Etro Anime: See The Sound

Well I've returned after a hectic trip to Chicago but now I'm back on schedule with another post. I've been pretty stressed out in general and this is just the kind of music I need to unwind....or it could possibly serve as some mood music.

Etro Anime is a electronica band based formed in NY. This album prominently features Liset Alea as the vocalist. In my opinion the vocals go under appreciated as they aren't advertised as much with the way the album was mixed, but I suppose with good reason because the lyrics are sort of throw away. Liset Alea's voice is beautiful though, it lends to the entire ambience of the record. The music here is a mix of drum & bass, deep house, trip-hop, and breakbeat. All these genres are noticeable but they do not take away from the general flow of the album, it maintains a sensual, erotic and passionate mood throughout while every now and then changing up the pace.

I find this music can either leave you being turned on or just generally relaxed. I'm using it for the latter as I have a pretty messed up headache right now. Here's the link people:

Download:www.mediafire.com/gomtfmdieyt

Track Listing:
1. Purest One
2. Portrait
3. Summer Rain
4. Endless
5. Danger
6. Diablo
7. Let It Go
8. Adonis
9. Forgotten Love
10. All I Need
11. Either Way

I'm gonna make this my sig from now on.

Peace out bitches.

The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band: Horses In The Sky

My dog died a few years ago. A friend of mine who was in the marines passed away as well. I visited this album each time I heard the news. I'm not sure how I came upon this oddity but for those who may have heard it you may very well understand why I choose to play this in times of mourning.

The songs are long avant-garde orchestral pieces and the choir that sings along lends a very haunting, mournful tone. Maybe I'm being over dramatic with how I grieve. I don't know, I don't particularly care. Regardless, this album is very dear to me and even if you aren't going through such a period you should give it a listen. Of the all of them, the opening song is my favorite.

Download:www.mediafire.com/?mynkz3oyooi

Track listing
1."God Bless Our Dead Marines" – 11:44
2."Mountains Made of Steam" – 9:28
3."Horses in the Sky" – 6:39
4."Teddy Roosevelt's Guns" – 9:45
5."Hang on to Each Other" – 6:38
6."Ring Them Bells (Freedom Has Come and Gone)" – 13:58

Streetlight Manifesto: Everything Goes Numb

Yesterday J.D. Salinger died. Obviously almost everyone who's been through highschool or is in highschool is going to read or has read The Catcher In The Rye. As I thought about Salinger a number of other thoughts and emotions arrived. My squashed hopes of Salinger writing another book, the possible Catcher in the Rye movie (which would most likely end up horrible) that would follow, how the book affected me, and a certain song by one of my favorite bands of all time. "Here's To Life" is a song written by Tomas Kalnoky of Streetlight Manifesto; it is a tribute to all of his inspirational heroes; Camus, Hemmingway, Cobain, Van Gogh, and Salinger. A friend of mine turned me onto this band back in about 2004-2005 and I've been hooked on them since. They take a different approach to the genre of ska/punk most people categorize them into; much more serious than other bands who ride the 3rd wave like Less Than Jake or Reel Big Fish. Serious not only in terms of lyrics but in terms of musical compositions, also more complex than most 3rd wave ska bands.

For me this is one of my favorite albums of all time. It stands for everything I love about music.
I'm sure if I can take this much out of an album, you can find some gold too.


"Hey there Salinger what did you do just when the world was looking to you, to write anything that mean't anything you told us you were through. And it's been years since you passed away, but I see no plaque and I see no grave. And I can't help believing you wanted it that way"
- Here's To Life

Kalnoky may have been wrong about his death, but his sympathies are most likely on point.
Peace out bitches.

