Roxy Pain - Best Of The Last Fourty Years (2007)

I can't really give you the real bio on this band because...well, i'm not sure anyone outside their immediate group of friends and contacts really knows. All I know for sure is, at least a couple of them are Oberlin College alumni with various art degrees, two of the members own one of the biggest screen printing shops in New York, (they've done the bulk of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs printing) they are a Brooklyn based four-piece, and when they played Kalamazoo, Michigan last month, they blew my fucking mind. Here is what they have to say about themseleves:

Four mascara damaged art drunks formed Roxy Pain in 1971 in London, Ontario. The only surviving members of a social experiment gone terribly wrong. When their leader and guru "the old one" revealed himself as a follower of Cthulhu; they took their energies and abilites and directed them at the evil of "organized things". Current members are Wolfy Pt II., Kayrock, Mike P. and O.J. Over the years the band has gained and lost the following members (never to sacrifice or murder): Sandra "Mother" H., PCRZ, Omid "Battletorn" Y., Trisha "Milk for Cats" M., Emily "Piano God" M., Pia "Machete" V., Chris M., Maya H., Andrew "Home" D., Seth M., Billy "Bikini Kill" K., Katie "Young People" E., Casey "Loose" L. and special honorary dancer Charlie "Brown" R.
After a brief association with the Baader-Meinhof Gang; they traveled throughout Europe and Russia. They settled in North Africa to search for the Ultimate Urban Contemporary Sound. Scheduled to play the first US Festival in 1983; several members of the band, out of their gourds on Peyote, found themselves in Iceland; in search of the Holy Mountain. The others retreated to corporate sponsorship by such companies as Buster Brown Shoes and Kiwi Shoe and Boot Polish. The resulting intranet book proved to be the band's downfall, as a rash of poorly informed investments caused them to loose their musical ability. The two factions decided that the only balance between ideas and ethics was to reform and move to New York City. Roxy Pain is an Antipleonast band. Their sound has been described as "John Carpenter meets Hawkwind"

"The Best of the Last Fourty Years" is a discography of sorts (by no means has this band been around for fourty years) with a few holes here and there. Nearly everything Roxy Pain has done is on "Best of the Last Fourty Years," however, there are many alternate versions of each song on various 7 inches, and does not include their (15 minute) take on George Michael's "Careless Whispers." This Album is equal parts weird and awesome.

Tracklisting:

1.Care-A-Lot
2.Middle East
3.The Last Bullet, Two More
4.The Chauffer (Toilet Roll)
5.A Short Lesson In Linguistics
6.An Obviouse Plot We Can Stop
7.Tunnel Hunt
8.The Chauffer
9.Black Metal
10.Donna Summers Fall
11.Helter Skelter
12."Do You Remember A Black Purse and Kippers?"
13.I Know What Boys Like
14.Donna Summers Spring
15.What If Evil Were Alive (Night Station)
16.*(Mob Stereo)
17.Creature In Your Head (Rabid Lassie)

band: roxypain.com ~or~ myspace.com/roxypain
purchase: (directly from artist) roxypain.com
hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?21ywri0yjwq

Team Robespierre - Fake Gold (2007 Tour EP)

(Not Original Cover Art)

Brooklyn's Team Robespierre play super fun synth-punk, with an emphasis on the punk. Their raw, electric sound is remeniscant of (broken-up) bands like Q and Not U and Fugazi (if Fugazi had keyboard players, that is). These five guys are the perfect band to ask to play when you want to turn your broken-down loft or vacant parking lot into an instant party space. Just have them plug in their guitar, bass and keys and watch them go for it. Fun noise will be made, with all members dishing out vocal jabs. Team Robespierre utilizes a whole mess of hyper dancable machine and man-made beats.

This EP is short and sweet, and leaves you wanting more. Thankfully, Team Robespierre's full length album will be released sometime this fall on IMPOSE records.

