so i guess summer was great, but music-wise i haven't been super impressed by any new bands. after washed out/neon injuns/small black/etc explosion of last summer, i guess this summer just didn't compare. honestly, very few new bands with more than 2 or 3 great tunes or something really, exceptionally cool to offer. no new 'chill.'
the only newish thing that i really like is monster rally, who i first downloaded on (according to my computer) may 24th in the spring. he (maybe it's a man? i can't find any real information about this person/people) makes sample-based beach/surf-ish instrumental music, i think it's really catchy. none of it has any vocals, all of the songs are very short. also he makes no attempt to hide the loops in his samples, typically they only last a few measures.
he released his first ep, entitled ep, in late may.
i dig it, here are my favorite songs. (thanks to weekly tape deck for the links (i think they're my favorite blog)
Monster Rally – Honey Moon
Monster Rally - Sun's Hula
then he released another ep, palm reader, in late july. probably a better album than the first (thanks to gorilla vs bear for the links (they're a huge deal).
Monster Rally - Steal
Monster Rally - Birds Pt. 1
and, just two days ago, he released a lil 7" called color sky
Monster Rally - Color Sky
AND most interesting of all, he remixes MF DOOM songs. really well. he uses the same beach-mania samples, it sounds great. the 'vomit' remix came out right before his first ep, the 'gooey gum drops' just came out. dude. gooey gum drops sounds so good.
MF DOOM - Vomit (Monster Rally remix)
MF DOOM - Gooey Gum Drops (Monster Rally remix)
so yeah, this guy is pretty cool. i'm sure we'll be hearing more from him. all of his music is available for free download on the monster rally website, definitely check it out.
