Sponsor

Sunday 31 March 2013

Team Ghost - Dead Film Star -- Rituals (2013)


Now I'll be having it about a band created by Nicolas Fromaguea. Who was a co founder and member of M83 (until 2004). The music the band plays is a mix of a lot of things, it's electronic combined with indie rock as well as a mix with post rock influences at times. Which apparently is the Cold-Gaze genre according to NME (New Musical Express). Therefore I'm very intrigued by this french quintet. 

They tell on their site that their first album is out now, and obviously they mean Rituals. But a little research learns that We All Shine was released in 2011 already with 14 tracks on it. So I think you can speak of a follow up album in this case. Anyways for the great masses and for me as well it's the first thing you'll hear about Team Ghost so we can indeed speak of a debut album in many ways. And it's good, not all songs convince me after three listens, but the album in general is entertaining. Personally I love the post rock elements in them, it's a cool refreshing aspect in music like this for me. The vocals are decent, nothing too great but decent, and the sound of his voice grows on you with every listen. It's a pretty atmospheric record in few songs as well has it quite some tempo with the more faster paced electronic and post rockish tracks. The record actually starts off with everything I just mentioned. It has a very atmospheric/electronic intro. Which actually builds up to guitar work & drums that continues to build up to an eargasm. So you can immediately hear the post rock influences this album has. And all this in one song! Honestly it's an awesome opening track for me. Further in the record you get a mix of actual rock songs, actual electronic and very atmospheric songs. As well do you often get a mix of all the previous elements in one song which was the case in the intro. I would be posting the away (intro) song because it illustrates the mix between the electronic and the post rock music pretty well. But the song has no official video so I had to pick another one. 

And the video I picked for you guys is the hit song on the album and the most famous one. So of course it has an official video coming along with it. But honestly my favorite track is Away, Dead Film Star is good just less, simple as that haha. In general I'd stongely advice you to check this entry out, I'm enjoying quite a lot! Soooo enjoy!

Saturday 30 March 2013

Biffy Clyro - Biblical -- Opposites (2013)


Up next is the first repost I'll be doing. Last year (already) I posted about Biffy Clyro and talked a bit about the Only Revolutions album, the band in general and how good I consider them live. I also mentioned the new material coming early this year. Right now I'm going to talk about two things, again the excellent live performance these guys delivered and the new material. 

First things first, Opposites came out late January I think and is the sixth studio album these lads delivered. At first I wasn't convinced, I felt that they again became more accessible and again got further away from the old sound. Like I explained in my older post, I'm ok with this I liked Only Revolutions and Puzzle as much as the older albums. And I could have expected that they would continue to follow the road of the previous two albums since they finally are becoming very successful with them. Nevertheless I was slightly disappointed after that first listen, I was going to see them live though in mid February so I figured I needed to give the record a few re-listens. And like so many times when you do this you start to develop a liking for the record. Every time I re-listened I discovered other songs I really started to enjoy and to be honest two months later I don't think this was a bad release at all. Yes again it's more accessible than Blackened Sky to name one of the old albums, but it's still Biffy Clyro. It's still good rock with Scottish vocals on them. I got the deluxe edition of the album so I'm not 100% sure what songs aren't on the normal album but I pretty much like everything on the record at this time and I can only advice to check it out completely if you haven't already. 

Secondly I'm gonna talk a bit about the gig, not doing much gigs anymore lately. Lack of time mostly... Only saw Biffy Clyro and Bloc Party last month and both were good. But even though Bloc Party is my favorite band, the Biffy Clyro concert was way better. They played a lot of the last three albums, which was a bit sad actually. But they played it with so much energy that you were satisfied at the end of the concert. Sure I would have liked some extra old songs, but I guess a lot of the crowd coming to their shows now only are familiar with the newer material so you can't blame them for mostly playing this song. The Opposites record got a lot of playtime as well (obviously) and I can tell that for me the songs were very enjoyable live!

The song I'm posting here will be an official video of one of the tracks, I like so many songs of the record that I'm just gonna pick the first video I get which is official, haha. And the lucky one is Biblical, one of the examples I could have given of the more accessible (mainstream I guess) sound they have since Puzzle. But at the same time one of the examples I could have given of a song you really start to like after listening a few extra times. At least I do and I hope you'll do the same, Enjoy!

