No, summer ain’t over, but the kids are back in school, which means it’s essentially autumn. Des Moines, Iowa’s The Autumn Project and their post-rock sounds, then, provide us with our first assignment of the school year. Their 2003 LP Fable is a case study in the genre, full of monsterous guitar soundscapes and crashing cymbals. Their latest A Burning Light is darker and more focused, as demonstrated by doing a little compare and contrast between “Of Memorium” from Fable and the newer “Between the Smoke & Mirrors.” Five paragraphs, double-spaced. Due tomorrow.
New Mexican Disaster Squad
Over the weekend I ran into an avid 3hive reader, Rick R., who first blamed us for the recent departure of sizeable chunks of cash leaving his wallet in exchange for music we’ve posted on the site. I love hearing that. Then he complained, good-naturedly, that our Punk section was all over the place (which 3hive genre section isn’t??). I love hearing that as well. When I asked him what persuasion of punk most buoyantly floated his boat he mentioned New Mexican Disaster Squad. Ah yes, a new generation of classic, old-school punk. Musically, punk has moved beyond the early sounds of Minor Threat and Black Flag, so much so that, with the exception of just a few bands, music like this, fast, angry and completely skateable, has been relegated once again to the margins. Fine by me as long as bands like NMDS keep keepin’ it real.
The Screaming Eagles
This is not the screaming eagle from the beginning of “The Colbert Report” (though I hear he’s got a Christmas album in the works). This is a Vancouver, B.C. outfit who play fiery instrumental pop inspired by “pre-shitty Weezer” that’s good enough to not require lyrics…though I sure would love to know the story behind some of these song titles. Their debut album, Enemy Gold, is available at shows or — as wonderfully quaint as this may seem — by emailing the band members individually and making arrangements.
New Jolie Holland MP3s Added
G. Love
I’ll be honest. I’ve let G. Love drop off my radar. It’s been a long while since I’ve chilled out with a cold beverage tapping my toes along with G. Love’s white boy Philadelphonic blues. He’s sweetened up his new album, Lemonade, quite nicely with Blackalicious and Lateef on my favorite track, “Banger.” Perhaps you prefer a twist of Ben Harper, or a pinch of Donovan Frankenreiter. G. Love’s got a posse and they’ve set up their lemonade and blues stand just in time for me to drop some quarters on a refreshing, late-summer cool-me-down.
Spinto Band Cuts Mandy Loose
Bel Auburn
Bel Auburn is a quintet from Ashland, an idyllic Ohio town some distance southwest of Cleveland. I say idyllic despite never having been there because the sweeping soundscapes that Bel Auburn have created are anything but ugly and uninspiring. In fact, these tracks, all from the band’s second self-released LP, Lullabies in A & C, are about as anthemic, emotive, and polished as you’ll find from a group of friends living off the cultural grid. It’s reminiscent of Coldplay or early Jimmy Eat World, the latter of which Bel Auburn claim as an influence. The lyrics can drift into codes known only by their author, but once a warm blast of guitar kicks in and Matt the lead singer lets go with a cathartic chorus, you’ll know exactly what Bel Auburn mean even if you have no clue what they’re talking about.
(Selected tracks are linked below; visit the Bel Auburn Website to download the rest of the album.)
Silversun Pickups’ woxy.com Set Posted
Heidi Gluck
Our next artist from MusicalFamilyTree.com‘s great compilation Delicious Berries, featuring the work of Indiana musicians, is Canadian Heidi Gluck. I know, I know… it seems she spent some time in Indianapolis. Anyway, her track on the disc has a heavy country vibe that really works for me, and that you won’t find at all on the free downloads available below. The songs here are all about pop smoothness, either up-beat or down-tempo. “Open Your Eyes” reminds me a bit of Heidi’s Some Girls bandmate Juliana Hatfield. (The cover of their month-old album Crushing Love is the thumbnail image for this post.) And next week, another artist from Delicious Berries.
North Valley Subconscious Orchestra
Medicine played in Memphis right before I got home from college one summer, but my brother Josh and our friend Andy saw them and even visited with them at the Admiral Benbow Inn (just recently demolished). They learned that Medicine’s wicked guitar feedback was achieved by running Brad Laner’s guitar through a four track and turning all the knobs up. We spent that whole summer trying to get a four track to mimic a distortion pedal with no success. Brad Laner, we determined, was a genius. Which is probably why I recently Tivo-ed the movie “The Crow,” just so I could see that scene of Medicine playing “Time Baby,” trying to get a glimpse of his guitar setup. Now Laner and fellow guitarist Christopher Willits, as North Valley Subconscious Orchestra, are releasing another feast of guitars on Ghostly’s digital download-only album The Right Kind of Nothing. More melodic feedback, anyone?