The Blow
Paper Television
K Records 

Khaela Maricich!  You are making me blush!  Stop it!  I mean it!  How am I supposed to focus on my bloggings when a talented, attractive women is in my headphones singing funky electro-pop songs about sweaty bed sheets and various sexy time references?  I can’t handle this!

Your latest album Paper Television is like the siren’s call, luring unsuspecting mariners off their course.  It is also the most fun I have had all year listening to music.  There are upbeat French songs, funky dancefloor numbers, and layers upon layers of pent up sexual tension.  It’s an infectious monster that you just want to hug, hairy paws and all. Continue Reading »

At InvisibleLimb.net we don’t mess around.  If we hear something that tickles us, we post that sucker.  If we hear something that only mildly amuses us or straight up stinks, we don’t.  This is the law of the Limb!  Tremble before it’s ruthless ways!  So, in accordance with the law, we will only be posting John Vanderslice bootlegs and videos from here on out.

Vanderslice recently recorded a handful of new songs at the MP3.com studios, and they are now available for viewing online.  The new songs (I’m guessing they are from his up coming record since I have never heard the titles before) include ‘The Parade’, ‘Charles Rennie Mackintosh’, and ‘the Dream is Over’- which might possibly be a companion to Time Travel is Lonely’s upbeat ‘Keep the Dream Alive’.  The other two songs are ‘Dear Sarah Shu’ from last year’s Pixel Revolt and ‘Do You Remember the Man?’ also from Time Travel. 

[video] John Vanderslice MP3.com Session

And now, thanks to a wonderful member of Vanderslice’s Heated Pool and Bar forums, we can also listen to these songs in mp3 form.  My initial reaction is that these new tracks are brilliant.  They are fast, upbeat, and just as smooth as anything off Pixel Revolt.  Check out the links below and salivate with me at the thought of what else the new record will bring.

[mp3] John Vanderslice – The Parade (MP3.com rip)
[mp3] John Vanderslice – Charles Rennie Mackintosh (MP3.com rip)
[mp3] John Vanderslice – Do You Remember the Man? (MP3.com rip)
[mp3] John Vanderslice – The Dream is Over (MP3.com rip)
[mp3] John Vanderslice – Dear Sarah Shu (MP3.com rip)

BONUS!
I also have some mp3s from another recent live session, this time on Studio Brussel.  You can check those out below.

[mp3] John Vanderslice – Do You Remember? (Live on Studio Brussel)
[mp3] John Vanderslice - Trance Manual (Live on Studio Brussel)
[mp3] John Vanderslice - Angela (Live on Studio Brussel)

Honeycut
The Day I Turned To Glass
Quannum Records

A hint of what this record could have been happens well into the fifth track, “Dysfunctional”. The track starts off promisingly enough with a saxophone loop that would make Rashaan Roland Kirk proud that lays into a slinky groove speckled with keyboard and horn stabs. The vocalist for the group, Bart Davenport, does his best version of a soul singer, but drags the whole song down with flat intonations and trite lyrics. But, at about the minute and a half point, a female voice comes to the fore and with one vocal line, makes the whole song burst to life. Alas, she doesn’t stick around for long and we are stuck with Davenport as our tour guide, taking us through a museum of well-worn beats and vocal melodies. Continue Reading »

Viva Voce
Get Yr Blood Sucked Out
Barsuk Records

Viva Voce are Anita and Kevin Robinson, a dynamic husband and wife duo from Portland, Oregon. With a truly tight-knit sound indicative of the relationship behind the music, Viva Voce’s latest album is a well-balanced combination of pensive and smoothly flowing ballads and lively independent rock. Continue Reading »

Meet Henry Owings, #32 on Chunklet Magazine’s list of the 100 Biggest Assholes In Rock.

He should know since he compiled and edited the list for his own magazine Chunklet, one of the funniest and most scathing music and comedy publications ever. Each issue is full of smart interviews with amazing bands and the cream of the comedy crop (Jon Benjamin, Sarah Silverman, and Robert Smigel, amongst many others). On top of that, Owings and his gang of contributors pokes fun at the inflated egos of indie rock bands, celebrities, and, most importantly, themselves.

Yet, for every band Owings takes to task within the pages of his magazine, there are dozens more who he loves and supports. He books countless shows in Athens and Atlanta and, in Chunklet, champions many a band often in the same issue that they are excoriated.

