Fleet Foxes

Life is so beautifiul. The world is your oyster. Tomorrow is your canvas. Despair is the Satan I will not allow through my gates. Fleet Foxes are the light that floods out between the bars of those gates. I'm not religious. I believe in some great being. I will drop the religious overtones now, thats not what this post is about.

This post is about this self-titled record by Fleet Foxes. When I first heard it I didn't know what to think. I didn't know how to feel. Should I have been sad? Should I have been happy? Should I have felt any manliness within me slip away? I'll tell you what it felt like. It felt like that part in some epic movie where the hero uses a legendary weapon on the entire marching evil force thats plaguing the right. The weapon robs all of their souls, sends their bodies to be consumed by the sun and are then shat out into an asteroid field light years away. The hero then gets the best woman in the world and BBQs are hosted on Monday's everywhere worldwide to commemorate this victory.

Download it.

Seriously, this band is best heard on nights when the weather is in the 60s, the wind is blowing, and the ladies in your car need to find a place to pop a squat. This really happened to me once. We stopped and parked on NE 29th street just off of Miami Ave. I was playing this record in the car and when the girls came back they had reported seeing a Fox in the distance. I came by and I shit-you-not there was a wild fox just hanging out running around. It was one of the few magical moments in life that happen from time to time. It needed to be recorded, and here is what I've presented you exactly.

Killer songs include but are not limited to (in order of how they appear on the album):

• Sun It Rises
• White Winter Hymnal
• He Doesn't Know Why
• Heard them Stirring
• Your Protector
• Blue Ridge Mountains

The band is currently a 5-piece from Seattle, you can label them as indie-folk if you want the easy way out. If you want to go the hard way, you're going to have to listen and generate your own opinion. They include a mandolin in their band which is an instrument that dates as far back as the days when simultaneous orgasms were introduced to man and woman. I hope you enjoy this composition and the record. If you are affiliated with Fleet Foxes, please come to South Florida. I know many people who will rejoice and be thankful. For me, this was one of the records that turned on the end of this decade and will inevitably welcome many to the next one.

I've intentionally not discussed the cover art, because although I think good things about it, that exposition would probably derail the prose above and would also require more intellectual prowess than I'm able to execute at this time. Don't hate. I'm spent and need to carry on to other orders of business.

Explosions in the Sky

I think the first time I ever heard Explosions in the Sky it was on WVUM 90.5FM while driving some place. I managed to remember their name when I got home and I started searching for stuff. That was at least 5 years ago. So I got this record first and to this day I still think its my favorite amongst all of them. I've seen them twice, once in Toronto and once in New York and their live performances were just as good if not better than the private experience. I've been lucky to see them with amazing weather and that really helps for some reason. Everytime I see them live I wish I could teleport some people there to witness the amazingness.

Download it.

They're considered a post-rock band, all their music is instrumental, the songs are long, dramatic, and require patience. If you give them a chance you just might find a special beauty, triumph, and vigilance not quickly realized from the slow churned beginnings of their songs.

If you put a gun to my head and ask me which my favorite song on The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place is, I'd tell you it's Memorial. There's something about the way the drums pick up the guitars after the 3rd minute to a new soaring plateu and after the 5th minute the entire set of instruments are surviving evenly. After the 7th minute, they almost destroy it all but it still it seems like they're subtle at that too. Imagine Mogwai's "Like Herod" but a few degrees less conquering.

Memorial sweetly transitions into Your Hand In Mine, which is another great one. All their songs seem like victory-after-the-fall and illustrate that with long epic climbs with each instrument. This record inspires me. Even though sometimes I want them to crank it a little heavier, I can adapt. I think thats why I say they require a bit of patience. After thats said and done the reward is qualified. The image in mind is Mel Gibson as William Wallace after the long and drawn battle has been cleared.

I can't close the post without saying that the first track on the record is what ultimately drew me in: First Breath After Coma.

Fall be Kind, Winter be Kind

Lately I've been enjoying music more and more while being stationary. For as long as I can remember I’ve always enjoyed music the most when driving by myself. Staring into the road trying to beat the light rays to the horizon and letting every special wave of music splash into the middle ear is like an instant dose of medicine that propels every thought down the canals of reason, anxiety and cerebral release – a feeling most of us know quite well.

