Blitzen Trapper and Dawes spent the months of October and November co-headlining a tour across the continental US. On Tuesday, November 15, the bands played San Francisco's venerable Fillmore Auditorium to a nearly full – but not completely sold out...
Here are a few MP3s of songs from some of the better albums released this week. Caveman – "Old Friend" from CoCo Beware. Los Campesinos! – "By Your Hand" from Hello Sadness. Rah Rah – "Parkade" from Breaking Hearts. Also, stream Betty Wright and the Roots track, "Grapes on a Vine" feat. Lil Wayne from The Movie. Continue reading…
Los Campesinos! – Hello Sadness. Download "By Your Hand" (mp3). It should be no surprise that a new album by Los Campesinos! is lauded at TWSIS (some past praise is here, here, and here). The band, on their fourth full-length album in three years, jumbles together a cacophony of energy that typifies their previous releases. It sounds like a noisy slapdash of catchy pop. More witty and intelligent lyrics are added. Basically, this is another strong set of songs from the septet.
Caveman – CoCo Beware. Download "Decide" (mp3). Download "Old Friend" (mp3). CoCo Beware was released digitally in September, but getting a complete physical release this week. There are lush layers of woozy guitars and synths. Including lead singer Matthew Iwanusa, four-part harmonies grace many of the tracks. But nothing is overdone. Everything melds together into diverse music that works from jangly pop to dream pop – it's a malleable sound that always stays ground in catchy melodies.
Here are a few MP3s of songs from some of the better albums released this week. Atlas Sound – "Te Amo" and "Terra Incognito" from Parallax. Said the Whale – "Lines" from New Brighton [EP]. Thee Oh Sees – "Carrion Crawler" and "The Dream" from Carrion Crawler/The Dream. Kurt Vile – "The Creature" from So Outta Reach [EP]. Continue reading…
Kurt Vile – So Outta Reach [EP]. Download "The Creature" (mp3). These six songs are remnants of the Smoke Ring for My Halo sessions but stand on their own as an engaging EP. The songs have the Vile's unique folk sound with a loose drawl in his vocals and a callous acoustic guitar. The songs, which included a Bruce Springsteen cover, have a melancholic edge that hides itself within the catchy folk songs.
Atlas Sound – Parallax. Download "Te Amo" (mp3). Download "Terra Ingocnita" (mp3). This is the third album of solo material from Bradford Cox, the frontman of Deerhunter. His releases under the name Atlas Sound have a more subdued sound. The music focuses on the layers of electronic sounds with some guitar parts. On Parallax, the sound is the best produced and most cohesive sound of any album under this moniker. It has a solid, complete sound, rather than a collection of demos or ambient tracks.
J. Edgar (2011) Director Clint Eastwood and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black have created an objective portrait of a controversial character of modern American history, J. Edgar Hoover. The film follows Hoover's early days at the Justice Department through the formation...
This is the latest review of my all-time favorite films. The Great Dictator (1941) | DVD Blu-ray After World War I, Charlie Chaplin was the biggest film star in the world, recognizable in nearly every country as the lovable Tramp....
The Decemberists – Long Live the King [EP]. Long Live the King is an EP of 6 outtakes from their last full-length album (The King is Dead). The songs all have the lyrical, acoustic-based chamber rock sound that has become the band's signature. Colin Meloy's lyrics, as always, are literate and narrative. The music is fleshed out with electric pedal steel and guitars, organ, and piano and supported with layered vocals, including Laura Veirs and Annalisa Tornfelt on backing vocals on the first track, "E. Watson." This is the last recording the band will release [...]
Here are a few MP3s of songs from some of the better albums released this week. Girl in a Coma – "Smart" from Exits & All the Rest. Harrison Hudson – "Run My Way" from American Thunder. Also, stream Lou Reed & Metallic – "The View" from Lulu. Continue reading…
Girl in a Coma – Exits & All the Rest. Download "Smart" (mp3). Girl in a Coma is a trio that is releasing their fourth album. Exits & All the Rest. Their music has a classic rock sound with a tinge of punk. The female trio delivers catchy rock that has a bit of an edge bubbling under the surface. Guitarist Nina Diaz's vocals soar above the vigorous set of rock and roll.
