Emusic downloads for March

Emusic Downloads: March 2007

This month I'm including links to the recordings on Emusic. And some of my choices deserve a little explanation.

• Palace Brothers / Days in the Wake: This was the second Palace CD I ever owned. It's still my favorite of theirs, and it's definitely one of my desert island discs. At least it would be if I hadn't loaned it out long ago, never to be returned. I can't remember who I gave it to but if you're reading this, GIVE IT BACK.
• Crystal Skulls / Blocked Numbers: I saw this band at SXSW last year and was incredibly impressed. Then I forgot about them. This month I remembered, and it's been on constant repeat. If you like Sondre Lerche, this record will hit you in much the same way. It's a flawless album, and I can't recommend it enough if you like sophisticated guitar pop.
• Mary Weiss / Dangerous Game: Weiss was a member of the 60s girl group, The Shangri-Las. She's returned here with freaking Reigning Sound as her back-up band. Needless to say, it slays.
• The National / Cherry Tree
• Arcade Fire / Neon Bible: A lot of people really like this band. I think they're good, but definitely not essential.  I am intrigued by the strong influence of Bruce Springsteen on this record.
• M. Ward / To Go Home EP
  
• All Girl Summer Fun Band / 2: A Non-Alignment Pact post by Ramon Medina reminded me of them, and I realized I didn't have this one. Girl-group semi-twee at its finest.
• Bad Livers / Delusions of Banjer: Saw this band live several times in the 90s, but never got around to buying one of their records. This is the debut album for this deranged bluegrass band from Austin.
• John Cage / Indeterminacy (Disc 1 & Disc 2): I downloaded this solely on a pal's recommendation. I haven't listened to it yet, but here's what he had to say...

12:52 PM Matt: dude

  emusic recommendation for you

 me: yes?

12:53 PM Matt: john cage's indeterminacy

  4 tracks, about 25 minutes each

  it's him and a pianist

12:54 PM he tells about 100 stories from his life, or vignettes, or jokes, or whatever

  each lasting 1 minute, so sometimes he has to speak really quickly or really slowly

12:55 PM while david tudor accompanies on prepared piano (which makes all sorts of bizarre noises)

 me: huh.

  wow.

 Matt: but

  they're in separate rooms, and the stories are in different orders for each

  so there's usually no correlation between the two

12:56 PM which is all crazy and john cage-y, but it's a really charming listen

 me: certainly sounds more interesting than foreigner.

 Matt: ha

  you won't listen to it all the time, but it's a lot of fun

 me: and only 4 downloads.

  that's entertainment.

12:57 PM my downloads are about to refresh, so i'll check it out.

 Matt: word

For once, I've also duplicated this list on Emusic. Here's the link. I'm not sure, but I think you can use it to add me to your Emusic friend list.

Until next time. :)