M.M.N.E.B.B. (an ode to slackers)

I stumbled across this cute little drum machine type thing online today. I do believe I'll have to find a way to work (a variation of) this into my Songs About Band album.

Jackpot, Anybody?

Alright, so, today I'm taking a break from writing about some fabulous-yet-unheard-of band (not that I've been keeping up with that lately anyways, but whatever) in favour of sharing what might just be the greatest thing I've ever stumbled upon.

http://78records.cdbpdx.com/

There's not a whole lot I can say in regards to this site that isn't already explained by the author on the page. What I can do, however, is vouch for it's complete and total awesomeness. Seriously, I've spent the last couple of hours just looking through this thing, finding gem after gem.

Today's song links are to give you a taste of what's to be found on this epic site. Do enjoy, kids.

[mp3] Count Basie - Basie Boogie
[mp3] Ella Fitzgerald w/ Louie Armstrong - Can Anyone Explain

Ahh, I just love the noise in the background.

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down

I was sitting here for about half an hour trying to come up with some witty title before giving up. I just couldn't articulate what it is about them that's so incredible in some short quip, so I'm not even going to bother trying. No, you see, I'll end up wrestling with it through out the entire post.

Hailing from Olympia, the lovely--if not, incredibly eccentric--Thao Nguyen, with the help of her backing band, The Get Down Stay Down, has been eagerly doling out her lovely brand of Indie/Folk magic since before I was born. It is often said that sometime in her twenties she slayed a dragon. This was before she invented her time machine, of course. (Which she subsequently used to go back in time and become the inspiration for leonardo's "Mona Lisa".)*



All that badassery aside, however, she and her band are currently signed to Kill Rock Stars (You may have heard of them? Marnie Stern? Julie Ruin? Gravy Train!!!!? Yeah. I thought so) , where she released her first CD, We Brave Bee Stings and All, earlier this year. She's also currently on tour, and from what I hear (and by "hear" I mean I went to the show and checked this out myself) she puts on one hell of a show. Such energy! Such charisma!

[mp3] Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - Beat (Health, Life, and Fired)
[mp3] Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - Bag of Hammers

She'll be in Austin again August 6th, for all you kids that live around here and what to catch her. For a full list of dates check out her artist page on KillRockStars. If I remember correctly you can also grab a copy of her CD there (you know, if for some weirdo reason you're unable to attend her shows and snag a copy there.)



*The facts portrayed in this paragraph may or may not have been made up on the spot.

IHWV Is Back! Now with improved grammar!

Yes! There's no real post today, in terms of exciting new music and what not. Check out that expression of ecstasy adorning my face though? Yeah. It's there because I'm back to writing about bands and what not, and nothing in the world makes me happier.

On Belaire and my recent hiatus

Oy vey, a week? Really?

My deepest apologies, for reals, but I recently came into computer troubles (like, oh, I don't know, I didn't have one) which kind of impaired my posting abilities. All's well and good now, who's looking forward to more regular updates? Hells yes!

Speaking of hells yes, tomorrow's the 25th, and I'm sure you all know what that means! No, I'm not going on about Baby Mama (although on the reals, I'm super excited about that, too--who has a super duper huge crush on tina fey? this lady), I'm going on about the Belaire show, of course! w00t! And talk about a steal, folks, $6 for not only Belaire, but Elf Power, The Black and White Years, and Yellow Fever. Homygawd, pinch me, this is unreal.

Today, in leu of the hiatus, I give you a bevy of songs to choose from. Enjoy folks.

[mp3] Belaire- Through The Wire

[mp3] Belaire- Shadows Moving on the Wall

[mp3] The Black and White Years- My Broken Hand

[mp3] The Black and White Years- A Wetter Sea

[mp3] Yellow Fever- Hellfire

[mp3] Yellow Fever- Alice

[mp3] Elf Power- Spiral Stairs

[mp3] Elf Power- Midnight Crawls Out

Oh yeah, and I finally got my hands on that Box Social CD I had my eyes on, so look forward to a review sometime over the weekend. Salut!



Edit: Holy crud. Loxly's gonna be there. I think I might cry :3

The Art Party + Trash Trash Trash

The Art Party: Grassroots political party/Collective of progressive hippies (and as a member, I of course mean that in the best possible way) based out of New Orleans, with little branches all over the place.

