Gorillaz - Crystalised (cover)

Breaking the rules a bit here(are there rules?), no album to post at the moment but i've still got something music related. It's been a while since i've listened to anything by the Gorillaz but i've been listening to this on a loop for a few days now.

This is a cover song. I tried listening to the original version of this song, and i didn't like it as much as the cover. I like the lyrics a lot, but somehow they just sound better in this cover. It's weird how sometimes this happens, when covers are more listenable that the original. It's rare, but it totally happens for me. Like that acoustic cover of Number of the Beast, and when Frank Black covered Hang On To Your Ego, and the Ray Charles version of I Can't Stop Loving You. Also somebody needs to make a decent recording of Built to Spill doing Paper Planes. Maybe it's not so rare actually.
I think these types of posts will be easier to make once i run out of albums to hip people to, which is totally eventually going to happen. But next time i'll have something i promise.

Mux Mool - Skulltaste

This is one of those albums that came to me from left field. I'm a big fan of Flying Lotus and Last.FM said this guy fit the same motif. So, I figured I'd check the album out. Boy was I surprised. This album is just fantastic. It's not like Flying Lotus at all, really. It's more of a clash between Daft Punk, Crystal Castles and Flying Lotus. It's got electonica and chiptune influences, but the beats feel as if they deserve to be hip hop tracks. I can completely imagine a hip hop remix album with this. Honestly, I'm not sure who this album is made to appeal to, and that's part of the appeal. If you're an instrumental hip hop fan: check it out. If you're an electronica fan: check it out. If you're a chiptune fan: check it out. You'll be beyond pleased.

(peep this shit)

London Elektricity

such a great album for a rainy/muggy day. Very chilled out Liquid Funk or; Electronic music with soul. Very easy Drum n Bass hits with some drone-y trance-y overlays.
I have no idea where I got this album, I just remember it being on my ipod one day and me liking it.


It's cool! For fans of chill not-boring music.

checkitout

Toonami- Deep Space Bass

Did somebody say Toonami?
I just remembered this album existed. It's just some cool beats that they would use to introduce the shows and on the little promo spots.

I always thought these little videos were cool. They're not really advertising any show in particular, it's just a bunch of clips with a narrator talking about some vague robot apocalypse type deal, and some sick music.

This one is just a video about being angry, and how it's ok as long as you don't lose your shit. There's no reason to have this stuff in between commercial breaks, but it was nice anyway.
Toonami was a pretty cool thing in it's heyday, it knew exactly who it's audience was and spoke directly to them. I'm probably going to be watching these videos all day now to feed my nostalgia.

So I'm pretty sure the only people who will dig on this album are people who were into Toonami, but who knows maybe other people will like it too. I think it's nice background music to have on while you're doing homework or something.

Kids love it.

They were going to put out another album called Black Hole Megamix, but it never came out.
But you can download it here anyway so who cares.
How about that, two for the price of one.

Daft Punk - Discovery

This was the first album I ever bought.
I think the first time I saw them it was on Toonami's "Midnight Run" block they used to do around 1999-2002
Young me said "ANIME" and I needed the cd.
I guess it's better to do the right thing for the wrong reasons than the wrong for the right.
Still super listenable, relatively groundbreaking for house music..
Love this cd.

checkitout

Damien Jurado- Caught in the Trees

This is the first Damien Jurado album i ever heard, therefore i think it is a good place for other people to start listening to him, that's usually how that goes. The first song i heard was either 'Caskets' or 'Sheets'. Caskets is a really great song and it'll make you feel cool when you're walking around listening to it. Sheets is a very sad song and will make you want to sit down. These are the two types of songs that are on this album, cool ones and sad ones.

It's really important to me for songs to make sense lyrically, i don't know why. They should make sense or at least have some kind of beauty to the way they're organized or presented. There are lyrics on this album that still manage to stick little barbs in my heart.

"I'll be right outside, floating by like a paper kite."

"Is he still coming around like an injured bird, needing a nest?"

I'm pretty sure I've had tears come out of my face from listening to some of these songs. I think Damien is a really excellent songwriter, and i think this album is one of his best ones. This part might sound kind of silly, but i feel like Damien's lyrics come from real places and emotions. As opposed to fake emotions? I don't know, man. I think sometimes songs can be made up of bullshit or whatever, and this guy just seems to me like he's "really been there." Heartbreaking songs seem kind of hard to write without having them sound corny, but Damien has nailed it.

