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June 30, 2005
Colonial top of the pops
Camp Tigerclaw - Banana Boat
The school that I work at (and graduated from) doesn't really have what I would call a vibrant music scene. There are some legendary campus bands (Velveteens, Cowboys & Engines, Dean Fields; also, and I'm sort of ashamed of this, but the guys from Seven Mary Three ["Cumbersome"?] graduated from my and Greenideas Matt's alma mater), but for every decent act that's emerged, there are at least a dozen morbidly untalented bands that wail away in fruitless attempts at songwriting, etc. Which is why Camp Tigerclaw was such a breath of fresh air. Here was a band that actually knew how to play their instruments (and well, too), and who could put on a tight live set. Unfortunately, these guys have all left, and are not continuing with the band at all- however, they've left behind an impressive body of work.
'Banana Boat' requires a little background information for full enjoyment. First of all, there's a spot on campus- a large expanse of beautifully kept Bermuda grass- where, in the spring, everyone goes to get a tan. Especially the girls (which is why, on sunny days, this spot is known as the 'sea of ass'). Second of all, this is probably the band's best song (possibly tied with 'Pluto' or 'Denim'), and definitely one of the most well-arranged. It starts with such a delicate, sweet bassline, just perfectly confident and thick, and then some concise guitar notes are dropped in (this intro reminds me of something like a blank plate swirled with chocolate and raspberry syrup, in preparation for a fragile, rich dessert). Then this track punches you in the chest while you're not paying attention, as if to say, "hey, stop nerding out for a second and look at that". (if you need some shorthand here: sounds like Weezer or GBV, lyrically they're more akin to the Unicorns).
Camp Tigerclaw were a great band, with a lot of potential. It's a shame that they never recorded anything in a real studio (the quality of this track is such that you'll probably have to turn up the volume a whole lot), but at least they got a chance to play a ton of shows, and entertain whole herds of aimless, stressed-out students. If you like this song and would like to hear some more of their stuff, get in touch.
Posted by Kevin at 09:14 AM | TrackBack
June 29, 2005
Sorry about the dark
Tyondai Braxton - The Violent Light Through Falling Shards
Even though I wrote about Battles just a few weeks ago, Tyondai Braxton's solo music is so different from that of his main band that there's really no overlap. Braxton works with loops and swells, where Battles traffics in brute discontinuities and craggy outcroppings. This is more about the manipulation of sound, semi-reminiscent of Black Dice, but slightly more accessible.
'The Violent Light...' is built on a foundation of Tyondai's beatboxing, and it sounds fantastic- the beats are so thick and soft, like a weirdly bumpy and dark shag carpet. Tyondai lays down some nice guitar loops and groaning bass movements in the background, the whole thing feels like an exercise in trying to create the exact aural experience of what the title of the song conveys. It's a little rough, but it's catchy in the same way that, say, 'Miles of Smiles' is catchy. Plus TB really jams it out guitar-hard at the very end of the song, total highlight.
You can buy Tyondai's solo album, "History That Has No Effect" from JMZ Records for a mere $10. Why not spring for it, you know you want to...
--Good news for Sunset Rubdown fans: Spencer says that the project has recently evolved into a full 4-piece band, and that they will be touring behind "Snake's Got A Leg". Also, the next record will probably be an EP of solo stuff, followed by an album with the full band. Sounds extremely promising.
Posted by Kevin at 09:01 AM | TrackBack
June 28, 2005
Looked like a newlywed
Panda Bear - Search for Delicious
Noah (Panda Bear) moved to Lisbon some time ago, and when he left, he didn't take his guitar with him. As he says, "I kinda got restless and started making music with whatever I had lying around, which was these two samplers". Noah goes on to explain that all the new stuff he's been writing is "based on little snippets of other people's songs, though I fully sing over all of them. The singing is meant to be the central piece of the puzzle." 'Search for Delicious' and the preceding quotes from Panda Bear are all taken from the latest issue of Comes With A Smile (#18), which has packaged with it a really fantastic compilation- including rare and unreleased songs from Currituck Co., Electrelane, Scout Niblett, Pernice Brothers, Sam Prekop, Rogue Wave, Six Organs of Admittance, Stuart Staples (from Tindersticks), and Teenage Fanclub (as well as interviews with each contributing artist).
'Search for Delicious' lies somewhere on the spectrum between the nestled dark jams of Jane's "Berserker" and the sort of mote-dense sunshine jeremiads of "Young Prayer". It's more joyful than the latter and a lot more playful than the former, and it's very pretty indeed. Who knows what Noah is sampling, but the track starts off with whispery pinpricks expanding into a wave of liquid applause, which all gives way to very bubbly percussion (or the slow death of bowling pins) and a flock of rusty swings and seagulls. Noah's voice sits up on top of a low, soulful vocal loop (which is possibly just slowed-down, sort of an inverse-Kanye production move), and he sings like someone standing on the lip of a canyon, trying to produce some delicate echoes. He whirlpools his voice around and around (sounds like he's messing with the delay function) into small pockets of turbulence, when things get too clear or too straightforward, and these little eddies and cataracts provide some of the most gorgeous moments in this song.
In the interview, Noah mentioned that he would like to record some of this new stuff over the summer, and hopefully release a new solo album before the end of the year (which is good news!). If anyone remembers the old Paw Tracks website, they used to have some mysterious 'Panda Bear Dances' items listed under the 'forthcoming releases' section, and Noah has said that they will probably still do that, with a few 12" or 45s coming out in the near future. In the meantime, you can pick up a copy of Comes with a Smile #18 right here (it is absolutely worth it).
