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Archive for October, 2009

Halloween Confusion

Oct.31, 2009

Rating: 5.8/10 (4 votes cast)

Brian alluded to MJ in his early morning post today, and it got me in the spooky sort of mood. I’ve been knee deep in house cleaning duties today. I have no significant other at the moment, so you can imagine the intestinal fortitude it takes to get off my ass and scrub stuff. Nonetheless I ventured outward to snag some Halloween-esque tracks to play today and figured I’d throw on a quick post with what I’ve been listening to. Thriller has been played a few times, no doubt, but so has this Imogen Heap cover, as well. And yeah, I’m actually digging this Deadmau5 Zelda thing they’ve got flying around the interwebs, too. “You Need a Ladder” provided the jumpy intro I needed to scrub my sink today. The second half is where I shut off the Itunes, but the first half is tough not to love if you’re an old school Nintendo fan. I’ve also included the Louis La Roche remix of “Thriller” as well. That track blew up the internet a couple of months ago. I’ve been spinning all three repeatedly this morning. Enjoy the tunes and don’t eat too much candy, folks. I’ve already gone through a bag of Kit-Kat’s and I’m seconds away from binging and purging. Happy Halloween from all of us at Citizen Dick.

Imogen Heap – Thriller (Michael Jackson Cover)

Michael Jackson – Thriller (Louis La Roche Remix)

Deadmau5 – You Need a Ladder

Tags: Deadmau5, Halloween, Imogen Heap, Kit Kats, Louis La Roche, Michael Jackson

It’s close to midnight; Lazy Saturday’s lurking in the dark.

Filed Under: General Interest

Oct.31, 2009

Rating: 10.0/10 (2 votes cast)

(Editor’s Note: I’m all over the map today. I feel like there’s been a kind of fallow period for me; work and school have been a bit more intense lately, so I’ve been listening to old music that I know I love instead of plumbing the depths for new music to wrap my brain around. It’s been about aurally cloaking myself with comfort these last couple of weeks; kind of listening to the musical equivalent of homemade macaroni and cheese. This week, however, I got blasted with all sorts of good stuff: new tunes from bands I love, news on shows I’m going to love going to, videos that are sweet and all sorts of other assorted goodies. This influx of good shit, paired with getting two papers out of the way, has shaken me out of my funk. You, dear reader, get to reap the benefit. It’s a big money, big nuts and a big fat [some sort of material] sack kind of day. Word.)

We got turned on to Young Buffalo a couple of months back and have been spinning their Catapilah demos incessantly since then. Jim Barrett, the globe-hopping bon vivant at the core of the band, dropped us a line the other day, passing along good news for folks who hear great things in Young Buffalo’s music. The Mississippi-based trio have some confirmed dates in New York City (January 15th @ Goodbye Blue Monday, Brooklyn with Ava Luna and January 16th @ Glasslands, Brooklyn with BELL), with plans to hit other East Coast locales (sucks to do it in winter for a band from the south, but such is life). There are also plans to record an EP in the cold months. Dude also shot us a new tune, that we’re proud to share with you. It’s got a lot of the stuff that we loved about the Catapilah work; the vaguely African rhythms, the just out of reach, mellowly complex vocals (dig the breakdown at fifty five seconds), but there’s a slightly more overt electronic thing going on here as well. It sounds a touch more metallic (as in something made of metal, not Slayer) to my ear. It’s also got a rawness that’s probably an artifact of the demo process, but which also gives a nice low-fi anti-luster. It still sounds like Graceland making love to The Byrds, so I’m still loving it. More critically, I’m super happy to have five songs from Young Buffalo to play over and over. We’ll keep you abreast of new material and more tour dates as they come available to us. (We’ve got our fingers crossed for a Cleveland date; we’re kind of east-coasty, right?)

Young Buffalo – Speak EZ

I’ve written in this space that I’m a touch concerned about Contra. After a ton of listens to “Horchata,” paired with a strong urge to like it, I’ve kind of concluded that it sucks. There are approximately fourteen seconds (00:17 – 00:32) that I love (and that remind me of what I loved about the self-titled record); the rest is bloated and awkwardly self-aware and, perhaps worst of all, not very cool. That first record exuded coolness. It was dripping with the kind of secret-handshake/tastefully graying father in a country club and brass-buttoned blazer/going up to Bryn Mawr to catch up with the fillies coolness that folks in the middle of the country with degrees from state schools look at enviably and drool over Look, that’s shallow. But, it was a shallow record. Fun as hell and one that I listen to all the time and one that I anticipate listening all the time for a long while, but not exactly Sartre, right? Just pop music done well with some cool flourishes and a good vocabulary. And cool as hell. “Horchata” sounded like a band from Minnesota trying to sound like they grew up summering in the Hamptons. Which is douchey. (People from Minnesota should sound like they’re from Minnesotta. See: Husker Du.) Vampire Weekend, for me, was about 70% about the tunes and 30% about the vibe. I’ll take the Pepsi Challenge on the first five songs on that record (“Mansford Roof” – “M79″) against (more or less) any side one in the last five or so years (with a few obvious exceptions, probably, but it’s in the discussion, at least).

All this to say that it freaked me out that “Horchata” is as clumsy as it is. Now the good news: “Cousins” is great. Fast and catchy and hummable and danceable, laced with frenetic percussion, bouncy bass lines, jangling guitars and, most importantly, cool as hell. I want to take “Cousins” to see a movie a French movie and eat bad Thai food with it after. We’ve got a bitching live version, which, if you haven’t heard, you’re going to love. I’m stoked about having this conversation every time something leaks from Contra. Let’s hope that there are way more “Cousins” than “Horchata”s on this thing.

Vampire Weekend – Cousins – Live, 2009

It’s no secret that we love Megafaun. Dudes are talented, their records are good and they put on an amazing live show. Tack on “make sweet videos” to that laundry list of laudables. (I can never remember if alliteration is hacky. Thoughts?) “Impressions of the Past” has long been one of my personal favorites on Gather, Form and Fly, so it’s cool to be able to get it into your ears if you haven’t heard it yet. (Seriously. Buy this record. You are going to love it.) The video makes me wish that MTV was still a television channel. (It is? Oh shit. My bust.) The song’s radical shifts lend themselves to the quick-cut still photograph method used in the video. The first time I watched it was on the edge of my seat for the vocal part; the visual aesthetic is established early on, so I knew there’d be a visual leap to accompany the sonic one and I was geared up to see how it worked. I was not disappointed. You won’t be either.

<a href="http://www.vimeo.com/7293049">http://www.vimeo.com/7293049</a>

I’m a big November fan. I like autumn (and, strangely, raking leaves. No reason.) I like falling behind, as it makes me feel like I’m sleeping in every day. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, hands down. This year, as an added bonus, Medeski, Martin and Wood are coming to beuatiful and historic Kent, Ohio on the 17th. We’ve talked at length about MMW in the past, but it is always a pleasure to see them live. They’re always going to do something that you’ve never seen on stage before, take some chance that no one else will take, make music happen in a way that is new and fascinating. I’ll be in Kent on the 17th, alternating between standing still, in lock-jawed awe of the trio’s collective brilliance and shaking my ass with wild abandon (while trying to take notes for a post on the thing). First beer is on me if you make it to the gig. (Do they even sell beer in Kent? I’ll assume so.) We’ve got a track from the upcoming Radiolarians boxset below; there’s an amazing amount of material in this thing, including the disc of remixes that the cut below comes from. I’ll be putting it on my Christmas list if anyone still hasn’t gotten me something. (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)

Medeski, Martin & Wood – Flat Tires – DJ Logic Re-Mix

Part two of the Morphine live batch rounds us out today. It offers a nice bit of symmetry to Lazy Saturday, as I saw MMW for the first time opening up for Mr. Sandman and company. The saxophone solo in “Do Not Go Quietly Unto Your Grave” is particularly soul-searing. Enjoy.

Morphine – Do Not Go Quietly Unto Your Grave – Live, 1997

Morphine – Mary, Won’t You Call My Name? – Live, 1997

Tags: Lazy Saturday, Medeski Martin & Wood, Morphine, Vampire Weekend, Young Buffalo

C.D. Singles Club #30 – Abortopotamus Rex – Murder Ballad (Fire)

Filed Under: New Music

Oct.29, 2009

Rating: 10.0/10 (3 votes cast)

abortopotamus

To keep things in the holiday spirit, over the next couple days I have some singles to share with you that are as frightening in their narrative as they are in their awesomeness. Today’s selection comes from Youngstown Ohio’s Abortopotamus Rex, which has newly formed out of the ashes of OH/PA indie stalwarts You Are The War That I Want.

While paying clear homage to Nick Cave, “Murder Ballad” is rooted in a much deeper and global folk tradition, one that can be found in disparate regional sources as Scandinavia, Mexico, and Appalachia. Abortopotamus Rex’s contribution to the canon is an arduously creepy one, a first-person narrative of a psychopathic lover’s mortal revenge. Graphic and stark in its treatment not of the actual murder, but rather of the killer’s justification and utter lack of regret, “Murder Ballad” presents a cautionary tale beyond the grasp of even the most damaged and culturally ambitious Lifetime television movie producer.

After listening to this track, I think two conclusions are pretty easy to draw:

1) Ladies, if you date dudes from Youngstown, answer your phone when they call.

2) Everyone, keep an ear out for Abortopotamus Rex. There is a lot more going on than just an insane band name.

Abortopotamus Rex – Murder Ballad (Fire)

Castevet – Summer Fences – Album Review

Filed Under: New Music

Oct.29, 2009

Rating: 10.0/10 (7 votes cast)

By this point, you know that there are times when I listen to Jay-Z and/or Fugazi to get myself into an appropriate frame of mind for any number of activities. There’s nothing as good for walking into a hostile meeting than a killer Jay-Z lyric; there are almost too many to list: “Things just ain’t the same for gangsters, but I’m a little to famous to shoot these pranksters;” “My raps don’t have melodies, this shit make [African American persons] wanna go and commit felonies;” and (probably my most favorite) “[Citizen Dick] is the army, better yet the navy, we will kidnap your babies, spit at your ladies.” If you don’t want to slap somebody in the mouth after listening to vintage Hova, you don’t have a pulse. (Obviously this isn’t always a good thing, but there are contexts when you want the old dander up. Just saying.) In much the same sense, there aren’t many songs that I’d rather listen to before a hockey game (I’ve played since I was five) than Fugazi’s “Turnover.” Turn that thing up, remember that everyone else in the world is an asshole and go to town. True story. All this to say that there are times when I like shit that is loud and aggressive. I like music that wears its heart on its sleeve, sneers at the world, signals that there are things that we should simultaneously be angry because of and not give a fuck about. I like music that reminds me that it’s okay to ditch my hipster veneer and feel. Castevet, while not wholly loud or aggressive, offer such music. They hit me in the gut or, maybe more critically, in the primordial part of my brain that recognizes action and violence and fear and ennui. Their recently released record, Summer Fences, is laced with subtlety, but with a clearly aggressive streak. It’s loud, but thoughtful, music. It taps into the primal scream hovering just beneath all of our surfaces, but does so with care and consideration. It’s music for the thoughtful anarchist. In short, I’m not quite ready to swap out Repeater in my pre-game mix, but Castevet is making a charge.

