![[album review] POP ETC // POP ETC](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4365037_lg.jpg)
I'll just come right out and say it - there's a lot to enjoy on this album. If you're a fan of hook-ladened synth-pop, then POP ETC provides you with your fill and then some. There are melodies on this record that have stayed with me long after the last song, to the point where it requires an immediate replay. But with that being said, there's also a fair amount of material on this album that's disappointing. And not because it's a departure from the band's former style as the morning benders, because I didn't start listening to those records [...]
![[stream] Spanish Prisoners // Prior Art](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4360671_lg.jpg)
Forgive me for going back to the well once again, but it's just so easy to spread the joy I receive from personal favorites, Spanish Prisoners. I do so once again because just this week, Prior Art , their limited cassette-only release was unleashed for music consumers with retro tendencies, i.e. those who still own cassette players. Featuring assorted reworks of their own originals, the band too reworks tracks from the likes of Clams Casino and Twin Sister. Sun Glitters and Rimar lend their talents to touching up "Know No Violence" and "Rich Blood" respectively as well. [...]
![[live review] Get The Blessing // Rochester International Jazz Fest](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4360214_lg.jpg)
Get The Blessing is a 4-piece out of Bristol, England that could just as easily be categorized "instrumental rock" as "jazz." Being that they were playing at a jazz festival, let's call it jazz. Their name is Get The Blessing, they were playing in a church, and there was some congregational clapping, but this music wasn't religious. In fact, bassist Jim Barr (nicknamed Captain Havoc by his bandmates), formerly of Portishead, explained after the first number, "Low Earth Orbit," that the music they would play could be placed into two categories, science or sentimental rubbish. Normally [...]
![[retrospective] My Bloody Valentine // Loveless](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4358551_lg.jpg)
Once again choosing to embrace the path of midsummer nostalgia, I would like to look back to My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless , since we are hot on the heels of the re-release of the MBV back catalogue. The catch with this assessment is that I will try to keep myself from being concrete, ignoring the actual songs and avoiding the storied history of the recording. Loveless may very well be my favorite record. None other entries pop into my head to contend for the spot, and while such a thing may seem ridiculous to [...]
![[mp3] Purity Ring // Fineshrine](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4357995_lg.jpg)
It's been nearly a year and a half since I first introduced Purity Ring and their burner "Ungirthed." The intervening months have been quite eventful for the boy-girl duo, what with signing to 4AD and headliner slots at large festivals amongst the highlights. Garnering comparisons to another male female duo in Sleigh Bells, whose buzz outweighed the actual quality of music being produced, some backlash has surfaced. Attaining a level of success so quickly with just a few songs to their name has bred some divergent opinions regarding the outfit and what they've "earned". I don't care what slot they [...]
![[mp3] Giraffage // Moments](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4356402_lg.jpg)
Chillwave is one of those genres that has been slowly growing on me over the past couple of years, largely thanks to artists such as Panda Bear, Washed Out, and Small Black. As my continued interest in these bands causes my music tastes to diversify, I am finding myself listening to more electronica-influenced artists. Most recently, this has been San Francisco-based, Giraffage. Combining elements of dream pop, electronica, and chillwave, Giraffage creates ethereal, relaxing tracks, infused with perfectly crafted vocal samples that simply elevate his music to the next level. Meanwhile, the foundation of his music is steeped [...]
I'm always impressed when people put together unique live performances, and it's even better when the performances can be done for a good cause. That's the case with the Noncerts series, which first happened in Brooklyn back in April, and has now made its way to Rochester, where the first event will take place this Sunday, July 1st. The show is happening at Good Luck . Originally tickets ranged from $60-$100, which included dinner (and some alcohol if you opted for a higher level of ticket), but just yesterday they dropped the dinner part of the event [...]
![[mp3/video] Danny Brown // Grown Up](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4353741_lg.jpg)
Danny Brown is fucking awesome and radical. I, like most it seems, slept on him for too long. My eyes were finally opened during his stellar 2011 campaign. His album, XXX , was one of the best releases of the year. And Brown stole the show on many of his cameos/features. If you doubt his awesomeness, stop reading this post for a minute and listen to his song "Monopoly." And if that doesn't cement his awesomeness in your mind, I don't know what else to say. This year has brought more of the same for Brown. [...]
![[mp3] Chelsea Light Moving // Burroughs](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4353103_lg.jpg)
As the resident Sonic Youth obsessive on the tympanogram staff, I take it as my duty to inform everyone that Thurston has formed another new project. The name of this new venture is Chelsea Light Moving and they popped up out of nowhere late last week on the Matador Matablog . Thankfully the band sounds like they are interested in more of the late Sonic Youth aesthetic than they are in the solo Thurston Moore sound. The track, "Burroughs," comes off sounding like a B-side for The Eternal or Rather Ripped , with an [...]
![[mp3] Unknown Mortal Orchestra // I’ll Come Back 4 U](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4351069_lg.jpg)
Unknown Mortal Orchestra (UMO) released one of my ten favorite albums in 2011 with their self-titled debut. The fuzzy funk, blues, and pop was a breath of fresh air in an industry where bands either strive to be the next electro-pop wonder or the latest psych-pop mind-trip. Ruban Nielson and co. said nuts to that and fused together a plethora of genres on their album. The crafted set of tunes from the release were heavy on the riffs, on target with the hooks, and complementary to the simplistic beats and funky bass lines. One of the greatest characteristics of this [...]
