Mini-Hiatus

Heading to Chi-town for some 10th year anniversary Umphrey's McGee lovin' and also to rock out with my homies. Hopefully I'll get a copy of the show up when I get back... and of course get around to actually doing something with all the music that is waiting (patiently) for your ears.

Happy New yEars in advance.

Bluejuice - Problems

Tracklist:

01. Get Me Down
02. Hunnamunnafeeb
03. Vitriol
04. We Get It Right
05. Let's Kill It
06. Motorcycle Accident
07. The Reductionist
08. Phantom Boogie
09. Mountain Goat
10. Back Breakin'
11. Midnight At Band Camp

Genre: Dance Punk Hip Hop (Psychobilly)
Website: www.myspace.com/bluejuice
Release Date: 2007-09-22
Label: MGM The Groove Merchants

Bluejuice is a difficult band to categorize but no matter what you call them you're gonna be feelin' the energy they bring to the stage (or in this case, studio). Check out their myspace for a few more tracks... these two here are gonna treat ya jus'right in the meantime.

Cast Of Thousands - This Is Where I Confess

Tracklist:

01. Wicked Smile
02. Washboard Professional
03. Serenade
04. Overnight Lows
05. 44 Frames
06. Obscenities
07. The Time We Have Is Counting Down Now
08. Icarii
09. The Derreces
10. Pure As The Undriven Snow
11. 01-01-00 (Y2K Song)

Genre: Indie Rock
Website: www.myspace.com/castofthousands

Release Date: 2007-10-19
Label: Self-Released

This post/indie rock group from San Fran rock it out pretty hard relative to most indie bands I post here. I'm sharing some of their radio friendlier songs... love it or leave it.

Matt Costa - Unfamiliar Faces

Tracklist:

01. Mr. Pitiful
02. Lilacs
03. Never Looking Back
04. Emergency Call
05. Vienna
06. Unfamiliar Faces
07. Cigarette Eyes
08. Downfall
09. Trying To Lose My Mind
10. Bound
11. Heart Of Stone
12. Miss Magnolia

Genre: Indie Pop/Pop Rock
Website: www.myspace.com/mattcostamusic
Release Date: 01-20-2007
Label: Brushfire Records

This much anticipated Matt Costa release was kind enough to find it's way around the internet a few weeks before the store release date. I've had it for a few days now and after giving it a thorough listen I'm finally ready to send it from my ears to yours. I wasn't aware that Jack's label was behind this album but it looks like Brushfire Records is putting out some good stuff as usual.

For the record... I don't like this album as much as the last one.

Axe Riverboy - Tu Tu To Tango

Tracklist:

01. Guard

02. Whisper

03. Carry On

04. Roundabout

05. Follow Me

06. Long

07. On An Island

08. Fences

09. Gross The Line

10. Morning Blues

11. Long (Alt. Version)

12. If You Tell A Lie

13. Milkman

Genre: Indie Pop

Website: www.myspace.com/axeriverboy

Release Date: 2007-05-28
Label: JVC Japan

This dude is pretty chill... strumming tunes and spillin vokes out of La France. Towards the end of the album it gets a little experimental so try not to base your judgement off of them if you do check out the whole album.

Make sure to give a listen to his remixes too.

Crash My Model Car - Ghosts And Heights

Tracklist:

01. In Dreams
02. Siren
03. West Coast Train
04. The Flying Rodleighs
05. Maybe
06. Sandshoe Blisters
07. Omu Prin And Me
08. She'll Go All The Way With You
09. Island Scientist
10. Stowed Away
11. You Don't Really Like Me
12. Taking The Lot

Genre: Pop Rock
Website: www.myspace.com/crashmymodelcar
Release Date: 2007-12-11
Label: My Dad Records

Give it up for yet another band from the UK. Glasgow now has the honors of being home to this particularly good singer-songwriter Iain Morrison. I'm a big fan of this CD... it reminds me of slow Matt Pond mixed with a heftier portion of Doubting Paris (think August) and tinted by a throated case of strep Bright Eyes.

