The Sound of Arrows

I just felt it in the air. It's a warm fuzzy feeling in that glob of fat my skull houses, otherwise known as a brain. This warm fuzzy feeling reminds me to check in on the label that consistently provides me with warm fuzzy music: Labrador. They just signed a Stockholm duo, The Sound of Arrows, who dress as if they're living on a polygamist ranch in Texas and sound like The Avalanches mixing Placebo. I look forward to hearing more from these pleasantly pastel pals when their 9-song EP is out in May.

Danger [MP3, 8.1MB, 256kbps]

www.labrador.se
www.thesoundofarrows.com

Stars Like Fleas

Stars Like Fleas is a Brooklyn-based collective of musicians you probably haven't heard of from bands you probably have heard of (especially if you're a regular to 3hive). At the nucleus are Montgomery Knott (vocals) and Shannon Fields (everything else). It was Shannon who emailed us to say that Stars Like Fleas will be releasing their third album after "a fair bit of wandering-in-the-desert time." That's gotta be some kind of crazy metaphor 'cause they recorded the album in Iceland—with Bjork's producer, Valgeir Sigurðsson—and I don't think there are any deserts there. Wherever it was that they wandered, they appear to have lost their penchant for unstructured, free jazz compositions and replaced it with a knack for lushly-orchestrated pop epics. The single, "I Was Only Dancing," is a precise audio replication of a cloudburst falling on parched earth, sandwiched between slices of warm sunlight. Bathe/bask in it and you'll see why it's already one of my favorites of the year.

from The Ken Burns Effect (2008):
I Was Only Dancing [MP3, 7.2MB, 192kbps]

www.home-tapes.com
www.praemedia.com
myspace.com/starslikefleas

Martina Topley Bird

I was surprised to find these tracks in my in-box. They're quite the weekend treat. As you might imagine I spend a fair amount of time scouring the web for new music and I haven't heard a peep from the Independiente label since DeeJay Punk-Roc's '98 release of Chicken Eye. Obviously I'm not listening closely enough. They're Travis' UK label. OK, so I've got some catching up to do. And besides the occasional David Holmes or Diplo track she sings on, I haven't spent quality time with Ms. Topley-Bird. That's gonna change too. Today. String theorists searching for other dimensions just may find what they're looking for if they'd get strung out on some MTB. Topley-Bird's voice carries me to other worlds, worlds I first discovered listening to Tricky's Maxinquaye where she played the beautifully haunting foil to his gravelly trip-hop hero. Topley-Bird herself is off on her own inter-genre exploration with co-pilot/producer Dangermouse. Whether it's the dusty after hours slow-mo of "Valentine," the playfully seductive "Carnies," or this bumpin' club remix of "Poison" Martina Topley Bird's buttery-rich voice easily lilts your soul enough to keep you just on this side of an out of body experience.

Poison (Van She remix) [MP3, 4.2MB, 128kbps]
Valentine [MP3, 4.9MB, 192kbps]

Buy from iTunes
www.independiente.co.uk
www.martinatopleybird.com

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

Hey, I'm only a week late on the new Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. Their last record was my favorite-album-that-took-me-a-year-to-listen-to. The CD kept getting shuffled to the bottom of my 'listen to' stack. Their name haunted me. I just couldn't let go of a band called SSLYBY. To this day I still throw up a little in my mouth when I think of how much joy I missed by not having SSLYBY in my life sooner. From what I've heard, album number two from the Show Me State's favorite indie sons, keeps the charming pop meter cranked up to eleven. Nothing groundbreaking except to say that their sophomore album is anything but sophomoric. New album and new tour NOW.

Think I Wanna Die [MP3, 3.9MB, 192kbps]

Original post: 11.30.06:
Their name will fill your mouth with clumsy words, their music will fill your head with sweet melodies. Less dour than Bright Eyes, less polished than The Shins, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin were shooting for the "Locals Only" bin at their hometown music store in Springfield, Missouri when they recorded Broom, but missed their mark, hitting the stars instead. They're already minor stars among those MP3 blog thingies...maybe I should read those more often. My day would've been brightened earlier by these young fellows. This record earns them an honorary seat at the Elephant 6 table and will likely lead their generation's pack of pop purveyors.

Oregon Girl [MP3, 2.2MB, 128kbps]
House Fire [MP3, 4.6MB, 192kbps]

Buy from iTunes
www.polyvinylrecords.com
SSLYBY website

Kassin+2

My opinion on and knowledge of Brazilian music and film are about the same: I like what I see and hear, but I can't claim to have heard a whole lot. Although I will say that if you haven't seen City of God you haven't truly lived. That's only a little bit exaggerated. I like what I heard of this Kassin+2 as well. Apparently they're a pretty big deal on their home soil, and this record is a big deal for how, gasp, accessible it is. Yep, "Ya Ya Ya" is probably one of the more edgy tracks on the album—most of the rest plays out with the bossa nova warmth you might expect from the various members of the Gilberto clan. If they can get experimental with the same gusto that they get smooth, they'll be spending plenty of time on my iPod as the weather gets warmer and the days get longer.

Ya Ya Ya [MP3, 5.1MB, 192kbps]

www.luakabop.com/kassin
www.luakabop.com

Tappan Zee

In one of Douglas Coupland's novels, maybe All Families are Psychotic, there's a passage about how we lived in a golden age, without pain or fear, something like that... When I found Tappan Zee one day last year while digging around the Internet, that idea came back to me. Check out their introduction on the Wormco website — "It's 1999. . . . . and what have we got to show for it?" etc. Just a little reflection, like finding an old newspaper from before you were married or had kids, from before the war, before 9/11. I like "The Only Ones," nice and simple indie rock from the good old days, eh? Whatever happened to Tappan Zee?

Decoder Ring [MP3, 4.4MB, 160kbps]
The Only Ones [MP3, 5.1MB, 160kbps]

www.wormco.com

Sarandon

Sarandon's new LP is titled KIll Twee Pop!, out April 22nd on Slumberland. And after listening to their feisty pop, you'll actually hope they will.

Original post 10/8/2007: My documented love affair with Slumberland Records continues with Sarandon, the South London pop, post-pop, post-punk noise outfit and not the American actress. Led by sole remaining founding member Crayola, Sarandon are irrepressibly catchy with slightly bizarre lyrics. They're simple and possibly quite mad, to use the British meaning of the word, which explains why my seven year old says "The Linguist" makes her feel like wiggling.

From Kill Twee Pop!:
Welcome [MP3, 3.5MB, VBR]

Others:
The Linguist [MP3, 1.9MB, 128kbps]
Meet Warren [MP3, 1.4MB, 192kbps]

www.slumberlandrecords.com
www.sarandon.net

Okay

The first time I listened to Okay was somewhat of a brief and cynical experience. Too cute in its depression, I thought. Their upcoming album Huggable Dust is made up entirely of one-word-title songs that run an average of about two and a half minutes. It's quirky before you even press "play," and it gets quirkier once Marty Anderson starts in with his lonesome little-boy quaver over an acoustic guitar and other sounds and instruments reach for a melancholy kind of folk-pop. Yes, it's a bit of a lo-fi cabaret. But it's one you won't want to stop watching thanks to how personal those somber lyrics are made to sound through Anderson's home recording aesthetic. Fans of Daniel Johnston, The Flaming Lips, and the Elephant Six collective will find much to like. The rest of you might, too.

My [MP3, 5.1MB, 253kbps]
Compass [MP3, 3MB, 96kbps]

myspace.com/okaytheband
www.absolutelykosher.com