Rain King

gunstreetgirl:

douglasmartini:funeralface:

Silver Jews // Suffering Jukebox

i love this song so, so much.

Cassie Merritt’s super overdubbed chorus kills me every time.

tothemaxxx:

Autolux “Angry Candy” from Future Perfect, 2004.

Fun fact: Autolux were signed to the short-lived DMZ Records, a label started by T-Bone Burnett and The Coen Brothers.

Still waiting for that next record, and for a show I’m attending that they don’t withdraw from last minute. Best wishes, Autolux.

skeetonmischa:

31 Songs From The 2000s

#2 “The Shame” by the Blood Brothers

A girl nicknamed Metal Sarah with the HIM Heartagram drawn on her shoes gave me a copy of “Burn, Piano Island, Burn” one night. At the time, I would use the Blood Brothers as a punchline around my more musical friends because all I knew about the Blood Brothers were the following: people on sites like Make Out Club and Mad Rad Hair were big fans and the Blood Brother screamed a lot and did not wear shirts. However, I took the CD assuming that it was going to be awful and apparently, Metal Sarah made a lot of copies to give to people. Then, I actually listened and by the time, “The Shame” came on, I got it. I dug it. I loved it. I wasn’t going to take my shirt off anytime, but I understood why people would. Metal Sarah quickly gave me copies of the other Blood Brothers albums: “March On Electric Children” and “This Adultery Is Ripe” and I was hooked. The best way to describe the Blood Brothers, is, like, well, it’s rather cliched. You know how they say if you don’t like the weather in such and such city, just wait five minutes? That’s the Blood Brothers. If you don’t like the way the song is going, just wait a couple of seconds and it’ll go in a completely different direction.

I’m not exactly sure how many times I saw Blood Brothers live. It felt like a lot of times. The Echo, Chain Reaction, Glasshouse, and I’m probably forgetting a place or two. I had three of their shirts and often, my friend, Laura and I would unknowingly wear our Blood Brothers shirts on the same day to History of Rock N Roll class. I want to say that I was able to form friendships through a mutual love and appreciation of this band. I loved this band. I loved the dual vocalists. I loved the sass at live shows. I loved screaming “Do The Shame” at every show and the moment when we, the audience were stunned that they actually did “The Shame.” It was pretty fucking amazing when they did “The Shame”. I loved the live shows and all of the kids standing outside, smoking cigarette after cigarette with their fancy belts and wacky haircuts.

The Blood Brothers are maybe the best discovery via a rule I have about music; if a song sticks with you, even only part of one, you must give the band responsible a second chance. An acquaintance from my freshman year of college played me a bunch of things early on in the semester. Most of the stuff he played me was noisy and terrible, and for a little while I thought the Blood Brothers were no exception. He had played me “Fuckin’s Greatest Hits”, and despite my immediate dislike, I kept playing the funky opening riff in my head.

The semester passed. I returned to LA with my tastes expanded exponentially. With the Brothers’ guitar lick still in my head I decided to give them another try.

HO-LY SHIT. The difference was night and day. Burn, Piano Island, Burn wasn’t reprehensible, it was a revelation. I started blasting it in my car all the time. “Cecilia & the Silhouette Saloon”, “The Salesman Denver Max”, “Every Breath is a Bomb” were schizoid monsters. Then, of course, there was “The Shame”, relatively subdued but still hiding a stick or two of dynamite in its coat. Then it hit that outro, that seemingly infinite climb of vocal overdubs unti-

skeetonmischa:

31 Songs From The 2000s

#6 “The Rat” by The Walkmen

I saw The Walkmen open up for Hot Hot Heat at the Glasshouse one night. Remember Hot Hot Heat? I don’t know after that night. I think I went home and following deleted every single Hot Hot Heat song off my iPod because they weren’t a band. The Walkmen were a band. With real guitars and real drums and a real singer!

Right around the release of “Bows & Arrows,” I became flat out obsessed with The Walkmen. I remember getting as soon as I could when they played one night at the Henry Fonda. I just stood in awe of their drummer Matt Brick. Especially during “The Rat,” I thought he was going to break a stick every time he smashed down. After that night, I refused to air drum to The Walkmen out of respect of Brick’s musicianship.

Been in love with them since ‘04 when Bows + Arrows came out; I fed the CD into my car’s stereo and was hooked immediately. They were the best live band I saw in ‘09. They fucking killed it at Pitchfork, brought a horn section onstage several times and more or less showed up nearly everyone.

Runners up: The National, Grizzly Bear, Yeasayer, Real Estate

saraliz:

atlas sound - walkabout (w/ norah lennox)

This song is like a dream come true; two of my favorite working musicians joining forces to produce a song that sounds like the best of their respective styles fused into one monster summer jam.

paulina:

My Own Summer (Shove It) - Deftones

This was the first Deftones song that I ever heard.

“Be Quiet and Drive” was my first, although this was the standout that followed close behind. Of all the music I was listening to in 1997, the Deftones are one of about 3 bands that I still like.