Baraat By Rude Mechanical Orchestra

The Rude Mechanical Orchestra killed it last night at the Matt & Kim show, upstaging even secret special guest Spank Rock who was trying out some new material. You may remember RMO from this post. They are "radical" -- as in they support feminist, queer, labor, environmental, social and economic justice, peace, and other progressive causes. Speaking of which, RMO have a gig coming up at The St. Pat's for All Parade (43rd St and Skillman Ave, Sunnyside, Queens) on Sun Mar 01 @ 2 PM. Listen to them play one of their trademark songs, the title track to the 2001 film Monsoon Wedding.

Downloadable: "Baraat" (box.net mp3) (composed by Mychael Danna)

Streamable: "Push It (Salt-n-Pepa Cover Live At Honk! Festival)" (youtube)

Myspace page is here.
Donate to RMO here.
Props to RMO for telling people about this fucking insane story.

Consider CLICKing
- Royal Bangs perform new track "Who Am Kong" for Daytrotter... here.

- Cadence Weapon sets up a Radiohead/NIN/GirlTalk/Saul Williams-style payment system for his new electrohop record Separation Anxiety... here.

- Burning World posts a kick ass Pixies boot... here.

Top 15 Albums Of 2008

Out of the all the albums that came out this year, these here... these are the tops. This list was put together with a little help from last.fm. Also, I don't apply any number ranks to my year end lists. I use the power of the alphabet, but if you really want a #1 album of 2008, let's just say it's... HLLLYH. Ok, let's go...



Top 15 Albums Of 2008:
Alegranza by El Guincho

Comment: A trance enducing world trip
Listen: "Cuando Maavilla Fui" (box.net mp3)
Listen More: "Palmitos Park" (beggars mp3)
Amazon MP3 page is here.
eMusic page is here.

Crystal Castles by Crystal Castles

Comment: The glitch masterpiece of the year
Listen: "Magic Spells" (box.net mp3)
Amazon MP3 page is here.
eMusic page is here.

Curses by Future Of The Left

Comment: Runner up for Album Of The Year... out of all these records, this is the one I listened to the most.
Listen: "Fingers Become Thumbs" (box.net mp3)
Listen More: "Manchasm" (box.net mp3)
Amazon MP3 page is here.
eMusic page is here.

Feed The Animals by Girl Talk

Comment: Mr. Gillis makes me want to wrap my iMac in Saran Wrap. If you haven't yet, take a look at the Wikipedia dissection of Feed The Animals... here. Kind of like The Soup but with music.
Listen: "What It's All About" (box.net mp3)
Pay-What-You-Want is here.
Amazon MP3 page is here.
eMusic page is here.

HEALTH//DISCO by Health

Comment: This will blow your mind. The best remix album of the year (maybe ever?)
Listen: "Heaven (Narctrax Remix)" (box.net mp3)
Listen More: "Lost Time (Pictureplane Remix)" (box.net mp3)
Listen Even More: "Tabloid Sores (Nosaj Thing Remix)" (box.net mp3)
Amazon MP3 page is here.
eMusic page is here.

HLLLYH by The Mae Shi

Comment: Album of the year (for now).
Listen: "PWND"
Listen More: "The Melody" (box.net mp3)
Amazon MP3 page is here.
eMusic page is here.

Liferz by Blood On The Wall

Comment: Like the 90's all rolled up into one album. The Pixies and Sonic Youth influences shine through, but you know what there's nothing wrong with that. This rocks.
Listen: "Rize" (box.net mp3)
Listen More: "Hibernation" (box.net mp3)
eMusic page is here.
Amazon MP3 page is here.

The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In by Thee Oh Sees

Comment: R-O-C-K
Listen: "Ghost In The Trees" (box.net mp3)
Listen More: "The Coconut" (box.net mp3)
eMusic page is here.
Amazon MP3 page is here.

Nouns by No Age

Comment: Amazing.
Listen: "Teen Creeps" (sub pop mp3)
Listen More: "Eraser" (sub pop mp3)
Sub Pop page is here.
Amazon MP3 page is here.

On Two Sides by Blank Dogs

Comment: distorted vocals with instrumentals that sound like The Cure if they had been Birmingham and not West Sussex.
Listen: "Meltdown Cloud" (box.net mp3)
Sacred Bones Records page is here.
(Free) download is here.

