Bodies of Water, Briefly

Good evening, everyone. At this point, I feel like apologies and claims about future plans are more or less irrelevant and unnecessary, so I'll get right to the music.

Bodies of Water is one of the coolest groups I have heard in a while. I'll be the first to admit, their album came out in May, and I should have gotten into them much earlier.

The band sounds very much like The 5th Dimension with a style that brings to mind The Polyphonic Spree. The lead vocals remind me a lot of Feist. All in all, I love the band, and you should, too.

Check out their Myspace here and/or their website here. Expect more about them in the coming days. For now, enjoy these random tracks that I've been listening to. Hopefully, you'll hear from me again very soon. Peace.

The Octopus Project- Queen
The Cave Singers- Seeds of Night (Daytrotter Recording- check out the whole session here)

Random Covers, Bruce Springsteen, and I'm Still Alive!

Bruce Springsteen Playing "Keep the Car Running" with Win and Regine!!!


I begin, yet again, with my sincerest apologies. By now, I doubt we have any regular readers or anything, but I would like to say, for the record, to anyone who may be listening, that I feel genuinely bad about not posting. I love doing this, and I really should more often.

That being said, this post will serve as a sort of restart of my blogging, a short blip that will mayhap serve to boost my motivation to actually start listening to the scene again. I have chosen to include a couple of random, silly covers from my library, as well as that Bruce Springsteen video of Bruce singing "Keep the Car Running" with Win and Regine. What could serve as a deep apology better than the Boss covering the Arcade Fire? Not much, I'll say that. The fan's reaction on the video is identical to my own. In any case, I hope everyone's doing well out there, expect more in the future.

Peace, and enjoy!

Maximo Park- Like I Love You (Justin Timberlake cover)
Avril Lavigne- The Scientist (Coldplay cover)
Bodies of Water- Everybody Hurts (REM cover)

My Morning Jacket Covers

Good morning! I just thought I'd share some sweet My Morning Jacket covers (or rather, covers that My Morning Jacket has performed) from my collection with you. Michael actually introduced me to these guys, and I have to say, they rock out. Enjoy!

My Morning Jacket- Highway to Hell (AC/DC cover)
My Morning Jacket- I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man (Prince cover)
My Morning Jacket- Johnny B. Goode (Chuck Berry cover)
My Morning Jacket- Never Tear Us Apart (INXS cover)
My Morning Jacket- Wonderful Tonight (Eric Clapton cover)
My Morning Jacket- Wear Your Love Like Heaven (Bob Dylan cover)

Bishop Allen and my return from Spain

Hey everyone! I feel mildly guilty about not posting. Actually, I feel really guilty. That whole a capella thing just did not cut it. My schedule has been ridiculously hectic, though, I swear. Spain was fantastic, 1) yes I did encounter the Spanish-indie scene, 2) yes I will post on it, 3) no, not right now. But, let's get straight back to the music, which, thankfully, has not stopped changing while I was gone.



Blogs all over are crazy about Bishop Allen, an affluent group of talented people straight out of Brooklyn. The group's two core members, Justin Rice (keyboard and vocals) and Christian Rudder (various stringed instruments), are old friends who are supported by a rotating group of other band members.

The band has received great reviews from some pretty credible sources, like NPR, which says that it "has mastered the art of quirky, unassuming pop with a fragile heart", and Rolling Stone, which calls the band's tracks "charmed harmonic bliss".

Basically, Bishop Allen is everything I always wanted The Shins to be and more. Justin Rice has the perfect voice for the lyric-oriented folk that the group generally produces (Fans of Bright Eyes will certainly like this group), yet at the same time, there is a more poppy side to be heard as well. Really, the vocals are just... good. Also, the guitar and keyboard melodies are very strong. In other words, these guys know what they are doing.

Their first album, Charm School came out in May 2003. In 2006, they released an EP every month, with each named after its particularly month. August, though, is a 14-song live EP. The band just released its sophomore effort, The Broken String, on July 24th, and now, with more experience and steady members under its belt, it is producing some pretty incredible stuff. I can tell that they've put a lot of work into this disk, and I am definitely buying it ASAP. Speaking of which, you can stream the album from here, and/or you can buy it and their other CD's from their website.

I promise that soon, I will begin to post at least fairly regularly. But, for now, enjoy some mp3's. I have selected two of my favorites, ones that I think show off the band's musical ability, but their are so many songs to hear. Look into them. Seriously.

Bishop Allen- The Same Fire (from June)
Bishop Allen- Like Castanets (from The Broken String)

Hey

Before I Leave....