Posted by Kevin at 12:42 AM | TrackBack
June 27, 2005
I become taller in warm weather
Abandoned Pools - The Catalyst
Upon the dissolution of any relationship, I think it's common for grief and regret (or anger perhaps) to give way to a sort of cold, irrational desperation where you wish you could find the ontological equivalent of a reset button- just some kind of otherworldly antidote that would either restore you to the way you were before the relationship, or maybe to the happiest moments you had within it. Tommy Walter, the brains behind Abandoned Pools, sings about that kind of biting desire in 'The Catalyst', "I wish I could take something beautiful/to make you fall in love again". It's a bare and blunt way to express the sick hope that maybe, just maybe, there's one little variable that you could change that would tip the scales back in your favor.
'The Catalyst' has got a nice, crunchy feel to it, especially in the movement of the guitars (which sound the way the burnt edge of a crepe tastes; if you can get past the lameness of my comparing guitars to crepes). But there's something particularly compelling about the drums and the vocals in this song- in the way they come together and make 'the Catalyst' a little bit more than just a 'fuck you' to an ex. Tommy Walter sings in the same wispy tenor as Brent Knopf from Menomena (c.f. one of the best tracks on "I Am the Fun Blame Monster", 'Strongest Man in the World') and the percussion patterns in 'The Catalyst' remind me a lot of the tight little packages of rhythm that Menomena use to build their tracks from the ground up. (Plus, hey, I didn't know this before either, but Tommy Walter is one of the founding members of the Eels.)
'The Catalyst' is taken from "the Reverb" EP, which is in stores and probably available all over the place. Abandoned Pools have a new album coming out this fall called "Armed to the Teeth", which should be pretty interesting to hear.
p.s. New contest coming soon. Steely Dan Week on hold for the forseeable future due to all my guest contributors mysteriously disappearing...
Posted by Kevin at 01:00 AM | TrackBack
June 24, 2005
apathanatos
>Giddy Motors - Hit Cap
'Hit Cap' is a song made of dirty fragments. It's a junkyard mosaic composed of paint chips, shards of old refrigerators, and the hatchbacks of a hundred maroon 1984 Plymouth Horizons. Giddy Motors traffic in rust, entropy, friction. For the first 1:38 of this song, Gaverick de Vis sounds like he's playing a guitar that's strung with bridge cable instead of nickel filament, and playing it with a straight-edge razor as a pick. (Although, hey, the song was produced by Albini, and if that man knows anything, it's how to get a barbed-wire tone on tape). There is a sax. Sometimes it goes with the groove, other times it seems more comfortable replicating the squawk of an angry crow. The drums and bass are unfuckingstoppable in this song though, switching between sweaty rock pounding and nimble jazz ellipses with almost feigned casualness. (Contrast this song with the penultimate track on "Make It Pop!", 'Venus Medalist', which is a sweet acoustic instrumental- or perhaps with the absolute insanity of 'Bottle Opener').
According to Fat Cat, the Giddy Motors have already written some material for their second album, which should (with any luck) be out before the end of the year. This is good news. In the meantime, you can pick up the band's debut LP, "Make It Pop!", over at Insound. Which, don't forget, is featuring a 25% sale for all brand new customers (I know I've mentioned it before, but I'm nothing if not thorough). Have a good weekend.
Posted by Kevin at 02:44 AM | TrackBack
June 23, 2005
if language is a city, take a bus to the suburbs
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - I Am Warm and Powerful
First off, let me just say: that is a daring title for a song. What would prompt that kind of statement? Maybe if your girl was thinking about breaking up with you, or maybe getting back together with you, and asked you to give her a reason to stay/return, like so:
GIRL: Why should I be with you? What can you offer than no other guy can?
SSLYBY: I am warm and powerful.
GIRL: Well, I'm sold.
Not many declarative sentences have the same sort of vaguely authoritarian and comforting tone that 'I am warm and powerful' has (although I could see it going all wrong, if you said the phrase with a sort of devilish 'my name is legion, for we are many' grin on your face). It's like comparing yourself to a huge, anthropomorphic husband pillow.
Oh right this is a music blog. Ahem. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin are a fantastic guitar pop band, and have released one of the better straight-ahead indie rock albums I've heard this year, "Broom". I am not lying when I say that "Broom" is on par with (and has sonic similarities to) Beulah's "Handsome Western States" and "When Your Heartstrings Break", as well as the Shins' "Oh Inverted World". The lead singer (who is either John Robert, Jonathan, Philip, or Tom- I can't tell) definitely sounds a bit like James Mercer and a bit like Miles Kurosky at times, without really being any kind of vocal clone of either those two (just in that same timbral ballpark).
'I am Warm and Powerful' is a tricky song; it starts off all soft and sweet, with some pom-pom percussion and a little descending guitar figure, dressed up like a lullaby. But it is not a lullaby. Oh-ho, chuckle, no. At 1:15 there is a defining moment. SSLYBY ratchet this baby up into a plateau of poppy bliss, via well-placed handlcaps and some propulsive bass. Also, the background vocals on 'I am Warm and Powerful' act as a sort of audio chiaroscuro, giving the track a nice, hazey depth.
Every song on "Broom" is great. Beginning to end, there are no missteps, nothing that could qualify as filler. Just lean, well-crafted songs. You can (and should) buy "Broom" from the band's label, Generic Equivalent Records (my copy arrived in 3 days, they were quick!). If you're still apprehensive, the band and the label both have clips from every song on the album up on their respective websites.
Thanks to Ryan Catbirdseat for the heads-up on SSLYBY. They aren't just a band with a crazy name, they're a band with great pop sensibilities and compassion for a deposed, alcoholic Russian leader.
p.s. Don't forget about the Insound sale! 25% off for new customers. You can finally buy that Olivia Tremor Control album that you've had a searing crush on all these years.
