September 30, 2004
On time, all the time
Tangiers - Ro-Ro-Roland
Even though they seem to have taken a title from Interpol's Turn on the Bright Lights and stutterified it, Tangiers' take is unique among the vast and storied galaxy of songs featuring the name 'Roland'. From their new album, 'Never Bring You Pleasure', Ro-Ro-Roland feels raw and unbalanced, but ends on such a joyful note that it's difficult not to want to celebrate the 'darkened past' that the singer invokes at the conclusion. (quick digression: I'm surprised that this record hasn't gotten more attention, really, since P-fork rated it pretty highly (8.0 by A. Petrusich, who is, in my opinion, one of the more trustworthy and even-handed writers they have), but then again, that's bound to happen given the volume of records they review) There is just so much goddamn energy in this song, and it's narcotically addictive, i.e. definitely something that you can listen to, say, 47 times in a row. The sort of music you know that if it came on at a bar or a party at the exact apex of the night (before everyone grows sour and tired and wan), people would just explode from fun. [BUY]
Also, I have to say- the lack of comments is starting to hurt me inside a little bit. This is pre-cocaine, people! Catch me while I'm lucid. Get in on the ground floor. Etc.
Posted by matt at 08:00 AM | Comments (2)
September 29, 2004
there's nothing left to say
Hala Strana - Streets of Raised Platforms
Hala Strana, a band that makes its home within the San Francisco-centric Jewelled Antler Collective, is led by Steven R. Smith and focuses mostly on incorporating Eastern European folk music traditions into more accessible song structures. The Jewelled Antler Collective as an operation is terrifically fascinating, and its constituent bands are almost scarily prolific, so it's tough to keep up with their goings-on, and even harder to find what could be considered an easy starting point in the Collective's wide-ranging discography. However, if I had to recommend anything, Hala Strana and this song in particular would serve as a good place to begin. 'Streets of Raised Platforms' opens with a plaintive, drawn-out violin figure, encased in gossamer metallic guitar work- very much reminiscent of some of Godspeed You! Black Emperor's quieter pre-crescendo moments- and finishes with some dazzling guitar interplay that cuts through the fog of the strings like a beacon, and ends the track on a resigned but hopeful note. By far one of the best new (to me) acts I've heard this year, Hala Strana are releasing their third album, These Villages, on the Soft Abuse label in the near future. 'Streets of Raised Platforms', however, is from their self-titled album on Emperor Jones [BUY].
Posted by matt at 08:00 AM
September 28, 2004
the language derides us
Luomo - The Present Lover
Luomo, aka Vladislav Delay, aka 'the man' (that's what his microhouse name means) has created a song that is quite literally perfect, and I'll tell you why, because there are a thousand reasons. How about the freak-diva man voice that's fractured and broken and as roughly faceted as a stillborn diamond? Or the effects-heavy guitar/synth solo that pops up right in the middle of the whole shining mess? Or perhaps the moment right after the solo ends when a tripled, crumpled beat crytallizes the honey-thick melancholy of the singer's intake-whisper of 'I wish' at minute 6:37 through 6:42? This track has so many layers, it could easily stand up to, say, a 30 or 40 page in-depth cooperative examination by a committee of cranky, seersuckered musicologists. "Juicy" is the main adjective that pops into my mind when I listen to 'the Present Lover'. And although that may sound just a tad bit disgusting, I think it's apt.
