2010FM - September Edition One

Well we are a little slow of the mark this month bringing you a selection of new music, so thats our current excuse for rushing headlong through eight great new selections of music that really do take us in different directions.

We start very gently with a track from 'Under The Sodium Lights' which is Drew Sullivan’s Slow Dancing Society latest ambient epic. We are told that "The album feels like a distillation of the three stunning releases that preceded it – and as such is Sullivan’s finest work to date. The delicate interplay between focused melodic details and blurred washes of sound draws the listener into a hypnotic state, where the waking world and the world of sleep cascade in and out of balance".

Or to put it another way it's a great selection of music that fans of ambient and mood music should love and a wider selection of people should also check out!

Under The Sodium Lights sees its official release on 30 September 2010 through Australian label Hidden Shoal Recordings. The album is also available as a digital pre-release now.

Featured Track: '…and to the dust we shall return’
Website: Hidden Shoal Store.
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Producer and musician Cisco Adler, best known for his work in alterna-rap duo Shwazye, is preparing to debut his new solo project. Adler recently finished work on the albums of Mike Posner, Big B, G Love and Dirt Nasty. He will be introducing previously unreleased solo music as well as some new material he has started writing for an upcoming album.

Cisco Adler recently released “The Rough Demos”—three brand new solo songs, online for free on his bandcamp page. All of the tracks feature Adler’s ever-present California sound and distinctive production style. “Body Language” has a catchy, classic vibe to it, showcasing upbeat piano and horns. “California King” invokes the laid-back, SoCal theme that Adler is proudly known for. He mellows it out with a stripped-down, acoustic alt-country love song, “Maybe Never.” The range of styles and influences continues to demonstrate Adler’s breadth as a musician.

Featured Track: Body Language.
Website: MySpace. Official.
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Falling and Laughing are a dynamic two piece band from Birmingham (England) who draw upon indiepop melodies and post-rock dynamics in order to make their sound.

The band stumbled out of Birmingham’s acoustic and open mic nights in 2007 when guitarist and singer Dunc met a drummer called Darryl and bassist called Stu Fletcher. This line up played across Birmingham learning the fine art of how not to do in-between song banter and winning a few quid on pub machines after the gig. Stu later moved away, but rather than replacing a good friend, the band slimmed down to their current two piece and they started gigging again in 2009.

The sound of just a guitar, drums and singing allowed the two piece to explore a whole new dynamic, the lack of instruments was more than compensated by Dunc’s quick chord changes and Darryl’s busy drumming which brought some kind of cheery intensity to the songs. It was harder to win on the pub quiz machine with one less member though.

The debut release 'Bunnyhood' by Falling and Laughing  hit record shops on 6th September. This is a super limited release of just 120 copies - which are going to sell out super fast. It comes in a deluxe card box and has a free zine about the EP created by the band themselves.


Featured Track: 'Roly Poly'.
Website: MySpace. Also Prospecting Distant Systems.
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OK heres the background - Redstone Hall has been ruling the clubs of LA since their debut at the Roxy in 2003. The quartet – lead singer, songwriter and keyboard player Steven Rothstein; lead guitarist, songwriter and vocalist Zack Hall; bass man and vocalist Mac Hadar and drummer Mike Nussbaum – is known for exciting stage shows that combine rock, funk, soul, blues and pop, with an expansive improvisational element.

The band started as a heavily improvisational unit, playing progressive compositions that allowed the members to show off their instrumental skills, but they evolved rapidly. The band was soon drawing on the sounds of the soul and rock of the 60s and 70s, writing tunes that were more focused and hook driven without sacrificing their originality or complexity. They began headlining clubs and creating a street-level buzz. Music Connection named them one of LA’s top unsigned bands in 2008.

They took a few tries at making a debut record, but their eclectic blend of styles confounded producers. Then they met Dave Cobb (Shooter Jennings, Jack White, Nico Vega.) “We were more of a live act than a recording band,” Zack Hall says. “Dave knew what we were going for and helped us get it.”

Cobb recorded the band live, using vintage equipment to capture their forceful live energy and expansive sound. Brian LeBarton (Beck’s keyboard player) helped out with keys on a few tracks. “Dave understood our modern take on retro styles and pulled the best out of us,” Steven Rothstein says. “We had a bunch of tunes we’d road tested, but Dave encouraged us to stretch and challenge ourselves.” Rothstein and Hall went on to write most of the EP during the recording sessions, giving the music an immediate feel that’s palpable.

Having heard the featured song from the forthcoming release of brand new EP "ElePhant" (out October 5th), Beehive Candy strongly recommends checking this band out further - we intend to.

Featured Track: Get Back Jack.
Website: MySpace.
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The NME wrote regarding The Gay Blades "Prepare to have your love defribulated by the raw, garagey sound of these two reprobates, strutting on to our airwaves with more saw-riffed swagger than a dog with two dicks and cougar's yowl. Clark Westfield and Puppy Mills are bad, bad men, and we love 'em".

Our featured track "Try To Understand" is from their album Savages which is out on the 5th October. Now if you go over to their official site you can send a tweet to your friends and then receive a copy of this song.

We just happened to have short cut the process because we here at Beehive Candy are on occasion 'bad bad men' ourselves. Seriously the forthcoming album sounds like it gonna be a good one if this song is anything to go by.

Featured Track: Try To Understand.
Website: Official.
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We featured this band back in May and Thicker Milk, the sprawling twenty-one song opus from Norfolk, Virginia’s The Super Vacations, finds the band expanding in all manner of ways. We are reminded that "since the release of their self-titled debut in 2008, the band has expanded its ranks to a formidable five-piece, giving the band’s psych-surf nuggets a bigger, more aggressive, and occasionally darker sound".

Recorded over the past two years by the band in various locations, Thicker Milk is a record that dips its toes in psych, surf, pop, and points in-between without ever sounding nostalgic or dated. Over the course of thirty-five minutes, the band whittle their precision riffs and ethereal harmonies down to perfect pockets of sound. Sample track suggest this will be another good one.

Thicker Milk will be available September 14th, 2010 via SHDWPLY Records.

