Don Caballero and Ill Lit

If you have not picked up the new Don Caballero, do.  It’s a new
lineup, but the same drummer (could they be Don Cab without him? Nah) 
They actually venture into the mellow, but not often.  They’ve still
retained that frantic, heavy metal drumming and dual laser guitar
counter punch.  It’s the kind of album that will help you get up the
hills and home on your bicycle.  You must buy their new album, World Class Listening Problem! 
Boy, you’ld think they paid me to say that.  They didn’t even send
me a CD for review!  This is how much I love them.  Free
press and of course, free songs here:

Don Caballero : Savage Composition
Don Caballero : Mmmmm Acting, I love Me Some Good Acting

The
older I get, the softer the music gets.  Maybe I went too heavy on
the heavy early on, but mellow music aka ’sad bastard’ tunes are
finding their way into my record collection more and more.  I
haven’t lost love for the ‘rock’, but instead I’m learning to listen to
’songs’ as opposed to angst (except I am heavily listening to the
amazing new Don Caballero).  Here’s a nice electronic-country, cali-band called Ill Lit and here’s what others say:

Containing
the best elements of Rock, vintage Americana and electronic cut and
paste sonic pastiches, “i need you.”, ill lit’s second full length
release on Badman, finds songwriter D. Ahearn continuing to explore the
borders of country, pop and electronic music. Forging forward from the
lo-fi junkyard electronics of ill lit’s debut WACMusic, i need you.
takes musical detours in every direction. Combining infectious keyboard
riffs, 808 beats and a lachrymose acoustic finger picking style, ill
lit tap into an edgy, dark layer of earth just beneath the freeways of
an urban, beat-driven Los Angeles.

Here are some free tunes from their 2004 recording I Need You on Badman.  They have a new album coming out called Tom Cruise (oh my).

Ill Lit : Spring Chicken
Ill Lit : Freeway
Ill Lit : Preston Rules

Think About Life

I just can’t get this band out of my head.  When they first contacted me I thought (because of their name) they were some kind of undercover Christian rock band, but as of yet, I’m not sure.  After seeing them live at the Hemlock some weeks ago, I realized how special their sound and performance were to me.  They are a three piece out of Canada that utilize keyboard loops, drum machine, a drummer, guitarist and two frantic singers.  Think About Life do project that Arcade Fire-esque sound, but much less produced and even more gutteral.  What is it with Montreal anyway?  Is it that French resistance nationalistic passion that has found a home in the bands that have been coming out of there?  It’s everything the American music scene needs to jumpstart our own tired, corporate, imperialoist indieness: a good stroke of Canadian socialist angst! 

Their self-titled debut is full of gut stretching, vein popping love.  They even feature a rap and a few ballads, but DO NOT FEAR, I’m not talking Phil Collins!  I’ve preciously posted a but on these guys, but here’s the info again incase you missed it:

Think About Life : Paul Cries
Think About Life on Myspace

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Think About Life

I just can’t get this band out of my head.  When they first contacted me I thought (because of their name) they were some kind of undercover Christian rock band, but as of yet, I’m not sure.  After seeing them live at the Hemlock some weeks ago, I realized how special their sound and performance were to me.  They are a three piece out of Canada that utilize keyboard loops, drum machine, a drummer, guitarist and two frantic singers.  Think About Life do project that Arcade Fire-esque sound, but much less produced and even more gutteral.  What is it with Montreal anyway?  Is it that French resistance nationalistic passion that has found a home in the bands that have been coming out of there?  It’s everything the American music scene needs to jumpstart our own tired, corporate, imperialoist indieness: a good stroke of Canadian socialist angst! 

Their self-titled debut is full of gut stretching, vein popping love.  They even feature a rap and a few ballads, but DO NOT FEAR, I’m not talking Phil Collins!  I’ve preciously posted a but on these guys, but here’s the info again incase you missed it:

Think About Life : Paul Cries
Think About Life on Myspace

Sort Of Quartet

This piece is by Greno whose current mood is:  amused

About ten years ago, I was on a little tour of So-Cal with my band Patch. On a night off, Joel (our singer), our buddy Robb and myself headed off to a small dump in San Diego called the Velvet to watch some bands play. There were at least two bands playing that night: Truman’s Water (from s.d.) and Sort Of Quartet (from Palm Desert). Sort Of Quartet opened with the first track of the Kiss Me Twice, I’m Skitzo album . Drummer Rob Peterson lead the way with propulsive, polyrhythmic over-the-top drumming. From the first notes of the evening, this band hooked me big time. During the quartets set, there were at least 5-6 guys playing up on this tiny stage at the Velvet. The music was a mix of 70’s era Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, punk and too much more to mention. They fucking rocked big time. The Truman’s Water set was spastic, furious and fragmented. A good night of interesting music.

So, Joel ended up finding some Sort Of Quartet Cds, now out-of-print. The band released four records, three for SST. The first two albums feature drummer Alfredo Hernandez (Yawning Man, Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age). The two final albums feature drummer Rob Peterson, who I saw play that night in S.D. Each of their albums is unique, mostly instrumental with vocal shout-outs by guitarist Mario Lalli. After seeing the Sort Of Quartet and hearing their records, I wanted to know more about this group of musicians. Little did I know, there was quite a legacy in place.

It’s virtually impossible to find mp3’s.  Go to Amazon for samlples.  If anyone has a link to their music, let us know!

 

From the TXLN folks:

From Gabriel:

Today June 6 marks the official release of The Love X Nowhere’s 3rd EP “Into the Fire”.  Aquarius Records on Valencia St is the place to go to get your limited edition vinyl copy of this release. And of course you can get one at our release show at Rickshaw Stop this Thursday. We’re  expecting quite a crowd, so remember to buy your tickets in advance here.

Brett and I are will also be performing an acoustic version of Powder and Wine, from Into the Fire live on the air today at KWMR. Any of you in Marin county can tune in at 90.3 or if you’re in Bolinas or western San Francisco tune in to 89.3. The rest of you can listen live at KWMR.org. We will be part of the Jimo and Tammy show, which airs today from 2 – 4pm, and we expect to be on the air around 2:30. Interviews, a track or two from the new record, an acoustic performance, c’mon, it’ll be fun!!!

Hope to see you all at Rickshaw Stop on Thursday, for our one of a kind record release. A couple of great other bands will join us, and there will be an amazing liquid light show during our set.

TXLN : Into the Fire
TXLN : Powder and Wine
TXLN : Cold Thoughts
TXLN : Spill the Ink