If you want to be reductive, Castevet sound like Explosions in the Sky with the addition of a way more pissed off Dicky Barrett on vocals. (That sells Castevet way short, but it is an effective short-hand for wrapping your brain around the concept.) The eight songs on Summer Fences feature noodly, interlacingly intricate (but still heavy) guitar pieces that speak to a definite math influence. These lofty guitar setpieces are offset by the startlingly grizzly vocals of Nick Wakim and Ron Petzke. All you want to do after listening to the record is offer these cats a cup of warm tea; they sound like they’ve been gargling with shards of glass soaked in acid. If the argument against math rock is that it’s impersonal (In the same sense that all genres that emphasize skill and craft over emotion and elan aren’t; think of The Ramones at the same time you’re thinking of Yes for the classical example), Castevet subvert and distort the argument by absolutely wailing through the vocals. Dudes absolutely mean it. You can’t argue that this record is about precision (although,in part, it is) beacause, at its core, the record is about emotion. I’d be hard pressed to quote one distinct lyric from the whole record, but (in this one instance), that makes absolutely no difference. Castevet could be reading the phonebook and I would care.

There are a lot of things to like about Summer Fences. (I’ve written this joke before, in reference to Summer Cats, but I’m going to do it again. I hope that Summer Fences is the Summer Teeth thing, as in summer fences, some are not.) One of the things that made me smile is that Castevet appears to subscribe to the Billy Corgan school of song naming. (I heard an interview with the Smashing Pumpkins auteur way back in the day where he said something like this (time and circumstance mean that I am paraphrasing heavily): “You write a song about your family, but you can’t name it “My Family,” so you think to yourself that you’ve got dinner with your family and you eat at a table and the table has napkins and the napkins are made out of cloth, so you call the song “Reams of Cotton” or some shit.” All this to say that Billy Corgan staunchly endorsed the non sequitur as song title.) The names for the songs are almost universally non-nonsensical and hilarious, as in: “Beating High Schoolers at Arcade Games,” and “When a Movie is Made in France, It’s Called Cinemas.” This kind of non-nonchalance belies the fact that the songs themselves are dead serious; this is the kind of dichotomy that I like. Past their titles, the songs are good. It’s another one of those records that you can throw on and play straight through, which is a decidedly good thing.

“Space Jam (The Return)” offers a lot of what Castevet do well. It’s five minutes of slowly building instrumental mathiness, capped by a propulsive vocal explosion. The vocals to instrumental ratio is tilted a little bit more towards vocals on much of the rest of the record, but the emotive firepower of the payoff is as good as it gets on the record. If you dig this, you will dig the rest.

Castevet – Space Jam (The Return)

Tags: Castevet, Count Your Lucky Stars

On media fragmentation

Filed Under: New Music

Oct.28, 2009

Rating: 10.0/10 (4 votes cast)

You know how you have a thousand channels on your television? And a thousand stations on your satellite radio? And an infinite number of media options on the internet? That’s sweet, right? I’d argue that, in reality, it sucks (kind of). This sort of fragmentation of both media and audience means that there will never (ever) be another cultural phenomenon like, say, The Beatles. Something ridiculous like half of the population saw The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Are The Beatles inherently “better” than, say, Radiohead? Of course not. But, more people paid attention to The Beatles, because there were way less things to pay attention to. In a Sophie’s choice situation, I’d take OK Computer over Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, but there is absolutely no way that I’m in the majority there, at least partially because there isn’t a single person on the planet who can’t sing “With a Little Help From My Friends,” but there are millions upon millions who can’t sing “Paranoid Android.” This has nothing to do with the material itself, but with its level of dissemination.

When is media fragmentation a good thing? When it allows for the expression of artistic impulses that would be squelched in less media rich environments. Do you get South Park if there are only three television channels? No. Do you get David Foster Wallace if there are less book publishers? (Or, more pointedly, Valis?) No. You also don’t get crazy shit like railcars. I can’t possibly do better than the press release, so I’m going to quote it: “In this record, LA-based multiple-instrumentalist Aria Jalali recounts the life of Edmund the Martyr, a 9th century king of East Anglia with songs about his life and succession to the throne as a young boy, his conquests, his suffering at the hands of vikings and death by their arrows.” Yes! Regardless of its quality, does that record get made without media fragmentation? Absolutely not. Long live people paying attention to far too many things. And, more critically, long live railcars!

railcars – cathedral with no eyes

Tags: railcars

Respect the ukulele.

Filed Under: New Music, The Vault

Oct.27, 2009

Rating: 8.0/10 (3 votes cast)

soundsgood

I was reading Indiemuse.com and came across a musician located about 45 minutes west of Cleveland, I was hooked after hearing the first song. Wisdom Tooth is the name and it’s a project by Oberlin’s Meagan Day. Meagan’s instrument of choice is the ukulele. I love listening to ukuleles. They transport me to a happy place. It’s definitely music I prefer when I’m in certain situations like casual drinking with friends, a long country drive, or even cleaning up around the house. I recently purchased the Dent May and his Magnificent Ukulele’s record for such occasions and it hasn’t disappointed. Now I’ve got Wisdom Tooth to add to that arsenal. Lucky for everyone else, you can too. Meagan is presently offering all of her music for free, the links are posted on her Myspace. We’ve got the title track from Wisdom Tooth’s latest release and some Dent May to keep those spirits up.

Wisdom Tooth – Cathedral Park

Dent May and His Magnificent Ukulele – 26 Miles (Santa Catalina)

Tags: Dent May and His Magnificent Ukulele, Wisdom Tooth

No cheese in a can.

Filed Under: The Vault

Oct.27, 2009

Rating: 8.5/10 (6 votes cast)

simspark

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Cleveland. The temperature was in the mid 60s and the sun was out. Just add some frisbee golf with a good buddy and that makes for a perfect day, well almost. My friend Vin recently had a serious back issue and this was his first time playing since then. He was worried the recent injury would handicap his performance, but we still played our usual skins game and agreed if it got out of control, in terms of me taking his money, that we would play the back nine for fun. That never happened. He killed me on the front nine. He did things and made shots I never thought were possible. Have you ever seen the movie Rookie of the Year? Yeah, it was kind of like that. He had me running around and winded trying to catch up to his ass. It was a good strategy. I was overdressed and the heat was getting to me. Luckily for me and my wallet, his back started to sting around the 12th hole. I was able to win back some skins, but I still had to pay out. Hopefully he didn’t spend all of his winnings in one place.

Vin and I love to cook food, talk about cooking food, watch chefs on TV cook food, and eat food. I know we’re not alone. He’s the kind of guy that has an orange julius waiting for you when you pick him up and offers to fire one up when you drop him off. Instead of looking at my gluten-free diet as something to avoid, he looks at it as a challenge. Sometimes more than me. Definitely a good friend to have. I figured this would be a good time to officially post the “Bacon Is Good For Me” remix. Most of us Dicks are big fans of what Josh Money has done with this episode of Wife Swap. Curtis definitely has a way with words, especially for someone his age. It’s actually hard to believe he’s a kid. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn he’s actually a 25 year old comedian whose growth was halted at a young age. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check the link and enjoy the song. It’s bacontacular. Balloon boy who?

King Curtis – Bacon Is Good For Me (Josh Money remix)

Tags: Bacon Is Good for Me, Josh Money, King Curtis, Wife Swap

C.D. Singles Club #29 – Electric Tickle Machine – Blew It Again + 2 more

Filed Under: New Music, Uncategorized

Oct.26, 2009

Rating: 8.3/10 (3 votes cast)

Independent rock and roll seems cleanly cleaved into a couple different groups, at least when it comes to the role sex plays: asexual well-behaved (largely) pale dudes in skinny jeans and hyper-sexual bad boys, also largely pale and donning the ever-present skinny jeans. Electric Tickle Machine falls clearly into the latter category, with lyrics about pussy power and disease complemented by a sex-pout style seen on frontmen throughout the history of rock. I mean, shit, their debut release, Blew It Again, has a faceless lassie’s not quite covered at all breasts featured pretty darn prominently on the cover!

Complete with loud messy guitars, a rich layering of sound, and some pretty killer drumming, the songs on Blew It Again strikes me as something The Flaming Lips could’ve recorded in the 90s had they moved away from psychadelia toward semi-mainstream indie rock style rather than avant garde art rock. This is particularly true for the title track as well as “Part of Me,” while “Gimme Money” seems to have a touch of The Clash in it.

Electric Tickle Machine sound like your jam? Then check them out as they continue on their cross-country tour. They hit Citizen Dick hometown Cleveland TONIGHT with a gig at Now That’s Class, and continue westward to the Pacific Northwest, down south through California, and back east through Texas to tour ender Memphis.

Electric Tickle Machine – Blew It Again

Electric Tickle Machine – Part of Me

Electric Tickle Machine – Gimme Money

Tags: Electric Tickle Machine, Singles Club

Radio Dick – This Post Took Forever Edition

Filed Under: General Interest

Oct.25, 2009

Rating: 8.1/10 (8 votes cast)

We’ve dished out quite a bit of content this week, so I suppose I’ll get to the music list early. If you’re just tuning in, I’ve switched up the way these Radio Dick posts go, attempting to offer a little more commentary on the tracks I’m posting. This week, I’ve got an interesting mix of material from around the globe. The scene’s been a tad quiet with all of the madness going on at CMJ. Hopefully, our writer James, who just spent the week rambling around NYC, will hit you with any coverage he was able to either 1) document, or 2) remember. The twitter feeds have been making me jealous all week, as most of these bands have been performing in various clubs all around The Big Apple. Check back for any coverage we may end up with. My initial fear was that Brooklyn Vegan ate James, as he disappeared for the first few days of the festival. I’ve since made contact with the man, so we at least know he’s alive.

