Four Songs to Listen to Forthwith - 07/11/10

I’ve been a huge Ratatat fan for a long time. Their music is metallic and sweet. It’s like eating a brownie with flecks of iron tossed, you know, for flavor and texture. They released their forth album last month, LP4. It was made around the same time as their previous, LP3. LP3 was alright, as a diehard Ratatat fan I found it easy to like and appreciate, but I could also see the truth in many of the negative reviews. As far as Ratatat goes, it was non experimental and it seemed to lose some originality. Remember, I’m talking about Ratatat so I’m hoping you keep some perspective that this band is in my opinion, an absolute must-hear. LP4 has blown away that previous work and restored my faith in these two musical mad scientists. The entire album pulls the back of your head forward and then pushes it back with the greatest ease. You won’t know what you’re listening to, but you’ll like it. This isn’t musical that you hum to, this is music you absorb. I grabbed “Ratatat – Party with Children” because it’s a great song, simple video, and just had a party on Friday with, you guessed it, lots of kids running around.

Fol Chen are an Indie Pop band from LA. They recently released their second album. Not the stuff I normally listen to, but this song sits really well with me. Fol Chen – Cable TV. I’m not sure how to compartmentalize this song, it’s clearly trying to be pop, low synthetic base, catchy loops and generally simple lyrics. “Won’t you come away with me; The carpet’s filthy but the ice is free” This song excels at shaking off clichés. It’s like someone that hasn’t grown up in the USA is thrust into LA for a week, then this talented foreigner is asked to make their own pop song.

I dwell on contemporary bleeding edge stuff, but I grew up listening to the classic rock of my parents. Most of the arena rock was and is garbage, but along with that are strong genres about art and self expression. Psychedelic, folk, and progressive rock were doing some great things in the late 60s, early 70s. Emerson Lake and Palmer were an English supergroup, they did arena rock right, selling out ridiculously sized concerts and filling the time with beautiful, creative music that pushed rock to new places. Emerson, Lake, and Palmer – Lucky Man, it’s a sad song about a rich young man dying in war, a popular topic during 1972. The three sing the chorus with their distinct, eerie harmony. Twelve string acoustic guitars blend into rolling drums and one of the earliest songs with a moog synthesizer. One more quick fun fact, it was written by Greg Lake when he was 12 years old.

Let’s bring it down. Here’s some honest acoustic folk. I was afraid that I couldn’t find a decent link to the song Irving - Crumbling Mountain Tops. Irving has very modest popularity. I really have no idea where I first heard this song, maybe it was off a station on Launchcast or Pandora, maybe it was a Pitchfork review. I don’t know, but it’s simple and beautiful and exquisite. I love that I was the third person to see this video on youtube, not a video, just album art. There’s some artsy fan video, but I’d much rather stare at the cd jacket than whatever that other guy was doing. Where’s all the other uploads?

Four Songs to Listen to Forthwith - 06/06/10

You know how sometimes you put on a winter jacket for the first time in a new season and you find money from last year in the pocket? That same thing happened to me with this song, The Acorn – Crooked Legs. I first noticed this song a couple years ago when Pitchfork reviewed their album, I heard it and liked it, but never kept it around in any playlists. On Friday another great professional review site recommended a song by The Acorn, “No Ghost”, I recognized the name and knew I liked them, but couldn’t but a song to the name. A quick search in my music library and it all comes flooding back. I hope you enjoy this song, it’s a comforting long song filled with percussion and strings. Check out The Acorn for more Indie Folk Rock.

There’s going be a lot of stuff posted on here that you may not like right away, the sound could be totally new or even something you immediately recognize as something bad. Don’t worry about it, there will be other things to make up for it. But if you give these little monsters some time you may grow to appreciate their art. Sleigh Bells just released their first album this week they are loud, noisy, distorted, catchy, and different. It’s a genre Wikipedia is calling Noise Pop… it fits. No music videos from them, here’s the latest single “Tell ‘Em”.

Oh.. you’re still here… good. I’ll be nice this time. This is The Cloud Room – Hey Now Now. This song came out in 2005, that’s five years ago. This is a great song, but you probably haven’t heard it. No, I mean like a really great song, literally exactly like the kind of stuff you hear on the radio every single day, there’s no subjectivity here. If you at all identify with rock and roll, you will like this. It is approachable the first time you hear it, and after that it only gets catchier. Rolling Stones named it one of the top ten songs of 2006, it’s been used in several national commercials and made it’s time around music blogs several times. But it’s still not on the radio. It is a perfect example of how mainstream radio snubs its nose at anyone that would dare go the “indie” route.

I was talking about my taste in contemporary folk at a campfire this weekend, it’s one of my favorite genres. It’s simply refreshed folk, typically just acoustics with voice, but horns and strings are not uncommon. This song, Badly Drawn Boy – The Shining is a beautiful example of this idea. It is simple and elegant. There is a beginning, middle, and ending. Like a sweet poem it is so much more than just entertainment. This is a mood altering song.

Four Songs to Listen to Forthwith - 05/30/10

Two Door Cinema Club are a young british band. They're new and fresh, a great personal favorite of mine. Watch out for this band, I've got a good feeling about them. Their sound is original yet familiar and catalog has been built up well. As much as I want to begin with a buried track, I'd rather introduce you with something that's fun and easy to listen to. This song, "I Can Talk" puts together novel sounds with energy and feeling. It seems styled and polished, but I get the sense like they aren't trying too hard. I don't say that to be mean, they're just honest, excellent musicians.

