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Pick Your Poison: Wednesday 3-23-11

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On 03/23/2011

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Lots of really great musical guests on the late night shows lately. From The Pains of Being Pure at Heart to The Strokes to Friendly Fires among others – if you’re not watching, you’re missing out. Not only might you get a great viral video-inspiring performance like the one Odd Future put on a couple months ago, but watching that stuff also can introduce you to new artists or new songs by said artists. And hey, that’s also what Pick Your Poison is for. Today’s top-tier picks include tracks from Bill Callahan, Cattle Drums, Hospital Ships (which has members of Shearwater), I Was Totally Destroying It, and Les Blanks.

Amores Vigilantes – You Can’t Live Forever in Paradise on Earth (Without Me)
Amores Vigilantes – I Love You More Than You Love Me

Bill Callahan – Baby’s Breath

Cattle Drums – Sluts and Coconuts

Francois Peglau – One Minute to Midnight

Guitaro – Chateau 100

Hospital Ships – Love or Death

How to Dress Well – You Hold the Water (Lord Boyd Remix)

I Was Totally Destroying It – Regulators

J. Stalin, Hell Rell, Lord Geez – Make It Look Good

Les Blanks – Straw Man

Rubblebucket – Silly Fathers

Siriusmo – Mosaik

Yuzima – Fur

SOUNDCLOUD

Cosmo Jarvis – Sure As Hell Not Jesus

Strangers – In Chaos (Paper Crows Remix)

The Temper Trap – Resurrection (Hermanos Inglesos Remix)

Timber Timbre – Black Water

Pick Your Poison: Tuesday 3-22-11

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On 03/22/2011

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Pick Your Poison has a lot of good stuff in it today, and I don’t have much time to wax poetic about it. Highlights include songs from Atari Teenage Riot, Chicago band Haberdashery, The People’s Temple, Ringo Deathstarr and Wolf Ram Heart. In the Soundcloud section you’ll also find good tracks from The Chemical Brothers, Fleet Foxes and Hot Chip remixing Shit Robot.

Atari Teenage Riot – Blood in My Eyes

Brothers of End – Stare at the Sun  (ZIP)

Dikta – Thank You
Dikta – Breaking the Waves

Fukkk Offf – Brain Rock (Body Language Remix)

Haberdashery – Fall Into My Arms

Jon Fratelli – Santo Domingo (The Knocks Remix)

The People’s Temple – Sons of Stone

Peter & Kerry – The Summer House Song

Pinto – I Need You to Know

Ringo Deathstarr – So High

Wolf Ram Heart – Humming Doves

SOUNDCLOUD

Ant Brooks – Ocho

The Chemical Brothers – The Devil Is In The Beats

Fleet Foxes – Battery Kinzie

Seven Saturdays – True Romance (Teen Daze Remix)

Shit Robot – Losing My Patience (Hot Chip Remix)

Album Review: Heidecker & Wood – Starting from Nowhere [Little Record Company]

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On 03/22/2011

In album review, mp3, music


“Surely you’re not serious.”
“I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley.”
Those two classic lines from the movie “Airplane!” best describe the debut album from the duo known as Heidecker & Wood. The Heidecker part of that is Tim Heidecker, best known for doing super oddball comedy on “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!”. The Wood is for Davin Wood, who is the music supervisor on that exact same show. Given the comedy pedigree of these two gentlemen, it’s easy to think that their teaming up for a music project should be really funny. At the very least, you’d expect it to be that odd sort of funny the TV show is best known for. The title is “Starting from Nowhere”, and the worst thing about it is the impossibility of telling how serious or non-serious it’s trying to be. The music they make is essentially soft rock, but these days is better known as yacht rock, a genre that is notable because it tends to be earnestly cheesy. Artists like Steely Dan, Christopher Cross, The Doobie Brothers, Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins wrote and released record after record of this sort of music, which found a home amongst certain kinds of adults in the 70s and 80s that believed it to be really good stuff. Looking back on it now, the camp factor is through the roof – the look tends to involve bushy moustaches, Flock of Seagulls-type hair, bright pastel t-shirt and sport coat combinations, and every now and then a perm. In other words, this stuff is ripe for mockery – to the point where a rather funny web series called Yacht Rock got away with 12 episodes of parodying the lives of these artists. Now Heidecker & Wood are attempting to get away with 12 songs poking that same bear, but there’s just a little bit of mystery remaining as to whether this is legitimate comedy or respectful homage.

Heidecker & Wood whip out their best Simon & Garfunkel right at the start of the record courtesy of “Cross Country Skiing”, complete with the audience applause at the beginning and end of the song. A sprightly plucked acoustic guitar and the dual harmonies on every word strives for legitimacy, while the lyrics don’t really hint at any humor outside of some playful lines. The track concludes by finishing up a a cross country skiing adventure when the main character diverts from the main path and accidentally winds up in some hilly landscape. “Sliding down the hillside/these skis weren’t made for this”, they sing in perfect harmony. It’s worth about as much of a laugh as that time the dog stole the steak off the plate when that guy wasn’t looking. “Right or Wrong” is at its heart the theme song to an 80s TV show that never got made, complete with the smiling family members breaking out their best smiles while fuchsia-colored graphics insert their real names at the bottom of the screen. Take one part “Full House” and another part “Family Ties” and you’ll get the idea. “The crimson light of the morning light shining tall, as if in a dream”, is just one of the many descriptive nature images on “Grandest Canyon”, a tribute to the glorious beauty of the countryside. “Maybe a canyon’s just a canyon/and a man is just a man/and a canyon and a man can live in peace and share this beautiful land” is funny only in its sheer absurdity and nothing more. The horn section and carefree piano are just the beginning of where “Wedding Song” gets its gusto, as the sincerity and romance with which the line, “Well I hope there’s a preacher, cause I know there’s a groom” is delivered should tell you everything you need to know about the song.

