BROMST

I know it's only March but I doubt anyone will produce an album as good as Dan Deacon's Bromst. The follow up to 2007's Spiderman of the Ring surpasses the boundaries of musical genius and is the most perfectly crafted and dense album I have heard for a long time. If you decide to listen to it please take your time as sticking it on as mere background music would be an insult to the work that has gone into crafting Bromst. To fully grasp the experience view the Pitchfork.tv special:



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Those who sleep with electric guitars

No words can ever describe the genius that is Pavement, therefore I would like to cut to the chase and force you to download this album.

Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

1. "Silence Kid" – 3:01 (aka "Silence Kit" due to a misprint on the cover)
2. "Elevate Me Later" – 2:51 (aka "Ell Ess Two")
3. "Stop Breathin'" – 4:28
4. "Cut Your Hair" – 3:07
5. "Newark Wilder" – 3:53
6. "Unfair" – 2:33
7. "Gold Soundz" – 2:41
8. "5-4=Unity" – 2:09
9. "Range Life" – 4:54
10. "Heaven Is a Truck" – 2:30
11. "Hit the Plane Down" – 3:36 (Spiral Stairs)
12. "Fillmore Jive" – 6:38

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Where's the woolen sweater you mentioned in the letter?

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have recently announced their public hiatus, although they are still together it will probably take a while before they will release some new blistering material. However, I for one will never forget CYHSY whatever may happen to them in the future. Their self-titled debut album is one of my all time favourite records and deserves all the credit it got over the last few years. The energy, wide variety of sounds, DIY attitude, tongue-in-the-cheek lyrics and squealing vocals, make this is album a must listen for everyone who claims to be remotely interested in music.

"they are child stars, child stars, child stars"

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

1. "Clap Your Hands!" – 1:48
2. "Let the Cool Goddess Rust Away" – 3:24
3. "Over and Over Again (Lost and Found)" – 3:09
4. "Sunshine and Clouds (And Everything Proud)" – 1:02
5. "Details of the War" – 3:30
6. "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" – 5:43 (Ounsworth, Lee Sargent, Guertin, Tyler Sargent, Greengalgh)
7. "Is This Love?" – 3:11
8. "Heavy Metal" – 4:01
9. "Blue Turning Gray" – 1:17 (Tyler Sargent)
10. "In This Home on Ice" – 3:58
11. "Gimmie Some Salt" – 3:03
12. "Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood" – 4:34

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YOUR LIFE IS OVER

Some 421 odd years after Shakespeare wrote one of his bloodiest tragedies Titus Andronicus a band formed in Glenn Rock, New Jersey went on to take this tragedy to a whole new level. After recording a self released, titled and recorded EP in 2005 Titus Andronicus went on to release their debut The Airing Of Grievances last year which shaped their breakthrough. The album is filled with hate as they proclaim there is no room for hope or future, as eventually we are all going to die. However, don’t be put off by this, perhaps, pessimistic but realistic view on life. This record is filled with the most startling hooks, tears and screams you have heard for a long time and I have yet to mention the exceptionally illustrious lyrics.

Anyone who has ever had an ex lover, will indisputably be able to relate with the pain and hatred that is portrayed in opening track Fear And Loathing In Mahwah, NJ, “You took a heart with so much room for love and filled it with hatred and rage.. until there was nothing left but for it to shrivel up and die.” The song parts with the illustration and reality of loathe “Now the way we hold each other so tight, would look more like a noose if held up to the light because we betray each other in dreams every night.” Arguably the most instant hit on the album is the self titled Titus Andronicus, with the repetitive chorus it is bound to dispatch a rush of adrenaline through your blood if the rest of the record hasn’t already send you straight to the intensive care department of a Riverside hospital. We might be beautiful but, as Los Campesinos! have mentioned before me, eventually we are doomed. “There'll be no more cigarettes / No more having sex / No more drinking until you fall on the floor / No more indie rock / Just a ticking clock / You have no time for that anymore / You better watch where you run your mouth / Because you know what they'll say to you, they'll say …..YOUR LIFE IS OVER”

I feel the urge to quote and dissect all the songs on the album as it is filled with the most sharp and honest lyrics that screech through the terror of garage rock sound, isn’t that what we all want? I know for a fact that Titus Andronicus share my opinion in Arms Against Atrophy “… please don't whisper sweet nothings in my ear when the sound of shredding vocal chords is what I want to hear”. I will stop spoiling the rest of the as I know from first hand, the best way to explore this album is on your own.

TITUS ANDRONICUS – THE AIRING OF GRIEVANCES

1. "Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, NJ" – 5:56
2. "My Time Outside the Womb" – 2:55
3. "Joset of Nazareth's Blues" – 2:30
4. "Arms Against Atrophy" – 5:16
5. "Upon Viewing Brueghel's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" – 4:25
6. "Titus Andronicus" – 3:13
7. "No Future" – 7:39
8. "No Future Part Two: The Days After No Future" – 6:54
9. "Albert Camus" – 6:25


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22 Grand Love: I Love You Creedence

To spice up this blog a bit, I will be posting personal favourites at the start of every week with the title 22 Grand Love. The albums will mainly be random albums I love but have neglected for far too long. I won't do proper reviews on them as I feel you should make up your own mind. I will, however, give a short introduction to the artist and album. Please feel free to grasp the opportunity to comment on your own personal favourites, suggestions are more than welcome.

The first album I'll be posting is 2006 Etiquette by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. CFTPA is a solo project by Chicago based Owen Ashworth. His first three albums were cassette-recorded gems which enhance a minimalistic approach, charged by his battery-powered casio and witty character-study lyrics. Etiquette only partly sticks to this formula as it gives us a more diverse and dynamic variety of sounds. However, the sentimental lyrics, portraying every day situations, are ever so present. Creating an album that grasps you from start to finish, as you get pulled into the world and observations of Owen Ashworth.
"This September I'll be 26 years old and El's the only one besides my dad who's ever said I love you Creedence"

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Etiquette (2006)

01 Etiquette I.D.
02 New Year's Kiss
03 Young Shields
04 I Love Creedence
05 Nashville Parthenon
06 Scattered Pearls
07 Happy Mother's Day
08 Holly Hobby (version)
09 Cold White Christmas
10 Bobby Malone Moves Home
11 Don't They Have Payphones Wherever You Were Last Night
12 Love Connection

Recommended tracks: New Years Kiss, I Love You Creedence and Cold White Christmas

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Buy here

After recently releasing a collection of b-sides, covers and rare live recordings Advance Base Battery Life, CFTPA will release the proper follow up to Etiquette in April named VS. CHILDREN.
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