Friday 29 March 2013

Hey Rosetta! - Young Glass -- Seeds (2011)


Tonight I'll be talking about a Canadian band. The reason for doing so is a Canadian fellow blogger and friend that made a bit of promotion for me a week or so ago. As a way of thanking her I said to give me a band, or few bands and I'd make a post about one of them. After some delay I received an ask in tumblr with a terrible message. I had to pick between Hey Rosetta! and Said The Whale. I was familiar with both bands, but I didn't listen much yet to any of the two, shame on me! Anyways after digging in the Seeds album and the Islands Disappear album I was left between the terrible choice of picking one of the two. 

In the end I decided for Hey Rosetta! and the Seeds album from '11 because of the extra spirit this record had. It's a bit faster than Said The Whale and while being late at night when writing this (I start to write and post on different times) I could use this extra energy the music gave me to keep me awake, haha. Anyways the record contains and the band in general plays indie pop/rock music. Music wise it's sounding very nice, with very catchy songs most of the time. But the vocals! The vocals are just plain awesome, remind me of Dry The River at times, or the other way around whoever you are more acquainted with, put simply: they sound alike to me in some songs. What I said before about the extra bit of energy this record has compared to the Said The Whale record has to be put in this given context. Don't expect a very fast paced record, it's still rather slow, but it has some songs with some extra pit in them like the opener with Seeds and New Sum (Nous Sommes) to name two. As well is the switch from the Downstairs song (which actually only is a build up) to the Welcome song done pretty energetic and they did it very nicely actually. Most of the time the record switches between two types of music. The a bit faster paces indie rock music and the slower indie poppy sounding songs. Personally I'm more fond of the first type of songs, simply because you really enjoy them on a first listen, while the slower ones need a few re-listens to actually start loving them. In general I'd strongly advice to check both bands out, if given the choice like now I'd say Hey Rosetta! but both bands are good. The Seeds Album of Hey Rosetta is the second full album of the band after the earlier released Into Your Lungs album and the Plan Your Escape ep. So If you like what you hear here from this six piece Canadian band there is more from them to check out!

The song was a bit easier to pick, I had again two choices for each band to pick from, and the Young Glass song by Hey Rosetta! was one of the options. At the same time this song already was my personal favorite on the record after a first listen. This stayed the same after a second and third listen so I'm quite confident I picked the right song and this time it was an easy decision, haha. Like always it's also a big plus that the video is an official one, at least I think it is. Enjoy!

Official site

Thursday 28 March 2013

CHVRCHES - Recover -- Recover ep (2013)


Up next on the blog is maybe the next big thing in the electro rock scene. CHVRCHES (pronounced Churches) are a pretty alternative trio from Glasgow, Scotland. The band produces some catchy tunes combined with very fragile vocals from lead vocalist Lauren Mayberry. 

Right here I'll be talking briefly about the Recover ep which came out in the past week I think, the title song of this ep Recover didn't convince me at first listen but it's growing on me. I seem to need time to adapt to the very high vocals in the song but they definitely are growing on me. The second song ZVVL (no idea how to pronounce this one, haha) is less catchy but the combined vocals of Lauren and one of the lads (I have no clue which one) are very well done. The third song, Now Is Not The Time, is a bit of a mix of the previous two. It combines the catchy sounds of Recover and the nice sounding combined vocals of ZVVL and for this reason I'm actually really fond of the last song. As a bonus to these three tracks you get two remixes of the Recover song by Cid Rim and Curxes. Both are well done but like usual I'm the type of guy that prefers to the original. But especially the Cid Rim remix is very entertaining and worth checking out.

The song I'm picking will be the Recover song, simply because it has an official video. I'm not sure if it's my favorite song of the three but let us call it a tie between Now Is Not The Time and Recover. In general it's a good ep and the previous released singles such as The Mother We Share were good as well. So I'd say it's a trio we could be hearing a lot of in the near future. Enjoy!

Official facebook (I think)
last.fm artist page

Wednesday 27 March 2013

The Strokes - All The Time -- Comedown Machine (2013)


Right now I'll be talking about a very recent release from one of the major bands from the genre (indie/alternative rock). The Strokes as you can read in the title released the Comedown Machine album yesterday (if I'm not mistaken). To start off I'd like to say I'm a fan of The Strokes, especially the first three albums. But I don't often listen to them, I got the hard copies of the first two and planning to buy First Impressions of Earth someday soon though. The fourth album I'm not familiar with as well, it got mediocre reviews and well I listened less to music when it came out so I skipped this release, I'll pick it up soon promise. But yes I'd say I'm a fan of them, certainly not the biggest but I do like them. Back to the matter of the day: Comedown Machine. If I have to use one word to describe the record I'd use WEIRD. Seriously it's a weird record, not bad not good (yet) but weird. 