Posted by Kevin at 09:24 AM | TrackBack
June 22, 2005
A Porcelain Layer Cake
Animal Collective - We Bid You Goodnight (Live)
Covered by the Grateful Dead and by the Incredible String Band, 'We Bid You Goodnight' is a Bahamian funeral song (for the lowering of the casket) made popular by Joseph Spence and the Pindar Family's recording (the song actually goes back further though, first recorded in 1935)- and given the bands that covered the song before them, it's no wonder Animal Collective gave it a whirl.
There's always been something about the way that Avey Tare sings his lyrics that I just couldn't quite put my finger on- but I think it has something to do with the way he bends his words; Stephen Malkmus has a similar way of singing, but he snaps his words sharply, they're all in hard 90 degree angles. Avey Tare sort of gently curves his lyrics (I always think of steam-driven wood-bending as a good image for this), and as a result, they feel more lived-in and comfortable. Anyway- Avey changes some of the lines in the song (and why not?), and of the best is when he follows up "won't you lay your head now upon your savior's breast?" with this: "I love you/but the AC loves you best". For some reason it's incredibly endearing when people namecheck their own bands in a song (Thom Yorke did something similar in an old, old version of 'Lift').
'We Bid You Goodnight' is taken from a live video from an April 2004 show at the Old Market in Brighton (UK), which Fat Cat has up on their website for your viewing pleasure, along with another video taken from an earlier performance (which is just Panda Bear and Avey Tare doing stuff from Sung Tongs- unsurprisingly amazing) on their media page. The Old Market video not only features Deakin and Avey Tare in some sweet face-paint and Panda Bear in an intense pink-white wig, but you can also see the band transition from 'We Bid You Goodnight' into one of their best new songs, 'Big Big Beat' (this is the one that has the Stevie Wonder 'I Just Called to Say I Love You' interpolation).
Animal Collective have just updated their website, Paw Tracks, to include some very nice artwork from Avey Tare's sister, Abby Portner, and increased navigational coherency, thanks to Rob Catsupplate and his graphics skills. You can buy Animal Collective releases here, and don't forget about the monster 25% Insound-newbie sale.
Posted by Kevin at 09:49 AM | TrackBack
June 21, 2005
and there was something about a rabbit-duck
Wooden Wand - Sundrum Ladies
Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice - Risen from the Ashes
I love it when an artist works in such a way that it seems like making music is almost a by-product of normal biological processes; where the generation of songs is as effortless and natural (and essential) as breathing in and out (this reminds me a little bit of what Josephine Foster says in 'Little Life', her song on "Golden Apples of the Sun", about 'songs arrive/even in the mailbox'- like she couldn't even stop them from coming if she wanted to). Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice have a discography that suggests they are the kind of people who have songs just falling out of their pockets (and that is a good thing, in this case).
For starters, WWVV have 3 records coming out soon. The first is "XIAO"** on Troubleman Unlimited (which I think is out today, actually), then there's "Buck Dharma" on 5RC on August 23rd, then there's a Wooden Wand solo album, "Harem of the Sundrum & The Witness Figg", which should be out soon on Soft Abuse. And that's insane, but check this out: Troubleman Unlimited will release "The Flood" in November, and 5RC will release "Gipsy Freedom" in February '06. WWVV make Ryan Adams look like a lethargic perfectionist (plus, you know, WWVV's music is actually good).
'Risen from the Ashes' is taken from the forthcoming "Buck Dharma", and it is somehow both caustic and gossamer (like a sabretooth butterfly? no, um...how about like a bubble bath that's just a few degrees north of the perfect temperature?), which is due to the absolutely sky-scraping electric guitar towers constructed to buttress the fine, ribbony intonations of the female singer's voice. Forget what I said before about the link between Black Mountain and Amon Duul II- this song establishes a direct link between the German collective and WWVV, no denying it.
And as much as I like 'Risen from the Ashes', 'Sundrum Ladies' is just jaw-droppingly pretty. Think Folkways records, think sitting in a green summer field full of Queen Anne's Lace, think a temperate sunset with a playful breeze. There is nothing complicated about this song, technically- but James Jackson Toth creates a thick and enveloping narrative atmosphere, with just his voice, a simple acoustic pattern, and a sinister (sneaky) violin. My favroite part of this song is the way Toth says, "Okay" right before starting each verse, as if he's trying to explain a particularly salient part of the story to an inattentive audience. "Quick modulations in a crystalline sky/quiet recollections and the wine/putting new ideas into your spine", nice words indeed.
Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice are on tour, starting yesterday, with the Castanets and the Skygreen Leopards (also, at later points in July with I Heart Lung), so check the 5RC band page for details on that. You can order "Xiao" from Insound right here; don't forget that, starting today (and going for a while), Insound is giving new customers 25% off their orders! You have to be a brand new customer though- so if you're already an established Insound-junkie, maybe you should take Catbirdseat's advice.
**(which, if I remember my Chinese correctly, is 'small', but depending on the accent it could actually translate as like 28 other things as well)
Posted by Kevin at 01:29 PM | TrackBack
I agree to feel the Illinoise
This has nothing to do with Sufjan (other than me saying: the album is, of course, fantastic [but you knew that]. order it in the mail from Asthmatic Kitty- mine arrived in like 4 days), just wanted to say that I'll put something up a little later in the day. Things are crazy at work (anti-lock brakes don't test themselves!).
