Had they offered up even one full MP3 I’d be reviewing this right now. Just as well, Ilkae suits my need for chilled-out electronic sounds just fine. I’m not talking about the soft-bellied glut of easy-listening Musak(TM) that’s out there these days passing as chill-out music. I like mine with just enough twittering clicks and clacks to keep things interesting. Ilkae’s golden like that, without overpowering their gentle, cinematic melodies.
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!
Piney Gir
I’ve been sitting on this one for months now…a testament to how much great music 3hive has in store for you this year! Angela Penhaligon (aka Piney Gir) comes to us from Kansas via the UK. Random right? Her album, Peakahokahoo, is all over the musical map as well; take this first song here as an example. Slippery with slide guitars, it starts off with a twang, breaking down to 808 electronic wizardry in the second verse. Then it all swells together for the chorus. “K-I-S-S-I-N-G” takes the familiar children’s rhyme, backs it with an Italian noir-ish soundtrack, and sets it in Vegas. The one constant? Her solid, silky vocals.
Love As Laughter
Sam Jayne was the singer/guitarist of Lync. I’m not ashamed to tell you that I still have a special place in my heart for Lync. But this is not about Lync; it’s about the progression (or perhaps, regression, depending on your point of view) of Sam Jayne from the northwest indie rock of Lync and the early days of Love As Laughter aka LAL to the full-on rock ‘n’ roll assault of “Temptation Island” from LAL’s last LP Sea to Shining Sea. So what will LAL’s rumored 2005 album on Sub Pop bring? Listen in the order below and then start placing your bets.
Scientific American
It’s good to see Andrew Rohrmann (formerly of Hush Harbor) take on The Establishment by opting for the proper, if copyrighted, spelling of Scientific American. (Those who know him from his bedroom-beats-turned-commercial-beds on Slabco, know he used to drop the first “c” in Scientific, presumably to keep the lawyers at bay.) Those who don’t know the score can get caught up real quick. Simply set aside 109MB of hard drive space and bask in the generosity of Slabco’s free music policy.
Imaginary Baseball League
If the kids in suburban Detroit are talking about an obscure indie band from Tennessee, it means: a) Imaginary Baseball League is going to be the Next Big Thing, b) someone here has a cousin in Murfreesboro whose best friend is dating IBL’s drummer, or c) the Internet really does work as a way for people with like interests to connect, thus overcoming the boundaries of distance, culture, etc. Whichever answer works for you, go with it, you know? And if you like what you hear of Imaginary Baseball League, first thank Megan and then check out their website for a bunch more downloadable tracks.
Valet
Valet is a Minneapolis band who released their fine debut album The Glamour Is Contagious in 2002. Their latest, Life on the Installment Plan, came out last year, but “Cop Stories” from the former features a hauntingly wonderful melody, the kind that gets stuck in your head, and in this case…that’s a good thing.
RX
Brilliant and hilarious speech mash-ups of George W. Bush set to classic melodies. These are gonna make your day. Six more tracks are available on The Party Party site. I have DJ Longbeard to thank for turning me onto this stuff. I’m privileged to be on the air at KUCI right before his show Synchronicity. It’s chock full o’ fun like this…dig in.
EzeeTiger
This guy Anthony Petrovic is soaking in irony: 1) He goes by EzeeTiger, yet he wears a bear suit on this cover of his latest album; b) he has song titles such as “White Castle Gestapo” and “How to Rock…for Red Bennies”; and, thirdly, he cops overdub trickery from the likes of Spiritualized and MBV, then kicks the crap out of it in a death-metal stylee. By the way, these two tracks are just lo-fi teasers of the wild smorgasbord his self-titled album has to offer.
Mobius Band
Just ain’t no doubt. Ghostly has consistently released some of the best, essential music for the past several years. When we started up 3hive (over a year ago!) Ghostly artists frequently appeared on this site. But then the label made the ghastly switch from full MP3s to clips. Oh, the delight to discover a full-length MP3 from Ghostly’s newest signing, the MA trio, Mobius Band! These gents put just the right amount of “electro” into their “rock” without falling into neu-wave cliché. Imagine if R.E.M. began in the 21st century instead of the ’80s of last. They share similar melancholy vocal mumblings and novel sonic arrangements. Get this one while you can, don’t know how long it’ll last.
*Note: Ghostly’s back with MP3s! Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. Peep the newest Mobius Band MP3 “The Loving Sounds of Static…”