Yes, we haven’t been posting lately.  It’s Christmas!  Cut us some slack!  Besides, now the website is basically just me and another dude, and the other dude can’t write anything unless I get off my lazy rear and actually send him some promos to review.

Anyway, here is something that caught my attention and miraculously it has to do with John Vanderslice!  Recently Vanderslice entered Amoeba Records in Hollywood and recorded a cool informative video about his music and his love for analog production equipment.  It’s a really interesting short.

[video] John Vanderslice talks about analog at Amoeba Records in Hollywood

Moneybrother
They’re Building Walls Around Us
Burning Heart Records

Culled from two previous full lengths, They’re Building Walls Around Us is the suprisingly fresh North American debut of Swedish singer/musician Anders Wendin and his Moneybrother monicker.  Throughout the six tracks he mixes indie rock, soul, and pop and incorporates a lot of strings and brass instruments to lend it an eclectic, classic feel.

The title track, an upbeat, swirling disco song, is filled with these lavish strings and enough high pitched vocals to last you the winter season.  A little on the cheese/camp side, but still extremely fun.  The second track, ‘Reconsider Me’, will remind a lot of indie rock kids of Bloc Party with its bass heavy intro and the accented vocals.  However once the chorus comes along, things settle into a more Moneybrother pop sound.

The remaining four song venture off into slower soul territory.  Although Wendin gets to show off his vocal ability a bit more on these tracks, it is a bit dissappointing considering the upbeat energy of the first two songs.  Still the EP is defintely worth checking out, for its unrestrained homage to past styles of pop music and the unstoppable title track.

[buy] Moneybrother’s There Building Walls Around Us at Insound.com

[video] Moneybrother - They’re Building Walls Around Us

[gv data="http://www.youtube.com/?v=_22sq8Ud2xM"][/gv]

Natalie Portman’s favorite band named a song after us!  Take that blogosphere!

The new Shins single tickles us.  Not because its amazing (it isn’t), but because a phantom limb is basically the exact same thing as an invisible limb, and in a year that has seen us get snubbed from every year end blog list, any connection with a successful indie band is enough to make us giddy.  Hopefully this coincidental relationship between us and the band blossoms into high levels of extra traffic for us.  There is no reason to suspect why it realistically would but I can still hope.

Focusing my attention to the actual song, I must say it is a bit underwhelming.  The first time I heard ‘Kissing the Lipless’ I was instantly hooked, however, what I hear with ‘Phantom Limb’ is a by-the-numbers Shins song.  Not bad, but it lacks that special something that might get me excited for the new record.  If SubPop isn’t totally put off by my unkind observations (or if they don’t read this website at all) I will be receiving Wincing the Night Away soon and after a few spins I’ll give all of you my final verdict.  For right now download this mp3 and get your gift wrapping on.

[mp3] The Shins - Phantom Limb

[pre-order] The Shins - Wincing the Night Away at Insound.com

Somewhere out in the cold lifeless desert known as the internet there exists a creature known as the ‘blogosphere’.  It is much like the Megazord, except instead of a robot pteradactyl, t-rex, mastadon, triceratops, and sabretooth tiger, it is made up of a million different blogs.  And within this mega-bologosphere of blogging bloggers there is a growing niche of music blogs who have created a music blogging community of their own.

Recently a lot of these music blogs have been posting their year end lists (best records, singles, mash ups, live shows, etc.) and quite a few of them have even created a category called Best Blogs.  What’s my point?

It is December 14th and Invisible Limb has yet to win a year end blogging award.

Somehow in all of their enthusiasm and excitement over crafting lists and sorting records, these bloggers forgot to include Invisible Limb.  Sure, we may only post once a week and when we do it’s just a quick blurb but we’re really nice people.  Honest.  One of our writers is even a family man.  And a handful of the contributors (that no longer contribute) were 13 years old and in junior high.  Ever heard the saying “The children are the future”?  How can you ignore our future?

