Review of "Mos Dub" on Silence Nogood

I've started writing for the blog Silence Nogood, so look there for my writing in the future.
Mos Dub review

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On Vacation

Sorry everybody, I've been a terrible blogger.
I neglected to post regarding the fact that I am on vacation until August 7th, and have barely any access to internet! So yeah, thats why there's been no posts. Blog'll be fully operational again the 2nd week of August. See you then.

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Tightrope Wondamix: aka My God, What Can This Woman Not Do!

She's blown me away with her singing, she's blown me away with her dancing, she's even blown me away with her hair, and now, on this new "Wondamix" of her song "Tightrope", Janelle Monae has proven herself to be a mean rapper too. Her latest feat of genre blending features rappers B.O.B. and Lupe Fiasco, whose verses are not bad, but not particularly interesting, although you do get a nice close look at the song's sweet bass line. Once they've had their turn, Monae sings the familiar chorus, and then launches into a few verses of her own, putting the guys to shame.

Tightrope (Wondamix) - Janelle Monae feat. B.O.B. and Lupe Fiasco

She really can do it all, and she does it all magnificintly. If for some reason you haven't heard The ArchAndoird, her fantasticly genre-bending debut album yet, do so as soon as humanly possible.

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"Rehab" Cover by The Jolly Boys, Jamaican Mento Band

Check out this fantastic cover of Amy Winehouse's song "Rehab" by The Jolly Boys, a Jamaican mento band formed in 1955 (talk about longevity!). It's a cool video they made for it too, the lead singer (Albert Minott) has got some pretty sweet moves.


(Thanks Dancehall USA for the tip)

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A Couplet (Kid Cudi and Mayer Hawthorne)

These two songs are together like this on my main iTunes playlist, and for some reason listening to the two of them in sequence just works. See what you think.

REVOFEV - Kid Cudi
Held the Hand - Mayer Hawthorne

I love finding little one-two combos like this, its almost like a mini mixtape.

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The Stone Foxes new album, Bears and Bulls

San Fransisco band The Stone Foxes play a good solid blend of classic rock, country, blues, indie rock, and a little 90's alternative. It's nothing super groundbreaking, but from the heavy blues riffs to the classic rock jams to the wonderful slide guitar, their new album Bears and Bulls is a very enjoyable listen. "I Killed Robert Johnson" is a classic rocking murder ballad, complete with a fantastic heavy blues guitar solo towards the end, and "Stomp" shows off more of their country influence with a 'sung around the campfire' feel. If you dig juiced-up americana with a very live, unproduced feel, this album is for you.

I Killed Robert Johnson - The Stone Foxes
Stomp - The Stone Foxes

This kind of music is always great live, and seeing as they're just over in SF, hopefully they'll come around here sometime soon. Get more info and songs on their Myspace or blog, and pick up their album on iTunes or Amazon MP3 when it drops July 6th!

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Gil Scott-Heron and Mos Def do "New York is Killing Me"

(image via Village Voice, from a 2008 show they did together)

Some genius has taken the Gil Scott-Heron classic "New York Is Killing Me" (best beat of all time, you'll see in a moment if you don't know yet) and seamlessly snuck in some fantastic verses from personal favorite Mos Def. He totally nailed the tone and feeling of the song, and his flow and lyrics complement the original song perfectly. Absolutely love it.

New York is Killing Me - Gil Scott-Heron feat. Mos Def

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Mura Mura

I was surfing through my favorite blogs today, and while making my usual stop at You Ain't No Picasso I discovered the work of a certain Mura Mura. They've got a free EP, and apparently it's the product of some friends just getting together and recording some songs at their house. I very much hope they keep getting together, because they have produced four wonderful, slightly wistful pop songs. The music certainly has an air of a bunch of good friends just having fun together, the songs have a very natural feel, and everyone sounds like they're enjoying themselves. I can't help but think of Talking Through Tin Cans Morning Benders at some points, and a non-British Fanfarlo at others.

This House Is Burning Down - Mura Mura
Rabbit - Mura Mura

The genre is showing up as "Holiday", which I find very fitting, the music is a wonderfully enjoyable pick-me-up. Download the whole thing here and enjoy.



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Gonna Give This Another Go

Well folks, I'm back. I know that what reader base I had built up is gone, and little to nobody will read this, but getting it down will help. I apologize for my long absence, but the way Listening to the Song in My Head was working just didn't work for me. Basically, I became too focused on being a good blog, which sadly, I'm just not cut out for.

A good mp3 blog brings unknown artists to the attention of the masses, and serves as a tastemaker. In my efforts to do that, I ended up searching not necessarily for the bands I would enjoy listening to, but bands that I could "break", that no one had heard of. This ended up making music listening much less enjoyable than it had been previously. So this time around, I'm not gonna try to do any of that. I'm gonna tell you what I'm listening to, whether it be obscure or well known. It's not going to be the kind of blog that will have or should have very many readers, I'm just hoping to find some people out there who share my musical tastes, and serve them up what I'm listening to. While I won't be bringing anything new of value to the internet music community as a whole, hopefully I will be able to present a particular few with music that they will enjoy, that they would not have had the time or knowledge to discover otherwise. If I can succeed in that, then I think there is value.

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A mixtape for you

I'm not sure what the future of the blog is going to be, but here's a mixtape I made, it's mostly hip-hop with some reggae and African.