Posted by Kevin at 12:00 AM | TrackBack
June 20, 2005
some ghost signed this receipt
Relay - Ode to Guesswork
This song is multilayered and heavy, think of it as a sort of cubic jigsaw puzzle falling down a set of old, wooden stairs. Pieces falling off and getting put back on again; worn-down cardboard corners all frayed and soft. The guitar in 'Ode to Guesswork' works in Morse code, flashing some dots at the start, then distending itself into a more dashful language. The organ/keyboards are the real bread and butter of the track though, serving to both augment the impact of the guitar and overwhelm the pulse and inertia of the song at other points. The drums are just straight-up fantastic. 'Ode to Guesswork' has a slightly gazey feel to it, it's off-balance and swirling.
The title of this song ties into the band well, as Relay's website does not divulge a ton of info about the band itself. As far as I can tell though, the band is from Philadelphia (or environs), but beyond that, there's not much. The band does have 6 or so mp3s on their site, all of which are pretty spectacular, but which range greatly from rockers like 'Ode to Guesswork' to some more ambient/sound collage works (the 'sequence' tracks, which are impressive in their own right). The songs don't seem to be available as any kind of tangible recording right now, but maybe there's something on the way Relay has a 5 song EP available right now for $4 PPD, which you can get by emailing the band (relay@uniformrecording.com). Promising though- Relay have got a sweet sound, and are versatile enough to keep things interesting.
P.S. If you haven't seen it already, fellow Wolf Parade lovers will shriek with delight to know that Said the Gramophone has posted the Sub Pop EP version of 'Shine A Light' (and written very well about it, natch). Also, Popsheep have posted and written about 2 tracks from Spencer Krug's Sunset Rubdown album, "Snake's Got A Leg", in a lovely entry right here. Just received the album in the mail last Thursday, and I will personally vouch for its greatness- one track in particular to note, 'Hope You Don't Stoop to Dirty Words, pt. 1', sounds like a lo-fi Bowie (I don't like this comparison, but it's as good a vocal reference as any) singing a ballad on top of something from Aphex's Selected Ambient Works II. Also, Spencer's lyrics remind me a lot of Ben Marcus' writing, something about the way he exploits the very nounness of words to the fullest extent (sort of a twisted Platonic essences feel). You can order "Snake's Got A Leg" from the very nice people at Global Symphonic for $12 Canadian (which works out to like $9 USD, including shipping! How can you resist?!).
Posted by Kevin at 12:02 AM | TrackBack
June 17, 2005
words planed down to a lettery dust
The Sun - Must Be You
The Replacements - Can't Hardly Wait [Tim Version]
These two songs share the same DNA, that much is clear. 'Must Be You' unabashedly exhibits some of the recessive traits of 'Can't Hardly Wait', and that is an entirely good thing. The Sun (not to be confused with Oren Ambarchi's and Chris Townend's awesome pop project, Sun), based out of Columbus OH, are a young group with a brand new album, and 'Must Be You' is the lead-off track.
It starts off with a bass pulse and a flowery, circular riff. A second, buzzsawesque guitar gives the track a nice sandpaper-to-marble contrast (which is the same sort of dynamic that lead singer Chris Burney uses with his vocal delivery, traversing the spectrum of calm to unhinged within a few verses). 'Must Be You' seems to explore the theme of ex-girlfriend as supra-Eeyoric cloud of doom, which taints some experiences (good weather) and makes others less imposing (seeing the angel of death- really, this is all in the song, I'm not kidding) due to the depth of previous tragedy. Although some of the lyrics are a little awkward ("I stopped to think about the bad times that I've had/with a smile on my face/warm with the birth of the sad"), the track is redeemed by Burney's unreserved passion at the end, when he sings, "You forgot your dagger when you left/six inches deep/buried in my chest/and if you've come back to pull it out/to look at the blood/well I'll slap your hand away/at least I loved you".
The Replacements come with a few more facts: 'Can't Hardly Wait' ended up on their album "Pleased to Meet Me", which was recorded after the departure of guitarist and founding member Bob Stinson. However, that version is the lamest and milquiest toast when compared with the track that was produced by Big Star's Alex Chilton, and which was originally intended for the Replacements' major label debut, "Tim" (when Bob S. was still with the band). 'Can't Hardly Wait' is a classic of frustration, anxiety, and undeniable desires. Paul Westerberg follows Stinson's jumpy riff through detours, backroads, dive bars, stoplights, etc., with his perfectly descriptive lyrics: "Jesus rides beside me/never buys any smokes/hury up hurry up/I've got enough of this stuff/ashtray floor, dirty clothes, filthy jokes". The urgency in this song is just about palpable when Westerberg sings, in his distinctive unmufflered voice (I mean the car part here, not like 'without a scarf'), "I'll be sad in heaven/if I don't find a hole in the gate/climb on the top of this funny water tower screaming/I can't hardly wait/I can't wait/til it's over". I don't think any other human being has ever produced a song more suitable for the situation in which you might find yourself driving to someone's wedding so that you can "speak now" and forego holding your peace. So keep that in mind, if it ever comes up. [thanks to JW for sending me this song, way back in the day].
The Sun's debut album, "Blame it on the Youth" is available here. the "Tim" version of 'Can't Hardly Wait' is available on the Replacements compilation "All For Nothing/Nothing For All", which you can find right here. But really, you should just go ahead and buy most of the Replacements discography- and there are two celebrity recommendations to get you started- Colin Meloy obviously prefers "Let It Be", while MST3K's Mike Nelson has a documented soft spot for "Tim".
P.S. That Kiss Me Deadly "Amoreux Cosmiques" EP is out of control good. More on that soon.
