Church Library - My Very Dear Friend (2009)

Here's a nice surprise.

"My Very Dear Friend" is a short and sweet E.P. released on the always awesome record label Holiday Records. If you're a fan of dreamy female vocals like those found on The Innocence Mission's or Cocteau Twins stuff then this is for you. A wonderful blend of acoustic indie pop and lush dream pop, it may only be 3 songs but this release is a sign of a fuckwin band in the making.

Give it a listen

Tell me more about Holiday Records

Favorite Tracks: Archers of Loaf - Wrong

Archers of Loaf - Wrong
From "Icky Mettle"
Year: 1993



I'll be honest with you, this wasn't my first choice of the evening. I was originally going to post/talk about/show my love for another Archers of Loaf song entitled "Web In Front". But after thinking about it for a while, I realised that this probably outdoes it in every single way. It's faster, it's noisier, it's got one hell of a killer guitar tone, and one of the greatest/angstiest shoutout lyrics to ever grace this particular brand of early 90's indie rock.

First off you hear this warm, fuzzy guitar playing away untill a whistle comes in...yeah, a whistle. Or a flute maybe...actually...what is that? Sounds weird...wait...is that a guitar? It is. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is. How they managed that we'll never know (but MBV might, see "Soon" for more crazy flute/whistle guitar). And as soon as you've got your head around that, it kicks in. Guitar, drums, bass, vocals, weird flute guitar all kicking out the jams. And that's all this song is. It's a jam. I'm not gonna overcomplicate it, because it's such an uncomplicated track. Noisy and raw, just how I like it. OH, and of course there's that awesome lyric (voted family feelgood lyric of the year, all the years) that kicks in at the end.

"I do not think you could like me anyway, because you are inferior to me"

OUCH, that's gotta hurt the chick he wrote that about.

ART-SCHOOL - Charlotte E.P. (2002)

I apologise for the low resolution image you see before you, but I couldn't find a better picture on the internet. Now, you just KNOW a band is obscure when they have no high-res, heck even mid-res, album art on the interbutts. So I present to you, ART-SCHOOL.

Sounding like a cross between At The Drive-In and early Radiohead (like, Pablo Honey early, yes y'know the Radiohead album fans choose to ignore even though "Anyone Can Play Guitar" is the jam of a lifetime/end rant) ART-SCHOOL are an immensly enjoyable j-rawk band. They have the raw power and emotion you'd expect from a post-hardcore band and the razor sharp, melodic guitar hooks you'd expect from an indie rock band. And y'know what? It works perfectly.

I'm gonna suggest you listen to this particular E.P. because it really shows just what this band is capable of in just 6 songs (1 of them being a cover of the Eels classic, "It's a Motherfucker"). You probably won't know what they're singing about, it being in japanese and all but you can hear true, raw, honest to God passion in these songs. Oh, and the fact that most of their song titles are girls names will give you an idea of what they're about (Boo hoo, she doesn't love me, boo hoo).

Give it a whirl, it's straight-up, no-nonsense, awesome j-rawk.

Give it a listen

I'm just buying that stairway up to heaven

Look Mexico - This Is Animal Music (2007)

If you listen to one album today make it this one. The debut album from uber-awesome indie rock, math rock, emo band Look Mexico is a bona fide masterpiece. They sound like This Town Needs Guns and Algernon Cadwallader's lovechild, and that's no bad thing. With killer math rock drum beats you won't be able to get your head around, excellent, layered, math rock arpeggio wanking guitar creating catchy-as-fuck melodies that back up some amazing vocals (for an emo band, anyway) that are spitting out some genius lyrics. There's a bass guitar in there as well.

A while back I thought This Town Needs Guns would become my saviours, creating new, interesting second wave-emo inspired music. But Look Mexico's debut blows "Animals" (This Town Needs Guns debut, in case you're out of the loop) out of the water. It's catchy, it's quick, it's emotional and it's experimental (with a very Books-esque recording playing throughout the album). It's utter genius is what it is is what it is.

Give it a listen

I am a wonderful person and I'd like to buy this

Favorite Tracks: Shugo Tokumaru - Clocca

Shugo Tokumaru - Clocca
From "Exit"
Year: 2007



So, how many of you maggots have actually heard of Shugo Tokumaru? Yeah, that's what I thought, none of you, and you should all feel terrible for that very reason. If only you knew what you were missing out on, well let me fill you in. Basically what you've got here is a mulit-instrumentalist creating beautiful yet childish melodies on a variety of instruments ranging from bells to bongo's, glokenspiels to guitars. The end product having something extremely playful and young about it, and the song "Clocca" is the embodiment of all of that.

Opening with a simple melody played on a recorder, you hear a whole bunch of other instruments flowing in creating this weird soundscape that is unlike anything else out there (especially when this second recorder comes in playing some eerie tune that kinda scares me). The rest of the song follows standard pop song affair, there's a verse then there's a chorus. HECK, there's even a bridge. I mean, sure, it's all in japanese so you will have no idea what the guy's singing about, but it sounds fuckwin because you can hear all these weird and wonderful instruments complimenting eachother throughout. It has to be heard to be understood.

Now, unfortunatley whilst looking for the release date of this song (and its respective album, Exit, which you should all download or buy or something) that Pitchfork came all over it. But don't let that put you off, it really is a wonderful collection of magical, experimental songs (that the guy mixed and recorded himself on his laptop....wow, I kinda get why Pitchfork liked it so much now).

One day I'll actually get around to listening to his other albums, and who knows they might actually be better.