National Sunday Blog

Derek's 2011 year end list

2012-01-14T11:55:00.000-08:00

Music -
There were dozens of records released last year, most of which I'm sure I did not hear yet, but of the ones that I did these few really stuck with me and were played and continue to be played in heavy rotation.

- Gorod - Transcendence
- Deathspell Omega - Diabolus Absconditus
- Grails - Deep Politics
- Zombi - Escape Velocity
- Grayceon - All We Destroy
- Pyrrhon - An Excellent Servant But a Terrible Master
- Jesu - Ascension

Most listened to but not released in 2011
- Tera Melos - Patagonian Rats
- Agalloch - Marrow of the Spirit
- Thou - Summit
- Gang Starr - Moment of Truth
- Del Rey (their entire catalog)
- Deathspell Omega - Paracletus

Live Shows -
- Jaga Jazzist at the Troubadour June 21, 2011 -
This was the best live music experience of my entire life and I would do just about anything to experience it again. I forgot the exact counts I made but it was something like 9 people, 1 drum set, 5 guitars, 4 synths, vibraphone, trombone, tuba, flute, bass and lots of instrumental multitasking. The word amazing is much over used today as many people have pointed out but in this case it absolutely applies. I was speechless, I was moved, it was Amazing!

Comedy -
- Doug Stanhope - Oslo: Burning the bridge to nowhere
- Jim Norton - Despicable
- Louie CK - "Hilarious" and "Live at the Beacon"

TV -
- Breaking Bad
- Shameless (US)
- Beavis and Butthead
- South Park
- The Drunk and on Drugs Happy Fun Time Hour
- Louie

Food -
- Grill 'em All Truck - great burgers and fries
- Ricky's Fish Tacos
- Kimchi and Korean food in general
- real Baltimore crabs
- Poutine

Movies -
there were no good movies in 2011. were there?

Biggest Disappointments -
- Patton Oswalt - Finest Hour
- Dexter - Season 6

What did I forget?

Darin's Favorite Albums of 2011

2011-12-23T19:32:00.000-08:00

In my humble opinion, 2011 was a pretty damn good year for new music. Because it was so difficult to hone my list down to 20 albums, I'm also adding two more lists for EPs and honorable mentions.

I'm not under the pretension that these are the "best" albums of the year. These lists just reflect my personal tastes and cover the albums I've enjoyed throughout 2011. Feel free to send other suggestions as comments.

2011 Full Length Albums

Battles - Gloss Drop
With Tyondai Braxton leaving during the recording of Gloss Drop, Battles had a huge challenge to re-create this album. The guest vocalist selections worked pretty well for me. My Machines featuring Gary Numan is my favorite track with vocals on the album.

Bjork - Biophilia
This time out Bjork took a more minimalist approach to the song arrangements. This minimalism, the custom-made instruments (Gameleste, Sharpsichord, etc.) and her willingness to dwell on dissonant chords made this record very enjoyable for me.

Capillary Action - Capsized
NSL opened for this band and they made us look like amateurs. By using only acoustic instruments, Capillary Action can no longer be compared Mr. Bungle or other genre-shifting rock acts. Capsized embraces art rock, jazz, world, and tropicalia influences in a set of impressive yet very listenable songs.

Cave In - White Silence
White Silence was both a welcome return-to-form effort and the next evolutionary step for Cave In. Beginning with black metal screeching on the title track and concluding with the Beatles-esque harmonies of the final track, this musically diverse stew makes me hungry for more.

Craig Taborn - Avenging Angel
These piano compositions inspired by jazz, classical, Brian Eno's Music for Airports, John Carpenter's Halloween score, and other soundtracks highlight the versatility and beauty of the piano as an unaccompanied instrument.

Craig Wedren - Wand
Shudder To Think singer/guitarist returns with a DIY recording that covers familiar territory and parts unknown for a diverse set of songs. Wand is a must have for fans of Shudder To Think and/or his more recent soundtrack work (Wet Hot American Summer, Role Models).

Grails - Deep Politics
Frankly, I'm a bit embarrassed that I just heard of Grails in 2011. Deep Politics is cinematic post-rock masterpiece. After listening to their back catalog fairly frequently this year, I equally impressed that their sound continues to evolve with each record.

Grayceon - All We Destroy
On their third album, this San Francisco trio continue to prove modern metal knows no gender or bounds. In addition to taking over most of the lead vocals, Jackie Perez Gratz continues to destroy on the cello...the ideal instrument for their prog/classically influenced metal.

