Veritas Lux Mea Free indie music mp3s, sports talk, water cooler gossip, political news, concert reviews, featuring the best in new alternative music and independent music artists. A Wisconsin indie music blog featuring free downloads of your favorite independent artists. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 129 0 60 5945

Articles from Veritas Lux Mea

Democratic Race Poses Challenge for Racists, Sexists 2008-02-10 11:07:00 Also from Huff Post...Sunday Funny: Democratic Race Poses Challenge for Racists, SexistsWith the field for the Democratic presidential nomination narrowed to Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, racists and sexists are finding themselves in a quandary over which candidate to support, prominent racists and sexists confirmed today.Across the U.S., voters who describe themselves as both racist and sexist complain that the two-person field, while touted by the media as history-making, is forcing them to ask a difficult question: which group do they hate more?"I've always seen myself as pretty balanced, racist and sexist-wise," said Herb Torlinson, a hardware salesman from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. "But I guess this is going to be an election that really puts my different hates to the test."Mr. Torlinson also chastised the media for celebrating the historic nature of the Democratic field: "Anyone who's happy about these two choices can't call himself a racist or a sexist." ...

Keith Richards gives advice to Amy Winehouse 2008-02-10 11:00:00 If I have no other reason to watch the Grammy's, I will most certainly have to tune in to see if Amy Winehouse can manage to pull it together long enough to perform a full song on national television. I understand her appeal, but I wouldn't be surprised if she came out, slugged a bottle of vodka and passed out 30 seconds later given the turbulent nature of current career, which is perhaps why I found this little article on The Huffington Post so entertaining:Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has offered troubled singer Amy Winehouse some free advice on kicking the drug habit."She should get her act together," the former junkie said during a round-table interview at the Berlin International Film Festival on Friday to promote Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones documentary "Shine a Light."The often-addled rocker paused, then added: "Apart from that, I have got nothing to say to the b****."Winehouse, 24, entered a London rehab clinic last month in hopes of kicking a destructive habi ...

I Make This Sound 2008-02-10 10:51:00 The 7 piece LA band I Make This Sound will soon be releasing their second EP titled Staring At Yourself. If you're in the LA area and looking for a pre-Valentine's Day treat, consider hitting up their CD release show at The Echo on Feb 13th, where they'll be joined by friends The Breakups, Amateurs, and Le Switch.Want a quick preview? Check out a few of the tracks below from the upcoming record:I Make This Sound - "King and Queen"I Make This Sound - "One, Two, Three"Wisconsin indie music blog featuring free mp3 downloads from today's top independent music artists, news, social commentary, political watercooler gossip, and concert reviews. Champion of such artists as Arcade Fire, The National, Bloc Party, Cold War Kids, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! ...

Samaraj Cities 2008-02-10 10:36:00 Man oh man does it feel like forever since I've posted, and my bursting inbox is a sign of just that. It doesn't help that I've been recovering from a nasty cough and cold, but now that I'm back on track and healthy again hopefully we can take care of a few media reviews and artist requests.One of the gems that landed in my inbox during the past weeks was a shoutout from Imperial Recording's artist Samaraj Cities. The Swedish foursome's release Cheap Deluxe is out in stores now and we wanted to pass along a few tracks from this interesting, self-described "indie/black metal" band for your listening pleasure.Samaraj Cities - "Saturday Night Is Never Fair to Everyone"Samaraj Cities - "All Along the Shoreline"Befriend Samaraj Cities on MyspaceWisconsin indie music blog featuring free mp3 downloads from today's top independent music artists, news, social commentary, political watercooler gossip, and concert reviews. Champion of such artists as Arcade Fire, The National, Bloc Party, ...

Is Tom really your friend? 2008-01-28 19:11:00 As you may have noticed, I haven't been blogging much. But that's not necessarily a bad thing (for me, at least) because it means I've been doing other things, like reading (a lot) and spending more time just hanging out and talking with Felicia. Next goal: staying in touch with friends on a more consistent basis. But back to the reading part.One of my frequent stops is at Bookforum.com, which usually has a myriad of great links to interesting things to read, from social commentary to literary criticism. I read a really fascinating article this morning by Tom Hodgkinson from The Guardian talking about the little known facts behind your favorite social network and mine, Facebook.Now I don't know about you, but I gave up on Myspace and have instead fled to Facebook as a method of keeping in touch with friends and classmates that I'm too lazy to call or actually visit in person.Check out this little snippet below:I despise Facebook. This enormously successful American business descri ...

