Not being especially tech savvy, I kind of freaked out a few minutes ago when I checked the web for an article I’d written about Freedy Johnston for the old Salt Lake City-based music monthly grid. (Disclosure: about half of the 3hive crew were employed by grid.) Google says opening the defunct magazine’s website might “harm your computer.” Yikes! The article was called “Hoboken Dreaming,” and it profiled Johnston’s 1997 album Never Home. If I remember right, my interview with the NJ pop singer wasn’t half bad. Anyway, the track available here comes from a disc full of covers — in this case, one by Marshall Crenshaw — released in 2008 called My Favorite Waste of Time. It’s full of the kind of pop songs that Johnston’s been offering up for years, tracks by The Eagles, Matthew Sweet Paul McCartney and Tom Petty, among others. And while these songs don’t necessarily have the geographic specificity of some of his own work, he still plays them like he owns them.
Fredrik
Frederik, yet another musically gifted Swede brings us tunes we love. Na Na Ni varies from quiet, dark and pretty instrumentals to more pop-ish songs with quirky lyrics–he does them both well. And for that very reason, this December, whether on bus, train or subway, Frederik was always in my headphones, never leaving my side. The album varies from quiet, dark and pretty instrumentals to more pop-ish songs with quirky lyrics–he does them both well. Frederik has become my own personal patron saint of public transportation–always making what was happening outside my headphones prettier, more magical, less annoying. I’ll be listening tonight and, again, tomorrow while I’m turning twenty-AHEMPH. I think the record makes a delightful beginning AND end of a year. Happy New Year’s kids.
A Block of Yellow
Not only does “Are You Sure?” take the prize for being the sunniest song about winter I’ve heard all year, it also wins the best Beulah song since Beulah broke up four and half years ago. It also happens to be one of my favorite songs of the year. A Block of Yellow’s bright melodies come directly from the Elephant 6 Collective songbook and the general ’60s garage pop sound. A Block of Yellow chased with a hot cup of cocoa will run the chill right out of your fingertips and toes this winter.
Wintermitts
Wintermitts is a quartet from Vancouver, that inexplicably chipper Canadian raintown that is lax on the doobie laws and serious about its pop music. Wintermitts is so serious that it features accordion and flute regularly and bring in horns, harmonica, melodica, and even glockenspiel for extra-special occasions. If that weren’t enough, they’re also serious conservationists — they gave away an Heirloom tomato seedling with their previous CD, aptly, Heirloom. But wait…there’s more. They sing in French sometimes, and sometimes is perfect because us monolinguists can enjoy how they make an octopus a symbol for true love (really, it’s not far-fetched at all once you know that octopi have three hearts) in English and then enjoy whatever blah blah blah they’re saying in French on tracks like “Petit Monstre.” Seriously, Lise Monique Oakley can be singing about emptying the litter box for all I know and I still want to grab her and say “Kiss me, mon amour!”
Ox
Regarding that which we would term “Americana,” do they call it “Canadiana” in the land to the North? Just curious. Ox = American lo-fi alt country from Canada. They showed up on a nice little sampler from Weewerk that I’ve been listening to like a homemade mix-tape lately. My favorite among these tracks is probably “Transam,” which with its wavering vocals and shady narrative (not to mention the Bond-themed guitar solo) kind of reminds me of those Neil Young songs about drug shipments and getting burned. The thing is, download any of these freebies from Ox’s two albums and you’ll find great narratives wailed over stripped down simplicity. This time less is more.
Starf**ker
I’m certainly no longer a teenager, but Starf**ker makes me want to call my mom and tell her “I love this band named… STARF**KER” just because I will have a way to drop the f-bomb in front of her with immunity. Now I’m certainly way too grown to think of cussing a some form of small rebellion, but this album makes me feel young again! Like I can hang out until 5am on a Monday night! Like I might run off with a bass player and become West Coast Lisa! Like I don’t have to go to work in an hour! Like Long Island Iced Teas are still an acceptable drink! None of this is true in any way, but I believe in an album that can make me believe these things for at least a moment. SF is from Portland, the music is dreamy, happy/sad pop and they rock my socks off. Your turn.
Love is All
A Hundred Things Keep Me Going Back to Love Is All (in no particular order):
1. Their pep.
2. Their perk.
3. Their punk.
4. They tour the U.S.
5. Their gravity.
6. Their levity.
7. The way they blend the two.
8. The way they leave the holes out of the O’s, A’s, and R’s in their artwork.
9. “Last Choice.”
10. “Spinning and Scratching.”
11. The ’70s look of their artwork.
12. “Movie Romance.”
13. Josephine.
14. Josephine’s artistic sensibilities.
15. They’ve covered Prince (though he made them leave it off their EP. Boo! Hiss!)
16. They’ve covered A Flock of Seagulls
17. They’ve covered Dire Straits
18. Nicholaus.
19. “19 Floors.”
20. When Josephine and Nicholaus sing at each other.
21. “It might seem strange, I don’t want to change, I don’t want to interact.”
22. “Last Choice.”
23. The guitars.
24. Their artwork leaves me wanting more.
25. They’re not afraid of repetition.
26. “Turn the TV off.”
27. Their label is called What’s Your Rupture?
28. James.
29. James’ last name.
30. Several of them used to be Girlfrendo.
31. The “found” feeling of the photographs in their artwork.
32. “Turn the Radio Off.”
