Funeral Party - The Golden Age of Knowhere / Live at the BBC (V0 / 320)

Every day is repost day.

So Funeral Party's debut album finally got a proper release, sometime earlier this year. Anyone with no life might remember it being posted here as a leaked album in September of last year. Apparently it wasn't even meant to be a self-titled! Go figure.

So now, in all of its dance-punk, raw and energetic glory is the official Funeral Party debut The Golden Age of Knowhere, complete with slightly less annoying album art.

For those of you who don't know, Funeral Party is an up & coming dance-punk band who basically kick all sorts of ass. Like I said about 4 sentences ago, it is raw and energetic dance-punk. Almost like catchy and somehow not cheesy post-hardcore, the vocals will make your neck hair stiff.

BUT WAIT!

THERE'S MORE!

I took the liberty of including their newest effort, a live EP entitled Live at the BBC. It's 6 songs long, with three live recordings and three remixes, done respectively by Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio (and more recently Jane's Addiction), Kids of 88, and Mike Relm, the Youtube DJ sensation.

All of which are awesome.

Get it here, and finally do yourself a favor and buy this new and potential-laden band's album here.

Foals - Antidotes (320)

Ah, the Foals. A band that opened the pathway to indie and alternative for me. I don't have much to say about the Foals except that they are awesome. They have a very interesting yet extremely catchy sound. A few of my favorite tracks of this album would be "Mathletics" and "Cassius" but I would say that the whole album is simply amazing. Give it a shot, you might just like it, especially if you like indie rock or really anything kind of indie music.

Get it here or buy it here.

Lou Reed - Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse (V0)

An incredible work but ultimately a commercial failure, the rock noir opera Berlin had been one of Lou Reed's greatest kept secrets. The record is a classic amongst Reed fans, notably for its personal and gritty subject matter. Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse is the first time Reed has played this album live in over thirty years, since Berlin flopped almost immediately after release. Don't be alarmed, though; Berlin easily draws comparisons to, and arguably supercedes, the masterwork of storytelling that is The Who's Tommy.

Download.
Buy the DVD with concert footage!

They Might Be Giants - Here Comes Science (V0)

The most recent children's album from They Might Be Giants, Here Comes Science, is only a children's album in the sense that it celebrates the curiosity and thirst for knowledge that children have before bickering, cynical adults take it away from them. Don't expect complexity; this album is joyously simple, infectious and heartfelt.

Come on, come on and meet the elements,
You and I are complicated but we're made of elements!

Mimas - The Worries (V0)

Mimas are are a dark independent band from Denmark. Their sound is something like if you took the post-rock progression and intensity found in Godspeed You! Black Emperor and mixed it in a broken blender with 90's emo and a horrifying male post-surgery Tegan and Sara. I've heard people say they also sound like Sigur Rós's take on Built to Spill. They call themselves "death indie," which normally is grounds for being presumed annoying but it's okay because I heard their music before I read the description on their last.fm page.

Seriously though, these guys fuse vocals with post-rock in a way I wasn't really sure was possible before hearing them. It's almost like post-rock pop, and it's delicious.

And they don't skimp on the brass. <3. Download here, buy it here.

Oberhofer - o0Oo0Oo EP (V0)

You're pushing me away from you,
And there's nothing I can do,
And I can't fight all of your battles for you.

Buy it at a show. He gives it away for free.

This is the first of a three post series highlighting the bands Oberhofer, Twin Sister and The Morning Benders.

Expect more from these guys soon.

Bad Veins - Bad Veins (V0)

I heard about these guys about a week before I saw them. They were touring with Two Door Cinema Club and Funeral Party, whom I all had the pleasure of seeing last Wednesday. It was a great show, and I was thoroughly impressed by everyone.

Bad Veins is actually just two guys playing guitar and drums over backing tracks that get belted out by a tape player. They even have this very gaudy tape player on stage with them during shows, and it plays all the horns, synths and overdubs and it makes their sound rich and full. They sound pretty unique, but some of their songs actually remind me of a more composed The Bravery. They utilize telephones and megaphones to distort the vocals and the intensity of the songs never fail to impress.

After the show we went and talked to the guys for a while, and he gave me a free download ticket for their self-titled album. Cool dudes.

Check these guys out, they're only just now reaching their full potential.

Download here and buy it here.

The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead (320)

The Helio Sequence are Brandon Summers and Benjamin Weikel. Any Modest Mouse fans reading this will surely recognize Ben as once having drummed for them during 2003 and 2004, when they were releasing Good News.

