A Letter In Your Writing Doesn’t Mean You’re Not Dead

Frank Black Francis & Two Pale Boys “Cactus” – This is a selection from the forthcoming Frank Black Francis project, which finds Frank Black reworking several Pixies classics with David Thomas’ side men, Two Pale Boys. The record is mostly quite mellow, recasting familiar tunes with low-key, atmospheric arrangements. The best of the new versions play up ideas and themes which were already present in the material: “Monkey Gone To Heaven” is stripped of its bombast, and is set to music which would not sound out of place on an underwater documentary soundtrack; “The Holiday Song”‘s lead guitar hook is replaced with festive horns; and “Caribou”‘s chimey keyboards and woozy horns sound like a Beach Boys record played at half speed. Nothing on the record is an outright failure, but Black’s version of the Kim Deal song “Into The White” does not sound particularly inspired by anything other than novelty, and the jazz/dub fusion on “Where Is My Mind?” already feels dated in spite of being quite pretty.

“Cactus” is the obvious highlight of the album for me, building on the skeletal arrangement of the original with looped backing vocals, a menacing bass chug, and occasional horn stabs. It captures the basic essence of the song, but feels even more desperate in its yearning and masochistic desire. The arrangement evokes a sense of vertigo and delirium, stomach churning neuroses and sweltering heat. It’s the closest anything from this record comes to besting the original Pixies recording, and hints at a promising new direction for Black when he resumes his solo career after the current Pixies reunion.

Ten Times Terrified

Revl9n “Walking Machine” – Though 2004 is still young, it seems safe to assume that this will inherit the Addictive Swedish Electropop Single Of The Year crown from last year’s “Heartbeats” by The Knife. “Walking Machine” lacks the romance and yearning of that song, but makes up for it with a more danceable beat and a series of hooks which convey a strange mixture of self-assurance and dread. (Click here to buy it from Other Music.)

Ed Shepp “Ed Shepp Exposes: Mariah Carey” – Nevermind what you’ve read in glossy magazines or what you’ve seen on fawning television bios – in this edition of Ed Shepp Exposes, the secret origin of Mariah Carey is revealed at last. Learn the truth about her amazing vocal range, the class action lawsuit which nearly destroyed her career, and her aspiration to become a formless ball of pink fluff! (Click here to buy it from CDBaby.)

Also: I will be guest DJing on Maura Johnston’s show on WPRB in Princeton tomorrow from 1-4 PM EST. WPRB does not archive their shows, but they do stream live over the internet, so if you have the opportunity, please do tune in. It should be a lot of fun.

MP3 Blog News: What I’m Listening To is another new blog which has popped up recently with an eclectic mix of contemporary pop music which is a bit like what VH1 might be like if they favored album tracks to singles.

Heroin, Cocaine, and Mariwaaaaaaannnnnnnnna!

Quincy Jones and Bill Cosby “Hikky-Burr”– After hearing this track, which was recorded in 1969 for the original Bill Cosby Show, you may be forced to confront the possibility that when he’s spitting out the unhinged gibber jabber, Bill Cosby might be one of the funkiest men who has ever lived. As with his performances on the Bill Cosby Talks To Kids About Drugs record, his wildly enthusiastic scat singing is at once hilarious, inspiring, and infectious. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

The Meters “Cosby Alley” – This is just a little something that I made a few weeks ago for my own use, but I thought that it might be a nice companion piece for “Hikky-Burr.” Quite simply, it’s The Meters’ classic “Cabbage Alley” with vocals from Cosby’s “Dope Pusher” cut up and mixed over the top. It’s not exactly a major technical accomplishment, but it’s pretty fun nonetheless. (Click here to buy the original Meters recording from Amazon.)

MP3 Blog News: Scenestars is a new group blog with an emphasis on popular indie rock.

