Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2001)

It’s a cold Chicago night. You’re freezing and struggling to keep warm even under your heavy coat. You light another cigarette as you enter your car to keep warm. Turning on the radio, you switch to some weirdly wonderful pop station, punctuated by static and the sonic bleed of competing signals. The music is distorted and jarring, but strangely beautiful.

Named in honor of the three-word codes used by short-wave radio operators, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot can often evoke such an image in a listener’s mind. Perhaps one of the most brilliantly-crafted pop albums of all time, the Chicago alt-country rockers’ fourth album takes listeners on an existentialist trip, creating a loose sonic meditation on distance and love, using random radio signals as a metaphor.

These songs are not ordinary pop songs by any means. Utilizing blips, radio pops and starts, and all forms of odd sounds and fillers pushed through filters, the band creates a sonic palette that ends up sounding like nothing else before it. Songs like “Ashes of American Flags” and “Poor Places” end in a chaotic catharsis of distortion. “I’m The Man That Loves You”, probably one of the catchiest songs I’ve ever heard, is utterly destroyed by short bursts of ear-splitting, finger-bleeding guitar soloing. The closing track, “Reservations” could not have ended the album more gorgeously and elegantly, leaving the listener lost in a world of ambient sounds.

As lyrically sophisticated and provocative as it is noisy and serene, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is often a dark and melancholy affair. The piano-led “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” is a portrayal of drunken lovesickness, delicately laced with a cacophony of noise, whistles and percussive clutter. The acoustic “Radio Cure” is glum, moody, intriguing and emotional. “Ashes of American Flags” is a cold, chilling poem that is not so much cynical as it is a longing for the days of honest patriotism.

That’s not to say there’s not enough radio-friendly pop to go around, with the anthemic country psychedelia of “War on War” or the nostalgic yearning for a time of youth, innocence, and Kiss covers in “Heavy Metal Drummer”. The song “Pot Kettle Black” in particular makes you wonder just what Reprise was thinking when they dropped Wilco from their label because the album, in their opinion, wouldn’t sell.

You continue to listen to radio station with all of its static and cluttered noise. It is a sound that is sad, celestial, and lovely. You suddenly begin to feel much warmer as a cathartic sense of comfort washes over you. The music makes you feel relieved; you are at peace.

FLAC
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Prizzy Prizzy Please- Prizzy Prizzy Please (2007)

I've tried writing this review several times but for some reason I've had a lot of trouble writing it so I'm going to keep this short. What I can say is that Prizzy Prizzy Please formed out of the same Indiana punk scene as Good Luck, the first band I posted. They take a far less serious approach lyrically than Good Luck but an even more intense approach musically. Whereas Good Luck sing about relationships and growing older, PPP sing about evil space monkeys attacking a captain named Bob. Good Luck like to cover Prince. PPP like to cover AC/DC. In fact, PPP are the only modern punk band I know of that openly embraces glam rock sounds, and they do it without a single guitarist in the band. Instead they opt for a heavily distorted keyboard. They also feature a saxophone in many of their songs, giving their glammed up punk a unique jazzy feel.

This review might be short but that's a fault of mine and not the music's. Prizzy Prizzy Please are one of my favorite bands going today. To sum them up, they're a fun, energetic band whose music sometimes makes you dance, sometimes makes you sing, but always makes you smile.

"Flea Bomb"

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Last.fm | MySpace

Musical Family Tree- You can stream their newest album, Chroma Cannon, here.

Let me know if this doesn't download right. I had some trouble uploading it.

Man or Astro-Man? - Destroy All Astromen! (1994)

Only Man or Astro-man? could incorporate NASA samples into their music and make them sound exciting, with their hypnotic surf rock and infatuation with cheesy, low-grade sci-fi flicks. Covers of Dick Dale, the Rezillos, and even the Mystery Science 3000 theme song can be found on this album. Not as experimental or "out there" in comparison to their material on Touch and Go Records, but it still holds true to the Man or Astro-man? ethics of being ahead of their time in the surf genre.

Not going to lie I got this album primarily because of the album cover and band name. But I'm really glad that I decided to pick this one up. Every track is bursting with hard nosed traditional surf complimented by their trademark space-age sounds. Masterful guitar work and those wacky voice clips from old B-movies.

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Sample

Track of the Day, September 5th 2010

This is my jam mo fuckas.