Trash Trash Trash: Experimental (Hip Hop? Indie? I don't know) band, also hailing from the big easy, who dig singing songs about pot and are currently out of commission (talk about lame.)

So then, how are these two connected? And more importantly, if Trash Trash Trash isn't up to anything why am I writing about them? Well, the answer is propaganda--I mean, PR. Gotta represent, you know?

You see, Trash Trash Trash is a big proponent of said "Art Party", and I'm a big proponent of both. That being said it makes sense for me to give a shout out, no? Exactly.

I really can't say that much though, with out inadvertently repeating something you'd find on either their myspace or the party's website, so I'm not going to ramble on--however, if free albums are what you're into feel free to drop by Trash Trash Trash's page on Last.FM, where you can download their entire EP, 100% free.

And for anyone who'd like a quick sample of their work, I give you:

[mp3] Trash Trash Trash- Art Hrs
[mp3] Trash Trash Trash- Hash Stash

There ya go. And check this out, I finally started hosting my own files (mostly because I was tired of scowering the interweb for 'em.)

w00t!

Hot damn, it's The Box Social!

That's right, bay-beh. I got a sweet tip this morning in regards to 'em (the girl who emailed me described them as being "one part swagger, two parts guitar, several pounds of pop sensibility and one well worn corduroy blazer (you know, the kind with elbow patches)"--how could I resist?) Since then I've been lurking around their myspace all day listening to the music and what not. Weird, right? But, in my defense I really haven't heard anyone like then in quite some time. It's cool. Take for instance the cow bell in "Hot Damn!"--I mean, seriously, who does that anymore? I love it. (and, as long as I'm ranting about this song, I think I'm gonna have to mention the bass line. You know, the one that opens second to the cow bell and runs pretty much the whole way through the song? Yeah, it's pretty much the definition of "tasty".)


I hate to say it after waxing poetic about them, but I've really only heard the songs up on their myspace at this point, so I can't talk about the album just yet. Don't fret though, I totally intend on doing a follow up review of their debut Get Going (likely, as soon as I get my hands on it!) I can't wait.

[mp3] The Box Social- Big T
[mp3] The Box Social- Hot Damn!

Both songs come straight off of the album, so download 'em, listen, and as always, if you like what you hear feel free to grab a copy of the CD. Support the artists and what not. I know you can download Get Going from myspace, as well as their Blown to Bits EP, or if you're looking for something a little more physical they've also got a link set up so that you can order one. They're by the T-Shirts.

Also, I kind of feel like I should ramble about "Big T" the way I did about "Hot Damn!", but, you know what? I just can't bring myself to do it, as the song pretty well speaks for it's self, you know? As Aversion put it, they're"the sort of act that everyone in the world should like, but only the really, really cool will." Well put, no?

Anyways, enjoy. And if you're in the Wisconsin/Michigan/Illinois area anytime soon I'd look into dropping by one of their shows, they just seem like they'd be awesome live. Peace.

The Black and White Years

In one word: Groovilicious.

I don't think that's a real word, but, you know what? I also don't think I care. It's the only word I could come up with that even came close to accurately describing this band of stellar-awesome-amazingness. (Yeah, I know, 'amazingness' isn't a word either--Firefox already got on to me about it.)

How could I have missed posting about this band? I mean, jesus christ, my infatuation with them rivals my infatuation with Belaire, and that's saying something. Oh, I have no idea why I haven't talked about them yet.

Let's see, so, basically The Black and White Years are a three piece electronica-groove-frikkin' sweet troupe spawning from none other than, you guessed it, Austin Tx. Often described as being similar to the Talking heads--if not in musical style then in overall panache, I suppose--this trio pretty much owns.
[mp3] The Black and White Years- Everyone
[mp3] The Black and White Years- The Power to Change

If you want the album (and I have no idea why you wouldn't), feel free to swing by their store and grab a copy--Or, better yet, if you live in Austin hop on down to their show on April 25, at the Mohawk, where they'll be playing with Belaire and Yellow Fever (seriously, talk about one hell of a line up.) Then, at the show, not only'll you be seein' 'em live with two of the greatest bands ever, you'll also be able to pick up the album, and heck, even a shirt or two!