Be Kind To Me, Or Treat Me Mean

Fiona Apple “Extraordinary Machine” – I had been hoping that the new Fiona Apple record would be good, but this leaked track blows away even my best expectations. Apple seems far less depresso this time around, though no less self absorbed, but that’s no big problem given that emotional exhibitionism has always been a big part of her appeal. Her talent for melody is even more developed now, and as ever, she manages to pull off cabaret and musical theatre stylings without coming off as deliberately anachronistic as a lesser talent like Nellie McKay, who even at her best seems like the musical equivalent of an NPR totebag.

Unfortunately, Sony has no immediate plans for releasing Apple’s new album, apparently because they do not know how to market this music. Frankly, I think that if their marketing people believe that they cannot sell this record, they are fools who just aren’t cut out for their jobs. Did they entirely miss the part when Norah Jones sold several million copies of two albums even more sedate and out of time than this? Were they taking a nap when careful marketing based on playing up the relative “difficulty” of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and OK Computer helped push Wilco and Radiohead from modest sales to becoming popular cult acts with critical acclaim and high profile media coverage? Playing up snob appeal can sell records – there’s a lot of casual record buyers out there who want to hear music which appeals to their sense of (safe) ecclecticism, and would like to buy into a narrative in which an “authentic” artist is “pushing the boundaries.”

The way things are now, if Fiona Apple had made a super mainstream pop record, it probably wouldn’t do as well as something like this, which takes what she was already doing one step further. For the most part, people don’t want cult acts to change too drastically – people go to them for a specific sound and personality, and it’s best to let them be who they are and let their audience snowball. Moving away from the essential appeal alienates the core audience, who are key to initial sales and word of mouth. Look at Liz Phair – if her last record was more like Exile In Guyville II, I’m sure it would’ve sold twice as many copies. Sony seems entirely misguided – Fiona Apple doesn’t need a hit single, she just needs some clever marketing and PR people who will keep her from freaking out in public.

Sharkey (featuring Jean Grae) “Summer In The City (Lovin’ It)” – This is taken from the debut LP by Washington, DC based producer Sharkey (not to be confused with Dizzee Rascal cohort Sharky Major), Sharkey’s Machine. The record is a bit lacking in terms of consistency, but this track with Jean Grae is top notch. Grae’s confident verses and Sharkey’s retro-mid-90s DJ style is fine enough, but the real draw here is the chorus, which will make your head nod and stick to your brain like industrial strength adhesive. (Click here to buy it from Amazon, or subscribe to House Of Heavy and get it on the newest Sumosonic compilation cd.)

Wobbly Things

Supergrass “Kiss Of Life (Tom Tom Club remix)” – I don’t think that it is unreasonable to not expect very much from new singles tacked on to greatest hits cds these days – they tend to be pretty weak, and usually throw off the balance of the entire compilation with their chronological and/or qualitative incongruity. However, this remix of Supergrass’ “Kiss Of Life,” which was recorded for their new singles compilation, ends up being one of the best songs of their career. Supergrass and the Tom Tom Club aren’t a very natural combination – it seems as though their names were both selected at random out of a hat – but they compliment each other rather well. Supergrass’ song is an epic, sweeping thing which gains some velocity from Chris Franz and Tina Weymouth’s busy polyrhythms. The song has a great cinematic feeling to it which would probably work rather well in the context of some huge sci fi action film. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Big Cherry “Come In Bonzo” – This is a selection from a new super-limited edition compilation on Spain’s Toytown label collecting 21 obscure singles from European psychedelic bands dating from 1969 up through 1974. “Come In Bonzo” is a weird, swirly bubblegum number contrasting a cheerful, childlike chorus and a droll monologue/rap from some guy with a deep voice and a British accent. (Click here to buy it from Forced Exposure.)

MP3 Blog News: Telephone Thing is a new mp3 blog offering up M.I.A.’s “Fire Fire” and a Dizzee Rascal/LFO mash-up; Steal Music has apparently been going on for a while now but it’s new to me; and Cloud Two is a brand new site which posts music by the curator as well as other artists.