Giants claw past Packers and into the Super Bowl 2008-01-21 06:18:00 Last night was probably one of the more devastating nights for me as a Packers fan as I watched the New York Giants claw and fight their way past the Green Bay Packers and into the Super Bowl.The reason it was devastating was not because the Packers lost; on the flipside, they had an amazing season, going further than anyone ever expected them to, and have a great young team that's going to remain competitive for a long time. No, what was so devastating to me was how the Packers responded to the conditions. For a team that prides itself as a "cold weather team" and a team that supposedly has the upper hand when it comes to these sorts of weather conditions, the Packers looked cold, and it showed in their play.Never mind the fact that Al Harris couldn't stop Plexico Burress, or that Green Bay's stellar run defense somehow managed to allow over 120 yards on the ground to Jacobs and Bradshaw (who?), when it came down to critical plays the Packers looked desperate and cold. Eli showed p ...

Packers vs. Giants for NFC Championship 2008-01-20 09:54:00 Big day as the Packers and Giants play to see who will be punching their tickets to the Super Bowl this week.Game time temps in Green Bay expected to be around 0 degrees without the wind chill.I haven't been this excited to watch football in years.NFC Championship Game Press Conference - QB Brett FavreNFC Championship Game Press Conference - WR Donald DriverNFC Championship Game Press Conference - CB Al HarrisNFC Championship Game Press Conference - Aaron KampmanWisconsin indie music blog featuring free mp3 downloads from today's top independent music artists, news, social commentary, political watercooler gossip, and concert reviews. Champion of such artists as Arcade Fire, The National, Bloc Party, Cold War Kids, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! ...

Yoga with Collections of Colonies of Bees 2008-01-16 05:55:00 I've recently begun doing yoga in the mornings in an attempt to better more holistically healthy and less stressed/more focused. Either way, it's better than waking up at 5 am to watch Sportscenter.I like to listen to instrumental, ambient types of music during my morning stretching routine, and lucky for me someone wanted to introduce me to the instrumental group Collections of Colonies of Bees recently.The Milwaukee, Wisconsin product have a new album coming out on Tuesday, Birds, and are currently on tour.According to their Myspace page,In an era of pervasive lo-fi meandering and leaden, self-indulgent navel-gazing, Collections of Colonies of Bees sweep in grandly, as their name implies, in great, billowing swarms of sound, bourn aloft on a thousand wings of miniscule, elegant detail. In these extended instrumental tracks, guitars chime and soar, recalling the best campaigns of the guitar armies of both Glenn Branca and Rhys Chatham; deft yet intensely focused percussion propels t ...

Me Read Good 2008-01-15 19:45:00 One of my 2008 "resolutions", to use the preferred nomenclature, is to read more -- for pleasure. Being an ex-English literature graduate student, I would sometimes read 200-300 pages worth of material a night. When I graduated and moved into the business sector I figured my days of "required reading" were over...until I took a job as a proofreader, a position I still hold (in addition to 3 or 4 other positions I've accumulated in the gray cubicles of the business world that is the catalog industry). Needless to say, after work the last thing I wanted to do was come home and read more...so I essentially stopped reading for pleasure.This year I'm attempting to get back on the "reading horse" regardless of how my days are spent earning a paycheck and so far it's been pretty enjoyable. I've been digging through Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel, George Carlin's When Will Jesus Bring the Pokrchops, Dave Egger's A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and The Ten Day MBA. I' ...

Continental Breakfast with Sir Salvatore 2008-01-15 19:14:00 You may remember when we helped introduce you to Sir Salvatore last year. Well, the indie rockers are back in 2008 with their 2nd EP, Continental Breakfast.When asked what it sounded like, a friend had to say:"TAPES N' TAPES having an OXFORD COLLAPSE but rising like a PHOENIXfrom THE CRIBS"Take a listen for yourself:Sir Salvatore - "Townies"Sir Salvatore - "Ambalina"Like what you hear? Stream a few more tracks at their Myspace page.To satisfy our curiosity, we checked into Oxford Collapse to see if the comparison is apt...below is our evidence, for you, our musical jury, to percolate:Oxford Collapse - "Last American Virgin"Oxford Collapse - "The Boys Go Home"Wisconsin indie music blog featuring free mp3 downloads from today's top independent music artists, news, social commentary, political watercooler gossip, and concert reviews. Champion of such artists as Arcade Fire, The National, Bloc Party, Cold War Kids, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! ...

