Sell the Lie

Perhaps You Don't Care (see what I did there?), but if you'd like to hear some new Fall Out Boy without being accosted, the new single is streaming on their website.  The guitar riff is strikingly reminiscent of "La Grange" by ZZ Top, which is weird, but it has a pretty good hook ("I don't care what you think/ as long as it's about me").  I'm still looking forward to the new album, but this song is pretty much not really my favorite.

Computer vs. Banjo is two guys you may have heard of (Beau Stapleton, the mandolineer of Blue Merle, and Johnny Mann from Gran Torino) who pit a computer and a banjo in a battle royale.  Well, sort of.  CvB's sound is best described as folk or alt-country with some electronic elements.  Kind of scary, I know, but it actually ends up being a pretty good mix.

Jubilee is a great start to the album that sort of epitomizes and defines it as a whole.  A quavering piano, crazy robot noises, well-placed drums, some sweet guitar sounds, and an awesome banjo make-up this very first track.  The second track, Guitar's Need a Sinner's Touch, has an...interesting start, but the rest of the track is pretty solid, with some sweet sounding banjo sending the track to its close.  Give Up On Ghosts was the first CvB song I heard, and was my initial draw to these guys.  This song just flat out rocks.  A foot-tappin' drum beat and hand-claps form incredibly well around an excellent guitar line.  The next track, Outerspace, features more of those crazy robot noises one might expect to hear in, well, outerspace.  It's an okay song, but it has yet to really do it for me.  Low features quite a few electronic sounds, but it's just so well put together that you can't help but like it.  A sweet intro sends us into San Joaquin, where banjo, guitar, and hand-claps form a dark and groovy melody.  I'm not a big fan of Magazine Queen; it's got way too much "electronic song" feel to it.  I think it's the one instance on the album where, if you listened to this song by itself, you'd think you would have just purchased a techno album.  Stone is a very interesting song that does grow on you; I like the cymbal work that closes the song, very cool.  2heavy2hold looks, by the title, like a song that should be f. Lil MuthaFuh.  In incredibly entertaining fashion, this is actually the wussiest track on the album, and instead f. mucho mandolin.  It's an okay song, I give it a "meh."  Concealed is a well constructed song; I like the beat and general feel it conveys.  Lost is a gem hidden near the end of the album.  It's just great, (and too hard to explain), so give it a listen yourself (below).  Finally, Signs of Passing Time is the end track that looks and sounds like an end track.  It takes a long time to appreciate too; I listened to the album many times before I thought it was more than just filler.

To sum up, don't judge Computer vs. Banjo by their strange name (or their strange cover with the hands and the owl).  They do some genre bending, but the result is not nearly as horrifying as one might naturally assume.  It's good, I'm a fan, and I'm keeping my eye on them in the future.

[mp3] Jubilee
[mp3] Lost

Buy some Computer vs. Banjo: Amazon | iTunes
Visit them online: Official | Myspace

Me again!  If you don't mind terribly, allow me to geek out temporarily.  I'm a big fan of Fall Out Boy, and their new album Folie a Deux is out November 4th.  In preparation, they've released a mixtape here, including a few very solid demos.

After trudging through an intro by Ludacris, of all people (seriously), you'll get to the actual music.  For most of the songs you'll have to endure some guy named Clinton Sparks shouting things like "yeah" and "woo" and - inexplicably - "get familiar" like 47 times, but we should have some sweet rock on the way!

So go get it!

Conor Oberst is a Nebraska troubadour with a punk rock snark and a heart embroidered on his sleeve.  You may know him as the boy-genius responsible for the exhaustive collection of music from the band Bright Eyes.  He's been doing a lot of traveling with his last two albums (the top-drawer Cassadaga with Bright Eyes and the latest simply titled Conor Oberst).  The idea is that different places have different energies, and thus inspire different feelings, and thus inspire different methods of rocking!  Mission: Accomplished, Mr. Oberst!

Cassadaga was recorded in - and named after - a community of mediums and spiritualists in Florida.  The CD packaging features some of the coolest hidden features around, that can only be revealed with the super-cool "Spectral Decoder."  You know, like they do on the back of cereal boxes!

For the new album, Oberst's travels have caught up with him lyrically.  The open sky and winding roads are common themes in his songs.  The recording of this new record took Oberst to Mexico, where a temporary studio was created.  The album is at times raw and unpolished, and reflective of the environment in which it was recorded.

Oberst channels Dylan on more than one track (most notably "Get-Well-Cards"), and "I Don't Want to Die (In the Hospital)" is a classic cowboy ballad (that immediately brought this to mind).  The album rocks fewer socks than was originally predicted by Kraig, but it's a gorgeous album that gets better with each listen.