You Are The Best X-Dragon Ever.

Cousin Cole “Dutch Tears” – I’m a bit pressed for time today, so a basic description will have to suffice: This is a mash-up of the vocals from “Pass That Dutch” and the music of “96 Tears.” I’m a bit amazed by how every remix that I hear of “Pass That Dutch” is superior to the original version. I like Missy’s rap on the song quite a bit, but the production was just so dull and lacking in dynamics. Anyway, Cousin Cole has a few more remixes in realaudio on his site, including a pretty nice mash-up which breathes some new life into two of this year’s most overplayed songs, Usher’s “Yeah” and Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out.”

Also: Spoilt Victorian Child and Robot Is Smashed By Heart are the newest MP3 blogs on the block. Please stop by and say hello.

Could This Be A Generation Gap?

The Minx “Something We Got” – Of all the obscure music that I’ve ever heard, this ranks among the songs which I feel have been most unjustly neglected. It just seems tremendously unfair to the world at large that a song as joyous and incredibly funky as this could become so rare and mostly forgotten. To the best of my knowledge, this was released as a 45 rpm single on Mercury in 1972, and has been out of print ever since. If you know more about the Minx, or can help me find more of their music, please let me know!

Neil Hamburger – Live In San Francisco, 9/18/2000 – Unlike his official albums, this comedy set by Neil Hamburger was recorded live with a real, non-canned audience. It is sort of interesting to hear how Hamburger goes down with an audience who seem to be mostly in on the joke. At least one layer of irony is removed, but is replaced with witless drunken heckling. It’s not as funny as the records, but it is certainly worth listening to if you’re a fan. In this show, Neil is mixing in old classic routines from his older records with some newer material that would end up on his most recent album, Laugh Out Lord, including the world’s most tasteless and disturbing Julia Roberts joke.

I don’t want to spoil that Julia Roberts joke for you, but I do think that it epitomizes Hamburger’s shtick better than anything else in his discography. The joke is poorly constructed, cruel, senselessly crude, and motivated by nothing more than a desperate desire to be “current” and “edgy” at the expense of his own dignity. The joke itself is not funny, but the idea that a man would tell the joke is hilarious, in a sad sort of way – the implication being that on some deep, dark, level of his psyche, the premise of the joke is something that he has imagined, perhaps even fantasized about. It’s an uncomfortable glimpse into the mind of a truly warped character. (Click here to buy Laugh Out Lord from Amazon.)

We Break Up Cos You Make Up

Junesex “Gets Close To Mine” – I don’t know very much about Junesex given that most everything written about them on the web is in French, and when I have Google translate the articles and blurbs that I can find, I end up with loopy prose like this: Impossible to locate this pop-electro-glam-house-metal which arrives to me here between the ears but in all the cases, that largely exceeds Peaches and Co. Junesex is a French group for, everyone, all the desires, all the sexual, food or commercial désirs/délires. Between girls, between boys, girl and boy or even with S everywhere. It is a gigantic sound, sexual orgy and without any taboo, which resounds. In other words, Junesex play stark, airy house music with selfconciously sexy vocals of the Electroclash persuasion. (Click here to buy it from Music Selection.)

Lynsey De Paul “Getting A Drag” – Lynsey De Paul was one of the first female singer/songwriters to achieve success in the UK, writing hits for several artists as well as a string of chart hits for herself in the early 70s. “Getting A Drag,” a pop song about effeminate glam boys which is as snarky as it is catchy, was the follow-up to her biggest hit “Sugar Me,” but was only a modest chart success in spite of being TOTALLY PERFECT IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Wrapped In Silver Thread

Lolita Storm “Dancing With The Ibiza Dogs” – This is brand new, but I honestly have no clue how this song is being released. I can find almost no current information about the band anywhere, and the only place the title turns up on Google is on a Plan B playlist. At any rate, this is top shelf material, particularly if you’re fond of Chicks On Speed but wish that they were more new wave. The song feels pleasantly out of time – it could easily pass for one of those old songs from the late 70s/early 80s which somehow sound as though they were sent back in time from a future still slightly ahead of where we are just now. I’m sure you know you the type.

