Phew! This week the theme seems to be obscurity. We've got a few obscure bands we'd like you guys to check out including new local favorite I Kill Pxls. Let's hop into it!



Album: From the Comfort of Your Home
Artist: Lloyd’s Garage
Label: N/A
Released: January 29, 2010
Genre: Rock
*Sub-genres Blues-rock, garage rock
Sounds like: A lil’ bit of Black Keys, a little bit of Grateful Dead, with a touch of Jet. Maybe some Stone Temple Pilots too for good measure.

It’s always cool when we get to highlight a band fresh off their debut and just beginning to pick up steam. So this week is a particularly special week for yours truly as I get to introduce you all to Lloyd’s Garage, a band out of California with a surprisingly defined sound and some pretty promising aspirations.

When you first tune into their debut album From the Comfort of Your Home you’ll be greeted with the title track which sets a really particular tone for the album. It simultaneously leaves the road wide enough to make way for the various styles the group will cycle through in the following 10 tracks while giving the audience enough of a feel for the band that you know what kind of a ride you’re in for. It’s actually quite a catchy little tune, presented with a “tuning into the radio” twist, that is one of the highlights of the album.

The composition of the album, simple as it may be (we’re talkin’ blues-rock duo a la The Black Keys) does enough to set itself apart while not straying so far away as to become abstract. The guitar can be very loud and crunchy as heard in Warmth and very bass-y and blues-y as heard in Factory Town. Meanwhile the drums follow suit in a wicked display of coordination and rhythm. When appropriate the drums are loud and thunderous utilizing a lot of simple bass hits and cymbals almost reminiscent of Meg White of The White Stripes. Other times they are more restrained and defined utilizing the bass, toms, and snare to put emphasis on the beat. And finally the vocals play between a very laid back and melodic tone to the intense delivery of a garage rock jam session. When it’s all said and done there’s something very interesting at work and while it may sound familiar to any fan of blues-rock it’s still performed well enough to excite the senses.



Overall From the Comfort of Your Home is an extremely promising beginning for the band. While the territory isn’t uncharted the manner in which the territory is covered is what makes the album worth checking out. Lloyd’s Garage is a duo with a unique ability to cover a caveat of sounds and styles without losing anything in the process. Something that even the modern legends like The Black Keys and The White Stripes had to work several years and put out several albums to attain. With any luck the duo will take this skill, find their stride, and gain all the attention they deserve. Definitely recommended.

Personal favorite tracks: Factory Town, Goodbye, From the Comfort of Your Home

TL;DR: Exceptional blue-rock from an exceptional blue-rock duo. Give ‘em a shot why don’t ya?

Shameless promotion fun time!: You can find more about Lloyd's Garage as well as buy their album for a mere $8 at their official site. Special thanks to Chrysti of Platform One Entertainment for tipping us off to them and hooking us up!

-Xzyliac



Album: Twoism
Artist: Boards of Canada
Label: Music70
Released: 1995/2002
Genre: Ambient
*Sub-genres Intelligent Dance Music
Sounds like: A very weird combination of drum loops and ambient sound.

If Indie was a kingdom, Twoism would be its Emperor. The debut album of Boards of Canada has been kept in the obscurity voluntarily by its creators. It was publish by the group’s own record label and release to the lucky hundred who happen to orbit around the Scottish-men. Needless to say that the price for these cassette tapes when up tremendously. They cost about 800 pounds each, which is it a lot of money if you live in England apparently. The present record label of Boards of Canada even offered to reissue the album in 2002; the group accepted under the condition that it would be as low-keyed as possible. They claimed that the discovery of the album by fans was more important than blatant advertising; it would make the music more personal to the discoverers.

Independent indeed, Twoism is a very strange album. Depending on the version you get, you’ll have different tempos for some songs, or even additional sound layers added. The 1995 version sounds pretty much like it should, very rudimentary and it flickers too much. If you have to choose between the two, I would go with the 2002 reissue. If you can manage to listen to the original one, it is still very interesting to see the changes it went through.

The album is so freaking weird, a mix between Hip-Hop drums and ambient synthesize keys. Twoism is part trip-hop, part noise, and part space music, there’s no middle ground. It kind of sticks on its own like it was caught in between two dimensions of sound. Some tracks have background noise almost impossible to hear the first time around, you really have to pay attention to the subtle details of each track. It creates a very strange but addictive way to listen to the album, seriously, even at the 6th or 7thlisten; you can still notice new channels and waves rushing to your ears. Feedback noise morph into hidden rhythms, the slightest imperfection is voluntarily put into the tracks to challenge your ears in a surprisingly clever way and without several sessions, you won’t even notice it.

Twoism is minimalistic in beats and harmonies. It is simple drum and ambient noises mixed together to create groovy and abstract rhythms. The album emanates with a curious haunting feel paired with a laid-back atmosphere that is almost dream-like. Songs usually cap around the five minute mark, but feel like ten. It all comes down to the hypnotizing feel of the album’s rhythms. It gives the illusion of simplistic songs, while it’s the exact opposite, especially in the reissued version.

