Don't Take It From Anyone Else

The Soft Pack - The Soft Pack (2010)

The thing that I like about garage rock bands like The Soft Pack is that they have spunk and energy analogous to punk rock, while adding their own brand of youthful vigor.  There is a friendliness to their intensity.  The kind that invites you to join a long and rock out, as opposed to joining along and simply rebelling for the purpose of rebelling.  As with all music, you can't put yourself above it-- you can't listen to it with an initial sense of superiority.  That will ruin any music who's purpose is to convince you to share their vibes.  You have to be willing to try it.

Standout Track(s):
C'mon

I'm going to pretend that this song is about what I talked about above - I'm not convinced that it is... I'm just going to pretend.

Answer to Yourself 

Interesting Fact(s):
Found The Soft Pack when Death Cab For Cutie gave a shout-out to them from their facebook face.  It was a welcome introduction -- the last real good garage rock I heard was The Babies.  Ofcourse, when I use the term "garage rock", I'm talking about the modern likes of Best Coast, Wavves, etc.  Not the perfect term - but rarely is it.

Actin' Invincible Just Ain't Sensible

I've been listening to a lot of Mos Def earlier, mostly his first album Black on Both Sides. I owe this new affinity to Mos Def entirely to this album, Mos Dub, which introduced me to the titan of a rapper that Mos Def is on top of chill and spacey reggae beats and samples.

Max Tannone - Mos Dub (2010)

I'm not actually a huge reggae fan.  Bob Marley was never for me -- I just have trouble appreciating the differences between different tracks.  Despite being heavily exposed to it, I probably couldn't tell you with reliable accuracy if a song was even Marley or not.  However, I do like to listen to reggae every once and awhile - the sound of it is soothing and engaging all the same, and even if I don't have the desire to "explore" the genre, I can enjoy it.  Hip-hop on top of reggae, however, takes everything I like about the genre, removes the frustratingly unchanging vocal styles, and adds the potential for lyrical complexity and diverse and smooth flows.  Mos-Def capitalizes on both of these potentials.

Seriously - from the very beginning of this album, you see why Mos Def was so uniformly critically praised from the late 90's to early 2000's.  "Beef isn't what Jay said to Nas, Beef is when the working people can't find jobs."  Insightful yet impassioned social commentary is something Mos Def is a master at, and his voice is one that I really wish more people would have the chance to here.

Standout Track(s):
Johnny Too Beef

First track, and one of the most solid.  Some of my favorite Mos Def lyrics, taken from his time with Talib Kweli as Black Star. 

Ms. Vampire Booty

Mos Def tells the tale of a lost love.  I guess that's one way to put it.  I mean, it's accurate, but it just reeeeaally doesn't sound right when talking about the words of Mos Def.

Interesting Fact(s):
Mos Dub was put together by the same guy that put together Jaydiohead (which if you haven't heard, is excellent).  I enjoy it more than this in some ways, and Mos Dub more in others -- but they really shouldn't be compared.  While Jaydiohead sounds cool, and also showcases Jay-Z's talent on a new sonic stage, the the combination of Mos Def with reggae seems to show much more foresight.  The roots and common themes of reggae just fit with Mos Def's message, and it is part of what makes this album so good.

We Used To Live Like Rebels

Voxtrot - Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives (2006)

I know Voxtrot firstly from making one of the best 'love epics' I have ever known, but I recently went to look back at more of their stuff when I realized that they are from Austin.  Their other stuff seems to drop the lofi vocal effects that I knew from The Start of Something, and as a result seems less gimicky.  I don't think they could make anything as big as The Start of Something -- I'm almost glad that the rest is a slightly different style, because it allows you to listen to it without feeling that it is just too one-dimensional.

Another result of their change in style is that the lyrics don't jump out as much.  Most of the instruments are just a tad louder, and it's easy to get distracted by the sound of it all, never hearing the lyrics.  But if you are going to listen - I urge you not to fall trap to this.  The lyrics are the best part.  Ramesh Srivastava's songwriting is just impeccable, and I find so many of the lyrics are incredible.  If there's one thing that doesn't differ between The Start of Something and the rest of Voxtrot's catalog, it is the excellent story-telling and beautiful lyrics.

I kind of like bands like this.  I'm not always in the mood or mindset to get into them - a lot of times I just want new music that is easier.  But once I attach the meaning to their songs just once, I find I can go back to them and feel that meaning every time. 

Standout Track(s):
Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives

Title track... not a lot to say.  Likely the best here.

Soft & Warm

"Baby, I'd leave you for the person you used to be."   Love it.

