Szymanski
The 2006 Detroit Electronic Music Festival kicks off in about two minutes. One of the first live acts to take the stage will be Detroit’s own Mark Szymanski. While these tracks are a few years old, they showcase his knack for refined, jazzy grooves and excellent taste in guest vocalists (Michael Scamardella on “Tranquillamente” and Perilelle on “UTKY”). Thanks to Moodmat (a new blog run by a team of established music fools, including Techno Rebels author Dan Sicko) for the tip. Check them out for more in-depth coverage of DEMF ’06.
Kid Casanova
Nothing fancy here. No frills. Just stripped down pop hooks and straight-ahead melodies. Kid Casanova have nothing to prove. They’ve written and recorded a solid set of songs, keeping ’em loose and relaxed, and it’s up to you to loosen up your belt, so to speak, and take them in with a few dogs at your weekend BBQs, or not. If you’re asking me though, I’d tell you crank it up at your picnic blanket as you’re knocking back a few cold ones.
New Bloc Party Remix
The Eighteenth Day of May
This London 5-piece mixes Celtic folk with ’60s psychedelic pop with old REM-style vocal murmuring for a sound that’s light, tight and user-friendly. Check out the band’s website for a few live tracks and clips of about a half dozen other songs.
Play It As It Lays #238
Pony Up!
With all the recent focus on the Mexican border we’ve taken our eyes off the one above us. We shouldn’t let aliens like this in unnoticed. There’s great energy in their sing-along melodies and deceptive naiveté. And now for a totally random metaphor: you know how when you’re steaming vegetables and you keep the steam on too long and the brocolli gets all soggy and mushy? Well Pony Up! isn’t like that at all. They’re perfectly past that raw point to keep things crisp and snappy.
Cornershop
3hive reader Saud dropped a wake-up call in the Suggestion Box about Cornershop. He wondered if we’d heard of them. Yep. Heard of them, seen them play live, even worked the term “everyone needs a bosom for a pillow” into a conversation once…but, as so often I do with bigger acts, assumed they didn’t have a free and legal MP3s to share. My face is red; I stand corrected. Here’s some material from a couple years back, including the wickedly infectious MIA remix of “Topknot.” New full-length due out in June. So keep it locked.
A Few 3hive Graduates
Blonde Redhead
For the past 10+ years Blonde Redhead has delivered some of the finest textured music from the indie world. Each release brings their old-world pop sounds, complete with orchestral flourishes and whispery vocals, into crisper focus. Fortunately for us, we’re at the tail end of down time between records. It’s been over two years since their last album, and it sounds like the band is in the process of recording a new record that’ll be available early next year. Too long of a drought in my opinion. But I ain’t gonna complain. Not when they’re the kind of band that enlists David Sylvian for vocal duties (for an alternate version of their song “Messenger”). I’m including the video to my favorite song from the band, “Equus,” below. For some reason the song’s buried at the end of the album Misery is a Butterfly and it’s easy to miss. Don’t miss it.