Apologies for the day without posting... i'll make it up to you... *wink*

Jaymay - Autumn Falling

Tracklist:

01. Gray Or Blue
02. Sycamore Down
03. Blue Skies
04. Sea Green, See Blue
05. Autumn Fallin'
06. You'd Rather Run
07. Hard To Say
08. Big Ben
09. Ill Willed Person
10. You Are The Only One I Love

Genre: Folk
Website: www.myspace.com/jaymay
Release Date: 2007-11-12
Label: Heavenly/Blue Note

Yay for Jaymay! Although not as good as I was hoping, this album is still a very solid effort put forth by this female singer-songwriter. One of her songs (Gray Or Blue) was on a JwK mix a while back and I haven't seen much from her since then. Needless to say I was very excited to trip over this album this morning.

Stumble on.

French Kicks - One Time Bells

Tracklist:

01. Wrong Side
02. When You Heard You
03. Down Now
04. Crying Just For Show
05. Close To Modern
06. 1985
07. Right In Time
08. Trying Whining
09. One Time Bells
10. Where We Went Off
11. Sunday Night Is Fair

Genre: Indie
Website: www.myspace.com/frenchkicks
Release Date: 2002-05-07
Label: Star Time

This is an old indie album. Just dusting it off because I remembered I had it and thought it was good enough to share even if it's not spectacular.

Surprisingly I have a lot less free time during break than I thought I would. Thus I'm sorry for the terse comments.

Gnotes - Rhymes And Beats

Tracklist:

01. Muddy Treble Clef
02. Throw Your Nickels Up
03. Tower Of Babylon
04. We Can Roll
05. Check Dos
06. Bullets
07. Burn Down The Stable
08. Sun Don't Chill
09. Nemesis
10. Samba Tryst
11. Missin You
12. Promises
13. Love To Give
14. Belly Of The Beast

Genre: Hip Hop
Website: www.myspace.com/silentgnotes
Release Date: 2007-11-29
Label: Gnawledge Records

Similar to Immortal Technique and Sage Francis, a number of these tracks feature collaborations between other DJ's and MC's. The two shared tracks are my favorites off the album and I don't really love the rest of them. Still, ear the rest if you're curious and want to have your own opinion...

Just something to spice up the indie scene of late.

OST - Once

Tracklist:

01. Glen Hansard w/ Marketa Irglova - Falling Slowly
02. Glen Hansard w/ Marketa Irglova - If You Want Me
03. Glen Hansard - Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy
04. Glen Hansard w/ Marketa Irglova -When Your Mind's Made Up
05. Glen Hansard - Lies
06. Interference - Gold
07. Marketa Irglova - The Hill
08. Glen Hansard - Fallen From The Sky
09. Glen Hansard - Leave
10. Glen Hansard - Trying To Pull Myself Away
11. Glen Hansard - All The Way Down
12. Glen Hansard w/ Marketa Irglova - Once
13. Glen Hansard - Say It To Me Now
14. Glen Hansard - And The Healing Has Begun
15. Glen Hansard w/ Marketa Irglova - Into The Mystic

Genre: Folk
Website: n/a
Release Date: 2007-05-22
Label: Sony BMG

This is a soundtrack from a movie that's "a modern-day musical about a busker and an immigrant and their eventful week, as they write, rehearse and record songs that tell their love story." It got a good rating (7.9/10) so I'll probably watch it at some point just to see where the music comes from. What to look forward to? The vocals at 1:12 on track 13.

The Dimes - The Silent Generation

Tracklist:

01. Jersey Kid
02. Paul Kern Can't Sleep
03. New York 1930
04. Catch Me Jumping
05. Battle Of San Jacinto
06. Chicago 1929
07. Letters In The Sea
08. Stacked Brown Boxes
09. This Time
10. Salt And Foam
11. Emmy Divine
12. Up For Air
13. The Silent Generation

Genre: Indie Pop Rock
Website: www.myspace.com/thedimes

Release Date: 2007-12-11
Label: Pet Marmoset Records

From the Derby-esque beats on track 1 to the Postal Service-ish vocals of track 12, this Portland based Indie Pop Rock band is considerably refreshing. Their songs sing stories depicted in ways different than most bands and hence provides a nice flavor explosion of sound. Check out more than I've shared... you won't be sorry.