Out My Window by Koushik

Comment: downbeat bliss
Listen: "Be With" (box.net mp3)
Listen More: "Nothing's The Same" (box.net mp3)
Amazon MP3 page is here.
eMusic page is here.

Third by Portishead

Comment: a remarkable return (and the only major label artist on the list, sorry Beck)
Listen/Watch: "Machine Gun" (youtube)
Amazon MP3 page is here.

We Breed Champions by Royal Bangs

Comment: These guys crafted one of the best indie rock albums of the year even if my best friend can never remember their name. A good way to remember their name: it's a euphemism for sex with a monarch.
Listen: "Let's Get Even" (box.net mp3)
Audio Eagle page is here.
Amazon MP3 page is here.

Welcome by James Pants

Comment: The space funk album of the year
Listen: "Finger On The Knife" (box.net mp3)
Listen More: "We're Through" (stones throw mp3)
Amazon MP3 page is here.
eMusic page is here.

WOMEN by Women

Comment: Canadian indie rock drenched in droney lofi goodness. SEE THEM LIVE. That is all.
Listen: "Lawncare" (box.net mp3)
Listen More: "Group Transport Hall" (jagjaguwar mp3)
Jagjaguwar page is here.
eMusic page is here

Consider CLICKing
- Panther covering The Silos... here. Listen: "justthismorning" (krs mp3)

- Best Of 2008: Captain's Dead's Top Ten Records... here.

- Best Of 2008: The Tape's 25 favorite songs... here.

- Best Of 2008: The Daily Growl's Top 20 albums... here.

- Best Of 2008: So Much Silence's Favorite albums... here.

- Vice Gives You The Gift Of Good Music... here.

11/2/08 Minimix

Today I have a wee mix of things you probably should be listening to...

Downloadables:
"Boxes" (box.net mp3) by The Lake Situation
"Parasites" (box.net mp3) by The Muslims
"Maniverse (Live On WOXY)" (box.net mp3) by Royal Bangs
"Beach Demon" (box.net mp3) by Wavves
"Change The Beat" (box.net mp3) by Low Scores
"Run To The Facts (Brad Shi Shitty Emo Ending Mix)" (box.net mp3) by Yea Big + Kid Static

At first I hated that shitty emo ending, now I love it.

What is happening to me??? AHHHHH!

Consider CLICKing
- Listen to some experimental indiefolkpop: "Black Fur" (the kora mp3) by Fredrik

- This Week In Forkcast
(Solo Bradford Cox London Solo Session)... here.
(DJ Jason Forrest mashs Polvo's Dark New Ages together)... here.
(HeartsRevolution "ultraviolence" mp3)... here.

The Coconut By Thee Oh Sees

Methinks it is time for one more Thee Oh Sees mp3. Noisy, Slow, Loud & Crashy. Next to the Royal Bangs' We Breed Champions, The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In is in the running for my favorite experimental garage rock album of the year.

Downloadable: "The Coconut" (box.net mp3)

Myspace page is here.
Tomlab is here.
Amazon MP3 page is here.
eMusic page is here.
Old GT post is here.

Consider CLICKing
- Here's the latest Sub Pop free mp3... it's "Gold For Bread" (sub pop mp3) by Blitzen Trapper

- Check out Five Questions With Hot Lava over at Pop Tart Suck Toasted (plus a couple mp3s)... here. Bagels + Beer flyer is here.


(source: flickr)

No Tempo By Boo And Boo Too

Lawrence KS indieartrockers Boo And Boo Too's new album (entitled No Tempo) comes out next week. It looks like this:



Their free mp3 from Iron Paw Records builds and builds and has this whole wall of noise thing going on, check it out...

Listen: "No Tempo" (iron paw mp3)

Preorder No Tempo here.

NYC/CMJers -- Boo And Boo Too have three CMJish shows coming up @ Death By Audio and Knitting Factory and Less Artists More Condos.

Myspace page is here.
Iron Paw is here.
Chop Womp is here.
Boo And Boo Too blogspot is here.
Amazon MP3 page is here.
Old ptw 'single file' posts are here and here.

"Oldie" BONUS: "Every Day I Saw You In Egypt" (iron paw mp3)

Consider CLICKing
- Royals Bangs banged out a Lounge Act for WOXY. Dig it:

Listen: "Royal Bangs On WOXY" (woxy mp3)

Tracklisting:
"Who Am Kong"
"Maniverse"
"Broke Calculator"
"Brother"

A Picture from the WOXY flickr:



- Speaking of WOXY, Takka Takka's Lounge Act has been cut up into individual mp3s @ The Futurist... here.

