Dredg - Chuckles & Mr. Squeezy (2011)

Alternative, Art Rock, Experimental

      One thing about Dredg is that you never know what you're gonna get. I've been following them for a few years, ever since I heard Penguins In The Desert off their '98 album, and with each release they seem to be testing the loyalty of their audience.  If you clicked the preceding link and listened to the song (even just the first 30 sec) you'll notice that the riffs are very raw, and the vocals are scratchy underproduced screams. Their second album was similar but a little more tribal, and the last 3 albums have all been very different, ranging from ambient drums and poppy guitars to experimental sounds and gurgling vocals. Anyway, as unpredictable and confusing as Dredg can be, Chuckles & Mr. Squeezy is a change for the better, no matter how temporary it may be. I guess you could call it their indie pop album, and it's full of great jams, with no screaming, progressive guitars, tight drums and conservative synths. I'm sure there are some Dredg fans who are very dissapointed, but I'm not one of them.

Dredg - Another Tribe

Deep Sea Green - Valsorda (2011)

Hard Blues-Rock, Psychedelic

      Another band I know nothing about, but the album was too good not to share.  6 tracks of unbelievably classic bluesy psychedelic goodness. For fans of The Black Keys. Here's some info from their myspace:

The hard-blues/rock roots band DeepSeaGreen formed in 2008 and consists of brothers Jon and Daniel Jefford, Trent Halliday and Marco Menestrina. All the members with the exception of Italian born Marco originally hail from the East End of London. The band has just returned from Italy recording Valsorda, a 6 track EP of new material. Valsorda can be streamed and purchased from the DeepSeaGreen store on their webpage, and will be available digitally at the end of May. For more information visit www.deepseagreen.co.uk

DeepSeaGreen - Put Me Out

Kmfdm - Wtf?! (2011)

Alt Rock, Industrial, Electronic, Male & Female Vocals

     It's finally here! Actually WTF?! came out a couple weeks ago, but I'm still winding down.  Hopefully you already know a little bit about KMFDM, but if not here's a quick rundown: KMFDM, which is an acronym for a German phrase which loosely translates to No Pity For The Majority, have been frontrunners in the industrial game since the late 80's, and are one of the most respected and progressive bands in the genre, so you can imagine how pumped I was a few years ago when I popped my KMFDM cherry.  I knew this album was coming out awhile ago, so for the last 6 months the anticipation has been building.  The album cover is classic KMFDM.  They've almost always used art by English artist Adrian Hughes, who has basically turned me on commercial art with his breathtaking prints which are usually done in that  Russian constuctivist style (I hope that's right, I only took 1 year of art history).  Anyways, like most KMFDM albums, there's a lot going on here.  You have vocals which are provided by founder Sascha Konietzko as well as Long Island native Lucia Cifarelli, who adds a feminine touch to the awesome brutality. Politically charged lyrics are a staple of any KMFDM record, but they never take away from the celebratory attitude the band has done such a great job creating.  Love this band, love this album. Maybe you will too.

KMFDM - Rebels In Kontrol

Edwyn Collins - Loosing Sleep (2010)

Alt Rock, Pop, Irish

     This is an album I stumbled upon last summer and it turned out to be pretty good.  Edwyn Collins is apparently a solo musician from Endinburgh, Scotland and he's been at it since 1989.  This is his seventh release, so if you like it there's plenty more to check out. It's this cool style of folky rock, think Franz Ferdinand meets Elvis Costello. I really know nothing about this guy so this is a short one.  Sorry, I'll try and post another one today.

Edwyn Collins - Bored

Puscifer - V is for Vagina (2007)

Trip-Hop, Experimental, Maynard

     Puscifer is the unexpected side project from Maynard James Keenan, the cosmic pilot behind A Perfect Circle and true alternative rock giant, TOOL.  If you know either band then you already know Maynard is a very talented individual, and Puscifer seems to magnify that creativity.  Described by Maynard as an outlet for his 'creative subconscious' puscifer.com is also the source for Maynard movies, clothing, accessories and even dog toys. The solo side of Maynard is very different from what you hear in APC and TOOL, it's much more 'listenable' and not as grounded to a specific genre, but still far from mainstream acceptance. This is the first release from 2007, and if you like what you hear I highly encourage you to check out the other remix albums and EP's, because there are many hidden gems in every album, this one just happens to be hit after hit.  

Puscifer - Momma Sed

     Maynard also released a documentary in 2010 alongside Eric Glomski which delves into his newfound hobby and passion of wine making. Blood Into Wine is extremely interesting, informative and funny, and features appearances from Patton Oswalt, Bob Odenkirk, Milla Jovovich, Tim Alexander and Tim & Eric. If you don't know who any of those people are then you probably shouldn't even be reading this blog. Really great flick. Here's the trailer...

