The Submarines - Honeysuckle Weeks

A once musical couple, now a married couple, this duo produces indie pop. They broke up, went solo, and came back together again.

http://www.mediafire.com/?ojtjruzfj5k

Tom Brosseau - Posthumous Success

Tom Brosseau is a performing songwriter who grew up on the wide-open prairies of the Red River Valley of North Dakota, in a family steeped in traditional music and culture. Citing influences as diverse as Nick Drake, Cole Porter, and Woody Guthrie, Brosseau composes poetic new Dylan-esque folk inflected acoustic rock. Delived in a unique high lonesome sound, his minimalist sound has often been described as “haunting”, or simply “stunning”.

Request post, found at thunderboltjackson.wordpress.com where all the cool kids hang out.

http://www.mediafire.com/?zy1hqzgm1li

Tin Hat Trio - Helium

Whimsical, bluegrassy jazz from three extremely talented musicians, one of whom (Carla) currently plays violin for Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. Oh, and Tom Waits makes an appearance. Kaada-ish.

Helium
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?id33dn2jmnv

Broski - Jortch

Out of Allentown, PA right near where I go to school, comes Broski, the sister of a blog reader named Emily. Broski is self described as "Music for driving away from your girlfriend's house" and it's pretty fitting. The four track EP is just a two-piece set of Mitch on guitar and Jordan on drums, but the simplicity isn't a bad thing. Mitch plays some choppy quick catchy rifts with a definite emo influence. They recently played with My Heart To Joy which is what I'm digging right now so that's a plus. I was going to try relate them to a Cap'n Jazz spin-off band, but they are like an upbeat version of all of them combined. My only critique which is kind of a major turn-off for me normally is the lack of vocals. I'm a big fan of music with something to say and a good voice to say it. Despite this, I enjoyed listening to Broski, and I look foward to seeing how they develop.

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/broskisounds
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?nflhrmjd0kg

Capricorns - Ruder Forms Survive & Capricorns EP

And now, back to the mainstreamish garbage I like to dish out. Capricorns are a sludge/doom outfit with a lot to offer. Ruder Forms Survive starts off with deep breaths, then engages the listener in a sharp, engaging torrent. It's polished, precise, and morose. A great addition to any Doom collection, or any other collection since everyone can use a little more doom in their lives.
The Capricorns EP (image shown above) was added to this post primarily because the opening track, "Comrades in Tears", was the first Capricorns song I ever heard and it's also one of their best.

Ruder Forms Survive
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?yeyi2zmvlbx

Capricorns EP
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?jmwkwdqz2zt

Joint Cheifs of Math - You Are Here

Here's the second band I was asked to review, The Joint Chiefs of Math. The Joint Chiefs of Math are a duo consisting of two lads named Kevin and Marcus. Together, they have crafted a bizarre, messy, noisy, dissonant masterpiece. Marcus plays drums like a hyperactive seizure made coherent through conscious thought and Kevin covers all the strings in a wild blaze of sound, not as wild as a group like Lightning Bolt, but somewhat close. In fact, I'd venture to say that these guys are a coherent version of groups like Lightning Bolt, playing a safer, but very satisfying version of that intense sound (minus the screaming and the fact that Lightning Bolt uses only bass whilst these guys have a guitar). Check 'em out and you won't be disappointed.

http://www.myspace.com/thejointchiefsofmath
http://www.sendspace.com/file/oalxai

In Heaven and You - Vena Cava Parts I and II

So five folks decided to send emails to this here blog askin' for reviews of their music, so I thought, "Hey, I'm an asshole who thinks he knows something about music, I could spare a few words for these guys," and so I did.
The first of the three bands I was asked to review was a project known as In Heaven and You lead by Alex Vallejo. The description in the email that was forwarded to me said, "...dark folk...", but if anything, this is acoustic prog with a small latin vibe (or at least the three tracks I was sent were). There's a virtuoso feel with each track, but without the lack of substance that virtuoso songs tends to have (see. every generic prog-metal band in existence. Planet X comes to mind).
The songs were primarily acoustic guitar and vocals with one little goody here and there. There's some rough patches, but overall this dude has tremendous potential and amazing talent. The musicianship is phenomenal and the songs have a great vibe that's begging for larger arrangements. Vocals are very heart-worn-on-sleeve-ish and have a bitter sweet hint of emotion, but could benefit from some vocal training. If you're in the mood for something dark, but light on the ears, pick this shit up now.

myspace.com/inheavenandyou
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?z4tqzqngyte