Featured Track: Be Glad. 
Website: MySpace.
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MJ Hibbett & The Validators released the world's first true download single 'Hey Hey 16K' in 1999. Rob Manuel's video for this song became a massive viral hit in 2004 and has since been downloaded over three million times.

Well thats what they tell us and who are we to argue. Indeed we received an email direct from them which charmingly started -  'Hello! Hope you don't mind me emailing out of the blue like this, just wondering if you'd have time to maybe have a listen to our rather exciting new album?'

Not only do we not mind, but because we are enjoying the two albums you sent us so much, we thought we would copy and paste the whole press release!

Indie legends MJ Hibbett & The Validators are releasing two rarities
albums for the price of one and promoting them with a three month tour
in a pub. The albums feature songs played on Radio One, in viral
videos, and in the offices of Marvel Comics.

Forest Moon Of Enderby is a collection of 12 rare b-sides with an
extra 23 track album of further rarities called Hibbett's Superstore
on the CD-R. Leave My Brother Alone was featured in the band's live
Radio One session at Maida Vale while Data Storage Thing appears on
the multi-million download Samsung SSD Awesomeness online advert. The
Ballad Of Alan Moore is a tribute to the comics genius which has been
admired by the editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics as well as Mr Moore
himself.

Tim and Emma from The Validators are currently living in Mauritius,
making conventional touring impractical, so MJ has decided instead to
do a three month tour in his local pub. From 11 October he will be
performing acoustically every fortnight in the upstairs room of The
Lamb in London and releasing each show as a free podcast.

"Doing the shows as podcasts is a fantastic new way to tour", says MJ
Hibbett. "It allows thousands of people to enjoy relaxed and intimate
performances, while the performers themselves get to go home to their
own beds afterwards. Everyone's a winner!" Special guests include
Chris T-T, The Bobby McGees, Gavin Osborn and members of Pocketbooks.

MJ Hibbett & The Validators have always been at the forefront of new
developments in music on the internet. They released the first
download single, created one of the earliest viral videos, and
successfully used web promotion to stage a series of shows at the
Edinburgh Fringe. Their next project will be even more ambitious - a
full cast rock opera about Space Dinosaurs!

Now thats what we call an unashamed plug, see what happens when we really like an artist! MJ Hibbett & The Validators: Forest Moon Of Enderby is available from 18th October via Artists Against Success on CD and as a download.

Featured Track: Other Bands Setlists.
Website: Official.
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The three song EP including the featured song 'The One Light' is the first solo release by Ned Oldham (of The Anomoanon fame and brother of Will Oldham aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy).

Recorded in Baltimore at the Blue Third Floor and released as a limited edition (small run of 500) 7" record on colored vinyl, these are the first recordings since 2004's Joji by The Anomoanon.

The EP, titled Let's Go Out Tonight, carries a lot of weight in the three songs; though steeped in Americana and folk traditions, the tracks showcase Ned's penchant for bitter to bright lyrics and beautiful compositions.

This is a great way to end this edition of 2010FM and we here at Beehive Candy just hope we get to hear as much new music from Ned as we have over the years from his brother. For some reason the featured song reminds me of Buffalo Springfield however Ned's vocals are quite distinctive from Stepehen Stills. The comparison is meant as a compliment, this is a lovely track, enjoy!


Featured Track: The One Light.
Website: Gold Robot Records.
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Featured Tracks:

Robert Earl Keen - Austin, Texas, 1988 to 1997

This is a selection of songs performed for Austin City Limits by Robert Earl Keen, at the Austin City Limits Studios, Austin, Texas, USA.

None of these songs were included on the official release 'Live In Austin' which is from a 2001 concert recording.

Robert Earl Keen first performed on Austin City Limits in 1988 as part of the Texas Showcase which included four other artists. This selection also includes sets recorded in 1994 and 1997.

Trying to place Robert in one music genre is difficult, hence the various descriptions below, he can move from one style to another in a seamless manner. The musicians that work with him are part of the trick and his own down to earth style makes listening a joy. Songs like 'Road Goes On Forever' remind me of both Bob Dylan, and Emmylou Harris in terms of delivery and arrangement however he stamps his own style completely on each song. If Robert Earl Keen is new to you and you only half like anything 'Americana' then check him out right now!

Source: Soundboard.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@192kbps. 

Genre: Country, Country rock, Alternative country, Folk, Texas Country.  

Set: From three studio sessions.

Set List:

14th October 1988  
01 Front Porch Song
02 Mariano
03 Going Down In Style
04 I Would Change My Life

18th October 1994    
05 Whenever Kindness Fails
06 Corpus Christi Bay
07 Merry Christmas From The Family
08 I’m Coming Home
09 So I Can Take My Rest
10 Road Goes On Forever

16th January 1997  
11 Shades Of Gray
12 Amarillo Highway
13 The Coming Home Of The Son And Brother
14 Then Came Lo Mein
15 Undone
16 Over The Waterfall

Website: Official HERE.

Comments:

Robert Earl Keen, Junior (born January 11, 1956 in Houston, Texas) is a Texan singer-songwriter. He is popular with traditional country music fans, folk music fans, the college radio crowd and alt-country fans. He currently resides in Kerrville, Texas and maintains a ranch in Medina, Texas.

Download link in comments below.

Pat Benatar - Portland 1986

This is Pat Benatar recorded live at Portland Coliseum, Portland, Oregon, USA back on March 31st, 1986.

There is a pupose for featuring this excellent concert at this time. In June this year (2010) Pat Benatar's memoir, Between a Heart and a Rock Place was released. The book touches on her battles with her record company Chrysalis, and the difficulties her career caused in her personal life.

Those nice people at Harper Collins Publishers kindly sent Beehive Candy a review copy, however it arrived a month or so after the books release by which time a reasonable amount of reviews and publicity had already happened, and the impact we were likely to have was probably close to zero.