Other tracks on “Starting From Nowhere” are more obvious straight artist tributes. “Life on the Road” naturally is about the weariness of touring, and one can’t help but think of Bob Seeger’s “Turn the Page” when listening to it. “Name a town/name a face/chances are I’ve played the place/get on the stage/put on your hat and do the same old friggin act”, Heidecker sings depressed even though the song itself has picked up in tempo. You may hear a little Jackson Browne on the album centerpiece “Weatherman”, which is ultimately what inspired the entire record. It’s a smooth 70s keyboard slow jam, complete with flute solo where the subject matter is a pretty bad car crash even though Heidecker seems more concerned about whether or not there will be a full moon that night (one of the more offbeat “funny” moments on the album). The acoustic “A Song for My Father” practically invites parallels to Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s in the Cradle”, though told from the perspective of a son carrying a love-hate relationship with his somewhat absentee dad. There’s a fair touch of The Eagles on “Right to the Minute”, and a blistering jazz sax solo that stands on a very even playing field with the most classic of soft rock saxophone solos. Then “She Left You” is one part Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Tuesday’s Gone” and another part Joe Cocker’s re-imagining of “With A Little Help from My Friends”, the result being a reasonably solid facsimile that at moments can seem just a little too overblown. The same could be said for the 7.5 minute closing track “Christmas Suite”, which contains a whole host of cliches and relatively botched attempts at humor. “Children are the makers of our destiny/Children are our future too/Children are the key to the universe/Children come from me and you” is just one sample of a number of goofy platitudes that break down the walls between parody and sincerity and ultimately leave you thinking this whole thing was probably for comedic effect.

When Ween makes a song like “Joppa Road”, you’re fully aware given their history that they’re just messing around with soft rock tropes. That is a legitimately funny but also wholly legit soft rock jam. Then there’s a collective like Gayngs, making non-winking soft rock music, but very purposely ensuring that each one of their songs is at a tempo of 69 bpm. See them live in their white suits and sunglasses and once again there’s humor even though the songs are pretty damn good. As for Heidecker & Wood, if you can stand nearly 60 minutes of soft rock and don’t particularly care if it’s funny or not, “Starting from Nowhere” might be a good record for you. The absurdist humor that often permeates Tim & Eric on TV generates a lot of laughs from simply being awkward, and there’s definitely moments you can feel those same sorts of weird emotions on this album, just be aware it lasts for much longer and you may not be able to take it for the duration. And while there is that silliness and intentional absurdity, you can also hear very clearly that Heidecker & Wood have respect and a strong liking of the soft rock genre. It’s so easy to parody and pile on the layers of cheese/camp, but at one point in time all these yacht rock artists took the material at face value, as did their fans. Just because it’s largely bullshit now doesn’t mean it’s any less compelling or catchy than much of the new stuff you hear on radio everyday anyways. You’re not required to be a fan of Tim & Eric shtick to like “Starting from Nowhere”, and even if you are this record can just as easily pass you by. No matter if you’re listening for the throwback sound or the humor or both, the ultimate goal of a record like this is to generate a smile. Hopefully even the most heartless person can muster up something more than a frown.

Heidecker & Wood – Right or Wrong
Heidecker & Wood – Wedding Song

Buy “Starting from Nowhere” from Amazon

Album Review: The Strokes – Angles [RCA]

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On 03/21/2011

In album review, music


Any number of labels can be affixed to The Strokes’ sound, and over the past decade they largely have. Their debut record “Is This It?” was (and still is) largely considered to be the beginning of a rock and roll movement in the early 00s where the ideas of the cool, leather-jacketed rock stars making garage rock was as novel as it was revivalist. Sure, they were ripping off a number of bands from the 70s, but listening to a lot of those classic albums and then The Strokes you’ll probably find less in common than you initially thought. But so many Strokes-esque bands did follow in their wake following the success of “Is This It?” that crediting them and (to a slightly different degree) The White Stripes with being revolutionaries doesn’t seem wrong. What’s more amazing is how quickly The Strokes flamed out. After an almost equally great sophmore record “Room On Fire” kept them atop the pile they’d created, by 2006 and their third album “First Impressions of Earth” they came across as a band barely able to remain standing, either in the face of overwhelming pressure or lack of new ideas or drug use or some combination of all three. This disheveled group of guys that looked like they rolled out of bed and accidentally stumbled upon brilliance were suddenly lost when it disappeared and started to get desperate when they couldn’t find it again. Enter critical backlash and a host of other fresh inter-band issues that emerged and the guys felt like taking some serious time away from one another was probably for the best. 2007 was when the hiatus began, and 2009 was when it unofficially ended, though not much would happen until last year. In between, there were side projects upon side projects, from Albert Hammond Jr. continuing to hold down a solo career and Julian Casablancas starting one himself to Fabrizio Moretti’s Little Joy and Nikolai Fraiture’s Nickel Eye. None made much of an impact though, which may be a big reason why the hiatus ended and the period of cashing in began.

From the looks of it, the reason why The Strokes took that extended hiatus was more to avoid killing one another. Interviews with band members all seemed to echo the same thoughts, that it was tough for them to share the stage anymore, let alone be stuck in the same room for even a brief period of time. Still, they pressed on with a reunion, and working with producer Joe Chicarelli probably seemed like a good idea back in 2009. After a few sessions of working with him however, one of the few things the band could agree on was that the pairing was not working out. Instead they went to Albert Hammond Jr.’s home studio and made their fourth record “Angles” there. Even then, the only real way they could get the record done was to have Casablancas record his vocals separately and then send them in upon their completion. One of the bigger changes of this revamped version of The Strokes is that everybody now has an influence over the sound and writing on the album, whereas Casablancas typically handled all of that previously. The reason they called the record “Angles” was to emphasize the different perspectives at play. Considering the surprisingly strong track record of bands making landmark albums under the most stressful and antagonistic atmosphere possible, it stood to reason that The Strokes could very well turn out something immensely great in spite of all the controversy. If The Beatles could do it with “Abbey Road”, why not The Strokes with “Angles”? In what should come as little surprise to no one, The Strokes are no Beatles.

“Angles” gets off to a promising start with “Machu Picchu”, even if it’s not exactly what’s expected from the band. There’s a distinct 80s reggae pop groove the track settles into that’s part Police and part Men at Work, which is just a little bit odd for The Strokes. Still, those guitars remain distinctive, as does Casablancas’ scratchy vocals, and the jangly chorus is pretty fun and catchy. Speaking of fun and catchy, first single “Under Cover of Darkness” is classic Strokes in the best way possible, and better than anything on “First Impressions of Earth”. As the first new material anybody heard from the band since 2006, it was like a welcome back party, a celebration and an elevator of hopes that maybe things really were going back to “normal”. The synth-heavy intro to “Two Kinds of Happiness” puts that thought to rest pretty quickly though, as for a few brief moments you may mistake it for a New Order or Cars song. The guitars do take over immediately after that intro, though the 80s vibe remains all the way through the soaring chorus that screams U2 to the point where Casablancas actually sounds like Bono if you pay close enough attention. The quick-picked guitar work is one of the best and most exciting things about the track, but considering how impressive previous Strokes guitar work has been, this is really nothing new. “Taken For A Fool” is new for the band though, as there’s a little twist on their traditional sound. The instrumentation is more dense and complicated than normal, in particular the funky bass line during the verse, and the chorus once again goes pretty big but avoids overreaching. Ultimately it makes for one of the best songs on the entire record.

