I’m often bewildered that when mention of Monterrey’s burgeoning music scene is made, Los Llamaradas seem to nab all the attention but little glory is ever bestowed upon XYX. Perhaps that’s soon to change.

	XYX – Momento Acido Contemporaneo 7" Sharing a love for noise with their oft praised brethren, XYX instead roll this chaotic squeal into a high strung ball of elastic energy. The title track bounces with an underlying reverence to post-punk but threatens to derail any sultry
momentum with a barbed attack of fists and frets. "Circo, TX." drapes a metallic sludge onto the band’s frantic pummel and they crank the urgency to emergency levels to close out the single. Hopefully soon the band will rally these energies into a full length. Download: [MP3] XYX - Momento Acido Contemporaneo Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Moon Duo

Striking out solo, despite what the name might imply, Ripley Johnson of Wooden Shjips continues to splash morotik rhythms with a heavy helping of fuzz. Not as outwardly heavy as the Shjips, though the lack of a rhythm section might account for that, Moon Duo nonetheless tread very similar waters to Johnson’s day job, with a long attention span locking things down into a blown cone fuzz and on occasion bolstering the show with a seasick swell of organ that seems to roll and tumble ‘til dawn. Starting things off with a 12” on Sick Thirst, Ripley’s already in good hands and it looks as if a release is in the works at Sacred Bones with possibly more on the way.

Download:
[MP3] Moon Duo - Love on the Sea

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE or HERE

Meth Teeth

Portland's Meth Teeth show a darker, grittier side of themselves on this Night People re-release of their Indian Spirits Demo (listed here as a S/T cassette). The band has previously issued a 7" on Sweet Rot and has a ramshackle debut scheduled on Woodsist but here they subdue their catchiness a bit in favor of a few driving nuggets that spread thick. Overtones of nineties luminaries crouch in guitar lines that lay back lazy but still topple listeners with their leaden sheen and subtle crackle. The tape is a good entry point to a band that has only cracked their sound wide open from here. Chances are, as with most of the label's releases these days, that Woodsist LP is going to be a winner.

Download:
[MP3] Meth Teeth - I Was Wrong

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Zola Jesus

Zola and Sacred Bones cross paths once again, this time for a full length record that gives Nika Danilova a bit more room to stretch her haunting pop instincts. Just as with past releases, Danilova’s voice remains the most enchanting piece of the Zola Jesus puzzle, but here, though it still floats above a frayed and sometimes scorched drizzle of subconscious pop, it spends less time peaking in from the edges and allows itself to crawl to the forefront. Danilova has always taken a cue from the worn cassette school of noise-pop and The Spoils stays true to her colors in that respect but the textures seem deeper on this one, more corrosive; buzzing and scraping away while still acting as a pedestal for that powerful croon of hers. Packed up in the ubiquitous SB 12” design, though I think Gary War may have put her to shame in the design department from this round (a straight face shot’s just a little ho-hum, no?)

Download:
[MP3] Zola Jesus - Crowns
[MP3] Zola Jesus - Clay Bodies

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

	The Jacks - Vacant World Long regarded one of the most important Japanese psychedelic albums, Vacant World is much moodier and emotionally strained than its British and American counterparts. There still exists a reliance on fuzz and tremolo as
crutch effects but the record has an atmospheric tone that isn't always present on some of its domestic kin. Though sung entirely in Japanese (which may account for its lack of crossover to an English-speaking audience) the lyrical content it dark and philosophical, with the title track being banned from airplay at the time of its release for being too dark. Yoshio Hayakawa's vocals are impassioned to the point of pleading with the audience, adding to the desperate psychedelic tone of the album. The band followed it up with a lack-luster and appropriately ill-received album before disbanding. But despite their short career, this album is still counted amongst the greatest Japanese releases and continues to be an influence on younger generations. Download: [MP3] The Jacks - Gloomy Flower [MP3] The Jacks - Vacant World Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Box Elders

Stripping the fidelity off of mid-60's teeny-bopper pop, Nebraska's Box Elders deliver a garage gem that's full of head bobbing pep and damn near squeezable melodies. Rattle-trap drums pop and crash behind the heartfelt garage pop of the McIntyre brothers. Slip a single cut of "stay" into a beat up sleeve and drop it into a mixed bin of 45s and you'd probably convince quite a few diggers they've found a long lost gem; conjuring up images of clean cut matching suits and monochrome sets. Elsewhere the boys pepper in bits of surf, an organ playing drummer and a swinging rumble of bass to drive the pulse and a pretty sweet record is born.