I played this song about 50 or 60 times, on a crappy tape deck in my car, on the way home from VA to PA during the massive winter storm that hit the east coast in late March of '03. Blinding snow. Lots of fucking huge trucks. Many near-death experiences varied only by their intensity and provenance (weather, or asshole driver?). My burning adoration of this music was formed in the stale heat of a blizzard-crippled '94 Buick Regal. You'd love it too if it saved you from a fiery and anonymous highway death (this last phrase should be a blurb on the album's sticker). Enjoy all 9 minutes of it. [BUY]
Posted by matt at 08:00 AM
September 27, 2004
Bibliophilia
Samara Lubelski - The Fleeting Skies
This song is from Samara's forthcoming 'Fleeting Skies' LP on Social Registry (out in October, maybe the 5th?), and was also the first track on the 'They Keep Me Smiling' compilation, mentioned below in the Benji Cossa post. 'Fleeting Skies' features some particularly fine singing from Ms. Lubelski, and has a gentle electric guitar tapestry wending through the background. She coos through the track, accompanied by unobtrusive but insistent drumming. Sort of hypnotically gorgeous, I have to say. This is the kind of song you wish could automatically cue up when you step outside into a cold, clear September morning. Also of interest: Samara happens to be the assistant engineer at the Rare Book Room, a Brooklyn recording studio utlilized by everyone from Les Savy Fav to Black Dice. Multi-talented!
Administrative note: I have the Wolf Parade contest up there on the right, finally. It only took about 3 weeks and a stream of steady expletives for me to find a way to keep a text note on the sidebar permanently. So the point of it is that you suggest a new motto for this site ('Who needs $$$ when we got feathers' is from a Simpsons episode, and while it's funny, it's getting old), and I'll pick the winner and then send you the EP, gratis. Not bad, eh, my roxxor friends?
Posted by matt at 08:00 AM
September 24, 2004
My body is made of Sanka and grief
Benji Cossa - April
Benji Cossa - You're A Landscape
Two songs today because you people are so good!!! Reader appreciation day. I could kiss all 12 of you. So: Benji Cossa, you might ask yourself 'what is this kid trying to pull?' Well, I'll tell you. I heard the song 'April' for the first time because I was suckered into buying the Hisham Bharoocha (ex-Black Dice drummer, now in Pixeltan (DFA) and Among Natives) curated "They Keep Me Smiling" import, for approximately 37,000 Yen. Mr. Benji's song is the second track on the compilation, following on the heels of Samara Lubelski's gorgeous 'Fleeting Skies', and it blew me away. It's a pretty simple little pop song, but it has a real 1950's feel to it, just the conjunction of subject matter ("We met one night in the fall of the lights of a radio station band") and instrumentation (piano, deadened drums, and distorted guitar squeaks) make me think of something that should be playing on the oldies station. And I mean that in the best way possible, because this song is a pure classic , as is 'You're A Landscape' (volcano of guitar strums, lo-fi synth squiggles, and major whistling). Both songs have an undeniable autumn feel to them, and it's nice to drive around listening to these at full-blast with the windows down. And lo and behold, I found out the other day that both Benji and Samara have LPs coming out on the fucking amazing Social Registry label. The Samara mp3 (which is also featured on the Hisham comp) will be up on Monday, so watch out for it.
Posted by matt at 08:00 AM | Comments (1)
September 23, 2004
The more I talk about it...
Phoenix - Everything is Everything
No time to write today, which probably dissapoints only my own dear personal mom and this blog's biggest fan (hint: Vikings, #84). Oh, chuckle. Anyway, Phoenix. Pitchfork slagged the living fuck out of this record, which, you know, they do from time to time, especially to records that at first blush seem pretty goddamn amazing. That is their shall we say metier. Ahem. You might recognize Phoenix from that snap-dazzle song included on the Lost in Translation soundtrack, which played during the party scene when Scarlett and Bill are dancing around in Charlie Brown's place and everyone looks happy, drunk, and fantastic (that song is 'Too Young'). This cut is from "Alphabetical", their second disc, and it will blow your pants clean off your body. So don't be all uptight about it. 1) Download, 2) Listen and 3) do some chair-dancing in your office.
