If there is one thing that I don’t like about most so-called “supergroups,” it’s that people focus on how cool it is that so-and-so’s from various bands are now all in the same band, and competely ignore that their music is as inane and trite as it ever was. That’s one of the reasons why I prefer bands who term themselves a “music collective,” because they tend to focus on good music more than their invented popularity. With that, Learning Music is a music collective from Los Angeles that produces an album every month. While such a quantity may not mean there are stringest quality control standards, there are plenty of gems to be found. These songs are from October’s album, which was produced and co-written by Alex Silverman, who I have written about before. I must say, the lad has some musical chops on him.

From Famous: The Jonny Pride Story
Ambitions – (MP3, 5.9 MB)
They Didn’t Tell Him – (MP3, 6.1 MB)
Heads A Rock – (MP3, 6.8 MB)

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To continue something of a trend, The Mugs are a band that e-mailed me last September, and I’m just getting around to posting them now. They are an indie rock band out of Brooklyn, and a good one at that. These songs are all from their latest EP, Ravel Day, which came out last year. They are not such a great band if your intent is to blow out your eardrums, but if you want to listen to something nice and relaxing, perhaps something similar to The Shins, then The Mugs are probably the way to go.

In other news, this is the last autopilot post for either/or, so hopefully I (or someone else!) will be back to post something nice for you to listen to.

From Ravel Day
Could It Be – (MP3, 4.9 MB)
Mile Seven – (MP3, 5.2 MB)
True – (MP3. 5 MB)

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I mentioned the band Kingsbury a while back in one of my posts, so why not write about them again? Their latest EP, Lie To Me, came out late last year so isn’t particularly new anymore, but it is still good music that you crazy kids have yet to listen to. Their music is likely best described as atmospheric rock, more about setting a mood than blowing your mind with explosive guitar riffs. It is great music to relax to, preferably with a cold brew in hand. Another thing I love about this band is that they release all their music for free! I always like bands who would prefer to have their music heard than make a few bucks. That said, I am sure they also like making bucks, so go ahead and buy their albums if you like them. Or heck, donate your life savings! Remember to check out their site for more free music, too.

From Lie To Me
Lie To Me – (MP3, 6 MB)
Back On The Orange Grove – (MP3, 7.3 MB)
As I See It – (MP3, 4.3 MB)

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Sometimes, it appears that I read my e-mails and forget about them for an entire year. I remember reading the e-mail The Bookhouse Boys from bloody ‘ol England sent me last July, but never got around to responding to it. Procrastination wins the day again, I suppose. But as luck would have it, they are not procrastinators, and released their song I Can’t Help Myself as a single, and also released a vinyl EP. And in a few weeks, in early December, they’ll have another single out. I have the video of their song I Can’t Help Myself for you to watch. It’s a great rock song, drenched in blues, that manages to fit in some trumpeting. That’s right, trumpets. How many rock bands do you know that have two trumpet players in the line-up? My guess: not very many! There are also two awesome beards and a leggy brunette in the video, so pretty much all your bases are covered.

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Sometimes you can’t find new songs that completely blow your mind with their awesomeness, and unfortunately that is more often the rule than the exception. Luckily for us, it doesn’t have to blow our minds to still be good music. Regrets & Brunettes are in the second category, the category of good songs that probably won’t get hyped to death. They are releasing their debut album, At Night You Love Me, on December 1, and if you are in the mood for music to actually enjoy rather than music to get all worked up about, then it might just be the album for you.

In unrelated news, either/or will be on autopilot for about a week, but I’ve set some posts up to auto-publish themselves so hopefully they will! While I’m gone, please remember to send band and song recommendations to me at eitheror.hugh@gmail.com.

From At Night You Love Me
Post Punk – (MP3, 5.8 MB)
Uh-Oh – (MP3, 5.8 MB)

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When I went through my inbox the other day, there was maybe a hundred e-mails that still needed sifting through. I believe three or four were about one band, Lemonwilde, which I suppose is a good way to grab someone’s attention. I’m glad they did, anyway, as their music’s pretty good! They released their EP, Red Room, in March, and now it is a free download. I would recommend them to anyone who likes Radiohead, Calla, or Kingsbury. If you’re not yet familiar with such bands, then think of it as rock that focuses more on intelligent lyrics than crushing guitar rhythms – the thinking man’s rock music, if you will. If you fancy yourself a thinking man type, then you should definitely download the EP. If you end up liking it, make sure to do them a solid and buy it, and keep an eye out for their upcoming album.

From Red Room
Red Room EP – (Zipped MP3s, 23.2 MB)

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Mock Orange is a band I’ve been sitting on for months now, so it’s high time I’ve posted them. The album these songs are from, Captain Love, did not manage to capture my attention as a whole, but songs like World Of Machines certainly did. Undeniably catchy and slightly odd at the same time, you’d find yourself singing along if the lyrics made more sense. Song In D isn’t nearly as catchy, but one song of musical herpes (in a good way, I swear) is enough for any album.

From Captain Love
World Of Machines – (MP3, 4.5 MB)
Song In D – (MP3, 5.1 MB)

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Pushboxer is a band out of Oxford that agrees on me with their influences: The National and Interpol. I’d even throw an extra one in, The Cure, if only because Pushboxer’s new single, Pictures, reminds me so much of them. If you’re into the gloomier side of rock music, these guys should be right up your alley. In otherwise unrelated news, keep an eye peeled for my best of ‘08 picks, which are more encompassing than the version Ant did a while back. Stay tuned!

From Pictures
Pictures – (MP3, 4.1 MB)
Water – (MP3, 3.4 MB)

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You weren’t expecting me to write another post so soon, were you, curious visitor? Hah! As luck would have it, I’ve made the mistake of telling a few bands that I’d write about their music. The Happy Hollows aren’t one of these, but that’s OK. They are basically a somewhat crazy indie-rock band from Los Angeles, with a crazy lady for a singer. I recently noticed yesterday that nary a band with a male singer has been posted on this site since December, so I also figured I’d keep the streak going strong. Anyway, I’m quite certain you indie-rock hipsters out there will love their song Lieutenant, and while Tambourine isn’t as noisy or crazy, it’s still damned good. And if you like what you hear, you can grab the rest of the EP from their website for free if you sign up to their mailing list. I think it’s pretty well worth it!

And it has come to my attention that the guy who provides our hosting, well, it’s his birthday. So happy 21st birthday kol, may there be much whiskey and many wenches in your immediate future.

From Imaginary EP
Lieutenant – (MP3, 4.6 MB)
Tambourine – (MP3, 3.7 MB)

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So we’ve had this “classic” tag for ages, and have only used it once… until now! Oooh, exciting. I’ll try to give it some more regular use, and goodness knows there are enough classics to cover to last us several lifetimes. Harry Nilsson was an American musician who has not received the level of adulation that he deserved. Despite being the writer and original performer of One, everyone assumes it’s a Three Dog Night song as it’s the song that made them famous. To that, I say harumph! Since I’m posting Without You as well, I will head off all the proclamations of hypocrisy by saying… I know it’s a cover! It was originally done by Badfinger! His song Good Old Desk is perhaps the best example to show how different Mr. Nilsson is from other songwriters (unless writing a song about their good old desk is a common theme). He is something of an oddball in that regard, but his songwriting abilities are top-notch, and that should be enough for all of us.

It’s worth mentioning that I uploaded these songs with YouSendIt, which means the links expire in one week, which means grab ‘em while you can.

From Nilsson Schmilsson
Without You – (MP3, 4.7 MB)

From Aerial Ballet
One – (MP3, 4.1 MB)
Good Old Desk – (MP3, 3.6 MB)

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