Harold Budd - In The Mist
Brian Eno's partner in the 1980 classic Ambient 2: The Plateau of Mirror returns with another blueprint for piano-based soundscapes and meditative music. When I think about this music being created by 75 year old man, it gives me hope for old age.

Helms Alee - Weatherhead
As a fan of both metal and OG indie stuff (mostly on SST, Touch & Go, AmRep, Dischord, etc.), Helms Alee were a welcome surprise. If you imagine The Breeders jamming with The Melvins or Sonic Youth collaborating with Isis, then you might come close to describing their sound.

Jesu - Ascension
Justin Broadrick mastered the Jesu sound on this recording. Acoustic guitars and live drums are very welcome to addition to the sonic palette of Ascension. If Broadrick puts Jesu on hold while re-focusing on Godflesh, this album will satisfy my Jesu craving for a good while.

Kevin Hufnagel - Tranparencies
After opening up for Dysrhythmia, I bough Kevin Hufnagel's first solo album and its been on heavy rotation ever since. Hufnagel is one of the few modern guitarists that truly inspires me. After only a few weeks of listening, these haunting guitar-based soundscapes have quickly become a soundtrack for my everyday life.

Mastodon - The Hunter
Unlike some metal fans, I'm all about bands progressing beyond their "classic" recordings as long as they don't pull a Metallica! Even though The Hunter features more traditional hooks and structures, the songs still balance Mastodon's trademark riffs and prog influences along with some of the best harmonies by the band yet.

Neil Young - A Treasure
Although these songs were recorded during Young's 84-85 tour, it was never released due to record label issues. A Treasure features five previously unreleased tracks along with twangy versions of older songs. Accompanied by a few noteworthy Nashville session musicians, this is an authentic country record by a songwriting legend.

Opeth - Heritage
Opeth is another example of a metal band that continues to evolve with each new recording. While I wasn't too surprised by the more laid back/classic rock vibe of Heritage, I didn't expect the jazz influences, super dynamic drumming and upfront bass parts. There is a good reason why Opeth are one of the most influential bands in progressive music and metal today.

Other Lives - Tamer Animals
Other Lives sound sort of like Ennio Morricone writing modern psychedelic indie rock. This multi-talented group of musicians alternates between keys, guitars, cello, violin, clarinet, castanets, pump organ, glockenspiel, timpani, autoharp and other instruments to create a dense yet at times sparse atmosphere for their songs. Go see them open for Radiohead in 2012!

Russian Circles - Empros
Remember all the instrumental post-metal bands that came out in the last decade? Russian Circles is one of the few bands to transcend that micro-trend for a good reason. On Empros, they continue to improve on their heavy, melodic and atmospheric take on instrumental music.

Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning
After just discovering Insurgentes in 2011, the release of Grace for Drowning was one of my most anticipated. Wilson's knack at writing inspired pop songs, 70s prog influenced rock, and soundtrack worthy interludes has made me a lifelong fan. I can't wait for the Mikael Akerfeldt/Steven Wilson collaboration record!

Thurston Moore - Demolished Thoughts
By using all acoustic instruments (guitars, violin, harp, and upright bass), Demolished Thoughts is sometimes like Sonic Youth unplugged. Although most of the tracks are fairly subdued, there are a few surprising dissonant/no-wave inspired sections. This was definitely my rainy day album of 2011.

Zebulon Pike - Space Is The Corpse of Time
With shifting tempos, exotic melodies, spacey sections, dissonant slide and detuned guitar parts, Zebulon Pike have quickly become one of the my favorite heavy guitar-based instrumental band since the early Don Caballero records.

Favorite 2011 EPs/Singles

Cloudkicker - Let Yourself Be Huge
Cynic - Carbon-Based Anatomy
Deathspell Omega - Diabolus Absconditus
Gorod - Transcendence
US Christmas - The Valley Path

2011 Honorable Mentions

Crone - Endless Midnight
The Globes - Future Self
Krallice - Diotma
Liturgy - Aesthethica
Mammifer - Mare Decendrii
Office of Future Plans - s/t
Primus - Green Naugahyde
Radiohead - The King of Limbs
St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
Zombi - Escape Velocity

pre-order Massless by Graviton now

2011-03-13T17:45:00.000-07:00

Translation Loss Records just put up pre-orders for Massless by Graviton, our other band. pre-order now and receive the album 2 weeks before the street date April 26th.
http://translationloss.com/

Translation Loss Records signs GRAVITON!

