20090925

Sunny Day Real Estate NEW SONG

Unless you are hiding under a rock, you are well aware that Sunny Day Real Estate is on tour. Here is a great review of one of their shows from the Onion AV Club.

One of the most interesting things I learned from that article is that they did not play any songs from their most recent album, "The Rising Tide". Kind of shocking, honestly. I realize one of the purposes of this tour is to promote the reissues of their first two albums, but still, they haven't played a concert in 8 years, and they haven't played a show with the original lineup in 15 years. "The Rising Tide" is probably the least favorite of the four SDRE LPs for most fans, but even still, the album is terrific. It has it's flaws, but I would rank it as my #1 album of 2000, and probably in my top 10 albums of this decade.

Well, bigger news than no "Rising Tide" songs is that they have A NEW SONG!:

20090918

Sunny Day Real Estate ON TOUR

Videos are starting to surface from SDRE's first complete line-up show in over 15 years. Here is a good one from Sept. 16: YouTube

I am seeing them in Atlanta on October 3 and could not be more excited.

On Tuesday the 'Diary' and 'LP2' reissues were released. I got the vinyl versions, and they are gorgeous. Both have extensive, new liner notes which are interviews with the band members along with other musicians. Both are double LPs, 'Diary' is clear red vinyl and 'LP2' is pink vinyl, of course. For Diary they made a large version of the CD booklet, so you get to have the beautiful artwork even larger to hold in your hand. For $40 including shipping from the Sub-Pop website, you can own both of these.

20090917

Opus: Why to buy physical music

Great post on the Opus blog about why he still buys CDs. I agree with the post completely, except that I prefer to vinyl. Anyway, check out the post, and check out his website, it is outstanding.

20090916

emusic Download recommendations

I just had someone post a comment asking for recent emusic recommendations- great idea! As usual, I have been neglecting this blog, so this should be an easy enough way for me to get a good post in.

1. Thrice. Unfortunately their new album, 'Beggars', has not hit emusic yet, but it will. The CD and iTunes versions are available. I have been meaning to write a detailed review about it, but keep putting it off. In short, 'Beggars' is the most cohesive album they have done since 2003's 'Artist in the Ambulance.' It sounds nothing like that album though, and really sounds nothing like anything they have ever done. It is very raw and lyrically powerful. Back to emusic, download 'The Alchemy Index' if you have not already, all four volumes are there.

2. David Bazan- Curse Your Branches. I'll avoid any comments on the spiritual implications of this release, but I will say musically it is the best thing he has done since Pedro the Lion's 'Control.' (Speaking of 'Control', it is also on emusic.) I actually haven't heard the whole album yet, because I am waiting on the vinyl to arrive. I have resisted the urge to go ahead and get the mp3s from emusic.

3. The Appleseed Cast- Sagarmatha. If you haven't downloaded the album of the year yet, now is the time. Epic, original post-rock. This post is about emusic, but I will say if you are going to only buy one vinyl album this year, get this one. In addition to a bonus track, the artwork is spectacular, from the cover to the vinyl itself. I think the CD and emusic cover for this album is horrible, but the vinyl cover is gorgeous.













4. Metric- Fantasies
. Band has been around for awhile, but I did not discover them until this 2009 release. Great indie dance-rock with female vocals. High energy, I would love to see this band live.

5. The Lassie Foundation- Through and Through. Northern Records recently added most of their catalog to the emusic database, including this Lassie Foundation two-disc set. In addition to this, all the Cush albums are highly recommended, although they are all at least 5 years old (ignore the incorrect 2007 labels). Search "Northern Records" under the record label option on emusic.