Download:
[MP3] Box Elders - Jackie Wood
[MP3] Box Elders - Stay

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

A few fuzzy gem's from Sweet Rot, who not only have a great eye for bands but also keep the designs pleasing and the card stock thick on these latest 7"s

	Woven Bones – Your Sorcery 7" First up is a familiar name around these parts. Texas' Woven Bones continue to bring the sweat soaked thunder, choked with high plains dust and the acrid aroma of asphalt. The flip backs off the intensity, but only slightly, locking into a laid back
rumble that's calmer but carries no less sneer than the best of the band's catalog. The band has an EP and full-length in the works which both check in pretty highly on our list of anticipated releases for '09. Download: [MP3] Woven Bones - Your Sorcery Support the artist. Buy it HERE
	Flight – Flowers 7" Flight might not be a familiar name just yet but this debut 7" should hopefully make a few waves for them. This release actually staves off the pit-of-the-stomach anticipation we had around here for their entry to the HoZac Hookup Klub which should be on par with the
fuzzed out stomp that the band lays down here. The A-side is blown cone speaker burner threatening to tear itself apart before it finally collapses to the floor. The flip cools the in the red guitar fire a bit but and lays back into a well appreciated groove. Honestly both sides of this one are pretty good enough to pass for an A-Side, must've been a hard call on that one. No info about lengthier releases just yet but the band have definitely slotted themselves onto our "to watch" list for '09. Download: [MP3] Flight - Johnny's Mixed Up Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Moritz Von Oswald Trio

Mixing elements of his Basic Channel past with the dub aesthetics he’s long cultivated with the guise of the Rhythm and Sound label, Von Oswald elevates minimalist techno to a live science on Vertical Ascent. Here he enlists the aid of Vladislav Delay aka Sasu Ripatti and Max Loderbauer to filter the skeletal ghosts of Krautrock and Detroit techno through the dubplate, bouncing synth particles around the room in syrupy slow patterns. The approach on Vertical Ascent takes Von Oswald and the rest of the trio into an unusual capacity of live improvisation, working the pieces off one another until they reach the desired stasis of icy perfection. The result sounds much less like a live to tape record than a carefully studied construction, but I suppose that’s exactly why MVO and co. are the best at what they do. Though only four tracks this one sucks you deeper into its realm on each listen.

Download:
[MP3] Moritz Von Oswald Trio - Pattern 4

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Yair Yona

With an overt love for Fahey, Basho and Jansch and a refracted kinship with latter day string pickers from Chasney to Rose; Israeli guitarist Yair Yona seems to draw much more from the American Delta and British Hills than from Israel's musical tradition. But Yona's immersion into the styles of these two continents strikes a fitting tribute, with a fluid style and simple touches of sadness trickling from his fingertips. Occasionally Yona's influences play very far from the chest, with songs like "Pharaoh" practically screaming Fahey, but when the instrumentation is layered; with moans of slide sidling over the picking, his songs begin to work out rhythmic landscapes that stretch and tumble just perfectly. The addition of ambient drones only further opens up these regions of Yona's playing, wrapping the galloping strings in dark clouds of mystery and unease. Considering this is his solo debut, the reverence to his influences seems like a starting point aching to break open on further recordings.

Download:
[MP3] Yair Yona - Struggled So Hard
[MP3] Yair Yona - Sympathy For The Jack

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Silk Flowers

It seems that if the kids don't have sand in their shorts, they're taking an acetylene torch to a set of keys instead. The latest in a line of melted mechanic key jockeys is PPM's Silk Flowers. Built from the collaboration of members of Soiled Mattress and the Springs, Car Clutch and Corpse Kisser; the band have taken an amusing gothic touch to the noisier end of synth tone waggling. Chugging electronics sputter alongside erupting purple and black tones that are as gothic as velvet curtains and twice as lush. The most distinct quality of Silk Flowers though seems to be the low syupy croon of Aviram Cohen who keeps things surprisingly un-effected and turns out all the better for it. Aviram's vocals are so low and slow that their first 7" confounded my choice of speeds for a good couple minutes before deciding that the sounds coming from his mouth were indeed natural at molasses setting. The band has even drawn some fan/collaboration from the likes of Gang Gang Dance's Brian Degraw who worked up a pretty great video for album closer "Shadows in Daylight" Check it out HERE.

