learned in space: an mp3 blog

2006-10-17T19:40:00.000Z

This post will be the most appropriate to this blog's name yet, as the next bit of information seems already to be universally known: Johnny Marr of The Smiths has collabrated with Modest Mouse. In fact, Issac Brock, the band's frontman, as gone as far to say that Marr is a "full-fledged member of the band." After Modest Mouse's last stunt of an album, an overly-produced, super commercialized number entitled Good News For People Who Love Bad News, it seems the boys have emerged, hacking out the mini-van fumes, to seek a brighter day. Not that I'm against making an easy 30,000 for a song you've already written, but I'm hoping that the new addition to the band will be less inclinded to the dollar-sign-eyes that have seemed to creep upon the band in the past few years.
A delightful British accent, catchy guitar riffs, & a ledgendary cult following are just a few of Marr's quirks, & I'm hoping that revitilizing a band I thought would perminately be in "I like their old stuff" mode for a good percent of the listeners who slobbered over Lonesome Crowded West will be added to the list of Marrisms. Be on the look out for We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank later this year. My fingers are crossed in hope for this album. No matter the outcome, The Queen is Dead will always be one of my favorite albums. I love you, Johnny.

2006-10-16T06:01:00.000Z

Seeing as Rachel professed her love for Hella, I thought I would follow suit with the theme of fucking awesome drummers. Gospel is a prog rock band from Brooklyn, New York. The drumming style is complex and fast, very much in the vein of Don Caballero and other acrobatic math rock. Gospel is the Mars Volta if they weren't so fucking boring. There is a minimal emphasis on vocals, which in my oppinion is great. Prog Rock with vocals is characterized by unbearable voices *coughGeddyLee. They also distract from the point of being progressive, being that everyone in the band is ridiculously good at playing their instrument. Gospel is prog rock for party animals (see picture), not D&D players.

The track "A Golden Dawn" is the band longest track on their debut The Moon is a Dead World. It features some impressive keyboard chops, as well as the obvious kick in the face by the unstoppable force that is Gospel's rhythm section.

A Golden Dawn

2006-10-09T03:09:00.000Z

I am a huge fan of The Wu-Tang Clan. Many people actually don't know that this is actually an acronym (Witty Unpredictable Talent And Natural Game) and really doesn't have a whole lot to do with culture it might imply. The fact of the matter is that all 9 members of Wu-Tang are straight out of Brooklyn. The only difference between them and every other MC from this same area was that, they were the ones that made it cool to come straight from Brooklyn. Rapping (on a label) all the way back to 1993 [Enter The Wu-Tang(36 Chambers)], the clan brought a new sound to the game with GZA's (the genius) unique samples and Ol' Dirty Bastards shouted rhymes that impressed everyone who was smart enough to listen. Nearly every member of this collaboration of artists and MCs has encountered his own solo success at some point since the Clan's inception.
To the point, there are two CDs compiled by Dreddy Kruger (an affliate of the Wu Tang Clan and a part time rapper), only one of which is out (I think). The theme is Wu-Tang meets Indie Culture. This is also the title of the 2005 released CD also dubbed 'Think Differently' (a very obvious play on the popular Apple slogan, which inspired the mix of the Apple logo and the Wu-Tang logo that you see in the CD artwork). The other CD, which appears self-titled with the addition of Dreddy Kruger's name, seems to be tough to find even online. Regardless of it's availability, it is by far the most exciting thing I've heard in the rap genre since Wu's freshman CD '36 Chambers'. The CDs feature several independent rappers and artists [Aesop Rock, Ras Kass, MF Doom, + tons more] that add exactly what the Clan has been missing these days, their indie feel. It wasn't their fault that their sound became mainstream. That is great, and I don't blame Wu-Tang, but they never impressed me as much in recent releases, because they never offered anything quite as original as their first. The level of rappers they brought onto these two albums are of the same caliber of any of the 9, and the mix is perfect. The sound is original and there are definite and obvious throw backs to classics. One example of this would be the samples behind "Chamber of Fear (feat. Rev William Burk)," which sounds suprisingly like one of my favorites "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nothin To F*ck With."
There is really too much to talk about in these two discs to write one article on, but I know the rap genre isn't what our very limited readership is interested in, so I will end shortly. I just hope you give the incredibly real and intense lyrics and creative samples of the clan a listen. These compilations don't dissapoint. For any of you Ol' Dirty Bastard fans, there is one tribute track, featuring exclusively sampled work from ODB himself, that satisfies your inner-'dirty'.

