Here for your listening pleasure, a new mix from The Midnight Ace. Check his site for more news or check our Concert Calendar and see him live!

Here is the download for the Midnight Ace Mix.

On the internet Quantity does not equal quality. With slightly over 16000 plays on myspace Cortez Cortez churns out pop garage rock in flavor that everyone can enjoy. On their new release, ’8 for infinity’, Cortez establishes themselves as a band that can make albums that are both instantly enjoyable and repeatably listenable.
’8 for infinity’ is a short album with more high than low points. The albums starts off with ‘Bad Lieutenant’ a track that standouts out as the groups most vocally captivating. The song alternates between a chorus of synths and tamborines and guitar driven verses with catchy vocals on both. ‘Newpapers’ is an equally head nodding song built around the same equation that continues through most of the album. The one track that sees them stepping outside their pop rock boundries, ‘Paper Train’, makes you wish they would have changed the name to ’7 to Infinity’. After skipping to ‘Highways’ the album picks back up and continues before getting into ‘Music’, my favorite track among a selection of which its hard to pick one.
’8 for Infinity’ is an effort that makes you think if linked with a good producer Cortez Cortez could make a great album. Aside from the quality the only other downfall on this album is the sequence. ’8 for Infinity’ never feels quite like an album, but more like a mixtape that my friend burned for me to get the gist of what a band was about.
With more highlights than low this album is worth all and more of the 0 dollars you’ll have to pay to get it from their myspace. Of all the free albums and music to listen to on the internet it’s easy to give one a listen a never get back to it, but ’8 for Infinity’ is one that you’ll find yourself listening to again and again.

Get 8 for Infinity free at Cortez Cortez’s Myspace.

If you were to imagine what a group of graphic designers would do during their spare time, recording pop albums worthy of multiple listens would probably not be near the top of the list. Upcoming artist Hot Lava translates HTML into pop music format that, more importantly, translates into great music for the listening audience. The title ‘JPG in the sun’ and lines like ‘apple shift four take a picture of these heat waves while you still can’ will give geeks the feeling that this is a band that they can call their own. While this band uses computer references to appeal to nerds(such as myself), the overwhelming pop is what will initially peak interest to a wider audience.

Hot Lava may be working on their own genre of nerd-pop, but their sound is pop through and through. Upbeat tracks with catchy hooks are the in no way lacking on Lavalogy. ‘Blue Dragon’ is a quirky synth laden track detailing the adventures of a vegan dragon with soaring choruses and lines like ‘Your eating lettuce tomatoes your skin is rather porous/ You must be a vegan your so sweet/ You have got the spinach in your teeth’. The majority of songs on their debut are great but the one that is most likely to be fan favorite is definitely ‘Apple+Option+Fire’. Allison’s lo-fi vocals shine brightly as she sings ‘Wake up Wake up we got business we got choices we got fire/ force quit everything you know’, highlighting what this band does best, mix catchy melodies with memorable lyrics.

Lavalogy is overflowing with molten hot pop that fans of this genre will love. Hot Lava makes songs that creep into your memory to the point that your singing under your breath while standing in line at the bank, which is what pop music is all about.

Visit Hot Lava‘s Myspace or Buy their tracks on Amazon!

A band could either grow on your or it could be love at first listen. With Tigers Con Queso it was definitely the latter. Their punk blended with folk style makes you feel like your part of the party or sorrow or whatever feeling their trying to convey at that moment. The six songs on their website play like a mini album covering drinking, relationships, and high school makeout.

‘Drink Till Yr Problems Go Away’ is a fast paced ode to drinking where casio sings, ‘Drink until your pain is null and void/drink until your insecurties have been destroyed!’. ‘MKTPRTY’ is a short acoustic track vocalizing the akwardness and pain of high school, complete with references to ‘sitting on the school bus looking for a place to hide’. The strongest track among the selections on their myspace is ‘Carstruck’, an uptempo vocal driven song thats immediate dance feel is guaranteed to have people moving their chucks and sperry’s.

With six songs clocking in at less than 3 minutes each, the excitement is short lived, but fans can hold hope for a new release. A recent blog post declares their working on new material in the New year despite Casio having multiple side projects and their bassist being on an extended vacation in Russia. Hopefully this bands new project will live up to the potential that their teeming with.

Check them out at their Myspace or buy their ep at Tigers con Queso’s Bandcamp