MICHAEL COLLINS — LIKE THIS BEFORE (Violet Flame, 2011)

Michael Collins, formerly of Prince Rama, played in Blacksburg last weekend but I was unfortunately unable to attend. Luckily, my friends were able to be there and got a chance to pick up one of his cassette tapes (which are awesome and filled with lavender and holographic cards.) After listening to a little bit of the tape, I found his Bandcamp and downloaded the album, Violet Flame, and I’m hooked.

I especially love this song, “Like This Before” and his cover of The Flirts’ “Helpless (You Took My Love).” All of the music on Violet Flame is an insane mix of post-punk, synthpop, and psychedelia that somehow really comes together into a cohesive sound. I wrote a review of the album for the Collegiate Times, so I’ll post a link to that on Tuesday when it is published on their website.

Download Violet Flame now for free from Michael Collins’ Bandcamp.