Tim O. and I were sitting in the office listening to Mike Ferraro’s “Lovers Only Love,” and he was like, “Hey, all this guy needs is hand claps,” and I was like, “Yeah.” And then I started wondering how Mike Ferraro’s songs ended up on my computer, and I found an old e-mail he sent to 3hive on 8.14.05. That explains that. And then I dug around some more and saw that David — of the wonderful LargeHearted Boy MP3 and other stuff blog — wrote about Mike Ferraro way back when, too, and then I felt really scooped. But you know, that was last year, and this is now, and Tim O. and I are digging these songs so much and hoping you people will go to Mike F’s website and buy his demos, go see him live, or whatever, and clap your hands at all the right times. Yeah.
Pelle Carlberg
A Swedish boy and his guitar. Former leader of the Swedish band Edson, Pelle Carlberg, is out on his own now, finding his way in the big world and singing about it all with warm, personal, and calmly infectious pop.
Eef Barzelay
Whadya know? Eef Barzelay’s modern-life-is-rubbish lyrics sound as good stripped down to just him and a guitar as they do with the full Clem Snide players behind him. Granted, Clem Snide is never more than half-dressed anyway, but it’s quite nice hearing the intricacies of Barzelay’s fractured wails so intimately. Pretty, insightful, lovely.
Head Like A Kite
My only uncle by blood recently passed away after a sudden and brief battle with cancer. Over the past few years I had been trying to get copies of his old home movies because I made frequent cameos in them as a young child. It’s very rare, early footage of me on film or video. Yes kids, I remember the days before everyone had video cameras in their cell phones! While he was living the last weeks of his life, my uncle, Erich, made me copies of those films. I was floored at his complete unselfishness and I was fortunate to be able to thank him on Christmas day, the last time I saw him. Each brief clip of our families is pure magic in today’s saturated world of moving images.
It was timely then for me to come across Head Like A Kite, the solo project from Dave Einmo. His debut album Random Portraits of the Home Movie was inspired by the economy of Super 8 movies. Combining samples from the movies, filtered through various guitar effects and gadgets, and a keen sense of well-honed pop songs, Einmo cut and pasted together a musical homage to the vintage format. It’s a rich reflection on how the past inevitably textures the present.
Doveman
Doing a little bit of cleaning up around here and I was gladdened to come across The Acrobat and immediately horrified upon realizing that I’ve had Doveman queued up on our back-end of Moveable Type for SIX months. Doveman is slowly orchestrated pop, not unlike Belle and Sebastian dropping it down a notch for ladies choice at the skating rink. (Wow. I have no idea why that rollerskating image popped in my head). If you liked Neil Halstead’s (Slowdive, Mojave 3) solo record, and you should, you should find Doveman aurally satisfying. A little blogosphere trivia, vocalist Thomas Bartlett keys the Audiofile column over at Salon.com — another fine, clean and quick MP3 fix.
Fruit Bats
I’ve been meaning to post the Fruit Bats for a while now because, well, because they’re as reassuring as a warm cup of tea. The acoustic guitar has a lovely lilt to it. The slight, overdubbed vocals don’t demand attention but get it anyway. And the alternately peppy and melancholy rhythms float on and on and on. All in all, you get the sense that the Fruit Bats respect their mothers, and a little motherly love in our indie pop could do us all some good.
Shotgun and Jaybird
Lo-fi music from “smalltown Canada.” That’s how Paul from Shotgun and Jaybird described Sackville, New Brunswick, in his e-mail pitch to 3hive (I added the lo-fi part). It seems like these guys are kind of into the small — small sound, small town, a new EP of (only) 6 songs. Even their wonderful crayon slideshow bio is too short, in the sense that it’s not long enough. What happens next? Do they still live in the Road King? Download “Secret” for a Pavement-inspired soundtrack of what’s going on in Sackville.
Mark Robinson
Like Sam says here, I, too, have been impressed with eMusic’s recent additions, which have allowed me to get a bunch of albums I should have already had, but just never got around to getting. Like more Mark Robinson, founder of Teenbeat Records (not the teen mag), member of Unrest, Air Miami, Flin Flon, Grenadine, Olympic Death Squad, and all around swell guy. I’m a big fan of his work and probably should have shared this long ago, so like Sean says, shame on us!
Eagle*Seagull
Sometimes I’m absolutely stumped about what to write about a particular artist. Complete writer’s block. That’s not the case with Eagle*Seagull. A laundry list of bands they remind me of, and are likely influenced by, are tumbling around in my skull, waiting for someone to just open the door. In this case, I think any one of them would cheapen the listening experience. I will say this: the band’s seven members strong, they’re from Lincoln, Nebraska, and a large majority of our 3hive audience is really going to like them. Props to DoCopenhagen for the tip.
Belle and Sebastian
Look, we don’t worry ourselves with being “first” on anything. 3hive’s about sharing, not competing for some cool trophy. But damn are we late on this one! Shame on us! I know Clay’s gonna be kicking himself for missing this. Sam too. If you were unaware of the forthcoming Belle and Sebastian album (The Life Pursuit, in stores February 7th), enjoy its first sounds. If you’ve already got your hands on the whole thing, memorized all the words, and saw them in Scotland last week, or this week in England, well, you’re cooler than us. Believe me, that ain’t hard.