The World is a Beautiful Place and I am no longer Afraid to Die played before us and I was really excited to see them live because I’ve been listening to their Formlessness EP nonstop.  Here’s a couple videos from the show.

The World is a Beautiful Place and I am no Longer Afraid to Die – Gordon Paul

Click here to view the embedded video.

The World is a Beautiful Place and I am no Longer Afraid to Die – Walnut Street is Dead

Click here to view the embedded video.

I especially like these videos where they give advice to bands:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Part 2, Part 3.

They also make some really good music.

The dancier tracks on this album took a while to grow on me but now I can’t stop listening.  Total Life Forever is an extension of the dance-punk sound found on Foals debut album Antidotes.  It’s a combination of indie rock, funk and post-rock.  A very atmospheric record – much more expansive and emotionally involving than their last record.  Get into it.

At the end of the chorus of ‘Black Gold’, Philippakis sings “The future is not what it used to be”. One would not at all be surprised if this was a motto of sorts for Foals as they were putting together ‘Total Life Forever’, since the greater ambition and maturity evident here could not have been foreseen by anyone. It may not be an especially immediate album, and is definitely not one which can be listened to as background music for fifty minutes, but its slow-burning qualities turn what initially may seem a little messy, into a satisfyingly cohesive release. “Now look back, see how far you’ve come” cites ‘This Orient’, and Foals should heed their own words and be extremely proud of ‘Total Life Forever’.

(via sputnik)

(edit: it looks like their label is forcing a bunch of blogs to remove this album from download.  So follow this google link and do some searching… you’ll come across it)

Before the video begins it prompts you to enter the address of the home you grew up in and then it generates a unique video for you to enjoy.  Awesome idea, well executed.

Hopefully tomorrow we have time to go visit the coffee shop we hung out at last time and see the girl who wanted to use her new imac to “yoohoo” us.  We can also stop by the Tuffy’s auto center that charged us $2,000 bucks to fix our van and burn it to the ground.

This is all I’ve been listening to:

For years, loving the National’s music has often meant reveling in the twinge of pain that comes when someone else manages to perfectly pin down and dissect a little piece of your psyche, which is why fans can get so inarticulate when trying to talk about what’s great about the band. As Felix Mendelssohn said, “The thoughts that are expressed to me by music that I love are not too indefinite to be put into words, but on the contrary, too definite.” High Violet‘s greatness, above beyond the fact that it’s a gorgeously arranged and performed set of songs of surprising tensile strength and grace, is that it rests its finger on some uncomfortably relevant truths about life after you no longer have the mental, physical, social or emotional wherewithal to spend every night at the bar and leaving the Silver City for somewhere quieter starts seeming like a good move. Anyone who loves this record probably has a very exact idea of how it touches on their own life, but most of us probably aren’t going to want to share.

via Pop Matters

Download:  The National – High Violet

Tigers Jaw’s sound is reminiscent of bands like The Get Up Kids or early Taking Back Sunday – not so much musically as in the overall “feeling” of the album, which I know is a very generalized statement but just trust me – after you listen, you’ll know.

I catch myself listening to The Sun way too often and repeating “What about your friends? What about your friends?  Do they make you happy?”

p.s.  Their singer’s voice is the definition of melancholy.

Download: Tigers Jaw – Tigers Jaw

Read: A Full Review

Enjoy, and thank you Alex!

Hey Dude,

I understand, 2009 was a little disappointing as far as groundbreaking or “new classic” albums coming out. I did have like a top 10-15 list of albums i enjoyed this past year, but i figured i’d whittle it down to albums that really left an impact, or at least left some sign of hope to me for the future of music. So here it is my Top 5!

*click the record name to download*

Telekinesis – S/T,  Merge Records   (check out “Coast of Carolina”)

Screaming Females – Power Move,  Don Giovanni Records

Sholi – S/T,  Quarterstick Records

Horse Feathers – House With No Home,  Kill Rock Stars Records  (“Curs in the Weeds” is a life changing song!)

David Bazan – Curse Your Branches,  Barsuk Records

Native is streaming their new album Wrestling Moves HERE.

I’m on my first listen through right now.  So far so good.

I distinctly remember watching them perform the album’s opening track (Backseat Crew) in College park a few months ago because the intro to that song builds and builds – and when the build up finally breaks they turned on a set of flood lights and the room just lit up with people dancing.  I captured that on video HERE.  I also remember their guitarist knocking over some dude for being a jerk and push moshing innocent bystanders.

“She’s a song unsung
She’s the wild orchid in your ugly swamp
She’s a song unsung”

These lyrics have been stuck in my head all week long.  It probably has something to do with how catchy their vocal patterns are.  No doubt you’ve heard about this album and probably already have it – but for those of you who haven’t heard it yet definitely check it out.  Their last show is coming up in Boston soon if I’m not mistaken.

Yep, it is.  October 17th in MA.

Myspace

Download Songs to Scream at the Sun HERE.

+ Why? – Eskimo Snow

“And I’ve seen dirt dry fires arise by pissing boy fountain statues
And they say electricity, can travel up your piss stream

Oh am I too concerned with the burn of scrutiny?
Cold chased on run and covered like a horse before the race
Will I gain weight in later life?
And when will someone swing a scythe against me?”

Zach exposed me to these guys while we were on tour.  Why? is a group of 3 guys from the Bay Area.  They’re signed to Anticon record which is primarily a hip hop label but the music they’ve created on Eskimo Snow lies somewhere between indie rock, dream pop, and hip hop.  It actually reminds me a lot of Say Anything because of the way the songs are composed – they flow very well from section to section and there is a lot of emphasis placed on vocal nuances.  It should also be noted that this is definitely an entire album experience rather than a selection of songs.

oh, and the lyrics are uncommonly bleak for such upbeat music.

Myspace

Download Eskimo Snow HERE.  (Via Radiobutt)

+ Modern Life is War – Witness

“as boys we were taught to dream in stacks and rows,

cause to dream any bigger is to dig yourself a hole.

one bigger than you’re already in from the moment your life begins.”

Speaking of bleak albums, Modern Life is War’s Witness has been stuck in my head for months.  The general theme of Witness deals with growing out of adolescence, becoming an adult and trying to make a life for yourself in a tough and unforgiving world.  Albums that connect with such a large group of people on a legitimate level don’t come out too often, so you know this is something special.

“So what the fuck are you going to do, kid?

Still ratting at the chains of the gates of the world…

But you can’t quite pretend.

Still tasting youth’s bitter exile here in your empty generation’s wasteland…

Where all the things that you’ve been clinging to are being ripped from your hands.

Restless soul this place will never be your home.

And if you wanna have it all…

You’ve gotta let it all go.

Before the adult world strings you up and skins your skinny bones clean to the bone.

‘Cause all this time you’ve been searchin’ for something real

And now the pressure is coming down on you.”

You’ve gotta turn this despair inside out and turn it into your way out.

I urge you to read along with the lyrics while you listen to this album.

Myspace

Download Witness HERE.  (Via Achalasia)

ps.  These videos aren’t dark the entire way through.  They had light’s set up that they footswitched on and off.  Their shadows on the ceiling look really sick.

Native – New Song?

Native – Ride the Tide