DeVotchKa
Theatrical like Rufus Wainwright, musically nimble like Calexico, Eastern European like my grandparents — that’s what we’re talking about with DeVotchKa. (And again with the name confusion… is it Devotchka or DeVotchKa? Filter says one, the SF Bay Guardian says the other, I say whatever.) Aram and Megan both suggested this band of Denver Gypsies (are they really Romani?) with crazy instrumentation and rollicking melodies, and I say wspanialy! Imagine the theme music for a Belgrade barfight in a Bond movie directed by people with too many consonants in their names, and the band on the stage, the one hiding behind the ripped and stained maroon curtains, is DeVotchKa.
Destroyer
Destroyer is Vancouver’s own Dan Bejar. “European Oils” is taken from the seventh Destroyer album. If you’ve yet to hear of Destroyer and you’re thinking SEVEN ALBUMS ALREADY?? where have I been?, fret not. Bejar keeps a low profile. He even downplays his involvement with another Canadian band, The New Pornographers. I love the opening jam of this track. Feels like you’re comfortable and couched and about to spend the next half hour with a witty gang of characters on a ’70’s sitcom. Then Bejar comes in with that voice of his–a mix of Bowie and Dylan maybe. Quirky, odd, and completely satisfying.
Gregor Samsa
It’s been a wild and wonderful past week, beginning with our baby daughter arriving much earlier than expected. All is well, except she’s tiny and needs to get bigger. My wife and I finally took a moment to play back the week via iPhoto slideshow. We selected Gregor Samsa’s “Young and Old” (from their forthcoming debut full-length 55:12) as the soundtrack. So understand that I’m heavily under the influence (cf. Jon’s Stars post) when I say Gregor Samsa is my new favorite band. But they’re pretty darn good under any circumstances. Imagine if Sigur Ros were from Richmond, Virginia…
Play It As It Lays #225
Mike Ferraro
Tim O. and I were sitting in the office listening to Mike Ferraro’s “Lovers Only Love,” and he was like, “Hey, all this guy needs is hand claps,” and I was like, “Yeah.” And then I started wondering how Mike Ferraro’s songs ended up on my computer, and I found an old e-mail he sent to 3hive on 8.14.05. That explains that. And then I dug around some more and saw that David — of the wonderful LargeHearted Boy MP3 and other stuff blog — wrote about Mike Ferraro way back when, too, and then I felt really scooped. But you know, that was last year, and this is now, and Tim O. and I are digging these songs so much and hoping you people will go to Mike F’s website and buy his demos, go see him live, or whatever, and clap your hands at all the right times. Yeah.
Pelle Carlberg
A Swedish boy and his guitar. Former leader of the Swedish band Edson, Pelle Carlberg, is out on his own now, finding his way in the big world and singing about it all with warm, personal, and calmly infectious pop.
Crash Gallery Taking Over Austin
Eef Barzelay
Whadya know? Eef Barzelay’s modern-life-is-rubbish lyrics sound as good stripped down to just him and a guitar as they do with the full Clem Snide players behind him. Granted, Clem Snide is never more than half-dressed anyway, but it’s quite nice hearing the intricacies of Barzelay’s fractured wails so intimately. Pretty, insightful, lovely.