Tracklisting:

1.Laika
2.Black Rainbow
3.88th Precinct
4.Ha Ha Ha
5.Big Deal

band: myspace.com/teamrobespierre
purchase: thefamilybusinessnyc.com
hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?8a0c0j04b3x

Your Heart Breaks - New Ocean Waves (2006)

Your Heart Breaks is a collaborative music project originating in Bellingham, Washington in 1999.
The project has spread throughout the United States, but resides in Seattle, Washington when not on tour. Now, with over 50 members in the lower 48 states they have produced seven albums on five record labels: Plan-It-X Records, MASA, KELP!, Don't Stop Believin', and Do It for the Girls Productions. Regular members include Clyde Petersen, Karl Blau, and Steve Moore of Earth. Participating musicians include artists such as Serene Peterson, Dave Mathies, Laura Veirs, Cindy Wonderful Of Scream Club and members of bands such as The Gift Machine, Winning Lasses, Palisades, Black Cat Orchestra and Kickball.

"New Ocean Waves" is almost completely dominated by the voice of occasional bandmate Serene Peterson and was intended to be paired with the album "Sailor System, Don't Stop Believing," which Your Heart Breaks would release only months after "New Ocean Waves." Musically this album lies somewhere between the honest lyrics of Kimya Dawson, The lo-fi pop aesthetic of Saturday Looks Good To Me's earlier work, and the dirty, radical punk rock of Plan-It-X records' entire roster. If I were to listen to all of Your Heart Breaks' albums back to back, "New Ocean Waves" would stand out the most, and if you were to ask me which track off of the album is my favorite, i would tell you that you are fucking crazy; this album can only be processed as a whole.

Tracklisting:

1.120 Proof
2.Bad Company
3.New York
4.New Ocean Waves
5.Mixed Tapes
6.Girls Flockin' To Your Feet
7.This Place
8.The Party In The Basement
9.Freight Train
10.Southern Girl
11.Warm in Winter
12.The Rats
13.The First Show
14.Will We Ever?

Band: myspace.com/yourheartbreaks
Purchase: yourheartbreaks.com
hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?d22dgnyltbw

OCDJ - Hooray (2007)

Sharing turf with the likes of Dan Deacon, Video Hippos and Santa Dads, Baltimore's "Wham City" brings you Ocdj, a.k.a. Dan Gaeta. OCDJ makes 8-bit “candy” crunk and Baltimore club that sounds like Tetris and feels like the dirty south. A mix of melodic synth compositions and 8-bit hip-hop remixes (Rich Boy, Young Buck, Three 6 Mafia), Hooray! is a blast from start to finish. Standout tracks include "Woopash" and "Guess What."

Mash-up artists are a dime a dozen and often become very repetetive, but "Hooray" is a far cry from the norm of mash-up culture. Lets use an analogy; Where as most mash up artist sound like they stole the good parts of hip hop culture and mixed them with other existing cultures, OCDJ sounds like he stormed the ghetto, painted it bright pink and replaced every thug's gun with an ice cream cone and everybody was waaaayyyyyyyy into it.

Tracklisting:

1.My Friend Mayonaise
2.Big Time Stuff
3.Smoke My Cheese
4.Baby Lobster, Baby Banana
5.Woopash
6.7-5
7.Trip Trip
8.Fresh Socks, New Socks
9.The Milk's Gone Bad
10.Guess What

Band: myspace.com/ocdjmusic ~or~ ocdj.org
purchase: wildfirewildfirerecords.com
hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?3ztxro4bxan

Japanther - Skuffed Up My Huffy (2007) (Australia)

Japanther are a two-piece, lo-fi punk rock band superceding sonic definition. Having been playing for around 4 years, the band has released 13 + records, gone on a handful of world tours, written a soundtrack and played it live to a puppet show at the 2006 biennale, and then released a dvd and soundtrack to it. They've played for a synchronized swim team, played under bridges, on boats, on street corners, in bedrooms, at large festivals.....anywhere you can think of they have probably played, and played like they were playing to 40,000 people

