Kayo Dot - Choirs of the Eye (2003)

When I heard that the guy who organized this band, Toby Driver, was formerly in a band where they used astral projection and lucid dreams to create there music, I can't say that i was anything less than ridiculously intrigued. In my opinion, that way of discovering music in other dimensions or whatever it was that they did, didn't work out too well in suiting my music taste but it did lead me to Kayo Dot. These beautiful compositions (created on the physical plane of existence this time) really open my mind. Beautiful lyrics that are very poem-like compliment the soothing violin and acoustic guitar driven parts and are beautifully and masterfully contrasted by several epic climaxes during each song which have a very metal and hard rock influenced sound. There is also a ton more instrumentation including trumpet, cello, clarinet and even a french horn somewhere, apparently. But whats really important is how amazingly dark and atmospheric this record is as a whole, with very special and memorable moments such as:
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYFAREEEERRRRRRRRRRRRR"dundundundunnn

Yeah, I know that seems absurd and nonsensical now but you'll know exactly what I mean soon enough.

1. "Marathon" – 10:14
2. "A Pitcher Of Summer" – 5:46
3. "The Manifold Curiosity" – 14:28
4. "Wayfarer" – 10:45
5. "The Antique" – 14:41

Choirs of the Eye

Band of Horses - Everything All the Time (2006)

I don't know exactly how to classify Band of Horses in even the simplest of terms so let's try to figure it out together. They have obvious rock influences but incorporate very subtle southern rock elements like lap guitar and certain vocal styles. But let's not get carried away before i clarify that I HATE a vast majority of southern rock and country music and this is none of those things, it just borrows little pieces from them. Now that that's out of the way, I'll mention how they bring a lot of folky feel to their playing and even a little bit of "indie" rock (what the hell does that even mean really?). Take all of what I just portrayed and drench it in reverb and you have Band of Horses. This was their first effort and really blows me away. The first song on the record, appropriately titled "The First Song", starts abruptly with crashes and loud, reverberous guitar strums in unison and floats off from there, creating a rich canvas for the rest of the song to progress on. Coincidentaly, when I first stumbled across this band was when they were opening for Modest Mouse in an outdoor venue in Look Park in Northampton, MA and they started with that song as i was walking down to the stage. It was such a beautiful chord that I immediately fell in love with the music and I hope you do too.

1. "The First Song" – 3:43
2. "Wicked Gil" – 2:57
3. "Our Swords" – 2:26
4. "The Funeral" – 5:22
5. "Part One" – 2:36
6. "The Great Salt Lake" – 4:45
7. "Weed Party" – 3:09
8. "I Go to the Barn Because I Like The" – 3:06
9. "Monsters" – 5:21
10. "St. Augustine" – 2:41

Everything All the Time

Ugly Casanova - Sharpen Your Teeth (2002)

I love Isaac Brock. Modest Mouse is one of my favorite bands ever but their last two albums have really shown a drastic shift in their style that ive learned to cherish so much over the years. After the almost psychedelic folk/indie rock hybrid that was The Moon and Antarctica, I thought they had finally found their calling. Sadly, I was wrong and then Good News For People Who Love Bad News came out. Don't get me wrong, I really like that album but it shifted their style to a more produced and cleaner almost "pop" sound which i can't say i'm the biggest fan of, to be honest. Then I felt violated as a hardcore fan when i heard their newest album which is full of lazy disco beat drumming and is so overproduced sounding it nearly brings me to tears to think that my favorite band is lost forever. Enough of my whining though. I still have faith because of certain things Isaac does to shine through all the nonsense. This album is a perfect example. It takes a lot of folk elements like the in song "Bukowski" and adds a twist to them along with guest vocalists and all the trippy fixings and effects and Brock's trademark depressing and thought provoking lyrics. Definitely worth checking out!

1. Barnacles
   
2. Spilled Milk Factory
   
3. Parasites
   
4. Hotcha girls
   
5. (no song)
   
6. Diamonds on the Face of Evil
   
7. Cat Faces
   
8. Ice on the Sheets
   
9. Beesting
   
10. Pacifico
    
11. Smoke Like Ribbons
    
12. Things I Don't Remember
    
13. So Long to the Holidays

Sharpen Your Teeth

Juicy Rumor

Hey,
i don't know how many of you enjoy/listen to the band ZOX but i found out that they broke up today. I was at the old Stop and Shop buying some Cinnamon Toast Crunch (yum) and as fate would have it, i was wearing my ZOX shirt and i hear this guy say, "dude, ZOX broke up." Now, i'm a fan of their first 2 albums but the third one was awful and i was in a bad mood today so i barely even look up and just say, "meh, their last album sucked anyway." Then i realised i wanted to know more. So i look up and introduce myself and we talk briefly and he tells me that the reason he knows this was because his bands drummer knows someone in the band or something. This is basically just heresay but the guy is the bassist in a legit band called Jacobi Wichita (check them out, they're sortof a local band) and he also has dope dreadlocks so he has my trust. My friend also said he could find no official news of this so i figured i'd be ahead of the curve and post this here and feel really special. Hopefully more juicy rumors in the future?
YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST.

10,000...wha?

Wow, that's some really intense stuff. Pretty much exactly 2 months has passed since my 5,000 views WOOOO post so that's telling me that more people are coming here. That is definitely deserving of another hearty WOOOOO and many thanks to all of you that come here to check out some amazing music. I will probably post more as the school year starts because I'll be sitting in the library, bored out of my mind on the never ending quest for more mind-blowing music. So all in all, I hope I can make it to 20,000 soon.
I also had the thought that any of you people could contact me with any music that you make and if I deem it worthy, I would definitely post it up here for some exposure, I guess.

Octopus Owl - Viva Mexico (2008)

This post is very special because it is the simultaneous world-wide release of Octopus Owl's debut album, Viva Mexico. The multi-instrumentalist, Lara, is a very good friend of mine and you can find her blog somewhere on the right where she also posts tons of good music. When she isn't doing that, she is recording these delightful songs. The microphone used for this record isn't top studio quality but the humming and buzzing of extraneous noise really adds a unique element of charm to the tunes. Full of self-harmonizing, cheerful acoustic progressions, spanish lyrics and even an occasional harmonica, this album is sure to please. Spread the word!

1. Bread and Butter
2. My Embroidered Pillow
3. Four Apples
4. John Kenyatta
5. Jesus Loves Me
6. Calabo' y Bambo'
7. Coffee Mugs

Viva Mexico

Naan - Dokusa (2007)

Naan is a very eclectic duo from Japan using mostly drums and guitar to create the landscapes of their songs but there is always something more whether it's something general like a backing bass line or something more exotic like some ethereal flute solos or blaring trumpet melodies. They do a great job of composing these songs and creating a very atmospheric blend of sounds. There are also the occasional falsetto vocals near the climax of the song but are used very sparingly and tastefully even though they remain a mostly instrumental band. I saw that the band frequently updates their blog with live show recordings and other stuff but it's in japanese. If you can read japanese or just want to click around until an awesome song starts playing then be my guest. Check this out.
oh.
The discovery credit for this band goes to my friend Ricky. You will be recieving your Invalid Litter Dept. Funbucks in the mail shortly.

1. プネウマの舞踏
2. 梟、夕闇とともに飛ぶ
3. アスクレピオスに雄鶏を
4. テレマカシ
5. 狂宴
6. Last Exit
7. はじまるまえ
8. ムウサ


Dokusa