Review/Free LP Download: A Garden Overgrown - The Lost Art of Conversation

I'm jealous of the residents of Maryland. Ive been apart of a few different local scenes over the years in Jersey and Delaware and they've been mostly full of sloppy, derivative, and some what shitty bands. Yet you sometimes find a gem. A Garden Overgrown is one of those gems. Armed with a solid 35 minuete release, these guys should rise to the top of the local MD scene and beyond.

While obvious inspiration for AGO comes from bands like Explosions in The Sky and Thursday, they find ways to keep The Lost Art of Conversation from being a pure tribute to the post rock and emo trail blazers. Album opener "Go, Mordecai!" lies closest to EITS territory with their use of the common post rock tools of reverb, sleigh bells, and gradual crescendos. "Starboard" branches out to a more indie/emo sound with more of a focus on the revebed out and almost Geoff Rickley reminesent vocals. Album midpoint "Cassini Division", while still in character with the rest of the record, brings a welcomed change of pace with the use of minor keys, distortion and screamed vocals. Album closer "With Enless Love, We Left You Sleeping" has a more spacy vibe complete with a perfect spoken word intro before rising to a dramatic conclusion.

The Lost Art of Conversation is solid first outing for A Garden Overgrown with only a few drawbacks that are to be expected with any new band. The songs can sound a bit derivative at times, lying very close to their aforementioned influences. There are some moments that could be mistaken for an EITS record. The other drawback for me comes in the mixing of the vocals. While the album sports quality production with excellent instrument tones, the vocals are a bit low in the mix at times and have a bit too much reverb for my taste. This can make it somewhat difficult to decipher the lyrics.

All in all, this album is a great introduction to a new band and works very well on repeat listens. A Garden Overgrown is off to a good start and it should be fun to see them grow and develop.

Full Album Download;
http://www.mediafire.com/?pzcr928vpvl56if

Bootsy Collins explains the funk

Required Viewing: Parks & Recreation

If you, like myself, have some spare time on your hands this week, may I recommend you check out the fantastic NBC comedy Parks & Recreation.



Parks & Recreation revolves around the parks department of small town Pawnee, Indiana and stars an amazing ensemble cast including Amy Poehler and Aziz Ansari. While the first season sure had its highlights, during the second season the show developed into one of the great shows on TV.

P&R marries a high amount of quality jokes with supreme character development, which draws you closer with each successive episode. Amy Poehler portrays main character Leslie Knope, the perennial do-gooder, well meaning and often oblivious #2 at the Pawnee Parks department. From the pretentious hipster teen intern April (Aubrey Plaza) to the well meaning police officer Dave (Louis CK), each character adds something special to the show. As the second season goes on, be it through making fun of the hapless Jerry or helping Leslie overcome a sex scandal, you can start to feel these people become a more cohesive unit.

While new comedy superstar Aziz Ansari is obviously a highlight, its Chris Pratt's Andy character that consistently brings in the laughs. The upbeat, down on his luck idiot displays exactly why the show is so great; hes hilarious, somewhat destructive and a little sweet.

While Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) is the familiar boss archetype character that's been done before, Offerman brings it a new life. Ron is the pessimistic head of the department who is lazy and shows outward disdain for his work and coworkers. Yet instead of falling into the repetitive trap of a Dr. Cox (Scrubs) type character, Ron gives the viewer and the characters on the show a reason to care about him. Through the slow reveal of who the Ron character is, you get drawn to a character you least expected to. And this is what is so miraculous about this show compared to others. After only 30 episodes, almost every character has gone through some sort of crucial transformation, that has redefined their character.

Without giving anything else away, I'll just say this series is a must see and truly raises the bar for network TV comedies. If you don't trust me check out Time Magazine's analysis or The AV Club's glowing year end review.

You can catch up of the first two seasons on Netflix or for free on Hulu (http://www.hulu.com/parks-and-recreation)

30 min Interview With Always Sunny Creators

This 30min interview with Rob McElhenney & Glenn Howerton chronicles the creation of the show all the way through to today. Its pretty great and if you are looking for more great interviews, check out The Sound Of Young America.
The Sound of Young America

Paramore's Awesome Break-up

So the drummer and guitarist of Paramore just quit the band and rather than disappearing quietly, they have written a blog exposing Paramore as a manufactured band put together by Hayley, her dad, Atlantic Records and their managers. Click the link below to read all the details.

Tetelestai: Josh and Zac's Exit Statement

Jeff Tweedy putting concert goers in their place

Theres nothing i hate more than people talking during the quiet/moving moments of a show. Ive had to confront quite a few people at Explosions in The Sky, Mogwai and Maps & Atlases shows to the point of yelling as they were ruining the show for everyone trying to listen. These are shows you'd typically expect people to be respectful at. So its really great to see Jeff Tweedy call people out like this, but its also sad it had to come to this. Please don't be this person when you go to shows.

12/10/2010 Playlist

Today I played some of my favorite releases of the year on this show, including 2 song blocks from my top 3 favorites.

Fang Island - Daisy (Fang Island)
Fang Island - Sideswipper (Fang Island)

Maps & Atlases - Israeli Caves (Perch Patchwork)
Maps & Atlases - Banished Be Cavalier (Perch Patchwork)

Good Old War - Thats Some Dream (Good Old War)
Good Old War - Sneaky Louise (Good Old War)

Dr. Dog - Shadow People (Shame, Shame)

The Budos Band - Rise of the Ancients(III)
Soulive - Eleanor Rigby (Rubber Soulive)

Dirty Projectors & Bjork - Beautiful Mother (Mount Wittenberg Orca)
Dirty Projectors & Bjork - When The World Comes To An End (Mount Wittenberg Orca)

Tera Melos - Frozen Zoo (Patagonian Rats)

Circa Survive - Strange Terrain (Blue Sky Noise)

New/Free Snowing LP

PA band Snowing recently put out a new full length “i could do whatever i wanted if i wanted.” for free and it can be downloaded at http://www.snowingtheband.com/

Snowing is a great band, and in their music you can really hear a sense the fun they have playing it. No pretension here. The vocals may be a little abrasive at first, but by the 3rd song in you'll be lovin it. So enjoy the new record and through some dollars toward a good DIY band.

The Dear Hunter - Colors EP

Top be honest, I havent kept with this band as of late. I really dug Act II, but had no interest in Act III as it sounded like a little more of the same. But with the new "Colors" project (an ep for 9 different colors) and this video from the Green EP I think ill be comin back for another round.

12/3/2010 Playlist

Sonny Rollins - Pauls Pal (Tenor Madness)
Wes Montgomery & Jimmy Smith - Baby Its Cold Outside (Dynamic Duo)

Wilco - Impossible Germany (Sky Blue Sky)
The Flaming Lips - Waitin for A Superman (The Soft Bulliten)

Wes Montgomery - When A Man Loves A Women (Greatest Hits)
Wes Montgomery - Scarborough Fair (Greatest Hits)

The Black Keys - Black Mud (Brothers)
Rx Bandits - Bury It Low (Mandala)

Medeski, Martin & Wood - Philly Cheese Blunt (The Dropper)

Medeski, Martin & Wood - Sun Sleigh(The Dropper)
The Budos Band - Reppirt Yad (III)

Esperanza Spalding - Live at NPR

After seeing this i think im gonna have to go pick up a hard copy of her new album Chamber Music Society. She is actually blending genres, and not in the way that bands say when they are trying to differentiate themselves in press releases. Awesome arrangements, melodies, swagger, its got it all!