Of Montreal- Wrath Pinned to the Mist and Other Games

Here's a nice tune to get your friday evening going in the right direction.  A feel good melody from a trippy-ass band.  This tune, however, is pretty accessible, everyone at your cool person party will be like, "Oh hey, this is a cool song! Who is playing this cool song? Oh its *yournamehere*? He/She is the coolest! We should canoodle back at my place and listen to more of his cool music."  And then moist melodies.blogspot.com gets a new follower.  We get your back scratched, you get our page views more back scratching or something i don't know.  First person to comment what commercial this song is from gets an attaboy from me personally.

Listen after the border hop:

Amsterdam by Peter Bjorn and John

This is one of those songs that I've heard countless times, without ever knowing who it was by or what it was called. That opening riff will stick with you. Fair warning, if you hear this song once, it is going to be stuck in your head for at least the rest of the day. But honestly, it's worth it. I've been walking to class just whistling that opening riff, not giving a single fuck that other people are staring at me. In my mind, they're probably just trying to figure out what song I'm whistling, because its SO GOOD. Anyways, listen after the jump.

Kiss the Sky by Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra

Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra is quite a name for a band. Which I suppose is appropriate, because this is quite a song. From the opening seconds of the song, the beat that drives the whole song becomes apparent. As time passes, more layers are added to this initial riff. It's the perfect balance between catchy and repetitive, which is difficult to pull off. The vocals, while not the main attraction, certainly add something worthwhile to the sound. This song is their biggest hit so far, released in 2009. Listen after the jump.

REQUIRED LISTEN: The best guitar solo you've heard all year.

 

   I have kind of a love-hate relationship with guitar solos. When done properly, they can be amazing. There was a J. Cole (yes, the rapper) concert I went to last year with Colan (the other MM editor), and we still talk about a guitar solo from that night. This nerdy little white guy played probably the best guitar solo I've ever seen in person. The entire crowd, that had showed up specifically for a rap concert, was left speechless by an electric guitar solo. It's these types of moments that make me love guitar solos. Still, they've been romanticized a bit, and they can lose their effect sometimes.
   The following is not an example of that. It is a solo song from John Frusciante (the lead guitar player for Red Hot Chili Peppers), written for a friend of his who had recently died, and who happened to love melodic guitar solos. It flows along smoothly, each note played with so much emotion that you wouldn't believe that it wasn't written for a dead friend. Honestly, this is the most I've enjoyed a piece of instrumental music in a very long time. Flawless. Listen after the jump.

Give Me A Sign by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

I can't begin to tell you how much I like this band. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros pretty much cover all the bases for me. They've got two albums out already, and one more in the works, due out this summer. They're an 11-piece folk band, led by Alex Ebert, based in California. Their first album, Up From Below, was probably their more pop friendly album, led by the impossible not to love "Home." They followed that with the more slowed-down sound of their second album, Here (exemplified by "Mayla." After the jump, there is a new Edward Sharpe song, "Give Me a Sign," which appears to be just a random new song, and not a single from their new album. Still, it's solid. Listen after the jump.

NEW ALBUM: Walkin On A Pretty Daze by Kurt Vile

Kurt Vile is a folk rocker out of Philadelphia. He's released several fantastic albums over the last decade or so, though it seems like his most recent one might just be his best to date. Walkin On A Pretty Daze is the kind of album that can fit in with any time period, even though it came out just two weeks ago. The guitar solo that starts around the 7:00 mark, and goes pretty much for the rest of the song is outstanding. It nearly eclipses the rest of the song for me. The rest of the album has a couple of gems sprinkled in throughout, led off by the epic opening track, "Walkin On A Pretty Day." Listen after the break.

The Playlist to Your 4/20 Evening

Alas, here it is. The only playlist you will need tonight. We have done a fair number of dry runs on these songs, which have been in heavy rotation for the past year or so. They've proven their worth time and time again. I encourage you to listen to the whole thing, as I believe it gets better as it goes along. Happy holidays guys. Listen after the jump.

The Only Wake and Bake Playlist You'll Ever Need

I don't want to brag, but this playlist is kind of our expertise. You love to wake and bake. We love to wake and bake. But most importantly, we love the music we listen to during the wake and bake. Honestly, some of our best musical finds have come from seeking better wake and bake music, and it is as a result of those finds that we made Moist Melodies. For us, the morning sounds best with some light, happy folk music. The playlist is in no particular order, (I basically just went down my iTunes adding songs to the playlist), so I do recommend listening to the whole thing. It's pretty long, but there isn't a single song on this list that won't sound great this morning. Later in the day, we'll post a playlist for later tonight, for when you're getting ready to overdose on weed. OVERDOSE ON WEED. Happy toking oh moist ones. Listen after the break.

