Groovalicious, danceable rock straight outta the OC. Following in the footsteps of The Killers, The Colour released an EP in the UK through the Lizard King label, and are heading to Nashville early in the new year to start work on their album. I expect you’ll be hearing and seeing plenty from these lads in ’06. You’d have to be colourblind (ouch!) not to notice.
Clay’s 2005 Year-End List
Ayatollah
This seemed like an appropriate track for the day after Christmas. While Hanukkah is still keeping some of the world honest, the rest of us will be drawn in by the lure of Boxing Day Sales and New Year’s debauchery. That other Man in Red sure moves in quick, don’t he? Enough preachin’, let’s get on with the music… You may not know hip-hop producer Ayatollah by name, but if I told you he’s the mastermind behind Mos Def’s “Ms. Fat Booty” (mmm, fat booty…see what I’m talkin’ about??) you’d probably start to nod your head instinctively. He’s got his own thing coming out toward the end of January. This ought to get your mouth watering.
zooey
It’s funny how everything comes together around the holidays. I was assembling my Christmas-cast last night and wanted something…wasn’t sure what. Then, I check my email to find that Zooey (one Matthieu Beck from Bordeaux, France) has just wrapped up his melancholy Grey Christmas single and, like everything Matthieu creates, is giving it away for free. It fit nicely into the mix, a delicate, flickering little Christmas miracle. That track and his latest full-length, Pique-Nique et Jeux Dans L’eau, are .zip files. So you’ll have to go to Zooey’s downloads page to get your hands on those. However, if you’re looking to escape the weather of the season, we’ve got “Endless Summer on the Beaver Island” with it’s lazy, hazy ode to warmer days.
Sam’s 2005 Year-End List
Sean’s 2005 Year-End List
A Christmas Podcast for You From 3hive
Matt Costa
I’ve been dying to post Matt Costa. And he recently put up one of my favorite songs from his album, “Cold December,” a song that sounds as great in July as it does in, well, December. So just in time for the holidays… Now in the past couple years I’ve watched Matt go from playing my radio show, local clubs in and around L.A., and a small showcase at SXSW to huge ampitheater shows opening for Jack Johnson. No matter the size of the crowd Matt makes fans because A) he can play, B) he’s cuter than 90% of the men in this world which — surprise! — helps with the ladies, and C) he’s got the songs. Mark my words, you’ll be seeing and hearing plenty from Mr. Costa in the zero six. So start now and get used to it.
Feed Me
The Spectacular Fantastic
Sean accused me of being a squatter the other day in his Tessitura post, and he’s not wrong. Silly me, I just forgot about these folksy, rocking, old-fashioned easy-to-sing-along-with tracks from The Spectacular Fantastic. With a name as superlative as that one, you’d think it’d be hard to do — anyway, it won’t happen again. Start with “60 Cycles” and “I Love You,” (both from a fully-downloadable EP on the band’s website), then check out “Winter Song” and “You” (from a split single with the previously-mentione Tessitura). Then, in gratitude for all the free music, shell out a few bucks for The Spectacular Fantastic Goes Underground and start singing along yourself.