Check out these ill tracks from The Wu-Tang Clan:

Wu Tang Clan - Think Different Sampler
(Really cool sampler directly from Wu-Tang that has clips from several of the songs on the CD)

Wu Tang Clan - Lyrical Swords (GZA and Ras Kass) (from the first Disc "Think Differently")

Wu Tang Clan - Chamber of Fear (feat. Rev William Burk) (New 2006 release)

2006-10-08T15:13:00.000Z

A few days ago my roommate and I decided to have a party, only the second we've had here at 1412 regardless of the spaciousness of our apartment & our love of good whiskey & better beer. I had saved a mix for such an occasion, and played it, but I think people were more interested in getting ass-drunk than dancing all night long. If you're rolling out of bed [or off of the floor] with a hangover, as I'm sure some of the people in our living room are, here are some beats that will lift your spirits, without hurting that poor headache of yours.

The Hangover Mix
Tacks, The Boy Disaster -Paris
The Sea and Cake -Hotel Tell
Maritime -Calm
Radical Face -Smile
Pedro The Lion -The Longest Winter
Emily Haines -Doctor Blind
Grizzly Bear -Don't Ask [Final Fantasy Remix]
The Long Winters -Stupid

2006-10-07T13:54:00.000Z

I wrote a post about this earlier but deleted it because it didn't turn out right. I woke up thinking I was illegally parked somewhere after a long day, but I wasn't. So in the process of moving my car closer to my apartment I drove forty miles west towards Lake Austin and into the hillside all before sunrise. I jammed Sparrows Swarm and Sing's album "O' Shenandoah, Mighty Death Will Find Me" in its entirety at mind shearing volume. It paints a glorious picture for the listener, starting as a Godspeed song and blossoming into a surreal chain gang sing along. Due to its dynamics you gotta jam this shit at FULL VOLUME (or some parts will be inaudible), probably best in the car, and it does indeed make good pre-sunrise driving music. At moments the sounds can be jarring, almost scary. At other times the songs swell and can strike a chord played by Danny Elfman himself.

I bought the album from the band after seeing them live (good guys), but never gave it a fair listen until this morning. Don't be fooled by the picture, there were 6 or 7 players in this post rock symphony. Their live show is entertaining. The newer songs shine in a live setting, as the older songs are too Sigur Ros(ish) and were thus accompanied by a projector playing an anonymous family's home movies (laaaaaame).

I suggest you listen to this thing as a whole even though I'm only posting the second track. Father Death/Mother Nature was playing loudly from my car with all the windows down while I stood at the side of a winding road on a hill that overlooked the whole city at 7 am. So call me sentimental but its my choice.

In summary, the album lulls and roars, it soars and dives, it proves that in these long seconds before sun rise in the Austin hillside Sparrows Swarm and Sing.

Listen to: Father Death/Mother Nature

2006-10-05T18:12:00.000Z

I have been a fan of the magically and frantically speedy band Hella for quite a long time. First entranced by the the accidental downloading of a tune called Cafeteria Bananas, it was love for forever after. The boys [Zach Hill & Spencer Siem] have never ceased to impress me, not only with their Hella concoctions, but the multiple amazing bands they are a part of seperately. Zach Hill takes most of the weight on this seperation, lending his amazing drummin' skillz to several different projects such as Team Sleep, a band forged by Deftones lead man Chino Moreno, and Nervous Cop a noisey drum-driven noise duo where he shares the spotlight with Deerhoof's Greg Saunier. His other projects include Goon Moon, collaborations with Mick Barr, The Ladies [with Pinback's Rob Crow], and many, many more. Spencer Seim's baby is a fun, video game inspired band called The Advantage. Their multiple bands lay in the shadows of the first & foremost Hella for me at least. With a recent acoustic album executed with all of the Hella fire behind it, & three new additions this year [Josh Hill, Carson McWhirter (of The Advantage) and Aaron Ross.], I don't see the boys throwing in the Hella towel any time soon. Here are some tunes to blow your mind. If you dig these, I strongly suggest investing in seeing these guys live. I've seen them twice, & both were unbelievable experiences.

Hella -Cafeteria Bananas [Live]
Hella- We Was Just Boys
Hella -Biblical Violence [Acoustic]

edit: Here is a video of the band doing their thing via youtube, all tight with they 2006 line up AND WHAT NOT. Seriously though, seeing Zach Hill drum gives me chills & also makes me want to cry a little. Viewing this inhumanly fast drummer live is even more creepy/amazing. Prepared to be wowed:

2006-10-03T21:03:00.000Z

If you thought that Hot Water Music's last album sucked you are not alone. Luckily HWM went on an indefinate hiatus and 3 out of the 4 HWM dudes formed a new band called The Draft. The Draft's album "In A Million Pieces" is a more daring effort than hardcore heroes Hot Water Music post-no idea albums, incorporating synth and occasional horn lines (perhaps a nod to Rocket from the Crypt) to the instrumentation. On top of the suped up sound, the songwriting is as solid as HWM in their prime (think fuel for the hate game). The first track New Eyes Open says it best: "thats what I like about it, it's not so complicated." In a Million Pieces isn't inventive. The Draft isn't pretentious. It's just solid enough to stand on.

