No one in Walter Meego is named Walter. Ironically, the 3hive reader who tipped us off to Walter Meego is named Walter. But, lest you think he’s just one of these vain guys who’ll go see any band named after him, he actually went to see Caribou — who was known as Manitoba up until about a year ago — and Walter Meego was the opening act. Confused? Good. Now you’re ready for Walter Meego (the band, remember, not the reader) and their wry, funky, glitchy brand of “mutant dance” music.
Caroline
After shunning major labels in her native Japan, Caroline Lufkin made her way back across the Pacific (she went to college in Boston) to California to begin work on an album with a wide array of producers (the producer in question here is Norway-born Andreas Bjorck). Maybe it’s because the weather has finally dipped below 50º here in L.A. but the shimmering, icy cool textures of “Where’s My Love” just warms the toes and has kind of ushered in the holiday season for me. It’s knocked me out my frantic rush of daily life and I half expect to see snowflakes falling during a perfect, sunny day here. Her voice, it’s magic.
Faux Pas
A week ago I posted Gotye. If I hadn’t been in such a serious carb coma on the heels of Thanksgiving I probably would have posted an Australian two-fer including Gotye’s friend and countryman, Faux Pas (aka Tim Shiel). These two take great care to make their quirky, sampleriffic musical explorations feel warm, organic, and spontaneous. Faux Pas even goes as far as to eliminate vocal samples lest we get lured into the obsessive spotting exercise that Gotye’s tracks inspired. The frenzied big beat sound of “Cup of Wonder” provides instant gratification but “White Light” definitely steals the show. I am now convinced that spacey theramin, Asian dulcimer, and R&B horn riffs were always meant for each other; all they needed was a tumbling drumbeat to rally around… As a bonus, it turns out Tim’s also a bit of an MP3 blogger himself. Check out the Blog section of his site to get a good sense of his musical reference points.
Climber
Right near the top of my list of “Reasons to Love Postal Service” is that they disposed of the pedantic audiophilia that torments many a knob-twister and opted for the red-blooded choice: to make songs. Climber have taken notice. The Portland, Oregon group holed themselves up for two years to refine a sound steeped in the boutique ambience of post-electronica pop and informed by the rainy-day-every-day melancholy of Radiohead (the similarities are almost too close…almost) and the aforementioned Seattle side project. Officially, these tracks are demos. Sonically, they’re a blissful walk down a bittersweet path.
Gotye
Gotye is Aussie one-man band Wally De Backer who, like his fellow countrymen The Avalanches, humanizes bedroom beats, quirky samples, and the odd live instrument and weaves them into epic pop structures. I guess it’s summer down under, which would explain the decidedly upbeat tone of these preview tracks from his forthcoming LP.
Numbers
NPR a few months back had a big piece on Mr. Moog, you know, the electronics wizard who a million bands owe a great deal of thanks to for his wonderous synthesizers, keyboards, and other musical instruments, if we can call them instruments. Turns out it’s pronounced Moog as in “toad”, not as in “moo.” Numbers, the band, are also indebted to Mr. Moog. This San Fran outfit churns out catchy tunes driven by pulsating keyboards, with a quirkiness that can be better understood by imagining Kraftwerk coming of age in the City by the Bay, where a bit of eccentricity is required by city ordinance.
Ladytron
If Ladytron had gone to my high school, they would have been those ultra-stylish new wavers who never went to class and never associated with the decidedly less-stylish new wavers like me. So, I should have written them off as some aloof, unironic Human League tribute band just to make myself feel better. But the fact is, they’re more than that and even if they weren’t, we’re talking Dare-era Human League and, frankly, you could do a lot worse… If you can’t tell, I’m fighting back a bit of a crush and not just on the ladies of Ladytron, Helen and Mira, but the whole lot of them. Their latest, Witching Hour, features a lot more guitar than ever before, which is a welcome expansion to their sound. That said, I will always be a sucker for their soaring synths as showcased on the monster single, “Destroy Everything You Touch.” The video is nice, too. See what I’m saying, though? They’re ice queens/kings, even they admit it.
Laika
I’m taking the lazy way out today. But it’s a damn fine band, so that shouldn’t really matter. I spent the weekend in Waveland, Mississippi, helping with the relief effort there after Hurricane Katrina. Having seen the devastation in person, it’s still unbelieveable to me. So today’s offering of Laika provides both comfort and ease, two attributes that actually apply to the music itself. Margaret Fiedler and Guy Fixsen have been creating quite complicated music that somehow sounds so purposeful and, well, comfortable with an almost arrogant air of ease. “Sugar Daddy” and “Uneasy” are two of my personal faves.
Clue to Kalo
You know that expression “the cobbler’s children have no shoes”? That’s kinda been the story of my household on the digital music front…until yesterday, when the Bose Sound Dock and my wife’s silver iPod Mini showed up on our doorstep. I don’t know who was more excited, her or me, but let’s just say I already had a 125-song playlist ready to for the occasion. The pulsing strains of Clue to Kalo’s “Empty Save the Oxygen” were the first to emerge from the Sound Dock. Velia’s jaw dropped as she turned to me and said, “This sounds amazing.” I’m sure she was talking about the speakers but she was right on both counts.
Brokeback
Brokeback — a.k.a. Douglas McCombs from Tortoise and Eleventh Day Dream, and a few friends — offers dreamy release in this lovely track. Let’s see, how many soft and cushy adjectives can be piled up on “Name’s Winston…”? Ethereal, soothing, idyllic, pensive. There’s four, at least.