The Runners - All Over Again

Tracklist:

01. All Over Again
02. Having Fun

Genre: Indie Rock
Website: www.myspace.com/therunnersband
Release Date: 2007-12-03
Label: Weekender

This is a promo CDR from the UK. The band is decent and borderline powerpoppish but heavily on the indie side. I usually don't share things like promo discs with only a few tracks but every once in a while it's nice to change things up. There wasn't any album art with what I came across so that's apparently a band-produced banner...

lol.

We Shot The Moon - Fear And Love

Tracklist:

01. Hope
02. Faces
03. Sway Your Head
04. Perfect Time
05. We Shot The Moon
06. Water's Edge
07. LTFP
08. In The Blue
09. On Your Way
10. Upon Waking She Found Herself A Cougar
11. Please Shine
12. Glass Windows
13. Welcome Home

Genre: Pop Indie/Pop Alernative
Website: www.myspace.com/weshotthemoon
Release Date: 2007-12-05
Label: Fabtone

This is some music for my friends who are more in the wannabemo crowd. But this stuff is still good folks... don't hate it til ya eard it. So kick back, watch the snow fall, put on your headphones, and turn on track 12.

Also, sorry about the sporadic updating everybody because I've been busy acclimatizing to the ville. Word.

Kill The Young - Proud Sponsors Of Boredom

Tracklist:

01. All By Myself Part I
02. Saturday Soldiers
03. She's Got It All
04. We Are The Birds
05. Biting The Bullet
06. Miss Education
07. The Television Show
08. Skin And Bones
09. Dials For Saviour
10. Travesty
11. Nothing Left To Write
12. When The Sun Dies
13. All By Myself Part II

Genre: Alternative Indie
Website: www.myspace.com/killtheyoung
Release Date: 2007-09-24
Label: Discograph

Another UK band pullin' through with some quality tunage. This is their second album and I'm not sure how it's been doing but their first album did pretty well in Europe, namely France. I want to say the producer is involved with Kings of Leon but the French website where I read the bio used pretty slang francais. There is a remix somewhere of their song We Are The Birds And The Bees And We Are The Telephone Trees that I'm looking for so holla if ya ear it. You got three tracks to listen to here and if you get a chance also check out track 5, Biting The Bullet, on their myspace.

Donavon Frankenreiter - Acoustic EP

Tracklist:

01. Call Me Papa
02. Differently The Same
03. Everytime
04. Free
05. On My Mind
06. Was It You
07. What Ya Know About

Genre: Roots Folk
Website: www.myspace.com/donavonfrankenreiter
Release Date: n/a
Label: n/a

That's not the real album art for this. If you look up Acoustic EP for Donavon you'll find the Recycled Recipes EP that I shared with yall a while back. This is actually relatively more rare considering it is the first release by Donavon as a solo musician. It's got a few songs from his recent albums but they're clearly the framework for later production. If you're interested in hearing more feel free to get ahold of me!

Xavier Rudd - White Moth

Tracklist:

01. Better People
02. Twist
03. Stargaze
04. Choices
05. Come Let Go
06. White Moth
07. Footprint
08. Land Rights
09. Anni KooKoo
10. Message Stick
11. Set It Up
12. Whispers
13. Whirlpool
14. Come Back

Genre: Folk Rock/Roots Jam
Website: www.myspace.com/xavierrudd
Release Date: 2007-06-04
Label: Anti

This Australian singer-songwriter is pretty well known by most of you, especially if you're the kind to frequent the jam music or festival scenes. Consistent with his first two albums, this third one is pretty good but not great. A little too much of the same stuff for me but I'm sharing my two favorite tracks so you can see what they're like. This album seems more in touch with Xavier's insides but of course there's still the expected love and nature motif.

Jamie Scott And The Town - Park Bench Theories

Tracklist:

01. Runaway Train
02. When Will I See Your Face Again
03. London Town
04. Changes
05. Shadows
06. Standing In The Rain
07. Love Song To Remember
08. Weeping Willow
09. Two Men
10. Rise Up
11. Hey You
12. Lady West

Genre: Acoustic Pop Rock
Website: www.myspace.com/jamiescottandthetown
Release Date: 2007-09-03
Label: Polydor

Some jazz and pop are flowing through this singer-songwriter. The album plays just like a "series of diaries about Scott's ugly bust-up with his ex-missus." The music will please the palate of most... even if track 2 is a Maroon 5 wannabe.

