THANKSGIVING!

This next week is gonna be crazy for me, as my sister is getting married this coming weekend. I cannot guarantee at all that I will be posting, much less listening to music. So as a thanksgiving gift, I will present to you these other great blogs you should check out!

Id Reverberations – Excellent garage/psychedelic/drone blog run by some young kids.

Stratosphering – A blog for music from all over the place. Check out their recent Loscil post.

Small Time Crooks – A blog run by a few of my friends on the subject of men’s fashion. You definitely want to check this out.

Hightop Satchel – An insightful movie blog run by another one of my friends, with write-ups on movies such as Adventureland, Doubt, and a titty movie called Mondo Topless.

P.S. I just add the new single from Vampire Weekend, “Cousins”, to my super post a little bit back. Check it here: Vampire Weekend Singles SUPER POST!

The Modern Electric – The Modern Electric

Genre: Indie Pop, Indie Rock
Year: 2009
Location: Cleveland, OH
Label: The Cleveland Press
MySpace

01. Where I Belong
02. David Bowie (Save Us All)
03. Mistakes
04. Ghosts
05. As Sharp As Knives
06. Great Expectations (Killer By Day, Killer By Night)
07. Vanity Suite, Part A (One By One, The Lights Burn Out)
08. Vanity Suite, Part B (Divine, Starving, And Sleepless)
09. Love And Misery
10. The Anti Sing-Along
11. Filming Our Favorite Lies
12. London Loves Paris, 1988

I think one of the best parts of the Cleveland music scene is the pop scene. Bears, Afternoon Naps, and The Dreadful Yawns have help establish some great Cleveland pop, and now we can add The Modern Electric to that list. First off, this band is very young, like barely in their twenties young, but you could never tell from their music. Their sound is fully mature on their debut with warm indie pop, filled from the beginning to end with beautiful piano, catchy inviting guitar, and frontman Garrett Komyati’s incredible voice. These guys don’t play shows very often, but they will be playing “It’s A Beachland Christmas” on December 23rd at Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland. Bear is headlining this show(!!!), and six other bands, including The Modern Electric, will be filling both the ballroom and tavern with great music. This is an event to NOT miss!

Meco – The Wizard of Oz

Genre: Funk, Disco
Year: 1979
Location: Space
Label: Millennium Records

A1. Over The Rainbow
A2. Cyclone
A3. Munchkinland
A4. Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead
A5. Munchkinland (Again)
A6. We’re Off To See The Wizard (The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz)
B1. Poppies
B2. The Spell
B3. Optimistic Voices
B4. The Merry Old Land Of Oz
B5. The Haunted Forest
B6. March Of The Winkies
B7. Dorothy’s Rescue
B8. If I Were King Of The Forest
B9. Over The Rainbow
B10. The Reprise: Delirious Escape/Over The Rainbow/Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead/Munchkinland

I do a radio show at my school, and the main station room has probably thousands of records on the wall. I’ve looked through and found gems such as Styx’s “Crystal Ball” 12″ single, and the Pele movie soundtrack. When I was finishing up my show the other day, I saw this record sitting on the shelf. I had known about Meco’s Star Wars disco album, and I was praying that this would be disco as well. My wishes came too.

Peoples Parties – Peoples Parties

Genre: Drone, Ambient
Year: 2009
Location: Cleveland, OH
Label: Cut Hands

01. A Trivial Pursuit
02. Setting A Rat Trap
03. Sad Bubbler
04. Peoples Parties
05. A Cousin A Ways Away

Peoples Parties is the solo project of Mark McGuire of the Cleveland drone specialists Emeralds. McGuire puts spacey guitar solos under layers of fuzzy pulsating rhythms, and the result sounds incredible. “Setting A Rat Trap” was the first song to really hit me, as the chaotic drone was practically jumping out at me. But the climax is the nearly fifteen minutes long final track, “A Cousin A Ways Away”, just an absolutely jaw-dropping piece of work. Emeralds is an incredible band, so it doesn’t surprise me at all that this project is equally as good and enjoyable.

P.S. Thanks to Id Reverberations for finding this. Check out their excellent blog.

