Unreasonable Hatred of Of Montreal Giveaway Contest

As I mentioned in my last post, Polyvinyl is doing this thing where they send you seven random 7" records for ten bucks. They promised they wouldn't send repeat records or repeat bands, however I got THREE Of Montreal 7" in my batch. This really got me thinking about how much I hate Of Montreal. I don't really know why. I think it has something to do with the feeling I get that they're trying to do some sort of "we're pop! But we're weird too!" thing (this is also kinda why I dislike Animal Collective). Really though, I don't think I have a good reason for hating Of Montreal. I've probably listened to them a handful of times without paying much attention. I also like to think that I'm not one of those music nerds who spends much time thinking about terrible bands, because who cares right? With that said, Of Montreal occupies a special place in my brain where I know that my own ego will prevent me from ever enjoying their music. I don't care if they have good songs, or if I'm being unfair. I just want them gone.

My first instinct was to destroy these but that seems wasteful. I could trade them but that seems like a lot of effort. Then I thought that maybe I could use these as cheap payment to get more content on my blog without having to put much of my own time/thought/effort into coming up with something myself. So that's what I'm going to do! This post is a contest. Write something vaguely related to some or all of the following prompts and I will mail these to whoever submits the best entry.

1) Come up with a story about my youth. Include a traumatic event that explains why I can't enjoy music like this.
2) Write about a band you hate for no reason.
3) Write about how annoying 7" records are.
4) Something about bands with annoying band names (such as beginning your name with the word "of").
5) Any other random prompt you feel like writing about.

I want to stress the arbitrary nature of this contest. No minimum length or rules whatsoever. The only thing I really don't want is anything that talks about why I'm wrong, or why Of Montreal isn't terrible. I don't care. Send all entries to either the comments section of this post or email to dorktwinkle AT gmail dot com. All three 7"s have been played exactly once and still have usable download codes. Contest ends...whenever. This week sometime. Runner up prizes TBD.

Love of Everything - Soon I Wish

So here's the deal. Polyvinyl is doing some sort of sale where you pay $10 for seven 7" records. Pretty good deal right? First of all, most of the 7"s I buy are more like...EPs and stuff. Records with a couple songs on a side. These are all singles. That's okay though because I knew I ran that risk. What is completely unacceptable is that I got THREE Of Montreal singles with my bundle. THREE! Of Montreal is not a band I enjoy.

Anyways...I did my duty and listened to everything and I actually got a couple of cool records! This is one of them. Apparently Love of Everything is a guy named Bobby Burg and Matt Holland and they're ostensibly related to Joan of Arc. I have been listening to an absolute ton of Joan of Arc lately (more to come) an anybody related (besides Of Montreal) automatically gets a listen. There are some cool pop songs on here. They're real nice to listen to after listening to boring trite pop songs all day. Enjoy. 

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) Mix

I recorded this Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR)-themed mix live on April 6, 2013 using two audio cassette players, an iPod, and a mixer (see this for more info). While nothing in the mix actually triggers ASMR for me, I included songs with lots of crunches, pops, and whispers in the spirit of ASMR. I hope you enjoy the mix!

Track List:

1. Reedbeds - Bedside (Sicsic, 2012)

2. Kevin Greenspon - Ache (Obeast Tapes, 2009)

3. Marble Sky - Western Coast (Callow God, 2009)

4. Grant Evans - Untitled (House of Sun, 2013)

5. Kevin Costner Suicide Pact - Holdrakèta (Hooker Vision, 2012)

6. Aloonaluna -  Boat of Swamp Memories (Hooker Vision, 2012)

7. Venn Rain - Form Waves (Sicsic, 2012)

8. Motion Sickness of Time Travel - Something to Find (Tranquility Tapes, 2013)

9. Beru - The Sun is Going to Explode (Self released, 2013)

10. Adam Beckley - The Day You Heal (Armed Within Movement, 2012)

Fat History Month - Bad History Month

I saw this band open for Pile this weekend and they were awesome! Great riff-y two-piece with some really good songs and a solid back catalog. I like bands that know how to sound heavy even with two people and mostly clean guitar. This band kinda reminds me of how I used to feel when I was first discovering cool guitar indie bands for the first time. Highly, highly recommended.

edit: I realized right after posting this that this band sounds a helluva lot like early Modest Mouse, which is awesome.

Criminals - Babes

Low-key hissing feedback, squeaks and pops. Noise for the post-apocalypse. This is what I imagine my great-grandchildren will listen to while scrounging for old cans of beans in our future neoliberal paradise. I recommend listening to this in the dark while browsing this guy's art.