Jordaan Mason & The Horse Museum - Divorce Lawyers I Shaved My Head

I was greatly surprised by this album. Brooding folk music. First impression upon hearing the first track was kind of meh, but it gets better from there. A minor flaw is that the album is a bit long and a little same-y, but it delivers a wonderful emotion experience so I can easily tolerate the running time.

I'm pretty sure the whole of the album is a story too, and a weird one at that. For example, the opening lyric is "My mouth is filled with his ovaries." And it only gets weirder from there. This is recommended for Neutral Milk Hotel fans though, because the vocal styling is very very similar. Listen to this as a whole.

Favorite Tracks: Wild Dogs: Divorce!, they're all good though really.

My Rating: 9/10

-m



tracklisting:
1. Bird's Nest
2. Organs For Oceans
3. Avalanches
4. Racehorse: Get Married!
5. The Wrong Parts (Vivian Sisters Singing)
6. Prayer
7. O Jarhead! O Wife!
8. Hymn/Her
9. ____ Is Water
10. (S)mother
11. Wild Dogs: Divorce!
12. After The Glandolinian War
13. Carpenter/Rebuild The Body Out Of Birds
14. 1990 Was A Long Year And We Are All Out Of Hot Water Now

link:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IOP9LNPP

track 9 is corrupted, so if you are really really interested in this after hearing it, message me.

Deastro - Moondagger

A note to any readers: I'm finding it harder and harder to convince myself to write a decent amount for some albums. I feel like it is hard for me to keep my writing fresh and also to convey my thoughts about music in general. Thus, I may be having much shorter entries.

Deastro is very hit and miss electro pop. Several tracks are slightly annoying and unrewarding, but there are several gems too. The problem with this album is that even the tracks that aren't particularly bad, aren't intriguing at all either. The first song, Biophelia, is the best song on the album, but with the exception of that, the latter half of the album is far superior. Overall an avergae effort worth hearing for the good tracks.

Favorite Tracks: Biophelia, Moondagger, The Shaded Forests, Kurgan Wave Number One

My Rating: 5/10

-m



tracklisting:
1. Biophelia
2. Parallelogram
3. Tone Adventure #3
4. Toxic Crusaders
5. Greens, Grays, And Nordics
6. Day Of Wonder
7. Pyramid Builders
8. Daniel Johnston Was Stabbed In The Heart With The Moondagger By The King Of Darkness And His Ghost Is Writing This Song As A Warning To All Of Us
9. Rivers Of Life
10. Vermillion Plaza
11. Moondagger
12. Kurgan Wave Number One
13. The Shaded Forests (Gift Giver's Version)
14. Tree Frog

link:
http://rghost.ru/270055

Here We Go Magic - Here We Go Magic

I'm not really sure what to think of this band name/album name. To suggest that this is the start of something magical would be a bit of an overstatement. While the album is certainly not bad, it doesn't quite spark anything or stay prominent enough to reach that point of intrigue.

While from the first few songs of the album one would guess that this is simply a subliminal collection of pop songs. Just when you think you have the band pigeonholed though, the album wanders off into a dark mess of ambient-ish tracks.

Similarly to how the dark pop piece "Fangela" and captivating slow-burner "Tunnelvision" set this album up for greatness, many of the later tracks ruin it. Example: "Babyohbabyijustcantstanditanymore", which is about as annoying to listen to as the title is to interpret.

Originally, I had rated this album much lower, but I found myself wanting to listen to it from time to time. What this says is that while as individual songs this album is a bit lacking, it works well as an album.

Also, I would like to note that I saw this band recently and they were much better in the live setting. The band had great energy and group dynamic. Opener "Only Pieces" must not have translated well on the album, because that song was the highlight of their set as it had an incredible buildup. Try out the album, and check out the band if they come around your hometown.

Favorite Tracks: Tunnelvision, Fangela

My Rating: 6/10

-m



Tracklisting:
1. Only Pieces
2. Fangela
3. Ahab
4. Tunnelvision
5. Ghost List
6. I Just Want To See You Underwater
7. Babyohbabyijustcantstanditanymore
8. Nat's Alien
9. Everything's Big

link:
http://www.mediafire.com/?qmmzzwwggto

Tom Brosseau - Posthumous Success

Let me start by saying I don't know anything about this guy, I just got this album randomly and was pleasantly surprised. My first thought is to wonder why this album is titled Posthumous Success, since this artist doesn't seem to be dead. Actually now that I think about it, with MJ's death and all this was kind of an ironic album pick. It seems true enough though that dying only seems to enhance one's musical career.

But I digress. For the most part this album is an enjoyable singer/songwriter affair with a few random kinks throw in and a few less actual songs than it seems. This is another case of an album with a good first half and a lagging second half.

The first three tracks are good and then the fifth song, "You Don't Know My Friends", is one of those kinks I mentioned, but it's still pretty decent, just a bit shoegaze-y out of nowhere. The second half is plagued with the song, instrumental, song formula. "Youth Decay" and "Chandler" just come off as boring guitar dickery and take away from the album's flow. I also disagree with having two different versions of the same track, but at least he had the sense to put them on opposite ends of the album. But I didn't like it when Yo La Tengo did it, and I still don't

In short, there are good songs here if you weave through the few stinkers.

Favorite Tracks: Been True, Favourite Colour Blue (The first one is far superior)

My Rating: 7/10


-m




tracklisting:
1. Favourite Colour Blue
2. Been True
3. Big Time
4. Boothill
5. You Don't Know My Friends
6. New Heights
7. Youth Decay
8. Drumroll
9. Miss Lucy
10. Axe & Stump
11. Chandler
12. Wishbone Medallion
13. Favourite Colour Blue

link:
http://www.mediafire.com/?3lknmtqbmm2

Say Hi - Oohs & Aahs

I must say I really enjoy the album cover theme Say Hi has going on. What you'll find on this album is generally inoffensive bedroom pop. Five of the ten tracks have a girl's name in the title. It's cutesy, but I feel like this album's strength is also its biggest weakness. What I mean is that the sentiment is endearing but by the time the last few tracks roll around, it just doesn't keep your attention anymore.

The first six tracks are the good ones, and the last four are just kinda disappointing. And although there's not a lot wrong with the first six tracks, they aren't particularly compelling either. Except "Maurine", that track is pretty great and the artist throws a nice little vocal swoon into the chorus. Bonus points for referencing Built To Spill in track 3.

As a whole, it's an average album that doesn't really have a positive or negative emotional affect on the listener. Just stop the album after track 6 and you'll probably have a fonder memory of it.

Favorite Tracks: Maurine, Hallie And Henry

My Rating: 5/10

-m




tracklisting:
1. Elouise
2. Hallie And Henry
3. Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh
4. November Was White, December Was Grey
5. Dramatic Irony
6. Maurine
7. One, Two ... One
8. Audrey
9. The Stars Just Blink For Us
10. Sallie's Heart Is Stone

link:
http://www.mediafire.com/?yevdzrjmdwm