Invisible Limb had a chance to catch up with Owings as he prepared to celebrate Chunklet’s 13th anniversary with a series of shows and events set for the end of October. Continue Reading »

Thunderbirds Are Now!
Make History
Frenchkiss Records 

Is it just me, or does the title of this record sound a little pretentious? Make History, hmmmm… Are Detroit’s Thunderbirds Are Now! telling us to make history, or are they claiming that they do? Well, I don’t know, and it’s not important anyway.

What is important is that this, the band’s third full length release, second for French Kiss Records, is their best yet. I guess that doesn’t really say much right now, as I didn’t like the previous two albums. But, I will admit, Make History is better. I’ll even go as far as to say that it is a pretty good record in general. Continue Reading »

Jim Noir
Tower of Love
Barsuk Records

Since his first EP came out in June 2006, Alan Roberts, aka Jim Noir, has enjoyed the buzz created by his cheerfully vintage music. When Tower of Love, his debut full-length album, was released only two months later, interest only continued to grow.

Many indie rock bands have adopted vintage nuances as a part of their sound. Jim Noir, however, has taken this to a new level. Throughout Tower of Love, Noir does not waver from his middle-60s pop/rock sound. From melodies, to instrumentation, to background vocals, Jim Noir has me convinced of his mission to bring back the carefree music of the 60s era. With guitar and backup vocals very similar to those found in The Beatles’ “Tax Man,” “Tell Me What To Do” is a song that would fit in exceptionally well on the influential band’s Revolver album. Continue Reading »

On Sunday, October 8th, Portland songwriter Ben Barnett logged into Myspace and made the announcement heard ’round the indie world:  that he is no longer continuing the prolific project known as Kind of Like Spitting. 

“My personal life has become too intense to continue writing songs that blame others for my issues.  Singing these songs and touring my life into the ground has left me lost and directionless in my life.  I have spent ten years of my life getting high and blaming others for my history and inability to control my demons. I want to reach a better place.  I want to move FORWARD.”

In memory of one of my all-time favorite bands, I have decided to assemble the first InvisibleLimb.net mixtape:  The Short Story Long, A Retrospective Look at Kind of Like Spitting. 

Tracklisting:
01. Birds of a Feather
02. Tyco Racing Set and a Christmas Story Fifteen Times
03. Worker Bee #7438-F87904
04. Yes, You’re Busted
05. Boy Cries Wolf
06. Something in the Air
07. Now I Can Smile
08. The Thing About Distance
09. Team Reasonable (Redux)
10. Born Beautiful (Demo)
11. Enjoy the View (Unreleased demo)
12. In the Red (Demo)
13. Aubergine (Demo)
14. When I’m Gone (Phil Ochs cover)
15. Valentine’s Day is Over (Billy Bragg cover)
16. Title Track (Death Cab for Cutie cover)
17. Julie Christie (Yo La Tengo cover)
18. St. Swithin’s Day (Billy Bragg cover)

Anyone familiar with the band’s extensive back catalogue knows it would be impossible to summarize Kind of Like Spitting in one CD-R worth of music.  So instead I’ve chosen one track from each of his major releases, as well as some rare demos, outtakes, and cover songs, all in an effort to give new and old fans something to enjoy.

We hope these songs find you as well as they have us.

[zip] InvisibleLimb.net Mixtape #1: The Short Story Long, A Retrospective Look at Kind of Like Spitting (65 MB)

Yo La Tengo
I’m Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
Matador Records

For the last 10 years or so, Yo La Tengo has been releasing albums that are the textbook definition of a ‘mixed bag’. On the one hand, you get instant classics like “Sugarcube” from I Can Feel The Heart Beating As One or their smart take on “You Can Have It All” from 2000′s And Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out right next to extended jam songs, drone-y meanderings with no apparent point or end in sight, and experiments in incorporating the instrumentation and atmosphere of some of their influences that fall quickly flat. Continue Reading »

John Vanderslice is in the studio right now recording his follow up to last year’s Pixel Revolt.  According to his website, the record is going to be more rock oriented and less layered, which is fine by me.  Everything the man releases is gold.

The mp3 I have for you today is a B-side from the vinyl version of Pixel Revolt called ‘the Kingdom’.  It’s a slow piano song that doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the album’s songs, but it has some very beautiful parts, particularly in the chorus.  Vanderslice fans should eat this up fairly well.

[mp3] John Vanderslice – The Kingdom