Anyone can have a good time.

Friend/Enemy - 10 Songs (2002)

2008-07-15T18:22:00.001-07:00

Friend/Enemy - 10 songs

Friend/Enemy is the new release from the confounding and prolific collective that brought us Cap'n Jazz, Joan of Arc and Owls. Spattering, loud, wild and moody. Lyrical twists forming scenarios previously unimagined.

Songs began with a loose foundation of guitar and vocal parts from Tim Kinsella and Todd Mattei and were built up from there with drums, bass, banjos, pianos and all manner of noisemakers and ghosts by this stellar group of musicians:

Tim Kinsella - guitars, singing, etc (owls, joan of arc)

Todd Mattei - guitars, singing, etc (joan of arc)

Jim Becker - pedal steel, banjo (paulina hollers, califone)

Caryn Culp - backing vocals (plastic crime wave)

Graeme Gibson - organ (mansion)

Emma Grace Ketner - backing vocals

Zac Hill - drums (hella, team sleep)

Andy Lansangan - electric piano, marimba (90 day men)

Nick Macri - bass (euphone, the zincs, sunny day real estate)

Chris Powell - drums, percussion, piano (need new body)

Azita Youssefi - piano (bride of no no)

Sam Zurick - bass (joan of arc, owls)

Recorded and mixed by Graeme Gibson at Clava and The Slabb, Chicago, November 2001 and January 2002.

Tracklist:

01. Thax Douglas [03:07]

02. Do the Stand on One Foot Dance to the Radio Rodeo [04:35]

03. I'd Rather Be High Than Get Laid Any Day of the Week [04:50]

04. How Do You Explain Me to Your Mom [03:12]

05. Out at the Inner (Dark) [02:54]

06. Just Like Ann E. Fay's Blues [02:57]

07. Teeny Comealong [07:26]

08. The Lost Sciences of the First Pressing of the Bible [03:45]

09. I Once Loved Someone, Etc. [01:45]

10. Okay We'll Fade Before the End [01:48]

Download

The Promise Ring - Woodwater

2008-07-04T12:22:00.000-07:00

Woodwater (2002)

01. Size Of Your Life [03:09]
02. Stop Playing Guitar [05:05]
03. Suffer Never [04:11]
04. Become One Anything One [04:19]
05. Wake Until April [05:07]
06. Get On The Floor [04:07]
07. Half Year sun [05:40]
08. My Life Is At Home [04:16]
09. Letters To The Far Reach [02:29]
10. Bread And Coffee [03:53]
11. Say Goodbye Good [06:37]
12. Feed The Night [03:04]

Tim Kinsella(s) - Demands Feminist Critique

2008-07-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

Demands Feminist Critique
(2002)

01. My Dick is Small and I Smell Like Shit [05:38]
02. Drunk On Doomsday [05:33]
03. Amorous Humphrey Plugg [03:16]

The Love Of Everything - Superior Mold And Die

2008-07-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

Superior Mold And Die (2006)

01. Nothing Left To Use [02:57]

02. Sokay [02:48]
03. Drive Through Rainbow [06:31]
04. Bad Year [02:53]
05. Dresden [02:06]
06. Dead Laughing [01:55]
07. Too Much Happy Wet Hair [03:43]
08. Fill Your Eyes In [00:57]
09. Superior Mold And Die [02:07]
10. Don't Wait [02:54]
11. Horses Are Brave [02:11]

December Architects - Bifocalbyefulcrumbymarionette

2008-05-24T09:23:00.000-07:00

Bifocalbyefulcrumbymarionette

(1999)
____________________

01. And Jeff and Zack And
02. Illium
03. Seventeen Year Old Haiku Girl
04. Miscellaneous Anythings
05. Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A B A (Start)
____________________

Record Time: 18:06

The One Up Downstairs

2008-05-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

The One Up Downstairs
(2006)
__________________________

01. Champagne

02. Rememories
03. Franco the Bull
__________________________

Record Time: 11:00

One wonders what would have happened if The One Up Downstairs had stayed together instead of splintering into American Football and Very Secretary. The band originally recorded a three-song 7" that was to be released by hometown label Polyvinyl but disbanded before the record was pressed, a move that indefinitely shelved the release. Singer Mike Kinsella and drummer Steve Lamos went on to form American Football, which released both a self-titled EP and a self-titled full-length on Polyvinyl. Guitarist David Johnson and bass player Allen Johnson went on to form Very Secretary with ex-Braid drummer Roy Ewing. Very Secretary released two albums through the Parasol imprint Mud. As American Football and Very Secretary gained popularity, so too did interest in The One Up Downstairs tracks. By the end of the millennium, however, both American Football and Very Secretary had broken up. Mike Kinsella went on to perform solo material as Owen, Steve Lamos went on to form The Geese and DMS, and David and Allen Johnson formed Favorite Saints. Nearly a decade after The One Up Downstairs' breakup, interest in the original 7" persisted. In 2006 the release finally sees the light of day via digital download.

Everyoned

2008-05-23T10:36:00.000-07:00

Everyoned is an experimental group of sorts; it features some Chicago music-scene heavyweights from bands such as Pigface, Revolting Cocks, TVPow, Joan of Arc, The Owls, Town & Country and Central Falls- and that's just to name a few. The collaboration had been in the works for years- it seemed like everyone wanted to work with everyone else at some point and had been talking about it for years until they were finally all brought together in one space and began work.

