golden bear

it's not that often nowadays that i approach an album without any preconceptions or expectations of what i'm about to hear, either based upon the band's previous work or upon an avalanche of hype touting a band as the "next big thing" to come out of nowhere. perhaps that's what has made the debut record from austin's golden bear* such a pleasant surprise for me. after reading kaleb's rave review at sctas.com, i got the impression this was something special but was still sort of clueless about what i should expect to hear. once i popped it in the decks, there was no stopping the infection. each song made me love them more and more. it has quickly become one of my favorite records to be released in 2006. so i think the best way to leave it out there for you is to not give you any more to think about other than that. just take the next step and give it a shot. trust me. you will be rewarded.
you can download these songs below - which are available on the c-side records website - and listen to them, of course. but the best way to do it would be to drop the measly tenner and order the cd. when it shows up on your doorstep, you can listen to the whole album properly - in order, in its entirety, while lovingly gazing into the beautifully painted cover art.

MP3: "a reason to be proud"
MP3: "santa rosa"
from the album: golden bear
release date: 08/01/06
label: c-side
myspace: make like friends

*(not to be confused with the brooklyn-based grizzly bear, who are in and of themselves a whole 'nother fantastic species of musical ursidae)

ratatat

dirty, rubbery, laserbeam guitar riffs always equal fun, if you ask me.
but no matter how many different ways you slice and dice it, no matter which angle you take to go about solving the equation, the solution you always end up at is that ratatat are frickin' cool as all get-out. after a promising debut and this highly enjoyable sophomore outing, these boys now officially reside in the portion of my heart that daft punk once occupied and then vacated years ago.

a friend of mine recently commented that "anyone who can put a sample of a wildcat in one of their songs and make it work is amazing."

AGREED!

MP3: "montanita"
MP3: "wildcat"
from the album: classics
release date: 08/15/06
label: xl recordings
myspace: make like friends