new music makes me happy

This week some of my favorite artists have realized some new material, even if it be side projects from their main bands.

To start Justin Vernon (of Bon Iver fame) released "Island, IS" a track off his side project Volcano Choir's upcoming album Unmap. Download it from Pitchfork.com here. Anyone who has hung out with me in the last year knows that the Bon Iver album has been one of the most played records I own, and falls into my top 3 albums of 2008. I will be picking up Unmap on Sept. 22 for sure.

Second up is CYHSY's Alec Ounsworth's solo release under the name Flashy Python. This is apparently the second record Alec has recorded solo, but the first to be released. You can get it from his website in vinyl, cd and digital format. Groovy shit. And you can listen to it right here.

Skin and Bones:

01 Let Us Hallucinate Together
02 The Lady Is a Ghost
03 Ichiban Blues
04 Skin and Bones
05 Obscene Queen Bee
06 In the Darkness
07 Cattle's New Clothes
08 Avalon's Snake Breath

BTW, the whole download from Pitchfork thing probably seems lazy and guess what, it is. I haven't had time to setup another hosting site for my files yet, so until I take the time to do that, pitchfork can enjoy the added traffic.

Lollapalooza - Beardless Style

First off, sorry I didn't do a day 2 or 3 recap blog the day of, honestly getting back after the heat of the day, drinking and packing made it pretty much impossible.



I have been to music festivals before. I had not, however, been to Lollapalooza, or Chicago for that matter. This was a weekend of firsts.

First night in town, we got acquainted with basement abode for the weekend and Oak Park. Very nice part of Chicago and very convenient for the travel into town. Had some drinks at a local bar and prepped for day 1.

Anyone who has talked to me about festivals for longer than 5 minutes knows my stance on Voodoo in New Orleans. I go, but I have my clear stance on why I think it could far better. Lollapalooza is an example of my stance. Its a festival that caters to a particular audience, and due to this, people travel across the country to come spend their weekend here. Rarely was there a gap in my schedule where it was my clear cut time to grab food or use the restroom. Instead, it was a constant bouncing back and forth between artists that I have been dying to see or bands that I had seen that I knew would blow me away.

Day 1 was just that. Even with the constant rain, the bands I saw made me forget how wet I was. For a full descripiton, read my day 1 recap. I realized I pretty much said it all there. The one thing I will restress was that was a day that saw the best bands that I had not seen before. The Knux absolutely killed and I am still listening to Remind Me in 3 Days. The best performance for me, however, of the entire weekend was Bon Iver. This is a show that will stick with me forever. He's soothing voice, matched with graceful harmonies made for a no nonsense performance. It moved me.

Oh yeah, Wicker Park struck me a very clean version of Brooklyn/Williamsburg.

Day 2, dry and HOT, was a day of being wowed by repeat offenders. I had seen quite a few of the artists playing Lollapalooza this year already. Delta Spirit started my day, and did so in wonderful fashion. They played some new material and apparently will be releasing a new album sometime around January. I still prefer them in a small smokey club. Los Campesinos and TV on the Radio both upped the bar for themselves, however. Both put on high energy shows, but Los Campesinos really made you feel it deep down. Its obvious these guys and gals are having the times of their lives doing what they do. Animal collective would definitely have to be the dissappointment of the weekend. I only heard 2 actual songs. While a club show may be a good time to do a lot of ambient instrumental jamming, a festival is not the right place. Arctic Monkeys played a great show. It was during this show that I experienced one of the highlights of my entire weekend, and it was unrelated to music.

While waiting in line for the port-a-potties, I heard 2 loud thumps. I look over and see a guy and girl had climbed the fence behind them, gotten on top and jumped down into the festival, obviously trying to skip the steep ticket price. The guy made a clean break. The girl, however, was quickly chased by two security guards. She turned a corner with the two of them closing quickly on her and I never saw the end result. Then while my back is to the port-a-potties witnessing this, I hear about 30 more thumps. All of sudden there is a mass of teenage boys doing the exact same thing. Apparently, the 2 security guards were the only ones, cause all of these people made it over quite easily.