Songwriting for Everyoned began in the spring of 2002, but labeling the creative process of Everyoned at the time as songwriting is perhaps something of a misnomer. Everyoned was a creative process that grew in fits and starts. Part of this had to do with the simple logistics of getting together: at any given time, as many as three of its members were recording or touring with one of their other bands. Another part of this process had to do with a deliberate move away from the structured, rehearsed song as each member had previously experienced it.
When the planets aligned and everyone was in the same place at the same time, the creative experimentation and sound of Everyoned grew like something akin to algae on a pond- patches would amorphously form here and there...these patches eventually grew and shifted around a bit, swallowing smaller patches until the entire surface had been transformed into some larger organism with a new identity. Listeners can identify the hand of each of Everyoned's members in little bits and pieces scattered about the record, but they would be hard pressed to claim that any of the members' sound or personality has risen to assume the identity of the record. Even something as identifiable as Chris Connelly's singing has been transformed into something perversely different.

Tim has said that when the song writing began, their approach was something that had become something counterintuitive to all of them. Instead of writing a finished piece of music and then deconstructing it (or piling on the layers) until it had become that original song in its finished form, Everyoned worked the other way around. They purposely intended to write write no more than 2/3rds of a song- insisting on an emphasis on improvisation in their performance to define the song. Ben has suggested that the driving, almost jazz-like pulse of the songs is a direct product of the nervous creative energy that went into filling in the blanks of these songs as the members performed them on the spot. The results are gorgeously lush constructions of delicate guitar harmonies, swimming bass lines, textures of strings and keyboard sounds and only the simplest percussion. Combined with Connelly's beautifully warbling voice, the songs impart a dark, delicately driving moodiness.

Everyoned was formed as a collaborative effort, each member bringing their particular flavors to a series of recorded performances inspired by the magnificent Astral Weeks by Van Morrison and in part, by Miles Davis' In A Silent Way. These records have a few things in common: they feature an impressive lineup of professional musicans- each musician established in his/her own right and enjoying his/her own respective career; these records were recorded over a very short period of time in just a few intense sessions, focusing on the live, collaborative performances of the musicians set around a predefined structure of songs they were to perform. As a result, these records have a presence which marks them as powerfully unique in the careers of their collaborators.

Everyoned
(2004)
_____________________

01. Class Shall Wake
02. Knife Audition
03. Friends of Mine
04. First to Know
05. Curtains
06. Dancer's Legs
07. Low End Flight
08. You Wear It Like Smoke
_____________________

Record Time: 40:34

Joan of Arc - Discografía Completa

2008-05-16T14:09:00.000-07:00

Joan of Arc, discografía completa ;)

Method and Sentiment 7" (Jade Tree, 1996)

Tracklist:

01. Didactic Prom [03:20]
02. Please Sleep [02:16]
03. Trial at Orleans [04:11]

Busy Bus, Sunny Sun / Stemingway
and Heinbeck 7" (Southern Records, 1997)

Tracklist:

01. Busy Bus, Sunny Sun [05:17]
02. Stemingway and Heinbeck [04:24]

A Portable Model of (Jade Tree, 1997)

Tracklist:

01. I Love a Woman (Who Loves Me) [02:00]
02. The Hands [02:44]
03. Anne Aviary [05:25]
04. Let's Wrestle [02:41]
05. Romulans! Romulans! [01:28]
06. Post Coitus Rock [03:21]
07. Count to a Thousand [08:16]
08. How Wheeling Feels [04:08]
09. In Pompeii [01:38]
10. Caliban [03:05]
11. In Pamplona [01:53]
12. I Was Born [01:08]
13. (I Love a Woman) Who Loves Me [03:38]

How Memory Works (Jade Tree, 1998)

Tracklist:

01. Honestly Now [00:49]
02. Gin & Platonic [03:33]
03. To've Had Two Of [03:07]
04. This Life Cumulative [03:41]
05. A Pale Orange [06:47]
06. White Out [03:51]
07. So Open; Hooray [04:24]
08. A Name [03:09]
09. Osmosis Doesn't Work [03:33]
10. God Bless America [02:23]
11. A Party Model Of [02:53]

Live in Chicago, 1999 (Jade Tree, 1999)

Tracklist:

01. It's Easier to Drink on an Empty Stomach Than Eat on a Broken Heart [04:58]
02. Who's Afraid of Elizabeth Taylor? [06:27]
03. If It Feels / Good, Do It [05:05]
04. Live In Chicago, 1999 [02:11]
05. (I'm 5 Senses) None of Them Common [03:48]
06. Me (Plural) [05:04]
07. I'm Certainly Not Pleased With My Options for the Future [00:37]
08. When the Parish School Dismisses and the Children Running Sing [03:52]
09. Thanks for Chicago, Mr. James [02:24]
10. (In Fact I'm) Pioneering New Emotions [02:58]
11. Better De'd Than Read [03:15]
12. Sympathy for the Rolling Stones [06:34]
13. All Until the Greens Reveal Themselves at Dawn [03:10]