However I do like a good read, and it's been a while since I read a biography or memoir so I decided to enjoy the book. One thing this memoir is most definately not, is a sex and drugs and rock'n'roll epic. Rather it is a book firmly placed in reality and covers many of the outrageous demands placed on artists by a record company and the sheer sexist nature of some of the 1980's record industry 'men in suits'. Now I have no idea how much things have changed these days beyond what is told in the press, by it's very nature the music industry seems to be a magnet for lifes more colourful characters and within those some less desirable individuals are probably still turning up for a slice of the pie.


Pat Benatars book is highly recommended by Beehive Candy, she does not mince her words (what do you expect from a streetwise New Yorker), and a factual view of someones life in the rock business is a refreshing change from so many 'rock stories'. So enjoy the concert and if you can, check out Between A Heart and A Rock Place.
 
and as a teaser there was something very special about this tour for both Pat and Spyder and a massive amount of pressure on Pat for another reason (it's all in the book)....

Source: Soundboard.

Sound Quality: Very good mp3@320kbps. 

Genre: Rock.  

Set: Full set. 

Set List:

01. Red Vision
02. Fire And Ice
03. Shadows Of The Night
04. Big Life
05. We Live For Love
06. Diamond Field
07. We Belong
08. Promises In The Dark
09. Hit Me With Your Best Shot
10. Le Bel Age
11. Invincible
12. Sex As A Weapon
13. Heartbreaker
14. Love Is A Battlefield
15. Ooh Ooh Song
16. Hell Is For Children

Website: Official HERE. Fan Club HERE.

Comments:

Seven the Hard Way

Pat Benatar would hit the U.S. Top 10 with the  Number 10 single "Invincible" (the theme from the movie, The Legend of Billie Jean) in 1985. "Sex As a Weapon" would climb as high as Number 28 in January 1986, and "Le Bel Age"  in February. The album Seven the Hard Way peaked at Number 26, earning an RIAA Gold certification.

The title of the album is based on a bet in the game of craps: "Rolls of 4, 6, 8, and 10 are called "hard" or "easy" (e.g. "Six the Hard Way", "Easy Eight", "Hard Ten") depending on whether they were rolled as a "double" or as any other combination of values, because of their significance in center table bets known as the "hard ways"." The album was the band's seventh release in seven years. Benatar is holding a pair of dice on the album cover with three and a half dots each.

Concert download links (two) in comments below.

2010FM - August Edition Three

No let up in great new music coming our way, here's the third and final 2010FM edition for August, that in our increasingly 'trade mark style' we will now gallop through. 

We are advised that featured track ‘Winter Weeds’ "contains all the ingredients that make Liam Singer’s music so utterly beautiful and unique. With its striking minimalism and melancholic romanticism, the track swoons and sways. Singer’s piano and vocal interweave with the heavenly backing vocals of Boxharp’s Wendy Allen, all topped off with Scott Solter’s masterful production".

The track is a taster of Liam Singers forthcoming album, Dislocatia. "Full of fantastical song-stories, the album carries the listener skyward like a clockwork cloud. In Liam Singer's music, the prosaic and the magical are two sides of the same dusty coin. Dislocatia is out through Hidden Shoal on October 5th". This is a gorgeous gentle start to this 2010FM edition, we look forward to hearing more from this talented individual.

Featured Track: Winter Weeds
Website: Hidden Shoals.
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Elephant and Castle is a kaleidoscope of sound; twisting and grooving to create music all it’s own.  Based out of Oakland, California, it is the project of musician/sound engineer David Reep.  Starting with a love of old vinyl and the endless digging through old thrift stores, Elephant and Castle was formed with the idea of making modern music out of mostly vintage material.  Similar to new bands such as Flying Lotus, The Samps, Free the Robots and drawing from the legends such as Madlib, Juan Atkins, and Derrick May, Elephant and Castle attempts to bridge the gap between cheese and soul.

During time spent living overseas as a youth in London, England, David absorbed the early 90′s electronic scene as well as the explosion of Britpop.  There he became obsessed with learning the guitar, eventually leading to him picking up bass, keys and drums.  Upon returning to Houston, Texas for high school he was primed for the booming rave scene, seeing many of his heros spin vinyl in forgotten warehouses.  After moving to California for college, he started the record label Third Culture Records and continues to dedicate his time and effort to support new artists.

Elephant and Castle’s debut release, Analogue EP will be available August 31st via Third Culture Records.

Featured Track: The Look.
Website: Third Culture Records.
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I am massivly impressed by Ed Vallance, one of this month or even years great surprises for Beehive Candy. His promo is copied below, it could claim he can fly solo to the moon and back in an afternoon and I would probably still have printed it, as it happens it has some useful info.

"Ed Vallance and KCRW.org debut the lush, dreamy, and gorgeous new video for “Silent Sun” directed by Autumn Hruby and featuring actress Rhona Mitra. In addition, Ed is using the occasion to release another free single, “Famous Last Words” the closing track from his newly released Summer Fire EP.  Stereo Subversion wrote of “Famous Last Words”: “It’s undeniably pleasing to the ear… making this an extremely successful wrap-up to a brilliantly crafted album.”

With one ear solidly rooted in classic British songwriting styles from Ray Davies and the Kinks to Supergrass, and the other schooled in the sonic approach of bands like Spiritualized and Galaxy 500, Vallance has honed his craft into a focused blend of pointed pop melodies and the ethereal qualities of his predecessors above.

The Summer Fire EP (Hello My Name Is Records) is a concise snapshot of the wide array of talents Vallance possesses in his arsenal. Opening with the sweeping vocals and pulsing drive of “Black and White Light” The Summer Fire EP seamlessly shifts between genre’s, touching upon elements of Bowie, Destroyer, and Keane yet retains Vallance’s core sound, unique voice, and powerful songwriting.  While merely our first taste of what the London-born, now Brooklyn-based, singer has to offer, The Summer Fire EP satisfies in its own right and sets an appetizing looking table for Vallance’s upcoming full length, being recorded now, and due this Fall".