Tracks this week are all fresh out of the creative birth canal, folks. They span all genres and there’s enough here for everyone to share. Nobody hog all of the goods. Have a great work week, too.

Cloud Control – Gold Canary (Radio Edit) – This is my favorite on the list, not due to musical divergence, but becuase it jolted me awake today. I began the day with a cup of joe and some sullen, mellow tunes on the turntable. A gritty start to my weekend was blown away with one spin of “Gold Canary.” It’s a proper indie rock song, make no mistakes, but the trippy synthesizer and guitar tandem work mid-track stapled open my eyes and loosened my shoulders. Gorgeous background vocals and handclap/snap percussion make it nearly impossible not to indulge over and over again. Ooohs and ahhhs and periodically vibrant chants create an upbeat anthem to start any grey day. Cloud Control’s debut is expected to hit the shelves in early 2010 and this is the first released track. Let the hype begin.

Cloud Control – Gold Canary (Radio Edit)

Damien* – Confidants – The Italian group Damien*, launched this track, also through IGIF’s Music Alliance Pact, and it’s a killer throwback blast of guitar crunch and arena filling choruses. It’s an ass-shaker from its opening chord to the last. Damien* has a panache for big time hooks, delivered with a tinge of gutsy attitude that serves them well. As a highlight point, the last thirty seconds is a kick to the groin that launches it distantly away from simple brit-pop labels. The track wails out with loud crashing cymbals and a galloping riff for the ages. It’s good to know that we don’t need to re-invent the wheel to create a rock song. It’s also refreshing to know that I don’t need wild shifts in style mid-song to find it enjoyable. The high octane rhythm of the track doesn’t vary from beginning to the end. Word. It was difficult to look them up on the web, but use the links I’ve provided. It’ll steer you in the proper direction to learn more about the band.

Damien* – Confidants

The Uglysuit – 1902 Deep Ocean – The underbelly of this stunning track is sinister and dark. Minor chord-driven folk simplicity is at the heart, and emotionally taut vocals leave listeners on the edge of something unclear. Flutes, hand shakers, and plucky classical guitars emit a strikingly medieval tone. Lush background vocals and super sharp lyricism bring us more of what we’re used to from the Oklahoma shoegaze/folk/rock outfit. Big and hollow, there’s a comforting warmth to the entire song. The Uglysuit takes a slight left turn from their traditional sound, and truthfully, it’s cathartic and breathtaking. The song has underpinnings of a bygone era and time period, and it’s wicked the way they modernize the sound. The classical guitars are actually plugged in and tinged with just the right amount of distortion volume. Swing this track into the rotation for times of introspective isolation. It’s not a sad tune, but contemplative certainly comes to mind.

The Uglysuit – 1902 Deep Ocean

Emergency Blanket – Next Passenger – Peruvian band, Emergency Blanket, assaults listeners in “Next Passenger” with a straightline rock sound. While the track isn’t going to shake the industry with innovation, I defy you to dislike the arena hooks, early 90′s fuzzy sound and late 60′s attitude. The band’s garnered quite a bit of praise in South America, and we caught the track over at the killer blog, I Guess I’m Floating. The Music Alliance Pact is a conglomeration of worldwide blogs with a goal to expose emerging musicians from around the globe. Some hit bank and some don’t. This track works well, and sometimes there is a refreshing sincerity to music when bands present their spin on traditional American rock standards. A little bit of research into the band suggests quite a bit of success, and this tiptoe outward into the US scene is hopefully worthwhile. Check out the band’s myspace link above and if you’re digging this track I’ve posted, it’s likely you’re going to find some more where that came from.

Emergency Blanket – Next Passenger

OOIOO – OOIAH – The folks at Thrill Jockey boast a unique and refreshing roster, and they’ve been mopping up 2009 with a raucous stream of edgy and distortion heavy rock n’ roll releases. This track popped into my electronic mail a couple of days ago, and I’m not quite certain how to label it. For certain, sneering intensity and frenetic jungle-esque vocals are immediately noteworthy. Their forthcoming album, Almonica Hewa, is set and ready to fire. This song is super busy and filled with energetic eruptions of sound. The quartet could equally belt out tribal chants as anime-inspired cartoon pop. Underneath all of it is a layer of guitar sludge. It’s a unique mixture of wicked and frivolous. For the daring, snag this and play it often. Curiously, it’ll wander into your memory banks quickly. Imagine listening to an operatically trained monkey, playing tribal music with a Les Paul in Madison Square Garden to 40K fans. That about sums this up. Entirely interesting.

OOIOO – OOIAH

Parlour Steps – Bleeding Hearts – The jangly opening to “Bleeding Hearts” hits me in the same vein Okkervil River does; I get behind smarter-than-thou pop releases with enough distortion to keep me honest. This track isn’t short of hooks, but includes a percussion driven mixture of piano work, megaphone delivered vocals and plenty of rock-the-house energy. The quartet is an indie pop band in the truest sense. The two minute instrumental tilt to close this track out is gorgeous and points to a hefty amount of talent immediately. Anthemic piano hooks swirl at the song’s close. A cocky nonchalance is the fire to the gunpowder of Parlour Steps’ sound. They’ve got chops and throw it down well. See them up there in their suits? They’d equally fit in as a grungy hipster-clad quartet as well. Playback value is high on this one, chaps. Order their album, The Hidden Names through Nine Mile Records.

Parlour Steps – Bleeding Hearts

Lipgloss – Land of Lords – A looping honky-tonk guitar fill provides the backbone of the repetitive and jumpy underbelly of this track. The beauty of this song, however, is in its inconsistency. It’s a mixed drink of huge psych-pop choruses, growling vocals, and 50′s surf rock. Wait a minute, that can’t be right. Maybe it’s part honky-tonk and complete psychedelic synthesizer rock. No. Maybe? The central thesis here is that the track is epic and filled with multiple styles and shifting sounds. The song ends up miles away from the twangle jangle of the opening verses. It’s difficult to label, but huge and ambitious just the same. Regardless of classification the listeners choose to pin on this Argentinian band, there’s a lot of oozing talent flying around your ears here. These guys listened to cool records, for sure. Be careful, like me, not to accidentally find the asian “Lipgloss” band. Follow this link HERE to find out more about the band and where to snag their self-titled EP and for information about what’s in store. Keep an eye on this band. I think they can step right into the US indie market immediately.

Lipgloss – Land of Lords

O’Lovely – A Different Day – This New Zealand outfit creates a darker spin on traditional pop in “A Different Day,” a track centered around a dark guitar sound and repetitive riff. Singer, Laura Lee, has a set of pipes and goes after it vocally throughout the song. Far away and drifting anger rises throughout the song. Despite the heavy, heavy fuzz on the track, it’s super endearing and beautiful in its own right. The drone and feedback of the guitar will be with you long after you hit the stop button. As if trapped in between a dungeon and a swank British night-club, this song spans the gap between fluffy and fist-clinching. A little bit of research suggests that this new and darker vibe is on purpose and you can expect a lot more of this. The Lost Luck EP, where the track comes from, is out now. Follow the links to hit their myspace page for more information.

O’Lovely – A Different Day

Midnight Juggernauts – This New Technology (Memory Tapes Remix) – Today I include two Memory Tapes tracks, and I believe I’ve posted just about each new remix and released track that has dropped this year, mainly because I’m fully into the smooth sound. This particular mix of “This New Technology” is more sharp around the edges than some of the other mixes Memory Tapes has completed recently, but it’s not without merit. The lively and upbeat tempo is insanely lucid and crisp. Bongos and drum machines pair up with the door-creaking wail to begin the track. Triumphant sirens blare and jar the listeners. More percussion and phat beats enter at minute two. Nothing too difficult to dissect here, but the unique twist on the Jugg’s stuff is cool. The looping and layered synthesizer horn effects in the middle of the track are a highlight point.

Midnight Juggernauts – This New Technology (Memory Tapes Remix)

Memory Tapes – Walk Me Home - The newly leaked “Walk Me Home” just hit the ether a few days ago, and it continues in similar modes as other Memory Tapes proper leaks. A slow and lush opening awakens a sleeping giant of sound, incredibly rich in 80′s nostalgia and rhythmic diversity. Synths swirl and dark, rich sound textures are layered throughout. As I’ve previously mentioned, maybe it’s my childhood that makes these tunes sing to my core. I’m typically a rock guy, but Memory Tapes is hitting grooves in my spinal column and has been all 2009. Get the bandwidth ready, as it’s 16:52 of kick ass ambiance. I took a nap to this today and woke up and it was still playing. The 6-8 minute mark of the track brings out some excellent fodder for video games. I’ll leave the intelligent discussion of Memory Tapes to others, as I just like the feeling I associate with it. Then again, maybe that’s the goal.

Memory Tapes – Walk Me Home

Golden Silvers – True No. 9 Blues – Stereogum posted a bit ago that London’s Golden Silvers was a “band to watch” and one spin of this track clearly exhibits why. They just wrapped up performances stateside at CMJ and are aiming for our ears over here in the US. According to Stereogum, there’s plenty of buzz across the pond, as their album, True Romance has been out for awhile. Luckily for us, it just dropped over here earlier this month. This particular track is off of their debut. Killer bass lines and smooth keys rip through the whole track. The synths, while dominant, are never overpowering and everything’s mixed impeccably. This isn’t the type of track I normally post, but I’ve played it ten times already today and you’ll understand why when you hit it. The funky bass grooves are stellar. True Romance is available now through XL Recordings and I’ve already ordered it myself.

Golden Silvers – True No. 9 Blues (True Romance)

Warpaint – Elephants – Brian posted Warpaint’s other released track, “Billie Holdiay,” so I include the second track, “Elephants” in today’s post. Their album, Exquisite Corpse is now out on Manimal Vinyl, and this track is a bruising blend of edgy and trebly guitar, entrancing percussion, and dark vocals. The song spins through multiple shifts, each growing a bit more eerie as they progress. The song becomes more violent and spastically distorted as it rises is tension. The trio holds the fort down with big bass lines in the background and stop-and-start methods. Check out “Billiew Holliday” as well. There’s no shortage of angry chick rock in the folds of today’s scene, but the smoothness of this track sets it apart. In many ways, this could be seen as subtly gentle crooning, but I think there’s a definite wickedness to the vibe the quartet is spitting out.

