Paul Baribeau

In the past few weeks this man has become my favorite songwriter. His music is mostly basic: acoustic guitar, untrained voice, blunt lyrics. It's raw and sincere and his stories don't sound fudged to me like I think a lot of lyricists do. That last part is just speculation/ wishful thinking though. Anyway, he's on Plan-It-X Records, and he fits right at home with the likes of Ghost Mice and Kimya Dawson. I ordered Grand Ledge before writing this post. I got Unbearable two weeks ago and have been listening to it almost nonstop. I also can't pick just one song to post in YouTube form, so here are two, and the other stuff I usually post when I write for this blog like I used to do all the time three months ago.

Myspace

Last.fm

Paul Baribeau

Split with Ghost Mice

Grand Ledge

Unbearable

Buy This Shit from Plan-It-X Records

I think this quote from the above link describes it best: "He will destroy you, if you're a human."

Rick Johnson Rock And Roll Machine

Rick Johnson is probably best known as the bassist for Michigan ska band Mustard plug, however, I was never really into said band and when my friend told me he had released solo material and recommended I listen to it, I was very sceptical. Despite that I downloaded only album of his I could find, entitled "Six Crappy Months Part One" and loved it. What's interesting about this album is that it's a thirteen track album, and only about 20 minutes long, with eight of the tracks being under two minutes long, each one a catchy fusion of Ska, Punk and Electronic. I would definately recommend the album, I cant really say I recommend him because there are two albums of his i havent heard, but go download the record, you can find it on QuoteUnquoteRecords. It really is awesome.

Last.fm
Myspace
QuoteUnquoteRecords

La Dispute

I thought I'd kick off the New Year with La Dispute. These guys are an awesome Michigan-Based Post-Hardcore band with influences from all over the map. From neat art rock, to classic Post-Hardcore, to even emotional hardcore and screamo. They've released a bunch of EP's, and currently only one Full Length, which is Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair.

They've recently released an EP to their Hear, Here series, which is more Spoken Word and minimalism that shows off their lyrical beauty and poetic side of the band. I also wanted to post this since I'm seeing them tomorrow live in Austin with Native. Whoo!

Oh, and if you want, they give all their albums for free on their Bandcamp site.

Bandcamp - Here you can buy/download for free/stream to their entire discography

Wordpress

Last.fm

Myspace

Vancouver EP

Untitled 7"

Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair

Hear, Here III EP

I didn't post a couple of Demos and the other two Hear, Here EP's, but you can go to their Bandcamp site or demand them if you really do want to download them.

The Suicide Machines

Another band in the mid-to-late-nineties wave of ska that achieved minor, minor success. (Inclusion on Tony Hawk video game soundtracks.) They were probably too energetic for the mainstream mass to handle. I have three albums of theirs. The latter two are solid skacore releases, but Destruction by Definition is a must listen. They disbanded in 2006 after the release of War Profiteering is killing us all.

Destruction by Definition

Battle Hymns

War Profiteering is Killing Us All

Myspace

Last.fm