Singles of Note

Weed Hounds-Skating Away From The Cops 7"

Hell yeah two-songs that are super-potent, couldn't get enough of this band, the demo is great too but I really like the way they produced these tracks not too hot not too cold if you know what I mean. The songs are great, would you run away if I told you they reminded me of "Isn't Anything" MBV? You can call me lazy, but don't discount the band. They are set to drop a full-length in the next coupla months and I can't wait.



The Pains Of Being Pure of Heart-Say No To Love 7"

Even though I've slowly been coming to the conclusion it ain't healthy to listen to all this spoon-my-heart-out/fatalist/uber-romance shit all the time I still have to give it up to these doods, it's just too pretty too well crafted. The secret hater in me can't wait till this band screws up so I can just hate on em but it's probably not gonna happen cuz they have a pretty damn consistent track-record of purrrfection. On a related note: When is Mac gonna come out with filters for your eyes, fuck rose-colored glasses, I want super 8 lenses.Say No To Love



Veronica Falls-Beachy Head 7"

Well I am getting a little miffed(that's british right?) that there hasn't been a full-length yet, or a deluge of singles....just a slow slow trickle it's all gold though I guess that's the trade-off. I heard somewhere this song is about a famous place to kill yourself, now that's goth and they didn't even need to bury it under a mile of white-noise. But on another note, has there ever been one sunny day in all of England's existence? Catch the Wave



Wild Nothing-Evertide Ep

Welp no surprise here I been jocking this band too damned hard lately. I don't even have words for this one too good too good. jock on



Balam Acab-See Birds

I think you could call Balam Acab rookie of the year, he came out of nowhere and pretty much won the hearts of all, he pulls more emotion out of machines than most can out a slew live instruments, and they are covered in gorgeous texture. Unlike witch house which he might be unfairly asscociated with he doesn't leave you feeling desperate or scared, mostly fulfilled and renewed and shit positive like that. See Birds



Ikonika-DCKHDBTCH

A lot of times I am really disappointed by dubstep, but really it's just that it's gotten so big now that it has gone in a million different directions. And unfortunately the directions leading to the general mindless herds are the ones most popular. Thankfully guys like Joker, Hudson Mohawke, and Nosaj Thing are still pushing boundaries and right up there with them is Ikonika. Her drums are pretty simple kinda cheap sounding, but she throws the most bonkers ass melodies over it, after a minute they just start to work on you, then her super woozy basslines start to take effect, it's real cool. This isn't the best introduction to her music but it is definitely solid.



Zomby-One Foot Ahead of The Other

Zomby definitely fits into the above-mentioned category of people not being content with the definition of dubstep the mindless are trying to impose on the rest of us. I don't know much about electronics or sequencers so I can't really say what he's doing, it sounds analog and complex to me. Actually I think this ep has more in common with Wendy Carlos than Bassnectar. It surely satisfies my brain in ways simillar to Switched On Bach.



White Ring/oOoOO-Emotion 7"

This whole genre is inevitably gonna get a whole bunch of flack but good music remains good music and this seven inch is good music. You shouldn't have to apologize for like DJ's Paul and Screw as well Portishead and Burzum it's fucking 2010 ya heard? Let em do their thang thang. And besides the clever genre tag isn't it really just cold wave or goth or whatever? I think sometimes people lose perspective and can't appreciate something cool when it's crawling like Ju-On across the floor.EmOtiONaL



oOoOO-EP

Yeah other than Salem I think these guys have got the most bankable catalog at the moment, NoSmmr4U is a certified banger.Did I mention the Pokerface Remix?

Gooble Gobble

In the spirit of the Holidaze, I will show thanks to my favorite albums of this year. Like any "best-of" I could do, this isn't super definitive and I am sure there are a couple of ones that I forgot that I will regret. I will probably do at least one more of these by the end of the year. Happy Thanksgiving!


Isobell Campbell & Mark Lanegan-Hawk

I have talked and talked about this album and listened to it waaaay too many times to write anything about it now.
Pitchfork did an alright job talkin it up so go ask them. Anyways yeah it's real real good.

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan from DUKOFF on Vimeo.

Wild Nothing-Gemini

Man this band crept on my hard and rapidly became one of my favorites. They encompass the term "sleeper" in almost anyway you can come up with. I paid no attention to the band when they put up their Kate Bush cover, which is odd. And then when the album came out, I liked it but didn't give it too much thought. It wasn't until the three-song Evertide ep, that I really got a good hold on them. Three songs and each one of them could have been a smash-hit, Duran Duran-big radio phenomenon...In an alternate, much much cooler universe. Revisiting the album I realized each and every song on the motherfucker was just about as good, and it was variated enough to not be monotonous, which is not the easiest thing to pull off when you are playing soft somber shit. It's all over the news, NOSTALGIA is waay big with the current generation and im a fan myself. Anyways this shit will definitely make you feel like you're living in whatever idealized past/future you've created for yourself.

WILD NOTHING - LIVE IN DREAMS from John Paul on Vimeo.

Big Boi-Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son Of Chico Dusty

-I knew this one was gonna be great by the steady stream of singles that came out damn near a year preceding the album release. But actually a lot of the end of the album tracks have become my favorite, the whole album reminds me of why I fell in love with songs like Skew It On the Bar-B, B.O.B, Trans DF Express(remember that one?), and pretty much all Outkast in general. I find myself putting this album on more than others, oh and the below song will forever remain my personal anthem, I smoke weed and flex in my room by myself to this shit.

Big Boi - Fo Yo Sorrows VIDEO ft.Too Short,George Clinton,SamChris from SNORTTHIS.COM on Vimeo.

Joanna Newsom-Have One On Me

In time this album could very well become my favorite album of all time. The problem is that it is sooo dense and packed to the brim with imagery and harmony and swirling strings and all that and more that even nearly 10 months later I have not been to fully grasp all three albums. I just take off a chunk or so and chew on that for a couple of months, but honestly I haven't really been able to get past "Good Intentions Paving Company" which is one of those songs that just plucks every heartstring I have, in a fashion probably not too different from the way she plays the harpstrings. But what in the hell is up with all those sex symbol press photos?! That is definitely not the spritely elf singing about clams my junior year. I mean can't say I'm objecting, I just never imagined she'd intentionally give dudes boners to sell her music, but like I said I'm not complaining.


No Age Everything In Between

I came into this album with little to no expectation beacause I wasn't that big of a fan of their earlier shit. That's what suprised me the most is because I wasn't really looking for anything in their vein, but they brought it so hard that I liked it anyway. It rocks way harder than their other albums, more concise I think. It sounds like a band really honin' in on their own sound, it's cool to listen to. They've always tried to that pulsing white-noise build up into structure thing, well I think they pulled it off the best they've ever done it on this album. They shift seamlessly from amorphic to anthemic throughout the album.

No Age - Glitter (not the video) from Sub Pop Records on Vimeo.

Dum Dum Girls-I Will Be

I was an early fan of these guys especially of that song Ship of Love, but I tell you what the recording on those early releases was pretty bare-bones. This record continued the great songs from the demo and whatnot but with just enough polish. My only complaint would be that more of the older stuff wasn't re-recorded. I know bands usually get flack for that, but Im usually all for it.

Dum Dum Girls - Jail La La from Sub Pop Records on Vimeo.