I know, I know. It's pretty exciting stuff.

Rachael Cantu, anyone?

I don't know. This months been really hectic. I've been on an acoustic kick lately though, which is probably where today's artist comes from. On with the post!

Have you ever just been meandering around the interweb, half-heartedly jumping from site to site as a means to put off some chore or other, when you happen upon something really spectacular? Well, that happened to me today when I came, quite accidently, across Rachel Cantu. My goodness, let me just say right now, she really is just something else. Her songs, described as both "brilliant" and "hot to death", are mellow and catchy, melding together rough acoustic bits with more clean electronica for a sound ultimately reminiscent of Tegan and Sara or Kaki King, yet at the same time still very much her own. Run All Night, her album, was one of those CD's I felt compelled to buy almost immediately after hearing a couple songs. They're just so...addicting?


Forgive me for the short post, I'm kind of running on empty here (something like 12 hours of sleep in the last 4 days?)--that being said, I'll go ahead and leave you with your song links so you can check her out (you're gonna love this, I promise), and scamper off to bed. w00t!

[mp3] Rachel Cantu- Saturday

I almost didn't feel like posting that, as she already has so many amazing songs on her myspace for you to stream and what not (download, maybe? I don't remember), but I felt kind of bad about not having any songs last time, so here you are. Enjoy, loves, and remember to check out her official page for more info (and of course, if you dig the music don't hesitate to buy the CD!)

edit: never mind, you can't visit the official page as it's currently under construction. That's cool though, I figure her myspace more than suffices.

Yelle-- faisant français cool nouveau

For those of you who don't speak french, that's, "Yelle-- making french cool again." I know I've been slacking lately, and for that I'm sorry. As a matter of fact, to make it up to you, I've work extra hard on this post. Honest!

Actually, I haven't worked much harder on this post than I usually would. It is about Yelle though (whose name, for those of you who might be wondering, is the resulting portmanteau of "yeah" and "elle"--or so says Wikipedia), so bonus points for that? For those of you who have no clue as to what I'm going on about, Yelle is a french songstress hailing from Brittany. Recently she's been getting some air time on MTV, which is a good thing I guess, because any publicity is good publicity, right? I feel bad for her though because she's been getting a lot of flack for speaking french. Her native tongue. Go figure.

Dumb Americans aside, I most definitely recommend checking out her 2007 release, Pop-Up! The whole album is just so grand. "Je Veux Tu Voir", in particular, is so intensly up-beat it's hard not to dance, while "Les Femmes" has this dark, sultry feel about it, and still songs like "Ce Jeu" are simply light hearted and fun.

[mp3] Yelle- "Je Veux Te Voir"
[mp3] Yelle- "A Cause Des Garçons"


Like I said, her album dropped last year (although you can still grab a copy at Amazon), so there's not much to say in that respect, and I regret to say but unless you live in France you're likely going to have to miss out on seeing her live any time soon, as she's playing very few US cities this time around.

Also, check out her myspace for a fun remix of "Tristesse/Joie". Seriously, I have no words to describe it. Just go.



Au revoir, mon chouchou!

Save the Nuggets for Never?

That'd be the name of Mississippi garage band Stale Fashion's debut album, and, might I say, it's a mighty good one. Album, that is--not name...although I suppose it is a rather good name as well? But I digress. On the off chance you're unfamiliar with the band let me give you the run down of words that might be associated with them; Quite, mellow, raw, melodic, soothing, dulcet, harmonic. Yeah. That's a pretty good list I should think.

As far as bands that they sound like, they claim to be influenced by the likes of Neutral Milk Hotel, The Velvet Underground, Led Zeppelin, and Scrabble (yes, as in the board game)--claims which i quite frankly would be hard pressed to argue with (with a possible exception for Scrabble.)
There won't be any songs today. Rather, I'd like to urge you to A) Grab their debut album, Save the Nuggets for Never (seriously, it's $5 on their myspace page. Go get it, go get it, go get it!) or B) Hop on out to catch one of their live shows, as their on tour right now. Ideally you would go to the show though, dance around, have a blast, and grab a CD on your way out after having fallen in love with them. M'hmm.

That's it for today, and for all you Austin kids, they're playing the Mohawk April 6th. Let's see you there, eh?