Kenickie “Robot Song” – This is taken from Kenickie’s 1997 album At The Club, which was a record dominated by glossy indie (UK definition) rock which was very much of its time, but included this one bit of synthy robo-pop roughly four years ahead of the indie fashion curve. Though it is more than a little obvious to have the one electro-textured song on a rock album be about wanting to become a robot, it still works in spite of an overextended metaphor. The vocal breakdown which begins around the 2:14 mark is quite beautiful and affecting, and quite possibly the highlight of Kenickie’s entire discography. (Click here to buy it for less than a dollar from Amazon.)

ALSO: I will be DJing at a party called REFUSE! this coming Thursday at a club called Eleven on 152 Orchard St between Stanton and Rivington. The party begins around 10 PM, and it will be free, with no list or dress code. According to the current plan, I will be the first DJ of the night, with resident REFUSE! DJs Dirty Dietz & James F#cking Friedman to follow. If you’re in the area, please come by!

The Strangest Feeling

Regina Spektor “Us” – I realize that this comparison may alienate a good number of you, but this song seriously sounds like that really annoying Tori Amos-for-dummies Vanessa Carlton hit as reinterpreted by Bjork. But it’s good. Somehow, some way, it works. Seeing as though this is a) quite pretty b) achingly earnest and c) Spektor has a singing style built around some vaguely irritating vocal tics (a prerequisate for all major female solo artists with an obsessive cult, aka “The Ani Factor”), this has the potential to become quite huge. (Click here to buy it from CD Baby.)

Chikinki “Ether Radio (Serge Santiago Version)” – Seriously now, what is it with all of these new British groups with Asian names? I’m not that crazy about the original mix of this song, but this electro remix works for me. This version spreads the song out a bit, and makes the affected punk vocals seem slightly out of place in a way which creates an enjoyable tension and reduces the obviousness of the song. Though this song seems like an obvious bit of Rapture bandwagon jumping, it’s still quality material. (Click here to buy it from EIL.)

Long Range Lover, Deep Under Cover

Maxi Geil! & Playcolt “Here Comes Maxi” – Maxi Geil! & Playcolt were originally created as an imaginary pop band complete with its own soap operatic group dynamic, but have since evolved into a real band which acts out the fiction both live and on record. “Here Comes Maxi” introduces the listener to the star of the band, the eponymous Mr. Geil. After nearly half of the song is spent repeating a chorus heralding his arrival, Geil finally takes to the mic and immediately tells us of his amazing accomplishments and remarkable sexual prowess. It’s all rather reminiscent of Jarvis Cocker at his most over the top (see: Relaxed Muscle, at least half of This Is Hardcore), particularly when Geil sings that he’s come “to fuck you where you’re tenderest.” (Click here to buy it directly from the band.)

M.I.A. “Sun Shawa” – At last, we have the follow-up to “Galang,” one of the best debut singles in recent memory. Though this is rhythmically quite similar, this time around we get a sweetly melodic chorus instead of an insistent staccato vocal hook. The chorus smoothes out the harsh beats a bit and manages to warm up the icy toasting, yielding a major contender for Summer Anthem ’04.

Champagne Makes It Taste So Much Better

Rachel Stevens “Some Girls” – Without a doubt, this is one of the finest pop singles of 2004 thus far. This is a Richard X production, and it shows – his sleek, future-pop fingerprints are all over this. The song is built on a percussive stomp straight out of Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Part 2,” and glides along with maximum robo-pop grace while Stevens sings about some glamorous pop star soap opera scenerio which may as well be continuing the storyline from “Sweet Dreams My LA Ex.” I imagine that this is already quite ubiquitous in the UK, but it will likely go almost completely unheard in the United States.

