I bought a new house (read old house) and have been swamped with so many not cool tasks like skim coating and ceiling painting, and have severely neglected blogging. Luckily John is Music Encyclopedia Jones, and has been able to share some great tunes to save TGP from being a barren wasteland. Finally he posts on my favorite band of all time, though my favorite album is Speaking in Tongues, with More Songs a very close second place.
I don't have time for a full write up on each of these artists/albums, but I wanted to quickly share some of the tunes I've been into lately. Some are brand new, some are brand old, much like the current state of appliances and luxuries such as a functioning roof a new/old house like mine can/can't provide.
I've been washed over with an overwhelming amount of new music discoveries lately, which is a great feeling. Here are a few of them:
MP3 Jeremy Jay - In This Lonely Town Alt Link
Buy Slow Dance
Jeremy Jay myspace
I had never heard of Jeremy Jay, but I heard this song a few months back on Sirius XMU. My radio display is broken and I couldn't figure out who it was. I tried and tried with google to identify it with the song lyrics with no luck. Then I realized my girlfriend has an app on her Verizon phone where you can play any song into the phone and within ten seconds it will tell you what the name of the song and artist is. Pretty much the coolest feature I've ever seen on a cell phone, I wish they made it for other carriers/blackberries.
The song came back on the radio the other day and I was able to record it to my voicemail and on a longshot played it back on speakerphone and the app figured it out!
This tune has a 90s indie feel to it, something you would expect to hear from Pavement or Built To Spill. Rest of the album is pretty decent too, though more synth than the 90s indie this song lets on.
Bat For Lashes - Daniel Alt Link
Buy Two Suns
Bat For Lashes Myspace
What can I say about Bat For Lashes that you haven't already heard? This girl is good, and no doubt my current obsession. I didn't really get into her first album, it was a little more midevil fair, where Two Suns is more Kate Bush 80s goodness. I love the video too, nice cameo by a Daneil Larusso type figure. Where is the love for Johnny the blonde haired bad guy though? I think her follow up album should feature Johnny in his Halloween skeleton face paint, after being soaked by a hose while trying to smoke a bone, and possibly with a bloody nose. Get this album if you haven't caught the hype already.
School of Seven Bells - Connjur Alt Link
Buy Aplinisms
School of Seven Bells Myspace
How am I not sick of this song by now? Without fail I've listened to this song at least three times a day for the past three weeks. I can't get enough of it, it's like Gator Gum. Do they still make that stuff? Used to get a few pieces before every little league baseball game. The bridge/breakdown of this song kills me every time. Amazing sound, great for headphones or a lonely car ride.
Swans - Blind Alt Link
Buy Various Failures
While I'm busy asking questions, how did I never come across Swans before? Dark wave/goth rock fill in your favorite label here, with beautiful lyrics and soundscapes. Often very dark subject matter, and vocals in a deep Joy Division/Leonard Cohen type of delivery. Excellent stuff from the late 80s/early 90s. This track, Blind, a lost Michael Gira gem is a five star in my humble library.
MP3: She Wants Revenge - Tear You Apart Alt Link
MP3: Bauhaus - Bela Legosi's Dead Alt Link
One of my guilty pleasures is the show Fringe on Fox. 99% of shows on network TV I end up despising, but Lost and Fringe have managed to keep my attention. On the last episode there was a club scene, and I swear I thought they were playing Bauhaus' "Bela Lugosi's Dead". We were saying how cool it would be if there was a club in Boston that would play that type of music instead of the typical club music horseshit, maybe there is and I'm just not goth enough to know where it is. Then I started to doubt my ears so we pulled out the phone for the song ID thing again (nice literary recall), and lo and behold it said it was "Tear You Apart" by She Wants Revenge! I seemed to remember She Wants Revenge, though I don't think I ever gave the full album a chance. Then I listened to both songs and realized how similar they are in sound, but wasn't satisfied with that explanation. I did some digging, and sure enough that episode actually featured both songs back to back in that club scene, so my ears weren't wrong after all. Long story long, here are both tunes for your listening pleasure.