Giant Drag

Oh, Giant Drag, Giant Drag, Giant Drag. If names are a reflection of their owners, than what a silly one this is, because when you get down to it, they're really anything but. While it's true Giant Drag has been described as a sort of "new grunge", this band is by no means boring and angsty. No, rather, they're one of the coolest bands, with one of the most laid back sounds, I've ever come across, preferring dulcet rhythm lines to upbeat pop sounds. Plus, it's fronted by none other than GTFU Radio's Annie Hardy. Seriously, I mean, how much cooler can you get?

(--Alright, I really just need to take a minute from writing about Giant Drag and regain my composure because the HD DVD promotion group has officially resigned. Like, today. No more HD DVD. Anymore. As of today. Holy crap. Blu-ray has won the war.)

M'kay, please excuse that nerd-tastic outburst. Where were we? Oh yeah, I think I was getting to the part where I tell you about their latest album, or their next tour, or whatever.

Well, that's the thing. They're last album was Hearts and Unicorns, which can hardly be called recent, and they're not currently on tour, so, what exactly am I going to do now? Tell you about the CD thats currently in the works, of course! You see, at the moment Giant Drags attempting to make another album happen, however...well...they're kind of in dire need of financing, you know?

I'm sure you're wondering how you can help, right? Of course! Actually, it's quite simple, just drop by their website and click the "Donate Button", plus every thing's done via PayPal so it's quick and painless! And, now that I'm done with that schpiel, we can proceed with todays (tonights? this mornings?) song postings. I know, your excited.

[mp3] Giant Drag- High Friends in Places
[mp3] Giant Drag- Oh Father

The first one comes to us off of Hearts and Unicorns, whereas the second one, a Madonna cover, is brought to us by the lovely folks over at Manimal Vinyl Records, and is one of many on their compilation charity album Through the Wilderness, with 25% of all net profits going towards Raising Malawi. Check out their site (Raising Malawi's, that is) for more information, visit the official myspace page of the album, or (allegedly) order a copy of the CD via RedEye (though I say 'allegedly' because I've yet to have any luck with that.)

And, of course to hear more songs you can always hop on over to Giant Drag's Myspace page.

Killola + New Album = HOMG!

Oh my god. Just...Oh my god. I'm so in love with this band. Not only does Killola's music completely rock (as the song goes, they "annihilate, obliterate, devastate"), but on top of that they're probably the sweetest, most adorable band of all time when it comes to the fans. They love their fans, and it most definitely shows. And what do they have to show for it? Their tight-knit community of unbelievably loyal fans, that's what.

I was introduced to them via their myspace about the time they were releasing their first album, Louder, LOUDER!, and resolved to purchase it almost immediately--which, if you know me, is a pretty big deal. I very rarely bother buying CDs--why would I when I could just download it from iTunes? So anyways, I ended up getting it in the mail shortly there after, and , I kid you not, listened to it non-stop for at least 3 weeks. It was just that good.

Well, they've done it again, releasing their second studio album (I Am The Messer) this past February. Buy it. Just trust me on this.

[mp3] Killola- Barrel of Donkeys
[mp3] Killola- Santa Gimmie Something I Can Use

The first song comes to us straight off of Louder, LOUDER! (which you can snag right now at CDBaby, hint hint!), while the second one is a bonus single the did for Christmas (who'd have thunk it?)

Oh, and on the off chance that that first song doesn't work, feel free to check out their myspace/blog/website as they tend to have links to all sorts of free goodies just layin' around. Just saying.

Also: I totally have a crush on Johnny. I mean, seriously, what with his purdy mane and silly sideburns, could this boy get much cuter? Plus, check out his bass guitar. Now that's hot.

I Heart Ver Sacrum

37 hours and counting.

That's how long I've been awake now, and let me tell you, it effing sucks. Ugh, I can't wait to get this posted and then finally hit the hay!

So, as you may or may not have guess from the title today it's all about Ver Sacrum. Last night I gave the archives a once over and realized that I hadn't so much as mentioned them in passing, none the less given them the full post they've rightfully earned. That being the case I immediately resolved to set things straight by the next post, and this, my friends, is that post.