2011-03-01T18:14:00.000-08:00

Translation Loss Records are extremely excited to announce the addition of Los Angeles' GRAVITON to their roster!

GRAVITON formed when Intronaut guitarist and vocalist, Sacha Dunable, approached the prog-metal duo National Sunday Law (Derek Donley and Darin Tambascio) about recording a few songs that didn't quite fit with Intronaut. Fueled by pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) and a shared string theory fascination, the band quickly began collaborating on a diverse set of material that featured distinct musicianship, vocals and songwriting from each member.

By incorporating synthesizers, organ, piano, drum machine, samples, lap steel and acoustic guitars as well as the standard heavy rock instrumentation, GRAVITON'S TL debut "Massless" (which streets April 26th) proves to be a meticulously crafted masterpiece of ambient electronic fusion, shoegaze and melodic metal. Recorded by Derek Donley just prior to Intronaut's highly praised 2010 album Valley of Smoke, Massless is an album that reflects a remarkable time and place in minds of these three musicians.

For more information on GRAVITON and a preview of tracks on "Massless", visit their Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Graviton/122555797767430

Darin's 2010 Year End Recap and Music Lists

2010-12-15T09:11:00.000-08:00

I read Derek's post, so I figure the other half of NSL should weigh in...

Its been a really strange year for me. Moving back to Maryland was extremely difficult decision to make, but sometimes you are just a victim of circumstance. Now that I'm back in my home state and I have a full time job that I don't totally hate, it was the right decision for me. The cross country drive with my girl was an another amazing experience in my sometimes scattered existance. The visit back to LA was definitely fun and productive. Hopefully, we can keep NSL going as an ongoing project for years to come. Finally, I'm very excited about the upcoming release of the Graviton record. Its definitely a great curtain call for my times in LA. Here are a bunch of lists...

10 favorite albums of 2010:

Brian Eno – Small Craft on a Milk Sea
Del Rey - Immemorial
The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
Ga’an – S/T
Intronaut – Valley of Smoke
Kayo Dot – Coyote
Keelhaul – Triumphant Return to Obscurity (Out in 2009, but I didn’t hear it until 2010.)
Kevin Hufnagel – Songs for the Disappeared (Out in 2009, but I get into it until 2010.)
Steve Moore – Primitive Neural Pathways
Univers Zero – Clivages

New albums that I still need to pick up in 2011:

Helms Alee – Night Terrors (new to me anyway!)
Kayo Dot – Stained Glass
Killing Joke – Absolute Dissent
Neil Young – Le Noise
(What am I missing?)

Most anticipated albums of 2011:

Aphex Twin - TBA
Battles – TBA (hopefully)
Grayceon – TBA
Graviton – Massless (FINALLY!)
Krallice – TBA
Portishead – TBA (hopefully)
Radiohead – TBA
Solar Wimp – TBA

10 classic albums in constant rotation throughout 2010:

Camel – Mirage & Moonmadness
Crosby, Stills & Nash – S/T
Genesis – Selling England By The Pound
George Harrison – Wonderwall Music
John Lennon – Plastic Ono Band
King Crimson – Lark’s Tongues in Aspic
Queen – A Night At The Opera
Paul McCartney & Wings – Band On The Run
Rapeman – Two Nuns and a Pack Mule
Yes – Close To The Edge

Top 20 artists of 2010 (not always accurate) according my Last.fm page -http://www.last.fm/user/Dakron:

1. King Crimson
2. Rush
3. Genesis
4. Harold Budd
5. Battles
6. Camel
7. Queen
8. Lynx
9. Procol Harum
10. Thin Lizzy
11. Paul McCartney & Wings
12. Opeth
13. Simon & Garfunkel
14. Bob Dylan
15. George Harrison
16. Jawbox
17. Traveling Wilburys
18. Le Orme
19. Janet Klein and her Parlor Boys
20. Paul McCartney

"Life itself is only a vision, a dream, nothing exists but empty space and you and you are but a thought"

2010-12-11T12:32:00.000-08:00

It's been roughly 6 months since we've been gone… I always intended to keep writing updates on NSL, other projects, my biking and things I think are interesting but as you can see that didn't happen, until now. I do have a few new projects in the works but this is just a tease, more about them soon.

