Hey Mercedes - Loses Control

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Hey Mercedes - Loses Control [2003]
melodic indie rock jamz
256vbr


I'm a big Bob Nanna fan, and this is my favourite record of his since Braid's seminal "Frame and Canvas" LP. Smart, catchy 4 minute rock songs that swap the teenage angst for grown-up intelligence. Real joy of an album.

01 "Quality Revenge At Last" - 3:30
02 "It's Been a Blast" - 3:15
03 "Playing Your Song" - 3:24
04 "Knowing When to Stop" - 3:16
05 "The Boy Destroyers" - 3:27
06 "Unorchestrated" - 3:26
07 "Lashing Out" - 3:38
08 "Police Police Me" - 3:53
09 "Oh Penny" - 4:19
10 "The Switch" - 3:02
11 "Absolute Zero Drive" - 3:48
12 "Go on Drone" - 3:51

Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - What It Takes To Move Forward

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Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - What It Takes To Move Forward [2009]
emo, indie rock
v2

Thanks to Luke for bringing it to Nat's attention and to Nat for loving it on last.fm, thus bringing it to my attention.

This seems like a Kinsella band, but it's not. Very 90s emo, but new. There's a lot of good things going on in this record.

01 How to Make Love Stay
02 Keep What You Have Built Up Here
03 What Safe Means
04 It Happened Because You Left
05 Rally the Troops! Poke Holes In Their Defenses! Line Our Coffers With Their Coffins!
06 It's a Plague, and You're Invited
07 Everything Is Connected and Everything Matters (A Temporary Solution to a Permanent Problem)
08 The Next Step to Regaining Control
09 With Your Greatest Fears Realized, You Will Not Be Comforted
10 I Am a Snail, and You Are a Pace I Cannot Match
11 An Idea Is a Greater Monument Than a Cathedral

Indian Summer - Hidden Arithmetic

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Indian Summer - Hidden Arithmetic [2008]
quaking amplitudes, college radio, wrenching guts, c-c-c-c-combobreaker
224vbr


This is emotional hardcore. I sing the praises of this record at any given opportunity. Indian Summer were a short-lived Californian rock band who recorded a handful of songs and played a handful of shows and then burnt out. This record (and this is the LP, not the CD which is different) features a radio set and a live performance. It's loose and lo-fi and just exploding with passion. A must have for fans of Saetia, The Saddest Landscape or Slint. The vinyl is worth picking up; all screen-printed inserts and hilarious liner notes.


All tracks are untitled. Running time is 55 minutes.

Broken Lamps and Hardcore Memories, Volume 2

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Various - Broken Lamps and Hardcore Memories, Volume 2
Mrs. Robinson, are you trying to seduce me?
224vbr


Too cool for pop radio, but still want to dance around in your underwear? Check this shit out...


01 Blood Red -Conscience Calling
02 Crime in Stereo -Warning: Perfect Sideburns Do Not Make You Dangerous
03 With Honor -With the Wind
04 Trial by Fire -Point an Inward Finger
05 Distance -And I Begin With the Longest Year Ever
06 A Wilhelm Scream -The Rip
07 Break the Silence -Ocean's Away
08 Staring Back -Haunted
09 Most Precious Blood -Funeral Photography
10 Atreyu -Deanne the Arsonist
11 Martyr AD -American Hollow
12 Devilinside -Loaded
13 Twelve Tribes -Translation of Fixes
14 Since by Man -Push the Panic
15 Taken -Arrested Impulse (Demo)
16 Love Me Destroyer -30 Packs and Pearl Snaps
17 Anthym -Darkness Falls (Demo)
18 Death by Stereo -No Cuts, No Butts, No Coconuts (Live)
19 Back Up Plan -Looks Like I'm Back on Suicide Watch
20 Scraps and Heart Attacks -Don't F With S
21 Nora -Dreamers
22 Funeral -Separation Anxiety
23 Until the End -The Bond to Breathe
24 Curl Up and Die -I Hate Almost Every Person I Come into Contact With
25 Misery Signals -On Account of an Absence
26 Glass Casket -In Between the Sheets

The Appleseed Cast - Peregrine

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The Appleseed Cast - Peregrine [2006]
indie rock, post-rock, emo
v0

The album that introduced me to who are now one of my favourite bands. Peregrine is a great combination of post-rocky instrumental tracks and the more traditional atmospheric emo of The Appleseed Cast's past.

+10 points for their lead singer's beard.

01 Ceremony [4:18]

02 Woodland Hunter (Part 1) [3:16]

03 Here We Are (Family In The Hallways) [3:41]

04 Silas' Knife [4:09]

05 Mountain Halo [4:10]

06 Sunlit And Ascending [4:01]

07 February [3:52]

08 An Orange And A Blue [4:11]

09 Song 3 [5:00]

10 Woodland Hunter (Part 2) [4:30]

11 Peregrine [4:06]

12 A Fate Delivered [3:54]

13 The Clock And The Storm [5:54]

Brandtson - Dial in Sounds

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Brandtson - Dial in Sounds [2002]
emo, pop-punk, indie rock
224vbr


I had this CD sitting around for probably 8 months before I finally got into it. For some reason that's how long it took me to realise that when this album came out Deep Elm had just about the best roster of any label (even if you ignore The Appleseed Cast - which you shouldn't). This is a summer-time-road-trip kind of album, but one which displays a maturity and craftsmanship that you don't often find in this genre. I don't know why this took me so long. It's catchy as hell.