The album is a gem of ambient sound; it is by far the best album from Boards of Canada. Their primitive beginnings led the way for a more democratic exposure, but Twoism represents the true underground ethos; it must be discovered and not drilled into listeners’ ears. The album is haunting and groovy; it is probably one of the most interesting ambient experiences I’ve had. Subtle and toxically addictive, Twoism is great.

Personal favorite tracks: Sixtyniner, Oirectine, Twoism, Seeya Later.

TL;DR: A very unique album, one of Boards of Canada’s lesser known work; haunting and inexplicably groovy.

-Kraid



Album: I KILL PXLS
Artist: I KILL PXLS
Label: Bandcamp/Self Released
Released: July 28 2010
Genre: electro dance pop
*Sub-genres chiptune-infused electronica
Sounds like: You got Chiptunes in my Techno Beats! You Got Techno Beats in my Chiptunes! OCRemix at times

I KILL PXLS Burst onto the scene and into ours (and Hamza’s) Hearts with his now well known track, I’m a Shark (Suck My Dick) Now he’s back to work his magic again and give us another full album of his “electro dance pop.” Does it have the same magic? Well yes. It shows off how versatile he really is with the heavily chiptune infused tracks making you wanna get up and dance to his hard techno beats. Sometimes making me think of it like an 8-Bit hard Mode of Daft Punk at times. Maybe you scoff at that praise but it’s solid stuff here. I may say it’s like Overclocked Remix too at times, but I mean that as a compliment. The lyrics are clever and while not always as catchy as his debut single, it’s hard to make a full album of just 6 word songs.

This may seem like a short review, but what else can i say, this isn't music that is for everyone and i know it. Most of you probably made up your mind on I KILL PXLS already but take my advice and give him a shot.

Personal favorite tracks:

3D Lover
X-TYPE
Restart Again

(All tracks can be found over on http://ikillpxls.bandcamp.com/ Don’t be a Dick and try to rip the songs from the page, It’s 5 bucks)

TL;DR: If you like Video Game Soundtracks, Techno or Dance Music, or sharks as much as Hamza, you will dig this Album.

-Antwhan



Album: Merriweather Post Pavilion
Artist: Animal Collective
Label: Domino Recording Company
Released: 2009
Genre: Experimental Freak Neo-Psychedelic Folk Rock -or- advant garde music
Sounds like: Experimental Freak Neo-Psychedelic Folk Rock -or- advant garde music

I’d have to be some sort of genius to make that genre up. I’m only smart enough to group them together, Don’t let the confusing mash of genres scare you though, everything in Merriweather Post Pavilion is completely listenable, if you open up your mind to it.

If you already know about Animal Collective (or read the review for Fall Be Kind on Stereotoid before), then you already know what to expect; pretty much anything. Although not as extravagant as past albums, Merriweather Post Pavilion manages to throw a lot of unheard-of musical style at first time listeners, all while staying melodic in nature. You could describe most of what Animal Collective melodic noise, though, in this album, it really is more melodic than Animal Collective’s normal.

As I said before in the Fall Be Kind review, the staple of Animal Collective is build up, introducing a bunch of elements until they reach a focal point, and then removing all of those elements just as quickly as they were introduced. With this in mind, Animal Collective manages to fit a lot of elements that shouldn’t fit together in a normal situation. Everything from syncopation to vocal/tonal structure and placement makes it seem as if these guys just sat around and threw musical ideas at each other for hours. The ending result is songs that can greatly excite and extremely calm you at the same time. Nearly every song is danceable on this album, yet they are also songs to just mellow out to.

It’s a joy just to listen and try and figure out what instruments, instrumental/vocal effects, and various other things Animal Collective manages to jam into their songs. This makes it possible to listen to a song over and over and over and truly never get tired of it, not just because it’s a damn good tune, but because you’re always discovering something new within the track, whether it’s lyrics you’ve never heard, or a subtle keyboard part that just now stood out to you. If anything, I wish I had an IMAX style surround sound setup so I could listen to “Taste” over and over again.

Another note is the lyrics of this album. I’m not a really listener for lyrics, unless it’s a concept album, with a concept I can understand. Most artists can write really intense and profound lyrics, and I’d just get on buy with just being able to repeat them because music isn’t about lyrics to me. But Merriweather Post Pavilion lyrical content managed to keep me interested, mostly because it really is to the point of what they’re trying to say. If it’s anything, I want to be the person described in the chorus of “My Girls”. This is the album for Buddah.

All in all, Merriweather Post Pavilion is an album that will spend a lot of time in your head. It’s catchy, it’s poppy, it’s experimental, it’s grounded, it’s melodic, and it’s everything at once. It’s one of those albums you expect to only get better if it was played live, and honestly it’s one of the few albums I can say I have the entire thing stuck in my head, instead of just a couple of really good songs. I whole heartedly recommend this to anyone who wants something a little more unconventional in their musical line up.

And the Box Art is awesome.

Personal favorite tracks: Taste , My Girls (Official Music Video) , and Summertime Clothes (Official Music Video)

TL;DR: Go watch the music video for My Girls and tell me you don’t love this band. But don’t watch the “Summertime Clothes” music video unless you want to be scared.

-Daxelman

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Now take these words of wisdom, pick some new tunes to jam to, and WEEKEND YOUR ASS OFF!