Boy, am I a sucker for songs about astronauts. Globes On Remote - Space Camp. Well, aside from "Looking For Astronauts" by The National. Ugh. But this one? It's really fun. It's a little synth-pop number about going into outer space, and from those synths to the Wayne Coyne-like vocals, it's got everything it needs. It reminds me of the recent Target Market track "Space Tourist", which Laptop Battery, one of our favorite spambot commenters, called "Everything is very open and very clear explanation of issues". Man, it's like I'm not even necessary! This song is from Globes On Remote's...
deVries - The Darkest Summer. Seattle's deVries is the brainchild of Travis deVries, also a member of the Turn-Ons. Their record Death To God is a good one. It's a weird, unpredictable mix of your favorite bands, but it's still strikingly original. The songs are similarly arranged and produced - think T. Rex in a subway tunnel - but they're also very distinct, including the beguiling "The Darkest Summer". They're also Peter Buck's favorite Seattle band. If you're not convinced yet, I'm not sure what else to tell you. Uh, the CD comes with a $20 bill inside ......
Bass! The Hush Now - Hoping and Waiting. It's not very often you hear a song in which the bass drives everything forward, propelling the song toward that last second. It's especially effective in Boston band the Hush Now's "Hoping and Waiting", because it starts with that plaintive organ, and you're thinking to yourself, ah, okay. This is some shoegazer shit, time to daydream out the bus window. But then! Then it all goes crazy, bass-wise, and it only gets crazier: that opera singing guy, the "Penny Lane" trumpet, the song hurtling to oblivion while that bass carries it all...
Here's another one I've been waiting for. Basia Bulat's 2008 record Oh My Darling was a sweet little album, full of winding melodies, thumping percussion, and, best of all, lots of autoharp. Basia Bulat - Gold Rush. Basia Bulat is back. Her new record Heart Of My Own will be out in January, and if this track is any indication, she hasn't lost any of her energy or songwriting skills. Can't wait to hear the whole thing. The record comes out January 26 on Rough Trade. I am also excited to use this post as an excuse to tell you...
I've been looking forward to this one for a long time. Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - Know Better, Learn Faster. I loved Thao's last record, We Brave Bee Stings And All, which jumped around like it was up too early on Saturday morning. I wondered what would come next: more of the same? A collection of somber ballads? A funk record? Lucky for us, it's all of the above. I hate the cliché of a band or artist "growing up", but that's kind of what happened here. Thao Nguyen must have realized, as much as lots of...
Aw man, look at those guys. Someone must have told a Radiohead joke! Or maybe they're laughing because you're about to take free music from them, and they didn't even announce it mysteriously a few days ago. Music For Robots has a set of the recent Radiohead reissues - Kid A, Amnesiac, and Hail To The Thief - each containing the original album, a CD of radio sessions and live performances, and a DVD of TV performances and music videos. They are called Special Deluxe versions. That's right, they are special and deluxe. To win all three, answer this question:...
The Shoes - People Movin'. Jamaica - Cross the Fader. Last week I had the absolute pleasure to attend an event at the French Consulate in Beverly Hills. We all know what a consulate is, right? Right. So it turns out they're throwing a festival here in Los Angeles to promote some French music and generally have a good time. So next week at the Henry Fonda in Hollywood they're throwing three nights of bands, each night having a slightly different theme. The first night is more of a pop night, headlined by longtime favorite Sebastian Tellier, with Gonzalez...
Le Loup - Beach Town. Driving home last night from Santa Monica, with the slightest of chills in the air and a whole bunch of promise on the horizon, I took a gamble and put in the new record from Le Loup. I know this mp3 has been knocking around for awhile but the full length only came in the mail yesterday. Lucky for me, it was exactly the type of music that my drive needed, at exactly the right time. Soaking up the current sound of indie music, Le Loup skirts dangerously close to being just another rip...
TGIF, robots, am I right? It's Miller time. High fives all around. Darlings - If This Is Love. God only knows why I started thinking about this (a long commute makes you do the damndest things), but the other day, I began wondering what punctuation marks different bands would represent. The Clash, who questioned authority while making flat-out rock songs, would be "?!". R.E.M., who like emphasis but take a while to get there? "...!". The Beatles, who had a ridiculous amount of confidence even when producing crap like "Revolution 9"? A period. As in, take it or leave it,...
Parts making up a whole. tUnE-yArDs - Sunlight. That's obviously what music is - hell, that's what everything is, but thinking about it at length is freaking me out - but I'm liking these recent bands who have exaggerated the difference between the sum and the parts. I'm thinking of Vampire Weekend and Dirty Projectors, bands who take their time showing you some parts before they put them all together on a crazy canvas. They've taken a lead from Talking Heads, and I'm loving it. I really like this song. I first heard it while walking in the sunshine (synergy!)...
I saw Miniature Tigers back in April, and it was funny. Miniature Tigers - Tell It To The Volcano. What was so funny about it? I'm not sure. I knew nothing about them, and they were openers for Bishop Allen, the band I came to see. But then these scruffy, dissheveled guys came out (one of which had a guitar sporting the Dharma Initiative logo) and proceeded to play indie pop music that was both loud and innocent, chaotic and ordered. I think it was just unexpected. Miniature Tigers songs, "Tell It To The Volcano", have an old-fashioned quality to...
That shitty photo up there is one I took of Free Energy guitarist Scott Wells at the Paradise in Boston last night. It doesn't adequately convey the awesomeness. Mark extolled the virtues of Free Energy back in May, when their track "Dream City" came out. They have a 7" out soon on DFA, which will be followed by a full LP, Stuck On Nothing, tentatively scheduled for January 12. The thing was produced by James "LCD Soundsystem" Murphy himself. A friend of mine once described Weezer's guitar sound as "triumphant", and that's stuck with me. It perfectly encapsulates a certain...
Melody! Wild Light - Call Home. It's a great thing. Honestly, sometimes I wish I didn't care so much about it - there's a lot of music out there that doesn't much use it - but, well, melody is the greatest. This song has not only a very good melody, it's got that guy's voice, which goes down easy. Wild Light hails from New Hampshire, and their record Adult Nights came out earlier this year on Star Time International. It's got some great songs, and the production is clear as a bell. Pop music, pure and simple. Order Adult Nights...
This one is a party in a box, a jar of salsa ready for you to enjoy. Jack Peñate - Tonight's Today. Could I be overstating the case? Sure, it's possible. And I suppose this isn't the most party-like track on Jack Peñate's new record Everything Is New, out in August on XL. Jack Peñate is a 24-year-old London kid, a clubgoer with a knack for blue-eyed soul. This is what Badly Drawn Boy would be doing if he kept his focus, it's what Of Montreal would be up to if they had mainstream ambitions. It's a fascinating listen,...
The Crayon Fields - All The Pleasures of the World. You might remember Geoff O'Connor from his work with Sly Hats. Or maybe you remember last year's single, Mirrorball, which was in maximum rotation over here. I don't think the Crayon Fields have quite broken out of their home of Australia (and I'm honestly not sure they're trying to), but their quiet, indie lounge is a welcome sound on this contemplative Los Angeles morning. The new single, which is about to be released as a 7", is a sharp distillation of O'Connor's previous experiments. It can soundtrack the more...
Blue Roses - I Am Leaving. I've been doing a lot of walking around and listening to music. This is partially out of boredom; I didn't start my new job in Boston until today, and last week was extremely boring. (I know, I know, but I'm not complaining. Boredom is underrated and underappreciated.) I was walking around Newton listening to the Pains of Being Pure at Heart last week, and I realized that it's a very good pastime. You get exercise, you get to listen to music, you get out and about in the world. Am I 70 years...
Directed by Eric Fensler, of the GI Joe psa fame. The new Cass record is out now via our old friends at Domino. It picks up right where the last one left off, which is a good thing. He just keeps getting better....
Go ahead. Argue that there is no such thing as an "astrocar", and there never will be. Doing so will break the hearts of Minneapolis' Target Market, but go ahead if you feel so strongly about it. Target Market - Space Tourist. Could this be my song of the summer? It's possible. That fuzz, those harmonized guitars, the jet propulsion of it all, forcing me to play outside. This is the kind of thing they play over montages of people getting to know each other in The Big City - going to baseball games, falling asleep on the subway, things...
Japandroids - Young Hearts Spark Fire. Lately I've been making my own hours and listening to mostly Big Star and Steely Dan. Anyone who's spent any time around me in the last month or two can attest to this. Wake up late, make some strong coffee, cook up some fresh eggs and relax with Pretzel Logic or Radio City. Sounds like a fine time, right? Well it took Japandroids to knock me out of this funk (no pun intended). I missed them earlier this year when pitchfork doled out the best new music and it wasn't until Polyvinyl signed...
Fool's Gold - Surprise Hotel. I really could've used this song on Sunday at my pool party bbq. This song is a harbinger of summer, calling us out to dance and swim and frolic like humans are meant to do. It taps into that primal urge for good times that lies not-so-deeply within us all. Honestly, I couldn't be happier that African rhythms are currently being embraced by the indie world. The beats are just infectious, the guitar lines interesting, and the whole song becomes impossible to ignore.At the end of the day it's all pop music, which is...
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