Fun Stuff > BAND

The M/F Thread 2009: The Quickening

<< < (711/810) > >>

Orcusmars:

--- Quote from: gospel on 30 Oct 2009, 22:13 ---Ramona Falls - Intuit (2009)

MySpace
"I Say Fever" (YouTube)

--- Code: ---http://www.mediaf!re.com/?j1thzzd05rn
--- End code ---

--- Quote from: Pitchfork ---Ramona Falls is beautiful. Seriously, check it out on Google Earth some time. A multi-tiered waterfall in a dark glen on the slopes of Mount Hood in Oregon, it's one of those endlessly photographable landforms that makes you want to be there any time you see a shot of it. As a sort of shorthand for the natural majesty of the Pacific Northwest, the name works well for Portland's Ramona Falls, aka Brent Knopf of Menomena and a huge cast of his friends. In fact, of the various Menomena side projects, this is the one that most matches that band in terms of both sound and quality, paying meticulous attention to sonic and compositional details to emerge with a record full of memorable surprises.

Sometimes it's just an unexpected element that mails a song all the way home, like the impromptu choir that suddenly emerges from the acoustic guitar and spaciously recorded drums of "Bellyfulla" or the unbelievably gorgeous violin part that shines like a vibrant light from the center of "Russia". The violin melody interacts with the chord sequence to grow more aching by the second and turns a decent song into one you can't forget. Knopf is piano player and programmer for Menomena, and he comes up with some wild stuff here, especially on "Always Right", where he sticks you with these bizarre, stuttering phrases for the odd-metered verses. It's offset by big choruses and a strange Eastern European-ish bridge with a carnivalesque atmosphere. More simple is "Boy Ant", a short piano instrumental with a sense of melody derived more from traditional European songs like "Edelweiss" than anything in contemporary pop sphere.

Any Menomena fan will recognize Knopf's voice, which is a delicate instrument-- it's not rangy, but he knows his capabilities and uses them. He gives himself a bit of electronic assistance on "I Say Fever", falling down a processing rabbit hole on the title refrain, which precipitates a sudden downpour of heavy guitar. Sleater-Kinney's Janet Weiss provides the song's pounding rhythmic floor, but Knopf's own piano gives it its funky stride. Knopf's solo songs share with Menomena an ear for contrast--"Going Once, Going Twice" swings between easy-flowing passages and lurching sections that build tension for the next rhythmic release.

Intuit, a word that nicely serves as a homophone for "Into It", works as a title for the album because it so neatly seems to describe the writing process-- very few of the odd shifts and unexpected turns in the songs sound contrived or forced. Down to the cover art, it feels like a strong echo of everything great about Knopf's primary band. There are no cut-outs or flipbooks, but Theo Ellsworth's elaborate, grotesque illustrations are worth taking in-- they're like a combination of Where the Wild Things Are, a fever dream, a pagan woodland ceremony, and a notebook doodle. The music is worth taking in, too, over and over again.
--- End quote ---


--- End quote ---

Dude holy shit this album is absolutely the best album to come out this year.

Dimmukane:
Yeah, that music video was pretty fuckin' sweet, downloading now.

JD:
P.O.S.-Never Better(2009)

(They gave it a 7)

--- Quote from: PITCHSPORK ---Punk rock is a genre that was largely formed on the mindset that anyone should be able to express themselves musically, regardless of talent. Hip-hop traditionally lives and dies by skills, and it widely rejects the idea that anyone can pick up a mic and rock a stage without putting in hard work and sweat and dedication to their craft. Any artist that tries to fuse those two worlds has to be more than aware of how tricky a dichotomy that has to be; Minneapolis punk-rap artist P.O.S. alludes to this by claiming that his performing name stands for both "Promise of Skill" and "Piece of Shit." If that's too confusing, "Pissed Off Stef" works fine; it's Stefon Alexander's biggest unifying factor.

It could also be the biggest barrier to enjoying his work, even though Never Better-- the third solo album from the member of the nine-person Doomtree collective-- is P.O.S.' tightest album yet. Everybody's supposed to be high on hope right now, however guarded and pragmatic a hope that it is. But with a lead-off track ("Let It Rattle") that scoffs via repurposed Nas lyrics that "They out for presidents to represent them/ You think a president could represent you?", Never Better sets a confrontational tone that makes the album a potentially rough listen. But that bristling anger is subtly infused with a smart-assed insight and a thing for folding pop culture touchstones into unrecognizable shapes.