The record starts of with a very mediocre Tap Out for me personally, I have no clue about past singles supporting the album so it's my first listen to everything. At first listen the records start pretty weird for me the high vocals from Julian Casablancas aren't really my thing. Music wise the album sounds great but the vocals are plain weird in some songs, and I can't get myself over it. In the third song One Way Trigger the high pitched vocals are growing on me though, I still consider it weird but after the third listen I'm starting to have that click in my mind that is saying: well yes it is weird but it's actually pretty damn good. In between you have All The Time which is awesome, it's Strokes like I know them, first three albums I mean. Same applies for the fourth song Come Down Japan. The 5th tracks 80's Comedown Machine, is very atmospheric, or how to hell to describe it. It's not really what you expect from them but it's well done, again weird (for them) but good. afterwards you get again a classic Strokes sounding song with 50 50. And it continues like this you always have to make the switch between what the hell is this? and the sound you are used to by them. No it isn't a bad record, after a few listens you really come to like it. But it's not what you expect from them at all. So again I'd describe the record as weird, this might be because I skipped the previous release so my apologies if this is the case. But for someone only familiar with the classic sound of The Strokes it's a bit of a culture shock. I'm not sure if this is a good or a bad thing, but like so many bands they evolve I guess, let's just try to enjoy the new material as much as we enjoyed the old material.

The song I'm posting is unknown until now for me, haha. Well I typed all the previous before choosing out a song, I'm new to the record so I don't have a favorite song yet and I'm just gonna search for an official video. And the winner is All The Time, one of the songs you'd expect from them, and yes it's official.

Official site
last.fm artist page

Tuesday 26 March 2013

Twin Atlantic - What Is Light? Where is Laughter? -- Vivarium (2009)


Right now I'll be posting Twin Atlantic, again an hard(er) rock band, I'm really into the harder material of my library last few days... This time the band is from Scotland, Glasgow to be more exact. They have two albums out already and one ep, the album I'll be talking a bit about right now will be the first one, Vivarium back from 2009 already. The album is short (only containing 8 tracks) but oh so powerful. It's starts off with Lightspeed and it immediately sets the tone for an album full of energy. It never really slows down except for the quite slow Better Wheater outro song.

The music this band creates is quite good if you ask me, but what makes them stand out for me personally are the vocals. The Scottish accent is simply brilliant as well does Sam Mctrusty his voice itself suit the music very well. The record never slows down like I said and if you are new to them I'd advice to check out the song that I'm posting: What Is Light? Where Is Laughter? as well as Lightspeed and You're Turning Into John Wayne songs (which both were singles supporting the album). The second album, Free, is a bit slower but at times they grab back to the energy of the previous material and the vocals still are catchy as fuck and it's definitely worth listening to as well. For me personally Vivarium is slightly better though so i'd advice to check that one out first.

I'm posting What Is Light? Where Is Laughter? and I do this for several reasons. First of all it was the second song I knew by these guys after Lightspeed, secondly it has an official video, thirdly is for this video of them. It's a gig by them at Pukkelpop back in 2010 where Sam falls down (45sec) but just keeps playing like noting has happened which is pretty epic in my opinion. Last but not least this song acts as the title of one of my blogs. To be more exact this one: Where Is Laughter? which is a shared tumblr blog with the earlier mentioned Koen where we basically post anything we consider funny. Anyways enough ranting for today, enjoy the song!

Official site

last.fm artist page

Monday 25 March 2013

The Virginmarys - Dead Man's Shoes -- King of Conflict (2013)


Right now I'll be talking about another hard(er) rock band. After Wolfmother only a day ago it will be about The Virginmarys this time. While the first band is pretty much known by most people the second one is only starting out, well not exactly since they are active since '06 already. But this activity was limited to touring extensively and releasing some ep's. The first complete record only came out last month though and it sounds pretty good. So I expect that the time of being unknown by most people will soon be over for these guys. 

