Not only do Nom de Guerre play some wonderful pop music, but they offer perhaps the best band shirts ever offered for sale by a band: tailor-made, double cuff dress shirts designed by the bassist for measley 70 euros! Other offers available for purchase include your name in a song, an entire song about you, and even an entire album about you. If only I were the Russian billionaire with some spare cash whom Nom de Guerre is hoping to court, I’d buy Blackburn Rovers, then buy half the Chelsea squad (and no, not Lampard) and have them warm the Blackburn bench cause that other Russian billionaire must be getting bored by now, and then have Nom de Guerre write albums about each member of my family. But in laying out the required payment, I would insist on the formula of “So Long Sister”: dirty bass, swliring keyboards, and plenty of la la’s and other sing-along harmonies. Oh, and some of those dress shirts. What is the dollar-to-euro exchange rate these days anyway?
The Little Ones
In recording their debut Sing Song EP, The Little Ones had two goals: 1) convince themselves that everything was going to be alright, and 2) make their own feet shuffle. I’m posting about them because they managed to help me achieve those two goals as well. Which, alas, brings me to my third goal: clean my house. At least I know what I’ll be listening to…
Princeton
Princeton is not from Princeton. I have my doubts that the floppy-headed Santa Monica twins and their best friend, who recorded their first E.P. in London while on study-abroad programs, have ever set foot in New Jersey. They claim such classic Brit-pop songwriters Ray Davies and Rod Argent as influences, and their four-track stylings, carefree lyrical associations and bookish sensibilities also bring to mind Ben Lee, Lou Barlow, Stephen Malkmus, and Jonathan Richman. It takes more than cleverness to write a song about a pirate that doesn’t sound like a Broadway musical, or to sing a travelogue of an Asian city that doesn’t descend into kitsch. But Princeton does it well — with organs, acoustic guitar, and sweet, youthfully knowing vocals. Just don’t ask me which twin is singing.
T.S.O.L. (True Sounds Of Liberty)
Habeus Corpus R.I.P.
In memoriam, please enjoy 3hive’s soundtrack (courtesy of T.S.O.L.) to the new Military Commissions Act of 2006 that George W. Bush recently signed into law. It is the true sound of liberty according to our President and our Congress. Others disagree. Don’t forget to vote next month.
Perpetual Dream Theory
Blissed-out ambient pop from Vancouver. (How many times can we say that it seems all good things come from Canada?) I don’t know if there really is a scientific perpetual dream theory, but if you come up with some ideas of what the soundtrack to it would be, the band probably comes close. If you like what you hear and want to grab more free stuff, you can download their whole Tiny Hands EP for free. Thanks to Sarah for the suggestion!
Firecracker Jazz Band
I won’t bog you down with personal details, but I recently hit a speed bump in the road of life. No sympathy, please. It’s just one of those things that absolutely blows now, but with time will seem insignificant and trivial. Still, it’s got me feeling down, and these tracks from the Firecracker Jazz Band (featuring members of Squirrel Nut Zippers) fit the mood perfectly. The comic melancholy of the wa-wa trumpeting, horse clomping, and playful tickling of the piano keys leave me no choice but to laugh at myself and move on. So for anyone who’s been dealt a bad hand the Firecracker Jazz Band is here to tell you, no, really, it’s gonna be OK.
The Baldwin Brothers
It’s late. I’m beat. I’m starting to hallucinate: flashing slices of pepperoni…But I want everyone to have a fresh, hot cup o’ music first thing on a Sunday morning. The new Baldwin Brothers album is appropriately titled The Return of the Golden Rhodes because as you’ll hear, just about every song has T.J. Widner ripping on his “main ax,” the Rhodes keyboard. Most of the tracks groove along like Starsky & Hutch, Welcome Back Kotter, or Sesame Street, except for the closer “The Party’s Over” which turns down the Rhodes and gets all Moody Blues on us. Mark Lanegan provides the moody vocals. The track does stop the party in its tracks, and frankly isn’t representive of the rest of the album. Even “Leave the Past Behind” fails to keep pace with the rest of the album’s block rocking funk. What’s a boy to do? Those are the tracks we get to work with. Sharers can’t be choosers. Just make a note, if you like the tracks from their EP, know that most of the new album is similar rug-cutting material.
Beat Radio, Cassettes Won’t Listen at Union Hall Tonight!
The Low Frequency in Stereo
I’m still catching up with The Low Frequency in Stereo, but they may very well be my second favorite “In Stereo” band, after you-know-who. Their debut self-titled album featured careful, moving post-rock instrumentals. Then came 2005’s Travelling Ants Who Got Eaten by Moskus with decidedly more swagger — somehow splitting the diff between Siouxsie and the Banshees/Joy Division and Dick Dale (trust me). Their new album, last temptation of…, opens this formula up, at times, into new territory thanks to organ, horns, and even stronger pop leanings (e.g., the psychedelic euphoria of “Axes,” which could be mistaken for a Stereolab track). At this trajectory, I’m already looking forward to the next joint and this one hasn’t even been released yet.
Katell Keineg
It’s not a beautiful day in Michigan, with wind, cold rain and lightning, so there’s plenty of time to tell the Katell Keineg story. Daughter of a Breton poet and Welsh schoolteacher and current resident of Dublin (Ireland, not Ohio), Keineg received heavy-duty critical and music industry acclaim in the 1990s. Elektra released two of her albums, she was close friends with the late Jeff Buckley, and she worked with Iggy Pop and Natalie Merchant (not at the same time). Since then she’s put out albums on indie labels Field Recording Co. and Megaphone Music, been adored by Rolling Stone and The New York Times, and built a following for her live performances. Jennifer S. from L.A. — who suggested Katell Keineg back in June — was pretty stoked to see her live, and if the two tracks available here for download are a sign of what she heard, it must have been a unique experience. “Beautiful Day” couldn’t be much farther away from the experimental sounds of “Pablo Quilla’s Dream” unless it was amped-up metal instead of the sing-along, calypso-esque piece of happiness it is. So yeah, time to set “Beautiful Day” on repeat, close the blinds and pretend that’s what it really is outside.