And don’t forget about me, Richard.  Old women say I’m handsome and very smart.  That has to count for something in the music blog arena.  Doesn’t it?  What hurts me the most about not being voted for a single award is that besides free promos the only reason I put all my heart and soul into this website is for copious amounts of recognition. 

Where’s the love?

It’s the Holiday Season which means the next two weeks of your life will be spent driving to the mall, buying junk, and then going home to wrap it in shiny paper.  It also means you have less time to browse through this website and read our long winded reviews.  In light of this, here are a 1,000 (or less) quick reviews to keep you warm this winter.

31 Knots
ep:Polemics
Polyvinyl Records

While they are busy recording their full length follow up to last year’s Talk Like Blood, Oregon’s 31 Knots have pushed out this 5 song EP of sprawled out and noisy rock.  The EP kicks off with ‘Sedition’s Wish’, a four minute track that floats in and out of funky bass lines and distortion heavy choruses.  It shows the bands’ skill at building mood and momentum in a song, but when you take into account that the next two offerings, ‘Vanish’ and ‘Black Ship Auction’, sound awfully similar to the first track, and the two intro/outro songs are mostly ambient noise, ep:Polemics loses a lot of its appeal.   Hardcore fans might rationalize spending $8 dollars on 19 minutes of 31 Knots’ dark, experimental rock, but most everyone else is better off waiting for the full length to arrive.

[mp3] 31 Knots - Sedition’s Wish

[buy] 31 Knots’ ep:Polemics at Amazon.com

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Damien Jurado
And Now That I’m In Your Shadow
Secretly Canadian Records

It’s been a long time since Damien Jurado released anything as timeless and sharp as Where Shall You Take Me?.  His follow up to that record, last year’s On My Way to Absence, had three or four notable tracks but as a whole it lacked the weight of his previous albums.  I began to wonder if I was watching the downhill journey of an artist who hit his peak with hauntingly simple folk tales like ‘Matinee’, ‘Amatuer Night’, and ‘Abilene’. 

Anyone who picks up his latest release And Now I’m in Your Shadow might be compelled to join me in this sad speculation.  Don’t get me wrong, there are some hidden gems among this thirteen glacier paced ballads, but the audience will have to exhaust a great deal of effort to find them.  ‘Shannon Rhodes’, ‘I Had No Intentions’, and ‘There Goes Your Man’ are all fine songs on their own, but bunched between other, slower, more drab selections, their redeeming qualities are deafened. 

In the end it’s better to wait for Jurado to release his full band sister album to And Now I’m in Your Shadow.  Perhaps if you combine some of these sleepy numbers with the up coming record’s rock songs, you can put together one mighty fine album worthy of the Jurado name.

[mp3] Damien Jurado - What Were the Chances

[buy] Damien Jurado’s And Now I’m in Your Shadow at Insound.com

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Bonus Links!

Jesse Lacey is Humble - An unparalleled move in the contemporary emo world, New Jersey’s Brand New have announced they won’t be doing interviews to promote their latest record The Devil and God Are Raging Inside of Me.  Well, no. Scratch that- they’ve actually done two.  Here is one of them.

Anagram Fever.  Catch it! - Why impress your friends when you can impress yourself with this nifty anagram generator!  Great for lonely parties!

Can You See the Year End Lists? - The peeps at Can You See the Sunset have just posted the second installment of their top 50 albums of 2006 feature.  Go read theirs while we work on ours.

Merry Christmas Podcast - Tim Young and his Contract Podcast have just debuted part 1 of their Christmas themed podcast.  Pull a lawnchair next to the fireplace and press play.  There are some great holiday themed tracks from The Eels, My Morning Jacket, Low, and the Smashing Pumpkins.

Hello faithful readers and welcome to a very special edition of Invisible Limb (I am calling this a special edition because when updates have become this rare, anything is a cause for celebration).  Today I want to clue you in about some special holiday sales that are going on in the world of music!  Does that sound fun or what?!