The band is a trio from Macclesfield up in the North of England and they produce some very good alternative, hard/garage rockish sounding music. The record opens with the song i'm posting here: Dead Man's Shoes and it immediately shows the energy/power these lads will entertain you with. The intro is very catchy and likable and the rest of the record seems to hold up after this promising start. I'm pretty new to the band as well so I can't really say much about them, but I'd strongly advice to give this song a try and if you like what you hear I'd do the same with the complete album! The album is a double album containing the record of 12 tracks as well as a stripped album which contains mostly the same songs but in acoustic versions obviously.

The song is like I said the opener of the record and is called Dead Man's Shoes. It was the song I stumbled upon myself yesterday, it's an official video, it's a very good video and it's catchy as fuck. Reasons enough to pick this one of the record I'd say! Enjoy!

Official site
last.fm artist page

Sunday 24 March 2013

Foals - My Number -- Holy Fire (2013)


Right now i'll be talking about a band from Oxford, England. Foals are a math/indie rock band that released three albums in the past. The debut album by the band is definitely my favorite. It's characterized by fast paced math rock guitar work and is catchy as fuck. Something the two later albums have less. The Total Life Forever & Holy Fire records are a bit slower, still good but not as good as Antidotes was and they both demand you to re-listen the record a few times before you start to like it. Here I'll be talking about the latest record Holy Fire, simply because it was released last month so it's obviously the most recent one of the three. 

The record starts rather slow and has a rather grown up sound for the band. Like I said you need to listen a few times to the first two tracks to really like them. After the slower intro you have My Number which will be the track I'm posting here, it's more like the debut album (although it's poppy-er than the sound of the debut album) and less like the grown up sound they have now. I mean I get it that bands evolve over time, but if you had an excellent debut album it's always nice to hear songs that remind you of that. It's like the albums now are far more indie/alternative while it previously was far more math rock inspired. And I really appreciated the math rock sound of Antidotes, so it's a real shame in my opinion. After this short moment of nostalgia the album gets slower again with Late Night as the slowest track (until you reach the outro with Moon), but this track has a pretty long and nice build up and gets a bit harder over time. This somehow shows the range of Yannis Philippakis his vocals, something you notice as well in the providence song that is a bit harder and faster than the other material, this song has a very excellent build up too by the way. But not only Yannis stands out as well do the rest of the band and especially the drumming of Jack Bevan in my opinion is outstanding, you have the harder more straight forward drumming, as well do you have pretty complex drumming in some songs. All this is combined with rhythmic guitar work that is catchy as hell at times.

The song is like I said My Number for the nostalgic feeling it gives me. The video is official as well I think so this is a big plus as well. The record in general is good but you need to give it time to grow on you. Enjoy!

Wolfmother - Vagabond -- Wolfmother (2005)


Up next is the Aussie hard rock/alternative rock band Wolfmother. The band is active since 2000 and had it's peak around 2005 with the release of the self titled debut album. After this first very good record it pretty much only went downwards with them, lot of changes in the line up of the band and a disappointing second album (Cosmic Egg) caused me to stop listening to them. Last few days Koen (visit his tumblr) discovered them at last, and I sort of rediscovered how good the debut record was because of this. The band is still active although from the original line up only Andrew Stockdale (vocals) is part of the band still. And the activity I speak of isn't much it seems, but yes there still are gigs occasionally.

The album is like I mentioned very good it has some hit songs on it like Woman, Apple Tree, Joker & the Thief and my personal favorite Vagabond. The band combines very catchy rock with very good vocals. Because of this type of music and this record is particular they received quite a few awards, and they really were a hype in Australia and an upcoming band in the rest of the world I'd say. For this reason it's an even bigger shame that they didn't fulfill the high expectations with the follow up record. But I guess this is partly because of the earlier mentioned ever changing line up, and maybe my changing taste in music over the years.    

Nevertheless this record is one of my favorite hard(er) rock albums and it feels really good to re-listen it after so long. The song I chose is Vagabond because I absolutely loved it in the 500 days of summer movie. Enjoy!

Official site
last.fm artist page

Sunday 17 March 2013

Freelance Whales - Generator ^ First Floor-- Weathervanes (2009)


Right now I'm going to talk about a band hailing from New York, Queens to be more exact. Freelance Whales has been active since 2008 and has two studio albums out already. Diluvia which was released last year and the debut record Weathervanes that I'll be talking about here. The music they produce is a mix of indie, indie pop and folk elements which they do very well. To create the music they do they use a whole range of instruments, something you can see as well in the video I'm posting for you guys. Not only do they use the acoustic, electric, bass guitar and the drums. They add  the harmonium, glockenspiel, banjo, mandolin, synthesizers and so on. This creates a pretty unique and very good sound and makes them one of my favorite bands in the indie pop genre.

