I voted for GOAT (#1, 2012) as Best Rock & Breakthrough Artist in the Rober Awards poll - looks like they won the polls, but not the awards! Anyway, I found this group under Best Hispanic Artist category (Spain).
Wow, I don't even know enough to pick a 3rd one to round it out. Guess I will go with the apparent winner of Best Electronica poll: Crystal Castles?
Okay, that's not really dance music. So I actually looked around for anything more appropriate, and... I just... what?! Whatever I found was some of the worst stuff I'd ever heard in years. I don't even... Wow.
I saw the Space City Rock review of the most recent release from My Education (opener, #3 Live Show 2011) sometime last month, and I'm clearing out my backlog of blog-post-drafts!
Not sure why the player wants to start with Track #5, but you can play it & buy it over at Bandcamp too. They're instrumental post-rock from Austin, TX - also mostly pretty good.
"A Drink For All My Friends" live May 21, 2011
I'm not sure exactly what the Violinist Sessions are, except for: live music + Denton, TX. Looks worth exploring though - here's the page for the My Education sesh (w/ free D/L too).
Ok, here's the band's official website. And I think I might jump on one of the remaining 50 copies of the vinyl Sound Mass LP (2011).
Time to do some blog Spring Cleaning, cleaning house, house-cleaning... on the old leftovers.
According to Facebook, "Ryan of Taifas and JT of The Escatones decided to start a label." Behind this link to Fayetteville's Taifas Bandcamp is some ***NSFW*** cover art, but on a free album download!
Southern Surf Punk and Roll Vol. 1 (2012) is a Free Download from the label Bandcamp. Description & tags would indicate "Texas (Houston), Arkansas, Oklahoma (Tulsa), Nebraska, and Kansas" - which is pretty wide-ranging!
"Open Up Your Mind" from Bad Things Don't EP (2012)
Ft. Smith, Arkansas' Pagiins do the third track, and they have Bandcamp, with a couple of free 2012 EP's.
"All of my friends are Wolfmen" on Chic-A-Go-Go (11/20/2012)
Omaha, Nebraska's Snake Island! seems like a fun band, and I'll rarely pass up an opportunity to feature the Public Access legend Chic-A-Go-Go.
"Politician" at 3rd Squirrel Records (Georgetown, TX)
Video description calls them "Houston based punk/rock/comedy-core/Carlin-core." Art Institutes official media profile is pretty hilarious:
In 1976, Art Institute were getting regular work playing clubs on Houston's Sunset Strip. It was here that they came to the attention of KISS frontman Gene Simmons, who was so impressed with the band that he paid for their first demo tape. In 1978, their self-titled debut album was released, becoming one of the most successful debut albums ever and bringing hard rock into the musical mainstream.
I think I heard they'd recently broken up. Drag...
I think I'll just push this one out now - grab the free comp & see what you like!
Rifts (2009) was already a collection of sci-fi electronic material from earlier Oneohtrix Point Never records, so this will be / was an expanded vinyl re-release of a 2xCD set that was a pared-down edition of 3 LP's. Seems sold out everywhere by now... (And as mentioned, I've already covered it extensively once before.)
Check out & download an exclusive track from the box-set, but not from any of the pre-Rifts LP's, but rather a split-cassette. I mean, I don't even know anymore...
"Blue Drive" from KGB Nights / Blue Drive (2009)
Ltd-ed of 125 tapes! I'm guessing you didn't pick that one up either. And something else... why not? Here's the other track from the OPN side of the tape - not sure if it's also on the new box-set.
"Gray-Level Objects Describing Bio Layers" from KGB Nights / Blue Drive (2009)
That is a very fitting video for that song title. Actually, it looks like "KGB Nights" appears on the new vinyl, but not the "GLODBL" one. Which means a track from KGB Man (another Daniel Lopatin group), rather than OPN? Huh.
Because of the various issues with online storage (legitimate & otherwise), and the growing number of links to be monitored and updated - I'm setting up this free-standing post as a download & cross-reference index. Somewhat like the earlier Top 10 index and home-brew video index.
In addition to this post, I'll try to keep all the links updated in the "COMPS" section to the right. At this point the format for each comp is: Title linking to the Rapidshare download, and [vol. #] linking to the original post with tracklist & other info.
A couple of other quick notes: These collections all come from either totally legit promotional MP3's offered on the interet for download (see original posts for sources), or with the artists' permission. Also, Rapidshare will delete any files that go 30 days without download activity. If you experience any issues, post over on Facebook, since I usually overlook comments here on the blog itself for too long.
Here's the Astral MP3 Compilation download series... so far.
2009~Astralnauts Are Go!! vol. 1 [Download / Post]
Hey, the bitrates here aren't quite as bad as I'd remembered (just a lot of 128-192). Pretty solid first effort, with several ongoing favorite acts: BTWS, LP4, Boris, Earthless... And probably my favorite cover art. [15 tracks / 2+ hours]
Beyond the Astral Waves... vol. 2 [Download / Post]
Similar line-up as before... with some additional live stuff (Woods & Sebadoh), Psych Fest drone-rock (Black Angels, BJTM, The Asteroid No. 4), and good electronix (Caribou, Fujiya & Miyagi). [19 tracks / ~1¾ hours]
2010~Cleansing the Headspace: vol. 3 [Download / Post]
Quick review of the tracklist would indicate fairly heavy going. This starts out with Isis, Baroness & Nadja (MBV cover), then towards the end there's Krallice, WITTR, Mastodon & Nadja (a-Ha cover). Other stuff too, with expanded weirdo excerpts. [21 tracks / ~2 hours]
If forced to pick only one of these, this just might be the one. Goes all over the place, but manages to include many blog favorites (sometimes multiply), and it keeps moving along (only one true epic). [27 tracks / ~2¼ hours]
2011~Early through Everything... vol. 5 [Download / Post]
I hate to sound self-impressed, but I'm pretty impressed with myself. Looking back at these, I got more quality and/or interesting stuff than I thought. Anyway, #5 is about as electronical as #3 was heavy. [28 tracks / ~2½ hours]
Coming just two weeks after Early, this was kind of a direct sequel. I might have been pushing it, drunk on the flood of free MP3's. My cyberweb detective skills were probably peaking right around the same time bands' freeshare policies were. [30 tracks / 2½+ hours]
2012~Gongs to the Tempel - vol. 7 [Download / Post]
The secret to releasing 3 blog comps in 1 year is to start early! You know this one's great because "I tried to build this one mainly around the 2011 Year End lists." What could be better?? [38 tracks / 3 hours!]
