Shimmering shoegazer goodness from up Portland way in a variety of flavors, from psychedelic to folksy to poppy. The High Violets may be a cast of many but they have two key components: Cliff Sargent’s blistering guitar and Kaitlyn ni Donavan’s angelic pipes. I’m so hooked, I put the TV on mute during the MTV Movie Awards so I can could listen to them (made for an interesting A/V mashup with Christina Aguilera’s live performance).
New Domino Signings
Attention UK iTunes Shoppers…
The Book of Daniel
When Jan suggested The Book of Daniel a few months ago, my first thought was of E.L. Doctorow’s novel of the same name, which was my least favorite of the texts we read in my most favorite grad school class, Prof. William Veeder’s “Contemporary Historical Fiction.” Every year I try (and invariably fail) to teach Eudora Welty’s wonderful and little-known short story “Where is the Voice Coming From” as finely as Bill did. Oh well. Anyway, here’s what Jan had to say about The Book of Daniel: “Daniel Gustafsson (who is the brother of Swedish Bright Eyes-type singer-songwriter Boy Omega) has written some awesome songs recently. Imagine John K. Samson of the Weakerthans playing beautiful jazz versions of Buckley or Wainwright songs.” Exactly. I’ve included three of the six songs available for free and legal download from Gustafsson’s EP; the rest are available at Daniel’s website, and there’s more info at Swedesplease, a really cool version of 3hive (free, legal MP3s) specifically for Swedish bands. (Who would have known there’d be enough to keep it going?)
Sarah Shannon
Today Minty Fresh announced the signing of Sarah Shannon and they tell us we can expect previews soon. Her second solo album is slated for a Fall release. Needless to say (for those who know me), I’m completely giddy at this news and it’s sent me digging through all my old Velocity Girls albums. You see, Sarah Shannon put the girl in Velocity Girl, one of the early bands that moved Sub Pop beyond their grunge roster. At one point, Velocity Girl’s 1993 album, Copacetic, had sold more than any other Sub Pop album with the exception of Nirvana’s Bleach. By no means did Velocity Girl reinvent pop music, they just did it so well. They made it sound so good. Lo-fi production and fuzzy guitars eventually lead to a perfect pop polishing by producer John Porter (The Smiths), then in 1996 it was all over. I’ll admit, Sarah Shannon’s voice sealed the deal for me. Pure aural comfort food. Timeless. Soft and smooth and never close to being cheesy. In 2000 Shannon released an under-appreciated solo record on her own label, Casa Recording Company. These MP3s are from that recording. She obviously steered clear of the shimmering indie rock Velocity Girl mastered in favor of a big ’70s pop sound. As I write this I feel like I’m reading a page-turner of a novel and I’m so ready for the next chapter. This is gonna be a good summer!
The Rentals
They’re back! After a rather long hiatus, the Rentals are playing shows and starting to record a new album. So while we wait until 2007 for said third album, enjoy these alternative remixes of two songs from their past. Oh, and check out their website for brilliant footage of Blur covering “Friends of P.”
The Futureheads
With the first hit of the drum, pluck of the bass and strum of the guitar, for a split second, I hear the opening of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” (gotta throw in an obligatory reference to today’s once-in-a-century date). All you rockers, don’t get your hopes up. The stadium rock doesn’t continue, at least not in an AC/DC sense. However, the herky-jerky pogo beats, the Hyde brothers’ thick, northern British accents, and their soaring harmonies kick in full force. The Futureheads are often compared to XTC, with good reason (and not in a bad way: they sound neither nostalgic nor derivative), and the similarities continue on their second record, News And Tributes, out next week. “Worry About It Later” sounds as if it was pulled from the English Settlement sessions, mixed with a little pop-opera. Don’t expect anything near a slump for these blokes as their powerful/playful style, which has earned them opening spots (on stadium shows!) for Oasis and The Pixies, has only matured and had this come out some forty years earlier I can imagine The Futureheads playing with the likes of Townsend and company. Here we are, back to the future and you’ll find them out on the road in North America, starting next week, with French Kicks for the first leg and Tapes ‘N Tapes for the next.
Dr. Octagon
It must have been a sign when I recently found a tape recording of an interview I did with Dr. Octagon (aka Kool Keith) circa Dr. Octagonecologyst. This is the same tape that provided such reliable mix drops as “ain’t nothing smellin’ in jazz” and the Doctor’s bizarre verbal recreation of “greasy” beats. I don’t have downloads of the interview outtakes, but I do have a track from The Return of Dr. Octagon due out later this month. My man’s still at it. Some ‘notherworld production and lyrics to match. He can, to quote Rakim, “take a phrase that’s rarely heard, flip it…now it’s a daily word.” Oh and say kids, who likes remixes? Cause we got ’em, from Her Space Holiday and Cassettes Won’t Listen among others.
P.S. Wonder if we’ll ever hear The Mountain Goats remix Dr. Octagon. Turns out he’s a big fan. Just when I thought I knew everything…
Goodnight Monsters
If you’re fluent in German you might enjoy the online magazine Spoonfork (in English we call it a “spork”). I don’t speak German, so I can’t give it a proper review. They’re kind enough to link to our entries once in awhile, so I’ll stop by there every so often to hear what they’re listening to. They seem to have a weak spot for sunshiney pop, and indeed Finland’s Goodnight Monsters are beaming with it. “20 Fingers 20 Toes” is an anatomically wonderful love song which captures a couple cataloging their combined body parts. Contemporaries might include The Boy Least Likely To, influences obviously include The Beach Boys and Burt Bacharach. This is a shimmering gem you’d be wise to add to your forthcoming Summer mixes…
(By the way: today is the last day to enter our Psapp contest)
Manual
I promise this will be the last plug I give a Darla artist this week (gotcha…it’s Saturday!). Manual is Danish prodigy Jonas Munk. At age 22, he’s already got over a dozen releases to his name(s), many of them an epic 10+ minues in length. I always thought it was weird when music critics would use the term “big” to describe a sound. But that’s about the best way I can think of to describe Manual. Big and warm and familiar. In fact, Darla’s press release says: “In Jonas’ world there’s no line between dream pop and stadium rock…” So here I am, lighter held up high.