This is an email I wrote to my good friend Charles a few months ago. He asked me casually to hook him up with some new music and it turned into this monstrosity. I think it says a lot more about me than it does the music.

Chester - last night went super duper awesome, I had a lot of fun - It’s gonna sound rad all plugged in.

As promised I’m passing on some music. These are some of my favs. — I should say that this started out as just a bunch of links, and then it got… more… involved.. Though I do own cats (plural) (just 2) I’m not a crazy person. Cross my heart. The email below is just a combination of a slow morning, guilt from not doing this months ago when I said I would, and a guy who really loves the music he loves.

Ira’s Mix - This is a KILLER Beach Boys mix made by a kid I knew from Skidmore. I don’t know what “Beach Boys” connotes for you guys, but this is some really cool complex, and occasionally a little dark music from the band and their various solo projects. Sorry about the nameless tracks. I’m normally totally OCD w/ that stuff, but I like to think of it as part of its charm.

Deadwing by Porcupine Tree - My favorite album of 2006. They are kind of like a edgier modernized Floyd. It’s that “Nu-Prog” stuff I was talking about at Walter’s. The album is an interesting mix of accessible shorter tracks (Lazarus, Halo, Open Car) and longer more epic ones (Deadwing, Arriving Somewhere, Mellotron Scratch, Start of Something Beautiful). If you aren’t into this one, I’d like to try some of their other stuff from them on you. If you are, I’d like to try some of their other stuff on you.

Been to the Future by Joey Eppard - My bandmates all grew up together were all in a band before I started playing with them. They went to play some “Battle of the Bands” and were doing OK compared to the competition until this guy came on. As he was the only signed act that night it was kinda BS that he was there in the first place, but he’s the man - and at the end of the day it was for the best. Really cool acoustic guitar work, poppy with thoughtful lyrics, great voice, great songs. It’s one of the records I keep coming back to every two weeks or so. Good shit.

Faith Hope Love by King’s X - These guys rule. Heavy heavy airtight rock trio with an AWESOME front man, and beatles-esque harmonies. They’ve been around since the 80s and are credited with pioneering grunge (pre-seattle) as well as drop-D tuning. Crazy huh? They’ve earned a lot a lot a lot of respect from fellow musicians, but (not for lack of trying) never really struck popular appeal. They’re next album is going to be called “Go Tell Somebody” — this is kinda my stab at that.

Carnival by Moke - A relatively obscure, but extremely awesome English band from the 90s. This is the second of their two albums. It’s a little more creative production-wise, but they are both amazing. These guys make the music that lives in my head: heavy, beautiful, edgy, and inspired. Easily in my all-time top 5 bands ever. Easily.

Musicology by Prince - Just in case you don’t have it already. Prince is the man. This maybe his best work ever. I’m listening to it right… now.

Seal Acoustic - Seal? Really?? Seal? This is the second disc of a Greatest Hits album he release a few years ago. It’s a handful of his best work, totally stripped. No harmonies, no synths, no nuthin. It’s one of the prettiest albums in my collection, and the quality of the production is immaculate. (Excellent for hangovers)

The Light by Spock’s Beard - Sick 90s-Early 00s relatively poppy progressive rock band. This is a really nice album. There’s a lot going on. The first track is a little more theatrical than most of their other stuff, but don’t let that turn you off. They’ve got some very technical and well crafted instrumental sections that, to me, are kinda reminiscent of Phish’s structured, synced up, instrumentals. Chester, let me know if you hear it too. The lead singer/mastermind (Neal Mose) has since found Jesus, and consistently pumps out remarkable solo projects… about Jesus.

Suzan Kingdom by The Suzan - I just kinda tossed this in there. It’s pretty much as obscure as I get. These guys played right before us at a show, Charlie I think you were there but i don’t know if you caught them — it was the only time I’ve bought another band’s CD at a show, and I’m happy I did. Straight up rock and roll brought to you by four little Japanese girls. It was just awesome. The craziest part is, they flew all the way over from Japan to play some of the shittiest clubs in New York. We were literally in a basement that maxed at 90 people, underneath two other venues.

Bottoms of Barrels by Tilly and The Wall - This was my ‘honorable mention’ for 2006 album of the year. (I am so delusional) I don’t really know what to call them… I guess Indy works. They are relatively popular on that scene, you may know them already. I fucking love these guys. Their most unique characteristic is that they have a tap dancer who performs with them as a percussive instrument. The album has this great energy to it, that kinda comes form the whole “stomping and clapping” thing they have going on. Combined with their thoughtful lyrics, it makes for a unique and remarkable album.

Soul Vaccination by Tower of Power - An absolutely perfect live recording of arguably the tightest soul band to ever throw down. This one speaks for itself.

Blackfield II by Blackfield - This is the most recent release from a side project by Steve Wilson (Porcupine Tree) and Israeli pop star Aviv Geffen. For what it’s worth, this is Amanda’s favorite band ever. Though I prefer Porcupine Tree, these guys are extraordinary. The album is amazingly seamless and cohesive, which is most likely be a consequence of the short 40-minute runtime. If you get into it, I’ll be happy to give you their first release. Also great.

Distorted Lullabies by Ours - Last, but certainly not least, this is their debut release from early ’00s; Jimmy Gnecco’s vocals, reminiscent of Jeff Buckley and early (as in good) U2, soar over the entire album. The songwriting and performances satisfy everything I look for in musical greatness. The band earned a decent degree of critical acclaim when their song “Sometimes” reached the top of MTV2 charts. Since then they’ve laid very low, hired new backing musicians, and have been recording an album almost 4 years in the making — really looking forward to that one. I’ve seen them live twice now, and it was nothing short of phenomenal.

OK OK OK - that’s it. Sorry for all this self-indulgent ridiculousness. It’s a lot to take in at once. Please, don’t feel pressured to listen to all of it and get back to me ASAP, but obviously, I’d love to know what you think.

LATERS,

LM.

Yeah, so that’s me in an email.

I’ve broken all the links to the since moving it from a private to a public medium, but if any of my manic descriptions piqued your to curiosity, leave a comment or send me an email and we’ll go from there…