I planned on finishing this before tomorrow, but I’m having not enough time to do it like I did for numers 50 – 31. So, the next texts are gonna be shorter, very short. Just a sentence and a song. Hope you don’t mind.

30. Megafaun – Gather, Form And Fly (Home Tapes)

What? Band rooted in indie country, but opening up to a whole array of genres

Megafaun – Solid Ground

29. Alec Ounsworth – Mo Beauty (ANTI-records)

What? Clap Your Hands Say Yeah-man goes solo and ‘nasals’ his way to heavy pretention pop. (but not as heavy as his other project Flashy Python)

Alec Ounsworth – Idiot in The Rain

Bonus song:

Alec Ounsworth – Wide Awake (one of my favourite songs ever, from unreleased early demos by Ounsworth)

28. Magnolia Electric Co – Josephine (Secretly Canadian)

What? Jason Molina grows a mustache and turns into a sad country-band.

Magnolia Electric Co – Whip-Poor-Will

27. Elvis Perkins – Elvis Perkins in Dearland (XL Recordings)

What? Johnny Flynn’s american twin brother didn’t impress me with his debut, but this album is an emotional joyride.

Elvis Perkins – Shampoo

26. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below (Rough Trade)

What? Not sure if this hippie stuff deserves to be so high, but the song ‘Home’ deluded me, by becoming the song i listened to the most in 2009.

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Home

25. M. Ward – Hold Time (Merge Records)

What? M. Ward keeps going. We keep listening.

M. Ward – For Beginners

24. Doug Paisley – Doug Paisley (No Quarter records)

What? Folky singer-songwriter makes a strong debut album and sounds timeless alltogether .

Doug Paisley – Diggin’ In the Ground

23. The Burning Hell – Baby (WEewerk Records)

What? Ukelele is the sound to base your career on. And sounding like Bill Callahan who’s trying comedy.

the Burning Hell – Everything Will Probably Be OK

22. Cotton Jones – Paranoid Cocoon (Suicide Squeeze)

What? Page France waves goodbye to indie brothers Death cab For Cutie and say hello to the sixties. Is that the Doors?

Cotton Jones – By Morning Light

21. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast (Fat Possum)

What? I hear a whistle in my ear, and a violin in my eye.

Andrew Bird  - Oh No

Ααααχ, τί ωραία χρόνια τότε…. Όπως το 2001 που έκαναν την εμφάνιση τους projects όπως οι Avalanches με το album, “Since I Left You”. Τότε που είχαν καταφέρει να βουλιάξουν μια Αυστραλία ολόκληρη με τα παιχνιδίσματα τους πάνω στα βινύλια, που είχαν σπείρει το χάος στα decks και τα ηχεία έφτυναν φωτιές και σπίθες, ξερνώντας τα scratches και τις loop-ες, την μια πίσω από την άλλη. Τότε που η μουσική είχε χάσει, επιτέλους, τις αυστηρές γραμμές και τα καλούπια της και ξεχυνόταν σαν όχλος και ότι έπιανες….έπιανες. Αλλά τότε ήσουν μαθημένος και τα έπιανες όλα… 4/5!

theavalanches.com

myspace.com/theavalanches

The name, William Shakespeare, is almost synonymous with poetry and literature and rightfully so; the man behind the name was responsible for a majority of the core developments made in the use of the English language to tell stories. Stories that, over the course of time, have impacted our lives and culture to lengths we can only comprehend by basking in the fruits of their labor–and feasting on pies of their blood.

Well. That turned morbid rather quickly. (shh, I’m attempting a segway!)

Ahem.

Speaking of pies of blood (pause for applause), Titus Andronicus was, by far, the most gruesome story William Shakespeare ever wrote.

In an interesting turn of events, another Titus Andronicus emerged from the maybe dimly-lit reaches of Glen Rock, New Jersey sometime in 2005. While not returning from an epic-yet-thorough beat-down of the Goths, this incarnation of Titus Andronicus makes up for it’s lack of disturbing gore in ear-shattering bouts of musicianship otherwise known as songs.