Graviton (our band with Sacha from Intronaut) will be released next year! more on that soon too.

Darin returned to LA for a long weekend last month and we layed the ground work on 2 new National Sunday Law tracks. We're each continuing to work on these on our own sharing files via the interweb and each working in protools. This process is slower than we're used to and certainly provides it's obstacles but gives me comfort in knowing that NSL is not dead.

Favorite records of 2010

Ihsahn - After
Del Rey - Immemorial
Inrtonaut - Valley of Smoke
Jaga Jazzist - One Armed Bandit
Kruger - For Death, Glory and the End of the World
Kayo Dot - Coyote
Isis - Wavering Radiant
Fear Factory - Mechanize
Deftones - Diamond Eyes
Gladiator - Circular Reasoning
Cloudkicker - Beacons (I'm listening to this for the first time as I write this and I can already tell this should be on this list)

Most listened to but not released this year:

Ephel Duath - Pain Necessary to Know
Gorod - Process of a New Decline
Del Rey - A Pyramid for the Living
Riddle Of Steel - 1984
Irepress - Sol Eye See I
The Faceless - Planetary Duality
Dysrhythmia - Psychic Maps

Did I forget anything?

-- Derek.

**It's always nice to hear if anyone is still listening and reading so please comment, drop us an email nationalsundaylaw@gmail.com and friend or like us on Facebook.

National Sunday Law Goes on Vacation

2010-06-01T10:40:00.001-07:00

After playing over 50 shows with some of our favorite bands (Intronaut, Mouth of the Architect, Irepress, Behold...The Arctopus, Dysrhythmia, Exhausted Prayer, Solar Wimp, Hurt Model, Fight Amp and so many more), we are taking a break from National Sunday Law. Due to
a dire financial situation and ongoing employment issues, Darin will be moving back to his home state of Maryland in late June. Therefore, the band will be on an indefinite hiatus after two more shows.

This Thursday (June 3^rd), our friends at Ear/Splitters are hosting a show at the Relax Bar in Hollywood with Salvador, Of The Horizon, Nameless Lights and us. We’ll go on second at 9:55pm. Then on Monday (June 7^th), we'll be playing a short set at Vacation Vinyl starting at 7pm sharp. Like all Vacation Vinyl shows, there will be free Colt 45 and lots of awesome records to check out.

In other news, we're excited to announce that Graviton (our new side project with Sacha Dunable of Intronaut) has finished recording a full length album. We hope to have it available by the fall, around the same time as the new Intronaut record! Rough snippets of the songs can be heard at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5IYSa0mYTs&feature=player_embedded

While the news of this relocation is sad, both of us will continue making music in some form or another. We want to thank everyone who supported us or played with us in the past three years. We hope to tour after gaining more fans and getting our financial issues under control. So tell your friends to download our new EP (it’s FREE) and keep a look out for the side project album.

2 Shows

2010-05-28T07:34:00.000-07:00

Thursday, June 03
@ Relax Bar
5511 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90028
8:00
with: SALVADOR, Of The Horizon
not sure what time we play yet.

Monday, June 07
@ Vacation Vinyl
Free.
7 pm sharp

follow our twitter
http://twitter.com/nslband

8.5/10 review at Metal-Mayhem

2010-05-10T18:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.metal-mayhem.co.uk/reviews/national-sunday-law.shtml

Did you catch this?

2010-05-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

http://www.metalsucks.net/2010/04/27/the-blogronaut-asks-for-your-help-naming-his-new-band/#more-34764

Interview at reviewsresist.com

2010-04-19T09:49:00.001-07:00

http://reviewsresist.com/2010/04/national-sunday-law-interview/

MetalSucks.net mention

2010-04-16T12:28:00.000-07:00

Oh shit, they're talking about us at MetalSucks.net

http://www.metalsucks.net/2010/04/16/national-sunday-law-not-some-religious-mumbo-jumbo/

my thoughts have feelings of their own too

2010-04-13T07:22:00.000-07:00

From Season 5.

From Season 7.

Why are you not watching this show?

2010-04-09T07:29:00.001-07:00

First review of "The Fifth Ape"

2010-04-08T08:46:00.001-07:00

So we sent out an email telling people on our mailing list, which we'll happily add or remove you from, that the ep is now a free download and here's the first response we got.