King Tuff-Sun Medallion

The Gay Blades- Ghosts (2007)

The Gay Blades are a Trash pop duo from New York City. Now despite the odd name, this is a very solid band. They kind of remind me of Head Automatica. Ghosts starts off with O-Shot, it's very stripped down and vocally stellar. The oddly named Bob Dylan's 115th Nightmare follows O-Shot and uses the Gay Blades trash pop style to it's advantage. The brilliant Hey She Say is next up and it's opening riff gets you ready for the song. It's somewhat catchy on the same point. The chorus is the strong point of this track. The Gay Blades are an very interesting band with a formula. Catchy trash pop and great vocal arrangements. One of my favorite songs has to be Dog Day Afternoon, it's a stripped down guitar strummer that is so beautiful executed it's meant to be heard.

Prologue to a Broken Heart almost sounds like a lounge song, it's just so cool and blues infused. NDHN is begging to be a sing along song with the oh oh oh's like most songs like that are. This band has no bass. Clark Westfield plays Guitar and Puppy Mills drums. It's an odd hipster like experiment but it works. We Wear Mittens is the duo's duet with repeated uses of "My heart is cold, my heart is warm. We follow this with You're a Garbage Barge, I'm a Dream Boat is almost a ballad without the star quality. Next we have the hilariously named Robots Can Fuck Your Shit up. There is no mention of Robots at all and the song is actually about a man trying to convince a woman she needs him. Why Can't I Grow a Beard? no not me, that's the song title. All of these songs names sound like they were drawn randomly from a hat. As for Why I Can't I Grow a Beard, it's another beauty. The second to last track Compliments Can Kill seems to be the gem of the album with infectious lyrics and a rocking beat. Whatever these guys are doing, it works. The closer of the album is the echoing Cellphone Song, a slow winding road of a song you need to hear from beginning to end. Overall, Ghosts was a nice album for me to try and listen to after reading about them way back when. If you like Indie rock or want something new. Give Ghosts a listen.

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Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring/All's Well That Ends EP (2010)

Los Campesinos! come across as the UK's answer to their Arts & Crafts counterpart Broken Social Scene, with their 8-member cluster of multi-layered, catchy [indie] pop music. Their third album entitled Romance Is Boring sticks to a central theme of, surprise surprise, romance, with the familiar contrast of sad lyrics on upbeat music. The way in which lead singer and principle songwriter Gareth Campesinos! (try and find me their real surnames) exploits the less appealing aspects of love and intimacy is very upfront.

"The title track depicts exactly what its title would suggest. "You're pouting in your sleep, I'm waking still yawning; We're proving to each other that romance is boring". The resentment and frustration that recurs throughout the record becomes more prominent in 'We've Got Your Back', "And so fucking on, and so fucking forth; We've got your back, whatever that's worth". As the record progresses it becomes more confronting and explicit in its content. 'Straight in at 101' describes love seen from a frightened first-person perspective, "You pull your dress over your face, and I stare down towards my chest; Chastise both our greasy hair, wonder whose gut is the softest", while 'A Heart Rash...' describes love seen from a jealous onlooker watching two friends fall for each other, "The promised they'd be best of friends from now until forever; But both were far too needy not to fall for the other" "Her body barely visible, as bleach white as the bedsheets; As stiff as starched, only perceptible as her middle was still branded" "Walk out onto your front lawn and face into the rain; Shout into the wind this'll never be the same." The album closer, 'Coda', is somewhat of a submission and a way of letting go. The last lines "the first time, the last time, all the times i would've liked there to have been; I can't believe i chose the mountains every time you chose the sea..." Tells of someone who regrets the decisions they made towards someone they care about. It's the stage of acceptance that comes after regret and bitterness, which seem to be some recurring themes themes the record. Romance Is Boring can be seen as a concept album, telling one story after another while leaving room for reflection at the end; "I fall to my knees, my piss-soaked jeans; The first time, the last time, all the times in-between". It's an album of uncertainty, regret and misunderstanding.

All's Well That Ends is a 4-track EP containing alternate versions of 'Romance Is Boring', 'A Heart Rush...', 'Straight In At 101' and 'In Medias Res'. These different versions are more mellow and fitting to the mood of the lyrics. If you liked Romance Is Boring then give this a listen because it contrasts nicely and has an epilogue effect to it.

