Serial Slingshot

Hey I'm sorry I couldn't get a lot done today. I've had a fairly busy day and my allergies have been out of control. I'll do three posts tomorrow to make up for it I hope. This is just an old post that I never actually got around to posting:

Of Montreal

Of Montreal isn't actually of Montreal. I always assumed that they were but they're actually from Athens, Georgia alike most fellow members of the Elephant Six Collective. The group is headed by the ingenious Kevin Barnes and Wikipedia jutifies the name for the group as being "created by Kevin Barnes after a failed romance with a woman from Montreal". That kind of explains everything about Of Montreal right there.

For a detailed biography and discography of the band, please visit their Elephant Six site.

So yeah, the album I uploaded is "Cherry Peel". This is an older Of Montreal album that I personally love, when they were at their early lo-fi beginnings in 1997. At about 36 minutes, the album is just pure pop sweetness with mostly every song either concerning love, rejection, and heartbreak. It hints at the future great works that Kevin Barnes and Of Montreal will go on to create. It's a MUST for every Of Montreal fan, and also acts as a good introduction to the band.

Of Montreal - Cherry Peel
http://rapidshare.de/files/13760609/Cherry_Peel.rar.html
Buy Cherry Peel here.

Yeah, I'm supposed to be doing my history homework right now, but I just uploaded the Of Montreal album "The Gay Parade" because I can't help procrastinating. I think it just might be Of Montreal's finest accomplishment to date, their own little deranged pop masterpiece. It's probably one of the best modern pop concept albums. My track listing is partially wrong though, but I think I have all the songs. Idk what happened, I actually own the cd and when I ripped it to my computer, it just gave me wrong song titles. Whatever, it's a great album, even though it was kind of embarrassing to buy in front of my parents. "Hey Sean, what's that you're buying?" "Umm...The Gay Parade."Yeah that was kind of awkward, but I seriously suggest downloading this album if you don't have it.

Come join the parade:

Of Montreal - The Gay Parade
http://rapidshare.de/files/14395599/The_Gay_Parade.rar.html

Buy The Gay Parade here.

Of Montreal albums from other blogs:

From RAWLIKESASHIMI (http://rawlikesashimi.blogspot.com/) :

Of Montreal-Sunlandic Twins
http://rapidshare.de/files/13456894/Om.rar.html

Buy The Sunlandic Twins here.

From Modern Music (http://buluthim.blogspot.com/):

Of Montreal - Deflated Chime, Foals Slightly Flower Sibylline Responses
01. Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games (The Sunlandic Twins)
02. Disconnect the Dots (Satanic Panic in the Attic)
03. Psychotic Feeling (Unreleased)
04. Noir Blues to Tinnatus (Unreleased)
http://rapidshare.de/files/12658135/oontreal.zip

Of Montreal is in the midst of a tour at the moment. Here's the remaining dates:

3-1 - Charlottesville, VA - Satellite Ballroom *** 18+
3-2 - Philadelphia, PA - Starlight Ballroom *** AA
3-3 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom *** 18+
3-4 - Portland, ME - Space Gallery *** 18+
3-5 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East (downstairs) *** AA
3-6 - Hanover, NH - Lone Pine Tavern @ Dartmouth Univ. (VERY SMALL)
3-7 - Montreal, QC - Le Tulipe AA
3-8 - Toronto, ON - Mod Club Theatre AA
3-9 - Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig (with Fashion Flesh) AA
3-10 - Chicago, IL - The Metro 18+
3-11 - Urbana, IL - Canopy Club **** 18+
3-12 - Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground **** AA
3-13 - Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck **** AA
3-18 - New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jack's 18+
3-24 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club 18+

-Sean

Over the summer of last year I went through a huge alt. country phase. It's a good thing that I didn't know about the band The Court and Spark because I most likely would only have exacerbated that alt-country obsession.

The Court and Spark are:
M.C. Taylor - vocals, guitar
Scott Hirsch - guitar, back-up vocals
James Kim - drums
Tom Heyman - pedal steel
Dan Carr - bass

For a more complete biography of the band, visit here at their website.