"Spam email? Are you for real? Are you selling pills for my dick or a record? I'd give more time and money to a 'Nigerian Prince' than the snoozefest that is your band / record. I never signed up for your mailing list and I'm sure the thousands of other people you most likely spam did not either. Take me off your mailing list, and while your at it, take your terrible music off the internet. You guys sound like you are from 2002."

more Trailer Park Boys

2010-04-08T08:01:00.000-07:00

"The Fifth Ape" EP is now FREE

2010-04-07T13:07:00.001-07:00

The Fifth Ape is now available for FREE download at http://nationalsundaylaw.bandcamp.com

Enjoy

Trailer Park Boys - Best God Damn Show Ever

2010-04-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

This is a Best of Bubbles comp.

Massacre - Killing Time

2010-03-19T16:51:00.000-07:00

Here are two songs from Massacre's Killing Time record from 1981. I don't know how or why I haven't heard about Massacre before, but I'm all about this album now!

BTW: This isn't the metal band of the same name. Here is more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_%28Fred_Frith_band%29

Stream "The Fifth Ape" EP

2010-03-01T13:53:00.001-08:00

Stream "The Fifth Ape" EP here:
http://nationalsundaylaw.bandcamp.com/album/the-fifth-ape

Order at www.sawherghost.net

Palindrome Velodrome Aerodrome

2010-02-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

It's been a few weeks since my last bike training update and there are a few reasons why. The first is, I've been slacking on tracking my rides and waiting for iPhone app to connect. And second, I haven't been keeping up the distance. I was originally planning on increasing my mileage every week until I hit 100 miles but ever since my 60 mile ride about 4 weeks ago I've only done about 35 miles each outing. And about 5 weeks ago I started riding the Velodrome, so I've been doing another 15 - 25 miles on the track. That shit is awesome! Made of imported Siberian pine, 45° banking, we're talking serious smoothness and speed, an incredible work out. That's me in the green at the front of the pack.

- In other news "The Fifth Ape" EP is mixed and Colin Marston (Behold... The Arctopus, Dysrhythmia, Krallice) will be mastering it next week. It will be out very soon, stay tuned.

- Our other still unnamed band with Sacha from Intronaut has been hard at work writing and recording a full length. I'll be finishing drum tracking this week.

Derek

EP cover art

2010-02-04T07:37:00.000-08:00

new youtubes

2010-01-17T19:19:00.001-08:00

Bike training pt. 3

2010-01-17T15:00:00.000-08:00

I still had problems with the iPhone app, it got the distance right but some how created it's own start and finish points. In any case I rode 50 miles.

Jan 17. 2010 - 50.6 miles - Time not recorded correctly (I took a one 15 min break and one 30-45 min break)

Food -
one cup of coffee, one apple, one orange, a pocketfull of trailmix with dried Nectarines, 3 Cliff bars. Water refilled 6 times.

Music -

Intronaut - The Challenger EP
Kayo Dot - Choirs Of The Eye
Mouth Of The Architect - The Ties That Bind
Pelican - What We All Come To Need
Do Make Say Think - You, You're A History In Rust

Derek

Next show - 1/22/2010

2010-01-13T00:54:00.000-08:00

This is from Echo Curio this past Sunday 1/10/2010

Bike Training Pt.2

2010-01-12T18:00:00.000-08:00

Another beautiful 75° California day. This ride felt longer and harder but it wasn't much more than last week. I had issues with the Every Trail iPhone app so I mapped this one on mapmyride.com when I got home. I still get a good map of my ride but I don't get all the stats, average speed and elevation etc.

Sunday am training pt.2
Find more Bike Rides in Los Angeles, California
Jan. 10 2010 - 42.22 Miles - 3 hours 15 minutes (includes breaks)

Food -
Before the ride I had one cup of coffee and one apple. On the bike I ate a half a package of Trader Joe's flattened bananas, and one black cherry almond Cliff bar. I didn't bonk out but I think I should have eaten more. Maybe that's why the ride felt a lot longer? Or the fact that I took 2 longer than usual rides home from work this week.

Music -

Ulver - Perdition City
This stuff is dark, ambient, trip hop, and so much more. This was great to start my ride with.

Dazzling Killmen - Face of Collapse
A great mid-west math rock band. Members also went on to be in Collosamite and The Mars Volta. These guys go hand in hand with Big'N, Oxes, Don Caballero, and Lustre King.