This album has incredible sentimental value for me, as it was basically the first non-mainstream music that I really got into. I was doing a search for the best albums of 2008 and this repeatedly made its way onto my screen; I just couldn't ignore all the people saying it was a masterpiece, so I gave it a listen.

What I found was undoubtedly the most eye-opening experience I have ever had from a musical standpoint. Even now I feel like they transcend being defined by a single genre. It's not enough to just say shoegaze, or electronic, or alternative rock. Those things together don't even accurately describe The Helio Sequence. Tags are certainly just a formality here, and there isn't a person I can think of that wouldn't be able to at least find some joy in this album. The themes are universal, the music is aesthetically intriguing, and the tone of Brandon's voice sounds like a younger Bob Dylan, creating a feeling of antiquity throughout the songs. For these reasons, Keep Your Eyes Ahead is, without a doubt, my favorite album of 2008.

It's just authentic, I guess.

Download here and buy it here.

Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me (320)

Brand New didn't exactly start out on the right foot, their first album being pretty mediocre and nothing quite special. Their second album, while being a vast improvement and a very good album it still felt like there was something missing. Then, they released this gem.

The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me is such an emotion driven piece that you can't listen to it without having your mood being grabbed by the wrist and dragged along for the ride, no matter how you were feeling before you started. The vocals here are incredibly essential, it's leading the pack so to speak. The passion behind the lyrics and the way they're being sung is so good at times it gives me goosebumps, and then the instruments back it up perfectly to make it twice as powerful. What you get here is the whole package. There are some incredibly depressing songs that can be termed as "emo," some general alternative rockers with fairly catchy guitar riffs, and some with a mix of the two. There's also plenty of acoustics strewn about, with whispering quiet vocals not unlike Connor Oberst of Bright eyes that will make the song feel very personal, as if it's being sung to you from a few feet away. The entire first half of the album by itself should leave you not knowing what to think. The second half gets less emotional and more guitar driven, and will loosen it's grip on your heart by a bit. You'll feel like you just got your heart torn out and the person who did it is just standing there holding it in front of you while you wait for them to kindly give it back. They give it back eventually, but ultimately you're left confused and wanting to know more, kind of like after an open ended movie. Or at least, that's how I felt.

Personally this album has sky rocketed into my favorite albums list in just a mere two weeks or so. I'd suggest this album to anyone who likes emotion and vocal driven music, along with alternative fans. I leave this album with an incredibly high recommendation, but don't expect it to lift your spirits at all. You're in for something that will tug at your heart strings, especially if you focus on the lyrics.

Highlights: Millstone, Degausser, Luca

Download here.

Echo & the Bunnymen - Heaven Up Here (V0)

Post-punk legends Echo & the Bunnymen would like to believe that there is life after death. Weaving angular melodies and tribal rhythms into an album both morose and energetic, Heaven Up Here, the sophomore release by 80's-era cult masterminds Ian McCulloch and Will Seargent, is, almost thirty years later, still probably among the greatest post-punk albums of all time.

Download.

Twin Tigers - Gray Waves (256)

I went to an Interpol show earlier this year with my friend, and had the pleasure of being introduced to Twin Tigers, an amazing pop-shoegaze outfit who was opening for them at the time. I actually enjoyed them about as much as I did Interpol, which is saying something, since Interpol is one of my favorite bands of all time.

Gray Waves is their first album, released this year on Old Flame Records. It has obvious My Bloody Valentine influences, coupled with catchy hooks over the layered guitars.

I actually got to hang out and talk to a couple of the band members who were just loitering about in front of the venue. One specific member, named Forrest, even offered to get me into the next show for free, which made my car troubles all the more frustrating the following day.

You will enjoy this if you like shoegaze acts of any kind, and probably if you enjoy alternative rock, too. The vocals on this track are almost squeaky at times, and there's plenty of harmonies with bassist Aimee Morris. Try and catch these guys live sometime, they're incredible.

Download here and buy it here.

The Deadly Syndrome - Nolens Volens (V0)

I unfortunately didn't hear about The Deadly Syndrome until earlier this year, when I was still spending all my nights in my room awake until 3 AM just listening to music and watching re-runs of Reno 911. I had heard about them from a friend who, ever since I had taken him to a Blind Pilot show, was obsessed with this understated, simplistic pop sound. The songs they do remind me of lost journal entries, or small composition notebooks filled with thoughts and musings about people and love.

Say what you know,
and fake what you don't,

You can't accept,
They won't have kept,
Your name with your death,
and life will be easier.