Posted by Kevin at 09:07 AM | TrackBack
June 16, 2005
on the corner, talk about twilight
Racecar - Out Tonight
It's like going over a waterfall in a barrel- 'Out Tonight' starts off as a leisurely, delicate thing: guitars chiming and commiserating over the "stale cigarette breath", the "hands made with Teflon". Then it starts to pick up a little- static hissing small whirlpools of turbulence that flank the chorus, "you and me/ we'll go out tonight", and suddenly the song switches gears entirely, and it's a freefall through wild torrents of bass, drums, yelling, and foamy siren-sounds. And, subsequently, a return to the calmness of the first part of the track. 'Out Tonight' reminds me of Ted Leo's 'Timorous Me' (one of his best songs ever, by far), just in the way it delivers such a joyful blast of melody and energy in the middle of the song- and like Ted Leo, Racecar know enough to exercise some restraint and leave it at that (just once), which just makes you want to play the song over and over again (not a bad indulgence, really). Plus, for whatever reason (and also like 'Timorous Me'), this song makes me think of a huge party, like a wedding reception or something similar, where everyone's smiling and dancing and happy either in their own right or in reflection of the atmosphere.
'Out Tonight' is from Racecar's debut album, "10 Songs", which they just released last year some time. Also, to add to their sweet luster, the band hails from the Philadelphia area, and have just recently (in November) opened for Arcade Fire, and Headphones (about 3 weeks ago) for some R5 shows. You can get their album by e-mailing the band (it's only $5, totally worth it). You can check out two more mp3s from "10 Songs" over at Racecar's website (linked above), and also listen to the entirety of the band's debut single, "In the Parking Lot". This band is already amazing, and I cannot wait to see what they do next.
Posted by Kevin at 08:27 AM | TrackBack
June 15, 2005
regale us with tales of your fannypack
Vitalic - Polkamatic
This song is maddeningly addictive, which is curious for something that starts off with a keyboard sound that's akin to a nest of baby birds crying out for food. But seriously, it's like candy: 'Polkamatic' is the best of artificial colors and flavors-'blue' raspberry, bright green watermelon, purple grape, orange mango. It sounds a lot like how you'd feel if you consumed a full gross of Lik-M-Aids on a sunny day out at the pool (notice the differing tempos in the keyboard progressions- fast, then slow, then fast again- never with any warning, just like a crazy sugar-high).
So far the consensus has been that Vitalic has out-Daft-Punk'd Daft Punk with his debut album, "Ok Cowboy" (which is sinfully unavailable in the U.S. except as a $300 import), and I'm inclined to agree- all of the fun, verve, and neon exuberance in songs like 'Polkamatic' just wasn't really happening anywhere on "Human After All" (minus maybe the title track- that one's classic). Also keep in mind that 'Polkamatic' is only about the fourth or fifth best song on "Ok Cowboy", and when you think about it that way, it's not really so difficult (maybe) to shell out $25 for a single album. [available at Other Music]
Posted by Kevin at 09:26 AM | TrackBack
June 14, 2005
a small collusion of hearts
This Song Is A Mess But So Am I - Bedridden and Dancing
This band name is a risk, logically speaking. Because if you were to symbolize it in sentential logic, it would be a conjunction (This Song Is A Mess (and) I Am Also A Mess)- but if any of the songs that are ever produced by TSIAMBSAI turn out not to be messes, then that makes the entire band name false (a conjunction has to have two true terms to be wholly true). Woo! And people think a philosophy degree is useless!! Haha think again my friends.
OK, really though- this song is not a mess, and it leaves me with two interpretive choices:
'Bedridden and Dancing' is a richly textured (possibly commissioned?) piece of film music, meant to soundtrack an alternate version of Tron where Jeff Bridges' character and Cindy Morgan's (such a fox, back in the day) character end up together, and are both trapped in that weird little cave where that blue Powerade/energon stream runs along its polygonal banks. They hold each other in fear, while red-neon-blooded bad guys run around looking for them, and this music plays to heighten the dramatic and romantic tension.
or
'Bedridden and Dancing' is meant to soundtrack sped-up montage footage. Of what, you ask? Of a cheetah, outfitted with tons of (humane, of course) bicycle streamers, filmed at the moment of attack. Like, from crouch-sprint-pounce. Thousands of hours of raw footage, edited down to 2 minutes of pure viciousness and speed and glitter.
Freddy Ruppert is This Song Is A Mess But So Am I, and he sings a little like Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu (who he'll be on tour with soon, actually), but a little more gently. Come to think of it, Xiu Xiu's 'Knife Play' is probably a good reference point, at least for some of the atmosphere that TSIAMBSAI creates. Except multiply Xiu Xiu by Venetian Snares and Jason Forrest, and then that should give you a good idea. 'Bedridden and Dancing' is taken from the "Church Point, LA" LP, which you can buy right here.
Posted by Kevin at 09:19 AM | TrackBack
June 13, 2005
Litigious Cartoon Characters
Battles - IPT2
On some level, 'IPT2' would make the best commercial jingle- for something that was complex, luxurious, and made of plastic and metal; perhaps for a product that combined the usefulness of a robot servant with the excitement of a grizzly bear. I really don't know anyone who wouldn't love to have an easily-trained and amiable ursine butler (patent pending).
'IPT2' is a short song (just less than 2 minutes long), but it serves as a nice introduction to the technical and off-kilter melodic abilities of Battles. Related to math-rock in a way, esp. in terms of rhythm, Battles definitely don't have all the heaviness and self-importance that a lot of the bands working in that style seemed to have (which is probably just a wild misperception on my part), they make sounds like untethered and joyful circus music and work those into extended laser jams and spokey little grooves like 'IPT2'. They've already released 3 EPs, of varying lengths, showcasing a wide array of styles- all of which makes the news of a full-length from these guys a very exciting prospect indeed.