There are a couple of great deals going on for you pop punk fans out there.  Fearless Records, Hopeless Records, Drive Thru Records and a few other labels are offering slashed prices and yuletide savings on all their merchandise! Check it out!

Fearless Records $5 SALE! - All cds are $5 dollars!  All shirts are $10! 
We recommend: The Aquabats, At the Drive In, Bigwig, Brazil

Hopeless Records $5 SALE! - All cds are $5!  Samplers are $1!  FREE shipping in the US!
We recommend: Atom & His Package, Thrice, Mustard Plug

Drive Thru Records $5 SALE! - All cds are $5!
We recommend:  New Found Glory self titled cd, the first Finch cd

Also keep on eye out for the following indie sales!

Barsuk Records Holiday Packages! - Barsuk is offering four special holiday packages, including their entire 2006 releases for $82!  That’s the equivalent of $8 per cd!
We recommend:  Every single John Vanderslice album, every Long Winters album, Death Cab for Cutie’s Transatlantacism and Rocky Votolato’s Makers

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In other news, the new Brand New album, The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me, is great.  The band is at a stage in their career where they feel confident enough to let a song build and develop at its own pace. Too many “pop punk” bands force the melodies to go faster or repeat them over and over until they are meaningless. A song shouldn’t beat you over the head with easy, in-your-face melodies or squeeze in “crazy” guitar hooks to keep you interested.  Good job, dudes!

Listen to The Devil and God then buy it.

With only one release from a veteran band (The Long Winters’ Putting the Days to Bed), Seattle super indie Barsuk Records used 2006 as a showcase for its newest roster acquisitions.  There were seven releases by ‘new’ artists in 2006, most of which were by acts who had already established themselves on smaller labels (Rocky Votolato, Mates of State, Viva Voce).  The three true newcomers to the national scene were teen duo Smoosh, pop-multi-instrumentalist Jim Noir, and the much ballyhooed about What Made Milwaukee Famous. 

Although both the Jim Noir and Rocky Votolato albums were entertaining, the new pack of Barsuk bands seemed to lack the confidence and stature of roster mainstays like John Vanderslice, the aforementioned Long Winters, and Nada Surf.  In bits and pieces they were interesting but as a whole they all carried the tag of artists who had yet to hit their stride.  If any of them bloom to their full potential within the next 2-3 years, Barsuk will be swimming in talent for their next few release schedules.  For the time being however, we wait and hope.

But we won’t have to wait much longer.  As the year draws to a close and preparations begin for next year’s releases, Barsuk have announced the signing of Portland, OR band Menomena and after listening to their up coming label debut, Friend and Foe, there is no doubt in my mind that the band will soon join the ranks of Vanderslice, Nada Surf, Death Cab for Cutie, and Long Winters as one of Barsuk’s cornerstone bands.

The experimental three-piece skews and plays with the traditional ‘indie rock’ sound, incorporating several layers of instruments into each song.  While this kind of songwriting usually results in a hodge podge slush of headache-inducing overkill, the boys in Menomena know when to scale back and let the harmony of the song carry the weight.  If you match this mature restraint with their multi-vocalist approach, you have 12 songs that vary enough to make a full album spin go by effortlessly.  You’ll want to hit repeat and start over again.

‘Wet and Rusting’ is the first label-distributed mp3 off Friend and Foe and one of the more upbeat pop-oriented tracks.  It is also one of my favorite songs off the record.  Listen as the band matches and mixes several layers without overwhelming or losing focus. 

Save your hard earned money.  On January 23rd Friend and Foe drops and you’ll want to be in line PS3 style.

[mp3] Menomena - Wet and Rusting

BONUS MP3!

Here is an exclusive, unreleased track from Aqueduct’s up coming record Or Give Me Death, out February 20th on Barsuk.  It is titled ‘As You Wish’ and it reminds us all that dismembered love is the best kind of love.

[mp3] Aqueduct - As You Wish