The second half of “Angles” features more experiments and tries to offer hints at potential directions the band could go should they continue onward after this record. When you mix things up like they do here, keeping fans satisfied is a larger challenge and the hope is it doesn’t come off as too left field or just generally unfocused. The synths make a full-on return courtesy of “Games”, a track that sounds like it would have found a better home on Casablancas’ solo record “Phrazes for the Young”. Complete with handclaps and a dancefloor beat, New Order and Blondie did it better back in their day. Ultimately it’s one of the few genuine missteps on the record. The synths hang around for ‘Call Me Back”, though they’re more background fodder in what’s really a sparse ballad that’s intended to showcase vocals and a single guitar. There are no drums, as the staccatto guitar and the bass on the chorus hold a rhythm together instead, playing out like a song that could crack open and explode with a burst of noise and energy but never does. That is left to “Gratisfaction”, one of the most addictive and blatantly fun songs on the entire album, but also one of the most debt-riddled as well. Take Billy Joel’s “Only the Good Die Young” and “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” and mash it together with the double guitar attack and languid vocals of Thin Lizzy and you know exactly where this song came from. Still, the song does exactly as its title advertises, providing gratuitous satisfaction to the masses. “Metabolism” languishes in a mid-tempo paranoid hell, never quite fast enough to burn off the fat that it generates. Think a slowed down combination of “Heart In A Cage” and “Electricityscape” but less catchy or inspired. The Strokes prove they aren’t down for the count though thanks to album closer “Life is Simple in the Moonlight”, a song that’s almost a microcosm of everything that came before it. There’s a little bit of the old Strokes sound, some fresher and more experimental bits, a touch of 80s style synths, and a pretty manic Julian Casablancas. While it lacks bouncy energy, the chorus hook is relatively well put together even if the song is a downer.

“There’s no one I disapprove of or root for more than myself”, Casablancas sings on “Life is Simple in the Moonlight”. The sentiment could be shared by “Angles” as a whole. Most of us want The Strokes to turn in a record that lives up to the reputation they built for themselves, and when they fail to meet expectations we’re particularly hard on them. In this case it seems that they’ve managed to improve on “First Impressions of Earth” with a handful of songs that live up to that impressive legacy. The rest of the album is frought with problems however. The largest issue is how disjointed the whole thing is, jumping from style to style and experiment to experiment with the belief that the whole thing will sound good. “Angles” is aptly named because of the various directions all the band members came from when putting together these songs, but that’s also its biggest flaw – lack of cohesion. If The Strokes were a dictatorship before and are practicing socialism now, they’d be better served by returning the power and allowing the leather-clad Casablancas fist to rule once more. Naturally that was what caused the hiatus in the first place, so to reasonably expect them to do it again is probably a fool’s errand. Then it comes down to how well they can work together. If all five guys can get on the same page without a fistfight starting, there may still be hope left for this band. Otherwise break out the funeral gear because The Strokes will die, leaving only the question of whether it will be sooner or multiple crappy records later.

Buy “Angles” from Amazon

Pick Your Poison: Monday 3-21-11

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On 03/21/2011

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Happy post-SXSW, those of you that went. I’ve been reading the highlights, and once again it sounds like it was a blast. As I’ve never been, I’m tentatively planning to attend next year. We’ll see how that goes. Pick Your Poison today has plenty more music in case you failed to discover that hot new band down in Austin, or if you’re like the rest of us and didn’t go anywhere. Be sure to check out tracks from Communipaw, Dangerous Ponies, LCTRISC and Raleigh Moncrief.

Baby Jazz – Billy Ocean

Ben Mason – Easy

Communipaw – Twinkle

Dangerous Ponies – Bumbershoot

Grandpa Was A Lion – Mobile Alabama Blues
Grandpa Was A Lion – January Jones! (My Bird Has Flown)

In Golden Tears – Urban Emotions

LCTRISC – MXML

Raleigh Moncrief – Lament For Morning

The Script – For the First Time (8Barz Remix)

Sebastian Love – What the Fuck We Are Made For
Sebastian Love – Through the Horizon

TalkFine – So Bad

Technik City – Jet Skiing (Druma Kina Remix)

SOUNDCLOUD

Kites – You Are Dead (To Me)

Tyson – Out Of My Mind

Album Review: Elbow – Build a Rocket Boys! [Polydor/Fiction]

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On 03/18/2011

In album review, music


As a foolhardy youth, many years ago I tackled the age-old tradition of the model rocket. It’s something that not many young people still do today, which is a shame. I only made a single rocket, painted it up and then launched it in the middle of a massive field. It was a rather shoddy design and it tooke a handful of tries to get the launch to actually work, but it was exhilarating to see that thick cardboard tube soar to the point where it was barely visible, then deploy a parachute and sail safely back to Earth. That I remember spending that one day making and launching the rocket at all should give a fair indication of the memory it planted within me. Perhaps the gentlemen in Elbow feel the same way, titling their fifth record “Build a Rocket Boys!” and putting a bunch of songs on it that pertain to the exciting times of being a kid, along with the sadness of not being able to return there.

Elbow is not exactly an upbeat band, and chances are if you’re listening to them your mood isn’t either. What they’ve lacked in positive vibes they’ve more than made up for with smart songcraft and honest lyrics. While they’ve not achieved what could be considered wide commercial success in America, chances are you heard the songs “Grounds for Divorce” or “One Day Like This” in an ad or on a soundtrack somewhere. Their last record “The Seldom Seen Kid” won them the prestigious Mercury Prize, and honestly after all those good things it’s just a little tough to write songs about how depressed you are. If you can’t find any dark material in your present, there’s always the past to mine from.