Blakroc – Blakroc

Genre: Rap, Indie Rock, Blues
Year: 2009
Location: Akron, OH
Label: Blakroc
Website

01. Coochie ft. Ludacris & Ol’ Dirty Bastard
02. On The Vista ft. Mos Def
03. Hard Times ft. NOE
04. Dollaz & Sense ft. Pharoahe Monch & RZA
05. Why Can’t I Forget Him ft. Nicole Wray
06. Stay Off The F*%$#n’ Flowers ft. Raekwon
07. Ain’t Nothing Like You ft. Jim Jones & Mos Def
08. Hope You’re Happy
ft. Billy Danze (of M.O.P.), Nicole Wray & Q-Tip)
09. Tellin’ Me Things ft. RZA
10. What You Do To Me ft. Billy Danze (of M.O.P.), Jim Jones & Nicole Wray)
11. Done Did It ft. Nicole Wray & NOE)

Mixing rap and rock usually causes headaches at the slight thought of it. But leave it to Dan Auerbach and Pat Carney of the Black Keys to actually pull it off. Blakroc is the joint collaboration of the Black Keys and multiple big rap names. Just to name a few: Mos Def, Raekwon, Ludacris, RZA, and Jim Jones who helped bring this together. I’m digging this so much right now, I can’t help but love the blend of blues beats and rap verses. Big nod to the Black Keys, these guys are having a solid year.

Animal Collective – Brother Sport

Genre: Psychedelic, Indie Pop
Year: 2009
Location: Baltimore, MD
Label: Domino
MySpace

01. Brother Sport
02. Bleeding (Live from Big Sur)

The newest AnCo 10″ single, “Brother Sport”, may only be two tracks, but it comes in around 16 minutes long. Live b-side “Bleeding” isn’t much of the psych-pop from the a-side, but is 10-minutes of ambient beats and distant vocals blended together for absolute bliss.

Arctic Monkeys – Cornerstone EP

Genre: Post-Punk, Indie Rock
Year: 2009
Location: Sheffield, UK
Label: Domino
MySpace

01. Cornerstone
02. Catapult
03. Sketchhead
04. Fright Lined Dining Room

I almost look forward to Arctic Monkeys’ four-song EPs as much as their albums, as many in past have been more than good. I’m glad that “Cornerstone” was the chosen single, as it is definitely one of the best tracks off Humbug. As for the b-sides, they are noticeably fun tracks with clever lyrics and dark post-punky riffs throughout. The biggest standouts are the weaving bass lines on “Catapult”, and drummer Matt Helders’ completely showing off in “Sketchhead”.

Bradien – Linden

Genre: Indie, Folk, Electronica
Year: 2009
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Label: spa.RK Records
MySpace

01. Fed
02. Magari
03. Haw
04. San Marino
05. Plume
06. N in S
07. Nemoroso
08. Dip
09. Hoke
10. Daligado

Barcelona’s Bradien take the cake when it comes to acoustic electro-pop. Creating a warm tone with vivid electronics and clever instrumentals, Linden make (the coming) winter not so terrible. The three main members are definitely the creative spark behind this album, but give credit to the collaborators who helped out with the trumpet and xylophone.

Meth Teeth – Everything Went Wrong

Genre: Indie Rock, Post-Punk, Noise, Lo-fi
Year: 2009
Location: Portland, OR
Label: Woodsist Records
MySpace

01. Never Been To Church
02. World Is Going To End Soon
03. This Is Not My Home
04. Unemployment Forever
05. I Was Wrong
06. False Summer
07. People Will Say Anything
08. A Thousand Regrets
09. Failures Selected By God
10. My Heart’s Heart

Back in my Real Estate post, I mentioned how Woodsist Records was a loaded lo-fi label. Well it only gets better with Meth Teeth, making Woodsist one of my favorite labels this year. These Portland, OR natives bump out some noisy lo-fi, with fuzzy post-punk, and a nice touch of indie pop in the mix. I loved the way their album review from their label put it, “Ultra catchy summertime rockers keep you sad and lonely, and upbeat and hopeful all at once.” I wouldn’t expect something really poppy, but Everything Went Wrong is quite an unmatched record this year.

Wale – Attention Deficit

Genre: Rap
Year: 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Label: Allido Records/Interscope
MySpace

01. Triumph (prod. Dave Sitek)
02. Mamma Told Me
03. Mirrors f. Bun B (prod. Mark Ronson)
04. Pretty Girls f. Gucci Mane & Weensey (of Backyard Band) (prod. Best Kept Secret)
05. World Tour f Jazmine Sullivan (prod.Cool & Dre)
06. Let It Loose (Inhibitions) f. Pharrell Williams (prod. The Neptunes)
07. 90210 (prod. Mark Ronson)
08. Shades f. Chrisette Michele (prod. 9th Wonder)
09. Chillin’ f. Lady Gaga (prod. Cool & Dre)
10. TV In The Radio f. K’Naan (prod. Dave Sitek)
11. Contemplate f. Rihanna (prod. Syience)
12. Diary f. Marsha Ambrosius
13. Beautiful Bliss f. Melanie Fiona & J.Cole (prod. DJ Green Lantern & Mark Ronson)
14. Prescription

As I have said before, I am not a big rap fan in any way. But I do have a few rappers that I follow pretty passionately, and one of them is Wale. Last year, by some weird chance, I worked a concert at my school with Wale. He completely tore the place apart, with his insanely talented backing band. And I’m happy to say that it sounds like that band had a big part in Wale’s debut. I was actually pretty excited upon hearing that Dave Sitek, of TV on the Radio, was producing a few tracks, including “TV In The Radio”. This guy is building up fast, so expect him to be supporting some big name tour next year.

