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Listen to “RIZE UP trumpet edit” on MySpace.
Lauren Flax in Norway
Lauren Flax drags an icepick across the room and makes it sound sweet. Lauren Flax converts cherries into C++ code snippets as if they were header files. Lauren Flax floats board games across seas of tigers. Lauren Flax exposes dynamic dynamicness as if it were inherently living within every object, every creature, and especially every track she spins.
Listen to “Pretty Pretty” on MySpace.
Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla the Girl enjoying a nice day - photo by M. Maloney
Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla the Girl walks the tightrope between stalking and cute. In “Pretty Pretty”, Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla the Girl captures the freakish paranoia that a pretty girl inspires in so many people. And it’s such a catchy tune! The beat, the chorus, and the straightforward verses all contribute to the groove.
Listen to “J’y Suis Jamais All” on MySpace.
Yann Tiersen during a bout of recording
You’ve heard this. I’m just throwing it up for the two people that haven’t yet. Incidentally, Yann Tiersen has put out some amazing solo albums, and some incredible one-offs he has done for other movies. I just couldn’t find the ones I was thinking of on the Web at the moment.
Listen to “Winter” on MySpace.
Aaron Dietz grabbing a quick nap on the way to the show
What more do you expect from a writer bent on becoming the world’s foremost authority on experimental fiction? Aaron Dietz’s “Winter” is a combination of mediums, just as the majority of all future writings will be. The song makes use of authentic tape-recorded conversations and activities, as well as percussion from various complimentary sounds like the stirring of a hot beverage with a metal spoon. Overall, this is a lot like wading through a river that contains every random object ever conceived of.
Guest written by Luna Moon.
Listen to “Incomplete” on MySpace.
Caroline Lost
Caroline Lost’s sparse instrumentation just makes the song hurt that much more. In reality, there are few layers between the truth and pain. “Incomplete” (from One More Nail) makes the layers that much thinner. Why does it hurt so much? Because it’s true, of course. And when the song is this good, we love, love, love the truth enough to go through the pain.
Listen to “Here Comes Y” on MySpace.
The Poinsettias
I don’t know what it is, exactly, that inspired this song. Perhaps The Poinsettias have been listening to my brainwaves for the last quarter century, as I’ve often got “Strangers in the Night” stuck in there somewhere. And it won’t come out. No matter how pretty the flowers are.
Listen to “Carousel” on MySpace.
On “Carousel”, Jason Sturges gives us a sweet example of what the Stick can do. And by “the Stick” I mean the Chapman Stick, created by Emmett Chapman of Stick Enterprises. It’s a tapping instrument of various strings, each one custom made. Sturges’s approach on “Carousel” works well for the instrument, as both are fairly experimental. You’ll find a hint of jazz and elements of funk and a brief bouquet of oak and cinnamon, as well. The aftertaste is truly delightful. Enjoy with cheese, or with a good pasta dinner.
Listen to “Tangle” on jasonsturges.com.
The Stern Fishermen was an early side-project of Jason Sturges and Jason Slater. Rather than write a song explicitly, The Stern Fishermen preferred to write music to be performed alongside a choreographed dance, then take the music from the live performance, subtract the feedback, violin, and screaming, and record it as quietly as possible in a tiny studio hidden away on the Iowa State University campus. You can hear the studio in this recording, if not just because you can’t hear it.
Listen to “Wolf in the Fold” on MySpace.
From Denver’s best prematurely defunct band, comes “Wolf in the Fold”. The song loses something without the lead singer splitting his pants in front of you, or pouring a pitcher of ice water over his head, but even when it’s not live, The Risk’s “Wolf in the Fold” is a fabulous extra solid piece of rock music. It’s worth including in the primer that you’re putting together to teach future generations how to rock.
Listen to “Sea Ghost” on MySpace.
The Unicorns are full of catch guitar lines, and on “Sea Ghost” (from Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone?) they punch them out like a coffee addict at an indie coffee house with a coffee card in hand. That coffee-affected person would be perfectly suited to jerking along to the punchy opening (after a brief recorder and drum intro)–sweet! In fact, I’m drinking coffee right now just so I can jerk more effectively to this freaking awesome catchy guitar. Don’t make me dance to it! I just want to bop!