Tortoise and Bonnie "Prince" Billy- The Brave and the Bold

This is a pretty interesting collaboration. Tortoise is an experimental jazzy band from Chicago while Billy is a folky songwriter. They make some pretty interesting music together, as it turns out. Many of the songs have a sort of jungle feel to them, which is somewhat characteristic of Tortoise, but Billy fits his singing to the music very well, despite his out-of-place-ity. Sometimes dancey, sometimes mysterious, this is worth a listen.

http://www.mediafire.com/?v9whdvyypgv

Wild Sweet Orange- We Have Cause to be Uneasy

I figured I'd show these guys some love, as they're all great guys, even though I don't particularly love their music. Very poppy stuff with some indie thrown in for good measure.

http://www.mediafire.com/?1qxdupg4tj2

Man Man- Rabbit Habits

If you can resist the deep-seated urge to immediately turn this CD off, you will find some really cool songwriting with some of the most unique arrangements you've ever heard. This CD constantly reminds me of imp/troll music, or maybe songs from an 1800's circus. Either way, it's really cool, and if you can take the weird noises and random percussion, well worth your time.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8AKZYDM0

Other notes for today:
-Random grandma money came in the mail, so I can finally get Metal Gear 4. hooray!
-I'm going to Hawaii for 10 days on Friday morning, so no updates for a while.
-Routers hate me.

Kickball- ABCeFGHIJKickball and Everything is a Miracle, Nothing is a Miracle

Kickball is a pretty sweet band from Seattle, WA that is quickly becoming one of my favs. Picture dancey pop music that is in no way generic and has just the right amount of technicality. If you don't mind a little off key singing, you're gonna love these CDs. I included two because they are very similar and seem to me to be continuations of each other.

Stand-out tracks: Polarbears, Orion, Pocketknife, Little Thing, Shoulders, Party

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9LRPNSM9

Peter and the Wolf- Lightness

(For red, negativity)

Honestly, these guys aren't my favorite, but I haven't given them much of a chance. Very minimalist, lo-fi folk stuff. This is their first album released in 2006.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=M527D25K

Maps and Atlases- You and Me and the Mountain

(For Casey)

I saw these guys live last night and it was everything I hoped it would be. If you love dancing and/or tapping on the guitar, you will probably like this. It's like if American Don was mostly in 4/4 and had more structure. Only 5 songs, but those 5 are all better than most of Trees, Swallows, Houses (in my opinion).

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LSJP8DQM