Guitars, Drums, Tones, and Saxophones

Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid

I’d never heard of Janelle Monae before seeing the cover to The ArchAndroid. The obvious Metropolis parallels in the imagery immediately appealed to the nerd in me. So I had to check it out.

One of the best decisions I’ve made in recent memory.

Her artistic vision- The ArchAndroid comprises suites 2 and 3 of a saga continues from her first EP- is great. If you’ve seen the videos, her visions of a futuristic dystopia are music to any good sci-fi nerd’s ears. And of course, there’s the music itself.

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Noun - Holy Hell

Noun is the solo project of Marissa Paternoster, vocalist/guitarist for the indie-punk band Screaming Females, who have released several awesome records on Don Giovanni Records. And, apparently having a number of songs that don’t fit her primary band, she’s released this debut solo record, Holy Hell.

And it’s definitely different from her material with Screaming Females.

Well, except that fantastic voice of hers. That’s here and in fine form, thank goodness.

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Sundowner - We Chase the Waves

Sundowner, if you didn’t know, is the solo project of Lawrence Arms guitarist/singer Chris McCaughan. He keeps busy during his primary band’s unfortunate downtime with this act, and We Chase the Waves is his second release under this moniker, the follow-up to 2007′s Four One Five Two (Red Scare Industries).

I can’t think of a witty intro about Chris. I just get all emotional that I’ll probably never see The Lawrence Arms live. So let’s get down to business, eh?

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Greenland is Melting - Our Hearts are Gold, Our Grass is Blue

Greenland is Melting had been on my radar for a little while now. They signed to Paper + Plastick- perhaps the label with the most solid and awesome line-up currently- so that’s a good sign, and the album title caught my eye, with the obvious reference to bluegrass music. Now, I love me some bluegrass. Béla Fleck’s Tales From the Acoustic Planet, vol.2: The Bluegrass Sessions is the kind of album I can put on anytime, anywhere and be extremely happy with my choice. And from the song samples I heard, they sounded pretty great. Thankfully, despite my debilitating laziness, I was able to procure the CD through a contest from the excellent Rocket Fuel podcast.

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Just a quick FYI, if you’re the sort of person who’s into Twitter, you can get notifications of updates here by following @gdts_blog on Twitter!

That’s a cool thing, right? The kids are into it, I’ve heard.

Iron Chic - Not Like This

Alright, I know I’ve been off the grid- blog-wise, anyway- for a while, but let’s get back into this. And what better way to kick this scene back into gear than with the just-released debut LP from the hyped Iron Chic! The band posted the record to their bandcamp page very recently, a free download if that’s your scene. (link at the end of the post) So let’s get to it.

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I feel like it would be a good time to give a shout-out to some sites that I quite like. First up, the music-related blogs and things!

• Rocket Fuel Podcast – Jeff over at Rocket Fuel is a good dude, with great taste in music, awesome contests and giveaways, and cool interviews. He takes advice received to heart, and it makes for a great show. Definitely something to check out!
• Switchboard Sessions – New to my reading, this blog has some awesome stories about musicians, plus exclusive tracks, recorded over the phone. Lo-fi and awesome. Check it out.
• unsolicited. – Pete reviews things. Dude is really funny, so this is a worthwhile read.
• Bad Sandwich Chronicles – Brendan Kelly’s (of the Lawrence Arms) blog. Filled with stories of being a musician, observations, and scatological humor. Good times.
• Cassettes in the Mailbox – Brian Fallon’s blog. He doesn’t post much, and when he does it’s odd recommendations for music and things. Dude loves Clapton. Anyway, Gaslight fans will like this.
• Punknews – The obvious. I read this more than I read world news. That’s sad to admit.

And some friends, who enjoy writing on the internets:

• Gunter Glieben Glauchen Globen – Daniel Brockman is the bass player for OwlWatcher, as well as formerly playing guitar in the Hidden and Medea Connection. In addition to rocking hard, he writes for the Boston Phoenix, a weekly free alternative paper of some renown. Dude has a crazy knowledge of music, and tastes ranging from thrash to pop.
• Turn Off Your Cell Phone! – A group movie blog that I sometimes contribute to, though as one might guess, my time is more often spent listening to music than watching movies.
• Ambitious Outsider – It hasn’t been updated in a while, but my dear friend Maura’s blog is dedicated to exploring wonderful, fascinating documentaries. There’s some good stuff to be found there.
• Mencken Was Right - My friend Jeff blogs about politics. He’s well-read and a thinker, so his analysis is often interesting to read, agree or disagree.
• Shameless! (Pomp & Circumstance) – Christa here is an artist and designer in the Boston area. She likes great music, and makes great art. She’s worked with Mark Lind and Far From Finished. And she’s funny to boot!
• Empty Port – Brian here is the Content & Community Manager over at HubSpot, and blogs about things related to online marketing and tech stuff. Also a fellow UMass All-Star. His other blog identifies lizard people. It is not a marketing tie-in for ABC’s V.

So these are all pretty great, and worth your time! What about you, dear readers? Got any awesome blogs- music-related or otherwise- that you’d like to share? Post ‘em in the comments!

Chuck Ragan - Gold Country

So I’m sitting here listening to this album, thinking about how much I like it, and I realize that I never posted about it here. Which is a shame, because it’s a great album that deserves to be talked about!

Obviously, you now already know how I feel about it. Like any good bearded .Org-lurker, I have a deep love for the works of Mr. Chuck Ragan. Hot Water Music made some incredible records (Fuel For the Hate Game and A Flight and a Crash in particular), and his post-HWM solo albums and collaboration with Austin Lucas (Bristle Ridge) have represented a fairly dramatic stylistic shift, but one that really lets his deep, rich voice shine, and allows his excellent songwriting to come through.

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Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks

Realizing recently that my listening habits this year have often included spins of the latest record from “beloved indie/punk” band Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, I really ought to discuss the record here. Ted Leo should need no introduction, and in a fair and just world, he would be a household name. Since debuting this act with tej leo (?), Rx/pharmacists in 1999, the band has toured relentlessly and released a number of great albums. Following 2007′s well-received Living With the Living, the band signed on with Matador Records and hit this year with The Brutalist Bricks.

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Fest!

Most people already know this, but if you’re just waiting for that Punknews.org post, get with it, people! Fest 9 is on, Halloween weekend in sunny Gainesville, FL. This will be my first Fest. The plane tickets have been purchased, and it’s time to start training my liver. The event is sponsored by Pabst, after all.

If you’re going, sound off! More details will be coming as they’re known. If you want to scoop as it happens, go hit up the Fest message board. I’m there as mcflynnthm.