Fink - Biscuits For Breakfast

Tracklist:

01. Pretty Little Thing
02. Pills In My Pocket
03. You Gotta Chooce
04. All Cried Out
05. Tina Country
06. Biscuits
07. So Long
08. Kamlyn
09. Sorry I'm Late

Genre: Dub Folk, Acoustic Alternative
Website: www.myspace.com/finkmusic
Release Date: 2006
Label: Ninja Tunes

After getting a lot of positive feedback on Fink I'm gonna take yall on a trip back to 2006 when ol' Fink was first hittin' the drums in my ears. This album is great, just like the other one. I probably would have posted this sooner but it took me a while to get it converted from the iTunes protected format that it came in when I boughted (yes i know that's not a word) it.

Ya got ears so use 'em.

Cocoon - My Friends All Died In A Plane Crash

Tracklist:

01. Take Off
02. Vultures
03. On My Way
04. Seesaw
05. Christmas Song
06. Tell Me
07. Owls
08. Paper Boat
09. Cliffhanger
10. Chupee
11. Hummingbird
12. Microwave

Genre: Indie Folk
Website: www.myspace.com/listentococoon
Release Date: 2007-10-15
Label: Discograph

Maybe there's already been a fair amount of Cocoon up in here but this goes out to One L who requested some Christmas tunes and... what do you know!?... there's a Christmas Song up there. Here's your chance to get a little more Cocoon.

Bob Schneider - Live @ The Music Mill 12-07-2007

That's not the real Frunk cd cover... I just picked it up off the Schneider site cuz I didn't remember to snap a pic of the real album art before Fritz picked it up. The art that's on the actual Frunk album for this show is awesome and also on the back there's a funny little handwritten note from Schneider. There's definitely a few tracks on here that will probably be on his upcoming album and though I was able to solve most of the track names there are a few with (?)'s by them, indicating that I'm just calling it something for the sake of recognition. Enjoy it like the crew 'n I did.

Note: Still uploading the files so give it a few if you're getting to this before 9pm eastern.

Disc 1:

01. Fuck All The Rules (?)
02. I'm Good Now
03. A Friend In Jesus
04. Come With Me Tonight
05. Beatbox Song (?)
06. Razor Within (?)
07. The World Exploded Into Love
08. Long Way To Get
09. Changing Your Mind + 2002
10. Tokyo + Bullets
11. Better

Disc 2:

01. Intro + Just Around The Corner
02. Slower Dear
03. Round And Round
04. Flowerparts
05. Losing You
06. Big Blue Sea
07. It's Alright Cuz I Love Ya Baby (?)
08. Winter (?)
09. Cap'n Kirk
10. Tarantula

Ikon - Signs

Tracklist:

01. No Reason To Stay
02. Dirty Girl
03. Signs
04. Salvador
05. Retangle
06. Out Of Our Hands
07. Kill Tremolo
08. Breaking
09. Shimmer
10. Time Is Running Out

Genre: Indie Electronica Experimental
Website: www.myspace.com/ikontheband
Release Date: 2007-06-18
Label: Jalapeno

Ikon is a group of Brits, mostly girls, who do some indie down-tempo stuff. I say experimental because after listening to the band it sounds like they're shifting to find what's comfortable for them. Some are better than others but that's a given with every album. Track 10 was on the unfrazzle your nerves mix. If you wanna check out their myspace page make sure to listen to their remixes. Not bad.

The New Mastersounds - Remixed

Tracklist:

01. Idle Time
02. Drop It Down
03. Hey Fela
04. One Note Brown
05. Thirty Three
06. The Tin Drum
07. Witness
08. Your Love Is Mine
09. Nervous
10. Thirty Three
11. Return To Gijon
12. Bus Stop n5

Genre: Soul Jazz/Afrobeat/Funk
Website: www.myspace.com/newmastersoundsrmxed
Release Date: 2007-10-22
Label: Record Kicks

Some uppety tunes right here for you people looking to get a rise going. The New Mastersounds are probably not new to many of you funks out there but this is an album chock full of their songs remixed by other respectably funky bands (Lack Of Afro, Juju Orchestra, etc). Some of it is too fast-paced-dj-breaks for me but who knows, maybe some of you keep it steady at a pace well ahead of mine.