Romance Is Boring
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All's Well That Ends
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Ida Maria- Fortress Round My Heart (2008)

Ida Maria Børli Sivertsen is a Norwegian rock musician who goes by her stage name Ida Maria. Now you probably wonder, why did I decide to seek out Ida Maria. Well it's kind of a funny story.

Ok for those of you who got the joke, give yourself a pat on the back. It all started when I saw the trailer for It's Kind Of A Funny Story. In the trailer was the song Oh My God by Ida Maria. I did not know this until I did some research. Hearing the full song, I was hooked. The lyrics were so simple but so infectious you can't help but sing along. "Oh my god, you think I'm in control? Oh my god, you think it's all for fun, Oh my god, you think I'm in control. Oh my god, you think it's all for fun". The album begins with Oh My God, this girl is definitely indie. This is an indie rock album. She has a wonderful voice in my opinion, probably due in part to her accent which with it , she still speaks perfectly good English. This is a wonderful album, it good clean fun along with some folk rock flair, some of these songs are stripped down acoustics. Overall a very good indie rock album from this Norwegian rocker. Now this is her only album, but I hope we get to hear from her again. Highlights of this album are Oh My God, Morning Light, and I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked. A great debut album for what should be a great career for Ida Maria.

Also look on youtube for a collaboration version of Oh My God she did with Iggy Pop.

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Ecstatic Sunshine - Freckle Wars (2006)

Ecstatic Sunshine is a creative outlet for guitarist Matthew Papich. What originally began as a duo (with Dustin Wong), it has now become a solo project for Papich. Freckle Wars was recorded when ES was still a duo, which makes this album different from the other albums in ES' discography.

From the beginning of this album until the end, the album make the listener really pay attention, as the music is a canvas for something so much better. While listening to the music, your mind is free to wander and wonder during each song. Some songs may take you back to your childhood, while others make one think about their future. I think this is why I beginning to love instrumental music more and more. You know what the song is about, and no one else. This album is also very happy album, which makes it all the more beautiful. The actual music on this album is some of the finest guitar work I've ever heard. The guitars also have a fantastic tone, which sets the mood for what you are listening to. I feel like taking this to some of my friends who think guitarists who shred are good, and say "This is what real guitar playing is like!" The guitars also have a fantastic tone, which sets the mood for what you are listening to.

Freckle Wars is an amazing album, the best in ES' catalog, and serves as a canvas for who ever is listening to it's mind to be free and have a fantastic time (being high while listening to this is great too!).

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Dirty Tactics- It Is What It Is (2010)

Philadelphia's Dirty Tactics are a band to look out for this year. They are gaining notoriety as one of the more exciting young bands on the punk market right now. Now, I wouldn't technically call them punk, I would slide them more to indie category. Dirty Tactics are known for their catchy melodies and sing along choruses. It Is What It Is starts off with an audio clip from an interview with The Clash about why punk rock was started. I found it kind of odd to start an album in this way but it works for this band. This band is all about melodic punk rock. My personal favorite being the track Baltimore. Baltimore starts off with a fantastic riff that just sucked me into the song. What follows is a tale of the band detailing a trip to Baltimore, at one point where they shout out "So what am I doing in South Philadelphia". The track truly was the highlight of the album for me. We also see some other genres mixed in this album.

In Side Of The Road, we are given an acoustic song with almost a Tenor vibe as one of the band's members belts out the lyrics with vibrato. The song then transits to a gritty punk feeling. My other personal favorite song on the album is Train Song, a soft relaxing melodic beauty of a song. "I missed the train again, I fell asleep at the station" It just wants you to just sit down and soak in the song and you do. We also see some electronic sounds used in Train Song. It is almost MGMT inspired. Arkansas is a mellow ditty that just flows nicely. The whole album is pretty smooth. Dirty Tactics are truly a unique band and should be heard. The album ends with the amazingly slow and smooth song Blind Man. "I'm painting you a picture with words, but you'll never see it". But Dirty Tactics have painted us a great album. If you like melodic punk music, take my recommendation and give Dirty Tactics a try.

Track Listing

--------------

1. "When You Wake Up"- 1:51

2. "Baltimore"-2:24

3. "The Process"-1:57

4. "Side of the Road"-3:09

5. "Train Song"-3:06

6. "Highway Robbery"-2:01

7. "Secret Lives"-3:33

8. "Arkansas"-2:06

9. "It Is What It Is"-3:26

10. "Blind Man"-2:42

Baltimore (free download)

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