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Time Out!

Listen Up will be taking some time out to find a better way to post songs. File Den has suspended us and imeem is being a straight up bitch. I would really like to focus mainly on local and independent bands. If you have music that you would like to share from your band, a friend's band or a local/independent band that you're cuckoo bananas about, please send them along to causticallyoptimistic@gmail.com. Thanks!

Sigur Ros: Viorar Vel Til Loftarasa

Good Weather For Airstrikes

I Slide Myself Forward

Through My Head

I Think Half Way

Backwards

See Myself Sing The Anthem

That We Wrote Together

We Had A Dream

We Had Everything

We Rode To The End Of The World

We Rode Searching

Climbed Skyscrapers

That Later Exploded

The Peace Was Out

I Leak Balance

Fall Down

Total Silence

No Answer

But The Best Thing God Has Created

Is A New Day

Click Here to Listen to Viorar Vel Til Loftarasa

Photography of Alicia Bock

Justice: D.A.N.C.E.

The song is absolutely infectious, but it's just as much the video that made we want to feature Justice's "D.A.N.C.E." The video mixes live action with a barrage of T-shirt animation. It could be mistaken for a Threadless commercial. The song is uniquely organic sounding for the club/house genre. Your inclination may be to think the voices used are samples, but nay nay friend, they are indeed the real deal recorded solely for the song.It makes me want to get some groove-friendly kicks and show the youngsters what's up on the floor.

The French duo appreciates strong imagery, tapping So Me to lend well over 500 illustrations to give the video its look. Get into it, it's gonna make ya squiggle and squirm in yo seat!

Song Breakdown:

Best Place and Time to Listen:

Talk the struggling wedding DJ into getting the party started with this rambunctious jam.

If This Song Was a Celebrity It Would Be:

Mila Kunis. Really need a why?

Justice - "Dance" - Justice

At the Drive-In: Star Slight

Just as I began to think there was nothing under the "hardcore" banner for a guy like me, Relationship of Command came out and blew my mind man! So, I devoured everything I could by At the Drive-In and it was all good. The older albums definitely had a more lo-fi, indie sound, but all the same energy and aggression with a punk rock spirit.

Star Slight is off the earlier Acrobatic Tenement and full of the post-punk sound and hook that seperated them from the pack. It's a short romp of a song, but it's not always about size.

Song Breakdown

Best Place and Time to Listen:

Getting ready to do something ill-advised.

If This Song Was a Celebrity It Would Be:

Max, from Where the Wild Things Are.

Starslight - At The Drive-In

Brass Castle: Hamlet

Listening to Brass Castle is like getting punched in the face . . . but a good punch in the face, you know, the kind you just might drop a Hamilton for. The two-man Atlanta-based band, traces it's roots back to some of the most caustic, interesting and epic Jacksonville bands including Gizzard and Dampading.

At time it can seem slightly in disarray, but it's truly purposeful and noisily novel. Forget White Stripe comparisons, this music is amazingly raucous and dirty. I swear to God that I smell whiskey soaked breath and cigarette smoke laden clothes from just listening to these songs. "Hamlet" is off their album Get on Fire. Brass Castle also contributed a song to the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters Soundtrack.

Song Breakdown

Best Time and Place to Listen:

To prep for a night you won't remember.

If This Song Was a Celebrity It Would Be:

George C. Scott.

Hamlet - Brass Castle

L.S.U. The Fold

L.S.U. (Life Savers Underground) was truly an enigma among CCM bands and "The Fold" may be one of the best songs that you have never heard . . . OK, I know a couple of you have, but in general. L.S.U. was mainly Michael Knott and you never really knew what to expect from album to album, and The Grape Prophet was no exception. It is a rock opera or a concept album if you will about an orange picker trying to rescue his fellow pickers from a sinister prophet.

"The Fold" encompasses a lot of sound in a short amount of time. From hair rock to indie rock and chorale conclusion, there is truly nothing else like it. Tortured vocals, howling guitars and thunderous drums eventually meet a children's choir-that's just how L.S.U. rolls. Incendiary and unforgettable, it's one of the reasons why this album is a true classic.

Song Breakdown

Best Place and Time to Listen:

It's the perfect soundtrack for late night, in-house hide and seek . . . yes, with the lights out. It's a blast, just try it.

If This Song Was a Celebrity It Would Be:

Nicolas Cage as Sailor Ripley in Wild at Heart.

Click Below to Listen to The Fold:

LSU - The Grape Prophet.wma