Homemade Music

The more I play around with this blog thing, the more I'm learning about all of the modern ins and outs of the internet. My newest toy is YouSendIt. I now know how to post my own music for you all, rather than linking to other people's sites. Of course, I'll continue to do that, but now I can give you a little more Rogo flavor.

These are all limited downloads, and if you like anything you hear, GO BUY IT! I don't listen to many bonus-baby bands, so all of these folks need and deserve your money.

His Name Is Alive, "Send My Face". Saw these guys open for Low a few weeks back at Southpaw in Brooklyn. I've heard that a lot of their recorded work is very dancey-electro-whatever, which isn't my particular cup o' tea, but live they were fantastic, and their singer pwned. Hot as hell too. This was my favorite song they did, so I downloaded it. Will probably end up buying the whole album.

One of my new favorite bands is Lucero. I've gone back and purchased everything they've put out, and there's not a loser in the bunch. If you haven't heard them, and you probably haven't, seriously, do yourself a favor. These guys are everything that's good about alt-country, and their most recent disc, Nobody's Darlings, flat out kicks your ass.

"California" off the Nobody's Darlings album.
"Tonight Ain't Gonna Be Good" off the How Much Further West album.
"Ain't So Lonely" from the Tennessee album.

You probably haven't heard of Cincinnati's Ass Ponys. That's a shame. And it probably means you haven't heard of Wussy, which is the new project from the Ass Ponys' Chuck Cleaver (along with 3 other of Cincy's top musicians). This was one of my top 10 albums of the year last year, and I still listen to it regularly. Check out the best song on the album, "Motorcycle". While you're at it, check out the Ass Ponys' "No Dope No Cigarettes".

I told you earlier that I thought Cordalene could be huge. Another band that I think has a crapload of potential is a Louisville band named De Novo Dahl. First heard these guys do a live Lounge Act performance on WOXY last year, and I loved 'em. Immediately went and ordered their disc. And while it's a tad overlong (actually, it's two discs of 15+ songs each), there are some fantastic songs on there. My favorite is "All Over Town".

And, finally, one of the all-time great lost rock songs: "Coming Home". This is not an attempt at irony. This is a great fucking song, and I dare you to say otherwise.