Honey Claws: Honey Claws

I caught Honey Claws over SXSW week kinda by accident and they have managed to stick in the back of my mind for the past few weeks, so I though I might spread the relentlessness. This exper./electronic Austin quartet manage to combine an assortment of different candies in order to arrive first and foremost at an unapolgetic rant of digital mayhem, not unlike the robo-giraffe beast from Northfork, had he been wearing a power glove and a wet-suite.

If you want a review read a magazine, but until then just trust me on these guys. The hip-hoppy "July" is what initially turned me on to these guys, not totally unlike the hooking lyrics of a Why? or Hood. "Villains" is very beautiful but pretty conventional pop. The HIGHLY RECOMMENDED is "Easter Sunday", a low-fi meditation about a never-ending evening. Listen please and LIKE.


Honey Claws - July
Honey Claws - Villians

Bonus:

Honey Claws - Easter Sunday

Take a Bow, Take a Drink, Take a Pill and a Nap

THE WHISKERS are here for you. Why aren't these guys more popular. I kind of wish I had found their album a few years ago before deciding to buy Antics, then maybe my love for drone-rock could have survived maybe another six months. I'm sure this band is tired of the Interol reference by now though, so I'll just say if you've ever been obsessed with Stephen Merritt at any point in your life (kind of a catch-all) you'll think The Whiskers are just the tops. Also, think Wolf Parade, The Liars, ILiKETRAiNS or Casiotone...but with Jareth the Goblin King as the front man.

"Idle Rich" and "Sails" are both amazing songs but "Roses" is the definate standout. I never thought a song about Nazi's, sailboats and Ghostbusters even existed let alone be so unrelentingly insightful (unless Destoyer did it, yeah they could probably do it...and so could my grandpa...and Jareth the Goblin King).

The Whiskers - The Idle Rich
The Whiskers - Roses


Whiskers, please come to Austin!

The Whiskers - Sails

More and More Psycho-Fuzz

It's now 9:00 AM, the drugs are wearing off and I shall soon be retiring for what should be a calm, meditative weekend...even if it is only Thursday morning...wow, that's pathetic. No, what is more pathetic is thinking someone will read this.

No, that's great, I can type whatever I want and sing it too..."I heart nazis, poop-hands, abortion-abortion, I want Ann Coulter inside me, poop-hands again, I steal silverware and batteries, cops are useless (unless your my cousin Jeff, and in that case, Jeff keep making the family and the force proud)."

Uhh Anyway, to assist with my come-down are four tracks from four artists who have absolutely nothing to do with each other. They all just make beautiful psycho-fuzz. No really guys, the psycho-fuzz is here and it is happening. Psycho-fuzz is alive and at no time in history has it been done as well as its being done right now.

You think back to all those times psycho-fuzz let you down: your eleventh birthday, the first time you got mono, that time when you were masturbating in the shower but couldn't concentrate because the dog kept scratching at the curtain, and also when your uncle got really drunk on Easter and tried to "measure" your girth for next year's Christmas slacks, and you had to let him because his tears were just too real. Yes, even then.

Not this time though:


Artists: Polmo Polpo, El Guincho, Animal Collective, Eric Copeland
Theme: None...well, maybe drugs...ok none
Race: Endocrine
Soup: No, the oven's broke, I want my goddamn Life cereal (cinnamon)
Status: Unemployed but radiant
Symptoms: drug-induced delusions of humor, comprehension and cohesiveness
Guilty: Yes
Of What: Hating myself when there's no drugs, and hating magazines that use the term psycho-fuzz when describing Eric Copeland
Greatest Fear: That someone will read this
Greatest Sadness: That no one will read this
Greatest Attribute: ...inflated sense of sensing sensitivity
Genre: Psycho-Fuzz

MP3:
Polmo Polpo - Acqua
El Guincho - Final de Archipielago
Animal Collective - Street Flash
Eric Copeland - Spacehead

I can no longer lend myself to digest this scathing rhetoric, its morally reprehensible, inadvertently asinine and dubiously relevant. (Your post, not mine)

They Talk About the Weather Like There's Nothing Else to Say

Still on my Anticon kick I inlcuded in this post a few gems I've been kicking around: first, the new Why? track from their upcoming LP Alopecia (by the way if you can find the Boards of Canada remix, its ten times more enjoyable.)

Why? - Good Friday

Also, There is a couple Sole, Skyrider songs from last year. I caught them live a few months ago here at Emo's and it was defineatley on of the better live acts, so if you get the chance I would highly recommend it. (Sole's solo instrumental stuff is really good too.)

Sole and The Skyrider Band - Shipwreckers
Sole and The Skyrider Band - The Bones of My Pets

There's also an old Thee More Shallows track thats one of my favorites, straying away from the electronic/hip hop style of their peers, this band still holds up as an amazing listen, and live show.