“Looking back is for the birds”, Guy Garvey mopes on the lengthy 8-minute opening track “The Birds”. That’s kind of what the song itself is like too, not doing a whole lot of anything for the first half except exploring darkness and minimalism. A guitar crunches and keeps crunching, electronic blips twinkle in the background, and a cello pulses before finally giving way to a rather beautiful rush of symphony in the final 3 minutes. The song does have a storyline, and it concerns a man looking back on a past relationship and how birds were the key witnesses to the best and worst moments of it. They are the silent keepers of our memories, holding “those final kisses in their tiny racing hearts”. While the very spare first half of the song builds towards the soaring second half, there’s not much else to help justify the 8 minutes it takes to run its course. Things would probably have been equally effective at 5-6 minutes. That’s how long “Lippy Kids” takes, and it’s just one of the reasons why the song is one of the album’s best. The rushes of strings amid the spare guitar, sparkling piano and Garvey’s impressive vocal make for one serene and gorgeous combination. The story here is about kids hanging out on the corners in urban areas, and how it’s always assumed they’re up to no good. If you’ve ever seen the HBO show “The Wire”, you’re well aware of what corner kids tend to be involved with. But rather than labeling them criminals or just plain troublemakers, Garvey is suggesting that some of them are there for lack of anything better to do. Of course this song also refers to a past era when video games and other distractions weren’t options. The main point is one of positivity and warmth, a message of encouragement to try and use those times of boredom and confusion to the best of your abilities.

The optimistic approach continues thanks to “With Love”, though the message gets lost in an attempt to do too much. A full choir is employed simply to repeat the song title at several points in the song, nevermind the melee of instruments popping in and out of the mix along with multiple vocal parts as two or more band members sing different lines over one another at the same time to help form some intricate harmony. Really it’s a mess, and completely overblown for a rather basic subject. Elbow does go epic on first single “Neat Little Rows”, but that exposition is both earned and justified. It’s one of the few songs on the album that actually sounds like rock music, complete with full-on guitars and a martial drum stomp . The piano uplifts along with Garvey’s voice and the result is nothing short of grand. The band was smart to avoid trying to one-up it with “Jesus Was a Rochdale Girl”, which is all barely strummed acoustic guitar and a splash of mellotron. The point is less how it sounds and more about what it means in tandem with the rather dense lyrics that reportedly inspired the rest of the record. It comes across as one of the smallest, least ambitious tracks on the entire album, but it holds the most meaning and emotion within it.

If things started to slow down on “Jesus Was a Rochdale Girl”, they roll to a complete stop on “The Night Will Always Win”. It becomes the second track in a row to rely far more on lyrics and Garvey’s dynamic vocals than an actual full-bodied melody. He’s barely able to handle the load, and it puts the whole band on unstable ground. This trend drags onward through much of the album’s middle section, only picking up again once “Open Arms” lands like a breath of fresh air. This time a choir of voices is used in the exact right way, providing the voice of all your family and friends with the reminder that you can go home again. They’ve got “open arms for broken hearts” and want to embrace you to help heal those wounds. Yes, it’s a little cheesy and super uplifting, but after slogging through the mud of the middle of the record, it’s a celebration of reaching the other side. “Dear Friends” finishes the album off perfectly, a beautiful ballad showing appreciation for those that mean the most in your life – your friends. The way the light electric guitar and piano work in tandem and the drums just kind of skitter along is really lovely, but Garvey’s voice gets one last chance to shine, followed by some intense harmonies that truly give you the warm and fuzzies. It plays out like the teary-eyed conclusion of that Oscar-winning film you enjoyed so much, though your eyes may not well up with tears upon hearing this song.

Mercury Prize or not, Elbow has never been a great band. They’ve been a very good band for a very long time, and just to keep up that sort of track record is tough. The most disappointing thing about “Build a Rocket Boys!” is how subdued and unadventurous it is. There may be guitars on a majority of the songs, but most of the time they’re used in the most sparing way possible and are rarely given the chance to “plug in”. The whole rock side of the band seems to be on vacation, and in the case of some songs, entire band members. That middle part of the record becomes pretty tough to get through unless you’re in the right mood for it, and the over-reliance on Garvey’s voice can only take them so far. When they do seem fully alert and at the wheel though, this record has some genuinely special moments that are among the more impressive parts of Elbow’s catalogue. That slight imbalance, the lack of a fully formed record due to highs and lows but no in-betweens, is what’s once again keeping this band from becoming truly great. Instead, here’s another very good effort, filled with just enough incentive to keep us on the hook for the next one.

Buy “Build a Rocket Boys!” from Amazon MP3

Pick Your Poison: Friday 3-18-11

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On 03/18/2011

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Pick Your Poison today is just a touch lighter than usual, the reason why of course being SXSW. With everyone out in Austin at the moment, from bands to promoters, things are looking a little sparse these days. No worries though, Monday sees the start of a new week and the end of SXSW, so we should be all good. Highlights today include songs from Craig Wedren (of Shudder to Think) collaborating with Conor Oberst and Janet Weiss (of Sleater-Kinney/Wild Flag/The Jicks), Maritime, Papercuts and Romi Mayes.

Craig Wedren – Are We (ft. Conor Oberst and Janet Weiss)

Dada Trash Collage – Layers of Ice

Erika Fatale – Femme Fatale
Erika Fatale – Whipped

Illvibe Collective – Authentic Raw (ft. Supastition and Reef the Lost Cauze)

Love – Skid

Maritime – Paraphernalia

Papercuts – Do You Really Wanna Know

Romi Mayes – Lucky Tonight

Smixx – Nothing I’d Rather Be

tfo – Change  

Vienna – Blood
Vienna – A Tourist

Yourself and the Air – Trampolines

Zachary Cale – Hello Oblivion  (zachary cale)

Pick Your Poison: Thursday 3-17-11

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On 03/17/2011

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. I hope you get a Shamrock Shake in honor, and then maybe throw a little alcohol in it to “Irish” it up. It’s a lot of fun and pretty delicious, you should try it. Green beer and sheer drunkenness of the date aside, the NCAA tournament is underway officially today, and SXSW is just getting started too, so schedules are more than packed for a lot of people. Good luck juggling today. Here’s your daily edition of Pick Your Poison, complete with highlights from artists like Daddy Lion, Drawn From Bees, German Error Message, Little Scream, The Luyas and Old 97’s Rhet Miller.

