Tuesday, February 24, 2009

The Boxer Rebellion

The Boxer Rebellion is a band (wait what?! I know what you were thinking, surely the Boxer Rebellion, or more accurately the Boxer Uprising was the violent anti-foreign, anti-Christian movement by the "Righteous Fists of Harmony,” Yihe tuan or Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists in China, in response to imperialist expansion, growth of cosmopolitan influences, and missionary evangelism and against the backdrop of state fiscal crisis and natural disasters, local organizations began to emerge in Shandong in 1898), well no my friends, The Boxer Rebellion is a band out of London but their singer is from the U.S. somewhere. Anyway long story short, they gained some attention and they were going to support the Killers on tour a few years back but the lead singer ended up having some sort of medical anomaly worthy of the show House occur to him and it seemed as though the band would never get to fully realize their cocaine indulging, groupie whore-mongering dreams, however all was not lost. the singer got better, and recently they released their "second" full length album which recently debuted on the Billboard 100 at #84, not a big deal until you hear the kicker...they're a 100% unsigned band. their music isn't all that original but it grows on you and the simple fact that they've managed to develop a loyal following that actually is willing to buy their releases solely through the marketing power of social networking sites is quite the feat. Anyway, I have to admit I haven't listened to the disc all the way through but it seems pretty good...if you like Interpol or one of those other post-punk revival bands like I do I suggest you check out The Boxer Rebellion's new release, exclusively on iTunes entitled "Union".

mp3: The Boxer Rebellion - Never Knowing How or Why

video: Evacuate

Friday, February 13, 2009

Single's Awareness Day Megamixtape '09

So Blogger keeps removing my posts, it seems like every time I focus on a particular artist (recent cases in point: Ladyhawke, Shiny Toy Guns), they get their panties all in a bunch and forcibly remove the post. I guess I'm going to have to try and shy away from focusing on specific artists (at least when I post accompanying mp3s). Anyway, sorry for the lack of updates, I've been really busy writing, painting, drawing, preparing for my move overseas, etc, etc that I tend to forget all about this little piece of the internet and subsequently put it on the back burner. Anyway, Valentine's Day is coming up and seeing as how I am single, I could really care less, although I suppose if I was in a relationship I wouldn't really care either, I would just have to make sure that I was conscious of the "holiday" (I use that term loosely), and chalk up a boatload of cash to make my lady happy. Not my idea of the greatest time, so maybe I'm better off. Anyway, as per tradition, here it is the Valentines/Single's Awareness Day mixtape '09, I like to think that there is a little bit of something for everyone in this collection of songs, whether you're hopelessly in love, completely jaded, or crushingly depressed, you should be able to find something you like. Enjoy.

P.S. Thanks to SubPop Records for hosting a bunch of these mp3s, you made me life a lot easier.

1. Band of Horses - No One's Gonna Love You More Than I Do
2. Iron & Wine - Naked As We Came
3. The Postal Service - Such Great Heights
4. Handsome Furs - What We Had
5. The Album Leaf - Always For You
6. The Bird and the Bee - Fucking Boyfriend
7. Blur - Good Song
8. The Dandy Warhols - The Last High
9. Coldplay - Sparks
10. Muse - Endlessly
11. Death Cab For Cutie - I Will Follow You Into the Dark
12. Bloc Party - I Still Remember
13. Radiohead - Thinking About You
14. Jose Gonzalez - Hand On Your Heart
15. Dark Room Notes - Love Like Nicotine
16. The Raveonettes - That Great Love Sound
17. Rock Kills Kid - Hideaway
18. Rogue Wave - Eyes
19. Smashing Pumpkins - (That's the Way) My Love Is
20. The Smiths - How Soon Is Now
21. Stars - Your Ex-Lover Is Dead
22. Throw Me The Statue - Lolita
23. The Virgins - Teen Lovers
24. New Order - Temptation
25. We Are Scientists - Spoken For
26. Wilco - Heavy Metal Drummer
27. Bloc Party - So Here We Are
28. Damien Rice - Delicate
29. David Gray - This Years Love
30. Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism