Hidden in the back of every music collection is a little rave music. Okay, maybe not every one, but there are plenty of us who keep a little something stashed away. I pulled out my personal rave-orite Altern 8 recently. My five year old was not impressed. Another from my collection who is actually still going strong is DJ Soul Slinger. A native Brazilian, Carlos is an early purveyor of rave/jungle/drum’n’bass music/culture/goods here in the good ol’ US of A, and a perfect way to welcome a dear friend to 3hive on her first visit.
Daydream Nation
No, this ain’t the sixth album from Sonic Youth released in October 1988 getting its own entry here on 3hive, and it’s not a Sonic Youth cover band. Daydream Nation is actually a Canadian duo doing their own thing, which is a mysterious combination of Brit pop from the ’60s invasion and the ’90s revival influenced by other notable Brits like the Cure and Swervedriver, although their sound is not as “shoegazer” as they and others would lead you believe. These songs are from Bella Vendetta, their second album.
I Am Robot and Proud
Great minds really do think alike! I Am Robot and Proud has been queued up here at 3hive just waiting for the right day to post, and a kind reader of 3hive sent in an email to the suggestion box, well, suggesting I Am Robot and Proud. It gives us the chance to again ponder the question, “What is it with big corporations and their raiding of indie-dom for music for their commercials?” This time it’s adidas, and they’re using “Winter at Night.” I Am Robot and Proud is Toronto’s Shaw-Han Liem, and he makes a beguiling electronic (but not robotic) pop that is both warm and refreshing. Layers of melodies, alternately purposeful and tinkering, merely hide the rhythms that can get a little groovy. Proud indeed.
Soft
Another from the suggestion box… Soft play majestic pop, driven by crisp drumming and plethora of effects pedals. Though we won’t name them here, the influences are many, but not blatant. However, any fleeting resemblences to Tim Burgess are coincidental, but appropriate. “Monkey Monkey” is excellent; it’s not first in the download list, but start there.
Perry Weismann 3
Let’s get the new year off to a good start! You may remember that last year 3hive brought you two projects of members of the Apples in Stereo, those being The High Water Marks and Ulysses. The Perry Weismann 3 features another member of the Apples, this time my fellow Tennessean Eric Allen (discovered when he saw my Tennessee license plate while getting into my car many years ago in Utah), along with ex-Neutral Milk Hotel and others. The PW3 drift from fuzzed out instrumentals to free style jazz and back again, two styles that don’t usually go together. Kind of like the title of this song from their last release. “Alaskan Jihad,” anyone?
The Walkmen
Yeah, yeah, I know, they’re all over the place nowadays: The OC, Conan, Letterman (tonight, in fact). And we’ve already had a discussion about this topic (see Jetscreamer). But it’s still the Christmas season, ain’t it? How could we pass up these Yuletide gems from The Walkmen? The first two are from their unreleased Christmas single, the third is from last Christmas, and the fourth, well, it’s just a great song from their early days. If you missed The Walkmen’s appearance on The OC and were wondering if Summer fell for Seth’s attempt to trick her into coming to the Walkmen show with him, you can hear MP3s from the show on the Walkmen’s website.
Fonda
What’s the only song better than Wham’s “Last Christmas” on Christmas Day? Fonda’s cover of Wham’s “Last Christmas” on Christmas Day. Like their name suggests, Fonda are a hybrid. (As in Ford + Honda = Fonda; Hord just doesn’t work.) Part British, part American, residing in L.A., Fonda create their own pop: a dash of West Coast dreamy pop, a pinch of British shoegaze, a touch of American indie pop, a morsel of late ’80s British alternapop. And yes, they did the Spy Kids theme.
Dean and Britta
I really should have kept track of how many hours of my life were devoted to listening to Galaxie 500. Dean Wareham went on to start Luna, who, by the way, are still going strong. Here he joins with Luna-mate Britta Phillips for a song on the soundtrack of the movie Piggie, which he also stars in. Also thrown in is a little number that the two of them recently recorded with Sonic Boom, a founder of Spacemen 3. I really should have kept track of how many hours of my life were devoted to listening to Spacemen 3. Although perhaps it’s better that I don’t know.
At Dusk
As six cousins, ages five and under, make their 100th lap around the living room furniture at my parents’ home this Christmas , At Dusk’s “We Could Do Anything” will be the soundtrack playing in my head.
Echostar
Martha Schwendener, of the late Bowery Electric, is the sole member of Echostar. Unlike the Dick Van Dyke One Man Band in Mary Poppins, this one woman band carries her instruments not on her person, but on her hard drive. While her beats are simpler and melodies “lusher” (Bowery fans should get that), Martha carries on where Bowery left off, with swirling sounds and her trademark whispering/breathy vocals making her debut solo album Sola sound as if it really is broadcast by a satellite.