Let's Play Doubles! - A Study Break Mix

So I'm done taking a quick study/snack break, during which I kindly thought of all my friends out there. The end product of my break + thoughts of yall is this mix that will help keep you from falling asleep during breaks. I went through some of the stuff I got during the last few days and grabbed my favorite two tracks off each artist who made the cut for this mix. It's an Indie Alternative slash Indie Rock mix, and at 22 tracks deep means 11 (for those of you who can't do the math) different bands to check out. You've seen The KBC before but these aren't from the same album.

Tracklist:

01. Red Riders - C'mon
02. Red Riders - My Love Is Stronger Than Your Love
03. The Contact - Black Sea
04. The Contact - Canvas Tears
05. The Ads - Maybe Tonight
06. The Ads - Medicine
07. The KBC - Best In The Business
08. The KBC - Trippin'
09. The Black Box Revelation - Love In Your Head
10. The Black Box Revelation - Gravity Blues
11. Moving Units - Crash n Burn Victims
12. Moving Units - Pink Thoughts
13. Reverend And The Makers - Sundown On The Empire
14. Reverend And The Makers - Heavyweight Champion Of The World
15. Robbers On High Street - The Fatalist
16. Robbers On High Street - Major Minor
17. Sugarplum Fairy - Last Chance
18. Sugarplum Fairy - Marigold
19. Look See Proof - Casualty
20. Look See Proof - Local Hero
21. Raining And OK - Endless Love
22. Raining And OK - Break The Calm

Feel free to mix and match but take it from my ears when I say some things are best left alone.

Study. Break. Ear.

Animal Liberation Orchestra - Roses Clover

Tracklist:

01. Maria
02. Empty Vessels
03. Try
04. Roses And Clover
05. Monday
06. Shine
07. Plastic Bubble
08. All Alone
09. Lady Loop
10. Water Song

Genre: Jam Pop Rock
Website: www.myspace.com/alomusic
Release Date: 2007-05-01
Label: Brushfire Records

This is an album I've had for a while and haven't remembered to even listen to until today (while studying). It's their best album to date because they've previously had a tendency to try to make their music stand out by not being predictable and usually ended up being too unpredictable.

This is their second year and second release since being signed to Jack Johnson's label Brushfire Records. There's some previous collaborations between them... Jack has even covered Girl I Wanna Lay You Down at his shows and does a damn good job of rootsifying the crap out of it.

All Alone is my favorite song and competes for the title with track 3.

These are more jammy than in the past also. Earjam.

Kingsfoil - Bear In The Attic

Tracklist:

01. Bear In The Attic
02. Under Your Skin
03. Oceans
04. Any Boy Could Ever Want
05. Basement Corners
06. Lets Smash The Hourglass

Genre: Indie Alternative Folk
Website: www.myspace.com/kingsfoil
Release Date: 2005-08-19
Label: n/a

You've heard of these guys before when I posted their Under The Almond Tree EP. This is a little more produced being a more recent release. It's good so make sure you ear these tracks.

Yum. Ear Candy.

Raine Maida - The Hunters Lullaby

Tracklist:

01. Careful What You Wish For
02. Sex Love And Honey
03. Yellow Brick Road
04. The Less I Know
05. Earthless
06. The Snake And The Crown
07. Confessional
08. China Doll
09. Rat Race
10. One Second Chance

Genre: Indie Alternative Folk
Website: www.myspace.com/rainemaida
Release Date: 2007-11-13
Label: King Noise

Like I was saying below, this is a guy who's part of Our Lady Peace. This time around he is one + none and self-describes the sound as "a city street of rhymes, prose and haiku's bullied by beats and chords." Sounds good in writing and sounds even better in earing. I wanted to share track five with yall but scout it out yourself and give it a listen.

Great mix of tracks for a great audience of ears.

