Something Like Sound

In a continuing effort to get you to actually listen to my recommendations, here are some more links to free and legal downloads of Colorado bands.

Albums and EPs

Hearts of Palm – complete collection

Chain Gang of 1974 – Guerilla EP

Everything Absent or Distorted – The Lucky One EP

M. Pyres – & New Past Tense EP

Pretty Lights – Passing Behind Your Eyes

Katie Herzig – Live In Studio: Acoustic Trio

(only available until Nov. 15 for free)

Live Recordings (from The Flat Response)

Houses at the Hi-Dive (UMS – 7/24/09)

Danielle Ate The Sandwich at the Bluebird (10/17/09)

It’s high time that I sat down and pointed you in all directions at once. All over the web there are great, free & legal downloads from some of Colorado’s finest (bands, that is… the police don’t really have much out there). Just click on the images to go to the places.

Savoy – Self-Titled EP: The entire thing is free on the group’s website. Unfortunately we missed their set at Monolith, but fear not! They’re doing a show November 21 at the Bluebird.

Hello Kavita – To A Loved One 2 song sampler. It’s been a while since we’ve heard from these guys, but they’re finally releasing another record on October 23 at the Hi-Dive, with Houses and It’s True! Even just listening to the 2 sample tracks, I’m excited for what these guys have in store.

Arliss Nancy – Dance To Forget: Fort Collins own answer to Lucero, this record is technically a $5 donation, but you could get it for free if you really like. Click back a few pages to see our review.

Rob Drabkin – On These Heavy Feet: Rob’s still got this link up for people to download his full length. He did it as a way of saying “Thank You” for all the cool stuff that his fans have helped him with this summer.

Dualistics – Last Call single: Featuring the sharp new song “Last Call” and a great b-side “Sabbatical,” this is a must download for fans of solid rock music. The file also contains a few tracks from this group’s self-titled EP.

Pretty Lights – Discography: Pick up Filling Up The City Skies and Taking Up Your Precious Time for free from the Fort Collins-based group. Definitely listen to “Solamente.” Also, just announced, the new Pretty Lights record Passing Behind Your Eyes will be available October 6.

Drag The River - Live at the Starlight: This long-out-of-print record is still being offered as a free download by our friends at Suburban Home Records. It’s a great live album and a bit of CO music history.

Rabbit Is A Sphere – Discography: It was sad to see these guys go on indefinite hiatus, but you can still enjoy their music and a high-quality bootleg via the link.

M. Pyres – Consider Me, Ghost and other FTU albums: Matt Sage of Fort Collins is quickly becoming a lo-fi phenomenon (if there can even be such a thing). Give Consider Me, Ghost a listen, then stay tuned for Apart The Echo, which is coming soon.

Young Coyotes – Basement EP: Possibly one of my favorite recordings released this year, Young Coyotes have their first EP (which was recorded… in a basement) for free on their website.

Cowboy Curse – Nod Up And Down: I first heard this band at the UMS this year. Definitely check out their song “Negative Space.”

Alright, that’s enough for now, I’ll let these build up a bit then do another one in another month or so.

Introduction: In a digital world sterility is commonplace. Finely polished products line the shelves, their contents  twisted and transformed by over-production and auto-tuning. Enter M. Pyres. Matt Sage of Fort Collins produces music for the love of the art form, no gimmicks, no frills, just quality sounds from the underground.  To the casual listener, the underground scene may be a frightening and strange place, full of scoffing hipsters and l0-fi recordings. However, what we’ve found is quite the opposite. Music at this level is no longer a consumer driven experience, but instead is a tight-knit community wherein creativity and uniqueness are the motivation.

Memorable Song: Some critics have been loving on “Fort Rage,” which is definitely a good track early on in the record, but my personal favorite is definitely “Yes, Pleas.” The straightforward beats, catchy guitar riffs,  rhyming lyrics and healthy dosage of fuzz makes this track stand out. Standing out is an important aspect when considering this record which contains 21 tracks, with many songs blending together into a continuous expression of sound.

Forgettable Song: As mentioned, this album is 21 tracks long, which means that there will be some tracks that just fade into the background (although that may actually be the intention on some of them). With that in mind, there are 6 instrumental/sound tracks titled “Spectre” scattered throughout Consider Me, Ghost. They are forgettable in that they have no lyrics to hook the listener and are all very short (about a minute a piece). However, they serve an important purpose: bringing it all together.

Final Thoughts: Despite the rough, unpolished sounds of Consider Me, Ghost, M. Pyres has managed to create something unique that has a fair amount of replay value (I think I’ve already listened to this record 3 times, with more coming). The guitars on this record are definitely reminiscent of early Neutral Milk Hotel, but I’m weary to draw too many comparisons (like I said earlier, this is quite unique, although not necessarily an acquired taste). Fir Traders Union (http://firtradersunion.blogspot.com/) offers this record, and virtually all of their releases, for download on their site. If you feel so inclined, you can even pitch them a few bucks for a physical copy.

Watch “Yes, Pleas” Live here