i don't know about you ...

... but I am excited for snakes on a plane. If you haven't heard of this yet, you must live in a hole. Search YouTube to see a bunch of funny fan-made trailers that surfaced before the official trailer was available. Other than the concept of this movie being completely genious, the only other reason I'm posting is because in my searches for more knowledge pertaining to snakes on a plane I found the code to put the trailer on a site. So here it goes...




Get your copy of the player here

forgotten associations ... new loose fur (!!)

I now remember splitting 'THE EXQUISITE DEATH' and 'saxon shore' shortly after my protective manilla envelope with the distinctive Insond logo arrived in October to find minimal album credits and among them...

VOCAL SAMPLE ON "SILENCE LENDS A FACE TO THE SOUL"
TAKEN FROM: "juterna" by circa urvive courtesy of equal vision records

I didn't make much note of it then, but at the time I had not devoted much attention whatsoever to Circa Survive. Since then I've given them quite a few more listens, as they deserve. Juturna is a solid album that holds steady through all of the failing points that most bands in their genre sphere fall into. I have no idea what song the samples are from - they are so faint it's really hard to tell. "In Fear and Faith" begins with a similar sound to "Silence Lends a Face to the Soul," and that's about the closest association I can make. I'll assume my guess is as right as any other and maybe one day I'll actually find out and be a better man for knowing.

[mp3] Circa Survive - Act Appalled
[mp3] Circa Survive - The Great Golden Baby

Something else major slipped by me this week... Loose Fur's new album Born Again in the USA released this Tuesday. I didn't even know Loose Fur was intended to be a project beyond the first ep. With a complete lack of Wilco news as far as their recent activities (other than the small blip on the radar along with the release of Kicking Television), I didn't think I needed to be paying attention to much of what Tweedy and O'Rourke were up to. I figured anything significant would make it's way quickly thorugh the blog community and I'd know. I guess not. A few of the songs are familiar as Wilco b-sides or Tweedy solo fodder and I'm glad to see them laid out in a formal recording. If you liked the ep or consider yourself much of a Wilco Fan, you need this album.

[mp3] Loose Fur - The Ruling Class (yousendit expires after 3/30 or 25 downloads)


{Graphic above combining Saxon Shore's and Circa Survive's cover art by me ... some quick self photoshop for fun ... and I feel the need to note it here to make up for the 20 extra minutes I spent on it and could have been sleeping}

upcoming releases

Here's a track from each of the four upcoming albums I noted in my last post plus one more. They are uploaded on yousendit so they will expire in a week. I hope you enjoy these tracks as much as I do and buy the albums when they release.

TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain (4/21)

Everyone is waiting for this... After TVOTR's debut Desperate Youth Bloodthirsty Babes exceeding all expectation established by the equally dazzlling first EP Young Liars, virtually everyone who lists "Indie" as one of the genres they listen to hold TVOTR in high regard. Within Indie, it is extremely hard to put a finger on what genre their music is ... it's almost as if they have created a whole new niche of their own. The New Heath Rock EP only added to the anxiousness to hear a new full length as it continued to expand the sound of TVOTR, but still leave so much more to be desired. Other than the leak itself, there isn't much info on Return to Cookie Mountain and it's been hard to determine just how many versions of the leak there have been and what state of mastering each one is in. All complications aside, the new album in any state is what we've all been waiting for - brilliant, soaring, dark, atmospheric, and heavy, the songs are a new, more mature, better than ever TV on the Radio.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones (3/28)

Personally, I didn't care for a lot of the tracks on Fever to Tell. But if the last three tracks had been released by themselves I would venture to say it would be the most brilliant EP to be released in the past few years. I loved Maps, Y-Control, and Modern Romance and hoped that newer YYY material would lean in the direction of those 3 songs. Luckily Show Your Bones does just that. Karen O remains more subdued through a lot of the material where I think her voice is showcases so much better. Zinner's pen has matured and moved away from a lot of the gritty, loud songs of Fever to Tell and has created a better album throughout. If you loved the gritty and loud sound of the last album, the new album is not for you, but if you long to hear Karen O and Nick Zinner use their talents in the way most suited to what they have to offer, Show Your Bones will probably be one of your top albums of the year.

The Appleseed Cast - Peregrine (today - 3/21)

Deep Elm to Tiger Style and now Militia Group. Their new home may not seem in character for Appleseed Cast, but it may be able to provide them with the exposure they need to get their amazing talent noticed. It worked for Lovedrug who re-released their debut Pretend You're Alive on Columbia in January. Hopefully, Militia can do the same sort of wonders for Appleseed Cast. As far as the album goes, it is still the Appleseed Cast we know and love. The sound draws from their entire catalogue and continues beyond it with the maturing you can only expect from album to album with a band of this calibre. It seems more polished and up front than their earlier recordings, but it still manages to completely immerse you in sound like the Low Level Owl's managed to do so well.

