J Mascis Fade Into You (Sub Pop)
I don't always love a cover, but when I do it's Dinosaur Jr.'s frontman doing his rendition of a song that dominated my '90s. This is a fairly reverent interpretation, but that Mascis huskiness gives it a little extra special tenderness. And it's the perfect bookend to the year that was. See you in 2015!
A Magic Whistle Secret Museum of Kind Men Vol. 4 (Casual Acid Tea)
The latest entry in this awesome 7-inch series in which modern musicians interpret pieces from the Secret Museum of Mankind compilations of ethnographic field recordings. Local audio/visual artist Andy Puls, here working under his A Magic Whistle guise, takes on tracks from Tajikstan and Georgia and turns them into beautiful psychedelic wonderment. Any devotee of "ancient and contemporary weirdnesses" should snap this right up, and the other records in the series too.
Ovens s/t (#3) (Catholic Guilt)
I am a huge fan of anything Tony Molina is involved with, and Ovens is how he initially got me hooked. This EP was recorded back in 2008 but just came out on Catholic Guilt, with all 8 songs on it adding up to about 6 minutes total. Which makes it hell to play on the air, but I am helpless in the face of the pure indie pop bliss.
Tujurikkuja Om De Nimic (Computer Tapes)
This is some gorgeous droney goodness right here, brought to you by two massively talented Bay Area chaps: Chris Dixon, who I first became acquainted with through one of the best local DIY bands in recent memory (that would be Death Sentence: PANDA!), and Joshua Kit Clayton, artist/musician/provocateur extraordinaire. Put it on while the sun is setting, and prepare to bliss out.
Bilders The Utopians (SmartGuy)
Awesome lo-fi indie post-punk straight out of New Zealand courtesy of the always-genius Bill Direen, who I was incredibly lucky to catch during an Aquarius in-store last year. Devotees of the Flying Nun Records sound: this is your jam.
Vomitface Vomitface (Bad Companion)
This 45 got a ton of calls when I played it on my show, which meant I got to repeat "yes, Vomitface" over the phone a ton of times. Seriously, forget the band name and just listen to "Sloppy Joes" on endless repeat like I have been ("Bill Me Later" is also pretty damn badass) and you'll see why this instantly became one of my favorite 7-inches. Grunge is apparently alive and well in NYC. Who knew.
Giorgio Murderer Primitive World (Goner)
Even if you were already familiar with New Orleans punks Buck Biloxi and the Fucks, you might not be aware of Biloxi's alter ego Giorgio Murderer. As I'm never one to pass up a pun of course I love the name, but the music is a ton of fun too, all distorted synthy lo-fi goodness (I think Moroder would approve). Added bonus: the ridiculous/excellent cover of "Studio Time" by Three Six Mafia.
Vardlokk Skraelingjahlaut (Outer Battery)
The best death metal (in my humble opinion) is always about Vikings, the focus here being their arrival in Newfoundland over a thousand years ago. Hence the cover art. Added bonus: Vardlokk is kind of an underground metal supergroup featuring members of Enslaved, Witch, Draugar, and more. And furthermore: choruses in Norwegian.
Running Frizzled (Drag City / GOD?)
After John Dwyer released this Chicago band's 3rd full-length on Castle Face I figured I'd better check them out, and this 7-inch is a perfect intro. Running inject a healthy dose of noise and punk into their garage rock, keeping matters weird as heck and just the way I like it. All 3 tracks add up to about 7 minutes total, but we're talking girth over length here, people.
Author & Punisher / Harassor Fearce (Goteblud)
Once upon a time there was an excellent indie comic book series called Wuvable Oaf that tells the tale an Oaf's search for twoo wuv. Oaf's favorite band in the book is EJA©ULOID, a fictional band that nevertheless has managed to release a 7-inch or two (with members of Limp Wrist and Needles doing the actual writing and recording). Just to take things one step further, musical acts Author & Punisher and Harassor have done their own super-rad interpretations of the EJA©ULOID track "Fearce" for this split single, each one putting their own particular twist on the song. Dig that deliciously gruesome Ed Luce wraparound cover art too. Bad kitties.