the of mirror eye

* The B. Lee Band: Gerry Is Strong (3.0 mb) | Mr. Hanelei (3.0 mb) | Going Insane (3.5 mb)
From The B. Lee Band : Asian Man Records : AM-004

Though this may come as a surprise, awhile back, I was pretty into the ska/ska-punk scene. I really appreciated the energy, positivity and DIY-idness that emanated from the scene. One band I really got into was Skankin’ Pickle. The band was interesting to me because it was cool to see an Asian front man (Mike Park) totally rockin’ out.

At any rate, I stopped listening to ska/ska-punk awhile ago, but kept up with the musical career of Mike Park. He’s pretty damn amazing, running a pretty successful record label out of his Mom’s garage, touring by bicycle to raise money for non-profits and just being an all around great guy. In many respects, Asian Man Records can be seen as the California version of Dischord Records.

While surfing their web site awhile ago, I stumbled upon a killer promotional they were running. And a week later I was skankin in my living room to some awesome ska. The B. Lee Band is Mike Park as front man with Less Than Jake as his backing band.

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* Khanate: PIECESOFQUIET (26.0 mb)
From 13thMay2004KHNTVSSTOCKHOLM : Archive Records : aRCHIVE35

If you haven’t figured it out by now, or you’re new to this site, Archive Records have got to be one of my favorite record labels of all time. If I were to ever have the balls to start up a record label, than Archive is the template that I’m using. Limited pressings, unique packages, killer music and beautiful designs all meld together to create some of the most mouth watering releases out there.

Unfortunately, I learned about them way too late in the game and I missed out on some killer releases like Earth, Boris and the holiest of holy grails, the 7cd Keiji Haino box set. Luckily, the proprietor has seen fit to re-release certain things with some remastering and slightly different artwork. This, as well as another Khanate album, is one such release.

From what I know, this group seems to be a death/doom metal supergroup of sorts and I’m definitely glad that Archive has seen fit to re-release this.

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* Zoviet France: Kofca (10.0 mb) | Latst (14.5 mb) | Farasin (7.0 mb)
From Feedback : Mort Aux Vaches

I bought this awhile ago on an impulse because I thought the packaging looked cool. The whole package was kinda mysterious and for some reason really spoke to me. I’d heard the name Zoviet France in one context or another, but didn’t really know too much about them. From what I knew, they sounded like a group shrouded in mystery that dealt primarily with noise and aural textures. And that’s exactly what I got. After putting the CD in my walkman, I was immediately immersed in a sonic world that, at the time, was completely alien to me. I was transported to some netherworld and never wanted to leave it.

In their 17 years of musical output, :zoviet*france: have become one of the most influential bands of the (post)-Industrial movement. Despite this, though, they have remained largely anonymous, playing very few live dates and generally avoiding over-exposure. Their music has been described as “a series of infernal soundworlds that wanders between organic, non-linear, lo-fi explorations and fake ethnicity, creating a world where nothing is locatable and everything is suggestion, awaiting responsive imaginations. (The Wire)

For whatever reason, even though I fell in love with this album, I never bothered to find out more about the band or much more of their music. I felt like they wanted their music to stand alone and wanted to dissociate themselves completely from the whole process. I have no idea if that’s true or not, but it worked for me, and I listened to this album obsessively for a couple of years. It fell to the way side when I started getting more into the free jazz, but for whatever reason, it’s been working it’s way back into my listening schedule. At any rate, hope you enjoy this one as much as I have.

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* Ryan Adams: My Winding Wheel (5.0 mb) | Oh My Sweet Carolina (7.5 mb) | Come Pick Me Up (8.5 mb)
From Heartbreaker : Bloodshot Records : BS 071

Man, I gotta say that Ryan Adams is a true heart breaker for me. When this album came out in 2000, I was totally smitten by his raggedy folk punk take on country music. This album came out at the right time in my life, and it provided the soundtrack to many hours spent aimlessly driving through the woods of Maine, going to swimming ponds and the beach, trying to figure out what I was doing with my life.

I had high hopes for whatever else Mr. Adams was going to do, but for whatever reason, didn’t get into his later career. Reports of his increasingly erratic behavior and “letting it all hang out” emotional states just kind of soured me on his music. At any rate, even if Ryan Adams’ subsequent career might be a heart breaker for me, there’ll always be this album.

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* Joanna Newsom: Sprout And The Bean (7.5 mb) | This Side Of The Blue (8.5 mb) | Yarn And Glue (3.0 mb) | What We Have Known (9.5 mb) | Bridges And Balloons (4.5 mb)
From Yarn And Glue

Man, oh man, this month is shaping up to be a great one for me. First, there was a kick-ass trip to the Big Apple and Maine, and coming up soon is a trip to go see Joanna Newsom play with an orchestra. Joanna Newsom, who I started listening to about a year and a half ago, has turned out to be one of my favorite musicians. If you haven’t heard about her, than I was a little worried because I was listening to her so much that I thought I would get sick of her. Luckily, the opposite has occured, and with each listen, I grow more fond of her and her music.

Even though I love her most recent records, her first two self-released EPs have got to be my favorite. I know that Ms. Newsom has gone on record as dis-avowing these two EPs, but I think they’re absolutely fantastic. So, in honor of going to see her soon, I’ve decided to post the entirety of her Yarns And Glu EP. I already posted her other EP (which I happen to like better), but this one is still pure genius.

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* Spoon: The Ghost Of You Lingers (5.0 mb) | Black Like Me (5.0 mb) | I Summon You (Cool) (1.5 mb) | You Got Yr Cherry Bomb (bonus) (4.0 mb)
From Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga : Merge Records : MRG295

Sometimes, as in the case with this band, you’ve just gotta believe the hype. Due to being somewhat of a contrarian, I’ve resisted listening to this band, Spoon. They’ve been hyped to death by everyone and their mother, and I just didn’t believe that they could be that good. Luckily though, I put aside my biases and decided to really give them a listen. And I’m hugely glad that I did.

“Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga” builds on work that began on the band’s third album, “Girls Can Tell,” which was released in 2001. In simple terms, this is what happened: a piano. In the late nineties, after Spoon had a brief and unhappy association with Elektra (the band’s contract was terminated after it released a single album), Daniel started writing songs around rudimentary piano figures and cut back on the guitar playing. The result was minimalist but propulsive music that resembled dance music. (New Yorker)

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, released in mid-2007 is a marvelous listen. Lead dude Britt Daniel, a pretty fantastic lyricist and singer, combined with the rest of the band doing some great angular, slightly experimental, indie pop really hit a home run for me.

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