The record brings you 13 tracks full of quality, it starts off very slow with the song I'm posting having a very long intro  (in the video it doesn't take as much time as on the record) but at the end of the song you already you know you will absolutely adore the band. after this excellent opener the record continues to bring you catchy melodies with good combined vocals which works very well for the band. If you are one of the few that didn't hear about them yet I would strongly advice you to start listening to them. The indie pop/folk music combined with some more electronic tracks are quite excellent and explain why this album was critically acclaimed well. 

The song I chose is the Generator ^ First Floor track. Few reasons for this, it's the most known song by the band, it's the first song I knew by them few years back. And last but not least the video is absolutely lovely. So enjoy!




Saturday 16 March 2013

Kings of Convenience - Boat Behind -- Declaration of Dependence (2009)


Right now I'll be posting a band for Miri, who's been promoting me pretty nicely lately so thanks my love. It took some time to find the band to post about, Alabama Shakes & Bat For Lashes were close to winning the pledge. But in the end we decided on this Norwegian duo. Kings of Convenience is a music project that took me a very long time to like. But now I'm pretty fond of the soft acoustic indie pop/rock tunes they produce combined with some nice vocals of both of them. The album I'll be posting about here is the third studio album they brought out and it dates from 2009 already.  They are actually quite lazy, haha. Only brought out 3 albums from '99 until now. But, I guess, quality is more  important than quantity and it's certainly the case with these two.

The Declaration of Dependence album was the first one I started to like by them, right now I do like all three of them but this one stays my number one. I especially like the first few tracks on the record like 24-25, Mrs Cold and Boat Behind. The rest of the record is quit good but for me it's honestly more of the same so I often skip to another band after a few songs. But whenever I finish the record I don't regret any second of it! Like the band in general it's characterized by soft indie pop rock. If you're not really into this you might find them boring like I did at first. A few re-listens might overcome this issue though, at least it did for me. If you actually do like this kind of music you will really enjoy them a lot and you probably know them already.

The song I'm posting is Boat Behind, first choice would have been 24-25 but no official video available so this is slightly better then. It also is the first song I really started to like from the band which always is an extra reason to post a song for me. I assume most people know them already so I'm gonna stop here, just enjoy!

Official site
last.fm artist page


Rise Against - Swing Life Away -- Siren Song Of The Counter Culture (2004)


Right now I'll be talking about in my opinion one of the best songs and one of the best bands out there. The Swing Life Away song is for quite some time my absolute favorite. Before I had last fm it had around 1000 plays in my itunes library, since I use this platform it is ranked second with nearly 200 plays when I'm done with this post. Only the Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors song of Editors has been played more since I made my account in 2007. 

If we look at the band you have one of the better punk rock bands in the scene, even some melodic hardcore in some songs  if you wish. Rise Against is one of the few punk rock bands I still listen to as mentioned in my post about Yellowcard and it's by far my favorite band in the genre. I Bought 4 of the albums by Rise Against and I obviously downloaded the others. Except The Unraveling which only is decent for me I can honestly say all the albums they produced are at least excellent. OK you need to like the genre, but when you are into the genre I think it's very hard to dislike Rise Against. Vocals of Tim Mcllrath are brilliant for me, he's able to sing very good (something were other punk rock bands often screw up in my opinion) as well is he able to bring the more powerful songs with excellent screaming when needed. Music wise the band is even more Brilliant and last but not least, lyrics do have a meaning with this band, something I absolutely support.

The song is like I said my most played track in general and often used as titles for my blog, the video is lovely for me, since I'm so fond of the song itself I think though. If you're not familiar with the song or the band (which I hardly doubt...) Swing Life Away is one of the few acoustic songs by the band and is featured on a punk goes acoustic album as well as the band's Siren Song Of The Counter Culture album. Enjoy!

Official site

Friday 15 March 2013

Polarsets - Morning (2010)


Right now I'll be having it about a pretty new band. Well they are busy from 2009 or 2010 I think but they still are unknown to most people and they don't even have a complete record out yet. Polarsets is a trio based around Newcastle and are making music that is a mix of indie and electronic music. They are(or at least were) signed to Kitsuné records and they released their first ep, the exotica ep, around last summer. While this ep is pretty good with Tropics as my favorite track on it I'm not going to talk about it right now. 