Posted by matt at 08:00 AM
September 21, 2004
The eyes make my Heart throb
No Things - Coward
Bassomatic! Beatatronic! No Things' mp3(courtesy of the band) debut is punishingly good. Christian, the lead singer/guitarist, sounds a lot like M. Resplendent from the now-defunct Chicago band, the Fire Show (every reader's reaction to this comparison will be: blank apprehension), in that his vocals swarm the bass and drums, and slice up to the front with vivid urgency. But, hey, let's face it, the real story is in the rhythm section, and they are in fine form on 'Coward'. Pat's bass sounds absolutely elemental here, warping the trajectory of the song around the Jupiter-weight of his low-end pulses. And Ron switches back and forth on the drums between delicately finessing the verses with light persistant taps, and beating the holy living hell out of anything with a taut, inorganic surface that happens to be within arm's reach. This song is everything you loved about 'They Threw Us All In A Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top', and everything you might have expected, but better. Indescribably so. If this piques your interest, check out their live show at Northsix on Saturday to whet your appetite.
Posted by matt at 08:00 AM
September 20, 2004
Just kidding, I love you
Mazarin - Wheats
If I don't write about this song, my head will explode. Mazarin is from Philadelphia, so right away, you know they're going to be unstoppable and mean. But they're not!- they're actually quite nice, and although my friend once almost killed their gigantor bass player when he accidentally backed into him at a very crowded Beulah show, the lead singer, Quentin Stoltzfus, forgave him and spoke English words to his face in some semblance of a conversation. I say semblance because my friend had more alcohol in him than a Russian postal worker at happy hour - zing! Oh, comedy. Anyway, let me be serious with you: this (from their first album, Watch It Happen) is one of the best break-up songs ever, because the melody is catchy as fuck, and but it starts out so rough, with the palm-muted guitar, then you listen to the lyrics and it's just the most excoriating stuff. Nicely done, Mazarin. Unfortunately, it seems like the band is looking for some distribution for their third album (their second, Tall-Tale Storyline, is amazing), and no one is willing to give them a spot on their roster. So in the extremely likely event that any of you 57 readers both owns and operates a psych-rock label, please get in contact with this band, post-haste.
Here is a quote from Brian McTear (guitarist of Mazarin, main guy in Bitter, Bitter Weeks, and producer extraordinaire), courtesy of an interview with ShinyGun: [I'm excited about] Mazarin's third album (which was finished about a year ago, but there's still no release scheduled). This is Quentin [Stoltzfus]'s best record, in my opinion. I hope to god it finds its way to the public soon. When we did our first record together, Quentin, Sean and I barely knew one another, and we were pretty innocent to the music world. Nonetheless, it was the first record from Philadelphia that I can remember making an impact outside the city. ... The newest one was an excellent return to the old days. It was back to the original threesome, plus bassist Mike Walker. I think we felt a lot older and wiser (only four years later) and made it with very little care for what would come of it. It also has appearances by Kurt from the Lilys, Don from Icarus Line and Walt from the Walkmen. Now I just want people to hear what we did. [BUY ALL THEIR ALBUMS HERE]
Posted by matt at 08:00 AM
September 17, 2004
Whenever We Want
PAS/CAL - What Happened to The Sands
Casimer Pascal has such a jubilant and, I don't know, coy voice (n.b. that is not something one guy should ever say about another, probably), that it makes PAS/CAL's songs just rapturously fun. Eschatologically effing cool, etc. You get the picture. Reminiscent of Belle and Sebastian only tangentially (PAS/CAL are much more straightforward, in my opinion), they definitely belong in the Twee-Lite section of Camera Obscura, Kingsbury Manx, and oh, let's say, Sodastream. 'What Happened to the Sands?' is pure mainlined force-nostalgia, and nevermind the reference to Old Vegas or whatever, this reminds me more than anything of standing over the Sutro Baths ruins outside of San Francisco. If you haven't seen it before, the Sutro Baths are amazing, and, like a lot of abandoned things (See the Tim Hecker post for more of me waxing emo about this), they possess an almost indelible sense of attendant melancholy. Ahem, anyway. The melody on this is virally catchy, and it will burrow into several portions of your cerebellum/medulla ob. And that's always fun. You can buy the Oh Honey, We're Ridiculous EP straight from the band, and listen to it until it friction-melts into your CD player. Hopefully by then they'll have finished up recording that debut LP.
