Jason High and his catchy noise

Several years ago, in the heyday of Myspace, I friended a South Carolina band called Pregnant Preachers (Jason High and Marcie West). They are a lo-fi acoustic punk band in the vein of early Sebadoh and Syd Barrett. Then came the decline of Myspace and I had to find Pregnant Preachers all over again. In doing so I also found Jason High's other projects, Monkey vs Robot and JH and his Noise. High makes music because it is fun and he loves it, you can tell. He is always releasing something new. Take advantage of these 50+ free downloads and I assure you there will be more coming from High soon.

Pregnant Preachers

http://www.reverbnation.com/pregnantpreachers

Monkey vs Robot

http://www.reverbnation.com/monkeyvsrobot

JH and his Noise

http://soundcloud.com/search?q%5Bfulltext%5D=jh+and+his+noise

The lost sounds of Iji

I was going through this box I have full of homemade demos/albums from bands and musicians I've seen over the years. Tons, and tons, of self pressed CDR's in paper sleeves and glued together pieces - total collector's items, total shit. Honestly, I've barely gotten a chance to listen to half this stuff, but I do my best. As I dig through the D.I.Y. menagerie, I come across one of my all time favorites from the road, a Seattle, WA based indie-rock/reggae/nerd-pop??? power house called iji (pronounced "ee-hee"). I, of course, couldn't pronounce their name either until I met them in person, and straight up asked. Their sound is equally impossible to wrap your head around. Each record takes a new direction, as the group's 30+ members tend to come and go. It's core member Zach Burba writes these incredibly adorable lyrics, that always make me giggle. Some of the songs are obscure, others well tuned. In addition to so much great music, the visual art representing each release is just plain cool. - I particularly love the cover of 2008's "In Celebration" (skull hats are awesome!)  You can download some of their music free on CLLCT and Bandcamp, or look them up on Facebook.

Recommended track: Giant Bite

http://cllct.com/art/iji
http://ijiiji.bandcamp.com

Wake up to The Coma Calling

Kyle Cramb is a guy I've known from Wichita since the early 00's. We've occasionally run in to each other, and exchanged musical interests, and I like to think we have a connection. Kyle writes and records his own music under the name The Coma Calling, which is a moniker I've yet to fully inhale, but catchy. His music could be classified as electro-pop meets avant-techno, though he takes a somewhat minimalist approach in experimenting with various noises and sounds, giving it an altogether lo-fi exterior. Ultimately it reminds me of the few cool acts I know from Warp records such as Autechre, Russell Haswell, and Boards of Canada. I've already said it a hundred times, The Coma Calling is one of the few artists who really stand out to me in Wichita. Not to say there isn't loads of great stuff around, but far else has caught my ear in the same way. You can get Kyle's recent release "The Forever Switch" free on Bandcamp, along with other self-released gems. He also has a Facebook page you can like.

Recommended track: Arc

http://thecomacalling.bandcamp.com
http://last.fm/music/The+Coma+Calling