It's hard to imagine that just a few short months ago we were enjoying sunny summer days. 2011 was my best year yet, having achieved a few milestones: four and a half years running FensePost, riding my bike from Seattle to Portland and logging over 1,000 total on those two wheels between January and December, enjoying life with the love of my life (Andi), and a few defining mindset changes that put the two of us on a path to minimalism and frugality. All of this has led to happiness. That the [...]
It's hard to imagine that just a few short months ago we were enjoying sunny summer days. 2011 was my best year yet, having achieved a few milestones: four and a half years running FensePost, riding my bike from Seattle to Portland and logging over 1,000 total on those two wheels between January and December, enjoying life with the love of my life (Andi), and a few defining mindset changes that put the two of us on a path to minimalism and frugality. All of this has led to happiness. That the [...]
01.Easter - Somethin' American This might be the first time such an unknown song by such an unknown band has ever been given top spot on any of my end of year lists, but they were absolutely brilliant live when they played up here in September, and this song is just fantastic, as are the other two songs on their Soundcloud page. It's less lo-fi than a lot of the DIY stuff I've listened to this year, and the squalling solos which tease Easter's songs to an end evoke loads of old school US indie music. This gives quite [...]
11.David Thomas Broughton - Ain't Got No Sole The first song we heard from DTB's fantastic album, and perhaps the poppiest of the lot. Catchy, unusual and immensely hummable. 12.Kurt Vile - Baby's Arms Another album from which it is tricky to extricate just one song as a highlight, but for some reason I'm giving this the nod above Jesus Fever or Puppet to the Man . I think it's the most late night and glass of red winey song on the album, but it's close. 13.The [...]
So, ta-daaah, here we go, what all right-thinking people have been enjoying most this year. And if you haven't been enjoying these most this year, then dammit, what do you do when I tell you what opinions to have about music, ignore me? Surely such a thing is inconceivable. As those of you who listened to last week's podcast, where I played two songs from the more forgotten albums on my first ever Albums of the Year list (2004), I am actually more fascinated by these lists in retrospect than at the time. Looking [...]
Video: Vimeo - YouTube Photos: Flickr Audio: zip file (right-click, save as) The Toad Session I was probably most nervous about recording was Milk Maid , I think. It was arranged at the last minute, they are a full, four-piece rock band, their profile is riding relatively high at the moment and I'd never really recorded anything so loud in our house before. As it was, it turned out pretty fucking well, if you ask me, so when [...]
Crystal Swells - Goethe Head Soup (Self released, 2011) Brilliantly caustic garage rock with a tuneful, hook-laden heart. Think Moonhearts, Pumice, The Hospitals. <p>&amp;amp;lt;p&a mp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp ;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p& amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;am p;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp; amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt ;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp ;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&a mp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp ;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;a mp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;am p;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&am p;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;am p;amp;lt;a href=" http://crystalswells.bandcamp. com/album/goethe-head-soup"&am p;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;am p;amp;amp;gt;Goethe Head Soup by Crystal Swells&amp;amp;amp;amp ;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;a mp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&a mp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp ;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;a mp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp ;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;a mp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&a mp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp ;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;a mp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp ;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;l t;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;a mp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;a mp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;a mp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;& ;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp ;gt;</p> --------------- Luke Temple - Don't Act Like You [...]
It is time for the next volume of the Best Downloadables of 2011 . You can download any or all of the tracks at your leisure (with the usual right-click or control-click) or you can stream all the songs in this mix using the Yahoo media player at the bottom left of the page. If you are using Chrome you should really think about installing the awesome ex.fm extension (especially if you use last.fm ). Listen. Downloadables: Get That Girl [...]
It is time for the next volume of the Best Downloadables of 2011 . You can download any or all of the tracks at your leisure (with the usual right-click or control-click) or you can stream all the songs in this mix using the Yahoo media player at the bottom left of the page. If you are using Chrome you should really think about installing the awesome ex.fm extension (especially if you use last.fm ). Listen. Downloadables: Get That Girl [...]
There's a load of bands who have "Crystal" in their name aren't there? Almost as many as the ones who have "Wolf" or some variation of the word. Today we have Crystal Swells, a wonderfully noisy band that obviously enjoys rocking out and whatever happens from rocking out. Their track "Mellow Californian" is anything but - loud and grunge filled with fuzzy riffs and a rhythm that is somewhat reminiscent of The Black Lips. You can pick up their EP, Goethe Head Soup via their bandcamp below. Crystal Swells - Mellow Californian [...]