This for the simple reason that all the releases, singles, before the ep were at least as good and in my eyes even a bit better. I love Leave Argentina and the Bside of that one Just Don't Open Your Eyes Yet is even better. The song I'm going to post here is Morning, not as good as the first two songs they brought out but it has an official video and it's still pretty awesome. 

So why talk or even post about this band when they didn't yet release that much in the past? Well their sound seems very promising and although it seems to take like forever to release the debut record I have faith in this trio. I don't even have 10 songs of this group and it's definitely one of my favorite bands at the moment. If you would doubt my opinion they supported Two Door Cinema Club and Ellie Goulding in the past, not bad for starters I'd say. Enjoy Morning!



Thursday 14 March 2013

The Dykeenies - Clean Up Your Eyes -- Nothing Means Everything (2007)


Up now is a Scottish band I simply adore since the debut album came out. I remember I used to be a demonoid user back then and I basically downloaded everything I didn't know in the indie category. Found some brilliant bands back then! Man I really miss that site, well alternatives enough of course. The band I'm going to talk about is The Dykeenies. The album I'll be talking about is Nothing Means Everything. 

The Dykeenies are a four piece originating from Cumbernauld (seriously where the hell is this place?), Scotland. The band has two studio albums out already Nothing Means Everything from '07 and Canyon of Echoes from '11. The debut record is one of my most played records of all times and I know all the songs by heart. The second one is less good for me, decent enough to put on occasionally but nothing extraordinary, maybe it needs a few more listens though. If you never heard of them I strongly advice you to start with the debut album and in particular the Clean Up Your Eyes, Pick You Up and New Ideas songs. The record in general is characterized by fast paced indie rock with some good vocals with an not too obvious but still oh so awesome Scottish accent, seriously what accent is better than this? 

The song I'm posting for you guys tonight is the Clean Up Your Eyes song. Two reasons, it's my favorite and it has an official video. Hope you guys enjoy!  

Split up last year, so no official or active site/profile anymore. =/
last.fm artist page

Say Hi (To Your Mom) - Laundry -- Discosadness (2002)


Next up is the Seattle based (America) band Say Hi, which previously was named Say Hi To Your Mom, I personally prefer the second band name, but hey who am I. It's an Indie Rock band that has been playing since 2002 and mainly consists of Eric Elbogen who does pretty much everything. When on tour he has a bunch of friends who help him out. But for the records he sings and plays pretty much everything himself. The record I'm talking about here is the first one Discosadness which came out in 2002. After this first release Eric released 6 more albums with Um, Uh Oh being the latest back in 2011. I never found any of his albums in local stores and even downloading used to be an issue so I'm only familiar with 3 of the first 4 albums, and having half of the fourth album. The later three albums I know nothing about but I definitely will try to find them some day soon.

The record is an easy to listen to Indie pop/rock album with very catchy melodies and lyrics. The record contains ten tracks, and all of them really are worth listening too, starting with The Fritz over The Pimp and the Sparrow, Laundry and ending with Blizzard and The Showdown in Goattown. Honestly I adore all of these tracks, I think it's his voice combined with the soft easy listening music that got me completely sold.
Only thing I can say about Say Hi and The debut album Discosadness is go check them out they both are amazing and a personal favorite of mine.

The song I posted here for you guys is Laundry, it's one of the best tracks for me among But She Beat My High Score, Let's Talk About Spaceships, & Hooplas Involving Circus Tricks (which are all three of the Numbers & Mumbles album if you would like to check them). The reason to pick Laundry instead of one of these is because Laundry was the first one I knew of Say Hi (To Your Mom). Soooo... Enjoy!

Wednesday 13 March 2013

System of a Down - Hypnotize -- Hypnotize (2005)


Again a post about a band I used to listen to when I was younger, like the post about Deftones this band is a bit harder than the material I usually listen to now. System of a Down have produced some good albums in the past like Toxicity and Steal This Album!, I honestly never heard the debut record before and the Mesmerize album is a bit of a shit album for me. The album I'll be talking about a bit today is the Hypnotize album, again one of the good albums and the only one I actually bought in the past, planning to buy Toxicity one day though. 

