A Little Something Most Of You Are Already Aware Of

Tonight, I do not have an album for you. Most of you are already aware of this link, as I've been posting it practically everywhere I can, but I just love showing this off to you people.

My band and I recorded our first song last week and I'm posting it here for you guys to check out. I'd really appreciate it if this could be used as a feedback center, but I understand that most of you don't really like posting comments on things, so whatever. If you find time, let me know what you think, because I'd really appreciate it.

Either way, I've got to recommend watching the Flowers visualizer with this because it is SO badass.

Anyways, here it is!

Fireworks For Luna - It's Happening (2009)



http://www.fireworksforluna.bandcamp.com

Downloads available on the site. Again, gimme a little feedback! There should be a second song up soon, but until then, I'd just like to know what everyone thinks about what we're doing.

The Future Is Glorious!

One year ago, I went to see Against Me! with Ted Leo And The Pharmacists (what a sweet bill, right?). The opener was a band called The Future Of The Left, and I was uninterested in them. I had never heard them, never heard of them. Whatever. We got to the show late, and caught the end of their set, and that's when I realized.

Holy shit! That's Andy Falkous, the singer from McLusky, on stage right now.

Holy shit! I didn't even realize he was in a new band, nonetheless that they're arguably even better than McLusky!

The Future Of The Left - Travels With Myself And Another (2009)



The newer release is similar to the McLusky album I posted before, but, perhaps, a little less raw and a little bit better. It's got all the things you loved: having your face bit off by fuzzy guitar lines, getting kicked in the balls by unfairly awesome bass, and getting mechanically separated by the drums. This time, though, you've got a (somewhat) more mature outing, complete with (somewhat) political leanings (Hint: they're in the future) and (significantly) more interesting songwriting.

So yeah, the guitars are loud, the basses are loud, the drums are loud, and Falco's vocals are utterly bile-filled (if not as screamed as they were in mclusky). Everything comes together beautifully to make a truly great, true rock album. And in 2009! Who would've thought this to be possible?

Anyways, this is up in my top 10 list for the year. Here's a song off of it to give you an idea of what the record sounds like (plus a picture of the three strapping young members of FotL!):


Recommended Tracks: Arming Eritrea, You Need Satan More Than He Needs You, Stand By Your Manatee
Genres: Rock, Experimental
Link: http://www.mediafire.com(SLASH)?m2tqtkhotjy

NEWSNEWSNEWSNEWSNEWS!!!

Hey all! I have some BIG NEWS for all Hallelujah! Hallelujah! readers!!

Starting THIS Saturday, we will be going LIVE!! Yes, that's right! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! will be available on the radio, which is available on the intertubes!

My good friend, bandmate, and guest reviewer, Brooks, and I will be chatting it up while kicking out the jams every Saturday from... well, 4AM-6AM. But it's gonna be awesome!!

YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT.

Ugly Is Beautiful

I've waited so long to put this album up! It's one of the best I've ever heard and it's seriously fucking awesome! So check it out!!


Cursive - The Ugly Organ (2003)

Cursive's music sounds like it was soaked in some kind of developing fluid; like they recorded the music on tape, brought it into a darkroom and produced it into photographs. Every song sounds like it was drenched in every single color of red and black until the photo came out looking like the negative.

Tim Kasher's vocals are full of fire and intensity; his songs about his messy divorce mimic his every emotion: the guitars squeal through a punk-like-but-mostly-indie emo record, the cellos... Oh the cellos are beautiful, and the rhythms start and stop through every heartbeat. Every song makes up a part of this album, definitely one of my oldest favorites, definitely one of the bands that got me into the entire indie genre. Listening to the album from front to back gives me such a tremendous feeling; the last song's gradual rise and fall is absolutely stunning, when matched with the other songs.

Recommended songs: Red-Handed Sleight Of Hand, Art Is Hard, The Recluse, A Gentleman Caller
Genres: Indie, Emo, Punk
Link: http://www.mediafire.com(SLASH)?2nmmtm3imok

We're Gonna Try Something New

I'm so fucking tired from driving for 8 hours today, so this is going to be a test: Shorter reviews.
McLusky - McLusky Do Dallas (2002)


This album will kick your ass and rock your face off. This is your review:




Recommended Tracks: Lightsaber Cocksucking Blues, Collagen Rock, To Hell With Good Intentions, The World Love Us And Is Our Bitch
Genres: Rock, Experimental, Metal, Awesomeawesome
Link: http://www.mediafire.com(SLASH)?tyztazig2rk

The Weakerthans Make Me Weakintheknees

So that Mountain Goats cd down there is really just so so so good. You guys should pick it up. It's got hardly any downloads yet and it really bums me out.

Also, you may have noticed a decline in postings (you probably didn't), and that's because, well, I don't want to run out of albums. This blog will only be active 3-4 days a week now, instead of 5. Sorry. Onto the album!!

A lot of people downloaded that other Weakerthans album (But I Can't Remember The Sound), so I figured I would put another one of their albums up for everyone. Again, you guys, this is my all time favorite band. They're just fantastic.



The Weakerthans - Left And Leaving (2000)

This is the album that changed everything for me; I remember it very well, when I finally decided to listen to it (I had been listening to Reunion Tour on repeat and figured it was time to put something new in). I was in the car, riding from some town in Pennsylvania back home, and put the headphones in. By the title track, I was completely unable to contain myself anymore. Their lyrics were always spot on, their music was always fun and enjoyable, and the mixture of the punk ethic with the indie sound comes out as beautiful as I would hope. This is more than just a collection of songs.