Listen to: Wired

2006-10-02T07:48:00.000Z

Chances are, you are not like me. I was a fan of At the Drive-In. I was further excited when the band split into two seperate entities following the death of ATDI affiliate Jeremy Ward. Most people followed Cedric Bixler and Omar Rodriguez Lopez to take hallucinogens and listen to wandering epic jams. I on the other hand preferred the soaring post-punk stylings of Sparta. Sounding more like their predecessor, Sparta harnesses the rythm section (Jim Ward and Tony Hajjar) that made ATDI a fucking nailbomb of Drive Like Jehu proportions. As a long time fan of the band, I was alarmed to hear that guitarist Paul Hijinos quit and joined The Mars Volta. On top of Hijinos departure, Sparta left Geffen Records who put out the bands first two albums. Just knowing the band has a new album coming on Hollywood Records is good news. I assure you the new album lives up to the previous releases, sans Geffen and Hijinos. The song structures on "Threes" are more abstract, but still pack the emotionally charged chorus delivery that we used to hear from ATDI. "Untreatable Disease", "Taking Back Control", and "Erase It Again" all are worthy of singing along to with a fist in the air. I am also continually impressed by the amount of texture Sparta gives to the guitar playing, often using multiple effects and driving bass lines. What I am basically trying to say is that Sparta is a great major label band. "Threes" is a testament to the bands consistancy and overall excellence.

Listen to: Untreatable Disease

They also happen to be touring the US. Right now.

2006-10-01T20:30:00.000Z

If I were to start compiling a best-of 2006 albums list [hey, not a bad idea] right at this moment, one of the albums that would immediately come to mind is Yellow House, a beautifully crafted full-length by a band called Grizzly Bear, released this September on Warp Records.

I had a few tracks from the band before the release of Yellow House, both poorly-crafted & awkward sounding remixes that had me hitting pause & searching for another song upon every chance listen. When I heard that they were releasing their sophomore album, I decided to give them another chance, & boy am I glad of it. Their beautiful songs seem to tell of spring mornings, dew on vibrant green grass, all sprawled before a paint-chipped victorian mansion. In all actuality, the band did craft the songs during what is desribed as an "ideal summer", in a big, beautiful, you guessed it: yellow house. Though sometimes very poignant, this band won't provoke you into tears for seemingly no reason, & rather gives you the impression of sitting with good friends in an intimate setting. At times the music is haunting, other times enchanting, and very often is of a folkish quality that nestles in softly with the rest of the soundscape. Think Mogwai meets The Mountain Goats, often with a lo-fi styling evocitive of bands like The Microphones. Roughly. I could sit here & compare them to a thousand different bands, but the only way to experience the enchanting Grizzly Bear in all of their orginality, is to listen.

Both of the following tracks are from Yellow House. You can sample the entire album at the Grizzly Bear web-site.

Grizzly Bear -On a Neck, On a Spit
Grizzly Bear -Lullaby

2006-09-27T17:01:00.000Z

I recently saw the movie The Science of Sleep, a beautiful film by Michel Gondry. It was great & weird as all hell. I can see the EP I'm about to talk about, one called Watering Hole by Awesome New Republic, fitting easily into the feel of a world like the ones dreamt up by Gondry.

In true ANR fashion, the new EP is completely free & avalible for upload on their website. It's also so, so strange, which again does not stray from the norm for this sort of r&b, sort of noise, sort of jazz duo consisting of Rob E Robertson and John Hancock. I orginally fell in love with this band after picking up a track on KissAtlanta titled No Wheels, No Engines, a song seemingly about a bicycle, but ultimately about getting laid. It's very sexy, so it got away with the not-so-sly metaphor, and very catchy, so it definately got me singing along to lines like, "... but everytime you touch my spokes/I kind of choke/You're mounted and I'm pretty stoked/Here we go." The new stuff isn't as catchy, but equally interesting. It had me one parts cringing, two parts entrigued. The mixes are equally strange. Here are those, and my favorite tune of theirs to boot. If you're interested in some of their more approchable work, get your hands on Witness Now the Birth of Awesome New Republic, or sample some tracks from their myspace.

