Various Artists: The Sound Supply: Supply Drop #2

Indie music is a wonderful thing. Artists releasing albums without having to cater to the wants and desires of record labels have a step-up to those chained down to demanding producers. A big problem for indie artists, though, since they don't have the label to back up their distribution, is getting their music out to the public. They don't have a lot of press unless the listener already knows who they are, and it's difficult for them to get word out. The Sound Supply is one of those fantastic mediums that helps indie artists really spread their sound, opening a small artist up to a group of people that will take to their musical ideas with widespread arms. If you haven't heard of The Sound Supply before, it's really worth a look at their "Supply Drops", because they sell a LOT of great music for a most excellent price. They feature bands like Owen, Matt Pryor, Jeremy Enigk, TS and the Past Haunts, and other indie names to get to know and love. If you want to support indie bands but don't have a lot of income, it's definitely worth it.

You can find the second Supply Drop at Sound Supply's site here.

Album Review: Matt Pryor - May Day

Album Rating: B+

Matt Pryor, a name known to many a troubled 90's youth, has been fairly active as of late. Not only will The Get-Up Kids have up and coming tour dates, but The New Amsterdams will see a compilation, and a not-yet-announced project with friends of Pryor will see the light of day as well. However, the forward motion of this rolling stone begins with May Day, the second solo release in Pryor's solo, acoustic folk effort. Each of the songs has a heartfelt quality about them, and that's not just because half of the songs sound like lo-fi recordings from a dinghy room lit by a single, bare bulb, but more the bright, uplifting yet quiet, melancholy aspects that the songs seem to portray. Pryor's creativity comes bursting out of May Day with great gusto, impressive not only from an album written, recorded, and mixed in a month, but for any indie effort period.