Perhaps the fact that evening have been making music together since the mid-’90s is what makes their full-length debut sound so accomplished. Whatever it is, the massive, spiraling guitars and otherwise hook-laden discontent magically conjure that Radiohead-esque penchant for accessible experimentality without aping the Oxford lads.
Secret Mommy
Andy Dixon, a Vancouver-based web designer/audio saboteur, plays Olympic-paced ping pong (or is it table tennis?) with odd samples and found sounds until they become a blur of sound and rhythm. The results range from buoyant (“An Apple a Day…”) to jarring (“Save As”) to satirical (“Bottom 40,” wherein Britney Spears is revealed as the cat in heat that she is).
The Dismemberment Plan
After ten years of recording their own spastic, elastic brand of pop, The Dismemberment Plan “open sourced” 11 of their songs and let the public have at them in a sort of remix-off. Some notable — and wildly eclectic — results were released on last fall’s swan song, A People’s History of The Dismemberment Plan. Me? I can’t decide between the breakneck bricolage of “Pay for the Piano” (featuring cameos by Elvis Costello’s “Pump It Up”) or the strolling mash-up of “Superpowers” (built on the guitar line from the Faces’ “Ooh La La”).
Daedelus
Cacophonic intro track to Daedelus’ hip-hop record, Rethinking the Weather, layers a psychotic amount of voices over noodles of acoustic guitar, clattered beats, and flute loops. It’s but a small, imperfect glimpse into Daedelus’ expanding, eclectic universe.
Headset
Allen Avanessian (Plug Research) and Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel, Postal Service, Figurine) hit the lab with a hard drive full of devolved beats and glitch-and-paste collages, then invite a who’s who of electronic and hip-hop innovators to muse over the sparse foundation. The result ranges from head-nodding to chin-stroking; this track, featuring verbal gymnast Subtitle flowing over what sounds like a dying music box, exemplifies the latter.
Fridge
UK post-rock trio, not unlike Tortoise, prone to toy with electronic and sometimes jazzy improvisations. Although Fridge can sometimes resort to experimentation for experimentation’s sake, these tracks are a fine sampling of their more accessible work. FYI: Fridge has spawned two solo projects, Four Tet (Kieran Hebden) and Adem (Adem Ilhan).
Experimental Dental School
You’re tossing and turning in your sleep. A nightmare. You’re in your bed, in your room. But it’s not your room. It’s a carnival fun-house. A band is playing the most beautiful music ever heard…in a nightmare. The singer sounds like Jello Biafra, but it’s not Jello Biafra. Dreams are like that.
Note: This is the entire album Hideous Dance Attack.
Osymyso
Dangermouse messes with Britain’s biggest export since, well, since a bunch of disenfranchised chaps bailed the island to follow their own nation start-up dreams, the web goes grey for a day and the masses are alerted to the mash-up. No newcomer to the genre, Osymyso, messes with your head and record collection with these two takes on the same theme.
Puritan
With a penchant for literary lyrics, Puritan manage loose, almost off-handed pop songs to dark, dusty anti-ballads with a Malkmus-esque flair. Imagine Lloyd Cole making music in an American bedroom without the Commotions.
RF
If you had to pigeonhole RF, you might label it Intelligent Acoustic Music. His whispering guitars and gentle programming make me want to snuggle up with my iPod and a good Haruki Murakami novel.