... and following up in February. I think that "also a bunch of random other stuff" might describe this better than "Split amongst the upcoming and previous Austin Psych Fests." But maybe if you squint. Some really good music nevertheless. [46 tracks / ~3¾ hours!!]
This starts off looking like a Best of 2012, veers into a ditch of weirdness, then cruises some pop landscape, before returning home in time for the holidays. Even reined it in to [20 tracks / 1½+ hours].
Like any rockin' party, World Music by Goat feels like it just flies past. Here's the full 37:39, which seems shorter than that by about half the length. Good times!
"Diarabi" (live) kicks off the proceedings with a sidewinding North African/Middle Eastern intro that wouldn't be out of place on this year's #3 Six Organs of Admittance record.
Title interpretation: "Diarabe mean infatuated or extreme love. Like if you can't go without someone." Maybe also a reference to "Diaraby" by Ali Farka Touré & Ry Cooder?
Although I've mostly focused on the hit singles and official videos in previous posts, the album frontloads the "Goat" ones - so here we are, again.
Title interpretation: a man of the goats? a superhero?
Recipe for instant classic: Soaring & detonating guitars, full-frontal low-end, frenzied hand-drum assault, dat chant. Mix well.
By now, Western musicians have been copping Near Eastern moves since at least The Beatles (#6, 1969). But if there's been a big resurgence of raw Afro-Funk a la Nigeria 70 (2001), I guess I've missed it. And far from shying away from any concerns about imperialistic misappropriation, Goat doubles down - weaving a ludicrous and awesome backstory about some ancient traveling witch-doctor importing Voodoo culture to their remote Swedish village.
Title interpretation: the godhead? a tribute to Swedish-Afro-Funk pioneers The Rolling Stones (#19, 1969), who also released an album called Goats Head Soup (1973)?
Brewed up from similar ingredients as the previous one, with maybe a more spindly lead guitar, a more chooglin' rhythm, and a stop-start breakdown. The solo drips molten slow molasses napalm into a blender set to frappé. And with a twist ending - acoustic mellow-down coda!
That's some classic relentless driving Afro-Funk riffs, interrupted here & there by wah-wah drops and an extended organ freak-out. As always, the vocals contend with everything else thrown out under them. [Click-thru image to GOAT-fan blogger-artist.]
I don't know what that trick or effect towards the beginning is called, where the different parts' rhythms seems to race each other to get ahead and then tumble behind & back in line, but I like it. Also what's that dissonant tone in the bridge - like a chromatic diminished 13th or something?
Title interpretation: back to ye olde Rolling Stones again? Or literally 'let it bleed?'
This was a single released before the full-length came out, or more importantly, before I'd heard of them. I'd put that on my jukebox! Scale Power-ed all the way to the drop-out... No-one expects the saxophone.
"Run to Your Mama" (live)
Title interpretation: If you're not Swedish, you probably wouldn't get the cheeky reference to Hardcore Superstar... I'm not judging - just here to help.
I think that break has a little "War Pigs" DNA, am I right?
Lay it down + Belt it out = PROFIT!
Guess what I literally just learned while searching for the image above. There's a whole non-album B-side tune floating out there: "The Sun, The Moon!!" (The only place I've found it for download is on the iTune single for "Goatman.")
"Goatlord" (live)
Title interpretation: Lord of the goats? a goat who is also a lord?
Drone out with tha pump organ. Niceness all the way around - with a super-overdriven lead guitar from outta nowhere. But no-one expects the pump organ!
"Det som aldrig förändras / Diarabi" live) from World Music (2012)
Title interpretation: Swedish for "what never changes." Duh.
Sweet video, sweet song(s). Nice step-up to full accompaniment with the now-riffing pump, and the transition back into the intro as the outro. Like a veritable Ouroboros of awesome!
Might I take a moment to point out that Rocket Recordings have been killing it for a few years now? Nice job (again) on this one! I mean, check out (or listen to, or escucha) this playlist...
The Linus Pauling is selling Assault on The Vault of The Ancient Bonglords 3xCD + the titular Druids & Demons module (#3 Archival, 2012) on the internet. Limited Edition of 100, expanded by popular demand from the original 55.
Head on over to ***CD Baby*** as fast as you possibly can!
Rock: Psychedelic
Moods: Featuring Guitar
Metal/Punk: Stoner Metal
Recommended if You Like
Black Sabbath
Monster Magnet
The Butthole Surfers
Here's what I said about it before:
3xCD career retrospective from "probably my favorite active hometown heroes." Some super-fan might quibble (more rarities! less debut!)... To which others might argue, "Shut up, their debut was your #9 album of 1995... Idiot!"
Oh and while I was on Soundcloud, I found this super-recent live recording from Charlie Naked, 12/22/2012 with OlympusMONS: Winter Solstice live. Downloadable as 3 parts (_1_/_2_/_3_)...
