Hello there folks  it’s me again,  Matt  and I haven’t written one of these new-fangled  ‘Blog Posts’ in, oh something like a year now. (Ed Note – Matt’s been on super secret blog probation after we discovered he didn’t actually understand the syntax of the English language. ) 2009  is coming to an end and the powers that be want a post from me. I’ll give it my best then. Here we go…..

1.Hank Williams-Revealed

These radio shows, recorded in ’51, are some of the best Hank I have ever laid my ears to! He is peddling Mother’s best flour and corn meal so well that it has made me some what of a homebody and all I want to do is bake all day! Corn muffins(with Mother’s Best Self-Risng Corn Meal of course), bread, pies and feed my hogs with anti-biotic packed hog feed. Dem hogs be so tasty now! Mmm-mmm-mmmmm!!! Of course I’m bullshitting all of you. Nonetheless, the three CDs are packed with full radio shows and all the ads and banter the previous release, Hank: The Unreleased Recordings, cut out. If you love Hank and don’t have either of these releases you need to pick them up. NOW. Hopefully they will warm your hearts as they did mine.

2.Wolves In The Throne Room-Black Cascade

On this album the folks in  WITTR did not include the mysterious and ethereal female vocalists as on all three previous releases. It actually turned out to be alright. I did not think so at first but it turned out to be a brutally cleansing fifty minutes of black metal glory! These guys have such a great take on Black Metal, I Absolutely Love It!!!! Highly,highly recommended.

3.Sunn0)))-Monoliths & Dimensions

Oh man I was so psyched when i heard that Eyvind Kang was doing some arrangements for these guys. It worked out pretty damn well I must  say. There are several women singing on Track 2 , Big Church. It sounds exactly like what a Sunn0))) church sermon should sound like. It scared me a little. I listen to these guys before i sleep at night in hopes of scary dreams. This album did it for me!

4.King Crimson-In The Court Of The Crimson King Reissue

My step-father used to listen to this album years ago when i was a little one and i could not stand it.I used to hate what i considered ‘old fogey’ music in my youth, finding that there was no place for it in my life. Just Metal and Punk Rock. It was all I had time for, especially being an angsty one. Then i beagan listening to King Crimson with a new ear and fell in love. This release (as well as Red remastered) made ol’ Matt fall in love with the king all over again and it has been just fantastic.

5.Lightning Bolt-Earthly Delights

I just saw these guys at U Mass Amherst a couple of months ago for free and all i can say is wow. They played most of this album as awell as some old favorites of mine. The other 20 or so odd bands sucked. We got lost at U Mass and drove around the city looking for an address to the show to no avail. every five minutes or so i would say to my pal Brett, “Shhh I think i hear it”. Only to find out it was an extremely loud generator. We did this for about an hour finally finding a group of stinky kids and Lightning Bolt standing next to a shitty van. We waited for two more hours and it was such an amazing show. I lost a part of my eardrum. Watched it fall out. I didn’t even care, that’s how good it was.

6.Animal Collective-Merriweather Post Pavilion

I have been listening to these songs for the past two years at their live shows. It was an auditory orgasm to hear these songs ,which i had grown accustomed to hearing live, in all their produced glory.  It’s a great listen.

7.Dirty Projectors-Bitte Orca

Great album cover art. Awesome music. Beautiful women singing their hearts out. What more can I say, most of  you reading this have probably already heard it a hundred times.

8.Brotherman-O.S.T.

Awesome late 70′s Blaxsploitation soundtrack for a movie that was sadly never made. If you would like to know more about this look at Herb’s post of come on down and buy it, I’m sick of typing.

9.Om-God Is Good

Umm…I guess. The album is definitely good. Merry Christmas?

10.Agoraphobic Nosebleed-Agorapocalypse

It’s exactly what i want to blast in the store when I’m here alone.There is some sick drum solos that aren’t blast beats, although there are plenty of those to be had. Lyrics are hilarious as usual and there is even an anti-drug warning on the back of the CD! Ha! Agoraphobic Nosebleed and an anti-drug warning together! What has this world come too?
Oh, Scott hull.