Warpaint – Elephants

The Whigs – In the Dark – My first taste of The Whigs was, and I’m not a bit ashamed to admit it, seeing them open for Kings of Leon at Detroit’s Fillmore late last year. This was before the gluttonous bloodsucking KOL decided to unleash on the music industry. Of course, despite the fame KOL has reached hard for, they’ve always attempted to pair up quality unknown indie acts to tour along with them. Maybe this is the way they pay homage to their stepping stone to teenage rockstar status. In any event, I walked out of that show understanding that The Whigs was best enjoyed in a live performance. Last year’s Mission Control, on record, was blah for me. The live show, however, was huge and full of enthralling energy. They have a panache for southern sentimentality with hooks big enough to hang steers off of. The trio played musical chairs instrumentally and certainly held their own weight in the sold out concert hall. Fans began the show indifferent and ended applauding and asking for encores. I didn’t feel last year’s album equaled the largeness of their live show. “In the Dark,” from their forthcoming LP, has me fairly excited to see if they can do it this time. It’s a big pop-rock song with an asterisk. The last minute and a half waivers between pop song and ugly, sneering breakdown. A snarling synthesizer crescendos the track out. It seems to mirror what I’ve long thought with The Whigs. They’re a band teetering on the edge of fame and holding onto their excellent musical talent. This album should tell the tale.

The Whigs – In The Dark

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix) Club Edit – This is the lone remix from left field in our list this week. The A-Trak remix of “Heads Will Roll” has been running around the internet on epic levels for the last week or so. This Club Edit version is danceable and lively. I’m not much of a dance guy, but, I can get behind the reworking of a track I love in the first place. As a general rule, I’m against the remix. However, Brian brought up an interesting point this week as we rambled back and forth at work. If the intent is strictly for fun, I suppose I can deal. This A-Trak remix, at least as far as I can tell, has no malicious intent, so I post it on that premise. I also have played it over and over again all day. Remixes be damned!

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix) Club Edit

Faded Paper Figures – Logos - I had seen several tracks mentioning “Logos” flying around the interwebs but was mistakenly confusing it for Atlas Sound’s most recent release. Our writer Rob clued me in on this one in the last few seconds before I put this post up, so I’ve placed it on here to round out today’s list at 15 killer songs. Immediately, “Logos” pops off as electronically tilted, but in a more subtle, non-obtrusive way. Silversun Pickups, as Rob mentioned in our discussion, is a pretty apt descriptor here. Smooth synthesizers roll through the song with ease and the accessible guitar work and arching chorus hooks are impossible to dislike. Gentle vocals pop and emblazon themselves into your craw pretty quickly here. This track’s lighting up the internet right now, and there’s probably healthy reasons for that. I’ve played it six times straight through since downloading it. The interesting dichotomy that manifests itself is completely comfortable; one one hand it’s a synth driven pop anthem. Underneath all of it, however, is an impeccable attention to composition, and full on band sounds play an equally important role. Their LP, Dynamo, can be purchased by going to thee band website HERE. The band’s “New Medium EP” is in the works and looks to be released within the next couple of months. Apparently, the trio is bi-coastal, with one member working at Yale University and another taking up residence in LA. A spot on Grey’s Anatomy this week certainly has helped things.

Faded Paper Figures – Logos

Tags: A-Trak, Cloud Control, Damien*, Emergency Blanket, Faded Paper Figures, Golden Silvers, Lipgloss, Memory Tapes, Midnight Juggernauts, O'Lovely, OOIOO, Parlour Steps, Radio Dick, The Uglysuit, The Whigs, Warpaint, Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Two out of three ain’t Lazy Saturday

Filed Under: General Interest

Oct.24, 2009

Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Before we dive into tunes today, I wanted to pass along two wildly unrelated (and potentially , but hopefully not actually, uninteresting) things that happened today.

1. It was a great mail day, the kind of day that makes up for Columbus Day, when I received no mail. I got two things in the mail that are awesome. First, I won an ebay auction for the above pictured Sebadoh 7 inch single. It’s on clear vinyl, which is completely badass, and sounds excellent. The best part? I bought it from Paul Lukas, head honcho at the excellent Uni Watch, which I read with pleasure daily. So, I have a cool artifact from the collection of a cool guy. The second piece of excellent mail (not pictured) is the soon to be released six song EP from Citizen Dick favorite Blood Red Dancers; I’ve been waiting for this thing like Ralphie waited for that decoder ring. Expect a critical statement on it sometime this week. (I’m listening now. It is good. More to come.)

2. The battery in my ipod died during the day, so I was stuck with local radio on my way home. Sports talk was on commercial, NPR is fundraising, and death metal was on the college station; as such, I was confined to jumping around the dial, hoping for something good. I caught the last third of “Renegade” on WNCX, which was quickly followed by “The Grand Illusion,” forcing me to fear that something horrible had happened to Dennis DeYoung. (Why on Earth would a radio station play two Styx songs in a row? Only in the event that DeYoung fell off a cliff, right?) Michael Stanley popped on, told me that it was a “double-shot” weekend,” allaying all of my Styx-based fears. I jumped to 92.3 and caught the last half of the worst cover ever. Something called “My Chemical Romance” was singing “Under Pressure.” Sweet Jesus. This is why I don’t listen to the radio; it was all I could do not to rip the damn thing out of the dash. I kept listening, until the god-awful conclusion, only because I was stunned into submission. I literally couldn’t reach the radio knob. It was like someone hit me in the face with a hammer. I can only assume that David Bowie is on the way to to wherever these asshats are, intent on laying the smack down, Thin White Duke style. Go get ‘em Dave! Show those bastards they don’t mess with Queen!

On with the Lazy Saturday.

First up is State Bird, a duo from Dover, Ohio that I recently stumbled across while investigating something else. (You’re probably already hip to them because you read “music blogs” and are “clued-in” and/or “up on the scene.”) They play music that owes something to the outer edges of folk music, but also references African poly-rhythms and a sort of semi-undefinable free jazz aesthetic. To say that I love it is selling it short. The tunes are consistently surprising, taking odd left turns when they’re least expected. Dudes are clearly talented and I’m glad that I’ve jumped on the bandwagon (admittedly late). You can snag four songs (including the one below) at The Record Machine. In the meantime, I’ll be eagerly anticipating new material. (Or a live appearance in Cleveland, which really isn’t that far from Dover. I’m guessing that guys who look like this put on a decent live show.) As an aside, I usually find the “naming a song like Prince is in the band” thing twee (see: It Beats 4 U). For no good reason, I find it endearing here.

State Bird – I Don’t Love U Anymore

I know nothing about Warpaint other than the information that was in the press release that found its way to my e-mail yesterday. ( The gist: Warpaint is three women from Los Angeles and their last record was mixed by John Frusciante.) I haven’t heard a single song from them other than the one below. For me, Warpaint is an entity entirely encapsulated in the six odd minutes of music that make up “Billie Holiday.” To a certain degree, I don’t want to know more. “Billie Holiday” is a moody masterpiece of creepy ennui, wildly and irrevocably subverting Mary Wells’ “My Guy,” which you’ll never be able to listen to again. There’s an re-release of their self-released EP coming soon from Manimal, and I’ll listen to it, but it’s going to have to be pretty amazing to hit me as hard as “Billie Holiday” did. It’s a perfect song for fall and one that I’ll, no doubt, be playing a ton while I’m raking leaves. It makes me feel sad, in the same way that falling leaves do. There is no surf rock around my crib when it’s cold; it’s all introspective navel-gazing until the sun comes out.

Warpaint – Billie Holiday

Live music this weekend from Morphine, one of the pivotal bands of my youth. Mark Sandman shuffled off way too soon, as evidenced by the sheer brilliance of (more or less) the entire Morphine catalog. Dude was better in person, exuding the kind of wild magnetism you associate with cult leaders more than jazz-rock bass players. “Sharks” might be the most cynical song ever written, but it’s also one of the best. (“Don’t you worry about the day-glo orange life preserver, it won’t save you.”) “Cure for Pain” is one of the most morose things in the canon, but it still makes me smile. We’ll do what we did with P-Funk and roll out a few Morphine songs for the next couple of weeks. Enjoy.

Morphine – Sharks – Live, 1997

Morphine – Cure for Pain – Live, 1997

Tags: Lazy Saturday, Morhpine, State Bird, Warpaint

EP Special #3 – All Tiny Creatures, Calypso, Secondstar, The Static Jacks

Filed Under: New Music

Oct.23, 2009

Rating: 9.3/10 (3 votes cast)

Once again, we proud citizens, we dicks, we Citizen Dicks are back with another batch of EPs for your consumption and consideration. This week, we have a somewhat NYC-centric batch, though that is tempered with a healthy dose of Midwest. At first I thought about apologizing for it, but then decided it seemed apropos, what with our (mostly) Cleveland roots and the ongoing music mania that is CMJ New York this week.

For those of you who don’t dig the geographical favoritism, however, fear not – it won’t be like this forever. I mean, hopefully we’ll be rocking Cleveland forever (though if some university in a place like Quebec or San Francisco or New Orleans wanted to give me a fat contract, I’d have the conversation), but we’ll add some spatial diversity to these EP blasts soon enough. In fact, over the next few weeks, we have plans to cover all sorts of regions, from the west coast (San Francisco) to the Confederate south (Athens, GA & Oxford MS) to small-town Midwest (i.e., towns with names like Appleton, Rock Island, and Kent), and even a touch of the international (Tokyo). And, of course, we’ll be back to the Big Apple, with a couple Brooklyn bands. But at least this time the Williamsburg Indie Rock Association will have company. We promise.

All Tiny Creatures album cover

All Tiny Creatures – Segni

To prove the point, our first band up today hails from Madison, Wisconsin, home no longer to just those Battlin’ Badgers but also a thriving rock scene. Primarily the all-instrumental of scene veteran multi-instrumentalist Thomas Wincek (Colonies of Bees, Volcano Choir), All Tiny Creatures operates much like a tight jam band, with the focus not on sprawling expansiveness, but rather on vertically layered repetition. Track to track, the ambience varies, but the overarching theme continues apace: this is a band for musicians to listen to. Not just any musicians, either, but learned and technically astute musicians that will be able to identify the craft at work when other, more casual listeners start to wonder if something got caught on repeat.

Segni, the debut EP from All Tiny Creatures, was released on Hometapes on August 4th. You can purchase the 12″ vinyl (white) version here and receive high quality download of the entire four-track album for free. Keep an eye out for the release of their full-length album in early 2010, which promises to feature contributions from numerous indie rock aristocrats, including Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Ryan Olcott (12 Rods, Mystery Palace), and members of Megafaun.

