MERRY CHRISTMAS FOLKS! AND HOORAY FOR THE MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION LEAK! THAT WAS THE OFFICIALLY THE GREATEST CHRISTMAS TO EVER HAPPEN.

But now, a handful of music:

Stiffed-Burned Again

Here we have Burned Again, an album from Stiffed, a punk band featuring Santi White (Santogold) on vocals. My friend Jocelyn got her hands on this and shared it with me, so thanks a lot! If you enjoy Santogold, definitely check this out. Even though its more punk, her excellent voice is still easy to pinpoint.

Guided By Voices-Under The Bushes Under The Stars

Really, if you haven't heard Guided By Voices, you are really missing out. Fans of early 90's indie rock along the lines of Pavement, Beat Happening, Silver Jews and Sebadoh, you will love Guided By Voices. Plus, fans of today's "noise pop" will enjoy this, seeing as they were a bit noisy and lo-fi. Although their breakthrough album, Bee Thousand, is often seen as their best, I'm pretty confident that UTBUTS is their best work.

I have to go to work now, but I have at least 4 new albums to post later, but there could be as many as 8 or 9. We shall see!

So, I've been super busy lately, but I'll be posting some good stuff sometime before Christmas. I'll try to switch it up, instead of just posting post-punk stuff all the time. I promise!

James Chance & The Contortionists-Buy
One of the original no-wave bands. Imagine a punk band with a lead singer who also played the saxophone. Cool stuff, huh? Check this out then. Punk+Jazz=pure win.

ESG-A South Bronx Story

This almost all-female band really defines "tragically unheard". I think of them as the Velvet Underground of hip-hop, dance and post-punk: few people heard it, but those who did were very influenced by it. Considered to be part of New York's No Wave scene, ESG played a dance-punk-funk-r&b hybrid that really just needs to be heard. get this now.

Michael Ian Black-I Am A Wonderful Man

Michael Ian Black is a wonderful man and you really should have his stand up album as well as anything he has ever been involved with. You probably recognize him from those Vh1 shows, which is a good start. But get this album, find a way to see The State and Stella, two classic shows which he was a part of and then read his pieces on McSweeneys. His comedy troupe, Stella (same name as the show, I know), also features Michael Showalter and David Wain, a Clevelander who directed Wet Hot American Summer and this year's Role Models. They are performing in Cleveland at the House of Blues this Sunday and I highly recommend any Clevelander to get out for a few hours of good laughs.

Note: This is not the kind of album you want to listen to with your grandmother, unless she is like mine and is not really offended by crude humor. And no this isn't toilet humor, it's actually rather 'intelligent'

Life Without Buildings-Any Other City

This is a post-punk group from Australia I think. I don't really care though because they are just that good. A lot of people have been re-discovering Young Marble Giants recently, which is how I came across this group, so I figured I'd post this album. I havent listened to much YMG so I cant make a *decent* comparison but I'd say these guys are have a little less of that indie pop sound that I vaguely remember YMG having. Alright, forget those last few sentences and just download this, its worth your 70 MB.

The Dead Milkmen-Big Lizard in My Backyard [1985]
I'll always have great memories of this band. I remember being in 7th grade, a fan of punk music and good comedy, when my friend Nate found this cassette in his uncle's van and we listened to it. Not only was this one of the most fun albums I had ever heard, but it was hilarious as well. "Bitchin' Camaro" is probably the best known song on the album and it led to me incorporating the term 'bitchin' into my vernacular to describe awesome nouns. As I return to this album after 5 years deprived of The Dead Milkmen, I can honestly say that this album is still just as great as it was the first time I heard it. I hope you have as great of a time listening as I did!

Disappears-Live Over the Rainbo

I saw this band open for Deerhunter & Times New Viking a week or two ago and I just had to have their album. Not only did they put on an excellent show, I talked to their bass player for a while, who turned out to be a great guy. This band plays an energetic blend of Jesus & Mary Chain shoegaze/noise with Thought Creature/Joy Division style post-punk. I've also described them to a friend as A Place To Bury Strangers, but with more post-punk and less shoegaze. This live album is a very limited release, with only 100 copies printed, and was produced especially for the Deerhunter/Times New Viking tour. Sure, this band isn't really bringing anything new to the table, but much like APTBS, they do a damn fine job of bringing back some older sounds.

*And if you haven't heard Thought Creature, I highly recommend checking it out. I'll try to post their album one of these days. Making folders into .rar and then uploading to mediafire takes WAY too much time.

And I'm not posting it, but that new Kanye West album is seriously phenomenal. I listened to it 4 times driving to and from Columbus over the weekend and it has secured a spot on my Best of 2008 list. As my last.fm friend said on his blog, when we were younger and better, "this is kanye's kid a". Exactly.

Ween-GodWeenSatan (Anniversary Edition) [1990]

If you don't know Ween, then you have been more deprived than a child who has never eaten chocolate. If you embrace silliness, wackiness and plain political incorrectness with open arms, Ween is definitely the band for you. GodWeenSatan is their debut album and probably their absolute weirdest album yet. They cover a lot of ground over the course of these 29 songs, which range from spazztastic noise to psychedelic classic rock riffs. Whatever doesn't fall into those categories could be described as trippy-funk-soul-pop on acid. I've done enough talking, just listen for yourself. Also, if you don't like this, don't give up on Ween, this is their most inaccesible release yet so try Chocolate & Cheese.

Game Theory-Lolita Nation [1987]

This album was recommended by my friend Daniel, who is incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to music, especially post-punk and experimental stuff. We were discussing Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation when he said that this was the better of the Nation-bearing albums. Well, I'm unsure as to which is better, but I do know that this album by Game Theory gives Sonic Youth a run for their money. Jangle-pop meets Elvis Costello meets post-punk in a flurry of awesomeness.

Mouse on the Keys-Sezession [2007]

I couldnt find cover art for this, but this album is AWESOME. If it were released in 2008, it would easily be on my list, likely toward the top. Mouse on the Keys are a Japanese band that fuses jazz piano with post-rock, resulting in an upbeat jazzier version of 65daysofstatic. Don't hold me to that though, its more a frame of reference. But yeah, its only 16 minutes and 4 songs but oh lord, its great. I was too lazy to upload it myself, so I'm just using the WE FUCKING LOVE MUSIC link. Czech it out, dudes.

Les Rallizes Dénudés-Heaving Than A Death In The Family

When I found this album, I felt like the ultimate winner of the internet. This band is a forgotten Japanese psychedelic/noise band from the late 60's/early 70's. Their style of psychedelic rock, noise and drone has been highly influential among the psychedelic, noise and drone scenes, but pretty much forgotten outside of those scenes. This band reminds me of the Velvet Underground, though a Velvet Underground who took a lot of acid and ventured more into avant-garde music, rather than 'pop' music. Czech it out, it's worth it.