Monday, March 31, 2008

tricky - pre millenium tension (1996)



tricky has had quite a career to this point. an early member of massive attack, dating bjork, movie appearances (see the 5th element), fist fights with goldie, constant tension with both the american and british media, etc, etc.

put all that aside, and the dude has made some of the most innovative albums within the trip hop genre (a label he absolutely hates.. my bad). maxuinquaye may be his most praised album, but this is my personal favorite. the song christiansands is one of my favorite songs of all time. harsh, half whispered-half sung-half rapped vocals set the course for the album, alongside long time collabator (and babys momma) martina topley-bird's soothing vocals. musically, the album is moody, the beats are on point, and the album is about as far from cohesive as it gets.. in a good way. i got introduced to this album when i was in jr high by my older brother, and it still gets consistent play. get in on what little panda was feeling back in the day.

video for christiansands:


tricky on myspsace
.

download pre millenium tension:


- panda

Sunday, March 30, 2008

video: lupe fiasco - hip hop saved my life (2008)

easily one of the best songs in modern day hip-hop. the video is incredible, and an opus to my hometown. what's not to love?



download:

lupe fiasco - hip hop saved my life (featuring nikki jean)


-grizzly

Saturday, March 29, 2008

schnuffel bunny - snuggle song (2008)

it's our duty to bring you the hottest jams.
so weworemasks has a sworn duty to bring you....


THE SNUGGLE SONG.



SONG OF THE YEAR.

Friday, March 28, 2008

the american masquerade - unveiled (2007)



great group of dudes from my hometown. caught them play at UH last night, which was cool since i haven't seen them since they were called 1977. they play a good mix of pop/folk/rock with electronic elements infused throughout to get your jollies going. for some reason they've always reminded me of limbeck with electronics.

do yourself and check this EP out. shit is gold. one of the few houston bands that are worth your time.

BE FRIENDS WITH THE AMERICAN MASQUERADE OR DIE.

download unveiled EP:



-the grizzly masquerade

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

album review: lydia - illuminate (2008)



currently my most listened to album. it's brilliant. check the review out.

preview songs(right click, save as):

this is twice now
i woke up near the sea

review:

read.
read.
read.

buy the album here.

-grizzly

Monday, March 24, 2008

the futile - demo ep (2008)



"this is my breakdown.. so let's see you dance."

the futile (aka some british kid named nathan), is a breath of fresh air in the singer/songwriter/home recordings genre. intensely personal/introspective lyrics, well placed electronic flourishes, and catchy melodies make this something i can find myself listening to regularly without getting bored. plus, he's giving the ep away, so i thought i'd try to get him some hype. spread the word about this one, i can see this one going places.

the futile on myspace.

download the futile ep (his link):



- the panda

album review: alive in wild paint - ceilings (2008)



here's my review for alive in wild paint's debut album, ceilings, which hit stores last tuesday. this is a great release, definitely recommend checking it out.

check out these tracks (right click, save as):

alive in wild paint - ceilings
alive in wild paint - a vespertine haunting

read.
read.
read.

-grizzly

Sunday, March 23, 2008

death cab for cutie - i will possess your heart (2008)



not many bands could have a four minute intro to their single and manage to keep me interested. this song's been getting some heat, but i love it. can't wait for narrow stairs.

download:

death cab for cutie - i will possess your heart

-death cab for grizzly

video: count & sinden - beeper f/ kid sister (2008)



hit me on my beeper beeper beeper beeper.
i love this song. check the snazzy video, too.

-grizzly

the receiving end of sirens - the afterglow (2008)



ha, well i know this is the second TREOS post in a week, but whatever. upon announcing their break up, the dude bros have posted their last song appropriately titled, "the afterglow." tear.

download:

the receiving end of sirens - the afterglow

-grizzly

kanye west f/ the game - crack music (remix with the game's verse)



the game's verse was pulled from the original for whatever reason, but this version has it. and as far as i know, this is the best version out there. if i'm wrong and if anyone has a better version, you know where to find me.

regardless, this is the version that should've been on late registration.

that's that crack music.

download:

kanye west featuring the game - crack music (remix with the game's verse)

-grizzly

Thursday, March 20, 2008

sxsw 2008 (EPIC POST)



whoops. i got caught up in updating, and completely forgot to write about sxsw.

it was a pretty rad time. my friends and i got there on thursday night, and found out that there was not much we could actually get into at 9:30 pm. so after we found a parking spot, we trekked down the festival to find something to do. one of my friends calls us up and tells us about the DIM MAK party, which we had rsvp'd to, and a party kid sister is supposed to play, so we went there.

dj mom jeans, also known danny masterson, was playing a pretty great set, backed by an open bar and an incredible oak lodge with a balcony and worthwhile ambience. steve aoki followed with heat, and i'd say i was impressed. the man gets a lot of shit. kid sister did NOT play, so we left, and headed to some other house where i ran into the coolest jew known to man, a-trak, or who some of you know as kanye's dj. we shot the shit for a little while, and we turned in around 4 a.m.

all in all, a successful day one, despite not going to any shows. i also forgot to mention that i dented my car, because i was trying to snake this parking spot from some asshole. karma is a bitch. however, keep this in mind for later. it shall be brought up again.

day two/friday saw an early rise for the shirts for a cure/photo finish records showcase at red 7. we had to get in line early as to beat the crowd for the hot water music reunion show.

