Eksi Ekso

It's a snowy day here in NYC so I thought I would post about some music that definitely enhances a snow day mood. Eksi Ekso are a band from Boston. Featuring former members of The Burning Paris and On Fire (which means nothing to me but maybe something to some of you?) the band is covering the much enjoyed (by me at least) genre of orchestral pop. Vaguely reminds me of my favorite band, The Delgados. Their album, I Am Your Bastard Wings, is taken in better as a whole which many of you probably know is a rare thing these days. Today it's about the single and that seems true even for some of the bigger indie bands. Sad state of affairs, I tell you. To encourage you more fully to purchase and listen to the record as a whole I would like to put a link to the double vinyl version instead of the cd version. You should go to the Mylene Sheath store and pick this up. If you're not convinced by the description of "snow day music" take a listen to these songs...
I Though You Died Last Time
Just Leave

The Need

Yet another Rachel Carns band! Probably the band she is best known for. Her and Radio were a revelation! I got to see the band live many many times and they always brought it. Metal dudes liked them which was perhaps my favorite thing about seeing them live. There were always some metal dudes in the audience at these shows looking a bit out of place but not giving a shit. They were there to rock the fuck out to Radio's awesome guitar playing and Rachel playing her stand up drum kit like a total maniac. Even the singing fit perfectly for the style of music - a homage to and not a parody of metal.

This is definitely a favorite song. From the Destination compilation which if I remember correctly also had Team Dresch on it. Do I remember correctly? Not sure!
Sam

This song was always my favorite to see live!
The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown)
I think it's the epitome of The Need sound and songwriting style. Awesome song. (I never had a copy of this song until recently. Found it on an awesome blog called Pukekos.)

Butterglory

I first heard Butterglory in 1996. The radio station I did a show at had an excellent policy of only being able to play the same band twice in a quarter (or was it a semester?) so you were definitely forced into discovering music new to you. One day I was going through new arrivals and came across the record Are You Building A Temple In Heaven and decided to give it a listen. I immediately fell in love with this song:
Sit In The Car
What's not to like? Pure mid 90s indie rock right there, baby.

For whatever reason I never really got into them. My mind remembers them breaking up fairly soon after that record but maybe they had another after it... Perhaps I should investigate their catalog a bit more. Anyway, I only have a few songs from them but the enjoyment I receive from that song is still felt today. Because I like to post 2 songs you get another. This time with Matt on vocals.
Drop The Baton

Galaxie 500

Sorry I've been missing in action. I was cat sitting for nearly 2 weeks and decided to not take a computer with me. I am an internet junkie so it was a change to cut myself off from it. However, I got some good reading in.

One of the books I read was Black Postcards by Dean Wareham. I'm not a fan of any of his music particularly but I do enjoy some of it. I don't think you really need to be a fan to enjoy this book though. I think it's a pretty good eye opener for anybody who likes lesser known bands. Dude started out with Galaxie 500 on an indie label but with Luna jumped to a major in the gravy train 90s. The majors weren't exactly the get rich quick scheme they seemed like though. It's a glimpse at a time when things were different but it brings you to the current state of affairs of the music industry. (Though there isn't much about Dean & Britta except for the recording of their first record.) What I'm saying is that if you're remotely interested in the music business or what life on the road and making records is like you will probably enjoy this book quite a bit.

Here are two of my favorite Galaxie 500 songs in honor of this fantastic book!
Sorry
Strange