33. Josephine’s wearing a band-aid on her nose in the “Wishing Well” video.
34. They like to share.
35. Their ’80s sound.
36. It’s the saxophone that really nails it.
37. Their pop.
38. “I’m not your kind and you’re not mine, but for tonight you’ll have to do just fine.”
39. They’re from Sweden.
40. Clay likes ’em.
41. Clay will like me more for sharing more Love Is All .
42. “Make Out Fall Out Make Up.”
43. Their cut and pastey logo.
44. Markus.
45. They rock their pogo pop sound like their lives depend on it.
46. “Give It Back.
47. The cowbell on “Give it Back.”
48. When Josephine and Nicholaus sing together.
49. Hot Chip remixed them.
50 “Talk Talk Talk Talk.”
51. They’ve covered The Pastels.
52. “Wishing Well.”
53. “Wishing Well’s” keyboard riff.
54. They gave Spin an MP3 of “Wishing Well.”
55. Johan.
56. “Big Bangs, Black Holes, Meteorites.”
57. They gave Pitchfork an MP3 of “Big Bangs, Black Holes, Meteorites.”
58. “Sea Sick.”
59. Josephine singing all whispery on “A More Uncertain Future.”
60. Adrenaline, adrenaline, adrenaline.
61. “I keep the one I love in the freezer.”
62. Not only do they make music together, some of them make kids together.
63. “Felt Tip.”
64. The explosive opening to “Give it Back.”
65. They’ve covered Faith No More.
66. They like polka dots.
67. They sound like Siouxsie & The Banshees sped up to Altered Images’ pace.
68. Red, white, black, and blue.
69. Their primary colored seagull t-shirt.
70. Seven seven inch singles.
71. “When Giants Fall.”
72. Their similar saxophone swagger of Romeo Void.
73. “Ageing Had Never Been His Friend.”
74. Sometimes they sound like they’re going to fall apart.
75. They never fall apart.
76. “A More Uncertain Future.”
77. Josephine and Markus didn’t laugh when an interviewer asked them what “indie” means to them.
78. When Josephine wears b/w stripped shirts that match her keyboard.
79. I like this second album more than their first.
80. I can’t wait to hear their next album.
81. “New Beginnings.”
82. They’re not too distracted to ponder infinity.
83. They hand printed their own re-usable grocery tote bags.
84. “Rumors.”
85. They’re not too jaded to throw money into wishing wells.
86. Black, white, and pink.
87. “Used Goods.”
88. Woodie.
89. Wyatt.
90. The technicolor video for “Ageing Had Never Been His Friend.”
91. They’re just plain fun dammit!
92. Love is All can cleanse your soul of Leo Buscaglia.
93. Their MP3s we linked to two years ago still work.
94. “Trying too Hard.”
95. “Busy Doing Nothing.”
96. l.i.a.
97. Fredrik.
98. The Bees remixed ’em.
99. They’re the perfect soundtrack to a bounce-house party.
100. Coming up with this list.
Surf City
December barely rolls in and finally it looks like “winter” around Huntington Beach, CA, aka Surf City USA. “Winter” remains an ideal time to hit the waves for a chilly little surf session, and this warm, fuzzy track from our Surf City brothers down in New Zealand is the perfect soundtrack for such a jaunt. The band started when two friends connected in a video library just after one of the fellows, Davin, had purchased a four track recorder with money he received from a study grant. It sounds as if he spent more time studying the acoustics of a Volkswagen van because that’s what this EP sounds like: a more cheerful Jesus and Mary Chain as recorded in a VW. No matter your geographical location or its current climate, Surf City will sun up your heart and give you cozy toes.
Boy Eats Drum Machine
It’s the day after Thanksgiving and I’m still thinking about eating. Even the music I’m listening to reminds me of eating. Enter Boy Eats Drum Machine. It’s somewhat of a misnomer because Jon Ragel the multi-instrumentalist behind the moniker is all grown up and no, he didn’t eat a drum machine. Instead, he joined forces with a who’s who line-up of Portland indie rock drummers via a local drum break series called Bridgetown Breaks. Drum credits go to the drummers of Viva Voce, Talkdemonic, and Menomena among others. Ragel adds everything else and it’s a plateful: turntables, synths, tenor sax, guitar, organ, and yes, bravely, vocals. RJd2 didn’t even step behind the mic until his second album. From record one (Booomboxxx is his third) Ragel’s armed with one turntable, one microphone and all the goodies mentioned above. The result is a scratchy, earnest pastiche of jazz, breaks, spaghetti western soundtracks, and soulful crooning. A delicious mix of sounds for the whole family to feast on this holiday season!
The Hush Now
A couple of weeks ago, I was putting together some mix CDs for my wife for her birthday and, as usually happens, I loaded them up with Hall & Oates. She likes them. I say I don’t. Yet the truth is that not only is there an H&O song that is indelible in our romantic history, but those goofy-looking dudes wrote some pretty fine pop songs. There, I said it. The Hush Now said it, too. The poppy quartet is fronted by Noel Kelly, who almost died listening to Queen and who draws on The Apples in Stereo and Built to Spill, among others, for comparison to their frenetic power chords and his own melancholy tenor. But, for all of their “indie-pop-shoegazer†(their words, not mine) name-dropping, it’s that touch of Darryl and John that gets me every time.