Featured Track: Famous Last Words.
Website: Official.
Video: KCRW Blog.
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Fielded is the solo project of Lindsay Powell, vocalist of Ga’an and one half of sister songstresses Festival. By mainly using vocals and minimal instrumentation, Powell explores the many moods that can be created through experimentation with voice as leader rather than follower of the amplified instrument. She straddles dark and light, her lyrics reaching into depths; her voice reaching toward the sky. Her set hovers, fluid and with feeling - a church chorus, cacophonous chants, a post-apocalyptic pop paradise but always of the throat and of the heart.

Fielded is set to release vinyl-only Terrageist September 7th via Catholic Tapes. She is currently on the road touring with Psychic Steel (tour dates below).

8/26 Northampton @ Media Mansion (George's House)
8/27 Buffalo, NY @ TBA with Shapes of States
8/28 Cleveland, OH @ The Front Room Gallery (3615 Superior Avenue) with Mark McGuire & Pimlo
8/29 Columbus @ SKYLAB
8/30 Louisville
8/31 Lexington
9/1   St. Louis
9/2   Columbia
9/3   Iowa City @ White Lightning Warehouse

Featured Track: Another Time.
Website: MySpace.
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Forged during a colorful year spent working at Hollywood Sound Studios in 2008, LexiconDon is the synthpop union of Alex Koons and Fabian Ordorica. Taking inspiration from their daily lives enjoying the struggles of getting by in Los Angeles, the songs are equal parts soulful heartbreak and late-night party jam. Their debut release, Pink and Blue, is a unique blend of singable melodies and heartfelt lyrics over a vibrant storm of funk-laden pop. Capturing the youthful American spirit with summer serenades and hard hitting electronic production, their songs are a refreshing foil to the increasingly hazy lo-fi indie rock dominating the scene. Like a grown up twist on a John Hughes soundtrack, themes of innocence and young love flirt with darker moods, giving LexiconDon's music a nostalgic take on the simpler days of youth and the freedom of life on your own in the city. For LexiconDon and frontman Koons, moments of late night contemplation are matched by sing along anthems, adding up to something richer than your average dancepop.

2009 saw the addition of Sam Gabbard (guitar) and Matteo Eyia (drums), creating a show that is built on the energy of live instrumentation and the charisma of Koons and the band interacting with an eager crowd. As songs came together for their album, the band hit the road, coming into their own. Sharing a stage with acts like Little Boots, Neon Indian, Class Actress, Toro y Moi, and MADRAD, they've proven they can do more than hold their own with the rising stars of indie pop. Shows are high energy dance parties that bring something special that can only come from a band that calls Los Angeles its home.

LexiconDon has already seen a wave of buzz surrounding their early demos within the blog community. Their song "Heart Attack", one of the singles from Binary's roster compilation album, gained enough traction to make LexiconDon one of the five most blogged about artists on The Hype Machine in October 2009. After opening for Little Boots at her sold out NME showcase at Spaceland, LexiconDon was featured on on KCRW, as well as getting picked up by various college radio stations. In Austin, at The Hype Machine's massive SXSW showcase, the band's performance unleashed a flurry of energy and excitement from an unsuspecting packed house. Their full length debut, Pink and Blue, is set for release on dubFrequency this August. 

Featured Track: December Sunset.
Website: Facebook.
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Panico formed in 1994 in Santiago, Chile and went on to release four albums in South America before moving to Paris in 2001 where they released ‘Telepathic Sonora’ through Sony.  After parting company with Sony they started working with Tigersushi, releasing ‘Subliminal Kill’ in 2005 to critical acclaim.  Shortly after, Panico befriended Franz Ferdinand, the latter hailing Panico as their ‘favourite band’. UK and wider European press took note, impressed by their live set on tours with Franz. Returning to play in South America, the band were heralded as cult heroes and effortlessly sold out 3,000 capacity venues in their native Chile before returning to Paris in 2008 to start work on forthcoming album ‘Kick’.  Recorded at Franz Ferdinand’s studio with Paul Savage mixing and Gareth Jones producing, ‘Kick’ is Panico’s most compelling album to date and will be released worldwide (bar France and Benelux) on Chemikal Underground on 11th October 2010. The band have also recently completed a documentary film with James Schneider as they visit ‘ghost towns’ in the Northern Deserts of Chile – due for release in 2011.

'Kick' is rough, fuelled with adrenaline and psychedelia. It's also a return to Panico's roots: 90’s indie rock and shoegaze, a touch of Gang of Four’s angular edge mixed with The Horrors and a tropical twist.  Voodoo themed vocals boiling over hot garage guitars and relentless beats.

Featured Track: Reverberation Mambo (Joakim mix).
Website: MySpace. Official.
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Delivering a yowling array of raw blues tunes mashed with heavy rock riffs and raucous beats, the livewire Sydney two-piece, The Fumes, are touring the US throughout the months of August and September to bring you their brandishing of uncaged rock n’ roll.  Enigmatic vocalist and gifted guitarist Stephen Merry and battering percussionist Joel Battersby make up the stripped yet full sound and gutteral bravado exhibited in The Fumes.

No strangers to the road and high-energy live shows, The Fumes return to the US after tours as exclusive support for Queens of The Stone Age and having scrabbled around Australia on separate outings with Clutch and Calexico. Sure to leave first time listeners and spectators with their mouths agape, The Fumes will be playing shows all throughout California and New York, with stops off in Minnesota. Be sure to check them out. Tour dates below.

The Fumes’ highly anticipated debut album Guns Of Gold will be released later this year and from what I’ve heard so far it takes listeners on a journey of intense and melodic moods that interweaves between blues roots rock and edgy swagger punk. Exploding onto the US scene, Guns of Gold will be their first full-length release in the States. The debut single “Automobile” is an ambush of pulsing rock stomp and has just been released across North America via MB3 Records/EMI (Aug 24th).

08/27 – New York, NY - Rockwood Music Hall
09/01 – Brooklyn, NY – Death By Audio
09/02 – Brooklyn, NY – The Rock Shop
09/03 – Saint Cloud, MN – White Horse
09/04 – Minneapolis, MN – Palmer’s Bar      

Featured Track: Automobile.
Website: MySpace.
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As premiered on Stereogum earlier this month, Roman Ruins, solo project of Beach House and Papercuts' touring drummer concocted a woozy remix of Beach House's "Lover of Mine". The remix comes in promotion of his newest PASTOR/AL 7" available now via Gold Robot Records.