Scissor Sisters “Take Me Out” – Like the musical equivalent of Queer Eye For The Straight Guy, the Scissor Sisters have made over Franz Ferdinand’s hit single; stripping it of its rigid, harsh angularity and giving the tune a jaunty, somewhat Billy Joel-ish spin. I find myself liking the song much more in this style, but if your favorite thing about the original recording was its twitchy tension, you will probably not like this at all. This cover was just recently recorded for Jo Whiley’s show on Radio One.

The Pleasures Of Night Are Reaching So High

Fox “S-s-single Bed” – I can find no fault in this song. It is perfect. It could be the sexiest, most playful disco/glam song that I’ve ever heard (and that’s saying a lot). I can’t even think about this song in any terms other than gushing praise and hyperbole. I don’t know very much about Fox other than that they had some limited UK chart success in the mid 70s before punk and new wave came along, and that “S-s-single Bed” was their biggest hit. The band was led by Noosha Fox, a striking Australian woman with a distinctive voice fairly similar to that of Macy Gray. This song is hopelessly out of print, though it was recently reissued on a limited edition compilation titled Clap Your Hands, Stamp Your Feet: More Junk Shop Glam which is apparently unavailable for purchase anywhere online. (Click here to buy it used from Amazon UK.)

Chungking “We Love You” – This starts off sounding a bit like a less gloomy and oppressive Portishead torch song, but once the chorus kicks in, it’s like some kind of a neon glam cabaret number from heaven. Unsurprisingly, Chungking hail from Brighton, which increasingly seems like the center of the UK indie universe. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

I Heard You Tell Him She Was Evil

VV & Hotel “Restaurant Blouse” – Okay, okay. I get it now. The Kills really really really really really love Royal Trux. At first it seemed as though they just shared a similar aesthetic, but now that I’ve heard “Restaurant Blouse,” it’s pretty clear that there is some intense fan worship going on here. I remember reading some article in which Bob Pollard explained that he started writing his own Beatles songs when he was a kid, and that’s kinda what this song is like. It’s as though the two of them realized that Royal Trux weren’t going to make another album ever again, so they had better start making their own Trux tunes. They did a pretty good job with it – this would’ve fit it pretty well on Accelerator or Pound For Pound. Still, I hope that they have some luck figuring out their own identity – they’ve recorded some good material (especially the ballad “Wait,” which is an incredibly beautiful song) and they show a lot of potential. (Click here to buy it from Kill Rock Stars.)

Shystie “One Wish” – Shystie is best known for her answer record to Dizzee Rascal’s “I Luv U” and various guest appearances on UK hip hop/grime records from the past year, but this new single shows that she can carry a track on her own. I don’t rate Shystie nearly as highly as Ms Dynamite or the brilliant Lady Stush (Where are you Lady Stush? Put out another single, please!), but she’s still an impressive MC with great presence and style. (Click here to buy it from Juno.)

ALSO: MP3 blogs continue to proliferate! The Number One Songs In Heaven, Rusty Spell’s Online Mix Tape, and Six Eyes have all popped up in the last two weeks, and Douglas Wolk debuted his long awaited audioblog on his Lacunae site this weekend.

ELSEWHERE: Jockohomo has posted two vintage synth pop tunes by China Crisis and Blancmange as companion pieces to the Stephen ‘Tin Tin’ Duffy song from Friday’s entry. Check it out.

In My Young Life

Hot Chip “Take Care” – The thing that I enjoy most about Hot Chip’s album Coming On Strong is how its best songs subvert very relaxing chords and progressions with incongruous emotional content. For example, “Bad Luck” (which I posted here a few months ago) seethes with bitterness and contempt even though it’s one of the calmest, smoothest songs of the year, and “Take Care”‘s laid back cod-reggae arrangement is at odds with the dejected, forlorn tone of the vocals and lyrics, making it sound almost like an inverted version of Scritti Politti’s “The Sweetest Girl.” It’s a nice trick, and Hot Chip pulls it off very well – rather than it simply being a gimmick, the tension adds greater emotional depth to the recordings. (Click here to buy it from Moshi Moshi Records.)

