Music freely available online is always appreciated, even moreso when it means I don’t have to resort to the morally ambiguous hosting of the music myself. There are some folks who believe this is the way of the future, and even though I always end up buying physical copies, the word of mouth potential for free distribution on the internet is amazing.

Now, these dudes ended up on my list while finally catching up on the catalog over at Quote Unquote Records. Folksy, punksy, dudes with heart! I feel so corny saying that. The music is excellent. The recording quality gets a little sketchy on some tracks, and they may get a bit noisier than you want to handle, but it all works out for me. I’m already jamming too many links in here, so just check out their myspace page for links to the various downloadables and such. They’ve got two full lengths and some live stuff available.

From A Rhythm in the Cages
No Lodging For the Mad – (MP3, 3.2 MB)
Dig Too Deep – (MP3, 1.7 MB)
Cuyuhoga Canal – (MP3, 3.5 MB)
Montana – (MP3, 4.6 MB)

Alright, I’m back. For how long who knows, but here we go, bringing up the lovely Yula again, of Nanuchka, World/Inferno, et al). This time, she’s got a whole different assortment of folks, and though some of it is fairly familiar (Thumb Cinema mostly so, due to it already having been lent to World/Inferno for their last record, though it has certainly evolved into a fairly different song by now), there is a lot of craziness going on here, most notably from the opener, Back Off America, which was almost too crazy to get into, but has since endeared itself to me greatly.

The whole album is available at Woodland Records, which is quite nice of them, though they also provide a means to not only buy a physical copy, but to donate if you enjoy it. It’s fairly similar to what they’ve got going at Quote Unquote Records, which has a bunch more bands I need to get to on here one day.

From Victor
Back Off America – (MP3, 3.7 MB)
96 Yulix – (MP3, 5.3 MB)
Thumb Cinema – (MP3, 6.2 MB)
Magical Acoustic – (MP3, 3.4 MB)

I figured it would be the height of rudeness to not throw some music at people who are probably bored out of their minds waiting for a Halloween party tonight (myself included), so here is some to whet your proverbial whistle. Tiger Army is a band that, before today, I haven’t listened to in years, and so it’s very refreshing to listen to them again after all that time. They’re a psychobilly band, though having not delved into that genre in even the shallowest sense of the term, it’s easier to classify them as being a punk band, albeit without the socially-conscious lyrics that punk bands are supposed to have. Regardless, the pair of songs I’ve posted are from my favorite of their albums, Tiger Army III: Ghost Tigers Rise, and I hope you enjoy them, as they will probably be all you get out of this blog for the next few days. Happy Halloween!

From Tiger Army III: Ghost Tigers Rise
Santa Carla Twilight – (MP3, 6.5 MB)
Ghost Tigers Rise – (MP3, 3 MB)

I thought I had already made a post about this band, to which I was quite ready to link within this very post. Turns out, my slackerness is even greater than I thought, as that post was basically in my ‘todo’ queue, and did not technically even exist. Nevertheless, this CD came out in the interim, so here we go.

Someone described this band as “world-punk”, and I can’t really disagree, though the concept of “world” music seems to bring to mind bamboo flutes and whale songs – not exactly the most thrilling fare, generally. This record is a collaboration with Tamir Muskat, so it’s got a crazy Middle Eastern bent to it, which seems immediately reminiscent of Balkan Beat Box. They’ve never shied away from unconventional rhythms and instruments, leaving surprises on each disc, but on The Golden Hour, it feels like even more of a reinvention.

This isn’t particularly surprising, given how frontman Tod A recently “took a protracted leave of absence from an idiot-run America, the cut-throat music business, and the Western world in general,” visiting Thailand, India, Pakistan, Turkey and Indonesia. His odyssey was certainly productive, and I hope they continue in their current direction.

From The Golden Hour
Borneo – (MP3, 5.0 MB)
Hey Clown – (MP3, 5.0 MB)
Electric City – (MP3, 6.5 MB)
Already Gone – (MP3, 5.6 MB)

From Ponzi Scheme
So Long, Superman – (MP3, 3.5 MB)
Another Perfect Catastrophe – (MP3, 4.0 MB)

From Psychopharmacology
Psychopharmacology – (MP3, 3.9 MB)

I have yet to find a way to purchase any of their recordings, so needless to say I downloaded the tracks instead. Not to be confused with the similarly named Suburban Legends I wrote about earlier, these crazy dudes from California were only around a short while in the 90’s, but they put out some ridiculously good music before succumbing to inner-band squabbles.

Commonly associated with the 3rd wave ska scene (most people would know their name from Reel Big Fish’s song S.R.), they really aren’t a ska band, as even their ska numbers deviate quite a bit from the usual standards. They aren’t heavy on horns at all, and they make inspired use of their guitars to blend in funk, rock, punk, and even a little country. It is hard to really pin them down to one style, but with them that’s a good thing.

Plus, they’ve got some interesting lyrics, like in the ludicrously cathartic 99 Degrees: I’m feeling 99 degrees, and I don’t mean Fahrenheit! It’s Celsius, you oaf! When I hear your wicked words, they choke me up until I’m blue, just like the rope I’d use if I was gonna strangle you!” Fortunately, they are not nearly as angry on their other songs, and are able to effortlessly phase between serious (Coming Out of the Woodwork) and goofy topics (Gameshow, “Pat Sajak is a saviour, he always has a vowel for sale!”). A shame they were so short lived!

