1.29.2008
[We All Have Hooks For Hands]
"Since you died, I've never been the same, but somehow I'm breathing once again."Riot groups, mariachi bands, angry mobs - let it not be said that large groups of people aren't fun. When it comes to carrying that idea over to music, I myself tend to attach a bit more affection the larger a band gets. Shooting out of Sioux Falls, South Dakota and having just as many words in their name as they have people in their band, We All Have Hooks For Hands is a 9-piece band of rambunctious kiddos - nine. Is there even a word for that? Nonette? After 6, I just start calling those groups parades or very exclusive parties. It's suspected that some people in the band just stand there. You know how in large groups a few people can just stand there lipping and no one would notice they're really not doing anything? I learned that in elementary school choir. I personally hypothesized that at least one member is devoted to dancing. Apparently, however, it seems an instrument really is attached to every person in the group - 3 guitars, 2 drums, 2 horns/keyboards, a violin, 5 golden rings, and a bass. WAHHFH is vibrant, heartwarming - ya know, happy music. Overtly upbeat and not one to shy away from group vocals, WAHHFH makes for a great, great pick-me-up.
From WAHHFH's The Pretender (all songs are right click - save as):
Learn more at their site.
Be their friend!
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Otherwheres - We're up for a Bloggie!
Otherwheres - Covert Curiosity showcases Reatard...
Otherwheres - Catch the new Gnarls Barkley track over at Mission Freak...
Otherwheres - So I'm gonna be honest, the lyric I put up with this post was pretty much the only line I could fully understand from the two songs I put up for post...
1.27.2008
[Jenny Owen Youngs]
"Skillet on the stove - it's such a temptation. Maybe I'll be the lucky one that doesn't get burned."I don't know why it's taken me this long to talk about Jenny Owen Youngs. I mean, Good Lord, Perez Hilton beat me to it. Now were this a post about some celebrity hit-and-running her car while having a domestic fight during a head-shaving with spawn sitting dangerously on her lap, then it'd be understandable. This, however, is not that kind of post, because, thankfully, I don't cover that kind of stuff. I do, however, cover people like Jenny Owen Youngs, and this gal is a smoky-voiced songwriter headed out of Montclair, New Jersey. This girl is certainly no stranger to the curse word, but let that be no measure of her music. Offering no apologies for her use of no-no words, Youngs instead offers the rationalization that some things just can't get by seeming genuine without throwing out one or two...or twelve curse words. There's a fitting juxtaposition to her tracks. Yes there are the lyrics lying cushy in a bed of rather sweet-sounding tracks, but her album Batten The Hatches brings forward a myriad of hard subjects illustrated by songs that seem happy, warm and inviting. You kinda have to expect some happiness in what she does though. What else can you expect from a gal whose initials are JOY?
From Batten The Hatches (all songs are right click - save as):
Learn more at her site.
Be her friend!
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Otherwheres - We're up for a Bloggie!
Otherwheres - One of my favorite haunts, I Guess I'm Floating, is up for one too!
Otherwheres - Matt over at You Ain't No Picasso recently had a ditty done about the time he was kidnapped by Filipinos and brought over to Canada. I myself am Filipino, and there are some of us that like to kidnap people. They call themselves MILFs, but we don't like to talk about them much...
1.26.2008
[Bloggie Awards]
Wahey! As pointed out in our comments earlier, we're up for a Bloggie! Thanks for throwing our name in! It's great to be put in the company of other great blogs. For the second year, we're up for "Best Teen Weblog." Wish us luck! Or...ahem, better yet, head on over and consider us for your vote! You've got until 10PM Eastern on Thursday, January 31st to cast your ballot, and yes, we will bother you about this in every post until it's over...because we love you!-----------------------------------------------------------------
No Otherwheres For This Post Guys
No Otherwheres For This Post Guys
1.25.2008
Foals vs. Battles
Band Name: FoalsMembers: Yannis Philippakis (vocals, guitar), Jimmy Smith (guitar), Edwin Congreave (keyboards), Walter Gervers (bass), Jack Bevan (drums)
From: Oxford
Associated with: The Edmund Fitzgerald, Face Meets Grill, Youthmovies
Their math rock is: dance-y, techno-y, glamorous, spacey
They are cool because: NME magazine put Yannis at #47 on their 2007 Cool List.
