It’s been one of those weeks. The kind of week you can only get through thanks to beautiful pop and/or German ska. As for the German ska, I’ve been relying on the Ska..ska..skandal series from the ’90s. And for the pop, there’s Benzos. They play a soaring, shimmering pop (they even say so on “Glass Souls,” off the soon-to-be-released Morning Stanzas) that’s somewhere between Radiohead and The Autumns. And to get me through coaching my first peewee soccer game today…well, I’m not sure anything can do that.
Sally Crewe and the Sudden Moves
Anyone remember The Housemartins? Musically, Sally Crewe and the Sudden Moves are the various children they left scattered across England in the hedonistic ’80s, united to resurrect the pleasantly pointless pop of their parents. Nothing too complex here, just cleanly written songs with straightforward guitar hooks and smooth backing vocals, mostly about cars (and most songs barely making it past two minutes).
John Vanderslice
When she graduated last year, Martha gave me a mix CD without a track list. For some people, this would be considered a form of psychological abuse as opposed to a kind gesture. For others, like me, it’s a pleasant excuse for wasting an hour playing on Google. Investigating “Me and My 424” (one of my favorite songs on what turned out to be a great road trip mix, with the likes of Iron and Wine and Nick Drake) led me to John Vanderslice and about a dozen MP3s, half of which are provided for you below. The marriage of his macabre narratives and nasal vocal whine is infinitely better than the description sounds — trust me. Also, if you’ve got the time, check out Tiny Telephone, his SF recording studio. Thanks, Martha!
Sambassadeur
I can’t figure out how this band landed on my iPod. I checked the usual suspects (can’t believe Jason isn’t all over this one). I scoured the suggestion box. I asked Jeeves. No dice. So I’ll just assume it’s a sign that I should spread word of their sweet (and Swedish!) shoegazer folk. The breakdown on “Between the Lines” — the snare hit, the ethereal “ahs,” the chord progression — is completely irresistible to simple minds and hearts such as mine.
Between the Lines [MP3, 2.4MB, 128kbps]
Whatever Season [MP3, 2.9MB, 128kbps]New Moon [MP3, 3.2MB, 160kbps]Days
Lismore
Briefly: Lismore skillfully mixes electronics and analog instruments for a sound that hits somewhere between The Postal Service and Portishead. On a side note, the guitar riff in “Tremelo” sounds like a sample from some schlocky pop tune that I can’t put my finger on…Anyone?
Group Sounds
HP ain’t the only ones getting mileage out of the Kinks’ time-honored pop formula. Group Sounds put a slightly modern spin on the Davies brothers’ no-nonsense hookology and 90% of what I’ve heard so far sounds pretty flippin’ good (10% being the falsetto chorus on “Business Before Pleasure”). Also, my pal Jon Regardie would be quick to point out that Group Sounds are Jewish, which means they are a chosen band. Well, at very least they’re chosen by 3hive, which should count for something…
The Aluminum Group
I’m an idiot. My brother had borrowed my turntable, and while he had it I was just jonesing to listen to Wire’s “Another the Letter” from Chairs Missing. So he returned it, I got it all hooked back up (or so I thought), put the Chairs Missing album on, pulled the needle over and…nothing happened. There was no spinning of the vinyl. I spent a half hour messing around with the darn thing before I realized that…get a load of this…I hadn’t plugged the power cord in! Power restored, I also threw on Severed Heads’ Come Visit the Big Bigot and Modern English’s After the Snow. I could have just listened to The Aluminum Group’s “Motorcycles,” a near perfect blend of the best of those two bands’ sounds, and saved myself some trouble.
Hot Hot Heat
For those who like your heat hot hot — and you know who you are — help yourself to a couple MP3s from the forthcoming Elevator. For those who like your heat canned…ahem, well, here’s to you.
Anna Fermin’s Trigger Gospel
So, my wife and I are taking our daughter on her second trip to Chicago (or “Ka-goh,” as she likes to say) a week AFTER Anna Fermin’s Trigger Gospel plays at Schuba’s, one of the greatest bars in the whole world. I bet the kid would love Anna’s clear vocals and rootsy country-rock (in fact, she’d probably say “better,” in comparison to something else that wasn’t as good). I’m not sure if they’d let almost-two-year-olds in, though.
Lorna
Leslie (last name protected to prevent stalking) is one of those angels sent from heaven masquerading as IT support. She floats through the hallways with a skip in her step and a song on her lips. Her first question is always, “When do you need this?” And, while her office looks like an ER for abused laptops and fried hard drives, she’s as good at chill conversation as she is at virus removal. Now that I’m in our decidedly more DIY Detroit office, I count new ways to miss her each day… Anyway, I discovered Lorna a while back when I left my laptop with Leslie for some kind of unscheduled maintenance and it came back with a couple “bonus” tracks on it (see what I mean?). Appropriately enough, the Nottingham-based Lorna have an angelic quality to them as well: wistful and utterly gorgeous boy/girl harmonies strung carefully over rich, heady, and often surprising orchestration. There are even more MP3s on the band’s website (requires free registration), but if you want to hear the two tracks that started this whole train of thought — “2AM Beach Story” and “Glow Worm” — you’ll need to buy their 2004 album This Time, Each Year. While you’re at it, pick up their latest, Static Patterns and Souvenirs. Heck, spring for a t-shirt, you tightwad!