Basically I bought the album when I was younger for the title song. Obviously I'm putting this song in this post as well then. The Hypnotize song is among the legendary Chop Suey my favorite song by the band. I guess this is because it's a bit softer than the other material and back when the album came out I was switching from harder rock to indie rock. The rest of the album was certainly good like Tentative or Stealing Society, but this one song stands out for me. Basically whenever I listen to this band now it's just the few songs that really stand out for me like Hypnotize, Chop Suey, Toxicity... I rarely put on an album of them anymore, except for right now because I'm writing a post about it of course. 

Why would I write a post about a band I don't listen to anymore then? Well I made a deal with Koen, if I posted SOAD, he'd promote my blog to everyone he knows. So I did my part of the deal, I'm waiting for my promotion, haha. Anyways I mentioned the song i'm posting before so nothing more for me to say, simply enjoy!


Official site
last.fm artist page

Tuesday 12 March 2013

Bon Iver - Blood Bank -- Blood Bank ep (2009)


Today I'll be talking about an indie folk band from good old America, Wisconsin to be more exact. Bon Iver (where Iver is pronounced as the french word for winter hiver) is an award winning artist for best alternative album and best new artist recently, although they are already producing music for quite some time. I'm not gonna talk about one of the two full length albums  that came out yet, For Emma Forever Ago (2007/2008) and the self titled one (2011). Instead I'll be talking about my favorite release of the band which is a short 4 tracks ep that came out in 2009 and is a bit less well known than both the albums.

The blood bank ep contains 4 track including my favorite of the band and the one they named the ep after, Blood Bank. As well as a very alternative track Woods (go check it out to know what I mean). Besides these two it contains two very decent indie folk easy to listen to tracks that make you, or at least me, feel good and cheerful. 

Why Bon Iver today, well last night I listened to my music on shuffle and I came along Volcano Choir  which is one of the many other projects of talented singer-songwriter Justin Vernon (Vocals of Bon Iver of course). Which lead to the urge to listen to Bon Iver in general and more specifically the Blood Bank ep. I think the best thing of this ep for me personally is the length of it. Don't get me wrong I like the music I like Bon Iver, Volcano Choir and some of the other projects. But after a few songs I'm starting to get a bit bored so for me it becomes a drag to finish the albums. A problem you don't have when the ep only contains four tracks. Never the less if you are not familiar with anything named in this post go check it out. If you like Bon Iver you'll probably like Volcano Choir, if you like one release you'll probably like the other releases as well...

The song is like I said Blood Bank, special about the video is that it's a live video, not the greatest quality but decent enough to beat a video of the track with a picture on the background! So enjoy!

Official site
last.fm artist page

Monday 11 March 2013

Germany Germany - Take Me Home -- Adventures (2011)


Today I'll be talking about a very active Canadian music project. Germany Germany is an independent music project by Drew Harris and this guy is making a lot of records last few years. Stick with me. 2010: Radiowave & Last Summer, 2011: Radiowave II & Adventures 2012: Blank Mind Empty Heart and last but not least 2013: Last Summer II. I'm only familiar with the two 2011 albums which are both pretty good. My favorite of the two is Adventures and will be the album I'll be talking about a little today. 

The record contains 17 tracks and manages to keep me personally entertained for the total duration of the record, which is more and less an hour. The genre of the album is something between electronic/indietronica & Chillwave. Because of this the tracks contain a high amount of repetition of music and lyrics, if there are any lyrics at all. As well do the songs sound a bit simplistic at times, not that I could manage to produce them myself. But yes some songs are characterized by a sample on repeat with sounds mixed trough (and some vocals at times). Which doesn't mean it isn't a great record, at all times he manages to produce good tracks using this method, and I absolutely love the record. I don't often listen to music like this, so maybe my views on the album are wrong. Best thing to do is to check the artist/album out for yourself and form your own opinion about him/it.

The song I took from the album is Take Me home, because it has an official video, which is like always a big plus. Not only is it official it's actually pretty good, nothing extraordinary but yes good. Last but not least it's my favorite track on the record (like usual) and I think it was the first track by Germany Germany I came across, not 100% sure though. Anyways enjoy!

