Disappears - Lux - 2010

I found this album yesterday and gave it a whirl; I was surprised at how much I loved it right off the bat. Using steady, percussive drums; fuzzy, reverb-soaked guitars; punchy, wet bass lines; the Disappears have gotten the stonegaze genre down. Whoa, I didn't even mention the distant vocals. Overall, if you like bands like True Widow, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Eagles of Death Metal, you'll love this album.

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Weedeater - Jason... the Dragon - 2011

Best case scenario: you're already au courant with Weedeater, you love this album just as much as the three before it, and I'm up late - or early, depending on how you look at it - for nothing. To start, I'm not the biggest fan of the vocals - those sort of growly, screamy metal voices. That being said, I enjoy the interesting, sometimes syncopated yet sometimes steady drums. The bass is overdriven and nasty and great - what more can I say, it drives the music in my opinion. The guitars are also, usually, heavily overdriven and always dronish. Bottom Line: This album is drone, sludge, stoner, etc and if you like music, you will most likely and hopefully enjoy it. Listen and, if you dislike it, you never have to hear it again.

Oh and PS, the vocalist blasted one of his big toes off while working on this album. He suffered to bring you this album? You are damn right.

daolnwoD

Wooden Shjips - West - 2011

I stumbled across this little gem yesterday. With trippy guitar effects, punchy bass lines and Doors-esque vocals, this band manages to make me move. Formed in San Francisco in 2006 and signed to Holy Mountain records (the same Holy Mountain that produces Six Organs of Admittance, Om, etc), Woodent shjips have released five albums with West being the latest. Check it out

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Novadriver - Deeper High - 2005

As a bit of background, I work as a bartender/bouncer at night during the the week in addition to having a bit of a green thumb. I also listen to some crazy heavy music from time to time. Recently I have been selflessly growing six Jalepeno plants whom I have dubbed "the Boys".

Now, I just got back from work and noticed that one of the 7 or so peppers hasn't been getting larger while all of its peers have. This troubled me, so naturally I checked the pepper's connection to the larger stem; at that point the pepper plopped off into my hand. Panicked and somewhat drunk, I took a bite of the pepper. Teary eyed and hiccuping, I withdrew to the kitchen and devoured the first collecton of lipids I could find: Yogurt. Upon recovery, I remembered that I had planned to write an entry about Novadriver's 2005 album "Deeper High"...

If you like a good amount of psychedelic effects - ie. flange, phase, wah, etc - you will love this album. Its wild and unpredictable with wah-laden screaming guitar solos and extended noise/indie-rock breaks.

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Black Sabbath - Live in Paris - 1970

There is not much I can say about Black Sabbath that hasn't already been said by someone else at some point in the past 40 years but What I can safely say is that they were one of the best live bands of their time. There are some videos of this show floating around but I ripped the audio out myself. Enjoy!

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Black Sabbath: Live In Paris 1970

Film School - Hideout - 2007

Stratified sound, punchy minimalistic drums, indie vocal styling - Film School is a perfect example of indie rock as well as shoegaze. Formed in the late 1990's by Greg Bertens and former members of Pavement and Fuck, the group released several albums with this being the third. There is the ever present "wall-of-sound" aspect all too common with shoegaze music but it's not overdone. The vocal style and lyrical content can be a bit depressing but as a bass player, I really don't pay too much attention to that aspect of the music. That being said, I think the vocals are very good and accomplish what they were designed to do, which is convey a grim mood. Overall, if you like any style of indie rock or shoegaze, you will get a kick out of this album.

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Film School: Hideout

Hum - Fillet Show - 1991

Sounding like a sonic Frankenstein monster, Fillet Show reminds me of contemporary bands like Dinosaur Jr, Helmet and Starflyer 59. This is the first album by the Champaign, Illinois group. This album is a bit more rough and tumble than later albums which feature more complex songwriting and syncopation. Overall, this is a great album by a band that had dropped off the edge of the world by 2000.

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Hum: Fillet Show