Thee More Shallows - 2AM

Finally, I threw in a few songs from Meanest Man Contest, who aren't actually on Anticon, but I thought they worked in this post and there new album is just right, so if your'e a fan of Anticon's stuff you should really...just listen.

Meanest Man Contest - We Wouldn't Want it Any Other Way
Meanest Man Contest - Throwing Away Broken Electronics
Meanest Man Contest - Some People (Just Get Off on Breaking Hearts)

Odd's Oddities

Pitchfork reported today that my favorite Anticon shoegangster, Odd Nosdam is releasing a remix/rarities compilation next month. This is exciting news for anyone who is a fan of his previous work. I was able to catch some of his peers at the Anticon showcase this past week and I must say this label continues to stand out. The demise of cLOUDDEAD I feared would dampen my spirits a little, but albums from Why, Odd Nosdam, Sole, and Telphone Jim Jesus were on repeat for quite awhile this past year.

By the way you can expect to hear some Anticon artists on the Odd comp, as well as a few elsewhere artists: (Skyrider, Bracken, Sereena Meneesh, Alias & Tarsier, Boards of Canada). I attached the Black Moth Mp3 from the new album and couple other tracks from Nosdam's evergrowing library.


Odd Nosdam - Forever Heavy (shoegangster/JB remix/Black Moth Super Rainbow)
Odd Nosdam - D's Chamber
Odd Nosdam - Untitled One

Lost in Austin

I have included in this post a few of the great acts currently playing around Austin. If you get a chance you should definately check them out. I think they all share a similarity in that every band is discernably different in their approach. I am considered new to this town, but already I have found some great entertainment that's not composed of mediocre covers of FM hits, appealing to the oakie crowd that shuffles into town every weekend (my apologies).

It is going to be interesting to see how Austin evolves over the next ten years, given its already dramatic transformation during the previous ten. If one thing is certain however, it will remain a young town full of pretention, ambition, and self-righteousness, paving the continuation of unique personal expression (he said with an overwhelming sense of pride).

{{{Sunset}}} - Man's Heart Complaint
Yellow Fever - Cats and Rats
Yellow Fever - Metable
Octopus Project - Vanishing Lessons
Octopus Project - Ghost Moves
Le Loup - we are gods! we are wolves!

Minimally Speaking

If anyone pays attention to this blog, all two of you might come to realize I am a huge listener of minimal techno and all its minimal glory. Clean, consistent rythms with tiny variations in speed and tempo exemplfy a subtle genius that can only be appreciated with headphones or on a dancefloor in Hungary, apparently.

Labels like Kopakt, Tenax, Revolver Canada, Minimouse and Dial have been churning out these tracks for a while, perfect for anyone getting started with this genre. I posted a few mp3's that I still listen to regularly, and hopefully one day get to experience live. But I do live in Austin, not the ideal place for said music. The Ebony track doesn't quite fit, but I included it because its just so sexy.

James Figurine - 55566688833 (The Field Mix)
claudio prc - So Close
Supermayer - The Art of Letting Go
Ebony Bones - We Know All About You
The Field - A Paw In My Face

Its...a...Miracle?

I recently found out one of my very good friends is having his first child. Due to his somber tone of voice and constant head-dropping, I could tell it was by no means a planned event. Some might say miracle. Some might say simple chemical reaction. Some might say parasite. I say not for me.

I would definately be there for him, but I can't help but think about the overwhelmning boredom that will transpire when I can't play frisbee golf because my newly "blessed" pal has to take his son/daughter to the pediatrician. How could he be so selfish? I dont get it.

Anyway, I included some tracks that ambiguously celebrate lifes greatest gift...no, not ginger beer.

Animal Collective - Baby Day

The Shaggs - Who are Parents?

Patton Oswalt - The Miracle of Child Birth (mp3 link)

FuckMyButtons?

Ever since Fuck Buttons released there new album I've had the perfect soundtrack to accompany my prolonged self-loathing, mostly due to my lack of patience when choosing an appropriate career. Oh well, if their spirited screeching and tight-knit drum rythms don't make you feel like you're pounding babies at an old high school rave then these guys might not be for you, (I assume everyone likes feeling like this). Reminds me of the first time I heard AC's Grass.

I am so pissed I had to miss them during SXSW all four times they played...damn you Anticon Showcase...but I just found out they're coming back next month with Caribou. So now I am ready to pound babies all over again...enjoy some music from Street Horrrsing.

Fuck Buttons - Bright Tomorrow

Fuck Buttons - Little Bloody Shoulder

Hello People...Isn't it Remarkable

Hello everybody...since this is my first ever post on my first ever blog I thought I might indulge you in my favorite group to come out of my maturation years...enjoy

clouddead-physics of a bicycle (mp3 link)