Concert Review: Year of the Buffalo

You may not have heard of Year of the Buffalo, in fact I'm willing to bet you haven't.  They're a small indie folk band out of Columbus, OH, and the concert we went to was in a small venue in downtown C-Bus.  A week or so before my fellow editor and I decided it had been too long since we'd gone out to see some music.  We searched the interweb until we found a list of upcoming local concerts.  We picked Year of the Buffalo after browsing their band camp page and realizing that they were actually really good.

Blitzen Trapper

 
   If you've already seen this band posted on Moist Melodies, I apologize. The original post was actually only our fourth post ever on MM, and it only got 3 page views :(  I feel that those of you who have jumped on the bandwagon since that time cannot miss out on them, and so, I repost.

   My fellow editor introduced us to this song by way of a flyfishing documentary, Eastern Rises (which I highly recommend). They've got kind of a wavy folk sound, if that even makes sense. The wobbly synth in "Black River Killer" is what really sold me on this song. And for an extra bonus, there is also "Lady on the Water," a somewhat more traditional sounding folk song, but still fantastic. Listen after the jump.

Chameleon/Comedian by Kathleen Edwards

Kathleen Edwards, a Canadian singer-songwriter, has been at it for years, but this was my first introduction to her. Definitely have been missing out. For one, her first big single was called Hockey Skates, which is a joke that writes itself. But honestly, beyond that moment of laughter, I've enjoyed just about all of her music, and I think you will too. Listen after the break. 

m.A.A.d city by Kendrick Lamar

So last night, I went to a Kendrick Lamar concert. I'm not going to lie to you, it wasn't quite as mind-blowing as I had hoped. But, with that said, there were several moments during that show that met and exceeded expectations. Right before he played this song, he warned those in the pit that it was "about to get turnt' up" in there, and that they might want to leave before it got too rowdy down there. This is riot music right here, and things started to get out of hand when it came on. Quite a moment. Listen after the break.

NEW ALBUM: Overgrown by James Blake

If you haven't heard Retrograde yet, quite frankly, you're wasting your life. It was the lead single from James Blake's new album Overgrown, which came out Monday. He's released several songs since then (which it seems he's pissed about), and they've all been very solid (though not quite as great as Retrograde). We've gotten through the whole thing once, and the sound is definitely a little lighter than some of his earlier stuff. A full review might be forthcoming, depending on if I can get my act together before it becomes too late. But I feel confident recommending it to you. Listen after the jump.

"Verses From the Abstract" by A Tribe Called Quest

Everybody knows A Tribe Called Quest. The Queens-based rap group is among the many outstanding old school rap groups, along with the likes of NWA and their fellow big apple rappers, Wu Tang Clan. It took me a little while to appreciate the tribe; their flow is very distinctly old school, and it held me back from hearing, and subsequently enjoying their rhymes. I don't claim to be a Tribe expert, but "Verses From the Abstract" has always seemed, to me, an under appreciated classic. I mean, they rhyme "booty" with "duty," and that just about sold it for me. Listen after the Triborough Bridge.

NEW ALBUM: Jake Bugg

Jake Bugg is an English singer songwriter, and today, he released his first full-length album in the US. As I listen to it now, I can't help but draw some comparisons to The Tallest Man on Earth. His voice is unconventional, rasping just slightly, but in such a way that it does not take away from the sound. It'll take a little while to fully digest the album, but on first listen, it's definitely moist enough to grace these pages. Moistness is life. Listen after the leap.

By Your Side by CocoRosie

My mom's always telling me that the music I listen to is too weird. I fervently resist her claims, but on this song, she might be right. It uses bird chirping prominently, so there's that. And that picture above, is the first result when you google image search "CocoRosie." So I'm not embellishing when I say they're pretty weird. But really, this song is all about getting past the weirdness, and focusing on the slow, hazy beat and thin voice crooning above the simple instrumentation. It's fantastic. Herbal stimulation recommended. Listen after the break.
Sounds like: Joanna Newsom

Hey, Who Really Cares by Linda Perhacs

One of the main reasons that we formed Moist Melodies was to showcase bands that we love, that we feel are not getting enough attention. Everyone has an artist or two who are totally unknown, but whom  we think make fantastic music. There are the well-established good bands of the time, and there are also unknown nuggets waiting to be discovered. This is the case now as much as it was in the 1970's, when Linda Perhacs released her first and only studio album, Parallelograms. It was unappreciated at the time, but has come back to prominence after some of her music was featured in a Daft Punk movie. You can't help but be reminded of the similar story of the rediscovery of Rodriguez's music (which has been featured here).

