Blog: S K A T T E R B R A I N

The Pink Mountaintops are one of the countless side-project bands that Stephen McBean is involved in these days. Although The Pink Mountaintops truly are mostly a side project, I hate calling them that, because I just so happened to enjoy their last album much more than that of Stephen's other [much more hyped] band, Black Mountain(Those Vancouver folk sure do love mountains). The new album from The Pink Mountaintops , Axis of Evol , is set to come out on February 7 for Valentine's [...]

Recent Kill Rock Stars signees They Shoot Horses, Don't They? are one of the weirdest and most exciting bands I have heard in recent memory. This Vancouver septet is an art pop sensory overload complete with a 3 piece horn section, wild synths, and AIH-esque full band shouts. Is that enough to get you interested? How about this? PopMatters says... "It's not that often you come across a band that puts a shit-eating grin on your face [...]

Chicago's Bound Stems are one of my favorite bands right and their new EP The Logic of Building the Body Plan hasn't left my cd player since it came in the mail last week (yep, you heard right, I might just be the only blogger who doesnt have an iPod) . I just cant get enough of these guys so I took a shot and emailed the band and asked [...]

More Capstan Shafts Ive been listening to The Sleeved and Grandaughters of the Blacklist by The Capstan Shafts all weekend and I now have a few new favorites. Being the generous soul I am, I've decided to share them with you. [MP3]: The Capstan Shafts - Can't Climb A Tree (Without Breaking A Few Branches) This is the most "Belle and Sebastian-y" song on the album. [...]

Here's what I know about The Capstan Shafts: It's a solo project of a man named Dean Wells, he makes lo-fi pop goodness, and he just released what is now one of my favorite albums of the year. The best way to describe his music would be to say that he was raised solely on Belle and Sebastian and Elephant 6 demos. That can be the only explanation for it, this is just too good. His new "limited edition" release on Abandoned Love Records , The Sleeved and Grandaughters of the Blacklist , [...]

I thought for a while about posting this but I'm gonna go ahead and do it, for a couple reasons: One being the fact that it is looooong out of print. Two being that I think you guys would probably be very interested in this. So here it is. Keep in mind, this is a VERY rough EP. It's extremely lo-fi, but I think I almost like it more than the album versions. I feel like Wolf Parade is the kinda band that shouldn't sound any bit polished, I like 'em nice and fuzzy and [...]

Apparently the Smashing Pumpkins' guitarist, James Iha, is a big Stellastarr* fan. Fan enough of course to remix one of the tracks from the new Stellastarr* album, Harmonies for the Haunted . I was really excited when I recieved this MP3 in an email today and while I think I still like the original a bit more, this is wonderfully done. But I knew it would be, I mean c'mon, it's James Iha and Stellastarr*. How could it not be awesome? [MP3]: Stellastarr* - Sweet [...]

Maybe if I visited the E6 Townhall more regularly I would've found this out for myself, but thankfully the other Matt is around or I may have just missed this! I'm not gonna talk about it, so go to YANP and find out what the big deal is and snag some sweet NMH tunes.

On Monday Thom Yorke posted a message on the Radiohead's blog DEAD AIR SPACE . While it doesn't have anything at all to do with Radiohead, he does make wonderful use of the word F***. "so the UN are meeting in Montreal to decide what to do after the Kyoto protocol. and already the US administration has buried its witless head in the fucking sand. refusing to take part. you can even [...]

As I posted a little while ago , The Elected are set to release their new album Sun, Sun, Sun via SubPop on January 24. Being a side project of Mr. Sennet of Rilo Kiley, you could imagine to expect the sweet pop goodness of Rilo Kiley to shine through, and it does. But this new album is not only different from Rilo Kiley, its goes in quite a different direction than 2004's Me First . Here are [...]

