Stephen Coate's project, The Real Tuesday Weld, has yielded an interesting combination of old timey jazz, electro nuance, and touching lyrics. The video directed by Elliot Kew for the track Cloud Cuckooland casts a silly yet sinister feeling over a song that wouldn't seem out of place at a speak easy. It's probably the creepiest music video I've seen in a long while.
I wrote about Mason Proper some time ago, but they are a band worth repeated mentions. Browsing my media library I came across them again, and they are a blast of no holds barred pop rock fury. Wildly experimental and fierce while at the same time cerebral. Lead singer Jonathan Visger gyrates wildly during performances like he's a cokehead Colin Meloy, and I mean that in a good way. I wouldn't say their album "There's a Moth in Your Chest" is flawless, but when the hits start rolling you better take cover.
The Van She is a band out of Australia that from what I've heard distills the mid 80's teenage angst circa Prett In Pink into fist pumping pop anthems. Pop your collars, put on your horn rimmed sunglasses, and prepare yourself for the ideal mid 80's Prom. Or you could just listen to their first single "Kelly", I'm pretty sure they're the same thing.
Frankmusik, not to be confused with Mix Master Frank (remember the k on the music people), has been tearing up the scene with his remixes for some time now, but his original work "Made Her Smile" forcibly drills it's way through your cranium and clears out whatever is left there and nestles in for a long winters nap. It's pretty darn catchy electro pop.
Microfilm is a two man homage to German techno, synthpop, and everything that is good with the world of electronic music. They have an excellent cover of Sufjan Steven's Chicago that you should go and listen to immediately, along with all their other minimalist grooves.
MP3 - Unlucky In Love - Greg Summerlin
Greg Summerlin's latest album "All Done in Good Time" is a sunny trek through coming of age pop rock spectacle. The songs are grand and ideal even when they're taken down to the acoustic level. Obvious single "Unlucky In Love", is sure to garner Summerlin a lot of attention due to it's insanely catchy chorus and super bouncy keyboard hook. Other album standouts include "Paintaker", a rock number complete with falsetto and a fret board melting guitar solo. My personal favorite on the album, "He's a Faker" is built on a wild organ hit and a chorus that needs to be shouted from the rooftops. All Done in Good Time is the perfect companion for an optimistic autumn.
Okay, I've been away for a long time, almost ten days, but with good reason. I've been doing school work. A lot of it, and procrastinating on a lot of it which as many of you know is just as important as working on it. So what I'll be doing today is posting a few tracks that I've really been digging the last few days.
I decided to check out Wilco earlier than Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Summerteeth being the easiest to remember so I listened to that one first, and man, what a collection of songs, every bit as catchy and poppy as YHF with a touch of experimentation but the songs just breathe a little more. There's a slight sheen left off the final mixes and it makes them shine that much more. Opening track "Can't Stand It" is what I decided would be the music playing in the opening sequence of a biopic based on myself. It's dramatic, playful and above all ironic (A key element), when the organ hits and Jeff tweedy lets loose a raspy wail through a megaphone I dare you to not bob your head. I'll report more songs that I enjoy as I continue my adventure backwards through Wilco's catalogue.
MP3 - Peppermint - Plastic Operator
The next artist on my 'hit list' is plastic operator. I don't remember what I was looking for, but I stumbled across them the other day and what I am amazed by is how good their songwriting is, for an electronic band, the pop structures and choruses are mind bogglingly affective. Sure many songs start off with a sampled beat, or one clearly programmed on our friend the Casio but the inclusion of an acoustic guitar and gentle crooning vocals complete the package. When the cascade of melancholy synth starts in Home 0207 you'll be floored. They sound like the Notwist, if they would just make more synthetic sounds and make more straight up pop. The gentle coaxing of electronics through a pure pop sound gets two thumbs up from me.
I had the chance to listen to the new Jens Lekman album yesteday, and, well, it's a contender for my favorite release of the year. The strings, the samples, and most surprisingly the beats accent the songs perfectly.
The polysymphonic pop of Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies is engaging and inventive. Their string and brass sections bring the song "Summer's Ending" to a sweeping crescendo, while the lyrics provide satisfying heart sick substance. Plus it's timely that I post this song now because, y'know, summer really is ending soon.
The air this morning was crisp, cold, and the scent of fall was in the air. That's right there's a smell for fall. It's the smell of all the apples on the trees ripening, the leaves changing color, hay bales, dried out corn husks. OK, so I'm basically admitting that I live in the middle of nowhere, but this gives me a specific, tangible connection to the feeling of fall that I'm sure I will look back on nostalgically like I am now for many years to come.
"Unlucky In Love", the debut track off of Greg Summerlin's new album "All Done in Good Time" is the kind of chewy addictive pop that will have you setting your mp3 player to repeat. The bouncy keyboards and the infections chorus of this song will be jumping around in your head for days.
I'm writing a paper on electronic music and the influential popular artists and composers who brought attention and acclaim to the genre. One premiere artist of the genre is Brian Eno whose contributions to the musical world include collaborations with David Byrne of the Talking Heads, David Bowie, John Cale, U2, the B-52's, not to mention his many solo albums. I'd listened to Eno's album Another Day On Earth before (A couple years ago), but I wasn't in such a place to appreciate it as I am now. He isn't called the father of ambient music for nothing. When I say 'ambient' I don't mean recording the sounds of the woods and playing them back, I mean absolutely beautiful melodies and spacious unobtrusive production. If ever I reach my goal of completely 'zen'-ing out my living space, Brian Eno's work will be played a great deal.