Last week on Twitter I asked if anyone from a band would be interested in having a conversation via email. I didn't want to give the conversation a lot of direction; instead, I wanted to just let things go wherever the other person took them. Adam from the Hamilton, ON band The Rest (who have an excellent new album out called SEESAW ), was kind enough to respond to my request. What follows is the conversation that took place over the course of the past week. (I gave it a time limit so that he wouldn't feel the need to [...]
![[retrospective] A Look Back To My 2002](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4346292_lg.jpg)
Due to the rapid success of the reemergence of Tympanogram, I have been nostalgic all week. The natural cure for a nostalgic mood is to take a long walk down memory lane and relive age-old memories with the (false) intention of aiding future progress. My treat to myself was reliving music from 10 years past all week to fuel my future fire. I feel it working already. More than anything, 2002 was the year of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot . I was always a peripheral Wilco fan, but I jumped right into that album. It was my Alpha [...]
![[mp3] Lace Curtains // Bedroom Honesty](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4345810_lg.jpg)
Recently I've found myself once again drawn to the snotty noise pop sounds of Austin's Harlem, so it's fitting I'm also drawn to the work of Lace Curtains , who happen to share a band member. The brainchild of that bandmate, Michael Coomers, Lace Curtains thus far has two songs to their name: the previously released "High Fantasy," and this track "Bedroom Honesty." Both are taken from the pending July release The Garden of Joy and the Well of Loneliness , which will feature Bloc Party's Matt Tong on drums. [mp3] Lace Curtains // Lace [...]
![[review] Ty Segall & White Fence // Hair](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4344262_lg.jpg)
I've had this album for what seems like an eternity. It's been out for a month now, but has remained on fairly heavy rotation on my iTunes since before it came out. The collaboration is so seamless that it is hard to tell where Ty Segall ends and White Fence (Tim Presley) begins. Presley's favored production values take precedence over Segall's usually cleaner mix, but that doesn't mean that he sounds out of his element here; in fact, it's much to the contrary. Placing Segall into White Fence's scratchy world of distortion and reverb laden guitars and vocals only helps [...]
![[appreciation] The Bug Jar](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4343754_lg.jpg)
In light of the recent turmoil the Bug Jar finds itself in, I thought it might be an appropriate time for an appreciation. This will not deal with or pass judgement on the current events associated with it's situation, and only stands to document my experiences and admiration for the venue. The Bug Jar's tagline is "Your bar on earth." It might seem a little bit of a pompous statement, especially for a tiny dive on a dingy corner in the, some might say, dwindling city of Rochester. But to the people that go there, it is theirs. [...]
![[mp3] Introducing // Cruiser](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4341829_lg.jpg)
When summer starts rolling in, I instantaneously think of two things: beer gardens, and making new playlists. Conveniently, they can be enjoyed together, and enhance one another's enjoyment. But I digress. Leading my summer-inspired musical discoveries is Philly native Andy States' effort, Cruiser. In what’s becoming almost the norm these days, States' early demos were recorded in his apartment, and ended up in the hands of producer Jeremy Park (Youth Lagoon), and then on to Joe Laporta (Beach House, Bear in Heaven, White Denim) for mastering. The result is a truly solid, perfectly balanced, feel-good EP, jam-packed with [...]
![[review] Kurt Andrew // Souvenirs EP](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4341216_lg.jpg)
I’ve had KURT ANDREW’s latest EP (and yes, that's how he styles his name in print) – a quick, four-song jaunt entitled Souvenirs – spinning through my computer’s speakers over the course of the past week, and I’m still not quite sure how I feel about it. On one hand, I love the music, but on the other, I’m distracted by ANDREW’s vocals. He’s got a unique approach to his singing, a kind of maudlin tone and spoken word delivery. It’s not bad at all; it’s just not what I expect to hear paired with the folktronic atmosphere [...]
![[album review] The Tallest Man on Earth // There’s No Leaving Now](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4339169_lg.jpg)
On the spectrum of folk music, your extremes exist in the form of social commentary on one end, such as that of Bob Dylan, and the existential, ethereal dreamscapes of artists such as Sam Beam on the other end. Somewhere in the middle of that spectrum falls Kristian Matsson, the Swedish folk artist who is better known as The Tallest Man on Earth. With the release of his third LP, There's No Leaving Now , Matsson has begun to earn the admiration of the music world beyond the bloggers, having been highlighted by mainstream outlets such as NPR . [...]
![[mp3] Frank Ocean // Pyramids](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4338526_lg.jpg)
One of my favorite Twitter memories involves Frank Ocean. (#humblebrag starts now.) The resident Odd Future crooner and I exchanged a few tweets. I could sense that he was a good person (and I know that's a childish insight, but it is how I felt at the time). Of all the things we could possibly talk/tweet about, we connected over a shared love of Tillamook Sharp Cheddar Cheese. (It's an Oregon delicacy and one of the things I truly miss about living in that part of the country.) Ocean even re-tweeted me at one point. This happened before he truly [...]
![[mp3] Introducing // Pure Bathing Culture](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4336375_lg.jpg)
During our hiatus I listened to an inordinate amount of vinyl. Finding myself less concerned with cataloguing my listening habits, I just listened to what I was feeling in each particular moment. In the past my concerns focused more clearly on impressive last.fm counts, so digital consumption was preferable. Without that at least partially in mind, I was able to explore my less than impressive vinyl wares for albums I'd not given recent attention to. I also attempted to add to those wares during our time off, something I'm liable to do in any event. One piece of [...]
Tympanogram
The National
MVSCLES- Sweet n Sour
Watch The Lonely Island rap through mid-life crises in “Diaper Money” video
Watch Miguel Nearly Decapitate Two Helpless Fans During The Billboard Music Awards
