You know what they say about the Fiery Furnaces: an MP3 is worth a thousand words. So rather than listen to me babble, just download and listen.
Inouk
A swirling mÈlange of sonically expansive country and shoegazing blues, or maybe just good-old roadhouse reverb. Whatever you want to call it, it’s music to these weary ears.
The Waxwings
Heavy on harmonies and trippy licks, The Waxwings pay more homage to British psych pop than to their Detroit garage rock forebears. Who cares, so long as it feels good, right?
Sonic Youth
The coolest. The greatest. The loudest. And how about that Kim Gordon?
Talkdemonic
Imagine DJ Shadow swearing off turntables and samplers and turning to live instruments. Talkdemonic’s Kevin O’Connor doesn’t work completely sample free, but he does play live drums over what sounds like proprietary guitar loops and sequencing. I’ll be damned if Thom Yorke’s vocals wouldn’t fit these tracks like a glove.
evening
Perhaps the fact that evening have been making music together since the mid-’90s is what makes their full-length debut sound so accomplished. Whatever it is, the massive, spiraling guitars and otherwise hook-laden discontent magically conjure that Radiohead-esque penchant for accessible experimentality without aping the Oxford lads.
Ulysses
To be fair, if we do one Apples’ side project, we’ve got to another, right? This time it’s Robert Schneider, going where no Brian Wilson has gone before, and that’s rock ‘n’ roll. Quite a change of direction, but this is probably what he sings in the shower.
Pedro the Lion
Until recently, Dave Bazan could have been filed under Great American Author or Songwriter. His arresting narratives of loneliness (“The Longest Winter”) and moral dissonance (“Rapture”) just so happened to be tuneful. On their latest, Achilles Heel, Bazan and company let the instruments do more of the talking which really brings the songs to life (“Discretion”). Don’t get me wrong: I wouldn’t change a note of their back catalog, but it is amazing what a little swirling keyboards or soaring guitar can do.
Trans Am
Many artists have offered up the requisite anti-Bush song this summer; Trans Am opted for an entire album’s worth with Liberation. Not every track holds its own: “Uninvited Guest” is unoriginal B-side material, based on the well-circulated “Bushwhacked” MP3s. But the other two cuts featured here prove that Trans Am can make their point quite effectively by speaking softly and carrying a big bassline.
Epic45
Often the best part of art films is the moody instrumental soundtrack. Thanks to Epic45, you can now get your moody instrumental soundtrack without having to sit through the art film.