The Gap (Jade Tree, 2000)

Tracklist:

01. (You) [I] Can Not See (You) [Me] As (I) [You] Can [03:20]
02. As Black Pants Make Cat Hairs Appear [07:49]
03. Knife Fights Every Night [05:08]
04. John Cassavetes, Assata Shakur, and Guy Debord Walk Into a Bar... [00:54]
05. Another Brick at the Gap Part 2 [02:57]
06. Zelda [01:57]
07. 'Pleasure Isn't Simple' [03:19]
08. Me and America (or) the United Colors of the Gap [05:18]
09. Your Impersonation This Morning of Me Last Night [09:11]
10. Outside the Gap [02:45]

How Can Anything So Little Be Any More? (Jade Tree, 2001)

Tracklist:

01. Leaving Needn't Take Long [03:22]
02. Ne Mosquitoes Pass [03:26]
03. We Neither Hide Nor Seek [02:02]
04. Most at Home in Motels [04:58]
05. My Cause Is Noble and Just [03:53]
06. My Fight Is Necessary [02:52]
07. What If We Are Not After All, All Destined for Greatness? [03:04]
08. I'll Show You, I'll Show You All [03:14]

So Much Staying Alive and Lovelessness (Jade Tree, 2003)

Tracklist:

01. On a Bedsheet in the Breeze on the Roof [06:17]
02. The Infinite Blessed Yes [04:27]
03. Perfect Need and Perfect Completion [05:36]
04. Olivia Lost [05:17]
05. Diane Cool and Beautiful [03:44]
06. Mr. Participation Billy [02:21]
07. Mean to March [04:48]
08. Hello Goodnight Good Morning Goodbye [02:45]
09. Dead Together [04:09]
10. Madelleine Laughing [04:15]
11. Staying Alive and Lovelessness [03:08]

In Rape Fantasy and Terror Sex We Trust

(Perishable Records, 2003)

Tracklist:

01. Sing The Scarecrow Song [03:30]
02. Happy 1984 and 2001 [06:18]
03. Excitement Is Exciting [03:14]
04. Barge [05:09]
05. Gang Language [04:25]
06. Moonlighthing [03:34]
07. Dinosaur Constellations, pt. 1 [01:55]
08. Them Brainwash Days [03:18]
09. Dinosaur Constellations, pt. 2 [02:46]
10. No Corporate News Is Good News [02:47]
11. That Radiant Morning [01:39]
12. Them Heartache Nights [00:46]
13. Dinosaur Constellations, pt. 3 [00:37]
14. In Rape Fantasy and Terror Sex We Trust [08:34]

Live in Muenster, 2003 (Record Label, 2004)

Tracklist:

01. Who's Afraid of Elizabeth Taylor? [07:01]
02. The Infinite Blessed Yes [04:09]
03. White Out [04:42]
04. Me (Plural) [04:05]
05. Mr. Participation Billy [03:23]
06. Gin and Platonic [03:48]
07. As Black Pants Make Cat Hairs Appear [05:20]
08. Perfect Need and Perfect Completion [05:49]
09. Olivia Lost [04:08]
10. Sing the Scarecrow Song [03:49]
11. Happy 1984 and 2001 [06:35]
12. [You] (I) Can Not See [You] (Me) As [I] (You) Can [03:38]

Joan of Arc, Dick Cheney, Mark Twain... (Polyvinyl Record Co., 2004)

Tracklist:

01. Questioning Benjamin Franklin's Ghost [03:18]
02. Apocalypse Politics [02:22]
03. The Title Track of This Album [01:19]
04. Queasy Lynn [02:37]
05. White and Wrong [03:26]
06. Onomatopoepic Animal Faces [04:21]
07. A Half-Deaf Girl Named Echo [05:32]
08. 80's Dance Parties Most of All [01:49]
09. Deep Rush [01:57]
10. Gripped By the Lips [04:15]
11. Fleshy Jeffrey [04:12]
12. Abigail, Cops and Animals [04:33]
13. "Still" From Miss Kate's Texture Dictionary [02:26]
14. The Details of the Bomb [04:18]
15. I Trust a Litter of Kittens Still Keeps the Colosseum [06:20]
16. The Telephones Have Began Making Calls [03:30]
17. The Cash In and Price [01:09]

Presents Guitar Duets (Record Label, 2005)

Tracklist:

01. Bobby Burg & Nate Kinsella [02:23]
02. Matt Clark & Bobby Burg [04:54]
03. Todd Mattei & Matt Clark [04:02]
04. Sam Zurick & Jeremy Boyle [07:09]
05. Nate Kinsella & Ben Vida [03:27]
06. Tim Kinsella & Mike Kinsella [02:54]
07. Jeremy Boyle & Tim Rutili [10:32]
08. Todd Mattei & Tim Kinsella [04:25]
09. Tim Rutili & Sam Zurick [07:55]
10. Mike Kinsella & Ben Vida [02:52]

The Intelligent Design of (Polyvinyl Record Co., 2006)

Tracklist:

01. Didactic Prom [03:20]
02. Please Sleep [02:16]
03. Trial at Orleans [04:11]
04. Busy Bus, Sunny Sun [05:17]
05. Stemingway and Heinbeck [04:24]
06. A Picture Postcard [03:18]
07. Forensic Economics [04:29]
08. You (Single) [05:26]
09. I'm Sorry I Got So Drunk Before My Solo Set in Tokyo [05:31]
10. My Girlfriend Dumped Me After the Free Trip to Japan [05:35]
11. Please Don't Mistake My Arrogance for Shyness [04:08]
12. For a Half-Deaf Girl Named Echo [04:07]
13. George, Oh Well (Stand and Clap) [01:13]
14. For the Skinheads and Hippies [01:54]
15. You Say Tornaydo and I Say Tornahdo [02:03]
16. Kissinger's Lament When Some Young Bunny or Bildeberg Whore Kicks Him Out of Bed for Snoring (in the Key of Me) [04:32]
17. Violencii or Violencum [04:12]
18. The Evidence [06:21]
19. Song for Josh [04:09]

Eventually, All at Once (Polyvinyl Record Co., 2006)

Tracklist:

01. Eventually, All at Once [03:19]
02. I'm Calling Off All Falls from Grace [03:07]
03. Miss Cat Piss and Peppermint [03:14]
04. You Can't Change Your Mind [02:59]
05. Living Out in the Sea of Umbrellas [04:36]
06. Many Times I've Mistaken [03:57]
07. The Words Have Cast Their Spells [04:03]
08. If All These People Can Understand Money [02:52]
09. Scratches a Pencil [05:01]
10. Free Will and Testament [03:41]

Many Times I've Mistaken 7" (Polyvinyl Record Co., 2007)

Tracklist:

01. Many Times I've Mistaken [03:19]
02. Eventually, All At Once [04:12]

Orchard Vale Soundtrack (Record Label, 2007)

Tracklist:

01. Orchard Vale (2:50)
02. Sophie (2) (2:58)
03. Princess Koko (3:29)
04. Sophie (3:20)
05. I Want to See Those Screws Before You Bring Them (1:38)
06. Well You Aren't and You Can't (0:40)
07. Sophie (3) (3:31)
08. Are We Buried Alive or are We Dreaming That We're Buried Alive? (1:37)
09. Hockey Game (1:32)
10. Time to Kill (2:13)
11. Gus's Dream (0:35)
12. Sophie (4) (4:41)
13. Scene 72 (3:16)
14. Orchard Vale (3:01)

Boo! Human (Polyvinyl Record Co., 2008)

Tracklist:

01. Shown and Told (3:22)
02. Laughter Reflected Back (2:44)
03. Just Pack or Unpack (5:09)
04. 9/11 2 (1:19)
05. A Tell-Tale Penis (3:50)
06. Everywhere I Go (1:23)
07. Vine on a Wire (4:57)
08. Insects Don't Eat Bananas (1:50)
09. Lying and Cheating Mind (0:25)
10. If There Was a Time #1 (3:29)
11. The Surrender #1 (3:14)
12. If There Was a Time #2 (3:57)
13. The Surrender #2 (4:50)
14. So-and-So (3:13)

bueno, hela allí... estuve como 3 horas creando el post, entre que buscaba la fotito y acomodaba los tracks y etc., así que espero la disfruten!

Vermont

2008-05-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

Living Together (1999)

01. Indiana Jones
02. Lightning Tattoos
03. Broadway Joe
04. Where Planes Go Down
05. Living Together
06. Bee, Leave Me Be
07. Tiny White Crosses
08. Downtown Heart
09. Old Blue
10. My Favorite Legend
11. These Dudes, They Got a Band

Calling Albany (2002)
01. Bells Of Saint Alcohol
02. Chorine Chlorine
03. Ballad Of Larry Bird
04. * (Calling Albany)
05. Where The Wild Drums Are
06. Hello_Goodbye Sex
07. Screw-On Shoes
08. Kill An Hour
09. Arrest Harrison Ford
10. World Doesn't Ask You, The
11. Commodores 64
12. I'd Be Happy As The World Turning Around You

Love Of Everything - Total Eclipse Of The Heart

2008-05-14T20:01:00.000-07:00

Though Bobby Burg has plenty to keep him occupied between playing in Make Believe and Joan of Arc and managing his own label, 'Record Label', he still finds ample time for his longest standing band to date, Love of Everything. Superior Mold and Die marks either the 3rd or 4th album since LOE's formation in 2000 depending on if you count the numerous splits and EPs released over the past 5 years. Burg's latest effort is a seamless mix of original acoustic folk songs and his signature looped and layered pop soundscapes.

Love of Everything's formula of raw grown-up lyrics with childlike toy keyboard and nursery rhyme rhythms remains intact and this collection of songs works hard to develop the experimental themes presented in past releases. Fans will recognize many of these songs from his unforgettable live solo shows where he builds a wall of sound with simple instruments and a looping pedal until he finally starts singing, hushing audiences with the initial surprise of words after the lengthy process of creating the sound of a full band.

With five years, a 16-country tour, and numerous incarnations under his belt (including a plethora of musicians from the avant-garde music scene including members of Storm & Stress, Pinebender, Mirah, Rainer Maria, Euphone, Joan of Arc, Make Believe, Cex, Owen, and Shellac, both live and on record), Love of Everything has evolved as a true expression of Burg's emotional life, sweetly haunting and complex in it's simplicity.

