Casey's EPs, Songs, and Albums of 2012

Reflecting back on 2012, I can't help to compare it to 2011 due to the fact that I only started paying attention to a broader scope of music that year. As of now, 2012 feels a lot weaker at the top than 2011, however the depth far surpasses it. It pained me to leave off records such as Chromatics, Gifts From Enola, Lone, Masked Intruder and Savoir Adore, but this year just had too many strong albums to mention every single one of them. It's even crazier when you think that if you had told me that all of Two Door Cinema Club, Say Anything, Sleigh Bells and Motion City Soundtrack wouldn't have a place on this list, I would have thought you were crazy. Surely a couple of those could release poor albums, but there was no chance that all of them could. Alas, the worst happened, and none of those albums will receive any more mention than this. Pop punk also had a very down year after taking up three of my top five spots (or so) last year, and you won't find a record that I consider pop punk amongst the top 25. Bands you will find featured predominantly are fun., Yellowcard, Frank Ocean, Take One Car, Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky, ScHoolboy Q, and far more that you can find below. If you click on the name of the album, you will find links to our coverage. If you click on the name of the song, you will be taken to Youtube for a listen.

Interview With Now, Now

Now, Now (formerly Now, Now Every Children) has been a band for nearly ten years now, but the band's hard work is just finally starting to pay off. Currently signed to Chris Walla's (of Death Cab For Cutie fame) Trans Records, the band's efforts have finally culminated with big tours and even an appearance on Jimmy Fallon's late night show. The band took some time after their show with Motion City Soundtrack and Jukebox The Ghost to speak to us regarding topics such as playing on Fallon, reflections on their latest album Threads, drummer Brad's Sombear project, and more (including an appearance from Jukebox The Ghost pianist/vocalist Ben Thornewill) which you can read below.

Best Of The Year 2012: Third Quarter Update

Welcome to MuzikDizcovery's third edition of quarterly updates in 2012. Every staff member will put out a top five list, allowing them to showcase their absolute favorite records of 2012 to date. Additionally, it will be able to alert you of albums that you may not have heard of otherwise. This list does not only include albums that have been released as of September 30, as any album that we have heard so far this year is free to be included. fun., Take One Car, Athletics, Now, Now, Frank Ocean, Passion Pit, Suis La Lune and First Aid Kit are amongst the names that feature prominently in our lists. If you click on the album name, you will be led to our review for the album (if we have written one). All the lists can be seen below the jump.

Dizcovering Muzik: Volume Two Out Now

I am pleased to announce that the free download of our second compilation Dizcovering Muzik: Volume Two is now available, featuring tracks by Maps and Atlases, Jukebox The Ghost, The American Dollar, I Call Fives, Now, Now, Mansions, The Forecast, Athletics, and many more. All of the bands are personal favorites of us at MuzikDizcovery, and there will absolutely be something that everyone can enjoy. Feel free to stream and download via the link below, and let us know what your favorite tracks are. 
Thank you everyone for supporting the site, and here's to another three years!

Three Year Anniversary + Dizcovering Muzik: Volume 2 Announcement

So today's a big day for us at MuzikDizcovery. Three years ago, on June 18, 2009, I started up a little Blogspot page and started writing (extremely poorly written) reviews and spotlights. While my writing and musical taste has improved (although some of you may disagree), I've still kept the same opinions on what a music site should be, and that is what has kept the site running for all these years.

But none of you care about that, so here's the big news you've all been waiting for. In honor of our three year anniversary, I'd like to give back to everyone who's ever clicked on a review on our site.  On June 25, we're giving away our second sampler, full of the best music you've seen here on the site. Bands such as Now, Now, Maps and Atlases, The American Dollar, Jukebox The Ghost, I Call Fives, and many more have donated tracks to this assembly of excellent music across many different genres, and I feel it's a great representation of the wide variety that we cover on the site. Below, you can see the album art and a preliminary list of tracks that you may see on the sampler. All of these tracks have been confirmed, and quite a few more are on the way. You can follow the additions on our Facebook page.

Album Review: Now, Now - Threads

Album Rating: B

"Find a thread to pull, and we can watch it unravel" sings Now, Now's vocalist, Cacie Dalager on the opening line of Threads intro track "The Pull". This line is the centerpiece of the album and is the main hook of the album centerpiece, "Thread".  Threads holds true to these words, as the sadness and hopelessness from this line is a prevailing theme throughout the record.

Threads sees Now, Now working on their first record as part of Chris Walla's Trans Records, and the band's direction reflects the perfect pairing that has come out of this partnership. Now, Now sounds more like early Death Cab For Cutie than ever, with melancholy and brutal honesty bursting through every track. "Prehistoric" could be a slightly more distorted version of Death Cab's "Title Track", both melodically and with the distressing emotional pull the track has over a listener.

Show Review - Hellogoodbye Headlining Tour 2/7/11

I was able to go to the Vienna, Virginia show of Hellogoodbye's headlining tour with support from Gold Motel, Now, Now, and You, Me, And Everyone We Know. At a venue that holds no more than 200 people, there was no doubt that I desperately needed to go to this show. Along with the two interviews I conducted with You, Me, And Everyone We Know and Hellogoodbye, the show was an absolute blast. Every band was great in their own way, and the show was definitely one of the best I've been at.

Now, Now

I seem to be on quite a female band kick right now, as including this post, the last three have all been female bands. However, they have all been quite difficult stylistically. Modern American Theatre leaned towards technicality, while Aria was more pop. Now, Now's (formerly Now, Now Every Children) is influenced by indie bands, similar to Metric or Stars. Now, Now is one of No Sleep Records' newest signings, and one of its few female bands. Now, Now got a lot of exposure when they were on tour with Paramore in Europe. However, that little bit of exposure wasn't enough. This band deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence as Metric and Stars. Lead singer Cacie Dalager has a unique, raspy vocal style that should definitely appeal to fans of those two bands. Check out Now, Now on Myspace here.