TURN MY HEADPHONES UP, XMAS EDITION

I totally swear that none of these entries will really have anything to do Christmas.  HAVEN'T I GIVEN YOU ENOUGH ALREADY!?!??!?

GHOST THROWER

ALL WORK EP

Ghost Thrower has the coolest fucking name ever.  It's like a combination of Bolt Thrower and a Patrick Swayze movie.  You know I love band names/album titles that have the word "ghost" in them!  What to expect? Not what I expected when I saw the band described as punk/emo.  Ghost Thrower harken back to that beautiful 90s period when everything was great in the world. Quoth singer Travis Alexander: "I wouldn't want to have a pissing contest over depression with people."  There's a snappy epitaph if I ever heard one! Official comparison: Weezer and Jawbreaker. To my ears, a combo of Jesus Lizard and Freemasonry.  Worth a listen!

LEGACY

MAGICAL VIDEO

So, I suppose I should have saved this for the next installment of Bat Country, but there's something special about Legacy.  This may be a first- he loves our blog so much that he has CIMTB as his internet home page.  I think that says something about the good work Kid Tyger has done educating the youth about the state of Portland hiphop.  What's the music like?  Maybe this will date me, and maybe it's too obscure, but I was reminded of Me Phi Me.  Very positive.  And the video... the video kicks ass.  See for yourself, but I'm going to find out more about this mystery rapper and report back.



ELIZABETH MITCHELL

BLUE CLOUDS

You may recall how pissed I was when I found out that musician Elizabeth Mitchell was not actress Elizabeth Mitchell, who punched a nuclear bomb with a rock in  LOST and totally did it with Angelina Jolie in Gia.  Maybe I'm a jerk for posting a NSFW link in a review of a kids' record, but... hey, wait a minute!  Since when did youtube allow boobage to be shown?

I digress.  The august institution Smithsonian Folkways sent me a copy of  Blue Clouds, which maybe they wouldn't have done if they read my novel which features some pretty crazy shenanigans in the Natural History museum.  Regardless, they did, and I am glad.  This album is very chill.  Mitchell is that special kind of children's music artist who knows that you don't have to be all wacky and silly to make fun music for kids.  She has also taken an interesting path- her daughter and husband are part of her band on the recording this album.  I think that's great.  I've always believed in letting your kids record crazy shit, and this blog has witnessed a few of my daughter Amelia's weird music.  She recently turned 4, and offered to play glockenspiel in our doom metal band.  Long story.  Blue Clouds is a solid album, in equal measures peppy and tranquil, and Mitchell also covers one of my all time favorite kids' songs- "Kooks" by David Bowie.  Other artists covered are Hendrix and The Allman Brothers.

I've also just heard that she has been nominated for a Grammy for her other recent release, Little Seed.  That's awesome!  Let's wish Elizabeth Mitchell luck!


So what have we learned today?  Don't get in a pissing contest about depression, stay positive, and play music with your family.  I don't think it gets any better than that!

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TALKING SHIT ABOUT BEN GIBBARD AND ZOE DESCHANEL

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UPDATED, SEE BELOW! Win tickets to Beats Antique 12/27!

Yes!  Beats Antique is on tour right now, and they're coming to Portland!  I saw some of the members of Beats Antique with the Yard Dogs Road Show a few years back.  In fact, I have a Beats Antique sticker on my laptop.  I will confess that I cut the sticker up and rearranged the letters to say "BE SATAN."  But that is not a slam on Beats Antique, who are awesome.  I'm just irreverent.

So yeah- let's get to the meat of it.  Beats Antique are going to be at the Crystal Ballroom 12/27, with opening act LYNX. You can buy tickets the normal way, or you can be cool and enter the giveaway!  We've got a pair of tickets for the lucky winner.  How do I win, you ask?  All you have to do is send your name and phone number in an email to contests@theconfluencegroup.com with "Crappy Indie and BEATS ANTIQUE" in the subject line.  The winner will be chosen by 2pm on 12/24/12.  Yes!

Get those entries in!  If you're still not convinced, I'll leave you this audio-visual reminder of how cool they are.  Thanks to Confluence Group PR for the contest, and Brian Hockensmith for the amazing photo of the band.  And make sure to check out their new album Contraption, Vol. 2.



UPDATE:  So, there are two shows at the Crystal, 12/27 and 12/28.  LYNX will only be at the 12/28 show, and the contest tix are for the 27th. The contest has been extended and will run through tomorrow, 12/27 until 1pm. If you haven't entered, do it now!

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Merry Christmas from Huw Costin

Sorry for the radio silence.  Sometimes being the editor of this blog is a lonely job. And when you have to focus on more literary pursuits for a few weeks, it becomes a quiet job. Well, except for my daughter singing "Dance, Magic Dance", but that is another story.

I've got plenty of things on tap, but for now, UK artist Huw Costin would like to give you a Christmas present... a holiday single called "Full Moon at Christmastime," backed with another topical track, "December.

He's officially compared to Buckley, Smith, et al, but I'll be damned if don't also hear some "Three Shadows Part 2" vibe in there as well.  We all know how I like a little darkness with my beauty.  Okay, a lot of darkness.  Costin's release is pretty cool.  You can stream at the Soundcloud above, or buy it on vinyl here.  That would make a nice late Christmas gift for the indie rocker in your life!

Look for Costin's next solo album soon!

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