Free Energy - Stuck On Nothing (2010)

Indie Rock, Power Pop

     I forgot about how good this album was until it came on shuffle.  Found it last fall on a great indie music site Drowned In Sound, which I check out every so often to see what's new in the indie scene.  Really catchy poppy stuff, and I'm surprised I liked it as much as I did.  I'm on a few different sites right now and apparently Free Energy was named one of the best new bands of 2010 by Rolling Stone and was praised as "excellent" by Spin magazine, not that you should give a fuck about what Rolling Stone has to say but I'm running out of shit to write.  They also supported Weezer on a recent tour. Ok, that's all I got. Enjoy.

Free Energy - Bang Pop

The Book Of Mormon (2011)

Soundtrack, Musical, Broadway

     I was secretly listening to this yesterday at work and it took every ounce of energy I had to hold back the laughs.  The musical itself, which I'm dying to see, has been nominated for 14 Tony awards, and over 20 other awards of which I have no information/interest.  If you're familiar with Matt & Trey then you sort of know what to expect. They've been doing South Park for 15 seasons and have written plenty of songs  for the series that are grammy worthy, but the songs in this musical are so epic and beautiful that I was literally getting chills listening to this album.  You might be a little reluctant to give this a shot because it is after all the soundtrack to a play, but the plot definitely translates through the music.  It's basically about two Mormon missionaries who travel to Africa to convert the natives there, while lovingly poking fun at classic Broadway and religion along the way.  I'm on wikipedia right now and it says that this album isn't 'officially' available until May 17, but I'm sure if you look hard enough you'll find it. I did.

The Book Of Mormon - I Believe

Killing Joke (2003)

Alt Rock, Industrial, Post-Punk

     So incase you don't already know, Killing Joke is the shit.  They've been around a long time, since the late 70's, and have been a heavy influence for major players like Nirvana, Foo Fighters, NIN, Soundgarden, Jane's Addiction, etc.  When describing Killing Joke's sound the first word that comes to mind is savage.  Big drums, raw vocals and unpredictable guitars.  They've withstood all the major rock trends; glam rock, punk, grunge, hardcore, and have always maintained a hard consistent sound, while not catering to their audience or being afraid to experiment. They have a pretty impressive repertoire, and some releases are definitely stronger than others.  This 2003 self-titled release is among my favorites. The Joke at their best. Surprisingly uplifting. 

Killing Joke - You'll Never Get To Me

Tyler, The Creator - Goblin (2011)

Hip-Hop, Alternative

     I've been listening to this album for a few days and I'm still not quite sure what to think. It's definitely different... There's something very infectious about Tyler The Creator, but I have no idea what it is. He's like the David Lynch of hip-hop.  Apparently Tyler is part of a LA collective called Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (OFWGKTA) that specializes in surreal and alternative hip-hop, and have released over 15 albums under various names. Tyler is the only one I've heard so far, but I'm very intrigued. The album is weird, dark, vulgar, revealing and slowly growing on me. The weed helps. Check out the video for Yonkers, it's what made me want to hear the rest.

Tyler, The Creator - Yonkers

Atlantis - Mistress Of Ghosts (2011)

Instrumental, Breakbeat, Experimental

     Great instrumental stuff from the Netherlands. Electronica beats mixed with strings and ambient atmosphere.  Really don't know what else to say about this album, just that I started listening to it last night and thought it was good enough to post.  It's the soundtrack to the most epic movie that was never made. Perfect music for doing shit around the house.  Here's a sample. Great build.

Atlantis - Mascara

Funeral InTheMirror - Old Wolf Thoughts (2010)

Indie, Melodic

     One of my favorite albums in recent years.  Funeral InTheMirror is a musical project formed by James Pinkstone and Joe DeRosa, who is better known for his comedic talent (maybe you've seen him on Premium Blend or Comedy Central Presents?) The entire album is incredibly melodic & catchy with a They Might Be Giants meets Faith No More kind of vibe. At least that's what I get.  All it took was one song and I had to buy the whole album, and I'm glad I did.  This one's gonna be hard to find if you're doing torrents, so you're probably better off just spending the incredibly reasonable 9 bucks and downloading it from Amazon or iTunes. You can preview more tracks on their Myspace

And if you're a comedy junkie like me,  you'll also want to check out Joe DeRosa's debut album on Comedy Central Records, The Depression Auction. Joe rips on weddings, reality shows, parents, the Insane Clown Posse and himself. Very funny stuff. Preview tracks @ Amazon