again

Look for an EP of new material to be released this winter.
----

Anyone catch the NFL games on Sunday? My team, the Dallas Cowboys offense needs to step their game up. Damn those turnovers.

Pinbacks Nautical Antiques

2006-09-10T18:30:00.000-05:00

At the end of August Pinback quiety released a rarities collection Nautical Antiques on Ace Fu. According to the Pinback fansite, Pinbackfreak the tracks on the new release consists of tracks unreleased in the states, appearing on demos and various b-sides on european-only releases. All these were pretty much available online if you looked for them, the only ones that I didn't have were the 3 alternate takes.

From Nautical Antiques
Pinback - Messenger

Random Pinback tracks

Pinback - AFK
Pinback - Fortress
Pinback - Microtonic Waves
Pinback - B
Pinback - Offline PK
Pinback - Manchuria
Pinback - Chaos Engine
Pinback - Lyon

thanks to pinbackfreak for the mp3 links

Lucero - Rebels, Rogues and Sworn Brothers

2006-09-07T05:19:00.000-05:00

I was meaning to write about Luceros new album for a while. It was all setup perfectly, I got to hear to the album more than a month before its release, I thoroughly enjoyed their last release and on top of it all they have hosted few songs from the album on their website. Luceros latest dose of southern rock, Rebels, Rogues and Sworn Brothers is set to be released on September 26th on Liberty & Lament which is Lucero's own record label. Look for this album to feature more piano and organ than you are used to from a Lucero release and I'd say stronger Springstein vibe also.

Lucero - I can get us out of here tonight
Lucero - San Francisco
Lucero - Nineteen Seventy Nine
Lucero - She's just that kind of girl

Bonnie Prince Billy on Daytrotter

2006-09-05T16:01:00.000-05:00

Illustration by Johnnie Cluney

One of my favorite indie-folk musicians Will Oldham (Bonnie Prince Billy) is the featured artist this week on Daytrotter doing a recording session (4 songs) for the online magazine. I love the descriptions that the artist give on each of the song they perform, it always gives me a new insight into the subject of the songs especially with Will Oldham. On a related note; Mindbrain, I'm going to have to start using that word more often. The only thing that I wish I could experience with some of these recordings is to see video footage of the sessions. It would put this on a new plateau.

Get a piece of this action

Live Ted Leo & the Pharmacists (08.25.06)

2006-08-31T08:37:00.000-05:00

I don't usually post live shows from bands unless it features new songs. This South Street Seaport (NY) performance does, also I haven't had the opportunity to ever see Ted Leo live and on top of that I'm itching for a new release. The sound quality is pretty good and the show is recent. Thanks to one Matt Casey for taping the show and putting it up on archive.org.

Download or stream all 27 tracks from this show in the flac, mp3 or ogg formats here.

Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Who Do You Love?
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Timorous Me

Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton

2006-08-30T20:32:00.000-05:00

My internet has been running slow this week. Atleast I have a connection now, I was with nothing till yesterday. Such is the great excitments/struggles of my life. Did I miss anything on the net? I got back on just in time to grab a listen of the new Rapture album, its pretty good as I expected.

I liked the newest Metric album Live It Out, well I thought it was okay. I loved the debut album, there were so many quality tracks on there, many that wouldn't get out of my head for weeks. I had the feeling that I would like Emily Haines' recent and second attempt at a solo release, an album titled Knives Don't Have Your Back. Its piano heavy and a lot more darker, I think more change ups and variety would of done this album better. With the piano'd songs it has the stench of solo album. I think the thing that always pulls me into Emily Haines releases is her voice, it just flows so smoothly and without effort. More about the album from her:

“When I was a little kid…I would creep downstairs to the piano and write rudimentary songs about imaginary places. I’m told the first song I ever wrote was a love song to a cranberry tree. I always used the mute pedal. I hated the idea of anybody hearing me. Everywhere I’ve lived while working with Metric, I’ve written songs on the piano and played them for no one. On the advice of a friend, I decided I’d better start recording them before they were forgotten. Four meandering years later I ended up with this collection of songs featuring a few of my favorite people, a group I call The Soft Skeleton.”

Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton - Our Hell

Out late September on Last Gang Records

I'm off to some late night basketball, Texas weather finally let up after 19 days in a row of 100+ degree weather. Wish me luck.

The Thermals

2006-08-26T17:54:00.000-05:00

The Thermals new album The Body, The Blood, The Machine is their most ambitious to date. It touches more into politics than their previous albums but thats not say that the entire record is politically themed. This album continues with the previous trend of their discography of improved songwriting and better production with each release. I do kind of miss that insane energy of their first album but this one has its own merits.

The Thermals - A Pillar of Salt

New Madvillain

2006-08-21T22:41:00.000-05:00

Madvillain - Monkey Suit

of course there is also Peanut Butter Wolfs Chrome Mix

Read about Chrome Children out 10.03.06 on Stones Throw

Mew Acoustic

2006-08-20T16:30:00.000-05:00

I've been really digging the new Mew album. I'm not sure if I had posted this track before, I guess I can look but where is the fun in that. Anyway I became aware via Stereogum that Mew did an AOL session performance of some of their songs. Among them, one of my favorite songs of the year, Zookeepers Boy. I was going to chop the whole performance into single tracks and the behold Culture Bully did this already. Saves me some work.

Mews AOL, The Interface performance podcast (mp3)

Mew - Zookeepers Boy (AOL Interface)
Mew - The Zookeeper's Boy

Some other Interface performances that are fairly interesting:

Eagles of Death Metal
Grandaddy
Editors
Margot & the Nuclear So and So's
the Raconteurs
Nada Surf

Yours to keep

2006-08-15T22:21:00.000-05:00

I was looking at my Last.fm charts and it seems that I listen to a lot of the Teddybears (Stockholm). Yesterday I saw that preview video of their American debut Soft Machine (September 12) on Pitchfork and noticed that they changed one of my favs by them, Yours to Keep by changing the guest vocalist from Swiss singer Paola to Neneh Cherry and Annie. Awww shucks guys, why'd ya have to go and do that. It lost its Enonesque vibe. Either way, I'm sure they can score a top 40 hit with their track record.

Teddybears STHLM - Yours to keep featuring Paola (updated 12.08.06)
Teddybears STHLM - Hey Boy featuring Swing Fly
Teddybears STHLM - Punkrocker featuring Iggy Pop

Radiodread

2006-08-11T17:12:00.000-05:00

After hearing the promo for Radiodread I got pretty anxious to hear the full length release. Easy Star All-Stars are a group of reggae artists who do cover albums. Their first one was a cover of Pink Floyds Dark side of the Moon titled Dub Side of the Moon. Now they have a Radiohead OK Computer cover album coming out titled Radiodread. It works pretty well, some tracks better than others.

Couple of my favorites...

Easy Star All-Stars - No Surprises
Easy Star All-Stars - Electioneering

Living Legends

2006-08-08T21:25:00.000-05:00

The Living Legends are a crew of 8 MCs and DJs from the Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Japan, and Europe, I'm sure I've mentioned them before. Well today they have a new release titled Legendary Music Volume 1. Its a compilation opposed to their last a collaborative effort titled Classic. Here they bring in some guest on some tracks also most noteably Slug from Atmosphere and Felt fame. He is pared up with Aesop (0r is it Asop), not to be confused Aesop Rock who also has worked with Slug. The Aesop/Slug track is the first track and the immediate standout on the album but not the only one.

Aesop Ft Slug - Moving at the Speed of Life