Download:
[MP3] Silk Flowers - Night Shades
[MP3] Silk Flowers - Flash of Light

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

	Franco Battiato - Pollution An Italian songwriter, whose works strayed far into the fields of space rock and prog with a heavy emphasis on the VCS3 Synthesizer. The album builds slowly from a bit of an overture and some grandiose sound effects into its heart which
touches on the kind of atmospherics later favored by the core of the Harvest Label in the 70's. Many of this set, along with players like Frank Zappa were said to have been fans of Battiato and in his own country the album even cracked the top 10 around the time of its release. Sure there's pomposity, no prog album ever really escapes this, but Battiato also had a sense of space and texture that have been picked up by many followers, not the least amongst the post-rock wave that hit around the late 90's. Battiato continued a long career both in Italy and with some cultural success abroad, though his sound has migrated far from these rather interesting prog roots. Download: [MP3] Franco Battiato - Il Silenzio Del Rumore [MP3] Franco Battiato - Areknames Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Gary War

Making a not so distant leap from SHDWPLY to the brothers in arms at Sacred Bones, Gary War continues to blaze a murky trail through the battlefield of pop. His latest, Horribles Parade, is brimming with watery pop songs that each feel as if a pair of gills might better help you understand the situation at hand. Further striking out on his own tangent of the clouded consciousness school of synth pop, though the underlying basics of War's songs are firmly rooted in attention to detail and layers of production the end results are carefully shrouded, molded and melted into a sound that feels lo-fi only on first listen. Repeated takes bring you further and deeper into War's world, refracted through the shimmering blues and greens of stained glass and liquid, filtered ever so slightly with the strains of distant sun above. Housed in the now instantly recognizable Sacred Bones style LP jacket screened in a brilliant blue on black and the CD version contains some bonus cuts that will appear on an upcoming Captured Tracks 12".

Download:
[MP3] Gary War - No Payoff
[MP3] Gary War - Orange Trails

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE or HERE

Richard Skelton

Though Skelton is no newcomer to the avant-classical landscape, this is the first time he's appeared on a recording under his own name. He may appear more familiar when in the context of names like A Broken Consort or Landings, but on his solo outing for Type he's no less engrossing. With a gentle sadness and slight twinge of sourness, Skelton is able to translate a sense of loss that's not really come across in some of his previous works. Strings pull and scrape, pluck and bow with such emotion that it seems that Skelton has felt a lifetime of emotions and channeled them immediately onto one album, thereby passing the weight of that world onto you. Marking Time floats comfortably on the edge of uneasiness letting the listener dip back and forth between self reflection and self doubt. This one's pretty limited but definitely worth tracking down.

Download:
[MP3] Richard Skelton - Fold
[MP3] Richard Skelton - Heys

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Jack Rose & The Black Twig Pickers

Rose has always had a foot closer to actual Appalachian Folk than he has to most of the new crop of fingerpicked, psych-folk leaning crowd and on his latest VHF release he cracks that root open wide and proud. The album swings like a barn dance, the air thick and full of autumn harvest and a certain magic letting the night settle comfortably on all those within earshot. Aided nicely by Mike Gangloff on banjo, Isak Howell on guitar and harmonica and Nate Bowles rustling up all manner of percussion, Jack and the Black Twig Pickers seem to slip out of time, recalling an era when simple skill eschewed need for a second take. Their S/T album rolls the hills and lays back to rest and watch the clouds. It seems to breathe a cleaner air than you an I. The boys can't help but slip a smile on the stodgiest of cynics faces with their earthen stomp. Pick this one up on LP though, because the ol' gramophone won’t know what to do with that digital muck.

