Wavves - "King of the Beach"

Seeing as how I just got home from a King of the Beach themed party last night, it only feels right to post this rad little gem of an album.

I typically don't trust Rolling Stone to give me good music or accurate reviews, but when they mentioned a band with a guy named Nathan singing accompanied by some long haired looking surfer dude in a Misfits shirt singing and playing a jazzmaster, I had to check them out. I wasn't dissapointed.
Wavves is the brainchild of Nathan Williams. Though it started with solo recordings from a bedroom, this was the first album he recorded with a full backing band (Jay Reatard's backing band, actually) in a full on studio, and its right about when Wavves stopped being an interesting little noise experiment and became a fun, unique band. Alot of people like to hate on Wavves (or so I have heard,) saying they are boring and un original. I say nay, you haters. Wavves rules!
It's beach ready fuzz pop, with a dash of punk thrown here and there. There's a ton of Beach Boys-style "oooohs" and Ramones buzzsaw riffs, with even a hint of 90's alternative here and there. Think Nirvana, if Kurt Cobain surfed and smoked weed instead of shot heroin. Whats real interesting, however, is the occasional exploration into noise rock and shoegaze they make, sandwiching optimistic sounding pop punk riffs with really surreal effects and lyrics. The production strikes just the right balance of slick sheen and lo fi noise, making for an organic -yet raw- sound. Its funny because I tend to prefer a bands lo-fi origins compared to its production heavy evolution, but I think Wavves went from a middle of the road noise project to a legitiment musical force with better sound quality and a full band. Just dont expect any deeper lyrics then mediations on girls, having fun, smoking up, and (you guessed it) the beach.
Overall, the album is brilliant in a really bratty, fun way. It juxtaposes all that sunny American good time surfer soul shit with tight, mean sounding riffs and apathetic values that cuts open the throat lets all the sunshine out. 60's slackers had surfing and lazing, modern day slackers have... Wavves. Or whatever. Its a really good record, so enjoy!

1. King Of The Beach
2. Super Soaker
3. Idiot
4. When Will You Come
5. Post Acid
6. Take On The World
7. Baseball Cards
8. Convertible Balloon
9. Green Eyes
10. Mickey Mouse
11. Linus Spacehead
12. Baby Say Goodbye


DL link here!



PS, here's me being a King of the Beach.

Flying Saucer Attack - "Distance"

Yesterday, my buddy Richard (who will hopefully be doing some writing for this blog!) picked up a CD I hadn't heard for awhile, and showed it to me with excitement he couldn't contain. He was broke due to buying the CD and he didn't care. It was Flying Saucer Attack and suddenly, I remembered.
Hearing Flying Saucer Attack for the first time was like getting hit in the head with a pile of laser beam shooting bricks. My jaw hit the ground and stayed there for awhile, while my mind shut down and just went with it. It was the first time in awhile that I heard something new and didn't instantly analyze it; my mind got wiped and all that was left was giddy, senseless joy. For the first time in awhile, I couldn't find a single element I didn't enjoy, not a single flaw. I was a FSA junkie from that point on and I remain so to this day.
Its just.... noisey, spacey, shoegazy fucking brilliance. Its like white noise making love to mopey folk while trying to conjure magic. Agh. Words fail me. You really gotta listen to get it. So ambient and beautiful, it takes you to some seriously rad places. This band had serious DIY ethic too, recording almost entirely from home and collaborating with a large variety of others. They were AWESOME. If I could only bring 10 albums with me to a desert island somewhere, 4 of them would be Flying Saucer Attack CD's.
Enjoy!

1. Oceans
2. Standing Stone
3. Crystal Shade
4. Instrumental Wish
5. Distance
6. November Mist
7. Soaring High
8. Oceans 2


Download here!

Deerhunter - "Halcylon Digest"

Sadness has never sounded so sublime.
This release by the noise/indie/experimental collective is one of the best things 2010 has offered us so far, blending lush sounds with spazzy noise. It brings to mind, for me, the feeling of first hearing a sound or song you really love; that moment where you forget music politics. That moment where, if the song was a woman, you'd be moving your hand up the skirt. Its intimate and stripped down and evokes feeling of nostalgia, but not nostalgia of an era or a person; of a sound and a moment that so many music groups forget as they go along. It jumps from loud to quiet over and over, blending in dozens of different instruments without ever overwhelming you and with tons of stream-of-conscience lyrics to support it all. Its post punk dissonance, shoegaze daze. For fans of Animal Collective, My Bloody Valentine, etc!