News: Full length album, Antidotes, drops March, produced by Dave Sitek of TV On the Radio, then remixed after Dave's sound unanimously rejected
Songs:
Video for "Balloons"
Band Name: BattlesMembers: Tyondai Braxton (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Ian Williams (guitar, keyboards), Dave Konopka (bass, guitar, effects), John Stanier (drums)
From: New York City
Associated with: Helmet, Don Caballero, Lynx, Anthony Braxton
Their math rock is: funky, futuristic, sometimes frightening
They are cool because: NME magazine voted Atlas "Best Single of the Week" one week.
News: Playing Big Day Out, annual music festival held in Australia and New Zealand, going on as I type.
Songs:
1.19.2008
Paper Airplanes
"The Fences" by Paper Airplanes rocked my socks off. I downloaded it off a promotional e-mail a while ago and completely forgot about it until it shocked me into recognition after coming up on my iPod in shuffle mode. I guess I didn't pay much attention to it upon immediate download because of the sophomoric name of the band (almost as bad as Dirty On Purpose), but I must assure you that the immaturity of the band's surface does not sink into its music. Granted, Paper Airplanes has a young sound, but instead of being pretentious, it brings instead a refreshing quirkiness that hasn't come around since the early Modest Mouse years.
Their first album, appropriately entitled Boyhood, was recorded when the three members were the tender ages of 18, 19, and 22, and is, obviously, boyish and fresh but still not childish nor underdeveloped. At times, it may seem that they are overloading their songs with instruments (as young musicians may tend to do), but in the next moment they will expertly cut all sound leaving only a harmony of voices to ease your ringing ears. They know how to craft a song -- each of their tracks are structured and have an effortless flow. With an indie gem such as "The Fences," it's better that Paper Airplanes never grows up.
One upcoming show: March 17 @ The Eagle's Lodge in their hometown, Wichita, Kansas.
From Boyhood
mp3 The Fences
mp3 Curious Phantasm
From Scandal, Scandal, Scandal Down in the Cornfield
mp3 Debutantes, or the Town is Ablaze!
1.18.2008
[Parker Street Cinema]
Thump, bam, bam, cymbal crash - what can I say this time? It's instrumental music...Hailing from San Francisco, Parker Street Cinema is a trio befitting their name. With their instrumental demeanor, Parker Street Cinema is certainly capable of scoring a movie. It's just three guys with, as you would have it, three instruments - a piano, drums and a bass guitar. Their most recent release, "Music In The Blood," may very well describe both the trio and the music they create. There's a defined intensity in their tracks that at times makes the track just downright creepy, haunting. And it's with this blood-curdling music that proves music is in their blood and ready to infect ours too. At the end of it all, Parker Street Cinema is instrumental music with a considerable urban vibe, yet one of a metropolis filled with nostalgia so you're just as overwhelmed by your memories as you are by your senses.
From Parker Street Cinema (all songs are right click - save as):
Learn more over at the Parker Street Cinema site.
Be their friend!
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Otherwheres - To anyone in my area of Austin, Texas and the immediate beyond - forget not that Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter will be funnying up the stage at Mohawk's tonight. Party Ends! also has a giveaway to boot...
Otherwheres - Lawrence over at Covert Curiosity reminds you that Austinites Oh No! Oh My! did a Daytrotter session...
Otherwheres - Have a great weekend!
1.16.2008
Feist vs M.I.A.
Name: Leslie FeistAKA: Feist
Country: Canada
Sounds like: Norah Jones, kind of... Dido, kind of...