Since you’d probably have a hell of a time finding their recordings, I’ll be going a little overboard with links on this one.

From Suburban Rhythm
Lust – (MP3, 4.9 MB)
Coming Out of the Woodwork – (MP3, 5.4 MB)
My Sister Sam – (MP3, 4.6 MB)
Gameshow – (MP3, 3.8 MB)
99 Degrees – (MP3, 4.5 MB)
Tension – (MP3, 6.8 MB)

For some reason, blogging’s become a higher priority for me lately. Partly because I’ve got more music, partly because we’ve got an adoring fanbase of 1 person, but either way, this posting frenzy won’t last (it never does), so enjoy it while it does! Reverend Glasseye is kind of a musical enigma in that you can’t really pigeonhole them too well, they sound like too many different things at once. Part gypsy, part cabaret, part punk, part “insert genre,” it’s amazing how they can pull it all together into genuinely enjoyable music. I can’t believe that it’s taken me this long to realize that 17 Lashes is a freaking amazing song, and my favorite of the good Reverend’s. I’ll give you 17 lashes to the face if you don’t like it!

From Our Lady Of The Broken Spine
17 Lashes – (MP3, 8.7 MB)
King Of Men – (MP3, 4.4 MB)

From Black River Falls
Seven Little Girls – (MP3, 6.4 MB)
Three Ton Chain – (MP3, 2.9 MB)

Based out of Mexico City, the closest genre classification I can come up with is Spanish punk-polka. I could seriously leave it at that, but then Hugh would probably yell at me.

Their Myspace describes their sound as a range from “euphoric polkas, melancholic waltzes to punk, rock and passages of classical music”. They also come highly recommended by Denise Petersen (the wife of Erik Petersen, i.e. Mischief Brew), and I seem to have a thing for any bands distributed by, or even just vaguely associated with Fistolo Records.

They also have some fine klezmer clarinet, and a penchant for instrumentals. As such, Hugh will probably hate them. They do have at least one member hailing from Oregon, though.

From Infausta Noticia
Sirentitas en el Espacio – (MP3, 3.3 MB)
Funeral del tio Perverso – (MP3, 4.9 MB)
Vida Propia – (MP3, 3.5 MB)
El Circo del Siglo – (MP3, 5.3 MB)

While I have mentioned this band before, a mere mentioning here and there is not nearly enough! They are one of the finer gypsy punk groups out there, and certainly the best with a female singer. The singer, Yula, also plays bass for the band, and used to play bass for The World/Inferno Friendship Society, so she is no musical slouch! The rest of the band doesn’t have any slouches either, as the guitars and drums on Red will certainly attest. The songs from the EP below are samples, just quite lengthy ones (1:45 each) … they’re also demos of songs that would later appear on their full-length debut, A Carefully Planned Accident. And since I do not feel like ending my streak of mentioning some awesome lyrics, there’s a real keeper on Captain Sensible Calling in the form of “Oh you dour motherfuckers!” Makes me laugh every time.

From A Carefully Planned Accident
Red – (MP3, 2.9 MB)

From Nanuchka EP
Anyway – (MP3, 1.6 MB)
Good Well – (MP3, 1.6 MB)

From Drink The Best Wine First
Captain Sensible Calling (feat. Jack Terricloth) – (MP3, 3.1 MB)

Sometimes, when the random music pickings aren’t so good, I’ll get lazy and just listen to the first song of the album and decide whether or not to get the rest from there. This system is hardly effective for many reasons, one of them being that the first song on any given album is hardly going to be representative of what the band sounds like. In the case of The Causey Way’s Causey vs. Everything, which starts with Te Como Vivo, I thought they were a Latin punk band that was heavily inspired by Le Tigre. I was way off with this estimation, though; The Causey Way isn’t Latin.

From Causey vs. Everything
Te Como Vivo – (MP3, 2.8 MB)
Geo Logical Lust – (MP3, 2.9 MB)

If you’ve ever been to rathergood.com, then you may be indirectly acquainted with 7 Seconds of Love (not to be confused with the similarly-named hardcore band). If you haven’t, please go there and watch some of the videos. Most of them have little to do with the band (such as We Like the Moon), but some are basically Joel Veitch’s version of music videos for the band’s songs (such as Ninja).

They are a goofy ska band that manages to have a lot more class, musical skill, and songwriting prowess than any other goofy ska band I have ever heard. And even with their DIY attitude, their audio fidelity is excellent. They do not have a label or have any official pressings, but due to a recent settlement with Coke (a subsidiary ripped off their Ninja song without any credits), they’ve now got the funding for an EP in the works. Plus, the rest of the settlement was given to charity, which is just further proof that these dudes are awesome.

All of their music is available freely from their site, both as MP3s and (for some of them) videos. Left unchecked, I would link them all here, but instead I will trust that you will visit their site if you find these few intriguing.

Submarine – (MP3, 7.2 MB)
First Drink of the Day – (MP3, 6.9 MB)
Kelp – (MP3, 4.5 MB)
Mzungu – (MP3, 4.8 MB)