Bandcamp page
last.fm artist page

Sunday 10 March 2013

Followed By Ghosts - Beards Of The Patriarchs -- Still Here (2011)


Post Rock post? Post Rock post! Today I'll be writing about a band originating from the states, Iowa to be more exact. Followed By Ghosts is a band with a lot of energy in their music and one of my personal favorites in the genre. The album the song is taken from is "Still here" and it dates from 2011 and is the third studio album produced by the band. The album contains rather short powerful tracks with for me personally some of the better (sorry for repeating myself) Post Rock music I came across last years. Their sound reminds me a lot of Explosions in the Sky among other Post-Rock artists. Lets face it most Post-Rock music sounds somewhat alike, but then again if you like one band you find yourself liking a lot of them.  

I don't know much more about this band that I can tell you guys. Only thing left for me to tell you is the name of the song. The song is called Beards Of The Patriarchs and is the third song of the record. I chose it for the power behind the track and because it's the only(I think) track were you actual hear somebody scream (so yes they have vocals, haha). Enjoy!

Bandcamp page
last.fm artist page

The Blackwater Fever - Don't Fuck With Joe -- The Depths (2013)


The Blackwater Fever is an Aussie based band that will release their third studio album The Depths in the near future. For some unknown reason I have the album already, good guy internet... And it actually sounds pretty good! It's something between garage and blues rock and it manages to keep you fascinated for more or less three quarters of an hour. It actually reminds me a lot of a local band called the Black Box Revelation, I have to make a post about them next time! If you like the genre don't hesitate to check any of the bands out. (for The Black Box Revelation I advice the debut album...)

Anyways I didn't hear much yet from 2013, nevertheless this trio from Brisbane is one of the first discoveries of the year for me. It's quite amazing they are active since 2005 and stayed under most people's radar until now, or at least mine... I'm actually rather interested in how the previous two albums sound, but for now I'll keep listening to this one, I really like it haha.

The song I posted for you guys is Don't Fuck With Joe. Which is the fourth track of the album, not my favorite at the moment but it's an official video which is a big plus, and it's still quite good of course. So enjoy!

Official site
last.fm artist page 

Friday 8 March 2013

Cut City - Such Verve -- Exit Decades (2007)


After my Pixies post yesterday I put my ipod on shuffle again since I had no desire to listen to anything specific. It took about 30 songs until I stumbled upon a Swedish gem I had forgotten about. Cut City is like I said a Swedish four piece band that produces music sounding like a mix of Joy Division, Interpol, Editors... Basically it sounds like a lot of bands that have Joy Division as their main influence. 

So why give them some attention if they sound like so many other bands? well because they were able to make me listen to their debut album a few times in a row. Exit Decades is a very decent, if not to say good, album produced in 2007 already. It contains a lot of good tunes like Damaged, Like Ashes Like Millions and the song I'm putting online Such Verve. So it's definitely worth checking. I will be checking some of the more recent albums myself in the hope to find some more good albums produced by them. 

Like I said the song I'm posting is Such Verve. Reason for this is simple, it was the song I stumbled upon while shuffle-ling my entire library. Good guy Ipod right? Enjoy!

Thursday 7 March 2013

Pixies - Debaser -- Doolittle (1989)


Long time since I've been here, didn't do much yet in 2013 music related only went to two gigs and only bought three albums yet. But I did buy some new headphones recently which made me want to listen to music a lot recently. At first I only put my Ipod on Shuffle until a track of Pixies came along. I immediately put on the Doolittle album and enjoyed every song from it. The album is for me personally the best of the band although I never listened to all of them. I know Surfer Rosa pretty well, and Bossanova partly. I have to admit that I'm not that big of a fan of the band, they have very good songs, true. But I just can't find the motivation to listen to all of the material I have on my pc/ipod. Until now I just listen to Doolittle from time to time and afterwards I move on to an other album from another band. Well now I didn't after the first listen to Doolittle I put on every song and I quite enjoyed it. Doolittle will stay my favorite for sure, but I came to enjoy the rest of the material a bit more.

Anyways I think a lot of people listening to them agree that Doolittle is the better album they produced, I mean with songs like Debaser, Here comes Your Man, Monkey Gone To Heaven and so on you have some  very good songs and you can speak of a timeless album really. It's almost 25 years ago that they released this album and I'm sure it will last another 25 years to be known as one of the better albums of that period of music history.

The song I chose for is Debaser, since the band came to my attention at a rock top 100 list of a local music television. It was around place 80 and the first song/band I never heard of and it left me quite intrigued. Not only is the song very good, the video is rather weird and I don't know it still is the first thing I think about when I hear the band or whenever I talk about them.

Official site
last.fm artist page