Noyes - Noyes (2003)

While I'm in my current obsessive phase, I've been listening to an obscene amount of Victor Villareal related material. Now its time to bestow upon all of you some of his rarer stuff. Noyes (I have no idea how that's supposed to be pronounced) is his jazzier, mellower, mostly instrumental project with just him and a drummer. The mathy melodies he weaves in this are some of his finest and most creative and definitely should not be missed just because of how rare it is. At least I feel like its kinda rare...maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel special because it's my birthday.
Happy birthday to me!
Enjoy.

1. Puppet of Masters
2. News Scatters
3. This is the Bad 1
4. So Long, Long Song Titles

Noyes

Pygmy Lush - Mount Hope (2008)

Sometimes when you take two nearly opposite things and put them together, you get some pretty staggering results. This is the second album from the recovering remnants of the influential hardcore band pg.99. Yes, that's right...ex-members of a hardcore band making folk records. The first Pygmy Lush album had a bit of dissociative identity disorder, switching back and forth between dense, post-hardcore songs and sparse, chilling folk songs. The shocking dichotomy made for a great album but I quite like the solid, more stable folk record that is Mount Hope. The songs are a lot brighter and folky sounding which is apparent in the first song, Asphalt (my favorite) and even a few rockabilly-esque sounds are mixed in to some songs. There are still the more melancholic and droney feelings scattered about the album which give it a unique atmosphere. I feel like that feeling is so prominent because of their musical background and what makes it so wonderful is how it shines through in a completely natural way. Folk-core just might be my new favorite genre.

1. Asphalt
2. No Feeling
3. Dead Don't Pass
4. God Condition
5. Red Room Blues
6. Mount Hope
7. Frozen Man
8. Hard To Swallow
9. Concrete Mountain
10. Butch's Dream
11. Dreams Are Class
12. Tumor

Mount Hope

Ghosts and Vodka - Addicts and Drunks (2003)

I've been listening to sooooo much Owls lately and I've only gotten more and more obsessed with the display of guitar mastery by my hero, Victor Villareal. Ghosts and Vodka is post Cap'n Jazz but pre-Owls so his style seems like its still evolving but shows so much promise and if you listen closely you can hear it swelling in awesomeness towards the perfection displayed on the Owls record. This is an anthology of the two albums G&V put out during their short lifespan and is more than worthy of finding its way into your ears.

01 Andrea Loves Horses
02 It's All About Right Then
03 Good Luck With Your Multiple Personalities
04 Laser Guided by God
05 Futuristic Genitalia
06 Sex is Popular
07 Hot Dot Above, Tan Man Below
08 Is That a Person?
09 Four Red Brains
10 Conversational All-Stars
11 Mechanical Bull Rider
12 Nicholas Prefers Dinosaurs
13 Cowboys and Sailors
14 Doo Dee Doo Dee Do
15 Stoli on the Rocks
16 Bizarre Funeral

Addicts and Drunks

Caspian - You Are the Conductor (2005)

If you like post rock but feel like Explosions in the Sky is watered-down or 'boring', then Caspian is the band for you! Taking all the epic and subtle qualities of bands like Mono and condensing them into extremely intense doses of post-rock goodness, blaring segues and 32nd notes aplenty. Every song beautifully and gracefully flows into the next with dark ambiance and exquisite textures making this EP quite an enjoyable and concise listen.

1. Quovis
2. Further Up
3. Further In
4. Loft
5. For Protection
6. Last Rites

You Are the Conductor

Tower of Power - East Bay Grease (1970)

This may very well be the first legit funk album posted on this blog. I don't believe there's any other album worthy of such a title. This huge, horn-based band out of Oakland really brought soul into my life. These dense, saturated songs are, in my opinion, the epitome of funky soul music. It's too bad they had to slowly turn into a disco band but no worries, this is from when the band was still pure and untainted by the nonsense that was the 70's. The last song is pretty lame but who cares, just listen to the first 5 over and over again and I promise you won't be disappointed. Just try not to get the first song stuck in your head or hum the horn parts in the shower, I dare you.

1. "Knock Yourself Out" - 7:08
2. "Social Lubrication" - 7:28
3. "The Price" - 6:09
4. "Back On The Streets Again" - 5:50
5. "The Skunk, The Goose, And The Fly" - 5:55
6. "Sparkling In The Sand" - 9:06

East Bay Grease

Q and Not U - Tag-Team Double Post!

How rude! Oh well, I wouldn't care if he spit on me because I would be all sweaty from dancing my ass off...assuming they were still around. What a shame. Regardless, this band is so upbeat and catchy with fast-paced dancy rhythms, sure to make you excited to be alive. While maintaining this odd 'dance-punk' exterior, they still managed to channel some kind of hardcore D.C. attitude which may be explained by Ian MacKaye's production of their albums. Get off your ass and rock out to these exquisite albums.

No Kill No Beep Beep (2000)

Different Damage (2002)

God damnit...I missed my own blog's birthday...

I would do that...
Anyway...
Thanks to everyone who's been keeping up with me, despite my erratic posting and sometimes questionable music taste.
Nearly 26,000 views and a year later, I couldn't be happier with how this is going.
Here's to many more years of blogging and amazing music discovery.
Wooooooo

Death Cab For Cutie - Live Room 071198 (1998)

Although Death Cab isn't a band I really listen to at all...this live album really captured my heart way before I had ever heard of them from TV or magazines and whatnot. My friend gave it to me a long while ago and I've never heard album versions of any of these songs but I don't really care because this is such a great show. There are some interviews in between a few songs and I've never paid much attention to them but I left them in there for good measure. Even if you're reading this thinking, "ehhhh...Death Cab is lame.", definitely give this album a go.

• 01. your bruise
• 02. interviewstuff
• 03. fake frowns
• 04. champagne from a paper cup
• 05. amputations
• 06. sleep spent
• 07. interviewstuff
• 08. president of what?
• 09. state st. residential
• 10. song for kelly huckaby
• 11. bent to squares
• 12. 405
• 13. pictures in an exhibition

Live Room 071198