Zach Condon is an A-student from Albuquerque who bummed around Europe for a few months and came back with a head full of Balkan harmonies just begging for a pop reawakening. With the help of Neutral Milk Hotel’s Jeremy Barnes, who lends lovely layers of percussion, they’ve gotten just that. Condon’s melancholic, lazy-tongued crooning owes more than a little to the Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt, as does his ability to turn the oddest mix of melodies into an aural box of chocolates. From a hodgepodge of musical traditions, and without a single traditional pop rhythm, Beirut creates little gems that will stick in your mind as much more than just quaint novelties from faraway locales.
Elliott Brood
Neal’s been suggesting the self-described “death country” of Elliott Brood for awhile now (TT seconded the idea — thanks folks), and finally the Toronto trio has a free & legal MP3 available. “Second Son,” off the recently released LP Ambassador, pretty much encapsulates the band’s roots in an old fashioned, sepia-toned, violent world; it was recorded in an abandoned slaughterhouse, after all. Also worth a look and a listen is Elliott Brood’s debut EP Tin Type, with brown paper bag packaging and a replica handmade photo album. Kinda makes you wonder if they’ll use a Victrola for the remixes…
Chad Van Gaalen
So this Chad fellow, the story goes, has been creating music in his bedroom for years, playing all the instruments, yet never releasing it to the public. Until nineteen of his countless songs were put together on the album Infiniheart, a wonderous collection of ballads, confessions, indie rock, driving drones, and genuine songwriting. That must be some bedroom…
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New EP + MP3 from Thee More Shallows
Amiina
Currently on tour with Sigur Ros, this quartet of Icelandic, multi-instrumental women have their own kind of big. They play on Takk (Sigur Ros’ latest, like you didn’t know) but they drop some serious experimental in their own set. Polyrhythmic, soft and still textured, it’s like the quiet on a sunny Saturday afternoon in autumn, about 4 pm, before the party starts.
The track linked to here is off their 2005 EP AnimaminA.
The Slow Break
Some wonderfully ragged and raw honky tonk from L’ville, Kentucky, for your Monday morning… It’s hard to put a finger on their secret blend of 11 herbs and spices, but Katie O’Brien’s slurred, gravelly vocals and Alison Lee-Whitney’s emotive sax work are at least two key ingredients. Finger lickin’ good, y’all!
Norfolk and Western
This oughtta give you an idea of what Norfolk & Western are about: they drag a century-old Victrola around with them on the road and Adam Selzer, vocalist and band leader, will sing through it on stage. That, and they’re liberal with the banjo and violin. And one more thing, Selzer and drummer, Rachel Blumberg have been musically involved with M. Ward and The Decemberists. That should be enough clues. Now get listening. The stand out track is “A Gilded Age,” and its timeless melody, pierced with shimmering guitars, reflecting our own newly-gilded century.
Cinemechanica
Twitchy time signatures, fiercely intricate drum patterns, dualing guitars, and speak/shouting about things not quite right in the world…just what you’ve come to expect from Dischord. Only it’s from Athens, GA’s Hello Sir Records. The band’s called Cinemechanica. I don’t want to say they’re a breath of fresh air…more like a swift punch to the gut that knocks the wind out of you and pauses life for a second and THEN is followed by a breath of fresh air that fills your lungs that makes you choke and sputter but glad to be breathing again.
As an aside, Cinemechanica’s dummer Mike (he of the fiercely intricate rhythms) sent me and I’m sure a number of other bloggers an email from the road back in early April stating honestly and openly that he loves the record they just put out called Martial Arts and he knows it won’t be the next big indie hipster phenomenon but it’s everything he hoped it would be and if I’d just listen to it and give feedback good or bad he’d feel validated because, at the time, no one seemed to be paying much attention and they were touring and working their butts off to get the word out and he was running out of ideas. I’m paraphrasing because it was a well written email and I don’t want any other bands out there who might have the same sentiment to bite his lines. So there, Mike, is your feedback: good email, even better music.
Maritime
I know I’m supposed to write about Maritime from Milwaukee — their latest album, We, the Vehicles, was just released, they’re made up of former members of The Promise Ring and The Dismemberment Plan, and everyone else is giving them some serious press time. But the Flameshovel website’s story about the band is so affected, pretentious and self-indulgent that I kind of want to write about Maritime from Belfast and Brighton instead. The thing is, they have an annoying bio page too, and their “life-affirming folk-soul,” as exemplified by “Like a Firefly” (click here if you want to listen to it) doesn’t do it for me like the other Maritime’s excellent track “Calm,” available below. I’m not sure if the idea that “Maritime remains solidly tethered to pop perfection, but has taken space to let that pop cycle through all its permutations” helps, or even what that means really, but “Calm” is a sweet tune. Enjoy!