EA Mix vol. 4 - The End Draws Near
download it here, or here
sorry about the lack of individual song downloads, i’ll try to have those up and working soon, but it’s too much work for right now. sorry.
01 : Sufjan Stevens - Chicago (Live at KCRW) : kcrw has some amazing music online. let me just put it out there that this radio station somehow gets amazingly talented artists to come in and record their songs in a brand new way. this version of chicago will make you want to stop listening to anything but christian indie folk music, and in a good way. oh sufjan, you are a master.
02 : Big Japan - Rise and Fall of Bill : few, if any of you, know that big japan is a band that is linked to my favorite high school drama [the o.c.] in it’s own special way. adam brody, who plays character seth cohen as well as making appearances in mr. and mrs. smith and the recent thank you for smoking, is the drummer in this little slice of somewhat awkward indie goodness. but c’mon, you’d have to expect that from adam.
03 : Brendan Losch - Hear Me Out : granted, about half way through i don’t like the break from the acoustic folk that, in my opinion, transitions awkwardly into and out of a little drum driven bridge. but it’s not my job to find a bunch of music that’s all the same drivel you can find at pitchfork or some other pretentious indie publication. no, i bring you good music with a focus on the music being good. hence, brendan losch has made the cut.
04 : Final Fantasy - Peach Plum Pear (Joanna Newsom Cover) : every so often there is a band you discover that you don’t really like [ok, so more often than not this happens]. but, then again, occasionally there’s a band that you realize you don’t like all that much that totally redeems it with a nice little cover. which is the brilliance that is found here. final fantasy on their own kinda drift about, but on their covers they seem to lock it down and find their groove [albeit stolen groove].
05 : Andrew Bird - Tables and Chairs : andrew bird is another of those indie artists that seems to benefit largely from single song downloads. he just cannot seem to but an accessible full length album together. for every lp he puts out at least 1/3 is kind experimental noise driven rubbish. lucky for you, with this mix, you get the cream of his crop.
06 : Ken Michaels : The Sun Gets In Your Eyes : if you haven’t figured it out yet, i was trying to branch out a bit on this mix album. most of the time i get into the rut of singer/songwriter indie kid with a jones for folk tunes music and run it until it’s dead. but on this mix i was looking for a bit more. a bit of eclectic oomph. welcome to ken michaels, a never-quite-gonna-make it indie act. it just sounds too much like other bands, sorry ken.
07 : Kunek - Good Day : “today, it’s gonna be, such a good day. such a good day” these lyrics reads happy, but in the song they sound depressing. ahh, my bread and butter. music that for all intents and purposes should make you feel better, but at the end they still leave you drifting in the melancholy of life. thanks kunek.
08 : Peter Walker - What Do I Know : i met peter on myspace. man i love that little slice of e-music heaven. it’s such a great site to network and discover new talent. and peter walker is definitely on the upswing of acoustic driven power pop. he’ll make it big soon, in fact i wouldn’t be surprised if you heard this song on the radio soon. “oh you couldn’t wait, oh you had to go, oh darling what do i know.”
09 : Josh Garrels - Joyful Boy : if you’ve ever been around me you know that east central indiana native j.g. is a must see, must hear. and this little rendition of joyful boy is a rare b-side only available from his website. josh is a great guy who gives great hugs. and his music is like that too. it reaches out from some warm, loop driven, folk-hop roots and gives your life a nice long lingering hug.
10 : Nanoo Nanoo - 14 : every mix album deserves at least one instrumental piece and it’s even doubly warranted when that band [one member] references mork and mindy with his name, is from relatively close to your parents house, and puts out delicious tracks on myspace regularly. on top of that he’s a nice guy who likes to talk music, make recommendations, and has a lot of honest opinions.
11 : The Polyphonic Spree - Move Away and Shine : i first heard of this band about three years ago when their single appeared in a volkswagen ad. that thirty second slice of a song inspired me enough to buy two of their albums and also go see them live when they came through louisville. and. they. are. awesome. live. anyway, they recently recorded two versions of this song for internet release, and this is by far the better of the two.
12 : Malcolm Middleton - A Happy Medium : ok, this track is truly random. filled with extraneous noise, syncopation, and the line repeated again again of “woke up again today, realized i hate myself, my face is a disease.” it reads about as depressing as an lyric you could write. but true to my musical taste this song sounds incredibly upbeat and happy. a lot of vocal echoing, multiple voice tracks, and distortion. it’s gorgeous when it’s all put together.
13 : Tally Hall - Good Day : discordant harmony, piano, clapping, words spoke-sung too fast. what more do you want? and rumor has it my roomie scotty knows people in this band. the song is about as random as they come. moving from acapella to pop driven piano rock, even ending in this kind yellow-submarine era beatles like mash up of sounds, voices, and guitar.
14 : The Legends - He Knows the Sun : smooth is the best word to describe their sound. if you took a bassline and stretched all the notes together, dripped a nice electric melody over the top, and then poured your voice through a standard early ’80s distortion machine you’d have this sound. not that it’s formulaic, but that’s what it boils down to. and it’s chill, and laid back, and beautiful. overall smooth pop.
15 : Venice is Sinking - Pulaski Heights : they might have the greatest indie name i’ve heard in quite awhile. and on top of choosing a great name they make some solid tunes. a bit like the wallflowers early material, a bit like a symphony layered with fuzzy indie tracks, a bit like soaring melodies trapped like lightning bugs and made to dance for our enjoyment.
16 : Radiohead - Fog (again) (live) : i put this song up on my music blog awhile back, but it’s so brilliant that it deserves more attention than that site generates. radiohead is one of my favorite bands. ever. and seeing them live blew me away. hands down the best show i’ve ever seen. ever. and this song as recorded in the studio is ok. but here, stripped down to just thom on a piano, blows me away with every listen. “some things will never wash away. did you go bad?”
17 : Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I am Dreaming of a Place Where Lovers Have Wings : when your song clocks in at over seven full minutes then you’re allowed to have any length of song title that you want. even if it is a full sentence. and here, with sunset rubdown [a great little band name], they’ve created a great song that stretches your ears and your mind and takes you to a place where you actually begin to believe that lovers really do have wings.