Intronaut - The Challenger
By now you know that we have a possibly unhealthy love for Intronaut. We have a side project with Sacha, he does guest vocals on our full length and Joe plays bass on our new EP.(pre-orders available at sawherghost.net) The 3 studio recorded songs on this EP are possibly my favorites of their entire catalog.

Keelhaul - II
I've acquired a huge amount of new music in the last couple of months and this is another band I've been hearing about forever but never actually heard until now. These guys kick some serious ass.

Ulcerate - Everything is Fire
Got this suggestion from the Blogronaut's year end list. I don't even know where to start with this one. Lots of people seem to be talking about these guys lately and for a good reason, they fuckin' slay!

Derek

Progressive Rocks Me Like a Hurricane

2010-01-12T10:50:00.000-08:00

After some urging from Derek, I finally decided to post my first blog. Hopefully, I'll get around to posting more often after I get my life in order...

In 1981, at tender age of 6, my older brothers changed my life forever when they sat me down in our living room and made me listen to their favorite records by Rush, Iron Maiden, Pink Floyd and The Scorpions. Yes The Scorpions...fuck you hipster, I still love the classic Klaus Meine "Come On, Come On" jibberish yell.

Despite my long lasting affinity/guilty pleasure for The Scorp's classic tunes, the bands that really struck a chord with me were Rush and Pink Floyd. If you listen to NSL carefully, you can't deny the influence. I still consider Pink Floyd my favorite band of all time, especially after watching Pink Floyd at Pompeii a million times and listening to more of their pre-Dark Side recordings. As a guitarist, I've been equally influenced by both Syd Barrett and David Gilmour. Plus, I fell in love with the synthesizer because of my early exposure to Pink Floyd and Rush.

Although I been through a shit load of music fazes throughout my life, something always brought me back to Pink Floyd and early Rush. About 10 years ago, I began seeking out more music from classic prog bands. Since then Brian Eno and Robert Fripp have become as influential to me as Pink Floyd has been throughout my life. My prog obsession has now become full blown disease.

Here are my favorite prog records of all time:

Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Meddle, More, Obscured By Clouds, Atom Heart Mother, Animals, Wish You Were Here

King Crimson - In The Court of the Crimson King, Larks' Tounges In Aspic, Starless and the Bible Black, Red

Rush - 2112, A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres, Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures

Brian Eno - Another Green World, Before and After Science, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (with David Byrne), Music for Airports, Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks

Hawkwind - Hawkwind, In Search of Space, Doremi Fasol Latido, Hall of the Mountain Grill, Quark Strangeness and Charm

Goblin - Roller, Suspiria, Zombi (Dawn of the Dead)

Tangerine Dream - Electronic Meditation, Alpha Centauri, Atem, Stratosfear

Prog albums that I love, but need more from the artists...

Yes - The Yes Album, Genesis - Selling England by the Pound, Le Orme - Felona e Sorona, Camel - Rain Dances, Amon Duul II - Yeti, Bo Hannson - self titled, Klaatu - 3:47 EST, Magma - Kohntarkosz, Soft Machine - Third

Finally, these are awesome psychedelic albums by classic rock artists that all happen to start with the word "The." A precursor to prog:

The Who - Sell Out, The Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request, The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle, The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds/Smiley Smile, and of course The Beatles recordings from 1966 and later.

For more information on prog bands, check out ProgArchives.com and search for some cool prog rock videos on YouTube. Here is the first part of a BBC documentary:

Darin

Bike training pt. 1

2010-01-03T17:00:00.000-08:00

Here it is, as promised, a blog of my bicycle training inspired by Aaron Harris of Isis' similar blog. My first training goal is Aaron's 100 mile ride.
I currently ride about 75 miles per week to and from work and now that the holidays are over I can get back to these longer Sunday training rides.

I ride a fixed gear Surly Steamroller with front brake and I wear a helmet. my gear ratio is 47 X 16. I'll post a pic of me and the bike next ride.

Jan. 3, 2010 - 40 miles - 3 hours (includes two 15 min breaks)

Food -
Before the ride I had a chocolate croissant and small cup of coffee. On the bike I ate one cashew cookie Larabar and one almond, black cherry cliff bar. I have a water bottle that I refill along the path, I think I refilled it 3 times.

Music -
The Faceless - Planetary Duality
I've been listening to this record non stop for about 4 weeks.

