On another tip from my friend Jinda (yeah, she’s awesome), I have discovered the love that is Calvin Harris. Eighties-obsessed and Scottish, he lays down smooth dance beats and cheery lyrics that make him immediately endearing. Check out his video for “The Girls” from his album I Create Disco below.

See also:  “Acceptable in the 80s” and “Merrymaking At My Place”.

The Wildbirds have put out a new video for the song “Suzanna” and it is so, so creepy. But also fairly entertaining. Maybe they were inspired by Lars and the Real Girl? Check out all the mannequin goodness here:

Also, just because it amuses me -

The Wildbirds now

and then (as Number One Fan)

The second album in a trilogy, Under the Boards by Saves the Day is a story of reflection and remorse. While precursor Sound the Alarm was raw and rattling, Under the Boards slows the pace and focuses the craft of songwriting - at least for the first half of the album. Then it’s back to the grit and aggression that has made Saves the Day so beloved.

Excellent bass lines and thundering drums permeate the album, while veterans Conley and Soloway lend their familiar lyrical and guitar styles, respectively. A prime example is “Radio”, which the band debuted live on their last tour with Say Anything.

“Lovely Nights” features a poppy piano hook that contrasts an intense barrage of questions. “Get Fucked Up” is the highlight of the first part of the album, and “Stay” marks the end of the more polished ‘reflection’ section with an acoustic guitar and country tinge.

Though the first half is enjoyable, things really hit stride with the onset of ‘remorse’.

“Getaway” and “Because You Are No Other” are as vicious as anything off Sound the Alarm. Swirling sound, marching drums, and accusatory guitars mark “Kaleidoscope”. Ominous and cavernous, the despair felt by the narrator of “Woe” is that of someone at the end of his rope - but the final track “Turn In My Tomb” gives a defeated acceptance that foreshadows the next album’s theme.

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Under the Boards drops 10/30/07.

Find out more at their official site.

When you think of Brooklyn, the first thing to come to mind probably isn’t bluegrass-infused americana - but maybe it should be. On Overcome, The Jones Street Boys meld elements of folk, country, and bluegrass with pavement-pounding urban flare to yield a sound that is distinctly American.

Case in point is the last track on the album, “Tall Buildings”. Though the melody is familiar, the lyrics have a slant that ring true with any reluctant hipster who gives in to growing up (”sell me a suit / cut off my hair / send me to work in tall buildings”).

There is a wide musical range in the choice of songs, from the organ, harmonica, and bubbling banjo on “River Wide”, the quiet introspection of “Overcome” and “Hello Lonesome”, and the rougher vocals and distinctly bluegrass feel of “Last Time”. Vocal duties are more or less evenly traded off between the warm and deep sound of Jon Hull’s voice and sharper and reedier style of Danny Erker, with a healthy dose of group harmonies thrown in for good measure. Overall there is a nice balance and chemistry amongst the quintet.

Overcome is a great choice for those who want to dig into their roots without having to endure the twang and hokeyness so often associated with country and bluegrass.

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Overcome dropped 10/2/2007.

You can stream the entire album at their site.

Click on the links to download Last Time and Argentina.

To conjure fall, just imagine a hint of cold in the air, scarves and sweaters, and bright orange & red leaves mockingly splashed against the gray sky. Or listen to The End of History by Fionn Regan.

At twenty-six, the Irish native has managed to capture a sound and sentiment beyond his years. Favoring a finger-picking style, Regan creates an incredibly rich sound. Occasionally accompanying the core of guitar and Regan’s clear, strong voice are strings, piano, and even the less conventional saw.

The folky “Put A Penny In the Slot” offers a funny and quirky first verse detailing oddly endearing kleptomaniacal behavior. “Black Water Child” has a country tilt to it, and on “Bunker or Basement” a hollow piano duets with Regan’s guitar for a beautiful outro.

Tied for best track are “Snowy Atlas Mountains” and “Hunters Map” - both are dark, haunting, and extraordinary.

Fraught with intimacy, The End of History is a gorgeous glimpse into Regan’s world. More than just lovely melodies and poetic lyrics, Regan’s songs grasp the intangibles of beauty and present them track by glorious track.

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The End of History dropped 07/10/07.

You can listen to several tracks from the album here.

The apocalypse has never sounded so good.

On their fourth album No World For Tomorrow, Coheed & Cambria bring their epic story to a close - a story so epic I can’t even begin to explain due to its intense nerdiness and lack of commitment on my part to follow it all. For an album by album synopsis, click here. Basically, this album is about the end of the world/civilization.

Full of theater and spectacle, the album opens with acoustic guitar and thunder-like crashes, giving way to the fist-raising call to arms that is “No World For Tomorrow”.

Seventies and eighties influences dominate the early tracks, but are blown away by the beautifully composed “Mother Superior” that layers strings and acoustic guitars against the pairing of bass and piano.

Most outstanding is the album’s (and story’s) coda, a five part piece collectively known as The End Complete. A chorus, classical guitar, and ominous feel paint “The Fall of House Atlantic”, and “Radio Bye Bye” is one of the catchiest songs to come from Coheed & Cambria. As the undead take over (I warned you this was nerdy), a lament is heard in “The Road and The Damned”.

