Andrew Jackson Jihad - Can't Maintain (2009)

Sounds Like: Wingnut Dishwashers Union meets Neutral Milk Hotel meets Ghost Mice meets an awful childhood.
Genre: Folk Punk

1. "Heartilation"
2. "Self Esteem"
3. "Love in the Time of Human Papillomavirus"
4. "Evil"
5. "You Don’t Deserve Yourself"
6. "Olde(y) Tyme(y)"
7. "Kazoo Sonata in C Major"
8. "We Didn’t Come Here to Rock"
9. "Truckers are the Blood"
10. "Love Will Fuck Us Apart"
11. "Sense, Sensibility"
12. "Who are You?"
13. "White Face, Black Eyes"
    
    Review:  Andrew Jackson Jihad are a folk-punk two piece from Phoenix, Arizona. Their newest album, Can't Maintain, shows a good and fair combination of folk punk and indie folk, while incorporating some other interesting treats in-between. Most of the time the band relies on using acoustic guitar and upright bass, though they bring in some other instruments such as a horn section on certain songs The combination of simple acoustic instruments and grand horn parts evokes a Neutral Milk Hotel feel in the songs.
    
    Kicking off with "Heartilation", the song shows the fast-paced side of the band, outshining punk band aggressiveness by only using an acoustic guitar. The lyrics throughout the album reflect the singer's insecurities and animosity about a failed relationship. Most songs on the album hold a different feel, going from the country influence of "Odle(y) Tyme(y)", to a song entirely on kazoo in "Kazoo Sonata in C Major". The band even brings in a quick ambient influence during the last half of "We Didn't Come Here to Rock", the song being a fuck-you to reviewers of their last album.
    
    The climax of the album comes with the track "White Face, Black Eyes", which brings together many of the elements seen on the album so far in one final song. It starts off slow, but by the end of the song, the band brings in a string section as well as a piano piece to give the album a dramatic and satisfying finish.
    
    Versatility isn't the only strength of the album, as their other biggest strength is their lyric writing ability. Whether it's the bluntness of "We Didn't Come Here To Rock", or the somewhat subtle lyrics of "Love In The Time of Human Papillomavirus", the band gets the lyrics across clearly. The only downside to the album is that the singer Sean Bonnette doesn't bring anything unique to the table in terms of his vocal stylings, though this doesn't bring the album down too far.
    
    All in all, Can't Maintain is a great album in the folk punk genre, and a great follow up to Andrew Jackson Jihad's previous album.

Article originally published on www.absolutepunk.net by red8ge



Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?mom2kow22lz

The Tallest Man On Earth - The Wild Hunt (2010)

Genre:  Folk
Sounds Like: David Gray, An adolescent Bob Dylan who's voice has not yet broken.

Track Listing:

1. "The Wild Hunt" - 3:22
2. "Burden of Tomorrow" - 3:34
3. "Troubles Will Be Gone" - 3:02
4. "You're Going Back" - 3:05
5. "The Drying of the Lawns" - 2:54
6. "King of Spain" - 3:26
7. "Love Is All" - 4:15
8. "Thousand Ways" - 2:53
9. "A Lion's Heart" - 3:15
10. "Kids on the Run" - 4:52
11. "Like the Wheel (Bonus Track)" - 3:58

Review: The first time I heard this swedish singer/songwriters voice I knew that this was going to be a singer I would grow to really love. I wasn't sure for the first 20 seconds but then I came to the conclusion that I did infact like his music. This is a great album that everyone who listens to it will grow to love once they get used to the uniquness of this great songwriters voice.

Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?ylfjznttym1

Wingnut Dishwashers Union - Burn the Earth! Leave It Behind! (2009)

Genre: Folk Punk
Sounds Like: The Mountain Goats on crack.

Track Listing:
1. Proundhon In Manhattan
2. Never Trust A Man (Who Plays Guitar)
3. Fuck Shit Up! (Whanana)
4. Fuck Every Cop! (Who Ever Did His Job)
5. Urine Speaks Louder Than Words
6. Picking Sides
7. Jesus Does The Dishes
8. Just Because I Don't Say Anything Doesn't Mean I've Got Nothing To Say
9. For A Girl In Rhinelander, WI
10. My Idea Of Fun

Review: In my opinion the greatest folk punk album. It's not sentimental and Pat the Bunny at no point apoligises for his quite frankly awful singing. Somehow an album full of songs that shouldn't work works, and works wonderfully. If you listen to one folk punk album in your life, make it this one.

If you particularly enjoyed this album then go here: http://braveasnounblog.blogspot.com/ to find a million albums that sound just like it, and you should.

Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?yimdmmgwwiz

The Who - Tommy (1969)

All songs written by Pete Townshend except where noted.

Tracks on the original UK version were:
1. OVERTURE
2. IT’S A BOY
3. 1921
4. AMAZING JOURNEY
5. SPARKS
6. EYESIGHT FOR THE BLIND (THE HAWKER)
(Sonny Boy Williamson)
7. CHRISTMAS
8. COUSIN KEVIN
(Entwistle)
9. THE ACID QUEEN
10. UNDERTURE
11. DO YOU THINK IT’S ALRIGHT
12. FIDDLE ABOUT
(Entwistle)
13. PINBALL WIZARD
As a single PINBALL WIZARD reached #4 in the UK charts and #19 in the US. Rod Stewart sang a heavily orchestrated version in Lou Reizner’s all-star adaptation of TOMMY in 1972, while Elton John sang it during a memorable set piece in Ken Russell’s TOMMY movie in 1975 (his version reached #7 in the UK). Curiously, in the UK, it was also covered by The New Seekers in a medley with SEE ME, FEEL ME, whose version reached #16 in 1973.
14. THERE’S A DOCTOR
15. GO TO THE MIRROR
16. TOMMY CAN YOU HEAR ME?
17. SMASH THE MIRROR
18. SENSATION
SENSATION was written long before TOMMY was formulated, apparently about a girl Pete met during The Who’s disastrous tour of Australia in 1968.
19. MIRACLE CURE
20. SALLY SIMPSON
This song was inspired by an incident that occurred when The Who played with The Doors at New York’s Singer Bowl in August 1968. Pete apparently saw the way Jim Morrison was inciting the front row, and the dangerous situation he created.
21. I’M FREE
22. WELCOME
23. TOMMY’S HOLIDAY CAMP
(Moon)
24. WE’RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT (SEE ME, FEEL ME)

This album is in my opinion one of the greatest of all time. Considered to be the first fully formed "rock opera" it defines the technique. It doesn't rock like other Who records but the songwriting is superb, and the story is told so well despite the difficult to explain plot of the album which is about a deaf, dumb, and blind kid who is a master pinball player and eventually becomes a kind of messiah for the people of the world (it works, I swear!). If you haven't listened to this record before you should definately give it a spin sometime, you won't regret it.

http://www.mediafire.com/?pz94d7vjz0b

Blogging Is Dead

Although in my opinion blogging is dead, I enjoy my own company and hopefully I can just use this space as a point of reference for myself, and who knows if it interests anyone maybe more. I guess i'll start off by recommending one album a day until I find something better to do.