Get ready to cut the rug, because this here is a bumping dose of pure dance energy from this indie supertrio. Dan Geller and Mark Mallman grew up together in Wisconsin playing chess and trading mixtapes. After graduation Geller, whose mixtapes often included The Smiths, The Cure and New Order, moved to Athens, GA, started up Kindercore Records, and began recording pop-tronic gems under the name I Am The World Trade Center. Mallman, who had contributed bands like Pink Floyd and Velvet Underground to their mixtapes, went the art school route and began recording over the top piano pop under his own name. The two reconnected and wanted to blend their styles of music. That’s when drummer Aaron Lemay stepped in. When he heard the demos he said, “I can’t let you two fools attempt this madness alone.” Then there were three fools making foolishly fun arena dance music. I can imagine a grafting of Daft Punk and Queen producing a sound a lot like this.
The Upallnights
In this time of political posturing and ramblin’ rhetoric I’ve found someone with whom I can agree: Introducing The Upallnights, who have proposed the following plan for potential supporters: “Let’s go to the airport and catch a random flight…Let’s got to where the governments don’t lie and everything you eat tastes like blueberry pie.” If they’re including a scoop of vanilla bean ice-cream in the deal, count me in! The Upallnights are nothing more than four unassuming lads from Stockholm armed with guitars, drums, blasting out jangly punk pop bullets that will keep your feet dancing. The cover of their new EP, Factory Sessions, should give you an idea of the band’s modus operandi. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of young boys with light sabers, let me tell you they mean business. Stay out of their way, cuz they, um, just wanna have fun.
Girl Talk
At the risk of revealing myself as A) behind the times, and B) a complete tool, I’m going to share that I’ve recently gotten back into heavy exercise. At the gym, I usually listen to (here’s where the “complete tool†part comes in) This American Life or some other talky podcast where I don’t have to worry about (tool again) consistently high-energy beats. But praise be to Pittsburgh’s Greg Gillis, whose Night Ripper from 2006 is a (the behind the times part) mashup masterpiece that (tool) keeps my adrenaline PUMPED, man! For my money, Z-Trip is still the high-water mark of such guerrilla hip-hop-classic-rock-punk-pop-whatever mixing, but what Gillis does with the riffs from The Pixies, the Strokes and Weezer in “Hold Up†helps me burn 500 calories in two minutes. Girl Talk’s newest, Feed the Animals, is available here for whatever price you want to pay, which I’ve already done so that I can take my workout to anotha level of behind-the-times toolness. Join me and feel the burn!
4 Bonjour’s Parties
Their name sounds as if something’s been lost in translation, but you won’t lose a thing if you invest a bit of time or money into Japan’s 4 Bonjour’s Parties. This seven piece Toyko ensemble shapes all manner of instruments into one gorgeous kaleidoscope of sound. Woodwinds and synths, glockenspiels and guitars blend into epic twists of modern-day chamber pop. The debut from 4 Bonjour’s Parties, Pigments Drift Down To The Brook, sounds like a long distance pen pal reply to the High Llamas or Stereolab; their sweet boy/girl vocals evoke a tone similar to contemporary Icelandic artists Múm and Sigur Ros. The band signed to Japan’s And Records right lickety-split after opening for Clue to Kalo and I expect you’ll take an immediate liking to them as well.
Santogold
I know I’ve been taking the “summer hours” concept a little too seriously, but it’s hard to do anything but enjoy summer when you have something stuck in your iPod like Top Ranking, Diplo’s “mixtape” treatment of Santogold’s debut album. Diplo’s dub-bass-electro-hop concoction provides a textured playground for Santi White’s angelic and sassy brand of new wave. Unreleased mixes of Santi tracks bounce in and out between cuts from Three 6 Mafia, Benga, B-52s, Ratatat, and Sir Mix-a-Lot—there’s a smile around every corner. (If this sounds familiar, Diplo did the same for the last big indie “it” girl, M.I.A., on the eve of her debut album with the 2004 mixtape Piracy Funds Terrorism.)
Now, if you’re picturing me just swaying away in a shady hammock you’re only partly right. Top Ranking also got me off my butt and running every morning (five weeks and counting!). And it’s been the soundtrack to some spontaneous summer grill action… I don’t mean to overpromise but I guarantee it will make your life better—even if that means you forget to update your blog for over a month.