Road to Zion Mixtape

Tracklist:
1. Road to Zion - Damian Marley feat. Nas
2. Patience - Nas & Damian Marley
3. Sabali - Amadou and Maraim
4. Africa - Amadou and Mariam feat. K'naan
5. Re: Definition - Black Star
6. Daylight - Aesop Rock
7. Beauty - Edan
8. Accordian - Madvillan
9. Daydreamin' - Lupe Fiasco feat. Jill Scott
10. Wonderful Life - Sean Faylon feat. Playboy Tre and Scar
11. Welcome to Jamrock - Damian Marley

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New Fanfarlo track

Quick post today guys, but I've got a couple of new band type posts in the works, expect those soon. In the meantime, I've got a new Fanfarlo track, Fleetwood Mac cover "What Makes You Think You're the One". It's the B-side to their Record Store Day exclusive single, "You Are the One". If for some reason you haven't listened to Fanfarlo yet, check out their last year's debut album, Reservoir (stream a bunch of it here). Anyway, this cover is fantastic, check it out, and go buy the 7" at your local record store.
What Makes You Think You're the One?

Also, in even more exciting Fanfarlo news, they've got an EP of songs recorded at college radio stations available for free, just sign up for there mailing list. Get it here.

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Jared Mees & The Grown Children

"I hate to say it, but these last few years have been hell/but patience/pays off/finally"

This song is prime earworm material, and a lot more upbeat than those lyrics make it sound. That opening line has been stuck in my head for a day running now, walking around whistling or humming it to myself. Jared Mees & The Grown Children are a Portland indie-pop group with 19 people listed as members, but 5 members is all of their pictures. They sort of fall into the genre that is popping up more and more these days, the acoustic indie-folk collective. They've got trumpet, glockenspiel, violin, banjo, keyboard, bass, guitar, great vocals, and lovely gang vocals on the chorus.

However, Jared Mees & the Grown Children have a much more pop sound than folk, unlike most of the bands who fit a similar mold instrumentation-wise. The same ideas that work so amazingly in the mellow folk setting for bands like Fanfarlo and the Freelance Whales plays out beautifully as a vehicle for catchy, up-beat pop music.

I have yet to fully explore their catalog, but everything I've heard is fantastic. They've got a full length called Caffeine, Alcohol, Sunshine, Money, released in '08, and from which this track is from. They've also got a 2007 called If You Want to Swim With the Sharks. As always, if you like what you're hearing, go buy it! (or if you're lucky enough to live in Portland, go to a show, they're playing 3 there this spring, check their Myspace.

The Tallest Building In Hell - Jared Mees & The Grown Children
Listen to more tracks on their Myspace.
Caffeine, Alcohol, Sunshine, Money on iTunes
...If You Want to Swim With the Sharks download or CD on CD Baby.

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New Posts Soon

I've found quite a few new bands lately, so expect to see a lot of posts of that variety in the very near future, I'm just waiting on permission to post their mp3s. Soon, I promise.

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Portland Lo-Fi band Eat Skull

It's been a hell of a week. I saw Spoon at the Fox Theater in Oakland on Tuesday, and Passion Pit (with Mayer Hawthorne!) last night at UCDavis's Freeborn Hall. I started writing some show reviews, but a couple sentences in, it occurred to me that sitting here telling you about how awesome the concert that already happened was doesn't do anyone much good, and I should probably get back to the real purpose here, introducing you guys to new music. So here we go.



Eat Skull are a lo-fi band out of Portland, Oregon. Their music is heavy on noise and heavy on distortion, but it's way too catchy to be called anything other than pop, or even pop-punk at times. I'm very picky about lo-fi and other music which uses a ton of noise and distortion, and this definitely works. What sets it apart from most of the music like it is the great pop melodies, backed up some great jangly guitar riffs. I very much hope I get to see these guys in a garage or living room somewhere, and since they seem to have a good deal of association with some Sacramento bands, that could very likely happen. I'll be sure to let you guys know if they hit up the area, or if you live in Portland, go catch them this Sunday. They have a full length called Wild and Inside which you can order directly from them, and a 7" out on Woodsist Records (you gotta scroll down the page a bit). They've also got a split 7" with a Sacramento band called The Ganglians, who I will be reviewing in the very near future, which is sadly out of print. If you like what you're hearing, buy some vinyl! (or cds if you really must be that way).

Stick to the Formula - Eat Skull
Punk Trips - Eat Skull (From Wild and Inside)
Myspace



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2 rock solid tracks from the new Dr. Dog album, and some festival news

The jury is still out in my brain on Shame, Shame, the new Dr. Dog album, but I do know for a fact that "Stranger" and "Shadow People", the first two tracks, are amazingly fantastic. They have a sort of bouncing post-Americana sound that fills the space after Wild Mountain Nation ends, and that is always a very good thing. Post-Americana is a term that I pretty much pulled out of my ass, but it makes perfect sense once you hear it. It's indie rock, but with very heavy influences in the instrumentation and song structure from 19th/early 20th century Americana and folk music. The aforementioned Blitzen Trapper also does it quite well, and it's a sound I totally dig. Give them a listen, and check out the album to draw your own conclusions.
Shadow People - Dr. Dog
Stranger - Dr. Dog

And while we're mentioning Dr. Dog and Blitzen Trapper in the same breath, if you're in the Northern California area, you gotta go check out the High Sierra Music Festival, held in Quincy, CA from July 1st to July 4th. Highlights from the stellar line-up include The Black Crowes, The Avett Brothers, Dr. Dog, Blitzen Trapper, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and Truth and Salvage Co. Full line-up here. Essentially it looks to be four days of fantastic music, largely in the vein of what we've been talking about today. Four day passes are only $175, pretty damn cheap for a big festival like that. If I can work it, I am there, and you should highly consider it as well.


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