Roman Ruins is Graham Hill's solo project exploring the mystical link between song and architecture. Like a building, the music is an assembly of components. The pieces are built around a rhythmic skeleton that informs the skin and flesh sounds that surround it. When not crafting songs, Graham plays drums for Beach House and Papercut.

I think Beach House are another great band of recent years, and the remix here does them some justice, clearly Roman Ruins adds another dimention to them and is more than worthy of a listen in his own right - two great songs.

Featured Tracks: Beach House - Lover Of Mine. 
                              Roman Ruins - The Comedown.
Website: MySpace. Gold Robot records.
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‘The First Cause’ is the second single taken from Heresy and Rite, the debut album by Danish dream-rock quartet Salli Lunn.

The track is a true epic in scope and execution, and a superb demonstration of Salli Lunn’s mastery of light and shade. Across its eight-minute runtime, it packs a sonic and emotional punch, layering guitars into surging waves, upon which Lasse Skjold Bertelsen’s vocals ride with aplomb.

‘The First Cause’ proves a devastating follow-up to acclaimed first single ‘Parachutes Forever’ – and a fittingly awesome finale to Heresy and Rite. Heresy and Rite is out now and is our second helping through Hidden Shoal Recordings this time around.

What others have said: "... ‘The First Cause’ floats between a dream-pop musing and an indie ballad - and then turns into a frenetic juggernaut that completely defies contemporary taxonomy." – No Ripcord

"a debut that is alive with creative individuality. Chiming guitars over the ever shifting, twisting, pulsing, and impressive drumming… help create a maze of possible directions which prove impossible to second guess." – BlogCritics

“studio jamming of near stroboscopic intensities… a record that has both the noticeable hallmarks of their influences and still manages to sound an entirely original work… Anyone wanting to hear a purposeful and imaginative rock album will find very little fault with Heresy And Rite.” – Delusions of Adequacy 

Featured Track: The First Cause.
Website: Hidden Shoal Store.
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Featured Tracks:


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Finally this time around two more items that are well worth mentioning and for the first one I quote because that does the job just fine.

Recently, Robert Randolph and the Family Band took some time to sit with acclaimed producer Will Abramson of Yours Truly at Broken Radio Studios in San Francisco. What resulted was this:



... an impassioned, acoustic, interpretation of "Traveling Shoes," itself an interpretation of a classic blues field recording from nearly a century ago. After the performance, Randolph sat to discuss "getting back to the bones of American roots music" with legendary producer T Bone Burnett and what it was like recording his widely-praised record 'We Walk This Road' with folks such as Robbie Robertson, Leon Russell, Jay Bellerose, Doyle Bramhall Jr, Jim Keltner and even Elton John, and Dylan.
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2010 marks the 60th Anniversary of Elektra Records, one of the most revered labels in the history of modern music.  In celebration, the company has launched Elektra60.com, an innovative, interactive digital experience that tells the stories of the legendary artists, the music, and the culture that have defined the label over the past six decades. 

Conceived and curated by Elektra founder Jac Holzman, who currently serves as a Senior Advisor to Warner Music Group Chairman and CEO, Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Elektra60.com draws on the label’s rich archives to "create a unique, ever-evolving experience designed to reward deep and repeated exploration".

In other words it's worth taking a look at (and we think it is) the timeline is interesting and a reminder of just how many significant artists found their way to the mainstream through the label which at last has been given another chance to shine, as in June 2009, it was announced that Elektra was being relaunched after a five-year hiatus.

Visit Elektra60 HERE.

The Move - Sounds Of The BBC

This is The Move with a mixture of BBC sessions music recorded from 1967 to 1970. Not to be confused with the official 1998 release (The Move - The BBC Sessions - Strange Fruit UK records), this material is different and in fairness of lower quality.

Whilst we do not know for certain, the probabilty is a good portion of this BBC material was recorded 'off air' from BBC Radio One, that at the time was on AM. Some clearly is studio master, and even the 'AM' element conjours up memories of listening to 1960's 'medium wave' radio stations.

It is therefore reasonable to speculate that the originals of this material never made it to BBC transcription disc, or the record label had more than enough material for the 1998 (single CD) album release.

Whatever the case this remains another fine 'time capsule' from one of Englands finest and most consistent bands of the 1960's.

Source: BBC Radio and TV-Byen

Sound Quality: Highly listenable good mono mp3@320kbps.

Genre: Pop (60's) and Rock.

Session: BBC Radio Session and TV audio.

Set List:

BBC sessions 1967/70

1: Don't Throw Stones At Me
2: Open My Eyes
3: Walk Right Back
4: Falling Forever
5: Curly
6: She's A Woman
7: Lightning Never Strikes Twice
8: Hello Suzie
9: Time Machine
10: Brontosaurus
11: Sound Of Silence

Top Pop, TV-Byen, Gladsaxe, 20 May 67.

12: Night Of Fear
13: Kilroy Was Here
14: Hey Girl
15: I Can Hear The Grass Grow.

Website: Official HERE, Very good fan site HERE.

Comments:

The Move, from Birmingham, England, were one of the leading British rock bands of the 1960s. They scored nine Top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any success in the United States.

Although bassist-vocalist Chris "Ace" Kefford was the original leader, for most of their career The Move was led by guitarist, singer and songwriter Roy Wood. He composed all the group's UK singles and, from 1968, also sang lead vocals on many songs, although Carl Wayne was the main lead singer up to 1970.

The group evolved from several mid 1960s Birmingham based groups, including Carl Wayne and the Vikings, the Nightriders and the Mayfair Set. The group's name referred to the move various members of these bands made to form the group. Beside Wood, the original five-piece line-up of The Move in 1965 was drummer Bev Bevan, bassist Kefford, vocalist Carl Wayne and guitarist Trevor Burton. The final line-up of 1972 was the trio of Wood, Bevan and Jeff Lynne, who transitioned the group into the Electric Light Orchestra.

Reloaded 25/May/2015 download link in comments.