Amanda Palmer – Map of Tasmania (Discoforgia Remix)

Daddy Lion – Falling to Pieces (Through With You)

The Domino State – You Are the Winter (Eat More Cake Remix)

Drawn From Bees – Long Tooth Setting Sun

German Error Message – We Arose

Little Scream – Cannons

The Luyas – Too Beautiful

NEeMA – Escape

Rhet Miller – Motorcycle Club

Through the Sparks – Chisel and Pick

SOUNDCLOUD

The Bullitts- Close Your Eyes (feat Jay Electronica and Lucy Liu)

Early To Bed – Weathervane (Schlock! Remix)

EVALINE – Beneath The Fire

Twilite – Perfect Ending

Album Review: The Dodos – No Color [Frenchkiss]

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On 03/17/2011

In album review, mp3, music


Falling in love with The Dodos back in 2008 was so easy. The duo of Meric Long and Logan Kroeber effortlessly blended together ramshackle acoustic guitar fingerpicking, African-style rhythms and indie pop into a hybrid so organic it seemed to outright defy nature. That first record was “Visiter” and all-out jams like “Red and Purple”, “Jodi” and “Fools” were often so intensely strummed that it always felt like the song would break down at any moment because the guitar simply fell apart. It was really exciting and intense to listen to that album, which is probably why their follow-up, 2009’s “Time to Die” was regarded as such a disappointment. There were a number of factors that conrtibuted to this letdown of a sophmore album. Those changes included adding a third member Keaton Snyder which changed the group dynamic, relying on the ultra-clean production work of uber-producer Phil Ek, and the decision to place more of a focus on traditional melody rather than the off-the-rails, freewheeling style they were used to. Slower, denser and cleaner were the end results, and many balked at that. As if they’ve learned their lesson, The Dodos have set about trying to right the ship on their third album “No Color”. Their trinity of band members has now returned to its original twosome state, “Visiter” producer John Askew is once again behind the boards, and siren Neko Case was kind enough to contribute her pipes to back up Long’s vocals on a majority of the tracks. On the surface, it seems that everything’s coming up Dodos.

The booming thump of the bass drum at the start of “Black Night” signals that things are once again in their right place, and the rustic fingerpicked acoustic guitar that joins it moments later pushes it over the top. The pace is brisk and only gets brisker as the song chugs along through the imaginary alleyways of verses and main arteries of choruses, and the structural integrity of the song is such that it breaks from the usual verse-chorus-verse tradition but not far enough to call the main hook anything less than catchy. It’s one great reminder of how amazing The Dodos can be when fully left to their own devices. “Black Night” blends straight into “Going Under” without a moment’s hesitation, as if the two tracks are joined at the hip. The six minute adventure starts as a slower, more well-adjusted track with Neko Case making her first background vocal appearance. Once it hits the exact middle of the song though, the dam breaks open and a rush of buzzing noise and pure energy comes surging forward to send things into the stratosphere. Such a burst of noise might be considered jarring were it not well earned and smartly arranged. “Good” starts as a gallop and then moves into a full out stride, continuing to capitalize on the momentum the record has already established. “Is it better to be on or be good?”, Long asks. In this case, the band is not merely on and good, but instead on and great. Neko Case does sprinkle a bit of extra magic on “Sleep”, a song that would have been better titled “No Sleep” because it’s essentially about insomnia. The track races past like your mind does when all you want is the peace and quiet so you can pass out. It seemingly comes from a number of different places too, embracing that freeform style The Dodos have espoused at their best while also adding to that spaced out and unfocused mental state described in the lyrics.

After racing through the first few tracks at a highly brisk pace, “Don’t Try to Hide It” begins the slower and more subtle second half of “No Color” with a bit of parental-like support from your “parents” of Meric Long and Neko Case. We’ve all got little things about ourselves that would be interpreted as weird by others, and this is a song about proudly displaying your most unique qualities. The beginning of “Hunting Season” features a touch of the ‘ol vibraphone, and it’s enough to wonder if it was taken from a Keaton Snyder session before he exited the band or if that’s just a coincidence. It’s also not the most exciting or catchiest Dodos song, though Long’s emotional vocal performance is one of the highlights. It’s just the opposite that helps make “Companions” a better song than it has any right to be – intricate guitar playing and a very small bit of violin. The melody itself is pretty bland and ineffective, but the way that fingerpicked guitar rolls along is quite impressive. closing track “Don’t Stop” has the exact same issues, technically impressive but lacking in most other aspects. It does build energy just a little, and the incorporation of electric guitar and some vocal harmonies make for a good summation of the entire record. As a microcosm of the whole album then, that final song is only a little more than halfway good.

As exciting as it is to have the core team of Meric Long and Logan Kroeber recording and performing once again as a duo, along with their old producer John Askew back in place, this original recipe for success doesn’t always fully succeed as we see on “No Color”. There are tons of great things about this new album, including some of the most exciting and energetic melodies that The Dodos have come up with in some time. The return to the reliance on those shaky acoustic guitars and offbeat percussion is a huge plus too, as are Long’s lyrics – more vague and less clunky than they’ve ever been before. Not every song is winner though, and the second half of the album is much less compelling than the first. It’s not an energy thing, though arguably that does factor in just a little bit. If all the songs were as briskly paced as those first few we’d be worn out before the last couple even started. Pacing is part of the problem, with all the excitement right out of the gate and none really saved for the finish line. “Visiter” spread out the moments of grandeur pretty evenly, though to be fair about half of that record’s fourteen tracks could be called individual highlights. Hooks are also an issue. Songs like “Black Night” and “Sleep” are strong but don’t have the full staying power of a “Jodi” or a “Paint the Rust”. Maybe it just takes some time for them to fully sink in. After all, “Time to Die” was and is still the worst Dodos record, but these days it seems less like the trainwreck everyone labeled it as two years ago. Perhaps a year from now “No Color” will have that same effect, only rising in esteem from its current position as a pretty strong “comeback” album for the band. Thanks in large part to some serious freeform and fun songs, The Dodos have proven they know how to correct past mistakes and challenge the listener once again.

The Dodos – Don’t Stop

Buy “No Color” from Amazon

Pick Your Poison: Wednesday 3-16-11

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On 03/16/2011

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Oh hey, it’s Wednesday. I’m on little to no sleep, so let’s make this super quick. Pick Your Poison is another large edition bolstered by people filling my inbox mentioning they’ll be playing SXSW, which I’m totally not at. Anyways, my personal highlights in this batch come from Eksi Skso, The High Dials, Storms, Times New Viking and Yuna. Also, Son Lux covering fellow Asthmatic Kitty artist Liz Janes is pretty awesome. And hey, the one Soundcloud track today is from UNKLE and features Nick Cave, so that’s like a double bonus.

