I’m not sure there’s an album this year that’s gotten the kind of underground buzz this one is getting. I like it quite a bit, don’t get me wrong, but I’m sort of surprised it’s gotten this kind of reception. It’s a strong candidate for my year-end top ten list, but unless it grows on me considerably, it won’t be in the top five.

Anyway, these guys did everything on this album, which is their debut. They even released it themselves through their web page. Definite bonus points for that.

Today’s MP3 is available here. It’s got a very definite Talking Heads feel to it.

Mick Jones (formerly of the Clash) and Tony James (formerly of the Sisters of Mercy, Generation X and glam punk band Sigue Sigue Sputnik) have a new band called Carbon Silicon. They’ve been in and out of the studio for the last year or so, working on material.

They say much of their inspiration comes from downloading and the internet, and they actively encourage people to download and share their music. So that’s just what I’m going to do.

This song definitely sounds like Mick’s work - similar to a lot of the songs he wrote in the later years of the Clash.

Download here.

“It’s Lifter Puller’s world. We just live in it.” –Joe Strummer

I’ll admit it: I missed out on Lifter Puller while they were still together. They totally flew under my radar, which is a darn shame because this is some terrific stuff. One writer described Lifter Puller vocalist Craig Finn’s delivery as “smooth like cigarettes and straight vodka”. That’s about right.

This is a band that’s not for the unadventurous, but if the vocals don’t put you off, it’s well worth your time.

Download here.

Related entry: The Hold Steady, “Your Little Hoodrat Friend”

If there’s one guy in the world of rock music I admire, apart from the late Joe Strummer, it’s probably Faith No More’s frontman Mike Patton.

He can do the most amazing things with his voice. You need a rock vocalist? He’s your guy. Need someone to cover a Commodores song and completely nail the vocals? Patton can do it. Need someone who can go from a smooth, Sinatra-esque style to death metal grunts in the span of a second or two? Mike Patton’s the only guy for the job.

Anyway, this was Faith No More’s final single before they broke up back in 1998. Also one of their best songs. It’s a pretty straightforward rock song, at least by their standards.

Download here.

North Korean pop music.

I don’t speak Korean, so I’m not sure if any of the phrases “imperialist aggressor”, “human scum”, or “running dog” appear anywhere in the song. I just know the very concept of North Korean pop music makes me laugh.

So here it is, in all its glory. While you’re listening, be sure to peruse the database of North Korean propaganda.

The one hit from a sadly forgotten 90s alternative rock band. Hum featured what seemed like thousands of layers of fuzzed-out guitars and goofy lyrics that were often about physics and space travel.

They sold a quarter-million copies of their album You’d Prefer An Astronaut largely because this song is so cool.

Download it here.

The originators, and as far as I know, the only purveyors of a style of music they called “deep slacker jazz”.

Soul Coughing had four members: A singer/guitarist, a stand-up bass player, a drummer, and a guy who more or less just played samples. They were a pretty amazing live band. Singer Mike Doughty would make all kinds of crazy (almost involuntary) hand motions as he half-talked, half-sung his way through a show.

In about 1995, I saw them in a bar in Toledo, Ohio with about 50 other people in the crowd and they completely blew the doors off the place. The other memorable moment from that night was when Doughty convinced the (either very drunk or very high) girl with a tambourine in the front to give him the tambourine so he could use it. She gave it to him, and he promptly threw it backstage for the remainder of the show because she was annoying everybody.

Smart guy, that Doughty.

Click here to download.

Related link: Mike Doughty, “Looking At The World From The Bottom Of A Well”

Ben Kweller’s been about this close to getting really big for a couple years now, but hasn’t gotten there yet. He was as close to a child prodigy as alternative rock has ever had - earning honorable mention in a Billboard Magazine songwriting contest when he was 9 (!) years old.

He’s possibly best known for working with Ben Folds and Ben Lee in a side project, aptly named The Bens. Kweller’s sort of like Folds, but in a rockin’ guitar-playin’ kind of way.

Today’s MP3 is from his album Sha Sha, which came out about three years ago. It’s a catchy power-pop song that should have gotten a lot more attention than it did. We here at Jamootz!Rock would like to correct that mistake.

Click here to download.

Click here to download.

Click here for redcross.org.

These guys opened for the Wrens when I saw them in Columbus earlier this year and put on a really impressive show. It was an especially fun night for me because I worked with a couple of the members of the band at our college radio station about ten years ago.

This song’s from their most recent full-length album, Engaged in Labor, which (deservedly) got a bunch of really good reviews.

Click here to download, and if you like it, keep an eye out for their new album, which will be released in a matter of weeks.