Beach Fossils- "Youth"

Really digging this track from Brooklyn's Beach Fossils from their self-titled debut, out this year on Captured Tracks. Any fan of all that reverb drenched stuff that has been coming out on Woodsist, Underwater Peoples (see: Real Estate, Gauntlet Hair, Wild Nothing, Alex Bleeker, Pill Wonder, etc.) will absolutely love this song. The Smiths are definitely in there somewhere too. Chiming guitars, vocal overdubs, driving melodies, why listen to Beach House when you could be listening to Beach Fossils!

Beach Fossils- "Youth" from Beach Fossils (via One Track Mind)

Silver Jews- American Water (1998)

American Water is the third album by Silver Jews, aka David Berman and friends, and I've been told it's their best. I haven't heard any of Berman's other albums as the Silver Jews, but I absolutely love American Water. It surprises me that despite all the wide recognition and acclaim that Pavement's Slanted and Enchanted and Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain get, American Water, an album which should most certainly be mentioned in the same sentence for its similarities in both level of excellence and musical sound, is often overlooked. The music, a mix of Berman's dry Southern drawl, which calls to mind the low croons of Bill Callahan, witty and surreal lyrics and twangy, raw guitar work, certainly calls to mind Pavement almost immediately, though Berman's style is unique. The similarities are not surprising given the bands' close connections; Stephen Malkmus plays on and co-wrote some of the songs on the album. "People," "Buckingham Rabbit" and "Federal Dust" are some of the record's highlights, each track loaded with Berman's impressive lyrics, either devastatingly personal or playful. The album's influence is hard to miss, both in the work of contemporaries Built to Spill, Yo La Tengo and Guided By Voices, as well as modern acts like Real Estate and Destroyer. Click the album artwork to sample or buy below.

1. Random Rules
2. Smith & Jones Forever
3. Night Society
4. Federal Dust
5. People
6. Blue Arrangements
7. We Are Real
8. Send In the Clouds
9. Like like the the the Death
10. Buckingham Rabbit
11. Honk If You're Lonely
12. The Wild Kindness

Recommended If You Like: Pavement, Guided By Voices, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Real Estate, Bill Callahan, Yo La Tengo

Buy

Doomriders- Black Thunder (2005)

Doomriders are a four piece punk group out of Boston whose line up features metal heavyweights like Converge's Nate Newton and Disappearer's Jebb Riley. Despite the attention that the band's 2009 release Darkness Come Alive, I think Doomriders' crushing mix of skate punk, thrash and stoner metal is unleashed with the most precision and ferocity on their 2005 debut Black Thunder. The album cover gives you a pretty good idea of both the group's sound and intentions; you'll be wishing your hair was longer and/or throwing up the horns by the end of the first track. The album's title track and opener is extreme blend of Newton's Lemmy-esque roars, descending guitar harmonies and crunching bass.

Zed- "Plastic Love" (1983)

Here's a ridiculous 80s disco tune that me and fellow blog author Connor heard on Princeton College Radio WPRB today, specifically the show MotorFunker (check out their blog here). It's definitely cheesy 80s disco to the max, but its primitive rhythm track, stuttered vocals and bouncy synths probably serve as an indirect influence to modern day acts like The Knife, Dâm-Funk or even lo-fi weirdos like Tickley Feather, Ariel Pink and High Places. Check it out.

White Ring- "IxC999"

Sorry for the lack of updates, finals + summer bro10 kick off + work has been consuming my life. I did start my summer off the right way by seeing the one and only Moby at Webster Hall on Friday, one of the sickest dj sets I have ever seen. Anyway, here's a quick post about this amazingly creepy song "IxC999" by duo White Ring. Imagine if The Knife's "Heartbeats" sounded more like their darker work on Silent Shout instead of the upbeat club banger that it is. Then imagine something about 10x more creepy than that. "IxC999" starts off with ominous blaring synths before morphing into a haunting mix of distorted female vocals, steel drums, and rhythmic gun shots a la "Paper Planes." Kinda plays like a creation of the evil twins of Crystal Castles. Fans of Silent Shout, Zola Jesus, Cocteau Twins should check this one out, but beware: it's not for the faint of heart.

White Ring- "IxC999" (via Pitchfork)

Born Ruffians- "I Need A Life (Four Tet Mix)"

Born Ruffians are delightfully catchy three piece from Ontario (I'll be featuring their debut LP Red, Yellow & Blue very soon, don't miss it) whose music usually resembles the jangly indie pop of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! or Peter Bjorn and John. But when Warp labelmate Four Tet remixes the Ruffians' "I Need A Life," the result is very different. As a b-side to their Little Garçon single, Four Tet turns the rowdy teenage singalong into a hypnotic mix of twinkling guitars and echoing harmonies. The remix reminds me a lot of Deakin's remix of Phoenix's "Love Like A Sunset," but of course that's a good thing. Add this one Four Tet's already enormous list of awesome remixes.

"Born Ruffians- I Need A Life (Four Tet Mix)" from Little Garçon (via This Music Wins) LINK REMOVED

Grouper- Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill (2008)

One of 2008's often overlooked gems, Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill by Portland's Liz Harris, stage name Grouper, is one of my favorite records of all time. Fans of the hypnotizing drone of Animal Collective's Campfire Songs, Grizzly Bear's Horn Of Plenty or Pocahaunted's Island Diamonds will fall instantly in love with Harris' beautiful mix of ethereal vocals and delicate guitar. Acoustic drone is such an awesome concept, one that Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill executes drenched with haunting emotion and heartbreaking beauty. Songs like "Heavy Water/I'd Rather Be Sleeping" and "When We Fall" are personal favorites, both full of Harris' reverb-covered moans, where her falsettos seem to pierce the soul. Harris' unique mix of folk, drone and psychedelia has cemented her position in the experimental scene and her work is now getting the recognition it deserves. Don't miss this one. Skip track one, start with "Heavy Water/I'd Rather Be Sleeping." I opted for that picture up there instead of the artwork (it's creepy) because that is one of my favorite pictures of a musical artist. So cool.

Buy Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill on iTunes

Pimpin' Ain't Easy

(http://www.theawl.com/2010/04/vanishing-point-your-memes-reviewed-the-joseph-ducreux-self-portrait)

The Little Ones- "Lovers Who Uncover (Crystal Castles Remix)"

Check out this sick remix by Crystal Castles that my friend Cris showed me, it's been on constant repeat for the last few days. I still haven't made up mind about Crystal Castles (I hated pretty hard on their first album but I think I am slowly starting to see the light, I'm definitely gonna give the new one a chance) but there's no denying it, this song fucking rules. Heavy percussion, those 8-bit synths bleeps the Castles have become so known for, don't miss out on this one.



The Little Ones- "Lovers Who Uncover (Crystal Castles Remix)" (via Rewriteable Content)