cocorosie - beautiful boyz
cocorosie is bianca and sierra casady. sierra sings and plays guitar and flute. bianca sings and does percussion (which is mostly random household items). anyways, their new album "noah's ark" is coming out in september on touch and go records. the cover art for the album is probably one of the most disturbing/hillarious pictures i've ever seen. yes, that is a crazy unicorn orgy. the girls recently finished a small tour opening for bright eyes and plan on touring europe this summer. oh yea, that's antony singing guest vocals on this track. recommended if you like: joanna newsom, devendra banhart, regina spektor.
click here to download: cocorosie - beautiful boyz
wolfmother - woman
wolfmother is a three piece band from sydney, australia. they are obviously heavily influenced by 70's rock and roll and it shines through on their 2004 debut self titled ep (modular records). their retro-rock sound managed to blow quite a few critics away at sxsw this year so the buzz just keeps on growing for these guys. currently the band is in los angeles recording their first full length which they hope to have out by the end of the year. recommended if you like: led zeppelin, black sabbath, blue cheer.
click here to download: wolfmother - woman
vashti bunyan - diamond day
vashti bunyan is largely responsible for the second coming of the whole freak-folk scene that received so much attention last year. her only album "just another diamond day" (originally released in 1970) was reissued for the first time domestically last year on dicristina records. her songs often come across as children's nursery rhymes but trust me that's a misleading description because this is truly some beautiful traditional folk music. her latest work can be found on a collabrative ep with animal collective entitled "prospect hummer" released last week on fat cat records. she also recently signed with the label and plans to record a new album in the near future. recommended if you like: devendra banhart, animal collective, nick drake.
click here to download: vashti bunyan - diamond day
jesu - we all faulter
i've been wanting to post something by jesu since i started this thing but i could never find a full mp3 anywhere. luckily, i managed to stumble across one today. jesu essentially is justin broadrick (ex-godflesh) and he's easily made one of my top five favorite albums of the year thus far. his new self-titled full length is out on hydrahead and it's 75 minutes of pure metal influenced dreamy noise. seriously, if there was a kevin shields of metal...it would be justin broadrick. i can't speak highly enough of this record. a masterpiece. recommended if you like: isis, mogwai, pelican.
click here to download: jesu - we all faulter
the national - all the wine
on april 12th, the national released their latest (and best) album to date entitled "alligator" on beggars banquet. although the overall mood of the album is pretty dark and gothic, the band manages to throw in a handful of rather upbeat songs to keep things from being too depressing. beautiful songwriting both musically and lyrically. like all the favorite parts of my record collection combined into one album. recommended if you like: nick cave, the arcade fire, crooked fingers.
click here to download: the national - all the wine
the hold steady - your little hoodrat friend
oneida - did i die
new york's oneida have created one of my favorite albums so far in 2005. they manage to cover pretty much every genre in the psychedelic realm on just this one album. i really can't pigeonhole this band because every song on "the wedding" (out on jagjaguwar records) sounds different but they all still have a cohesiveness that reminds me it's coming from the same band. simply amazing stuff. recommended if you like: the beatles, trans am, the zombies.
click here to download: oneida - did i die
the finger - snakes and scorpions
the finger is what happens when you let ryan adams and jesse malin in a studio for a couple hours with a few cases of beer and a few friends. the outcome is a collection of sloppy punk rock songs that are full of energy and aggression. for those wondering, jesse does vocals and ryan plays lead guitar. "we are fuck you/punk's dead let's fuck" is their only release and it collects 2 sessions that one little indian decided to put on one disc. recommended if you like: black flag, bad brains, hüsker dü.
click here to download: the finger - snakes and scorpions
brightblack - true bright blossom
the new pornographers - twin cinema
maria taylor - speak easy
maria taylor (of azure ray and now it's overhead) will be releasing her debut solo album ("11:11") on may 24th via saddle creek and i have to say that it's pretty amazing. in the past, maria has had her voice grace tracks by the likes of bright eyes, the bruces, and crooked fingers. "11:11" explores very similar territory that azure ray does except it expands it to a whole other level. recommended if you like: emiliana torrini, mazzy star, corrina repp.
click here to download: maria taylor - speak easy
some girls - the dna will have it's say
i don't listen to much hardcore these days but if i do then normally it's really heavy and/or chaotic. some girls is both and they feature members from tons of bands that i don't even feel like naming. their new ep "the dna will have it's say" came out a week ago on three one g and i think it's the best stuff that they've done so far. the band also recently signed with epitaph so look for a new full length later this year. the track i posted is the title track from the ep and it has some guest vocals from karen o. of the yeah yeah yeahs. recommended if you like: swing kids, daughters, converge.
click here to download: some girls - the dna will have it's say
