Rough Gem | Islands

So I'm going to pretend the following things:
1. I'm not exhausted
2. The sun miraculously came out and heated up NYC to a nice 80 degrees
3. Friday's show was never canceled and there will be a special guest appearance by Tom Vek...afterparty at my apartment
4. I won the lottery and all my bills were paid
5. The last month of school was optional and I graduated with my dream job waiting for me (after a trip around the world of course)

Ah, one can dream. But you know what? It helps. Happy music helps as well. I've been bombarding my ears with only the happiest, and I've found myself quite pleased with life (although the above would be icing on the cake).

I just listened to Return To The Sea, the debut album by Islands. Oh my god, it is good. No really. This is not me exaggerating this time. I swear. It's so good, in fact, that I don't want to write about it because I'm left speechless. See? I can't stop using exaggerations. Or clichés. It's that good. Buy it.

Islands - Rough Gem



Well you knew it was coming soon, and here it is. Today, Bishop Allen released their March EP. That would be numero three EP in 2006. Those super productive folks over at They should get an award or something. I listened to this on the way to work today and I think it may be my favorite. Apparently it's Justin's too. He wrote the song about the famous ironclad the Navy built in Greenpoint. He walks by the old works on the way to their studio in the morning and on the way back to his home at night. It definitely has a walking pace to it, and it really wants to be in a movie with a cool flashback montage set to it. I love flashback montages. Especially if someone could pull it off with the "la di das".

Buy March here. (EPs are now sold as digi-packs. Instant gratification. Woot woot!)

Bishop Allen - The Monitor

Everyone knows Voxtrot gets me happy. So happy in fact that anytime anyone asks me for a new band I tell them VOXTROT!!!!! (Exclamation points included). I know that no matter what my said seeker likes, they are going to like Voxtrot. So all you haters out there, go away. You know you can't get enough of these super catchy hooks. You just don't want to admit it. Their EP is a favorite already. Go buy it. Now.

They peformed on KEXP last month and Dodge posted the MP3s from Greg. My favorite? Their Talking Heads cover. I'm convinced they played this live at one of the 3 times I saw them in Austin, but I could be wrong. I think it was the first night at Emo's. Can anyone confirm this? Either way, it's awesome.

Voxtrot - Heaven (Talking Heads cover)