Gorguts - Obscura
I never heard this band until very recently. I can't wait to hear what these guys sound like with Colin and Kevin from Dysrhythmia. Brutal doesn't even begin to describe how they sound

Hurt Model - This Is You
We played our first show with these guys back in August 2006 and have played many more since. Back then they were a duo and the addition of a bass player has done them very well, he even plays cello on a track. (James- We'll be hitting you up to play some cello for us one of these days)

Russian Circles - Geneva
Another band I never heard until very recently. All I know about these guys is the drummer was is Riddle of Steel at one time and that Geneva and Enter are my favorites.

Pig Destroyer - Terrifyer
My favorite PD record. J. R. Hayes has the best scream in metal period.

by: Derek

Pre-order "The Fifth Ape" EP

2010-01-01T23:16:00.000-08:00

Saw Her Ghost just launched pre-orders for our new EP "The Fifth Ape" and 4 other new SHG releases. The pre-order is $14 ppd and includes an exclusive T-shirt (art for both the EP and shirt are coming soon)
Pre-order here or paste this : http://sawherghost.net/sawherghost/?page_id=16

This Is New

2009-12-14T22:29:00.000-08:00

Here it is straight from Sacha Dunable the Blogronaut.

"I have been writing and recording songs with my friends from the band National Sunday Law. We'll announce more details on this as things come together, but we have about 25 minutes of music so far."

It's true. We tracked drums for 5 songs yesterday. Like he said, more details tba.

TV

2009-12-12T11:00:00.000-08:00

If you haven't heard of these shows it's time to start up your torrent searches and update your Netflix queue's.

Trailer Park Boys
I heard about this show from The Life and Times when they came through town a while back. It's a Canadian show on Showcase, it's filmed like a documentary which makes the show feel very personal like you're watching home video of Sunnyvale trailer park. The show mainly follows Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles. Three lovable stoned drunk losers who are always plotting the next "big dirty", one final scam that will make them enough cash to retire, buy the trailer park and get rid of trailer park supervisor Jim Leahy. These guys love kitties, Rush, pepperoni, chicken chips, piss jugs, and getting fucked up. Almost every season starts with them getting out of jail and ends with them going back in. One season Julian makes 8 grand selling potato vodka to all the other prisoners and guards. In season 5 the boys steal a ton of hash and hide it right out in the open by rolling it out on their driveway.

Ideal
Alex (who recorded our full length) found this one and passed it along to me. This show is on BBC3 and is still on, season 6 starts in Spring 2010. Much like TPB it's an ensemble cast show that mostly centers around weed. The entire show (with very few exceptions) takes place in Moz's apartment. Moz is a weed dealer and his best friend, and supplier, PC is a cop. With characters named Psycho Paul, Cartoon Head, and Stemroach you can't go wrong.

Breaking Bad
I don't remember how I heard about this show but it's on AMC. Another drug related show but this one is much more of a dark drama than a comedy, although it can be pretty funny at times. Brian Cranston (you may remember him as the dad on Malcolm in the Middle) is fucking amazing. he plays Walter, a 50 year old chemistry teacher who just found out that he has inoperable lung cancer, an unexpected child on the way and nothing to leave his wife and son who has CP. He decides to use his chemistry skills and an ex student to cook and sell crystal meth to make money to pay for his treatments and leave his family. oh yeah, his brother in law is a DEA agent.

Dexter
I think everybody knows about this show by now. Serial Killer stuff is always interesting to me. Each season gets better than the last. Don't waste your time on the books, the show is much better.

South Park
These guys are still making great episodes! I love how topical they are and how there's almost always a rational lesson to be learned. One of my personal favorites and probably the darkest episode is #69 "Scott Tenorman Must Die", not because Radiohead is in it but because of the cannibalism and the pure evil in Cartman. I've never been a fan of the first 3 seasons but I think I'll give them a try again soon because you can watch all that shit for free at southparkstudios.com. gotta love that.

Other shows you might have missed:
- Eastbound and Down
- I'm Alan Partridge
- Lucky Louie

Next on my list:
- The Wire

by: Derek

Corruption

2009-12-07T07:43:00.000-08:00

We had every intention of doing our final mix down of the EP yesterday but Pro Tools didn't feel the same. For some unknown reason most of our audio files got corrupted, but have no fear we were smart enough to make a backup, but that was months ago thus all of our mixing progress is gone. Josh is starting new mixes and hopefully it wont take too long to build them back up again.

The end of the year.