All Tiny Creatures – To All Tiny Creatures

calypso album cover

Calypso – Teen Age

More than any other record in this multi-EP review post, Calypso has brought us a rock and roll album. I’ve not seen these gents live, but I gotta figure the frontman mixes Stones swagger and Spoon cool. Yeah, there’ll probably be skinny jeans up there on stage, but whatever. There’ll also be a lot of awesome. They are the band we all wish Kings of Leon would’ve become when they decided to drop the country and score the chicks. Think of it this way, young Mick Jagger can be found in every nook and cranny on Teen Age. The closest to Jagger the “New” Kings of Leon ever come is right between the air quotes of the P.R. man charged with creating that band’s new image.

Rather than that kind of 5th Avenue plastic, Calypso showcases a rebelliousness that anywhere else I might find tiring. I mean, we’re not talking high-affect, Black Lips “Hey, I just kissed another dude on stage right after pissing on one fan and just before punching another one” manufactured edginess. Nope, we’re just talking about a demeanor that seems to come naturally, a “fuck it, let’s play some rock and roll and sing” ethos that’s at the heart of the thing. Lately, not for philosophical or medical reason, I’ve found myself drinking less and less. Calypso is a band that’ll end that kind of trend, particularly when busting out tracks like “Son of a Gun” with its up and down guitar buzz-surges, lazy vocals, and momentary 50s throwbacks, and the Velvet Underground meets Oscar Zeta Acosta lounge-worthiness of “Oh Santiago!” This is a band that’ll make me reflexively throw out a fist pump next time I see their name on a coming soon list for any of our fine local venues here in Cleveland-land.

Calypso’s Teen Age was released on August 20th by The Orchard. The album can be purchased here, and New Yorkers and lucky CMJ attendees can catch the band perform tracks from Teen Age live this Saturday night at the Bowery Electric.

Calypso – Casually Sad Mercedes

secondstar album cover

Secondstar – Teeth

Liam Carey is Secondstar. Liam Carey’s also a but of a complicated dude, a former higher math student who left the academic path with the kind of wanderlust that makes you pull stints in all the great western cultural capitals. A year or so ago, he settled – as much as a man like Carey can settle – in Brooklyn, putting down just enough roots to put down the tracks you hear on Teeth.

A rich, dark folk, Teeth reflects the life and observations of a talented man who has likely found himself as much a part of as apart from communities and collectives the world over. This is music where the head is often lower than the shoulders, even as the eyes are up high, bright and alert. Carey has an instinctive sense of melody, and writes simple tales of loss and hope and lost hope. At certain moments, like especially in “Kites & Arrows” a listener might detect elements of similarly described regional European folk (think Frightened Rabbit or The Swell Season), while other tracks (particularly “Great Machine”) get considerably more raucous and American in style. Throughout it all, however, a central perspective and orientation toward life and music making is maintained, and that perspective must be what we can consider Carey’s artistic voice.

Secondstar’s Teeth EP was released independently on June 26th. It can be downloaded for free here (and handmade CD covers can be purchased for a nominal fee – see above for the image). Interested listeners can catch live performances of the music around the New York area this fall.

Secondstar – Great Machine

Secondstar – Kites & Arrows

The Static Jacks – Laces

An earnest punk band with a touch of technique, at one moment The Static Jacks have you imagining them in a filthy club with beer flying, but another have you thinking of swimming pool gigs played by the likes of Akron/Family. The band moves through the five songs on this EP quickly – not one is longer than 3 1/2 minutes and more than half are less than 3 minutes long – and hits the standard themes of youthful anthemic punk: anxiety, alienation, violence (“Revolver”), and vulnerability, all gift-wrapped up for the listener with a big bow of superiority on top.

In terms of songwriting, the band frequently follows the verse/chorus/verse operation, sometimes inverting. In general, their chorus writing is fine, though the verses tend to try squeezing in too many words and losing meaningfulness in the mix. Witness, for example, “Parties and Friends (and Bullshit),” where the song starts with a pithy series of lines (“I don’t like your parties/I don’t like your friends/And I don’t like the beer you drink”) before devolving into unfocused emoting. Other songs are similarly mixed, like the knowing references to “art school wine” and requisite name drops of bands like the Replacements (though Art Brut handled that one much more cleanly, humbly, and humorously) getting lost in a jumble of words and feelings on “Who Are The Replacements?” The most capably handled song is the EP’s closer, “My Parents Lied,” which minimizes the rhetoric and focus and, in so doing, allows the band to show off its indie punk chops better than it does anywhere else on the album. It also has what is arguably the best line on the record (other than perhaps the aforementioned “art school wine” hook) in its first stanza: “We’ve been stuck inside/Either something changes or my parents lied.”

The best thing about this band is that it is at the beginning of its career. There are plenty of times to build on the strengths (i.e., the arrangements, the occasional lyrical hook), and work out what needs to change (i.e., abandoning the focus on silly themes like loving one’s gun and being a bad big brother).

The most recently released of today’s selections, Laces came out October 6th. The self-released album can be purchased here, and new fans can make plans to catch Jersey-based The Static Jacks as they tour up and down the northeastern seaboard this fall.

The Static Jacks – My Parents Lied

Tags: All Tiny Creatures, Calypso, Hometapes, Secondstar, The Orchard, The Static Jacks

C.D. Singles Club #28 – Islands – No You Don’t

Filed Under: New Music

Oct.23, 2009

Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)

Debate time, friends. Here’s your prompt:

Is Nick Diamonds the hipster answer to Justin Timberlake?

islands

This is what I’ve been asking myself lately anyway, at least since the last Islands record, Vapours, came out last month on Anti-. The song that’s really behind this particular topic of wonder, “No You Don’t,” has been bouncing around the internet since July, and while the general spin on Vapours is that it is more minimalistic than previous Diamonds offerings, I’ll argue that “No You Don’t” fits in better with the chaotic, multi-layered music that characterized earlier work.

As a track, “No You Don’t” is a song of reasonably good advice, from the opening lyrics warning the listener not to buy dope from a man you don’t know through the very end of the song. Swirling between, around, and over the top of the lyrics is a churning beauty of a hook, adorned like a Christmas tree with quacking guitar licks, old school keyboard tones (perhaps on marimba setting?), and a delightfully off-kilter drum machine.

As is often the case when it comes to his work, it is Diamonds’ delivery that sells the moment (and also begs the Timberlake comparison, though we are talking more SNL guest appearance JT than the FutureSex/LoveSounds iteration), from the split-second falsetto feints to the near-hound dog pronunciation of long “o” sentence-enders (i.e., brew, stew, do, you, etc.).

Sometimes when you let a few weeks go by between an album’s release and your first serious listen, you end up never really getting into the material. Don’t let this happen to you on this one.

Islands – No You Don’t

Tags: ANTI-, Islands, Justin Timberlake, Singles Club

Flotilla – One Hundred Words for Water – Album Review

Filed Under: New Music, Uncategorized

Oct.22, 2009

Rating: 9.4/10 (9 votes cast)

flotilla album

Raise your hand if you like thought experiments.

Cool, me too.

Since you are still reading, I’ll take that as consent and keep going with this hook. Imagine we live in a more just and progressive society where anyone can marry anyone else, and Annie Clark and Laetitia Sadier have decided to come together in wedded bliss. Imagine they go on to raise a child together, a lovely daughter, and while she takes Clark’s voice, she eschews the American mommy’s penchant for the hyper-theatrical and pretension for the French mommy’s subtle cool and back-beat proclivities. That little girl, all grown up, would then become the frontwoman of a band of her own, one that would release a record very similar to today’s review subject, Flotilla’s One Hundred Words for Water.

OK – that’s a pretty terrible thought experiment – it violates all sorts of time and space assumptions and, even if it didn’t, is still a pretty ham-fisted hook for getting across my central points: that familiarity with the previous two references will immediately render
Flotilla’s new album accessible and that the band’s vocalist, Veronica Charnley, rightfully deserves to be mentioned in the same conversation as other indie rock luminaries like the ladies commanding the St Vincent and Stereolab operations.

(Side note: I once stood behind Sadier in line at the front desk of the Austin Motel waiting to check out. If I recall, she was buying postcards. I remember thinking about how tall she seemed onstage versus in person.)

flotilla singer

As a group, Flotilla is both talented and wise. Each member is more than capable in handling their respective instrumental duties, and you get the vibe they really understand, as a collective, what their act is about. This is a band filled with particularly solid musicians that do a commendable job of comfortably enveloping their singer, who is the clear central focus of the album. The men and women who make up Flotilla know who they are and what they do and go with it – there is no discernible tension between front and back – there doesn’t even seem to be a front and back, but instead great music complementing great vocals.

One Hundred Words for Water starts off with a dark introduction courtesy of the album-opener, “Song for Yannick.” Listening to the lyrics, you wonder what wild beast the singer is referring to as it bides its time and rations its meals. A monster? A ghost? A kidnapping victim? Here’s a hint: the song is really about a kitty, a rather adorable one at that, but don’t let that knowledge interfere with your imagination.

In fact, imagination is the listener’s best friend when it comes to this album. In song after song, Flotilla provides a careful listener with half-complete outlines and sketches of alternative worlds and events, but still leaves plenty of room for interpretation and filling in the rest of the story. For example, “Ghost in a Landscape” reminds me of the dark side of memory, more specifically of the fear one can have of becoming a memory and no longer an active participant in a setting or aspect of life. This song is telling a story about something or, better still, someone, but who and why remain cloaked in mist. Perhaps it is a vague reference to a story about a funeral, or perhaps Alzheimer’s, or even losing a friend for a short while as they serve a stint at rehab. Regardless of the true backstory, the individual in question is gone, and seem to be suffering for it. Or take, as another example, “Ophelia.” While I love the way Charnley croons the phrase “couldn’t be bothered” on this track, even more compelling is the chance to imagine yet another back-story, in this case maybe a failed relationship that, had it not been for the flood the narrator discovers, would have been felt more immediately and painfully but, given the fact that the ground floor of the storyteller’s home was now underwater, she simply “couldn’t be bothered” to be heart-broken, at least not yet. Or, even more vivid, the rare idyllic visuals from an eco-dystopia that might accompany “Old Mill.” Finally, consider “Meet Me Outside,” which I could see as the soundtrack to a loneliness montage in the anti-climactic moment of an independent romantic comedy about a couple where one of the two find themselves in prison.

flotilla1

As wonderfully cryptic and provocative as these song half-tales are, they remain only a part, however important, of broader compositions. Each song on the album deserves to be reckoned with on its own, from the multi-dimensional “Song for Yannick” that first made me think of the aforementioned St Vincent comparison (with the rapid change with organ effects) and Stereolab (in the rushing epilogue, when the reenergizing powers of the subject affix themselves to the narrator’s romance) or the imposing anxiety of “Charlie, I’m Through” with its discordant pairing of perhaps the album’s most upbeat music with its most tense lyrics. It reminds you of those terrible moments in life when you remember that the only thing worse than an uncomfortable confrontation is when one of the participants takes an inappropriately happy tone during it. “Charlie, I’m Through” is the musical equivalent of this exprerience, with its danceable, almost Daft Punk-ian beats that, as you listen more carefully to the words, you probably shouldn’t want to feel like dancing to. Far less tense, but even more complex is “Clouds.” So much so, it strikes me as inappropriate to discuss “Clouds” as a singular entity – in reality, the nearly seven-minute epic is like four different songs, with the most divergent moments being the most technically astute, particularly in the middle period when a lovely interlude transitions into something akin to a techno-lite mini-symphony that is constantly evolving in speed and level, before fading out and being replaced by darling vocals and more mundane accompaniment.

