I found these guys through their video. A friend of mine directed it. Clever and catchy, reminiscent of The Rentals, Dealership have a hopeful, Friday night action vibe working for them. A poppy and wonderful antidote to the approaching winter.
Emperor X
Sure, we all had Casio keyboards as teens in the ’80s. The only groove I could ever manage came from holding down the “fill” button on the disco beat. But the 7″ EP by Sea Saw that I bought in 1995 showed me what a Casio keyboard can do in the hands of a genius. I expanded my love of Casio keyboards to include its cousins, the Farfisa, the Rhodes, etc, and I ran the gamut from hollAnd (the re-named Sea Saw) to the Rentals to Quintron. With hollAnd going spacey, I now have Emperor X to provide me with my fix.
Oxford Collapse
Time warp! These Oxford Collapse songs borrow heavily from some key songs from my youth. It’s uncanny I tell you… Respectively: Adam and the Ants’ “Beat My Guest”, Altered Images’ “Real Toys” (man, did I have a crush on Claire Grogan; I must have watched Gregory’s Girl fifty times), and, finally, a more recent favorite, Butterfly Train’s “What’s Falling About”. Sure the tempos are off a bit, but it’s the mood. It’s the rush of traveling backwards in time…
Fog
I’ve just about reached presidential campaign 2004 overload. Everyone’s got their two cents and now, more than ever, they’re eager to spout ’em off. I can’t listen to, or read, any contemporary works without having the subtext lunge at me. Regardless of the message lurking below the surface, this taste of Fog’s forthcoming album flip-flops with clicks and clacks while the beat is firm in its resolve.
20 Minute Loop
Each 20 Minute Loop song bears its own unique persona, personality, and sound — making comparisons to everyone from X to XTC seem rather fleeting. So, if you want backstory, hit Epitonic’s vault of 20ML downloads. I’ll simply leave you with a track from the yet-to-be-released Yawn + House = Explosion, which does represent one common thread in their work: immediate, narrative lyrics that suck you into a whirlwind of mesmerizing boy/girl harmonies.
Mates of State
There’s one thing you can say about bands who tour constantly: they love their music. Mates of State is one of those bands — and you’ll soon love their music, too. In antipication of the November release of their new EP and DVD, enjoy these songs, one off of each of their three albums. Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel are literally mates, and the things they do with a Yamaha organ and a drumkit will soon put you in another state. So that’s how they got their name…
Human Television
I’ve been on a huge Wedding Present revival lately for some reason (must be my sister getting married in April…) and, as always seems to be the case, I find myself experiencing the well-documented “Wedding Present Phenomenon”: nearly every other band I listen to now seems to be influenced by David Gedge and Company. This group from Gainesville is no exception, and would likely admit to having worn through a few copies of Bizarro. More Human TV MP3s (not to mention a good selection of Wedding Present CDs) can be found at Insound.
Revolutionary Hydra
Remember the Dutch Elms from a couple weeks ago? Remember I said I didn’t know anything about them, other than their ability to create pure pop? Well, I’ve since discovered the Dutch Elms and the Revolutionary Hydra have something in common: songwriter extraordinaire Jay Chilcote.
Lettuce Prey
Lettuce Prey is Mike Lenert, an obsessive and insanely prolific veteran of underrated pop bands (Caterpillar, Lilys) and a recurring touring band ringer for many more. So prolific is he that his music has been distributed through numerous labels and nearly every medium possible: 7-inch, 12-inch, CD, cassette, and, (lucky for us) MP3. Prolific, of course, could be a nice way of saying not every one of his 400 published songs are all that. But these here jaunts — some tender, some bizarre — split the difference between Robyn Hitchcock and Neutral Milk Hotel, proving what the man’s capable of…
Daniel Johnston
Where to begin? The liner notes to Johnston’s new retrospective/tribute pin the “Godfather of Lo-Fi” label on him. That’s a start. Name check the tribute and you’ll get a sense of the depth of Daniel Johnston’s influence: Beck, Bright Eyes, Mercury Rev, Sparklehorse, and Tom Waits. He began in the early eighties, committing simple, raw, gorgeous songs to tape (“Put My Love Out The Door”), via handheld recorder. While his production quality has improved over time, it’s never been at the expense of his primary craft, songwriting (George Lucas take note! The new Star Wars movies suck!) Daniel Johnston makes me wanna toss my computer out the window (gasp!) and never use a cell phone again. He’s proof, and hope, that the medium doesn’t have to be the message.