MP3: || I Would Be A Great Lover For You ||
Well here’s another shameless plugs of one of my own bands! High School Girls is a love-pop duo from Lafayette, IN, and we just released our first EP, Breakfast Years, last week after recording a few tracks in the studio. Head over to our Bandcamp to listen and download the EP for free. We are also doing a Kickstarter right now to try to finish recording an album in the same studio where we did the tracks for the EP. Any help is greatly appreciated!
And it looks like Pitchfork has treated our hometown boys well.
MP3: || Consistency ||
One of Indiana’s biggest up-and-comers Stagnant Pools just released the first taste of their upcoming 2012 record, release TBA. “Consistency” is a massive slice of punked-out sky-high shoegaze from the Bloomington brothers, and it definitely gives indications of a fantastic record from these two. Below is a video of the duo playing “Consistency” at my now-defunct basement venue Jurassic Park, and the song sounds just as huge.
MP3: || Eleven A.M. ||
Let’s start 2012 on a great note! Cleveland pop heroes Bears released their highly anticipated third album, Greater Lakes, last week after their successful Kickstarter. Here’s the first track on the album, “Eleven A.M.,” a nice and dreamy pop doodle with Bears’ signature twee tones. I don’t think I’m alone in saying this it’s fantastic to have new Bears music, and they prove exactly why they’re still one of the best pop bands in Ohio. The album is officially out on Misra Records this February, and preorder for the clear vinyl and CD is up on Bears’ site or Misra’s shop.
10. Kreayshawn – “Gucci Gucci”
9. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – “Heart In Your Heartbreak”
8. Real Estate – “It’s Real”
7. Tyler, The Creator – “Yonkers”
6. Vivian Girls – “Take It As It Comes”
5. Big Troubles – “Sad Girls”
4. Jacuzzi Boys – “Glazin’”
Go here for uncensored video: http://jacuzzigals.com/
Here’s the censored one:
3. Sleeping Bag – “Slime”
2. Titus Andronicus – “No Future Part Three: Escape From No Future”
1. Youth Lagoon – “Montana”
A Lull – “Some Love” MP3
Apache Dropout – “Teenager” VIDEO
Arches – “This Isn’t A Good Night For Walking” MP3
Arctic Monkeys – “Reckless Serenade” LIVE VIDEO
Beach Fossils – “What A Pleasure” VIDEO
BIGCOLOUR – “playing puzzles” MP3
Bon Iver – “Beth/Rest” VIDEO
Cloud Nothings – “Understand At All” MP3
Coasting – “Portland” MP3
Coldplay – “Hurts Like Heaven”
Cults – “Abducted” VIDEO
Cut Copy – “Take Me Over” STREAM
Cymbals Eat Guitars – “Definite Darkness” MP3
Deerhoof – “Behold a Marvel in the Darkness” VIDEO
Delicate Steve – “Sugar Splash” STREAM
Diarrhea Planet – “Ice Age” LIVE VIDEO
Dream Diary – “Paper Flowers’ VIDEO
Dum Dum Girls – “Bedroom Eyes” MP3
Fleet Foxes – “Battery Kinzie” VIDEO
Ford and Lopatin – “Channel Pressure” VIDEO
Forma – “FORMA 237A” MP3
Fucked Up – “Queen of Hearts” MP3
Future Days – “Carry Me Away” MP3
Gauntlet Hair – “Keep Time” MP3
Girls Names – “I Could Die” VIDEO
Gold-Bears – “Record Store” MP3
Heidecker & Wood – “Cross Country Skiing” VIDEO
Hooray For Earth – “Last Minute” VIDEO
Iceage – “Collapse” MP3
Jacuzzi Boys – “Vizcaya” MP3
James Blake – “Unluck”
Jeff The Brotherhood – “Diamond Way” MP3
John Maus – “Quantum Leap” MP3
Kids On A Crime Spree – “I Don’t Want To Call You Baby, Baby” VIDEO
Kvelertak – “Fossegrim” VIDEO
La Sera – “Never Come Around” MP3
Let’s Wrestle – “In Dreams, Part II” MP3
M83 – “Reunion” VIDEO
Male Bonding – “Tame The Sun” STREAM
Megachurch – “Receive It” STREAM
Mist – “Twin Lanes” MP3
Mr. C – “Murderous” MP3
Papercuts – “Do You Really Want To Know” STREAM
Puro Instinct – “Everybody’s Sick” VIDEO
Radio People – “A Vague Year” STREAM
Reading Rainbow – “Dead End” MP3
Real Estate – “It’s Real” MP3
Seapony – “Blue Star” MP3
Shoreway – “Daylight Dream” MP3
Sleeping Bag – “Ben” LIVE VIDEO
Smith Westerns – “Weekend” MP3
Stagnant Pools – “Dead Sailor” MP3
Swimsuit – “Sunlight” MP3
Tammar – “Heavy Tonight”
Tennis – “Long Boat Pass” VIDEO
The Babies – “Meet Me In The City” MP3
The Beets – “Doing As I Do” MP3
The Black Keys – “Gold on the Ceiling” VIDEO
The Happy Thoughts – “Indiana Girls” VIDEO
The Modern Electric – “Northcoast Christmas” MP3
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – “Heaven’s Gonna Happen Now” VIDEO