2010FM - August Edition Two

We are struggling to keep up with all the new music coming our way again at the moment, so this is another batch of what we really like right now, with more planned to follow soon. For speed, where we think it's appropriate we have shamelessly copied and pasted from the accompanying publicity material.

New York's maestro of shadowy lounge tinged pop Rich Bennett is back with a follow up to his stunning 2008 album Music for Underwater Supermarkets. Influenced by the classic exotica of Martin Denny, the aching folk-pop of Fleet Foxes, and the conceptual sweep of The Zombies’ Odessey and Oracle, Bennett's latest work On Holiday  is brimming with subtly dark, breezy melodies and the buoyant vocals of both Bennett and Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Rebecca Pronsky. From the gorgeous "ride on top a pop cloud" single ‘Misty Valley’ to the delicious minor key melancholy of  ‘Night Part 2’, On Holiday is as intoxicating as it is playful. The album is out now through Australian label Hidden Shoal Recordings.

Featured Track:  Misty Valley
Website: MySpace.
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With the release of Ice Cream Bones, an EP, in May of 2009, A Lull was a band that was confident, but was somewhat still searching for its sound. After countless more hours in practice spaces, basements and bedrooms, A Lull kept at it, and after over seventy-five songs and partial song ideas, something began to take shape.

In May of 2010, A Lull released “Weapons For War/Spread It All Around,” a vinyl and digital single from its upcoming full-length record, Confetti.

Using a mixture of conventional and non-traditional recording techniques, A Lull employs anything and everything available to create beats, melodies, textures and layers of sound. The music is experimental in the ways that it takes form, but is accessible and captivating. "Chicago avant-pop sextet A Lull have a full-length scheduled to drop later this year; in the meantime, they've made a 7", "Weapons For War/Spread It All Around", available for free download over at their MySpace. The A-side features pounding, layered percussion and warm vocalizing."  Pitchfork

"A Lull sound like Chicago: The songs on the highly percussive sextet’s free “Weapons For War” b/w “Spread It All Around” 7″ feature dense, eclectic, immediately catchy atmospherics that evoke a number of like-minded post-rock crews from their hometown. And then go elsewhere with it. “Weapons For War”’s from their forthcoming full-length, Confetti. No word on the looping, loping B-Side, “Spread It All Around,” but it’s my favorite of the two, so hopefully it made the cut." Stereogum

Featured Track: Weapons For War.
Website: MySpace, Official.
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Backwords blends modern psychedelics with folk rock, 60s pop and a myriad other sonic surprises, delivering gentle, lazy melodies  that stick to the tongue and cannot be forgotten. Like a hawk nesting atop a New York skyscraper, there is a fury—a swooping darker underside that Backwords explores at the drop of a wooden nickel. It is and is not quite The Beach Boys meeting Daniel Johnston meeting The Band meeting Wilco and all sharing a mellow joint.

Based out of Brooklyn, Backwords is rooted in city grit but keeps a cowboy’s heart. The band is a regular fixture of the New York City scene and has played dozens of gigs over the last three years at venues and spaces such as Mercury Lounge, Cake Shop, Glasslands, Sycamore, and The American Folk Art Museum, as well as many others. Gigs have included headlining performances, in-store appearances, official showcases at 2009's CMJ and 2010's Northside Festivals and opening slots for bands such as These United States, Le Loup, Freelance Whales, Dinosaur Feathers and Darwin Deez.

Quilt, set for release on September 7, 2010, is the band’s third album after 2009’s The Buffalo Still Roam and 2008’s Factory Angles. On Quilt, the trio mixes the classic instrumentation of guitar, bass, drums, and keys with everything from toy flutes and banjos to accordions and clips of field recordings. The heartfelt lead vocals offer a story-teller’s tone of simple, honest warmth while the backing harmonies and good old-fashioned gang vox deeply layer the sound.

Featured Track: And Then Sigh
Website: Official.
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Jesse Woods is a 27 year old who was born in rural California and moved to Texas when he was young.  He now resides in Austin, Texas, and will record his first full length album with Bill Baird (Sunset) producing in Fall of 2010.

He was asked personally by C3 to play Austin City Limits Festival after only performing in Austin three times.

He was asked personally by Neon Indian to cover a song of his choice off their Psychic Chasms album.

Featured Track: Mind Drips
Website: MySpace.




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Hailing from the always fertile Athens, GA scene, Twin Tigers are ready to unleash their dynamic sound unto the universe. Along with other elements of the past five decades of rock music, Twin Tigers blend noise textures with pop structure and shoegaze overtones shaping a sound that’s all new.

Formed by co-workers at the Michael Stipe-owned Grit restaurant, guitarist/vocalist Matthew Rain and bassist Aimee Morris began Twin Tigers as their previous bands dissolved. In February 2008,Curious Faces / Violet Future EP was released to great reviews. The band quickly started building a solid fan base throughout the southeast and played shows with Deerhunter, Dead Confederate, Jay Reatard, Black Lips, Dungen, Woods, Snowden and A Place to Bury Strangers.

After a slew of revolving guitarists and drummers the band debuted its current lineup with guitarist Forrest Hall, opening for Les Savy Fav at the Earl in Atlanta only a few weeks before their first trip to SXSW 2009. Upon returning from SXSW, the band began recording an album with Joel Hatstat in Athens, GA.

Following the wrap up of their full length, the band was chosen for a nation wide tour with Minus the Bear and the Antlers in the fall of 2009, toured with the Hold Steady in the spring of 2010 and is hitting the road all summer with Interpol. Twin Tigers’ debut album Gray Waves is out now via Brooklyn based Old Flame Records.

Featured Track: Passive Idol.
Website: MySpace.
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Minneapolis’ Air Conditioning School is the latest project from So TM records, the home of Total Babe and UltraChorus.  Air Conditioning School  is a solo project of Chris Heidman (Sukpatch), whose releases on Sub Pop,  Grand Royal and Moshi Moshi garnered much critical praise.  He now brings you his full length debut titled General Mountain Time out August 3rd.