The Clutters – Under Suspicion

Controls – We Are Here

Eksi Ekso – Bellows to Brass Lens

Future Sound – The Thrills

The High Dials – Chinese Boxes

Jonah K – Odin’s Beard

The Knocks ft. Alex Winston – You Can’t Hurry Love (Supremes cover)

LexiconDon – Sex ‘N’ Turn

Mathew Sawyer & His Ghosts – Revenge of the Extra From Zulu

Rich Aucoin – Brian Wilson Is A.L.i.V.E.
Rich Aucoin – PUSH

Smokey Robotic – Grace Under Fire (ft. Roscoe Umali & Styliztik Jones)

Son Lux – Desert (Liz Janes cover)

Storms – Sweet Cup

Talia Coles – Never See You Again

Times New Viking – No Room to Live

Vienna Ditto – This Is Normal

Yuna – Decorate

SOUNDCLOUD

UNKLE – Money And Run (feat. Nick Cave)

Pick Your Poison: Tuesday 3-15-11

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On 03/15/2011

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Et tu Brute? Your history lesson for today dictates that the 15th of March is also known as the Ides of March. There’s a number of historical associations with the date, but really everyone knows it as “that day Julius Caesar got stabbed 23 times”. He was in the Roman Senate when it happened, and that’s probably also the origins of the phrase “stabbed in the back”, because his good friend Brutus was one of the guys doing the stabbing. Ah, what the power hungry will do to one another. Pick Your Poison is not quite the betrayal type, so here’s another massive set of mp3s to get you through the day. Highlights include songs from Birds and Batteries, Heaven, Matthew and the Arrogant Sea, Thulebasen and We Were the States. In the Soundcloud section you can also stream a new track from Atmosphere that’s pretty great.

Sorry No Ferrari – Ashar (Music For People Remix)

Birds and Batteries – Strange Kind of Mirror

Deletah – There Is No Plan B

Heaven – Mountains Move  (ZIP)

i wannabe – Standing Next Door

John Brodeur – Masterpiece

Jorma and Movie Bare – Either You or Me
Jorma and Movie Bare – Sick

The Knocks – Dancing With the DJ (Acoustic Campfire Version)

Krusht – Spirit of 76 (ft. Alleyes Manifest)

Matthew and the Arrogant Sea – At the Wheel Fighting Elvis

Ruben & Ra – Newer Shooz

Thulebasen – Gate 5

The Violet May – What You Say

We Were the States – Hot Waves

Wons Phreeley – Tonight

SOUNDCLOUD

Atmosphere – She’s Enough

Federico Aubele – No One

Rumble In Rhodos – Soft Insulated Days

Album Review: Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring for My Halo [Matador]

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On 03/15/2011

In album review, mp3, music


My oh my has Kurt Vile come a long way in a short time. Upon leaving The War on Drugs, he embarked on a solo career that began officially in 2008 when his album “Constant Hitmaker” was released via the very tiny Gulcher Records. The following year, Woodsist gave that record a higher profile re-release, Mexican Summer put out his sophmore album “God Is Saying This to You” and Matador placed his third album “Childish Prodigy” on shelves. In other words, it was a flood of Kurt Vile music in 2009 when it’s often tough enough to keep track of just one record by an artist. The first two albums were extremely lo-fi bedroom folk recordings, like a Bob Dylan or a Tom Petty but with serious audio fidelity issues. That didn’t make them any less compelling though, and in fact the lack of quality was part of its charm. “Childish Prodigy” held that same aesthetic for about half the record, but the other half featured Vile’s touring band The Violators and therefore could be called a legitimate step forwards. The production got cleaner and the melodies more dense, but along with that some of the more unique qualities vanished. Still, there was inherent potential shining through the shakier moments, as if to say that if Vile focused just a little harder he might just rise to the level of indie superstar. Taking a little time off and also touring for the last year seems to have pushed him in the direction needed to get his act fully together, because his new record “Smoke Ring for My Halo” is filled with the dynamic and prolific moments that unveil an entirely new side that had only been hinted at up til now.

Kurt Vile has ditched the bedroom for a recording studio fully on “Smoke Ring for My Halo”, and as a result there’s a very crisp sheen over the entire album that really adds an unexpected beauty to it. While Vile has always been a superstar when it comes to finding wonderful little melodies that are compelling and adventurous, lush and gorgeous are words that don’t typically apply to them. The Violators are still backing him up, but their contributions are minimal compared to the guitar and vocals which takes precedence over everything else. The biggest adjustment though is with Vile’s vocals, because not much of his older material had the clarity with which to fully discern what he was singing about. It wasn’t so bad that every song was a mangled vocal mess, but when you’re pulling a D.I.Y job corners need to be cut somewhere. So what this new record reveals is that Vile is one hell of a lyricist. A standard love song like “Baby’s Arms”, which starts off the album, gets extra creative thanks to lines like, “shrink myself just like a Tom Thumb/and I hide in my baby’s hand/cause except for her there just ain’t nothing to latch onto”. For “Puppet to the Man”, expectations are defied as Vile says, “I get by now you probably think I’m a puppet to the man”, and it seems safe to assume that most everyone would deny that sort of accusation. Instead, he embraces it, concluding, “I’m shouting out loud because I know that I am” while also requesting help to get him unstuck from said puppetry. One of the most vivid and amazing songs on the entire record is “On Tour”, where the miseries and problems of touring are hinted at between gigs. “Watch out for this one, he’ll stab you in the back for fun”, Vile says, most likely talking about untrustworthy people in the music industry. But his passion for music also comes through in lines like, “I wanna sing at the top of my lungs/scream annoyingly/cause that’s just me being me/being free”. The stage is always the one place you can let your frustrations out without a care in the world, and if you like you can “beat on a drum so hard ’til it bleeds blood”. Darkness hovers all over “Runner Ups”, but Vile isn’t afraid to throw a little bit of black humor in for good measure. “If it ain’t workin’/take a whiz on the world/an entire nation drinking from a dirty cup”, he sings just before explaining that he may have lost his best friend but there are runner ups in waiting. And there’s something inherently brilliant about the way the words are arranged on closer “Ghost Town” that totally grabs you despite what appears to be pure simplicity. “When I’m out/I’m away in my mind/Christ Was born/I was there/You know me/I’m around/I’ve got friends/Hey wait, where was I?/Well, I am trying” doesn’t even make that much sense reading it, but hearing the words coming out of Vile’s mouth they become more like windows into his own personal daydream. The series of thoughts that we all have from time to time, where we drift between subjects effortlessly and without acknowledgement of the oddity of it all can be a powerful thing when harnessed properly. In this case, Kurt Vile makes it exactly that.

