Hipster Humpday : Akron/Family and Portugal. The Man

    First off the title doesn't mean if you use Vimeo and only listen to artists that are dead you get to hump anything, its just me trying to ween you guys off metal for the day.

      Last week you may remember I took a two day hiatus to see some friends and do some soul searching. I know, two days isn't much but a lot was accomplished. The first day once I got out from under the disdainful eyes of my mother was spent with a dear friend in bookstores and along rivers, on trails and cruising down country roads. We spent a long time sitting on the edge of the Grand river skipping stones and talking life while Akron/Family softly played from his headphones.

     Akron/Family is a folk influenced experimental rock band whose member live across America. Facebook describes them as a form of dramatic expression, and that is the most truthful thing I've heard all day.

Akron/Family - Akron/Family

Akron/Family - The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT

     Experimental music is very hard to explain without actually hearing it. So first off let me encourage you to at least look into this amazing band before you move on, and better than that download two of their albums above, it may be exactly what you need. 

     Soft vocals and guitars, eerie organs and many other sensational instruments will caress your senses and leave you in a rainy day mood, let you sit down and think. I know since I first received one of their songs from a friend of mine back in the Dropbox days Akron/Family has encouraged me to take life slowly and progressively, I encourage you to do the same. Bands like this make me proud to have helped you experience them and sort of guilty for letting people download them for free, but truthfully good luck finding them in your local HMV. 

     The second band holding me together today is 

Portugal. The Man. Almost in the same group as Akron/Family, but only in the same sense as peanut butter is in the same grouping as jam. PTM is an alt-rock (and I use that term loosely) group from Alaska. Again I have to thank an old friend, for if you had not invited me to a dropbox session, I would be without so many amazing albums and so much musical knowledge.  

Portugal. The Man - In The Mountain In The Cloud

     Portugal takes the ingenuity of A/F and upgrades it to a more everyday friendly sound. My mind took a long time today to process that sound and to me its as if The Beatles and MGMT met and somehow had a lovechild. If you take the time to download the album, the password is pop-to-core.blogspot.com and this link will take you to a page with all of their albums for free, its definitely worth it.

     I apologize for making the first section a story and doing no justice to Portugal. The Man, but my artistic feelings quickly fade, usually after the first artist. I encourage you to listen to and download the music we shared today. As always this music is intended as a preview and you should probably go buy it and support the artist. Please like our page on Facebook for up to date info and other awesome stuff, also if you have suggestions I would love to hear from you as I'm quickly running out of material. Hopefully I have inspired you to do some thinking or maybe some searching for your rainy day music, cheers.

Toxic Tuesday 8 : Datahowler and Hudson Mohawke

     Today for me has been one of the few days I have had off to relax, its finally starting to feel like summer. I spent the morning and afternoon catching up on some reading and some games I haven't had the time to play, namely Bulletstorm and Brink. So to go with the offbeat kind of day I'm having and the fact that posting is falling way behind, I've pulled together two amazing artists for the newest installment of Toxic Tuesday.

     Our first artist today is the incredibly talented Ross Edman, or Datahowler. Hailing from Dallas, Texas, with a history so long you'll have to take my word and head on over to his facebook page to read. Quick rundown though, starting from an early age Ross has learned all there is about instrumentation and music, playing in hardcore bands, designing cover art, and having his own music recognized internationally under many names. That kind of fame deserves more air time, but the blogs are eating his stuff up, and who really listens to the radio on anything other than the internet anyway?

Datahowler - Passengers As Eggs (Album)

(Click to download)

     This album is one of the many I picked up at my friends house on the weekend, I am eternally grateful for having a friend with a godly internet connection, and all the amazing stuff we won't go into here. This isn't our usual Toxic Tuesday material, with bass drops that liquefy brains and pop ear drums, this is the concentrated experimental side of electronic music. Full to the brim with as many sounds as you could think of, this is the Dr. Pepper of electronic music, and as always it only sounds like itself.

     Hudson Mohawke, a confusingly spectacular name, if I do say so myself. Paul Birchard, is an electronic producer from Glasgow, Scotland. Continuing the feel of todays post, HudMo produces experimental electronic music of the highest degree.

Hudson Mohawke - Butter (Album)

(Click to download)

     I remember the day last summer when a friend of mine advised me my life wasn't worth living unless I looked up Hudson Mohawke, he sent me a song off of the above album, and even then with my musical talents and tastes no where near as refined, I knew it was something special. With lilting synths and choppy vocals flitting over a tune so complex it may take you many listens to understand the beauty of what you are hearing. But beauty it is. There is just a feel to this music, the boundary pushing, put a smile on your face beat that just makes you want to go somewhere, do something. It is musical encouragement, and I'm sure we all need it.