Unfrazzle Your Nerves - An Exam Week Mix

Tracklist:

01. Matt Costa - TV Gods
02. Roz Bell - Yesterday Man
03. Passenger - Things You've Never Done
04. Goldspot - Friday
05. Kingsfoil - Bear In The Attic
06. Patrick Park - Here We Are
07. Cass McCombs - Pregnant Pause
08. Leaf - How About This Life
09. Lali Puna - Faking The Books
10. Craig Cardiff - You're The One
11. Wallis Bird - Slow Down
12. Raine Maida - Yellow Brick Road
13. Ikon - Time Is Running Out
14. Kate Nash - Merry Happy
15. The Avett Brothers - The Ballad Of Love And Hate
16. Landon Pigg - Coffee Shop
17. The Cake Sale - Too Many People
18. Raine Maida - China Doll
19. Casey Stratton - Wither And Die
20. Timber Timbre - Under Your Spell

Alas I am finally back from the Schneider show, tired and fulfilled. Some sweet highlights from the show will be available as soon as I get around to it. Thank you Bob for burning copies of the show immediately after them.

What we have here is a mix that I use to "unfrazzle my nerves" during times like exam week when studying can be very stress-inducing. It starts out a little uppety but that's to align to the frazzled nerves before the relaxing process begins. Raine Maida (of Gomez) is on this mix twice, partly by accident but he still deserves the attention.

May your studying be ever-the-more peaceful... from me to your ears.

Young Love - Too Young To Fight It

Tracklist:

01. Discotech
02. Give Up
03. Closer To You
04. Too Young To Fight It
05. Nameless One
06. Find A New Way
07. Tell Me
08. Take It Or Leave It
09. Tragedy
10. Underneath The Night Sky
11. Close Your Eyes

Genre: Electro Indie Alternative
Website: www.myspace.com/younglove
Release Date: 2007-02-02
Label: Island Records

It's not as though you all haven't ever heard music like this. Some of you will love this and the rest of you will probably say "this kinda sh*t again?!" but guess what. I don't care. I am one of the people who likes music like this AND music like that (unless we're talking about straight country or gangsta rap). One of these tracks is gonna be on the newer indie/alt mix comin' up soon.

These guys are from New York. And like I said before, this isn't exactly a groundbreaking style but they do it with some steez. Enjoy it and keep an ear out for the unfrazzle-my-nerves mix for upcoming exam week.

Hedtrip - Roma

Tracklist:

01. Pink Glance
02. Let Me Flow
03. Emphasis
04. Rhythm Delight
05. Whenever
06. Mother Love
07. Dancing Woman
08. A Call In The Room
09. Give It To Me
10. No Time Is Over

Genre: Rock Indie
Website: www.hedtripband.com
Release Date: n/a
Label: Aloud Music

A truly great find right here. Thirty eight minutes and forty three seconds of well rocked tracks, skillfully written and executed by a band I know so little about. They're from Barcelona and have released a few earlier albums that are a little overweight (aka on the heavier side). You'll notice some various influences... track 4 is intermittently incubus-y for example.

Trust me though. I might be tired and on my way to bed but these ears still know what's up.

The Haggis Horns - Naughty Buddha

Tracklist:

01. Enter The Haggis
02. Pipe Bag
03. Hot Damn!
04. The Traveller Part One
05. The Traveller Part Two
06. Eskimo
07. Huffalump
08. The Bump
09. Got To Lose Your Way
10. Tribe Vibes
11. Naughty Buddha
12. Who's Gonna Take The Weight

Genre: Funk
Website: www.myspace.com/thehaggishorns
Release Date: 2007-09-28
Label: First Word Records

'Round these parts it got real chilly real fast and to keep that stride goin' here's a little funk for yas. Best part about this band is their self-described music style on their myspace page (Christian Rap/K-Pop/Death Metal). I almost thought I had the wrong band, lol. But this is them in all their funkety glory, ready to blindside you with their powerhouse of a horn section. They roll eight deep when doin' it live but we're SOL cuz they're in Scotland.

Until they come to the western side of the atlantic puddle you'll have to ear them here.

Jack Johnson - If I Had Eyes [Single]

Tracklist:

01. If I Had Eyes

Anybody who plays music like that with their kid deserves to be listened to. Wiggle your ears towards Jack's latest single. It's all Jack and it goes down real smooth.