- This week in Forkcast!
(No Age on Late Late)... here.
(Dept Of Eagles perform "Herring Bone")... here.
(Fuck Buttons Live from Juan's Basement)... here and here.
(New Atlas Sound, "Coffin Trick")... here.
(Cadence Weapon sells some video "Real Estate")... here.

Die Allman Bruder By Ponytail

I thought I would do a little public service today. So I am going to post some "energy-based music" to help you get going and do that thing you are supposed to be doing right now instead of reading this. So listen to this...

Downloadable (CORRECTED!): "Die Allman Bruder" (box.net mp3) by Ponytail

If you also require visual stimulation, watch this...

Downloadable: "Die Allman Bruder" (now we are free mov)

"Official" site is here.
Now We Are Free is here.
Creative Capitalism page is here.
eMusic page is here.
ptw guest edit is here.

Consider CLICKing
- Some light reading concerning myths about this date seven years ago... here.

- Ohboyohboyohboy... The Black Kids, Titus Andronicus, The Ruby Suns, The Royal Bangs, and Aesop Rock all have Daytrotter sessions coming up.

- A Different Stripe posts about Right To Write... here. It's a new project "whose mission is to provide a repository of information and support for individuals needing to learn more about their intellectual property rights in the face of legal intimidation."

- Two (more) vids for your optical enjoyment today. The first is the new El Guincho vid for "Palmitos Park" @ Gorilla Vs. Bear (here) and the second is the creepy new Salem vid @ Big Stereo (here).

- I Rock Cleveland gets h-e-a-v-y with Fucked Up... here.

- Some Velvet Blog ponders what it would be like to be "dropped into the inside a game of Mario Super Brothers" (with Adventure)... here.

- Music Slut reports that The French Kicks are readying a remix covers EP... here.

[UPDATED with mp3s] Take the NPR's Best CDs of the Year (So Far) Poll

Take the NPR's Best CDs of the Year (So Far) Poll...

It's right here.

And in no particular order, here are some albums that are missing from the poll (maybe write a few of them in??):
Nouns By No Age
Listen: "Cappo" (box.net mp3)

HLLLYH by The Mae Shi
Listen: "The Melody" (box.net mp3)

Crystal Castles by Crystal Castles
Listen: "Magic Spells" (box.net mp3)

HEALTH//DISCO by Health
Listen: "Lost Time (Pictureplane Remix)" (box.net mp3)

Liferz by Blood On The Wall
Listen: "Hibernation" (box.net mp3)

The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In by Thee Oh Sees
Listen: "Graveyard Drug Party" (box.net mp3)

Triptych by Shooting At Unarmed Men
Listen: "Boredom Is The Feeling That Everything Is A Waste Of Time" (box.net mp3)

We Breed Champions by Royal Bangs
Listen: "Cat Swallow" (mp3)

Win by Susu
Listen: "Hands Up (The Race)" (box.net mp3)

Ice Cream Spiritual by Ponytail
Listen: "Celebrate The Body Electric (It Came From An Angel)" (now we are free mp3)

The Ruiner By Made Out Of Babies
Listen: "Cooker" (moob mp3)

Oh, and be sure to vote for We Versus The Shark.
Listen: "Hello Blood" (team clermont mp3)

2008 (so far)

If you have not listened to the Contrast Podcast this year, you have to check out this week's episode.

Listen: "2008 (so far)" (mp3)

I chose "Cat Swallow" (pirate mp3) by Royal Bangs after not being able to decide between "Eraser" (sub pop mp3) by No Age and "The Melody" (box.net mp3) by The Mae Shi. Since my choice, I realized that there was another song that blew me away this year, and it turns out that no one else picked it for the podacst. I really thought someone else would pick something from this recording. Guess not.

The song: "Machine Gun" (ysi) or (youtube) by Portishead

I also seriously consider tracks by Motico and Jaguar Love, oh and Crystal Castles. Listen to some more killer tracks from 2008... here.

