Dangers- Messy, Isn't It?

RAWRAWRAWRAWRAWRAWR ANGST BREAKDOWNS FURY RAGE

Messy, Isn't It?

Lady GaGa - The Fame Monster

oh my god why can't I get it out of my head oh my god

oh my GOD

Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

I know this isn't what you were wanting me to say
How can I get closer and be further away
From the truth that proves it's beautiful to lie

I've got reservations
About so many things
But not about you

Due to the fact that I enjoy and highly recommend this album, I posted it on this blog. That way, the public might become aware of it and consequently listen to it as well

merry december 26th

Buddy Peace- Wolf Diesel Mountain

Holy shit this is great. Sample based hip hop. Imagine DJ Shadow but a lot grimier, The Avalanches but a lot darker, Girl Talk but a lot less stupid. I'm listening to this and I've run into at least six different moments where I've stepped back and said "wow. this is fucking awesome." I can't really describe it well yet... but maybe it's better that way. Find out for yourself.

Wolf Diesel Mountain

Eluvium - Copia

For centuries artists have grappled with the task of defining beauty. In terms of music, when I think of works that are at their core beautiful, Copia is by far the pinnacle of consonant and integral achievement. Heartwrenching, stunning, and triumphant - the raw power of the album is really unlike anything else I've ever heard. The record, which I may go so far as to call flawless, is capped off fittingly in the last track, featuring firework crashes over a calmingly exultant orchestra. Think about the combination. Do yourself a favor and make this album a part of your life

claritas

Dispatch - Bang Bang

Bang Bang is one of those rare indicators in life of a personality standard we should all strive to follow: If you don't like this album, you gotta lighten up, man! Dispatch has the unusual ability to make simple musical ideas into amazing songs, songs that you can sing along to and relate to and most of all cherish with a carefree heart.

share some luck

Trophy Scars- Bad Luck

"I saw Ben in a dream last night."

He asked about heaven, he said "Heaven's alright."


Oh yes, I do love me some dirty western post hardcore concept albums with lots and lots of sex. Helps that the music rocks too, bros.

Bad Luck

Harvard- The Inevitable and I

Don't ask me what the fuck we've become because I don't have an answer.

Try

Dexy's Midnight Runners - Too-Rye-Ay

Don't know much about this band, or this genre, except that this album is fucking great. Come on Eileen! well i swear, what he means.... See, it's stuck in your head already.

jackie wilson said i'm in heaven when you smile

Various Artists - Maybe This Christmas

Ben Folds singing about Santa's death in a chimney and how Mrs. Claus will sue his ass is all I need to say to describe why you should get this album if you're in the season spirit.

ho ho ho

Brand New - Your Favorite Weapon

Essential listening to form a true appreciation for this force of a band's later records (that's to you EC), Your Favorite Weapon is the archetype that introduces a style ever-present throughout Brand New's discography, although compounded upon and twisted to produce a new effect for each subsequent album. Young and hopeful but with a taste of a baffled provident darkness as many debut pop-punk albums are, YFW is a strong and very listenable rookie effort from a band that we now affectionately think of as an all-star (cool metaphor right?).

get

Elder- Reflect

Where's your peace? Where's your prosperity?

Do you like Skramz? Do you like post rock? Do you like shoegaze? Do you like all three combined in a half hour of power? This is the hardcore record of 2009, and no one will know it but you and me. I like it better this way.

Reflect

Meet Me in St. Louis - Variations on Swing

Very depthy, crisp, intricate post-hardcore from the band's lone full-length.

have

iwrotehaikiusaboutcaniballisminyouryearbook - Discography

Think Saetia, but a little grittier.

have

The Wonderful Post Rock of the Lighthouse

Here at Lighthouses Rule, we like our Godspeed and our Mono and our Explosions in the Sky (just kidding no we don't), but the bands that are truly special to us are lesser-known. Here are a few of our favorite post rock albums:

Vessels- White Fields and Open Devices



Post rock with beautiful vocals and asymmetrical time signatures? Count me in! Vessels' White Fields and Open Devices is an impressive debut from the british quintet, boasting ten tracks of scorching instrumentals, pop songs, and piano ballads. No song on the album is weak, and no two songs on the record find their merit with the same tricks, making White Fields an extremely well rounded and rewarding listen. It's chock full of gems: "A Hundred Times in Every Direction" and "Yuki" use the delicately gorgeous voice of Tom Evans to create heartwrenching tracks, whereas instrumental burners "Altered Beast" and "An Idle Brain and the Devil's Workshop" are excellently crafted post rock tunes that cut the crap and get to the point for 7 minutes. White Fields and Open Devices is a long record, but it's definitely worth it, so just get it. I mean, how often do you come across a ten song post rock record with no skippable tracks?