ANR -No Wheels, No Engines

ANR -Watering Hole
ANR- Watering Hole [Mix by Dino Feilpe]
ANR -Watering Hole [Mix by Ramburgular]
ANR -Watering Hole [Mix by Nelson Rogers]

2006-09-26T09:30:00.000Z

Take out your date book right now & write this in huge bubbled, scrawly, or otherwise obnoxious lettering, because you have to be at this show, and nothing, not even your grandmother's birthday party [bless her, the old woman], of which she may not have many more, can stop you. Your life depends on this explosion of groovy. Maybe not your life, but definately your booty, because prime 'shakin' it' time is going to occur on November 7th for all Austinites.

The Rapture

is playing with

The Presets

Here are the rest of the dates for all of those interested:
09-12 New York, NY - Apple Soho Store (instore, w/o Presets)
10-26 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
10-27 Toronto, Ontario - Guvernment
10-28 Detroit, MI - Saint Andrew's Hall
10-30 New York, NY - Webster Hall
11-01 Boston, MA - Axis
11-02 Montreal, Quebec - Club Soda
11-03 Philadelphia, PA - Pure Nightclub
11-05 Chicago, IL - Metro
11-07 Austin, TX - Emo's
11-09 Phoenix, AZ - Old Brickhouse Theatre
11-10 Pomona, CA - Glass House
11-11 San Francisco, CA - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
11-13 Seattle, WA - El Corazon
11-14 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards
11-15 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
11-17 Las Vegas, NV - Celebrity Vegas
11-20 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre

For those of you who have not heard The Rapture or The Presets, here are some wonderful tunes that will get you movin'.

The Rapture -House of Jealous Lovers

The Presets -Are You The One?

2006-09-25T04:51:00.000Z

If you needed anymore evidence that Midwest emo died in a tearless van accident, this unreleased track by Lawrence, Kansas’ The Anniversary will show you the light. The song itself was recorded by Jim Vollentine shortly before the band’s break up in 2004, and reflects a complete overhaul in the sound of the band. The Anniversary took their hands out of their pockets and finally got out on the dance floor to play us a smooth reggae groove. You’ll even hear a Hammond B3 to replace the oh-so-overused Moog. So cheer up emo kids, shake the hair out of your eyes, show yourself some love, and dance.

While The Anniversary is long gone, if you like this track I encourage you to listen to White Flight.

Mastered White Flight is Justin Roelofs solo work, recorded after a spiritual journey through South America. It is a Midwest American White Album of sorts, reflecting an expanding concious and breaking down walls of expectations. Furthermore it. is. weird. but most refreshingly organic.

2006-09-21T15:07:00.000Z

I know this is an mp3 blog, and this is a loose connection, but I found it to be funny.

I was going through some old slashdot articles and found the original post about the release of some "new fangled" apple device known as the "iPod." The article calls it lame and the comment section has interesting views such as this one:
-------------------
"Raise your hand if you have iTunes ...

Raise your hand if you have a FireWire port ...

Raise your hand if you have both ...

Raise your hand if you have $400 to spend on a cute Apple device ...

There is Apple's market. Pretty slim, eh? I don't see many sales in the future of iPod.

~LoudMusic"
-------------------

The article can be viewed here

-slex

2006-09-19T13:42:00.000Z

Last night I had the supreme pleasure of galavanting to downtown Austin to experience THE NEWSOM. Joanna Newsom, that is, & boy was she worth all 3 hours waiting in line. Apparently Bill Callahan [Smog] had been walking all over the place & I was either oblivious or didn't care in my waiting-for-Joanna mindset.
My roommate Mary & I were about 5th in line which guaranteed a front & center vantage point. I wouldn't have had it any other way. A couple of people [namely one very drunk girl] tried to break through the lines but our group of friends as well as some other people linked arms & made sure that didn't happen. It was pretty magical. She has mad harpin' fingers & I have no idea how she remembers all the words to those 13 minute songs on YS, but I sure am glad she does it.

This was my view for most of the wait. We sat where the King of 6th street usually plays, and where apparently a lot of people like to sit & eat burgers. Go figure.

Here is what we saw as we entered the Parish. Just a harp illuminated. Everything else was in the usual low, ambient lighting of the parish. It made the experience already seem very mystical.

When Joanna came out everyone went sort of crazy. She was definately surprised with the turn out, being that it had only been scheduled the day before. She kept sort of mumbling to herself "Wow." & "Geez." & then, she played! She started with Emily, which I was thrilled about. It's my favorite track from the new album.