01. Earthquake
02. Don't Cry
03. Revival
04. Sailing
05. Memory Boy
06. Desire Lines
07. Basement Scene
08. Helicopter
09. Fountain Stairs
10. Coronado
11. He Would Have Laughed

DL Link here!

Dishwashing Through Other Eyes

I want you to listen to this with your eyes closed, without a single thought on the brain. I want you to let this literal environment of noise and music surround you, as it did me. When I first heard this, I had the good fortune of hearing it through a full surround sound speaker system so if you have have that luxury, I highly recomend it. It truly surrounds you. Let emotion or thought come and go, like a river through your being. Just embrace whatever this piece of work brings to you.
Created by two very important people in my life, this music touches my soul because it captures alot of human contradiction in its 5 minute duration. It's quiet yet loud, soft yet thunderous, focused yet unfocused, passive yet aggresive. But most of all, it doesn't force any sort of ideas or emotions onto the listener, its not that sort of easy listen... it inspires and brings them out from within.
It's honest, it leaves an impression and it provokes thought. This is the most true music can hope to do.
It's the work of some truly talented and amazing people. Enjoy!

Coil - "Unnatural History"

Another band my girlfriend showed me, Coil was a mind warping, horizon stretching industrial music project and honestly... they were undescribable. In my gal`s own words, "you have to listen to it with an open mind to understand its brilliance."
And its true!
Its incredibly atmospheric, dark, thought provoking, artistic, and creepy at times music. It can be a little upsetting to listen too at times, with it`s unsettling ambience and use of sounds/textures. It can sound like nothing and everything at the same time, a million ideas and sounds throbbing into your skull tempered with the sweet reprieve of silence. This is the kind of music that is a true statement, something dragged up from the dephs of someones soul, music that is "experianced" moreso then listened to, best heard with darkness and candles. I personally use it to help me sleep, morbid as that may seem!
My jumping stone into Coil was actually a track off of the live album "...And the Ambulance Died in His Arms." I heard it with my eyes closed, while travelling on a train. The feeling of the train hurtling forward, the environment of sound that consumed me... it was amazing! This, however, is a compilation of Coil`s earlier work. It`s an amazing listen. Stay free!

1."Various Hands
2."The Swelling of Leeches"
3."The Pope Held Upside Down"
4."His Body Was a Playground for the Nazi Elite"
5."Homage to Sewage"
6."Here to Here (Double Headed Secret)"
7."S Is for Sleep"
8."Dream Photography"
9."Comfortable"
10."Never"
11."Penetralia II"
12."Sicktone"
13."How to Destroy Angels"

DL Link here!

Sonic Youth - "Dirty"

One of my favorites by this great, great band. This album combines melody and dissonance, noice and music. Its the first thing I ever heard of Sonic Youth, its what got me into them, and its my favorite to this day. Sonic Youth's ability to create such a gigantic and textured wall of fuzz and noise and beauty is unmatched, and the guitar work will truly open your mind. Its definatly an album you oughta check out! "Sugar Kane" remains one of my all time favorite songs.

1. 100%
2. Swimsuit Issue
3. Theresa's Sound World
4. Drunken Butterfly
5. Shoot
6. Wish Fulfillment
7. Sugar Kane
8. Orange Rolls, Angel's Spit
9. Youth Against Fascism
10. Nic Fit
11. On the Strip
12. Chapel Hill
13. JC
14. Purr
15. Créme Brûlèe

DL Link!

edit; This download recquires a password! I'm working on it but for now, don't click the link!

Liars - "Sisterworld"

Damn, this one took awhile to track down. Worth it though.
I caught wind of these guys when my friend Gabi posted a video of theres on her facebook. The track was called "Scarecrows On A Killer Slant" and I knew just from the song title I was going to LOVE it.
These guys are dark. Creepy. And I mean that in the best possible way. The focus here seems to be on texture, rhythmic beats, and chord structures designed to haunt your bones. Angular riffs, atmospheric recording, grinding noise, and music that is at times wince worthy and at others dance worthy, before lilting to a hauntingly beautiful melody; this is how one defines Liars. Like Jesus and the Mary Chain before them, Liars etches out a noisey post rock sound that brings clarity to chaos, shivers to the spine, and darkness everywhere it goes. Plus, words can't prepare you for the brick wall of a riff that slams you in the aforementioned "Scarecrows On A Killer Slant" track. It's a damn good listen, and perfect for scaring the kids.

1. Scissor
2. No Barrier Fun
3. Here Comes All The People
4. Drip
5. Scarecrows On A Killer Slant
6. I Still Can See An Outside World
7. Proud Evolution
8. Drop Dead
9. The Overachievers
10. Goodnight Everything
11. Too Much, Too Much

DL Link!