mewithoutYou - It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All A Dream! It's Alright (V0)

At some point in our lives we all wanted to be backwoods folk musicians, living in the middle of the woods trying to make songs about imaginary animals and people doing stupid simple things that were suddenly exaggeratedly important within the context of our songs.

Now, if you tell me you didn't have that life-long dream, let me tell you that you're in denial and you'll never reach your penis (amount of people that will get that reference is a solid 0).

This is that album, mixing in Folk with Indie Pop- kind of like a more aggressive and in your face Belle and Sebastian, with wordplay that could blow up a small child's brain.

All The Time, Everyone, Everywhere, Everything.
Download this amazing album title.
Support this maze of links. I'm serious about the maze, it takes some navigating to find any actual web store.

Akron/Family - Akron/Family II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT (V0)

Finally, after months of waiting, Akron/Family has shipped their new album to Dead Oceans Records. Bizarrely, despite their change in record labels, Akron/Family has become progressively less folky and more freaky. Rich with the same old campfire harmonies and shamanism, Akron/Family II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT, which the Family admits they frankly don't know the meaning of, is as powerfully emotional as it is heartwarmingly fuzzy. I've heard complaints about the step up in production values from the latest releases, but you'll see none of these from me. Although Akron/Family has refined their sound in this album, they certainly haven't put any less effort into its musical and lyrical content.

Download.

Cerberus Shoal - The Land We All Believe In (V0)

Probably the most apt display of Cerberus Shoal's transition between their long form, eclectic and somewhat improvisational early albums and the newer, more accessible and folksy Fire on Fire releases. The Land We All Believe In is essentially a precursor to The Orchard. It reminds me of Eugene Hütz, particularly his work on movie soundtracks and his band Gogol Bordello.

Download.

The Microphones - The Glow Pt. 2 (FLAC)

It was Saturday, October 30th to be exact, and it must of been around 3:40 am as I stood out on the corner of some barely alive street with a few other people waiting for the same bus as me to take us to Washington D.C. for what would end up being a hugely disappointing John Stewart/Steven Colbert rally. I got on the bus that was already full and found the only open window seat and sat down, my friend sat next to me and I promptly told him:

"As soon as the bus gets out of the streets and onto the highway, I'm turning on music and completely losing my connection to reality."

The bus reached the highway around 4:40 am at which point I was still completely awake. I turned on The Glow Pt. 2 and was ready to give an album that I had been interested in for over 2 years its first listen. By the end of it I was confused and had no fucking clue whether I liked it or not, so I turned it on again. After that second listen, I was certain.

This was my new favorite album ever. For 5 years In Utero stood as the greatest album I had ever heard, but finally, I found something better. Folk incorporating noise rock, experimenting with song structure, using enough crunchy distortion (some of it sounding unintentional, which made it seem even better) to make me think I was chewing a never-ending amount of Dorito's (possibly Cool Ranch, but ever since they changed the packaging cool ranch tastes like shit).

It's been 7 days now since I first heard this album, and it's only 30 plays away from being my most listened album on my last.fm.

If you haven't heard it, prepare to be amazed.
v0 here

The Beta Band - The Three EPs (320)

For my first post, I thought I'd start with one of my favorite albums, The Beta Band's 1998 album The Three EPs. Compiled from the tracks, as implied by the album title, from the EPs Champion Versions, The Patty Patty Sound and Los Amigos del Beta Bandidos, The Three EPs is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated albums of the 90s.

Combining acoustic instrumentation, such as guitars, trumpets and percussion with looped electronic beats and garage-style electronic effects creates a style self-described as 'folktronica.' The Three EPs takes a lo-fi/jam/experimental/psychedelic approach while still retaining much of their pop sensibility, producing songs which could easily gain radio airtime if they weren't six or more minutes long. Minimalist instrumentation on some tracks often contrasts with the building 'collage of sound' on others; and the catchy, sing-along melodies of some tracks, such as that of Dry The Rain, with less accessible, but still equally as good tracks such as the sixteen-minute Monolith.

This shit gets in your head and doesn’t leave. Strongly recommended.

Favorite tracks: Dry The Rain, I Know, Dog’s Got A Bone, She’s The One, Needles In My Eyes, Monolith

My rating: 9.5/10
Download.

The Microphones - It Was Hot, We Stayed in the Water (FLAC)

Into light our bodies glide,
There was water in my eyes,
We sank and we arrived,
And found ourselves inside the light,
The light,
With the glow...

On the cold dark ocean floor,
I felt warmth from behind a door,
I asked to come inside,
And the glow replied.