Friends with All The Dead Kids

This is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to write about. Why? Because it’s going to be oh so difficult for me not to be like “OMGOGMGOMGOGMGGOGM!!111! 11oneoneeleven WANT MOAR”. Yes, this is my current favorite band. Oh yeah, and I’m talking about Bravo Fucking Bravo, of course.

Rising from the New Hampshire scene, BFB are some kind of incrediband  in my opinion. While building on the templates of generic screamo, these guys have an original vibe, mixing harder sounds with that certain chaotic and frenetic punk energy.  What really always gets to me is the way they build the intensity of each track, making every piece new and interesting.  Another thing worth mentioning is the fact that 3 members of the band contribute to the vocals which really offers a lot of variety.

Their best album is definitely II, which was, fortunately, highly appreciated. The record is exquisite, angry, largely intense and should be pretty up there along with Hot Cross, Funeral Diner, You and I and you know the drill.

I’m sharing the whole album because it’s that good. My all-time favorite is Friends with All the Dead Kids, which is one of their finer works (IMHO) and I highly recommend it.

Bottom line, I’m definitely buying this.

Bravo Fucking Bravo – II

Hai guise

I’m back! That means new music to be put up for download soon, OH LAWDY!

Break

Hey guys, we’re gonna be away for the next few weeks or so, that means no new posts for quite some time. Of course, if I get the chance, I’ll do a quick update/upload, but that’s quite unlikely. Anyway, have a good one and I’ll be seeing you!

This figure is your only friend

Today’s post is about a now-defunct Irish band called Cyclefly. It seems they were pretty popular back in the day, cult following and all that. I’ve seen a couple of videos of their performances on the interwebs and I can honestly say that the vox guy, Declan O’Shea, has a shitload of stage presence, he’s all over the place. Spazzy personality, white plastic suit and bright red hair, he’s a rather decent guy, amirite?

Their genre is mainly 90s alternative, back when alternative meant more than what it means today, back when it used to be about being different from all the crap bands out there, back when these guys didn’t want to be liked by everyone, just by people similar to themselves, the outcasts, the so-called weirdos. If you’re familiar with acts such as The Wildhearts, 3 Colours Red, Serafin, Filter or early Alien Ant Farm, then I’m willing to bet you’re gonna enjoy Cyclefly. They put two albums out before disbanding, right after the second one: 1999’s Generation Sap and 2002’s Crave. Declan’s voice is one of the more enjoyable ones I’ve heard in alternative and indie music. You can also hear him singing as part of Hueman (also disbanded, however) and now Mako, alongside former Cyclefly bass player Christian Montagne.

I’m going to provide their 1999 album, Generation Sap, for your entertainment.

Tracklist:

01. Violet High
02. Crawl Down
03. Supergod
04. Whore
05. Following Yesterday
06. Better Than You
07. Plastic Coated Man
08. The Hive
09. Generation Sap
10. Sump
11. Slaves

CycleFly – Generation Sap [download]

Cheers, and until next time!

A field between

Ok, so it’s been quite some time since my last band-only post. Which is to say now I’m going to do just that: a band-only post!

The band is Madensuyu (MySpace) and they’re a currently active band hailing from Belgium. Got no info on them except what you can already read on last.fm: a duo consisting of Stijn ‘Ylode’ De Gezelle and PJ Vervondel, drummer and guitarist, with 2 albums and one EP out.

I discovered them on the soundtrack of this european film called Ex-Drummer, which also led me to other great bands such as Ghinzu (clicky for that particular article), Flip Kowlier and Millionaire (I’m going to leave this band for Kitteh to post, I think she likes them more than I do).

If you like chilled guitar riffs building up to intense rocking out, melodious chanting, great drumwork and overall strange-but-good, postrockish feeling, then this band is for you. They have many previews on their MySpace page, so if you want to check them out before downloading, click the link I provided. I’m going to post their 2006 album, ‘A Field Between’, because that’s the one that made me fall in love with their music. By the way, their latest one is called ‘D is Done’, released in 2008.

Anyway, here’s the album:

Madensuyu – 2006 – A Field Between [Download]

Tracklist:

01 – No Why No Wow
02 – Sugar On
03 – For a While
04 – Suck On More To Come
05 – White On My Sight-Field
06 – Papa Bear
07 – Dido
08 – Should We Ever Fall
09 – Share a lot

Enjoy! Til next time, stay puft, marshmallow man.

Picture taken with permission from Bram de Greve’s website.

Burning like the bridges behind us

Still Life was a set of 3 from Los Angeles, California who pioneered the first wave of emo back in the 90s. They started their musical career in the late 80s with the name Monster Club but changed it in 1991 after the departure of the original lead singer who joined the hardcore band Strife.

Just when I thought that all mystery in music has been lost, along came Still Life. Really, this is one of the bands who best portrays the genre although they never quite made it out from the underground.  Their songs are slow, emotional and have this hauntingly dark (yet energetic, surprisingly) feeling which is carried by the echoing, ethereal vocals.

Another thing that makes this band worth it, is the lyrical content which clearly states that these guys have something to say.  Mix it with the passionate vocals and memorable bass lines and you’ve got a pretty kick-ass band.

2 of the band members, Paul Rauch and David Pitzel have gone on to start The Old Ground which is much different from the original style of Still Life.

If you’re new to the genre you probably won’t enjoy this which is too bad.

Still Life – No One Is Free

Still Life – Empty Cage

Still Life – A Song About Love

Interlude

Oh hai geis, what’s up? I’m done with high-school graduation, now I’m waiting for uni exams.