Download:
[MP3] Jack Rose & The Black Twig Pickers - Soft Steel Piston
[MP3] Jack Rose & The Black Twig Pickers - Revolt

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Tonstartssbandht

Drop a name like Tonstartssbandht and pretty much the world will look back at you confused. But with a sweet concoction of noise crusted melodies and ambient creeping frequencies, the band's CD-r on Does Are may turn a few ears. The band is melodic at heart with a kind of latter day slacker pop aesthetic shining through all their songs, most of which have a thickly slathered sheen of needle clipping noise thrown on the top, just to keep things lo-fi. Still as much as the band seems to fit into the current trend of noiseniks, there are moments on An When that are simply undeniable. "Midnight Cobras" jumps headlong into fuzz bass and euphoric vocals that seem so unconcerned with coherence that it’s charming. Elsewhere the band take digs at their unpronounceable name and even screw on a cover of Spacemen 3's "Walking With Jesus." They're not rewriting the musical universe but they are having enough fun with the current one that its hard not to slip back into the static and smile for just a while here.

Download:
[MP3] Tonstartssbandht - Midnight Cobras
[MP3] Tonstartssbandht - Andy Summers

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

	Jo Ann Kelly - with J. Fahey, W. Mann & Seidler Kelly began a career in England just as the 60's blues revival was hitting its full swing. She gained initial attention mixing everything from Charly Patton and Bessie Smith to Sister Rosetta Tharpe into an
acoustic blues style that was only further strengthened by her powerful voice. She recorded her first LP with The Groundhogs' Tony McPhee and was later offered spots with Canned Heat and Johnny Winter but declined these out of a desire not to be integrated into a band setting. Here she's ably backed by none other than John Fahey whose fingerpicked style lends itself nicely to Jo Ann's country blues. In the end it was her focus on the acoustic side of blues that let her slip between the cracks, with contemporaries like Janis Joplin finding much wider audiences mixing blues with harder rock. Though she's come to be revered in retrospect as a key voice in women's blues and folk, Kelly's work went sorely unappreciated during her lifetime but still she played well into the nineties before her untimely death. Download: [MP3] Jo Ann Kelly - Hard Time Killing Floor Blues [MP3] Jo Ann Kelly - High Sheriff Blues Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Little Claw

Little Claw return with another album riding along the Sonic Youth highway, basked in a lovely sheen of distortion and fury. Human Taste eschews just a bit of the melodicism that underscored Spit and Squalor... and dives deeper into the scraggly noise side of the noise pop spectrum, though under the storm of amplifier squeal there still beats a heart of pop. Its as if Little Claw build songs, stand back and access them and then hack, chip, blast and kick away at them until they finally yield, then kick them bloodied and battered out the door. Human Taste leaves you agitated and punchy, equally ready to fight or slump to the floor with a gritty hangover of palpable unrest burning in your teeth. Whatever they're doing, they're doing it right, that's for certain. Ecstatic Peace has picked up the CD duties this time and Not Not Fun is scheduled to release the LP soon; not such bad credentials if you ask me.

Download:
[MP3] Little Claw - Modern Vampire
[MP3] Little Claw - Human Taste (Below The Tide)

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Sacramento's Mayyors sling out a 12" full of brutality and then run it over with a car just because the love you.

	Mayyors – Deads 12" Last year saw a couple of Mayyors singles pop up and then disappear almost instantly, but the left a bit of a blistered wreckage in their path. Now the band has unleashed Deads and though its a bit more well rounded, its no less a harrowing experience. Loud as hell
and frayed like the remnants of a drunken argument, the 12" smacks you each time you look away. Though it was pressed in a larger (by Mayyors standards) run of 500, those too seem to be slipping away, but grab one if you can because each gristle cover was personally run over by a car to ensure that not only is it harsh on your ears but on your hands and possibly your furniture as well. Charming! Download: [MP3] Mayyors - Clicks Support the artist. Buy it uh... wherever you can find it. (possibly eBay by now)

The Mayfair Set

Picked this up at the Woodsist/Captured Tracks Fest last weekend and it's spent a good amount of time on my turntable since. Dee Dee certainly stole the festival both in Mayfair and on Saturday with Dum Dum Girls, proving that even lo-fi can benefit from some stage presence. The first long(ish) player from Mayfair Set retains the marbled warble that seems to inhabit all of Mike Sniper's recordings but with some much needed fidelity finally sneaking into the vocals, allowing Dee Dee's haunting croon to peek through the window streaked melancholy. The band finds itself most engaging when they let overt melody and slippery bass lines creep out from under the murk, occasionally even letting a bit of fun seep out. The whole thing's dressed up in greeting card snaps shaded in sickly hues that seem like they might have been snatched from your Nana's living room. But appearances aside the Young One's 12" is anything but saccharine.