Netherfriends – Calling You Out EP

Genre: Indie Pop, Psychedelic
Year: 2009
Location: Chicago, IL
Label: Emergency Umbrella
MySpace

01. Friends With Lofts
02. Really?
03. Oh-Hi-Oh
04. Nunya
05. Mom Cop
06. Don’t Invite Me

Excellent indie pop from Chicago! Netherfriends take pop to a new level with fun infectious vocals and crazy psychedelic instrumentals, making it almost impossible to not like. I have fell in love with “Nunya”. These guys are hitting up Iowa this coming weekend (Nov. 13-15), but will be playing some Midwest dates in early December along with a free show at Empty Bottle on December 21st!

Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures

Genre: Alternative, Blues
Year: 2009
Location: ROCK HEAVEN
Label: DGC/Interscope Records
MySpace

01. No One Loves Me & Neither Do I
02. Mind Eraser, No Chaser
03. New Fang
04. Dead End Friends
05. Elephants
06. Scumbag Blues
07. Bandoliers
08. Reptiles
09. Interlude With Ludes
10. Warsaw or The First Breath You Take After You Give Up
11. Caligulove
12. Gunman
13. Spinning In Daffodils

A super-group with Josh Homme, Dave Grohl, and John Paul Jones…this wouldn’t happen in my dreams. Somehow, by the grace of the rock gods, it came together. When the 30-sec songs clips were released, all I could say is this is heavy as fuck. It holds true, with hard bluesy riffs throughout. I think half of my excitement came from John Paul Jones, seeing him get back in the game. Back in my Zeppelin days, I used to say that JPJ was one of the most underrated musicians of all time, and it feels so good seeing him jam with Grohl and Homme. Super-groups usually fall apart, some aren’t good, but I can truthfully say Them Crooked Vultures are an excellent band without the super-group tag.

Wild Beasts – Two Dancers

Genre: Indie Rock,
Year: 2009
Location: Leeds, UK
Label: Domino
MySpace

01. The Fun Powder Plot
02. Hooting & Howling
03. All the King’s Men
04. When I’m Sleepy
05. We Still Got the Taste Dancing on our Tongues
06. Two Dancers
07. Two Dancers II
08. This is our Lot
09. Underbelly
10. The Empty Nest

I’m glad I finally got over my mini-grudge with p4k’s “flavor of the week”, and started listening to Wild Beasts. Two Dancers is obscure and strange, but is still a delicate form of indie rock. Hayden Thorpe’s flamboyant falsetto may be somewhat bizarre, but it is more drawing than you think. I quickly went from “this is really weird” to “I’m really digging this”.

Baroness – Blue Record

Genre: Metal
Year: 2009
Location: Savannah, GA
Label: Relapse Records
MySpace

01. Bullhead’s Psalm
02. The Sweetest Curse
03. Jake Leg
04. Steel That Sleeps The Eye
05. Swollen And Halo
06. Ogeechee Hymnal
07. A Horse Called Golgotha
08. O’er Hell And Hide
09. War, Wisdom And Rhyme
10. Blackpowder Orchard
11. The Gnashing
12. Bullhead’s Lament

Who thought metal could sound so nice? Don’t get me wrong, the barrage of stoner riffs and deep roars are heavy, but the twin guitar solos give it a truly different metal feel. I could not help but smile during the harmonizing vocals and pure shredding during “Jake Leg”. Much of the credit goes to producer and mixer John Congleton, who has worked in the past with groups such as Black Mountain, Explosions in the Sky, and St. Vincent. Quite an unlikely pair, but it pays off tremendously with the unbelievable sound they put out. Definitely one of the best metal releases of the year.

Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest (Bonus Tracks)

Genre: Indie, Folk
Year: 2009
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Label: Warp
MySpace

01. Southern Point (KCRW Session)
02. All We Ask (KCMP Session)
03. Ready, Able (KCRW Session)
04. Foreground (Duyster Session)
05. Two Weeks (BBC Maida Vale Session)
06. Dory (World Café Session)
07. While You Wait for the Others (BBC Maida Vale Session)

I don’t think I’ve been this excited about bonus tracks in a while, and it doesn’t surprise me that they are all phenomenal. I still have no clue how they pull off “Southern Point” live, it puts me in awe.