P.O.S.' lyrics have more in common with allusive free-spitters like Aesop Rock and Rob Sonic than, say, Gym Class Heroes-- giving you the gist of an idea while leaving you to try and calculate the deeper meaning in all the supposedly disjointed phrases ricocheting off each other. Some of the more intense lyrical moments, like "Grave Shovel Let's Go" ("They turning in they grave/ We dig 'em up and rearrange, aim/ Take 'em out the way they came") and "The Brave and the Snake" ("Slip through the sidewalk/ Skip to the hard part/ Tip to the card shark/ Rip through the rampart"), seem to run almost entirely on the fumes of some random-thought anxiety, threatening to drown out any first-listen comprehension with a barrage of aggressive internal rhymes and his meter-defying flow.

But the further you sink into it, the more sense it makes, and you're able to more clearly pick out the themes-- the recession rhetoric of "Low Light Low Life"; the post-trauma love story of "Been Afraid"; the fuck-what-they-think defiance in "Purexed". Worn ground, maybe, but the language makes it spark. And all that abstraction makes the matter-of-fact details in the autobiographical "Out of Category"-- which takes its titular hook from Lil Wayne's verse on Birdman's "Neck of the Woods"-- stand out a lot more starkly. When P.O.S. reminisces over his coming of age as a black punk rock kid, he captures the identity crisis vividly: "Found his kin, brothers at school think he tryin' to rewrite skin/ Others are fools, never seen some shit like him."

As far as the aforementioned punk/rap contradictions, you might wind up forgetting that there are any in the first place. There's still some nods to punk rock, lyrically (a quote of Fugazi's "Five Corporations" in "Savion Glover") as well as in the guest personnel (None More Black's Jason Shevchuk shows up to yowl all over the end of "Terrorish"). And "Drumroll (We're All Thirsty)", the most immediate, throat-grabbing track on the album, is some straight-up hardcore get-in-the-pit business that lives up to its percussive title. But the majority of the album fits a wider array of rockish hip-hop beats and hip-hop-influenced rock rhythms: "Savion Glover" rides on an uptempo combination of minimalist electronic percussion, splintered guitar chords, and rapidfire scratching, and there's a slick, borderline-pop sound to lead single "Goodbye" and deep cut "Low Light Low Life"-- produced by Doomtree members Lazerbeak and Paper Tiger, respectively-- that pushes it to the level of college radio's most crowd-pleasing indie-rap offerings.

From front to back, the album's an acquired taste, and even if it's not the big paradox that an album mixing punk ethics with rap virtuosity might risk becoming, it doesn't have a universal appeal, especially for heads leery of anything that might approach the misnomer of "emo rap." But P.O.S. knows this, and he's apparently come to terms with it: "We make our own and if they don't feel it, then we are not for them," he sings in "Optimist (We Are Not For Them)". And then, almost as an aside, he adds: "And that's cool." He could be all things to all people, but he succeeds when he remembers who he is to himself.
--- End quote ---

--- Code: ---http://www.mediafire.com/?evo3gno1igk
--- End code ---

gospel:
Happy Halloween
Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds – Dracula Boots (2009)

MySpace
"Rare as the Yeti" (YouTube)

--- Code: ---http://www.mediafire.com/?yzzvmy20ryd
--- End code ---

--- Quote from: hangout.altsounds ---On his new album, DRACULA BOOTS, the legendary Kid Congo Powers returns to the psychedelic jungle with a stripped down, no frills set of volcanic songs. Kid, the premier voodoo guitarist for seminal sexy swampy bands like Gun Club. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds and Cramps is a restless aesthete. He used his earlier solo efforts to explore vocals and mix genres but with DRACULA BOOTS, Kid comes back to his roots as a crackerjack guitarist playing the primitive music that inspired him; the raw sounds of garage and early Chicano rock.

It only made sense to record such glittering gems as Thee Midniters, I Found A Peanut, and Bo Diddley’s, Funky Fly in a high school gymnasium. He did this in a Midwest town called Harveyville with his nefarious Pink Monkey Birds. Bassist Kiki Solis from El Paso,TX. and Drummer Ron Miller from Macon,Ga. provided the southern soul sauce needed to fuel the engine of the rhythm train. Recording on a stage using the old PA system created a natural reverb, summoning the magic of a bygone prom interrupted by a juvenile delinquent rumble.

The original songs on DRACULA BOOTS go from loud, fuzzy biker rock of Hitchhiking to a greasy rump shaker groove of Bobo Boogie, from a scary movie soundtrack, La Llarona to The Meters having an acid flashback of Black Santa.

So sink your teeth into this hunk of wax and waste no time strapping on your DRACULA BOOTS. You will dance your way from the cradle to the grave, and beyond.
--- End quote ---

Cory Branan and Jon Snodgrass - s/t

"Girl Named Go" (YouTube)

--- Code: ---http://www.mediafire.com/?zm2reomogrc
--- End code ---

--- Quote ---Jon Snodgrass and Cory Branan are 2 of my favorite songwriters on this planet. Jon, is known best for his roles in Drag the River and Armchair Martian, but earlier this year Jon Snodgrass released his brilliant, first solo album, “Visitor’s Band”. Cory Branan released 2 fantastic albums on Madjack records, “The Hell You Say” and “12 Songs” and has been working on album number 3 on a label to be announced. Know that when Cory releases that new album and tours around, he will become a household name in Alt-Country/Americana.