Between the fast pop-punk of Watermark, to the practically spoken-word Without Mythologies, even leaving room for some country twang in My Favorite Chords (probably one of the best songs ever written), The Weakerthans always do it exactly right. Literally every single track on here is emotionally charged, perfectly worded, and musically coherent to the song. One moment that really stuck out for me is the chorus of Aside ("Leaning on this broken fence, between past and present tense") and how it related to the album title. Just genius and just beautiful. The album ends with "neon lights and slinking purple skies," and [left and] leaves you with a need to put it on repeat. Honestly, this is just a fantastic album and I couldn't recommend it higher. They're seriously my favorite band for a reason, and I guarantee that, eventually, I'll have all of their albums up, and you should get them all!

Recommended tracks: Aside, Watermark, This Is A Fire Door Never Leave Open, Left And Leaving, Exiles Among You, My Favorite Chords (okay, yeah, I know. They're seriously all awesome)
Genres: Indie, Punk, Folk, Rock
Link: http://www.mediafire.com(SLASH)?ymymjq5q14t

Tom Waits For Everyone

For those who didn't figure it out before, Tom Waits is my hero. Like, honestly. He's my all time favorite musician and this album is another testament to his pure genius. I can not recommend his music any higher than this. He is absolutely brilliant.

Tom Waits - Small Change (1976)

Okay, so a bunch of people got the other Tom Waits album I uploaded, Rain Dogs (isn't it AWESOME?), and I figured the natural progression would be my other favorite Tom Waits album and probably the most inviting out of all of them. Yeah, I know, the album cover features Mr. Waits himself... with a stripper... both looking sullen and lonely... That's... that's what this album feels like, to be honest. It's a jazz album at its heart, with Waits wailing in a lighter, younger version of his trademark growl, but with beautiful, beautiful backing music.

Songs are melodramatic and touching, with lyrics like "the large print giveth and the small print taketh away," "the piano has been drinking, not me," and "I don't have a drinking problem unless I can't get a drink," Waits' light humor really makes him sound like a down-on-his-luck bum from the 20's, just singin' a little song for you. I guess the real charm is how HONEST the whole cd is. Waits croons about lost love, strippers, advertisements, drinking, getting drunk, needing a drink, being drunk, and pretty much everything else. His song titles complete the image, with tracks like "Bad Liver And A Broken Heart," and "I Can't Wait To Get Off Work (So I Can See My Baby)," you know what you're in for. Tom Waits seems like a timeless character, and this album is what really established him as the genius that he is.

Oh yeah, and Tom Traubert's Blues is probably one of the greatest songs ever written by anyone. It's so unbelievably good.

Recommended Tracks: Step Right Up, The Piano Has Been Drinking, The One That Got Away, Tom Traubert's Blues
Genres: Jazz, Rock, Blues
Link: http://www.mediafire.com(SLASH)?dqwyyyyniwm

No, Seriously.

I am having a ceremony tomorrow for how awesome I am. So I'm too busy to write a review, so here's a quick little something for you.

The Clash - London Calling (1980)

Fuck you, if you don't have this album already, then fucking GET IT. Like, NOW. I don't care what kind of music you listen to, whether or not you've written off this band, or any of that stuff. You NEED this album in your collection because all of your favorite modern bands exist solely because of this album.

Honestly, it's probably one of the best cds ever made and don't be embarrassed if you don't already own every collector's edition of it or whatever, but definitely check it out because it's seriously seriously great even by today's standards.

Recommended tracks: Rudie Can't Fail, Spanish Bombs, Wrong 'Em Boyo
Genres: Rock, Punk, Ska, Reggae, Folk, Indie, Awesomeawesome
Link: http://www.mediafire.com(SLASH)?zmwxyzkzga2

But I Can't Remember The Sound That You Found From Me

The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour (2007)

The Weakerthans are my all time favorite band. Their music has so much energy to it, John K. Samson's voice so much sincerity, and his lyrics so thoughtful. They are what I want music to always be; tender and warm while still being fun and enjoyable to listen to.

This cd, Reunion Tour, is their latest. It came out in 2007, and it was this cd that got me into them. I had listened to Left And Leaving once, but it didn't strike me. However, the opening chords on Civil Twilight had me hooked. Each song is a kind of mixture between punk and indie that literally sounds like they use their warm music to combat the icy winters of Winnipeg, where they live.

Every time I listen to this cd, something hits me so hard that I have to rewind it and hear it again. Today, it was a point in Relative Surplus Value, when Samson describes a pause while facing his boss as being as long as "an extra year of high school." Seriously, this is the sort of music that I can always listen to. And I could not recommend it any higher. If you don't have this cd, pick it up and be joyous because it's honestly the best release of 2007 (except for maybe Okkervil River's The Stage Names, you guys).

Let me restate that: THIS IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE BAND AND THEIR NEWEST CD. That felt good.


Genres: Indie, Punk, Rock, Folk
Recommended Tracks: Civil Twilight, Relative Surplus Value, Sun In An Empty Room, Virtute The Cat Explains Her Departure, um every other song on it? I mean, seriously
Link: http://www.mediafire.com(SLASH)?0h3jzuzmdy1