The War on Drugs

One of the bands that I have inadvertently stumbled upon over the past few months is The War on Drugs. While listening to a Spotify playlist one day at work, their latest single, "Red Eyes", caught me by surprise. Since then, I have had the song, as well as their latest album Lost in the Dream, in heavy rotation.

Lost in the Dream has been receiving a ton of critical acclaim, most notably from Stereogum, but also through more mainstream avenues including Spin and The Rolling Stone.

The War on Drugs is coming through Cleveland tomorrow, February 12th. I'm heading to the show and will hopefully have some photos, videos and experiences to share early next week.

Below are two songs off of Lost in the Dream, taken from a live performance at KEXP Seattle. The aforementioned "Red Eyes" as well as "An Ocean Between Waves". If you like these two, check out the full session here, which includes KEXP DJ Cheryl Waters gushing with emotion after hearing them play.

Radio Silence

While listening to some songs this morning while working, I was reminded of my blogging days of highlighting (potentially new) bands to friends and family. The goal of the blog was to share what I believed to be some of the best new songs, albums, and artists that are not represented on mainstream radio. I realize I haven't posted on here in years, but I'm going to make a concerted effort to start this blog up again. Right now, the tentative plan is a new post every week, writing about what had been making my ears happy during the previous week. The format may change, but the premise will remain the same. I look forward to hopefully recapturing some of the followers and to hear feedback on writing, my music suggestions, as well as hearing suggestions about new bands. -Bob

You're already dead, but you're about to die

Not to mention any names or anything (Branco), but I received some flack the other day about not posting on this site for a very long time. Here goes nothing. I've lately been listening to Dirty Projectors' new album, Swing Lo Magellan a lot. The follow up to their mainstream breakthrough,Bitte Orca, is definitely a bit more refined and less daring, but is an interesting listen nonetheless. Check out some of my favorite cuts below.

F*cked Up

Today's jam of the week has actually been my jam for about a month now, I just have been too busy. Ok, I've been too lazy.

The tune is "The Other Shoe" by F*cked Up off the album David Comes to Life. The album has gotten awesome reviews, but I don't want to buy it before hearing it once through. Unfortunately, I've lost my membership to the torrent site I used to use to make sure I liked albums before buying them. I actually have a list that I'll drop below of albums I've been meaning to download/buy, but haven't gotten around to. If you have any of them, let's figure out a way for you to get them to me!!

Sorry for the digressions, F*cked Up is a punk band from Canada. These canucks have been around for a long time, and are on the brink of mainstream success. This song is borderline too intense for me due to the screaming, but the subtle beauty of the guitar riffs and female vocals plays really well off of it. I also love how the song slowly builds courtesy of the percussion.

Below is the album version and the live version. I included the live version because they apparently put on great shows, which is well documented in the video. Enjoy!






Albums I need:
Tune Yards-Bird Brains
TVOTR- new album
Lyke Li- new album
Panda Bear- Tomboy
Paul Simon- new album
EMA
Abe Vigoda- Crush

Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr

Before everyone starts freaking out, this post is NOT about Nascar. It is, instead, about a band from Detroit. The bands first EP Horse Power had sparked my interest. I gave it a few listens and thoroughly enjoyed it. I forgot all about this band until I read this year's Lollapalooza lineup. I was stoked to me them on there (althought I'm not going this year). The festival should be a coming out party for this eccentric trio.

Below you will find a link to stream a couple of their songs. Their new album, It's A Corporate World, is out a week from today. Until then, enjoy the tunes from Horse Power!

http://soundcloud.com/dale-earnhardt-jr-jr

Old Jams

The first few albums that got me into this whole indie music scene were Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend, Sky Blue Sky by Wilco, and Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga by Spoon. While at the coffee shop this morning, I heard songs from all three albums that brought me back to junior year in college. I apologize if I have put these songs up here previously, but they're definitely all worth another listen.

tUnE-yArDs

A few months back, I was turned onto Tune-yards (not doing the whole uppercase, lowercase thing outside of the title as it made me feel too much like a 15 year old girl) after they received rave reviews at South by Southwest. After doing some research, I discovered Tune-yards is comprised of Merrill Garbus. That's it. In the last video below, you will see her perform live with a few backing musicians and help from a few electronics.

When I first heard of Tune-yards, I just listened to her first single, "Bizness" off of the sophomore album WHOKILL. After about a month of resisting buying her album at Loop, I finally succumbed this evening and do not regret one penny of the money spent. The album is absolutely fantastic. Below are a few of my favorites off WHOKILL upon my first listen. Enjoy!

Teen Dream

I've started listening to a lot of Beach House while studying again. I know I blogged about them back in August, but I wanted to share a few more songs that I'm really digging right now.





I plan on getting their older albums as well as a plethora of others I have compiled on a list once I get a break from this CPA stuff in about a week. Until then, enjoy the tunes!

Saadiq Pt. 2

Last summer, I blogged about Raphael Saadiq after hearing a cover he did for Levi's Pioneer Series. I didn't think much about him until I heard the first single, "Heart Attack" off his upcoming album Stone Rolling, out this Tuesday. You can stream the album in its entirety at NPR. If you like Motown era tunes, you're going to love this cat. He's got a style that is borrowed but all his own at the same time. If you enjoy this guy's tunes, check out Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears.

