[UPDATED]too much good music

In the past two weeks, a ton of really good music (and one rather disappointing album) have been released.  It's been one of those weeks were I have no idea what to listen to because it's all good.

Thrice ~ Major/Minor
For Fans of: Thrice....they've released 8 albums, you should know what they sound like by now
Listen to: Promises, Anthology

If I did some sort of rating thing, I'd give this 100 stars out of 10, it's that good.  I absolutely love this album and this band.  They're one of the few bands that can consistently merge multiple styles in one album and nothing seems out of place, which is a lot harder feat than most people may think. Now, if you didn't care for their last release, Beggars, then this may not be the album for you but Beggars is one of my favorite albums of all time. Dustin's lyrics always find a way to become personal for me and their musicianship on this album shows that they haven't become complacent with their standing as one of the most solid bands around. Granted, this band could collectively fart in a jar, put it on iTunes, and I'd probably buy it...i believe they call this being a "fanboy", a title I'm more than okay with.

Our word is so faint and feeble, broken by the slightest breeze or breath. Our hearts are, they're so deceitful, sick and filled with lies that lead to death. 

La Dispute ~ Wildlife
For Fans of: mewithoutyou; listener
Listen to: Harder Harmonies

Their new album is streaming on their site, www.ladispute.com, and i've found myself going back to it daily. This is very much the spoken word/music mash-up that I only thought that mewithoutyou would ever be able to pull off but la dispute do it with an aggression/passion that I haven't heard in a long time.  Go give it a few spins, you won't be disappointed. Below is a lyric video of their single, Harder Harmonies...I love everything about his writing.

"

And all the ones who seem to fit the best into the chorus, never notice there's a song. And the ones who seem to hear it end up tortured by the chords when they fail to find a way to sing along."

Ok, those are the only two in-depth reviews I have time for this go around but here are a few more releases that are of note. I will also note that No Sleep Records is becoming one of my favorite labels, just consistent great band after great band.  Balance and Composure, The Wonder Years, Into It. Over It, La Dispute, Former Thieves, etc...go to their site and pick up one of their free samplers, more than worth the few minutes that'll take.

Also, the Of Monsters and Men album that I mentioned last week and that was released last week, only dropped in their native Iceland (seems that way anyway) so I'm still waiting on a US release date to hear everything and throw it up here but I have a feeling I'm going to like it a lot.  And Jamie N Commons put two new songs on his soundcloud so go check those out. 

************UPDATED**************
This is why I shouldn't rush these blog posts, forgot albums I had every intention of mentioning.  Also, after giving the new Maylene album a few spins, I've changed my mind a little so I've re-written my statement.

Into It. Over It ~ Proper

Maylene & The Sons of Disaster ~ IV (this was originally my disappointing album, but no longer. After making myself listen to it a few times, I get it now.  No, it's not my favorite album but it's really a natural progression for Maylene.  A couple of songs miss for me but overall, not as bad an album I thought on the first spin.  It's southern rock, not southern metal like their old stuff...guess that's what threw me off.)

Mastodon ~ The Hunter
Blink-182 ~ Neighborhoods
Wilco ~ The Whole Love
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In over news, the acoustic album is close to being done, for real.  It's been a busy couple of weeks so Kyle and I haven't had a chance to wrap it up but I need to redo vocals on one track (because i sometimes do this weird wavy thing with my voice without realizing) and then it'll be final mixing and mastering and then I'll release it to the internet and see what happens. 

Hope everyone is doing well, much love. 

X

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on the lookout & notable releases

it's been a while since i've done a post just about music so here's a long overdue update on stuff i've discovered.

i'm going to point out three singles that are currently making their way through the interwebz for albums that have yet to be released and there was a lot of really good albums released this week so i'll point those out.  hopefully give a few of you something new to listen to while drinking your morning coffee (if you don't drink coffee, no worries, you can still listen to them).

Artist: Jamie N Commons

Song: The Preacher
Album Release: No Idea

For Fans of: Murder By Death; ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead

The Preacher by Jamie N Commons

Did you just listen to that? Jesus man, how does a British dude channel country better than 99% of the country bands in States? Such passion, such an awesome voice so many layers. And if you've ever wondered why I'm just now getting around to releasing my acoustic stuff, it's because of songs like this...I hear songs like this and realize I need to go back to the drawing board...too good. If the album is half as good as this song, it'll be in my top 10 of all time.