Anyways, I’ll worry about those later. I’m going to post this 2-volume release, one that got me into alternative music a fuckload of years ago. I have the real deal and I don’t think it’s available to buy anywhere anymore. Thing is, many bands on it turned to mainstream or other musical genres, but these tracks are what alternative was supposed to mean. The compilation is called Vivamania, released in 1997, about 2 years before I accidentally stumbled upon it in my dad’s collection.

Titles in bold are stuff I still enjoy after all these years.

Volume 1:
01 Rammstein – Engel
02 Blur – Song 2
03 Silverchair – Freak
04 Korn – Good God (Oomph! VS Such A Surge Mix)
05 Moby – Somebody To Love
06 3 Colours Red – Pure
07 Biohazard - Competition
08 Waltari – Far Away
09 The Prodigy – Breathe
10 Nada Surf – Popular
11 Die Krupps – Fire
12 Be – 20 Something
13 Thumb – Sell Myself
14 Type O Negative – My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend
15 Tiamat – Cold Seed
16 Die Sterne – Die Interessanten
17 Descendents – I’m The One
18 Urban Voodoo – Brutality
19 Social Distortion – When The Angels Sing

Volume 2:
01 Bad Religion – Punk Rock Song
02 Ministry – Jesus Built My Hotrod
03 Red Hot Chili Peppers – Give It Away
04 The Breeders – Cannonball
05 Nomeansno – Now
06 Die Krupps – Enter Sandman
07 Such A Surge – Ich Seh Dich
08 H-Blockx – Move
09 Dog Eat Dog – No Fronts
10 Skunk Anansie – Weak
11 Life Of Agony – Let’s Pretend
12 Kula Shaker – Hey Dude
13 Terrorvision – Easy
14 Reef – Place Your Hands
15 Catherine – Four Leaf Clover
16 Pyogenesis Blue Smiley’s Plan
17 The Bates – It’s Getting Dark
18 China Drum – Wipeout
19 Grip Inc. – Pathetic Liar

Enjoy!

Vivamania CD1 [download]
Vivamania CD2 [download]

Apologetic statement

I’m sorry guys, I really am. You know, for not posting in quite some time. Well, blame final exams, I’m graduating from high-school.

I’m hoping to get this blog back up and running as soon as I get accepted into Uni. Maybe finally get a domain, do some layout changes and all.

Anyways, here’s this little track I’ve enjoyed since first hearing it. Played by Islands, a happy/colourful canadian band from Montreal (seems Montreal – or Canada in general – is crawling with indie-rock bands). The song belongs to their first album, Return to the Sea, launched back in 2006.

Islands – Volcanoes [Download]

Enjoy! And see you ASAP!

Arizona Dream

Hey everyone, sorry for not posting in a while, I’ve been too busy + lazy to find more songs to share, with final exams coming in a few weeks and all.

Actually, I’m still too lazy to do a proper post, either with info or a compilation, but here I am. I’m gonna share a few tracks I’ve been listening to quite a lot these past few days.

Hmm, nevermind. I did a compilation, had to push through this huge wall of laziness! Here it is, several tracks I like. I dunno why, but I can imagine myself listening to this while driving an old convertible through a deserted Arizona with the sunset in my eyes. I guess that’s one of my dreams, achievable I hope. Here’s the tracklist:

1. Luke – Comme un homme
2. Paloalto – Breathe in
3. Puressence – Burns Inside
4. Magazine – Shot by Both Sides
5. Red Light Company – Let’s Get Together
6. Eiffel – Te revoir
7. Idlewild – When I argue I see shapes
8. Nothink – The Skyline
9. Rumplestitchkin – Oh Lord
10. Seafood – I Will Talk
11. Moondog Jr. – TV Song
12. Zita Swoon – Remember to Withhold
13. The Wedding Present – Interstate 5

Here’s the download link:

Songs to drive through Arizona to.

Hope you guys enjoy! ‘Til next time.

European bands you might not know.

Well, I told you I’ve been listening to some stuff. A lot of European bands, actually. Mostly from the UK, though. Anyway, instead of sharing them one by one (because they’re quite a lot) I’m going to post a compilation and hope no one will mind. Ok, so the theme is britrock/frenchie-rock/belgian-stuff/who-knows-what-else. Yeah. Quite a few enjoyable bands if you like britrock/alternative stuff. Some of it you may know, some of it I’m sure you don’t so there’s good chances you’ll discover a few gems hidden inside this. Here’s the tracklist:

1. Serafin – No Happy
2. Easyworld – Bleach
3. Evil Superstars – Satan is in my ass
4. Graham Coxon – Standing on my own again
5. Harmful – Recipe
6. Brakes- Margarita
7. AaRON – U-Turn (lili)
8. 3 Colours Red – Pure
9. Catherine – Four Leaf Clover
10. Colour of Fire – 9 Volter
11. Crashland – Passive Aggressive
12. Johnny Foreigner – Suicide Pact, Yeh?
13. Easyworld – You & Me
14. Bromheads Jacket – Fight Music for the Fight
15. M.A.S.S. – Hey Gravity
16. Reef – Place Your Hands
17. Kinesis – Everything Destroys Itself
18. Dionysos – Old Child
19. Seafood – Heat Walks Against Me
20. thisGIRL – Bling Bling Bling

Also, there’s some American stuff in there too. Catherine, the indie rock band, not the gay metalcore one.
Click —>[here]<— to download it from Mediafire (70mb or something).

Phew, all 20 tracks. Enjoy and drop a line if you've enjoyed it or anything.