The year is coming to an end and this record proves that’s true… “Fall Be Kind,” Animal Collective's new EP, starts off with a song that reminds me of the first time I ever rode a Disney ride – remember the kinds that would take you through different areas with different music and the themes would go from dark to light and back again? It moves on to What Would I Want? Sky, and this track is quite lovely especially after the second minute it transforms into something beautiful like the first time you’ve ever really seen a sunset as an adult or the overwhelming nature of expectations of living and loving.

I’m gonna skip the third track because I don’t understand it yet. I don’t know whats happening and it’s all out of focus in my mind. #4 or On A Highway, reminds me of a Boards of Canada song I can’t remember and seems appropriate for this cloudy day full of cold fronts and warm fronts and rain. water. a heartbeat and an exit sign.

The last track, I Think I Can, is my favorite. Just listen to it.

Download the EP in a zip from Rapidshare.

Hope you like it.

Wilco's Greatest Hits

So there's this Guatemalan girl who drives me a little crazy. Not romantically, we're just friends. Sometimes we annoy each other and she even calls me out on shit publicly, to set me straight, when she finds the need to. It's really like she's an adopted sister or a sister from another mother. You can follow her on Twitter @ctothethird if you want. Her updates are a'ight.

Anyhow she's been nagging me for what seems like decades for some tips and pointers on how-to enjoy Wilco and what some of my favorites are. I got fed up, I compiled this playlist and repackaged it in a zip file with the filenames changed to describe the order of the songs in the playlist, or how they should be played.

Here's the file C³!

Download via Rapidshare

For those of you who are Wilco fans and are curious of what this selection is comprised of, check it out here:

1. At Least That's What You Said
2. Hummingbird
3. Company In My Back
4. I am Trying to Break Your Heart
5. Jesus, Etc.
6. I'm the Man Who Loves You
7. Either Way
8. Impossible Germany
9. A Shot in the Arm
10. We're Just Friends
11. California Stars
12. At my Window Sad and Lonely
13. One by One

These songs have traveled with me around the world and will probably remain in constant orbit of my universe. I would also travel for these songs. They own a piece of me. This is my own Wilco's Greatest Hits playlist.

Checkout the poster section of the online Wilco Store. Some of the serigraphs kick ass.

Untitled or 'Blogging again is like trying to start a chainsaw that's been in the garage for 3-years without turning once.'

In the spirit of proper blog ejaculate on the internet backbone where we all connect, collaborate, and calculate, I’ve regurgitated a consecrate post. It’s been many months since I’ve blo-argh-gged. Nonetheless, I’m in a different dimension and the plow of life, thankfully, has provided a sturdy transmission.

That means its been a hard year but collapsaform will help defibrillate creativity outside of all the routine cycles. What's absent in my current existence is an outlet for words (new blog?), a hands-on hobby/craft, a muse, superhero powers, a cave I can call my own, and large sets of academic and complex mathematics. Sometimes a few good math problems do generate happiness and clarity (I'm serious). There is always a way.

More than just a stack of words, I've brought some goodies:

• Some music: The latest Flaming Lips record, which I happen to appreciate - Embryonic. Available here for your downloading pleasure via Rapidshare. Go buy it if you really like it.
• Some vids: This guy Alex apparently really likes Wes Anderson - and so do I. This project/video seems like it must've been a lot of fun to make. Here is his site. The video below shows what would've been a trailer for a mock-Wes Anderson film festival.
  
  
  
  
• Wallpaper: A link to my current desktop background.
• An illusion: A photograph or a painting? A painting I thought was a photograph.
• I call this talent: Some inspiring and kick-ass illustrations of Thor, Loki and Odin.
• Hotness: A cool photograph featuring Sasha Grey. (above) Gratuitous? Perhaps, and not very "in-line" with my standard posts but I wouldn't be honest if I said I didn't want to share it online. it's also part of an experiment.

Writing a post on an a blog that is clearly undefined is like being handcuffed to a toboggan on a clear day with no brakes or means of escape - live or die the journey will happen and the post will go live. Only after its been done will I know if it was the right thing to do. I need to take in any feedback, rewards and consequences and then learn.

Anyway I think its important to document what music I've been listening to these past few days, iTunes says my recently and most played are (in no order): Charles Mingus, Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue, Clinic, Clint Mansell (MOON soundtrack), Weezer, and Russian Circles.

Frankel - Anyonymity is the New Fame

Frankel - Anonymity is the New Fame (2009)
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Official band site.

I got this record by association really. I was looking for new pop record. I can't remember how I found this but the cover, I think, is what got me. It reminded me of Arcade Fire's Funeral, probably because of the similarity between diagonal composition of this album art and the feather on Funeral.

The music is very soft with clear vocals, gentle guitars, defining keyboards, pianos, and subtle to amplifying percussion. It was exactly what I was looking for. I think this record is like 3 parts Elliot Smith, 2 parts The Shins, 1 part Catpower, and 1 part Blur. Among other tastes and satisfactions, the record makes for perfect Sunday music.. Favorite songs thus far include:

• Faux Science
• Nowhere
• Weather Balloon
  
• Comfortable
• Keep You Inside

Sonic Youth - The Eternal

Sonic Youth - The Eternal (2009)
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Visit their official site.
Checkout their store.

I've been meaning to get this. I first experienced Sonic Youth prolly on MTV's 120-Minutes in the very early 90's. One word comes to mind: Experimental. This word was slapped on the band everytime anyone would speak a word of them. Noise and Alternative were common associates as well. At the time of my first listenings I was a young buck and music seemed to be changing or at least I was conscious of music in a deeper sense than ever before.

Anyhow this post was inspired from a conversation last night were the evolution of music and how people experience it has changed over time. An example of that is how in the 50s most of the music culture was more Rock and Roll a-la Elvis. I don't mean to diss Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, or other amazing musicians of the time. The point is that with the entrance of the 60s music took on a different position on the world. So much so that the whole country was changing. The conversation went on to wondering on when would we be able experience a musical or artistic revolution as relevant as 50s to 60s?

But then the conversation caved on itself. Take into account how much information we are fed on an hourly basis today and compare that to the amount of information people would be subject to in say, 1957. I think the news we'd get in one day is equivalent to two weeks in the 50s. There's so much information and such a faster rate of generating ideas that its possible that we wouldn't be able to detect a musical revolution if it happened right in our face.

Anyway, I think there will always be time to enjoy Sonic Youth. Monday, Sunday, or Friday - doesn't matter. They deliver a sound thats easy to revel in, dance or sulk. Despite the progression of their music which has also become more clean, less noise (with this album). You can still here their signature in the vocals, instruments, and the musical structure of the songs. It's quite beautiful I think.

Daydream Nation, Goo, and Experimental Jet Set, Trash, and No Star, are prolly the three records that I engage with the most and I don't do enough of that either.

Isis - Wavering Radiant

Isis - Wavering Radiant (2009)

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Visit their official site.

Buy the vinyl record from their store.

I saw Isis in Austin on May 19th at a great venue called Emo's with several indoor and outdoor rooms complete with graffiti, flyers and printed artwork, useable bleachers, and all on various levels/floors. It was actually on a trip for work and had to do a presentation at 7am the following morning but I didn't care. It was also a plus that I found out about the show from a work colleague in Austin who also provided transportation to the show, a very cool guy who also appreciates metal and Isis.

I had heard Wavering Radiant before attending the show so the material wasn't brand spanking new but the live experience was. I think, because of the cleanliness in the sound of their new material and the exploratory ventures having more of an ambient or atmospheric ecosystem, I have to say that the recorded media experience is better than the live experience. Not because they suck live, the performance was actually quite incredible and was very well delivered. Its just that I enjoy Isis moreso in a private setting when I'm doing my own thing. This over standing in the same spot nodding my head in a sea of heads. As the band progresses their music is more and more something that I play in the background to zone out, drive my car, or to help me get in the zone when trying to do other things - be productive, etc. This is what happens when I listen to Isis.

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (2007/2008)
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Learn about the band from their Site
Learn about the band from the Wiki
Buy it from Amazon.

On Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 in Club Revolution in Ft. Lauderdale I attended a Bon Iver show. Bon Iver is pronounced Bon Ee-vair in case you're wondering.

Their live sound was more enjoyable than the original recordings because they mixed it up a bit. Some songs engaged the audience more than not and the percussion performance was much more pronounced than expected. I honestly remember very little as I was talking near the bar for most of the night but everything I remember I enjoyed and felt happy to be there. This post really sucks but it's an honest one. Hey at least you get something in the end. I've also been asked for a link on this material a few times this week. Enjoy.

Russian Circles - Station

Russian Circles - Station (2008)
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Learn more from their official site.
Buy their CDhere.

So I visited Austin about 3 weeks ago and went to a Pelican/Isis show was very impressed with Pelican's live performance. I told all my friends and they all pointed me to this band. This is the first record of theirs that I deluge my ears with and I think I clearly understand why the band was recommended to me.