Lights Out Asia- Eyes Like Brontide

On Eyes Like Bromtide, Lights Out Asia envelops their listeners in a cold dead place, and doesn't release until the final crescendo of "Six Points of Fire." You can't get more gay post rock descriptions, people. Seriously though, all homosexual metaphors aside, Eyes Like Brontide is an extremely entertaining, mesmerizing record. It very much plays to a specific atmosphere, isolating the listener in Lights Out Asia's reverb heavy drum machines and gorgeous piano lines. Chris Schafer's voice, when present, is incredibly strong and always heartbreaking, such as on the album's first full track, "Radars Over the Ghosts of Cherynobl," when one can feel the dejected cynicism in his voice. He alone makes Eyes Like Brontide an impressive release, but Lights Out Asia's consistency propels the record to the top of 2008's post rock heap. In Eyes Like Brontide, Lights Out Asia have created one of the most intense, beautiful, and dare-I-say epic post rock albums of the year. And with song titles like "If I Die, I Wish You A Horrible Death," how can you resist?

The Flashbulb- Soundtrack to a Vacant Life



For me, the first word that comes to mind when listening to The Flashbulb's Soundtrack to a Vacant Life is Immense. Thirty some odd tracks of music ranging from hard rock, abrasive electronica, ambient soundscapes, drum solos, gorgeous piano ballads, spanish guitar suites, and whatever else The Flashbulb (aka Benn Jordan) decides to incorporate, Vacant Life commands attention, respect, and above all, admiration. As a bipolar individual, Jordan's album varies in emotions from dark to euphoric to frantic, all the while maintaining a feeling of fluidity. It helps that Jordan's musicianship is ace in all forays from percussion to guitar to electronics, as his expertise is apparent in tracks like "Steel for Pappa", "That Missing Week", and pretty much any other track off the record. Also, the amount of intricacies on this album is mind boggling. Jordan uses samples throughout Soundtrack to provide the key atmospheric element to several points in the record, the most obvious being the death-pondering theory in "Kirlian Voyager". From start to finish, Jordan delivers a record that needs to be heard, and since he pretty much asks you to pirate it (he torrented it himself), what's stopping you from picking it up? Soundtrack to a Vacant Life is an essential release for anyone who likes music.

Also, don't forget the already blogged Pg.Lost- It's Not Me, It's You! and Moving Mountains- Pneuma

Enjoy, bros

The Moldy Peaches - The Moldy Peaches

Forget you ever saw the movie Juno before you listen to this album, lest you get sucked into the void of "ugh overplayed hipster bullshit." TMP is sloppy, overtly abrasive, smart, and catchy all at the same time. At its worst, it's one of those albums you have to hear just to hear it; at its best, The Moldy Peaches' self-titled settles right into the brainspace where your detached music sense and personality collide.

have

John Mayer - Battle Studies

^(not the album cover)^

Screw the critics, this album is awesome. A shift from the poppy Heavier Things and bluesy Continuum, Battle Studies puts forth themes of heartbreak and uncertainty with the guitarwork to match. And damn, his voice is sexy.

listen

Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate)- What It Takes to Move Forward

Man, no one's doing that Sunny Day Real Estate/ American Football thing anymore oh WAIT! "What It Takes to Move Forward" may be the next album in a line of sensitive emo classics that kick a shitload of ass. It certainly tries to be.

Try

Snowing - Fuck Your Emotional Bullshit

On a related note, no, this is NOT slays for days.

have

Minus the Bear - Highly Refined Pirates

With track titles like "Thanks for the Killer Game of Crisco' Twister," "Hey, Wanna Throw Up?" "Get Me Naked 2: Electric Boogaloo," and "Booyah Achieved," is it even possible to not be interested in Highly Refined Pirates? Definitely Not. Relaxing alternative sound waves and a lighthearted youthfulness just may make everything all better.

get dat shit

Animal Collective- Fall Be Kind

Yeah so it leaked.