“Smoke Ring for My Halo” may thrive in new and unexpected ways thanks in large part to some great lyrics, but the tuneful and intimate melodies serve to enhance what’s already there. With the distortion and other effects almost entirely absent from this record, it leaves much more room for these arrangements to breathe comfortably and with increased virility. One guitar, whether it’s acoustic or electric, carefully picked or briskly strummed, matched with Vile’s voice is all that’s really needed, but the little extras give them an unexpected oomph in the right direction. The shakers and tambourines on “Baby’s Arms” aren’t designed to stand out, but it’s tough to think that the song would be better off without them. The way the guitar strings vibrate on “On Tour”, like they’re frayed or too loose and need a good tightening adds to the weariness of the words, while the soft plinks of the keyboard helps to break up the monotony of the same chords strummed over and over again. In the case of songs like “In My Time” and “Peeping Tomboy” though, the aggressive nature of the guitar work is more than enough to sustain interest in the song without having to really break out any extra elements for supplementary purposes. If the record does have a flaw though, it’s the lack of hooks and marketable singles. Vile’s not exactly known for his commercial prowess and earworms that stick in your head, but on occasion he has managed to pull a supremely memorable melody that you’ll find yourself humming as you go about your day. From “Freeway” to “Freak Train”, the rattle and hum of those tracks was a draw in the past, enough to make them highlights on records that fell anywhere from pretty good to just a little mediocre. Funny then that with the decrease in memorability comes an increase in respectability, the result of which is Kurt Vile’s strongest record to date. Weaker moments like “Jesus Fever” and “Society Is My Friend” are fewer and farther between than ever before, and are supported on all sides by bastions of strong songwriting and melodies that occasionally allow for streams of sunlight to filter through the darkness. It may not be perfect, but it’s definitely another huge step forwards for Vile in a very brief career already filled with them.

Kurt Vile – Jesus Fever
Kurt Vile – In My Time

Buy “Smoke Ring for My Halo” from Amazon

Pick Your Poison: Monday 3-14-11

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On 03/14/2011

In mp3, music, pick your poison

Hope your weekend was great. If you’re going to be heading to Austin for SXSW this week, have a great time and see tons of live shows. I won’t be going, but if you’d like to learn a little more about the hundreds of artists and bands that will be playing this week, Pick Your Poison is a great way to do that. No, not every artist listed here today and this week will be there, but a fair number of them will be. Anyways, my recommended songs for today come from Antonymes, Beast Make Bomb, The Gift, Let’s Wrestle, NewVillager, and Walking Sleep. The Lonely Forest is a band signed to the new label Trans, which is Chris Walla from Death Cab for Cutie’s label. Be sure to check them out too.

Adam Arcuragi and the Lupine Chorale Society – She Comes to Me

Antonymes – Endlessly

Beast Make Bomb – Coney Island

Death Letters – Your Heart Upside Down

De Staat – Sweatshop

The Gift – Made For You

Home Video – The Automatic Process (Infernal Devices Remix)

In-Flight Safety – Model Homes

Let’s Wrestle – Dear John

The Lonely Forest – Coyote

NewVillager – Lighthouse

The Non-Commissioned Officers – Fire Standing Still

Samuel Locke Ward – Bliss Blue Sky

The Sewing Circle – Buzz Light-Year

TalkFine – The Moment

Toby Goodshank – Virgo Song

Walking Sleep – She’s Been Lying

WhoMadeWho – Every Minute Alone (The Circle Remix)

SOUNDCLOUD

Baby Teardrops- MEwhere

The Boom Bang – Tobacula

Jeffrey Jerusalem – Smiling And Tender (DoublePlusGood Remix)

Show Review: Middle Brother + Dawes + Deer Tick [Metro; Chicago; 3-12-11]

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On 03/14/2011

In live music, mp3, music, photos, show review

Rare is the occasion when you can find a triple bill of bands touring together where all three deserve to headline every night. The trouble is, naturally, that only one band can truly headline. When two headliners share the stage for multiple dates together the decision on headliners is sometimes an evenly split rotation from night to night or occasionally a luck of the draw. When it’s three bands though, how does such a decision get made? In the case of Deer Tick, Dawes and Middle Brother, there are special circumstances that make the entire process easier. First and foremost, as members of both Deer Tick and Dawes are part of Middle Brother along with Delta Spirit’s Matt Vasquez, the supergroup takes precedence and closes out the evening because of the collection of talent. Secondly, Dawes have really made a name for themselves in the past few months by scoring a radio hit courtesy of their song “When My Time Comes”. Deer Tick, by contrast, have put out a couple albums and built a strong fan base but haven’t quite scored a genuine hit yet. They do have at least one high profile fan in the form of NBC Nightly News host Brian Williams though, who featured them on his inaugural edition of music-based interviews known as BriTunes. The thing about these three separate but equal bands playing together though is that they all really get along well with one another and are great friends. The dynamic of it, the way it’s all presented, matters less than simply going out, having fun and putting on a great show for people. Funny enough, that’s exactly what they did when their tour ran through Chicago on Saturday night, and you’d probably consider yourself foolish if you skipped even a minute of it.

Deer Tick have always been a force to be reckoned with live, and a venue like the Metro only enhances that intensity. They came flying out of the gate with their naturally playful energy that the crowd was more than happy to eat up. There was bouncing, there was swaying, there were saxophone solos, and there were covers. From the beginning, a number of people mentioned in just general crowd chatter that John McCauley’s vocals were placed too low in the mix because much of what he was saying seemed unintelligible. Considering that the Metro is one of the best-sounding concert venues in Chicago if not the world, they don’t really ever screw up mixing like that. In fact it was more McCauley’s voice with its rather nasal, Bob Dylan charm that made things a bit muddy. That’s no fault of his own, and such a thing should not have prevented most if not everyone from getting a little something out of Deer Tick’s set. They jumped all over their catalogue, from “Something to Brag About” to “Smith Hill” to “Choir of Angels” to “Ashamed” and the massive “Christ Jesus”. There were a handful of new songs too, leaving something to look forward to whenever they get around to putting out another record. The band also started what would become a theme throughout the night, which is the spirit of collaboration. Mid-set they brought out Delta Spirit’s Matt Vasquez to take the lead on a few songs, perhaps in part because the rest of his band was not on this tour. He sang a new song along with a pair of covers – Bruce Springsteen’s “Racing in the Streets” followed by Nirvana’s “Scentless Apprentice”. The transition from The Boss to Nirvana was jarring and weird, but hot damn does Vasquez do a great Kurt Cobain. Deer Tick is playing a set of Nirvana covers at SXSW this upcoming week under the name Deervana, and if Vasquez joins them (he likely will, among others), keep an eye out for some killer YouTube videos. On the whole, it was yet another excellent Deer Tick set in a long line of excellent Deer Tick sets, providing more proof that they’re one of the more engaging live acts around today.