Air Conditioning School gives us the first view of Heidman’s song writing without the compromise of collaboration.  The result is full of serenely relaxed melodies, acoustic guitars and keyboards, mixed with hints of Heidman’s past as an indie-electro pioneer,  showing his influences from everything to early Sebadoh to stereolab to VU.  The song-writing is simple,  sincere storytelling that falls somewhere between Yo La Tengo,  Beck’s “Sea Change”,  Silver Jews,  and old Palace Brothers.  General Mountain Time is a production masterpiece, one not seen in Heidmans previous repitoire.

Featured Track: Up On.
Website: MySpace.
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As college roommates, Quarterbar and Eric Steuer started making lo-fi rap songs on a barely-working 4-track, then recruited friends to create the Santa Barbara hip-hop ... (more) crew mic.edu. The duo formed Meanest Man Contest after a move upstate to Oakland, where they spent their free time digging through filthy stacks of flea market records looking for samples and inspiration. From this effort came a series of short tracks that would form MMC's collage-like first single, "Contaminated Dance Step."

Meanest Man Contest's music has evolved around a constantly expanding set of influences. MMC's first LP, "Merit," pushed their sound into thoughtful, atmospheric places with jazz samples and live guitar. More recently, the duo has stretched the boundaries of its roots with releases like the off-kilter pop EP "Some People," the electro-tinged single "Throwing Away Broken Electronics," and the hip-hop LP "Split."

Featured Track: Superhumanoids remix of "Takitani Edit"
Website: MySpace.
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Hailing from the suburbs of Chicago, Dexter Poindexter, is just one person Tommy Komorowski. You would be forgiven for thinking this 21 year old is a long time established act.

We feature one of three songs from his latest single 'Silver Springs'.

The  single comes as the band readies a full-length on Nebraska's Series Two Records. Silver Springs  evokes the breezy playfulness of summer and a carefree, yet emotional, essence of youth. Fans of Hefner, Jeremy Jay, American Football, The Smittens, One Happy Island, Jens Lekman and WeePOP! Records should enjoy this new single.

"I was floored when I realized that this ‘outfit’ was, in fact, one person. Dexter Poindexter’s first release … seems like something a music veteran might have released; Perfect tight sound with melodies you feel like you heard before (in a very good way)." - Norman Records


Featured Track: Two Cracked Heels and a Ghost.
Website: MySpace.
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Atlanta psych rock outfit the Natural Extension Concept (N.E.C.)  has never crafted music that conforms to the standards of punk, prog or the avant-garde. Rather, under the direction of vocalist/guitarist and founding member Cyrus Shahmir, the group’s musical explorations flourish in the hidden dimensions of sound that exist in the undefined spaces that separate all three. Shahmir created the N.E.C. in 2000 as a means of pure musical expression by way of expanding consciousness. Over the course of a handful of CDs, cassette tapes, singles, EPs and their most recent album, simply titled Is, the N.E.C. has further honed its free-associations and sonic palette with each successive release.

With an ever-shifting lineup that currently includes bassist James Oh and drummer Justin Newton improvisation plays a strong role in filling the gaps between skeletal song structures, masses of rhythm and perfectly crafted tones, secret harmonies and distortions that shimmer with glacial majesty.

Featured Track: Those Guilty Pleasures.
Website: MySpace.
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Tin Pan connotes a world from the past – the most dominant and enlightened strains of American music of the early part of the 20th century – jazz, blues and American popular song. But it would be a mistake to say that Tin Pan is fixed in that past. Rather, it is music created to be enjoyed profoundly and joyously in the present. The band has created a rabid following by playing music that resonates powerfully because its intention is pure – to make people dance, smile and conjure with the spirit of music itself. On their new album, Hound’s Tooth, the band has perfected their sonic vision – effortless, wondrous and festive, feeling much like, as the band describes themselves, Ray Charles and Tom Waits at a Bourbon Street Parade.

Comprised of Jesse Selengut on trumpet, lead vocals and compositions, Clifton Hyde on guitar and hollerin’, Stefan Zeniuk on reeds and boy soprano vocals, and Peter “Baby Hands” Maness on bass and some singin’, Tin Pan evokes everything from Fats Waller and Louis Armstrong to Irving Berlin and Hoagy Carmichael. Founded in 2006 by Selengut, a long time New York based musician, and the curator of the Williamsburg Jazz Festival, the band sprung from what he calls, “a need for this kind of music.” He elaborates, “As soon as I started playing this music, it just felt so easy and natural. It’s simplicity demands that you be totally committed to it – there’s no hiding behind theory or pose.”

Featured Track: Clarion.
Website: Official.
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Based in Augsburg, south Germany, Markus Mehr’s musical journey began with the guitar. He grew up listening to bands like Black Sabbath and AC/DC, before turning his ears to darker sounds and the ethereal, experimental pop of David Sylvian. After recording and touring with several bands, he struck out on his own with home studio project Aroma.

Now working under his own name, Mehr wrote and recorded his debut album Lava at his home studio using guitars and synths, plus any noise-making accoutrements at hand – electric shavers, ventilators, electric tooth brushes and field recordings –all processed and distorted to create a gorgeous wall of sound, akin to the classic ’70s Kosmische music of Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream, but also the contemporary masters of textured luminosity, Fennesz and Tim Hecker.

Mehr’s live plans for the European summer of 2010 include performances in churches, galleries and large disused gas tanks, as well as collaborations with visual artist Stefanie Sixt.

Featured Track: Hubble.
Website: Official. MySpace.
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While art is certainly a form of self-expression, artistic communities tend to gravitate towards styles that fit within the popular pallet. Yet it is those fearless in their dissension that make the deepest mark. It is with that familiarity of the unknown that Tjutjuna have settled in a sound that is both rich in texture, and aural dynamics as well as a respect for the listener’s patience. Delicate in both their attack and release, Tjutjuna’s debut and self-titled album offers listeners moments of discreet levity before striking with fangs. Unwilling to merely satisfy the sonic trajectory which would label their sound as “psych rock”, Tjutjuna proves that in the recesses of a landlocked music scene, four childhood friends can craft something that forces us, as listeners, to demand more from our own tastes and imaginations.