Posted by matt at 08:00 AM | Comments (1)
September 16, 2004
Five Whole Minutes
Wolf Parade - It's A Curse
This is, in my opinion, the strongest song on the second Wolf Parade EP, which may or may not be titled Totalosity. Anyway, Dan's vocals on this song sound vicious, like triple-tracked asylum inmates who haven't been fed in four days. Just absolutely desperate. The guitar gets things started with a shotgun riff in the beginning, bandaged by some laptop gauze via Hadji. Spencer's synths come rolling in thick and gooey. Then everything goes freakatronic pop-fest at the end, synths just trilling out of control, Arlen's drums hammering the shit out of everything, and Dan ranting on top of it. Make no bones about it, these guys will release one of the most stellar records of 2005. You know, when they get around to recording it. For now, you'll have to tide yourself over with the two EPs, which you can order from the incredibly nice people at Cheap Thrills. Hopefully within the next week I'll have that contest going to win a copy of the first EP.
Posted by matt at 08:00 AM
September 15, 2004
Vowel Movement
The Evens - On the Face of It
Ian MacKaye in crazy two-piece softee rock SHOCKER! But I kid, Ian. This song by the Evens is extremely pretty, and although the quality is not super-great, you can hear Amy (from the Warmers) and Ian's voices intertwining with Ian's baritone guitar, and the shimmering wall of hot metal feedback that glows just behind their harmonies. This song may or not be on their upcoming full-length debut that will be released on Dischord, for which the Evens recorded 12 songs at Inner Ear, in D.C. Another tidbit for craw-sticking: The Evens appeared on the "punk-rock children's TV show" (see, the modifier there is a bit weird- are the children punk-rock, (I'm imagining three year-olds with liberty spikes) or is the show itself made in a punk-rock spirit? They need to clear that shit up), Pancake Mountain, on which they performed their specially-written-for-the-show song, "Vowel Movement" (such a great title). You can watch that performance here (requires Quicktime). Hopefully their LP will be out in late fall or early '05. Oddly enough, I love this song, but despise Fugazi like nothing on this earth. (N.B. TO FUGAZI fans: you are pitiful). Hatemail, begin!
Posted by matt at 08:00 AM
September 14, 2004
Azure Assure
Tim Hecker - Acephale
I found Tim Hecker's 'Radio Amor' last January when I was in the Amoeba Records in L.A., and bought it for a song (like $8). I listened to it for the first time when I was sitting in SFO, waiting for my return flight to arrive (which it did, 10 hours delayed), surrounded by families and solo travelers like myself. I was by the gate, so there were large, thick windows right nearby, and the sun was shining brightly into the waiting area. Radio Amor consists of a few repeated piano phrases and themes, static washed and manipulated differently for each track, and it's a very summery, breezy sounding record. Hecker apparently recorded it right after a trip to the Carribbean (his pics form the art work for that album and it looks pretty gorgeous), and the thing that stuck with me was how entirely evocative Radio Amor was: of white expansive beaches, sun-corroded houses, and cool winds.
'Mirages' is Tim Hecker's new record, and it's being released by Alien 8 next Tuesday. This track, Acephale, is monstrously dark and massive. It's a lot more reminiscent of Hecker's first album for Alien 8, 'Haunt Me, Haunt Me, Do it Again', in that it feels desolate and inexplicably redolent of things which have been abandoned. Factories, empty parking lots, weird old train tracks, etc. As always, it's pretty amazing. You'll be able to buy it HERE as soon as they release it, and you can listen to another mp3 from Mirages right here.
