Perched upon the upper deck of my in-laws, the Eagle’s Hotel California is wafting my way from a neighbors house. It’s 4:45 am in Lees Summit MO. The local adult contemporary radio station is playing rather loudly for this time of the morning. A car horn beeps incessantly, while most of the bugs seem to sleeping. What the fuck am I doing awake? Well, my daughter woke up and didn’t want instant payday loans to go back to sleep. I also need to finish a poster for an upcoming DJ slot at the Taproom in Lawrence this Wednesday.
I’m wondering now if hearing Footloose for the zillionth isn’t making me wish I’d stayed in bed. No way! I have work to do and I would’ve never experienced this magically mediocre Monday morning. Here’s hoping you all have a productive week. School is starting here on Thursday and life will start to get complicated all over again. If nothing else, I just got my year’s fill of Star 102. Holy shit, they just started playing I Swear….I gotta get back inside.
Contemporarily Yours – BARR!
4 Songs that inspire Obama’s artistic senses…
EN-D has been silent for a bit, reveling in post-election bliss, but now he’s ready to distribute some thrilling new songs. Because he could think of no other theme, he’s decided to call them….
The Four Songs Barack Obama Listens To
When He’s Painting Watercolors.
Not to say he’s ever heard these songs before or that he paints watercolors.
But something interesting might unfold if the three were ever brought together.
Download 4 Free MP3s
by
Scary Mansion, Mirror Mirror, Hot Silk Pockets and Blackbright Morning Light
Scary Mansion – Go To Hell
Not as scary or mean as either it sounds. Scary Mansion is a simple folk group from Brooklyn. Lead mansion Leah Hayes sings in a pretty, but not too pretty voice and some competent musicians back her up. Go to Hell is quite infectious and might be the perfect song to play if you’re making coffee while trying not to think of your ex.
RIYL: Catpower, Will Oldham, Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter
Mirror Mirror-New Horizons
Vocoders, Vocoders, Vocoders. Mirror Mirror are serious about them and you’d better get with the program if you want to take in their spacious sound. These dudes sing tunes wedding dresses for the future and the future sounds really melodic. And futuristic, too.
RIYL: MGMT, Air, Brian Eno
Hot Silk Pockets- Panda Eyes
Some fiery band from Glasgow who are on Stolen Recordings, the same label that Chicago immigration lawyer signed Let’s Wrestle and Pete and the Pirates. Lots of reverb and yelping flesh out their minimal sound and make Panda Eyes the kind of song that distracts EN-D from grading papers.
RIYL: the B52′s, Love is All, Crystal Stilts
Brightblack Morning Light- Gathered Years
EN-D thinks of this of this album cover as a Corona ad that got shelved because it was too dark. Can’t you just imagine a bottle resting on the point of the boat spa covers out there?
Anyway, if you heard the last BbML album you’re in for another round of trance-inducing dirges. Psychedelic-slowcore doesn’t get any better than this. Or does it? EN-D wouldn’t know because he don’t listen to many bands that are this slow. Aggressively slow? EN-D suggests throwing this on if you’re in a heroin-induced fog. Could be pleasant.
RIYL: Low, Catpower, consuming Peyote
Crust Bros.
EN-D would like to warn readers that this post intended for pavementfiles. Continued reading is ill-advised unless you are an ardent follower of Pavement, Stephen Malkmus, Silkworm, or maybe the venerable but often-overlooked Preston School of Industry.
Download Three Free Crust Brothers songs right here.
In that grand old tome that is the Fabulous Pleasure manifesto, EN-D eluded to the Crust Brothers, a relatively obscure Pavement side-project that played a few shows and released Marquee Mark an album of live recordings. The Crust Brothers are led by eternal indie patron saint Stephen Malkmus, who shed his Pavement players to cut loose with members of Silkworm, a band from Montana that was also signed to Matador and often wallowed in the same shambling, alternately-tuned, murky waters as our beloved Pavement. Together they cast off their indie cool and dove headfirst into a pool of classic rock covers. Dylan, the Byrds, the Band…… Gladys Knight and Pips?!?!