I'll be playing all of these songs along with some other good stuff at 21 Nickels in Watertown, MA this Saturday if you are like me and want to try something other than horseshit club music.
I don't have time for a full write up on each of these artists/albums, but I wanted to quickly share some of the tunes I've been into lately. Some are brand new, some are brand old, much like the current state of appliances and luxuries such as a functioning roof a new/old house like mine can/can't provide.
I've been washed over with an overwhelming amount of new music discoveries lately, which is a great feeling. Here are a few of them:
MP3 Jeremy Jay - In This Lonely Town Alt Link
Buy Slow Dance
Jeremy Jay myspace
I had never heard of Jeremy Jay, but I heard this song a few months back on Sirius XMU. My radio display is broken and I couldn't figure out who it was. I tried and tried with google to identify it with the song lyrics with no luck. Then I realized my girlfriend has an app on her Verizon phone where you can play any song into the phone and within ten seconds it will tell you what the name of the song and artist is. Pretty much the coolest feature I've ever seen on a cell phone, I wish they made it for other carriers/blackberries.
The song came back on the radio the other day and I was able to record it to my voicemail and on a longshot played it back on speakerphone and the app figured it out!
This tune has a 90s indie feel to it, something you would expect to hear from Pavement or Built To Spill. Rest of the album is pretty decent too, though more synth than the 90s indie this song lets on.
Bat For Lashes - Daniel Alt Link
Buy Two Suns
Bat For Lashes Myspace
What can I say about Bat For Lashes that you haven't already heard? This girl is good, and no doubt my current obsession. I didn't really get into her first album, it was a little more midevil fair, where Two Suns is more Kate Bush 80s goodness. I love the video too, nice cameo by a Daneil Larusso type figure. Where is the love for Johnny the blonde haired bad guy though? I think her follow up album should feature Johnny in his Halloween skeleton face paint, after being soaked by a hose while trying to smoke a bone, and possibly with a bloody nose. Get this album if you haven't caught the hype already.
School of Seven Bells - Connjur Alt Link
Buy Aplinisms
School of Seven Bells Myspace
How am I not sick of this song by now? Without fail I've listened to this song at least three times a day for the past three weeks. I can't get enough of it, it's like Gator Gum. Do they still make that stuff? Used to get a few pieces before every little league baseball game. The bridge/breakdown of this song kills me every time. Amazing sound, great for headphones or a lonely car ride.
Swans - Blind Alt Link
Buy Various Failures
While I'm busy asking questions, how did I never come across Swans before? Dark wave/goth rock fill in your favorite label here, with beautiful lyrics and soundscapes. Often very dark subject matter, and vocals in a deep Joy Division/Leonard Cohen type of delivery. Excellent stuff from the late 80s/early 90s. This track, Blind, a lost Michael Gira gem is a five star in my humble library.
MP3: She Wants Revenge - Tear You Apart Alt Link
MP3: Bauhaus - Bela Legosi's Dead Alt Link
One of my guilty pleasures is the show Fringe on Fox. 99% of shows on network TV I end up despising, but Lost and Fringe have managed to keep my attention. On the last episode there was a club scene, and I swear I thought they were playing Bauhaus' "Bela Lugosi's Dead". We were saying how cool it would be if there was a club in Boston that would play that type of music instead of the typical club music horseshit, maybe there is and I'm just not goth enough to know where it is. Then I started to doubt my ears so we pulled out the phone for the song ID thing again (nice literary recall), and lo and behold it said it was "Tear You Apart" by She Wants Revenge! I seemed to remember She Wants Revenge, though I don't think I ever gave the full album a chance. Then I listened to both songs and realized how similar they are in sound, but wasn't satisfied with that explanation. I did some digging, and sure enough that episode actually featured both songs back to back in that club scene, so my ears weren't wrong after all. Long story long, here are both tunes for your listening pleasure.
I'll be playing all of these songs along with some other good stuff at 21 Nickels in Watertown, MA this Saturday if you are like me and want to try something other than horseshit club music.