Greg and Tom Z. both pitched suggestions for Mason Proper, so it seemed, um, appropriate to check the band out. (Sorry.) In that Nick Hornby sort of way, they had me at the album title — “There is a Moth in Your Chest.” From Ypsilanti, MI via Up North, Mason Proper sounds unlike any of the other megabytes tripping lately through my almost-dead iPod. (It keeps cycling through the songs without actually playing most of them. Occasionally I’ll get half a song or so.) Crazy pop? Art rock slapstick? Just categorizing these tunes seemed like a waste of time. Expect obscure lyrics, sweeping melodies, noise, dream-pop buzz, and the kitchen sink, too. After hearing My Brightest Diamond and Mason Proper, I’m wondering what else Ypsi has to offer.
Finest Dearest
A year or so finds San Francisco’s Finest Dearest a little more raw and angry, muscially at least. (Carly’s new e-mail was very much as pleasant as the last one, though. Thanks.) Both new tracks off their upcoming 7″ are tense, energetic, argumentative, confrontational and really good listening material. I can’t wait to hear their next message in our inbox.
We’re Making a Sound 1 [MP3, 5.1MB, 160kbps]
March into Flames [MP3, 4.3MB, 160kbps]
Original post: 09/15/05
Carly from Finest Dearest left a nice e-mail in our Suggestion Box recently (nice because she acknowledged that we receive a lot of suggestions) and so here is San Francisco’s Finest Dearest. Yes, Carly, I do like these two songs, particularly “Idaho,” which reminds me of being in high school again for some reason, in a good way. Your classic indie-rock sound is like comfort food, you know? Mashed potatoes or p.b. & j. or whatever it is for each of us. Oh, and good luck with the debut of your EP Pacemaker in a few weeks. If you ever hit the big time and make it to Detroit…
Cola Wars
First, let me welcome any visitors who got the 3hive tip from the recent Michigan Alumnus magazine. (I’m happy with the photo they ran of me in the ‘UM alum bloggers’ article, as it hides my double chin fairly well.) And although today’s post reflects a band affiliated with my other alma mater, the University of Chicago, I encourage any suggestions of good Ann Arbor bands to share. Anyway, Cola Wars. Complex rock orchestration and whiny geek vocals. Social Thought or Math majors? Either way, totally interesting and fresh.
Pagoda
Super low-key, starry, fuzzy music from DC, good for cool, late summer nights, waiting for fall. (Sorry if the blurb here is a little too thin; work beckons. If anyone wants to editorialize a bit, go ahead and hit the Comments.)
Winechuggers
This is my last Delicious Berries post, using bands from MusicalFamilyTree.com‘s Indiana indie compilation, and this one might be my favorite. Winechuggers have an easy-going rock feel, like all the Pavement or Sebadoh songs I realy like and none of the ones that I can’t stand. Good stuff, and on the MFT site there are about 100 songs from Winechuggers to sift through — “Long Circuitous Path” is just a little piece of candy. Thanks to Jeb Banner for putting together the site, the compilation, and for playing along in this bands as well. Good luck, Indiana!
Hot One
All the Catholics who thought The DaVinci Code was an assault on their religion might as well not even bother with Hot One. The opening track on their self-titled album, “Get Your Priest On!”, doesn’t present the clergy in a particularly flattering light. Social and religious conservatives, war hawks and politicians, parents, the timid and shy — none of these groups really fit the Hot One focus group of vulgar, disgusted and distracted fans of filthy glam rock, with a sarcastic political bent. I was blasting the disc while driving with all the windows down in my Saturn Vue recently, and it felt so right to be so wrong.
Hands Down Eugene
Hailing from Nashville, uh Indiana, Hands Down Eugene is yet another of the fine acts featured on Delicious Berries, MusicalFamilyTree.com‘s cool compilation of Hoosier bands. MFT had the entire Hands Down Eugene EP Full Blast available for free download, so here it is. With a rotating cast of musicians and a little weirdness thrown into the pop-rock mix, there’s probably something here for everyone.
Heidi Gluck
Our next artist from MusicalFamilyTree.com‘s great compilation Delicious Berries, featuring the work of Indiana musicians, is Canadian Heidi Gluck. I know, I know… it seems she spent some time in Indianapolis. Anyway, her track on the disc has a heavy country vibe that really works for me, and that you won’t find at all on the free downloads available below. The songs here are all about pop smoothness, either up-beat or down-tempo. “Open Your Eyes” reminds me a bit of Heidi’s Some Girls bandmate Juliana Hatfield. (The cover of their month-old album Crushing Love is the thumbnail image for this post.) And next week, another artist from Delicious Berries.
Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s
MusicalFamilyTree.com, a website dedicated to spreading the word about and sharing the music of Indiana bands, recently released the Delicious Berries compilation, and it is awesome. Fresh voices, ambitious sounds — I wish someone here in Michigan would tap into our local talent the way the MFT folks have. For my weekly posts in August, I’ll be featuring bands from the compilation, because it really is that good. The first, Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s, starts the disc, and with its deal on Artemis is likely one of the most commercially successful of the bands on Delicious Berries. The tracks below, full of quiet harmonies and pop hooks, are taken from their 2005 album The Dust of Retreat.
Hexes and Ohs
Listening to “Alive Until Saturday Night” by Hexes and Ohs made me want to pull out my New Order albums from high school and get back into that groove again, but of course, they’re on vinyl! Like I have a turn-table… besides the one I got for my 12th birthday in 1983, which is probably in my parents’ basement somewhere. For better or worse, their other downloadable track below, “This and Other Distances,” calls to mind Death Cab for Cutie rather than the sounds from when sequencers were young. Hexes and Ohs, a Montreal duo with an ’05 album, Goodbye Friend, Welcome Lover, and maybe another coming soon, are another great suggestion from Dawntread (she sent us Canasta from last week).