Artist:  Of Monsters and Men

Song: From Finner

Album Release: 9/20/2011 ~ My Head is An Animal

For Fans of: Mumford & Sons; Young the Giant; Edward Sharpe; Florence + The Machine

The harmonies this group pulls off are impressive and it's such a feel good song. Plus, hand claps and tons of instruments/layers will normally win me over. Listen to this and try not to tap your foot along to the bass drum...yea, you can't. 

Artist:  Trash Talk

Song: Awake

Album Release: 10/11/2011 ~ Awake

For Fans of: Ceremony; Trapped Under Ice; Municipal Waste; This is Hell

So this may very well be the greatest minute and a half song I've ever heard.  Not sure if it's the entire song or just a long glimpse to get people pumped about the EP but either way it worked. I never listened to Trash Talk before this but I've found myself going back through some of their old stuff because of how much I liked this song.  The song makes me want to punch something though (which I think is the point) so I have to keep my listens throttled a bit. And how awesome is that intro?

Ok, so there ya go, three singles for albums not yet released, i'm sure i'll buy all of these at some point so they're make their way back through, but check em out for yourself. 

Also, notable releases for this week are:

Kevin Devine: Between the Concrete and the Clouds

Blind Pilot: We Are the Tide

Polar Bear Club: Clash Battle Guilt Pride

Saves the Day: Daybreak

I bought all of those this week, they're all worth it. If you have Spotify, just listen to the albums on there a couple of times and see if you like them.  If you don't have Spotify, I believe the site allows you to request an invite and if that doesn't work, I may be able to get you an invite. 

X

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twist and turns and unknown roads

so maybe i have a tendency to speak too soon, cause whenever i get my hopes up about something, it gets slammed down pretty quick. bearhugger, at least as it was at my last post, is no more. received an email on monday that ryan, the other guitarist, was moving to seattle with his fiance....right then. as in, he was somewhere over the mississippi i think. such a weird turn of events.

the fact that him and his fiance made a life decision that they thought was best for them, doesn't bother me. waiting until you were out of the state to tell your bandmates, that bothers me a lot. he tried to make it sound (in the email) like everything happened within the span of 12 hours or something, but he had to have at least some inkling that he may be moving. we had practice last wednesday, he could have mentioned something then. he left all of our stuff at the practice space (his house) and said there was a key under the mat....nice touch. if he says something along the lines "hey guys, there's a chance we may be moving to seattle", then everything is good. it still would've sucked, don't get me wrong, but i would've said "well that blows, i'm gonna miss ya man" and then helped him pack up his shit. so moral of the story, there's a right way to do things and there's a wrong way and then there's the worst way...he chose the worst way.

the remaining four of us have already decided we're going to move on without him, which leaves me as the only guitarist. which is a pretty daunting/intimidating/terrifying idea to me. i've never really considered myself a guitarist and up until this new line up, have only played bass in bands. but it's a new challenge and i'm going to try and keep looking at it that way. i already feel the pressure that i need to write all of these songs but kyle, brian, and jared all play guitar and can write so i'll need to keep reminding myself that it's not all on my shoulders.

in other news, went to a show saturday to listen to a band called meet the sky...reminds me of copeland....and to hang out and get to know jared better. had a great time, good laughs and the band was pretty good. jared had a bday cookout on sunday so i went all the way out to john's island, which is gorgeous but a bit of a hike, and had a blast. good to know, at 27, i can still make friends. so that's two parties in three weeks where i didn't know anyone, still went, and had a good time. i guess if i keep doing it, as the invites come, it'll be good for me and get more comfortable. plus i'd have a hard time thinking that jared, his fiance, or any of his other friends could make someone feel out of place, really good people. also, jared's fiance is in the local roller derby league, which is awesome, so i'm going to go to their next match sometime in october. maybe ellen page will show up.

check out thrice's new album major/minor here, only the vinyl is out now but you can listen to it over at Groveshark, love that band. also, been listening to cross my heart and pop unknown a lot lately, oldies but goodies.

ok, that's my life update. hope every one out there is doing great. love you.

p.s. if you remember my last post which talked about the awesomeness of Tim, here's a tattoo benefit going on g'boro for anyone that wants to set up an appointment. i haven't decided if i'm going to be able to get up there that weekend, since it's on a sunday, but hopefully i can work it out. here's the facebook event link for more details, Often Awesome Tattoo Memorial Benefit

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