Audiophilia: August 2012
Audiophilia is DOOM’s rotating musical recommendation column. It’s where we come together to give you some listening choices every month. This month Aaron Poole and Michael Harris give you their picks.
Aaron:
Brothers Or Not is an Austin, Texas based rock band that is kind of a super-group of the Texan live scene combining former members of The Tastydaclyls, Veloura, and Westbound Departure. I would be remiss to leave out that I have been a fan of both Veloura and The Tastydactyls previously and was disheartened to see them both quit music, so it’s not too surprising that I was excited and pleased to hear that this band had formed.
This new, self titled, and debut EP from the band is a good representation of this mix of musical pasts. You can hear a touch of all previous bands in the songs. Blake Rawlings takes up lead vocals once again and it’s nice to see him really let loose and power his way through some of these songs. In the past, The Tastys bordered on that pop line but Brothers Or Not is rock without a shadow of a doubt. This is the kind of stuff you want to hear in a bar and sing/shout along to.
There is a significant change of pace in the four tracks with the song “Switch”. A much moodier and slower song but in my opinion quite possibly the most enduring because of it. While the others like “C. Gaines” has that rock edge, there is something still more cutting about the lyrics and tone with “Switch” that means while it may not be as catchy as the others, it will stay with you for longer.
Anyway, check out the EP preview below and if any of it takes your fancy you can download the whole EP for FREE at this link here.
Michael:
I heard this months pick on the radio of all places. That’s right folks, you heard it here. Radio is not dead! Not completely anyways. I tend not to listen to local radio because most stations operate on the standard model of only playing 15 songs about 50 times per day plus something classically popular every once and again. Recently, however, I’ve been giving a pretty good listen to KSPC Radio which is a very local college radio station that has a lot more freedom to play new and strange sounds (last week there was a block dedicated to Beatles covers that were specifically featured in Beatles movies, and every Friday they have a block of video game and video game related music).
That being established I was introduced to a band that I’ve been fairly enamored with over the past couple weeks: Dirty Ghosts. I really don’t know too much about the band, unfortunately. They’ve enlisted the production talents of hip-hop talent Aesop Rock for their album Metal Moon and I just really love the sound that they’re putting out. Easily the catchiest song on the album and the one that got me hooked is the first track on the album, “Ropes That Way”, another favorite of mine off the album is “19 in ’71”. If you want to do a bit of looking, the 7″ Single version of “Shout It In” is a bit better than the album with a cameo by Aesop Rock.
Metal Moon is available for listening in its entirety on Spotify if you want to give it a try. They’re also currently finishing up a tour with their final show in their hometown of San Fransisco.
I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention one of my favorite albums of the year with Milo Greene’s Self-Titled album released in July. Lovely album that I can’t stop listening to, no matter how much it makes me nostalgic for being in a relationship and having lovey dovey feels. Here’s my favorite off of their album and slightly reminiscent of Landon Pigg, “Silent Way”.