Category: music

2008 December 12MP3s: Pudding Attack, Crystal Stilts, Religious Knives, Faceless Werewolves

The song link itself will take you to an MP3 search engine if the direct link ever goes dead. Feel free to reply and post other tracks below.

Pudding Attack - Mama Paper Cut

Pudding Attack’s playful approach to language is apparent in their lyrics and song titles alike. They bring a good dirty bar band aesthetic to growing overly clean world of digital music production. A comparison to the Ex Models is an easy one to make with the overdriven, wild vocals, but the dual keyboard freakout sound is entirely their own.http://www.acidsoxx.com/temp/…

Crystal Stilts - Converging in the Quiet

This album might be classified emo surf, it’s as if Nick Cave decided to lay down a bunch of pop songs, or is that just because the the ghostly vocals sound like they were recorded in a cave? Dreamy shoegazer pop like this takes me back to sifting through 7 inch singles at the community radio station looking for new stuff to play on my show.
http://soundbites.typepad.com/files…

Religious Knives - The Streets

On the Religious Knives album, ‘It’s After Dark’ they channel the psychic energy of sex and death like the Doors did but with all the flowers from the 60s boiled away, leaving behind a potent concentrated resin. The slow haunting harmonies on this track remind me of a call to prayer blaring out of an old PA echoing off the buildings in a crowded neighborhood. There’s a call to be answered here, but it’s not an easy one to answer.
http://www.20jazzfunkgreats.co.uk/wordpress/wp…

Faceless Werewolves - Elevation

Songs about stripping are almost never good songs to strip to in and of themselves, (e.g. PJ Harvey - Sheela-Na-Gig, Joe Cocker - Leave Your Hat On) but this one passes that test. It’s a pretty fair take on the topic that manages moments of both humor and sex appeal. I love the double female vocals doing a call and response on the word ‘degenerate’ over the chunky distorto guitar riff.
http://audio.sxsw.com/2006/mp3/Faceless_Werewolves-Elevation.mp3

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2008 December 4MP3s: Jeni and Billy, Emmy the Great, Lykke Li, Viking Moses

The song link itself will take you to an MP3 search engine if the direct link ever goes dead. Feel free to reply and post other tracks below.

Jeni and Billy - Chicken Ridge

When this track came on the radio on a sunny fall Sunday while driving around the Bronx, Jeni’s and Billy’s voices transported me away from the crumbling warehouses and over-paved neighborhoods to the Appalachian wilderness. There’s no narrative to the lyrics, but these two voices, guitar and banjo take you on a personal audio tour of a sad and beautiful place.http://jeniandbilly.com/audio/JENI_HANKINS-Chicken_Ridge.mp3

Emmy the Great - Easter Parade

Emma-Lee Moss has a great, clear voice. This track is a live recording of a performance at this year’s SXSW, and is as good a reason as any to resolve to see more live shows. Her phrasing of the dense prose-like verses is nimble and confident and I especially love the melody and phrasing of familiar Latin hymn lyrics in the chorus which make them entirely her own.http://flouz.info/mp3/Emmy_the_Great-Easter_Parade.mp3

Lykke Li - My Love

Most of the songs I’ve heard by Lykke Li are fun like 80s pop was fun, but this understated two-chord track is lush and dreamy and finishes with a great a cappella whirlwind. She’s got a baby voice which doesn’t always work for me in all the different deliveries she tries but it works here as she sings in a hushed register. Also, dig one of the backup singer’s crazy warbling falsetto.
http://www.cavacool.com/files/05_my_love.mp3

Viking Moses - Al Jazeera

This track has a sweet melody and sung from the perspective of one living in an occupied country and dealing with daily oppression. I admire Viking Moses like I admire early Bright Eyes or The Mountain Goats in their drive to put down so many of their thoughts and experiences into song. I’ve only just been introduced to this artist, but look forward to listening to more.http://www.marriagerecs.com/sound/aljazeera.mp3

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2008 November 20MP3s: The Acorn, Point Juncture WA, Camphor, Lullatone

The song link itself will take you to an MP3 search engine if the direct link ever goes dead. Feel free to reply and post other tracks below.

The Acorn - The Flood, Pt. 1

The Acorn cultivates a lush and mellow vibe that doesn’t always grab my ear. This track, however starts right off with a great melodic vocal hook and tribal rhythm that sustains the excitement level throughout. The sound reminds me of Poi Dog Pondering and the Talking Heads ‘Naked’ album.http://www.digitalwell.washington.edu/…

Point Juncture, WA - Siesta Movement

Good old Math Rock. This song fluidly flips between time signatures without losing momentum. During a bridge part the singer wails through a condenser microphone to a similar effect of a few Blonde Redhead songs without necessarily being derivative. Bonus points for the vibraphone.http://www.spokane7.com/music/mp3s/…

Camphor - The Sweetest Tooth

Another mellowish folk rock outfit, Camphor puts out mandolin and maraca songs as well as this more standard ballad. What gets me about this track is the whipped up vamp/stomp after each chorus hook, which pays off at the end in the form of a dissonant orchestral meltdown. It sneaks up on you by starting off with such standard instrumentation. Kick it.http://mineorecords.com/mp3/camp-swe.mp3

Lullatone - Untitled

This track is pretty abstract, it’s too nice of a synth sound to be called a chiptune, but it’s too chopped up to easily relate to as ‘normal’ music. Lullatone in general make sweet electronic instrumentals which are at the same time engaging and trance-inducing. I like the everything I’ve yet heard by Lullatone a whole bunch, but give this non-representative track a try, it might grow on you.http://www.archive.org/download/os024/os024-01_-_Lullatone_-_Untitled.mp3

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2008 November 12MP3s: Hanne Hukkelberg, Earlimart, Pipas, Miriam Makeba and Harry Belafonte

The song link itself will take you to an MP3 search engine if the direct link ever goes dead. Feel free to reply and post other tracks below.