Associated with: Placebo (not the British Placebo, but the Calgary punk Placebo), Peaches, Broken Social Scene, By Divine Right, Kings of Convenience, iTunes commercial
Achievements: Juno Award winner, 2008 Grammy nominations (Best Female Pop Vocal, Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album -- The Reminder, Best Short Form Music Video -- "1234"), SPIN's Breakout Artist of the Year, Blender's Breakout Artist of the Year
Fun Fact: performed as one of 1000 dancers in the opening ceremonies of the 1998 Calgary Winter Olympics
Website: www.listentofeist.com
Songs to download: "1234," "My Moon, My Man"
Country: Canada
Sounds like: Norah Jones, kind of... Dido, kind of...
Associated with: Placebo (not the British Placebo, but the Calgary punk Placebo), Peaches, Broken Social Scene, By Divine Right, Kings of Convenience, iTunes commercial
Achievements: Juno Award winner, 2008 Grammy nominations (Best Female Pop Vocal, Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album -- The Reminder, Best Short Form Music Video -- "1234"), SPIN's Breakout Artist of the Year, Blender's Breakout Artist of the Year
Fun Fact: performed as one of 1000 dancers in the opening ceremonies of the 1998 Calgary Winter Olympics
Website: www.listentofeist.com
Songs to download: "1234," "My Moon, My Man"
Video for "1234"
Name: Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam
AKA: M.I.A.
Country: London, England
Sounds like: a better, hipper Lady Sovereign
Associated with: Peaches... kind of, not really
Achievements: Rolling Stone's and Blender's Album of the Year (Kala), Mixmag's Album of the Month (Kala), USA Today's 100 Most Interesting People of 2007 (ranked 21st), nominated for 2005 Mercury Prize (Arular)
Fun Fact: can now be found in designer Marc Jacob's latest ad campaign
Website: www.miauk.com
Songs to download: "Paper Planes," "Bucky Done Gun," "Boyz"
AKA: M.I.A.
Country: London, England
Sounds like: a better, hipper Lady Sovereign
Associated with: Peaches... kind of, not really
Achievements: Rolling Stone's and Blender's Album of the Year (Kala), Mixmag's Album of the Month (Kala), USA Today's 100 Most Interesting People of 2007 (ranked 21st), nominated for 2005 Mercury Prize (Arular)
Fun Fact: can now be found in designer Marc Jacob's latest ad campaign
Website: www.miauk.com
Songs to download: "Paper Planes," "Bucky Done Gun," "Boyz"
Video for "Paper Planes"
1.09.2008
Top 5 Albums of 2007: Alina's Side
Yes, we are into the second week of January, and yes, we are now finally releasing what we respectively thought were the best albums of 2007. A comes before B, so here are ALINA'S TOP 5 ALBUMS OF 2007!!!
5. White Stripes- Icky ThumpThe best album completed in three weeks time. Icky Thump collides White Stripes with Mexico and the result is fantastic. Trumpet, guitar, and bass drum have never sounded better.
mp3 Icky Thump
4. The National- BoxerThe most solemn voice you've ever heard. This is indie so masculine it can't help but be taken seriously -- Boxer is anti-twee, if you will.
mp3 Squalor Victoria
mp3 Green Gloves
3. Radiohead- In RainbowsOne of the best bands of all time finally releases their latest. No matter how you got the songs, In Rainbows was undoubtedly on repeat for weeks. Sad, delicate songs that broke your heart and made you cry.
mp3 Videotape
mp3 Bodysnatchers
2. Lil' Wayne- Da Drought 3The best rapper alive who never stops giving. Not one, but two discs of hits... for F-R-E-E. Described as a gift to his fans, this mixtape is some of the best rap of Weezy's career.
m4a Sky's the Limit
m4a Get High, Rule the World
1. Arcade Fire- Neon BibleThe most expertly crafted and executed album of the year. Neon Bible has proven that Arcade Fire will never get old and cannot ever be overrated.
mp3 Keep the Car Running
mp3 No Cars Go
Labels: Albums '07
Both Sides of the Mouth is a dual-authored mp3 blog based in Austin, Texas. All audio posted on this site is meant for sampling purposes only. If you really like what you hear, show it and support the artist - buy an album, buy some merch. If you represent or own any media on this site and would like something taken down please email us, and we will take the neccessary action of removing the file(s).
Notable Mixes - Brad