Just read my original post…so much has changed and so much hasn’t. Same goes for 65 Days of Static. They’re still making instrumental rock that I actually like. But they’ve since matured their sound a bit. It’s less of an aural blitz and more of subtle, studied sound. Don’t get me wrong, they still have an edge to them: they had to kick a Scottish after-school dance troupe out of their own auditorium to record the grand piano for this album. Now that’s rock ‘n’ roll.
Original post (12/20/2004):
I just got back from two weeks of working in London. Sounds great, I know, and for the most part it was. But, as a wise man once crooned, “being apart ain’t easy on this love affair.” So, as I fought jet lag and IMed my wife at 2am, I’d leave the TV on in the background for a little company. I usually kept it on mute, but when the video for 65 Days of Static’s “Retreat!Retreat!” flickered on, I turned up the volume and got sucked right in. Why can’t we just swap these guys for Linkin Park and make the charts a better place for everyone? Here are a couple secular tracks, plus a seasonal treat to play in your iPod as you fight through the crowds at Toys ‘R’ Us. Ho ho ho, indeed.
How about a hefty dose from Alias! Today we feature a broad sampling from Alias’s discography, beginning with remixes from his brand-spanking new remix collection, coincidentally titled 
This one’s gonna be quick because I gotta take care of the mothers in my life today! Maria Eriksson from The Concretes pulled together some of Sweden’s finest players to back her up on her solo album. The first selection, “Cuckoo” is the most Concretes-like: playful, bouncy pop, while “Dogs” is slightly more introspective and somber. Ericksson and company get downright proggy on “Make Up.” A little something for everyone. Enjoy the music. Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to call your mother!
Lately there have been all these commercials for the NYC “easy listening” radio station and despite my general aversion to anything “easy” (especially when “listening”), I’ve been fascinated by how calm the woman on the advertisement is. One has to wonder… is it the music? Well I’m not ready to throw in the musical towel yet and so my latest solution to needing a little sonic R&R is going to have to be Dntel. Dntel is definitely not going to make the evening drive line-up next to Celine Dion BUT Dntel is Jimmy Tamborello (also part of 
Though the season isn’t quite right, these gentle tunes from The Autumn Defense sound just fine on our cool, sunny southeast Michigan mornings. Breezy easy-listening pop pleasure from Pat Sansone and Wilco’s John Stirratt, complete with whispered vocals, organ, strings, horns, and the the spirits of Cat Stevens or maybe Nick Drake. Two of these tracks — and there are plenty more available for free on their website — are from their 2003 release Circles, but a new, self-titled album looks promising. I know I’m a sucker for things that sound this pretty. Are you, too?
Writer’s block. That’s it. That’s the only explanation of how I can continue to tap my foot and nod my head on the sixth consecutive listen of “Heatstroke” from Magic Bullets and still not come up with something to write about it. Yes, it’s lame to just write “I like it” about a band/song, but with the pulsing keyboards and snappy drums of “Heatstroke,” that’s all your gonna get outta me. I like it. a CHILD but in life yet a DOCTOR in love is the debut album of this San Francisco band just out on Words on Music. If you must have comparisons, try these from Words on Music: C86, Felt, Gang of Four, New Order, Feelies, Talking Heads, Stranglers, Orange Juice, and the French Kicks. And make that eight consecutive listens!
Sounds like Terence Bernardo can’t make up his mind. “Do I do a gritty, urban groove thing, or a slow piano jam?” Lucky for us he’s undecided. He’s given us both and sure enough there’s plenty more on Taxi Taxi’s debut, Maps and Legends. The variegated styles of Taxi Taxi are a sort of tribute to Bernardo’s kaleidoscopic, adopted hometown of New York City and his friends there who define the city and helped record the album. But music-heads from East to Left Coast will find something to love on Maps and Legends. From the Liquid Liquid-inspired party track “Shoot the Dog…” to the introspective “X Marks the Spot” Taxi Taxi holds all the songs together with inventive production, solid songwriting, and universal themes like love and loss.
Trying to keep it Francophone here…Montreal DJ Ghislain Poirier has range. His distinctive rebel beats draw from a range of styles — from Ragga to Detroit techno. (Ghis prefers to call his sound “le gros,” as in the fatness, which I won’t dispute.) He teams up with a wide range of MCs, from dancehall toaster DJ Collage to fellow Quebequois Seba. And he’s been called upon to remix a range of artists from 
If classic French pop singers are my weakness, then Charlotte Gainsbourg is kryptonite. She’s not only the daughter of Serge Gainsbourg, France’s version of Lou Reed and Leonard Cohen combined, but she’s gifted with Gallic melancholy—wispy melody-making that is perpetually running from the spotlight but never making it all the way out—that seems to be instilled in the French, or at least those who sing, from birth. (Although, Charlotte is half-British, so perhaps there’s a bit of Anglo resignation there as well.) “The Songs That We Sing†is one such number, which despite being in her English tongue loses none of its quiet desperation. You can hear AND see for yourself, because Michel Gondry shot the 
My friend Neal just bought a satellite radio receiver on eBay, and my guess is he’s listening to as much Canadian radio as he can. That’s really his thing, along with snowboarding, long-distance bicycling, vacuum tube stereos, new albums on vinyl and the benzodiazepine-induced superoxide signalling of B cell apoptosis. (I’m not kidding! PhD scientists! My wife is the same way…) Anyway, he sent an e-mail suggesting Oh Bijou, and let me tell you there’s no apoptosis (that is, cell death) here, just nice, quiet, hazy pop songs with a 70s flavor. I mean, really, “Misty Eyes” is just about perfect. Oh Bijou! Oh Canada! Keep it up!