Interesting Fact(s):
Voxtrot released 3 EPs (and one early... mixtape?  Maybe an EP.  I don't know, there isn't a ton of information on L'adieu à l'été!)  over the years before finally releasing a full-length album in 2007.  I haven't actually listened to it yet, it wasn't recieved well critically and well... They haven't made anything since.  But that's not what I want to talk about - the real interesting thing to me is how short all of the EP's were.  Each has between three and five songs on it, most of them excellent.  I always wonder what bands are doing when they are only sparsely releasing small collections of songs. 

I Wish My Name Was Clementine

Sarah Jaffe - The Way Sound Leaves A Room (2011)

Oh my god.  I already love Sarah Jaffe.  Her first album had virtually no non-hitters, and had a diverse selection of excellent acoustic folk.  One of the most underrated albums of 2010.  Now she comes out with a follow-up EP, and I was prepared to be underwhelmed.  It's easy to expect: her debut was a collection of songs spanning half a decade of her playing music.  Comparing cherry picked gems to whatever she can create in a single year... I wasn't going to be surprised if there wasn't a lot of growth.

But there was.  She starts off extremely strong - with a Drake cover of all things.  Shut it Down - is an unexpected cover that highlights the darkness of Drake's song in a way that Drake never could.  Removing Drake's easy-listening seductive voice, and adding an excellent female vocalists just makes you aware of the lyrics and gives the song a lot of power.

Anyway... Rest of the EP is fairly good as well... but despite the areas of growth, I don't think it touches her debut.  It is clearly an EP, featuring a redo of a Suburban Nature song, the cover, etc... It feels incomplete.  But it is good - if you are looking for something solid, I will always reccomend Suburban Nature.

Standout Track(s) -

Shut it Down

A Sucker For Your Marketing
Can't find this on YouTube or Grooveshark - but if you have Spotify (why don't you?) it can be found there.  I think I like this song mostly for the growth and change in style it has from her earlier stuff.

Interesting Note(s)-
Sarah is from Denton.  Don't have a lot to speak about the city itself, but I have great friends that live there - and whenever I see good talent coming out of the town, it makes me feel warm.

Spotify Link

Don't Go Killin The Vibe

Ducktails - III: Arcade Dynamics (2011)

No, this has nothing to do with Ducktales the cartoon show.  Instead of a rich duck with rambunctious nephew-ducks, Ducktails a man named Matthew Mondanile with a lovely knack for guitar. Ducktails originally got some attention for this album because Panda Bear featured on it, and the blogosphere loves to suckle on anything attached to PB- but this album certainly stands without Panda Bear.  Mondanile makes me feel like I'm chilling on the porch with a bunch of friends - and the resident guitar virtuoso is casually strumming out original, yet familiar feeling tunes that we can all vibe too.  Normally when someone is playing guitar at a chill-sesh, I want nothing more than for them to stop and put on some real music.  Ducktails lets me know what it would be like to not feel that way. It is a little lo-fi, and very homey.

Standout Track(s) - 
Little Window

Unlike Little Window, most of the tracks are not purely instrumental.  This song does capture a lot of what I like about Ducktails though, and that is... well... the guitar.  I like the guitar.

Hamilton Road

Every part of this song gets stuck in my head way too easily.

Interesting Info -
Matthew is also in a band called Real Estate - who should be dropping an album soon.  Should be pretty good - the previewed tracks from it are beautiful.

Not on Spotify.

Consuming the Room

ill.Gates - The ill.Methodology (2011)

This is an electronic album.  At heart.  Every other track seems to have vocals on it, usually rapping - enough to show off ill.Gates' large hip-hop influence.  But even on those tracks, the focus is the superb beats - the rapping usually contributing only sonically.  I mean, the raps are okay - but their best purpose is really just breaking the monotony of a full-electronic album, and they serve their purpose well.  This album has some bangers - and if you want to go hard, this album would love to join you.  If you like dubstep in the old-school sense (I'm not talking build-ups and drops), OR if you like dubstep in the brostep stance (I'm talking build-ups and drops), the ill.Methodology has something great for you.  It is actually a pretty diverse album despite it's seemingly consistent style.  That being said - it is too long.  18 Tracks - and it could definitely do without *a lot* of them.  Mostly the brostep ones.

The best tracks remain the purely electronic tracks.  They are just much closer to perfection in what Gates is trying to make - and while the vocalized tracks can be more interesting, they often just don't have the best vocals on them. 

You can stream parts of each track from here.  Not all of it, but more than iTunes would let you.  None of it is on YouTube or the like.

Standout Track(s) - 
Otoro
Great track as far as the beat goes.  Probably my favorite from the album.

Crystal Math
Purely instrumental - I wish the full track was on here, because I really like how it goes. Anyway... first track, what made me keep listening.

Interesting Info -
The most brosteppy song, Eviction, turns a recorded message from a neighbor ripping ill.Gates apart for his loud music into an extremely hard-hitting track.  I can only imagine him turning it up to 11 to play this song in response to the complaints.