Jon and Cory have been friends for ages and after playing a number of shows together decided to record a joint release. Cory came out to Colorado to play a number of shows and while in town, the guys recorded this 7 song LP. There are 2 originals by Jon, 3 originals by Cory, and 2 covers (Solo in Soho by Phil Lynott, Wild One by Thin LIzzy). This release will be put out on vinyl and cassette only (that’s right, no CD and the cassette will only be available through mailorder). The first pressing of this record will be pressed out of an edition of 1,000 copies (500 on Sun colored vinyl, 500 on Moon colored vinyl)
--- End quote ---

Bop Ensemble – Between Trains

MySpace

--- Code: ---http://www.mediafire.com/?c2uoyoymuz0
--- End code ---

--- Quote ---Three forces of nature meet in Bop Ensemble, a Canadian super-group featuring folk legends Bill Bourne and Wyckham Porteous, along with up-and-coming singer-bassist Jasmine “Jas” Ohlhauser. Combining Bourne’s grit, Porteous’ warmth, and Jas’ energetic devilry, the three manage to catch lightning in a bottle.

Bourne, who is cut from the cloth of a classic troubadour, was called by Texas songwriting legend Tom Russell “a shining light in the North American folk and roots scene.”

Porteous matches Bourne’s nearly legendary status and was called by Andrew Loog Oldham “Leonard Cohen meets Harry Dean Stanton, a warm, warm, performer whose voice is like a bottle of wine who has matured into a friend.”

Jasmine “Jas” Ohlhauser is the wild card of the bunch, an exuberant 25-year-old who also plays with the Edmonton band Lilys On Mars. With the addition of her dance theatrics, Bop Ensemble shows come close to performance art.

Each of the three is great on their own … together they’re something truly special.
--- End quote ---

Orba Squara – The Trouble With Flying (2009)

MySpace

--- Code: ---http://www.mediafire.com/?jyqz2hjmnzd
--- End code ---

--- Quote ---After securing national distribution, Orba Squara’s second release The Trouble With Flying will be released October 27; this is the follow up to 2007’s successful debut sunshyness. Mitch Davis, who performs as Orba Squara, finds inspiration for his natural free-flowing melodies from simple things in his life, like his collection of acoustic guitars, toy pianos, bells, and other instruments picked up at stores (including a sitar bought in Japan), flea markets, and given to him by friends.

Flying though reflects Mitch’s interest in growth for  Orba with a bigger, louder and more ambitious sound than sunshyness. While the debut was a conscious effort, according to Mitch, the songwriting and recording of Flying “just happened” almost immediately after the release of sunshyness. And while sunshyness was purposefully minimal, a sound described by Pitchfork as “indie-folk, like a hybrid of Iron & Wine and the Boy Least Likely To,” Mitch allowed himself to employ effects and amplification on the new material. He wrote, performed and recorded nearly the whole album on his own at his NYC studio, with the exception of the title track and “Tell Me,” which feature Billy Squier on vocals and guitar. A week after a fortuitous backstage meeting where Mitch handed his childhood rock’n’roll hero (“The Stroke,” “Everybody Wants You,” etc.) a copy of sunshyness, he and Squier began collaborating. In addition to the new record, Mitch has undertaken the ambitious, creative, and critically praised The Trouble With Flying web project found at www.orbasquara.com. The unique website (featuring design by Random Collective) presents the album as a road trip, with footage captured from the 10-day bus tour that Mitch, bandmate Zé Luis and friends took from NYC to Portland in early 2009. The adventure found its inspiration from the album’s literal theme of exploring what is often missed when flying, with beautiful photographs of local color, changing landscapes, performances in the streets, ribs and biscuits, and the long terrain between the coasts. Also on display are lyrics and journal entries while the songs from Flying provide the soundtrack to the 430-foot side-scrolling Flash document. Orba Squara had incredible success with licensing the songs from the debut sunshyness. Along with Apple’s selection of “Perfect Timing (This Morning)” as the theme for its worldwide TV iPhone® campaign, Frito Lay, Expedia, Saturn, Goodyear, and Sun Chips also used songs from the record. The single
“The Trouble with Flying” and a tongue-in-cheek cover of Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” are available on iTunes now.
--- End quote ---

Magnolia Electric Co. - Daytrotter Sessions

Listen/Download individually

--- Code: ---http://www.mediafire.com/?d2fdjmy2doz
--- End code ---

debaser:
Loving Ramona Falls, thanks

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page