M.A.Z.C.A. – First Hour Of Summer

An Italian post rock band – the Italians do it a tad bit different, a little heavier. Clocking in at thirty four minutes, M.a.z.c.a. has some nice wall-of-sound type music coming at us with this release from the Selva Elettrica net label. I’m not a big fan of the vox on track 6, as it causes us to step into the realm of shoegazer for a moment, but other than that this is an excellent release. M.a.z.c.a. isn’t afraid to try new and experimental things, such as all sorts of various instruments, adding vocals here and there – with and without words – and other interesting details that aren’t common in your garden variety postrock band. Enjoy!

M.a.z.c.a. – The First Hour Of Summer

John Wesley – Shiver and other albums

ShiverJohn Wesley is the guitarist and background vocalist for the band Porcupine Tree. On his website, he’s offered five studio albums and a live session for download. Lots of melodic rock, almost folk rock, with a pop flair. Great music for filling up your ipod. If you dig Johns stuff, please donate a little something to him for his time.

Madison Strays – Lost In Photos EP

Old school alternative, if The Cult and Bush had a baby it’d be this band. Think back about twenty years ago, when you were checking out stuff like Talking Heads and Peter Gabriel. This is what you would have found between The Cure and Depeche mode. Madison Strays has a retro sound but still stay fresh.