Jargun

This fella posted on the blog comments while I was away, and I checked him out. Pretty rad, unique stuff. Experimental hip-hop from Connecticut, akin to early cLOUDDEAD. very ambient and strange, but very impressive. Bandcamp says he is only 17, and made this a year or so ago. This cat's on the right track, and I hope to hear some more from him. Jargun, if you stop back by, drop a line and keep us updated!

From his bandcamp:

Jargun is the ambitious debut by the (now) 17 year old musician and self-producer of the same name.

After painstaking development for 5 straight months, Jargun is an ambivalent, bi-polar, questioning result of plain wonder. It's a collage: schizophrenic, doubtful, and resisting to explain itself. It's an anxious, regretful mess of half-confident ideas and leftover mantras finally being able to breath; An extremely lo-fi, bedroom agenda tasked with nothing else but to become self-evident and to leave a footprint for an unknown audience.

It's hesitant and self-conscious, and unable to see itself for what the future may consist of. Presented here is nothing concrete or total of what visions Jargun is trying to conspire; they're merely suggestions. It is only a sample laid by distress, uncertainty, and desperation.



But it doesn't stop here.





The album can either be downloaded here or here:
www.mediafire.com?hbvs4qz4spwcd3d

Fuck... I'm Dead - Bring on the Dead

Australia's Fuck... I'm Dead, aside from having one of the greatest band names of all time, plays gnarly flesh-searing, face-raping, bone-shattering grind. I first heard this record when I used to go see shows at the Old Hickory Collective here in Jackson, TN. It was there that I cut my teeth on real music and what a true scene was about. So here is a bitchin record in honor of good times, and as a thank you to my buddy JD for making the OHC happen, and taking a select few of us young metal kids under his blackened wing.

Fuck... I'm Dead - Bring on the Dead

Best Coast

My friend Anna inadvertently turned me onto this band a day or two ago, linking the rockin' track below, called "Happy". They remind me of Real Estate a bit, mostly because it's fun, summery sounding reverb worship, only with female vocals and generally being a little more upbeat than most Real Estate.  I'll skip a strained description and just post the jam that got me hooked. Hope you dig.
EDIT: JUST REALIZED IT'S ONE OF THE GIRLS FROM POCAHAUNTED!!! (Pocahaunted is a really neat noise/soundscape band)

Best Coast - Best Coast

cLOUDDEAD

Looking for the above picture, I came across an article that described cLOUDDEAD as a supergroup in reverse. I found that to, actually, be pretty accurate. Though no one in the group is a superstar, these respective dudes have gained notoriety in the underground music scene, collaborating with such names as Mike Patton and Aesop Rock, being remixed by Notwist and Boards of Canada, and even getting a performance on the legendary John Peel show. As 3 of the 9 founders of the Anticon collective, Clouddead (comprised of Doseone and Why? doing the rapping, and sharing production duties with Odd Nosdam on the beats) makes the most inexplicable avant garde, spacey, sometimes absurdist hip hop you'll ever hear.

After the split of Clouddead, all the members went on to have lots of projects:

Doseone went on to form art-rock-hip-hop band Subtle (who will eventually surface on this blog), as well as joining with The Notwist to form a unique electro-space-rap project called 13 & God (which will be posted next).

 Why? joined with his brother Josiah and two really close friends from home and started a band which took on the name of Why?. One of their records is posted here with more to come soon.

Odd Nosdam continues to put out head-noddic hip-hop beats, lots of remixes, and even releasing a mixtape titled T.I.M.E (This Is My Element) for Element skateboards, as well as DJing many clubs and bars in the Oakland area.

Clouddead (2001)
Ten (2004)

Sparklehorse - Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot

Another one for Wong. Sparklehorse was mainly a guy named Mark Linkous. This 1995 record was his debut as Sparklehorse and paved way for his ever changing style to start permeating the indie scene. The music is kinda all over the place; a strangely appealing mix of dream-pop, alt-country and soundscape. Constantly overdosing on one substance or another, this dude was a master of taking drugs to make music to take drugs to. If that's not reason enough to get this record, then I don't know what to tell ya!

Click link, smoke bowl, then listen.

Hawkwind - In Search of Space

Hawkwind was an English space rock band, once touting a pre-Motorhead Lemmy Kilmeister on bass and vocals (in fact, the name Motorhead was taken from the Hawkwind song, Motorhead, the last song Lemmy wrote with Hawkwind). The music is spacey, pre-punk, rock jams with lots of theremin, synthesizers, and sound effects throughout. Lyrics about space travel, quantum physics and (my favorite) getting doped. If you're a fan of Lemmy, get this record. If you're a fan of synthesizers, get this record. If you're a fan of rock 'n roll joyride jam sessions, get this record.

GET IT!

Growing - Color Wheel

THIS POST WILL NOT BE FOR ALL! But if you are open minded to music and sound, this record will blow your mind. Hailing from Olympia, Washington and now based in NY, these dudes transcend the concept of a noise band. This record is made entirely on guitar and bass, although you'll be quite hard pressed to pick out any guitar or bass sounds. These guys use nothing but analog effects (MAYBE a few digital, but don't think so...) to create soundscapes that will take you to another planet. If you have ever had any sort of heavy psychedelic experience, you will understand every second of this record. If you've never done drugs in your life, this band sounds the way drugs make you feel. They have several records, all a little different, but this one is definitely one of the best. Again, I warn any "mainstreamers" that this may not be your thing, but if you get this record and listen to it from start to finish (sober OR duped to the gills), you'll come out with an expanded point of view on life and your own existence. PLEASE at least give this record a shot. It certainly changed the way I think about music.

GET IT