my favorite ep ever

Anathallo's Holiday at the Sea EP is probably my favorite EP ever. It is seriously verging upon the best 18 minutes of music ... ever. I took the picture I posted at Purpledoor 2004. At this year's festival they played a cover of The Book's "Smell Like Content." I think they are about the only only band ever pull off a Books cover. They can't even play the song I'm posting live because there are parts that are too high. Matt(?) had not fully become a man when they recorded it. Keep your heads up ... they have a split with Javelins that came out November 18 and only 300 were pressed. If you see one, get your hands on it.

[mp3] Anathallo - Don't Kid Yourself, You Need A Physician

[mp3] Javelins - I Was Raised As A Polar Bear

[mp3] The Books - Smells Like Content

-- more mp3s @ Anathallo's Purevolume

I started this post last night and didn't get around to publishing it today. I'll try to keep the entries coming this week ... but it's the two weeks before finals - then home!

home, turkey, shows

I'm home in York for the long Thanksgiving weekend and I didn't think I'd get to update ... but I'm forcing myself. I went to see a local favorite, Kingsfoil, at a local coffee favorite, Sparky and Clarks. This duo (+2 sometimes) is really something to talk about. I'm talking good in just general terms of all there is to listen to out there, not just local terms. Definitely listen to the songs they have on their Purevolume page (and fall in love with their sound).

-- mp3s @ Kingsfoil's Purevolume

Ryan Asher opened for Kingsfoil and I must say I was impressed. He is an excellent guitar player, has a voice with both presence and warmth, and played memorable songs, both his own and covers (ala Coldplay, Radiohead... which seem cliche but he pulled them off extremely well). He was giving out the last couple of his EP's in exchange for signing up for his mailing list since he's anxiously awaiting the finishing and release of his forthcoming album. I have yet to listen to the EP, but I'm sure it's good. I'm going to post a zip; I hope you appreciate the publicity, Ryan.

[zip] Ryan Asher - Conscious Universe

The record I am listening to at the moment is The Old Canes - Early Morning Hymns. I downloaded the two songs they have on their site almost immediately after hearing about the Appleseed Cast sideproject. I fell in love with "Face It" and "Taxi on Vermont," but I couldn't find the cd anywhere and I wasn't so desperate as to order it online. Finally on a trip to Soundgarden in Baltimore, I happened upon it. Amazing cd ... highly recommended.

[mp3] The Old Canes - Face It

[mp3] The Old Canes - Taxi on Vermont

eits... and r2

Explosions in the Sky everyone should already know. Everything they have put out is amazing and if you can't just jump right into these sprawling post-rock symphonies often verging on 10 minutes try the Friday Night Lights soundtrack which is a little is another band that more accessible and largely original music they composed strictly for the movie. Their most recent release has been The Rescue EP, a part of the Travels in Constants EP series on Temporary Residence. The EP was only available to subscribers to the series and EITS took a limited amount on their European tour to sell. So obviously eBay is an option for obtaining an actual copy but that might get pretty expensive. EITS has said on their website that since The Rescue was such a limited release, it's fine with them if you want to download it. So I uploaded it to the same place I used for the bss. It's pretty fast, I like it, and I think it's going to be what I use whenever I upload anything to link in this blog. Pardon the ads; that is what's paying for your ability to download.

[zip] Explosions in the Sky - The Rescue



Also, to steal from Sixeyes, I really like the stuff he posted by The Vertical Struts. I'm not exactly sure if there is some unwritten blog etiquette stating that it is an absolutely indignity to step on someone else's blog-turf; I'm going to try and see if I don't get smitten or anything. Anyway, it has kind of the same vibe/idea (being a guitar/drum two-piece) as the Black Keys, but a little more modern and accessible I think - less bluesy, a little more straight up rock and roll.

[mp3] The Vertical Struts - Stab, Stab, Stab

[mp3] The Vertical Struts - Girlfriend Boyfriend

[mp3] The Vertical Struts - Sh!