Posted by matt at 01:32 PM
September 13, 2004
Craxy Dance Partytown
TUSSLE - Untitled
Tussle. The name says a lot about the band: their music is a grappling match between junkyard percussion and bouncy, fluid basslines. If I were forced to anthropomorphize 'Untitled' (really this might have a name, but I got it from the Troubleman Unlimited site so long ago, they don't even have the files on there any more), I'd imagine it as a giant polar bear, with a huge black mustache. This polar bear, who calls himself Gary, likes to dance. Oh Jesus, does he ever. Get him near a discotheque and watch the fur fly. Gary the polar bear favors Hawaiian shirts and the phrase 'taking care of business'. That's exactly what this track sounds like, to me at least. Readers- all 17 of you - please comment on this song if you like it. Comment even harder if you hate it. Tussle's debut LP, Kling Klang, comes out on Sept. 28th, so I'll (hopefully) be able to post a track from that soon. But only if you demand it. Otherwise, it's all Steely Dan from here on out. No kidding.
Posted by matt at 03:50 PM | Comments (1)
the Hot Snakes are so Art
Hot Snakes - Plenty for all
Check out that cover art. Whew-eee. Pretty nice. Rife with...something. Anyway, I was introduced to the Hot Snakes through a friend who played me their song 'Our Work Fills the Pews', off of "Automatic Midnight", their first album. Besides being blessed with an amazing title, the song itself will make you wet your pants. In a good, warm way. This song, 'Plenty For All' from the forthcoming "Audit In Progress", however, is a lot more poppy than I'm used to hearing from the Hot Snakes. The main riff, no matter how many times I hear it, inexorably brings to mind the melancholic but paradoxically triumphant music that played at the end of Super Mario Brothers for Game Boy (the original 9 lb. version that came out circa 1990), when Mario is whisking Princess Daisy away through the clouds in his suped-up jetmobile, off to get it on in Mario's 2 bedroom apartment (shares with Luigi) in Newark, NJ. So hot! But anyway, this song is maybe the best thing that Hot Snakes have ever done, and the album pretty much crushes the other two. It's faster, it's meaner, and it's more melodic. You really can't ask for anything more...except an anti-soccer zealot of a feline whose being molested (carefully) by a pirate with a Fleur-de-Lis hovering protectively over his shoulder. No, they really covered all their bases on this album. Because they are amazing. Doesn't come out until October 5th. Listen to another song here (the excellent 'Hi-Lites', I think). And then pre-order that son of a buck [HERE]
Posted by matt at 08:00 AM
September 10, 2004
Let's Get Serious; A Little Piece
Panthers - We are louder
Start with a Hella intro. Then a slow feedback slope into a pit of throbbing bass and narcotized drum beats. Guitars wander around the vocals blithely. Panthers slither through this one and set off a bank of emergency alarms at the 2:35 mark. Slow build until five minutes in, and the whole thing explodes. This song says 'this is how you play lead guitar, bitches'. 'Things are Strange', Panthers' debut LP, delivers on the promise of the 'Let's Get Serious' EP and full-out rocks, massivley, unstoppably, tectonically. I could smear more adverbs on that description, but no. That would be silly. Central America and whatnot: Panthers has Justin Chearno to thank for their mathy guitars, ex-member of Pitchblende and Turing Machine that he is, that rascal. Trivia bit to stick in your brain- Turing Machine's LP, 'A New Machine for Living', was the first record that the DFA (James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy) proper produced. 1000 cred points to whoever can identify why Turing Machine was on Jade Tree Records, because that is a mystery that will NEVER BE SOLVED. Pitchfork Prediction: 7.5 +/- .3; you can take that to the bank, although it could go as low as 6.3 if it's reviewed by someone like Mitchum. He hates music.