I dont have much time, but I'm really digging this song by The Attorneys . OneLouderNYC said, "With hand claps, straight-up power chords and William Ryan George's distinctive enunciation, The Attorneys' "Talk About it" is an irrefutably catchy classic rock tune." Recommended for fans of Stellastarr* and the like. [MP3]: Talk About It [...]

Athens just seems to have an overwhelming amount of musical talent buried within it's walls. Continuing in this tradition is a band by the name of Venice Is Sinking . Venice Is Sinking is a five piece who have been making music together for quite a while now. Their sound relies heavily on strings and keyboards, resulting in a mix of sometimes dark, sometimes pretty pop music. The band has been compared to such notable artists as the Cure, Galaxie 500, and Low. In their song "Pulaski Heights" you can sense a little [...]

It's that time of the year kids. It might not be quite the end of the year yet, but, it's close enough and I'm not drooling over anything that's going to come out in the next month anyway. Feel free to agree or disagree but these are my top 20 albums of 2005. Based on, umm, how much I loved them. So, anyway, here goes. 20. Antony & The Johnsons :: I Am A Bird Now [MP3]: Hope There's Someone [...]

Best of the Rest: Top 5 Reissues, Compilations, etc... : 5. Mum :: Yesterday Was Dramatic, Today is Ok 4. Manic Street Preachers :: The Holy Bible 3. At the Drive-In :: This Station Is Non-Operational 2. Bloc Party :: Silent Alarm Remixed 1. Mogwai :: Government Comissions: BBC Sessions 96-03 [...]

This is the official video for Wolf Parade's song "Shine A Light" and well, it's not very good. The video is based around a guy with three extra heads and his daily struggle. His friends make fun of him, people at his job make fun of him and he gets fed up with it and trys to chase away the extra appendages. Instead, the heads just circle around, mocking him until the end where they leave him and work themselves into several different objects including a painting of a woman looking out towards the ship, the Queen [...]

The Department of Eagles is what would happen if Radiohead got together with the Kings of Convienence. However, that comparison really only works for a few of their songs, for the others, we may need a few more different comparisons, and that's why Department of Eagles bugs me. I love their sound, but I have a very difficult time describing it. "Saling by Night" is the first song i heard, and it made me look into them further. The song sounds something like Pedro the Lion over a fuzzy Postal Service-y beat. [...]

Proving once again that they're some of the nicest guys in the industry, Merge Records is holding a art auction this holiday season. Proceeds from this auction will go to two very worthy charity organizations: Oxfam and The North Carolina Food Bank . From Wednesday, November 23rd until January 1st, we will be auctioning off, via eBAY, silk-screened posters from artists all over the country signed by many of your favorite Merge bands. The first three posters [...]

Fresh Cherries From Yakima is Douglas Martin, a Seattle based singer/songwriter. FCFY is a band with a revolving cast of characters [i.e. bright eyes, iron & wine] and is pretty much a lo-fi acoustic affair, with very focused emphasis on the lyrics. He just recently finished a FREE ep titled The North Caroline EP that he recorded on his own, mostly in his living room. The songs that I've heard show obvious influences such as Neutral Milk Hotel and The Decemberists. Douglas Martin is a very promising songwriter and you should definitely [...]

I had my day perfectly planned out. I was going to sit at work and listen to the new Blood on the Wall record all day. It was such a nice simple plan, but one that was so easily foiled by a band called Morning Spy (or more specifically, their song "Princess Vancouver"). Im going to have to make this quick, so here's what their website says, "Morning Spy is a San Francisco-based indie pop band invested in electric guitar textures and fuzzy, yet intricate songwriting. The Silver Age, set for release by KEEP [...]

Xiu Xiu has just released the brand new video for "Pox." I'm assuming this is probably the second single off of La Foret. Now, I dont want to spoil the video for you, but I will say this. This is one of the weirdest, most disturbing videos I have seen in recent memory... and it doesn't even real people! Xiu Xiu >> Pox (Video) Also! check out the brand new video for Comet Gain's "The Fists in the Pocket." [...]