Dada Life is a Swedish electro house "Blip" group. Their first record "Big Time" enjoyed play by Rex the Dog, Mylo, and Gildas & Masaya. Their first release on the Prestel record label entitled "Vote Yes" is available now and it is a veritable onslaught of hard old school house and new school synth sensibility.
I'm not always in the mood for folk pop, especially folk pop with a slight country tinge, but I've been trying to get into get into this release by a young artist Nate Nelson called "Knobs Have Turned" and tonight it seems is the magical night that it finally hit the spot. Whether its the copious amounts of reading I still have to do or my nature to become radically more emo at night, I'm really digging the gentle melodies and the southern warble of Nate Nelson's voice.
Red Collar is fittingly titled, as their sound implies the strain it takes to move oneself from blue collar to white collar. Their Hands Up EP explodes with the energy of quitting time on Friday afternoon. Their energetic narrative and unwaivering punk aesthetic recall those crazy nights out with your best friends that upon reflection seem almost poetic. The best aspect of their music is the endless hopefulness that it transmits. Even if those times are lost and even if they seem far away, you can still reclaim them and the best is yet to come.
The Boys and Girls Club is the product of two musical minds, Mike McGuire and Scott Thorough. Centered in Brooklyn, the duo cranks out genre bending electro, pop, clubish type music. Here is a pleasantly chill number from them entitled "Summer in the City".
Starcode is a band hailing from Albany, New York that has an inclination to play energetic dark pop rock songs. Upon the first few listens, you can immediately hear some Smashing Pumpkins influence both in the spacey guitar and keyboard work but also in the voice of Dave O'Connor. the songs on their latest album "Hum" are immediate, catchy, and radio friendly, if they aren't getting radio play yet they will soon. The raw ferocity of their songs makes them a band to watch.
Ben Godwin's "Skin and Bone" is a unique adventure through vaudevillian acoustic tendencies and crooning baritone. Often times yielding songs that oddly compel you to sing along about things like alligators and gasoline. The album feels like the equivalent of a classic Vegas lounge lizard show only for New York City performed by the crusty curmudgeons who live there and love it.
Division Day is an ambitious band hailing from California. They fought through the ranks of CMJ in October of 2006 to get a mention in the New York Times. Their sound is pretty eclectic, ranging from radio ready ballads that are catchy and sensitive, to relentless assaults of sound. Division Day's greatest strength is their ability to pull off variety so well, when they slow down the tempo and bring in the keyboards it works just as well as when they pull out the soaring guitars. They run a virtual gamut of textures and themes throughout their latest album "Beartrap island", from Cure-ish moody ballads that remind me of a captain leading a ship in the winter to a far off destination to a frontiersman running through a newly discovered forest. All throughout the earnest vocals of Rohner Segnitz ground the spectacle of each song like a navigator with his eye on a multitude of destinations.
Billy Harvey’s new album “Bearsick”, is an intriguing unconventional acoustic romp through unsettling and strange yet compelling soundscapes. The sound is lo-fi, while at times recalling the intimacy and bass thump of various eras of Beck and the off kilter piano of Ashes to Ashes era David Bowie. Above all though, there is real heart behind every track.
MP3 – Poisoning the Pool – Billy Harvey
Kentucky based dance rock band VHS or Beta released their new album "Bring on the Comets" on Aug 28. If I were to use just one word to describe the album it would be "ambitious". Producer Brandon Mason(Secret Machines) helps bring about a more sweeping epic feel to "Bring on the Comets". Gone is the slippery post-punk production, and here to stay is a monolithic pure pop production. The sweeping guitar lines and simple keyboard melodies sometimes evoke the sense of wonder that the band is going for, like on the title track "Bring on the Comets"and debut single "Can't Stand a Single Word", and other times the guitar gets so heavy that it feels chunky instead of funky, like on "Love in My Pocket" and "Burn it All Down". As per usual, VHS or Beta always sound the best when they employ nimble guitar work over man machine drum and bass, like on "Fall Down Lightly" and "Time Stands Still". It's surprisingly satisfying to hear an acoustic guitar in the mix on occasion. Vocalist Craig Pfunder also steps up to add to the sonic agility of each song by laying down hook after hook of his Robert Smith/Simon LeBon/Dave Gahan-esque vocals. Ironically though, as the bombast of each song settles, everything comes through stronger.
1. MP3 - Bang Theory - World Leader Pretend
This is going to be a bit of a random update, I started school this week at yet another fine institution and things are going pretty well thus far. Classes are going to be actual classes now, like "Hey, read the book, write a paper, take a test, get a grade!" kind of classes versus connecting sticks together in a meaningful pattern or taking bad photographs of dogs or fat girls stripping. I'll actually be taking real classes and learning things that I did not know previously, like Renaissance Europe, Modern Japan, Historiography, Western Theater, so I'm pretty psyched to be relevant again and not an impotent hippie. It's going to be a bright future, with regards to expanding my resume. Although being the new guy again is kind of rough, but I'll manage.