2009-11-21T12:00:00.000-08:00

Here are my thoughts on the music I absorbed this year in no particular order, after Irepess. Irepress is absolutely my favorite band of the year, their latest record Sol Eye See I blew me away, it's a perfect album from start to finish. Lush guitars, incredible rhythm section, long songs, short songs, soft, heavy, occasional gang vocals, synths and samples from the The Goonies, it takes you everywhere you can imagine and beyond.

I listened the shit out of Gojira this year. I like all of their records and I think each is better than the last. I recommend you pick up the Link Alive DVD, the live versions of songs from The Link and Terra Incognitia are much better than the album versions. I watched it several times over the summer. A great band to listen to on my bike.

Another great band to listen to on my bike is Supercontinent. Saw Her Ghost hooked us up with their catalog when they added us to the roster and this disc was first to go on my iPod after hearing the track "Cataclysms" on myspace. Thick sludgy metal! definitely my favorite SHG release. Too bad they broke up.

2 local bands that have become my favorites to play shows with are Exhausted Prayer and Solar Wimp. I've never seen a drummer play as fast as EP's Mike Caffell in person, and on top of that he does a good share of the vocals. Unfortunately their recordings thus far don't do them much justice but trust me they're a progressive death metal bullet train with pot smoking hippies at the controls. I hear they'll have a new album soon and it sounds amazing.

Solar Wimp get better and better and every time I see them which isn't as often as it should be. I once described them to a friend as discordant spazz punk. At times they remind me of The Dismemberment Plan or Jawbox, very angular and smooth at the same time. The last few times I've seen them they played some newer tunes where Jeremy was starting to scream more... "Yes, they're getting pissed" about what I don't know but I love it. Their EP is a 5 song 11 minute joyride that I always listen to at least twice, it's just that good.

After making a list I realized that I didn't listen to very many 2009 releases this year... I could go on and on, maybe I'll do a part 2... just check out these bands too, I spent a significant amount of time listening to each of them.

Do Make Say Think
Intronaut
Mouth Of The Architect
Facepilot
Grayceon
Ocoai
Kodiak
Riddle Of Steel

by: Derek

Update Nov. 2009

2009-11-08T19:21:00.000-08:00

Is anybody even reading this?
I can't believe it's already November.

- We're on round 5 of the EP mixes, one more mix at NRG and I think we're really almost done. Josh Newell has been doing an incredible job engineering and mixing. We're still not sure who will master it but we have a few options. We also have yet to find an artist so if you're interested email us.

- We recently played shows with Dysrhythmia and Exhausted Prayer. Both were pretty fucking rad if you ask us, thanks to all of you who came out. If you are not familiar with those bands you're seriously missing out.

- We've started booking our March 2010 Tour, more on that soon.

- An Awesome dude named Ryan is helping us release "La Storia di Cannibali" on vinyl! Yes vinyl. more on that soon too.

- In other news we're getting back to writing with our side project this week. We'll have an official announcement as soon as we have a name and maybe some demos to share with you.

- I (Derek) have been training for a 100 mile bike ride inspired by Aaron Harris of Isis. Eventually I'll start to post my routes, what I listened to and what I ate. this past Sunday I did 42.65 miles from my house by LAX to Palos Verdes then into Culver City via La Ballona Creek and back home to LAX. I Listened to Isis, Jeniferever, Between the Buried and Me, The Red Chord, and Pelican. I'm riding a Surly Steamroller fixed gear.

check our myspace for shows. there are a few coming up.

FREE Downloads

2009-09-17T07:36:00.000-07:00

Now you can download a few tracks from our album "La Storia di Cannibali" FREE - http://nationalsundaylaw.bandcamp.com

If you like 'em please buy a CD or T-shirt at our online store - http://nationalsundaylaw.bigcartel.com

New EP coming soon! plus March 2010 Tour and more info tba soon.

Do you want to release "La Storia di Cannibali" on Vinyl? email us. nationalsundaylaw@gmail.com

Recording is done!

2009-09-01T07:28:00.000-07:00

We've finished tracking our new EP "The Fifth Ape"

La Storia di Cannibali

2009-04-15T21:58:00.000-07:00

WWW . NATIONALSUNDAYLAW . BIGCARTEL . COM

WWW . NATIONAL SUNDAY LAW . NET

MP3 DOWNLOAD FROM CD BABY $8

Also on iTunes, Amazon and Rhapsody

Anthropophagy

2008-08-04T07:43:00.000-07:00