Hailing from up north, Canada's Ver Sacrum offers up for us experimental instrumentals, which play off nicely against the raw lyrics of their songs, and recorded in expert lo-fi fashion. Exquisit is the only word I can think of that even comes close to describing it. And on top of that, the music it's self is just happy. It's happy, and it makes you happy. I mean, look at them up there? When the musicians are that pleased with what's up, how can it not trickle down to the listener? Personally, "Flying South" has probably ended up being my favorite of their songs, closely followed by both "Cod'ine", and their cover of "Please Please Me", by...Oh dear, I always forget who sung originally penned that song. The Beat Alls? The Spiders? The Snails? Something like that.

Anyways, no mp3's today. No need. Hop on over to myspace.com/helloversacrum (their official page), check them out, download to your heart's content. They're cool with it, really.

Night ya'll. Hope everyone had a great easter, eh?

Intense

I think that's the theme for today. I mean, I spent another day cooped up with about 5000 people who are, in one way or another, related to me. Needless to say, that was intense. That photo up there? That's pretty intense. And the band of the day? Super intense. Like, you have no idea.

But just what band is this, you might be wondering? Well, they generally go by the name Followed By Ghosts, and currently reside in none other than Waverly, Iowa--which, indecently, is home to the Waverly Light and Power Co., a front runner in the development of soy-based transformer oil (or so says wikipedia)--but that's another article, likely, for another blog. Perhaps TreeHugger? I digress, though. Then again, as long as were off topic, I'd like to take this opportunity to rant a bit about the aforementioned photo--or, more precisely, who took it. The picture was found rummaging through dA today (and is also the means by which I discovered FBG), and was taken by a user ~mattpulpfree, who, let me just say right now, is absolutely incredible. Seriously, go check out his gallery. It's awesome.

Okay, but enough with the tangents already. Back to the music, baby. Whew, so where were we? Oh yeah, Followed By Ghosts. Well, I actually don't know a whole lot about them (I know, tsk tsk), however when filling out the "sounds like" category on their myspace, the boys responded with: "Steam gently releasing from a mountain, and then WHAM, an eruption of melodic guitars and molten hot awesome."

I concur, fellas, I concur.

[mp3] Followed By Ghosts- The Entire City Was Silent
[mp3] Followed By Ghosts- Riga

All Mp3's should work, as I tested the links in Windows Media Player as well as Winamp (file-->open URL), so, fingers crossed everybody. Also, they've got a CD out, "The Entire City Was Silent", which you can snag at CDBaby.com (which, of course, I highly recommend doing.)

Oh yeah, and did I mention they were strictly intrumental? I know. Intense.

Early Post, Say What??

©2006-2008 *kris-wilson

Right, so then, being that it's Easter weekend (ugh, gag me with a spoon) and the relatives have all crawled out of the wood works in some sort of lame attempt at family bonding (Spiritual growth? A grand conspiracy to annoy me? I really have no idea), it's been decided that every one will be eating over at Stacey and Antony's tonight. Gross.

That being said, however, I am part of the "everyone", and will therefore likely be stuck at their place till the wee hours of the morning.

Now that that's all out of the way though, on to the music! Actually, let's postpone this music business just a little longer. Anyone here familiar with Jenny Lewis? She sings lead for Rilo Kiley? Yeah, well, I kind of have a crush on her. Oh dear, what an impressive gal, with a voice to boot! As it is, my alarm clock is set to play "Money Maker" (from their latest CD, Under the Blacklight. Buy it! Buy it! Buy it!), and let me tell you, there is almost no better way to wake up. I remember seeing her in a few movies too, though, before she was an indie rock icon? Hmm, I think Foxfire was the one. Yeah, I think she played Rita? God that was a good movie. If anyone has a couple hours free I highly suggest checking that one out. Remember, it's Foxfire (not to be confused with what is probably the greatest web browser of all time, FireFox.)

Mp3's for the day, I've decided, will be Rilo Kiley. How could I not, after that rant about Ms. Lewis? Exactly.

[mp3] Rilo Kiley- Money Maker
[mp3] Rilo Kiley- Breakin' Up
[mp3] Rilo Kiley- Smoke Detector

Yeah, that's right. 3 songs today. All of which are from Under the Blacklight (seriously guys, they're on tour supporting said album right now, check out either their myspace or official site for details!) In all honesty, I was tempted to post all 11 songs, but that would've been wrong, and so, alas, I've cut it down to three of my favorites. I hope you all enjoy it, and have a good easter weekend ya'll!

