Monograph - Lorelei

Hey music fans....Guided by Voices and Teenage Fanclub, well, they fucked. And a baby was borne. It's called Monograph. They are not from Sweden. No matter, power pop in its purest form. The only problem is that there aren't any other LPs. At least we have this. A joy, and a breeze, to listen to the whole way through.

DL

Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - How I Long to Feel That Summer

A basic. Since Gorky's Zygotic Mynci broke up they probably won't make another album. That's fine for most because they haven't heard them before. It's also fine for most of their fans too because both singers still write and tour and because of the positively stellar albums they left behind. This is one of those bands that upon first listen I thought "why have I never heard this before?" This album is a good place to start. Let the pop gems get stuck in your head and then unwittingly let Euros Childes break your heart with his voice.

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The National- Alligator

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An album I've been enjoying recently.

Alien Father- Knives With Journalism *Repost*

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In honor of Alien Father's 75orless release

"Originally released in May 2008 on Brother and Brother Records, Knives With Journalism was recorded by Alex Seiz in a barn in New Jersey. Knives with Journalism is the second record by noise-shambolic-satanic-sludgecore, pop-gloom-shoegaze, psych-garage three-piece Alien Father. Ten tracks of brooding keyboards, zambonian synths, hyperdelic guitars, and drums. Also features vocals. Recorded in quasi-monorific HI-FI on computers. Guest starring a dad, features no hidden tracks.

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myspace.com/alienfather"

Pavement- Terror Twilight

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Duh.

Phil Ochs- Pleasures of the Harbor

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A really great album from Phil Ochs post protest singer career. "The Crucifixion" is an amazing song.

"I just can't keep up with Phil. And he's getting better and better and better."- Bob Dylan

*Glacier's Note: One of my favorite albums of all time. I was amazed when I first heard it because its from 1967 by a folk singer and there is absolutely no guitar on the entire album. Also, as Panda says, the Crucifixion is an amazing song. It was produced by Joseph Bird of the United States of America, and features mind-bending orchestration. The lyrics are also stunning. There is internal rhyme, alliteration, and consonance in nearly every line, and the subject matter is historical, political and pretty. Check out the album if only for the closing track. But the rest is good too.

Daniel Johnston- Songs of Pain

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Sorry for the little photo. And also the infrequent posting...

Anyway I'm a fan of D. Johnston, but not all of his work. Actually I enjoy him most at his lo-fi and lo-craziness level. So it's strange I JUST started listening to "Songs of Pain" which is essentially the Daniel Johnston I'd always been looking for. It's essentially his first work he ever put out, and I think it's becoming my favorite.

Recommended Tracks: Grievances, Joy Without Pleasure, Never Relaxed, Pot Head, Living Life

Brainiac- Hissing Prigs in Static Couture & Bonsai Superstar

Bonsai Superstar DL



Hissing Prigs In Static Couture DL


Hiii I'm sorry for never posting. But to make it up to you I posted 2 Brainiac albums. And I'l recommend you a song off each "Fucking With the Altimiter" off Bonsai, and "Pussyfootin'" off Hissing.

Enjoy!

Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbols

Yeasayer, one of the ugliest bands ever. They make up for it with beautiful harmonies and gorgeous arrangements. They did a video session for La Blogotheque's Take Away Show which is well worth seeing. They sing in a paris metro car, with a guy tapping his keys on a beer bottle for percussion. Then in the second video they play on an old piano and have a crowd of people shout a complicated verse that they are reading off of a piece of paper.
Here is a link for that, trust me its awesome: http://www.blogotheque.net/Yeasayer,3966

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A Passing Feeling - Might Not Sleep at all THis Year

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Anthemic, sing along choruses about drinking. Not coincidentally, great to sing along to while drinking.

Stiff Little Fingers- Inflammable Material

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*Request*

Remember that scene in High Fidelity where tha guy is talking to that girl about music?

Jeff Mangum- Live at Jittery Joe's

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*Request*

Jeff Mangum is the frontman of Neutral Milk Hotel. This album is basically him live in a pretty crowded room it sounds like, anyway he plays mostly songs from "On Avery Island" and "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" but there are other tracks too including a cover of "I love how you love me" and one of my favorite NMH's songs "Engine".