This is the latest review of my all-time favorite films. Citizen Kane (1941) | DVD Blu-ray Instant Video What can be said of Citizen Kane that hasn't already been said? Honestly, not much. It's topped so many lists as the...
With Occupy Wall Street still going strong in many cities despite the violence in Oakland, I am reminded of Charlie Chaplin's speech at the end of The Great Dictator. Chaplin's Jewish barber has been mistaken for a tyrannical Dictator of...
Here are a few MP3s of songs from some of the better albums released this week. Circus Devils – "Cyclopean Runways" from Capsized! Deer Tick – "Miss K." from Divine Providence. Gringo Star – "Shadow" from Count Yer Luck Stars. The Minni-Thins – "Chorus of the Zombie Apocalypso" from Chorus of the Zombie Apocalypso [EP]. The Minni-Thins – "Apparent" from Nonbeing [EP]. The Minni-Thins – "The Devil Can't Dance" from The Devil Can't Dance [EP]. Also, stream Tom Waits – "Back in the Crowd" from Bad as Me. Continue reading…
Gringo Star – Count Yer Luck Stars. Download "Shadow" (mp3). Gringo Star, a quartet of multi-instrumentalists from Atlanta, release their sophomore album, following 2008's "All Y'all." They offer guitar-laden pop songs, layered with instruments and vocal harmonies, with a striking energy. Count Yer Lucky Stars is a solid collection of songs that are just as catchy on the last song as the opening track, "Shadow," and all spots in between.
Circus Devils – Capsized! Download "Cyclopean Runways" (mp3). Of Robert Pollard's numerous projects, the Circus Devils albums are consistently epic and narrative. Pollard again provides lyrics and vocals to music created by Tim and Todd Tobias on the band's ninth album. This is a diverse set that mixes catchy rock and unusual transitory tracks. Most of the lyrics are related to underwater adventures. Somehow the variant sounds create a cohesive album and one of the prolific Pollard's better releases.
The Minni-Thins – The Devil Can't Dance [EP]. Download "The Devil Can't Dance" (mp3). Download the entire EP here. The Devil Can't Dance is the final of 3 EPs of the last recordings of The Minni-Thins, a band that I used to play in. 12 songs were for an album that we planned to call The Old Kentucky Blackgrass, but the tracks sat unreleased until now. Most of our songs were short bursts of dynamic music influenced by punk, rock, folk, country, and whatever else we were listening to. We called the style of [...]
The Minni-Thins – Nonbeing [EP]. Download "Apparent" (mp3). Download the entire EP here. This is the second EP of music from the non-defunct band The Minni-Thins, following Chorus of the Zombie Apocalypse. I was lucky enough to proudly be a member of the band, playing guitar, lap steel, and trombone. The final incarnation of the band, which is heard here, also consisted of the Brothers Stickland (Jeremy on guitar and vocals and Aaron on drums), Damon Green on bass, Chris Damele on keyboard, mandolin, and whatever else he could find, and Melissa Bingle on vocals. [...]
The Minni-Thins – Chorus of the Zombie Apocalypse [EP]. Download "Chorus of the Zombie Apocalypse" (mp3). Download the entire EP here. A few years ago, I was in a band called The Minni-Thins. During our few years together, we released a full length album entitled "In Black Cause I Asked," played a ton of live shows, toured a small amount, and played at SXSW. In 2007, the band broke up and shortly after the various members were scattered through the country in New York City, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Cincinnati. Before we split [...]
The Wheel's Still In Spin
Sleigh Bells - Demons (Official Music Video)
The Rains of Castamere by The National
A-Trak & Dillon Francis - "Money Makin'" (Official Video)
DIIV "How Long Have You Known?" (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
Nas - Daughters
Bison - Quill
Neutral Milk Hotel- Aeroplane Over the Sea
Shinichi Osawa – Big Beach Mix 2012
Mr Fogg - Eleven