Download

Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution - A Call to Arms

Who else would get the fiftieth post other than my intense mancrush Tom Kalnoky? Sure he's a dick but HE CAN DO NO WRONG PEOPLE

have

The Bird and the Bee - The Bird and the Bee

This was Matt and Kim before Matt and Kim. But better. Like if they were also The DaVincis and Lily Allen.

have

The Microphones- The Glow Part 2

Put this album in my library at least two years ago. Just realized its awesomeness now.

oh the wasted years!

Maybe two years ago I wasn't ready for this aesthetic, this warm wall of sound that engulfs whole bodies as effortlessly as Phil Elverum sings. But now I am, and I've been lost in this epic ever since.

The Glow Part 2

DJ Sprinkles- Midtown 120 Blues

House isn't universal. House is hyperspecific.

I shit you not.

Suffering is in here, with us.

All at 120 beats per minute.

These are the midtown 120 blues

The Lawrence Arms - Buttsweat and Tears

Five songs able to raise the spirits and toast life in all its shittiness. Another cocktease made of awesome, brought to you by The Lawrence Arms.

have

Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique

Easily the richest and most provocative album from the Brooklyn boys, "Paul's Boutique" left the black hip hop community shaking with its release. With major lyrical fortitude that tend to build true commentaries and narratives within the album, and dense beats produced by none other than the Dust Brothers, this is easily the Beastie Boys' magnum opus.

have

A Sunny Day In Glasgow- Ashes Grammar

mmm dreamy pop that never stops.

I don't actually feel like writing any more right now but I do feel like you should hear this album so I'm putting it up

Ashes Grammar

Rogue Wave - Descended Like Vultures

Maddddddd gooooodddd acoustical acousticity

rogue wave

Aesop Rock - Daylight

My history with this album (and Aesop Rock in general) goes something like this:

"Hey dude I'm gonna try and check out Aesop Rock"
-five years later-
Ex-girlfriend: "OMG this is that album Daylight I was telling you about!"
"Babe, this is Aesop Rock not Matt and Kim..."
"OH EW IT'S NOT THEMMM?"
"Might as well get it anyway, I still have to check them out"
-months later-
"Hmm, Aesop Rock. Put this off long enough"
-infectious beats, experiential and relatable stories woven through specified lyrics, and great flow-
"WHERE DID MY FACE GO I THINK IT MELTED"

have

Max Richter- The Blue Notebooks

Earlier, I posted an album of A Capella choral works. Well now I'm posting some neoclassical. Why?

Because I'm that badass

Don't think you'll like it? Man up. Max Richter makes some beautiful minimalist music with strings, electronics, piano, etc. Guaranteed to soothe and sadden, and maybe uplift? Listen to a woman read Kafka and get lost in this gorgeous peace.

On the Nature of Daylight

The Blue Notebooks

We Came as Romans - To Plant a Seed

The new We Came as Romans released. As a follow-up to my Dreams EP blog that said it could be "one to watch out for," just wanted to say...

My bad.

Sigur Ros - ( )

Somehow, Jonsi Birgisson and company managed to auralize pure emotion and turmoil, and stuck it on "( )". This is, without contention, the most beautiful and heart-rending album I have ever had the immense privilege and obtuse joy of listening to. It was my first post-rock album, and the earmark by which I stack up all the rest. Except maybe Godspeed.

...Nope, even Godspeed.

have
buy (so you fgts actually get it)

Dinosaur Jr. - You're Living All Over Me

Dinosaur Jr. forge a bond between psychedelic alternative and punky-punk hooks on their '87 release, YLAOM, and it's a fuzzy, catchy, and absolutely delicious mess. I can't really say more; I just assumed everyone already had some DJr.

have

A City Safe From Sea- Throw Me Through Walls

Written by me for sputnikmusic.com:

A City Safe From Sea's Throw Me Through Walls won't be the most hardcore album you'll hear this year nor will it be the catchiest, but it may very well be the catchiest hardcore album of 2009. Dripping with hooks, youthful energy and a charming blend of serious lyrical skill and underdeveloped chants, Throw Me Through Walls is dark and slick- a collection of songs wrapped in hues of blue and gray. With its addictive hooks and quotable one-liners (note: "YOUR CHEST IS A SNARE DRUM" will be your facebook status at least until one of your friends comments it with an ignorant lolwut), this debut effort from A City Safe From Sea shows remarkable potential for a young band to grow into a force. Until that time however, this delightfully messy album is entertainment enough.

Throw Me Through Walls

Pg. Lost - It's Not Me, It's You!

As far as standard post rock goes, it doesn't really get done any better than this. The closing track, "Siren," is magical enough to be an album by itself, but there are no weak tracks on this record. GET THIS NOWWWWWWWW

C'mon son!

Nada Surf - Lucky

When the effects of leading a boring life settle into my bones, I tend to go dredging around the web for bands with interesting names. Sometimes it proves futile (Math the Band, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's,) but in the case of Nada Surf, my little idiosyncrasy paid off. "Lucky," the band's most recent album, delivers like a pregnant Irish girl - fun, lovestruck alt-rock with a ballad here and there, and whole lot of danceability. It's a hipster's wet dream.

have

Weekend Nachos - Unforgivable

The name of this band is Weekend Nachos. They play sludgy as fuck hardcore. If you knew that, you are smart enough to enjoy it. If you're still reading this and not already listening, you are dumb enough to enjoy it.

have

Moving Mountains- Pneuma

Hey these guys are from my town, are you jealous that one of if not the best American post rock album of the past 3 years comes from my neck of the woods?

you should be

Let's be honest here, I like my fair share of gay shit, and this is no exception, but goddamn i love every second of this. Such a sweet blend of post rock and vocals, it's like if Taking Back Sunday fused with Explosions in the Sky. How did no one think of this before?

Pneuma

American Football - American Football

Upbeat, exhilarating, aggressive. How could someone not like an album with those qualities? Not many people, but American Football's self-titled is not these. Pensive, intricate, and emotional better describe this work of great musicianship and varied instrumentation. Sadly, American Football is the band's only full-length record, but you'll enjoy it enough to make up for the lack of follow-up.


Obtain

Codeseven - Dancing Echoes/Dead Sounds

This is the sort of music I imagine when I think of the phrase "dream sequence." Floaty and light (most of the time,) but not without substance, Codeseven fill "Dancing/Dead" with moments of serenity, without ever treading into bored fatigue. Great for a run through on a lazy rained-out afternoon.

hear
have

Daitro- Y

Bonjour, je parle un peu francais. Mais nous parlons tous la langue de MOTHER FUCKING AWESOME

Y

Angleworm - Post Rock

This is not a post-rock album. Just putting that out there, because that's what I thought at first, too. Turns out Angleworm, a fledgling band signed out of Connecticut's Triumph of Life label, play some dirty, simple punk...well, that description really doesn't give it enough credit, but still. Of course, most of what "Post Rock's" showcasing is catchy and quick, and if the album rubs you the right way, some of the songs become damn earworms.

site
have

Say Anything - In Defense of the Genre

This album took a year to really click with me. People ask me how it spent so much time in limbo and I just say, "It's a year of my musical life I may have wasted."

And my question in return is, why don't you have this? It's Max Fucking Bemis, the Jewish King of Pop (Punk).

have

As Tall As Lions - As Tall As Lions

Go through a hard breakup. Listen to this album. Realize Dan Nigro is IN YOUR HEAD. As Tall As Lions' self-titled takes an emotionally jacked trip through the wreckage of a heart that's been dropped and stomped on, and even if you can't relate, you'll still feel the ethereal tugging of a few heartstrings as you follow the doleful tale the album weaves.

hear
have

pg.99- Document #8

Into the setting sun, her love was a vampire

Skramz perfection here. This, As the Roots Undo, and The Moon Is a Dead World are the essentials, this for it's pure punk energy- it's dark, destructive atmosphere and and it's originality. Kills everything in sight. Approach with extreme caution.

Document 8

New Found Glory - Sticks and Stones

As I was neglecting homework and listening to iTunes on shuffle, a song came on that instantly suffocated me in middle school memories and happy nostalgia. That song was "My Friends Over You" from New Found Glory's Sticks and Stones, the last of Jordan Pundik's tolerable vocal endeavors. Sticks and Stones is the embodiment of everything you liked about being 12 -- it is the fast, excited, in-your-face pop-punk sound that'll always have its special place in your heart. Even if you didn't listen to this when you were twelve, check it out: it is simple, unrefined, and highly lovable.

Sticks and Stones

Talk Talk- Laughing Stock

Laughing Stock. I can't even begin to say how brilliant this is, so I'll say this: Please listen to it. For your sake.

Laughing Stock