Hanne Hukkelberg - Ease

The carnival organ synth sound gives way to a dreamy, somehow Mancini-esque arrangement with Hanne’s sweet voice front and center. I can’t really get enough of the English language sung with a foreign accent and this track delivers. I came across this track while looking for her cover of the Pixies’ ‘Break My Body’ which I ended up not liking as much as her original songs.http://aurgasm.us/music/julija/Hanne…

Answers And Questions - Earlimart

Sounding a lot like Xanadu era Jeff Lynne (E.L.O.) this track is not really representative of the rest of the songs on this strong album ‘Mentor Tormentor’ from Earlimart. I wanted to use the lead-off track ‘Fakey Fake’, a taut and quiet song but I couldn’t find any links to it.http://www.box.net/shared/static/17pp1959fu.mp3

Pipas - Wells Street

Authentic 60s inspired twee pop in the vein of Belle and Sebastian or early Aisler’s Set. This is a simple and sweet arrangement that is able to pass off a sequencer as a vintage drum kit. The vocal presentation is at once melancholy and jet set. Their earlier stuff is more stripped-down but on their second album ‘Chunnel Autumnal’ their sound gets a little more filled out and dreamy.
http://newmartini.free.fr/Pipas%20-%20Wells%20Street.mp3

My Angel - Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba

Miriam Makeba passed away this week, one of the great voices of the continent of Africa and indeed the world. I first became aware of her when she was name-dropped in an X-Tal song. The few songs I am familiar with can be easily downloaded without too much trouble but I came across this sweet ballad duet with Harry Belafonte which I’d never heard before.http://www.tous-arts.net/chansons/Harry%20Belafonte%20-%20My%20Angel.mp3

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2008 November 7MP3s: Peter Bjorn & John, Cassettes Won’t Listen, The Submarines, Meho Plaza

The song link itself will take you to an MP3 search engine if the direct link ever goes dead. Feel free to reply and post other tracks below.

Amsterdam - Peter Bjorn & John

At first this song kinda sounds like it’s playing back at a speed that’s too slow. Even after a few listens it still sounds like that, but it chugs along merrily regardless. All their songs have the same mellow vibe and cool Swedish accent. Another song of theirs that also features whistling is Young Folks with Victoria Bergsman of the amazing Concretes. The video’s fun and if it sounds familar, it was used in both AT&T and Budweiser ads.http://centralvillage.blogs.com/cv/files/Amsterdam.mp3

Lunch For Breakfast - Cassettes Won’t Listen

Cassetes Won’t Listen is the one-man project from Jason Drake of Brooklyn. This track mixes up clean parts with heavy layered parts. The part that gets me the most is the Sputnik inspired solo part, it’s like a satellite passing overhead frantically transmitting data back home.http://media.libsyn.com/media/…

The Vote - The Submarines

Dreamy arrangement and breathy tin-can vocals. It’s more about a breakup than it is about the democratic process. If I was a little more timely I would have gotten this out before November 4th.http://fakepennycomics.com/blog/SUBM_Vote.mp3

Meho Plaza - George Washington

I like the way this track jumps right to business like they’re the Clash or something. This song sounds nothing like the Clash however, it’s a driving parade of synth sounds and fuzz guitar. The digital pitch effect on the voice helps kick the sense of urgency up a notch and please note the 80’s robot breakdown in the middle.
http://www.box.net/shared/static/szxm1ully4.mp3

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2008 October 23MP3s: Black Fiction, i am jen, Blusom, Perry Como and Adam Ant

Sticking with the one-of-these-things-is-not-like-the-other format, this current batch of songs are three relatively current tracks and one anachronism. The song link itself will take you to an MP3 search engine if the direct link ever goes dead. Feel free to reply and post other tracks below.

Magic Hands - Black Fiction

The creepy selection of sounds that make up this song compels me to pay very close attention when it comes up on my personal media player. The lyrics seem plainly romantic at first but in this quietish, off-kilter track the singer’s motives are brought into question. The tension built up in the dry warbly verse part makes for a satisfying payoff in the filled out bridge part. http://www.howellstransmitter.com/bf_magic.mp3

At The Same Time - i am jen

The hermetically sealed digital production is a little awkward, but it allows Jen Scaturro’s engaging voice to shine, and her voice was made to sing this melody. The digital pitch correction doesn’t bother me either, it allows her a hushed confidence to whisper sweetly right into my thankful ear canals while the whole track arcs gracefully through to the end.http://libsyn.com/media/podcastnyc/JamJen-AtTheSameTime.mp3

Astronaut - Blusom

This track is the audio equivalent of an evening safari. The warm vocal harmonies lull you along and when you’re hit with the spastic bursts of acoustic guitar solo, it’s completely enchanting.http://www.secondnaturerecordings.com/reborn/mp3/Astronaut.mp3

Perry Como & Adam Ant - Catch a Falling Star

Being both a big Perry Como fan as well as an Adam Ant fan, I was surprised to stumble across this track. It sounds like the original Perry Como vocal track with Adam and a couple of the Ants playing along to it. I never really cave a crap about Adam with or without the Ants being marketed as ‘Punk’ or ‘Pirates’ or ‘Dandies’ or anything, I just thought they all came up with some excellent songs. Even here there’s some great ideas on a track that probably took an hour or two to pull together.https://podcast.xs4all.nl/upload…

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