Day 3 had no excitement of that level. In fact, a late start due to taking some time to enjoy hanging out with our great hosts and an impromtu water fight had us getting to the fest around 2:30. We relaxed while listening to The Airborne Toxic Event who I had never heard of, but put on a decent show. With Dan Deacon coming to a small club in NOLA in October, we decided it would be better to listen from afar and stake out a spot to up close for Vampire Weekend. I had seen them at Tulane's campus right when they broke out, but this show was far superior. They played new material which has me excited for their next release, and they played their set flawlessly. Cold War Kids put on a good show but are still on my list of bands I need to see at a club. Snoop was cool, I mean he is snoop. Deerhunter was cool. Caught a bit of Lou Reed, which I feel good that I did. Band of Horses were the perfect band to slot for the sunset time slot. They wrapped up my weekend with a solid performance that was beautiful. Its unfortuante that Lou Reed ran late and Band of Horses and Jane's Addiciton overlapped at the end. The Killers were like dessert. Rich, flavorly, but you can only handle so much of it before it would make you sick. We saw the perfect amount of their vibrant light show matched with the right amount of the first album to quench my sweet tooth.



That was my Lollapalooza. Thank you to Caitlin for meeting up with us and having a good time with us. And a special thank you to Kelly for doing this with me for the first time.

I think this may become a yearly tradition.

Oh yeah, pictures to come, and maybe even some goofy videos of me. Kelly may even convince me to post the infamous "poncho video."

Lolla Day 1 Recap

Just wanted to give everyone a quick recap of the first day of Lollapalooza 2009.

Other Lives played a great set. This was my 4th time seeing these guys since February of this year when they opened for Delta Spirit in Mobile. This show held up to all the previous ones, just wish they had more than 30 minutes.

Hey Champ (props to Michael Girardot for putting these guys on my radar) brought some synth pop rock to the fest that up to this point has not been to being matched. Pure fun time.

The only Hip Hop I will probably see now that Beastie Boys had to back out was quite the epic adventure. The Knux may have by far had the most crowd participation of any show I saw today. They even had 30 people on stage at point. All I could think is "security is shitting themselves right now."

Bon Iver. More than worth the down pour I sat through to see them for the first time. Truly magical experience.

Thanks to said downpour, there was a break for changing of shirts and purchasing of sweatshirts.

This cut a little into my Fleet Foxes set. Having seen them before, I knew just want to expect when I did show up and they did not leave me hanging. They brought their "A" game, their vocal harmonies could cut butter.

This rolled into the "Oh Shit, Lolla booked 4 bands that I want to see all into 2 hours." So I piece mealed The Decemberists (one thumbs up), Theivery Corporation (2 thumbs down, sorry I just wasn't into it), Peter Bjorn and John (2 thumbs up, Young Folks live, yes please) and Of Montreal (one up for the theatrics). Sorry Andrew Bird, I will see you at Tips in Oct.

I did my deed and caught a few songs of Depeche Mode. Not the greatest, but a hell of a visual show.

Kings of Leon were good at what they do now, but I so miss what they were 3-4 years ago.

Outside of the rain (which was nice, till it really rained) Day 1 was full of the great music, $5 beers and a happy me.

So...I've been a lazy ass

That's right. There is no other reason to blame my absolute disregard for this blog.

Now be aware, I am by no means trying to claim it to be some important blog that hundreds of people read daily in the past, nor am I saying that is what it will become. If it does, SUPER. But really, I just want to do this as an outlet so that maybe some people (mostly my friends) find some new music, and maybe talk about it occasionally.

Now up to this point, everything I have done on this blog has been very formal. Just from this post alone, I hope you see that is going to change. There will still be the occasional album review which will continue to have a more formal tone, but there will be short blurbs about a song I am addicted to, the occasional youtube video, etc. Hopefully, I will also put up a bi-weekly digital mix tape for people to dig on. Just generally anything that I feel like throwing up here that is music related is the expected content.

