Sparrow Love Crew - Burgertime

I’d like to wager a decent amount of anything that it is next to impossible to not love a group as mercilessly entertaining as Sparrow Love Crew. Onto the group’s first hard release, Burgertime is the collected efforts of SLC’s past 2 years on the stage and in the studio. Those lucky enough to have known about these guys for the past few years have probably sinked their teeth into a few unofficial releases that have been circulating among friends & fans. But, this album is accomplishing two things–1) Giving the group’s almost religiously addicted fans a lost lusted over payoff of the tracks that weren’t even publicly downloadable until now, and 2) serving as an introduction to new fans and future followers of Sparrow’s uniquely amazing style of story telling and party hype. To say that these guys kill every stage they step on is an understatement. And although this album IS a lot of fun to listen to, it does not do their energy any bit of justice. If you like them on CD, you’ll love them on stage–It’s a rule of thumb that is almost always the opposite when comparing studio to live performances. Just look at Blink182. Burgertime is made up 7 tracks, all of which are suitable to bust your speakers at any given time. The jammiest of jams on the album a track called ‘Naidu’, which is about meeting an indian kid, named for the title, and taking him to a party. This insight was courtesy of rhyme sayer Mikey Brixx who manned the mic for the first verse on the track. I personally find automatic love for any hip-hop track with a flute that trills up and down a scale. With a deadly combination of electro influenced hip-hop instrumentals, catchy-as-fuck hooks, and squeaky clean scratches from the group’s DJ Opi Styles, the album proves to be infectious and entertaining. The beats are tightly compressed organizations of 80s-esque synth riffs worthy of an off-white Lamborghini cruisin’ down the coast at sunset or any Sega Genesis game having to do with Miami street crime. Cough cough Streets Of Rage cough cough. Technically, the only fault of the album as a whole is the mic quality. The vocals come off a bit flat & quiet. I’ve been assured that this is a characteristic only found on Sparrow’s older material due to the equipment available at the time. ‘Style Like This’ is the album’s fourth track, and undoubtely single-worthy. These neon-shoed orgy starters will be big, and you should get on board sooner rather than later.

You can peep and buy the album on iTunes HERE or mail order that beast HERE.

Hallelujah The Hills - Prepare To Qualify EP

Ryan Walsh, David Bentley, Elio DeLuca, Joseph Marrett, Eric Meyer & Brian Rutledge, better known as Hallelujah The Hills, have just released a new EP for sale AND free download (I wonder which of the two you’ll chose) titled, Prepare To Qualify. The 7 track EP flows along nicely like a collection of pseudo-rough-edged stories, told over a dying camp fire. HTH’s folk influences are apparent throughout, but are most obvious on the songs that rely more heavily on Bentley’s Cello. There were a couple of songs, such as ‘Let It Wave’, where I nearly thought I was listening to Nottingham’s Seachange, whom I have always held a place in my heart for. Both bands have a very tangled sound about them. From their un-perfect timing, to the rough over dubbing of vocal tracks, it’s a very constant rawness, which I’m hoping is as intentional as it is enjoyable. Prepare To Qualify also (randomly) holds a live recording of a track called ‘(You Better Hope You) Die Before Me’ that sounds like it was taped at a rowdy college bar on a Thursday night. Needless to say, Hallelujah The Hills is a band that focus on the overall message and feel of their music. ‘Nurses 5 Float Past’ is the best track on the EP, although it should’ve been saved as the last. It would’ve been a really great exit track. In all, The EP plays like a lightly-scripted link of people songs, built on character and brutal honesty. A completely creative attempt at preserving the amateur drive and spontaneity of a generally unheard-of band. Plus, I’m a sucker for actual musicians using samplers to cue old spoken word wav files, mid emotional build up.

V/A - Clone Classic Cuts

This is so good I don’t really want to tell you about it and let the secret out. However, it is my duty as a blogger to pass on delicious obscure early house/disco treats so the masses are educated and go on to create their own magic, perhaps due to the seed of inspiration planted by this very blog. Clone Records is a Dutch label ’specializing in experimental and underground electronic dance music’. This comp has some of my favorite songs (’Devils Dancers’ by Oppenheimer Analysiswas featured on Digitalarmes *RIP*, I think), and new (old) winners. ‘I’m House’ might be the best thing I’ve heard in the past week, and considering I just got a rapidshare paid acct (thank you Jew Gold), that’s saying a lot.

Dave (DJ Merkury) is shouting “DON’T BLOW UP THE SPOT” as I type this. That’s how good Classic Cuts is. Go buy it now. We sell it at Turntable Lab.

You love me.

The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead

I know we’re a bit late to throw in our two cents on this album, but since its much anticipated January 29th release, we’ve been super busy, and so have Brandon Summers and Benjamin Weikel of The Helio Sequence. Just as this album’s predecessor (Love And Distance), Keep Your Eyes Ahead is a smooth journey through rough-edged melodica, which at times can drop you into a dream sequence of some 8-bit Nintendo soundtrack. Benjamin’s drumming is militantly precise as always, which is timed and toned perfectly with the trademark backing keyboard loops that the band is known for. I have personally seen these simple/glitchy loops work crowds into a frenzy. ‘Shed Your Love’, a folky finger-picked sad song, is without a doubt the most soothingly pleasant of the album’s 10 tracks. Brilliantly, and to the sole credit of the two band mates who self produced the album, the drumless ‘Shed Your Love’ is directly followed with the catchy guitar riff and upbeat drums of the record’s first single for which it’s titled. The record does have some filler which comes in the form of 2 tracks that will most likely compel you to click the skip button. Overall, the album showcases a wide range of the band’s tastes and skills. Brandon’s vocals sound much more mature than the rebellious belting of past albums. ‘Broken Afternoon’ sees his vocal style transform into a Dylan-esque dead ringer that almost makes you sit back and wonder to yourself, “is that on purpose?” In total, the songs are arranged well, performed perfectly, and written in a much more vocal-forward fashion than previous albums. I would’ve liked for many of the songs to be a bit longer however. You will definitely find yourself wishing that the humming and toe-tapping would continue past the just under 2 minute mark of some of the song’s endings.

Order Keep Your Eyes Ahead over at Sub Pop or click HERE.