'IPT2' is taken from the band's most recent EP, "B", which you can find here.
Posted by Kevin at 09:24 AM | TrackBack
June 10, 2005
After they shed their winter coats...
Graham Coxon - Hard + Slow
There was a time, many years ago, when Graham Coxon could do no wrong, at least in my opinion. Let me set the stage here a little: Back in the Fall of '99, Blur's 13 had just come out, the monumentally cool video for 'Coffee + TV' (Coxon likes those binary titles) was in semi-rotation on MTV2, and Q magazine said that Coxon was the second most original guitarist in Britain, right behind Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood. Then there was talk of a Graham solo album, supposedly influenced by his love of American hardcore and indie music. I rabidly anticipated it, and bought the hell out of it when it first appeared on CD Now (which was still an actual separate-from-Amazon entity back then).
"The Sky Is Too High" was sort of a revelation. I had never really listened to anything that sounded so rough, or personal, or cold. There is something about this record that is all about chilly, misty mornings and waking up feeling alienated from the things you enjoy. However, having said that, I'm pretty sure Graham is going straight for a wooing on 'Hard + Slow', albeit a wooing that contains a chinese woodblock solo(!)- but what girl wouldn't like that, really? Graham wrangles the same kind of delightful patterns and phrases out of his acoustic guitar as he ever did with his electric, and this song ends up feeling like a casual little masterpiece. You can buy any of GC's releases right here (Happiness in Magazines is also quite good).
Posted by Kevin at 11:11 AM | TrackBack
June 08, 2005
I Know the Weight of your Throat
Califone - Your Golden Ass
This song contains one of the most despair-inducing guitar lines I've ever heard; it sounds like something inflexible and dark (is it Rhadamanthine? I think so) and punishing. Also weirdly enough, 'Your Golden Ass' seems to reference Apuleius' 2nd Century Latin novel, in which the protagonist is turned into a mule (and which book my high school Latin teacher said was second only to Manilius' "Astronomicon" in translation difficulty). I'm sure this is wildly riveting for you all.
Califone kick out subtle jams in a dusty, sort of lazy-eyed way, and they have certainly got a way with words: "a wolfish mouth on a mouse-ish face" (I love that one), "blackbirds in formation blown/like thumbtacks spilling across a marble sky", as Tim Rutili sings in a smog-inflected and sinister voice that I can only imagine belongs somewhere in a television adaptation of Young Goodman Brown. This is taken from Quicksand/Cradlesnakes, which you can buy right here, if you're up to it.
Posted by Kevin at 10:32 AM | TrackBack
June 07, 2005
My body is made of Sanka and grief [snapdragon remix]
Benji Cossa - April
Benji Cossa - You're A Landscape
Only the people who have been reading this site since September (i.e. pretty much just me, Greenideas Matt, and my immediate family) will know that I posted these two songs previously. However, since 1)the Molars audience has grown (some) in the intervening nine months, and since 2)I look back on almost everything I write with both shame and regret, I figured I'd post these again and take another crack at discussing their numerous merits. Plus there's some good news to share about Mr. Benji Cossa's music.
'April' is just a straight-up banger, sonically speaking. The first thing you notice in this song is that palpitating heartbeat-beat, dense and all-business and perfect. The guitar (squealing and squawking with delight) and piano (ghostly) drift together to form a hazy atmosphere of nostalgia, a cool crisp autumn night at a school football game. This song is deadly reminiscent (lyrically) of the Blood Brothers' song 'Love Rhymes with Hideous Car Wreck', in that both deal with telling the story of a couple, or at least the initial encounter. Both songs also, for whatever reason, feel like they should have been shiny, innocent teen ballads back in the early 60s. Anyway, 'April' is truly a work of art.
'You're A Landscape' is a lot more fluid than 'April'. Where the latter seems broken into segments (thanks to that hard drum beat), 'You're A Landscape' (and the acoustic guitar in particular) rolls like a smooth-banked stream over rocks and logs and sediment. This easy-going spirit is injected into the song by not only the soft guitar sound, but also by Benji's whistling overture, the buoyancy of the bass, and the sun-dappled chords played on piano. The chorus is a nice little pop koan: "Sometimes you're a landscape/sometimes/you're the guy/who goes driving by/but if you're in the right place/and you're at the right time/you can't tell which is which/or why/there's a difference between you and/I", and he draws that 'I' out for all the vowelness that it's worth. There is something so calculated and also thrown-together about this song, and it's so ridiculously endearing.
Two individual good news portions- Benji Cossa now has a website, with information about what's going on with both his songs and also with pink honeybells (check it out). Secondly, Magic Marker Records recently announced that they are finalizing a tracklisting for Benji Cossa's debut album and should have an advance mp3 up soon. As someone who has been trying to find more info on Benji Cossa's music since hearing the 'They Keep Me Smiling' almost a year ago, this is welcome news indeed. Please listen to these songs- trust me, you'll like 'em.
Posted by Kevin at 09:45 PM | TrackBack
The goodest of Nots
The Hot Springs - Cacodisco
So while it is true that I posted a Hot Springs song a little while ago, this song also needs to be heard very badly.
Giselle sounds like she's trying to seduce a tornado in this one (a francophone tornado, I should say), and if this were a Peter & the Wolf-style composition, the part of the tornado is played by the guitar (spindly, also alternately cocky and vulnerable), the part of the jealous ex-lover is taken by the bass (which advises her against wooing such a destructive weather system; its communication is both sensitive and agitated at points), and hmmm, the drums are some kind of mythological beast that arranges a miraculous reconciliation between Giselle and the bass, at which point the tornado spins out the remainder of its cyclical fury and decays into a soft gray breeze of regret.