MMJ

Don't have much time to write, just listening to a few new jams off the new My Morning Jacket Album, Circuital , out on May 31st. Check out the title track below, it's absolutely fantastic.

Also, new Fleet Foxes came out on Tuesday. If you haven't heard it yet, I suggest buying it immediately. It's really really good. Check out Robin Pecknold's acoustic performance of "Montezuma", the opening track off of Helplessness Blues.

Morning Teleportation

Hello again! Sorry it's been so long, but I rarely had the time or energy to post during busy season. Now that it's officially over, I'm looking forward to get back to things I enjoy doing- seeing friends more often, drinking heavily on Friday nights, cooking, and blogging about music.

I was first introduced to Morning Teleportation via NPR's All Songs Considered. As much as I hate on Jocelyn for always listening to NPR in the radio, All Songs Considered is actually pretty sweet. I'm told that there's a podcast from my sister's fiance, Colin, but I don't really know how those work yet.

Anyways, Morning Teleportation is a great new band. They just released their debut album, Expanding Anyway. The title track is, in my opinion, the best song on the album. The album can be streamed in its entirety on Spin. Give it a listen and tell me what you think.

New Radiohead out today!

Download below

http://www.thekingoflimbs.com/DIGBP.htm

Young The Giant

Just got passed a CD from one of my co-workers of a great new band. Young The Giant, formerly known as The Jakes, this band kills it on their debut album. The lead singer sounds a lot like the lead singer (and son of Sting) of Fiction Plane" Check out some of the songs below. "God Made Man" is by far my favorite(if it starts too slow, scroll to about 2:45), but "12 Fingers" is awesome as well. "My Body" has gotten iTunes commercial written all over it







Lastly, I was scrolling through Stereogum the other day while at work and saw a headline that sounded familiar. A mash up between Blondie and Arcade Fire. It's actually pretty sweet. Enjoy.

Cold War Kids

They just came out with a new CD and it's fantastic. I'm loving all the songs except for "Sensitive Kid". Check out some key tracks below as well as a classic from their first album.

Floorwalkers

Went to go see OSU's finest house band, The Floorwalkers, on Friday with some good friends. Most of them had never seen the band before and was pleasantly surprised at how good of a show they put on. The guys were putting out a ton of effort and not getting it back from the half empty room. Nonetheless, the show kicked ass. Below are some songs of note that they played.

Also of note was the opening act. The solo performance by some random dude with an awful beanie sounded just like Martha Wainwright.

Atlas Sound

As some of you may know, I've really been digging everything Bradford Cox of late. I've been listening to his group, Deerhunter, nonstop since seeing them a few months back. Since then, he has released 4 EP's under the alias Atlas Sound. The 4 EP's are one collective piece- Bedroom Databank.

The Bedroom Databank collection is a bit more subtle and low key than Deerhunter's Halcyon Digest but it's equally awesome. The harmonica on "How To Pass Time" and "Green Glass Bottles" is just about perfect. Listen below.

Glasser Ring

While waiting for my coffee at Loop on Tuesday, I took a gander at their CD's on display. They usually have some best selling new releases in their display bin with a few not so typical CD's. The Glasser ring album cover caught my interest, so I decided to take a look at it. The workers at Loop stick very informative album reviews written on post-it notes on certain CD's (one of the main reasons I love the place). The Glasser Ring write up said that they have toured with The xx and Sigur Ros. I was intrigued, but not enough to sack up and buy the CD without a listen first.

I got my coffee and went to work on some CPA problems. When I needed a break, I started surfing the web and saw that Glasser Ring was featured on one of my favorite music blogs, Stereogum. I went straight up to the register and bought the CD.

Upon first listen, Glasser Ring is much more Florence and the Machine than The xx or Sigur Ros, but they are very good. Below are some of my favorite songs of theirs.

Fleet Foxes (EP)

Just found a copy of an EP by the Fleet Foxes. The release predates their eponymous 2008 debut hit. Here is a link to the track listing and some boring information. Below are the two songs that caught my attention during the first run through.

Pink Floyd

While driving home tonight, a familiar song came on the radio that I hadn't heard in awhile- Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here". The song tells the tale of the bands' loss of former friend and guitarist to schizophrenia.

I forgot how much I love everything about this song. I love the longing in David Gilmour's voice, the hurt in his guitar riffs, and the brilliance of Roger Water's lyrics. Enjoy!

Deerhunter

Sorry it took so long, but I'm finally posting about the Deerhunter show I went to last Thursday. It was super loud and not what I was expecting at all, but in a good way. Real Estate opened up. Their lead guitarist and drummer were super talented and everyone else was a bit lackluster. "Fake Blues" and "Beachcomber" were definitely the highlights from their show. They also played some of their new songs and they seemed much more upbeat than the songs on their debut album.

Deerhunter came out next. My first impression was that Bradford Cox was very skinny. They rocked. Hard. Jocy and I both really enjoyed their bassist for being subtly awesome. Also, Bradford Cox is one of the greatest guitarist I've seen live, second to only David Longstreth of Dirty Projectors. The best songs from their show were "Revival" and "Helicopter" off their new album, Halcyon Digest and "Agoraphobia" off of Microcastle. The version of "Agoraphobia" below is the best video I could find that depicts how awesome the show was. Hope you enjoy!