Total Eclipse Of The Heart (2004)
01. The Race
02. Beddowframe
03. Little Bit of Good
04. Blooming a Ton
05. Mary My Wife
06. Unsizeable
07. Dear Gravity Falls
08. Living Life Too
09. Porch Sleeping
10. Prize is a Surprise
11. Be Nice To Me
12. My Hero's Are Lacy
13. Last First Half
14. Fade

Make Believe - Of Course

2008-05-14T19:53:00.000-07:00

Make Believe - Of Course
(2006)

A Song About Camping
Another Song About Camping
Political Mysticism
Florida/Oklahoma 12/05
Pat Tillman, Emmit Till
Coup D'Thought
Bisect Duality
Plants Dance
Sometimes I See Sideways
Anything/Selling That Thing

The Promise Ring - Boys & Girls + Electric Pink / The Horse Latitudes.

2008-05-14T14:23:00.001-07:00

The Horse Latitudes

(1997)
01. Watertown Plank - 3:48
02. Mineral Point - 3:54
03. A Picture Postcard - 3:12
04. Saturday - 2:32
05. Scenes From a Parisian Life - 1:26
06. E. Texas Ave. - 2:32
07. Miette - 5:01
08. I Never Trusted the Russians - 2:01

Boys & Girls EP
(1998)

01. Tell Everyone We're Dead
02. Best Looking Boys
03. American Girl

Electric Pink EP
(2000)
01. Electric Pink
02. Strictly Television
03. American Girl (v. 0.1 )
04. Make Me a Mixtape

Boys & Girls + Electric Pink EP Download.

Ghosts & Vodka - Addicts and Drunks

2008-05-14T13:53:00.001-07:00

Addicts & Drunks
2003
01. Andrea Loves Horses
02. It's All About Right Then
03. Good Luck With Your Multiple Personalities
04. Laser Guided By God
05. Futuristic Genitalia
06. Sex Is Popular
07. Hot Dot Above, Tan Man Below
08. Is That A Person?
09. Four Red Brains
10. Conversational All-Stars
11. Mechanical Bull Rider
12. Nicholas Prefers Dinosaurs
13. Cowboys And Sailors?
14. Doo Dee Doo Dee Do
15. Stoli On The Rocks
16. Bizarre Funeral

Tim Kinsella - Crucifix Swastika

2008-05-14T13:29:00.000-07:00

Beirut. The Patriot Act. Palestine. Africa. Wal-Mart. Clear Channel. Peak oil. Global devastation. The backward talk of those in power that dominates and suffocates our cultural discourse. Overpopulation. The dawning of neo-feudalist Theocracy in America. It's a busy, interesting place we've got here. Lots of information aimed at us. The hidden hand of power.

But beyond our control, dark energy, string theory, conceptions of an infinite mutiverse render any issues of free obsolete. We are really only allowed questions. WE can't understand anything. How could we? We live at the lip of the bubble of understanding of our own designs - never not curious, and never able to poke through.

So my point - I do have one - is that in our world, the most basic requirement we share is kept in balance only if it's shaken in many directions at the same time. And what can any of us do to help rectify the situation? We must integrate our politics into our lifestyle, acknowledge that every bridge, hook, melody and sales strategy has political demensions.

In short, I am asking that every band that appeared in the August 2006 issue of Alternative Press break up.

Sorry.

Desperate times require desperate measures. There's no good reason why "ex-rockstar" shouldn't be the most common job in the future. It's obvious from flipping through an issue of this magazine that there are too many bands, all trying in different ways to look and sound like each other. It's unsustainable. Why don't you guys all save yourself the inevitable worry and humiliation the future holds, break up now, and be the first mass movement in cutural history to self-consciously commit suicide?

There are pictures of maybe half a dozen people in that issue that I know, trust, respect and consider my friends. And I'm sorry to ask this of you guys, some of you have helped us in the past, and I appreciate it, but our country needs you. Your bands have to break up. You guys on the cover (one of you was 13 in 2001, so you're now at draft age), we need you to quit.

Even you guys that just had a thumbnail band photo in an ad, sorry. Collateral damage, I guess. However you each choose to understand it, let's all agree we need to draw the line clearly. Every band whose name is even mentioned in the August 2006 issue of AP must break up immediately. So, Cute Is What We Aim For, consider your new aim ansering the call of our country. Underoath, pledge allegiance to the freedom of your fellow citizens. Circa Survive, you ran an add, and I'm sorry, that's enough. You must not survive.

I know this seems like a bummer to you guys, but think about it. Throughout history, music has been at the center of every culture. Music is what people have always had between them to help each other understand how to live. The values of a culture are hiddin within its music. And I dont mean that in a Christian-rock or straight-edge way. I mean our culture is not only sick, but its taking the whole world down with it, and its symptoms are in song structures and rituals of performance.