[mp3] Souled Out!!!
[mp3] Danny Callahan

Buy some Bright Eyes:  Amazon | iTunes
Visit Conor online:  Bright Eyes | Connor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band

Sometimes it's downright awesome how you can find out about free stuff.  Last night I randomly logged into an obscure email address that I check maybe once a month.  The first thing in my inbox happened to be a Coldplay newsletter, which said these words to me:

If you haven't dropped in on Coldplay.com lately, you won't know that we've been giving away a free MP3 of an exclusive Coldplay track called Death Will Never Conquer, which is unavailable anywhere else.

To which I replied, "Sweet." (Not literally replied, like in an email or anything, but you know the figurative replied where you pretend like you're talking to someone...yes, sad, I know).  Also, on a side note, does "unavailable anywhere else" sound a little funny to anyone else?  I'm thinking it should be "not available anywhere else" or possibly "only available here."  Anyway, you're here for free stuff and I'm going to deliver, even if the song only clocks in at a fairly pathetic 1 minute and 15 seconds.  But hey, I'm not complainin', free is free:

Download Death Will Never Conquer here.

Buy some Coldplay: Amazon | iTunes
Visit them online: Official | Myspace

Pat Leishman is from Salt Lake City, Utah, and was recently mentioned in the Salt Lake Tribune for an album on which he played every instrument and wrote and recorded everything under the name I Am Echo.  I was immediately interested, as I am a big fan of albums like that.

Leishman is a gifted performer and songwriter, and his talents go beyond the typical guitar, bass, and drums.  Violins and piano contribute to the excellent arrangements, along with impressive vocal harmonies.

It's free on his site, check it out!

Ah, some fresh tunes from Annuals.  In case you've forgotten, these folks lit up the blogosphere a while ago.  It seems as thought  they're poised to do the same with the impending release of their latest ablum, Such Fun (Oct. 7th).  Here's the tracklisting:

1. Confessor
2. Hot Night Hounds
3. Springtime
4. Down The Mountain
5. Always Do
6. Talking
7. Hardwood Floor
8. Hair Don't Grow
9. The Tape
10. Blue Ridge
11. Wake

[mp3] Confessor

Buy their music:  Amazon | iTunes
Visit them online:  Official | Myspace

So, I'm watching the Olympics on Thursday night with the wife, right?  I get up to grab me some ice cream, and WHAM - out of nowhere comes this commercial.  I stopped dead in my tracks when the vocals came on and wondered out loud "Is that Donavon??"  I was met with a puzzled look from the dog and a shrug from the wife.  I took my question to the internet soon found that my instinct was, in fact, correct...and just in time to meet my summer deadline.

The track you hear in this commercial for Hilton hotels is titled Life, Love & Laughter.  It opens up his forthcoming release, Pass it Around.  Not quite as funky as I would like, but he's certainly broken from the Jack Johnson sound to form his own niche.  Pass it Around is out August 19th.

Preorder the album.

[mp3] Life, Love and Laughter

Buy his music:  Amazon | iTunes
Visit him online:  Official | Myspace

Well, it appears Stu got me hooked on these dudes.  Props to Stu!

Here we have Talk About, the first listen off their sophmore album, Drunk Like Bible Times.  Good title, I approve.  I'd say it sounds like they're still doin' what they do.  Take that as you will.  The album is out Sept. 30th, here's the tracklisting:

1. I'm Not Crying. You're Not Crying, Are You?
2. Bad News
3. Carl Solomon Blues
4. Willetta
5. Talk About
6. Saintly Rows (Oh Oh)
7. Flowers For My Brain
8. Now It's Over
9. Parallel Lines
10. If Not For My Glasses
11. Try
12. I Know

[mp3] Talk About

Buy their music:  Amazon | iTunes
Visit them online:  Official | Myspace

Before I get into the new music, I should probably preface this all by saying that I've been a rather large Oasis fan for the past eight years or so.  I never really saw anything worth paying attention to until my good friend Todd sat me down and gave a rather extensive lesson on why I should adore Oasis.  I gave 'em a chance and haven't regretted it. 

I'll admit, I wasn't impressed with the post Morning Glory work and I'm still not.  Well, that is to say, I WASN'T until Don't Believe the Truth hit me squre in the jaw.  Mucky Fingers anyone??  Damn, that's a fine tune.  It looks like the boys may have given us another album worth noting post Morning Glory with Dig Out Your Soul coming our way October 7th.

The lead single, The Shock of the Lightning is a pretty typical Oasis affair.  Nothing really out of the ordinary for a lead single - think Lyla and you'll know what you're in for.

The b-side (Falling Down) is what has me more intrigued.  It's not exactly new ground for Oasis, but it's it bit further down the psyc-path then they usually venture.  Certainly worth a listen.

[mp3] The Shock of the Lightning

[mp3] Falling Down

Links removed (8/15 9:41 PM MST) - sorry folks.

Pre-order Dig Out Your Soul.

Buy some Oasis:  Amazon | iTunes
Visit them online:  Official | Myspace