How To Dress Well

Pitchfork recently labeled this album as a "Best New Music" record. If you like lo-fi, then you're in for a treat. How To Dress Well are a lo-fi R&B group, with very simple instrumentation and piercing vocals. This record is certainly not for everyone, these guys are very rough around the edges it took me a few listens to appreciate what they're doing. It's not really what I listen to normally, but I can dig it.

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You Won't Need Me Where I'm Going

Megafaun

 

 North Carolina's Megafaun return with a mini-album called Heretofore that keeps in line with their previous material. I love Megafaun because they have an uncanny ability to be rooted in folk and bluegrass yet are highly experimental with seemingly little effort. Check out their newest sing-a-long "Volunteers" 

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Volunteers

Superchunk

Superchunk return to form with their first full length release in years, and like Dinosaur Jr. they have lost absolutely nothing. This new album Magesty Shredding is Superchunk doing what they do best, rocking your socks off for an hour straight with great hooks and memorable guitar riffs. I bet like most re-united indie bands, Superchunk are greeted with even more fandom than they originally had in the 90s. Check out the album opener "Digging For Something"

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Digging For Something

Mike Millius

Mike Millius is one of the many lost singer-songwriters of the 1960s. He tries very hard to imitate the voice of Dylan, and the lyrical prowess of Phil Ochs. While he many of done this style with much better success, his attack on the welfare system "Not Enough To Live On" is as relevant today as it was then.

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Not Enough To Live On

Maserati

Maserati are a psych-post rock group from Athens GA, and are back in form ever since last year's passing of drummer Jerry Fuchs (also of !!!). Post-rock for the most part has never really been my thing, the constant instrumentals can get old very fast. However, this new track "We Got The System to Fight The System" is constantly pounding and enjoyable.

Also in other post-rock news, the undeniably talented Godspeed! You Black Emperor is going on tour. If they are coming to your town, don't walk, run to get tickets. If their concerts are as good as their albums are, this show could be life-altering.

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We Got The System To Fight The System

Deerhunter

Deerhunter released a 7" called Revival this summer in anticipation for their fourth album Halcyon Digest due out in a few weeks. These tracks have been making rounds for a few months now, thus in the indie world they are golden oldies. Still, talking to some people I was shocked to find there are a good amount of people who haven't head these tracks, so therefore I decided to post them afterall.
If this 7" is any precursor to what Halcyon Digest will sound like, look out LCD Soundsystem because Deerhunter is gunning for your #1 spot. These two songs differ quite a bit: "Revival" is an airy pop tune filled with the occasional banjo pick, whereas "Primitive 3D" is at first a much more straight forward rock song with U2 like guitar riffs, before devolving into a slower piano piece.
Deerhunter have been on the rise for years now, and it seems like Halcyon Digest could be the one where they really break out into the mainstream and claim their throne.

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Revival
Primitive 3D

Women - Eyesore

As summer begins its decline, it is time we shift focus to the soundtrack of our winter. Women seem to be two steps ahead of everyone else in this regard, as they have released their new song "Eyesore" which is a perfect winter track. Their self-titled release was a underrated album indeed, making many of the year's "Best Of" lists. They seem to be even more ambitious with their new album Public Strain. This is lo-fi pushing the limits. Once they hit their stride in this jam, they have to gradually fade out the song, because the guitar hook is just too good to let go.

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Eyesore

Belated Birthday

I'm a little late getting around to this, but I just wanted to take a second to acknowledge that on 9/9/10 ST&SP celebrated it's first birthday. When I initially started this blog, I thought I would grow tired of it within a month, I guess I underestimated my love of blabbing about music. I also want to point out that within a year this little blog that was intended to be seen pretty much by my parents and Facebook friends has grown much larger than I initially anticipated. Looking at Google Analytics, within the span of 9/9/09 to 9/9/10 we have gained thousands of viewers in:
* 49 States in the union (get your shit together South Dakota)
* Every continent (except Antarctica)
* Every country in South America
* Almost all of Europe
America of course is where we get most of our viewership, but I have noticed a strong readership coming from Great Britain, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, and Venezuela.

Thank you to everyone around the world, whether you're the casual blogger skipping through the Internet, the hipster trying to nab the newest hit The Blogosphere produces, or the committed reader who actually regularly visits this site. Thank you. You make doing this worth it.

Here's to another year.


Cody

Lee Hazelwood & Nancy Sinatra

Lee Hazelwood sure knows how to craft a great psych-country-folk song. He absolutely nails it with the hit "Some Velvet Morning" featuring his long-time partner the impeccable Nancy Sinatra. Notice the quick tempo changes throughout the song. They don't make 'em like they used to.

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Some Velvet Morning

The Equals

Along with Jimi Hendrix and The Experience, The Equals were one of the first successful inter-racial rock bands during the 60s. These guys absolutely brought it, and in my opinion were before their time. A mix of garage, soul, and punk. These Brits had a few hits including "Baby Come Back." The song I'm featuring today, "Police On My Back" was made famous later when The Clash covered it. 

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Police On My Back

The Bees

The Bees, an indie group from the U.K. are practically unknown here, and that's a damn shame. This band is extremely talented, mastering a wide range of different styles. On their new song "Silver Line" from their upcoming October release, they seem to be approaching a Simon & Garfunkel folk angle. Quite simply, they nail it. "Silver Line" is a sweetly sung toe-tapper.

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Silver Line

The Walking Dead

Other than music, there's nothing I love more than Zombies and good television. Looks like AMC has my best interests in mind. Not too long ago the trailer for The Walking Dead, a new AMC series based on The Walking Dead comic series went up. Needless to say, it blew my mind. Not only does it look beautifully shot, the second half of the trailer used a song from The Walker Brothers. Scott Walker, famous for "30th Century Man" among other classics, croons his way through hoards and hoards of zombie madness in this trailer.
On another note, I must say in  the past few years AMC really has in my opinion emerged as the network to beat. They score big time with great show after great show, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Rubicon and now this looks like it could take the cake from them all. Needless to say, I now know what I'm doing on Halloween.

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The Walker Brothers - The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore

The Books

This summer we saw the release of another sample-filled crisp album from The Books. I hadn't really listened to these guys before, but after hearing this song on Sirius XMU I had to check their catalogue out more. "A Cold Freezin' Night" is a childishly-demented song, which features the sounds of schoolyard children talking about how they are going to kill one another, you know, stuff that kids do. This is a highly inventive song, and it's a shame that the rest of The Way Out doesn't live up to it. However if these guys roll into your town check out their highly visual show.

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A Cold Freezin' Night