These tracks are some tasty Santogold remixes featured on Diplo’s Mad Decent label, though they’re not even on Top Ranking. For that, you’ll want to head over to turntablelab.com and drop $12 for the 75-minute mix.
Portastatic
I’ve already written about how Mac has been my personal shrink. Portastatic’s got a double disc of demos, singles, B-sides and covers — Ryan Adams, Galaxie 500, etc. — coming out in a week. Some Small History: sign me up!
Some Small History [MP3, 6MB, 192kbps]
Original post: 01/17/06
Mac McCaughan — either with Superchunk or solo as Portastatic — pretty much got me through the 1990s, much to the annoyance of my friends and girlfriends. Yes, every song does sound the same, and no, I don’t care. “I Wanna Know Girls” is like unconditional love for me, a song that I’ve been waiting for, maybe without knowing it, for five years or more. ” I wanna know girls but only love one,” “and yeah my love weighs a ton.” (So do I, with the sympathy pounds I’ve added during my wife’s pregnancy, but that’s another story.) It’s nice to see Mac’s songwriting mature from last decade’s boozy lovesickness, and it’s also nice, for me at least, to hear that the songs do still sound the same.
Marching Band
I dig the quick and dirty track Clay posted yesterday from The Real Losers. Good and raw. It reminds me of a knockout Kafka saying (for the original quotation replace “listen to” with “read” and “records” for “books”), “I think we ought to listen to only the kind of records that wound and stab us. If the record we are listening to doesn’t wake us up with a blow on the head, what are we listening to it for?”
Marching Band is a soothing antidote to those records that leave you bleeding. This Swedish duo is making quite a name for themselves on L.A. radio, which in turn has plenty of music supervisors geeked on Marching Band’s carefree indie pop. Obvious comparisons can be drawn to The Shins, but I immediately thought of Field Music when I heard “For Your Love.” “Make Up Artist” has a similar disco pop groove to the underrated Phoenix. The band generously shares tracks from the three EPs before their debut album, which is available now. I’ll quit yapping so you can make your own connections to your favorite artist, because there’s really something here for any purveyor of the popular side of rock ‘n’ roll.
Plastilina Mosh
No matter if you speak español or inglés, you’re gonna get a kick out of the new Plastilina Mosh tracks. That is unless, you’re completely lacking any sense of fun. For those of you unfamiliar with P. Mosh, the duo out of Monterrey, Mexico first imported their bombastic, south-of-the-border-B-52s-meet-Beck party tunes just about a decade ago. They worked with the Dust Brothers and Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf (all of whom worked with Beck early in his career). They enjoyed a healthy amount of commercial success with the track “Mr. P Mosh.” Staying true to their divergent sound, Plastilina Mosh once again mix it up on their new album, All U Need is Mosh. The band can cross styles and tempos just as easy as they cross cultures and languages. One fantastic groove to get on.
Inara George
It never hurts to have the right friends in the right places. Inara George takes full advantage of an old family friend on her new album An Invitation, out now on Everloving Records. Lucky for her, and us, the friend she’s collaborated with on this album is Van Dyke Parks, the arranger of the last forty years. Haven’t heard of him? Certainly you’ve heard him. Suffice it to say he arranged songs and wrote lyrics with Brian Wilson for the Beach Boys’ ever elusive Smile album. His work with Ms. George is quite different however. Parks arranged airy, playful compositions for a large orchestra to accompany George’s rich vocal performance. The album is an organic foil to Inara George’s work with her electronic work with Greg Kurstin as The Bird and The Bee. I love the loose, improvised feel to these tracks. It’s as if I’m watching Inara on stage in a musical, a love story, and I’ve suspended every shred of disbelief to the point that I’m sure she’s in love with me. And it takes days to chase her voice out of my head and shake those floaty feelings the have left me giddy.
Chad VanGaalen
I’m kind of busy right now watching Canada vs. Cuba in Olympic baseball on CBC, but I will say this: Chad VanGaalen’s trembly, trippy, falsetto-ed pop makes a lousy soundtrack for watching athletics on television. (For the most part: the rocking “Graveyard,” available for free download below, might fit in during the half inning breaks where t-shirts are tossed into the crowd.) VanGaalen, of Calgary, crafts stylish and hip songs with a strong D.I.Y. vibe. With these tracks below, borrowed from VanGaalen’s three ablums, all your lo-fi friends will be wanting to know what you’re spinning. Tell them you’re busy — water polo’s on in ten minutes.