The Moray Eels Eat the Holy Modal Rounders (1968)

http://www.mediafire.com/?koe1rj053pabwi8

From the linear notes:

"There was an article in the LA hippie paper about a confrontation between two local guru types in MacArthur Park. Their followers--by this time, there were tens of thousands of young and not-so-young people following hundreds of self-styled gurs du jour, from Mei Lyman to Charles Manson--were looking for a peace and love-style version of the old west shoutout on Main Street. Both would-be avatars were about thirty. One was swaddled head to toe in robes, diffraction gradings, body paint, beads and peacock feathers. The other one was completely naked, except for an incense-on-a-stick-thingie that he had stuck up his asshole and lit. It had gone out.
The two avatars faced each other, smiling.

'You're beautiful, man,' said one.
'No, man,' said the other. 'You're beautiful.'
'No, I'm not,' came the reply. 'You're beautiful.'
'No, brother. You're the one who's beautiful.'
'I think I'm going to throw up,' said one of the cops.

Doomed as doomed can be."
-Peter Stampfel

New Pornographers- Together (2010)

http://www.mediafire.com/?m9a8x1uz1cif5av

Wouldn't it be annoying to be part of a "supergroup" that was a bunch of bands that most people didn't know of? And to always have to explain to people why your band was so super and who you were?

Anyway... in a nutshell: New Pornographers make very, very good power pop/rock music with rock instruments. Nothing fancy. But they consist of (now) seven incredible musicians, including 2 songwriters/ guitarists, bass, drums, and four lead vocalists. That might sound overwhelming to have four singers, but they make you wish that every band did the same thing.

This disc won't surprise you or make you cry at midnight with a belly full of gin. What it makes you want to do is dance or drive really fast along Columbia Parkway with the windows down. Great, great, great summer record. Also, one of the coolest videos I have ever seen that is both badass and ridiculous. I'm not kidding. Please watch this.

All New Pornographers records are good, but this their latest and my favorite. I'm also posting it because my three year-old son has rediscovered it and wants to hear it every day.

The Lassie Foundation- Jet Stream, Three Wheels EP (2010)

http://www.mediafire.com/?1246e9h2x5r22zp


I had a strange musical childhood, with two parents who listened to those irritating Christian Church worship tapes every week. That was their definition of music, and because of that hideous weekly routine (**shudder**), we kids were expected to listen to "christian music." How can music be a Christian?


One of the few things that came out of that ridiculous musical wasteland was a band called The Prayer Chain, who later split into The Lassie Foundation. TLF was obsessed with The Beach Boys, Yo la Tengo, Built to Spill, Lilys, Medicine, and 60s garage rock like The Kinks and The Who. I couldn't get enough of that combination of sugar-sweet pop falsetto and make-your-ears-bleed loud noise rock.


Alas, the band did not age well. The Schlock Factor hit pretty hard. They were incredibly inconsistent and distracted, and seemed to have an "All or Nothing" approach, rotating band members with each new release.


Jet Stream, Three Wheels EP really surprised me because it's fantastic. The first song is negligible, but the two last songs are fantastic. I can't tell if it makes me forgive them of all the pedantic releases or hold it against them more...hmmmm?


--
I just noticed this amazing link: on their website, you can download "fancy" PowerPoint presentations to accompany their songs in order to "Impress your teachers, professors, and office colleagues." I have to give them credit for these ludicrous extras. 

L0W- Come on (2O11) / The Internet Police Strike

The administrators at Cosmonaut Farm had their first official Cease and Desist order from Blogger. Apparently, it came straight from a larger record label which used to be known as a small record company (whose name rhymes with Subb P0pp). This record label used to be "indie" but now apparently likes to bully blogs like this one.

Fine. Sorry to say that anyone looking for L0w's C'M0n (2011) will have to look elsewhere. Or, just get it here:

http://www.mediafire.com/?z3xo3qq4iky3jv0

In the future, i'm afraid that i will have to consider brand new main label cds differently, or just omit them entirely. I'm more inclined to do the latter and let others take the hit. It's not a giant deal, but at the end of the day, i don't want to have to deal with some tight-assed record execs who can't deal with the fact that the internet is basically Napster version 5.0, and that file sharing will only become MORE pervasive.

TV on The R(a)dio- Nine Types of L(i)ght (2012)

http://www.mediafire.com/?li1bbefvpzzbvc1

I've been a big TVOTR fan since i first heard Young Liars, and it's been great to watch the band expand, change, and grow since.

NTOL might be my favorite, if for no other reason than the full length movie that was created alongside the album by singer Tunde Adebimpe, my man crush and ridiculously cool person. Do yourself a favor: find an hour, and watch this. Then feel awesome.

One of my favorite things of this cd is the feeling of letting go for the band, of enjoying themselves and letting the music be much looser. Love, love, LOVE hearing the meaty baritone on some songs! It's like James Earl Jones stepped in to croon. Plus, did anyone else notice what an awful guitarist David Sitek is??? The term "Robbie Robertson" comes to mind... Just saying.

