Thanks to Blogging is Serious Business you’ve got the chance to preview material from the forthcoming Jensen Sportag full-length. No word on when to expect said album but, from the sounds of it, there will be many an enjoyable tune involved.

Heads up via Madrid.

Today, the 13th of October, marks the official release of Curse Walk from a mostly unknown artist named Shaboi. The album is an eclectic mix of songs done in various styles; hip-hop, instrumental electronic diddies, traditional country ballads and even 1920’s radio style drama. This would, presumably, be a terrible mix for most artists to try and tackle but when every song is written under the thematic umbrella of Halloween it all seems to work. Tales of ghouls, witches, scientific experimentation and even a few references to Ghostbusters flow everything together even when the musical styles are highly disparate. .

Granted, I am little biased on the greatness this can bring to a pagan holiday as it is the fourth release from my little label and something that I’ve pleaded to have come to fruition for more than a few years. If you can honestly listen to Rapsylvania `88 or Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hideous without receiving some sort of massive improvement in your day, then you are in a bad place.

The album is available as a free download or a very affordable, limited edition, compact disc. Please get yourself excited for the impending Halloween by downloading and listening on repeat.

• Download Curse Walk
• Buy Curse Walk CD

I will be totally honest, I’ve been to see JEFF a number of times and always walked away wondering what it was that I was missing. The crowd would be going absolutely nuts for them but I never felt incredibly compelled by what I was hearing (though the massive amounts of smoke and hair were a nice visual treat). So, when I got a PR email to check out their new album Heavy Days I did not expect that I’d be so into hearing what was contained within. Fortunately, my assumptions were completely off base and the record is great from top to bottom. The production fits the rock onslaught perfectly – never too glossy but not too lo-fi either – and the straightforward chord rock mixed with the psychedelic noodling is a welcome change from a lot of the whiny indie musings I get exposed to.

I’ve missed the rock album – big riffs, great noodling, catchy choruses and bands that play their heart out. JEFF seems to be firing on all cylinders in that regard and I’m going to be kicking myself next time I see them for not appreciating it properly before.

Heavy Days is available today. Watch the video for “Bone Jam” here and get the details on the album here.