And by the way, R2D2 is a complete jerk. I was watching Revenge of the Sith last night and I realized it. C3PO's memory gets wiped but not R2. He knows Darth Vader is Luke's paternal figure and he never tells him! What an ass!

i hate pitchfork

Pitchfork gave Sun Kil Moon Tiny Cities a 3.0. I was enraged when I saw this. People like those damn writers are exactly what is wrong with indie right now. They think their taste in music is absolute and if they says it sucks than it's truly terrible and vice versa. Fuck Pitchfork, Mark Kozelek is an amazing musician that crafts both his own and others songs into subtle, hushed, beautiful soundscapes.

Pitchfork Review of Tiny Cities

[mp3] Sun Kil Moon - Ocean Breathes Salty

more collectivism

James McAlister (middle) has been busy with things other than Ester Drang lately. He's been on tour with Sufjan Stevens (right) for quite a while as the percussion section of the Illinoisemakers. He also played drums on Denison Witmer's (left) cd Are You a Dreamer? released this summer on Militia Group. To further the connections both Denison and Ester Drang have made numerous releases on Burnt Toast Vinyl out of Phili, which happens to be an amazing label run by an amazing guy, Scott Hatch. Technically McAlister is in Ester Drang who I thought was all but dead for quite a while after not really updating their website. I was going to be sad if Pleasure Themes and Get Rich Schemes was their last release I heard in a while. I bought the Circle of Birds ep over the summer and that held me over for a bit since Ester Drang contributed largely to that along with Unwed Sailor, David Bazan, and others . But Ester Drang is alive and well and announced at the begining of October that they will release their new album, Rocinate, January 24 on their most recent home - Jade Tree. That's so long to wait for more Ester Drang. Come Back Alive is the first track off the forthcoming cd and Repeating the Procedure is song off one of my favorite albums ever, Goldenwest, but the version I have posted is slightly different than the album version and is off of a 7" split with Antenna Lodge.

[mp3] Ester Drang - Come Back Alive

[mp3] Ester Drang - Repeating the Procedure

[mp3] Denison Witmer - The 80's

[mp3] Denison Witmer - California Brown and Blue

[mp3] Sufjan Stevens - Casmir Pulaski Day

[mp3] Circle of Birds - Old Ironsides

we hate your hate

Brendan Caming, Kevin Drew, Justin Peroff, Charles Spearin, Andres Whiteman, Jason Collett, David Newfeld, Feist, Emily Haines, James Shaw, Evan Cranley, Amy Millan, Ohad Berchetrit, Martin Davis Kinack, Jo-ann Goldsmith, Torquil Campbell, John Crossingham + guests Julie Penner, Jason Tait, K-OS, and Murray Lightburn. If you and roughly 20 of your closest friends got together and made some music, no matter how talented you are, I'm sure it wouldn't even compare to Broken Social Scene. Of course, if you consider yourself at all indie you already know and love BSS. I just felt like putting a song or two up since I've been on quite a BSS kick for a while. First, I love the version of Major Label Debut off the ep that came with the new album [mld (fast)] and second is a song off of Beehives which is a b-sides collection of some sort. I swear that nearly half of the people that have ever contributed to any Arts & Crafts release are on the new BSS in some form...

[mp3] Broken Social Scene - MLD (Fast)

[mp3] Broken Social Scene - Backyards

indie and pop are getting along today

I had seen some plugs on a few different blogs for Voxtrot, but didn't pay too much attention to them since I usually find most indie pop thrown at me just too infectious or boring for repeated listens. This is different; way different. A friend told me to find the EP my first listen consisted of 3 consecutive listens. I cannot wait for an album.

[mp3] Voxtrot - The Start of Something




I'm not the first one to rave about Suburban Kids with Biblical Names, but it was just yesterday that I decided that I should probably at least hear them frist before writing them off. I was pleased with my decision. All the songs of both EP's are catchy without verging on obnoxious and the sound isn't anything all that new, but it's a little unique/diferent ... you'll just have to hear it. Hopefully whoever's server I found this on doesn't mind me linking to it although I have 0 readers at the moment ...

[mp3] Suburban Kids with Biblical Names - Teenage Poetry