The Strokes – “Under Cover Of Darkness” VIDEO
Thundercat – “Fleer Ultra” VIDEO
Total Babes – “Don’t Have To Run” STREAM
Triptides – “Going Under” MP3
Troubles Books and Mark McGuire – “Floating Through Summer” STREAM
tUnE-yArDs – “Gangsta” VIDEO
TV Ghost – “Sleep Composite” VIDEO
Tyler, The Creator – “Yonkers” VIDEO
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – “Nerve Damage” STREAM
Veronica Falls – “Bad Feeling” STREAM
Vivian Girls – “Take It As It Comes” VIDEO
Washed Out – “Eyes Be Closed” MP3
White Denim – “It’s Him!” LIVE VIDEO
Why I Like Robins – “LR” MP3
Wild Beasts – “Bed of Nails” VIDEO
WU LYF – “L Y F” VIDEO
Youth Lagoon – “July” MP3
Yuck – “Get Away” VIDEO
Here’s a couple links with all of the above MP3s in zip files:
Favorite Songs of 2011 Pt. 1
Favorite Songs of 2011 Pt. 2
50. Thundercat – The Golden Age of Apocalypse
MP3: || Daylight ||
49. The Black Keys – El Camino
VIDEO: || Lonely Boy||
48. Wild Beasts – Smother
VIDEO: || Bed of Nails ||
47. Forma – Forma
MP3: || FORMA 237A ||
46. WU LYF – Go Tell Fire on the Mountain
VIDEO: || We Bros ||
45. Mist – House
MP3: || Twin Lanes ||
44. Tammar – Visits
MP3: || The Last Line ||
43. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Belong
VIDEO: || Heart In Your Heartbreak ||
42. Iceage – New Brigade
MP3: || Collapse ||
41. Washed Out – Within and Without
MP3: || Eyes Be Closed ||
40. The Beets – Let The Poison Out
MP3: || Doing As I Do ||
39. Real Estate – Days
MP3: || It’s Real ||
38. Ford and Lopatin – Channel Pressure
MP3: || Too Much MIDI (Please Forgive Me) ||
37. Dream Diary – You Are The Beat
VIDEO: || Something Tells Her ||
36 – Apache Dropout – Apache Dropout
MP3: || Sam Phillips Rising ||
35. La Sera – La Sera
MP3: || Never Come Around ||
34. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
MP3: || Ffunny Ffrends ||
33. Cymbals Eat Guitars – Lenses Alien
MP3: || Definite Darkness ||
32. Hooray For Earth – True Loves
MP3: || No Love ||
31. Jeff The Brotherhood – We Are The Champions
MP3: || Diamond Way ||
30. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
MP3: || Helplessness Blues ||
29. Seapony – Go With Me
MP3: || Blue Star ||
28. Girls Names – Dead To Me
MP3: || Seance On A Wet Afternoon ||
27. Shoreway – Three Years
MP3: || Daylight Dream ||
26. Fucked Up - David Comes To Life
MP3: || Queen Of Hearts ||
25. Tennis – Cape Dory
MP3: || Take Me Somewhere ||
24. A Lull – Confetti
MP3: || Water & Beasts ||
23. James Blake – James Blake
VIDEO: || The Wilhelm Scream ||
22. Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto
VIDEO: || Paradise ||
21. Veronica Falls – Veronica Falls
MP3: || Found Love in a Graveyard ||
VIDEO: || Bad Feeling ||
20. Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation
MP3: || July ||
VIDEO: || Montana || (Seriously, watch this video)
19. TV Ghost – Mass Dream
VIDEO: || Subterfuge ||
18 – Puro Instinct – Headbangers In Ecstasy
MP3: || Stilyagi ||
MP3: || Silky Eyes ||
17. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
MP3: || Calgary ||
16. John Maus – We Must Become The Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
MP3: || Quantum Leap ||
MP3: || Believer ||
15. tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l
MP3: || Bizness ||
14. Gauntlet Hair – Gauntlet Hair
MP3: || Keep Time ||
MP3: || Top Bunk ||
13. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
VIDEO: || Midnight City ||
12. Tyler, The Creator – Goblin
VIDEO: || Yonkers ||
VIDEO: || Bitch Suck Dick ||
11. Yuck – Yuck
MP3: || Rubber ||
10. Beach Fossils – What A Pleasure
MP3: || Calyer ||
9. Arctic Monkeys – Suck It And See
VIDEO: || The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala ||
8. Megachurch – Megachurch II: Judgement Days
MP3: || Speak In Tongues ||
7. Troubles Books and Mark McGuire – Trouble Books and Mark McGuire
MP3: || Song for Reinier Lucassen’s Sphinx ||
MP3: || The Golden Waste ||
6. Total Babes – Swimming Through Sunlight
MP3: || Like They Always Do ||
MP3: || Be So True ||
5. Big Troubles – Romantic Comedy
MP3: || Sad Girls ||
MP3: || Misery ||
4. Sleeping Bag – Sleeping Bag
1. Cloud Nothings – Cloud Nothings
MP3: || Understand At All ||
MP3: || Stay Useless ||