Download:
[MP3] The Mayfair Set - Let It Melt

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Silver Bullets

From the first strains of Free Radical there's a certain kinship with Magic Lantern that reveals itself; heavy drones, Kruautrock locked rhythms and delightful haze spread over the top like a psychedelic garnish. So it should come as no surprise that this comes to us from William Giacchi's Phil French's (Magic Lantern/Super Minerals) Stunned Records. The Italian psych unit steps to the same precipice that French and the boys have been staring down for a few years and launches an expedition deep into the heart of swamp riddled heaviness. As if we could even keep up around here with all the side projects sprouting off of this band as it stands, now they're recruiting overseas? And recruit the best at that, here's hoping there's more to be found in this Italian garden of lysergic thunder because a single, small press cassette only whets the appetite. Label's sold out but a few distros may have some in stock.

Download:
[MP3] Silver Bullets - Black Leaf
[MP3] Silver Bullets - 74 Dream

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE or HERE

Ty Segall

It seems that Ty Segall isn't much for rest these days. He bounces back with another album close on the heels of last year's S/T thrasher, popping up this time on Memphis garage authority Goner. At first listen the real progression here is that Ty seems to have tempered a bit of the raw, fevered delivery that's pocked his work in the past. That's not to say that there aren't a few damaged howls lurking among the tracks on Lemons but the introduction of a handful of acoustic strums and some even tempered rockers add a nice balance to the buried needle sound that he's been known for. And though it seems Segall is best when he's on the verge of tearing himself apart, wounded howl in check and exorcising whatever ails seem to be bubbling to the top of his blistered throat; this new side of Segall seems to allow him more depth. There may be detractors who are looking for the pure volume and shamble they've known, but its nice to see Ty flout the expectations and round himself out.

Download:
[MP3] Ty Segall - Can't Talk
[MP3] Ty Segall - Rusted Dust

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

So I'm not one much for tributes but it seems a shame to let one of the garage greats fall without notice. For all his eccentricities (see the YaHoWa years) Sky Saxon was a welcome voice in the halls of garage punk history. Sad to see him pass. Screw moments of silence... turn these up!

[MP3] The Seeds - Pushin' Too Hard (live)
Well it seems only fitting to start things off with the track that keeps The Seeds in the peripheral of the masses. A nice live version of the Nugget that probably sparked interest in many a Seeds fans.

[MP3] The Seeds - Girl I Want You
One of the best things about Sky and The Seeds was the element of danger that they were able to impart to their music. This track seethes with a lasciviousness that's only underscored by the throbbing fuzz and unhinged organ. Pure Seeds.

[MP3] The Seeds - Pretty Girl
Still never let it be said that The Seeds didn't have their pure rock n' roll side. The band grew out of the garage explosion only to eventually lay the ground for so many punks to come. But I'll be damned if they can't still lay down good old R&B that cooks.

[MP3] The Seeds - Lose Your Mind
But in the end even the great spirit of rock n' roll couldn't help but be swayed by The Seeds' energy. Given a standard Bo Diddly shuffle, the band could still make it decidedly their own. From the opening vocal strains its all Seeds - reedy, rough and raw.

[MP3] The Seeds - One More Time Blues
There was a great Seeds box set out (from which quite a few of these are culled) and one of the greatest aspects of that box was that it showed the blues spirit that ran through The Seeds. They could break it open and kick the fuzz when they needed too but when it came to the blues nobody could deny that the band could simmer as well.

[MP3] Ya Ho Wa 13 - I Thought I Am
Sky spent much time in an around The Source Family and Ya Ho Wa 13 and remained a believer to his dying day. So in this spirit, its only fitting to let the Family send him off. Take care Sky.

