Ahhhh, the sounds of Sunday. Brothers and Sisters, put your hands together for the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir! In reality, there’s no choir, the gospel they preach is the saving grace of rock ‘n’ roll (“Yet you’re saved by the graves/Of old men whose names play on the jukebox”), none of the members are incarcerated, and they’re based in Chicago (although one of the principal members, Elia, was born in Wales). A couple years back the band found themselves supporting bands like Arcade Fire, Spoon, Olivia Tremor Control and seemed to be well on their way to indie rock success. Then in October of last year, co-founder Matthew Kerstein left the band to pursue his own project. Elia continues recording under Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, and should have a new album out next year. Not that I advocate taking sides, but Matthew wrote the first song offered here, Elia the second. Both songs will suck you into this unfolding drama.
Immaculate Machine
Neal took me on my first snowboarding experience a few weeks ago, and on our way to the fake-snow-covered landfill that is skiing in SE Michigan, we listened to CBC Radio 3. What a cool show! (And a good way to get my mind off of impending pain. Actually, Neal is a GREAT teacher, and while I never managed to actually turn the snowboard on purpose, I didn’t hurt anyone either.) Immaculate Machine got spun, and I was sold quickly on their late ’80s new wave sound. Plus, I bet they don’t snowboard on other people’s old garbage in British Columbia.
Madman Moon
A good friend of mine used to regularly harp on me using the line, “Sean, you don’t know anything about music before 1979.” He was referring to the year XTC released their album Drums & Wires, the first album I ever bought with my hard-earned, paper-route cash. In a way he’s right. I didn’t have older siblings whose album collections I could pilfer from. I started with XTC and moved forward, not looking back much. Admittedly, my ability to reference back to classic ’60s and ’70s rock is lacking. Had I ever gone back and done a bit of homework I’d be able to better situate Madman Moon in that spectrum, because they fit in there somewhere. Shades of Bowie, ELO, and even The Doors come through, but there’s another connection or two in there that I just can’t nail down. Anyone else care to take a stab at it?
The Presets
2006 will be a good year if we keep getting MP3s from Australia’s Modular Records. Home to a wide range of goodness — from the epic rock trip that is Wolfmother to the Avalanches’ turntable bricolage — Modular is set on opening the world’s ears to Sydney duo The Presets, whose dark, moody (and sometimes sleazy) electro funk gets remixed here by labelmates Cut Copy. Sounds like they dialed up the “Underworld” setting, if there is such a thing. Now, if we could just get Modular to offer up a Cut Copy original, that’d be one more band I could cross off my 2005 wish list.
The Sweet Hurt
There’s an aspect to The Sweet Hurt’s bio that’s, well, sweetly endearing. After going through the ususal personnel problems that bands have, there emerged an opportunity to play a show that pushed Sweet Hurt founder Wendy Wang “to get the band back together.” So, when I was a kid, I loved The Blues Brothers, especially the car chase scenes, and while The Sweet Hurt sound nothing like Jake and Elwood, I appreciate Wendy’s effort.
Loveninjas
Swedish. Pop. Labrador Records. Silly. Dark. A concept. Songs about a Japanese female assasin. Thrilling costumes. Songs about murder and sex. Not really a band. Genius.
The Colour
Groovalicious, danceable rock straight outta the OC. Following in the footsteps of The Killers, The Colour released an EP in the UK through the Lizard King label, and are heading to Nashville early in the new year to start work on their album. I expect you’ll be hearing and seeing plenty from these lads in ’06. You’d have to be colourblind (ouch!) not to notice.
zooey
It’s funny how everything comes together around the holidays. I was assembling my Christmas-cast last night and wanted something…wasn’t sure what. Then, I check my email to find that Zooey (one Matthieu Beck from Bordeaux, France) has just wrapped up his melancholy Grey Christmas single and, like everything Matthieu creates, is giving it away for free. It fit nicely into the mix, a delicate, flickering little Christmas miracle. That track and his latest full-length, Pique-Nique et Jeux Dans L’eau, are .zip files. So you’ll have to go to Zooey’s downloads page to get your hands on those. However, if you’re looking to escape the weather of the season, we’ve got “Endless Summer on the Beaver Island” with it’s lazy, hazy ode to warmer days.
Matt Costa
I’ve been dying to post Matt Costa. And he recently put up one of my favorite songs from his album, “Cold December,” a song that sounds as great in July as it does in, well, December. So just in time for the holidays… Now in the past couple years I’ve watched Matt go from playing my radio show, local clubs in and around L.A., and a small showcase at SXSW to huge ampitheater shows opening for Jack Johnson. No matter the size of the crowd Matt makes fans because A) he can play, B) he’s cuter than 90% of the men in this world which — surprise! — helps with the ladies, and C) he’s got the songs. Mark my words, you’ll be seeing and hearing plenty from Mr. Costa in the zero six. So start now and get used to it.
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.