These songs are all extremely well-done, and I don't want to go further into detail, so just listen for yourself:

The Court and Spark - Fireworks (Highly recommended)
The Court and Spark - Suffolk Down Upon the Night
The Court and Spark - For the Good Times
The Court and Spark - All Day Long

You can order their albums at their Absolutely Kosher page or at Amazon here.

For all you out in California, The Court and Spark have five shows planned in the next few coming months throughout CA, so go out there and support the band.

Upcoming Shows:

March 9th - The Mint - Los Angeles - 8 PM - with The Mother Hips
March 10th - The Belly Up Tavern - Solana Beach, CA - 8 PM - with The Mother Hips
March 25th - Landmark’s Act 1 & 2 Theater - Berkeley, CA - The Court and Spark to perform live at Landmark Theater prior to a midnight screening of "The Big Lebowski"
May 6th - Amoeba Records - San Francisco - Free instore show - 2pm
May 12th - Great American Music Hall - San Francisco - Record Release Show with Tussle and Black Fiction
Doors Open at 8pm

News at Serial Slingshot:

My older sister, Kira, a sophmore at American Univeristy in DC, is now helping me out with my blog, because I'm too busy with high school and all to run my blog to the efficiency I want it to be at. So she'll be contributing, mainly with posting mp3's and reviewing them, while I'll still posting the majority of the full albums with a short description. I'll resume the bulk of the reporting in the summer when I have more time, but for now, with track starting, I just can't manage the blog as well as I'd like to.

I however will attempt to update it (nearly) everyday with new mp3's and at least one new album posted on Rapidshare, so I suggest you to keep coming back for new albums and songs.

I'm hoping Kira will post her first mp3's tonight with a short review. If not, I'll be back later with some more mp3's.

-Sean

I admit that I usually will always take a good pop song over a rap song, and that in fact, I don't really listen to rap all that much. One of my few exceptions though is the rapper Sole on Anticon, today's most prestigious label in the field of indie-rap. Sole, now in his late 20's, has been recording his raps since the age of 15 back in Portland, Maine. The album I have by him is called "Learning to Walk." The album, quite appropriately titled, showcases the youthful talents of Sole, containing older material from 1994-1998, but still has a surprisingly mature sound. I think he however does possess a sort of youtful arrogance on some of this record in such lines as "The only competition I know is battling my echo" on standout track "Respect", but he has the rhymes to back up his allegations. Lyrical masterpieces accompanied by sharp beats, and at times the piano, rap gems are scattered throughout the entire album. Seriously, I'm not a huge fan of rap, but I still love Sole. When Sole's just "busting a soul-ill soliloquy", it's impossible not to admire and marvel at his intelligence and rapping talents. It's really frightening to think that this was his early work, I cannot wait to hear his work nowadays.

Anyways, here's the Rapidshare link to "Learning to Walk".
Check him out because "he's taking hip-hop fans like grains of sand":

http://rapidshare.de/files/14297022/Sole_-_Learning_to_Walk.rar.html

With a new generation of white rappers like Why?, Aesop Rock, Sole, and umm....that other guy, the genre of rap is expanding, and dominating music culture. But as Sole says:

"I'd rather be broke and have a whole lot of respect."

Yes, I'm posting about spiders. Because everyone just loves spiders.

Every once in a while, I happen to find a band on Myspace that I really like. I found Voxtrot like a year ago before every single blog in the world was obsessed with them, and I've found other numerous good bands on Myspace.

So when I usually come along a song that really grabs my attention, I download it. Recently, I had become obsessed with this one song called "These Grey Days" by a band that was called Superheroes when I had downloaded it. Then just a week ago, I tried to find their myspace again, but apparently, there are no bands on Myspace that go by the name of "Superheroes."

So anyways, I ended up giving it another try tonight and just searched for them on Google, and I found out that they had changed their name to Eight Legs, which explained why I hadn't been able to find them.

As I found out from their Myspace, they consist of four members (all male) and are located in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Yeah, that's where Shakespeare was born as I remember from freshman English last year. Oh what great memories. I joke. Actually, Macbeth was pretty bad ass (in lack of a better term to describe him). Okay, enough about Shakespeare. Eight Legs has three songs currently posted on their Myspace, all available for download. I have a feeling that this band can just explode. With influences like THE JAM and The Cure, and pretty much all of britpop, these guys have created some pop songs filled with energy, addicting hooks, and clever lyrics.