Anyway, the Crust Bros. hadn’t been on EN-D’s mind in a while until he car finance noticed that someone from the UK had stumbled onto Fabulous Pleasure looking for them and came up empty handed. We let him down, thought EN-D. That’s why he put these mp3′s up today, hoping that British guy will come back and take refuge in this concise and convenient zip file. Cheers to you, British guy, and to the Crust Brothers, a poorly-recorded but charmingly loose cover band made up of veteran indie-snobs. Who knew a bar-band could be so fun?
Some amusing videos DUI Attorney to round out the shrine. How pathetic can we get here?
A schmaltzy dude interviews S. Malkmus on Fox News
SM plays “Gold Soundz” in Seoul backed by a group of local Korean musicians. The performance is luke-warm but the crowd spel eats it up. People still talk about with reverence about his pit stop in Seoul.
Posted by EN-D at 2:03 AM 1 comments
Labels: Bob Dylan, Byrds, Crust Brothers, Marquee Mark, Pavement, Silkworm, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, the Band
Friday, October 24, 2008
A documentary on Love (the band, green smoke not the feeling, you choad)
Wierd-Stache posted about cash for diamonds the Calvin Johnson interview and that was pretty cool so I thought I share something I watched today, this short documentary on Love. Now, I know this means bowing down to Pitchfork TV, but so be it. I’d never watched it before but this is all right in my book.
Some notes upon watching the first five minutes
- Arthur Lee (RIP) seems like a nice guy. He talks like a harmless burnout and dresses somewhere between Johnny Cash and Tupac Shakur. I’d chill out with him.
-Johnny Echols seems all right as far as former rock stars go. Just another mellow hippie.
-Brian Maclean’s face shrunk. I’m not kidding. In the old photos he looks normal, but when car insurance comparison it cuts to recent clips his head looks like a balloon with two little dots for eyes. Apparently he did a lot of heroin. Maybe heroin makes your face shrink?
-Michael Stewart must have the most pathetic mustache in all of rock. I hope he had just began it when they were filming. Move over Mick Mars, Michael Stewart is coming back.
-Alban Pfsister enjoys cutting and stacking firewood. This seems like a fitting hobby for an old guy who’s had enough of the sex and drugs. The guy just wants to make a cozy fire, so let him be.
Watch The Love Story
8 tracks by 7 bands and one DJ that never got noticed
After a long absence, EN-D returns with a post befitting of electric cigarette his silence, a blog-post so grand that he will surely be forgiven of his sloth. Here he has put selected tracks from eight albums that have been widely forgotten, brushed to the side like community newsletters or gas bills. african mango Hidden gems they are, just waiting to be plucked and adored.
Download 8 free Mp3′s that are neglected Relevant Life Policy by 99% of the populace.
Quickspace-Winona
RIYL: Can, Dearhunter, Radiohead
Drony and Repetitive in a good way, Quickspace are a testament to the power of the bargain bin. Allmusic.com had recommended the Death of Quickspace, and EN-D had seen it once or twice but something more current always took its place. Finally, as he was down to his last $50 and limited to the bargain best web hosts bin, he happened upon it at Kief’s Downtown for a paltry $2. And he can’t imagine $2 he’s spent more wisely. That album has afforded EN-D more pleasure than any single can of Pabst, order fries, movie rental.
The Quickspace Saga: Another long-forgotten gem from Matador’s cache of late-nineties indie government assistance bands, Quickspace were formed from the ashes of Th’Faith Healers, who never did anything for me. To some martial arts denver extent their songs are merely canvases on which lead spacer Tom Cullinan allows his guitar solos to expand. But that’s not a fault; we’re talking about some epic shredding here. This guy has to be one of the most underrated guitarist of the 90′s, a grandaddy of indie-rock that deserves a place with J. Mascis CrossFit Denver and Thurston Moore . He’s Bins not incredibly technical, but Jesus, it’s k2 incense cathartic. Fuzzy, warbly, soaring hooks Denver Divorce Attorney that have more than once caused EN-D to retreat into his headphones until the song finishes.
