Your Big Gay Face 6

[YI]

http://www.mediafire.com/?zbwvyyro09c

1. "Humble Narrator" by Two Cow Garage

What a name for a folk-rock band. Very much a feel of a mesh of Get Up Kids, Murder By Death, The Loved Ones from this band, throughout the album. This song is particularly very later TGUK sounding. It kicks off the album spectacularly and is my favourite from it. The opening verse of "Waking up to casette tapes and ashtrays all filled up from the night before/Smoke filled lungs and tapes full of songs and a stranger laying on the floor/Well some girls will kiss and some girls will shake in the morning with blood filled eyes/But the sun has a way of making us pay for our revelry filled nights" is absolutely amazing, and the chorus is just so triumphant and huge. Great tune.

2. "Don't Stand On Ceremony" by MiMi Soya

I love MiMi Soya. And 'Ro is a proper fitty, my current 'full on crush'. The production on this is a bit 'different' but it works a lot better. I found their last EP stuff to be a bit 'muddy', but here it sounds perfect. They're definately pushing the boundaries for female fronted pop-punk style acts. The punk-rock scene in Brighton at the minute is fucking insane, seriously.

3. "John Lithgow As The Bad Guy" by Like...Alaska

A band from Newcastle, but not the good one...the false Australian one. Supported Gaslight Anthem on their recent Australian tour dates. Reminds me of a more chilled out Kings Of Leon, the singer especially. I'm desperately trying to track down some of their albums as they sound really, really good. There are females in the band and on backing vocals...I don't know if they're fit or not. Can't be arsed to find out. I'm just going to presume they are.

4. "There Is No Such Thing As No Strings" by Marshals

Alt-rock/Indie band from Manchester. Very much a vibe of Brand New in this song. Very brooding with quiet and loud parts. Was a little dissapointed when I got hold of their EP and realised the rest of the stuff wasn't like this, sounding more like The Strokes...but it's still good stuff.

5. "Winona" by Totally Michael

Falls into the so fucking cheesy you can't decide if it's shite or absolute genius. Sounds like a Blink 182 song recorded on a dodgy keyboard from the 80's. "I'm not a high class retail outlet/But I'd love for you to steal my heart"...what a line.

6. "Until Forever" by Casiokid

Electro-Pop from 2 guys from Milton Keynes, using a bunch of glitchy nintendo noises and stuff. It's quite a 'hot' thing at the minute, but Casiokid are head and shoulders above the majority of these 'chiptune' artists, in that they don't try for weirdness or chaos like a lot of band do, instead they write pop songs. Incredibly catchy chorus in this one.

7. "A Loving Side" by Bim

Quite possibly my favourite new band, releasing a self-titled EP this year. From the UK, there's all sorts of influences that can be picked up in their material from the likes of Imogen Heap, Kate Bush, Radiohead and even Dredg. This song didn't make it onto the EP but it is ridiculously beautiful. Such haunting and beautiful stuff. Recently the duo can be seen as one of the featured youtube videos, which made me smile. I love the piano riff at the end of this. Oh and the random, particularly spectacular key change.

8. "I Can Feel A Hot One" by Manchester Orchestra

It actually hasn't been that long since Manchesta Orchestra put out their debut album, only a couple of years, but the wait for new material has seemed to be unbearable. Whilst it was only an EP for a few new songs, they've certainly delivered and helped with the wait for a new album. This is the opening tune from the EP, great vocal line, beautiful tune.

9. "There Is No Parade" by RickoLus

I love RickoLus, his material is so versatile and varied (and completely free). He put out the phenomenal "Winters Daughter" at the start of the year, which was his darkest and ghostly sounding material to date. One of those albums that makes you cold in the winter, warm in the summer. He's not working on a more pop-rock project under the name "Richard Love" but is occasionally churning out new RickoLus tunes, and this is one. This is more in the style of The Decemberists/New Pornographers, and is absolutely fucking amazing. Definately an artist you should keep an eye on, I mean, his stuff is all free. www.iamrickolus.com He's also working on a project called "Clones" with Ben Cooper (Electric President/Radical Face).

10. "Suburbian Hell" by Automatic Loveletter

I get flashbacks to the pop-rock tunes of the mid-90's listening to this, Sixpence None The Richer etc. A really cute tune. An insanely catchy chorus. They seem to be a band that are tangled up in the pop-punk/emo kind of culture, but do not fit there at all, it's weird.

11. "Fire Ants" by Heathers

One of my favourite tunes of the year. A female acoustic duo from Ireland. Their album has been one of the surprises of the year for me. Signed to the same label as Andrew Jackson Jihad, Ghost Mice, Against Me! have been, this is a completely different kettle of fish. How they keep their arrangements so fresh and beautiful with only one acoustic guitar is a miracle, the overlapping voices and harmonies are beautiful, stunning stuff.

12. "Fuck Shit Up!" by Wingnut Dishwashers Union

At the minute I'm loving 4-kind of things. Electro-pop, blues/folk twinged punk-rock, cheesy pop-punk and what happens when you give angry men acoustic guitars. This falls into the last category. It's catchy stuff..."TONIGHT WE'RE GONNA FUCK SHIT UP!!"