There are so many things I love on this album. The brass effects “Prelude and Epilogue” with the driving guitars underneath, the culminating and overlapping one-woman round in “Charlie, I’m Through,” the cleavage separating the two halves of “Two Boys” with the first half seemingly describing breaking up and the second half as the attempts by the dumper to buck herself up (“they’ll be better off now …”), the breathy “ah ah ahs”and subtly melodious orchestral backing in “Clouds,” the fuzzed rock that begins and ends “Old Mill.” In fact, other than the entirety of “Meet Me Outside,” these moments in “Old Mill” are the ones I’d relish the most should an opportunity to see Flotilla live ever present itself. I could go on, but I won’t. Instead, I’ll leave you with this: buy this album. You’ll love it, too.

Flotilla’s One Hundred Words for Water is currently available for purchase here. Although the band does not currently have announced any plans for extensive touring, our New York readers will have an opportunity to see them play in the city when they hit Fontana’s on November 3rd and The Delancey on November 23rd. (Special note to A&R types: these are a pair of shows you are gonna want to attend. Just sayin’.)

Flotilla – Song for Yannick

Flotilla – Clouds

Tags: Flotilla, St Vincent, Stereolab

Life is Hectic

Filed Under: New Music

Oct.22, 2009

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

Thursdays are the days that I write record reviews. You know this. Last night I stumbled to the conclusion that I wasn’t going to get one done; I thought I had one paper due today, but I actually had two due. I had a great record to write about (Castevet, which I’ll hit you with next week), but no time to get the words onto paper. I felt bad. I did, however, get my papers done for school, which is good. (Not flunking out of school > Castevet (Sorry, fellas.)) Justin picked up the slack for me this morning, but I wanted to check in with you, loyal reader, to make sure that you’re good. You good? Good. I miss you.

I’m waiting for the furnace repairman to get here to (obviously) fix my furnace. Furnace repairmen appear to work on roughly the same clock that cable installers do; as in, “I’ll be there sometime between noon and four.” Awesome. Good to know that I have to take half a day off to sit in my house and watch the driveway, hoping the dude shows up before the sun goes down. The bright side is that I’ve used this time to peel through my electronic mail (piling up) and goof around on the hype machine (evil, sure, but also a source for good stuff that I haven’t heard yet.)

In my hype machine-based wanderings, I stumbled across a stellar mash-up of two of my all-time favorite bands, The Who and The Wu-Tang Clan. (It’s a fine example of cognitive dissonance, holding Wu-Tang and Pete Townshend in your head at once; I want Citizen Dick to get big enough that I can broker high level meetings between the RZA and Roger Daltrey, just to see what those cats would chat about. My gut instinct is that they might solve global warming.) There’s, arguably, not a better Wu-Tang song than “C.R.E.A.M” (“Da Mystery of Chessboxin’,” maybe?), just as, arguably, there’s not better Who song that “Baba O’Reilly” (“Behind Blue Eyes?” “Substitute?”) As such, it made me incredibly happy to see those two songs paired in the unholy union below. (Huge thanks to the folks at Cities of the Plain for getting this song on the internet. These fellows do good work, worthy of much praise. And. They take their name, presumably, from classic Cormac McCarthy (not his current Oprah Book Club dreck); mildly obscure literary references always make me smile.)

Kevin’s talked recently about his disdain for the re-mix as an art form, but tracks like this, while perhaps a tad disposable (I’m not saying that the song below is “Hey Jude” or something, obviously) serve an important function, I’d argue. They remind us that we can make birdhouses out of empty beer cans, that we can create something new out of the greatness of others. Hearing “C.R.E.A.M.” and “Baba O’Reilly” together forces the listener to reconsider both. The original songs are better for being destroyed. (See: “Piggies” and “Change Clothes” for the archetypical example.)

I’m also fond of the egalitarian nature of the re-mix or mash-up. I’m never going to create something as beautiful as “Two Weeks,” for instance, but with some creativity, the relevant software and some time, I might be able to make a passable re-mix. (Probably not, as I have no inherent musical ability (which is why I’m a critic), but you should humor me.)

As always, staying alive is my job. Enjoy.

Whole-Z – “Teenage C.R.E.A.M. Land”

Tags: furnaces, Whole-Z

C.D. Singles Club #27 – Lissie – Little Lovin’

Filed Under: New Music

Oct.22, 2009

Rating: 10.0/10 (3 votes cast)

The apostrophe at the end tells it all. Lissie’s recently released single, “Little Lovin’” is a solid artifact of post-millenial approximation of that wonderful era of country, the one that came after the seminal gents now thought of as “old country” – the kind hipsters feel comfortable hat-tipping on their facebook profiles – but before the CMT-driven new country dreck that polluted the airwaves in the 90s.

As a track, “Little Lovin’” immediately earns “play on repeat” status for me. Twenty seconds in, you get a real good idea of what it is – a Marshall Tucker Band style arrangement composed for some singular amalgamation of all three Judd ladies. (That’s right, all three. I’m including Ashley in this hypothetical genetic mash-up. Any guess why?) The only thing that could make it more so would be if the Lissie busted out a random flute solo somewhere in the second minute of the track. As it is, I’m ready for her to drop references to her property line and previously heard love songs (which, me being a MTB fan from way back, tickle my music enthusiast funny bone like crazy).

lissie

So, like I said, what we have here on “Little Lovin’” is a prime example of a certain kind of retro country experiment. So what’s a review of it doing on an indie rock website? Well, I guess that’s probably where Bill Reynolds, the album’s producer and also bass player for Band of Horses, comes in. Sure, the track sounds like something off of Country Tucker, at least for the first couple of minutes, but around the 2:45 mark (or, as I like to say, the beginning of the last quarter of the third minute) a gritty, grungy rock bottom comes up underneath the rest of the track and escorts it the rest of the way home. Preceded by what sounds quite a lot like tubas (!) at just after the two minute mark, the dark hoe down makes a stark break from the early moments in the song and, in fact, serves to cleave the track into almost a story with two separate sonic chapters. Listen to this part a couple times and you won’t be thinking about the missing flute anymore, you’ll be fighting the urge to blaze a Johnny Cash sneer the rest of the night.

“Little Lovin’” appears on Lissie’s forthcoming EP, Why You Runnin’, which will be released on Fat Possum on November 10th. Through November she’ll be opening for Ray LaMontagne on a dozen or so dates across the country.

Lissie – Little Lovin’

Tags: Band of Horses, Fat Possum Records, Lissie, Marshall Tucker Band, The Judds

Ariana Delawari – Lion of Panjshir – Album Review

Filed Under: New Music

Oct.21, 2009

Rating: 9.2/10 (11 votes cast)

Editor’s Aside: There are a lot of things that could be researched and alluded to in today’s review, particularly the history of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, and more lightheartedly, what exactly a tabla, rabab, and dilruba are musically. They show up as misspellings in my spellcheck. Levity aside, an entire cultural landscape is impossible to digest and connect in a short album review. What’s important, dear readers, is that the overall backstory to Ariana Delwari’s newest release, while intriguing and powerful, is not the only noteworthy highlight point. This review will discuss the story associated with the album, and even allude to David Lynch. Aptly, most reviews of this record will do as much. However, after spinning the album back and forth all week, it seems mind-numbingly crucial to focus primarily on the musical output of Delwari and her bandmates. For certain, our readers should venture outward to explore the ins and outs of the lyrical importance of Delawari’s storytelling. Likewise, purchasing this album and putting it in your 2009 arsenal is an absolute must.

“We consider this our duty — to defend humanity against the scourge of intolerance, violence, and fanaticism.” — Ahmed Shah Massoud (The Lion of Panjshir)

Ariana Delwari’s Lion of Panjshir is peppered with extrinsic value without one push of the play button. Upon fear of Taliban resurgence in Kabul, Delawari returned to her parents’ new home in the capital, bent on recording one final time before the possible reissuing of the Taliban music suppression laws. Under the Taliban regime, most musicians had long since stowed and dismantled their culturally important instruments to avoid certain persecution. The largeness of Delawari’s semi-pilgrimage cannot be overstated. Not only does the infusion of middle-eastern musical influence drench the record in swirling juxtaposing sound, but the turmoil rich journey each track molds together is impressive. Armed guards with machine guns sat outside the Delawari home as an entire host of musicians recorded a major portion of Lion of Panjshir in earnest. Ripe with tension and release, Delawari’s urgency is inherently shackled to each and every note of the record. Tracks hover at the brink of breakdown but never digress. Tightly controlled arrangements and big ambient sounds wander everywhere and jerk and change without warning. There’s a lot to digest and analyze here, which is apparently where David Lynch enters the fray. The album will be the first proper release on the eclectic filmmaker’s new record label. He’s found a gem here. All backstory aside, it’s the music that’s the major point of emphasis.

From the opening chords of “San Francisco,” an incredibly taut and trembly juxtaposition unfolds in Delawari’s sound. On one hand, listeners get a boot kicking, bluesy grit. She’s got a fist clinched around American ouevres and a mouthful of spit directed right at listeners’ macho bravado. She’s feisty and the album opener says so. Like alcatraz, I’ll swim away. I’d rather swim with sharks any day, than keep on keepin’ on this way. To counter this underlying rock sound are the eastern inspired subtleties. “Her Legacy” is a left turn at track two, continuing with wickedly clean guitar loops and fills, but adds an emphasis on angular start and stop. Intensity builds and the eastern influence of percussion rises to the forefront. Delawari’s vocals are drenching and an immediate reference to Angel Deradoorian and Dirty Projectors comes to mind. For Delawari, however, experimentation may just be her comfort zone.

