Appetite- Scattered, Smothered, Covered

Man does this guy sound a lot like Yoni Wolf, original cLOUDDEAD member who now performs under the name Why?, and who's style has been likened to Beck Hansen's work.  Appetite even delivers rapid-fire verses in a sing-song, like rifling through random thoughts of a diary entry, in the same manner as Why?. So I guess you can consider Appetite two degrees of Beck Hansen. Oh, and he was in the LA band  Rooney so there ya go.

Buy this record if you know a guy who knows a guy that sells bootleg DVDs.

www.crossbillrecords.com/artists/appetite

Washed Out- Within And Without

All the indie girls are fluffing their pillows, preening for a transformative night with the Georgian boy called Washed Out. He plays infinitely danceable, dreamy snyth music with an 80's nostalgia appeal, similar to Cut Copy, and he's good-looking. It's not just the girls, he's also a PR firm's wet dream. I'll leave it to the blogosphere to pontificate.

Buy this record so you know where to look for a date when Washed Out comes to your town.

www.subpop.com/artists/washed_out

Stevie Wonder- Funkafied Rainbow

Bootleg of a concert performed at the Rainbow Theater in London, UK on 1/31/74. The concert was intended as a live release, this idea was later nixed by Wonder. so the sound quality is pristine. The 70's were truly the era of the great live and double live record, let's review: The Band- The Last Waltz, Neil Young- Rust Never Sleeps, Frampton Comes Alive, UFO- Strangers in the Night, Bob Dylan at Budokan, Blue Oyster Cult- On Your Feet or On Your Knees, and on and on, you get the idea.
This show would have surely joined that list. A tight ensemble pumps out some of Stevie's best songs, "Higher Ground", "Signed, Sealed, Delivered", "Don't Worry 'Bout A Thing", "Living For The City", "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life", "Superstition". It's just Mr. Wonder on keys, three back-up singers, Michael Sembello on guitar, Reggie McBride on bass, and Ollie Brown on drums. It's just another treasure from the musical vaults.

Buy this record if you need an excuse to break out that old pair of bellbottoms.

www.steviewonder.net

Kill Rock Stars Turns 20 with Free Music Sampler!

Celebrate Kill Rock Stars 20th Anniversary with a FREE SAMPLER. A lot of excellent bands have passed through the grimy, yet hallowed halls, of this Olympia WA label including: Bikini Kill, Sleater Kinney, Deerhoof, Unwound, Xiu Xiu, Decembrists, The Thermals, OOIOO, and Elliot Smith. You'll need to download the Amazon MP3 Player (it's free) then you can download all of the songs directly to your itunes or to the Amazon Cloud Player (there is a preference that say, "no thanks, download to my computer"). Just clink on the link below, Enjoy and make sure to thank KRS!

www.amazon.com/Kill-Rock-Stars-Anniversary-Sampler/dp/B00581CXU6/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=131016919&sr=301-1

Owen Pallett- A Swedish Love Story EP

A classically trained violinist and multi-instrumentalist, Pallett fits snugly into the Arcade Fire mold of orchestral chamber pop, but his music is more intimate and technical than Arcade Fire's songs. His evolution bears a resemblance to Kelley Polar, another classically trained musician who successfully translated his music to the pop/indie genre. Pallett received  accolades while recording under the name Final Fantasy but dropped that name with the release of his critically acclaimed LP Heartland. The Swedish Love Story EP came out in late 2010 and expounds on his sound with propulsive synth notes and a firmer percussion foundation (he leans on marching beat style drumming on the Heartland LP), but still retains the plucky violin notes that make the music so rewarding. Pallett's voice won't be for everyone, it's soft-spoken, has a breathy quality and is generally not particularly strong, but the music is charming in light of the borderline nihilistic themes pursued.

Buy this record if you want to dye your roots back to their natural color.

www.owenpalletteternal.com

Brad Paisley- This Is Country Music

I think it was inevitable when I started this blog that I'd eventually be reviewing Brad Paisley records. I'm just following in the footsteps of my father, who after he kicked his drinking, snorting, and fighting habits, found God, threw away his Dylan and Bowie records, then embraced God's music like a Mississippi maven driving his Ford F-150 through the streets of Tupelo looking for hickory-smoked barbecue and a dog to call Bubba. When Brad cackles, "she'd rather wear a pair of cut-off jeans then a fancy evening dress/ and when the windows rolled down and her hair blown all around she's a hot southern mess" on "Old Alabama" you know you've reached the promised land. It's safe to throw away my Thin Lizzy and Camper Van Beethoven records now.

Buy this record if you're living in an alternate universe and have lost the will to live.

www.bradpaisley.com

The Book Of Knots- Garden Of Fainting Stars

More syrup from Ipecac Records featuring former members/players of Pere Ubu, Frank Black, Bob Mould, and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. This crew knows how to navigate paths between neo-classical, metal, and industrialized art rock and their collective industry experience has drawn guest spots from the likes of Jon Langford, Tom Waits, Mike Watt, and Mike Patton, the latter two both appear on the new record, the finale of a conceptual trilogy. It's all very theatrical, and serious, and meticulously executed.

Buy this record when the art degree isn't paying the bills and you just moved back in with the 'rents.

www.thebookofknots.com