I've been enjoying the record all morning as it's helped me get through the day way faster. I drove to work with them on shuffle and I sat at my desk and got to work with my Sennheiser HD 580 Precision headphones on playing stations starting from track #1 titled "campaign." I don't know much about the meaning behind the songs as I've done little research but the record is definitely a campaign in well-defined, kick ass music.

Well-defined is to say that the songs and their recordings do an excellent, clear, job of expressing what each instrument intends to convey without a mash-up of sound in a series of longish, brooding eulogistic metal overtures.

As I listened I thought the music would be great for anything from a serious zombie movie or a super secret black ops film. I imagine the opening credits to a movie where passenger jet is being escorted to the runway for take-off. I don't remember the rest of the ideas that came out of that imagination daze. Anyhow, enjoy the record.

A Band of Bees - Octopus

A Band of Bees - Octopus (2007)
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Visit their own site for up-to-date band info.
Get the CD from Amazon.

I got inspired to download this entire album after watching this YouTube video that they are not allowing to embed anymore. I thought it was pretty cool and I very much consider myself a listening man. ;)

The music is very easy listening pop that carries lots of psychedelic and garage influences. They're a 6-piece British band that I think will compliment this coming summer very well. Enjoy!

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest (2009)
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Order from the band direct.
Order the LP from Amazon.

I'm going through my first run through this record. I'm on track 5 right now. After track 2 I knew I wanted to keep listening and I haven't flailed in the slightest.

Lately my writing has gone to shit because I find myself wanting to write about gardens and greens and everything that makes me feel like I'm in a garden with some kind of running water. I know its fucking horrible. Maybe I'm thinking of Hawaii, maybe I'm LOST-sick and am too anxious about the next season not happening till 2010. Today, for a second I decided I didn't want the series to end - ever. Maybe this record should be a part of the last season. Maybe it fits in with the island and the black smoke monster.

One of the excellent things behind the seemingly gentle music on this record is the impression that the band made a heavy investment in producing every recorded second to attain some kind of esoteric and intense sound. On every second the music carries many layers of sound with texture and depth within the instruments and within the voices. The record is a meandering in dreams and memories.

This stuff may never air on the radio. At its lowest point you may find this to be the soundtrack in some trendy clothing store. At its highest level it could find itself in a Kubrick-like remake 10 years from now. In between it would fit well in 80s classic The Abyss or a LOST episode.

These songs are soft, confident, and compelling enough to earn a whole record listen - and they do. I recommend this record when moving slowly or just wanting to relax, preferably with dimmed lighting. Seriously though, I think this will become a favorite for many. It already is.

I would love to hear your own thoughts. I feel some of these tracks like Fine for Now and I Live With You are like Jeff Buckley meets Super Furry Animals meets Animal Collective.

Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Beware

Bonnie Prince Billy - Beware (2009)
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Order the Vinyl LP from Amazon here.

Will Oldham writes incredible lyrics. I can end this post here. I really can. Bonnie Prince Billy is Will Oldham's pseudonym btw.

He's from Kentucky and I like this because I've met quite a few people, separately and without coincidence, from Kentucky in the past few years - all good people with unique and endearing stories to tell. I haven't met Will but would be pleased to. Anyhow, without a doubt, Kentucky and its culture seems like a hidden gem or a culture whom South Florida (where I'm from) has been sheltered from and is underrated. I'll be excited the day I step foot in Kentucky for reasons outside of BBQ and Bourbon.

Over time I've also, and without common incidence, suggestion, or tragedy, become curious and keen to country, folk, blue grass, and other Southern musical influences. Bonnie Prince Billy is the latest example and I've recently put his Beware record in heavy rotation. I think I listen to it because I hear happiness's ability to thrive in a whirlwind of endangered love and with each narrative lyric the narrator's triumphant sense of clarity is surprisingly refreshing - heroic even. Although most of these songs are about love, lust, and death and may seem dark or bleak, there's a sunlight-bright honesty in the lyrics and they've demanded my appreciation.

This music also throws away almost everything that is part of the daily routine. Makes me think of observing mountains and witnessing wildlife in a place where there's lots of green and dense trees. It makes me think of being outside. Standing on dirt. Getting struck by an evening gust of country air. Seeing a beautiful woman's silhouette wearing a dress with lace. Slow dancing. Full moons that make it seem like day.

As of this posting, my favorite songs on here are:

• Beware Your Only Friend
• I Don't Belong to Anyone
• I Am Goodbye
  
• Without Word, You have Nothing
• Afraid Ain't Me
  

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

(tip: stare at the album art above, watch it move! does it move?)