The simplistic, sensational, emotionalistim of soaring crescendos - whose success or failure relate only to how familiar they seem on first listen - must become tired and redundant by design. When you reach your saturation point and can no longer react to these octave chords' urgent demands, then what? Will all displays of emotion seem silly? Mustn't it be true, like the boy who cried wolf, that every feigned-spontaneous emotional signifier thrust upon you by some band will just deaden your sense of empathy in the future? Perhaps even in a real-world situation, with real-world consequences? If TV and reality can be so interwined, past signifiers of rebellion is rebellion, and this is punk rock, why not?

Don't the sensationalist requirements of vicarious catharsis ask so much, that our empathy will be spent before it ever has a chance to blossom? I mean, I might not be able to understand when someone is hurting - and in turn know how to help them - if my formative experiences with understanding emotions is via these fashionable men and women.

But it's not too late. If the bands break up, maybe we can have music again in the future, and we will be able to hear it for what it is - not what it's being sold as.

I know this is a lot to ask of bands. And no one 22-year-old New Jersey kid is to blame - it's the design that is flawed. But one can't stay quiet. One has a responsibility to stand up for what one sees as god and right in the world, and if my plea can make a difference in even one young band's life - if just one band breaks up - my work here will have been worth it.

Crucifix Swastika
2005
01. Fondu Or Don't
02. The Singularity Song
03. 'Member Sexy' Branes
04. Utopioneers
05. I'm Not A Robot-Barbarian
06. HoPi Profiteers

Noyes - Noyes

2008-05-13T13:14:00.000-07:00

Noyes ( 2003 )

01. Puppet Of Masters
02. News Scatters
03. This Is The Bad One
04. So Long, Long Song Titles

The Promise Ring - 30° Everywhere

2008-05-13T13:04:00.001-07:00

30° Everywhere

01. Everywhere In Denver
02. The Sea Of Cortez
03. Run Down The Waterwall
04. We Don't Like Romance
05. Red Paint
06. Heart Of A Broken Story
07. Scenes From France
08. Anne You Will Sing
09. My Firetower Flame
10. Between Pacific Coasts
11. A Picture Postcard
12. Somebody's Done For

( 1996, Jade Tree )

The Sky Corvair - Unsafe At Any Speed

2008-05-13T12:55:00.000-07:00

Essentialy began as a side-project while its members played in other Chicago area bands Braid, Cap'n Jazz and Gauge. The Sky Corvair played its first show in October 1994 and recorded nine songs in December 1994. Not long after, Tim left the band to more intensely pursue Cap'n Jazz. It was then Alex assumed the role of guitar player until the band's untimely demise in May 1995. Having written and recorded an addtional three songs with Alex, Actionboy has released a twelve song discography of their work. Each of the original members went on to play in the bands Braid, Joan of Arc and Traluma just to name a few. While Alex has moved to Massachusetts to begin a career as a glass blowing apprentice. Recently, on January 17, 1998 The Sky Corvair played its first show in nearly three years at the Fireside Bowl. This show marked the release of their album. In addition, it gave newer fans a chance to see them while treating some older ones to a "blast from the past." As for the future, each will continue to focus on their current endeavors. The occurence of more shows is unlikely though it remains undetermined.

Unsafe At Any Speed.

01. Astaire
02. Ethyl
03. Swallow Water
04. Congratulations, I'm Late
05. Dinky Rope Dog
06. Choking Tonic Soda
07. St. December
08. Fifth Grade Tender
09. Iris Is Aching For A Day
10. Carpetbaggers
11. Peppermint Gas

American Football

2008-05-13T11:46:00.000-07:00

American Football
( 1999 )

01. Never Meant
02. The Summer Ends
03. Honestly?
04. For Sure
05. You Know I Should Be Leaving Soon
06. But The Regrets Are Killing Me
07. I'll See You When We're Both Not So Emotional
08. Stay Home
09. The One With The Wurlitzer

American Football EP.
( 1998 )

01. The One With The Tambourine
02. Letters And Packages
03. Five Silent Miles

American Football St + EP. Download.

Cap'n Jazz - Analphabetapolothology

2008-05-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

Cap'n Jazz was a short-lived, but highly-influential, emo band. Tim and Mike Kinsella, who were joined by Sam Zurick and Victor Villareal. After a number of name changes and the addition of guitarist Davey von Bohlen the band began to earn a cult following in the Chicago area and the Midwest. band. The group was formed in Chicago in 1989 by brothers

The band recorded several singles for independent labels in the early 90's as well as contributing to several compilations. In 1995, they released their only full-length album, Burritos, Inspiration Point, Fork Balloon Sports, Cards in the Spokes, Automatic Biographies, Kites, Kung Fu, Trophies, Banana Peels We've Slipped on and Egg Shells We've Tippy Toed Over - better known as Shmap'n Shmazz - on the tiny Man with Gun label. Due to its scant availability, the disc quickly became a collector's item.

The band broke up in July 1995, shortly after Shmap'n Shmazz's release, on the night of a show at Little Rock's Das Yutes a Go-Go. In 1998, the Jade Tree label assembled a double-disc Cap'n Jazz retrospective titled Analphabetapolothology which compiles the band's complete recorded works: Shmap'n Shmazz, early singles, material from split releases, compilation tracks, unreleased demos and outtakes and several tracks from their farewell performance in Chicago.

The line up of the band included Tim Kinsella (vocals); Samuel Zurick (bass guitar); Mike Kinsella (drums, vocals); Victor Villareal (guitar, vocals); and Davey von Bohlen (guitar, vocals from 1994-95).