Check out the newest track from Cloud Nothings’ upcoming album, Attack on Memory. Although Dylan Baldi has shown us that Cloud Nothings are going a different direction with “No Future/No Past”, “Stay Useless” still shows us why we fell in love with them in the first place. The song debuted on Rolling Stone this morning, where Dylan stated, “I’m trying to take Cloud Nothings to different areas, songwriting-wise, so I figured I should try and finish off the ‘poppy’ songs with a bang.” Attack on Memory is out January 24th on Carpark, and it’s available for preorder on Insound.
MP3: || Northcoast Christmas ||
After perhaps one of the best debuts from a Cleveland band in years, The Modern Electric have returned with a Christmas treat, “Northcoast Christmas.” They actually debuted this song about two years ago at still one of my favorite shows ever, “It’s A Beachland Christmas” 2009. When I wrote about it then, I said that “Northcoast Christmas” was just as much a song about Cleveland as it was a song about Christmas, and that still holds true. Garrett Komyati and his wonderful voice hit on subjects such as thrift store shopping, quoting A Christmas Story, and praying for a Browns’ win and snow days. Listen and download the incredible song above, and you’re bound to have this stuck in your head for the rest of the Christmas season. Head over to their Bandcamp to get the three-track “Northcoast Christmas” single for $2.
MP3: || Fuck This Year ||
Nick Tolar and his Herzog boys crept up on all of us with a new album. The new album, Cartoon Violence, got its release to Cleveland last Wednesday at their record release show at the Happy Dog with Shoreway. Listen and download the fantastic power-pop opener, “Fuck This Year,” and try your hardest to not get those double guitar riffs stuck in your head. Tolar is already one of the best songwriters in Cleveland, and when you put a regular band behind him, things get really nice for us. Head over to fellow Cleveland blog I Rock Cleveland for their great review of Cartoon Violence and another MP3 from the record.
Cleveland pop heroes Cloud Nothings have their new album, Attack On Memory, coming out next January. Listen to the post-punk opening blast, “No Future/No Past,” from the new record. No hard to tell that Steve Albini had his hands on this one. And go see them on their two month US tour that starts next February, dates below.
01-26 New York, NY – Studio at Webster Hall
02-16 Chattanooga, TN – JJ’s Bohemia
02-17 Atlanta, GA – The Earl
02-18 Birmingham, AL – Bottletree
02-20 Orlando, FL – Backbooth
02-21 Tallahassee, FL – Club Downunder
02-23 Houston, TX – Fitzgerald’s
02-24 San Antonio, TX – Ten Eleven
02-25 Austin, TX – Red 7
02-26 El Paso, TX – Lowbrow Palace
02-27 Tucson, AZ – Club Congress
02-28 Phoenix, AZ – The Crescent Ballroom
02-29 San Diego, CA – Soda Bar
03-01 Costa Mesa, CA – Detroit Bar
03-02 Los Angeles, CA – Echo
03-03 San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
03-05 Portland, OR – Holocene
03-06 Seattle, WA – The Crocodile
03-07 Vancouver, British Columbia – The Media Club
03-8 Boise, ID – Neurolux
03-9 Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court
03-10 Denver, CO – Larimer Lounge
03-12 Kansas City, MO – The Riot Room
03-17 McAllen, TX – Simon Sez
03-20 Nashville, TN – The End
03-21 Louisville, KY – Zanzabar
03-22 Cincinnati, OH – MOTR Pub
03-24 Montreal, Quebec – Casa del Popolo
03-25 Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
03-26 Providence, RI – Fete Lounge
03-30 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
03-31 Washington, DC – Red Palace
04-01 Baltimore, MD – Ottobar
04-02 Buffalo, NY – Ninth Ward @ Babeville
04-03 Pittsburgh, PA – Brillobox
04-04 Detroit, MI – Magic Stick Lounge
04-05 Cleveland Heights, OH – Grog Shop
04-06 Chicago, IL – Schubas Tavern
04-07 Columbus, OH – Outland Live
Consequence of Sound just posted about Cloud Nothings newest album, Attack on Memory, that’ll be coming to us on January24th from Carpark. The album was recorded last summer with famed producer Steve Albini. From an interview with Albini, he said that Baldi, “wanted to create arrangements that would allow for more improvisation and variability when played on the road.” You can hear a clip of the song “Wasted Days” in the video above.
Baldi and his crew stopped by my DIY space in West Lafayette, Jurassic Park, and played Attack on Memory in its entirety, and any Cloud Nothings fan there, including myself, could easier notice the darker and more mature sound. It’s definitely a step in the right directions. Check out the cool Polaroid from when they stopped and played.
Okay, so I owe all of my faithful readers an apology. I have not been keeping up on The Noise Is a tenth as much as I would like. Here come the excuses…but school has been extra tough with graduation in sight and I’ve been kept busy in the meantime with Jurassic Park! Which brings me to my next point, which is that my little basement venue, Jurassic Park, which I briefly discussed with y’all last year, is now flourishing! We’ve got upcoming shows with Cloud Nothings, Total Babes, Sleeping Bag, husband&wife, Big Troubles, and The Beets! It’s gonna be a crazy rest of the year but if any of you live in the state of Indiana, you should try to come to a show.
And lastly, I got way too happy when Charlie McArthur released the beautiful cover art and album name, Greater Lakes, for Bears’ third record
Big Troubles’ second full length, the brilliantly named Romantic Comedy, will be out next Tuesday (9/27) on Slumberland, but Stereogum just put up the entire record for streaming. Go here to listen to ten tracks of British-influenced sweet-and-salty power-pop from the New Jersey kids. I’ve only gone through it once, but my first impressions are that lovers of their first album, Worry, and the overall lo-fi aesthetic are not going to enjoy this album, much like people were disappointed with Smith Westerns’ Dye It Blonde. But for any lover of pop music, this album pretty much has it all. Production from Mitch Easter, who’s worked with Pavement and R.E.M. (RIP), has turned their drowned-out fuzz jams into bountiful tracks overflowing with additive riffs and huge moments. It’s evident that this is the album that the Big Troubles boys wanted to make from the beginning, and it’s something they should be proud of. Check out the silly video for first single “Sad Girls” below.
MP3: || The Last Line ||
Here’s another phenomenal video from 19th State Productions (previously Sleeping Bag’s “Slime”), highlighting Bloomington psych band Tammar and their anthemic “The Last Line.” The massive song appears on their debut album Visits, released today on Suicide Squeeze. Get the ice pink vinyl and CD from the Suicide Squeeze Store, and check out this cool P4k review that went up today.
Here’s the newest video from Chicago art-poppers A Lull, showcasing the third track on their debut album, Confetti. Watch the lively video above and download/listen to another track, “Water & Beasts,” below.
MP3: || Water & Beasts ||
About this time last year, I let y’all know of DIY basement venue I was running called Jurassic Park in West Lafayette, IN. Well after a series of unfortunate events, I had to call things off for the rest of the year due to noise violations and neighbors problems. Well I started it up back in January with a different format and it has fit perfectly since. Over the span of four months, I had Reading Rainbow, Cast Spells (Dave from Maps & Atlases), husband&wife, The Modern Electric, Secret Colours, and a whole bunch more. I’ve started it back up after the summer and my friend Chris Loudenslager has come along for the ride to take great photos and high quality videos of some performances. I had Bloomington shoegaze duo Stagnant Pools come play last weekend, who I posted about last month, and they played a couple songs from their forthcoming album.
Will be on their self-titled debut out soon on Slumberland, 7″ available now.
MP3: || Sad Girls ||
At the top of the list of my most anticipated albums for the rest of 2011 is New York power-pop quartet Big Troubles’ second album Romantic Comedy. “Sad Girls,” the ultra-catchy lead single from the record (with the best key change of 2011), now has a silly video to go with it. Watch the super ‘dorky’ video above and pick up the MP3 too. A light green/dark green 7″ is out now for “Sad Girls” from Slumberland, and Romantic Comedy will be out on September 27th.