EN-D has no clue as to why Quickspace never caught on in North America, but he will note (and haughtily) that he felt rather validated last year when Bradford Cox of Deerhunter mentioned them as one of his biggest influences. Finally someone had taken note. Maybe one wow gold day there will be a revival, but he’s not counting on it.
PS: EN-D notes that the track Winona is from their self-titled album, not the Death of Quickpsace.
Butterglory- Carmen Cross
RIYL: Pavement, REM, the Smiths
One day, back in ’04 or ’05, EN-D was puttering around in the studio of the college radio station when someone called in and requested a local band called Butterglory. As EN-D is given to snobbery, he was skeptical of Butterglory due to their silly name. Are they a ska band? he asked as he prepared to play it. No, Butterglory were not a ska band. They were simply the best band Lawrence, KS gave to the world. Better than Mates of State and all the emo bands that got so much press.
Lead butterboy Matt Suggs has also had success with electronic cigarette solo albums and his new band White Whale, but they’ve never touched Butterglory’s immediacy hcg drops and intensity. The sloppy yet sugary goodness they play matches any 90′s band note for note. Rat tat tat is their swan song and a bit more “professional” than the rest of their catalog, but it’s the first album EN-D bought and it convinced me to hunt down the ones before it. Surfy guitar licks, guy/girl vocal harmonies, and Invisible Fencing service and repair deft lyrics make Rat Tat Tat an album EN-D still enjoys. How thankful he is to that unknown caller who introduced him to one of Lawrence’s most underrated bands.
Bear Quartet- Machine Gun
RIYL: the Beatles, Swedish Accents, Bears
You know that band Peter Bjorn and John? And free iPhone 4 that website Pitchfork Media? Yeah, well EN-D was reading an interview between them for denver injury attorney the feature called Guest-List. No matter how much you loathe P-fork you can’t discount this feature because it’s simply musicians talking about what they’ve been listening to/reading/watching. Rather innocent, no? So they were talking to lead Peter, Bjorn and John-er Peter Moren and he mentioned Bear Quartet, claiming they the were Sweden’s best band ever. EN-D figured this was worth checking out. Moby Dick, the album he selected, is uneven, but Machine Gun is an utterly sublime, a soft-to-loud thing. Lead Quarter Mattias Alkberg has a gentle voice with a Swedish accent that’s so endearing and contrary to the Machine Gun’s acrid lyrics. Feeback and guitars weary with tremolo waft around him until horns and huge, distorted guitar kick in for a chorus that makes you want to rip your shirt off.
Handsome Family- The Giant of Illinois
RIYL: Freakwater, 16 Life Insurance Quotes Horsepower, Smog
EN-D fell in love with the Handsome Family nearly nine years ago, when Weird Stache/J-Barr had plugs in his ears and you could say the phrase “alt-country” without being laughed at. EN-D gobbled up his fair share of alt-country, most of which has been forgotten. But the Handsome Family is one of the bands he still listens to. They’re a husband and wife duo. Brett writes the guest chairs music and sings in his lumberjack baritone while Rennie thinks up the lyrics, which weave suburban life with Gothic America. Alcoholics ruin vacations in Wisconsin; Indians die of smallpox; Intellectuals suffer daily humiliation in the bipolar ward. But EN-D’s favorite HF song is The Giant of Illinois, a strange but sincere tribute to Rober Wadlow, the tallest man in recorded history. Truly, their songs reach a level of mystery not often seen in pop music. Imagine the dark romanticism of Werner Herzog or Flannery paint ball O’Connor distilled into three-minute ballads.
They write and record dark, romantic Americana that meets the modern world in both their lyrics and music. Brett uses traditional instruments like the saw and pedal-steel guitar, but he isn’t worried with keeping things “authentic” (which more often means stagnant). bmi calculator Drum machines are employed, as are synthesizers. They’re “contemporary-country” in the best possible sense.