     As a little update, I've been extroadinarily busy over the last few days with work and volunteering, not to mention I had my first day or two off with old friends in many months. Its good to take sometime and put everything back into perspective, for me that involved drinks and pistol ranges, minecraft and cold pizza, and I loved every second of it, but even then all of it would be nothing without music. 

     I did some work in the store my mom manages yesterday, while I was there I took a little trip and went to the mall, spent way more money than I had. Its amusing really I came for The Battle For Los Angeles by Rage Against The Machine, and walked out of the mall with what I came for, and cd's by Hey Rosetta!, Deadmau5, and the Beatles, as well as three books, the newest edition of PlayStation Magazine and Bulletstorm. In my defense its a bad idea to leave me and money alone in a place with stuff that I want. 

     For those of you that actually bothered either coming to the bottom of the page or enjoy reading my ramblings, heres a mix by SKisM, Never Say Die Vol. 7. Its two minutes shy of an hour, and again if you have the time, well worth it. The tracklist can be found here as it can be confusing trying to distinguish tracks after they've run continuously for an hour or so. Hope you enjoy.

Toxic Tuesday 3 : Danny Deleto, DJ Apple Monster, and Al Bizzare

     And we're back with another great Toxic Tuesday. We have a special edition today as it marks the first time permission has been asked for a non feature article, shoutout to Daniel Reid for saying yes and making my day. We also have a little controversy and an artist I kind of stumbled onto last night when I finally found some new music. So without further ado let it rain acid!

     After seeing Sundays article about Dream Jefferson, their label mates Danny Deleto gave the blog a shoutout on their twitter, which I of course noticed immediately. This prompted a response which led to a comfirmation of the post today, and a long search around the internet for Danny Deleto's music. The two EPs that I found turned out to be amazing and actually feature at least half of Dream Jefferson on some songs. Before now my expierences with anything labelled expiremental have left me a little cautious, but that label has been redeemed ladies and gentlemen. I'll let the professionals over at Rifle Eyes do my job for me.

     "This is experimental music in its least pretentious form – rather than two artists recording the sounds of animals in their litter boxes and slapping mailboxes with fish intestines, Danny Deleto are trying to reign in the elements of a wide variety of genres and make them into something lasting."

     Judging by the fact that my cold seems to have improved with a steady dose of Red Bull and this amazing music I would say lasting music achieved. If you aren't as cheap as I am don't forget to support the band and check them out at their MySpace and grab their EPs below.

"Let me be your war machine"

Danny Deleto - Conversation (Album Download)

Danny Deleto - Satursnakes (Album Download)

(Click to download)

     Our second artist today I stumbled onto when I was searching for Mt Eden on bandcamp for todays post, succeeding in not finding the EP that I have, I went for the next best thing, remixes. Unfortunately for the background of this artist I've got nothing other than the bandcamp page and a facebook page that isn't official. So suffice to say if you are a fan of glitch or dubstep the you should check out his two free albums on Bandcamp.

DJ Apple Monster - Remixes Vol. 1

DJ Apple Monster - Remixes Vol. 2

(Click to download)

     Also unfortunately this is as underground as it gets. So if you want to preview his music before you get both those albums, then all I can do for you is link a single track download for a song off the first remix volume.

DJ Apple Monster - Mt. Eden Sierra Leone Remix

     Our last artist today is Al Bizzare, an electronic duo from St. Petersburg, Russia. Before we get into the actual music let me learn you something. In Milan, Italy, two of Skrillex's hard drives were stolen. On them was the new album and all of the music he has been working on. Bits and pieces leak onto the internet here and there but a real banger was dropped all over the music sites on the weekend. Supposedly a collaberation between Feed Me, Deadmau5 and Skrillex, and upon hearing it I could agree with that. Such a song would likely tear the faces off anyone who downloaded it. So when it was confirmed that it was not in fact from this new dream team, but a duo from Russia called Al Bizzare, I was slightly peeved. None the less this track is amazing with those heavy bass synths that Ive grown to love and an amazingly fresh electro sound. Grab it and go.

Al Bizzare - Fresh Scream (Original Mix)

(Right click and save link as)

     *Thanks again everyone for all the love and patience. We hit 600 views last night and are still going strong in our third week. Stay tuned for more great music. Don't forget to check us out on facebook and and suggest music.