Mikrofisch is our first entry from the Hamburg net-label, Komakino. Their album, Masters of the Universe, represents the label’s first full-length release (the band’s second) and you can download it, in its entirety, here. Mikrofisch formed with the intention of covering The Smiths, but left their first recording session with four original tracks and “a brilliantly intimate lo-fi version of Morrissey´s Everyday Is Like Sunday on fourtrack.” Five years later Mikrofisch remains brilliantly lo-fi, and brilliantly playful, but from what I gather, this long distant recording duo (London/Hamburg) backgrounded their guitars around 2003 and opted for a synth-based sound. The first song, “Drum Machines Will Save Mankind” serves as a kind of mission statement for Mikrofisch in their understated quest to take over the musical universe: “Make a beat so we can dance, make the kids form bedroom bands.” Then Mikrofisch sets their alliances, forming their own Justice League of Indie Rock, in the tongue-in-cheek “Let’s Kiss and Listen to Bis” (hip, indie reference help). The band name drops some of their favorite bands and sounds circa 1995: Teenage Fanclub, Dinosaur Jr, Afghan Whigs, Sonic Youth, Twee, and an allusion to the now defunct March Records (“Keep Sparky’s dream alive…). Finally, it’s the micro-epic “The Kids are All Shite” in which Mikrofisch battle the current UK indie scene including HMV, NME, Coldplay, Keane, Kaiser Chiefs, Kasabian, Jet, Razorlight, their clones and fans. Delusions of grandeur? Perhaps, but Mikrofisch’s small and simple sounds are brimming with enough hooks and wit to bring their great dreams to life.
The Harlem Experiment
The Harlem Experiment isn’t a band, but a collective of music (specifically jazz, funk, and hip hop) fiends rustled together by Aaron Levinson to pay homage to the variety of sounds eminating over the years from, yes, Harlem. This is the third in Ropeadope’s “Experiment” series. They experimented with Philly and Detroit first. “It’s Just Begun” begins with a classic funk track by Jimmy Castor and The Castor Bunch, which DJ Arkive dismantled, re-cut, re-worked and scratched up a bit. From there, Eddy Martinez (keys for Tito Puente and Run D.M.C.) stepped in and laid down a screaming keyboard track. Their goal was to maintain the timeless quality of the original track. Do you think they hit the mark? The ears of this novice funkateer say, “we likey, a lot-y.”
The Vandelles
Four out of five doctors recommend The Vandelles as an effective tinnitus tonic. There just isn’t anything better to beat a nagging case of tinnitus than the thick dose of white noise that is “Lovely Weather.” I’ve submersed my head in The Vandelles’ ocean of fuzz and wave upon droning wave of shimmering surf guitar has washed over me with soothing results. If that’s too noisy for your tastes, pod up the swell “Swell to Heaven” and get a load of what it sounds like when you cross-pollinate the Beach Boys with the Jesus & Mary Chain. Sweet summertime melodies swim lazily underneath the thick surface of guitars. I’ll withhold final judgement until I hear more, but The Vandelles are on the verge of christening a new genre: Wave of Sound.
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Kate Tucker & The Sons of Sweden
By the time I’ve published a post I’ve probably listened to the song(s) I’m reviewing around twenty times. But it only takes about twenty seconds to decide whether or not I like the song enough to post it. This was not the case with the present artist. As soon as Kate Tucker parted her lips to release her rich, dulcet voice I was gathering rope and beeswax to avoid following her to my inevitable destruction (forgive my allusion to the Odyssey; I’m deep into the Rouse translation…). You’d hear no complaints from me if this was the last voice I ever heard. Tucker herself journeyed from her home in Ohio across the country to Seattle and settled in with a couple Swedes and a young man obsessed with the Cocteau Twins. Tucker’s folk-influenced picking patterns (I stole that one straight outta the bio) sumptuously melt with her band’s ethereal programming and reverberating guitars. The result of their meeting should be ringing brightly in your ears now. If not, get your click on! With the WGA strike entering its second week, the music folks over at Grey’s Anatomy will have extra time to discover this siren’s songs.
The Teenagers
A downright spunky meditation on a young man’s obsession with Scarlett Johansson, thinly veiled in the title as “Starlett Johansson.” Start/stop guitar bursts interspersed with spoken word factoids about Ms. Johansson make up the verses (the line I’ll find myself dropping as a non-sequiter [accent and delivery included] into future conversations: “I’m scared by spiders too”). The chorus explodes into a synth-pop romp, with Weezer-like hooks. This track is filled with the youthful, giddiness I expect even my old man experiences when he sees his starlett crush on-screen, or on the streets of Barcelona, arm-in-arm with Woody Allen, as he did on a recent overseas trip. Speaking of tripping overseas, this Parisian trio is scheduled to play the U.S. early next year.
Jawbox
You’ll have to forgive us if we geek out a bit on Dischord bands. It’s more than slightly embarrassing that we’ve been running on at the mouth for over three-and-a-half years without featuring a Dischord artist (hats off to Clay for pointing this out and diggin’ up the goods). For this bunch of music geeks the seminal, super-duper DIY label has had a huge influence on the projects we’ve worked on together over the years (AM 960 The S.U.N., Sonic Garden CD Exchange, and Grid Magazine—and no you haven’t heard of any of these unless you were in college with us a good decade ago in a strange little corner of the country). I will forever associate Jawbox with our takeover of an AM signal, housed in a little shack in the middle of a cow pasture, tucked under the shadows of the Rocky Mountains. These tracks were in heavy rotation for the nine months or so we were on cloud nine, amazed we’d finagled our way into running a radio station. While the members of Jawbox have moved on to other projects and stages of life, Dischord continues its inspiring aesthetic.
Brad Laner
Add father, restorer of modernist architecture, and solo artisit to Brad Laner’s lengthy resume. Laner’s always been somewhat of a DIY kinda guy as he’s practically steered such fine musical vessels as Medicine, Electric Company and Amnesia single-handedly. Maybe it’s because he’s a father now, or maybe it’s because he’s got a place, a self-restored a 1964 mid-century modern Eichler home, to proudly call his own that Brad Laner has finally shed his many masks and is releasing his first proper solo record, Neighbor Singing. At least his son and home have both inspired and restrained him, allowing him small windows of recording time which helped him keep an objective view on the album. These two tracks hint at a sunny, summertime pop record, a loopy-Beach Boys kind of sound. A sound, Laner says, that has emerged not from his record collection, but from his own biological self: “I wanted to shamelessly utilize all of the different skills that I’ve built up over a lifetime of musical experiences.” No shame necessary. Dig this.
Spitzer
Spitzer consists of a couple young men raised in the same house in Lyon, France. These brothers have one goal: Make you dance. Currently, the duo is working on a four song EP called Roller Coaster and if the four tracks on their myspace page are any indication of what we’re in for, we’re in for some big, bright and bold dancefloor action. I love the early Speak & Spell-like synth tones used on “Disco Biscuits.” Of course they’ve been pumped up ala Marion Jones for maximum rump-shakin’ enjoyment. The track opens with one synth riff getting overshadowed by another, high up in the mix, trampling over the first until that second riff distorts itself into oblivion as the track finally settles into its groove, a slamming epiphany imminent. Spitzer proves France still has fertile fields to harvest for yet another generation of club kids.