The Morgan Freeman EP

This is legit stupid. I've only listened to this album once so far, and it was enjoyable, but this is pretty dumb. Yellow Ostrich is a one man project by some guy, but I'm too lazy to look up his name. So this guy supposedly had some writters block and couldn't come up with any creative inspiration so he visited Morgan Freeman's wikipedia page. All of the lyrics on this album are just the atricles on his wikipedia page except the song about his alleged relationship with his grandaughter. I'm not even going to brief you on the type of music this guy plays, but the title should be enough to warrant a download.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3CGLVUY0

The National - "The National"

While I probably don't need to alert anyone to listen to The National considering their mainstream and indie success, it seems like recommending their first album is like recommending a completely different band. The National's latest albums, namely High Violet and Boxer, are great albums in their own regards, but they sound incredibly polished and subdued compared to this album. What makes this album so appealing is that it is just really bitter raw alt-country music. They used to wear their emotions a little better by not being quite as good at translating the message of the song directly in to a neatly packaged rock hook. This was before they quit their day jobs, here they toured while working 9 to 5 jobs. Their songs about the beat down of everyday white collar work are a lot more relatable because of still being there. On "The Theory of the Crows" he yells about how he's "sucked off investors and sucked off VC's" and how he is "losing his posture from time on his knees." Whether or not objectively better or worse, they just simply couldn't get away with these lyrics in their current state of popularity. So regardless of buying in to the current The National hype, I'd highly recommend this album because it has a truly unique sound of men going to day jobs they hate and coming home bitter and ready to make Americana country.

http://www.mediafire.com/?plyn9l87z8hi36b

FOLK-PUNK MEGA-POST

Well its summer, kind of, and the best music for summer is FOLK-PUNK. Basically folk-punk is summed up by its name, folk music with political /ideological /purposeful lyrics. I'll just give a brief run down of all the bands I'm posting. These are my favorite folk-punk artists/albums:

Andrew Jackson Jihad

AJJ is pretty well know over the internet, and the picture posted is their most popular album. There are 2 members of AJJ, a vocalist/guitarist and a stand up bass player. The generally spread a postive message of being kind to your fellow human.

Ghost Mice

The band Ghost Mice consists of a man and female, and I believe they sound best when harmonizing. They feature violins and sing about religion, growing up, and UP THE PUNKS

Rye n' Clover

Rye n' Clover is a solo project of a guy playing banjo. Its probably the least folk-punky out of all of these bands, but his music is relaxing and heart felt.

Defiance, Ohio

I've been listening to Defiance, Ohio for like 3 years now, the longest out of all these bands. The funny thing is, I've been listening to the same album for 3 years now. They have several stringed intruments, like a violin and a cello, but they have fairly tame vocals for this genre. They have several members who do vocals on the album, 2 guys and 1 girl.

Andrew Jackson Jihad-Can't Maintain

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Z9ODEB7S

Andrew Jackson Jihad-People That Can Eat People Are The Luckiest People In The World

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4NJNCB59

Ghost Mice-Debt Of The Dead

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0OO2AAEW

Rye n' Clover-Pencils, Paper, and Scissors

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CHNL2JKA

Defiance, Ohio-The Great Depression

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7IZTHQTF

2049

2049 is a screamo band from Columbus. They're part of what I've been calling the new wave of emo, along with more popular groups like Algernon Cadwallader and the Saddest Landscape, which mix classic skramo/emoviolence sound with contemporary indie influences. The coolest thing about 2049 is that virtually all of their songs are about, and contain references to, the Asimov short story "Nightfall," which is great in it's own right. Pick up 2049's album, and don't forget to hit up their bandcamp profile - http://2049.bandcamp.com/

2049 - Torches - http://www.mediafire.com/?ym7o4l8wdu18uvm

The Supervillains

The Supervillains encompass my favorite things in life; Ska, People talking about weed, dreadlocks on white dudes, little biker hats (like drew's) worn by a lead singer who is also the drummer, and a natural grudge against K-mart. In my opinion I have said enough. Get this album.

The Supervillains - Massive - http://www.mediafire.com/?cmte753h7i3zq3c

Department of Beagles

Like many music lovers of a certain age, I have a lot of warm memories tied up with release days. I miss the simple ritual of making time to buy a record. I also miss listening to something special for the first time and imagining, against reason, the rest of the world holed up in their respective bedrooms, having the same experience. Before last Wednesday, I can't remember the last time I had that feeling. I also can't remember the last time I woke up voluntarily at 6 a.m. either, but like hundreds of thousands of other people around the world, there I was, sat at my computer, headphones on, groggy, but awake, and hitting play, to the new Department of Beagles free online release.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z4m4lnjxkY

Big K.R.I.T. "K.R.I.T. wuz here"