The Bird and the Bee are a duo from CA with a sound to match. They're indie synthpop. One half the band, Greg Kurstin, is an accomplished producer and it shows in here. The songs are polished pretty and really feel complete. The vocalist, Inara George, brings sugar and and a surreal environment to the listener. Her voice is familiar and comforting. They recently released a cover album for Hall & Oates. Which is full of great stuff, but I'd rather start them off with a single for you. Here's "My Love". (Strange video source because embedding wasn't allowed from Youtube for this video.)

Synth Punk is fantastic. To me, many other genres have flowed naturally into the newest trends of mixing and electronic sounds. But not punk, despite it's hardcore anarchistic roots there's a defined sound that makes up "punk." It's difficult for me to imagine what I would have come up with if someone asked me to put together synthetic sounds with punk culture, luckily I didn't and Mindless Self Indulgence did. The song "Never wanted to dance" has the punk attitude with some crazy beats and melodies. It will pick you up, shove you around, and leave you wanting more.

Ida Maria came out hard a couple years ago. She had a few singles that were pushed, she did great in Europe, not so much here in the States. She's Punk Rock Alternative and definitely has the flavor of European style rock. I don't know why there's such a divide in tastes across the pond, maybe she's not more popular because her songs are considered precarious and a bit vulgar? She uses risky words like "naked" and "God" Yeah, it doesn't make sense to me either. Here, have a listen and don't worry, its SFW.

Four Songs to Listen to Forthwith - 05/23/10

I'm having fun writing about this music. Like a lot of fun, way more than I thought I would. Just the simple thought and analysis of my own listening has been supremely satisfying. It's great to be able to share with others, even if they are imaginary. A band called Free Energy just released an album at the beginning of this month. With a name like free energy you may expect a techno band or some crazy new synth pop dubstep, but you'd be wrong... again. Free Energy is a great indie alternative band and aren't for dancing to. They've got good stuff none the less and are worth some time listening to, over and over. Here's Free Energy - Free Energy to get you started.

Crystal Castles are an obscure lynch pin for anyone interested in synth pop. They are creative, original and always one step ahead of their fans. This album is no different, pushing their style to be more mature while maintaining the grease and eeriness that got them this far. Hear's a pro tip when you're looking for good songs from entire albums. Pay special attention to tracks 2 thru 4. That's where the good stuff is. For this album they put both singles up top at 2 and 3, track for, Baptism wasn't a single but is my favorite. Not that it matters really, they're not headed to the radio anytime soon... which is a good thing btw.

I'm a big fan of Jem. It's very surprising that she isn't some crazy run away success instead of chicks like Lady Gaga and Justin Beiber. She's got a fantastic unique voice, she sings with incredible intensity, her lyrics are poetic and meaningful, she weaves her songs with melody and consonance. It's just good good stuff all around. Here's Jem - Missing You.

There were many bands that separated the 103.3 the Edge in my Buffalo from the far superior 102.1 the Edge in Toronto. For me, Tea Party really stood out for me because they are a hard rocking band with an enormous array for different musical instruments coming together. The song Walking Wounded is moody and complicated. It is absolutely packed with bits that could have been spread among half a dozen songs and still felt complete. I hope it's a treat to those that haven't heard it in a few years.

Four songs to Listen to Forthwith - 05/15/10

This past Tuesday "Sea of Cowards" was released, the second studio album from the super group "The Dead Weather" or better known as Jack White's latest band. I'm still anxiously waiting for more news about the Raconteurs, Jack's previous band, but whatever, this stuff is great. Some differences between these two are 1) Dead Weather is more bluesie, especially on this record, 2) he's back with a female vocalist, and 3) this band doesn’t seem like it’s trying to make every song a single. Here's The Dead Weather - Die By The Drop. It's good stuff and worth a listen, this should be getting some radio play soon. I poked around looking for the "official" music video and noticed that there were about fifty previews and teasers... why?

On to an album that will be released next week, “Innspeaker” by Tame Impala, don’t feel bad for not knowing them, unless you’re the kind of person that would frequent Pitchfork or iTunes. The single “Solitude is Bliss” is beautiful example of what should be on the radio, but isn’t. The song isn’t eclectic or even completely original. It’s solid psych rock, a perfect track to your next drinking parties and you can wow your friends with your music taste. I wish I could use Vimeo for more tracks, fantastic site.

The New Pornographers just came out with a new album, it’s all good stuff. Nothing edgy and crazy or experimental. (As a programmer, and former English major… I love that last sentence. More of my sentences should have multiple ambiguous operators that should form regular expressions and they don’t, but I just keep stringing them along, one after another, because everybody loves a run-on sentence.) This fun ditty is Mass Romantic, to remind us of why we still love the New Pornographers. Here's a fan made video using the Sims 2, such a great game... I must have made a dozen families... all lesbians.

Speaking of great songs for drinking parties. Here’s Pinback with Fortress from 2004. Listen to this song right now. Then listen to it again tomorrow. Then listen to it 3 days after that. In your brain little pathways have formed and then settled. In education psychology its along the ideas of a schema. This pattern is a studying technique. If you really did that and this is your third time listening, the song is different now isn’t it? What was generic is now fresh and catchy. Come back often to find more gems just like this one.