01 Mark it a Zero (4:02)
02 The Rookie Year (4:11)
03 With Friends Like You (4:33)
04 Some Kind of Jet Pilot (2:24)
05 Cherokee Red (4:43)
06 Command Q, Command Z (3:45)
07 Guest List (3:25)
08 Anything and Everything (3:43)
09 Little Rounder (4:18)
10 Fireworks and Phonecalls (4:04)

The Moirai - Bury Yourself

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The Moirai - Bury Yourself [2005]
emo, indie rock
224vbr


This is one of my favourite albums of the whole SDRE/Mineral/emo yadda yadda indie scene. It doesn't seem to get talked about much, but everyone who has heard it adores it. This band formed out of the ashes of Penfold and, I think, put the gloss on an already first class sound. Has the voice-cracking, fist-clenching passion that this sound is all about in spades.


01. Crucifixion as an Art Form (3:39)
02. Water is the New Fire (5:03)
03. A Terrible Secret (4:27)
04. Last Year For Halloween I Was a Ghost (4:54)
05. Dear Alison, I Am Not a Cynic (4:40)
06. Bury Yourself (3:35)
07. Singing Nonsense on the Streets of Rome (5:44)
08. Empathy for Your Enemy/Hostile to the Helpless (8:06)

Algernon Cadwallader - Some Kind of Cadwallader

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Algernon Cadwallader - Some Kind of Cadwallader [2008]
emo, math rock, indie rock
320kbps

If you're yearning for some Cap'n Jazz throwback, here's just the band for you. Considerably more polished, but bringing back and holding the flag for a kind of music that, as far as some people are concerned, lived and died with that one band.

This is absolute summer-time jauntiness, 'Some Kind of Cadwallader' would be a singalong anthem if the general population had better taste.

01 Casual Discussion In A Dome Between Two Temples [2:27]

02 Some Kind Of Cadwallader [2:25]

03 The Stars [2:54]

04 Horror [4:21]

05 Motivational Song [3:44]

06 Yo Soy Milk [2:32]

07 I've Got Piano [2:21]

08 Katie's Conscience [2:14]

09 Serial Killer Status [2:29]

10 In Response To Irresponsibility [13:15]

mewithoutYou - Brother, Sister

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mewithoutYou - Brother, Sister [2006]
post-hardcore, indie rock, emo
192kbps

Third album from mewithoutYou - featuring guest vocals on "The Sun and The Moon" by Jeremy Enigk, and instrumentation from members of Anathallo. It's probably my favourite of theirs as a whole.

01 Messes of Men (3:53)

02 The Dryness And The Rain (2:57)

03 Wolf Am I! (And Shadow) (2:37)

04 Yellow Spider (1:11)

05 A Glass Can Only Spill What It Contains (3:46)

06 Nice And Blue (Part 2) (3:44)

07 The Sun And The Moon (5:16)

08 Orange Spider (1:10)

09 C-Minor (3:22)

10 In A Market Dimly Lit (4:27)

11 O, Porcupine (4:31)

12 Brownish Spider (1:20)

13 In A Sweater Poorly Knit (7:18)

mewithoutYou - [A→B] Life

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mewithoutYou - [A→B] Life [2002]
post-hardcore, indie rock, emo
v0

Easily the band that influence La Dispute the most, this album is the heaviest mewithoutYou ever were (as they've chilled out quite a bit since), [A→B] Life is about as raw and intense as post-hardcore gets.

01 Bullet To Binary (2:48)
02 The Ghost (3:14)
03 Nice And Blue (3:54)
04 Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt (4:45)
05 [A] (0:54)
06 Gentlemen (2:50)
07 Be Still, Child (2:42)
08 We Know Who Our Enemies Are (2:59)
09 I Never Said That I Was Brave (3:01)
10 [B] (1:34)
11 Silencer (3:49)
12 The Cure For Pain (15:09)

La Dispute

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If you're into screamo or post-hardcore at all and haven't heard La Dispute yet, you're in for a treat. Passionate whiney and screaming vocals with refreshingly intelligent and clever lyrics backed with skilled and borderline-progressive guitar playing make La Dispute THE essential post-hardcore band in my eyes. I'm sure many would agree.

Let it be said that Nat turned us all onto them and deserves the credit if one were to give it.



La Dispute - Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair [2008]
post-hardcore, screamo, emo
v0

Re-up because it needed to be. New Storms for Older Lovers and The Last Lost Continent are some of the best songs I've ever heard.