The Hot Springs' debut EP, "Rock Partouze", is wrapped in immaculate packaging. The paper they used for the slipcase is extremely thick and has just wild tactile appeal (it was hand-screened by the cool folks at Serigraphie Cinqunquatre), and the EP comes with a lyric sheet that's printed on like business card-stock. Just a great release all around, which you should definitely buy (remember the thing about Insound- new customers get 30% off (starting on June 21st, actually); old, ineligible customers get orange juice coupons from yours truly). By the way, The Hot Springs are on tour (with Malajube, who I should write about soon) starting on the 8th, for those of you who live in Ontario. Said tour is sponsored by Jay Goldkixx et al.'s Pop Montreal project. Which reminds me- make sure you stop by Goldkixx, cause Jay and co. have started posting sweet songs again and writing about them in their inimitable way (check out the House of Love track!).
Posted by Kevin at 10:03 AM | TrackBack
June 06, 2005
I've got a number on me
Wolf Parade - 6/4/05 - Piano's, NYC
(non-sequential set list, if anyone remembers this better, please comment): New Song (Dan said, "we just wrote that last week")/Killing Armies/We Built Another World/New Song/It's a Curse/Secret Knives/You Are a Runner, I am My Father's Son (holy good god- either they jammed out on this one really hard, or they attached another new song to the end of it)/I'll Believe in Anything, You'll Believe in Anything (dedicated to both Hadji and the Believer's Matthew Derby)/This Heart's On Fire/new song/old song (according to the band, but it's never been released).
Wolf Parade put on an absolute killer show this past Saturday night, and just totally owned it. Despite Dan's illness (he said at the start that he was both 'sick and drunk'), and the absence of Hadji, the band energetically ripped through a ton of songs, new and old, and were amazingly polite, self-deprecating, and charming. Plus the crowd was great- people there obviously knew a lot of their material (even the Cbc Radio sessions), and even tried to cajole Spencer into playing 'Dear Sons and Daughters...' by singing the initial 'la-la-la-la-la-la' of the song (he just smiled at them). The new songs were high-energy and insanely good (the 'written last week' one was fast and sweet, and there was one that started out with the drumbeat from 'Be My Baby' that was the best thing I've ever heard from them), and the band just dominated the older stuff, nailing every nuance of the recorded versions while also exceeding those versions in almost every aspect (this is definitely a band whose live stuff should be taped).
Their setup was pretty simple, with Dan on guitar, Arlen on drums, and Spencer on dual keyboards. Dan also played a small silver box (of what I can only assume was tangled and complicated gadgetry) that had an antenna extending out of the top, which he would sort of karate-chop to produce a fluctuating squeal (like a theremin, it operated on proximity of hand, I think) like the ones heard in 'Same Ghost Every Night'. They all looked like they were having a blast though: Dan shook around like a live-wire and sang with just unrelenting passion, Arlen was pouding the drums like a goddamn machine and smiled widely the entire time (my friend said he looked like the nephew of John Bonham, with his long hair and beard), and Spencer had his hands buried in his keyboard like he was performing emergency surgery on some sort of exotic animal. They all seem to be very absorbed in their own music, but Dan and Spencer particularly were a nice juxtaposition, with Dan's jagged, quick movements and intense singing vs. Spencer's closed-eyed/close-mic'd crooning and fluid playing, all of them (Arlen and his grinning) very obviously 'in it'. After seeing them play, there is no doubt in my mind that they will release one of the best (if not the best) albums of the year when "Apologies to the Queen Mary" comes out on September 27th (according to Sub Pop). [Buy the band's second EP at either Cheap Thrills or Alien 8] In the meantime you can also salivate over their forthcoming EP, due for a July 12th release, [update] and you can now order Spencer's Sunset Rubdown album, "Snake's Got a Leg", from the nice people at Global Symphonic.
p.s. Hannah Marcus and Brother Danielson (Daniel Smith was interviewed by Rick Moody at the show and then played some songs) were both awesome as well- H.M. especially was a revelation, with a sweet, very sultry voice, and long atmospheric songs that reminded me of a less dour Elizabeth Anka Vajagic, in a way. Plus, you know, 5/6 of the band is composed of very attractive women, which never hurts (and the lone guy is Thierry Amar, from Godspeed You! Black Emperor- v. cool).
no mp3 today, too tired. I'm sorry. However, good news right now that you can take heart in: Insound is having a gigantic summer sale for brand new customers[JUST KIDDING, IT DOESN'T START UNTIL JUNE 21ST]- so if you've never ordered anything there before, you can get 30% off of your initial purchase, which is a pretty sweet deal indeed- unless, of course, like me you've ordered stuff from there before, in which case: tough luck. I'll send you an orange juice coupon in the mail to make it up to you (have lots around my apartment, for reasons I choose not to disclose).
Posted by Kevin at 03:53 AM | TrackBack
June 03, 2005
now available in Portugal
the Unicorns - Abominable Snowman
This is an unreleased Unicorns track, which I found on the invaluable Secret Unicorns Forum (by clicking on Nicholas, the one in the middle. The people there have put together a very nice collection of stuff, from the Unicorns, Th' Corn Gangg, and Alden Ginger/Penner). The truth is: this song belonged on "Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone". The real truth is: the Unicorns performed this for Xfm Radio's One Night Stand sessions (the Xfm site is not forthcoming about when this took place though). But 'Abominable Snowman' measures up to all the material from "WWCOHWWG" and indeed is a sweet angry lullaby.