11.Baroness-Blue Album

I have not listened to this album nor do I want to. I gave the Red Album a listen and it was not very good so i chose not to listen to this one. I have been looking at the artwork for days, it is some of the best metal artwork out today.  I bought the vinyl so i could have a bigger picture of it. I am putting it on my wall. Jesus, I should have just bought a print…

And finally my favorite of the year (That is NOT music)….

Dragon Age: Origins (PC & XBOX360)

I love this Game. (It makes me late for work all the time, sorry guys!)

I have never much listened to Townes Van Zandt or for that matter Steve Earle.Then last week we got in “Townes” , a cover album by Steve. My boss played it and as soon as I heard it I was in love. It was great country from the year 2009 (that’s when they were recorded) and it wasn’t radio friendly shit. It’s good to see/hear that some people still care about country music. That is how this album makes mee feel, Steve Earle cares!

Most of the songs are somber tunes about the west and women from Colorado and it makes my heart ache. That is exactly what I’m looking forward too when i listen to country. Broken hearts and the urge to drop everything and get drunk. Steve livens up some tracks to a somewhat Alt Country feel, but it is acceptable. So all that said, Mr. Earle does a great job making a good cover album. I don’t know if I’ll be listening to Steve any time soon (aside from this release), but there is definitely some Townes in my listening future……

If you are a fan, buy it!
It’s exactly what i want to blast in the store when I’m here alone.There is some sick drum solos that aren’t blast beats, although there are plenty of those to be had. Lyrics are hilarious as usual and there is even an anti-drug warning on the back of the CD! Ha! Agoraphobic Nosebleed and an anti-drug warning together! What has this world come too?
Oh, Scott hull.
Ok That’s it come down to the store and buy it. Now.

Mastodon. Well their last album, Blood Mountain, was and still is a Metal Masterpiece. Full of thick riffs feet thumpin’ drums and vocals that summed up their entire existence as a band, as well as a good story line and a progressive nature. Now on to the follow up. Crack The Skye. Damn! Metal Masterpiece number two under their belts. This album is amazing,which i would totally expect from a band of their caliber. The album is a RIFF MONSTER taking your consciousness on a trip to different dimensions of sound and space. The riffs never stop coming through the entire album. It’s beautifully blended classic rock/psychedelia but much much heavier and much much better than any classic rock or psychedelic music there is. I said it. I’m not even a big fan of the aforementioned genres, but by God Mastodon does it perfectly and with all the driving force you’ve come to expect from these southern boys. The heavy riffs and ethereal bass synth sweeps (a 1979 Moog Taurus Bass Synth. Same one Geddy Lee uses by the way.) permeate every track. The vocals on this album come straight out of the heart and have a cleaner sound and feel, which is evident by the start of the first track. The songs build continuously to a climax that is supernaturally marvelous, full of cults,bears and spirits. It’s pure metal bliss. Rasputin even makes an appearance!
Banjo Riffs? In Metal? Yep. They Got ‘em. Tambourine? Yep. One Zappa-esque Breakdown.
You got it. Brendan O’Brien does another great job producing, although not my favorite sounding album (I preferred Matt Bales’ talents to O’Brien’s) the music sounds like nothing they have ever done before. And it’s beautiful. These guys are moving into an area of sound that is very reminiscent of King Crimson and a little splash of Rush and Tool and Zappa blah blah blah. Mastodon fans will not be disappointed but astonished and excited. They are planning a tour in which they will play the album in it’s entirety. I for one am psyched, so stop by the store and pick it up. Come take a trip to space on speedy metal riffs and acid-drenched soul. Crack The Skye Motherfuckers!

Howdy Folks! Deerhunter-Microcastle…… RIGHTEOUS!

Pick it up. Listen to it. Listen to it again. And maybe even once more for good measure. I’ve done just that. So much so that my roommates are sick of it, but they just don’t know good music…..

I’ve been waiting patiently for weeks for the wax to arrive at the store, only to sell the last copy before I realised what i had just sold to some now ecstatic customer. Best wishes my good fellow. Some of the songs take my away into what i can only describe as an opium dream. Floating to shimmering guitars, distant echoes beckoning me to follow. So I do. Where I end up is so beautiful and indescribable to the uninitiated. So if y’all are wondering where this place is and what it feels like, well peoples, come on down and purchase the album and as i said earlier, Listen, Listen &Listen!