Anyway, she sings in a Joan Baez-esque style, but with a focus on a quieter, more reflective sound. She occasionally breaks into a more rambunctious style, but its hard to top the beautiful soft voice in "Hey, Who Really Cares," which is off of Parallelograms, released 1970. Listen after the break.

Sounds Like: Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Rodriguez

NEW MUSIC: The Soundtrack to Oblivion by M83

M83 is awesome. You can't tell me otherwise. There's not a single song of theirs that I can say I dislike.   Also, I kinda like Tom Cruise, if that's even something someone can do. So when you tell me M83 is doing the soundtrack for the next Tom Cruise movie, I am 100% on board. The first single was awesome. The rest of the soundtrack was released today, and it is spectacular. It's streaming over at Consequence of Sound, so check it out.

Same Song, Yet So Different

So, simply put, I found three versions of the same old folk standard, "I'll Fly Away".  The song was originally written in 1929 by a man named Albert E Brumley, and was published in Hartford, CT (860 Represent!) as a gospel tune.  It has since been recorded countless times by the likes of pretty much everyone from country artists such as Gillian Welch, who is featured here (again from the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack, seriously, download it) jazz artists such as the legendary Preservation Hall Jazz band, and even Yeezy himself liked it enough to record a short version of it.  Listen to all three.  All are good, all are different and each has their own appeal.  Honestly there's doubtlessly countless other versions I could have also featured but, hey, I'm lazy.  If you find new versions that are adequately moist, send em!  Let us know which of these three you like best!  We love interaction.  It makes us feel like we matter. Well, that got weird and introspective, im going to go drink heavily, you guys listen to the songs after the triple jump (get it? Because there's three songs.)

So Junip has a new song out...

If you follow indie music you may already know this but past MM artist Junip has a new album coming out soon.  I just listened to the single from said album and liked it.  It falls somewhere between driven and laid back but is definately pretty groovy.  If you havn't heard it already, feel compelled to do so after the standing broad jump.

MRAZ- by Flatbush Zombies

I love Flatbush Zombies. As Meech so accurately describes they are "Get M-E-T-H-O-D, Drought 3 Dwayne Carter, With a splash of Busta's craft and a hint of Big Papa. Little dash of Nasty Nas, top it off with Bob Marley, Throw em' all in a blender and I'm what the fuck you get". Much like their drinks mixed with LSD, Flatbush Zombies effortlessly blend the trippy rediculousness of Lil B on a lot more drugs with actual musicianship and great rap talent. Now ordinarily I can count the amount of swag i have, probably on one hand, yet with the Zombies bumpin, I'm swaggin down the street, thigh-slapper in my trousers, like Jay Z, or at least my white brains impression of Jay Z. This song is one of the more recent from Flatbush, and is also one of their best. The production value from Erick Arc Elliott is great, the lyrics are tight, the flows are original, the video is damn cool, and although singing the chorus would probably get me shot in Compton, it is damn catchy. Also, make sure you blast it as loud as you can around small children. Small children love Flatbush Zombies*.
MOISTNESS LEVEL: (Although I actually prefer Meech's verse...) JUICY 
Video and inside joke explanation after the vault. Also listen to another Flatbush classic RIGHT HERE.

Spoon- The Underdog

This song is a testiment to human spirit, perserverence, and memory. Or at least it was in my case.  I had the melody of the song in my head, knew it had horns, and knew at somepoint it included the lyric "living room".  Despite modern technological advances, this was not enough info to find out the song title.  It was driving me insane, a feeling I'm sure you're all familiar with.  I was frustrated, down and out, sleeping in an alleyway, briefly detained, and became addicted to crystal meth, all in an effort to track down this song title.  then, one night as I was lying face down to sleep in a puddle of someone else's urine, contemplating my own mortality and coughing blood into a soiled Wendy's napkin, Jason Bateman walked by.  It was a vision.  I remembered his pretty good comedy Horrible Bosses, a film I had seen the previous summer.  I ran to an internet cafe, gave them my last nickel and typed the horrible bosses soundtrack into google.  Sure enough, there was the song, "The Underdog" by Spoon.  I listened to the song, made piece with my inner demons and am living happily ever after.  Hopefully this link saves one of you going through the same problem.
MOISTNESS LEVEL: LIFE-SAVING
Listen to it after the hop: