Wash.

A picture I took at a gas station along Interstate 5 ft. my favorite beanie

 Recently I moved from a small town in Alabama to Bellingham, WA. No particular reason why, just for a change of pace. It's been great so far. I wake up to see Mt. Baker to the east, Canada's Golden Ears to the north, and the San Juan Islands to the west (Okay, not literally, but all are well within driving distance). People often tell me the PNW is one of the most scenic areas in the world, and I can't say I can argue with that. And related to the scenery is the culture here. It's very lively with so many outdoors activities (despite the area's notorious weather), great food and of course, the music. 

I haven't dived too deep into the scene here yet, but from what I can tell it's very much alive. Looking through the Bellingham tag on Bandcamp shows a small taste of what the city has to offer. One of the first local artist I came across was alternative band Bob Fossil. They self-released a great record, American Hippo, last year and in January put out the single "Case Sensitive." Their 3rd album Safety Meeting is due out on September 8th, which I'm definitely looking forward to.

Another one of my favorites is the vaporwave label Vice '98. Vaporwave, a once obscure genre, has became ingrained in Bandcamp's top selling artist (I couldn't tell you how many times I've listen to Floral Shoppe.) Vice '98 appears to release all the their albums on cassette, including albums from Barbwalters, Ocean Shores, and Panzer Paradise. 

 That's all for now. Many more posts to come and hopefully interviews with artists and the like. Thank you for reading. 

New Albums Friday #2 (4/7/17)

Another batch of great albums today. Starting off with...

Father John Misty- Pure Comedy

I've been looking forward to this album all year. SP1200. We start off with the title track "Pure Comedy" 1 of 2 songs he performed on Saturday Night Live in March, the other being "Total Entertainment Forever." I could write good things about every track, but to not make this paragraph as long the the official description (Bears, man.), I'll just talk about my favorite song as of now. "Leaving LA" is a 13 minute "10 verse chorus-less diatribe" with tales of moving to New Orleans, childhood memories, LA phonies and a major theme of his own self-consciousness. Definitely my favorite release this year so far.

The Chainsmokers- Memories...Do Not Open

The songs all sound the same. Oh wow, sick bass drop. I'm never turning on the radio if I hear "Closer" again. These are all things I've (ignorantly, I'll admit) said about them. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy this album. The lead single "Paris" is still climbing on the Top 40 chart and not far behind is "Something Just Like This" featuring Coldplay, at 6 and 13, respectively. It's sure to spawn more hits. Stand out track for me is "Wake Up Alone" featuring Jhene Aiko.

Diet Cig- Swear I'm Good At This 

Somehow Diet Cig flew under my radar, but The NYT caught me up to speed with Alex and Noah. Their debut record is fast, catchy, and all but 2 songs run under 3 minutes, with a total running time of 28 minutes. I think it's gonna be on a lot of year-end lists. Fore sure mine.

Wear Your Wounds- Wear Your Wounds

I'm listening to this album while not being too familiar with Jacob Bannon or Converge (I'll get on that, though). The opening title track does a good job of setting the tone for following hour, with tracks like the explosive 8 minute "Iron Rose" and supergroup 9 minute ender "Goodbye Old Friend." In fact, most of the songs run above 5 minutes with a wide range of instruments. This bandcamp excerpt sums it up best; Together they have created a powerful album that is unlike anything they have ever individually worked on.


Notable
Future Islands- The Far Field
Joey Bada$$- All Amerikkkan Bada$$
Lou Canon- Suspicious
Happyness- Write In  

We Don't Have To Say Goodbye...

Well. Today's the day. Yellowcard plays their final show. House of Blues. Anaheim, California. I remember sitting in my room back in January when this this black poster on my wall appeared in the corner of my eye. "YELLOWCARD" read the top, 5 mirrored images in the middle and "1997-2017" read the bottom. That's the first time it really dawned on me. I'll be honest. I never met any of them. I never saw them live. I don't have any interesting stories to tell. I just really liked their music. More so than any other artist I listen to. When they announced their final album and world tour back in June I was a little surprised. "They're so young still!", I thought. "They meant hiatus, right?", I asked myself. Nope. I 100% respect their decision. I and the fans would hate to see them burned out and tired doing something this isn't what they truly want to be doing anymore.

I'll end by saying thank you. Thank you Ryan, Ryan, Sean and Josh. Also all former and touring members. Maybe in another life. 

New Albums Friday #1 (3/24/17)

These albums were released today. I listened to them. I liked them.

Spiral Stairs- Doris and the Daggers
Formerly of 90s alternative band Pavement, Scott Kannberg 2nd solo album tells of emo(shuns), unconditional love, angel eyes, and boat builders. Guitar solos. Fade outs. Gang vocals. Let's rock.

Drew Holcomb And The Neighbors- Souvenir 
12 shows in 24 hours. That's how East Nashville folk singer-songwriter decided to kick off his album release. Starting with a Facebook Live Q&A and set of "New Year", "Postcard Memories" and "California" his 1 day tour took them all over the city to perform the great new songs.

Mount Eerie- A Crow Looked at Me
Anacortes, WA multi-instrumentalist Phil Elverum sings of his wife's death on his newest album. Recorded in his home using her instruments, it's definitely worth a listen (or 20).

The Bug Vs Earth- Concrete Desert
 Kevin Martin(Bug) of King Midas Sound and Dylan Carlson of Olympia psy rock band Earth came together to create a lengthy vocal-less album based around the City of [Fallen] Angels. Inspired by grime, rock, electronic, and synth, I just have one word to described it: haunting.

Snakehole- Interludes of Insanity
Self-described art rock duo Autumn Casey and KC Toimil of Miami's Snakehole put out a noisy and very incredible record. Although very different, I couldn't help thinking of one of my favorite punk bands Bikini Kill while listening to this. From "Hollow Tomorrow", short and sweet "Bum Song" to the 10 minute outro "Izardus", be sure to turn those speakers up.

What I've Been Listening To #1

Still have no clue on the general direction of this blog. But I just wanted to write about something. And today's post is a few albums I've been listening to this past month.

Carole King- Tapestry

I was curious what the top selling vinyls of all time were and I found this list by Times Union. There were quite a few that I've never listened to, including this one. Originally starting out as a songwriter, Carole released her first album Writer in 1970, but not until her 2nd LP Tapestry in 1971 did she experience mainstream success. From "I Feel The Earth Move" to "Natural Woman" (written by King for Aretha Franklin), I can hear why it went on to sell over 25 million copies.

Bea Miller- Chapter One: Blue

Her 2nd EP after 2014's Young Blood and her only album Not An Apology. This the first part of 3 EPs being released this year to form her 2nd album, due out in November. Interesting marketing, for sure. There's 3 songs, "song like you" (releasing for radio airplay March 24th), "burning bridges", and "i can't breathe." Bea's been flying under the radar for a while now and I think in time she'll be huge.

The Big Four

I want to get more familiar with "grunge" so what better place to start than 4 of the biggest records (according to GlodenPlec)? Nirvana's Nevermind, Alice in Chain's Dirt, Soundgarden's Superunknown and Pearl Jam's Ten, the one I've listened the most. Eddie Vedder. What a rockstar. Have you seen those stage dives?!

Thundercat- Drunk

Gonna blow all my cash on anime (Yes!)