Sam, Clay and I bicker constantly about who’s gonna post the latest treat from Sweden’s ever-so-sweet Labrador Records. Thanks to Jason over at Mystery and Misery (and newly Minimal) I’ve won this round. The Mary Onettes not only have a playful ’80s era air about their name, they’ve also captured the artful earnestness of the decade’s music. “Lost” devos open with a driving drum beat that leads into a jangly, New Order guitar riff and A Flock of Seagulls keyboard flourish. On paper it sounds like a disaster, but to the ear it’s pure, um, music. They drop things down a few notches on “What’s So Strange?” an acoustic-y, track bordering on gentle, psychedelic XTC. Next time your parents complain that “They just don’t make music like they used to!” give ’em a dose of The Mary Onettes.
Polyphonic the Verbose
Polyphonic isn’t just a swell sounding stage name, it really gets at the complexity of Will Freyman’s production. He weaves live instruments and bizarre samples into intricate patterns no doubt drawing from his diverse musical background (classical European piano, jazz trombone, Indonesian gamelan music, medieval European choral music — you name it, he’s played it). The net result is what a lazy record clerk might file under “dub” for its spacey vibe and stilted gait, but there’s more to it than that. So much more, in fact, that intrepid MCs like Nico B, Serengeti, and Psalm One lined up to add their rhymes to Polyphonic’s solo debut, Abstract Data Ark.
Cacoy
Cacoy is a Japanese electro trio possibly named for a Filipino martial arts legend and signed to a Danish record label. Their song Piracle Pa doesn’t seem to be from any language, but the soothing organ and lilting female vocals sound like French/Canadian/British indie-pop darlings Stereolab. “Yoko Majikick Ono†seems to be named for the Japanese-born U.S. resident, and with its rubbery, buoyant cornucopia of digital burps, it sounds like a track from U.S.-born Josh Presseisen’s Japanese-named project, Marumari. In other words, it makes for good listening no matter where you lay your headphones.
Tobias Fröberg
Tobias Fröberg has been compared to Paul Simon, which I guess would make frequent collaborator Linus Larsson his Art Garfunkel (sorry Linus). Together they craft sparse, timeless songs that examine human relationships with that same kind of calm candor that Simon and Garfunkel had. Tobias has a new album out called Somewhere in the City, which you can listen to in its entirety on the Cheap Lullaby Records site and purchase through the usual commerce links below. The MP3s featured here are from 2004’s For Elisabeth Wherever She Is. Great soundtrack for a solo train ride from Windsor to Toronto with a window seat so you can see the leaves starting to change. Not so great if you’re also taking pain killers for a pulled rib muscle…
Citizens Here And Abroad: New Album + MP3s
A WOXY Miracle!
Lullaby Baxter
I have a sneaky suspicion my friend Pat Campbell, jazz & hip-hop drummer extraordinaire, is gonna email me as soon as I post this, “Sean, I gave you Lullaby Baxter’s CD seven years ago! Where have you been??” In fact I remember sitting in Pat’s San Francisco apartment listening through his music library and I’m sure he gave me her album, Capable Egg. You can hear Pat’s work on “Knucklehead,” a subtle, space-agey jazz number. See, Lullaby Baxter used the band Pat played with back in those days, Oranj Symphonette, as her studio band on the record. Seven years later, and Lullaby Baxter is back with a new album. She’ll smite you immediately with her sultry-smooth voice that lends a timelessness to her songs. Musically, she’s a more straight forward Stereolab, slightly less whimsical, but equal in charm. I’m not sure if Lullaby is her given name, although I’d be impressed if her parents had the foresight to give her such a name. Your life would be made all the more sweeter if Lullaby sung you to sleep everynight.
Beach House
Beach House’s warm-toned, wandering and languid guitars recall the work of L.A. Paisley Underground resident David Roback. Like Roback, Beach House guitarist, Alex Scally, is accompanied by a silver-tongued siren, Victoria Legrand (whose vocals recall Nico rather than Smith or Sandoval). Together the duo produce haunting, psychedelic pop, an appropriate sound, and mood, to usher in autumn. Album and tour hit early next month.
Wax Tailor
The NBA season is almost upon us and I ain’t gonna lie, I’m a bit nervous about my Detroit Pistons. I guess that’s better than being cocky like I was last year only to rip my hair out as they lose steam in the playoffs. What do hoops have to do with a French DJ/producer? Well, those of you with NBA 2K7 on pre-order will soon find out. This year’s game gives you more than just the chance to watch digital sweat run off Shaq’s face as he shoots free throws; you get a Dan the Automator-produced soundtrack featuring Wax Tailor’s collabo with North Carolina rap duo The Others, “Walk the Line.” A nice cap to a fine year for Wax Tailor (born JC Le Saoût), whose throwback 12-inch “Que Sera”/”Where My Hearts At” — available for free download at Better Propaganda — was followed by a monster debut album, Tales of the Forgotten Melodies. However, in this post, I’m showcasing Wax Tailor’s skills on the remix because that’s what is available for download at his site. I’m particularly fond of the loping “Guns of Brixton” bassline on the Clash Tribute Remix of “Eye Drink.”
Tara Jane O’Neil
Tara Jane O’Neil is a Portland, Oregon-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist with a gently persuasive way of convincing you that, even though her heart is breaking, she’ll be just fine. On the just-released In Circles, she continues down a road marked by folksy self-discovery, which sounds awful in abstract. Yet, filtered through O’Neil’s steady voice and accompanied by the simplest of guitar twangs and sonic experimentation, personal revelations become occasions for rapt attention. She’s especially enchanting on the new “Blue Light Room†and beautiful “The Poisoned Mine.†O’Neil is also a wonderfully original visual artist whose work—equal parts playful and foreboding—gives insight into her music far better than a few words might, unless those words are her own.