'Abominable Snowman' features some classic Unicorns lyrics, here is a taste: "Rack of lamb of God/we serve you instead/on a bed"..."Track sasquatches/through the snowy climes of Canada/are you an upright bear?/are you even there?/do you exist?". Sort of a nice cross-bred fable of Lewis & Clark, the Yeti from Rankin and Bass' "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", and Futurama (they speak of frozen heads). However, there is nothing quite as heartbreaking as this (somehow romantic references to biomes really get to me): "my how the tundra has grown/since you've been gone/everyone's gone". Despite the fact that most of their lyrics fall well within the Venn of 'macabre', their music has always struck me as calming- not because it's laidback, because it's definitely not- but comforting more in the way that a sweet song sung (or hummed) in a dark, scary place would be soothing. Plus, of course, they cram about 7,000 individual hooks into any given track. Much has been made of the song structure the band used- their non-reliance on repetition- and it always seemed like their songs were almost connected synaptically, where one melodic section would be associated, loosely, with another.
It's a shame that they broke up, but 'Abominable Snowman' is as good a goodbye as any (they say it at least 60x in the song).
Posted by Kevin at 08:45 AM | TrackBack
June 02, 2005
the girl with the harmonically perfect face
Kiss Me Deadly - Dance 1
Wow. Let me say, right off the bat, that I will send anyone a personal note (along with a coupon for orange juice) if they don't like this song. I'll write it in cursive, even (my penmanship is on par with that of a circa-1950 Catholic school-teaching nun).
Named after the movie classic (1955), Kiss Me Deadly are from Montreal, and are soon to be (or are already??) opening for Bloc Party on their North American tour. Signed to the absolutely fantastic Alien 8 Recordings, the band has an EP out right now, and an LP on its way for the Fall.
'Dance 1', which will also appear on their new full-length, is a slinky, late-night, taboo makeout session. Emily Elizabeth's voice is sexy in that breathy, sort of petulant-sounding way (the v. best way), and she coos, squeals, and begs her way through this track (also, she says "making out like a thief", which is just too cute). The guitars here are all over the place- aggressive, subdued, clean- however, the prettiest parts are the little delayed-note eddies they create, which remind me a lot of the undertow pull of the guitar phrases in Disco Inferno's 'Arc in Round'. The beginning of this song though, with tough little metallic beats, spindly guitar, and handclaps, is terribly addictive (which is probably why I've listened to this song like 50 times in 12 hours). You can buy their EP, "Amoureux Cosmiques" (which translates to, what- Cosmic Loves/ers?), right over at Alien 8.
Kiss Me Deadly are so good that they make me want to go all gooey-emo and say stuff like this:
Every once in a while, I'll hear something new that makes me excited not only about music (in general), but also about writing about music. And I think a lot of people get this feeling (maybe good music doesn't necessarily make you want to write about it, but probably at least you get the urge to articulate, in some way, what it is that's so exciting. or not, whatever). Sometimes writing this pink monstrosity feels like a particularly cruel punishment (that's usually when everything here reads like it was written by a sugared-up 9 year old), but most of the time it's a lot of fun, and I'm glad that I get to do it, because really, it's all for the people (my 9 loyal readers!), whom I embrace* (see deleted scenes and outtakes from this paragraph, below!). Sniff, tear.
*[here, let me cliche this up a little bit] So I'm just gonna keep doing what I'm doing, and if the kids like it, that's just a fucking bonus. I actually managed to traverse the spectrum of earnestness to sacrasm within the space of a few sentences back there, not bad at all, my friends. [NOTE: this is what happens when I start drinking coffee]
Posted by Kevin at 01:21 AM | TrackBack
June 01, 2005
the stealth marketing of online poker
Cajun Gems - River Warfare
First of all, spam-commenters: please die. The people who actually run spam firms (is there such a thing? there must be) are probably greasy, poorly-haired, sexual deviant fucks. The kind of software nerdboxes who would masturbate to like, Xena Warrior Princess fan fiction and/or memories of old gym teachers. How would you even go about getting into that field? Do they recruit comp. sci. kids right out of college? Q: "Do you like to annoy people? But do you also shy away from the company of others? Here is your answer: a career in the fast-growing and exciting world of SPAM! Piss off millions of folks a day--without the awkwardness and pain of human interaction!!" Are there unions for these people, that's what I really want to know-
The Cajun Gems are sweet and lovable, and have an armed and angry (or determined, maybe?) naked woman on their website. Some of the Joggers are also in Cajun Gems, which should explain why they sound so similar (Ben Whiteside's distinctive tenor figures prominently in the work of both bands). There's a peculiar finesse to the Cajun Gems' songs though, something I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe it's the soft little descending riff that serves as the foundation of 'River Warfare', creating almost an outline structure for the lyrics (would you hit me if I said it reminded me, slightly, of Wittgenstein's "Tractatus"? It's just that it proceeds in such an orderly fashion); maybe it's the sudden and breathtaking showers of xylophone notes that appear intermittently, or the way the guitar slides buzz and decay in the background. Quite pretty.
The band has a few (3) more mp3s that you can download from their aforelinked site. They're recording again soon, as they say right below the gun-toting nude girl. Also of note- the Joggers are apparently recording right now, which is good news indeed.
P.S. Sunset Rubdown's album, "Snake's Got A Leg" is supposed to be available for mail-order today from Global Symphonic. But maybe that's just a trick. Also, if you haven't heard, Sufjan's new album, "Illinois", is shipping on June 3rd if you mail-order it from Asthmatic Kitty.