Following my previous post, I love seeing black folks playing rock music, not because it seems like a crossing over boundaries, but that it is a resituation of black presence within a black medium (rock music) that was taken by white people from black folk musicians and early rockers like Chuck Berry. People forget that Elvis was playing the "Devil's Music" (meaning, black music). It's a reminder that rock, like so much else in this country, was early stolen and rebranded by white people as white culture.

Anyway, kudos to you fellas. You go, boys. Way to rock.

Lift to Experience- Falling From Cloud Nine E.P. (1997)

http://www.mediafire.com/?zlwfd76p3r3727c

I first saw Lift to Experience at the Cocodrie in San Francisco. They played after Pedro the Lion and remained one of my favorite bands of the decade (while Pedro remained one of my LEAST favorite).

They sold a tour-only EP that i'm guessing is pretty hard to find now. Uploaded for all your LTE junkies.

It doesn't sound nearly as good as their debut under Bella Union, but in a way it is a nice document of what they sounded like live. Consider it an early statement before they came to the conclusion they did (aka Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads).

CD Info:

1. Falling From Cloud 9

2. With the World Behind

3. Arise and Shine

4. Liftin' On Up

Mixed By - Dave Willingham , Lift To Experience
Performer [Lift To Experience Are] - Brian (64) , Josh* , Josh*
Recorded By, Mastered By - Dave Willingham
Written-By - Lift To Experience

First printing of 500 released in 1997 with limited edition trading cards of the then current members: Josh Browning, Josh Pearson and Brian Smith.
Second Printing of 500 released in 2000.
Both presses have the same cover art but different colors and fonts.
Recorded & mastered by Dave Willingham at 70 Hertz in Argyle, Texas.

All tracks recorded live, except vocals and tambourine 9/24/97.

Tame Impala- Innerspeaker

http://www.mediafire.com/?iyvg4t0ejin

Whenever there is a lot of hype around an album, it certainly falls into the "Hipper-than-thou" category, and therefore makes me exercise extreme caution. This is multiplied 10x when Pitchfork gives it a raving review (which for Pitchfork, means more than 6 out of 10. Bastards).

I looked into Innerspeaker based on the recommendation of a good friend, and i have to say: Pretty-Damn-Awesome.

The thing that made me really excited was a line that eMusic used to describe it: "It sounds like what the Beatles would have sounded like if they were around long enough to hear Yes." When the cd starts up rightaway, i thought, "Holy crap, they got John Lennon to sing on it!"

Fans of either George Harrison or John Lennon might get really wistful to hear this MetaBeatles band, and Innerspeaker does sound like it could have come out of that time period. It's really weird in that way.

Highly, highly recommended. Listen with earphones!!

Dirty Projectors & Bjork- Mt. Wittenburg Orca

http://www.mediafire.com/?4qo24epevcb4x2g

I grew up with this guy who ended up wearing polyester suits to school every day his Junior year of high school, right around when he started sporting some bleached hair and very angular sideburns. Part of this new persona consisted of listening to music that his sister handed down to him, which he tried to like, but then became disinterested in. He passed them along to me. I wish i could say that i had a revelation, but it was years until i fully appreciated The Beach Boys- "Pet Sounds" and Bjork- "Debut," which were two of the cds he gave me.

Fast forward a few years, and a friend played Bjork's "Homogenic" at her house. That WAS a revelation, and Bjork was the bee's knees for a few solid years. I loved how she destroyed her voice on every song and sounded ready to fall apart. I enjoyed her a bit less as Drawing Restraint came out, and it was downhill from there.

BUT! A few years later, I discover the amazing and incredibly weird Dirty Projectors, who somehow cradle chamber music, art rock, and 80s R&B. Oh yeah, they're weird. Then, they make a cd with Bjork about whale sighting off a mountain in California, and luckily for us all, it's absolutely beautiful. Weird, wobbly, perfectly delivered, and full of idiosyncratic sounds. To me, it sounds like whales swimming, which is about perfect.

I feel a little guilty for putting it up here, since the proceeds from the album go to support National Geographic. It's like robbing from Ghandi. Eh. What are you gonna do...?

A rather shoddy live recording:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFdZH9R1n-4


*As a side note, my two year old son LOVES this cd. Take that, all you lame-ass library folk singers.

Women- Public Strain

http://www.mediafire.com/?8yfmqd2wcls4ycf

A friend turned me on to Women's "Group Transport Hall," which i covered for a performance about jeggings. The song is really great-- weird, wobbly, beautiful, and catchy.

Public Strain could be described that same way. It has that uncanny element to it, where you recognize and don't recognize the music. It goes from sounding strident to blissful, and makes me feel like i'm underground looking at cathedrals when i listen to it. I read that it felt more like an "album" than most cds, and sounds best (*surprise surprise) when listened to on headphones. If you play it through speakers at work, like i did, people will just glare at you.

Recommended for fans of Deerhoof and Slowdive or Aaron Martin. *A disclaimer: it took at least 3 listens for me to really like this, which I think is a sign of a great album. One of my favorite discoveries of this new year.