Mira Belle – Blueprints

Genre: Electronica, Experimental
Year: 2009
Location: San Diego, CA
Label: Soca Toa Records
MySpace

01. Q
02. P
03. U
04. Y
05. S
06. I
07. A
08. Z
09. B
10. T
11. K
12. O

Quite an interesting artist submission from San Diego. This started as something small they were putting together, but it evolved into in a full album with an interesting release technique. While they put it up for free download on their Myspace, they stated that they would be releasing a small amount of tapes with improvisational jams based on these songs. Definitely one of the more unique releases I’ve heard of. The songs themselves jump all over the spectrum of genres. I could say this sounds like Fuck Buttons, but I’d probably be very wrong on the next song. “A” struck me the most, with its heavy marching beats and twangy guitar. The reason I like this so much was because no song sounds the same, which can be a difficult thing to do these days.

P.S. Sorry I haven’t been posting much, school has been hitting me hard lately. I’ll be doing my best in the next couple weeks.

Surfer Blood – Astrocoast

Genre: Indie Rock, Pop
Year: 2010
Location: West Palm Beach, FL
Label: Kanine Records
MySpace

01. Floating Vibes
02. Swim
03. Take It Easy
04. Harmonix
05. Neighbor Riffs
06. Twin Peaks
07. Fast Jabroni
08. Slow Jabroni
09. Anchorage
10. Catholic Pegasus

Thanks to the enormous buzz surrounding them, Surfer Blood are a big up-and-comer. With an extremely fresh sound, Surfer Blood bring a warm Florida touch to indie rock. Their sound is undeniably enjoyable and these songs will be stuck in your head for days. This album isn’t being release until January 19, 2010, so go out and preorder it!!!

Real Estate – Real Estate

Genre: Indie Pop, Lo-fi
Year: 2009
Location: New Jersey
Label: Woodsist
MySpace

01. Beach Comber
02. Pool Swimmers
03. Suburban Dogs
04. Black Lake
05. Atlantic City
06. Fake Blues
07. Green River
08. Suburban Beverage
09. Let’s Rock The Beach
10. Snow Days

I remember downloading a bunch of Real Estate’s single 7″s from ill-formed, and I’m glad they are finally releasing a full-length, even though it is mostly made of up songs from those singles. Its a pleasant surprise to find out that Ducktails’ main guy, Matthew Mondanile, is a part of this group. His sparkling guitars add to the floating popsical jams, making winter feel much warmer than it should. This is being released on November 17th on Woodsist Records, an loaded lo-fi label with others acts Woods, The Fresh and Onlys, and Ganglians. Check Real Estate out on their upcoming November tour with Girls!

Yeasayer – Ambling Alp (Single)

Genre: Experimental, Psychedelic
Year: 2009
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Label: Secretly Canadian
MySpace

01. Ambling Alp
02. Ambling Alp (DJ /rupture & Brent Arnold remix)
03. Ambling Alp (Memory Tapes remix)
04. Ambling Alp (Instrumental)

After 2007’s incredible All Hour Cymbals, Yeasayer’s follow-up Odd Blood is one of the most anticipated releases of 2010. I got so excited when they announced their first single “Ambling Alp”, and I couldn’t hold myself back from ordering this 12″. “Ambling Alp” is already promising an excellent second LP. The song itself is layered psychedelic tribal bliss, and add DJ/Rupture to that and it only gets better.

HALLOWEEN POST: Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds – Dracula Boots

Genre: Garage, Psychedelic
Year: 2009
Location: Washington DC
Label: In The Red
MySpace

01. LSDC
02. I Found A Peanut
03. Hitchhiking
04. Funky Fly
05. Black Santa
06. La Llarona
07. Buck Angel
08. Pumpkin Pie
09. Bobo Boogie
10. Rare As The Yeti
11. Kris Kringle Ju Ju
12. Late Night Scurry

My friend Max over at Shock Mountain posted this a few months back, and I couldn’t find a better time to DIG IT UP.

Now it’s time for Halloween jokes!

What kind of streets do zombies like the best?
Dead ends!

What does a vampire never order at a restaurant?
A stake sandwich!

Why do witches use brooms to fly on?
Because vacuum cleaners are too heavy!

What did one ghost say to the other ghost?
“Do you believe in people?”

Why do mummies have trouble keeping friends?
They’re so wrapped up in themselves!