Jimmy Tamborello Vol 1 and 2; Strictly Ballroom and Figurine

Jimmy Tamborello is the mastermind behind bands such as Dntel, The Postal Service, Dublab, Figurine and Strictly Ballroom. He has been a part of a number of projects over the years, so im splitting his discography into volumes for organization purposes. These are his first two bands, and they're probably my favorites. 

Strictly Ballroom is an emo band started in the mid 90's when Tamborello was a DJ at Los Angelas's KXLU. They released 2 EPs and one LP before moving on to other projects.

7"

...I Love 7"

Hide Here Forever LP

Zum #10

DIW #32

Sub Pop Singles Club

Unreleased

"Dear XXX" Short film written by Tamborello featuring music by Strictly Ballroom

Figurine was a synth-pop trio consisting of James, Meredith and David Figurine. They released 2 albums, an EP, a remix compilation and a split solo LP before calling it quits around 2001.

Transportation + Communication = Love

The Heartfelt

Discard EP

Reconfigure

Tony Molina and the Ovens

Tony Molina is the frontman of the San Francisco band Ovens (aka Pinkerton: The Band), who formed sometime around 2003 and may or may not have broken up. Tony has developed a solid fuzz heavy sound over the years, meeting somewhere in between Rivers Cuomo and J Mascis, but with obvious influence from bands like The Dead Milkmen and Guided by Voices (as evidenced by his choice in cover songs). This year he released his first solo album "Dissed and Dismissed"on Melters, so buy it. www.ovenssf.com

"Don't Come Back"

Ovens

'bea goes to the hospital' EP

Ovens (s/t tripple cd)

Ovens 7"

Live at Kimo's

Tony Molina

"Embarrassing Times" EP

"Dissed and Dismissed"

Alex G and The Skin Cells

Alex G is a young dude from philadelphia. He releases music solo as well as with his band the Skin Cells. Literally all this dude's stuff is amazing, reminding me at different times of artists like Sebadoh, Carissa's Wierd, Elliott Smith, Dntel, Alden Penner and Adam Green (but mainly just because they look alike to me). All his stuff is pay what you want, so throw the homie some $$$ if you can. www.facebook.com/sandyalexg

"Be Kind"

Race

Buy Cassette

Winner

Easy

Rules

Trick

Buy Cassette

Bandcamp Songs

420 Love Songs 1&2

Acoustic

The Skin Cells

"Skating"

DEMO(H)

Nude Years 2013

Ponytail

Baltimore's Ponytail formed in 2005 when a professor they all shared at the Maryland Institute of College Art gave their class the assignment of starting a band. They released three incredible albums before breaking up in 2011. I could sit here and try to describe or categorize them, but it would honestly be impossible. You've probably never heard anything like this before, and probably never will again.

Kamehameha

Ice Cream Spiritual

Do Whatever You Want All The Time

Videos

Late For School

Dustin Wong

Guitarist Dustin Wong was perviously in the band Ecstatic Sunshine before quitting to focus on Ponytail full time, and has subsequently also released a number of solo albums since the band's demise. I have included partial discographies for both of these projects as well.

Ecstatic Sunshine

Freckle Wars

Living

Way

Dustin Wong

Let It Go

Infinite Love

Dreams Say, View, Create, Shadow Leads

Videos

(I am currently missing the Ecstatic Sunshine album New Kind of Imagination, as well as the Dustin Wong album Seasons and his split LP with Gentle Friendly . If you have either of these and you're willing to share you can shoot me an email at brendan.killian91@gmail.com)

Rivers Cuomo

Rivers Cuomo is the frontman of the band Weezer. For the past few years he has been releasing his solo unreleased demoes through a series he calls Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo. So far there have been 3 volumes and a live dvd released, all of which I have included below. I'm also throwing in Deluxe Editions of Weezer's self-titled debut (widely known as The Blue Album), as well as their sophomore effort Pinkerton (my favorite record ever), as both of these releases include Rivers Demoes. Enjoy.

Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo

Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo

Alone III: The Pinkerton Years

Weezer (Blue)

Pinkerton

Videos

Tired of Sex

Brain Stew (Green Day)

Favorite Tracks: Lemonade, Negativland, You Gave Your Love to Me Softly, Susanne, Jamie, Let Me Wash at Your Sink, Waiting on You, Longtime Sunshine, Money Makes Me Happy, Getting Up and Leaving, Tragic Girl, Devotion, Mykel and Carli

The Unicorns and Side Projects

The Unicorns were a band formed in Canada in the early 2000s by Alden Penner and Nick Thorburn. They broke up and it sucks. 

Three Inches of Blood

Unicorns are People Too

Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?

2014 EP

Unreleased

Videos

Jellybones

I Was Born (A Unicorn)

Favorite Tracks: I Die, Les Os, Peach Moon, Ebb Tide Azure Sky, Thunder and Lightning, 2014 (Demo), Child Star, Ready to Die, Let's Get Known

After The Unicorns Split, Nick and drummer Jamie Thompson were briefly a part of a hip-hop collective known as Th'Corn Gangg. As far as I can tell, it was an experimental dumping ground for post-Unicorns remixes and pre-Islands demoes.

Th'Corn Gang

Live @ The Echo 3/12/05

Nick went on to form the bands Islands, Human Highway, Mister Heavenly and Reefer, as well as put out solo material.

Islands

Return to the Sea

Arm's Way

Vapours

A Sleep and a Forgetting

Videos

Rough Gem

Mister Heavenly

Out of Love

Nick Diamonds

I Am an Attic

Alden has been a lot more low-profile than his subsequent bandmate. He fronted the short-lived (but still incredible) band Clues from 2007-2010, releasing only one album. Other than that, he has put out two solo EPs as well as soundtracks for the films The Hamster Cage and Paper Heart. Currently he fronts the band The Hidden Words, but they have yet to put out an official release.

Let's Get Strong (played for his grandmother)

Last Shelter

Clues

Clues

Alden Penner

The Ghost of Creaky Crater

Odes to the House

Paper Heart OST

Live

04/07/05

01/04/06

09/19/2007

(I am currently missing Alden's Soundtrack to the film The Hamster Cage, as well as anything from his pre-Unicorns band Poor Alexander. If you have either of these and you're willing to share you can shoot me an email! I will be eternally grateful).