The suggestion box here at 3hive gets worked overtime. We have blessed suggestions coming in from our kind readers, we have emails from bands and labels that we are also grateful for, and we get a whole lot of spam, as is expected with a published email address on the world wide web. There’s one spam email that we regularly get for an Indian television site (no, I’m not going to share the url, we don’t want to encourage them), so I was so close to passing over an email for All India Radio when it arrived. Not the one that’s the only Indian radio station broadcast in the real time over the internet. I’m talking about the one that’s the Australian downtempo electronica group inspired by the sounds of Indian street life and the KLF. And for a reference point for A.I.R., think no further than that other “AIR” band…yes…that’s the one…Air French Band.
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.
Mouthful of Bees
A band called Mouthful of Bees will get at least one listen from me due to its connection, real or imagined, to Brian Evenson‘s wonderfully disturbing short story “Stung,” in which a boy kills his stepfather by…well, you don’t me want to give it away, do you? Mouthful of Bees got second, third, and fourth listens from me with a fresh take on that slurred (sm)art pop CYHSY and Tapes ‘n’ Tapes get so much credit for. While the genre is known for its frenzied pacing, their 2006 EP The End proves that Mouthful of Bees can speed it up and slow it down with equal dexterity (check “I Saw a Golden Light” on their MySpace page). “The Now” falls in the uptempo category. And, for all I know, their name may be the only connection to Evenson’s work, but singer Chris Farstad opens the song by crooning “In the time it took for me to write my novel/I did nothing in particular at all.” Hmm, fellow fiction buff or mere coincidence? Read the book.
Andrew Bird
Andrew Bird is back, with a new album — Armchair Apocrypha — to be released in a month or so, a prominent SXSW appearance, late-night TV gigs and a big tour (dates & locales here). Also back: musically complex, gently orchestrated and textured pop songs with obscure or unexpected lyric paths, and more whistling than a Roger Whittaker album. Some of the off-beat syncopation and general quirkiness aren’t here; in general Armchair Apocrypha sounds developed and mature. That said, Bird’s sound is still fresh and inviting, clever and complex.
Heretics [MP3, 3.2MB, 128kbps]
Original post: 05/05/05
A message from Sean to me, regarding Andrew Bird:
“Damn, you beat me to this! AB’s one of those artists that I just never took the time to listen to, even though I had access to his records….then when I do finally listen, I’m kicking myself for waiting so long…”
Incredibly fresh songwriting, with an abundance of clever lines and complex instrumentation that fits somewhere between Nick Drake and Arcade Fire. Thanks to Gordon for this suggestion.
The Rapture
More dance punk disco funk from the Rapture. Does anyone need more than that?
Takka Takka is your Valentine
Julian Nation
Oh Snap! It’s Valentine’s Day and surely I will do one of two things today… Share some music for lovers? Select something discordant and raw for those who are candy-and-rose averse? Neither actually. Aussie Julian Nation has been playing music since he was a youngin and he’s all about songs created in the short form — the album is 18 minutes long! Melbourne Pop Haiku anyone? While there are elements of romanticism, wistfulness and charm to all of his songs, its all in an ambient way, not in a v-day emotional beat down way. Unfortunately, of late the word “twee” has come to take on some pejorative connotations, but this, folks, would not be without the Brits who came before. On a snowy morning in New York, Mr. Nation is all kinds of sending me back to being 19 and listening to Belle and Sebastian on road trips before the revolution. And you know what? No matter the backlash, I really liked that moment and I’m not ashamed to say that I’m glad that their influence made it all the way across equatorial divisions. So there.
Westbound Train
Clay’s posting of The Busters prompted a little combative traffic in our Comments section. Eigner requested, “please no ska,” to which Ali responded, “please more ska!” Yep, things are getting pretty heated here on our humble blog. Being a ska band veteran (trombone), I’m gonna side with Ali and — not to rub it in, Eigner — honor his request. Boston ska-pop kids Westbound Train bring in a little smooth jazz and R&B into their mix, matched nicely by the mellow vocals of Obi Fernandez, on their Hellcat Records debut from last fall. Hey Clay, it’s your turn!
radicalfashion
My six year old says she doesn’t like this music “because it’s scary.” She finds the ticking clock sound disconcerting. “It sounds like someone’s gonna get me.” Hirohito Ihara, founder of Kobe-based radicalfashion, admits that he can’t escape from the subconscious influence of his surroundings. The resulting abstract compositions will seep right back into your subconscious. Unlike my daughter, I find the rhythmic found sounds soothing, and as radicalfashion intersperses his dreamy piano playing throughout the track it triggers a reassuring nostalgia. I don’t promise the same reaction for you. On his debut, Odori, Ihara lets his subconscious take the lead and stays back, out of the way, leaving the listener plenty of open space between notes to create their own meaning from his work.
The Never
The Never are the erstwhile geek rock (think Weezer) outfit of songwriters Ari Picker and Noah Smith, along with college friends Joah and Jonny Tunnell. I say “erstwhile” not just because it’s such a geeky word but because The Never’s latest LP extends well beyond geek rock to an intricately crafted multimedia project, including a 50-page illustrated storybook (featuring 40 original oil paintings by Noah himself) and a corresponding suite of songs depicting a country boy’s journey to return a nuclear bomb to the city. Word is The Never are aiming to adapt Antarctica for the stage. And, given the cinematic leanings of Ari’s latest Lost in the Trees EP, I wouldn’t be surprised if a film version follows…