Deer Tick – Piece By Piece and Frame By Frame

Buy Deer Tick’s “Black Dirt Sessions” from Amazon

After a brief break, Dawes came out to do their thing. It’s hard to believe that their debut album “North Hills” came out in 2009, but it’s taken this long for them to get really noticed. They’ve been paying their dues though, consistently touring and playing music festivals whether you’ve known it or not. After a couple quick songs from that first record, they played a new one about their hometown of Los Angeles. What’s moderately funny and also just a touch disappointing is that they’ve already written a couple songs about L.A. before and at some point it just becomes excessive. Still, despite the subject matter the song was good, as was their entire set. One of the best moments came courtesy of their new song “Fire Away”, as frontman Taylor Goldsmith tried something new and got the crowd to sing in divided-by-gender harmony. Not to boost some egos, but it sounded quite good. With just the one album and a couple new songs to play over the course of their hour-long set time, Dawes kept up with the collaborations by bringing their friend Jonny Corndawg out on stage to sing a few of his original country tunes. If you are unfamiliar with Jonny Corndawg, he can often be found wearing the traditional cowboy hat and boots, and he’s got a relatively large catalogue of songs that are both bizarre and heartfelt at the same time. You’d think the guy was a parody of country singers if he didn’t carry himself so earnestly. Yet there’s a sly, oddball sense of humor that permeates his lyrics and makes you sit up and notice what might otherwise be just a collection of country standards. Dawes loves the Corndawg, as does Deer Tick and one would assume Delta Spirit by proxy. They all share a lot of the same qualities, even if their approaches are a little different. After performing 5 of his songs with Dawes, a whole bunch of people rushed the stage, including Matt Vasquez and members of Deer Tick for a set-closing rendition of the Dawes hit “When My Time Comes”. Yeah, it was one massive sing-along where everyone on stage eventually turned their microphones out to the crowd to take over. The collective release of energy was something that had been building all night to that point, and when it finally happened there was such catharsis you knew it wouldn’t be topped.

Dawes – When My Time Comes

Buy Dawes’ “North Hills” from Amazon

Middle Brother began their set with “Blue Eyes” after yet another short break, and it was a smart choice over the beautiful but very slow opening track “Daydreaming” off their debut record. Most bands like to start their sets with the first track of their latest album, but in this case a bouncier and catchier song won out. Of course “Daydreaming” would pop up a few songs into the set anyways, mostly because Middle Brother played every song they’ve put out thus far. But McCauley did an exceptional job with hjs lead vocal on “Daydreaming”, making it one of the evening’s brightest spots. Highlights also included Taylor Goldsmith’s intense vocal performance on “Blood and Guts”, which was heartwrenching on record but even moreso live. The rollicking single “Me Me Me” has been getting a little bit of radio airplay in town, and probably went over best with the crowd during that particular set. The stage completely cleared out as Goldsmith took on “Wilderness” completely on his own, which was nice to have that short respite from the balances and imbalances that having such a collection of talent together at once. As for Matt Vasquez, he was great when sharply rocking out on guitar for most of the night, but also did a more than admirable job taking lead on “Theater” and “Someday”. If anybody was underused or underrepresented not just during Middle Brother’s set but all night it was Vasquez, but that also makes a bit of sense given that his main band Delta Spirit is significantly less alt-country/folk than Deer Tick and Dawes are. He’s an essential part of Middle Brother, no doubt about that, he’s just more of the quiet one that sits in the corner quietly blowing everyone away rather than sucking up the spotlight (not that McCauley or Goldsmith are begging for attention, they’re probably just more outgoing). Of course everyone came together at the very end of the night, including Jonny Corndawg and the guys from Deer Tick and Dawes to perform the song “Middle Brother” and then an encore that included their cover of The Replacements’ “Portland” and a supremely round-robin version of The Band’s “Down South in New Orleans”. That’s how the night ended, with about 15 people on stage and random band members grabbing the microphone and belting out verses in the most theatrical and spectacular ways possible. For a brief moment it felt like one massive gospel and blues show, with new surprises emerging at every turn.

The ability to not just pull one, but multiple rabbits out of a single hat is a big part of what makes a good show great, and by that count every band nailed it Saturday night. I had a great admiration for all three bands that were on the bill Saturday night, and even the one (Delta Spirit) that wasn’t, but I couldn’t honestly say that I loved any one of them. As a result of this show, every one of them has sharply risen in my esteem. The spirit of collaboration and friendship completely overflowed on stage, really bringing out the best in each act and helping to create great memories for everyone that was in the room. There wasn’t anything earth shattering or epic that happened, but sometimes it’s the little things, the personal connections and a love of good music that make for the best times.

Middle Brother – Me Me Me
Middle Brother – Middle Brother

Buy “Middle Brother” from Amazon

Click past the jump for more photos!

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Pick Your Poison: Friday 3-12-11

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On 03/11/2011

In mp3, music, pick your poison

This weekend is a little celebration better known as St. Patrick’s Day (Observed). Because the actual St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Thursday, many are taking the weekend before to drink their green beer and just get sloppy drunk. If that’s your idea of a good time, enjoy. Pick Your Poison today is exceptionally enjoyable. My personal choices include songs from Early Winters, Grieves, James Legs, Phil Cook (of Megafaun), Ponytail, The Wrens and Yuck. In the Soundcloud section there are also great songs from Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. and Generationals.

Bikini – American Mourning (WIN WIN Remix)

Daniel Knox – Ghostsong

Early Winters – Tough Love

The Echelon Effect – We Will Spin Forever

Family of the Year – Stupidland

Grieves – Lightspeed

James Legs – Drowning in Fire

The Owsley Brothers – Under the Shade of a Live Oak

Phil Cook & His Feat – Ballad of a Hungry Mother

Ponytail – Easy Peasy

Rimer London ft. Cata.Pirata – Love Dagger

Ryan Driver – Am I Still Too Late

The Shondes – Nothing Glows
The Shondes – Make It Beautiful

This Year’s Model – No Miracles

The Wrens – As I’ve Known

Yuck – Get Away

SOUNDCLOUD

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – Morning Thought

Dry the River – New Ceremony

Generationals – Ten-Twenty-Ten

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