together/alone

review: starflyer 59 — minor keys EP

together/alone — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:41:02 +0000

insert me in this pic and i'm a happy guy. i definitely think i could pull of the shades better than the middle guy, and i'm pretty sure i could hang out with jason martin without wringing my hands.

anytime starflyer 59 puts out new music, it’s a happy day for me. on april 7th, they put a little four song EP out, and it gave me four songs worth of happiness. review at the other journal.

a good song: deer tick — easy

together/alone — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:03:43 +0000

i really liked deer tick’s debut album, war elephant (2007), but i still wasn’t that pumped when i heard their follow-up was releasing this summer. hearing this song sure spiked my enthusiasm. it’s a lot more rootsy and rambunctious than their folksy debut, and i think it suits john mccauley’s gritty voice quite well.

easy [mp3] — from born on flag day (releases june 23, 2009)

review: neko case — middle cyclone

together/alone — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:22:38 +0000

neko case put out her new album, middle cyclone, about a month ago. today, i reviewed it. i like it a lot. i’m sure neko is flattered. review at the other journal.

review: the welcome wagon — welcome to the welcome wagon

together/alone — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 21:01:24 +0000

miss sufjan? so does the welcome wagon. review at the other journal.

why the delay?

together/alone — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 23:27:14 +0000

just a little update from my little corner of the blogosphere. my computer crashed last week and i’m getting it repaired, so i’m taking a bit of a sabbatical. however, i’m planning to be back at it with a review sometime this weekend. if all goes as planned…

review: handsome furs — face control

together/alone — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 03:28:10 +0000

this is actually one of the least obnoxious pictures of handsome furs, believe it or not.

review of the new handsome furs album (featuring dan boeckner of wolf parade) now up at the other journal.

review: m. ward — hold time

together/alone — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 00:46:40 +0000

who told m(att) this was an ok pose?

m. ward released his sixth album a few weeks ago, and this time he got some help from his movie star friend/bandmate zooey deschanel. (she’s cute as a button.) read the review at the other journal.

a good song: papercuts — future primitive

together/alone — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:00:51 +0000

i referenced the goodness of this song in my recent “coming soon” post. but i just had to share. the rolling bass line reminds me of the rhythm of “fine young cannibals” from wolf parade’s last album. but the dusty, oldies-flavored melody is what makes this song so good. hear for yourself:

papercuts — future primitive [mp3] — from you can have what you want (releases april 14, 2009).

also, i’ve renamed this category of post “a good song” instead of “a song for today.” “a song for today” really made no sense. i didn’t post one every day, and it’s obviously not meant to be listened to only on that day. so the “today” part was completely irrelevant. “a good song” is really boring, but also really accurate.

finally! bazan release date/title announced!

together/alone — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:57:37 +0000

david bazan is finally putting out his first full-length solo record. curse your branches will be released on august 25th. still a long time to wait, but at least there’s a date.

in my opinion, bazan’s work has been spotty since pedro the lion’s control seven years ago. PTL’s achilles heel, the headphones album, and bazan’s fewer moving parts EP all had their moments, but he sounded like he had sorta lost his groove. but i have really high hopes for the new album. all the live reports i’ve heard and tracks i’ve heard here and there sound more autobiographical and moving than his recent work. of course i’m in the giddy, excited phase, but i could see this being his new masterpiece. not sure what the tracklist will be, but “please baby please” and “curse your branches” will both be there. i’ll definitely post more as i hear it. in the meantime, download the demo of “please baby please” from the american flags single (itunes or emusic).

(news from barsuk.com)

aw shucks

together/alone — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 19:08:13 +0000

sent to me by a close friend. i do what i can. thanks for stroking my ego.