The Playlist:
(00:00) Flight of the Conchords - All the ladies of the world
Tim from The face of today

(03:05) Royal Bangs - Cat swallow
Bob from this blog you are reading right now

(07:45) These Modern Socks - Where I came from
Linda from Speed of dark

(14:14) Japandroids - No Allegiance to the Queen
FiL from Pogoagogo

(21:47) The Cure - The only one
Adam

(26:24) DeVotchKa - The clockwise witness
Marcy from Lost in your inbox

(31:14) The Weepies - Old coyote
Natalie from Mini-obs

(35:41) KaiserCartel - Okay
Duke of Straw from The Late Greats

(39:31) The Wedding Present - Spider-man on Hollywood
Jim from Quick Before it Melts

(42:48) Be Your Own Pet - Becky
Dirk from Sexy Loser

But then a quick jaunt into mid/late 90's nostalgia crappiness (sorry)...

(46:45) Blind Melon - Wishing Well
Chip from Atomic Ned

(51:17) Counting Crows - Cowboys
James from Appetite For Distraction

(57:29) At the Stars - Forget
Andy from Circles of Concrete

(01:01:49) Stars - Take me to the riot
Miss Wired

(01:06:10) Religious Knives - The sun
ZB from So the wind won't blow it all away

(01:12:27) Sun Kil Moon - Unlit hallway
Greer from A Sweet Unrest

Consider CLICKing
- Matablog posts this youtube vid with clips of Jaguar Love and "Georgia Take Me to the Sea" playing... here.

- Sweden's Air France is a band not an airline. Gorilla Vs. Bear really really likes them... here.

Cat Swallow By Royal Bangs

According to the Royal Bangs, they sound like: "BEEEP BEEP BEEP bumpbumpbump WHOOOOO beeep beep whiizz." That doesn't sound quite right to me, but I don't care. Know why? Because, this is cram-packed with awesomeness.

Downloadable: "Cat Swallow" (mp3)

Maybe you heard them here? No?

Myspace page is here.
Audio Eagle is here.

Consider Clicking
- Holy Shit! 51 songs 30 minutes! Parts & Labor have a tribute to their "favorite loud and fast bands, a cram session of ideas snatched from the Melvins, Man is the Bastard, Melt Banana, and Napalm Death, as well as 80s indie/punk songsmiths like Mission of Burma, Hüsker Dü, Minutemen and The Wipers." Listen to this: "This Is What You Wanted" (mp3). Excellent! Buy it... here.

- MISSING TOOF has posted the LAZRtag extra-electro re-remix of Health Vs. Crystal Castles "Crimewave (CC RMX)" (box.net mp3 of the original Crystal Castles remix). Get with the re-remix... here.

- Speaking of Health, there's some great HEALTH photos @ sctas... here. Soooo much better than mine.

- NEVVER asks "How Do You Know?" (posting The Lyres)... here.

- Flying is playing tonight. Will I make it to the show this time? "All I know I my gut says 'Maybe'". Listen: "Minors" (mp3). For more shows this weekend check out PTST... here.

- Have you seen the waterballoon/sillystring/confetti/unidentified fluid filled vid of the new Spinto Band song "Summer Grof"? Here it is. Also, Pasta Primavera has the mp3... here.

- The Teeth drop some more tracks for Daytrotter... here.

It's A Fact (Printed Stained) (Mano RMX Feat. Hollywood Holt) By Matt & Kim

This has been around for a short while. It is stuck in my head and will not get out. But I don't care, 'cuz it's awesome. Now I infect you. Muhahhhahaaa!

Listen: "It's A Fact (Printed Stained) (Mano RMX Feat. Hollywood Holt)" (source: franki chan) by Matt And Kim

Myspace page is here.
IHEARTCOMIX page is here.
Moshi Moshi is here.
Some old GT Matt & Kim posts are here and here and here and here.

Mano is here.
Hollywood Holt is here.

Consider Clicking
- Go get 'em quick... Radiohead on BBC @ Sixeyes Mp3 Blog... here.

- New New New Centro-Matic: "I, The Kite" (mp3) (with props that happen to be mad to captain's dead).

- Architecture In Helsinki is streaming up some new material at ye olde myspace page... here.

- Motherfuck! The Rolling Stones are available at eMusic... here.

- Speaking of digital music sales... now iTunes is bigger than Walmart in the US. I guess they added a new genre section, Trite Crap.

- These Are Powers punk up some ghosts @ Surviving The Golden Age... here.

- Royal Bangs is an anagram of Yo Banal GRS. I am not quite sure what that means. Read about them at I Rock Cleveland... here.

