Intuition

Two Hundred Fifty

Artist - The Black Angels
Album - Passover
Released - 2006
Label - Light in the Attic Records
Genre - Psychedelic Rock

Tracks:
1. Young Men
2. The First Vietnamese War
3. The Sniper at the Gates of Heaven
4. The Prodigal Sun
5. Black Grease
6. Manipulation
7. Empire
8. Better Off Alone
9. Bloodhounds on My Trail
10.  Call to Arms

Enjoy!

Heavyness

Two Hundred Twenty -Seven

Artist - The Sword
Album - Age of Winters
Released - 2006
Label - Kemado
Genre - Heavy Metal

Tracks:
Side A
Celestial Crown
Barael's Blade
Freya
Winter's Wolves
The Horned Goddess
Side B
Iron Swan
Lament for the Aurochs
March of the Lor
Ebethron

The debut album by Austin rockers The Sword, Age of Winters is a heavy, yet fascinating record.  Heavy metal at it's best, this record, in its entirety is pretty hard.  I always admire my taste in music, not to sound full of myself, because my range is so broad.  I go from Hip-Hop to Pop to Heavy Metal and it just helps me appreciate all types of sounds.  When listening to this record, it reminded me a lot of Red Fang, another heavy metal band that I had the pleasure of seeing live at Fun Fun Fun Fest this past November.  I love the drums and guitar on this album the most.  I feels like I'm almost in a time warp when I used to listen to nothing by Heavy Metal.  Those were the days.

Enjoy!

In the Middle

One Hundred Seventy-Five

Artist - Mono
Album - You Are There
Released - 2006
Label - Temporary Residence Limited
Genre - Post-Rock

Tracks:
1 The Flames Beyond The Cold Mountain

2 A Heart Has Asked For The Pleasure3 Yearning4 Are You There?5 The Remains Of The Day6 Moonlight

The fourth studio album by Japanese post-rock band Mono, You Are There is simply amazing.  I had the pleasure of listening to this band last night, FOR FREE, at Mohawk in Austin, Texas and I happened to gain a new friend in the process.  That experience for me, hanging out with my friends and listening to such an amazing band was one for the record books.  So that being said, since listening to Mono inspires me to write, I share with you special thoughts of mine, because this band, when listening to them,  makes me think of happy thoughts.

When the clock strikes the hour, I feel the pain. When I think of you, I often think of rain.  The way you held my hand, your soft touch I felt inside, the way you kissed my lips, I knew it was only a matter of time.  When I said goodbye at first, I had tears in my eyes.  To cross over the states so soon, I would be at home in peace, but obviously without you.  Never have I felt this way, I can't believe I rhyme, but the days that I don't think of you, I feel like pouring a glass of wine.  Despite the non-communication we seem to share, I don't want to take that extra step to tell you how I feel because I know you are not aware.  My life here is great, I really can't complain, but the more I get to know you, I feel like it would be such a strain.  Being in the middle has left my feelings mixed, but all I could think about in this very moment is your kiss.  Time will tell if it's meant to be, until then I will live my life as me, happy and excited, traveling with joy.  To see you again would leave my heart whole, but I know in the end that wouldn't be good, so for now I will stay put and continue to do good.  Love is love and what will be will be, I have nothing but respect for you and I hope you can see.  One day  you will be happy with or without me, never will I regret the time with you that made me happy.

To sum up the words expressed above, they are due to the fact that Mono puts me in that state; a state of relaxation that I could always use from time to time.  If you were to know me, know my schedule, I think you would ask how I make it through the day.  But I will leave you with this.  If you EVER get a chance to see Mono live, I highly recommend it.

Enjoy!

In the Beginning

One Hundred Seventy-Four

Artist - The Dodos
Album - Beware of the Maniacs
Released - 2006
Label - Self Released
Genre - Indie/Folk

Tracks:
Trades & Tariffs
Neighbors
Men
Horny Hippies
Beards
The Ball
Chicken
Bob
Elves
Nerds
Lily

The debut album by The Dodos, Beware of the Maniacs is a very soft record.  In other words, this record reminds me a lot of Visiter, with the way the drums and guitar playing are introduced.  I'm sure it's difficult for artists to release albums without having the same exact sound as the previous record or even making a record totally not like something they would do.  You have to respect being a musician and trying to figure out, to keep the masses entertained or even what you might think is a breakthrough in the recording/writing process.  Trades & Tariffs is such an amazing song.  Maybe it's the fact that I just love Meric's voice.  But to generalize this album more, I really liked listening to this record and thanks, again, to my wonderful roommate who I believe introduced me to The Dodos, I pretty much have enjoyed all the music they put out.

Enjoy!

Sweetness, YES!

One Hundred Fifty-One

Artist - J Dilla
Album - Donuts
Released - 2006
Label - Stones Throw
Genre - Hip-Hop, Instrumental Hip-Hop

Tracks:
Side A
Donuts (Outro)
Workinonit
Waves
Light My Fire
The New
Stop
People
The Diff'rence
Side B
Time: The Donut of the Heart
Glazed
Airworks
Lightworks
Stepson of the Clapper
The Twister (Huh, What)
Side C
One ELeven
Two Can Win
Don't Cry
Anti-American Graffiti
Geek Down
Thunder
One for Ghost
Side D
The Factory
U-Love
Hi.
Bye.
Last Donut of the Night
Donuts (Outro)

Ranging from a wide variety of beats, J Dilla's instrumental hip-hop album Donuts was released three days before his death.  A very critically acclaimed producer for some of the greats of hip-hop, J Dilla put out his own self-produced albums, and here we are with this amazing album.  At first, when you are listening to it, you don't know what to expect with all the beats/mixes, but when you listen to it for the second time, it all makes sense.  Four sides of greatness from this wonderful mastermind of hip-hop, one can only appreciate such a talented person and his drive and ambition to make his love for music so unique and satisfactory.

Enjoy!