What’s in the Los Angeles air (apart from way too much carbon monoxide) that makes even the struggling, DIY bands look and sound like they’re just one rigged TRL away from mass market stardom? Space Mtn, with the hot librarian looks and open diary lyrics of lead singer Dina Waxman combined with multi-instrumentalist Chris Jacks’ deft ear for melody and melancholy, are a case in point. The duo crafts ridiculously tender, ridiculously listenable pop music which, with or without a well-financed marketing push, will find daylight sooner or later. Watch your back, Hilary Duff…for real.
Koufax
A frantic swell of kick drum and tinkled ivories launches Koufax’s new single, letting you know that some of the better (if lesser known) ambassadors of Generation Whatevs are back with 20% more sass, strut, and pout. You know, I should be tired of singing along to bands that are younger, better looking, and snappier dressers than me. If only they’d stop writing such flippin’ infectious songs…
Kettel
These examples of Kettel’s finer moments, wherein cut-up jazz breaks and organic field sounds stroll hand-in-hand, make me wonder why he hasn’t received as much notoriety as, say, Four Tet. He, by the way, is Reimer Eising. To browse/buy from his catalog, check the newly madeover kracfive site. (Overdue props to Disquiet for opening my ears to Kettel a while back.)
Kid Koala
The first time I saw Kid Koala spin was at the Wetlands in NYC at a Ninja Tune night some years back. He plowed through a crate of novelty records and hip-hop classics with the glee (and haste) of a two year old, mouthing the words to every last cut and leaving a pile of used vinyl on the floor. The first time I saw Kid Koala perform was at the El Rey in Los Angeles a couple years later, when I saw him recreate his turntable masterpiece “Drunk Trumpet” on stage. He used the pitch control slider to extract different notes from a single horn part on a jazz record as our collective jaws hit the floor. “Skanky Panky” is a similar experience, in that it needs to be seen and heard. Fortunately for all who haven’t had the pleasure, you can do just that on his CD/DVD, Live at the Short Attention Span Theater.
Ezekiel Honig
Who’d have thought the “hook” stuck in my head for the past few days would be the sweet rhythm of what sounds like a printer feed tray being lifted and dropped? I know, I know, I should get checked for OCD. But Ezekiel Honig does have an ear for the latent musicality in such found sounds, which he uses to infuse his minimalist headphone techno with a real warm-blooded feel.
Solvent
I originaly posted Solvent 16 months ago. In fact, they were one of the first bands featured on 3hive. Just days after, Ghostly pulled down their full-length MP3s due to bandwidth constraints and there went my Solvent post. As Sean points out over in the News section, Ghostly’s recently found some bandwidth in their hearts and now offer, among others, this gem from Solvent’s latest, Elevators and Oscillators. For the record, my original post was one line: “Proof once again from the Ghostly Massive that machines do have souls.” Still holds true today.
Ariel Pink
Don’t worry about the bitrate on these, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference. Ariel Pink is all about lo-fi, right down to the crappy Angelfire website (yes, that’s his official website oops, it’s a fan site — see comments). His songs start with classic pop music forms — here we have psychedelic doo-wop (“Jules Lost His Jewels”) and new wave romanticism (“For Kate I Wait”) — then warp them to the very brink of listenability. But they are listenable, even enjoyable, because they’re like that favorite mixtape that you left in the car on a hot summer day: you still listen to it through the warble and hiss, because you know the music well enough to tune into its essence. “C’est la vie, c’est la vie, comme çi, comme ça…”
Stereo Total
Fool that I am, I spent 11 years of schooling and two years of on-location training to become more or less fluent in French…only to fall in love and want to spend the rest of forever with a woman who thinks “French sounds stupid.” Of course, this only fuels my desire to play musique en français around the house. Even better if it’s catchy enough to get The Mrs. dancing in spite of herself. So, the giddy, candy-like pop of Berlin’s Stereo Total — featuring the coquette-ish vocals of Françoise Cactus — provides the ultimate weapon in our little civil war. (Cactus also sings in English and German, and sometimes about serious topics, just not when my wife’s around.) The band’s website features a ton of rarities with downloadable art so you can make your very own CD and join the good fight.
Join the Clubbo
Art Brut
Sardonic, Mark E. Smith-esque romps which, as my dear British colleagues say, “take the piss” out of “Top of the Pops” and other beloved mainstream icons. Unfortunately, these tracks are demo versions of sorts — several versions removed from the album takes, wherein the guitars typically come out in full force. Also on the Art Brut site are some really interesting remixes/mashups/covers (“Brutlegs,” as they call them), including a rap version of their uncharacteristically tender love song, “Emily Kane,” and “My Sharona Formed a Band,” which is fairly self-explanatory.