Wu-Massacre - Criminolgy 2.5

The BEST FUCKING NEWS I'VE HEARD ALL YEAR... was news I should've heard last year.   Rae, Ghost and Mef. One album. Fucking amazing.
Criminology 2.5, the first track and the best track. It's super rare that an album will kick things off with such a banger, but damn this is a good way to get things moving.
Ghost and Rae are as good, maybe better than ever, but man, Mr Mef is aging like single malt whiskey.
His flow, his lyrics, all of it. He's just one of those MC's that'll never get old and you'll never tire of.
This album came out last year and heck knows how it slipped under my radar, along with Ghostface's 'Apollo Kids', also another good'un.
I apologise for the shitty writing, it's hard to blog while Hank Moody is slaying womans all across TVLand.  So I'll stop and let you listen. Download here.

Lia Ices - Half Life

I came across this just moments ago via Indie Shuffle. I read about her, clicked through to the first youtube clip I could find which was the song I've posted above. As I type this I am still listening to this song for the first time. The moment her voice appeared on the track I knew it was something special, and it keeps getting better.  This song is absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to see what else she has in store. Exciting!

Download here.

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Summer Of All Dead Souls

I reviewed this album for a mates magazine (www.surfinglife.com.au) which should come out in a month or so. I have around several hundred favourite bands, so I have to put them into categories. These kids have long held the title of Favourite Alt-Rock band of all time. Here's the review I wrote (pre-edit) for the mag:

In recent years it has become the wont for surf movies to be drowning in electro and hip hop. I for one have no problem with that,though it is at high risk of becoming played out. So if you need to inject a little rock back into your pre-surf psych up, here's the perfect remedy ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead are back with a new EP that rocks as hard as you can possibly rock without being a metal band.
I don't usually like throwing around the term 'genius', but when these four dudes from the musical mine-field that is Austin,TX (responsible for other game-changing bands like Spoon and Okkervil River) pool their grey matter, there's a waterfall of fucking alt-rock brilliance that is unparralleled. When it comes to poetic, volitional lyrics and arrangement, originality and pure intensity of sound, ...Trail of Dead cannot be matched.
When there's music like this kicking around it makes one wonder, what's wrong with the world when there's dead-set retards like Ke$ha and Nickelback getting filthy-rich and while these guys remain relatively unknown.
"Tao Of The Dead: Part I" begins with a intro that's a somewhat slower, more instrumental affair, softening you up before they slug you with ten bruisers that'll thump you back to school. Rounding out the EP with "Tao Of The Dead: Part II", a  5-song combination-knock-out-epic. I believe, nay, guarantee that this will be the best rock album you will hear in for several years to come. 
Disclaimer: Listening to tis album may result spontanious brain implosions and cause cranial fluids ooze from your eye sockets.


Click here to download.

Grouplove - Gold Coast

Minimal posts lately. No excuses, just laziness. But plenty of fresh new cuts for y'all. This is a song from a band that I've been hearing a little of on Triple J lately. It's not the one that's been lots of airplay, I tend to avoid posting those to try & expand horizons and spark interest a little more. The band is called Grouplove -great name- and the song is called 'Gold Coast'.  A slightly slower one, and this band has a really cool sound. Most bands for me, are made or broken depending on the the voice of the singer and this is one of those bands whose sound is complemented so perfectly by this dude's drawly, broken voice. The imperfections are perfect and fitting, and the same goes for the music, it ain't perfect but it works so damn well. I'm babbling but I really like this band and sort of struggle to explain why. If you're into Modest Mouse then you'll most definitely like this band. I'm rather excited to hear what they have in store for us.

Iron & Wine - Glad Man Singing

As I've said before, there is very little folk music I have any time for. Very little. But this kind gentleman named Sam Beam, also known as Iron and Wine, is one folker I have lifetimes for. His songwriting is somehow getting better and better with each new album and his sound, more diverse, more layered and more obscure. I freaking love it!
Something I've noticed about his music, aside from the accumulation of piles and piles of new instruments since his simple 'just a beard, a guitar and a whisper' method in the 'Endless Numbered Days' days, is the fact that he's now decided to let that beautiful voice out. He's actually singing rather than whispering or humming, and he's damn good at it. The last album, The Shepherd's Dog, was so fresh, so brilliant, and devoid of a song that could be singled out as 'not as good as the others'. This album is exactly the same, every song is so unique when you listen closely. A new instrument here, a tight break there, and skewing of rhythm or a dash of the funk. This man has got it all and I'm not afraid to fawn and swoon over this album because it is JUST THAT GOOD. He's surpassing Sufjan Stevens in the 'tricky arrangement' stakes and he's outdoing Bright Eyes in the 'unuasual, original lyrical themes' and... shit. Just go get it. It'll blow your mind. 

Love me some French Post-Punk: La Femme - Sur La Planche

Oui. Baguette. La Plage. Gerard Dipardeu. That's about the extent of my french. But Gosh heck darn do I love the music those hairy arm-pitted, smooth talkin, cig smokin motherfuckers churn out. This is my new favourite band and, well, their sound is just so damn cool. I have no idea what they're saying but sometimes it doesn't even matter. It's the feel of the song and, like Yelle, you can just get moving and somehow understand the vibe and then once you try & get the lyrics explained to you it turns out that it's EXACTLY the kind vibe you we're feeling! Get into this. Get into it now.