Free Music February: Take One Car

As the second month of an exciting year draws to a close, we want to offer up what we can find in terms of free. With everything becoming more expensive, the term draws the eye more and more every day. Thus, our Free Music February experiment continues.

The latest addition we have for you is Take One Car, a New York band who came out with a chart-topping album precisely one year ago. The band labels their sound as "Rock or something," which doesn't really define the genre-mixing with justice, but is essentially applicable - elements of heavy post-rock are there, but with both traditional rock influences (which is where Tyler Irish's astonishingly good vocals come from) and much darker post-metal roots as well, melding to form It's Going To Be A Nice Day, which both Casey and I thought was impressionable enough to appear on our year's end lists. On top of the band's fantastic second album, both their first album and live recordings will also be included in Free Music February, due to the band's generosity in celebrating the one-year release of Nice Day. It is an excellent offer for an even better album, absolutely worth a minute of your time.

You can find all of Take One Car's discography on their Bandcamp page, free for the next week only.

Mat's Albums and EPs of 2012

2012 was a great year for post-metal. Half of the albums on my list had something to do with post-metal, and I surprised myself by having two emo albums on there. However, my list pretty much explains itself, so I think it's better to follow through and read each description rather than explaining the list in the blurb up top. It is slightly important to note that I included some EPs I found notable, and separated the lists, rather than mash everything into one list. Click on the album or EP name to read our coverage.

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.

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.

Best Of The Year 2012: First Half Update

Welcome to MuzikDizcovery's second 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 June 30, as any album that we have heard so far this year is free to be included. Beach House, The Tallest Man On Earth, The Menzingers, fun., mewithoutYou, John Talabot, Athletics and Take One Car all 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 done one). All the lists can be seen below the jump.

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.

Best Of The Year 2012: First Quarter Update

As we did last year, we're going to be doing quarterly updates. Every staff member will put out a top five list, allowing them to indicate their absolute favorite records of 2012. 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 March 31, as any album that we have heard so far this year is free to be included.  All the lists can be seen below the jump.

Album Review: Take One Car - It's Going To Be A Nice Day

Album Rating: A-

Take One Car writes music that embodies power, to say it in simple terms. They're a pretty simple band from upstate New York, just four guys making music, but what they accomplish in this respect is so much more than music. The new release is a great blend of alternative, indie rock, post-hardcore, and a nice dash of post-rock, balancing some heavy guitar riffing with a good portion of mysterious ambiance, and profoundly metaphorical lyrics reverberate throughout. It's Going To Be A Nice Day is broad enough to cover genre stereotypes and appeal to many, but their sound is ultimately a concentrated, perfected blend of aural pleasure that stimulates the senses and sets emotions reeling.

MuzikDizcovery Exclusive: Take One Car - Brim + MuzikDizcovery Recreation

We at MuzikDizcovery are extremely happy at premier a brand new song by Take One Car. "Brim" is the fourth track off their upcoming record It's Going To Be A Nice Day, out February 21st. Unlike first single "Ronnie", "Brim" shows a heavier and more atmospheric part of Take One Car, which is probably the style that the band does best.

We also have a MuzikDizcovery Recreation of the same song! The band strips down with acoustic guitars, bells, shakers, and more to highlight a side of the band that we don't normally see. While the recreation is as far from the original song as can be, the band pulls it off amazingly, displaying even more the immense talent that the band possesses. You can listen to the original track and watch the recreation below, and post your thoughts in the comments on the song, as well as which version you prefer.

Listen to "Ronnie" on the band's Bandcamp, and "like" their Facebook for updates on when a full stream of the album may happen.

Album First Look: Take One Car - It's Going To Be A Nice Day

Take One Car's sophomore full length It's Going To Be A Nice Day is going to get them noticed. The entire massive (64 minutes long!?) effort brings together the best of O'Brother, Moving Mountains, mewithoutYou, and Manchester Orchestra, creating a multi-genred spectacle. The ambient parts of Moving Mountains dominate the instrumental title track, but this post-rock based track isn't an indicator of the sound for the entire album. First single "Dear Ronnie" is probably the most accessible track, combining the rock feel of Manchester Orchestra with the poetic lyrics and flow of Aaron Weiss of mewithoutYou.  But Take One Car is the strongest when they move towards a heavy, almost post-metal style. The second half of "Yet Another Voyage (Adrift)" is one of the most emotionally draining portions of music I've heard so far in this young year, the brutal riffs only giving a slight warning to Tyler Irish's growing intensity in his voice, peaking at the brutal screams towards the end of the track. In a year so far dominated by cutesy indie pop and indie folk records, the heavy emotional storm from It's Going To Be A Nice Day is surely needed. With the apocalypse (no promises) on its way, the post-apocalyptic album of the year has already come.

Stream Dear Ronnie and download the band's debut (for free!) on Bandcamp, and keep checking back for a new song premier and MuzikDizcovery Recreation of that same track in the next week or so. It's Going To Be A Nice Day is out on February 21st.