Boards of Canada - The Campfire Headphase

The Campfire Headphase is the latest from the Edniburgh duo Boards of Canada. I'm a big fan of theirs, as I quite like the whole electronic ambientness thing. BoC is really quite good at it too. Their latest is largely in the same style as their previous couple releases - Geogaddi and Music Has the Right to Children - but they've got some new samples on this record, mostly of some deconstructed guitar. It's the same BoC, but this album feels a lot more real and less cold than previous works. I love the guitar samples on the record, especially on "Chromakey Dreamcoat", for instance - they add just a hint of funkiness to the track.

That said, this isn't a record for everyone; if you're not into music that's lacking in vocals, you won't much care for this. Furthermore, while this album is a lot more organic than others Boards of Canada have done, it's still an electronic album. But if this kinda thing is your bag, then this latest album is definitely worth a spin. And if you are and you've never tried BoC before, this'd be a good album to start with too. Linkage: iTunes • Amazon

Pedro's Indie CD

Finally it's here. I've been working on putting together this CD of indie music for quite some time (on and off for over a month) and it's finally here and done! The download will be available for one week or 25 downloads whichever comes first. Just leave a comment if it's expired and I'll update it. I'm going to list the tracks on here and the bands' websites where you can hear more of their music and then link the download at the end.

1. Antennas - Adapt
   www.antennas.se
2. Junip - Black Refuge
   www.junip.net
3. Eskimo Foe - The Lie
   www.myspace.com/eskimofoe
4. Matt Costa - Cold December
   www.mattcosta.com
5. The Helio Sequence - Blood Bleeds
   www.theheliosequence.com
6. King Seven - Simple Folk
   www.kingseven.co.uk
7. Chimp Beams - Melina
   www.chimpbeams.com
8. Electric President - Insomnia
   www.radicalface.com
9. Page France - Chariot
   www.pagefrance.net
10. If Bears Were Bees - Anxious Jenny
    www.ifbearswerebees.com
11. Amy Millan - Skinny Boy
    www.amymillan.com
12. Letting Up Despite Great Faults - I Hear You Drowning But I'm Tied
    lettingup.com
13. Phoenix - Long Distance Call
    www.phoenixmusicuk.com
14. Sukpatch - We Fold at the Fork
    www.sukpatch.com
15. The Essex Green - Don't Know Why (You Stay)
    www.essexgreen.com
16. My Orchard - A List of Things
    www.myorchard.net
17. Digitata - Death and the Beach
    www.totallygrossnationalproduct.com
18. Victor Scott - Gotta Go
    www.victorscott.ca
19. Josh Pyke - Middle of the Hill
    www.joshpyke.com
20. Architecture in Helsinki - Do the Whirlwind (Metronomy Remix)
    www.architectureinhelsinki.com

The link to the complete CD in a zip file is here: Indie CD. Enjoy!

Say Hi To Your Mom - Numbers & Mumbles

Ah, Say Hi To Your Mom. A band found through general work-and-internet-fueled silliness. We typed "sayhitoyourmom.com" into a web browser one day to see if it worked and up came this band, which surprisingly was pretty good.

Numbers & Mumbles (Amazon.com) is not the group's (well, E. Elbogen's) latest - that one is Ferocious Mopes - but it's a good representation of their (his) sound. Elbogen is a very soft-spoken singer, almost like a softer Rivers Cuomo, and the music is fairly straightforward indie rock stuff. You've got your bleepy synth in the background, your jangly-but-not-too-jangly guitar, your melodic drumming that focuses less on cymbal work and some fairly simple yet inventive bass lines. The lyrics, though, are what sets this band apart. Take, for example, track 7, But She Beat My High Score:

There's a flame, there's a spark
But she beat my high score
So say goodbye, there's the door
I can't see you anymore

The tracks verge on the silly but they're all pretty heartfelt (and that seems to be the key to indie, IMHO) and really quite nerdy. Full tracks off the album - Hooplas Involving Circus Tricks, Let's Talk About Spaceships, and Super - are available at the band's website. Definitely worth a listen. The cover of I'm So Tired is really good too.