Alisa makes fun of me when I tell her I wanted to be a magician when I was a boy. She praises me when I make loads of magic fun for our kids’ birthdays though. OK, so I’ve only performed for one birthday. I think it was for Cairo’s sixth birthday. I made him disappear. Sam was my lovely assistant. Back to being made fun of…Alisa also gave be a good jabbing when I showed her my juggling skills (I can’t believe she actually married me when I think about it). Can you see where this is going? Yes, I also used to be a proud owner of a unicycle. Which brings us to the songs for today by Unicycle Loves You. The playful tone of “Hawaii” brings back the simple rushes of thrilling my friends by changing nickels to dimes or bunny-hopping on my unicycle. Yes, I was a royal geek, and thankfully Unicycle Loves You lets me man up and admit it. I mean their singer Jim Carroll still dresses like my mom dressed me in grade school (note the guy in the vest), back when I would steal lunch money to buy my friends ice-cream or Wacky Packages. But that’s a completely different story, one that shares a theme with “Highway Robbery.” And no kids, stealing is not OK.
Cannonball Jane
Whenever I hear the name Jane I can’t help thinking about a high school friend of mine (spelled “Jayne”). She was one of maybe three people from my school I hung out with my senior year. When I attended a reunion recently my wife asked me, not facetiously, “Are you even going to know anyone here?” The only person I could think of was Jayne, but I knew she wouldn’t be there. Like me, Jayne was slightly anti-social. As I expected, no Jayne. But you know how high school reunions put you in that nostalgic mood/mode? Thus affected, I did some internet sleuthing and actually tracked Jayne down, an entire continent away, hoping to say hello and catch up. I left two awkward voice messages (it’s impossible to sound casual, as if I hadn’t talked to her for a week when in fact it had been years). Did Jayne call back? Nope. Made me feel even more awkward, like I was some creepy internet stalker!
I think if Jayne’s personality were more like Cannonball Jane’s music we would’ve had a nice conversation, shared a few good laughs, and traded our latest listens and reads. See, Cannonball Jane is playful, colourful (Jayne was from England—she made me use British spellings), and obviously up for some fun. By day Cannonball Jane teaches elementary school. By night Jane, aka Sharon Hagopian, fires up the beatbox, guitars, synths and gadgets and records a groovin’ pastiche of hip hop, new wave, and sixties pop. A mix of Soul Coughing and Luscious Jackson, Mary Tyler Moore and Solex. This is the kind of woman I’d trust to educate my children and school me in the ways of beats and breaks and dance party extravaganzas. Hey, sounds a lot like Alisa, the woman I married. Who, by the way, tracked down one of her old high school friends during a reunion year. And he called her back! Who wouldn’t? She’s fun like that.
Electric President
My promo copy of Electric President’s new album Sleep Well is practically worn out already, but luckily, the release date for the new disc is just a few days away. Dreamy like the last one, but dark and brooding too, Ben Cooper and Alex Kane are still rocking the electrorganic (it does work, Sam) in the available-for-free-download, opening track “Monster,” as well as a bunch of other great spins on the disc. Check out the tinkly little piano in this song, the falsetto vocals in “We will Walk through Walls,” and the oh-so-true chorus of “It’s an Ugly Life,” all of these backed by occasional boops and bips and computer scratches.
Monsters [MP3, 7.8MB, 128kbps]
Sam’s original post: 01/21/06
Jacksonville, Florida’s Ben Cooper and Alex Kane had been collaborating as Radical Face Versus Phalex Sledgehammer for a couple years, when they mercifully decided to change their name to Electric President. They put together a five-song EP called You Have the Right to Remain Awesome which found its way to the Morr Music offices in Berlin. Morr now brings us their debut long-player which is nothing short of dreamy. Electric President’s electrorganic (just made that term up) pop fits right alongside labelmates Lali Puna, Styrofoam, b.fleischmann, and Mum. Ben also records solo as Radical Face (hence the duo’s original moniker) and should have an album out (also on Morr) later this year. He also makes really nice paintings. And he’s only 23. Yeah, I know…showoff.
Insomnia [MP3, 9.9MB, 320kbps]
Good Morning, Hypocrite [MP3, 7.4MB, 192kbps]
Label My Mind: Blown [MP3, 5.6MB, 192kbps]
Tender Forever
Melanie, my favorite French street-artist-turned-K-Records-stalwart, has released her second LP Wider. Her live show that I caught several years is one of my favorite live shows of the past ten years. To quote myself in our Junk Drawer: “Holy moly, Melanie was incredible, part musician/poet/child/dancer/manipulator/artist/provacateur/comic/songwriter. And her voice live is so loud, so strong, so filling.” She set up on the floor in front of the stage for maximum audience interaction, which involved her punching me in the stomach, taking and wearing my wife’s coat, and rifling through the pockets of my friend Vince. With her new album, she continues to craft her electronic performance-pop, with sweet melodies and varying tempos, harmonizing with herself about love and life.
Original post 10/12/2005:
As previously mentioned, my personal goal of attending all shows by 3hive bands in my hometown has been quite a failure, coming in right now at about 3 out of who knows…10? 20? 30? That’s gonna improve slightly when Tender Forever comes to town on November 6 with His Royal Highness of Indiedom Calvin Johnson. A musical journey from Bordeaux, France, to Olympia, Washington, can only mean one thing: exquisite Franco-American pop. Melanie Valera and friends, see you soon.
The Hectors
Sean’s in L.A., so maybe he knows about The Hectors. I’m in Michigan, and all I know about is the Red Wings, the Pistons, and Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s text messages. Therefore, this old-school SoCal indie pop-rock sounds fresh to me, like Pavement meets a girl who can sing. But back to this whole regional thing… Sean, a Lakers-Pistons is possible, especially if the Celtics’ airplane gets lost and flies around over Canada for a few days. The Stanley Cup’s in the bag. Maybe check out The Hectors in San Diego in June? I’ve never been there….
