Built by Snow is the indie pop equivalent of straight-ahead jazz. There are off-kilter keyboard bloops to be sure, but it’s all about the three-note melodies and manic energy. The members hail from Austin, Texas and don’t have a Wikipedia page, so I can’t pretend to know anything else about them. Get on that, guys. Their first full-length MEGA releases Jan. 20, and you can listen and download four tracks of it at www.builtbysnow.com/rad/. Air and Sea Battle talked to frontman JP about making television, being foiled by Jet, and, mostly, science.

How did the band come together?

It’s almost been about three years now. We all work at a TV station together. I started writing songs and wanted some pictures for my Myspace page that proved there was a real band behind these songs … so I got my friends together and took some pictures of them. Then I realized that they actually played instruments, so we decided to make it official and do it for real.

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Last year, I had the pleasure of having the French government pay my way to review an absolutely ridiculous music festival in Rennes.

This year, of course, we couldn’t go. Thus, we mourned for 5 days here at A&SB, being mentally unfit to post and all.  Here’s what I thought of it then, posted here as a tribute to what was the most amazing weekend of music and drunkeness imaginable.

RENNES, France — I wouldn’t recommend making the trip to Trans Musicales at the outskirts of Rennes on anything but the bus — and not just because you’ll leave too drunk to drive, even by French standards. Immersing yourself in a hot mass of jolly flesh while careening into bizarre characters yelling drinking songs in your ear offers the chance to, well, meet people.

It’s a modern-day pilgrimage out to some old airfield where four empty airplane hangars are stuffed with a stage, trippy lighting and bands just big enough to draw a crowd, but not so big that they don’t play with desperate intensity. The bus erupts in cheers and high fives as the hangars appear around a bend. These European kids party like they know this is their last shot to leave a stain on their memories from this winter. I say stain because they are drunk. Hell, we’re all drunk, but these kids are absolutely shitfaced.

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In today’s edition, we’ll shine a light on Lo Fi Rye, a wierdly awesome Celtic/Alternative band from Galway, Ireland. I have no idea where that is, maybe somewhere near North Carolina? Anyways, its always a fun listen while you’re getting dressed for a Thursday night booze session, or even your Tuesday and Wednesday night session!

Be sure to check out my personal favorite, “Growing Old” Yes, that really is my favorite. What can I say? I’m a depressing guy.

LISTEN TO LO FI RYE

UPDATE: Link actually works now. promise.

for more

We would like to present to you the video for Sleep Station’s song “Brothers”. This diy video was directed by David Debiak and artistic mastermind Stephen Wuensch. Though it comes across very simple, this video says more than most big budget productions. Except for “Thriller”. That video was awesome.

Don’t forget that you can download Sleep Station’s new album, Blood of Our Fathers (zip) for free exclusively on AirandSeaBattle.com!

So it seems as if there’s some disagreement over my basketball-rap picks last week.

To all those who burned me in effigy for comparing Soulja Boy to J.J. Redick or just filled out an application to Kaplan University Online under my name and cell phone number, I get the point.

You know, the images of violence broadcast around the world over this simple piece of art really got to me. My editors didn’t want to incite another round of protests, and begged me not to run this piece today. But I must do what I know is right. I stand by my scientific, double-blind, university-tested, eHarmony personality-matching-robot-verified hip-hop and basketball equivalency equations.

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I dont know how I missed this back in January, but odds are you missed it too. Credit to Unyime on the find.

Enjoy your weekend with douchebags you haven’t seen in years!

Happy Thanksgiving! In honor of this most holy of all holidays, we’ll resurrect a popular column written for my former newspaper - comparing basketballers to ballahs. A&SB will be sure to update our list as frequently as possible, so post your suggestions, gripes, moans, groans and concerns. Stay tuned for part 2!

Is there any sport more hip-hop than basketball? Sure, it’s a team game, but one great individual can carry you over the top. And legends aren’t just born via stats, but through style. All the while, it takes a truly great coach (producer), to take a team to the championship (BET award?). The bottom line is that, to understand hip-hop, you’ve got to know basketball.

In an effort to increase hip-hop knowledge worldwide, A&SB is proud to present the authoritative list of rap and basketball equivalency. Using a complicated formula utilizing stylistic similarities, career success and eHarmony’s personality matching robot, I can present a list that is beyond arguing with and guaranteed* to be 100 percent accurate.

J.J. Redick — Soulja Boy

Even in their respective primes, we all knew they wouldn’t last for long. Soulja Boy made a pop dance track, J.J. Redick made a ton of 3-pointers. It doesn’t mean they’re any good.

Kobe Bryant — Jay-Z

Some may complain about a lack of substance, but they’re beyond talented. When Kobe touches the ball, he’s going to score. When Jay-Z puts out an album, he’s going platinum.

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$15 Buy | Preview | Myspace

So its confessional time. At first, I was a Justice skeptic, even after Jason posted about them a few weeks back.

Now I have been converted to the awesome. The live album and tour documentary of the absolutely insane French Electronica outfit is up on Itunes as of yesterday. (real live versions of both coming Dec. 9) If you ever imagined going on tour with your guys/girls and having the most awesome sinful time imaginable, these guys are living your dream, so check it out.

p.s. super special THANKSGIVING post tomorrow. Enjoy your foods. I will enjoy my turkey sandwich.

pps. check out another clip from A Cross The Universe

$14 Buy | Myspace

by Tim Williams - A&SB Contributor
One of my many personal embarrassments, sure to be mocked by all ‘round the Gluttony Day table this year, is my complete ignorance of lineage. Despite all evidence to the contrary, I’m half-Swedish. This I proclaim with such pride that people make the mistake of asking a follow-up, which neatly ties my dynastic ambivalence to my staggering inability to place things on a plane, let alone a elliptical sphere. I usually say, “Yeah, you know, from around Stockholm,” and then run to the nearest Wikipedia-enabled terminal to make sure Stockholm is still in Sweden.

So you’d think when the Swindie band Love is All caught my eye, I’d atone by devoting this blog post to their uniquely Scandinavian roots. I can tell you they are from Gothenburg, and I have looked at a dot with that eponymous title on an array of Google Image Search maps. Also, we have Gothenburg metal to thank for Metalocalypse, so it must be alright.

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