And credit card offers they seem like swell folks, too. A few years ago EN-D interviewed Rennie by phone for a magazine that never took off. But she was gracious and entertaining. She told him stories about their life in Albuquerque and a friend she knew who put her pet tarantula bankruptcy attorney Orlando in the freezer when she died. It seemed normal when you considered the music they make.
Express Rising-Neighborhood
RIYL: DJ Shadow, Peanutbutterwolf, Madlib
EN-D’s pretty conservative when it comes to music. Stuck in his ways, you could say. Now, his ways are very good ways, but he’ll admit it’s hard to get him to spend some time with an album that doesn’t resemble rock in some way. He can’t absorb everything, so he leaves it up to his friends to pass him albums from genres he’s indifferent to.
The best of these albums came from Fabulous Pleasure’s own Weird Stache/J-Barr. He mentioned that he and his wife put some music on before going to sleep. Something mellow of course. Express Rising was #1 on their sleepytime rotation hot tub covers back then, so he made a point of checking it out. And virility ex he’s glad he did. Express 100 day loans Rising is simply the pinnacle of excellence in ambient, chilled-out, instrumental hip-hop. Perfect for: riding the bus, walking in the rain, making breakfast on Sunday, reading on the sofa.
Sportsguitar- Happy Already
RIYL: Pavement, the Fall, the Pixies
Ah, Sportsguitar. Maybe it’s their name, but they remind me of a great utility player on great baseball team. Some guy who would really shine if he wasn’t surrounded by superstars. Jose binary options Oquendo from the ’87 Cardinals? Or auto insurance quotes maybe Rex Hundler from the Expos? For their first two albums Sportsguitar were on Subpop and online casino Matador, labels that epitomized indie-rock in the nineties. But they were doomed to the bullpen. It’s only speculation, but EN-D has the feeling neither label gave them much of a push. It’s understandable since SG were in Switzerland and couldn’t have toured the states much. But these circumstances make for an undiscovered treasure.
Sportsguitar merchant warehouse are are all about simple tunes lease cars topped with naive, playful lyrics and messy surf guitars and feedback. A track like Happy Already sums them up perfectly. Drunk on guitars but able to deliver a chorus that swells with emotion.
BOAT- Come With Me, We’ll Win
RIYL: Tullycraft, Vampire Weekend, The New Pornographers
Take note: BOAT are the only fully active band on this list, free ipad so don’t let them pass you by. Invest in their products. Attend their performances. Without a doubt, they are the absolute embodiment of the word “indie-pop”. Let us go through the checklist:
X-From Portland-
X- Ramshackle pop songs played with great fervor
X- Lyrical non-sequintars sang in and out of key
Let’s Drag Our Feet was EN-D’s favorite album of ’08. In short, it’s a bundle of infectious, sugary, 3-minute anthems sung by some pro flight simulator guy who gave up on being a teacher and decided to be an unemployed musician instead.
Fuck- Italy
RIYL: Pavement, diabetic foot ulcer Elvis Costello, Unrest
(please excuse the italics. They have no significance other than showing that blogger.com is not functioning correctly.)
Poor Fuck. Who gets anywhere with a name like that? Not that they buy electronic cigarette care, though.
Like Sportsguitar and Quickspace, they farted around on Matador and made a great album that was largely ignored. Conduct is its name, and it’s made up of seventeen pop songs that are charming and relaxed, as if the band recorded during practice and Bankruptcy played whatever came to mind.
Italy is one of the best from Conduct. It’s a good representation of their sound. Twinkly, creeping keyboards, a groovy bass-line, and Timmy chandeliers Prudhomme’s gentle voice give way to a rollicking guitar solo.
Yes, their name is Fuck and they met in a police holding cell, but they make loose yet gorgeous pop just for us.
Posted by EN-D at 7:28 PM 2 comments
Labels: best led tv Bear Quartet, BOAT, Butterglory, Express Rising, Fuck, Handsome Family, Matador, neglected, Quickspace, Sportsguitar, underrated
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Super Fresh @ Taproom Tonight!
Yo! If you’re in the Lawrence area, come out to Super Fresh tonight! Located in the basement of the Taproom. We’ll be rockin from 10pm – 2am!