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (320kbps mp3)
Download via RAPIDSHARE - check it out!

This is definitely the pick me up record of the moment. As a good friend of mine put it best, the first two tracks are kinda of hypnotizing. The soundscapes have a lot of layered tones with many subtle transitions. The first track introduces a great percussion section around 2:30 timestamp which set a great tone and induces the hypnosis. This is best experienced loudly for the deep dive. I like to think the creative direction for their album artwork handshakes well with the direction of the music.

The songs that follow continue delivering epic soundscapes that seem to push the listener in a certain direction. It's like moving through a labyrinth of sound. Some clips even have sounds that I'd imagine in a coming of age movie during an epiphanic moment or some kind of amazing discovery.

Order it here, in Vinyl which will give you a coupon to a free digital download direct from the band, or here as a CD.

I'm still digesting this record. Personal favorite tracks include My Girls, Summertime Clothes, and Bluish.

The Muslims (self titled record)

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The Muslims - The Muslims

Wow. It's been a while. I mean, it's been a while since I've posted in the mood that I'm feeling right now: tired from the workday, getting sick, opting to blog for the goodness of blogging and actually having something to share with the reader, music searcher, blogger, Internet Cobra, etc.

I'm not sure how I fell onto this record - there goes that storyline. I can tell you that it's good if you want to hear a raw, garage, modern rock band that can propagate good vibes towards acting like a ninny, playing air drums and guitars, or simply rocking out while in the car. (Most of my music appreciation happens in the car.) Anyhow, I know the band's from San Diego and, no, I'm not sure or care if any of them are Muslims.

There are garage, early punk and pop-punk influences. There are the revolutionary Bob Dylan influences. This shouldn't enable any conclusions since many records have these things in common. It was just my first honest association.

Deerhunter - Microcastle

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Deerhunter - Microcastle

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Deerhunter - Microcastle

I enjoy this record. It's a new sound to me. I enjoy it and like a friend of mine on facebook simply stated, we should all find happiness through music. Or at a minimum, attempt to jam to it. This record is a part of that experience. I encourage anyone to download it.

Just a short history, the band started in 2001. They may be named after an old drama called "The Deer Hunter" with Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and Meryl Streep or that may just be a coincidence. At this point I don't care enough to find validate this.

Tonight it's 62 degrees out. The Miami Heat lost to the Toronto Raptors. 2008 is close to it's death and so be it.

The title track surprised me around time stamp 2:25. The slowly vanishing heartbeat suddenly gets a kicky snare and suddenly your head ticks and tocks, left and right. Insert dance here.

Microcastle is either terribly boring or wicked awesome at a live show, the venue and the crowd would easily be variables in the enjoyment of the live experience. Sometimes when I listen to it I think I'm hearing noises from a vast hall. That's the experience for half the record. Not to be frowned upon anyway. There's some value in remembering childhood memories where something holds a holy or omnipotent awe. Like Notre Damn in Montreal for instance.

The other half has some trendy/catchy dance beats. Like Never Stops and Nothing Ever Happened - these are definitely upbeat bootyswaying tracks. I'm not mad at these tracks. They keep the gas in the car chugging. They keep the heartbeat alive and protect the sanctity of youth. The dance beats/lyrics reminded of something that Blur is likely to produce. Listening to Deerhunter made me write this post. The vocals can sound like Sonic Youth, Blur or Belle & Sebastian during some moments. I know they're all very different bands but those are the closest bands I could come up with.

Girl Talk - Feed the Animals

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Girl Talk - Feed the Animals

I'm posting this primarily by request.  When I first heard this album it seemed like a good idea.  Then I could see how it would annoy the shit out of someone.  Now I understand it as a record that given the right circumstances (driving like a zombie or behaving beligerently) depending on the circumstances it could be a good time.

This record is made by ONE GUY with a bunch of records.  He's a weird ass white dude majoring in biomedical engineering.  The style of this music is called "mashup" samples from all kinds of artists and creates a somewhat cohesive track - I've heard its a ton of fun when live.  A friend of mine told me he sets up in the middle of a dance floor and everyoen dances around him.  His mixing table is level with the floor so people are literally standing right next to him. It's quite popular right now among many circles. 

Beck - Modern Guilt

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Beck - Modern Guilt

This is the El Perdedor's latest installment. Pop, alternative, postmodern...those are just words. I believe Beck is one of the most original musicians of our time. Some of his tracks belong in a danceparty and some of them are the excellent choice for an introspective journey into the Self. This album continues to carry that torch.