Deerhoof
I don’t believe we’ve ever tested our readers odd meter. Meaning, how odd do you like your music? What’s your oddness threshold? To some listeners, Deerhoof will sound like Top 40 fodder. Others may find it a bit quirky for their tastes. Deerhoof will make a great gauge. So here’s the test: the following MP3s are listed in order of their palatability. Most palatable, in my opinion, first. Start with “Milk Man” and work your way down, then share with us how far you got in the comments. If all the songs are too odd for your taste, leave a zero; if you get all the way through the songs and are dying to hear more, leave a seven, then get shopping. This much I can tell you, “Milk Man” is gonna make your day. It’s what you’d hear in the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame if it were curated by Willy Wonka.
The Boy Least Likely To
It was love at first sight. I was smitten by The Boy Least Likely To as soon as their visual hit. A chronic doodler myself, I have a weak spot for the hand-drawn, kid-art look. They’ve got it in spades. Their musical deck is likewise stacked: simple, twee pop melodies sweetened further with candy-coated lyrics. Pop in its purest form. I’m a sucker for it! (Pun intended). There was one slight problem however. No full-length MP3s were available from the band, just a few nasty, embeded clips. Yuck. But this week the band announced their Christmas presents to the world: this MP3 of “Little Donkey” and a flash game of the same name.
You still need to hear more more songs from the band, so I’ll use this opportunity to announce the pre-pre-beta soft launch of 3hive’s guide to myspace. Few bands can resist the free hosting and instant networking myspace offers, nor should they. Too many times we come across artists who only make their music available on myspace, so we thought we ought to take a stab at whittling down the choices for you.
3hive Makes Flavorpill’s F-List
Tessitura
We consistently receive excellent music tips from our readers and, when we do, small battles usually break out behind the scenes as the six of us stake our claim. Joe beat me to The Spectacular Fantastic but hasn’t posted it up yet. Squatter! As I was sniffing around I discovered a solo project from one of the members of The Spectacular Fantastic, Jonathan Williams, who records under the name Tessitura. Fans of the Elephant 6 collective and those who like a bit of psychedelia with their pop would enjoy a track or two from Tessitura. His bio puts it as blunt as possible: “Tessitura….just a guy writing and recording some songs of his own,” and, the bio fails to mention, “giving them away.” Look, anyone with songs like this floating around in their head would be doing the world a great disservice if they didn’t commit them to tape or ones and zeroes. The fact he’s giving them all away is pure bonus.
New 3hive Podcast Ready to Fill Your Gadget
Play It As It Lays Frequent Flyers
Richard Swift MP3 Added + West Coast Tour
Introducing P. Williams: Visual Artist
Caroline
After shunning major labels in her native Japan, Caroline Lufkin made her way back across the Pacific (she went to college in Boston) to California to begin work on an album with a wide array of producers (the producer in question here is Norway-born Andreas Bjorck). Maybe it’s because the weather has finally dipped below 50º here in L.A. but the shimmering, icy cool textures of “Where’s My Love” just warms the toes and has kind of ushered in the holiday season for me. It’s knocked me out my frantic rush of daily life and I half expect to see snowflakes falling during a perfect, sunny day here. Her voice, it’s magic.