got in, watched tiger lou, (whose new album the loyal came out recently. be sure to check that out) after we realized the bands we want to see aren't playing for a while, we accidentally caught dizzee rascal's set across the street.

after that, we rolled over to beauty bar to see the beasts in portugal. the man. a nice surprise to their set was seeing kirk huffman of kay kay and gatsby's fame play guitar for p.tm. ran into him later when i was watching limbeck, who is probably the happiest band ever.

trekked back over to the photo finish show, and i heard most of nada surf's set. they sounded good and played some songs off of their new album, lucky, which i still haven't listened to.

missed paper rival, but no biggie. caught steel train, who played mostly new songs off of trampoline. envy on the coast played next, and ripped through songs off of lucy gray and managed to squeeze a sassy cover of talib kweli's "get by" in their set. saw a good 30 minutes of hot water music's set, and it really wish i got into this band a lot more than i did when i was younger. the crowd was nuts, and the band was dead-on. then, went back, and caught all of anthony green's overall entertaining set.

by this point, my friends and i were exhausted and blitzed beyond belief, so we grabbed some pizza and sat on the side of the road for a good hour or so before heading off to the iheartcomix vs. mad decent blowout, only to get there to a line of 500+ hipster assholes who also rsvp'd to the same party. we immediately vetoed the idea, headed back into town. ended up rolling to whisky bar for an ocelot set. partied late into the wee hours of the morning, hung out on a hill to wipe the slate, hit up some kerby lane pancakes and a bitch of a waitress, and headed home.

day three/saturday was overall a disappointment. saw a lot of dope shit, but overall ended the night without seeing rx bandits and russian circles at the sargent house showcase, which pissed me off to end.

despite the disappointment, i managed to catch the last few songs of tokyo police club's set, which included "citizens of tomorrow." and i did finally get to see digitalism, who played a decent set and chromeo, who absolutely went off. easily the most fun set of the festival. not to mention, they had an 80s cover medley, with don't stop believin', your love (yes!) and anyway you want it. that stubb's texas tea goes off, too.

after that, i met kid sister in the street, and it just furthered my crush on her. she has a bubbly attitude, and calls everyone 'her babies.' i semi-yelled at her for having her toes done up. teddy bears!

then, hit up the purevolume ranchfor free shit from last.fm and an open bar. free fiji and free vitamin water. the power was out so we decided to load up on everything good and pure and leave.

wanted to see talib kweli tear it up, but a 2 mile intoxicated walk in the afternoon heat was not relevant to my interests at the time.

so we headed to the waterloo park festival to relax for a while before what was supposed to be rx bandits, the cool kids (wuttup autobot?) or mstrkrft (which i am still sour about missing in houston), both of which were my reserve shows if i missed rx bandits, and both of which were at capacity.

caught yeasayer, which to say the least is a weird fucking band. also at the festival, saw bits and pieces of:
1. islands (any ex-unicorns is fine by me.)
2. matt+kim (another iheartcomix act)
3. lucero (who are absolute trash. WOULD NOT WATCH AGAIN. WOULD NOT RECOMMEND.)
4. the breeders (ha, and yes, they played cannonball.)

then i capped off the night with a seizure-inducing simian mobile disco set. after heading back to get turned away from EVERY SHOW KNOWN TO MAN due to full capacity, i ended my night with a limbeck set and an open bar. disappointing end to a saturday night filled with amazing shows.

bands i missed and regret:

1. rx bandits
2. the cool kids
3. vampire weekend
4. mstrkrft
5. boys noize
6. kid sister
7. russian circles
8. city and colour
9. talib kweli
10. kevin devine

needless to say, i'm getting a fucking wristband next year.

also, if you don't read this, i will fucking kill you. it took me over an hour.

p.s. no bunnies were harmed in the attending of sxsw, as i didn't get the chance to run into him. maybe next year, sweetheart.

p.p.s. the dent in my car mysteriously disappeared on the way home. there is no trace of the dent or scuff ever being there. thanks to whichever bum in austin pulled it out. i owe you a cheeseburger.

-grizzly

mos def - true magic (2007)



attn: anyone who says mos def has fallen off:

kiss my ass.

dude's so on point, it's ridiculous. if you ain't in the real, then you ain't in the real. true magic is a display of the rawness mos def is capable of. i heard so much shit talked about this album, but man.. get real. this shit is HIP HOP to the fullest. get off whatever college rapper you're listening to right now and get on this shit.. either cause you missed it the first time, or you just didn't give it a chance.

mos def on myspace.

download true magic:


- panda is so sinserious about it.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

the toxic avenger - superheroes ep (2007)



yes, toxic avenger is back on our blog. and i'd say it's been a while. anyway, this is the ep he released last year.

my only complaint with this ep is the lack of songs, but the escape remix makes it well worth it.

the toxic avenger on myspace

link taken down per request. however, feel free to buy the five song (two songs, three remixes) album here for only $8.50 + shipping.

-grizzly

night facilities - the remixes/volume one (2008)


(this picture will take you to the download)

this is a great (and free) remix album courtesy of night facilities, a 17-year-old DJ whiz-kid. don't pass this one up. the daft punk remix of "prime time of your life" is worth the download alone.

night facilities on myspace

-grizzly facilities