Though less formal in verbal content, I do, however, plan on finally giving this blog a less standard look. It will probably have an owl or two, isn't that exciting?

I am heading to Lollapalooza this weekend and will use that as a means of getting this thing back on track. My first time in Chi Town. Everyone says I will love it.

So for those who actually read this, I hope you keep coming back and enjoy the things I put up.

**disclaimer** As I said in the beginning of this post, I am a LAZY ASS. Sometimes, I just don't feel like shaving on a regular basis. Some have taken that as means of me discrediting the name of this blog. In reality, the name comes from the fact that as much I would love to have a giant bushy beard, I just can't do it. Genetics have graced me with a pathetic patchy set of facial hair that half of which is too blonde to really show up anyway. Maybe one day I will have the St. Nick beard to go with the St. Nick physique I am rocking.

Caddywhompus EP FREE

Popping in the burned copy of Caddywhompus’ EP there is one word that comes to mind…Raw. This is not to say that the duo’s 4 songs on the EP, which are also available online for a free download, are not refined or basic in sense. Instead, the rawness comes through in that of the production of the music (recorded in their living room), the packaging (those lucy enough get a burned CD with the names of the songs handwritten on the back of the white envelope) and most importantly the attitude of the songs. This is two guys, one with a guitar and one with a set of drums, making music together who absolutely love what they are doing. With bits of shoe gaze guitars, garage rock, melodic choruses and a hint of punk, it is no wonder where they dreamt up the genre Noise Pop to classify their music. This is a record that will constantly have you moving from uncomfortable “how is making that sound” to catchy sign along to knocking you over the head with a piece of scrap metal.

“This is Where We Blaze the Nuggz” starts the album with a simple guitar opening leading to a click off that immediately transfers into rim shots and hi hat. This all builds with the volume of the guitar with addition of kick drum with a sudden explosion that is nothing short of a punch to the groin. Unsettled by LOUD guitars and vocals that you will probably have to hear 3 to 4 times to understand, the listener is dragged along to a chant of Oh ohhh Oh, Oh Ohhhh oh followed by a melodic guitar. This leads to a moment where Chris Rehm;s fingers dance around the fret board like drunk girl at her senior prom. After another melodic build that alternates from vocals to guitars the song ends a climatic thunderstorm where there are screams of “Waaa Ahhhhh Ahhhh” added to the melody. This is nothing short of what is to come.

When bands are young and looking to produce material many times ideas are taken as individual songs and the end product is a slew of mediocre drawn out songs based on simple concepts. Caddywhompus, however, does not fall victim to such a short coming. Maybe it is their youth in age (Chris, 18 and Sean, 19), not experience, but one of the cleverest parts of the album is the way that each song seems to be composed of pieces of many different songs. “Fun Times at Whiskey Bay” is the perfect example of just how they do this. The heavy intro that steps down to a very simple mid section which is then abandoned almost instantaneously for a repeat of a short version of the intro. This all leads the repetition of what could possibly be one of the best lyrics of any local band this year: “I feel safe with you, and you with me my smile spreads till I can’t see. And you, you are the earth and I am your dirt, we seem to be for what its worth.” The seamless change into “Absinthesizer” again shows the maturity of Caddywhompus. The shortest song on the EP, this is the song where they say “fuck it” and let a great idea stand on very short legs, and that it simply does.

The EP closes out with “Untitled #7408”which stands as the most radio friendly of the album. With the tightest pop structure of all the songs it moves quickly and shows that while they are willing to take risks, they also know how to step back and draw people in.

This is by far one of the most promising local bands to be playing in New Orleans right now, and with a second EP coming quickly on the heels of the first and buzz that will hopefully get people flocking to their shows, make sure you keep your eyes and ears open to what they are doing so you don’t miss a beat.

Free Download
Myspace

Smiley with a Knife - How a Reign Comes to an End

Smiley with a Knife’s How a Reign Comes to an End is an album that exists in the realm of duality. It is one thing and at the same time the antithesis of that same very thing. For an album that breaks almost every rule of the rock genre in its experimental nature, How a Reign Comes to an End manages to be a rock album. It provides emotion and tells stories without using a single spoken word. It allows the listener to feel free, yet pulls back with a head bobbing groove.