Stephen ‘Tin Tin’ Duffy “Kiss Me” – For my money, no musical genre captures the heady, effervescent rush of young love better than 80s synth pop. In addition to the colorful, cheerful tones of the music itself, it seems to me that a majority of the artists working in the genre at the time were uncommonly willing to fully surrender to the euphoria of love without fear of sounding hackneyed or ridiculous. This Stephen ‘Tin Tin’ Duffy single, which was a hit in the UK circa 1985, is a fine example of lovey-dovey snyth pop at its most exhilarating. Duffy sings lyrics which are alternately silly and corny with total conviction and commitment, enough so that the feeling is somewhat contagious. I get the sense that Duffy and his contemporaries were fully aware of how trite their lyrical/emotional content could be, but I don’t think that they cared very much about that. On one level, they were just writing in the tradition of several decades of pop music, but on another, it seems that part of their project was to convincingly communicate something both sublime and universal. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

There’s Gonna Be Some Downs

Yahowa 13 “Untitled #1” – This is taken from I’m Gonna Take You Home, an LP created in 1974 by a cultish collective of hippies led by a bearded, middle-aged health food restaurant owner who believed that he was God and renamed himself Father Yod. His followers were called The Source, and were instructed to eat only raw fruits and vegetables, wear only white cotton clothing, and to engage only in sex without orgasm. The music sounds almost exactly as how one might imagine the recordings of a hippie cult – intense psychedelic guitars, manic vocals from Father Yod, and a consistent vibe of mysticism and Apocalyptic dread. Yod went on to change his name again to Yahowha and move The Source to Hawaii, where he eventually died after being wounded in a hang gliding accident. Apparently, most of the master tapes of the collective’s music were burned following his death, but this has not stopped the Captain Trip and Swordfish labels (from Japan and the UK, respectively) from reissuing the old records on cd in limited editions. (Click here to buy it from Forced Exposure.)

Rowing And Strumming

The Fiery Furnaces “I Broke My Mind / Spaniolated / Single Again” (live) – I waited and waited, and finally there is a high quality recording of a Fiery Furnaces show online! It’s right here, streaming in realaudio thanks to the good people of the Netherland’s VPRO. It’s a very fun show and virtually everything in the setlist is arranged differently from the album recordings. “I Broke My Mind” and “Single Again” are highlights of the show, and are both songs which will likely turn up on the band’s third LP. Both songs have a light, cheerful tone and choruses which stick to your brain like superglue. Before yesterday, I had only ever heard “I Broke My Mind” twice in my life, but could remember exactly how the hook went in my head. This live version of “Spaniolated” (which is more or less the same as it was played when I saw them in Brooklyn a few months ago) blows the relatively plain Blueberry Boat version out of the water – the song is so much better recast as a boppy pop tune; I’m sure that most of you will agree.

Guided By Voices “Girls Of Wild Strawberries” – This is taken from what is said to be Guided By Voices’ final album, Half Smiles Of The Decomposed. As far as endings go, it’s more of a long, sad goodbye than a last hurrah, more whimper than bang. And that’s fine, really, because I don’t think that Pollard really could have made a record right now which would’ve felt like the band going out on top, though Universal Truths & Cycles from a few years ago could have done the trick. It was probably more appropriate to go with the sad ending anyhow, given how melancholy so much of the GBV catalog has been.