Heatmiser- Mic City Sons

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*Request*

Elliott Smith has been my absolute favorite artist for about 6 years, my musical tastes have changed but my dedication to Elliott has never wavered. In 2003 when he passed away I (like many others) was devastated. I would replay all his albums over and over again for weeks, an started to listen to various bootlegged shows and demo tracks. After it felt like I exhausted everything Elliott, I remembered Heatmiser.

Heatmiser was a grunge-ish(?) band he formed with Neil Gust in the early 90s. This is a basic album for any Elliott Smith fan, but I hate to break it to you that Elliott doesn't do most of the singing on this record. Don't let that discourage you though "Plainclothes Man" is a very distinctivly Smith track as well as "Not Half Right".

The Replacements- Tim

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*Request*

"Tim" was released after the The Replacements' breakthrough album "Let It Be", I actually personally prefer to "Let It Be" a bit more actually. But this album is definitely a basic, and kicks off great with "Hold My Life".

Slint- Tweez

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*Request*

Blah, I'm too lazy to write a review right now. Just download the album.

The Feelies- Crazy Rhythms

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*Request*

This is definitely a basic, I probably should have posted it sooner. I found it last year and I instantly like it. It's a solid album from start to finish (well maybe with the except of "Everybody's Got Something To Hide".

Violent Femmes - S/T

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This album has been a bit of a secret favorite for awhile now. I used to hate Gordon Gano's voice, but I guess that changed. I often find myself scrolling down to this album on my iPod when I just want to listen to a full album I enjoy. I've always considered this album for some reason, probably because of "Blister In the Sun" who knows.

Recommended Tracks: "Blister In the Sun" (duh), "Kiss Off", "Please Do Not Go", "Good Feeling"

Boyracer - Happenstance

Oh shit, Boyracer. Twee music that isn't annoying. Its fuzzy, quick bursts of indie pop. Listen to "On bleached grass," "I was the drummer in altered dreams" "Where to place your trust,"and "I thought even more of you when you told me you wanted me dead." I was going through the tracks and pretty much wanted to put every song on the recommended list.
Back to basics - a classic.

DL

The Bats- Daddy's HIghway

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First off, I'd like to apologize by going MIA on posting, I just arrived in the Netherlands and was getting settled.

Alright, so I don't know if it's because of the success of Flight of the Conchords or not, but recently there have been more buzz around New Zealand bands (mostly past ones) like The Clean, The Verlaines, and The Chills. "Daddy's HIghway" is from 1987 and it does sound like it was made 20 years ago, but not in a dated way.

Top Tracks: "Treason", "Tragedy", "North by North", "Calm Before the Storm"

Capstan Shafts - Consumption Violets

Dean Wells is the singer/song writer/entire band. He writes most songs under 2 minutes and writes a ton of them. After a few listens these songs will grow on you and one song perfectly leads up to another. He gets compared to Robert Pollard because of his prolific songwriting and lo-fi sound. And because they both write catchy songs that they seem to throw away. Check this out if you like catchy, lo-fi, short songs that are classics and sound like uncovered gems.

DL

Honeybus - Story

Take my word for it, the opening track of this album will be used in a trailer for a Wes Anderson-like movie. The drums will alternate the takes and the build-up is perfect for the coming of age revelation that the boyish adults will go through in the film.
This is a collection of lost hits, or mostly lost I guess, from British band Honeybus. The real winner on the album however is not the stellar opener but "Fresher than the sweetness in water." Its on a small list called perfect popsongs. Check it out.
If anyone is interested I have a cover of the song by Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, from their Blue Trees album, a band I'll probably get around to posting a good deal of.

DL

The Wrens- The Meadowlands

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Jesus, talk about fucking basics.
Get this album.

Passion Pit- Chunk of Change

Passion Pit is an electro-pop band from Boston.
I really enjoy this album, kind dance-y pop-y, a lot like MGMT actually. They're slowly gaining popularity and were named the Best New Local Act in 2008 by the Boston Phoenix.