The album begins with a dark introduction, as if one is walking down a poorly lit hallway towards a door at the end with traces of noise around them. As that door opens, one is bathed in light that barely gleamed around the edges of it before and surrounded by sounds. Immediately, the air is filled with bouncy bright guitars, punchy bass and crsip drums. As the sounds grow the title “The Whole Town was Watching” makes sense. Without words, the listener begins to understand the town saw what happened, and now it is all a buzz with the passing of the story. Some are more than happy to continue to pass the story along, while others pause in skepticism. This theme of telling a story through the emotion of the instruments is carried throughout the album, though not are all as quite as airy and bright as the opening track.

“Until the Scandal Unveiled Her” slips into a darker realm where the guitars are forced into a much more rhythmic distorted pattern. Beginning with a drum roll, the bright guitars appear to ricochet from left to right off the straight forward bass, like the ball in a game of Pong. This continues until frustration builds and the guitars erupt into a growling roar.

The guitars are what truly speak through the music. They are the characters allowed to roam seemingly free at times expressing what they see and feel. They are the emotion. To maintain some order and not allowing the guitars to become too free in the space, the rhythm section lays down a solid groove, it is the scenery, the boundaries. The songs become more progressive tales than the standard repetition of parts as are most rock songs. The linear attitude to the songs juxtaposed to the tight bass and drums is clear example of the duality of this rock album – without the linear nature it would be just a rock album and without the tight rhythm it would be pure experiment.

How a Reign Comes to an End exists in a time where so many bands are pushing the limits to the point past the recognizable, Smiley with a Knife achieves a sound that is free, yet grounded – allowing for experimentation while not letting things end up in another world. This duality combined with the emotionality is what gives How a Reign Comes to an End its vitality to stand.

Delta Spirit - Ode to Sunshine

Rarely are there records that are exactly what you expect them to be, yet leave you feeling amazed. Delta Spirit’s Ode To Sunshine is one. My introduction to Delta Spirit was one of excitement and anticipation. I had heard rumblings of their amazing live performance from friends lucky enough to see them at SXSW or in other cities and waited restlessly for their show in New Orleans. To hold myself over till the show, I grabbed onto whatever tracks I could online and fell in love with the rotation of three to four songs. The show did not disappoint as the band delivered an energy that moved the room. Statements such as “I feel like I just went to church” and “I have balls now, and I am a girl. That just made me a man” were spoken in the crowd after the show. I bought the album and took it home.

None of the songs that I had not heard were far from my expectations based upon the short selection I had already heard and what I experienced at the show. Yet, every song grabs you. This is music that lives inside of you. With a healthy dose of Americana mixed to perfection with the gritty raw rock that sounds like the illegitimate child of The Walkmen and the lead singer of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Ode To Sunshine resonates with a listener. It is something familiar, yet at the same time quite different, and most importantly epic.

Of the eleven tracks on the album, the stands out are Trashcan, House Built For Two and People C’Mon. Trashcan comes in with a simple beat that draws the listener in and is then built upon keeping the verses simple. All of which is done to lead to the explosive yet, short chorus that screams out “My Love is coming, I can barely hardly wait…around.” While Trashcan is all about moment, House Built For Two, one of the few ballads on the album, travels, though as if it is a journey on an old rust bike with a slipping chain. The verses coast through with a simple rhythm. The chorus comes in and peddles a little harder, but slows back to the cruising level. The moment of freedom, where the listener takes their feet off the peddles and coasts down the hill, comes in the bridge when a chorus comes in with a simple “Nah, Nah Nah…” People C’Mon is definitely the thickest songs on the album, and the clearest anthem of the album. Grooving bass lines, drum beats and in your face vocals create a robust composition that delivers and as the singer’s raw voice belts out the line “If feeling what I am feeling come on, all you soul searching people come on,” notice how it grasps a hold of your tongue for days on end and come on.