SXSW Day 4 (Saturday): One Last Night To Get Dirty

Clint got a little earlier start on the final day than me, and went to see Still Flyin’:

After I awoke from a too short slumber I headed out to the 40 Watt showcase at Side Bar. Our gracious host Larry dropped me off and I went inside to catch a proper Still Flyin’ set, something I wanted to do since I caught their acoustic set the other night at the Todd P. party. To my surprise D.J. from Still Flyin’ did a short hilarious rap set as his alter ego Excalibrah. It was a nice change from the serious rock shows I had been catching during SXSW. After that Still Flyin’ came on stage with too many members to count. I really enjoy the beach music meets big family band thing that they do. The stand out song was “Rope Burn” which shows they have the power to craft incredibly catchy indie pop songs similar to their sister band Je Suis France. As soon as the set ended I hoofed it to Waterloo Park to meet up with the rest of the Ohmpark crew.

Excalibrah:

Still Flyin’:

After that we met back up at the Mess With Texas free mini-festival in Waterloo Park. This event features two big stages and showcases bands that have been playing SXSW shows all week.


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A Random Mp3 Trilogy: Loney Dear, Abe Vigoda, Mount Eerie

I know I have already done a post for the new Loney Dear, but I seriously can’t stop listening to this album. It is one of those rare pieces where I can appreciate every single artistic choice, and all of them are executed flawlessly. I mean just the way he pronounces ‘story’ as ‘storwy’ on “Harm/Slow” is such a miniscule detail, but it sticks out so vividly. Loney Dear, aka Swedish songwriter Emil Svanangen, has produced one of the best albums of 2009 so far, so don’t miss out.

Loney Dear : Everything Turns To You

Buy Dear John

Loney Dear myspace




Los Angeles based Abe Vigoda‘s 5 track follow up to last year’s Skeleton sees the band moving into a more matured, darker direction that doesn’t quite as easily wear the fun, tropical punk name tag. This may not be good news to some of their fans, but I think this EP, Reviver, proves they are more than just a No Age clone. If you read this blog regularly, you know I always prefer my music to be interesting over fun, so if that is how you like your punk served up as well, then make sure to grab this:

Abe Vigoda : Wild Heart

Buy Reviver

Abe Vigoda myspace




Lost Wisdom, a Mount Eerie collaboration with Julie Doiron (Eric’s Trip) and Fred Squire, has made its way back into my heavy rotation again. I liked it a lot when I stumbled across it at the end of last year, but it has taken me a while to appreciate some of the slower songs on this thing. I love returning to an album and getting obsessed for a second time, and it is a true testament to a record’s greatness. If you never heard this one, you are missing out:

Mount Eerie w/ Julie Doiron & Fred Squire : O My Heart

Buy Lost Wisdom

The Quest For The Best Albums Of 2008 Is Almost Over

I had the best of intentions to finish all of my 2008 lists before the new year, but it looks like I ran out of time. I’m much more worried about being thorough than being timely so it is ok. I still have a few more scientific calculations to make before I can unveil my final list, and I’m going to be observing New Years celebrations for the next few days, so i would expect to drop it in about a week. There probably won’t be much going on around the site next week other than that as I will need a few days to reload and refuel for another year of serious blogging. But, 2009′s bar has already been set extremely high with the new Animal Collective album Meriweather Post Pavilion available on vinyl Tuesday and Atlanta outfit Nomen Novum‘s first full-length, November, now available digitally. Expect a lot of slurping on those two albums when I return, plus I’ll talk about some of the good 2008 records that I discovered late that just missed the cut. Also, it is getting close to a month since I have been to a concert, so it is time for total live show coverage to return. Here are a few mp3s from some of the albums that made my EP list that i never posted about until now:

Experimental Dental School : Jane Doe Loves Me
High Places : The Storm
Moscow Olympics : What Is Left Unsaid
Abe Vigoda : The Garden
Cynic : Evolutionary Sleeper

Have a happy 2009!!!

Ohmpark’s Top 20 Best EPs/Short-Length Albums Of 2008

I decided to do something a little experimental this year with my best EP list. When I was comparing very short “full-length” albums to longer albums on my best LP list, I kept wanting to hold the time duration against the shorter album. Also, it seems the difference between EPs and LPs can be a bit arbitrary sometimes, so I decided to just draw a line completely based on album length to split up my best album lists. This list, then, is the best of all albums less than 35 minutes, regardless of what the record is labeled. I’m happy with the end result, as I’m able to really highlight some extremely worthwhile briefer albums and it made the competition on this list a lot tighter. When you really think about it, any classic album this short feels like it is in a different weight class. I want to give an honorable mention to Cynic‘s Traced In Air, Parade‘s Ghosts, and Mount Eerie with Julie Dorion and Fred Squire‘s Lost Wisdom because all three were awesome, but here are the 20 best albums under 35 minutes:

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