Fred Thomas - Night Times

In my short music playing career, I have had few special moments. Actually, I can only think of one. And that was playing a house show with City Center and knowing that Fred Thomas was watching me play music. Fred Thomas is of Saturday Looks Good to Me and City Center fame and is an all-around great songwriter. From the indie pop of his older works to the more ambient and experimental sounding project City Center, Fred is a truly special musician. This is a collection of songs he put out last year in between working on City Center material. Subtle compositions with acoustic and electric guitar tones along with catchy vocals and interesting sounds. A lot of solid stuff here. And it's free. So I don't feel bad. Thanks, Fred. Sorry about the leeeetle cover art, it's all I could find.

DOWNLOAD NIGHT TIMES

Sore Eros - Second Chants

Lo-fi.

Look at the amalgam of abbreviations. What does it mean to you? Low fidelity is what it stands the verbal juxtaposition signifies. But most music fans would associate the term 'lo-fi' with a genre. Characterized by a persistent tape hiss and fuzzed out guitars, lo-fi music has become the 'film photography' of indie music. You know those photo

graphers that only use film for the aesthetic value. Some would argue that most lo-fi artists out there today have access to better production but would rather use worse production techniques to make their music more.... 'authentic?' I'm not really sure. I mean it's cool to listen to, but I wouldn't say I'm a fan of a lot of lo-fi acts. I remember thinking Wavves was cool before he made bad records. And I mean, it's cool. Sore Eros is lo-fi. That's the point. It's dreamy and psychotic, but it's grainy qualities and loose production give it a lot of almost sensual characteristics. Imagine the sexuality that seems to be so admired from The xx, combined with the aesthetic of Julian Lynch's solo recordings. I haven't really delved to the depths of Second Chants. But I love it so far.

HERES YOUR CHANCE DOWNLOAD SECOND CHANTS

ZAZA - Cameo

standard shoegaze. too lazy to post a good description. boy and girl duo. you get it. loud and noisy. with good melodies! i like that. i'm tired. it's electronic but not. fuck it i'll do it.


Do you ever like someone whispering in your ear? The feeling of a dull voice as it grazes over your ear lobes is often unsettling. Someone's telling you a secret, but you can't concentrate on what they're saying because you begin to feel uncomfortable. You pull away, but you want to know the secret so you stay for a second longer. And then you're trapped.


That's ZAZA.

DO YOU WANT TO HEAR A SECRET? DOWNLOAD CAMEO

The Besnard Lakes - ...are the Roaring Night

More shoegaze for staring at yr shoez with. The Besnard Lakes are a 'progressive rock' band according to last.fm. They're pretty standard cute, quiet/loud shoegaze with two part songs and 'concepts' I really dig their new record that just came out/leaked. Not really sure if its out yet. Czech it.

DOWNLOAD IF U LIKE 'PROG' OR GAZIN' AN SHIT

The Antlers - Hospice

The Antlers are the Bon Iver story of 2009. Song-writer Peter Silberman comes out of a so-called 'social isolation' and writes and records a beautiful record about the relationship between a man and a child who is terminal in a hospital. Darby added two full-time band members to become The Antlers and the band self-released Hospice earlier this year. Now it is being re-released on Frenchkiss Records.

Peter Silberman is a very passionate song-writer. It's hard to tell if the lyrics he has penned are somewhat personal and based on true events. It's hard to tell yet what the details of the story are, but the music is very dynamic within the character of the lyrical content. The sounds themselves are very effervescent and intriguing. "Prologue" is the first song and sets up the record perfectly. The noisy number flows seamlessly into the heart-string tugging, "Kettering." This track holds some of the softest, but aggressive vocal sound I've ever heard. The record continues on with very loud qualities. The shoegaze influence is evident as songs routinely gain momentum and build as an almost post-rock like build and release idea. The pop sensibility of Darby's lyrics and vocal melodies bring the structure to the seemingly large compositions. Hospice doesn't really get a chance to drag through too much somberness because of the abrupt length of the record. It's a sad record, but it's somewhat short and bright sounding. It's hard to explain, I recommend this album and it'll definitely make my best of '09 list I've been slaving over so hard already.

The Antlers - Hospice


1. Prologue
2. Kettering
3. Sylvia
4. Atrophy
5. Bear
6. Thirteen
7. Two
8. Shiva
9. Wake
10. Epilogue

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Deerhunter - Microcastle

Sorry for the lack of posts, been busy with school and I've been enlisted for Kids On A Holiday. This next band is called Deerhunter, and they rule.

The intro of the album reminds me of Flaming Lips in their Soft Bulletin days. But then the album kicks in and it's almost like a mellow version of the Lips in their older days mixed with the newer stuff. It's very shoegaze-y and post-punk-y. But it's a very enjoyable listen. I especially enjoy the tracks, "Nothing Ever Happened" and "Cavalry Scars." The lead singer is a guy named Bradford Cox and he looks unhealthy and haggard. But nonetheless, he is a genius.

A very good album. It comes with a bonus disc (Weird Era Cont.)that I didn't include here because it's almost a different entity (and not as good in my opinion).

Deerhunter - Microcastle

1. "Cover Me (Slowly)" - 1:21
2. "Agoraphobia" - 3:22
3. "Never Stops" - 3:04
4. "Little Kids" - 4:22
5. "Microcastle" - 3:40
6. "Calvary Scars" - 1:37
7. "Green Jacket" - 2:09
8. "Activa" - 1:49
9. "Nothing Ever Happened" - 5:50
10. "Saved by Old Times" - 3:50
11. "Neither of Us, Uncertainly" - 5:25
12. "Twilight at Carbon Lake" - 4:24