– "Wingwalker"

Nolens Volens, their 2010 self-released album, carries an aesthetic feel that almost feels ambient at times. The songs "Villan" and "Afterwork," while retaining a somewhat poppy aesthetic, seem to go into self-indulgent territories, which is something absent from most music like this these days. One of my favorite things about The Deadly Syndrome is the careful attention they put towards the instrumentation. There are plenty of swelling synths and calm acoustic guitars, which balance well with the pop-rock songs like "Party City," which almost gives a Rogue Wave vibe. It's a great album for the autumn season, so take this one with you somewhere. You won't regret it.

Download it here, buy it here.

I also invite you to have a listen to their 2007 release, The Ortolan.

Blonde Redhead - Penny Sparkle (FLAC)

Penny Sparkle is the newest album by alternative rock band Blonde Redhead, released on September 14th of this year. They're continuing their shift into a much more electronic based sound that they started with their previous album 23, and it's been received well. It also seems to be a bit more downtempo feeling than their previous albums. They're trying out new things and it's certainly paying off. However, with that said, this album disappointed me a bit. It's a good album, but I was just expecting more. There are a couple quite good songs on here, that will get stuck in your head and you'll find yourself humming them later in the day. But then the rest of the songs I didn't enjoy much at all. They felt like unimpressive fillers to get to the next good song. They didn't stick with me like the others and I found myself getting a bit bored and wanting to change the CD I was listening to. Thankfully though I kept listening, and I found it worth it in the end.

So despite the couple dud songs that might discourage you and possibly bore you a bit, I'm recommending this album. There's more good here than bad, but if you're expecting another 23 you'll be a bit let down.

Highlights: Here Sometimes, Love or a Prison, Black Guitar

Download here.

Ghastly City Sleep - Ghastly City Sleep (V0)

Ghastly City Sleep was something that also helped me get into post-rock at the end of 2008, which is odd, since Ghastly City Sleep is not your typical post-rock. In fact, it's probably not even post-rock. I picked this album up at a store for three bucks, and I still keep it in my car so I can listen to it whenever I want. And that's saying something, considering I only have about four CDs in my car. In Utero, Hospice, The Fruit That Ate Itself and this album. An odd collection, I know, but that's what I drive to, I guess.

To continue, this album might actually be an EP. It has four songs that all accurately portray the band's sound, incorporating several musical elements into all of their songs, ranging from ambient, alternative, post-rock, and at times shoegaze sounds. There are vocals on all the songs, sometimes whispery and light, and at other times impending like those of Dan Barrett from Have A Nice Life. In fact, the song Suchness gives me major Have A Nice Life vibes.

It's hard to describe the music in a small group of words, but if there's one feeling to take away from this description, it's ambient post-rock with vocals.

You can find the album here and buy it here.

Funeral Party - Funeral Party (V0)

This year has been a fine year for music. Some of my favorite albums in my entire music collection are from this year, and surprisingly I can say that I actually am having to be selective in making my "best albums of 2010" list. Big Echo, Wild Nothing, Nolens Volens, Ruth, and even the new Have a Nice Life EP were all spectacular in my eyes, so there's no complaints on this end.

I wasn't sure if it was just a phase or an accidental obsession, but there has been one album so far this year that has gone from being unknown to me to being my new musical infatuation in less than 2 months. That would be Funeral Party's self-titled, a new dance-punk masterpiece that has carved the band their own niche in what is otherwise a still developing genre of music. While it lacks the primal rock-and-roll feel of Death From Above's music, it presents itself with a much more cutting edge and chilled out style that hooks you from the beginning. The opening track, NYC moves to the sound of LA, while somewhat different from the rest of the album, is undoubtedly the most fitting opening track, in that it captures the style and message of the band in the first thirty seconds.

The album gets better each time you listen to it, and over time you develop a very thorough knowledge of the songs due to the sonic richness and stunning clarity. This album is the dark chocolate of modern alternative rock. Carwars, Just Because and Youth in Poverty are a couple of the best songs of 2010.

If my description doesn't do it for you, at the very least have a listen to the album, which you can get here, and make sure to buy it from them when it's finally released sometime soon. You could even be like me and go to any of their shoes supporting Two Door Cinema Club at this time. They are cheap and will be nothing short of amazing.

Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse - Dark Night Of The Soul (320)

You might know of Danger Mouse and his hit-or-miss works already, especially his Gnarls Barkley work. I actually hadn't heard anything by him other than Gnarls Barkley until this year when I got his largely forgettable Broken Bells album. Anyway, I first heard about this collab album on my local NPR station sometime early this year; they had both Danger Mouse and David Lynch on talking about the work they did together and how this album was one of the most fun things Lynch has ever done. Naturally, being an avid fan of the movies Eraserhead and Mulholland Drive, I jumped out of my seat when I heard David was venturing into music as well. He actually sings on two of the songs (Dark Night Of The Soul and Star Eyes), one of which is in my personal opinion the best song on the entire album.

Now, the thing about this is, I know next to nothing about Sparklehorse. His Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot album is wonderful, but for some reason I have neither heard much else by him, or anything even about him, so to those who are avid fans of his, I apologize for the lack of emphasis whatsoever on this artist.

So anyway, after that, I looked up some information on the album, and from there it was bliss. I learned that Wayne Coyne and the Flaming Lips, Julian Casablancas, Black Francis, Iggy Pop, James Mercer, Vic Chesnutt and more all helped out on this solid release. Needless to say, I was ecstatic by this point.

So, I wound up buying this album after I downloaded it because it has become one of my favorite collab albums of all time. Just about every song is rock solid, and Little Girl has become one of my favorite songs of 2009. The cool thing is, the whole album has a tone and style to it, and I am finding it hard to describe it. I suppose it's a dark, eccentric and almost antique sounding, but there aren't words to describe it exactly. Let's say you find yourself in a broken down city and you walk into a small pawn shop filled with odd and creepy things. This album would definitely be in there somewhere, on a small end table covered in cobwebs.

To be frank, you can't go wrong with this album, so check it out. Grab it here and buy it here.

And if you also happen to be a fan of Lynch like I am, have a gander at the Official Website for the album, as he worked on the visuals for both the album and the site.

Radiohead - In Rainbows (FLAC)

In Rainbows is, without a doubt, Radiohead's most intimate record. Not only is the instrumentation extremely sparse, often limited to a single instrument and a drum loop, it is comprised entire of love songs. The clear Warp Records influence here, which is even more prominent than on Idioteque or those other quasi-trip-hop Radiohead songs, is what makes In Rainbows stand on its own so well. It is, for the most part, Radiohad shrugging off their experimentalism and grunginess for a more user-friendly, outward inwardness. Yorke's voice is as fragile and isolated as usual, but, as was not seen in Kid A, he seems to be making a genuine attempt to confide in the listener; to seek comfort from them.

Get it in FLAC here.

The Envy Corps - Dwell (V2)

So many bands go through my hard drive, it seems. Anyone who's ever been serious about collecting music knows that sometimes we make investments in albums that we might not enjoy like we thought we would, or even worse, ones we wind up regretting. I have had my share of disappointments, as well. But bands like The Envy Corps and albums like Dwell make the up & down experience of discovering music worth it.

When I first got this album, I listened to it for days. Literally, it was the only thing I listened to. Sonically lush, catchy hooks and intelligent fantastic lyrics put this release at the top of my 2008 list. This isn't a review, it's a recommendation. This isn't an easy way to download free music, this is a way of introducing people to a band that deserves attention and support. This is independent music at its finest.

They also recently had a song featured in Entourage as well as a song in the movie Run Fatboy Run, so they are finally getting some well-deserved attention.

You can hear the first song on the album (as well as a few others) on youtube here and you can download the album here.

If you find you like it, you can buy the album here.

Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris/Live in Amsterdam (FLAC)

Queens of the Stone Age special edition tour album. I'd scan the cover art myself but I'm tired. Josh Homme is a god, his music is infectious and well timbered, it is equally terrifying and inspiring. If you already listen to Queens of the Stone Age, get this. If you don't, this is probably a good place to start because it's incredible. Guest appearances include Julian Casablancas and Trent Reznor. Nothing more needs to or should be said.

Era Vulgaris
Live in Amsterdam

Radiohead - Live in Prague (DVD)

Recorded in August 2009 and released in 2010, Live in Prague is a completely free band-supported and fan-made live concert DVD. Radiohead gave out recording equipment and provided soundboard recordings and master tapes in order to make this excellent footage. Live in Prague is available in several different formats and resolutions, so if you're a fan of Radiohead you shouldn't miss out on this. This is a band making music for the love of music, not for the love of fame or money. And Johnny Greenwood isn't too bad either.

"On 23rd August 2009 a group of Radiohead fans descended on the Výstavištĕ Holešovice Exhibition Hall in Prague on a mission – to capture the band playing using as many different angles as possible. Bringing together the exceptional talents of many contributors, here is the result."

Get it here.