( 1998, Jade Tree )

Disc 1:
01. Little League (3:57)
02. Oh Messy Life (2:03)
03. Puddle Splashers (2:03)
04. Flashpoint: Catheter (3:25)
05. In the Clear (1:57)
06. Yes, I Am Talking to You (2:36)
07. Basil's Kite (2:36)
08. Bluegrassish (1:08)
09. Planet Shhh (2:59)
10. The Sands've Turned Purple (2:46)
11. Precious (2:44)
12. Que Suerte! (3:05)
13. Take on Me (3:03)
14. Tokyo (3:59)
15. Ooh Do I Love You (2:41)
16. Hey Ma, Do I Hafta Choke on These (2:09)
17. Forget Who We Are (2:46)
18. Olerud (3:28)

Disc 2:
01. We Are Scientists! (3:14)
02. Sea Tea (2:32)
03. Troubled By Insects (3:58)
04. Rocky Rococo (4:22)
05. In the Clear (2:14)
06. Soria (2:17)
07. No Use for a Piano Player When You Got a Player Piano (1:38)
08. Scary Kids Scaring Kids (4:49)
09. Bluegrass (4:12)
10. Winter Wonderland (1:45)
11. Aok (3:02)
12. Geheim (2:41)
13. Sergio Valente (3:29)
14. Easy Driver (3:20)
15. Theme to 90210 (2:18)
16. Ooh Do I Love You (Acoustic) (4:05)

Maritime - Heresy and the Hotel Choir

2008-05-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

Maritime - Heresy and the Hotel Choir (2007)

01. Guns Of Navarone – 3:02
02. With Holes for Thumb Sized Birds – 2:45
03. For Science Fiction – 3:10
04. Hand Over Hannover – 3:26
05. Aren't We All Found Out – 2:13
06. Peril – 2:48
07. Pearl – 2:23
08. Hours That You Keep – 2:56
09. Be Unhappy – 3:39
10. Are We Renegade – 1:41
11. First Night on Earth – 4:50
12. Love Has Given Up – 3:49

Limited 7" Edition

01. Witches & Snowmen ( Snailhouse cover)
02. Boy From School (Hot Chip cover)

Birthmark - The Layer

2008-05-13T08:53:00.000-07:00

Under the appellation Birthmark, Nate Kinsella has embraced restraint in spite of the compositional boundlessness typically borne by musical virtuosity. On his debut album The Layer, the inventive and often byzantine drum set/Wurlitzer style he developed over the past four years in the band Make Believe is all but absent, revealing a quiet and uncanny tension of minimalist focus. And while Kinsella performed all of the music on The Layer, recalling his multi-instrumental duties in the band Joan of Arc, the listener is more awestruck by the attention to integration and score than by a whirlwind of prowess. The Layer represents an effort that began over eight years ago with the song "Flightless Bird," which was originally written for a friend's unfinished film project. Over time, the songs transitioned through amorphous forms until their ideal structures were achieved, further revealing The Layer to be a product of discreet process. In fact, two sharply contrasting songs on The Layer "A Solitary Angle on the Confinement of Doom" and "The Layer" started as the same tune, and the piano throughout was recorded in Minnesota over two consecutive Christmas vacations. While the recording of the album spans four years and numerous locations, it is bound by an elegant and earthy lyrical form that is telling of Kinsella's ardent atheism and wonder at the natural world. The Layer further bears witness to his growth as a recording engineer, which ostensibly began with his former band decembers architects' only LP and progressed to collaborating on multiple recordings by Joan of Arc, Sharks and Seals, Owen, and most recently the soundtrack to Tim Kinsella's debut film, Orchard Vale. As Birthmark, Nate Kinsella's The Layer is a remarkable album that rewards both the casual and attentive listener alike.

(2007, polyvinyl )

01. The Layer
02. Flightless Bird
03. Down Limbs
04. Cumulus Stimulus
05. Leave Seeds
06. Haunted Vessel
07. A Solitary Angle on the Confinement of Doom
08. The Everyman
09. Escape Routes Merge and Pool

Birthmark - The Layer (2007)

Owls.

2008-05-12T23:43:00.000-07:00

Since their early high school days in 1989, the members of the Owls -- Tim Kinsella , Mike Kinsella , Victor Villarreal , and Sam Zurick -- have been playing together in some form or another. They had their greatest success as Cap'n Jazz , a screamy emo/hardcore act that also included the Promise Ring 's Davey Von Bohlen during its later days. The group's youthful exuberance was intense, but things ran their course and they disbanded in 1994.
By 1998, the band's entire catalog was reissued by indie hitmakers Jade Tree Records, but the band was long gone and new projects had taken over their lives. Nonetheless, a new generation was given the chance to hear their influential music, and the members were given more attention than ever before singer Tim Kinsella , the most outspoken and prolific of the bunch, came into his own as the head of the constantly evolving and confusing outfit Joan of Arc , who spent the latter part of the 1990s releasing a slew of challenging LPs containing everything from exploratory pop to avant-garde computer composition. Mike Kinsella and Zurick also took part in different phases of Joan of Arc while Kinsella also performed in American Football . In later years, Zurick and Villarreal also performed together in Ghosts and Vodka .
Fast forward to 2001, a time when the elusive Joan of Arc has recently broken up, and all four musicians realize a desire to strip things back to their roots. With a new mission and a new sound, Owls sees the original quartet back together with a uniquely matured outlook and sound. Eschewing contemporary techniques and heading into the studio with noted producer Steve Albini , the band's debut album is a dose of visionary rock & roll, complete with jittery guitar arpeggios, straightforward production, and of course, Kinsella 's usual barrage of baffling lyrics. Owls are far from the band they once were, but they've moved on together, and what they have started to create is powerful enough to one day eclipse their notable pasts.

