I’ve always been a sucker for things British (colonial exploits excluded). Recently I had a mad craving for a British-made Lion Bar, which has the perfect combination of caramel, chocolate, wafers and what I swear tastes like nougat (although I am told I am wrong on this). It’s the perfect candy bar and I just can’t seem to find anything else as good stateside. While I was visiting the British establishment in New York that actually sells this confectionary achievement, I couldn’t help but enjoy the salesman’s accent. Which brings me to my point, Maximo Park. While Maximo Park is perhaps more straight up radio poppy than the music that I general enjoy (but always want so much to like), it’s British radio poppy! So I love it! And while I commend all of the accentless Swedish acts that astound me so, there is just something about someone singing in a Newcastle accent over a ragey guitar. Go figure. So as the sun gets hotter and the days get lazier, I recommend giving in to your sillier side, snapping up a Lion Bar (if you can find one) and slapping some “Our Earthly Pleasures” on the Pod. Earthly pleasures, indeed.
Savath & Savalas
The ever prolific musical shape-shifter that is Scott Herren (Prefuse 73, Piano Overlord, Delarosa and Asora) returns under his Savath & Savalas moniker. Herren sheds the digital complexity of Prefuse 73 for a more organic simplicity. That’s not all he’s shed. Unlike recent S & S releases, Herren has likewise proceeded without his collaborator Eva Puyuelo and is releasing this album on a new label: Anti. While Golden Pollen (out June 19th) appears to be focused on his own song-crafting he joins with José González and Mia Doi Todd for a couple tracks. “Ya Verdad” features Herren himself on vocals. He plays a variety of guitars from Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Cuba on the album as well as various Latin percussion instruments. This one should stop you in your tracks, slow down your day and cause a sorely needed moment of introspection and reflection. A keen dose of homeopathic Ritalin. It certainly mellowed my ADHD for the afternoon…
Surrounded
What’s in a name? In the case of Sweden’s Surrounded, it also describes their sound, an intense, brooding, and surprisingly simple brand of indie rock that surrounds and fills and envelopes. The second LP The Nautilus Years, is out in June in the US and is already available in Europe.
Coltrane Motion MP3s, Album + Tour
Transformantra
Today, thanks to the folks at Canadian net-label Decibel Palace, we rediscover a rare electronic quartet with a taste for techno, funk, and 80s synth-sounds. The resulting output resembles Mr. Scruff circa year 2099, a playful, futuristic-nostalgia. Toronto’s answer to Kraftwerk? Unfortunately the band disbanded eight years ago after releasing an initial 12″ (with “Liquor Mart” as the a-side) and a 10-track debut featuring a remix by Freaky Chakra. Dave Allen (Gang of Four, Shriekback) planned on releasing their sophomore effort on his World Domination label. When his domination attempt failed the album was shelved and the band went on their separate ways. Live, Transformantra employed live instrumentation and improvisational re-mixing and set King Svenie (a veteran rave dancer/illustrator) loose on the stage, dancing around, costumed like the cosmos. Here’s hoping for a Transformantra reunion show in the Gobi tent at Coachella!
The Harvey Girls
Not only are the Harvey Girls’ Hiram and Melissa very talented AND generous (they give away much of their prolific output to freeloaders like me) AND nice AND interesting, but it turns out they’re just plain good people: Declinate their most recent EP, will cost you some pocket change through the great web-only label SVC, but all proceeds go to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network. The songs are as multifaceted and enchanting as ever and the cause is very important, so give a free listen and then buy the rest. It’ll be worth it in more ways than one.
Rasputina
A few years ago, I had this great Creative Writing class, with Ross and Tommy and a bunch of other kids. They did some of the best work I’ve seen yet, and I loved them. It was good. For his final project, Tommy brought in a doll’s head, decapitated and with the top of the skull — which had been shorn off — held on tight with a large square silver hinge. Inside, of course, were “Poems and Prose from a Deranged Boy’s Head.” Fantastic. Awesome. I keep that project in a cabinet, and now and again take it out to freak out my classes. Anyway, Tommy was a big, big fan of Rasputina, and though I couldn’t get into the heavy, theatrical cello-based chamber rock at the time, I’m just loving “Cage in a Cave” off of the upcoming Oh Perilous World, to be released in late June. Maybe it’s the Pitcairn Island theme, maybe it’s the pop-rock vibe; either way, I’m ready to talk to Tommy again about Rasputina, and see what kind of crazy things he’s up to.
Blessed Light
According to Mill Pond Records, “the creative force behind Blessed Light, singer/songwriter/guitarist Toby Gordon, came into this world on June 17, 1977.” It kind of sounds like he’s still there. I was even thinking of adding a “disco” genre tag for the last track below, “Something More.” In general, though, we’re looking at thick, grand, majestic pop heavily inspired by the Pacific Northwest and the 1970s. So iinstead of wondering when “Suzanne Sunshine” will ever end, imagine it playing on the radio as you drive off with Woodesron to buy Aerosmith tickets (a la Dazed and Confused).
Free MP3 Comp from Adult Swim
JakobÃnarÃna
I can imagine a relay race where Mark E. Smith runs the first leg. He makes his way around the track and when it comes time to pass the baton he doesn’t want to give it up. He thinks the race is 4×1600, when it’s really 4×100. See, just when I think there can’t be another Fall record: there’s another Fall record. That’s not a bad thing, but other bands are ready to take their baton and run with it. Iceland’s JakobÃnarÃna (their debut album hits this fall) seem ready to go the distance. Their music is crisp and full of youthful energy while vocalist Gunnar Ragnarsson sings with a mature timbre similar to Mark E. Smith, despite the fact that he’s probably young enough to be Smith’s grandson. Thematically, compare and contrast the pogo-core of JakobÃnarÃna’s “Sleeping in Seattle” with Minor Threat’s hardcore “Out of Step.” I wish more of America’s youth were as out of step with pop-culture.