"Skuffed Up My Huffy" sounds more akin to the better production of Japanther's more recent "Wofenswan," than some of their earlier and dirtier titles like "Leather Wings," but still maintains that "live" aesthetic that makes japanther....well, japanther. Standout tracks on this album include the sample laden "One Hundred Dollars," the anthemic "River Phoenix," and posi-punk "Challenge." Maybe not musically the best, but certainly the most fun is Japanther's take on The Cure's "Boy's Don't Cry." "Skuffed Up My Huffy" is set for release here in the states on September 11 on brooklyn-based Menlo Park Recordings, this being the Australian version, there is absolutely no telling whether or not they will be the same. I would highly reccomend purchasing it because their packaging is always awesome!

Tracklisting:

1.See Evil
2.Seventy Nine
3.Mornings
4.Cable Babies
5.Vagabond
6.One Hundred Dollars
7.River Phoenix
8.Challenge
9.Fuck Tha Prince A Pull Iz Dum
10.Funeral
11.Tender People
12.The Boss
13.Untitled
14.Boys Don't Cry
15.Cable Babies (Live)

Band: myspace.com/officialjapanther
Purchase: menloparkrecordings.com
hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?fx5mdyc54ro

Christopher's Liver - Stop Apologizing (2007 EP)

My friends were lucky enough to make the long drive from Michigan south to Georgia for the awesomeness that is Athens Pop Fest. Expecting them to return ecstatic with tales of Daniel Johnston antics, or raving about how Ted Leo literally rocked the skin off of their faces, or how Circulatory System is the greatest band ever, I was immediately dissapointed that the only thing they could talk about was some small time local band with a not-so-cool band name; Christopher's Liver. Drunk on my front porch i finally conceded to give it a listen, and low and behold...i wasn't blown away...at all. "Stop Apologizing" sounded generic, boring even. I felt like i had heard the male/female vocal melodies intertwine a thousand times before, and the sparse instrumentations even more often from any DIY circuit band.

But then i realized i was fucking drunk.

The next morning when i woke up hungover, I was lucky enough to find the album saved onto my computer, and after a second listen it all made complete, beautiful sense. The familiarity was not plagarism or lack of creativity, but TIMELESSNESS. The sparse instrumention was not boring, but stylistically and intentionally moody, desperate even. Christopher's Liver deliver a sound defiant of both genre and time, weaving together elements of pop, folk, rock and punk rock they successfully compose personal naratives on life experiences ranging from sobriety to silliness with a lo-fi aesthetic similar to something you might have heard in an olympia washington basement circa 1991. Download this album. It is my current favorite and will certainly be yours as well. As long as you're not fucking drunk.

Tracklisting:

1.Thank You For The Nostalgia, But As Far As I'm Concerned Goodbye And Good Night
2.I Forgot My Dreams And Fucked Up The Slogans In My Pocket, Uncle Sam
3.These Hands Play On In Silence For Four Days
4.I Hope

Band: myspace.com/christopher39sliver
Purchase: (directly from artist) myspace.com/christopher39sliver
hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?f2jnz9whs1o

Videohippos - Unbeast the Leash (2007)

(I don't normally intend on plagerizing existing reviews, but this one is wayyyyy better than anything i could muster (not to mention very articulate and acurate.)

Taken from Pitchfork Media:

Like members of any good scene, the bands in Baltimore's Wham City collective and satellite friends-- Dan Deacon, Ponytail, Lizz King, Lexie Mountain Boys, Santa Dads, Videohippos, to name a few-- approach a similar aesthetic from different angles. Common ground: the exclamation point (everything is invariably rad! or free! or awesome! or something you can yell), indulgence in rebellion and art-school regression (warehouse squalor, communal everything), and, relatedly, a warped sense of nostalgia. This last point, though, is where the bands part ways: Lexie Mountain Boys sound like a playpen getting knocked over, Dan Deacon has encouraged audiences to imagine themselves in the rec rooms of their parents' houses scarfing pizza, and Videohippos-- well, Videohippos took me longer to parse.

