Skin Of Evil; Skeleton; Your Blues; Beet, Maize, & Corn

I've spent the majority of my time this week doing math homework, so naturally I've listened to a lot of music in the background. Math problems are really repetetive and somewhat mindless, so they're perfect for doing while music is playing. Here are a few albums that stood out after (many) repeated listens:

Skin Of Evil by Blackout Beach: This is a new album reviving an old solo project of Frog Eyes and Swan Lake member Carey Mercer, released in December. It continues in the same noisy, chaotic vein of the two other projects, though this is perhaps even darker and less "musical." The song structures are, as usual, extremely complex, and this time they incorporate a lot more electronic elements, such as the sound of heavy pulsating static that is becoming increasingly common (like on another great album, Palm Fronds by The Double.) "Cloud Of Evil" and "Astoria, Menthol Lite, Hilltop, Wave Of Evil, 1982" bookend the album with awesomeness. I hope this is a sign of good things to come from the upcoming Enemy Mine LP from Swan Lake in March.

Skeleton by Abe Vigoda: An interesting concoction of punk and tropicalia. For some reason it sounds especially good on nice headphones, which means the simple, upbeat tunes also have a more subtle element that really enhances the overall aesthetic. The album itself is really solid as every track is pretty great, though some standouts include "The Garden," "Cranes," and the title track.

Your Blues by Destroyer: All of my friends always rave about The New Pornographers, but I've never really appreciated them as much for some reason. I tried delving into their earlier work, and while I do like some of the tracks on Mass Romantic, it's just not that interesting to me. However, Dan Bejar's other project, Destroyer, is pure genius. A melancholy mood pervades this album (hence the title) and the music is really beautiful, especially "Notorious Lightning" and "New Ways Of Living."

Beet, Maize, & Corn by The High Llamas: The sound on this album is one of the most unique sounds I've ever heard, even though it doesn't seem experimental or avant-garde at all. The High Llamas really capture a certain mood (or maybe place, or even time period?), though I can't quite put my finger on what it reminds me of, except for maybe my image the '50s or old movies/cartoons. I guess that makes it even better though, since now it can almost transcend time and space. Really nostalgic and heartwarming (like sitting next to a fireplace), especially "Rotary Hop" and "The Click And The Fizz."

I guess none of these are typical "background music," but through playing them in the background their intricacies have sort of become ingrained in my head, which always seems to happen at one point or another with the best of albums.

Winter Break Music Overhaul

So my Winter Break started on Saturday and before I left school I took about 35 albums from the radio station library and bought another 12 for really cheap on the Amazon Marketplace (great stuff, some of the CDs were less than a dollar plus shipping). I'm planning on listening to all of them over the next month so I can find some good, lesser-known stuff to play on the next season of our show. Basically I used allmusic.com to find artists similar to some of my favorite bizarre-sounding bands like Animal Collective, Frog Eyes, Grizzly Bear, Dan Deacon, Dirty Projectors, Deerhoof, etc. and took any albums that got good ratings to give them a try.

I know it sounds ambitious, but I was already able to listen to eight albums on the train home and I've scheduled it so that I spare about an hour or so each day to just sit and listen to new stuff, so hopefully I can push through the massive mountain of new music. So far I've heard Crystal Stilts, The High Llamas, Bearsuit, Alaska In Winter, Daedalus, Mercury Rev, Piano Magic, Fennesz, and Fridge, all of which were fairly good and deserve some attention. A list of my favorites follows:

1. Alight of Night by Crystal Stilts (Distorted noise pop like The Jesus & Mary Chain)
2. Beet, Maize, & Corn by The High Llamas (Honest folk/pop similar to Brian Wilson)
3. Denies The Day's Demise by Daedalus (Electronica with scratching and exotica beats)
4. Deserter's Songs by Mercury Rev (Experimental 90s pop a la The Flaming Lips)
5. Endless Summer by Fennesz (Beautiful ambient glitch pieces, found through my Computers & Music class)

Other notables: The track "Close Your Eyes - We Are Blind" on Alaska In Winter's Dance Party In The Balkans features Zach Condon of Beirut. The title track on Disaffected by Piano Magic, the only track worth a listen in my opinion, is similarly fantastic.

In case you haven't noticed, I've been going through the stuff alphabetically by album name. I'll probably interject some random ones once my CDs come in the mail (5 of them arrived yesterday!)

Today's album was Es Tiempo by Alla (right), which sounded like a psych-folksy, Spanish version of Portishead's Dummy. Some good stuff, especially the intro "Un Dia Otra Noche" and the title track.

Finally, I'll leave you with a link to one of the best tracks I've discovered so far. Click here to see a fan video accompaniment to "Endlessly" by Mercury Rev (who you'll definitely be hearing more about in the near future.) Enjoy (and check out the wonderful use of theremin in the background!)