Daniel Ahearn
While Daniel Ahearn’s group project, Ill Lit, was one of our earliest posts, they never really enjoyed proper coverage on this site. Now’s the time to make up for such an oversight. Ahearn emerges with a solo EP almost two years after Ill Lit’s self-released album, Tom Cruise. To be honest, it’s not much different from Ill Lit’s electro-tinged americana sound. That’s a good thing. The difference is Ahearn wrote the songs on Pray for Me By Name so that he felt comfortable playing them alone with an acoustic guitar. Rather than painting himself into a corner, this restraint, this simplification allows Ahearn to create a small masterpiece in “Down for the Count.” A gritty keyboard groove opens the song with a bounce, then smoothes out giving way to a soft, sweet, soaring chorus. Don’t let the gentle tone fool you. Ahearn couches both the ups and downs, the sunshine and the Santa Anas, of West Coast living in one friendly tune.
The Lodger
Has it really been a year since The Lodger released their first album Grown-Ups? Here they are again with their new LP Life is Sweet, not even twelve months later, turning it up a notch with crisp production to further refine their Yorkshire pop sensibilities. Let’s just hope that they can keep up this pace!
Original Post 6/17/2007:
I’m starting to worry. Maybe cause it was my birthday recently I’m getting all nostalgic. Yes, I know things go in cycles, and the past few years of music have been heavily borrowing from the 80’s, but that was my decade. I would hold a tape recorder up to the radio to record Wang Cheung. I bought Tears for Fears on tape, Joy Division on vinyl, the Smiths on CD, Camper van Beathoven on a t-shirt, and the Cure on a poster. I saw the Descendents live and Dance Craze and Athens, Ga, Inside/Out on VHS. The 80’s were good to me. But it’s the next cycle that’s starting to worry me. Don’t tell me you haven’t seen the kids starting to sport long stringy hair and flannel shirts. We’re on a fine line between the next “scene” going hippie or retro Pearl Jam. Let’s just get it out of the way before my kids hit their teenage years.
The Lodger and their fine Yorkshire guitar pop, though, ain’t going down without a fight. While influenced and even motivated by the songwriting of such guitar pop stalwarts as the Wedding Present and the Housemartins, this Leeds band’s debut album Grown-ups, adds their own personal touch and a host of modern sensibilities, like crisp melodies, high-energy honesty and reverb-free drums, all evidenced in the outstanding “Let Her Go.” Just what an old fella needs to feel young again.
Julie Ocean
The heat wave blasting Los Angeles has got me pining for summer and sparkly bright summery tunes. I’m swimming in the latter thanks to Julie Ocean. Featuring Jim Spellman of Velocity Girl and a handful of other post-punk DC notables, Julie Ocean does 10 punky-pop songs in just over 25 minutes. They’re sweet, catchy, and quick. Remember the Christopher Walken “cowbell” sketch? I can imagine Julie Ocean playing in that sketch and Walken telling them, “you know what you need are more handclaps.” All their songs are handclap friendly, but thankfully they don’t indulge themselves until the very end of the record. Just like Walken says of BÖC, Julie Ocean “appears to have a dynamite sound.”
Soccer Team
Must admit, I’ve always wanted to have a 3hive soccer team. Many years ago, I scored over Jon’s head straight from a kickoff while he was in goal. And my most vivid memory of playing against Sam is blocking one of his shots with my face, only for the ball to drop right back onto his foot so he could slam it into the back of the net anyway, leaving me with a red face (due, in part, to a bloody nose). So maybe it would be better to have 3hive sponsor a soccer team, you know with our logo plastered on the front of the team’s jerseys.
Ryan and Melissa, both employees of Dischord at one point, included this little gem on their 2006 LP ‘Volunteered’ Civility and Professionalism. Yes, it’s a bit old, but it’s new to me and I’m kicking myself for missing it until now. The LP displays their very clever, lo-fi pop, moving from fuzzy and effects-laden guitar, to pounding drums, strumming acoustic guitars, and everywhere in between, recorded to 8- and 4-track tape. That resulting tape hiss? I think they wanted us to hear it.
The Awkward Stage
The Awkward Stage ended up being one of my happy finds, with “West Van Girl,” “1000 Teenage Hearts,” and the title track from Shane Nelken’s debut album, Heaven is for Easy Girls, all being worth at least $.99 at the legal download site of your choice. Hopefully the band’s sophomore spin, Slimming Mirrors, Flattering Lights — out in June, two days before my birthday! (hint, hint, Mint Records) — will offer up another set of smart Canadian pop from the sensitive and supremely talented Nelken. “Anime Eyes” is a rocking little piece of candy sweetly luring us in.
Anime Eyes [MP3, 3.4MB, 128kbps]
Original post: 09/28/06
About The Awkward Stage, my friend Tim O. has this to say: “Here’s an album in the grand tradition of geek rock, as in Weezer, Beck, etc., even though The Awkward Stage doesn’t sound like any of them. Strong melodies and pop hooks lead a slight voice through cleverly-titled, literate and ultimately pathetic songs. Even the cover art depicts lead singer Shane Nelken going to prom with a blow-up doll while wearing a retainer and head gear. In fact, I heard Joe had the same head gear in middle school.” Wait a minute, there… Well, that’s enough from Tim O. on the subject. Oh no, wait, he has one more thing to say. “While the title track claims ‘The Morons are Winning,’ The Awkward Stage are clearly figthing back.” Brilliantly pithy, T.O. Look for Heaven is for Easy Girls on October 10.