Genre: Math Rock
Buy: Amazon for $21.29, Various Priced Versions on Discogs
In Less Than 10 Words: Insane math guitar licks with silly track names.
Top Tracks: Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse, Get Me Naked 2: Electric Boogaloo, Spritz!! Spritz!!, I Lost All My Money At the Cock Fights
Seeing The Blood Brothers at FYF made me very nostalgic to bands I listened to in High School, and the albums they put out then. One of my favorite bands back then was Minus the Bear. Sadly, my love for them has grown apart, and they have been putting out more and more records. But a few records store days back, when I found Highly Refined Pirates in a sales pile, I had to pick it up. And I have to stay, this record still holds strong. With a mixture of hard math rock like Spritz!! Spritz!!, Women We Haven't Met Yet, and Thanks For The Killer Game of Crisco Twister, to the soft ambient melodies of I Lost All My Money at the Cock Fights and We Are Not a Football Team, this record has something for everyone. The top track by far is one of my favorite drinking songs to date, Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse. The record itself comes in a variety of different pressed colors, from black, blue (I own blue), green, orange, red, tie-dye purple, and many others, making open up a sealed record really fun. If you like great tunes, nostalgia, or bands like Pinback, you'll like this record.
Popular: *Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP *Sufjan Stevens - Illinois *Madvillain - Madvillainy *MGMT - Oracular Spectacular *Amy Winehouse - Back to Black *Daft Punk - Discovery *Outkast - Stankonia *Modest Mouse - The Moon& Antarctica *Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I am, That's What I'm Not *Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me *Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix *Interpol - Turn on The Bright Lights "
I've included with each album, a link to them on Discogs or Amazon, which ever was cheaper at the time of this post, in case you wanted to add any of them to your collection. I know in my own I have Kid A, Funeral, Sound of Silver, Good News, Illinois, Discovery, Stankonia, In Rainbows, and Moon & Antarctica. You bet your buns I am looking to get my hands on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (if I can find it for cheap), College Dropout (lost multi ebay bids), Whatever People Say I am, Turn on The Bright Lights, and Wolfgang Amadeus. If you can get your hands on a copy of Demon Days, I tip my hat you.
Hope these sparked back some past love affairs with artist. Happy hunting!
Now this isn't the first release of J. Tillman. Aside from his work as the drummer of Fleet Foxes (be sure to listen to their self-titled if you haven't before) and Saxon Shore, he also has several solo albums under his name. But it really is Fear Fun that takes the cake.
The album is engineered by Jonathan Wilson, who brought us Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst Upside Down Mountain and played on albums like Jenny Lewis' Acid Tongue. The album features guest appearances from Keefus Ciancia, T-BoneBurnett collaborator, on the Piano and Sara Watkins (who's great, but what isn't she on) on the Fiddle. Also ex-band mate Casey Wescott of Fleet Foxes on bass and harpsichord. And I rarely talk about this, but another reason collectors love vinyl is for the album art, and this album really delivers (almost as good as his sweater). This really was one of my favorite albums of 2012.
Opening the album is slow but moving Funtimes in Babylon, which is about moving to Los Angeles, a great start to the album. The album itself is pretty LA-sentric, possibly about him leaving Seattle and to come down south. Hollywood Forever Sings is the haunting single, which to me, is very different then every other song on the album (in a good way). I don't know if he ever played Hollywood Forever as Father John Misty as that may be too on the nose, but it would be pretty epic non-the-less. Things get more playful with I'm Writing a Novel in both the tone and the lyrics. This is a great song to see live (and if you're lucky acoustic) as he is completely loose and free flowing with it. Flipping to the B-Side you start off with the beautiful ballad Only Son of the Ladiesman. Now I'm Learning to Love the War is a great song about how you really can't win when it comes to being a saint. He gets super loose again with Tee Pees 1-2, a great rag time jam. Ending the album is the solum Everyman Needs a Companion, an testament to the loneliness that comes with LA after all the fun subsides.
If you like soulful folk pop, or live in LA this album is a must for your collection. You can get it on Amazon for $20 or ebay used for around $15. But this one should definitely be at your local record stores, so I would just pick it up there.
BONUS: A GOOD PAIRING (LOCALS ONLY)
A good pairing to buying this album would be seeing a movie and Father John Misty live and acoustic!
Friday Aug 8th at the Ace Theater in Downtown LA, Sundance Next Festival is showing Life After Beth, the zombie themed love story starting Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, and Anna Kendrick. After the show, FJM will be doing a solo acoustic performance. I've seen FJM live 4 times now, twice with a band and twice solo, and I have to say that I loved him solo much better. He seems more loose and natural. But my friend who I went with to see him solo said he liked him better with his band. Regardless, he is an act you should definitely check out if you can!
Also apart of this festival are Kumiko The Treasure Hunter and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night with a post show performance from Warpaint! Don't miss out.
This UK pop band's first album is full of catchy hooks that give a modern twist to a very dreamy sound. The version I am listening to is the US version, which was remixed by Cherrytree Records and includes two previously unreleased tracks Dance and Boogie and Baby, Just Be Yourself. The album starts off with the commanding anthem We Are the Pipettes, which tells you exactly what you're in for. Then you can't help but shake your butt to Pull Shapes, which is one of the singles off the album (other's include Dirty Mind and Judy). Another great song on the A-Side is Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me, which features a very soothingly haunting chorus. Switching things to the B-Side starts you out with the Mo-Town-esque Tell Me What You Want. ABC is another groove track that makes you want to do some sort of bop motion. And to closeis a teen dream bonus track Baby, Just Be Yourself, which unwinds the album nicely.
If you like Phil Spector inspired pop, then you'll like this album. It's versatile enough that you can throw it on during a party or while your just sitting on the porch. Though it's a bit of a rare find now a days ($69.99 used on Amazon), you should search your local record store or scan ebay (which is where I got my copy for $4.00!)
