Park Ranger Barkwood's "We Are Not Brothers EP"

Park Ranger Barkwood is a guitar/drums duo from Orlando, Florida. They kind of remind me of a mixture between algernon cadwallader, tiny hawks, and kickball but punkier? What am I talking about? Just listen to it, it's joyous! and hey! FUCK YOU! (you'll know what I mean once you hear the intro to 'jock on bikes') :D This is mainly for Drew who loves this kind of stuff... Hey Drew!

Here are the lyrics also which I <3...

summer- wake up! summer’s coming quickly. i can feel it in the wind and rain. plant your garden. don’t settle here, out of reach of your jackknife. the seasons change not for a long time. so pack your things and leave this place for good. there is nothing here worth living for. there’s nothing worth it at all. there’s more to living than just blood and air. there’s more to home than settling. wake up!

jocks on bikes- jocks on bikes aren’t very nice, just jerks. getting all cut so they can yell at punk kids. nerds are cool. jocks they drool. jocks are pricks with very little dicks. i know what you said you stupid faggot kids. jocks on bikes are just jerks.

spider song- i didn’t kill a spider today. i think that says something. maybe he’ll come back and bite me in my sleep.

brothers- we don’t even look the same. two skinny white guys with hair who both always wear shirts and pants. did you even think when you asked us if we were the same person? i think you know what i mean. you’re probably someone else.

Check it out first? www.myspace.com/parkrangerbarkwood
Click the picture^ to download, silly.

Upsilon Acrux's "Galapagos Momentum"

Under-rated instrumental math rock goodness from California. This album is superb. If you like math rock then you are going to enjoy this. It is currently (and easily) my favorite of theirs, although their 2009 album, Radian Futura, is also really good.

At times this album has reminded me of Colditz Glider, Don Caballero, Sleeping People, and The Advantage. (Some parts sound nintendo-y which is usually a huge plus, for me at least.) There is even a part on track 3 that is Toe/Rooftops/Pretend-y. (:

Tracks 3, 6, and 8 are my favorites.
Listen first here. (Click album art^ to download.)

Here is a video of their first track off of Radian Futura.
(Keep in mind, from Galapagos Momentum (2007) to Radian Futura (2009) Upsilon only kept one member the same. Paul Lai on guitar.)

Hermeto Pascoal e Grupo's "Mundo Verde Esperanca"

Hermeto Pascoal is a 73-year-old Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist. He is probably best known for being featured on Miles Davis's 1971 album "Live-Evil," on which he composed three of the eight tracks. Davis has said of Pascoal that he was the "most impressive musician in the world."


My personal favorite since delving into his discography fairly recently is his group's 2003 album "Mundo Verde Esperanca." On this particular album Pascoal employs "found" objects such as teakettles played with tuba mouthpieces, squeak toys, and water-filled soda bottles among other things. This aspect of his music reminds me of how The Books get some of their sounds. However, in actuality this album is probably more like 70s Zappa than anything else I could reference... besides Sesame Street (albeit on hard drugs) which I am also reminded of from time to time.
(Click album art to download or if you would like to listen first try Taynara or Celso.)

Here is a little "bonus" video of Pascoal and friends making some beautiful melodies and sounds in a Brazilian lagoon. (a must-watch!) :)