It wouldn't be fair to call them the scene's melancholics, but let's propose a dichotomy: Dan Deacon makes kiddie overstimulation sound like fun. Relentless, ga-ga fun. Call the doctor! because I'm choking on fun. Videohippos' approach of wrapping simple, melodic pop-punk and Blondie riffs in toylike synths and effects pedals is that feeling's underbelly: numb, slate. Unbeast the Leash is 13 terse theme songs for an eight-hour day of cartoons and video games. And pre-adolescent boredom, lest you forget, is a rigorous bitch. Of course, the effect isn't just to retrieve that queasy, socked-out feeling from childhood, but-- and this is abundantly obvious from drummer Kevin O'Meara's video projections that blare during the band's performances-- to remind you that, yeah, media is still crammed down our throats, Bush Jr.'s smiling face is burned into our eager eyes, America eats its young, civilization is doomed, and so forth.

In that sense, Unbeast the Leash is a uniquely sad record, one that reminded me at first of the way New Order made dance music for clubgoers and downcast eyes alike-- at a Videohippos show in mid-July, I was among only a few people dancing, and the dancing was more like swaying. Photographs subsequently revealed Smiths fans quarantined in suburban bedrooms. O'Meara's kit faces away from the audience. He could be replaced by a drum machine (and often plays along with one), but the irony of letting a human do a machine's job is too rich to pass up. Guitarist and vocalist Jim Triplett stands motionless, staring at nothing in particular. He lets would-be rallying cries fizzle into statements of resignation. He swallows his words, and whatever comes out, comes out faint.

Unbeast the Leash hits the same emotional note for about 30 minutes, but a) That's part of the point, and b) It's a note that most bands aren't able to hit: the deep comfort of a true bummer. In that sense, they're Baltimore's shoegazers. They turn the garage-party aesthetic into a faded photograph the way My Bloody Valentine suffocated eros with a pillow. It's not that Unbeast the Leash is a triumph on the scale of Loveless by any stretch, but like that album, it sounds at once a part of its scene and completely contrary to it, the warm crash as the sugar wears off.

Tracklisting:

1.Toothsub
2.The List
3.Take It
4.Bear Fight
5.Kool Shades
6.Downfall
7.You Thought I was Dead
8.Sick Dolphin
9.Rider
10.Lazer Jet
11.Wages of Fear
12.Narwahls
13.Man's Man

Band: myspace.com/videohippos
Purchase: http://www.monitorrecords.com/
hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?0zyzdoeizte

Saturday Looks Good To Me - Green Mansions (Vinyl Rip) (2007)

This little gem, released as a 2007 tour only LP, demonstrates the noisier side of everyone's favorite Ypsilanti, Michigan pop band Saturday Looks Good to Me. "Green Mansions" is a far cry from their most recent full lenght "Every Night," lacking the hooks, sensibilities, and motown stylings; instead relying heavily on guitar, tape loops and Fred Thomas' long melodic (almost) moans. As a whole "Green Mansions" is a very great, but very stylistic and experimental album. Standout tracks inlude the opener "Glowering Gaze (Every Other)" and track 7, "Leave it Alone" which sounds like it could have came directly from the recording sessions of Thomas' most recent solo album "Sink Like a Symphony." Other tracks like "(Yelling)" and "(Spelling)" are much less accessible, but die hard SLGTM fans and those more adept and familiar with experimental music will certainly like it.

Tracklisting:

1.Glowering Gaze (Every Other)
2.Green Mansions
3.(Icicle Hands)
4.Peg
5.Third Part of the Night
6.(Leave Home)
7.Leave it Alone
8.(Yelling)
9.(Spelling)
10.How We Sound

Band: myspace.com/saturdaylooksgoodtome
Purchase: https://www.polyvinylrecords.com/index.asp
hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?3nta21gt5xq