Recommended Tracks: "I've Got Your Number", "Cuddle Fuddle", and "Tons of Guns"

http://www.myspace.com/passionpitjams

The Spinto Band- Nice and Nicely Done & Moonwink

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*Double Request*

The Spinto Band is an indie pop band from Delaware. Their album "Nice and Nicely Done" is pretty good. You may recognize the song "Oh Mandy" from a Sears commercial, but my favorite is "Brown Boxes". I'm a sucker for the kazoo what can I say?

I haven't listened to "Moonwink" yet, so you can let me know how it is.

Teenage Fanclub - White Sessions

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Teenage Fanclub acoustic radio session. Mostly its singles, like Sparky's Dream, but there is also a Creedence cover of Have You Ever Seen The Rain. This band has three singers but they harmonize so well its tough to tell which is which sometimes. They often get compared to Big Star, which is a major compliment. I hope they release a full acoustic album someday, or even tour America. Its been 4 years now.

The Power of Suck - GBV

This is an amazing find. This is a proposed album that Pollard made between Alien Lanes and Under the Bushes, Under the Stars. A bunch of the songs eventually made there way to Under the bushes, but many are different versions. The track list is great and it actually sounds like mid-period Guided by Voices because it has enough weird songs. The opener Pantherz should hook you right away.

DL

Here it is....

I just had to give an even bigger shout out to my main man, gil-T. How many times does it say Laura Nyro on his myspace? like a billion.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=104715375

Boson Spaceships- Brown Submarine

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*Request* for my new co-blog owner Glacier.

The Boston Spaceships are a new Robert Pollard side project. I haven't listened to it a ton but a friend of mine says its cool.

Apparently this is where the name cam from:

"Let me tell you the story of the name Boston Spaceships.

On a sunny afternoon back in '02 or '03 when GbV came to Amsterdam my mate and I went to the city to hang out and have a beer or two. We ran into Bob and his girlfriend in a recordstore near Paradiso and talked music. Bob knew all the old Dutch beat bands, weird.

When we discussed ugly artwork my mate said: 'how about those Boston Spaceships?'. Bob laughed out loud and had his girlfriend take a note. We laughed out loud when we saw Bob use it as one of the bogus band names on Suitcase 1. On a dreadful song by the way.

And now it seems the Boston Spaceships is coming to live as Bob's next real performing rockgroup. How cool is that. I wonder what it will sound like, it seems they're touring the US only so far."

Descendents- Milo Goes To College

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I'm not a huge pop punk fan, but I really like this album. My favorite tracks on it are Myage and Hope.

Ride- Nowehre

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*Request*

Ride is a shoegaze band from the late 90s early 2000s, this is probably their best album though. Oh and the bassist for Oasis is the vocalist for this band.

The Thermals- More Parts Per Million

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An old favorite.
The cover is an indication of what the music sounds like, a building on fire.

Archers of Loaf- Icky Mettle

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If you like music that sounds like it was made in the 90s then you will probably like this 90s band.

Prince- Purple Rain

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Without a doubt a basic. This album along with the movie is fantastic.
Actually I was wondering which came first the movie or the album? Because the album isn't usually presented as being a soundtrack....

Maybe the movie is just a platform for the album. Like a concert DVD except with more Morris Day, nudity, domestic violence, slutty vampires, and disgruntled, lesbian bandmates who apparently wrote the song "Purple Rain"


Top Tracks: All of them except "Computer Blue"

Harlem Shakes- Burning Birthdays

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A really good EP. Looking forward to a full album release.

Alien Father- Knives With Journalism

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Alien Father is a band I'm friends with , and their new album is very good. Definitely worth downloading.

Influences: Daniel Plainview and videogames

http://www.myspace.com/alienfather

The Tank- S/T

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A must-have classic album. Electronic music written by a tank that wants to kill his neighbor Jason.

Кино- 45

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Кино is a Russian rock band. I like this album a decent amount, but I mostly uploaded it for a friend.

My favorite track is Track 2, I can't pronounce the names because they're all in Russian.

Elliott Smith- Roman Candle

First and foremost, Elliott Smith.



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My all time favorite artist. Roman Candle is his first album.

I Made a Blog

I'm probably going to post albums that I've been listening to and like in here. And you can probably download them too.