The band released their debut album, The Airing of Grievances, back in 2008.

Come March 9th 2010, the band will be releasing their second full-length, The Monitor.

The record is a concept album of sorts. It centers on themes based on the American Civil War; specifically about a Naval ship called The Monitor. Interesting, indeed.

Beggars Group USA, one of the carriers of this album, has released one track in a two-song mp3 form. Probably because the song will be split apart for it’s release on it’s own 7″ soon.

Luckily, Gimme Tinnitus has combined the two tracks for your uninterrupted listening pleasure. The full track can be found below.

MySpace
at Beggars USA

Giggs back in with Westwood. Always heavy. Looking forward to seeing what he puts out soon through XL…..

Jónsi, of Sigur Rós fame, will release his solo debut, titled Go, on March 23rd via XL Recordings. While Jónsi may be known for singing in a mix of Icelandic and Hopelandic, most of the nine songs on Go are sung in English. The full track listing can be seen after the jump, and “Boy Lilikoi,” the first sampling from the ablum, can be listened to below. In order to download the song though, you’ll have to sign up for Jónsi’s mailing list here.

Track Listing:
01 go do
02 animal arithmetic
03 tornado
04 boy lilikoi
05 sinking friendships
06 kolnidur
07 grow till tall
08 around us
09 hengilas

I’ve listened to a lot of instrumental music in my day but very few bands leave a ringing in my ears after they play regardless of how loud they are.

One of those bands is Sigur Rós. I have this little thing I tell people that the music they make lives on another plane of existence. Seriously.
(Photo: Audunn on Flickr)

The band’s vocalist/guitarist, Jón Þór Birgisson (otherwise known as Jónsi), has been mentioned on this blog before a few months ago when buzz surrounding the album he and his partner made, Riceboy Sleeps, was building.

Now, 4 months later, the buzz continues. On December 1st, a website for his upcoming solo LP was launched at www.jonsi.com with nothing but five letters displayed in the center of the page, J-O-N-S-I. As each day passed, each letter on the website was given a function when clicked on. Some animation would surround the letter as it played a sample of music from his album. Four of the letters are giving off music. The “i” was the only one left…until today.

Just a few moments ago, an e-mail was sent out to the mailing list that came with a track off of the album.
(Note: not album art.)

It sounds pretty great, guys. This man has an amazing talent for music with layers. I say that because anything he is a part of always has little fluttering flutes or violins or chimes in the background adding the most delicate of details to a song. I would go as far as to say that is his ’signature’ technique, but I’m rambling as it is. Have a listen below:

UPDATE: Information aplenty! The album is to be called Go and will be released worldwide the week of March 22, 2010 on XL Recordings!

Website
XL Recordings

Un video para comenzar la semana con una sonrisa de oreja a oreja. Canción corta pero intensa.
Se trata del adelanto del nuevo album de Vampire Weekend que lleva por título “Contra” y que estará a la venta el 11 de enero de 2010.
Este primer single se llama “Cousins” y aquí tenéis su original video clip.

+info: Vampire Weekend Myspace

Got to give props to Giggs. After tearing 2008 to pieces with his freestyle over Stat Quo & Dr Dre’s “Here We Go” which is now know as “Talkin’ The ‘Ardest” – Giggs has finally signed a deal with one of the biggest independent labels in the UK, XL. Formerly home to The Streets, Wiley, Dizzee Rascal, M.I.A, The Cool Kids and many more, XL certainly know how to market underground music. I hope that this proves to be a lucrative move for Peckham’s finest.

Vampire Weekend released a video for their song “Cousins” which can be seen after the jump. This is the first official single from Contra (January 12th), and honestly, I don’t care for it. The guitar annoys me, and it’s a sub par Vampire Weekend effort.

