Macconnell - You Can't Take Us Anywhere

EDIT: Brian, the drummer of Macconnell, unfortunately passed away in an automobile accident on September 4, 2010. It is a shame to see a life like his cut so short and we now will never know the potential of him and what his band could accomplish. Brian was a great dude and is and will be missed. RIP Brian.

This is a post for my homies:

Macconnell - You Can't Take Us Anywhere.

For fans of Hot Water Music, Foo Fighters, Leatherface, The Draft.

Macconnell is my current favorite local band - I am thoroughly impressed with their songs so far and cannot wait to hear even newer jams. I am not saying this because they are my friends, I am saying this because it is true.

DOWNLOAD HERE!!

Also, hit up their FACEBOOK PAGE to hear and extra song not on the demo and check out a video of them I took from a show in March HERE.

Still my favorite band

Burning Bridges - Demo

Oh, hey, a blog entry! I feel like every time that either Zack or myself update this bad boy for the first time in months, we have to draw attention to it. It is kind of like when you are in one of those awkward situations and you have to be the asshole that goes and makes things even more uncomfortable by pointing it out. "This isn't awkward at all!" I am a meaty-breasted failure.

All of that nonsense aside, I am not totally sure as to why, but I thought an update with this would be a good idea. Burning Bridges was a very frigging awesome hardcore band from Albany, New York. They had members of Tripface, Lariat and Blood Has Been Shed and members went on to form End of a Year. They had a few releases after the demo, The Best Revenge and Politics of Dead Friendships. There are three songs on this demo, all of which were rerecorded and released on The Best Revenge and one of which was released AGAIN on the Politics of Dead Friendships release. They were a very fun band to see live, and while I was bummed when they called it quits, I am at least happy that End of a Year came out of it.

DL HERE!!

I DIDN'T ASK TO BE THROWN INTO THIS WOOORLD BUT IT WASN'T UP TO ME

So my boy Alex recently made a little poll on Facebook asking who people liked more: Outburst or Breakdown? I thought this was a pretty wild comparison and got me to think pretty hard about this. If this question was asked 5 years ago I would tell you Breakdown without a doubt, but now I find myself listening to Outburst a hell of a lot more. I never really thought of Outburst to have the same sort of lasting value as Breakdown but I actually find it to be the complete opposite now. Nothing against Breakdown at all, I still love that band. JUS' SAYIN'.

I also have always thought this band to be criminally underrated. I know they are a somewhat popular legendary New York Hardcore band but at the same time I feel a lot of people tend to overlook this band when talking about the incredible music that NYC has pumped out over the past 30 years. It is a shame to me that Bold comes to mind before Outburst when NYHC is mentioned. And for those of you who don't know me, I am pretty open about my hatred for Bold. They suck. Outburst didn't.

Deuces.

Favorite Track: All of them. Seriously, don't ask me to choose.

Rating: 8 Out Of 10

DOWNLOAD HERE!!

Unholy Grave

3 posts in 2 months. That's pretty good for us. A little sad, but good. Not sure if Rob noticed this guy chillen in draft for a minute, but I just have to say I'm really excited for what's waiting in draft right now.

Anyway this is Unholy Grave, a Japanese grind band who has probably done a split with every band ever. Reminds me of the Melt Banana and a little bit of Plutocracy. Their recordings are pretty rough, just adding to the raw sound they already have. This is a 'Best Of' compilation of earlier demos and splits.

Get your grind on.

(Yes, I really just wrote that.)

Rating: 8 Out Of 10

Rob's Top lists of 2009 a month and a half late!!

I am well aware that I have been pretty lazy lately and this blog as well as my others have taken a backseat to other, more important acitivities. By more important I mean beating the shit out of nerds in Modern Warfare 2, and by beating the shit out of nerds I mean getting the shit kicked out of me. As usual, I digress.

Without any further adieu , here are a few lists of my Top *insert whatever the list is about* of 2009.

Top 6 (YES, 6) Full Lengths:
1. Blacklisted - No One Deserves to be Here More than Me
2. Touche Amore - ...to the Beat of a Dead Horse
3. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - S/T
4. Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3
5. Another Breath - The God Complex *******I was toying with the idea of leaving this off of my list completely since I have been saying since I first listened to this album around six months ago that I won't count it as a 2009 release until the vinyl was in my hands. Now, I know the vinyl won't be in my possession for some time due to the issues the label has been having with getting it pressed, but since the CD officially came out last year I will count it.
6. P.O.S. - Never Better



Top 5 EPs and or Demos:
1. The Lawrence Arms - Buttsweat and Tears
2. Caleb Lionheart - Think Hardcore, Play Pop Punk
3. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Higher than the Stars
4. Bon Iver - Blood Bank
5. Burning Love - Demo



Top New Discoveries (old and new bands/artits included in no particular order):
1. Touche Amore
2. Dessa
3. Land of Talk
4. Wale
5. Broken Bells
6. Calabrese
7. Caleb Lionheart

Zack, sorry this was so late!!

Ramps

Ramps - Silent Barn - 11.20.09 (Raw) from Benjamin Lim on Vimeo.

If you're into good music and going to be in NYC on January 23rd you should try to check out this.