There isn’t much sunshine in titles of Mt. Egypt’s plaintive ballads, and there isn’t much sunshine in New York City today, so the pairing is one that fits quite nicely. According to his bio, Travis Graves is “homeless in California,” which begs one of those chicken-or-the-egg questions of whether he’s homeless because he’s an artist or he’s an artist because he’s homeless. The longing in Graves’ vocals is in the great recent tradition of such wounded souls at Will Oldham, Mark Kozelek and Eef Barzelay, and his fragile guitar paints a wistful picture, especially on the lower-fi offerings here. But lest you spin off to something more cheerful to get your weekend going, Graves isn’t all melancholy. His is the sound of transition — that moment when despair gives way to renewal. It’s the perfect soundtrack to the changing of the leaves, because autumn is finally here, even if you’re homeless in California.
Free MP3 EP by Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start
MC Frontalot
Emmett’s been on my back to post MC Frontalot, the self-proclaimed “world’s 579th greatest rapper.” I’ve been putting off Frontalot for two reasons: 1) he’s got A LOT of songs to choose from, all available for free download, and 2) I can’t tell if he’s for real, or if this is all just a way for some Cal Tech computer science Ph.D. candidate to let off some steam. Regarding the latter, the obvious next question is, “Does it even matter if he’s legit?” At least I’ve come to a decisive “Hell no” answer to that one. So here’s the nerdcore hip hop, ten songs worth. When you’re done laughing at the silliness you get here, go ahead and download the other 52 songs available at www.frontalot.com. Or, you could buy his record, I suppose.
Looper Releases New MP3 EP
Laika
I’m taking the lazy way out today. But it’s a damn fine band, so that shouldn’t really matter. I spent the weekend in Waveland, Mississippi, helping with the relief effort there after Hurricane Katrina. Having seen the devastation in person, it’s still unbelieveable to me. So today’s offering of Laika provides both comfort and ease, two attributes that actually apply to the music itself. Margaret Fiedler and Guy Fixsen have been creating quite complicated music that somehow sounds so purposeful and, well, comfortable with an almost arrogant air of ease. “Sugar Daddy” and “Uneasy” are two of my personal faves.
Harvey Danger Giving Away Album Download
New Releases
Sound Directions
An extra treat for you today: Madlib keeping the funk alive with a full crew of session musicians. Members of The Dap Kings, Antibalas, and Breakestra, all pitch in and bring breakbeats to old-school jazz greats Oliver Sain, and J.J. Johnson. Snag the tracks while you can, Stones Throw links are usually good for a limited time. Heads up via: Enemy of the Crate
Blackalicious
More like Sickalicious! The world would be a sorry place without Xcel at the board building timeless beats, and Gab, schooling us with his warm rhymes on how things are and how they ought to be: namely, one world, one people, grooving together to their finely-honed craft. Sure it’s been a long three years since their last album, but cut ’em some slack, they’ve been punching the clock after hours working on Maroons, Gab’s solo record, and introducing the world to the likes of Apsci, Curumin, and General Elektriks.
The Very Hush Hush
Clay and I had this ritual in college where we’d turn down the lights, lay flat on our backs, and play certain songs over and over again. It served as a catharsis for us, often following a botched exam or “I like you…as a friend.” Our playlist included a variety of music, though most of it fell under the so-called “slowcore” and “shoegazer” categories. But not just any band with bad posture, pale skin, and walls of distorted guitars or mumbled vocals would do… You gotta have dynamics to pull me out of a funk. Build, crash, rebuild. Like waves, like Legos. The Very Hush Hush seem to have that dynamics thing figured out (could be their classical music training). Each of these tracks, if taken in one- or two-minute intervals, may seem shy or sullen, but taken as a whole will lift you up to where you can see more than just your shoes.