“On the Brink” wraps things up in a multi-movement piece that ranges from an almost jazzy quality to an echo of the theme from “The Willing Well IV: The Final Cut” - where the band last left us on Good Apollo. The track also features a new, soulful tone for vocalist Claudio Sanchez not heard in previous releases.

Though this album marks the end of the story, fans can look forward to the next release, which chronicles the beginning of the Coheed & Cambria epic and prequels the band’s first release, Second Stage Turbine Blade. That is, of course, provided the band does not break up before then. Prior to the making of No World For Tomorrow, two members of the band left. Bassist Michael Todd returned for the recording and has rejoined the band, but drummer Josh Eppard has been replaced. Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins filled in during recording, and Chris Pennie (formerly of Dillinger Escape Plan) has now joined as a permanent member of the group.

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No World For Tomorrow drops 10/23/07.

You can view the official album site here.

Radiohead’s new album is okay. Yep, just okay.

There are a couple of tracks that I love. “All I Need” has a vaguely 80s tinge to it in the vein of Depeche Mode et al and features deep, fuzzy bass tones against tinkling bells that give a desolate feeling that increases as the song swells. Similar is “Videotape” whose sad and haunting piano line ends up being rather beautiful. On the whole the track gives off an uneasy feeling that is oddly satisfying.

Aside from those two tracks, however, the album is underwhelming. Many of the tracks did very little for me - “15 Steps”’s lazy guitars and beatbox, Yorke’s high falsetto on “Reckoner”, and the stream of consciousness delivery on “Faust Arp” all made me just shrug. The chill sways of “Nude” and urgent swells of “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” were mildly interesting, but really only in contrast to nonstarter “House of Cards”.

Lyrical themes of self-loathing, failed romance, sin, and death dominate In Rainbows, causing the album to come off as more of an oral diary than an album, compounded by the general lack of noteworthy instrumentals. Perhaps Yorke says it best with the line “what’s the point of instruments?/words are a sawed-off shotgun” - but then again for this to apply the lyrics on this album would need to be considerably stepped up.

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In Rainbows dropped 10/10/07.

Download the album for free here.

Rilo Kiley. Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s. Arcade Fire. Elliott Smith. Bright Eyes. These are the artists that come to mind when listening to John Ralston’s sophomore LP, Sorry Vampire.

Live, John Ralston and his band are straight rock and roll, an amped up singer/songwriter outfit. Though excellent, the live show doesn’t even begin to compare with the genius Ralston achieves on this release.

The laundry list of instruments appearing on the album are actually put to good use, contributing to the overall sound and feel of the album as opposed to merely lending themselves to spectacle.

Kicking off the album is “Fragile”, an excellent track featuring gritty electronics, strings, and fantastically catchy hand claps. Staccato strings help make “The Only Evidence” a memorable track. A clipped drum beat and angelic chorus spice up the generally sparse “I Guess I Wasted My Summer Now”, while “A Small Clearing” fluctuates between ascending video-game-like electropop and classic piano.

Also of note are Ralston’s colorful lyrics.  Whether straightforward (”if I lean in too close, it’s to kiss or confess”) or somewhat obscure (”Still, dead air in the pinwheel lungs / Baby birds are weak and dumb”), they provide unexpectedly vivid imagery.

Sorry Vampire is quite an impressive outing from this Florida native. Each track is complex and unique but come together to form a cohesive album. You can catch John Ralston on tour through mid-November.

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Sorry Vampire dropped 10/02/07.

Check out John Ralston’s official site.

In 1968, twenty-two year old Nik Cohn wrote what is widely considered to be the first book of rock criticism. Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom explores the worlds of rock & roll and pop - something that Cohn figured at the time would end up being a passing fad, much like the genres’ forebears.

Due to the time of its writing, Cohn has provided an insightful account of rock as it was within the context of those who created and experienced it. influential artists are looked at through a fresh and critical eye, without the filter of myth that surrounds those that are legends today. Elvis was still alive, the Beatles had not yet broken up, and Cohn thought that the Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger was past his prime to be wiggling about on stage - if he’d only knew Jagger would still be at it 40 years later, I wonder what he’d say.

Though some of the text is wandering and at points borders on rubbish, Cohn occasionally transcends to pure poetry.

on pop, page 85:

“The point is that pop doesn’t work around good records or pretty voices or cute people - those are only details. Really, it happens off superheroes and superdollars, off hyped mass hysteria and deepdown social change, off short-term collective insanities. People aren’t relevant.”

on Phil Spector’s sound, page 95:

“They were dirty great explosions, guerrilla grenades. They were the loudest pop records ever made.”

Amazing is how well Cohn’s observations have held up and how much of it still applies to the industry today.

Happy Hundredth Post!

The mixtapes are now all up and running. Some were too long to fit into one file, so they had to be split in two. I’ve tried to break them in logical places where each part can stand alone.

The files are rather large, so it may take a couple minutes to load - we suggest pressing play, then pause. Come back in a few minutes and enjoy - the file will continue loading while the player is paused. The player will also hold your place if you pause mid-mix.

Enjoy!