Download: www.mediafire.com/?y2y1ou2mmqn

Track listing

1."Everything Went Numb" – 3:29
2."That'll Be the Day" – 4:42
3."Point/Counterpoint" – 5:27
4."If and When We Rise Again" – 4:19
5."A Better Place, a Better Time" – 6:28
6."We Are the Few" – 4:56
7."Failing, Flailing" – 5:28
8."Here’s to Life" – 4:41
9."A Moment of Silence" – 5:13
10."A Moment of Violence" – 2:00
11."The Saddest Song" – 3:18
12."The Big Sleep" – 5:02

A Great Big Pile Of Leaves/The Fiery Works

Hailing from Brooklyn AGBPOL brings us some sort of Indie/Pop sound to the table, and they have that sound that could probably put most people on their feet...TO DANCE or jump who knows maybe you're not as daring,that's cool too.  They’ve done a great job creating a full and rich sound. Personally each and every single song is something great and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Download: www.mediafire.com/?hnw0kzzxoyw

Tracklisting:

User's Guide to a Coloring Book
Mystery of the Brain
Conscious and the Fiery Works
Hey Tangerine!
This is a Country Song...
workeatsleep

No bonus this time =(

Tom Waits: Franks Wild Years

First time I heard Tom Waits was at the end of the movie Smoke. That's a bit late considering Wait's long career but never the less the impression was powerful. The mournful "Innocent When You Dream" was haunting and I was driven to find more of this artist. I stumbled upon Franks Wild Years soon after and I had fallen in love with Waits music all together.  The album showcases an eclectic styling of music and with each Tom Waits album is a significantly different affair. There is no bad Tom Wait's album, at worst you may prefer his 70's work over his 90's. This is not by far the best Waits has to offer and I assure you friends his presence will grace this blog once again.

Download: www.mediafire.com/?jijkbhnmyum

Track listing

1. "Hang on St. Christopher" 2:46
2. "Straight to the Top (Rhumba)" Waits, Greg Cohen 2:30
3. "Blow Wind Blow" 3:35
4. "Temptation" 3:53
5. "Innocent When You Dream (Barroom)" 4:15
6. "I'll Be Gone" Waits, Kathleen Brennan 3:12
7. "Yesterday Is Here" Waits, Brennan 2:29
8. "Please Wake Me Up" Waits, Brennan 3:36
9. "Frank's Theme" 1:49
10. "More Than Rain" 3:52
11. "Way Down in the Hole" 3:30
12. "Straight to the Top (Vegas)" Waits, Cohen 3:26
13. "I'll Take New York" 3:58
14. "Telephone Call from Istanbul" 3:12
15. "Cold Cold Ground" 4:07
16. "Train Song" 3:20
17. "Innocent When You Dream (78)"  

Neil Patrick Harris: Legend - Wait for it- Dary.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm writing this article. Shut up. I happen to like musicals, and musical people who can act without looking retarded. Neil Patrick Harris fulfills that condition in ways that both scare me in the darkest way and attract me in ways that make me question my feelings deep inside.

I wouldn't necessarily say that he should get out of show business, but he has such an excellent range of talent. What especially endears me to him is not, oddly enough, his appearances in the Harold and Kumar series of movies (which are equally funny as they are crass, but that's for another day).

No, I'm writing about him because of that one episode of a kids' Saturday morning cartoon, in which he sings in such a way as to make me feel awkward and awed at the same time. It's as if God decided the antics of Sinatra and Martin weren't enough, and inspired the writers of Batman the Brave and the Bold to create some sort of mega musical about Batman and get away with it.

(I will pledge now to stop abusing italics, for they seem to think me disingenuous.)

Here, have a sample of NPH as the Music Meister.

I think we can all agree that was, in a word, awesome. Wait, now for the other video.

Introductions

Well, since I just got myself hooked into it, I'm effectively a new writer for this blog. Greetings to you all!

...Are the mods gone yet?

Well, yeah, I'm Jose, and I'll be contributing here from now on. I'm not exactly an indie fellow, but hey, it's all cool. I think I'll mostly be reviewing older stuff, or otherwise debating the merits of some albums with the other guys. Oh, and witty jokes. Plenty of witty jokes. I do that.

For a living. It's astounding.

For starters, I think I'll go ahead and also review hardware here if I can get my hands on it. It'll be like being with me at Best Buy, except no, you're not at Best Buy, I'm not at Best Buy, and sometimes dark odors seep through the cracks of the dark places between stereos.

...Let's have fun.