YOUR GRACIOUS HOST - s/t (2 CDs)

2 CDs, which are band produced CD-rs. This is a really great debut sampling from Your Gracious Host, who is Tom Curless alone on Disc 1 and a band that features long-lost Brian Leach and Epicycle member Elllis Clark on Disc 2. YGH is from Illinois and, thankfully, one can hear the influence of such power pop greats as Shoes on both of these discs. The self-professed `low-fi` tunes on Disc 1 most remind me of early Shoes and The Deal, who many Not Lamers will recall as being on the great, unknown power pop bands from the early/mid 80s. There are 21 songs over the 2 discs here and most them are going to the style of power pop fans of the Not Lame persuasion love discovering. This is a rocking manifesto filled with sweet vocal harmonies, chiming guitars, and stick-in your-head melodies set to compelling, often confessional lyrical landscapes. Compared to the likes of XTC, The Shins, Teenage Fanclub, Elliott Smith, Crowded House, The Posies and Squeeze, Tom Curless welcomes these esteemed comparisons and brings home a quality that fans of power pop the world over will surely salivate over. "If you fetishize the pop (and I mean the power kind) you may not be able to handle the pop-gasm of auto-erotic asphyxiation level you will get from this masterpiece" - Rocktober.

" Your Gracious Host has fashioned one of the most audacious tricks in the music industry book - the double-disc debut album - and has pulled it off. He mixes indie pop and power pop to fine effect, and fans of Teenage Fanclub, The Shins, XTC and a host of other similarly minded and sounding bands will enjoy this generous offering. The uptempo `Minutes=Hours` begins the proceedings, and it has a Teenage Fanclub vibe; the densely melodic `Admit To Myself` recalls Elliott Smith; `Changed So Much` sounds a track off the Pernice Brothers` `Yours, Mine & Ours`. The acoustic guitar-driven `The Big Leap` has a breezy, 70s feel; the power poppin` `Time to Spare` brings Robert Pollard to mind, while `Reaching Stars` is positively Posies-esque. And that`s just the first disc! Disc 2 rocks a bit more and features "I Feel Alright", a rootsy power pop number in manner of Marshall Crenshaw; the driving `Why You`re Here`; the dreamy `Taking Time Away`, which also channels The Posies; `Really Too Late`, which brings a bit of Bob Mould into the mix; and closes with the lovely `Cloud In The Sky` which has a bit of a High Llamas/Cloud Eleven feel. You`ll want to RSVP to Your Gracious Host!" - Absolute Power Pop blog. The 2 CDs here are CD-r pressings but if that gives you pause, I must exhort you to listen to the many sound samples below to convince you that it is the music the matters. EXTREMELY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Song #1(low-fi) - mp3

Song #2(hi-fi) - mp3

Song #3(low-fi) - mp3

Song #4(hi-fi) - mp3

Song #5(low-fi) - mp3

Song #6(hi-fi) - mp3

Song #7(low-fi) - mp3

Song #8(hi-fi) - mp3