Here are the three songs (ALL Highly Recommended) posted on their myspace:
Eight Legs - These Grey Days
Eight Legs - Climb the Walls
Eight Legs - Nihilistic Youth

You can buy their new single "Climb the Walls" here. For only 2.49 pounds! I actually have no idea how much that is in American dollars, but it doesn't seem that much. Anyways, watch out for these guys, any band I find on Myspace and like is destined to become big as I've learned.

Also, if you live in the UK, you can see Eight Legs, at the shows they've listed on their Myspace:

March 30th - 8 PM - The Leigh Arms - Wigan
March 31st - 7:30 PM - Cox's Yard - The Ghetto (??????)
April 6th - 8 PM - Fracture - Tamworth

First off, excuse me for that lame title. I'm tired and I taped The Fifth Element which I'm about to watch, and sometimes it's just hard to come up with an original title.

Yeah, so a few months ago Saturday Looks Good to Me was playing at Wallingford with Daughters. Yes the grindcore/metal band Daughters. I planned on going but everyone bailed on me.And now that I've gotten into Saturday Looms Good to Me, I really regret that I missed that show.

Saturday Looks Good to Me is listed as:
Betty Barnes - Vocals
Elliot Bergman - Saxophone, Wind Instruments, Percussion
Scott Deroche - Bass
Steve Middlekauff - Drums, Percussion
Scott Sellwood - Electric Piano, Organ
Fred Thomas - Guitar, Vocals

But Fred Thomas is the only real constant member of the group, and the mastermind behind it. Formed in Detroit in 2000, Saturday looks Good to Me combines clever medlodic pop music with soul-tinged vocals. Their contrast of vocals is the thing within the songs that really catches me. Many of the songs duets, remind me of a less-Scottish Belle and Sebastian on "Lazy Line Painter Jane." The two albums I have by them are "All Your Summer Songs", released in 2003 on Polyvinyl Records, and "Every Night", released in 2004 on Polyvinyl also. Personally, I prefer "Every Night", which I view as a more solid and mature record that their previous effort, but hey, if you want an in-depth review of their album, head over to Pitchfork for their review on "All Your Summer Songs" and their review on "Every Night," which both received well-deserved fairly high scores.

Here's "Every Night" and "All Your Summer Songs". Give them a chance. You won't be disappointed. Unless you're a metal fan or something. But hey, even metal fans still might like these albums.

(They're both just under 40 minutes so guess what that means? You could put both albums on one cd! At least that's what I did.)

Saturday Looks Good to Me - All Your Summer Songs


Saturday Looks Good to Me - Every Night

You can buy their albums here at Amazon.

The other reason for this post besides being very fond of the band is that they just released a record on Redder Records called "Sound on Sound" on February 14th.

Redder Records desribes the new record as: " 'Sound On Sound' collects thirty of the more impossible-to-find tracks from the band's five year history with recording and releasing their own music, stuffing the best of the 45s, bonus tracks and tour-only CDs into one amazing and somehow cohesive document."

Redder Records also have three songs from their new SLGTM compilation of older tracks available on their website:

Saturday Looks Good to Me - Can't Ever Sleep
Saturday Looks Good to Me - Lift Me Up
Saturday Looks Good to Me - Disaster

**EDIT**
I just went to Saturday Looks Good to Me's Myspace and realized they posted two more songs on there available for download so here they are:
Saturday Looks Good to Me - No Reaction
Saturday Looks Good to Me - Rowboats

Enjoy.

You can buy their new record here or buy their other albums here.

Upcoming Shows:

March 3 - Lansing, MI - Mac's Bar
March 10 - Ann Arbor, MI - The Halfway Inn w/ 1,000 X Yes, Living Flame
March 11 - Urbana, IL -Canopy Club w/ Of Montreal
March 12 - Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground w/ Of Montreal
March 13 - Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck w/ Of Montreal
March 14 - 7:00PM Dallas TX- Instore at Good Records
March 14 - Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves w/ The Reputation, His Name Is Alive
March 15 - Austin, TX - Emo's (SXSW Polyvinyl Showcase)
March 16- Austin, TX- Possible Instores at both Cheapos and Snake Eyes Vinyl
March 17- Austin, TX 12:00 Noon: Austin Mopeds for Urban Pollution Dayparty
March 17- Austin, TX 3:30 PM SXSW Day Stage at Convention Center
March 18 - Nashville, TN - The End
March 19 - Newport, KY - TBA
March 31 - Richmond, IN - Earlham College (closed to non-students)
April 6 - Chicago, IL - The Metro w/ Mates Of State
April 7 - Detroit, MI - The Magic Stick w/ Mates Of State
April 8 - Bowling Green, OH - Howards w/ The Tapes

