Hey y'all! I've got another delicious mix for you all, in downloadable form below. You can grab it either track at a time if you're so inclined, or as one easy simple <100 meg download, in a rar down the bottom of the list.

Art Brut – Nag Nag Nag

Andrew Bird – Heretic

The Wrens – Dance The Midwest

Weezer – Pig

Okkervil River – A Hand To Take A Hold Of The Scene

The Thrills – No More Empty Words

Guided By Voices – A Salty Salute

Bishop Allen – Click Click Click Click

Beulah – Landslide Baby

Myles Vincent – Senior

Operator Please – Two For My Seconds

Spoon – The Underdog

Cajun Dance Party – The Next Untouchable

Good Little Fox – How Could I Forget You?

Glen Hansard & Marketta Irglova – Falling Slowly

Dear And The Headlights – It's Getting Easy

Big Star – September Gurls

Milburn – Roll Out The Barrel

grab the RAR!

This mix is an intentionally jumpy and disjointed collection. I've never been a "mix cd as an artform" kind of guy. My aim with a mix is rarely to create a complete picture. Instead, it is to throw a bunch of different (hopefully likable) stuff at the listener, in the hope that they find even one new song out of it that prompts them to investigate the artist and buy the record. That's certainly the aim with this. For that reason, there's no real track order. Get them all, put it on shuffle. It doesn't really matter.

If you've got the spare bandwith (and really, what's 100 meg these days?) then i suggest downloading all the songs here. Listen to the first 1 minute of each song, if you're that strapped for spare time, and if you don't like what you hear then delete the song. I'm fairly confident that after you've deleted 90% of the stuff, you'll find something on there that tickles your fancy. And as for the stuff you hear that you don't like? Well, at least you're giving something new a shot and expanding your musical horizons! You can even think of yourself as adventurous if you'd like!

As for the songs on here - all of them were acquired legally (in the sense that they were from free and legal mp3 blogs) or, in the case of the majority of them, are from real records I own. I guess I'm taking an mp3 bloggers ethical standpoint here - I'm hoping that if you enjoy a song you hear, you'll go out and buy a record or see them live, rather than going and downloading the album off limewire or whatever. Remember, music will only thrive if we provide it with the money to. So if you like an artist, support the artist!

The Western States Motel

Ah, Western States Motel. Where to begin. Perfect summer music. (As a lot of my music seems to be!) Or even music for when you want it to be summer, but it isn't.

Straight up, WSM aren't doing anything new. He sounds like somebody threw Grandaddy in a blender with Albert Hammond Junior, stopping only to add a dash of brilliance. Row Of Homes is solid gold from beginning to end, pure and simple. And pure and simple it is (ha! didn't see that one coming, did you?) It was recorded lo-fi, but it disguises that pretty well. There's no studio trickery though. This is a song that would translate brilliantly to an acoustic bside on a future single. The vocals are honest, and beautiful. The lyrics are decent enough too. And the electronic sounding bells and whistles are the cherry on top as well. Not overused, but accenting the song nicely, giving dashes of colour here and there.

His "big hit" is the single Powerlines. A pleasant little song for sure, but it doesn't capture me in the same way that Rows Of Homes did. Still definitely worth a listen though.

If pop isn't a dirty word to you, then you need to give this band/dude a listen. Sure, maybe it won't be your thing. But there's a very good chance that it might be...

Download Row Of Homes courtesy of Noise For Toaster
Listen to Powerlines over at his myspace

I know, I know, it's been a while since I've posted on of these new music blog thingies. But I haven't been listening to as much new music as I once was, and out of what I have heard, I haven't been excited by as much. But that's about to change. Without further ado...

The Old 97's.

These guys aren't really new, they've been around 11 years of so, but I'd heard their name maybe once in my life before and don't know anyone who likes them, so it is time to expose another great band to the world (or maybe just the 5 people who read this!)

The Old 97's describe themselves as alt country. But please don't dismiss them on that basis. I'm not an alt country fan at *all* and I dig these guys. A lot. Like, I have purchased/am bidding on multiple albums on ebay right now. They are *that* good. I discovered them through reading an amazon review for a Beulah album, where the author of the review said something along the lines of "Beulah are among the finest of american pop craftsmen, in a league with bands like The Shins and The Old 97's." Well, with The Shins and Beulah both being among my favourite bands, I couldn't ignore this recommendation. And while I don't think The Old 97's are amazing enough to join the aforementioned bands in my top ten (and can't really see too much in common with the shins and beulah), they are certainly worth a (repeated) listen, and possibly even worth buying an album.

The first one I heard was called "Question," and it's far and away got the most plays on their myspace player. This one is a stripped back, acoustic guitar and lone voice kind of dealio. Though strings come into it a little later on, to wonderful effect. This song is not like the others on their player - it is a different breed to the other songs I'll mention later on, but it is a wonderful little song, especially lyrically. Perhaps not unlike some of the more stripped back, simple songs off The Shins' Chutes Too Narrow.

Fiercely american, texan specifically, they're obviously very in touch with a lot of country and alt country influences, but it's powerful music. Not to say country itself isn't powerful, but it's physically powerful. Powerful in the way that hard rock, "heavy rock" is. Tool, that sort of thing. No, I'm not saying they sound like tool. Not in a million years. But they sound big. And energetic, explosive without being punk. And you can't physically ignore this band, especially on tracks like Won't Be Home (live). I challenge you to listen to this and not tap your foot, bang your fist on the table, and try to sing along even though you don't know the words. A great "first" song to hear. A song that would sound good in a convertible, on an open highway!

So for those of you with a short attention span, go to their myspace page and listen to "Won't Be Home," (for the rockier side) and "Question" (for the slower, more emotional side) you won't regret it.