As I said earlier, I am leaving for Costa Rica..tommorow in fact. Due to this, I have been ridiculously busy and all I have time to do is type this out really quickly. There will be a three week period when I am gone before Eric gets back (Endish of July.) Fortunately, We are having our good friend Dakota post in our wake. I am sure you will enjoy his writing.

New Architecture!

So, these last two weeks I've been slipping at the whole post-frequency. Believe me, I'm not happy about it either. This summer has been extremely routine and repetitive in terms of what I do and when I do it. It's not like I have a shortage of free time, but since it is broken up by activities, I've been hard-pressed to motivate myself to really do anything. But oh well I guess.

One of the things that has definitely put a bright spot on my summer so far is the upcoming album from everyone's favorite australian octet, Architecture In Helsinki. The new album, Places Like This, is due out in August. It is the band's third LP and so far, at least from the couple of weeks that I have had it, it is my favorite. (Yes, I got the leaked version. Can you blame me? But don't think I won't be standing in line for it on that day in August.)

The band's sound in the old days was considerably more playful than the more recent work. The poppiness and multiple vocals have remained, but now they come with a certain earnestness in the music. This is most demonstrated on the excellent kind of bridge in "Heart It Races" when the female vocalist starts shouting what i thiiink is "How To Miss Someone." Correct me if I'm wrong. In any case, that part gives me chills everytime I hear it, and it's that kind of thing that has really made this album. The release is solid from top to bottom with it's playfully-earnest sincerety. Today I have the single as-is for you, as well as a remix by Yacht, which is in my opinion the best of the ones out there right now. As always, if you like what you do be hearing, go ahead and meander over here to fill up that record collection.

Architecture In Helsinki-Heart It Races
Architecture In Helsinki-Heart It Races (Yacht's Remix)

Bonus mp3s! I also have to mp3s from 2006's remix album, We Died, They Remixed. It is a sin how playful they are.

Architecture In Helsinki-It'5 (33hz & Ming Mix)
Architecture In Helsinki-Wishbone (Franc Tetaz Mix)

Our First Mix!!

Kate Bush

It's been a long time coming, but it's finally here: our first mix. (Celebratory fist pump.) In other developments, I will be leaving for Costa Rica in three weeks and will be unable to post there. Therefore, there could quite possibly be a three week period of inactiveness for this blog. Anyway, on with the music.

Kate Bush-Waking the Witch
Tunng-Pioneers (Bloc Party Cover)
65daysofstatic-When We Were Younger And Better
Weezer-Souveniers, Novelties, Party Tricks (demo)
Interpol-Public Pervert (Carlos D Remix) (direct link)

The Dreadful Yawns

It took two years and three different studios, but the new album from Cleveland folk/rock quintet The Dreadful Yawns is finally here. And now that they've finally reached this point, the band doesn't look quite the same. Throughout the recording of May release Rest, four of the five original band members quit, leaving just principal singer/songwriter Ben Gmetro and four completely new bandmembers.

The making of the album was so drawn out and mismatched studio-wise that it really came through in the music. Throughout the album, the band transforms themselves from indie folk to country to experimental and back to the original folk. "You've Been Recorded" a catchy country-influenced pop song that begs to be followed by "Changing States." "Due South" is a beautiful ballad, and "We Go Up" is an experimental-ambient track. If you like what you hear, buy Rest here.

The Dreadful Yawns-You've Been Recorded
The Dreadful Yawns-Changing States
The Dreadful Yawns-Due South
The Dreadful Yawns-We Go Up

Also, I'll post a Kate Bush track that I have been digging lately. That violin gives me chills..

Kate Bush-Jig Of Life

Mystery of Two

For the past couple of years, when I have needed to get pumped up, my go-to band has consistently been Bear vs. Shark. Something about the tight, driving drum beats and neat guitar riffs mixed with the indescribable technique the singer used just drew me in from the start. So, when I first heard the opening vocal line from "Relics" (the first song from Mystery of Two's debut Arrows Are All You Know (buy), I was immediately drawn in. Why? Well, the lead singer has that style where he hits a note that sounds slightly strained register-wise, and just stays on it throughout the line. When I kept listening, I found more and more easy comparisons between the two Midwestern bands. I found in Mystery of Two the same type of driving guitar and drums.

Now, now, readers, don't knock this band off as just a remake of Bear vs. Shark, like it probably sounds from my description thus far. The guitar in a lot of songs sounds more like a Jimmy Paige kind of riff with fancy blues fills. The vocals, while they do have the basic style I have been talking about, are much more all over the place. Maybe it is because the singer doesn't have an extremely smooth voice. I don't care. It sounds great all the same. Anyway, enough of this. Let's let the music do the talking, shall we?

Mystery of Two-Relics
Mystery of Two-In My Home
Mystery of Two-Quick
Mystery of Two-Gravel