NEWS
April listening: Pterodactyl, Conn, Reatard and some older stuff
Here's what I've been listening to lately. I've done full reviews for Pterodactyl, Jay Reatard and Black Lips at Dusted. So you can get my full opinion on 'em there.
Jay Reatard's Blood Visions has got to be one of the best punk albums of the last decade, if not ever. It's made me realize how much I don't like over-emotive singing. He's so pent up and stiff on this record, I gets to me in a way being moany never would.
Pterodactyl have a new take on wobbly, spazzy post punk, which is hard to believe after so many bands have coursed through those scorched wires lately.
The Menomena track is a stand out on a solid album of arty pop- the sax riffs remind me of Roxy Music, but the whole thing is so jumbled and pleasant and epic, I'm a taken aback at how seamlessly they fit so many parts together.
Bobby Conn does over-the-top rock that's so campy that it starts to become seriously affecting.
Black Lips have a new live record that upstages the studio takes of the same material. Not only are the songs tighter, but the monochrome tone makes them stand out more than the shifting levels of noise on their studio records.
And there's some older stuff from the Swans and Amon Tobin. When I first got "Money is Flesh" back in 1986, I used to stick it on the walkman and I'd feel like Godzilla as I walked down the street. I was playing a Swans live show from the same era on my headphones at work, and I worked right through a fire alarm. Dangerous stuff. Amon Tobin takes drum n' bass minimalism to it's lushest extremes.
Running order: 1. Pterodactyl "Astro", 2. Swans "Money is Flesh", 3. Amon Tobin "Bridge", 4. Bobby Conn "King for a Day", 5. Menomena "Evil Bee", 6. Jay Reatard "My Shadow", 7. Black Lips "Stranger".
April Listening (~30 Minutes, 37MB)
posted by bendy @ 4/09/2007 01:21:00 PM [permanent link]
Blackstrap is a rockpunk band that was formed in 2002 by several
disgruntled music fans. Some had played in bands for years, some had
never been involved in music. All of us were upset with the
direction the USA was moving. As you can tell, our impact on all that
has been overwhelming.
We broke up in 2004, just before releasing a debut EP. We still feel
bad about messing up 307 Knox Records
like that. We got back together in
2005. We might drive each other crazy again, so no promises.
We're a band that doesn't have many options as far as
money and time and touring and all those other thing that could make a
band be your life. The web is the main way we promote
ourselves. We figured out we should share what meager knowledge we have
obtained.
RESOURCES
or "Promoting Your Music as the Music Industry We Know and Dislike Dies...."
Websites are a lot of work to figure out, and don't work any magic
on their own. Most people who view your website are already going to know you exist.
Just having a website doesn't mean anyone is going to visit. So don't
worry about securing an Internet domain right away. Stick some
music on MySpace,
and then participate in sites that might actually drive interested
listeners to your music. Blackstrap gets more hits from our link
on ncpunkonline.com than from
higher-profile sites where we get lost in the shuffle.
There are advantages to having your own custom built website and
domain name, but it's only as useful to the extent that it gets linked to.
Here are some sites that are important and help to get noticed. They aren't all music sites, specifically. Alot of them require participation. But hey, you wanted to be on stage, right?
JUST HEARD
WEEKLY FAVS
LOOKING AT...
what else?
DISCLAIMER: I try to find MP3 which are linked to official sites for artists I admire. Other MP3's are up for a limited time and are for sampling purposes only. Music posted here is posted to encourage people to buy CDs, not with the intention to profit or to violate copyright. If you are the creator (or copyright owner) of a song, excerpt, essay, graphic or photo posted on this blog, please send email to the address on the CONTACT page if you want to comment on the selection or wish to have it removed.
photos in banner by bunchofpants.