Joanna got more into the set a bit later with a few older tunes, namely The Book of Right-On, which she flubs up in the middle of in the most endearing sort of way. I absolutely loved it, as did everyone else I think. It was just one of the moments that made the whole atmosphere electric. I've never been to a show where so many people were silently, intently watching the performer. It was an experience I won't soon forget.

Here's a video of The Book of Right-On, including the wonderful mess-up. [Sorry the quality is kind of shotty, I uploaded it somewhere else & the sound wasn't in sync. Just can't have that!]

2006-09-17T23:35:00.000Z

Watch the ACL performances live.

There is an ATT webpage you could go to. The Blue Room. But here is the direct feed.

http://mfile.akamai.com/27238/live/reflector:54065.asx?bkup=54645

go to windows media player. go to file. open url. type that in. It will authenticate, then you will watch acl.

Dont miss Muse and Tom Petty Tonight.

2006-09-17T00:17:00.000Z

staying true to the "i'm only going to post about stuff i'm digging so much that i don't think i can climb out of this hole because it's so HUGE! because this band is major ROCKAGE." thing, i'm going to tell you about the of montreal remix album entitled satanic twins. there's nothing satanic sounding about it, nor anything i could compare it to so far as to say it's a "twin", but i'm a gemini & maybe that's why i like it so much.

i'm feeling a little quixotic, so i'm just gonna say it like this: this album is so good, i'm 100% certian that if i caught 20 or so lightning bugs, placed them in a jar with a tiny disco ball, the best dance party ever would ensue & i'd wish so much that i was tiny & that light came from my rear that the bug gods would take pity on me & turn me into the most beautiful lightning bug the world had ever seen. i'd die in 24 hours but i'd have a damn good time listening to of montreal & dancing with my bug friends. this is what i'm trying to get at: it's dancey/beautiful goodness that totally adds to the songs and lives up to the wonderful tunes of montreal has crafted. track track track!

of montreal -disconnect the dots [mixel pixel remix-izzle]

oh, but there's more, there's more! since i'm already raving about a polyvinyl band, i thought i'd go two for two: a band called headlights just released their first full length called kill them with kindness & it's damn endearing/danceable, which is sort of commonplace for a poly band, but this is a good thing. if you like stars, you'll probably like this band. if you like unabashed pop songs, you'll probably like this band. taste for yourself:

headlights -tv

2006-09-14T03:52:00.000Z

i know i'm a little late on this [the track below is from the gossip's 2005 release], but i've been into this album and into this band ever since i aquired it. no, it's not a new release, and no this isn't a band flaling in obscurity. if it's not obvious by the line up of bands they've toured with [including white stripes, sonic youth, sleater kinney, har mar superstar, & that's not even the half of it], guy picciotto [of fugazi] recorded their 2005 release, standing in the way of control. but there is a reason for this, & they're a young band at only 5 years on the scene. let me give you a quick, sweeping standard for this band: they are from arkansas & washington, and you can definately tell. not only do they have that dirty punk song that screams arkansas, with the washington element making it a little dancey, a little indie of course, they almost look more like a gang than a band. they're just that intense. they channel all of that intimidation into gritty, soulful, rock [maybe punk would be a better word?] songs that won't fail to get you moving. let me make this easy for you:

the gossip -standing in the way of control

they're coming to austin on the 22nd of september, & i'll sure as hell be there.

2006-09-11T00:25:00.001Z

The Sunshine Underground
Raise The Alarm

The Sunshine Underground, a great new British band named after a Chemical Brothers track, recently put out their debut CD. The album is fresh and upbeat and features driving backbeats and unique vocals. The stand out track for me is "Put You In Your Place." This song as well as several others on this disc has shades of Bloc Party and The Rapture. The Sunshine Underground is a Leeds Band but is vastly different from many of the others falling under the same category. The album is great for driving, and particularly reminds me of hot weather and singing inappropriately loud. However, the vocal style is not for everyone. If you can stand the outlandishly British vocals of Bloc Party, The Sunshine Underground proves to be a little more tame vocally, and perhaps a little more listenable for some.

Put You In Your Place (asx windows streaming sorry... (aka you need windows media player or VLC))

2006-09-08T13:26:00.000Z

i wanted to throw a quick song out before i venture off with my roommate to experience the day in the life of a UT student. i happened to be listening to a funny feature called "top 25 most played" on itunes [funny because it's extremely revealing.] & i happened upon this gem of a tune i hadn't had my ears ringing around for a while. it's by a lovely band called the national. the song is wasp's nest. it's number two on my "top 25 most played", & i think that speaks volumes in itself.

it's a wonderful 8-in-the-morning-sitting-glazed-eyed-next-to-your-best-friend song.

the national -wasps nest