The juxtaposition and melding together of American folk standards and Eastern musicianship hits home at track four, in “Laily Jan,” where Delawari emotionally delivers lyrics in her native tongue, and the aforementioned tabla, dilruba, and rabab shred with intensity. This is a roots hearkening track that, when paired with the strongly American sound built in the first three tracks, leaves Delawari strikingly sincere in her delivery. I’m picturing cobras rising up out of baskets, piqued by a sound with enough bite to keep them at bay. “Cheshme Siah Daree” is a gorgeous song about midway through the album, where Delawari bounces back and forth in a pseudo-hybrid English. Her voice becomes loud and blatantly striking, the centerpiece amid bluesy undertones and wistful accordion sounds. In these particular tracks, listeners must make choices about how to label her material; it’s certainly and strongly American, but brightly stirs instrumentation of her heritage into the pot.

Certain portions of the album were recorded in Los Angeles, but at times it’s extremely difficult to locate differences. The interesting recording process in her home in Kabul, no doubt, brings a hollowed out feel and largeness to many tracks. In “Be Gone Taliban,” acoustic drones and sailing violins work in tandem in the intro. Her voices becomes more gravelly and closer to the microphone. Afghani chants enter, as well, paradoxically mixing with the southern sentimentality of the track. It’s a mystic Dee’s Diner, musically. There’s no aiming point for over-sentimentality or crybaby shit here. She’s angry and ready to break free from Taliban rule. Mild, subtle dives break her voice away into the aforementioned hollow sound, and she wails ruefully, as if held captive deep inside a Taliban mountain stronghold. Additionally, the one track singularly produced by David Lynch, “Suspend Me,” is similarly arranged. Delawari’s heart is laid bare in this track and her voice is sincerely drawn to reciprocate this idea. No need to defend, suspend me. Runnin too quickly. The wind has got my feet again. She’s in love and asking for her heart’s defenses to be disarmed in this track. She’s got so much to live for, and Delawari’s softside becomes crystal clear behind smoky vocals.

The oddball experimentation is ripe in the album, and there’s a lot to love and dig into musically. Dueling banjos pair up with Baroque violins in “The East,” and big kettle drums hold the fort down as she mimmicks early Debbie Harry in a pseudo rap delivery at its tail end. Delawari has a panache for the psychedilic here and steers clear from the eastern inspired modes. “Singwind” begins about as foreign sounding as possible and blends into a more 12-string acoustic jam. Larger percussion sounds bumper car back and forth in the background. Big sound and hollowed out arena largeness is emitted. Listen to the wind, it knows. She’s obviously very earthy and aware of nature’s balance. Although the music, at times, is hugely chaotic, hypnotic underpinnings are entirely intriguing. This track goes all instrumental and quickly rises in intensity in its final two minutes. Strings mimmick oohs and ahhs. At times throughout the record, it’s difficult to decipher what’s a background voice and what’s not.

This album is important, certainly, because of its story. Delwari becomes a “Lion of Panjshir” of her own, bringing her cultural heritage and cautionary pleas to the western world. Her unique stance, straddling America and Afghanistan, brings her storytelling to listeners clearly and unapologetically. Pleasingly, Lion of Panjshir is also ripe with musical worth and talent. She’s got her feet in many standards and plays them all extremely well. Do not miss this record and purchase it. You can snag the CD at insound by CLICKING HERE.

Ariana Delawari – Be Gone Taliban

Tags: Ariana Delawari, David Lynch, David Lynch Mc, Manimal Vinyl

C.D. Singles Club # 26 – Electric Owls – Magic Show

Filed Under: New Music

Oct.20, 2009

Rating: 10.0/10 (3 votes cast)

Hit play on the lead single from the recently released Electric Owls’ record Ain’t Too Bright. Listen to that sweet acoustic intro, backed by a subtly dancing bell sound, punctuated by a hard rock power chord at the ten second mark, launching into sweet multi-tracked vocals ranting about telekenesis and so on. The rest of the song is clearly good, but the first thirty seconds or so are truly amazing. The interplay of soft and loud, the vaguely seventies vibe of the vocals, the grandiose nature of the whole presentation all hit me right between the eyes. The rest of the song vacillates between the two extremes established in that stellar first thirty seconds, floating from eardrum shaking loud to flowered blouse soft. There are even some manipulated vocals at the end to put a bit of an exclamation point on the throwback nature of the track. I have not heard the rest of Ain’t Too Bright, but I’m itching to get my fingers on it. At the very least, Oscar Gamble would give the track a thumbs up. (Not because the song makes me think of Foghat, but because Oscar Gamble is a noted music critic. Unbeknownst to many fans of both the Cleveland Indians and internet-based music-driven navel gazing, Gamble founded the off-line predecessor of Said the Gramophone during the 1975 season. He printed Orated the Omphalos as a five page fanzine that he hand mailed to paying subscribers; it was packed with pretentious vignettes about Nick Drake and shit. True story.)

One more thing in favor of Electric Owls: I’m lazy with the scroll bar, so I typically type a half-assed search term into the itunes to save some mouse work. For Electric Owls, I typed “electric” (obviously), which meant that Electric Ladyland played right after “Magic Show” wrapped up. Which means that “Voodoo Child” started as soon as that last “magic” faded into oblivion. Which means that I got a little unexpected dose of Hendrix with my indie rock today, which is always welcome.

Electric Owls – Magic Show

Tags: Electric Owls, Singles Club

The F bomb is for sharing.

Filed Under: New Music

Oct.20, 2009

Rating: 9.9/10 (11 votes cast)

mumford-and-sons

I remember getting in big trouble because I played a pretty explicit song during one of those holiday classroom parties in 8th grade. I don’t remember which holiday it was but I do remember that the stereo’s volume had been turned up very high and I will never forget hearing James Hetfield’s voice that day. I had accidentally played the B-side to the “Sad But True” single and I think that was the last time they let students bring in music for a long while. It wasn’t my tape so I didn’t know what we had in store. My buddy told me I could play it, he said “don’t play side two,” unfortunately for the both of us, all I heard over the noisy party was “play side two”. Wow. That was the first time I heard the song “So What” and if you’re not familiar with the song, or at least the beginning of it, it starts with “SO FUCKING WHAT!” (by the way, this was in a Catholic school if that adds anything to the story). I admit there was an entertaining moment, which was watching most of the teachers on the floor (all older women) rush into our room and frantically try to shut it off. It took them a bit (they should’ve started with turning down the volume), it seemed like forever. Our parents got called in, everyone thought I was nuts, you know how it goes.

So what am I getting at? Sharing songs that contain the word fuck. I did it 17 years ago and I’m doing it again today. I haven’t cussed in any of my posts and I figured I wouldn’t be comfortable enough to do so, but today it seems to be my focus. The song I’ve got for you is by Mumford and Sons. They’re a classy folk-pop band from London, clearly oozing with talent and not afraid to slip a little four letter word into the chorus of their catchy new song. “Little Lion Man” is one of those tunes that most of us can relate to. It’s a story about accepting that you were the one who ruined a relationship with someone special and the music captures the roller coaster ride these situations tend to take you on. If you’re in NYC this week, you’ll be happy to hear that they have two shows you can catch them at on Oct. 21 and 22nd during the CMJ Marathon.

Mumford and Sons – Little Lion Man

Tags: CMJ, Mumford and Sons

C.D. Singles Club #25 – Capgun Coup – Bad Bands

Filed Under: New Music

Oct.19, 2009

Rating: 9.7/10 (3 votes cast)

capgun album

Periodically, I like to tilt at windmills, especially the kind of windmill tilting that only irritates and sometimes offends those around me without ever accomplishing anything meaningful or substantive. Lately, one of my primary windmill tilting themes has been haranguing those friends of mine that won’t admit that certain local bands just aren’t good. My point, in these conversations, is that the vast majority of bands aren’t very good, and just because a particular band comes from our town or, even more to the point, has a friend or two in it doesn’t mean they are automatically awesome. Should we still support them? Of course! But let us avoid self-delusion while doing so. That’s all I’m saying. I just usually choose the least tactful way to voice my thoughts.

All this to say, when I saw the title of Capgun Coup’s first single off their forthcoming album, Maudlin, I felt a little vindicated. Mind you, this is not because I knew if the song itself would be any good, much less whether those folks would find themselves in agreement with me on my aforementioned windmill tilting, but simply because the title was “Bad Bands.” Fortunately, I can report that the song itself is pretty killer.

Whether the philosophy agrees with me, now, that is a different question. It is a lo-fi surf jam gem – a little cleaner, somewhat more direct than Wavves, say – and while I dig the distortion and gutter guitar, I can’t really make out the lyrics, at least not enough to determine definitively where the Omaha-based band takes their stand. So instead I just dig the hell out of the 2 1/2 minutes of cool and leave the close textual reading of “Bad Bands” to those of you in possession of either a copy of the lyric sheet or eardrums far less concert damaged than my own.

Capgun Coup’s Maudlin will be released on November 3rd by Team Love. In the meantime, you can pre-order a copy of the album here.

Capgun Coup – Bad Bands

Tags: Capgun Coup, Team Love

Radio Dick – Sweetest Day Edition

Filed Under: General Interest

Oct.18, 2009

Rating: 8.7/10 (6 votes cast)

Sweetest Day didn’t go well for me. On one hand, I woke up entirely hung over from Friday’s Dr. Dog show at Beachland. We had a little Citizen Dick reunion of sorts, with Rob, Brian, and Justin all converging at my place after the amazing set the medicinally astute canine put on for us. Plenty of brews were enjoyed, and after a slew of heated musical and professional debates, I went to bed knowing the morning wouldn’t be too sweet. This was correct because my liver was smoking a cigarette next to me when I rolled out of bed. Lesson one, I suppose, is don’t expect to be too romantic and effective after a night like that. Lesson two is obvious. Go see Dr. Dog whenever you get the chance. They may just be the best live act in the straight up indie rock genre. I’m sure Brian will expound upon this in the show review headed your way tomorrow.

Sweetest Day is a bullshit holiday and most people already know this. I decided to go the cheap route and didn’t spend a dime on anything remotely associated with the relationship industry. Instead, I bought two pumpkins, a pumpkin carving kit, a bottle of rum, and some apple cider. This could have been brilliant! Instead, my salty ass attitude pretty much ruined the evening and everything fell apart. In my effort to avert the Sweetest Day nonsense, I actually fell knee deep into it. I didn’t economically help the Hallmark industry, but I got my foot stuck in the trap. Never again, folks. Never again.

