Author: bolachas

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[mp3] Dreamers of the Ghetto, “Tether”

Dreamers of the Ghetto are the latest signees to one of my favorite labels ever: Temporary Residence Limited, home of – hard to pick a couple of bands from such an extensive, quantity and quality-wise roster – bands like Mono, Explosions in the Sky or The Black Heart Procession. The family rock band from Bloomington, Indiana (three of the four members of the band are related) will release their debut LP, Enemy/Lover, next October 4th. The PR article has words like “Spiritualized” on the same phrase where “U2” and “Depeche Mode” is written. I guess they’re talking about the good parts of both bands. You can already download and listen to the dream-rocker album closer, “Tether”, on the widget below.

Dreamers of the Ghetto – Tether by INDIGENOUSPromotions

Also, they’ve been handpicked to open for both Flaming Lips and Superchunk at the Hopscotch Music Festival on September 10th. There, there, now you know – for sure – they’re good.

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[full download] The Rutabega, “Cursed” (2011)

“Cursed” is the latest release by The Rutabega – the moniker of  South Bend, Indiana’s Joshua Wayne Hensley – a mini-album composed of songs previously available on a now sold-out CDR release back in 2005, written through some tough, dark times. Listen and download (name your price) below.

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[mp3] The Morning Clouds – The Wrong Things

Seriously, can’t Lefse Records do no wrong? Every email I receive from them contains a gold nugget. This time, the valuable mineral embedded in HTML is called “The Wrong Things”, the first song to be extracted from The Morning Clouds’ debut EP, Wasted Youth Blues, out October 11th. Expect ethereal guitar lines and vocals appearing to be washed away by a sea of great, great songwriting. I want the other five songs so bad right now.

MP3: The Morning Clouds, “The Wrong Things”

Wasted Youth Blues tracklist:
01 A Walk Home
02 The Wrong Things
03 Untitled
04 Trails of Light
05 Wasted Youth Blues
06 Ends

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Nerdcore is Rising: MC Frontalot

If you’ve always been into hip-hop, you may be surprised to learn there’s an entire subgenre you’re probably not aware of. Nerdcore is largely self-descriptive; hip-hop, but made by nerds, for nerds. Lyrics about hacking and final bosses, and beats that range from traditional to 8-bit-inspired.

One of the leaders of this gang of merry nerds is MC Frontalot, arguably the most well-produced and successful, and also by far the most generous, because he gives the vast majority of his music away for free on his website. Why? Because he wants people to enjoy it, and he’s happy to host not only two formats (mp3 and AAC), but also provides you with the lyrics so you can take a look at the genius of his rhyming style.

Nerdcore is something enjoyable to listen to whether you’re walking to work or you’re sat playing partypoker with a game of Pong running on a HDTV in the background (you old-skool gamer, you). He reflects on the world around him – on technology, politics, data theft, and often collaborates with other artists in addition to appearing at the geek haven, the Penny Arcade Expo, also known as PAX Prime and PAX East (for those not on the West coast of the USA, where PAX Prime is held).

It’s a genre that will likely see little attention on MTV or VH1, if any at all, although we suspect that’s mainly due to the lack of lyrics about guns, girls and bling. A shame, as it brings an element of radical intelligence to the genre, and it’s unlikely that you’ll see such a smart group of lyricists outside of hip-hop’s hall of fame. So check him out, and go be nerdcore.

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and.. we’re back!

Back from some deserved vacations, half of them spent on the magnificent Paredes de Coura festival (small review coming one of these days). Spent the rest of the time listening to some awesome music: new albums (get them ALL) by Fruit Bats, You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown, The War on Drugs and Ganglians have been on repeat, along with the two forthcoming Cakes and Tapes releases: Lizard Kisses’ “Tiny Island Teeth” and Blessed Feathers’ “From the Mouths of the Middle Class”, out Sept. 6 & 20, respectively. Speaking of them, they need your help. On your right, you can see a Kickstarter widget that links to their campaign: they need $1,000 on donations so they can rent a van and go on tour.. that’s less than a month away. They offer various rewards in exchange for your valuable monies, including stickers, the cassette, the cd, the record,  screen-printed shirts, exclusive posters, tickets to their shows AND original pieces of artwork by the band’s own Jacquelyn Beaupre’! Go on and help the guys out.

Lizard Kisses’ “Tiny Island Teeth” EP and Blessed Feathers’ “From the Mouths of the Middle Class” LP limited edition, handmade cassettes (there are just 50 of each) are available for pre-order now on Cakes and Tapes’ Bandcamp. If you get them now, each tape will cost you €1 less than it will once they’re out. Also! If you buy both tapes simultaneously, we’ll refund you the shipping costs. That’s €2 off for each tape and free shipping (that can go up to €2,5 if you’re from the US) AND you’ll get two MP3/FLAC/any-format-you-might-prefer from each album before everyone else. That’s €11/$16 for two brand new, beautiful tapes. Not kidding, shit’s real! Grab them before it’s too late.

Also, for the first time ever, we’re going to have an ad on our website. don’t worry, it’s not intrusive. and the monster needs its cookies, which ain’t free.