
Fact one: Australia's Augie March purloined their name from a Saul Bellows novel . Fact two: Their 2004 album Strange Bird has heavily occupied my stereo of late in anticipation of the Stateside release of their latest album Moo, You Bloody Choir (import). This Australian indie act deftly forges folk-pop tunes pretty enough to almost make you forget the melancholy that resides just beneath the surface. I will forego other artist comparisons and let the tracks speak for themselves. Expect a review of the [...]

They Shoot Horses Don't They? are an odd bunch from Vancouver, Canada. Their sound is absurd, crazy carnival marching band influencing on the side to folk and psychedelic. Pulling out trumphets and saxophones blended in with a touch of rock is going to end up as a freak show. Many would consider this hard to listen to, not a band for everyone but an exceptional one if you can stand it. They've been compared to Captain Beefheart. I don't know if it's been me lately but I've been hooked on a lot of obscure lyrics and yet again this [...]

Augie March's Strange Bird was just that: a strange bird. With lush instrumentation, bold and beautiful writing, and very consistent quality, it was a rare thing to find in what I can only categorize as Almost-Rock. It was a pleasant surprise, lovely and accessible yet still challenging and serious at times - for every soft ballad my mom liked, e.g. "The Night Is A Blackbird," there was something searing and atypical like "Brundisium," and everything between was solid. Here's the original review . After I got that album, I sought out their earlier [...]