This is a rather new rapper from the south who is entirely unique for his radically high level of pure musical talent. Coming from effectively nowhere, he didn't have the same resources as even the same level underground rappers trying to get big. So he created this mixtape pretty much all by himself, rapping, producing, and writing it all. His talent is shockingly apparent throughout with the immediately interesting beats and down to earth lyricism. Few rappers can pull off the "I'm just talking about real life so I'm gonna drop the beat and just talk" that he tries a couple of times, most notably in "Children of the World". With it starting to become a cliche amongst rappers, the worst case being Drake on his new album, it is truly refreshing to hear Krit rap in a really frank way without becoming overly emo or come off as superficial and trying too hard. All in all, this mixtape definitely tops my list for best rap of this year so far. check it. hope he doesn't become terrible when he tries an album.

http://www.djbooth.net/index/mixtapes/entry/big-krit-krit-wuz-here/

GASP

GASP was the world's only psychedelic powerviolence band. Combining the sheer anger of classic powerviolence acts like Black Army Jacket and Man is the Bastard with unique ambient soundscapes and tape delay effects, GASP creates a sound which will never (and probably shouldn't) be recreated. Imagine Black Dice playing 90's thrash and you should have a pretty good idea of GASP's sound. In fact, even if you're not a fan of powerviolence as a genre, GASP is worth a look simply because of how unique it is. Also, fun fact - members of GASP went on to form average-dude indie band Deerhoof, so even if you don't like powerviolence it's good to know your roots!

GASP - Drome Triler of the Puzzle Zoo People LP - http://www.mediafire.com/?6l1ibcm7fhahb7i

Ferrabay Lionheart

A very good album to listen to while walking around. You have to be in the right mood though to listen to him. I like his horse, it's a thorough breed.

http://www.filestube.com/7ca1da4134ef9b1903e9,g/Ferraby-Lionheart-EP.html - Download from here. It works, I already tried it.

Dead Man's Bones

So on the outside, this album is the biggest gimmick i've ever seen.

1.) The entire album is vaguely centered around Haloween/spooky things.

2.) The album features an untrained childrens choir on several of the tracks.

3.) Lastly, one of the two band members is Ryan Gosling. If you dont know who that is, you are probably a straight male. He is the dude from The Notebook, he's 'Alan' in Remember the Titans, and he makes some damn good music. Aside from the 'spooky concept album' bits that are thrown in, (ex: lame into track, spoken word lyrics about werewolves, ect), I cant find anything wrong with this album. This came out in 2009, so its not new, but I still really enjoy it.

Dead Man's Bones (Self Titled)-http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PPJU8R2I

Ps. Sorry for using megaupload, hope no one minds

Department of Eagles - In Ear Park

Department of Eagles is a kinda sorta side project/old band of the lead singer of grizzly bear but I have enjoyed this band much more than Grizzly Bear. The interest for me is as a whole the album builds very well both within songs and the album as a whole. What is particularly differentiating is the subtlety from which it builds. Lyrically and musically, songs have these beautiful turns to choruses and progress with such grace that draws the listener forward. anyways. its pretty cool.

Department of Eagles - In Ear Park -  http://www.mediafire.com/?vzxad4om0my

AMERICAN FOOTBALL

Some of my buddies will be helping me with this blog, and they like stuff besides skramz and electro. Expect posts from them pretty soon. It'll probably just be horrible deathcore though.

American Football is literally my favorite band. The most encouraging music in the world. It's midwest emo with a Kinsella, so don't expect anything different, but at the same time I will say that I appreciate American Football's ability to create unique sounds with traditional instrumentation. This particular recording was created with just two guitars, a drum kit, and Matt Kinsella's voice. The band only ever had two releases, both self titles albums. This particular album is an EP, but the band also released an LP - I definitely encourage the purchase of both of these albums.

American Football EP - http://www.mediafire.com/?y5cifzo8s0t5iby

Hipster Youth- Teenage Elder

Hipster Youth is a 19 year old bro out of Ireland (whats up Parker) who makes electronic music. I found this album for free on Bandcamp and really liked it. Like I said its pretty much electronic music, but its got its beep boops in there too. Its no where near chiptunes, but there are a couple 8-bit influences that can be heard. Some songs are instrumental and some have vocals, but there isnt a whole lot of 'singing' on this album. Aside from track 2, "Little Lost Bear", I didnt have a favorite single, but i enjoyed listening to the entire album all the way through. Pretty much I instantly liked this album.

Teenage Elders - http://www.mediafire.com/?tklb6gmr9l3ag0l

BOY PROBLEMS

This blog is a collection of stories I tell and music I like. It is different than most music blogs because of this. Today is a music post.

Boy Problems used to be a screamo band in 2007, but they stopped in 2009 which is a shame because they are one of the best bands ever. The cool thing is they seem to be pretty heavily influenced by midwest emo so they have this really cool clean sound. Both of their releases are included here - their tour demo and their four-way split with Lautrec, Osceola, and The Reptilian.

Tour Demo - http://www.mediafire.com/?d9qxnb2bo8dc5mm
Four-Way Split - http://www.mediafire.com/?1i1d1e1r1j225mx