New Socks - Picture Story Friends Goodbye

 

http://www.mediafire.com/?62dt7q7ofqffpt2

I was sent this album by a Molly, a member of the band. It is an extremely good album from a band i am not sure i would have heard of otherwise.

Sort of a lovely folk-pop record, kind of like a more interesting Noah and the Whale. Or, at times, somewhat like Nana Grizol but not exactly.

Every song on the album is excellent, which is pretty rare. They use a large selection of instruments, layered without ever falling into the the excessively-baroque trap that some multi-instrumentalists do. Underneath the interesting instrumentation, still, is some absolutely solid songwriting and great lyrics.

 

Molly describes the band thus:

"New Socks is Ben Morey, Molly Kerker and Becky Lovell. We started playing together in 2008 and released our first album New So(ck)(ng)s in 2009. We've done one tour where we played in 13 states. Our music is made with guitars, accordion, tambourine, bass, ukulele, banjo, keyboards, piano, trumpet and clarinet. We write honest, mostly autobiographical songs. Picture Story Friends Goodbye is our second album and it will be released on October 12th 2010.

We spent a year recording this album ourselves in an old farmhouse we were living in, that was filled with instruments and surrounded by fields of growing things and singing birds (which come through the quietest parts of the album). The album is about leaving, grasping at childhood and lost family and friends, seeing things die, being in love with everyone and trying not to lose them."

 

My personal favourite tracks are "Summer", "The Boys I Meet", and "Robin Skull".

Buy the album here.

New Socks is raising money for a short vinyl run and tour here. Donate!

The One Up Downstairs - The One Up Downstairs

 http://www.mediafire.com/?nimyfko88ks6e81

Short 3-song EP from The One Up Downstairs, a 90s emo band featuring Mike Kinsella (of various legendary bands Cap'n Jazz, Joan of Arc, American Football, and Owen). They only ever recorded these 3 songs before the band split up and Kinsella went on to form American Football.

Despite the fact that this EP is only 10 minutes long, it is really great. Especially if you're a fan of American Football. The band not the sport.

Whirl - Distressor

 http://www.mediafire.com/?aist7aaqn0sc83z

Whirl is a shoegaze band from somewhere in Northern California. I don't really know anything about them, sorry. It is a really good album though, if you're in the mood for shoegazey stuff.

Album is available for purchase here.

http://www.myspace.com/whirlband

The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die - Demo 2010

http://www.mediafire.com/?7ggt4d503xcn0l3
 

Connecticut band, formed in 2009. Great band name, great album cover, very pleasantly interesting take on emo-style music. Some post-rock influence, as well. Highly recommended.

New Album is available here. It is even better, albeit shorter.

The Jazz June - The Medicine (2000)

http://www.mediafire.com/?7f6a2uxraazrwgj
 

The Jazz June was a band from Pennsylvania, formed in 1996. This is a really great album, of a 90s-emo sort of sound.

You'd think i'd have more to say having not posted in a month. Nope.

Foot Ox - Foot Ox (2007)

http://www.mediafire.com/?5e9556atyse5fbe

God damn i love Foot Ox. This is the self-titled album from the Arizona crazy-experimental-folk-thing band. I have been listening to it nonstop this week. How do i describe in a new way a band i have already posted twice?


There's really nothing quite like it. The closest way to describe this music was if Andrew Jackson Jihad was made up of a bunch of... grown, insane, children. Many of them, making an orchestra of all sorts of instruments and non-instruments. It's incredible.


The whole album is amazing, but my favourites are "Wet Blanket", "I Take My Life", and "I Saw You"

"i saw you when you were unborn and i told your mother it was not worth those ovaries/ so you remain whatever you were before cause i saw your future, it was burning in violence/ now you dont know how long youve been waiting for this world to come knocking"

http://www.myspace.com/footox
http://footox.net/


Incidentally, i obviously have not posted much recently. I wish i could have an excuse like i was busy making millions or having a girlfriend or incredible personal hardships or something. It's nothing of the sort. I am just an unmotivated asshole. Eventually it'll pick up, though I can't say when.

The Deep Dark Woods - Winter Hours (2009)

http://www.mediafire.com/?kapbn9x6xbwr15m

Band from Saskatoon, SK. This is excellent country-folk music, with lovely harmonies and sparse, dark instrumentation. For fans of such things as The Wooden Sky, The Avett Brothers, or possibly Townes Van Zandt.

'Farewell' and 'All the Money I Had is Gone' are my favourite songs.

 

http://www.thedeepdarkwoods.com/

Rymodee - Songs of Separation and Ghost Mice Split

http://www.mediafire.com/?6qgkcqcv4jws28t http://www.mediafire.com/?b5audoaa0t4itvz

Rymodee is the lead singer of critically awesome folk-punk band This Is A Pipe Bomb. These two albums are him performing solo. Apparently his name is Rymodee. What sort of name this is, I do not know.

It's kind of like an acoustic version of TBIAPB: country-fied southern punkish folk music. Sounds kinda like Woody Guthrie.

Your Heart Breaks - New Ocean Waves (2005)

http://www.mediafire.com/?jqyrvy0op7aput2

Seattle indie-pop band. I've heard them referred to as 'queercore'. I do not know what that means, at least in regards to the music.

"On your MySpace page, you describe your music as "sparse homo pop love songs". What does that mean?

Clyde Peterson: The music is spacious, the words are gay, it's pretty upbeat and the words rhyme, and most of the songs are about trains, getting your whiskey drunk on, and girls. It's the best way I could think of to describe the feeling. It could also say "drunken gay adventure music". That might be another accurate description of the band."

- plan-it-x

Alls i know is that every song on this album is a well-written one. I enjoy it very much.


http://www.yourheartbreaks.com/

So Cow - So Cow (2009)

http://www.mediafire.com/?d617mg9nxbfdn0i

The whole time I was listening to this self titled album from So Cow (Brian Kelly), i was stricken by a sense of "what the hell am i listening to?". It's erratic, noise-pop that you think is more noise than pop, then more pop than noise. Like if Deerhoof, Foot Ox, and Weezer had a child. Except then you realize it doesnt sound like any of those.

The depth of this music is quite impressive, i recommend you check it out.
'Shackleton', 'Exclamation Mark', and 'To Do List' are my highlights.

http://www.myspace.com/socow