Το 2007 ο RJD2 επέστρεψε με την τελευταία, ως τώρα, δουλειά του, σε νέα δισκογραφική εταιρεία, την XL Recordings. Έχοντας τον τίτλο του συνεχιστή του DJ Shadow, ο RJD2 αποφασίζει να δημιουργήσει το δικό του μουσικό υβρίδιο. Παράλληλα με την τεράστια γκάμα από samples και ηλεκτρονικά στοιχεία, προσθέτει ζωντανές ενορχηστρώσεις, δημιουργώντας ένα αρκετά πειραματικό και abstract αποτέλεσμα. Δύσκολο album, καθώς ξεφεύγει από τον κλασικό ήχο του RJD2 και ίσως ο πιο απροσδόκητος δίσκος του… 3/5.

myspace.com/rjd2

One for you Al, I was always jealous as fuck you had this. No messin’ Prodigy remix of one of the biggest Hardcore Anthems of the Time. Pretty much a guaranteed stormer, look at the make-up:

Got Dream Frequency? Check!
Got The Prodigy? Check!
Got Debbie Sharp on Vocals? Check!

Cue Breaks, synth and bass please.
Strap in.

GWAN!

Released on XL recordings in 1992.

Main sample is taken from Public Enemy – Show ‘Em Whatcha Got originally sampled from the Lafayette Afro Rock Band – Darkest Light, additional vocal samples from Bomb The Bass – Megablast & The Step – Yeah You (Remix)

Quite simply a classic tune, guaranteed to send shivers down your spin and get you moving,  fine example of hardcore at its best. 

Did me never tell ya ’bout dem raggamuffin business an ting?

x5r

Taken from the Body Fusion 12 inch, released on XL records  in 1992.

Mind Games is a superb melodic track with a rolling bassline that was way ahead of its time, hip hop influences aplenty

x5r

Πολύ καλός δίσκος του 2005 στην XL Recordings. Οι Lemon Jelly κυκλοφόρησαν το ‘64-’95 σαν την τρίτη δισκογραφική τους δουλειά. Οριοθετούν το album χρονολογικά, από το 1964 έως το 1995 (όπως υποδηλώνει και ο τίτλος του δίσκου) και ορίζουν έτσι και το θέμα του ήχου τους. Κάνουν ένα βήμα παραπάνω στην ηλεκτρονική μουσική, επεκτείνοντας την ηχητική τους παλέττα, με στοιχεία disco, rock και house. Το αποτέλεσμα είναι ιδιαίτερα ευχάριστο και το album θελκτικότατο…4/5!

lemonjelly.ky

myspace.com/jellyspace2

Όσοι ασχολούνται με τη χορευτική μουσική, τότε οι Layo & Bushwacka! δεν θα τους είναι άγνωστοι. Το ντουέτο από τη Μ. Βρετανία, ξέρει πολύ καλά τη δουλειά του. Το Night Works είναι ο δεύτερος δίσκος τους, του 2002, μετά την επιτυχία του πρώτου album τους, με τίτλο Life, το 1999 και κυκλοφόρησε στην XL Recordings. Στο Night Works, το breakbeat μπλέκεται με το tech-house, με στυλ και συναίσθημα. Όμορφη παραγωγή, ατμοσφαιρική μουσική με δυναμισμό και με το κομμάτι Let The Good Times Roll να σπάει κόκκαλα… 4/5.

myspace.com/olmetorecords

das ist “feelings gone” zusammen mit sam sparro…nein nein nein…

*ich atme aus*

nichts für mich muss ich ehrlich sagen, nachdem ich mir das album angehört habe…zu poppig!

Take this for what you will but Vampire Weekend has announced the follow up album to their critically acclaimed 2008 self-titled release.

I say “take this for what you will” because the self-titled album was high on my anticipation list going into 2008 but the over the top fuss killed it for me. It was a decent album, I purchased it and all, but it wasn’t worth all the hype.



Track list
1. Horchata
2. White Sky
3. Holiday
4. California English
5. Taxi Cab
6. Run
7. Cousins
8. Give Up The Gun
9. Diplomat’s Son
10. I Think Ur A Contra

Contra will be out January 12th, 2010 via XL Recordings

I know the tunes been around a couple of months now but its still hot. With 300k views on youtube clocked today i thought i would hook this up again for all y’all.

Its been a quieter than expected year so far for Giggs but with a heavy deal with XL Recordings apparently signed and sealed now things are moving on nicely.