01 Such Small Hands (1:35)
02 Said The King To The River (4:00)
03 New Storms for Older Lovers (4:58)
04 Damaged Goods (2:55)
05 Fall Down, Never Get Back Up Again (2:45)
06 Bury Your Flame full track (4:34)
07 Last Blues for Bloody Knuckles (4:59)
08 The Castle Builders (2:46)
09 Andria (4:19)
10 Then Again, Maybe You Were Right (1:36)
11 Sad Prayers for Guilty Bodies (3:45)
12 The Last Lost Continent (12:00)
13 Nobody, Not Even the Rain (1:10)



-



La Dispute - Vancouver [2006]
post-hardcore, screamo, emo
v0

Re-upped. A tad more accessible than Somewhere At The Bottom... so you might want to grab this one first unless you're more inclined towards whining, in which case, grab the other one first.

01 Future Wars (2:57)
02 A Word of Welcome and Warning (2:29)
03 See You in Vancouver (4:08)
04 To Withstand the Force of Storms (4:33)
05 He Is Here, He Is Not Afraid (4:48)
06 The Surgeon and the Scientist (4:26)
07 Fairmount (5:11)
08 Untitled (1:41)




La Dispute - Untitled 7" [2008]
post-hardcore, screamo, emo
v2

I felt this band deserved a revisit - mostly because they are really good. The two tracks on this 7" are two of my favourites by La Dispute, shedding a little of the 'whiney'-ness that might have put people off them before.

01 Only Everything Below
02 Shall Never Lose Its Power




La Dispute - Here, Hear [2008]
v0

I felt like since we had the second Here, Hear we needed the first one, too. Found it, have a listen.

01 One
02 Two
03 Three
04 Four




La Dispute - Here, Hear II [2008]
192kbps

Spoken word + La Dispute = omgawesome. (Especially in the case of Eight.)

01 Five
02 Six
03 Seven
04 Eight

Jeniferever - Spring Tides

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Jeniferever - Spring Tides [2009]
post-rock, emo
v0

I thought to myself, "Dibs on new Jeniferever!" before I even listened to it. Then I listened to it, and it was awesome, and it was special. Every track.

01 Green Meadow Island (5:32)
02 Concrete And Glass (5:19)
03 Ox-Eye (5:38)
04 St. Gallen (6:12)
05 Nangijala (9:37)
06 Sparrow Hills (3:50)
07 Lives Apart (6:53)
08 The Hourglass (6:22)
09 Ring Out The Grief (6:07)
10 Spring Tides (8:40)

The Gloria Record - Start Here

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The Gloria Record - Start Here [2002]
emo, indie rock
192kbps

The first and only full-length from this band, led by Chris Simpson, who had previously been vocalist for the legendary emo band Mineral. A really great record, incredibly textured and a large departure from the fairly stripped-down sound of Mineral.

01 Start Here (2:49)
02 Good Morning Providence (5:07)
03 Cinema Air (4:01)
04 I Was Born In Omaha (6:52)
05 Ascension Dream (4:24)
06 The Overpass (4:18)
07 My Funeral Party (5:10)
08 The Immovable Motorist (2:57)
09 Salvation Army (8:22)
10 Ambulance (6:40)

L'antietam - Family

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L'antietam - Family[2006]
screamo, hardcore, emo
v0

Everything the band recorded up to 2006 plus a bunch of previously unreleased material. I put off listening to this for ages, and really regret that now. This band has had a split with The Kidcrash and one up-and-coming with Loma Prieta. A sign of quality.

01 Intro (1:06)
02 Am:Jm (1:49)
03 00:05 (00:06)
04 Brick Halls (1:23)
05 0:43 (0:44)
06 Boxes (1:59)
07 Dear Good Man (2:47)
08 1:04 (1:05)
09 Two Birds (2:20)
10 Outro (A Safe One) (3:56)
11 We Saw The Umbrella Man (2:35)
12 We Turned Off Harbor Lights (2:21)
13 We Drank To The Top Of Our Lungs (0:58)
14 We Built Our Heavens (2:02)
15 Adrenaline Baby (1:28)
16 Eldiso (1:11)
17 Holy Family Fuck (2:37)
18 Plastic (3:06)
19 Paper (2:42)
20 Bah Bah Bah Patriots (4:21)
21 Everybody Loves Raymond (Not The Town In NH) (3:54)
22 The Johnny Appleseed Trail (3:12)
23 None Of This Is No Longer Worth My Time (2:21)
24 Joe's Dad Looks Like Michael Moore (2:11)
25 Thanks For The Gift, But Its Completely Useless For My Situation (2:44)
26 I Sat For Days And Came With This (2:26)
27 It's Hard To Listen To A Word You're Saying When You're Spitting In My Face (2:31)

E For Explosion - Reinventing The Heartbeat

E For Explosion - Reinventing The Heartbeat [2008]
indie, emo, dream-pop, nugaze
192

Extremely ridiculous lyrics, but really good music.