Enjoy the weekend. Next week? Tussle/the Evens/Polmo Polpo/PasCal/ET AL. Schedule subject to change depending on my apathy-cell count. [PRE-ORDER IT HERE]
Posted by matt at 08:00 AM
September 09, 2004
In a Great Stadium and a Running Race
Panda Bear - Untitled
Noah Lennox/Panda Bear has written a gorgeous record in "Young Prayer", an album about the death of his father. It's meditative and stirring, which is appropriate considering the subject matter. And while the lyrics are practically unintelligible, the emotion that's conveyed by his moans and yelps is pre-linguistic anyway, and hits home like a punch to the gut. The vocals remind me a lot of Phil Elverum Mt. Eerie's work, just because of the way that Panda Bear stretches at points, into what would be regarded extracontextually as unnecessary melodramatics. Elverum and Lennox both sing in a way that reminds me of the feeling of intrusion that happens when you walk in on someone in the middle of an intensely personal (and not in the scatalogical or sexual way) act, e.g. praying out loud. This track (all the songs are untitled) is a good representation of the album as a whole- not exactly a record you would put on at a party, but well-suited for mid-afternoon gray-skied autumn listening. (BUY IT HERE, Soon)
Posted by matt at 08:00 AM | Comments (1)
September 08, 2004
Spiked My Hair Up So High it Made the Air Scream?
Nineteen Ninety-now - Love Won't Be Enough
The Impossibles, from Austin, TX are maybe my one unembarrassed ska-punk/emo passion. They broke up in mid-2002, taped their last show and put it out on DVD with a hilarious commentary track (sample quote: we perfected music?). Then, last year, Gabe and Rory, the two main singers, put out a record as Slowreader, which deserves every favorable comparison to Elliott Smith and Ben Folds that was thrown at it. So melodic! Sickly affecting! The lead-off track makes me weep like a thousand croup-infected babies. Or a hundred mom-daughter pairs watching "Terms of Endearment". You get the idea. Now Rory is producing records of various crazy bands in TX, and in the meantime has been trying to write some solo material. This is the first mp3 from Nineteen Ninety-Now, his first real post-Impossibles band. Although the name is somewhat unfortunate (vaguely reminiscent of what I imagine could have been a brand name for jeans marketed with safe-sex overtones), this song is pretty fantastic: lockstep guitars, jittery beat, rock scream (just one!), with a dance-groove bridge smeared in the middle. Dowload it as hard as you can and then look forward to the record release in 2006, maybe 7. You'll be so ahead of the curve. Tomorrow: a track from Panda Bear's new record, unless someone else beats me to it, or shuts me down. Or I forget.
Posted by matt at 02:25 AM
September 07, 2004
Lawyers Love Our Antics
Robbers On High Street - A Night at Star Castle
Robbers on High Street are a band from NYC who sound an awful lot like Spoon. But with harder guitars! And much less back-of-the-throat singing than Britt Daniels. No, but really, if I had to assign this track with a stretched and melodramatic simile, I'd say it's like watching your high school girlfriend eating a massive funnel cake at the state fair and then wiping her sugar-powdery hands on your jeans and telling you that she's pregnant (not yours). Also you left your headlights on, and the battery's dead. Time to walk home. 56 miles. You have to carry her at least halfway.
No, this song is just really good. Nice hard guitar-synchro beat in the beginning. People, like it!
The song is from the Fine Lines EP, and ROHS have their debut full-length coming out some time soon (Insound says September 14th, but maybe that's a super-secret release date, since the band doesn't even mention the new record on their website)
Posted by matt at 11:28 AM
September 06, 2004
Myriad Pyramids
The title of this post was the alternate name for this, uh, website. Just to let you know, I will be bringing you to the CUTTING EDGE of experimental dentistry over the next couple of months. Plus putting up lots of mp3s which will hopefully result in felony charges for everyone here at greenideas, it's the least I could do. All right, hold tight, maybe I can make this layout a little bit crappier over the next few days.
Posted by matt at 03:38 PM