My favorites from the first half of 2012

Here are some of my favorite songs from the first half of 2012 that I haven't mentioned yet. They aren't all new, but they were new to me this year. The list:

Damien Jurado - Museum of Flight
Penguin Prison - The Worse It Gets
Shakey Graves - Built to Roam
Tall Tales and the Silver Lining - Collar to the Wind
Meg Myers - Tennessee (feat. Doctor Rosen Rosen)
Sampy & The Bad Habits - Stick with me
Theophilus London - Big Spender (feat. ASAP Rocky)
Gush - Let's Burn Again
Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - Righteous, Ragged Songs
Fabulous, Arabia - Perm

The Bay Bridged

Lately, I've been spending a lot of my music exploration time going through Bay Area music for www.thebaybridged.com. I go through all submissions to the site, and it's a lot of fun talking to artists just starting up. So far, I've written about Anna Ash, Toby Oler, and The Fucking Buckaroos, among others. Check it out!

Outtacontroller

It's not easy to make loud punk music with two guitars, a bass and drums and remain interesting in this day and age, but Outacontroller manages to do just that. They add smooth harmonies and incredible hooks to the tried-and-true formula of loud guitars, a punk attitude, and juvenile (but witty) lyrics. They just make me want drop what I'm doing and go have fun at the beach or something. Listen to two of my favorite tracks from the LP Don't Play Dumb, and download the entire album for free from their bandcamp page.

The Blandband - Pålsboda Jam

If you listen to the Blandband without seeing the "å" in the title, you might think it came from a place like Athens, GA, or the Carolinas. And you would be wrong. "Pålsboda Jam", with its acoustic strings, horns, and a twangy lead singer interacting with background harmonies, comes from seven dudes in Uppsala, Sweden. Given Norway's obsession with The Rainmakers, I guess I can't be too surprised to hear Americana-esque sounds coming from Scandanavia. So far, it looks like they only have two songs, but I'll look forward to hearing more.

The Blandband - Pålsboda Jam (download)

Like The Blandband on Facebook
Originally found on swedesplease.

The Coasters - Love Potion #9

I often find soul covers from the 70's to be highly enjoyable:



The Coasters - Love Potion #9 (download)

Originally found on soulsides.com.

Jonny Corndawg - Night Rider

You can't always judge a song by its album cover. When this album art popped up on my playlist of stuff I hadn't heard, I didn't expect to hear one of the softest and sweetest truckin' songs known to man. Corndawg's gentle voice over the steady rhythm form the perfect soundtrack for a long road trip in the middle of the night. All while not taking himself too seriously, which we all should appreciate.

Jonny Corndawg - Night Rider (download)
Jonny Corndawg on facebook

Also, check out this great kickstarter video used to raise funds for his "Dad Country" album recorded with Dawes:

Through and Through Gospel Review

Through & Through Gospel Review is an album Joel Marquard recorded in a spare room in his house in Arizona with a reel-to-reel. He writes traditional-sounding gospel songs, adds distorted, muddy guitars and lots of reverb to create a sound that is both uplifting and haunting at the same time.



Through & Through Gospel Review - I'm Not Dead, I'm Alive

Like Through & Through Gospel Review on facebook.
Download Through & Through Gospel Review's album for "name your price" at Bandcamp

Marlowe and the Sea - Second Chance Love Song

Marlowe and the Sea is basically Brad Ward from Jackson, MS. "Second Chance Love Song" sounds like he recorded it in a garage with a tape deck and that just makes it perfect. "Guy singing with a guitar"is a tough genre to excel at, but the grainy production, great melody, and a whisp of hopefulness in Ward's voice makes this tune great.

Marlowe and the Sea - Second Chance Love Song (download)

Check out Marlowe and the Sea on Facebook.
You can also download their EP on bandcamp

Schoolboy Q and Lissie and Kid Cudi

 Kid Cudi - Pursuit of Happiness (download)


 covered by Lissie:

 
Lissie - Pursuit of Happiness (download)

who was then sampled on a beat used by Schoolboy Q:


 Schoolboy Q - Hands on the Wheel (feat. A$AP Rocky)

*note: Schoolboy Q and A$AP are great. Check them out.

The 2012 Good Music Alert spotify playlist

Spotify users, I am maintaining a playlist of good stuff I come across - it will be updated through the year. Get it here.

Jon Lemmon - Exodus I

 

Jon Lemmon - Exodus I (download)

Jon Lemmon is a guy from New Zealand who just put out some music for the world to hear. Exodus I is electro pop with some nice falsetto sliding harmonies and piano. It's catchy! And judging him solely from his bandcamp page, he seems like a good guy. I mean one of his songs is entitled ""the trance song" (demo that i really wanna turn into a super club banger) ". How can you not root for a guy like that when he's able to put out quality music? He has a lot of stuff available for free download - check him out.

Jon Lemmon on bandcamp
Jon Lemmon on facebook

The Great Outdoors - Land of My Deceased

The Great Outdoors - Land of My Deceased (download)

The Great Outdoors are a band from Canada who not only have a difficult name to google to begin with, but also fall behind in google results to two other bands also called the Great Outdoors. And I think they use multiple lead singers, which didn't make tracking them down any easier. Land of My Deceased is a sweet, breezy folk tune with a high-hat beat, nice lead vocals (from the singer I prefer), and a trumpet. It comes from their 2007 release "Food, Booze, and Entertainment", (which is not what you would expect the title of the album this song is on to be.)

The Great Outdoors on DDG Records
DDG Records on Facebook, which gives a few updates on The Great Outdoors

Band on the way up: Auditorium

Auditorium's Sunday made my favorite songs of 2011, and they have a new release coming out that sounds promising. Former opera singer Spencer Berger did all the recording (and his voice and arrangements are amazing), but he put together a live band and is slowly starting to tour a bit. I think they'll be a good one to catch in a small venue on their way up:



Auditorium - Sex Offenders (download)


Auditorium on Facebook
Read more about Auditorium in this recent show preview.

Some favorite finds of 2012

Oh how I am a sucker for music of the American West:
Graham Weber - Lander, WY (download)
Graham Weber's official site


And girl groups:

Bleached - Searching through the Past (download)
Bleached on facebook


And acoustic guitar mixed with drum machines:

Motopony - Wait for me (download)
Motopony on facebook

Funkadelic Covered and Sampled by Indie Rock

Funkadelic - Can You Get to That

sampled by Sleigh Bells:



Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill

and covered by Stone Darling


stone darling - can you get to that


George Clinton's official site
Sleigh Bells on Facebook
Stone Darling on Facebook