Nada Surf - Let Go (2002)

"I left you a note that said
'come on out, and we'll both get
right off of our heads,
and float up off the chair.'

We'll go on vacation tonight,
under a sun of neon light.
And I almost love this town
when I'm by your side.

You woke me from a long sleep,
and I'm almost back.
I'm closer than ever
to finding the hidden track.

If I told you the truth,
you wouldn't like what I said."

Killian's Red

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The Merrymakers - Bubblegun (1998)

Swedish songwriting duo who made amazingly catchy and rocking powerpop, sorta in the vein of the La's and other britpop acts, but with more of an edge (and, you know, not British); this is their second and apparently last album, and since its release they've been working on producing music instead of making it, which is a shame, because this is a quite a lovely little piece of late-90s sunniness

Big thanks go out to Meghin for cluing me in to this band's existence; also, if anyone knows where I could find their first album and could point me in that direction, I would be a very happy blogger

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Fucked Up - Hidden World (2006)

Debut full-length from this Toronto-born 6-piece who have been turning punk music on its head for the better part of a decade; clocking in at over 70 minutes, this not your typical hardcore release, but that's not a bad thing; it swings wildly between bitter anger and upbeat positivity, and always has a sense of tongue-in-cheek humor lurking beneath the surface; this is just an album you need to experience to understand

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Mixtape: Enough is Never Quite Enough

Is there a story here?

I don't really know. Maybe there is. It can be hard for me to tell sometimes how much of what I envision being present in a mix is actually conveyed to the other people who hear it. It can also be difficult for me to get a clear idea of what I was feeling when I first made a tape, once a little time has passed.

As for how it sounds, I think how this mix is perceived has a lot to do with your overall attitude toward the world; the pessimistic among you will see it as bleak and downtrodden, while the optimistic will get a much more hopeful set of images from it.

Personally, my opinion on its tone changes from day to day.

Either way, I hope you all enjoy it.

Title: Enough is Never Quite Enough
Length: 1:11:20
Download

1. The Microphones - "Instrumental"
2. The Microphones - "I Felt Your Shape"
3. The Gaslight Anthem - "Here's Looking at You, Kid"
4. Crash Test Dummies - "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm"
5. Maniac - "I Gotta Feeling"
6. Beautiful Small Machines - "Servo Manual Chapter 1"
7. Tommy Sparks - "These Things Happen"
8. Cloud Cult - "Everybody Here is a Cloud"
9. Wilco - "You and I"
10. Coldplay - "Parachutes"
11. Billie the Vision & the Dancers - "Liar and a Thief"
12. Metropolis Now - "Mr. Sandman"
13. Cap'n Jazz - "Aok"
14. The Replacements - "Here Comes a Regular"
15. Violent Femmes - "Good Feeling"
16. The Weakerthans - "One Great City!"
17. Harvey Danger - "Problems and Bigger Ones"
18. Windmill - "Spaceship Earth"
19. Mark Mothersbaugh - "I Always Wanted to Be a Tenenbaum"
20. The Dresden Dolls - "The Perfect Fit"
21. Green Day - "Song of the Century"
22. Manchester Orchestra - "I Can Feel a Hot One"

a person can work up a mean, mean thirst

Furry Things - The Big Saturday Illusion (1995)

Fuzzed out shoegaze stuff from California, it's totally gnarly (I don't even know what stereotype I'm mocking anymore); anyway, yeah, skuzzy psych rock with lots of swirls and shit like that (what?) going on, get into it

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Windmill - Epcot Starfields (2009)

Lo-fi, bedroom indietronica from UK-based singer-songwriter Matthew Thomas Dillon, in the vein of acts like Electric President and Radical Face, lots of piano and dreamy melodies; don't miss out on this

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P.S. Eliot - Introverted Romance in Our Troubled Minds (2009)

Upbeat lo-fi twee pop punkish stuff (sounds original, doesn't it? It's good though)...think Vivian Girls but with less fuzz and much better lyrics; this is a quick listen but I find myself listening two or three times in a sitting

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The Get Up Kids - Something to Write Home About (1999)

This sophomore effort from these Kansas City pop-punk/alt rock kids, full of almost annoyingly catchy heartbreak, was a big springboard towards the modern-day incarnation of 'emo' music, a fact which their guitarist has actually publicly apologized for; still, there's a lot to be enjoyed here if you can find it in yourself to drop your pretenses and misconceptions

Also, as you probably know, this band has recently reunited for the ten-year anniversary of this album, and is currently on tour; I'd recommend catching them if you can (I certainly am)

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Isaac and Hilltop - Before the Flowers Bloom (2009)

Folksy indie pop by some dudes in Corpus Christi who spend most (read: all) of their time skateboarding, smoking pot, talking in IRC, jerking off and every now and then recording music; their guitarist has bugs crawling out of the trash can in his room

UPDATE: His room is now clean(er)

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Metropolis Now - Metropolis Now (2006)

Really great hip-hop album (none of that 'alt hip-hop' stuff either); I can't really find much out about this band (not even a Myspace), except that they're from either Canada or San Antonio, one or the other (yeah, I dunno); but yeah, this is really great shit that I'm not sure how I stumbled across, but I did and now so did you, so don't fuck it up by not downloading it, GOT IT, good

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Youth Group - Skeleton Jar (2005)

Sydney-based indie pop/alt rock, very chill shit; folksy at times, but also bears (dohoho) some resemblance to Pavement; I guess you could call some of this soft rock if you really wanted to, but don't judge it on that, mmkay

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Bad ideas come in small doses

Time to face facts.

It's become clear to me after four or five weeks of letting this blog float in limbo that I am now unable to post as often as I was previously. I have a whole host of new stresses in my life that I didn't have a month ago, and more continue to enter the arena as the days go by. The updates are not going to stop; however, I'm not going to promise again they'll be daily, because they won't.

However, I've got some interesting ideas rolling around my head for the future of this blog. Purchase a domain? Bring in additional posters? Expand to more than just album downloads? I don't know. Why I'm posting this is to get the input of the readers. If you read this blog and/or have any ideas about what you'd like to see happen, please leave them in the comments section of this post! Any thoughts about expanding the readerbase or making the blog better are much appreciated!

Also, I don't think I've ever said this before, but if you enjoy this blog, I'd appreciate if you helped to promote it among your friends, any music communities you frequent, or just anyone who might be interested. Got some buddies in a band with some fresh recordings? Tell them to send 'em this way! As I said, I'm working on ideas for the future, but none of it amounts to anything if I don't have readers! Buzz, buzz, buzz!

Anyway, thanks for not giving up on this blog even though I've been pretty unresponsive as of late. More to come. Promise.