Onto the musical portion of today’s Radio Dick. I’ll steer directly into discussion of today’s tracks. You may notice a different tilt if you’ve been reading our site for awhile. Tracks won’t be listed at the end of the post, but instead underneath each description. You’re all intelligent chaps. I think you’ll figure it out.

1. Old Canes – Little Bird Courage – We’ve been meaning to write about Feral Harmonic for quite some time, and hope to have a a more long-form review of it up later this week. This particular track is killer, however, and we’re putting our stamp of approval on the entire album proper. Chris Crisci from The Appleseed Cast, has an excellent album here, tuning in full and sonorous stringed arrangements. This is their second full length and it drops on October 20th on Saddle Creek. In “Little Bird Courage,” the intensely driven percussion and acoustic strum is paired with far-away vocals. Subtle xylophones, a full blown horn section and dulcimers all swirl and blast the senses. This song chases you from beginning to close.

Old Canes – Little Bird Courage

2. That Ghost – The Red Bow – This is a gritty song, and my lip curls and fist clenches each time I spin it. Ryan Schmale, a DIY Californian, is releasing Get It and Get Out, a formerly tour-only EP, on November 17th. The 19 year old is obviously working pop undertones into well-controlled fuzz here. It’s garage rock with a sullen hint of sadness. The lyrical nature of the track is pretty killer, as well. Stereogum pasted Schmale already as a Wavves and Black Lips lovechild, and while this is probably apt, I’ll let the chap do his own thing without shitty comparisons. This track rules.

That Ghost – The Red Bow

3. Cant – Ghosts – We get a nice Halloween present here in this spookily entrancing track from Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor. While I love Department of Eagles, there’s something awesome about Taylor’s side project, as well. It’s relatively haunting in scope and structure, and there’s an overall loose structure to the arrangement as a whole. Off kilter percussion and big booming vocals are both lulling and jarring at the same time. This is the first track released by Taylor as Cant, and the 7 inch is available on Terrible Records. Well worth it, especially if you’re a Grizzly Bear fan.

Cant – Ghosts

4. Trophy Boyfriend – Black Ship – I believe these guys are Irish, and even though I’m not a huge pop fan, when a band says “All we can talk about are fist fights and black ships,” I’m interested immediately. There’s a big growling synthesizer behind this whole song, and while wispy pop nods are explored, I can dig the darkness here. The song dives about midway through into some creepy ahhs, and then slams back into the central hook. This song isn’t going to win a grammy for best new experimental band, but there is a catchiness here that’s impossible to ignore. Ballsy lyrics make this sucker move.

Trophy Boyfriend – Black Ship

5. Doveman – Angel’s Share – If you’re inclined to sit back with a glass of merlot and watch the world go by this Sunday, put in this gorgeous track from Doveman (aka Thomas Bartlett). The full album, The Conformist gets its proper release on Tuesday, and this track makes this Radio Dick post take a left turn into the slow and gorgeous. A beautiful piano arpeggio begins the song and by the track’s close, you’re either singing along with Bartlett’s breathy delivery, or have dropped your wine-glass in complete relaxation. Full strings and melodies blossom with popping detail and aural color. You’ve heard the song before, folks, but it’s damn good every time. For the sensitive lads and lasses reading today’s post, pick this record up on Tuesday.

Doveman – Angel’s Share

6. LCD Soundsystem – Bye Bye Bayou – I post this track for a couple of reasons. First, I’d probably not be doing my job as a blogger if I didn’t. Secondly, it’s addictive as hell. As I mentioned above, I’m not a huge pop fan, and realistically, I’ve never been a gigantic LCD Soundsystem supporter. I can recognize electronic phat beats (that’s what the kids call it, right?) when I hear them, however. The funky rhythms and helicopter slicing sounds are fabulous and the 7 minute track moves into a lot of different territory in a short amount of time. It’s a dance number. I’m not a dancer, but I think I get it. Enjoy the track.

LCD Soundsystem – Bye Bye Bayou

7. Little Girls – Growing – There are too many “Girl” bands to keep straight, but this fuzzy lo-fi track has been getting plenty of spins over here at Citizen Dick headquarters. You can snag Concepts, the Little Girls debut right now, but the vinyl edition is limited to 300 copies and is available as of October 30th. This will no doubt sell out, so attempt to get it while you can. “Growing” certainly brings in the heavy lo-fi grime and grit but keeps one foot steadily planted in brit-pop nuance. Josh McIntyre, the brains behind the Canadian four-piece is hugely endearing in this song, and it’s well worth the research. They’re playing a couple of CMJ sets next week, including one by our pals over at Pop Tarts Suck Toasted. There’s plenty to dig about this song, and we’re curious where this train rolls on next.

Little Girls – Growing

8. Primary 1 – Foaming (Memory Tapes Remix) – I’ve fallen head over heels for everything Memory Tapes has done this year. Memory Tapes snaps a comforting tone to each track they produce, and there’s a smoothness to the finish that’s so refreshing in today’s emphasis on angular and harsh production quality. Maybe I just miss the 1980′s. Whatever the case, the Memory Tapes remix of Primary 1′s “Foaming” is solid, and I stand by it, even with my negative ranting earlier this week about the worth of remixes.

Primary 1 – Foaming (Memory Tapes Remix)

9. Woven Bones – If You’re Gold I’m Gone - Slime. Anger. Nonchalance. Swagger. Bloody Lips. Barfights. These notions are somewhere rooted in my machismo and all come back in leathery flurry when I spin this track, which I sorely omitted from last week’s Radio Dick post. It’s been swirling around the interwebs for a little while now, but who cares? Austin has spurted a few fuzz-heavy bands of note, particularly White Denim and Harlem. Woven Bones doesn’t stylistically resemble either of those bands, but I love the retro influence to some of these gems that fly out of our indie capital. Leave the songbirds for the sentimental. This track is brooding and catchy. It’s filled to the gills with attitude, and it’ll serve a purpose for you this week at some point, for certain. The Minus Touch EP is out and available, but for 500 people. Hopefully it’s still available with the tardiness of this post.

Woven Bones – If You’re Gold I’m Gone

10. Tamaryn – Mild Confusion – This is a huge song, and it continues the 2009 trend of early 90′s angry chick rock. Big synthesizers flourish and emotional neutrality is explored lyrically here. I loved Sian Alice Group’s release earlier this year for the exact same approach Tamaryn takes in her arrangement. It’s fairly straightforward but the controlled ambiance will send you to the repeat button. Blow the dust off of your old “Crow” soundtrack and just kind of sneak this one in there. It’ll be right at home. The split 7″ is available through Matador on December 8th, and it’s paired up with, aptly, Mazzy Star.

Tamaryn – Mild Confusion

11. To Kill a Petty Bourgeoisie – The Needle – In what seems to be a running theme in this week’s list, a cerebral haunt-fest awaits listeners when they enter “The Needle” from TKAPB’s Marlone. Sharp and violent outbursts erupt and unsettle listeners throughout the track, and the angular shifts all manage to somehow stick close together behind creepy monk-like vocals. Dissonant piano chords, a wailing violin and spooky cymbal rides all lump this together into a snarling opus filled with desperate tones of isolation. As quickly as the track ushers in a jolt, it silently drifts out with very little explanation or closure. If you’ve not picked up the album, out now on Kranky.

To Kill a Petty Bourgeoisie – The Needle

12. Frat Dad – Freak in Nature – New Jersey duo, Frat Dad, have released this track from their 7″ under the same name. The low-fi sound is the pummeling aggressiveness Wavves wishes he could achieve, primarily because these guys have talent. There’s a gentle lull in between each violently shrieked chorus, and despite the fuzzy blitz we’re all too used to in today’s scene, there’s an underbelly of effective guitar soloing that rides behind it all. I’m not kidding here. Sometimes I can get behind what Wavves unleashed on the blogosphere, but he’ll never put it all together because his overall sound lacks real guitar talent. While this is only one track from Frat Dad, there’s definitely controlled axe skill in this eruption of chaos.

Frat Dad – Freak In Nature

13. Electric Wire Hustle – They Don’t Want – This track’s included with full recommendation from our other CD writer, Rob. I’m not a huge fan of the track, but Rob sent this one to me with eagerness to get it up on the site. This kind of nu soul stuff is not my territory at all, but there’s a catchiness to the backdrop for sure. I suppose someone in our readership will enjoy this majorly, so we’re including it. Perhaps Rob will chime in and give some love to the track in the comments section. Word.

Electric Wire Hustle – They Don’t Want

14. Surfer Blood – Swim (To Reach the End) – Surfer Blood will release Astro Coast in January of 2010, and tracks are already beginning to surface. The band’s also playing Brooklyn Vegan’s day party at CMJ this week and look primed for plenty of pre-release hype already. There’s an interesting conglomeration of styles working in this latest track. Huge arena rock standards are employed and a unique spin on surf and lo-fi rock is explored. Equally, well-placed guitar swirls and refreshing cool off periods mid-song make it difficult to pin down. My fist is pumping in the air one second and I’m digging to critically evaluate just as quickly. This is meant to be played loud, around plenty of people. Keep your Eddie Money arsenal close by, because this song is begging to be followed up with “Gimme Some Water” immediately. Listen, and you’ll see what I mean.

Surfer Blood – Swim (To Reach The End)

Tags: Cant, Doveman, Electric Wire Hustle, Frat Dad, LCD Soundsystem, Little Girls, Memory Tapes, Old Canes, Primary 1, Radio Dick, Surfer Blood, Tamaryn, That Ghost, To Kill a Petty Bourgeoisie, Trophy Boyfriend, Woven Bones

Archive for October, 2009

Halloween Confusion

It’s close to midnight; Lazy Saturday’s lurking in the dark.

C.D. Singles Club #30 – Abortopotamus Rex – Murder Ballad (Fire)

Castevet – Summer Fences – Album Review

On media fragmentation

Respect the ukulele.

No cheese in a can.

C.D. Singles Club #29 – Electric Tickle Machine – Blew It Again + 2 more

Two out of three ain’t Lazy Saturday

EP Special #3 – All Tiny Creatures, Calypso, Secondstar, The Static Jacks

C.D. Singles Club #28 – Islands – No You Don’t

Flotilla – One Hundred Words for Water – Album Review

Life is Hectic

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