Birdmonster and good intentions

A lot of times, things get lost in my inbox because of the amount that gets submitted and it's definitely not aided by my own horrendous organizational skills. So when I started to go through some earlier emails, I was very upset that I missed the email containing an advance copy of Birdmonster's new EP. There's something incredibly satisfying and pretentious about hearing music before everyone else is allowed to. It was already released by the time I read the email and I missed the chance this time, but I enjoyed the EP anyway.


After releasing their second full-length album last year, Birdmonster sifted through the casualties, the sketches, the b-sides and the ideas. The collected a group of eight songs and comprised them on this Blood Memory EP. A tad darker than their previous releases, Blood Memory opens with the brightest track on the EP, I Might Have Guessed (the mean version, no less) and still one of the first lyrics we hear are "I might be blessed you're breaking my heart".

Birdmonster - I Might Have Guessed (mean version) (mp3) (iTunes)

It's an EP of ballads and sure to induce some lighter and cell phone waving at the shows. It's incredibly human, and each time I listen in on the simple but dramatic lyrics it makes me think that these guys have got the world all figured out. Call it lazy journalism if you must, but I don't think I can describe it any better than they did. So in Birdmonster's words:

"We found a world desperate for gunfights, confrontations with The Man On High, journeys through ice by way of the desert; a world where the ancient songs flow off your tongue sure as instinct, like memories your ancestors left flowing in your blood. If its predecessor was a stab at something concise and singular, this was a world of extremities; one where loud guitars eventually give way to desperate banjos, settling to a bed of acoustics and messy piano lines. I was left wondering, Could I have intended this all from the start?"

In any case, they must have started out with some pretty good intentions in the first place.

October Updates

WARNING!
THIS POST IS CONTENT HEAVY!
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN BLOGGERS PROCRASTINATE TOO LONG
PROCRASTINATION IS LIKE MASTURBATION; IN THE END, YOU ONLY SCREW YOURSELF.

1) Tobacco's Fucked Up Friends


Tobacco, best known for his work as a member of Black Moth Super Rainbow, has a new album coming out on October the 14th.

Here's the Video for "Street Trash"


Fucked Up Friends Track List -

01 Street Trash
02 Truck Sweat
03 Hairy Candy
04 Hawker Boat
05 Side 8 (Big Gums Version)
06 Yum Yum Cult
07 Berries That Burn
08 Get My Nails Did
09 Dirt (Featuring Aesop Rock)
10 Gross Magik
11 Little Pink Riding Hood
12 Backwoods Altar
13 –
14 Tape Eater
15 Pink Goo
16 Grease Wizard

I think the album name is really fitting... This is pretty fucked up alright.

Tobacco - Truck Sweat (mp3)(buy)

2) The Silent Years

The Silent Years have got two new videos, both of which are done by animation artists. Have a look!

The Sun is Alive

That's adorable!

On Our Way Home



The Silent Years - On Our Way Home (mp3)(buy)

Silent Years Tour Dates:
Oct 12 - Lincoln, NE - Box Awesome*
Oct 13 - Omaha, NE - The Waiting Room*
Oct 14 - St. Louis, MO - The Bluebird*
Oct 15 - Champaign, IL - Mike N Molly's*
Oct 17 - Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pigs*
Oct 18 - Detroit, MI - THe Magic Stick* (also w/ Silverghost, Prussia, and Running with Panthers)
Oct 30 - Lansing, MI - Mac's Bar
Oct 31 - Grand Rapids, MI - The Hopcat - w/ The Hard Lessons
Nov 1 - Toledo, OH - Frankie's

*w/ The Envy Corps

3) Birdmonster Loves Their Fans

Birdmonster recently sent out a letter to all the members of their mailing list, detailing what they've been getting up to. Among other things, that band wants you to have a "rock n' rollified" version of a track from their latest album, and to know that we can expect a video from them for "Born to Be Your Man"soon. They also want you to know that they had fun breaking things for said video.

Birdmonster - I Might Have Guessed (Mean Version) (mp3)(buy)

4) The Legends Love Heavy Feedback and Distortion

Swedish one-man-band, the Legends, release their new single on November the 5th... but you can hear it now.



=)

The Legends - Seconds Away (mp3)(buy)

5) The Dead Trees Are More Lively Than Their Name Gives to Believe

Having finished up last year's tour with Albert Hammond Jr, this four piece is ready to hit the road again with Little Joy. They will also be supporting their own full length release, King of Rosa.

The Dead Trees - Shelter (mp3)(buy)

The band ha a notion of bringing back the basics to rock and roll. According to the Dead Trees' vocalist Michael Ian Cummings, "these days, the only way forward is backward". I like that.

King of Rosa will be out (CD and digital) on October the 21st.

6) the Pale Corners Love Table Tennis


That's the second Swedish band on our roster today. Stockholme-ian band the Pale Corners, would like you to know that their members never tell each other to go to hell, and are more like an amateur table tennis team than anything else.

The Pale Corners - Steve Buscemi (mp3)(not yet available for purchase)

They're so much like a table tennis team that they spent hours recording a table tennis game. We'll be able to hear this game as the drum beat to their next single. Godspeed, Pale Corners! You've got me hooked.