flying fortress part 1., the skeleton for creating

hey all,
it has been a little while since my last post, and the past little while has been a little crazy! finished being an RA for my college, went to alaska to visit my brother and then went to San Francisco to visit one of my good friends and his girlfriend, then got back and 3 days later went to a party, talked to girls and got wicked drunk so i could wake up a few hours later to move to motha fuckin brooklyn! so we finally moved into our new place, me and two of my close friends. and its really wonderful, many good things will happen here.
so with all that happening, i of course spent tons of money, and little was on music, but there have been a few gems along the way.
the new-
a friend from school, ross who goes by Otis Surbernt, is some sort of distorted pop genius. very catchy songs with a solid understanding of how to make a living, breathing song, but with terrible (or terribly funny) lyrics. songs about fucking while your girlfriend is on her period, drunk driving crazy, the monster of frankenstien writing his creator a letter, and so on. his current project he is working in is called killer whale, look it up on myspace. i expect great things from him in the near future.

ratatat-LP3, the newest album from a band hard to classify, is now even hard to classify. seriously, this album is brilliant. it has a spooky edge, excellently composed and complex, and at times leave you wondering what if this is the first time you have heard these strange and beautiful sounds. its a huge step up from the last two albums, which are good, but this one is just really good. complicated synthesized guitars, layered over beats and samples and run through all kinds of adjusters. great fun.

ozomatli-self titled. this is an old album, i know, but i just bought it. the multi- ethnic band that does everything at once, and if they cant fit it all in one, they do it in the next. a mixture of salsa, latin, rock, hip hop, ska and shear energy. it is a constant party.

the old-
the pogues. so ive been listening to the pogues a LOT lately, (i find irish songs help me to get over ex girlfriends and breakups) and the beautiful drunken words of shane mcgowan from the pogues fits that bill. lyrics that touch the levels of great literature, and songs that blend old irish folk songs and modern rock come out perfectly from the pogues. they have the ability to give the listener almost no hints as to when the songs were made, with melodys and lyrics that have constant application to any time in history.

the cramps-dirty, sexy, pulp psychobilly from times long past. this is the kinda band that makes you feel really proud of your fetishes instead of embarrassed. pretty raw, basic rock and roll made exciting.


more to come when the next paycheck comes rolling in!

from lands

my buddy just showed me how to set up torrents (because i am have the computer savvy of a stupid fat baby) and i am officially having a field day. here are two things ive really wanted to lately and was able to find

first the old, Francoise Hardy. a french singer from the 60's in the style of Yé-yé. and man oh man is it fun. i think hardy's crisp, clean french words have rekindled my romantic heart. april march even does a cover of one of her songs. both versions are great in their own rights, but for very different reasons. Francoise Hardy brings a sense of nostalgia with out being melancholy for the most part.


and now the new, sigur ros, with Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust. this album is for the most part more upbeat than their other stuff, which i really enjoy. this album is more for waking up to and less falling asleep to, like their past albums.

honest records

so i saw damon albarn with artists from his honest jons record label the other night and it was amazing. the first big show of the summer, it was at the avery fisher hall at lincoln center. i hate having to sit for conerts and no one i knows listens to any of this music so i had to go by myself (it was so sad!) but the show was comletely brilliant. damon didnt do too much, but there was tons of amazing people playing. simone white stood out, need to get her cd i am the man, along with Afel Bocoum and Lobi Traore and tony allen and the hypnotic brass ensemble. i picked up Lobi Traore's album, which is a sort of bluesy native Mali music kinda sound. like is BB grew up in mali and was better.


was able to find the april march album paris in april, which is bitch to get a hold of. its good, there could be more songs since she does have two versions of most of the songs in french, and that doesnt really count as a new song really. but it's still good. it has the odd go-go 60's french style with a modern cool attitude. and she has a cute voice



the slackers came out with a new record! and it's way better than the last one. this album isnt under hellcat records, which leads me to believe they had more freedom to do it there way, and not hellcats, which is starting to go the way of epitaph. still, this album is more old slackers style with its delivery, but more old ska-reggae-jazz stlye song writing, so not as many catchy tones but more thorough. the songs from glen pine i was let down a bit though, i was hoping for more motown stlye ballads. oh well, next time maybe


and lastly, i finally tracked down a copy of the best of my phyllis dillon. old Jamaican soul singer for the 60's. a more motowny version of doreen schaffer. really good and the cd has almost 30 tracks.

thats all, havent been getting too many cds since im poor and even few records for the same reason. oh well, thats what used bins and ebay are for.
more to come when i get some new shit

woah! woah! woah!

some ive been graduationing for the past few days, almost done. having fun so far.

got a ton of new music in the past few days, which totally cure the dry spell i was having with new tunes. first up to bat...
the death set, a lo-fi, drum and bassy kinda band similar to japanather, they seem like the kid brother to serious and experimental punk rock. they are from baltimore, which is cool (i guess). their album world wide is to fun, frantic, surfy, and noise as well as short. a very DIY set up that sounds like the offspring of atom and his package and MIA.

headlights-some racing some stopping. indie pop rock effort designed for cold spring days. light, soft, and melodies all over the place. makes me think is sufjan stevens was in a band with other musicians and not vice versa. you can feel all the band members putting full effects on this sophomore album from Illinois. the album dies out a little in the middles but picks right back up. a good alternative to if you want to listen to something intimate with but dont want to go the the same band.



thats it for now, i have a bunch more albums to jot down here, but will do that later.

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.