Listen to new music each day

... by Apocalyptica.

this band is a long time favorite of mine. they’ve always put out some really cool stuff. -in case some you are not familiar with these guys, they started out as a cello quartet, all Finnish, all classically trained, all love death metal and played music they wanted in the style they wanted. beginning with metallica covers, and eventually covering others, their best work has definitely been their original compositions.

this new disc is a mix of original and covers: not as good as some of their previously more creative original work, but still very good and extremely listen-able. the highlight of the album is the track “Helden”. German for Heroes, and a direct cover of the Foo Fighters song by that name, except translated and sung in German. very cool stuff.

... by Caribou.

I wasn’t nuts about this album. unlike the Milk of Human Kindness, this disc didn’t really offer all that much in terms of interesting listening. if found the CD to be altogether un-engaging, and it played somewhat like a throwback to a modern day psychedelic rock album. not a bad effort by these guys, but they’ve certainly produced better.

...by Johann Johannsson.

is an electronic classical piece by the Icelandic composer. derived from a interesting method of developing computer noise couple with beautiful orchestral compositions of a classical nature. the ibm 1401 was used by Johannsson’s father in an unusual way…

in addition to the necessary business applications of the ibm 1401, Johann Sr. used the 1401 to make musical tones by inputing different punch programs into the machine, and allowing the electromagnetic emissions of the memory circuits to be picked up on a radio in the form of “interference”: essentially, an audible noise that was picked up when different phases of the programs ran through the “RAM” of the 1401.

this album is as fascinating, beautiful and creative as the method used to derive and inspire it. if you can find it, it is worth any amount of money that might be asked of it.

...by the Sugarcubes.

a product of the 80’s: a decade known for producing the most mediocre music. this album had a bit of an 80’s drawl to it, but was pretty cool nonetheless. icelandic punk-rock/alt-rock type stuff, fronted by the (then) unknown Bjork. check it out if you are a fan at all of her current work: it’s pretty fun!

...by Cake.

an oldie but a goodie. never heard this disc before in its entirety, but it’s classic Cake. you can’t go wrong, especially if you want a throw back to the mid 90’s and some rustic, honest, almost beck-like folk rock.

...he’s going “the Distance”!

...by Tilly and the Wall.

a delightful happy IndiePop rock/girl rock album, with fairly genre characteristic lo-fi presentation. but beautifully executed, a joy to listen to: in some ways, sounding like a scaled down Polyphonic Spree. careful crafted lyrics and joyous instrumentation make this a pleasure to listen to if you don’t need anything complex!

...by the soft disaster.

this is a beautiful, hard-to-classify, sort electro indie sort of lo-fi sounding record, with beautiful melodic arrangements and a variety of instrumentation, and dramatic, poetic lyrics. i can see how this album might grow on someone, but i was impressed and enthralled through the first listen!

...by the Luyas.

super cool Canadian Indie band, with some really cool arrangements of horns, and guitar drum ensemble. the draw for me is a really honest and almost naive sounding female vocalist: the presentation is delightful, uplifting, and rejuvinating. hard to find anything on this band though, they aren’t on the all music guide or anywhere else that i’ve found aside from their own website and myspace page. i was introduced to them by a new friend when we had a little listening party last night: amongst a few other things, which will appear here every now and again over the days to come.

...by Black Moth Super Rainbow. I’ve talked about BMSR before with respect to their collaboration with Octopus Project, but i’ve now acquired their 2007 release with the above title. its simply awesome. just like the collaboration, this music is definitive of Indie Day-Glo, a term the band apparently favors. its a really strange and interesting mix of flutes, analogs, synths, phase modulated and distorted lyrics, and an assortment of electronic and analogue drums and other instruments. highly recommended to the experimental listener.

from an idie lo-fi singer called Mirah. loved everything i heard. now i just need some moneys. check her out for very sexy jazzy lo-fi vocals.