(and yes, I realise there shouldn't be an apostrophe in their name if it was gramatically correct, unless they were saying that the band belonged to something called the the old 97. But that's the way they spell it)

Forget Cassettes - Quiero, Queires

So in keeping with the kind of description normally reserved for punk/similar acts that open a song like a horse right out the gate (beginning with a killer "kick in the balls guitar riff", etc), I'm gonna describe this song as "opening with a kick in the teeth."

Except instead of a kick with a pair of vans or chucks, this is a kick with pointy toed, leather, raised heel boots of the indie-rock elite. Not your run of the mill regular snobby indie-kids. I'm talking the brendan-jay-society kind of elite. Okay, elitist bashing aside (because really, we all think ourselves higher up the musical food chain than someone else, whether we admit it or not), I should really get around to describing this song.

So after the opening five seconds that will surprise you no matter how many times you hear it, the song settles into a frantic, classy classic-rock-meets-indie-rock  kind of mess that's somehow still meticulously ordered. (Come to think of it, what *is* indierock? Is it anything more than a buzzword for those too into themselves for a mere "pop" or "rock" label to suffice?)

So, for a little while it doesn't seem to go anywhere, but just when you think it's a little formulaic there's a bit of screaming and guitar noise and hey presto, you're interested again.

Anyway, I think it's the vocals that make this stand out. A girl who can sing reasonably well, but isn't afraid to yell a little. But without falling into the whiny emo yell, or tragic "diet-goth-rock" wails. A few fleeting moments bring to mind PJ Harvey, though for the most part she's not too similar with the vox.
Something in her vocals, particularly early on sound old fashioned to me, though I'm sure old fashioned is the wrong term. I can't think of a better one. Sorry.

I'm sorry I haven't sufficiently described this, I got too caught up in taking digs and going on tangents. But hey, I enjoy it so nyah.

Here's one I first heard maybe 6 months ago? They're called Kid Theodore. They are a bunch of youngish guys from Slat Lake City, in the US. You can hear a bunch of their stuff on their myspace but I've put two up for you to download, as they used to be downloadable (but now aren't) - anyhooo, they are my favourite two.

The first one I have for you is Lonely Angel. It starts with handclaps, then the bass comes in, then it all comes together. Straightforward acoustic guitar and key driven pop, a nice little ditty.

The second, my favourite of theirs by far is a pretty little song called I Am A Moth. It's a slow solo afair, with only vocals and guitar. The guitar has fingerpicking-y bits, and is repetitive but nice. Perfect mixtape fodder. Listen for the chorus bit. I love it. This is a song I'd want on a mixtape made for me, but only by a girlfriend/prospective girlfriend! But you get the point - it's a really pretty, yet simple song.

If you feel the need or aren't interested in finding new music or whatever, feel free not to read these. But otherwise, I urge you to download bands you think you might find interesting. I try to sift out all the lame stuff (I listen to about 5 new artists a day, doing all the hard work for you!) And you never know, you may just find someone you absolutely love through this - I found voxtrot through an mp3 blog and they are nearing top 10 status!
Without further ado...

Follow this link to their myspace to download The Jade Shader – Cha Cha Choo Choo

So, these guys are some kind of mini supergroup. I say mini because they're made up of people from a bunch of bands I haven't heard of, plus one guy from Pinback. They describe themselves as indie/rock/jazz. In case you didn't notice, I deftly sidestepped trying to describe a band I just can't pin(back) down. Haha. I guess maybe they're not exactly a world away from Birdmonster, another band I've ranted and raved about (their song Resurrection Song blows my mind.) They're a little heavier than your average indierock. Only a little. But a "bigger" sound. Anyway, I've only heard two of their songs, one great, one average. Obviously, this one is the great one. It's good enough to warrant me putting their EP on my "to buy" list. Following the link will take you to their myspace (which I know isn't that cool but you can download the aforementioned song within the flash player.)

Enjoy
(p.s. props to myself for linking to mp3s of a band that aren't indiepop of some form or another)

The Neons – Neon Lights and Featherweight

So, I guess these guys are fairly standard girl bandish rock with a few quietish moments, a few big loud moments, a guitar solo, and a girl who has a voice that makes her sound pretty (rather than just "a pretty voice" if you know what I mean.)

I guess the most glowing recommendation I can give is that I think girl bands in general are usually pretty crap, like, Sleater Kinney and The Donnas and stuff are pretty much the exception, but still, I'm not really fans of them. But this, I really really like this. Really. It's one of the new bands I've liked the most out of everything I've heard all year. This and voxtrot.

Download the two songs at their myspace.

Cordalene – Kissed Awake

I like this a lot. Another powerpop band. Saccharine sweet, almost video-game-bubbly keys interject here and there in an otherwise standard "guitar/bass/drums/vocals, pop style" kind of thing. If you even remotely like it after one listen, listen to it two more times and I'm pretty sure your likingness will have increased exponentially. It's catchy, okay? Anyway, give this song a good 30 seconds to get to what this band really sound like, because the intro is one of those "stripped down" guitar bass and vocals before the guitar come in later" kind of affairs. The keys in the chorus are really infectious. I know I use that word, but hey, I like it! Okay, I jus listened to one of their other songs, and it's more serious (and thus more boring, haha) kind of thing. Okay, and a third is a happy medium. So the aforementioned song may not be totally representative of them. It's still good though!

If you like that one, hear more over at their myspace.

I often torture myself by writing lists of top 10 bands, top 10 albums, that sort of thing. So why do I do it? I love lists. But I hate having to decide. And there's my problem. Here is my latest attempt at the top 10 bands list...

1. Weezer
2. The Libertines
3. Beulah
4. The Strokes
5. Idlewild
6. The Shins
7. The Go! Team
8. Ash
9. The Thrills
10. The Frames