Covers Post

This is a pretty rare feat on account that I can't post any covers you probably haven't seen before, so you should all get on it. I have a bunch of covers on my computer, but I've just collected them from other blogs. Today I'll post some of my favorite covers, but if you're interested in more covers go to Puritan Blister who also has a ton of mash-ups. For all of the savefile covers I posted, you just have to follow the links until you can right click on it and download.

Architecture in Helsinki - Living Without You (Randy Newman)
This cover is absolutely heartbreaking. *Savefile*

Biirdie - We Can't Work It Out (Saturday Looks Good to Me)
I actually prefer this cover to SLGTM's version, which you'll be able to download in the next few days because I'm planning on a big SLGTM post.

Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Puff the Magic Dragon (I have no fucking idea)
Why would Will Oldham cover this song? Why do I suddenly sort of like this song in an unironical way? *Savefile*

Mountain Goats - Pet Politics (Silver Jews)
This was like a dream for me when I learned one of my favorite bands was covering my favorite band. John Darnielle does David Berman justice with this one. *Savefile*

Mountain Goats - The Irony Engine (Franklin Bruno)
Again, John Darnielle can do no wrong. *Savefile*

The Vines - Ms. Jackson (Outkast)
Oh man, does this bring back memories of 5th grade when this was the only song I liked. And it really is a good song.

Thursday - Ny Batteri (Sigur Ros) *Note: Follow the link*
I thought this might interest people, so here.

The Faint - Psycho Killer (Talking Heads) (Courtesy of Burning Oak)
Live version of one of the greatest songs ever made.

Rilo Kiley - Let My Love Open The Door (Pete Townshend) *Savefile*
This song's just so happy.

The Pastels - Advice to the Graduate (Silver Jews)
The Silver Jews + C86 = entertainment

Thunderbirds Are Now! - Christmas in Hollis (Run-DMC)
Interesting. That says enough.

Ted Leo - Dancing in the Dark (Bruce Springsteen) (Courtesy of Puritan Blister)
Ted Leo is a master in the art of covers.

Elliot Smith - Thirteen (Big Star)
Arguably the greatest cover of all time. Outshines Big Star's version. *Savefile*

Radiohead - Wonderwall (Oasis)
Radiohead puts an end to all covers of this song.

Mountain Goats - The Boys Are Back In Town (Thin Lizzy) and Ignition Remix (R Kelly)
My favorite cover ever. He switches so easily between the two songs, it's just amazing.

Matt at You Aint No Picasso posted one of the best blog ideas I've seen in a while today called Nonsense Syllables". I love how he included Suburban Kids With Biblical Names.

I Guess I'm Floating is another top-notch mp3 blog, check them out if you haven't already.

Mocking Music is another one of the best blogs around. In particular, I love how on the bottom it says "Everything on this page is copyright whomever we stole it from."

Modern Music has posted some seriously great albums recently. These including the new Bonnie "Prince" Billy collaboration, plus BPB and Matt Sweeney's Superwolf of last year, and the Acid House Kings' pop hit "Sing Along With the Acid House Kings."

If you haven't been to RegnYouth, what on Earth are you doing at my blog? Get over there! (You can stay if you want.)

First off, I just want to say that I'm looking for a partner (or partners) in running this blog that have good taste in music and are good writers. Or at least decent. But the thing is that I'm a 15 year old kid going through school, and if I was 30, I'd probably be posting new albums here all the time, but I just don't have the time right now, so some help would be great.