Owls ( 2001 )

01. What Whorse You Wrode It On

02. Anyone Can Have A Good Time

03. I Want The Quit Moments Of A Party Girl

04. Everyone Is My Friend

05. I Want The Blindingly Cute To Confide In Me

06. For Nate's Brother Whose Name I Never Knew or Can't Remember

07. Life In The Hair Salon-Themed Bar on the island

08. Holy Fucking Ghost

09. Later ( Japanese Bonus Track )

Live in Athens GA 09.28.01

01. The Obligatory TAD Reference

02. What Whorse You Wrote Id On

03. Everyone Is My Friend

04. For Nate's Brother Whose Name I Never Knew or Can't Remember

05. This Is Funny If You Were There

06. Anyone Can Have a Good Time

07. I Want the Blindingly Cute to Confide in Me

08. I Want the Quiet Moments of a Party Girl

09. Life in the Hair Salon-Themed Bar on the Island

10. Holy Fucking Ghost

American Football Live @ The Fireside Bowl

2008-05-12T19:17:00.001-07:00

American Football Live @ The Fireside Bowl ( 17-01-1998, Chicago IL )

01. The One With The Tambourine
02. The One With The Wurtlitzer
03. I'll See You When We're Both Not So Emotional
04. Letters And Packages
05. But The Regrets Are Killing Me
06. For Sure
07. Never Meant
08. Stay Home

The Promise Ring - Rare Tracks.

2008-05-12T13:17:00.000-07:00

The Promise Ring - Rare Tracks:

All Good Souls ( Stop Playing Guitar Single )
You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk ( Stop Playing Guitar Single )
Holiday Adam ( A Very Milky Christmas )
12 Sweaters Red ( Ground Rule Double Comp )

The Promise Ring Rare Tracks Download.

Make Believe - Going To The Bone Church

2008-05-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

01. Ooo-Yum
02. Just Green Enough
03. Sam Rollerskating Backwards
04. For Lauri Bird
05. Wearin' Torn
06. Garden Stencil
07. Goin' to the Bone Church
08. (I Can't Understand) Satisfaction
09. Taste, Touch, Smell, Deceit, and Touch
10. People Laughing

Make Believe - Going To The Bone Church ( 2008, polyvinyl )

Joan Of Arc - Boo! Human.

2008-05-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

01. Shown and Told
02. Laughter Reflected Back
03. Just Pack or Unpack
04. 9/11 2
05. A Tell-Tale Penis
06. Everywhere I Go
07. Vine on a Wire
08. Insects Don't Eat Bananas
09. Lying and Cheating Mind
10. If There Was a Time #1
11. The Surrender #1
12. If There Was a Time #2
13. The Surrender #2
14. So-And-So

Joan Of Arc - Boo Human (2008, polyvinyl )

December Architects - The Brew Shakes

2008-05-12T12:16:00.000-07:00

At their inception in 1998, decembers architects tacitly conspired to create music that was structurally iconoclastic yet melodically dulcet. While enduring many roster changes, the band adhered to this vision until disbanding in 2001. During these few years, decembers architects played venues around the Midwest, garnering support from local critics and elder rock icons, bartenders, and mirthful transients. Despite this oftentimes fanatical interest, decembers architects failed to establish any consistent fan base: perhaps due to the somewhat initially challenging nature of their music, coupled with an almost neurotic aversion to self-promotion. After recording a 7” record, two EPs and one unreleased LP entitled “, apiary ennui and curiosas. The brew shakes”, decembers architects decided to dissolve. During the years past, members of the band received various contacts across the country from people inquiring ferverently about the band and the unreleased record. Many individuals even offered to contribute money to see its release. Such enthusiasm, along with other factors, prompted the members of decembers architects to reconsider the importance of the band and the LP. With almost no deliberation, the Say & Stay Said label (based in Minneapolis) decided to release “, apiary ennui and curiosas. The brew shakes” in August of 2006. To promote the record, decembers architects performed a one-time-only CD release show at the Hexagon Bar in Minneapolis on August 13, 2006. The opening bands for the show were all post-decembers architects projects.

1. Living Off the Interest

2. Miyamoto to My Maidenhead

3. Peloria

4. Isadora the Fashion Victim

5. Gleaming the Cube

6. Self Induced Priapism Opus

7. A Brother's Justice

8. That That

9. A Hemingway Cat

10. Band Box Recorder

11. Nathan, It was Really Nothing

12. Talent Scout

December Architects - ,Apiary Ennui and Curiosas. The Brew Shakes.