frightened rabbits and oblivious rabbits

i have the itch to go out and buy new music lately, but have had no time or money to do so, luckly, i got a suprise of the Scottish band, Frightened rabbit, just came out with thier debut album, The Midnight Organ Fight. their first album sing the greys i felt was a great effort that went totally unnoticed. with this second album i was only hoping for a little more of the same thing, but was happily surprised with a new approach with the same fundamentals that they started with. while im not as addicted to this album as i was with the first one, it is still a great album with a lot more thought and more of a lasting quality to it.



been digging through my old ska collection lately and been enjoying some of the cds i got when i started to get into other stuff, so unfortunately i neglected those ska bands. but not anymore! two bands ive been listening a lot of is Firebug and green house. firebug is more a stubborn records/version city kinda band, small, under the radar, good melodies that are reminiscent of old dubbed-out rocksteady and mid-90 jazzy ska third wave. green house is more a straight forward early 3rd wave ska band that definitely is alot more fun than most of the washed out ska bands stuffed in suits because they saw the specials do it.

do that thing you do

this past friday i went down to baltimore to see the dirtbombs and my best friend, will. why aren't there more bands from baltimore? they city is crazy run down in sections and way upscale areas, there should be some good conflict coming out of that. oh well, i digress...
the show was awesome, one of the loudest concerts i've been to in years. they had a wicked tight set, played the full spectrum, it was even the fuzzes birthday and there was cake.
unfortunately we didn't get to go to any record stores, but next time. i did finally get in the mail from no idea Off with their heads and the bananas. while i have really gotten into the bananas album, i've been listening to off with their heads none stop (with brakes for old ska bands) their album all things move towards their end is really consistent, the singing and melody is probably the strongest aspect, not to put down the instruments, but they just seem to be all at the same level so no one stands out from the group. there is a piano here and there on the album which is kinda fun. its been a while since ive listened to a well rounded punk record, and longer since i've found a new one.
anyways, i believe one of the guys in off was in D4 when they started out, so its good to see the circle of good music being played out.

last week i also finally got in the mail beat surrender by the jam. beat surrender is a 2 45 disc single deal with 5 songs that dont show up on any of their studio albums, so i was pretty excited to finally get it. the song beat surrender is clearly the best, and one of the jams best songs, and the cover of curtis mayfields move on up is brilliant. the set also has one of my favorites, stoned out of my mind. you can definitely hear the soul influence on this one more than other stuff by them.

international export

so i think i will write in this like a personal journal. cool
ok, so i just stole this from nick who stole it from yoko.
shugotokumaru-"exit" fun, japanese artist, its a strange lo-fi sensibility with well placed production. it probably would sound really cluttered but it was made very well. kinda reminds me of flippers guitar/cornelius mixed with the avalanches, but not as complex. i should remember to buy this since its an itunes purchase and i cant really do anything with it.
FACTS-use the program VLC to play music, it works! no mucking around for passwords, VLC is better than that.
peter moren-solo project from the peter from peter bjorn and john. ideal for hipsters and douche bags. this solo album is actually really good, i think i like it more than the PB&J (i just noticed that! they're sandwiches!). the album is mostly acoustic, but some songs will kick it up a knock and have a full band playing and it surprisingly makes the song work. the cd art that i saw is terrible, makes it look like something some jerk make in his basement. still, the music is nice and thoughtful in a late 20's adult kinda way.
bill fay-"from the bottom of an old grandfather clock", is some ate all the beatles members and had a disturbing childhood. a really recent album from this english dude, has a nice, haunting and beautiful sound. hear influences of the beatles, warren zevon, and a little radio head. the production on it gives it an old weathered sound as if you were finding these lost tapes 40 years later and they have never been heard by any other living person. i really enjoy this album.