And now back to the music: La-la-la-la-la-la-London Girl

The Jam are the type of band that made me fall in love with music about two years ago. The influential English punk band of the late 70's and early 80's are for fans of the Clash, the Buzzcocks, and other 70's punk. While they also sing about politics (but not as much) as the Clash, they also sing about more ordinary things such as "London Traffic." Paul Weller, the lead singer of the Jam, has one of the best punk voices, but he also demonstrates that it's a good voice on tracks like "Smither-Jones", one of the prettiest songs I've ever heard, with the violins blaring. Yeah kind of different for a punk band.

Last night, I uploaded two albums by the Jam. (Well actually three, but This Is the Modern World and All Mod Cons came on the same disc when I bought it. And by I, I mean my sister.) And the other album is Setting Sons (reissued with bonus tracks).

I don't really have the time to do a complete review of the albums, but let me just say, if you just had to get one album by the Jam, I would strongly advise you to download Setting Sons, which I view as the definitive Jam album. That said, This Is the Modern World-All Mod Cons is absolutely awesome also. Included on All Mod Cons is a rocking cover of the Kinks' "David Watts" which I thoroughly enjoyed and I'm sure fans of the Kinks will also. But I just think Setting Sons is one of the greatest punk albums ever made.

http://rapidshare.de/files/14073663/Setting_Sons__Bonus_Tracks_.rar.html
http://rapidshare.de/files/14076961/This_Is_the_Modern_World-All_Mod_Cons.rar.html

These links to Greatest Hits by the Jam were posted by Modern Music.

The Jam- The Singles [1977 -79]

http://rapidshare.de/files/11310757/Jam77-79.rar.html

The Jam - The Singles [1980 - 82] (Two parts)

http://rapidshare.de/files/11350914/Jam80-82.rar.html

http://rapidshare.de/files/11352649/Jam2.rar.html

pw=dancingmokey.com

The Jam at allmusic

You can buy This Is the Modern World/All Cons here and Setting Sons here.

And also apparently, you're supposed to delete the albums from your computer after 24 hours, but I will not be held responsible if you don't.

If you're interested in being my partner, comment and tell me!

Most blogs either post strcitly MP3's or full albums. I've decided to be a hybrid, partly because I don't have enough time to upload more than one album a day and also that I love MP3 blogs like You Aint No Picasso but am also addicted to RegnYouth. So once a day, I'll upload a new album or direct you towards some free albums and then later on, I'll post some MP3's from some new bands I like.

Today's winner for the post on MP3's goes to the Ex-Boyfriends.

Ex-Boyfriends is:
Colin Daly - vocals/guitar
Chris O. - drums/vocals
Peter Harb - bass/vocals

They released their debut record, Dear John, three days ago on one of my favorite record labels, Absolutely Kosher. (Frog Eyes are on it and the Mountain Goats were too plus a number of other great bands, check them out.)

But back to the Ex-Boyfriends, I've only heard four songs by them, but those songs are some of the best pop-punk I've heard in a while. All of their are songs are upbeat and ebullient with energy and angst, good to listen to at really any time, but especially if you're having trouble in your relationships or are feeling down.

The Ex-boyfriends start their SXSW Tour in mid-March.
3/11
Needles and Pins
226 Main St., Pomona, CA 91766

3/12
The Serious Store (in-store performance)
7569 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA
http://www.seriousstore.com/

3/13
Soul Invictus Artists Collaborative
2518 N. 11th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85006
602-614-4154

3/15
Habana Calle 6 Patio
Absolutely Kosher Records Showcase
709 E. 6th Street, Austin, TX 73301

3/16
End of an Ear
2209 South First Street, Austin, TX 73301
http://www.endofanear.com

3/17
Bar of Soap
3615 Parry Ave, Dallas, TX 75226

3/18
Super Happy Fun Land
w/ The Noise Revival
The Mathematicians
Ill Ease
2610 Ashland St., Houston, TX 77008
http://www.superhappyfunland.com/index.html

3/19
Mable Peabody’s Beauty Shop
1215 E. University Drive, Denton, TX 76201
http://www.geocities.com/mablepeabodys/

3/20
The Replay Lounge
946 Massachusetts St., Lawrence, KS 66044
http://www.replaylounge.com/

3/21
Marquis Theatre
w/ the Velvet Teen
2009 Larimer Street
Denver, CO 80202

3/22
Kilby Court Gallery
w/ The Velvet Teen
741 S. Kilby Court, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
http://www.kilbycourt.com/

3/23
The Bouquet
1010 W. Main Street, Boise, ID, 83702
http://www.thebouquet.net/

3/24
Towne Lounge
w/ Say Hi To Your Mom
714 SW 20th Pl., Portland, OR 97201
http://www.townelounge.com/

3/25
TBA
Seattle, WA

Here are some mp3's by The Ex-Boyfriends. Definitely check them out if you're a fan of power pop:

Ex-Boyfriends - Pickup Line (Acoustic Live)
Ex-Boyfriends - Willingly
Ex-Boyfriends - Him For Me
Ex-Boyfriends - Meghan (I made an account at savefile for this one. Just click the donload buttons. But now I can upload mp3's easily from my computer!

You can buy their new album Dear John here.

The theme of death that the Unicorns were obsessed with does not leave the new Islands' album.
On one of the best songs on the album, "Volcanoes", it begins off with a man saying:
"My name is Oscar. I was killed in 1936...by my brother. I'm a demon. I want you to know that the world is going to end in 2007."
The chorus desribes the Apocalypse by means of volcanoes as the title suggests:
"We washed our mouths at the riverbed when we noticed something glowing
It was growing. Things are going to change
Hot rainfalls made of magma melts Alaska
And in icy Argentine they say now I've seen it all
Who knew?
Volcanoes"
And later on, there's quite a familiar wailing of "I'm so afraid to die."

Fall all you enthusiasts of the side project Th' Corn Gangg the song "Where There's a Will There's A Whalebone" will be a delight for you, where they suddenly break into rap and even though I have no clue what they're saying, it's also one of the best tracks.

Overall, I think Return to the Sea is a contender for album of the year so far, and if you like it, you should definitely go buy it when it comes out! I think you could do it here.

Otherwise, here's the link for the Islands' album Return to the Sea:

http://rapidshare.de/files/14053139/Return_to_the_Sea.rar.html

Be the Islands' friend at their Myspace, where they have posted one of their better songs from Return to the Sea, "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby".

Isn't the point of a music blog supposed to be directing you towards new music? Bands you've never heard of? Yeah, so I should probably stop with my posts about Bright Eyes and Belle and Sebastian. (even though I most likely won't) But anyways, today I'll be reporting to you on a band called Eux Autres.

Back in May 2005, I saw the Magic Marker compilation off-line which you can buy here. (Actually it's the same one I was talking about last post) It had a few bands I really liked like Tullycraft and the Lucksmiths (I was stuck in a total twee phase, and still kind of am), so I ordered it. When I received it, I rushed upstairs to go play it and when I got to Track 7 "Le Project Citron" by Eux Autres, I knew I was in love. Too bad it couldn't have been a girl though. But still at the moment, I could find no fault at all in the world and I still cannot when I listen to their wonderful music.

They're seemingly heavily influenced by French 60's pop and other bands such as the Vaselines. Here are some MP3's they have posted on their website:

Eux Autres-Ecoutez Bien
Eux Autres-Other Girls
Eux Autres-The Sundance Kid
Eux Autres-Partick Nil
And here's a clever short animated film of their song "Ecoutez Bien"

You can stream and/or purchase their album "Hell is Eux Autres" (We can only pray it really is) here. For $9.99, calling it a bargain would be an understatement.

You can also be their friend at their MySpace.

Here's to a Bright Guilty World!

The Minders are another band of the Elephant Six Collective, formed by Martyn Leaper and Robert Schneider (of the Apples in Stereo) in 1995. Their early records showed an insane amount of potential, particularly "Hooray For Tuesday" and "Cul-de-Sacs and Dead Ends." They even set records for Elephant Six regarding their first week sales (or something like that, I forget the exact record). The Minders have suffered some lineup changes through the years that have prevented them from releasing that many albums, but they have created some pop gems. Their last album, The Future Is Always Perfect, was released in 2003 on Future Farmer Records. Thier other full lengths include "Hooray for Tuesday", released in 1998 on spinART Records (reissue in 2004 on Future Farmer), "Golden Street", released in 2001 on spinART, and "Cul-de-Sacs and Dead Ends". But regardless, I was just at Newbury Comics in Boston about a year ago, and I was really into the Apples in Stereo at that point, and knew that the Minders were somehow affiliated with them, so I took a chance and bought the Minders' "Hooray for Tuesday". I don't think it left my cd player for the next month or so. In fact I played it so excessively that I didn't listen to it again until I pulled it out about a week ago. I have to say, it's probably the catchiest album I've ever heard. They cram more hooks in 30 minutes than I thought possible. There's not really one bad track at all and Robert Schneider's production is impeccable, but I warn you, if you do overplay it, the album's so sweet that you might get tired of it like I did. The album I have is a reissue so it has the 12 cd tracks and then 4 bonus songs that are just alternative takes of songs featured, which I didn't care for that much, but I included them anyways. Enjoy:

http://rapidshare.de/files/13985957/Hooray_for_Tuesday__Bonus_Tracks_.rar.html

Another reason I decided to post on the is that I visited their forum on Elephant Six Townhall and to my delight, I saw that Rebecca from the Minders has recently made a post marked "album news". Here's what she wrote:

"Hi everyone, just wanted to say that the record is complete and we are just finishing up with cover art. The album is called Bright Guilty World - here's the track listing -

there goes my formula
don't you stop
red admiral ('s gonna pass me)
accidental joycrest of the hill
same time same place
savor all these days
jennyin the middle of your love
saturday morning (i feel fine)
remember remember
357
glittering dream
oh look oh look

release date is july 18 on future farmer. be there! we'll be playing this summer in a town near you, i'll post dates as soon as we have them confirmed.
thanks! rebecca"

So the concept of 12 new Minders tracks definitely brightened my day. Actually 11. Their song "Don't You Stop" is on the Magic Marker compilation "A House Full of Friends" I bought and I think it's one of their better songs. I'll try to upload the song later to satisfy your anticipation of the new album.

You can buy Minders albums at their website where you can find a more detailed discography and biography, and also stream tracks off their most recent album. Or you can buy them here at Amazon.

I should be back later with some MP3's so check back.

Belle and Sebastian

I'll probably end up doing this on a daily basis, or at least it'd be best if I start out that way. For all you Funny Little Frogs out there, I'll upload some Belle and Sebastian stuff in the coming few weeks. Anyways, regarding The Life Pursuit, I'll be honest, I'm not crazy about it, but I do like it. I've absolutely loved every single album they have thus far released, with the exception of Storytelling which I don't own. Undoubtedly, The Life Pursuit's a fun album, and admittedly I haven't given many listens to it yet. So far though, the only songs on the new album that have really grabbed me are the single "Funny Little Frog" (which happens to contain some other rather good songs, I'll upload it too) and the song "The Blues Are Still Blue". Even though at the moment I'm not too keen on The Life Pursuit, I'm sure it will grow on me. Sorry about my ranting, I get like this whenever I discuss Belle and Sebastian, who happen to be the runner-up in my favorite bands list. (Yes, I have a list.) If you really were wondering, my all-time favorite band is the Silver Jews. You might have heard of their side project, Pavement, even though they're nowhere close to the Jews. HA.

Anyways, back to Belle and Sebastian:
This is just a compilation of covers I put together

All the covers were received via the now increasingly defunct blog Revolution in the Head.

I'll be back tomorrow with more hopefully.

More Bright Eyes!!!

I know how excited you all must be, all you 12 profile views. (Even though most were done by probably myself.)

Well, since I'm trying to attract a fan base of thirteen year old girls for this new blog, I'll post some Bright Eyes.

Seriously though, yesterday, I posted a feature on one of Conor Obersts' of Bright Eyes former bands Park Ave. I forgot that I had uploaded some more Bright Eyes albums to Rapidshare so I'll give you the links now.

http://rapidshare.de/files/13827883/_2000__-_Blood_of_the_Young_-_Motion_Sickness__7_Inch_Single_.rar.html

And I just quickly (it took like an hour) scanned RegnYouth's archive for more Bright Eyes. Visit RegnYouth, it's a fantasic site.

So all of the following were uploaded by RegnYouth.

Most of the links were defunct though, so I didn't get too many.

Bright Eyes - Don't Be Frightened of Turning Page EP
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ievnz7

Bright Eyes - The Joy in Forgetting the Joy http://rapidshare.de/files/1403802/joyfullybright.rar.html

Bright Eyes Live Tracks
http://www.pearljamonline.it/be/TITLES/media.htm

I just went through like 20 links, and THREE work. I hate Conor Oberst.