The Skygreen Leopards

Just in time for the heat of summer, Skygreen Leopards swoop in with another gorgeous record that's basked in the green filtered light that shines through the trees. Gorgeous Johnny does seem to be the band's most "pop" record to date, running sun baked harmonies over their fullest and most verdant instrumentation yet. This sheen seems to be a bit of bleed over from Donovan Quinn's last solo record and his pop sensibilities mesh perfectly with Glenn's wistfully melancholy folk for a record that lays you gently into the grass while at the same time tugging a sense of ennui from your heart. And though you've probably never made love to a Jehovah's Witness in the shade of outstretched trees, you can roll the bittersweet lamentations on your tongue and make them your own. This record proves yet again that Quinn and Donaldson are sorely overlooked songwriters who tend to get lost amongst a throng of psych-folk revelry. Hopefully Gorgeous Johnny will let their golden tinged bliss out of the box for a few more souls.

Download:
[MP3] The Skygreen Leopards - Dixie Cups in the Dead Grass

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

So it would seem that we’ve reached the halfway(ish) point of 2009 and so far I gotta say I’m rather pleased. A pretty decent crop of tunes has sprung from artists both old and new, so many that its really hard to nail it down to just a few faves but I was able to whittle it down to 15 LPs that seemed to dominate my ears this year. There a quite a few burning up the RSTB stereo right now but for the sake of chronology lets just say the cutoff was releases before 6/30. No particular order here just the 15 that seemed to pop up the most.



Ganglians blew out on a California breeze with two great releases in a row but the absolute stunner was Monster Head Room with its sunny harmonies and garage stumble. Hopefully that repress is coming soon so that a few more can enjoy this classic on vinyl.

Download:
[MP3] Ganglians - 100 Years

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE LP and ||| HERE CD



Well the Skygreen Leopards may have a lock on fuzzed out sunny harmonies for the second half of ’09 but the first half belonged to Amen Dunes. Creeping out of nowhere to fill our need for loner psych and crust caked guitar sounds, this one just keeps growing on ya.

Download:
[MP3] Amen Dunes - By the Bridal

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



Chalk another one up for California. The Fresh & Onlys wrapped a whole slew of garage goodness up in one gritty package. As catchy as it is raw and ragged, high hopes abound for keeping the future fresh.

Download:
[MP3] The Fresh & Onlys - Peacock and Wing

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



In The Red has steadily been owning ’09 (as this list might attest to) and Intelligence bring just the right amount of noise and garage charm to the mix. Though they had two albums out right around the same time, it seems that the catchy bits of Fake Surfers emerge as the winner.

Download:
[MP3] Intelligence- Moody Tower

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



This one barely squeaks its way into the first half of the year but it definitely deserves to be on this list. Cameron Stallones just keeps digging deeper into the connections between dub and psychedelic funk and some strange plateaus in-between. Good thing this got here before the real heat of summer kicked in, because you’re gonna need it.

Download:
[MP3] Sun Araw - Hustle and Bustle

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



Well amongst all this garage crust and psychedelic nonsense there has to be some beauty. Thankfully Julianna Barwick brings such a heightened sense of aural bliss that it washes away pretty much everything in its path. Absolutely some of the most stunning music of this or any year.

Download:
[MP3] Julianna Barwick - Bode

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



Kurt killed it last year with Constant Hitmaker and it seems that this year’s no different. The Mex Summer EP is just as full of shamble down folk and that upcoming Matador release may just blow this one off the list come year’s end. Here’s hoping so.

Download:
[MP3] Kurt Vile - My Sympathy

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



Seems like a year can’t pass without a Fonal release breeching this list. Shogun Kunitoki blow away their last album with a tour of vintage electronics that shines like a beacon in a world of dull imitators. Plus how fun is this album when paired up with their stop motion strobe light.

Download:
[MP3] Shogun Kunitoki - Riddarholmen

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



Another artist with two releases up on the chopping block this year, but while the demos and b-sides collection of Hard Knox might give some insight to Toth’s past, the raw honesty and emotion on Born Bad proved to be his most engaging album yet. Absolutely essential for fans of JJT.

