We were watching Friday Night Lights and digging on the soundtrack. I was all, “This sounds like Mogwai” and Heather was all “Yeah” and I’m all “But Mogwai in a football movie?” and Heather’s all “Yeah.” Then we froze the credits and had to pick up our jaws from the floor. It wasn’t Mogwai. It was Explosions in the Sky, from Austin, Texas. These two tracks pack a big wallop. Kind of like Texas. Almost sweet at first, once the build hits you, it’s like senior year all over again.
Kingfisherg
Kingfisherg is from Liege, Belgium, and is on Carte Postal Records. Now you know as much as I do about Kingfisherg. But with electronic music this enchanting, that’s really all you need to know. You see, at my new job, I’m on the other side of a raspberry-colored cubicle wall from a woman who listens to easy listening that frankly BLASTS from the radio on her desk. No, it’s not actually that loud, but I cannot think while being forced to listen to this music. Fortunately for me, I can put on my headphones and listen to Kingfisherg’s brand of easy listening.
Skeletons & the Girl-Faced Boys
Weirdo, funk pop that’s sure to “git” the party started. Or not. Depends on the party. Depends on the party favors. Reminds me of this book I’m reading where a young Nigerian boy dresses up like Elvis singing and dancing for tips, but Skeletons & the Girl-Faced Boys are the polar opposite: white boys dressing up and getting funky à la Prince.
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…”
Octant
Octant are Tassy Zimmerman, Matthew Steinke, and an automated acoustic drum machine called the AD3, which looks like the kind of drum a one-man band would use only it has a motor instead of a man powering it. The result is a broken android new wave thing that kinda makes me nostalgic for the simple days of the Cold War.
Swirlies
Yes, I admit, I can be quite obsessive. Case in point: Sambassadeur‘s song “Whatever Season.” I’ve got it looping in its own playlist in MP3 player. But this obsessive behavior is nothing new, as 3hive’s own Sam can testify. Back when he and I shared a room in college I went thru a Swirlies phase. Swirlies are still alive and kicking, thanks to main man Damon Tutunjian. In their prime, no one could make a racket as beautifully as them Swirlies. Now please pardon me while I load my entire Swirlies collection onto my MP3 player.
Solex
Arena Rock’s now clocking in at five entries here at 3hive. After conquering the East Coast, ARRCO honcho, Greg Glover moved out to Portland and is making plenty of noise at one of the finer stations in the country, KNRK. Greg’s quite the go-getter and to my delight he went-and-got Solex, aka Elizabeth Esselink, and put out her 2004 release, The Laughing Stock of Indie Rock. Esselink makes the tastiest pop around, a pleasing mix of PJ Harvey-type guitar riffs, loops and samples a la Soul Coughing, with the sweet vocals of someone like Claire Grogan from the ’80s band Altered Images. For the already initiated be sure to check out the new EP: Solex + M.A.E. In the Fishtank.
The Raging Family
Here’s a brief recap of The Raging Family’s bio: raised and home-schooled by bohemians in Upstate New York; lived in Eugene, Oregon until driven from their house by local authorities because of noise and behavior complaints; settled down in an enclave somewhere in the hills outside of town to focus on music and art. If you ask me it all sounds a little cultish, and at the risk of becoming Sharon Tate to their Manson Clan, I’m gonna throw my support behind The Raging Family’s latest “concept” album. Black Holes is ostensibly a journey through space and time, but how they get us there is through an eclectic collection of styles ranging from the knob-twisting and wax-scratching exploits of Land of the Loops and Prefuse 73, the found-sound rebelliousness of Negativland, the electro-clash abandon of Meat Beat Manifesto, the jazz exploration of Miles Davis and Sun Ra Arkestra, and even the psychedelic guitar masturbation of Carlos Santana’s Illuminations period. It’s a whole lot of styles to wrap your noodle around, but luckily the band has posted the entire album on their website for us to take it all in (the links below are just some highlights), and there are other entire albums there fully linked for the taking — but beware, the money you save on music today may go to pay for the cult deprogrammer you’ll need tomorrow.
Invincible Overlord
As a kid I always had trouble convincing my parents that the members of the Dead Kennedys were talented musicians, that they chose to play the music they did, sing the songs they sang (“Kill The Poor” or “Let’s Lynch the Lanlord”) to make a statement. They wouldn’t have it. Although today, after suffering through four sons with similar tastes in music, they get it. Invincible Overlord proves my point. Many popular musicians are (gasp) actual musicians. This is the moonlighting project from a member of a band that will remain unnamed here. I’ll leave that for you to discover. These songs are an old school take on a new school style. Instrumentation over samples. Like Four Tet unplugged or Prefuse 73 pre-digital cut and paste. Invincible Overlord concentrate on the I and the M in IDM.
Subtle
I just scratched the post I wrote about Subtle when, upon doing a bit of research on the band, discovered that they were in a car accident while on tour in February, and their synth/sample player, Dax Pierson broke his neck and is going through massive rehabilitation. He received $2,000 from insurance and the wheelchair he needs alone costs $30K. So you can imagine the situation he’s in. A career as a touring musician doesn’t offer much in the way of insurance or stability.
His friends have set up a recovery fund to assist Dax in his healing and recovery. I made a donation, and it would be amazing if some of our readers could do the same. Check the site for all the info and for upcoming benefit shows. If you’re not able to support financially, download the tunes, enjoy, and send good vibes in Dax’s direction.