Published April 29, 2008
in Pop.
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.
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Published April 23, 2008
in Pop.
Listen to “Passengers” on MySpace.
The Mustard Beards are loosely perfect on “Passengers” (and I mean that in a loosely perfect way). Major points for these things:
1. The static discharge in the sound early on in the song–it’s easier for you to listen for it than for me to explain what I mean by “loosely perfect”.
2. The way those “Oooh’s” come in. Knocks my socks off every time.
3. Simplicity! (I’ve been saying that a lot lately.)
4. The fog that isn’t heard, but distinctly felt in the song–a sad, wet fog on your cheek.
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Published April 16, 2008
in Pop.
Listen to “Destination Vertical” on MySpace.
I love percussion that comes out of ordinary things. On Masha Qrella’s “Destination Vertical” (from Unsolved Remained), the percussion is partially coming from the needle of a record’s staticy stumble over wax (or at least, that’s what it sounds like to me). To me this is doubly interesting because of the title of the song–a record spins horizontally, and probably either the record or the needle would love some vertical movement now and then. I mean, I guess the needle gets a little vertical action but not all that much, and here it is, stuck to the horizontal static-filled record. For a long, long time. If not eternally. Jump, needle! You can do it!
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Published April 14, 2008
in Pop.
Listen to “Jackie” on MySpace.
Tarwater understands that you can’t just play some kind of electronic sound over and over and expect it to carry the song. Oh no–you need hooks. “Jackie” (from The Needle Was Traveling) isn’t even their best song, but it has hooks galore. Soon as that harmonica-sounding thing comes in…hoo! What fun! And then there are more hooks after that! And more after that! Who cares who Jackie is? Pfft! Give me the hooks!
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Published April 11, 2008
in Pop.
Listen to “Race Car” on MySpace.
In an age where Speed Racer is about to make a high-tech live action return to the big screen–In an age where Nascar culture is both worshipped and ridiculed–In an age where an important and enlightening statement about United States culture comes from an Eleanor Roosevelt quote slipped into Talladega Nights, it’s important to remember what race cars are really for: fun. Yamamoto captures this in the mood and tone of “Race Car”.
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Listen to “Still Life” on MySpace.
Most artists start with a still life of sorts, then improve upon it until they are creating something original. American Chamber Music, in “Still Life”, chose instead to introduce distortion and fuzzy reality to the still life, to interrupt the social order by pointing out the abstraction in specificity. Or, maybe they were just liking what was coming out of them and happened to record it. Either way, it’s well worth a listen.
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Published March 18, 2008
in Pop.
Listen to “Mint Juleps and Needles” on MySpace.
Lyrics and enunciation, people. You have to love hearing every syllable clearly while each line presents you with cocktail party-entertaining-quality quips and vocabulary. From the person who popularized the phrase, we are the people our parents warned us about, comes “Mint Juleps and Needles”, perhaps Brenda Kahn’s finest collection of lines and phrases all compacted into one punch of a song. Nestled in one of the top ten albums of the 1990s (Epiphany in Brooklyn), “Mint Juleps and Needles will make you a fan of Brenda Kahn in no time. If you’re craving more, pay her $10 so she becomes convinced to release another album….
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Published March 10, 2008
in Pop.
Listen to “I Don’t Wanna Know” on MySpace.
The Shapes don’t have to prove anything, but if they wanted to, they could prove that handclaps never go out of style. In “I Don’t Wanna Know”, The Shapes prove just that and more (like, for instance: a simple, pure drum line goes a long way). Also, they could probably prove that your lunch didn’t taste that great, or that the space shuttle is a turtle. If they wanted to.
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Published March 5, 2008
in Pop.
Listen to “Battering Rams” on MySpace.
In “Battering Rams”, Voyeur Radio gives you the slowest, mellowest battering rams available. They have the Silver BR204–it’s got an easy to hold handle and it’s your best choice if you have to perform a solo battering. They’ve also got the latest Gargoyle Battering Ram 5,000–that’s what you want for the really ugly jobs (bring at least three friends). Or, you could always settle on economy: the Simplex RamStar X2. It looks plain, but it can still get the job done (and remove facial blemishes). So make your choice, then take it slow.
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Published March 4, 2008
in Pop.
Listen to “Wonderful Princess” on MySpace.
Kate Sikora is part of a dying breed that know some songs are dressed best by a simple “La la la, la la la la la la, la la la, la la, la la”. I wish there were more like her. And yes, someday you’ll write that quick three beat masterpiece heartbreaking work of such significance that monks will cry in the Tibetan mountains when they hear a thrashed out, watered down version of the song performed by trained monkeys. Until then, the only thing that tops it is “Wonderful Princess” (from the album Grace in Rotation).
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