On most days rock is better when it's raw. When you find a band that reminds you of a raw open wound, you've hit the jackpot. Crystal Swells sound like that giant gash you put in your knee, you know, the one from that unbelievable skating accident? It wasn't worthy of stitches, but you had to consider a trip to the emergency room for about 30 seconds. On their album, Goethe Head Soup , Crystal Swells offer up six tracks of fuzzy garage punk that are not to be missed. These songs are well constructed and perfectly executed. [...]
Crystal Swells are back with another mind blistering piece of fuzzed-up surf rock. 'Mellow California' is taken from the band's album 'Goethe Head Soup', and you can listen to the song here: 'Mellow California'
Been watching the middle class shrink while the dollar goes down and the price of everything goes up? Moreover, at this point everyone knows someone who has either lost their job or been fondled at the airport. "Wet Cement" from Pursesnatchers "Mellow Californian" by Crystal Swells "Dimes In Their Dimples" by The Nighty Nite [...]
The reason this is called the Nukecast is because I am pretty irritated by the exaggeration of just how horrible it is to be alive in 2011. 2011 is a total piece of piss. It's easy, unthreatening and perfectly comfortable, and the idea that the modern world is in any way topsy-turvy is just plain silly. I am not all that old, but even the eighties, when I was a kid, were far rougher than this. There was actual genuine menace, the world might just have been about to end in a nuclear fireball, and no-one had anything [...]
MP3: Crystal Swells "Mellow Californian" Picture a beautiful beach on a sunny day. Think of all the families, pets, children, joy, happiness and normality intertwining on those sandy recesses. Now imagine this saccharine boredom getting swamped by a tsunami of sludge, noise, waves and weirdness. That's what happens to rock and roll when under the influence of Crystal Swells . 4 laissez-faire hombres playing squalled out punk/surf/grunge rock, they shred and drone with the greatest of ease, making fans faint with their shirtless, onstage death stares. Loud Fast Hard Ready. Check [...]
Crystal Swells If you are looking for a band to give you a jolt of garage rock splashed with surf punk, look no further than Crystal Swells. Their track "Mellow Californian" can be downloaded below. Crystal Swells - "Mellow Californian" Track List 1. Mellow Californian 2. Patent Trolls 3. Dead Awake 4. Waco, Wasilla, Waikiki 5. Goethe Head Soup 6. Swamp People
Crystal Swells Make Your Ears Bleed....In A Good Way"Mellow Californian" mp3 link: http://www.bantermm.com/tracks /CrystalSwells-MellowCaliforni an.mp3Picture a beautiful beach on a sunny day. Think of all the families, pets, children, joy, happiness and normality intertwining on those sandy recesses. Now imagine this saccharine boredom getting swamped by a tsunami of sludge, noise, waves and
In 2008, the saying was Crystal is the new Black , or thereabouts. Bands seemed to pop up all over the place using that word in their name. Enter Crystal Swells, three years later. That era may have come and passed (along with Wolf and Black and countless others), but following the moniker trend doesn't mean much in terms of the creation of music. Crystal Swells, like the band's moniker-contemporaries, proves this. Of note are three other bands. There is Crystal Anters, a psychedelic noise outfit that creates epic psychedelic soundscapes filled [...]
It's time to listen to a bunch of the tracks I have not posted recently. Here is the next NOT POSTED mix. These are just a few of the songs that would get there own individual posts on here on GIMME TINNITUS, if I only had the time. You can stream all the songs in this mix using the Yahoo media player at the bottom of the page OR if you are browsing with Chrome you can play (and scrobble ) the whole page using the ex.fm extension OR [...]
This week's podcast is named the Northcast because I was just up in Inverness at GoNorth, which is I suppose the biggest official Scottish music industry chatfest. I am getting better at these, I have to be honest. The music industry is heavily based around status and I do not do well when I suspect people might be looking down their nose at me, consequently my first few were quite a challenge to escape from before I picked a fight with someone I shouldn't, but as my general stature within music, and Scottish music in particular, has slowly [...]
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