Mutual Benefit : Love's Crushing Diamond

So it's been a long long long time since I've written an album review. And this may be hasty, but I have to tell you immediately because I will feel like I've been holding out on you. Since 2011 I think, since I listened to a certain mixtape, Mutual Benefit's "Desert Island Feeling" has stuck around my listening space. I will forget it, I will remember it, and when I do, I am always pleasantly surprised by its beauty. Fast forward to a month ago (?), I saw this album pop up on my feed (thanks Facebook Sponsored Ads.......). I gave it a listen and brushed it off soon after I finished the 8-track album.

Until I decided to give it a listen again. I had been meaning to, but I've been bad at "keeping up" lately. But Mutual Benefit, this album is perfect...and Jordan Lee, frontman of Mutual Benefit was in Austin writing, collab-ing, and playing house shows? I've been missing out. Love's Crushing Diamond is dreamy, ethereal floaty-feeling music. I don't like to compare music, but I feel like this album is Lonesome Dreams's sister album, if that's a thing. I love Lord Huron, I've been listening to that album these past couple of weeks and Love's Crushing Diamond seems like a good transition. They complement each other, I think. Maybe my ears are weird. What do you think? I am really loving "Advanced Falconry" and "C.L. Rosarian," but all of the tracks are swell.

Give it a listen, get back to me.

November 2013: Music Haul

maybe my body is ready for Portland, maybe my body is just confused because I was sweating profusely from a 90 degree Sunday. either way, it loves to walk in the cold, windy, drizzly rain that Austin has procured a week ago. 

this is my ode to the cold. as you drift back and forth into our lives here in Texas, I will continue to wear dark clothes and dark lipstick to match the dark soul that seems to be in "winter mode." 

From October to November: 

• Wet. I should be writing a separate post for these guys. I actually found this group last month, little did I know that this Brooklyn trio would infiltrate and conquer most of my listening time in November. When I'm not running to my set playlist, I'm listening to Wet. Yeah, I'm not a super fan of their name, but just listen to their most popular song "You're the Best" or my personal favorite "Don't Wanna Be Your Girl."
• Phantogram. On my running playlist, on a separate "Phantogram" playlist. Still love them, probably for forever. 
• Pedro The Lion. David Bazan's vibe and lyrics seem fitting for this 38 degree weather...and also the occasional 80 degree weather we get.
• Dan Croll. The Spotify Sessions came out almost a week ago and all three tracks are gold. You compliment my soul Dan...with your beautiful face and voice. 

From November, I've been listening to:

• Paws. There are some tracks I don't like, but I do like this one (it makes for a good morning song). Is it just me, or for a Glasgow band, they sound American? I don't know, I guess I always associated this teen-angst-pop-rock only to America. How very ethnocentric of me. 
• Big Scary. My favorite track is "Twin Rivers."
• You Won't. They are touring with Lucius, I get it. 
• Ta-Ku. I remember hearing a track earlier this summer and vining to it. But my friend posted a link recently and for whatever reason, that acted as a catalyst to this Ta-Ku binge that I've been on for the past couple of days. 

Revisited:

• Florence + The Machine. Sometimes you lose yourself and you need Florence to guide you back. 
• Arcade Fire. More specifically, The Suburbs album. 
• London Grammar. Have you seen their KEXP set? Hot. damn. 
• Bon Iver. It's been raining here in Austin, Texas. 

October 2013 : Music Haul

a half-written, half-linked music haul, happy october.

From September to October:

• HAIM. Listening to them always makes me want to be in a trio-sister-rock-out-band. They were awesome at ACL. 
• Lorde. Hi, I wrote about her in April. So thrilled when she released her full-length album. I have grown a liking for the track "White Teeth Teen." 
• Generationals. Beats. 
• ∆ as per usual. 

From October I've been listening to: 

• Michael Giacchino. He's written the score for shows like Lost and movies like UP, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille. It's great work music. I used to listen to other artists like Teebs and Tycho to work, but soundtrack/score music takes it another level. The UP score is a tear-jerker but my favorite.
• Phantogram. I was supposed to write a live review about them I still might. They released a new EP not too long ago and they're on tour right now. "Black Out Days," "The Day You Died"... all of them on the new EP are pretty stellar actually. In short: they are awesome live. 
• Arcade Fire and their new album, Reflektor, I'm still listening to it, I'll write a one-liner for next month. 
• The Head and The Heart. I honestly have only listened to their new album once or twice, but it's out there y'all. 
• Lucius (duh.) Yes. Over and over, on vinyl, on YouTube, on iTunes, on Spotify, Live, etc. Anything I can do to listen to Lucius, I will. I don't know if y'all get it yet, but y'all need to. 
• Pedro The Lion. Mentioned by a friend so I thought I'd give it a shot. Why do I feel depressed when I listen to it? Also, why can't I stop listening to it? "The Longest Winter"and its lyrics "Is it your way/or the highway.." just saying 

Revisited:

• Dan Croll. Release a full-length album pls. You were amazing live at ACL 2013. 
• The Neighbourhood. Somehow I feel like this falls under "October" music (I'm clearly running out of ideas to write...I just want to listen to them OKAY?!)
• Death Cab for Cutie's Transatlanticism and the Transatlanticism (Demos). BECAUSE I CAN. (but the demo track of "Transatlanticism" slays me).
• Bloc Party. Because I CAN. 
• Daughter. Because I can. 

And this track by JMSN. 

Live : Gold and the Rush

Reigning from NOLA, Gold and the Rush played at a house show-thing...thing-show here in Austin, TX this past Friday. I feel bad looking at this picture because you can't see Sam's face. On a more humorous note, it looks like Sam has a speaker for a face. 

I'm going to preface this post by saying that this is not music that I usually listen to. Not because I don't like it...I was just never exposed to it. Now by it, I think I'm going to go with southern-rock-n-roll-jam music. It's music that I listened to while sitting in the grass, drinking a beer, and being completely okay with life. I think that it's music that you can listen to while you're barbecuing some good meat with good company, talking and drinking etc etc etc. 'People Downstairs' and 'Rocketship' are probably my favorite tracks.

Is it note-worthy that Chris, the drummer, smoked a cigarette while banging away effortlessly on the drum set? It was kind of incredible. Note-worthy? I decided, yes. 

Not to mention, these are some pretty cool dudes. Trust me, I got tacos with them. And when you get tacos with someone, you really get to know a person (and in this case, a band). Am I a little sad that I missed their set at Ditch The Fest? Sure. But I have some memories, a free CD (from their Daytrotter session), and bandcamp to hold me over until next time. Give these guys a listen, see them at a show, they're pretty cool.