The singer for Super Furry Animals has a knack for writing Super Catchy Songs all on his own. Well, he did take his recordings down to England to add some strings, courtesy of Sean and Marcus of the High Llamas, then down to Brazil for Mario Caldato Jr.’s percussive touch. So songs that began as meditations for acoustic guitar and voice ended up sounding greater than the sum of their parts.
Martin Sexton
School of Rock was on cable over the weekend, right about the time I started listening to Martin Sexton’s new album Seeds, and I couldn’t help but make a comparison. Powerful, funky soul-pop instead of face-melting rock, a band of adults (presumably) instead of Dewey’s / Ned’s 10 year olds — well, maybe that which draws Martin Sexton and Jack Black together in my mind is simply a similar physical appearance. Oh yeah, and total sincerity in expressing the joy of music. The five tracks below, from five different albums, are awesomely and gloriously full of Sexton’s soul, and you can take that line any way you want.
Ford & Fitzroy
Here I was, sitting down at the computer, relatively late at night, at least for me, wondering what on earth I was going to do about 3hive, when into the suggestion box came an email suggesting Ford & Fitzroy. One quick listen and my problem was solved! So enjoy the crisp, psych pop with the pleasantly unsteady vocals. Not to be confused with this guy.
The Fatels
Sure, the UK’s The Fatels are starting to get some buzz, as they say in the biz, but boy I am a sucker for their distinctly London-eque, pounding punk/post-punk pop. Especially refreshing is knowing that only three people made all this racket! More downloads available on their sites below.
The Acorn
Look, I’ve got a house to clean but I still wanted to share The Acorn today. So, how’s this: if you’re inspired by what you hear, write your own post and add it to the comments section. I’ll send my favorite guest poster(s) a 3hive prize pack. Cool? Okay, now, where’d I leave the Swiffer…
Air
Clay’s posting of this A.I.R., (and his direct mention of the French Band) got me thinking about when I first listened to Air. If you take one of Chicago’s Green Line el trains west out of downtown in the early evening in spring, right as things start to thaw, you’ll see a bunch of old watertowers on the tops of warehouses silhouetted in a huge, wide blue sky, and they look like trees about to bud out and bloom in the warmth you’ve been waiting for and know is coming. That’s what they looked like to me, at least. And if you listen to Moon Safari, Air’s 1998 release, for the first time while admiring the watertowers, “La Femme D’Argent,” the first track, will sound cool and fresh and full of hope. In fact, it will sound that way forever, in my experience. Ever since, I’ve enjoyed the pretty, soothing grooves offered up by this French duo; “Once Upon a Time” apprears on their latest release, Pocket Symphony, due out in about a week.
El Perro Del Mar
Sarah Assbring is a Swedish woman, from the very musical city of Gothenburg, who records as El Perro Del Mar (which translates to “The Dog of the Sea”). I don’t think “ass” means the same thing to the Swedes as it does to us Americans, but nonetheless, she has the voice of a person who has been through… something. This pick definitely falls into the “3hive better late than never” collection, since her album has been making the rounds for some time now and before the album she was collaborating with Jens Lekman, but its time now. High time. El Perro Del Mar is all about keeping it a little offbeat–she has a non-traditional voice (haunted, a little rough, singing like she’s *this close* to a breakdown even when she’s singing “lalalalala”), she’s old school in a way that not many are these days and she named herself “El Perro Del Mar”–but she’s also really tethered to the ideal of making music that people want to, and love to, listen to. Bonus points for the sweetest little animated music video that side of the Atlantic. Seriously, I dare you not to like this video. I double. dog. dare. you.
Sister Vanilla
Props to Clay for digging up the Super 5 Thor gem! Speaking of The Jesus & Mary Chain…after ten long years the Reid brothers have made nice and have invited us all to their family reunion—including Jim and William’s sister Linda. We heard Linda on The Jesus and Mary Chain’s last album, Munki, and all I can really say is it’s about time. It’s about time the Reid brothers are back (along with TJ&MC alumin Ben Lurie), and it’s about time they get their sister in on the act. Her whispery delivery fits so well with her brothers’ fuzzed-out pop songs. The family recipe has been around for years, but it’s never sounded so fresh.
The Finches
I’ve been wanting to write up a celebratory post for my 3hive brother Shan, who’s a recently new daddy with a beautiful son. This one isn’t; more accurately, this post does not link to the songs of happy, carefree love that I’d really hoped to offer. The Finches are all about simplicity and sincerity, but often to a degree that is far more forlorn than ecstatic. Even so, “Daniel’s Song” — from the band’s EP Six Songs — is so haunting and powerful and rich that I can’t help but give it to Shan as a grounding device, a reminder that sad realities have their own beauty. I’m an only child, so I’ll never really know the kind of sibling love that Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs and Aaron Morgan sing about here, but I hope to God that my daughter and son get it, understand and feel it, one of these days. And I hope your boy does too, Shan. Peace.
The Red Button
I’m always in the mood for this sleepy sort of pop song, this time from The Red Button. Principals, Mike Ruekberg and Seth Swirsky, have been writing and producing music in L.A. for more than a decade: composing soundtracks and writing songs for the likes of Al Green, respectively. The two met in 2004 when Seth was working on a solo record and discovered they had a mutual love for concise, melodic pop songs. So they began creating just that. Their album, She’s About to Cross My Mind, reminds me of a mix between the woefully obscure song-crafting wizard Erik Voeks on his album, Sandbox, and seminal pop-rockers The Posies. Coincidentally, those last two artists were in heavy rotation on the college radio station (AM 960: The Student Underground Network) Sam, Clay, and I launched way back when: sharing the sharing v.1. The Red Button’s retrospective melodies have me reminiscing like that today, the day after 3hive quietly celebrated our third year of existence. We hope to instigate more intensive festivities in the near future once our lives, mine in particular, settle down a bit. The proverbial dance card’s been booked lately.