Posts filed under 'Pop / Electro-Pop'
Black Fiction
Ghost Ride
[Howells Transmitter; 2006; Psych-Pop / Folk]
So Devendra and Andy might prefer to call their music “naturalisimo” or some shit like that instead of freak-folk. Okay. And after hearing Black Fiction’s new record, I have to agree that they (along with Akron/Family) are more deserving of the freak tag than Banhart and Vetiver ever were. But unlike the raucous side of Akron/Family, Black Fiction swerves like a Microbus barreling from San Fran to Burning Man, picking up hitch-hikers of old school hip-hop, sunny 60s SoCal beach pop, vintage psychedelia and even some dub along the way.
There’s no easy comparison to be made of “sounds like ______” when no two songs sound alike on a record*. Which is a good thing, and that’s exactly what Black Fiction is good at. One minutes it’s a jangly, tamborine-shaking sing-a-long built around hand claps and a bassy dub groove and the next it’s swaying acoustic guitar picking, finger snapping and percussion that sounds like it’s in the next room. Not many bands can make a record that is this disjointed and this listenable. The only indescretion I see is the vocals on “I Spread The Disease”. Sounds like Jimmy Fallon singing that damn “Idiot Boyfriend” song he did.
If The Raconteurs record is “The Rustbelt’s Nevermind” (don’t know who said that, but somebody did), I’ll just go ahead and call this the new Pet Sounds.
Download I Spread The Disease** and Magic Hands
Buy it now:
Howells Transmitter
*It is fair to say fans of Akron/Family, early Beck, Animal Collective and Ariel Pink shouldn’t be disappointed
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July 24th, 2006
The Theater Fire
Everybody Has A Dark Side
[Undeniable Records; 2006; Pop/Alt-Country]
While DJ Jester was representing for San Antonio, the Undeniable crew is still holding it down for us here in the DFW and Denton area with the release of The Theater Fire’s new record. And it’s also strange that I would pick this up to listen to yesterday considering we had one helluva theater fire in Dallas the night before when the landmark Arcadia Theater went up in flames. The theater, built in 1927, had seen everything from vaudeville theater to The Cramps, operas to variety shows and even police raids over the screening of Deep Throat in 1973. So I’m sure from now on when Dallas heads hear “the theater fire”, they’ll think of the Arcadia instead of these guys, but no need to change your name fellas… just look at The Ruby Room and Lee Harvey’s.
Anyway, all hometown pride aside, these guys bring influences to their music that are as far reaching as bluegrass (and maybe even a little jug band), zydeco, mariachi, country, folk and rock. Their alt-country-ish sound lends a much needed variety (and a forlorn feeling) to modern pop music - not entirely unlike Lylas’ record that we talked about recently. It’s neither lo-fi nor glossy, but lands somewhere in the middle. Like a high quality live recording of campfire sing-a-longs that defy genres, or define them. Maybe post-country? Southern chamber pop? Nu-Americana? Regardless of what you call it, these tales of wanderers, lovers, soldiers and pals hold a restrained beauty full of horns, pedal steel, violin, accordion, mandolin, xylophone and banjo and should appeal to fans of everyone from Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen to The Decemberists* and Architecture In Helsinki*.
I need to get out and see these guys and if you’re around Dallas, I suggest you do the same.
tonight (6.26.06) at Sons of Hermann Hall for a Kinky Friedman benefit
6.25.06 - Fort Worth - at the Fort Worth Weekly Music Awards
6.29.06 - Dallas - at the DoubleWide with Peter and The Wolf
6.30.06 - Denton - at Dan’s Silverleaf with Peter and the Wolf
*if you add a fistful of country to the mix.
Download these now.
Kicking Up The Darkness
These Tears Could Rust A Train
Dark Side
and Ne’er Too Late from their 2003 self-titled debut
Buy it now:
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June 23rd, 2006
I can’t believe I spent so many evenings recently watching the Mavs play, just to see them lose it at home. Anyway, here are a couple of releases that I’ve been meaning to get to. Looking through this pile, I’ve got some catching up to do…
13ghosts
Cicada
[Skybucket; 2006; Rock]
13ghosts make that brand of well crafted, smoky bar rock that represents the modern sound of southern rock. One that doesn’t scream redneck like a Skynard show. (I know. I’ve been to one) And while these Birmingham boys’ sound points to many of the same influences as other recent releases such as Catfish Haven, The M’s (who aren’t from the south) and The Drones (who aren’t from America), to peg them as simply rock is a bit of an injustice. They also point in the direction of old school garage, folkish singer-songwriter, woozy ballad crooning, country, primitive Americana, bluesy howls and straight up, whiskey-fueled bar rockers in a way that somehow reminds me of a state line liquor store between Arkansas and Missouri on a Sunday night.
In addition to the variety of influences, the shared writing and vocal duties of Brad Armstrong and Buzz Russell add an even more varied sound throughout the 21 tracks. These 2 sample tracks give a fair representation of the band’s scope, from the Beatles-ish 70s pop sound of “The Search Party” to the soulfully plucked “Robert J”, but it doesn’t really show that they can get down and rock like Akron/Family or Bobby Bare Jr. rock.
p.s. Hey guys, you should play “Wormhead, My Dear” for everybody. They’d like that.
Download The Search Party and Robert J
and older stuff here
Buy it now:
Skybucket
Insound
Amazon
Hailey Wojcik
Jealous Sees
[self-released; 2005; Pop]
Kalamazoo songstress Hailey Wojcik makes achingly charming little pop songs that I have to listen to with headphones on. Not because her record has an intricate mix of sounds that you want to pick apart, not because it’s loud and obnoxious and pisses off the neighbors, but because it’s too damn cute to admit liking. Whether she’s singing about being a “jealous maniac” and exs, getting dug like a dinosaur bone or telling the boss off, even her “fuck you”s sound nice enough.
This track would fit in nicely in my homeboy Joe’s “Female Troubles” mixtape he’s working on. Some Hole, Peaches, Mu, Cars Can Be Blue and this. Sounds good, but we’ll just have to skip this one or turn it down if we’re driving. You know, ukeleles, pianos, guitar strums and vocals that sound like the good girl next door aren’t exactly what a dude wants coming out of his speakers. It’s like driving down the road bumpin’ some Kimya Dawson or something.
F#¢@ you, I like it…
Download F#¢@ You (I Quit)
Buy it now:
CD Baby
Amazon
June 22nd, 2006
Lylas
Lessons For Lovers
[Fictitious Records; 2006; Pop]
I’ve been coming back to Lylas’ Lessons For Lovers over and over again for the last month or so. Something about it’s countrified chamber pop charm burrows into your mind and leaves bits of it’s melodies behind to lure you back for more. With such un-pop instrumentation as pedal steel, Theremin, piano, cello, glockenspiel, accordion and even a bit of banjo, they bring together contry tradition and dark narratives, forming compact little gems of twisted sweetness.
After the first of three brief instrumental “lessons” (”Lesson 1: Saying I Love You”, “Lesson 11: When a Lovely, Young Dish Unravels” and “Lesson 28: Last Kiss Rehearsel”), “No Seance For Sweetheart” begins the lecture with a dios-if-not-Beatles-esque tale of putting holes in her and burying her beneath the ocean blue. The upbeat rhythm and storytelling continues with “Star of the Family Portrait” with a steady rambling percussion that reminds me of Hedwig’s “Sugar Daddy” (except for the whole transvestite in fishnets and Chuck Taylors thing). “Virgin Annie” and “Home and Hugs” softly corral the direction back towards the folkier side of Nashville before the delicate pop façade and darling demons return on “Tiny Echoes”.
After the next lesson, the waves of indulgence and melancholy continue through the hushed vocals of “Sprinkle”, “Summer In A Sweater” - a particularly Beatles-y tale of love with Siamese twins (”One was sweet and one was sex / and they both hung about my neck / and the both made me ill”), the syrupy pedal steel and plucking banjo of the heel-tapping ditty “Darling Do You?” and the title track’s boy and mother conversation about his impending marriage.
So what lessons have we been taught here? Other than the fact that love is filled with heartache, death, misery and of course gushing wrists? It can all look quite lovely on the surface, but the deeper you get, it’s darker and harder to turn away from. And that’s exactly what Lessons does, it draws you in like a cute girl then warns you to stay away like her big boyfriend. So it’s summer, if love finds you, go for it, just remember, we’re all fucked in the end and somebody’s gonna die. Lesson learned.
note: Could be appropriate for a evening bonfire beach party. If that beach party is happening in say… Gulf Shores, Alabama.
Download Star Of The Family Portrait
Buy it now:
Fictitious Records
Insound
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June 6th, 2006
About
Bongo
Rating: 9.4
[Cock Rock Disco; 2006; Electro-Pop]
I said a couple of months ago when I first heard this record, if it wasn’t huge when it came out, I was going to quit writing about music. I then retracted that and threatened to just scream about the injustice in the world for a while. Here it is 2 months later and the release date on this is supposed to be the 16th of this month. After a quick google search, I can’t find any places online to get your pre-orders in. Searching the usual suspects Amazon and InSound come up empty. You can however download a digital copy straight from Cock Rock Disco for only 8 bucks. Right now!
There’s two ways to look at this record. It’s either the most shredded, choppy, electrified pop record ever, or the poppiest, catchiest electronic record ever. “Think Niles Drink” is an excellent example, and argument, for both perspectives. While most of the tracks make stronger arguments for the pop side, the electronics and glitchy elements remain strong throughout. “Nogato” heads into Postal Service territory while “Band Dynamics” is a bouncy 80s throwback. “She Knows Everything About All Who Ever Drank Coffee With Her” is a fuzzed out boy-girl rollercoaster ride and “Friends Applaud, The Comedy Is Over” is a horn- (saxophone, sousaphone, tuba, trumpet) and piano-heavy pop ditty Architecture In Helsinki would be proud to make. And ending the album with a bang is the album highlight “Stacks Of Marshalls”.
“All I really know is how to use this stack of Marshalls”. That would be enough, but I have a feeling he means it when Rutger Hoedemaekers says he’s not afraid to hide behind computer screens.
Overall, it reminds me of one of my favorites from last year, De Novo Dahl, who released a dual disc debut. One disc was original indie pop tracks and the other was various electronic flavored remixed versions - some nearly unrecognizable. If they would have combined the two into one, it would have sounded something like About. If you took our advice and got that one and liked it, or if you’re a fan of Devo but not stuck in the 80s, you should really dig it. Highly recommended.
Dem Franchize Boyz (whatever that shit is, crunk I’m guessing?) is in the top 10 right now and nobody knows about About yet! Injustice!
Download
Think Niles Drink
Strike You As The Enemy
Think Niles Drink - iPod formatted video
Buy it now:
Cock Rock Disco
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May 3rd, 2006
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