Half Smiles continues the string of mostly uninspired recordings that Pollard has been putting out since Universal Truths. Last year’s Earthquake Glue in particular felt like the work of an artist in a state of inertia – the melodies were pretty, but lifeless and the guitars lacked much in the way of memorable hooks and just hummed along in a nondescript haze of chords and fuzz. The guitars on Half Smiles are more varied in texture (thank God), but the chords and tones themselves aren’t particularly interesting. Pollard is a fantastic songwriter, and I will always stand by that, but the guy really needs a broader sonic palette and a wider range of chords to play with. Sometimes it seems as though Pollard has created this vast catalog of demos for future artists to fully realize, without the limitations imposed on or by Pollard throughout his own recording career.

I Fell In Love With The Dance Floor

Masta Killa w/ RZA “School” – Masta Killa has always been the most underestimated and least popular member of the Wu-Tang Clan, largely due to the incredible skill and charisma of his partners, but also because the guy hasn’t put out a solo record until now, ten years after Enter The 36 Chambers. Masta Killa is barely on that album (his only verse is on “Da Mystery of Chessboxin'”), and aside from a few strong verses on Wu-Tang Forever, he didn’t really come into his own as an MC until rather late in the game, on 2000’s extremely underrated The W.

Even still, Masta Killa is a hard sell compared to the rest of the Clan – his deliverary is sleepy, cold and aloof, and his verses often have peculiar meters and/or avoid perfect rhymes. He best suits the most bleak and grimey Wu music, which is largely what is on offer on his debut solo record, No Said Date. RZA’s track on “School” starts off sparse and dark like an outtake from his 94-96 ‘classic’ period, but soon shifts into a faster, bass-driven beat when his verse comes in. It’s nice to hear Masta Killa rapping at a quicker pace for once, especially in the context of the album, which is occasionally a bit too languorous for its own good. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

My Computer “Vulnerabilia” – This is a very odd song, mixing the lush aesthetics of adult contemporary pop with harsh vocoder, layers of electronic textures and lead vocals which wouldn’t sound out of place in modern musical theatre. It’s a great, melancholy bit of pop music which hints at an electro-MOR direction which would probably suit the likes of Clay Aiken rather well. No, really. It’s not too late for Clay to become Green Gartside! (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Yr Lips So Red And Yr Eyes So Blue

White Magic “Plain Gold Ring” – This is a bit of change of pace from what I’ve been posting lately – a mournful Brit-folk dirge with vocals which approximate the style of Sandy Denny. The arrangement reminds me quite a bit of early Can, actually – the slow, creeping bassline specifically brings to mind “She Brings The Rain” from the Soundtracks album. (Thanks to Dirty Bomber, who alerted me to a rather embarassing mistake on my part in the first draft of this post!) (Click here to buy it from Drag City.)

And The Lefthanded “Disturbing You” – And The Lefthanded are a Finnish band who began their career as Larry And The Lefthanded, but carried on as a trio when their guitarist Larry left the band. This is drone rock in the vein of Suicide, but with manic vocals which recall Clinic at their most intense. The emphasis on lead guitar is what sets this apart from those two reference points – the lead starts off as a melodic intro, but then shifts into noisy ambience, and concludes the song with a cathartic solo which ends abruptly to good effect. (Click here to buy it from GEMM.)

I Had You There In The Palm Of My Hand

Telepopmusik “Smile (Headman’s Man Without Heads Remix) – This is by far the best remix that I’ve ever heard from Headman to date – a doleful vocal melody set against a prominent rumbling bassline and high pitched keyboard parts which sound like video game music without being annoying or kitschy. This is quite beautiful, really. (Click here to buy it from Juno.)

Elsewhere: If you were into the “Bollywood Freaks” version of “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” which was posted here a few months ago, you ought to head on over to Troubled Diva and check out the Usha Uthup song which is available for download. Uthup’s music was the basis of the “Bollywood Freaks” mix, and the song on the site is in the same Bollywood/disco fusion vein.

Also: Uncritical is a brand new MP3 blog focusing on electronic dance music. They have excellent taste – the Luxury 54, Avril, Alexandroid, and Villeneuve & Purple Confusion songs which are currently up on the site are fantastic, and would have likely been posted here if they hadn’t beaten me to it.