Z-Trip
For the longest time you’d have to dig up classic Z-Trip mixes by way of some friendly shared drive somewhere. Now that Z-Trip has sobered up from his major label affair (only one album…who saw that coming?), he’s his own boss. And that means, among other things, a website with downloads to die for. I’ve included a couple of his original compositions (featuring the inimitable Chali2Na and Lateef the Truthspeaker). But if you haven’t already heard such classic mashup mixdowns as Uneasy Listening, Live at the Future Primitive, and The Anti-War Mix stop what you’re doing right now and pay a visit to Chez Z-Trip.
Trick or Treat from Def Jux and Spinner
Japancakes
For seven years, Athens, Georgia’s Japancakes have reliably turned out what, if it were distortion-laden and featured ethereal vocals, would be labeled “shoegazer.” Instead my people call it good ol’ fashioned instrumental country music with the occasional twist. It’s only fitting, then, that they decided to cover the shoegazer classic-of-all-classics — My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless — in its entirety. Pedal steel and cello replace the vocal and guitar melodies. The mood and structure remains very much intact and it’s lovely…just not as fulfilling as the original, or as a regular Japancakes record. Which might be why, as a sort of insurance against cynics like me, they released Giving Machines, an incredible album of originals (plus one Cocteau Twins cover), within a couple weeks of Loveless. As a package, it’s one of the sweeter releases of the year. Double down, I always say.
What, Are You Kidding? We Got Us a Community Here…
Biirdie
Biirdie’s brings the heartache like a slow-approaching thunderstorm. They lace their lush Americana sound with bits and blips of modernity a la fellow Californians Grandaddy. However, the double threat of Kala Savage’s angelic vocals and Jared Flamm’s world-worn pipes really put them in a class of their own. Plus they also made my baby girl sway at breakfast this morning while eating her Cheerios. So that’s a double thumb’s-up if ever I heard one.
Plus, I just read that Kala is Fred and Ben Savage’s sister…FTW!
Eugene Francis Jnr.
He’s an imaginative lad, this Eugene Francis Jnr. One need look no further than the video for his group’s first single “Poor Me” for proof — kinda like Gulliver’s Travels as told by Michel Gondry. It won’t surprise you that homeboy’s got some hippie roots. He’s the son of Eskimo and Apache Indian parents who lived in Wales, if you’re to believe his bio. They provided him with a diverse musical upbringing that ultimately led him to pursue music himself. He started out solo, but soon recruited a small army of fellow Welsh musicians to create a “harmonious, beatnik supergroup” (his words, not mine). This democratic approach makes for really nice, lush instrumentation to buoy his humble voice. Think ’90s XTC, Syd Barrett, or Lost in the Trees. Eugene was kind enough to provide us with this dreamy little number, the other A-side of the double A-side single “Poor Me”/”Kites” — available on iTunes (U.S. only for the moment).
Podcast #23 Is Go
Aesop Rock
I’m hesitant to file Aesop Rock under “rap” because I’ve learned that you’re statistically less likely to listen to it if I do (shame on you). That said, he does rap…but his music draws on influences ranging from art pop to beatnik jazz to first-wave electro and so on. Just depends at what moment you catch him. The only constant is Aesop’s dizzying flow and fertile narratives.
These two tracks will give you a taste of how his work has evolved over time: “Basic Cable” comes from his first label-released album and “None Shall Pass” is the single from his brand-new album. However, if you’re looking to start your Aesop Rock collection, I still recommend 2001’s Labor Days.
Part Chimp
I just returned from a rousing and refreshing vacation to various parts of Utah. One stop took us to a Trappist Monastery in Huntsville, where we had the chance to catch the resident monks chant their songs of praise. As we walked up to the chapel, my 7-year-old son, who apparently misheard us, said, “I don’t want to listen to the chimps sing.” Silly kid: monks sound nothing like chimps, and chimps sound nothing like monks. And Part Chimp sound nothing like monks or chimps (unless they’d developed an affinity for Sonic Youth and Mogwai) — but what they do is rock hard. For the record, my son likes Part Chimp’s music better than the monks’ chanting but prefers the monks’ artisan honey to, well, just about anything.