Xochtil - Demo/MySpace Tracks (2007)

Xochtil - Demo/MySpace Tracks
Year: 2007
Genre: Post-Hardcore / Screamo
From: Antioch, California

Tracklisting:

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. Untitled

Download Here.

Xochtil, one of a friend's old projects from Antioch. Screamo, guitars typical of his other projects (currently Beau Navire), but this band more than others hella sounds like primitive Thursday with more... scream. Definitely more of the post-hardcore vein than the straight screamo or verging-on emo violence in other related projects (I Wrote Haikus About Cannabalism In Your Yearbook). Ripped from their MySpace because, well, fuck letting that shit die on there, and  I don't think anyone really still has the demo. I added the new untitled song for effect.

Alexisonfire - Alexisonfire (2002)

Alexisonfire - Alexisonfire
Year: 2002
Genre: Post-Hardcore / Metalcore
From: St. Catherines, Ontario

Tracklisting:

1. .44 Caliber Love Letter
2. Counterparts and Number Them
3. Adelleda
4. A Dagger Through the Heart of St. Angeles
5. Polaroid and Polar Bears
6. Waterwings (And Other Poolside Fashion Faux Pas)
7. Where No One Knows
8. The Kennedy Curse
9. Jubella
10. Little Girls Pointing and Laughing
11. Pulmonary Archery

Download Here.

Nostalgia. Late nights in 9th grade after that breakup. There's not that much else to say; you either remember of you don't (and need to listen, right now). Chaotic & passionate, thought-out and complex songs, masters of the interplay between aggressive and gentle, hard and soft. Who am I kidding, I can't write about music. It's their first album, self-titled. Shit is good, listen to it.

Lemuria - The First Collection (2008)

Lemuria - The First Collection
Year: 2008
Genre: Pop-punk, indie, emo
From: Buffalo, New York

Tracklisting:

1. Hours
2. Lick Your Lips
3. Bugbear
4. Rough Draft
5. Keep Quiet
6. Bristles and Whiskers
7. Sophmore
8. In A World of Ghosts?
9. Who Would Understand A Turtle?
10. Bee Spit
11. The Orgamists Too
12. It's Not A Lie, It's A Secret
13. Bookworm
14. The Orgamists
15. Home For The Holidays
16. Piranha
17. Trivial Greek Mythology
18. The Orgamists II

Download Here.

Surprise! Time for some pop-punk. A little lighter than what's been posted so far here. Just before their Asian Man debut Get Better (2008), Lemuria released this collection of most of their previously-released material (from 2005-2006). Like so many great bands, I first heard Lemuria on (now-defunct) Valiant Death Records' Yay 4 Cuteness compilation (I ordered 4 when it came out), which came in a hand-stitched white-with-purple-polka-dots cd jacket and a unique hand-made finger puppet. Look out for that in the future. Favorite tracks include... well, everything, really. Listening to Lemuria feels like listening to all of your favorite songs from freshman year in high school, only you've never heard them before. Maybe your best friend's (or the girl next door's) garage band. Hidden behind the cuteness, pretty lead, and simple pop-punk guitars lie honest lyrics of regret, heartbreak, unrequited love, and even one track about being separated from a siamese twin. What more can you ask for?

Connections Part II Split 12" (2010)

Connections Part II Split 12"

Suis La Lune / The Saddest Landscape / Captain, Your Ship is Sinking / Kias Fansuri, Isaïah / Adorno

Year: 2010

Genre: Screamo / Post-Hardcore / Emotive Hardcore

From: Stockholm, Sweden / Boston, Massachusetts / Netherlands / Malaysia / Huy, Belgium / Lisbon, Portugal

Tracklisting:

1. Suis La Lune - In a Deep Hole With Clay And Remorse
2. Suis La Lune - Postlude to 5 Years of Hurting
3. The Saddest Landscape - The Actress and the Funeral
4. The Saddest Landscape - The Temptation That Is You (Forgiveness Version)
5. Captain, Your Ship is Sinking - Always Giving Parties to Cover the Silence
6. Kias Fansuri - Kabus Ribut Datang Menjemput
7. Kias Fansuri - Apa Yang Tinggal Hanyalah Kiasan
8. Kias Fansuri - Satira Politik Dunia
9. Kias Fansuri - Hati Plastik, Nasfu Serakah
10. Isaïah - Qu'Ils Crevent Enfin...
11. Isaïah - ...et Nous Laissent Decider
12. Adorno - Missing a Warm Light
13. Adorno - Connections

Download Here.

An intense crash-course in contemporary Screamo from Europe, the States, and Asia.  Supposedly put out to showcase the best of DIY-ethic screamo around the world. If anyone has Connections Part I, please get in touch. Suis La Lune's In a Deep Hole With Clay And Remorse The Saddest Landscape's The Temptation That Is You (Forgiveness Version) really eally brought them to my attention more than anything I heard of either band before. Adorno performs admirably as always, especially Connections. It may be that these are some of my favorite bands right now, but I just can't reiterate enough how much this compilation is nothing short of a gift. Enjoy.

Adorno / Sugartown Cabaret Split 12" (2010)

Adorno / Sugartown Cabaret Split 12"
Year: 2010
Genre: Screamo / Post Hardcore
From: Lisbon, Portugal / Caen, France

Tracklisting:

1. Adorno - The Whale
2. Adorno - The Bear
3. Sugartown Cabaret - Den
4. Sugartown Cabaret - I'm in Shape

Download Here.

This split introduced me to Adorno for the first time, and god damn am I glad it did. I find myself listening to Adorno more and more lately. One of the only bands where I could really say that every new album or split I can get my hands on really is even better than the last, with no regrets. Speaking of which, I'm currently looking for their original self-title in addition to the splits with Auxes and The Black Heart Rebellion, respectively. Holla if you got it.

Sugartown Cabaret - The First Time I Lost the Road Map (2007)

Sugartown Cabaret - The First Time I Lost the Road Map

Year: 2007

Genre: Screamo / Post-Hardcore

From: Caen, France

Tracklisting:

1. How Much Does the Plane Cost?
2. Be Slacked
3. I've Got Absolutely No Relationship Problem
4. Assis, à Regarder
5. Untitled
6. All the Same She Said
7. Mai
8. The Violent Nextdoor Neighbor
9. Den
10. I'm in Shape

Download Here.

Favorite tracks include Assis, à Regarder, and All the Same She Said. Probably one of the first still-active screamo bands I got really into recently, very reminiscent of early US screamo projects. Some tracks even have hints of what some people describe as the jazz sensibilities of Thursday or the Kinsella Brothers' projects (this might be a stretch). Still one of the most exciting active bands, along with their brothers Adorno (Portugal). Unfortunately, the only other record I can find online is their 2010 Split with Adorno, which should be up here soon. However, according to their myspace, which they use frequently, they recorded a Demo in 2005, a "Live" CDR in 2006, and a split with L'homme Puma on Whosbrain Records. We'll wait until payday to order these. Now, if they would come to the U.S....