Download:
[MP3] WAND - Resuscitation Distillery Blues

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



Ilyas has had a busy last couple of years but he just seems to keep topping himself. Varying slightly from his focus on the acoustic guitar and featuring a wonderful drop in from Grouper’s Liz Harris, the album seems to have found Ahmed at his peak.

Download:
[MP3] Ilyas Ahmed - Love After Love

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



I’ve said it before and well, I’ll say it again, Dwyer’s Oh Sees cannot be stopped. They’ve just been crushing ’08-’09 with release after release of quality garage. Forced to choose a favorite from this year though I’d have to go with Help which has easily lived up to the expectations that its predecessor laid down.

Download:
[MP3] Thee Oh Sees - Ruby Come Home

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



Well the year needed a bit of noise pop and Peaking Lights were more than able to answer the call. This one gets points for presentation as well. The artwork of Shawn Reed is too often relegated to the small surface area of cassettes but here it gets a bit of room to stretch out and languish on a 12” cover. This is just a wonderful bit of fuzz and foam that seems to have slipped through a few too many cracks.

Download:
[MP3] Peaking Lights - All the Good Songs Have Been Written

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



We’ve loved woods around here for quite a while but it’d bee pretty presumptuous to state that this is anything other than their best record yet. Seems a few others agree. If you haven’t checked out Songs of Shame for yourself, it’s damn well about time.

Download:
[MP3] Woods - To Clean

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



Again with the ITR releases but there’s no denying the fun of …And Girls Club. The boys swing and strut like its ’64, capturing the best teenaged garage vibes in quite a while. This one’s no technical masterpiece but it makes up for that in pure sweat.

Download:
[MP3] The Strange Boys - This Girl’s Taught Me a Dance

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE



Just like with Julianna’s release, amongst all these sweaty, crusty noiseniks some beauty must fall. And Sharon Van Etten’s debut record is more than able to come to the rescue. Language of Stone continues to be the tip top for folk these days and they certainly picked a perfect record to release with Because I Was In Love

Download:
[MP3] Sharon Van Etten - It’s Not Like

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Blues Control

With an explosion of sweat riddled rock and soul that befits their name, Blues Control blast open their latest album with a gritty stomper that's the most balls out thing they've recorded since their first cassette. They even pull in the aid of Jesse Trbovich and Kurt Vile on horns. Its like some James Brown shit up in here. But while this first bit of rock bombast sets the tone for the album to come, it’s not in the ways you might imagine. The whole album seems to ride the wave of a drug overdose. Following that first blast of smoke and wild revelry that opens the album there begins a slow and murky descent into oblivion. "On Through the Night" begins with washy ease but builds to a doom tinged nervous din before it releases itself into a steamy pulse that melts into the floor. Then the real calmness takes over with a languid piano fever that bridges its way to the otherworldliness of closer "Tangier," leaving you feeling as out of place as ever and floating blind in the ether. Russ and Lea have really played up the synth impulses of Blues Control here while at the same time boiling down their influences to a wonderful psychedelic puddle, revealing a cohesiveness that makes Local Flavor their most realized work yet.

Download:
[MP3] Blues Control - Good Morning

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Sun Araw

Cameron Stallones continues his swampy journey to the heart of the sun, melting a plastic sheet of psychedelia over the beach and pulling the heart of the African jungle up to the seashore. Throbbing with a beleaguered stomp and still flailing some wah into the skanking heart of dub, Cameron proves that pulse slowing vibes are the cure for pretty much anything. Heavy Deeds opens with a little dub-funk with swayed vocals that show edges of his Vibes project bleeding back into SA but the two share enough common ground that I'd be hard pressed to tell who's influencing who these days. The guitar crust of his early days ekes its way back into the fold on this release more than it has on any of his records since The Phynx but its a tempered burn that meshes itself well into the chest rattling pulse of spring-reverbed synth that swells at the core of the record. Now if you pinned me down I'd have to admit that I'm a sucker for pretty much everything that Stallones and co. do, but bias aside this stands as a rather essential release for the oncoming swelter of summer.

Download:
[MP3] Sun Araw - Hustle and Bustle

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE