Tiny Hawks - People Without End

Genre: Hardcore Punk Math
For Fans of : 1994!, Daniel Striped Tiger

Sometimes I cant tell if bands write really short songs cause they are smart and want to get to the point, or they use that excuse to mask their inability to write full songs.

Two piece bands trying to emulate a full sounding group is a challenge (creating a good solid sound with 5 members is tough as well) and Tiny Hawks exceeds at doing so. The drums hit hard and deliberate although it seems he is flailing randomly, the guitarist is twangy yet dissonant and has chord progressions you wouldn't expect from a hardcore punk band. What separates Tiny Hawks from other bands with the two piece formula is the mass amounts of great riffs they have. Riffs that make you listen to the songs over and over again so you can hear that one measure that has the "roll down the windows and fist pump alone" riff.

Sometimes I wonder if I only listen to music for that one riff. Once I find it, I play it to death, then forget about it for a couple years, and realize the riffs are still there, magical just as much as the first time. If you like great noisy instrumentation with shouty incoherent quasi-political vocals, you will love Tiny Hawks!

Drummers that look like Tim Harrington

Download

Craft Spells "Gallery"- EP

Singer/songwriter Justin Vallesteros and the rest of the talented group that is Craft Spells are so ahead of their time and they're only in their early twenties. Nothing oozes new wave revival like this Captured Tracks band. Caught these guys in Visalia, Ca with Beach Fossils (label brothers) and this year at SXSW 2012. Such incredibly humble guys and their live set sounds just as dreamy. 

Due May 15, you can check out their new EP streaming now on Soundcloud through Deerlodge.fm: http://deerlodge.fm/stream-craft-spells-gallery-ep/

Here We Go Magic- 'A Different Ship'

Alright folks,
The Secretly Canadian band "Here We Go Magic" just released some magic indeed and I want to start this post off by simply saying: ...Holy shit. Nigel Godrich.

Only having released two full length albums prior, this talented quintet based out of Brooklyn have dedicated their sound to rhythmic bells, looping synths, and basically music that is just ridiculously catchy yet incredibly complex once you've taken a step back. It's every band, artist, writers, etc. dream to create something simplistic, yet poignant. Listening to their sound as a whole on A Different Ship can make one realize why you never thought of that note in the first place when creating it or a chorus that was always on the tip of your tongue, but could never fully decipher in the studio.

In 2010, the band was fortunate to grab at least two important individuals attention within a massive and exhausted early morning audience at the Glastonbury Music Festival. (The type of spot that bands dread) Those two wide eyed appreciators just HAPPENED to be Thom Yorke and producer Nigel Godrich. Of course, Thom Yorke doesn't need an explanation but in case those who are not aware of the people who help shape Radioheads music from behind the scenes, one prominent contributor for years has been Godrich himself. A man with an impressive resume: working with musicians such as Charlotte Gainsbourg, Pavement, Paul McCartney, Air, Beck, and so on. Although HWGMs music has been quite successful already with their album transitions, this album I feel takes on it's very own harmonious charm with the help of Godrich.

Their single, "How Do I Know", is radio friendly, starting off with a fun guitar hook, yet beginning lyrically with words as fragile as "How do I know if I love you?" This song balances those playful melodies and sentimental verses and delve into vulnerable topics such as loneliness and a search for connection.

Here is their music video, directed by Sean Pecknold:

Or check it out on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/40212499

The Dismemberment Plan - "!"

Genre: DC post punk/indie pop
Sounds Like: So Many Dynamos, Q and Not U

 A small timely rant:

There has been a consistent and exciting wave of indie band revivals that started last year and coming in strong for the rest of 2012. Acts like Braid, At The Drive In, Desaparecidos, Refused and countless others have sprung up on music festivals and select cities across the states. Any reasons for the sudden surge of bands coming back together? Is it due to their audience, who are now a slight older and their influence is being heard (Braid and the Midwest revival few years back) in contemporary bands? Or that they had resonated with so many people back when they were active that its an easy cash grab using nostalgia? You hear many music fans going "I'm going to cry my shit over this" or "I will do anything to see (insert important band of their adolescence). Or they just felt like touring again? I'm not knocking this recent trend whatsoever cause I am an ATDI fanboy as much as the next guy in their mid-twenties and will continue to exclaim that they are one of the most important bands of my generation. But I look at this trend very carefully. Who knows maybe we will get an Ian Williams and Damon Che reunion if the price is right.

The Dismemberment Plan was one of the first on my radar to reunite and tour again which started early last year. Touring United States and Japan and eventually performing on the Late Show with Jimmy Fallon. Although I didn't discover Dismemberment Until 2004 (one year after they broke up) they have stuck with me for the past 8 years. So when I saw the dates being announced, my nostalgia was being prodded deeply.

Their first album, aptly named "!" was my initial discovery of this band, and like how most young people received new music in the early 00's, it was on a scribbled, discolored CD-R and the last two tracks were ruined due to excessive scratches. At first glance its another mid 90's post punk DC indie band with dissonant guitars and punchy bass with strange melodic vocals (and the first drummer is a monster). Although true, what makes Dismemberment so different is how Smart this band is. Not in the Radiohead way, but more in the Rush sense. (I know I know stay with me here guys) they manage to have clever lyrics and hooks without sacrificing great technical song writing and great catchy riffs. The other key to the smart equation is how they don't take themselves seriously but still sound like every song was carefully crafted to perfection.

This album is in my top ten of all time, and although some people might be completely turned off by the vocals, give all their records a listen. These songs will stick to you. Fun Fact: I have an ex girlfriend who despised this band to the very end, and although that's not important at all, I feel like it should be.

The Band!

Mississippi John Hurt

Genre: The Blues

Sounds like: Fred McDowell, Skip James

I've been listening to a lot of blues lately which is hard to write about - it's been around awhile and it basically had it's heydey about 50 years ago. I'm very suspicious of any genre that inspired vapid British arena rock played by white guys with big hair and loud guitars. It's funny how basically the most humble of all music was the direct cause of so much dumb classic rock. There's an interesting parallel here: folk and blues in the 1960's is basically equivalent to rap/hip hop in the 2000's. Think about it. Blues basically sprouted out of black peoples' horrible existence as the dirt poor of the south. Hip hop started from the ghettos in big cities across the country. They both were eventually co-opted by big labels into a money making machine designed to sell records to white high schoolers. In very few instances do the modern versions represent anything close to the original intent - less feeling, more capitalism. But I digress.

Everything I know about Mississippi John Hurt comes from his Wikipedia page but I'll summarize it here: he was a sharecropper his whole life and recorded like one song in the 1920s. The depression hit and he went back to farming for awhile. In 1963 some random white guy found one of his old records, tracked him down and convinced him to start recording again. He had some success in the "American Folk Revival" until he died a couple years later. He's basically the man when it comes to great fingerstyle guitar and I'll just stop writing and post some music. 

Eternal Dreamer - Splintered Sunlight

Genre: Psychedelic, Drone, Experimental

Sometimes writing about music seems futile. It’s a subjective experience that I find difficult to describe. To approximate this experience, I try to make connections between the music/what I know about the musician, and my personal experiences/beliefs in hopes that the reader might share similar experiences/beliefs (and thus have an understanding). However, this has been very difficult since I can’t seem to find any information about Eternal Dreamer. This album is the reason I haven’t posted anything in over a month. I’ve been paralyzed. I’ve never experienced anything like this one. This is easily one of the best tapes I’ve purchased this year. I’m sick of trying to write about something I know nothing about. Just listen and tell me what you hear.

Download, but please pick up one of the last copies from Calypso Hum if you like it!

Ssaliva - RZA

Genre: loops and stuff

Sounds like: smokey haze

Bandcamp

Oh hey. How are you? Yeah I know, I had forgotten about this thing too.

New tape from Ssaliva. He's supposed to be Belgian I think. I posted something else by him and now I'm posting this too.  bet there's a whole genre that sounds like this but I don't know what it is. I bet you can find a download link somewhere too if you look (I didn't).

This post brought to you by your extremely dedicated blog author.