I heard from some music blog I visit daily (I forget which in particular) that Conor Oberst said in an interview with Rolling Stone that he's not releasing anything in this year of 2006 (at least under the moniker Bright Eyes, Desaparecidos is long overdue for a sophmore album). Whether this news makes you ecstatic or lingering on suicide (I suppose you could be somewhere in between but in reality, you either LOVE Bright Eyes or HATE them), I have some pre-Bright Eyes stuff to keep you occupied through the year.

I'll admit I love Bright Eyes. And I have no shame about that at all. But when I initially read a description of one of Conor's precursor to his Bright Eyes days called Park Ave., I did a double take. Conor Oberst at the drums? Are you serious? What can't this guy do? And wait, is that the drummer of the Faint Clark Baechle on guitar? So anyways, I was hesitant at first, thinking that this band was just a joke. (Which it very well might have been.) But I ended up downloading their only album "When Jamie Went to London...We Broke Up", and was pleasantly surprised. The album contains nine tracks and is just pure heatfelt pop music. My favorite songs on the album are called "Lachrymose/Obsequious/Vehement/Elated" (a clever acronym for LOVE, eh?) and "All Boy Band." Listen for yourself.

Here's Park Ave's sole album "When Jamie Went to London...We Broke Up"
http://rapidshare.de/files/13826317/_1999__-_When_Jamie_Went_to_London...We_Broke_Up.rar.html

So like a month or so ago, I got really excited because I saw that one of my favorite bands of 2005, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, was stopping along their midwinter tour at a place in New Haven along with another band I hadn't yet heard: Catfish Haven. So anyways, I soon discovered that the show was at a bar nightclub and me being only 15 and all eliminated that possibility. I was considering getting a fake moustache at the time. It probably would have been wiser to get a fake ID. Anyways, I decided today'd be a nice double feature with these two bands.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

Initially, I didn't expect that I'd really like this band that every one was raving so much about. (eg CHYSY) But I downloaded their album Broom, which you can order off their site, and although this band may rival Clap Your Hands Say Whatever as worst band name of the year, I was delightfully surprised by their music. It's 10 songs and just about half an hour in length, but each song is wonderful. Easily one of the best albums of 2005, regardless of what Pitchfork says, who gave them only a 6.9.

Highlights Include: Download the album! The whole damn album's a highlight. But if I had to pick, my favorite song's the ninth track, "Anne Elephant".

Here you can download their debut masterpiece Broom.

You can also download their live acoustic song called "Accident" at their site. Or here too, why not.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin-Accident

And now on to Catfish Haven:

Even though I didn't end up going to that concert, I gained the pleasure of discovering the band Catfish Haven who just released an EP entitled "Please Come Back" on Secretly Canadian Records. They currently have 4 tracks up on their website, but they're definitely worth checking out:

Please Come Back
Madaline
Too Hungover To Headbang (my personal favorite)
Paper Thin
You Can Have Me

You can buy SSYLYBY's album here and Catfish Haven's here.

These two bands are still on tour with eachother and have only 5 shows remaining including tonights.

TUESDAY, February 21
ST. LOUIS, MO
Hi Point


WEDNESDAY, February 22
SPRINGFIELD,MO
The Outland


THURSDAY, February 23
COLUMBIA, MO
Mojo's


FRIDAY, February 24
IOWA CITY, IA
Gabe's Oasis (early show)


SATURDAY, February 25
LAWRENCE, KS
Jackpot

I'll be back with some Belle and Sebastian tomorrow, till then happy downloading.

Hello, I'm Sean. Yeah, so I guess I've decided to start a music blog. Watch out, I might get really into this on account of the fact that I have no life.

By the way, the name is just totally random. It just sounded cool.

And for my first blog, I'll post an EP (or a single, I'm not sure) by one of my favorite bands.

Architecture in Helsinki-Do The Whirlwind

For those of you that haven't used Rapidshare before, just click the free option and follow the direction. Then to get the individual songs from the rar file, just right click on the rar and choose Extract Files. You have to download WinRar though if you don't already have it which you can do here.