For the love of god, why?

©2008 =louise-knight

It's 4 AM and I'm awake. WTF? See that picture up there? That's pretty much how I feel. I ought to be sleeping right now, dagummit!

Oh well. It's not like there's a whole lot I can do about it, except revel in my own boredom, I guess. I smell a meme coming on! This is called Four More, feel free to complete it yourself if you're ever in a similar situation. Or if you're just in the mood for a meme. Either way, you know?

*Side note: What the hell kind of word is "meme"? Am I the only one that sees what an awkward word this is? It's just so...blehh. I don't know. I'm done, on with the meme/survey/whatever.


(Gnar. I've done away with the Meme. It annoyed me.)

Screw M/W/F...

...I'll post whenever I feel like it, this isn't a web comic. Save for maybe the weekends, I probably won't post then (that's when I sleep, don't cha know!) I don't know what I was thinking, schedules are silly.

In other news, I was stumbling along today when I ran across this one site, Musicovery. Anyone heard of it? Well, in case you haven't, it's this website essentially meant as a means to help you discover some new tunes (Get it, Musicovery? Like "music" and "discovery"? haha.) Now, based on what I just said it kind of sounds like Last.FM or something, right? So you might be asking why bother with it. Well, friends, it's a little more than that. While Last.FM leads you to new music based on what your listening to already, Musicovery finds you new music based on mood, picking an initial song to match a given mood, and then creating an appropriate web of related songs. Neat, huh? As a matter of fact, since selecting "Energetic/Positive" I've been led from Abba's "Mama Mia", to Daft Punk's "One More Time", Cool and the Gang's "Celebration", and even right now All Saint's (absolutely incredible) "Lady Marmalade" cover. It's lots of fun, and if you're in the mood to listen to something a little different than what you're used to (in my case, pretentious indie sh!t), then I suggest dropping by and checking it out.

In other news, I'm inlove with Belaire. That's them up there at the top. Aren't they cute? I doubt most of you would know just how much I love this band, and who could blame you? It's only the third post! Ask anyone who actually knows me though and you'll quickly find out, I truly am head-over-heels for this bunch of Austinites. For a while there I was pretty sad, and at times even quite upset with them, due to their almost year-long hiatus (brought on by a lack of members.) Well, they finally got around to replacing said members, and I'm excited to announce will be going on tour starting in late April. First show's April 25 @ The Mohawk in Austin, for anyone who might wanna come out and see 'em live. And of course, for those of you who are unfamiliar with their work, it'll be their mp3's that get posted today. Trust me, they're friggin' amazing.

[mp3] Belaire- Step Step Step
[mp3] Belaire- Back Into The Wall

I was so much more excited about that second link than you can imagine. I think it has something to do with my listening to their actual CD so much, I'd kind of forgotten about their pre-studio album releases. And then finding this oldie-but-goodie? Oh my. You have no idea.

Talk about a vacation...

I seem to have done one post and jumped ship. Shame really, this wasn't a half bad blog. As a matter o' fact I think I'll go ahead and pick it up again, now that schools a little more under control and SXSW is done with. Come to think of it, I probably should've posted something in regards to that. Oh well.

Truth be told, the reason for my hiatus was that I switched over to LiveJournal, and then WordPress. Big mistake, if you ask me, as both sites were pretty lacking. Anyways, I'm back now, and you can look forward to fairly consistent posts from here on out--perhaps on a M/W/F basis? I don't know. Seeing that I've just missed Wednesday, however, I suppose the least I can do is post a few MP3's for your enjoyment.

*Update: Apparently the links last night didn't work. Well, that just doesn't fly, so I fixed it and they should be ready to go now. Have fun listening to the music. Oh yeah, and I pretty much gave up on finding a Boyskout link that worked. I'm lazy, go figure. But now you get two songs by The Blow, how exciting, huh?

[mp3] The Blow- True Affection
[mp3] The Blow- Hey Boy

Neither of today's songs are particularly "new", I know, but "You Act Strange" always gets me in a dancing mood, and I've been on a Blow kick lately (since having seen her live at South By), so there you go. Hope everyone had a great St. Paddy's day!