Tad Hutchinson is really going the extra mile on the drums here. He doesn’t have to, Scott McCaughey’s singing can carry this little tune. But Hutchinson was always the Fellows’ secret weapon, I love his work across the board.
Hot Space contains the magnificent “Under Pressure”. It also contains a bunch of other songs, about which the less said, the better.
[Read More]I sort of mentally lumped the Shins in with a bunch of other indie bands (like Death Cab) as being “fine, but not for me”. Who had the time to differentiate all these bands? It wasn’t actually until I found “For A Fool” on Rocksmith and had such a good time playing it that I paid more attention, and hey - turns out I actually really like the Shins. We wander into the music we like through a lot of different ways, and it always pays to keep your ears open.
[Read More]Hey! I think everybody reading this probably knows that I also design games. My most recent game got a glowing review from Shut Up & Sit Down. Pretty neat! Oh, we have music, also.
I just kinda want to hug the drums from this song. And then the guitars kick in, and goddamn, you guys, this is what I want in my ears.
This is from 100% Fun, his second best album after the magnificent Girlfriend. As with that album, he’s breaking no new ground here at all, but it doesn’t matter when you have just a shamelessly huge pop song like this.
[Read More]I want to call to attention how immaculate this recording sounds. All three instruments just have so much space to operate in. At any moment, you can focus entirely on any instrument and really concentrate on it. Or, of course, you can just relax and enjoy the charming song.
Honestly, the way this song starts, it could have been a Shadowy Men song. At least until the vocals kick in. British underground rock Arctic Monkeys became pretty big deals, propelled by the Internet, but it was pretty justified. The first couple albums were very much in the vein of bands like the Strokes and Franz Ferdinand, but done very well. I didn’t really follow them beyond the first two albums, though.
[Read More]Some high quality indie rock today. And, um, that same dumb Evita track.
This is the same song that we had last time. I still don’t like it.
I love the recording on the drums. Just listen to them, they sound so organic. This is from the tremendous Leaves Turn Inside You, a double album of art rock goodness. This song appears on the “Right” disc. I’ve always liked it when bands name the individual discs in double albums.
[Read More]One of my favorite bands showing up here for the first time today.
I’m surprised we haven’t heard from Calexico before now. Calexico is a long-running band out of Arizona that makes an unmistakable mix of spaghetti western soundtracks, surf, jazz, mariachi, and some pop. There’s nobody else that really sounds like them, and they’ve kept up the tremendous quality now for about twenty years. This song comes from their latest, Edge of the Sun, and gives you at least a good idea of one type of song you’ll find on their albums.
[Read More]Hey, if anybody is curious what stuff I’ve bought on Bandcamp, you can see my profile here. The top eight are the ones I picked up yesterday. Here’s today’s music.
Glitchy and bloopy at first, and then pounding, this song is delightful.
After the breakup of the legendary Dead Kennedys, Jello Biafra has hooked up with a variety of collaborators for albums. He’s done pretty well picking those collaborators - Lard’s first album (with Ministry) was great, for instance, and I love everything Melvins. So, how is this album? Pretty good! It’s the Melvins with the usual unhinged Jello ranting on top. Both of their records are pretty fun. This track is actually an extended version of a song that appears on the other record, with a big ol’ freakout. I do love me some extended Melvins freakouts.
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