Barn-storming pop from the Fake Fictions, full of handclaps, shouted whiny choruses, and jangly guitars interrupted by intermittent fuzz. Welcome to spring!
Radical Face
Sam and I are duking it out behind the scenes over Ben Cooper’s musical incarnations. See, Sam beat me to the post on Electric President but was snoozing on the new release from his alter-ego, Radical Face. The rule at 3hive follows: whoever drops the links into our back-end Movable Type site first gets to review that artist. So as a place holder, I wrote: “Sure, Sam snagged electric pres, but i got radical face.” I came back today to finish the post and I find this message waiting for me: “sean is a jerk.” I don’t want to take Sam’s forthcoming humiliation public, so I’ll drop it. And that’s easy to do while listening to Radical Face. You just can’t be mad at anyone listening to these simple, yet lush arrangements. His songs are cheerful without being sappy, well-textured without being muddy. Cooper mixes his acoustic and electronic instruments well, and during the recording of “Chewing Bottles” he did so under extenuating, yet amusing, circumstances.
Tobias Hellkvist
Tobias Hellkvist is a Swedish singer/songwriter/guitarist who came to me by way of Efterklang, whose sweetly melancholy “Step Aside†Hellkvist treats with great charity on his own cover. His winsome yet penetrating vocals might remind you of Iron & Wine, as will his gentle acoustic melodies. Likewise his instrumental tracks hang in the air like autumn leaves. Sorry, MySpace seems to have made it next to impossible (at least to my limited abilities) to directly link to their MP3s anymore, but after downloading “Step Aside,†head to Hellkvist’s MySpace page and give your day an extra dozen minutes of sublime reflection.
The Futurist
Richard Hawley
Mark Kozelek from Red House Painters. Josh Hayden from Spain. John Prine (without the country). Mazzy Star (but not a girl). Nick Drake. Bob Dylan. Richard Hawley. Classic sad singer-songwriter material, quiet and mellow soul-searching, like the best ’60s slow-pop. These tracks are for the long drive, the deep, dark night, the El trip home from the bar alone. “Darlin” and “The Nights are Cold” are my favorites, or let’s make it favourites, from this forlorn Brit. Cheers.
The Bird and the Bee
I love me some soundtrack music. I’ll admit it–there have been countless films that have plucked my heartstrings with a song and sent me off searching the internet for a song that may or may not exist based on a snippet of a lyric that I think I can remember. I usually never manage to find the songs I’m looking for, but some time ago I managed to find an Inara George song I’d heard on a film or tv show somewhere and I was thrilled. I was even more thrilled when I heard about The Bird and The Bee, who boldly embrace explicit sentiment and then make a milkshake out of it with today’s electro-pop goodness. Wikipedia calls B&B “a jazz influenced electro pop project.” I call it “yum.”
New MP3 from Thee More Shallows
Chet
An old radio colleague of mine, Chet Tapp (imagine the coincidence), used to do this radio show called “Smooth As Chet.” See, Chet was a big fan of “smooth” pop. He was a complete freak for Everything But the Girl, China Crisis and The Blue Nile. Especially The Blue Nile. The band Chet gives off a nice, unhurried and controlled smoothness that I think my friend Chet would appreciate. I can imagine Chet wrapping up another hour of his supreme chill with a track like “Don’t Let Your Cruel Heart Count Me In,” or the laid-back, jazzy tune “Fight Against Darkness.” Their grandiose, over-wrought vocals may take some getting used to, but acquired tastes often become one’s preferred tastes, so be sure to give this one a few listens. In a big, cushy easy chair with your feet up and a tasty cool beverage in hand.
The Like Young
“For Money or Love,” the second song on The Like Young’s Last Secrets really says it all about the Like Young: for the love of their music, for the love of the band, for the love of each other (they’re married), Amanda and Joe made sacrifices to do what they loved, despite the struggles with money. Last Secrets explains it all, and perhaps, fittingly, was their last album before they retired the band back in August. Many more songs of their duo-punk-rock from earlier releases can be downloaded from their site.
The Thermals
Like that sullen kid in high school who was aggressively straight edge and pissed off because no one else knew what it meant, the one who deliberately got every question wrong on the ACT because it’s harder than getting every question right, like Minor Threat 25 years earlier (jeez, is it already that long?), The Thermals have something to say and they want to make sure you don’t miss it. Offering loud, sloppy, aggressive “post-pop-punk” as they like to call it, this Portland band’s brand of anti-establishment, high-octane anger is gaining so much ground it made The New York Times a few weeks ago. The top two tracks below are from their most recent effort, The Body, The Blood, The Machine, recorded by Fugazi’s Brendan Canty. (See, there is a Minor Threat connection.)