Because i draw people, i like to look at pictures of people's faces, i have a collection of photos of faces that i like. It's hard for me to find any photographs of Damien smiling, the most that you'll get is a sort of tightening of his lips, i don't think his face is made for it.


Just listen.

Young Widows - Old Wounds

This album is like dribbling a basketball on a planet with alternating high and low gravity whilst being covered in a thick, black, molasses-esque sludge. Also you're getting a blowjob. And there are crows. Tons of black crows.

this album is fucking heavy as fuck. I love it.
It's also got a nice little tech aspect to it.

the transfer between "Took a Turn" and "Old Skin" makes me nod my head REALLLL deep.

Aztec Camera - High Land, Hard Rain

Oh boy do I have hard-wood for obscure 80s new-wave bands this month.
If you dug Prefab Sprout, you'll probably be into this one as well. If you didn't, you'll probably still be into this one.
This is Aztec Camera's FANTASTIC debut release in 1983 released on Sire records (You may know such current Sire Artists as NeverShoutNever, Meg and Dia, The Maine. Yeah. they've changed their roster up a bit since the early 80s) and it's... well fantastic.
To be honest, it doesn't sound too radically different than anything else coming out of Glasgow at the time(reverb up, voices down) but what it does have going for it is that it is actually really good! Young, catchy, poetic pop songs that you can take at face value yet have a charm and intelligence that takes multiple listens to truly appreciate? Sign me up!


FAVTRAX:
Oblivious
Walk Out to Winter(one of my favorite songs ever)
Pillar to Post

CHECKIT!

ASIDE!
Let me take this little space to talk about Sire Records.
All those bands I mentioned in the article are pretty commonly accepted to be "bad bands"
I used to agree, but really when it comes right down to it, I have to reject that. I like to call them "teenage douche bands" because they really are. Teenage Douche's usually listen to them. There are a few redeeming factors to their music, and in reality that's the only thing that matters WHEN talking about music. And really, you can definitely pick worse teenage douche bands than the current Sire roster. I mean, they have Foxy Shazam signed right now and they are a REALLY fun band.
I will defend their music to the death.

However, I do not like them at all.
One could argue that EVERY band panders to a certain audience, but none do it as blatantly as some acts on sire right now. I could write pages on it, but I'll stop for now with simply

sire records; meh.

Two Pin Din- In Case of Fire Break Glass

This is an album with two old guys playing guitars and they sing on it. One of the guys was in NoMeansNo, which is kind of how i heard about this band. The first tracks i heard were Loved by Millions, Improve Yourself and Welcome Home. They were on their myspace a couple years ago and i listened to them a lot. The albums versions of those songs sounded different when i got the album and this kind of bothered me, but it's still a really nice album. I was reminded of them just the other day when i was talking with this dude about starting a band and how i couldn't actually play any instruments and he could only play guitar. I made him listen to one of the songs and he got a big smile on his face. It's kind of amazing to me how much the songs don't feel like they need anything, they work just fine without drums or bass thank you very much. Just shows to go you, even if you can't find all the people you "need", you can still totally start band.

This is where you will download it.

If you are scared to download the whole thing, here is a video of them performing to a slightly vibrating camera.

They live in the Netherlands.
I think they are fairly handsome for old men.

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds

"Few men even considered the possibility of life on other planets. And yet, across the gulf of space, minds immeasurably superior to ours regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely, they drew their plans against us."

So begins Jeff Wayne's bombastic retelling of H.G. Wells' classic tale of science fiction and horror, narrated by the great Richard Burton (among others). A concept album of remarkable scope, appreciably ahead of its time, Wayne's prog-rock tale successfully merges the hook-laden melody of synth-pop music, the epic, breathtaking grandiosity of a symphony, the soulful, heartfelt spirit of a stage play, and the spectacular literary edge of Wells' original novel, all intricately structured and intertwined with (yes, I'll say it) love, and keen finesse. In my fascination with Wayne's masterpiece, I've found little widespread love for it beyond the short stint of popularity it enjoyed in the late 1970's, when it was first released. Even so, it is hardly regarded as the timeless classic that I wholeheartedly believe it is and deserves to be. Put away all preconceived notions, all unfair judgments, and allow yourself to be swayed by the music, by the story, and by the passion.

"The chances of anything coming from Mars," sing the doomed inhabitants of our planet, "are a million to one."

"But still, they come."