The Flaming Lips - At War with Mystics (4/4)

There was a lot of accusations floating around when the first single (The WAND) was released that it was a vast departure from their whole previous catalogue. I don't buy it. The album is great and picks up right where Yoshimi left off, in my opinion. There's no soaring anthem like "Do You Realize?" or dramatic first track like "Fight Test," but overall, I like the new album a lot.

The Secret Machines - Ten Silver Drops (4/18)

I'm still not sure how I feel about this album after absolutely adoring both Now Here is Nowhere and The Road Leads Where It's Led EP. The sound hasn't changed much, but I still haven't made a verdict on whether the songwriting has improved or not. It's going to take a couple more concentrated listens.

[mp3] TV on the Radio - Playhouses (yousendit - valid until 3/28)
[mp3] Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Cheated Hearts (yousendit - valid until 3/28)
[mp3] The Appleseed Cast - Song 3 (yousendit - valid until 3/28)
[mp3] The Flaming Lips - It Overtakes Me/The Stars Are So Big, I Am So Small... Do I Stand A Chance? (yousendit - valid until 3/28)
[mp3] The Secret Machines - Lightning Blue Eyes (yousendit - valid until 3/28)

mogwai recap

As I mentioned in my last post, the Mogwai show was amazing. Mogwai themselves were what made the show, everything else was sub-par. Growing opened and I could not decide if I liked them or not. There were a lot of moments that were really tight, but they seemed to always be transitioning to their next theme. Nothing was concrete, but nor did it flow very well. For the most part I felt they were playing on a very elementary level. It was something I could do in my basement with a friend, two guitars, some gritty samples, loop pedals among a collection of others, and a little bit of creativity. When I hear something, I want to be initially perplexed by it and not think to myself that I could do that without much effort at all.

The lighting was terrible (rather dark at times to the point where they actually asked for more light to be able to see what they were doing) and the overzealous addition of fog in cooperation with a bit of distance from the stage made for mediocre pictures. Sonar is basically a warehouse with a stage along one wall and a bar along the side and back. By the end of the night, bottles were being kicked around at everyone's feet. Despite all of this, Mogwai still put on an amazing show and although I highly recommend seeing them, I'm not supporting sonar or growing too much. You can find out where Mogwai is playing shows and look at pictures and setlists from earlier on the tour at mr.beastmap.com.

[mp3] Mogwai - Folk Death '95 (from the new album Mr. Beast)

I also decided to change up the layout a little. I hope you like the new header ... feedback is welcome and appreciated. Otherwise, I've been listening to a lot of albums that aren't actually out yet which I recommend if you can find them now and when the do release ...

TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain (4/21)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones (3/28)
The Appleseed Cast - Peregrine (3/21)
The Flaming Lips - At War with Mystics (4/4)

sorry for the delay

Sorry for the lack of posting over spring break, but I'm back now and I'll try to get a post up at least once a week. A happened upon a whole bunch of Seven Nation Army remixes, some of which were just really terrible and so repetitive ... they all have a heavy dance/drum and bass influence to them. I uploaded some of the better tracks and also included some covers and non-SNA bonus stuff. There isn't much more to say, the tracks are pretty straightforward and worth a listen, so here's the tracklist:

The White Stripes & Adam Freeland - 7th Nation Freeland
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army (Chris Liebing Extended Remix)
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army (Falcon Remix)
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army (nostalgia 77 remix)
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army (Slide Remix)
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army (Tim Deluxe Vs White Stripes)
The Flaming Lips - Seven Nation Army
BONUS: The White Stripes - Blue Orchid (High Contrast Remix)
BONUS: The Raconteurs - Store Bought Bones

[zip] The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army Remixes (yousendit link, valid until March 22)

If you haven't heard, The Racontuers is Jack White's new project. The single is absolutely phenomenal, especially the second song. As with the rest of the indie world, I'm highly anticipating the full length.

Ten Silver Drops, The Secret Machines new album leaked. It's definitely a departure from the first album and I like it but I'm not exactly sure what to think of it. Hear the first single on their site, or if you are resourceful, find the album.

Also, I saw Mogwai over break at Sonar in Baltimore. The show was completely mindblowing. The setlist was perfect ... nearly half of the new album, 2 or 3 from Happy Songs, all the old classics, and of course to close off the encore, "Like Herod". If they are coming anywhere within 2 hours of you, GO SEE THEM! My pictures weren't that good so I didn't want to pollute the post with a few mediocre shots. I may put a few up later.