- I went through the Pitchfork Guide To Upcoming Releases Spring 2008. This is what we are excited/interested in @ GT World Heaquarters:

04-01:
The Black Keys: Attack & Release [Nonesuch]
The Sword: Gods of the Earth [Kemado]

04-08 (DAMN!):
The Breeders: Mountain Battles [4AD]
Clinic: Do It [Domino]
Dead Child: Attack [Quarterstick]
The Duke Spirit: Neptune [Artist First]
Eric Avery: Help Wanted [Dangerbird]
Fleet Foxes: Sun Giant EP [Sub Pop]
Foals: Antidotes [Sub Pop] [North American release]
Jay Reatard: "See/Saw" 7" [Matador]
Man Man: Rabbit Habits [Anti-]
MSTRKRFT: Remixes Vol. 1 [Last Gang]
New Bloods: The Secret Life [Kill Rock Stars]
No Kids: Come Into My House [Tomlab]
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin: Pershing [Polyvinyl]
Tapes 'n Tapes: Walk It Off [XL]
Thee Oh Sees: The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending a Night In [Tomlab]
Torche: Meanderthal [Hydra Head]
Wye Oak: If Children [Merge]

04-15:
Black Francis (Frank Black): Sv N F Ng Rs [Cooking Vinyl]
The Jealous Girlfriends: The Jealous Girlfriends [Last Gang]
Portishead: Third [Island]

04-19 (Record Store Day):
none

04-22:
TheDeathSet: Worldwide [Counter Records]
El Perro Del Mar: From the Valley to the Stars [The Control Group] [North American release]
Monotonix: Body Language [Drag City]
The Night Marchers: See You in Magic [Swami/Vagrant]
The Replacements: Various reissues [Rhino]
Sonic Youth: SYR7 [SYR]

04-28:
Cajun Dance Party: The Colourful Life [XL] [UK release]

04-29:
Awesome Color: Electric Aborigines [Ecstatic Peace]
The Roots: Rising Down [Def Jam]
Santogold: Santogold [Downtown/Atlantic]

05-06:
Animal Collective: Water Curses EP [Domino]
Four Tet: Ringer [Domino]
The Long Blondes: Couples [Rough Trade] [North American release]
Matmos: Supreme Balloon [Matador]
No Age: Nouns [Sub Pop]
Pattern Is Movement: All Together [Hometapes]

05-13:
none

05-20:
Free Kitten: Inherit [Ecstatic Peace]
French Kicks: Swimming [Vagrant]

05-27:
Steinski: What Does It All Mean?: 1983-2006 [Illegal Art]

06-03:
Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes [Sub Pop]
Robert Pollard: Robert Pollard Is Off to Business [Guided by Voices, Inc.]

06-10:
Karen Dalton: Green Rocky Road [Megaphone]

06-17:
Wolf Parade: Kissing the Beehive [Sub Pop]

06-24:
none

07-01:
none

07-08:
The Melvins: Nude With Boots [Ipecac]

Fire Lances Of The Ancient Hyperzephyrians By The Sword

Oh fuck yeah!! The Sword has made "Fire Lances Of The Ancient Hyperzephyrians" available as a free mp3. Disclosure: you could previously get it from ptw, plus it is available today at Spinner. Personally, I think you should download it below (that is if you don't have it already). Happy Headbanging.

Downloadable: "Fire Lances Of The Ancient Hyperzephyrians" (box.net mp3) (source: kemando)

Ancient Hyperzephyrians look like this:


Myspace page is here.
Kemando is here.
The Sword merch is here.
The Sword Podcast is here.
Emusic page is here.
Preorder Gods Of The Earth here or here.

Consider Clicking
- Oh My Rockness thinks you should be listening to this mp3: "Sweet Love For Planet Earth" by Fuck Buttons. More about that here.

- New Live Les Savy Fav is coming soon: "The Sweat Descends (Live)" (mp3)

- The Smudge has two posts you should check out: one is about Royal Bangs and the other is about Bridges And Powerlines... here and here (respectively).

- Hack up (or is it hock up?) a mp3 blog in minutes @ joelaz.com (via Idolator)... here.

- BOWAS has a big ass post about 90's North Carolina indie rockers Raymond Brake... here.

- Watch a kinda random SXSW vid featuring Bodies Of Water and Mika Miko... here. It will have you saying "Great Story Jenna Thornhill" (a la The Soup).