Tjutjuna is due out September 28th via Fire Talk.

Featured Track: Bottle Kids.

Website: MySpace.
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Featured Tracks:

The Smiths - Los Angeles USA 1986

Regarded by many as the best The Smiths live bootleg (and vastly superior to the 'contractually obligitory' live album Rank), this concert recording was from the second of two nights at the Los Angeles Universal Amphitheatre and performed on August 26th, 1986.

Circulated as a silver disc by 'Big Music' and titled Thank Your Lucky Stars. (Big Music :: BIG091) the CD version uses artwork reminiscent of The Smiths own album covers.

The NME reviewed this concert as follows - Los Angeles Universal Amphitheatre - August 25-26, 1986

Whoever said that misery loves company wasn't kidding - almost 12,000 people turned out for The Smiths' two-night stand in Los Angeles. What they heard were 24 perfect pop sparklers, exquisitely executed by maestro Johnny Marr, while the Most Miserable Man in Manchester camped around the stage, occasionally stopping to pose languidly across the monitors, nipples to the wind, to face his adoring public.

But this was a wondrous journey through The Smiths' songbook, from 'Hand In Glove' to 'Panic', with all those funny, depressing, and anguished points in between.

Listening to The Smiths on record forges such a bond of intimacy between Morrissey, the music, and the listener that hearing those same songs played live, in front of thousands of people, is like having your diaries read aloud in public. Sharing The Smiths can be painful.

The man Himself was at his most winsome, triggering a minor stage invasion by telling the restless crowd, "If you get stopped by a security guard, kiss him on the lips!"

After being pelted with enough flowers to start his own nursery, the Singer acceded to popular demand by divesting himself of his shirt, revealing, appropriately, the hairless, caved-in chest look usually associated with seven-stone weaklings. Morrissey was, by turns, foppish, funny, and effete, but never dull."

- Jane Garcia, New Musical Express

Source: Soundboard

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@320kbps. 

Genre: Indie Pop and Rock.

Set: Full set. 

Set List:

01. Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want
02. Still Ill
03. I Want The One I Can't Have
04. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
05. How Soon Is Now
06. Frankly Mr Shankly
07. Panic
08. Stretch Out And Wait
09. The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
10. Is It Really So Strange
11. Cemetry Gates
12. Never Had No One Ever
13. Rubber Ring - What She Said
14. That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
15. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
16. The Queen Is Dead
17. Money Changes Everything
18. I Know It's Over

Website: Two Good Sites - Files Online HERE. Ask Me (Ask Me Ask Me) HERE.

Comments: 

The will they or wont they debate over a reunion of The Smiths has dragged on through out this decade with incredible sums of money mentioned for a tour. Both Johnny Marr and Morrissey have repeatedly said in interviews that they will not reunite the band. With sums of £40 million being mentioned clearly it is not the money. The magic of The Smiths live in concert is atleast done justice by this concert recording.

Reloaded 25/May/2015 - download link in comments.

Calexico - Denmark 2000

This is Calexico in concert at the Roskilde Festival held annually south of Roskilde in Denmark, with this concert taking place on the 1st July 2000. They were joined on stage part way through the set by touring companions Mariachi Luz de Luna.

This show took place the evening after the tragic accident during the Pearl Jam set where nine fans were killed when the crowd surged. (Pearl Jam's song "Love Boat Captain" references the tragedy with the line "Lost nine friends we'll never know... two years ago today." When performed in concert, lead singer Eddie Vedder modifies the lyric to reflect the passage of time since the tragedy).

One of Calexico's founder members Joey Burns remembered the occasion as follows - "Calexico and members of Mariachi Luz de Luna travelled roughly 1,000 kilometers the night before our performance at Roskilde in Denmark on July 1, 2000. I am sure we had been up nearly the whole night partying and watching movies on the bus and were fast asleep upon arrival to the festival. When we all woke the next morning there was an unusual somber tone in the air as we began hearing the news and details of the tragedy that occured the night before during Pearl Jam's set on the main stage. We couldn't believe it and were all in shock. How could so many people die at one of Europe's most renown festivals?

Some bands decided to cancel and there was confusion at first whether or not the festival would continue. For a while we were all on hold not knowing what would happen. It was a very difficult decision, but the promoters of the festival decided to go on as scheduled.

Chan Marshall of Cat Power played before us early that afternoon all by herself on the same stage as us and
delivered a very heartfelt and moving set. She tapped into the spirit that everyone in the whole festival grounds was feeling with her soulful voice and minimal accompaniment. After experiencing her set, John Convertino and I decided to begin our set as a two piece (drums and guitar) and play an instrumental meditation in honor of those who had passed away. From there we slowly built up the dynamics of the set and it was clear that even though the crowd was in a state of mourning, they also wanted to celebrate, and so when the surprise guests of Mariachi Luz de Luna walked onstage, the whole crowd lit up. It was an amazing set, one we will never forget."

Source: Soundboard

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@192kbps. 

Genre: Americana, Indie rock, Alternative country, Roots rock, Tex-Mex.

Set: Full set.

Set List:

1: Introduction
2: Wash
3: The Ride, Part II
4: Service & Repair
5: Tulsa Telephone Book
6: Fade
7: Minas de Cobre
8: Ballad of Cable Hogue
9: Canción del Mariachi
10: El Picador
11: Frontera/Trigger
12: Hey Baby, Qué Paso
13: Stray
14: Cascabel
15: Crystal Frontier

Website: Official HERE.

Comments:

Calexico is a Tucson, Arizona-based Americana / Alternative country band. The band's two main members, Joey Burns and John Convertino, first played together in Los Angeles as part of the group Giant Sand. They have recorded a number of albums on Quarterstick Records, while their 2005 EP In the Reins recorded with Iron & Wine has reached the Billboard 200 album charts. Their musical style is influenced by traditional Latin sounds of mariachi / conjunto / cumbia / Tejano music and also the Southwestern United States country music as well as '50s-'60s jazz and '90s-'00s post-rock, and they have been described by some as desert noir or indie rock. The band is named for the border town of Calexico, California.

Download link in comments or click on the picture.