Roll Out the Barrel 2008-01-13 21:19:00 Photo: Brett Favre, NFL.comWhat a great weekend. Brett Favre and The Pack march on to the Conference Championships, we spend a great Saturday evening out with friends, and finish it up with a Cowboys loss and turkey dinner on Sunday.With Monday just around the corner, we thought we'd rehash some of the tracks that found their way into our inbox the past week. If a week's worth of new listening isn't enough to wet your palate, make sure you drop by Muzzle of Bees and check out Ryan's weekend purging as well for some additional juicy "trackage" that isn't found below.The Sharp Things - "My Red Letter Days"State Bird - "The Golden Glowing Mask"Louis XIV - "Guilt by Association"The Jones Street Boys - "Last Time"Ladyhawk - "I Don't Always Know What You're Saying"Sunny Day Sets Fire - "Stranger"Bodies of Water - "I Guess I'll Forget the Sound, I Guess, I Guess"Evangelicals - "Skeleton Man"Elevator Suite - "Elenor Rigby"Michael Morph - "The Crowd C'est Beau"Wisconsin indie music blo ...

Do You Like Rock Music? 2008-01-08 21:35:00 Do you like rock music? I sure as hell do. It's right up there on my list with brats, good German beer, and beach volleyball. Which is why I'm excited for British Sea Power's February 12th release of their "Do You Like Rock Music?" EP.British Sea Power existed to me only as this obscure band that held a song on my WinAmp playlist until about two years ago when I realized that they were actually a great band with lots of other great songs.Need proof?Check out the song "Atom" by British Sea PowerIf you like what ya' heard, head on over to NME.com to stream the entire new album before it's released.More BSP:British Sea Power - "Waving Flags"Befriend British Sea Power on MyspaceWisconsin indie music blog featuring free mp3 downloads from today's top independent music artists, news, social commentary, political watercooler gossip, and concert reviews. Champion of such artists as Arcade Fire, The National, Bloc Party, Cold War Kids, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! ...

Welcome to 2008 2008-01-07 17:31:00 Welcome back to another new year here at Veritas Lux Mea.We figured almost a month off was sufficient "creative time" to re-energize and renew our creative juices, and we couldn't have picked a better time to return to blogging with all the great releases we've had a chance to feast on over the past holiday weeks.It was interesting during our time off to reflect on why we actually do what we do. I mean, who doesn't listen to music and talk to their friends about it? I guess the only thing that separates bloggers from everyone else is the desire to put those thoughts to a blog...where perhaps thousands of people or anyone with access to the world wide web could see them.But that being said, do I care if you don't like my infatuation with obscure bands like Bear vs. Shark or my opinion on My Chemical Romance (they're terrible)? No, not really. But we do care about whether or not you have heard the latest band to hit the indie scene, or if you're aware that Bob Mould will be playing ...

The Last Post of 2007 2007-12-09 15:08:00 Sitting here this frosty Sunday evening enjoying the Packers game and spending time with my little family up here in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. The holiday season is fast upon us and we're in full-Christmas shopping mode. Small fowls have been purchased for cookie, stockings have been hung, and our miniature Christmas tree is glowing brightly near the decorative brick fireplace. The only thing we're missing is some holiday tunes.Luckily, our inbox has been filled with lots of treats from musical Santas all over the world. Over the next couple of weeks leading up to Christmas we'll continue to update this post with all the holiday songs, covers, and Christmas tunes we come across - and we'll be sure to point you towards our friends who surely will have their musical stockings full as well. This will be our last post of the year for 2007 as we're going to sit back, relax, and take in the tunes...call it a Holiday Creative Sabbatical if you wish.Often lost in the endless time spent ...

Songs for the Weary 2007-12-05 06:18:00 Have had a little trouble finding the energy to post at 6 in the morning lately - think the late deadlines at work, impending Christmas shopping stress, and bludgeoning cold temperatures and snow are taking their toll on me this week. Hope to be back to full strength in terms of posting this weekend, but for now, we invite you to check out Spanish Prisoners.For those of you unfamiliar with the band---Spanish Prisoners is a collective of musicians under the guidance of songwriter and official orchestrator, Leonid Maymind. Maymind was born in Riga, Latvia---moved to New Orleans as a child—and finally called the beautiful Mid-western state of Ohio home. The music created by Maymind is as unique and varied as the cities where he has lived.Using an expansive arsenal of instruments (ranging from banjo, accordion, dobro, wheezing harmonica, , electronics, etc.) and an extensive cast of collaborators, Maymind’s music conjures up the quiet anger of Neil Young’s “On the Beach,” the l ...