13. "Barry Scott Is A Fraudster Too" by 15-Minutes

Following on the trend of angry men with acoustic guitars, here's a band from the UK. Great mix of Against Me! style "Whoa's" and "Oh's". In punk-rock in general, they got cliched for a while, but seriously, I miss them. When done right, just the backing of "Whoa's" and "Oh's" can make a good song great, or in the case of Rise Against's last album, a shit song moderately acceptable.

14. "Lifetime" by The Magnificent

Blues twinged punk-rock from Leeds, got to love it. The tune is so ridiculously catchy. Seriously, the song is bordering on perfect. It's got the rustic punk sound. The riff is stunning. The verse is brilliant stuff and when the bridge comes in, with the chords running down into the chorus it's breathtaking. Then the chorus, it's the pinnacle of what these kind of songs should be like. It slows right down and it's a feel good, 'lets put our arms around each other in a pub and scream along' moment. That's what these kind of bands are aiming for, and The Magnificent hit it bang on here.

15. "Peter Pan Syndrome" by Pedals On Our Pirate Ships

"Here I am/Your fucked up Peter Pan/In never...say never, neverland/Will you be my Wendy?/Will you be my Tinkerbell?/Don't be silly you can be my Tiger Lily still"...what a chorus...although personally I like the line of "But secretly we all miss our mothers/We seek security in the arms of lovers/Underneath the covers we'll turn this fort into a home..."...what a band, the fact they're totally unheard of, even in the punk-rock scene, it's a disgrace. This EP only received like 200 pressings, and it's one of my favourite releases of the year. It's like perfectly in the middle of Andrew Jackson Jihad and The Gaslight Anthem, possibly my two favourite emerging artists of the last couple of years. Have the most awesome band name ever.

16. "Stay Close" by The Years Gone By

HOLY POP-PUNK!!!

17. "Pinot & Prada" by Fracture The Times

The singer is so yummy...they need to upload more band photos, or she needs to take her myspace account off 'private'. Oh, the song. Yeah, it's damn good. Slow build, but proper nice chorus. Pretty similar to Farewell City from the last gaylist.

18. "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver

Bon Iver is being billed as a big artist by indie-trendwhores recently. I don't particularly get it, but it is solid stuff and this song inparticular is brilliant. It's very much lo-fi stuff. Recorded by one man in an abandoned cabin in the woods on simple microphone equipment. The album's great to dip into for a few songs, this one being my favourite.

19. "3 Little Words" by Frankmusik

At the opposite end of the spectrum, here's the cheesiest piece of shit in the world. This isn't the version that's going to be raping UK airwaves soon (it's going to be huge...I can hope) this is an earlier recorded version. Still absolutely amazing. One of those songs that would always put you in a good mood and make you want to dance like an absolute soilbadger.

20. "Goodbye & Goodnight" by We Are The Future

Lets finish things off with another chiptune artist. I think they're from Scotland, but I can't remember, and can't be arsed to find their myspace to check. Basically, think the best parts of Crystal Castles (...well...minus the woman) like when they have the really catchy riffs...put some banging thumping under that, crazy overlapping things going on over that, random voice samples and it turns into a proper BANGING rave tune.

[Gazz]

the fuck is a 'soilbadger'?

Also, I second the Ro wub

[YI]

"Soilbadger" is a slang term for a homosexual a 'friend' uses. He's literally the only person in the world I've heard say it, but it cracks me up. It might be that he's from yorkshire, but it sounds so hilarious when he says it.

Edited November 13, 2008 by YI

[Gazz]

Right, kinda makes sense.

Stolen!

[METALMAN]

You said Jouzy's band was going to be on this one.

Oh and just add the girl if it's private.

[Gazz]

You said Jouzy's band was going to be on this one.

It is, Frankmusik

[Gazz]

You said Jouzy's band was going to be on this one.

It is, Frankmusik

[probablyoliver]

You said Jouzy's band was going to be on this one.

Marshals. They're not that bad, actually.

[IAceI]

Without going as far to give a compliment - it's actually not shit. I'm.. quite surprised. It is actually... kinda... not shit, like I said.

I'm not giving you a compliment Jouzy. Typing what I just typed was painful enough without inflating your ego.

[Tarheels.]

Manchester Orchestra

I'm going to see them in December with Kevin Devine, so I'll actually download this Big Gay Face.

[Liam]

Right, kinda makes sense.

Stolen!

I prefer the term 'chutney ferret', which someone at my work uses.

Don't really get that one either.

[YI]

budump

[TheRossWalker]

Love

Two Cow Garage

MiMi Soya

Automatic LoveLetter

Pedals On Our Pirate Ships

The Years Gone By

Fracture The Times

Frankmusik

Like

Like... Alaska

Casiokid

Bim

Manchester Orchestra

The Magnificent

Bon Iver

We Are The Future

Indifferent

Marshals

RickoLus

15 Minutes

Heathers

Dislike

Totally Michael

Wingnut Dishwasher

Detest

Nothing.

My "first impression" of each band.

Listened to a few of them again, and I'm loving Two Cow Garage and Fracture The Times more and more. Totally Michael are growing on me a little.

'Ro

[IAceI]

You don't like Wingnut Dishwashers Union? I think it's one of the better songs on the playlist to be honest, I quite like it.

[Liam]

Not listened to all of it, but that Frankmusic song is stuck in my head. MiMi Soya is awesome as well.