STANDOUT TRACKS:

The Eve of the War
Forever Autumn
The Spirit of Man
Brave New World

Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

HOLY CRAP DON'T WRITE THIS ALBUM OFF I WILL SHOOT YOU IN THE FUCKING FACE.
This is my favorite album of the 90s, hands down. It's a damn shame that when people see "Nine Inch Nails" a red flag goes up. LOL NIN? GOTH SAD FAG. shut up I will fuck you up with my bare hands. This album is fucking GROUNDBREAKING.

Trent Reznor is one of most underrated (or highly overrated depending on who you talk to) producers of the last 2 decades. This album is pushing 20 years old, and it's just barely sounding dated. It's a concept album that is so ahead of it's time aesthetically and thematically, that it's hard to believe I was only 2 when it came out.

Granted, sometimes the lyrics are a little angsty,(GAWD IS DAYD) however I justify it as such; The lyrics are not what Reznor is saying, but what the main character is saying.. When you look at it as a concept album and see the lyrics as character monologue, dialogue, or catharsis they are actually quite striking.
This album is super open to interpretation as well, everything from a follower of Charles Manson to the life and death of Kurt Cobain (reaching, but some good points are made)

don't knock it before you try it

STANDOUTS:
Reptile
Heresy
pm all of them.

Randy Travis - The Storms of Life

I hear it time after time; "I like all kinds of music, except country."
Country is such a criminally misunderstood genre of music, it's criminal. Here's a news flash folks, country music isn't all "FUCK YEAR AMERIKUUUH" and Taylor Swift. Most early country music was music for the blue-collar man with a sensitive side. It was powerful, simple yet well written music. Cash, Willie Nelson, Faron Young (now you see my process), This was all country. Compare it to country now and you will see virtually no similarities except for
that little "TWANG" effect that every country song has for some reason.

Here's where Randy Travis comes in. "The Storms of Life" was his debut back in 1986 and it's still one of my favorite country albums of all time. It perfectly encapsulates everything that country should be; Simple, yet affecting, Down-to-earth, yet introspective and philosophical.
All these songs are nice, catchy tunes, with some very striking and personal lyrics.
This album makes me feel like a trucker is telling me his true feelings.
This is an album for the working man who thinks and feels.

checkit

Randy also voice Mr. Hyunh's country voice in the "My Hyunh does Country" episode of HEY ARNOLD!

STANDOUT TRACKS:
On The Other Hand
Diggin' Up Bones

AIR - The Virgin Suicides soundtrack

This is the score from the 1999 Sofia Coppola movie "The Virgin Suicides" composed by french "chill" band AIR. Some real haunting sounds on this album. It's overall got a very (dare I say it) AIRY feel too it, with a sense of dread teeming just under the surface. It also features a song written by Thomas Mars, lead singer of PHOENIX. It's a great little song, and fits perfectly with the album; very chill, very trip-hoppy, but always introspective.

checkit

EDIT: props to sail, here is a higher quality version

Prefab Sprout - A Life of Surprises [The Best of]

This is a little band I've been absolutely in love with for the past couple months.
Their discography is so solid that I really had trouble putting just one album up, so I just decided to go with their first "Best of..." collection. It's very 80s jazz-pop, with genius phrasing, lyricism, and composition. Some of the word choices and chord changes in these songs will blow your mind. One of the most progressive and interesting pop bands to ever exist in my opinion. It's a shame they never got really big outside of the UK.

The only track I didn't really like on this collection is Faron Young.
I feel as though Paddy McAloon (the principal songwriter) is really reaching to do his whole "quirky and yet deep" thing. If were the editor of this collection, I would have replaced "Faron Young" with another (imo superior) track called "Bonny". In my opinion, better lyrics, better composition and an overall better message.
I may just post the whole album at a later date.

HIGHLIGHT TRACKS:
"When Love Breaks Down"
"If You Don't Love Me"
"Wild Horses"
"Cars & Girls"

checkit

Enter a world of new music!

Hi I'm Tim Kish. I'm a stand-up comic/writer and I like music. Like, a lot of music.
and with a little help from my friends (DO YOU SEE HOW MUCH I LIKE MUSIC) I'm here to expand your musical horizons!

This is a blog for the searcher.
Looking for something that kicks? Something soothing? Something dissonant?
or are you not sure what you are looking for?

Give all these albums a shot. You never know which porridge is just right until you do.

Always remember;
if you like the artist SUPPORT THEM.
(buy t-shirts and stuff)