Explosions in the Sky
We were watching Friday Night Lights and digging on the soundtrack. I was all, “This sounds like Mogwai” and Heather was all “Yeah” and I’m all “But Mogwai in a football movie?” and Heather’s all “Yeah.” Then we froze the credits and had to pick up our jaws from the floor. It wasn’t Mogwai. It was Explosions in the Sky, from Austin, Texas. These two tracks pack a big wallop. Kind of like Texas. Almost sweet at first, once the build hits you, it’s like senior year all over again.
Run DMC
Almost three years ago, Run DMC lost their “one-man band” Jam Master Jay to a fatal shooting in Queens. In his memory, I’m posting one of the remixes available on the recently reissued Run DMC catalog and sharing my first memory of Run DMC… It all began in Mr. Beasley’s music class, sixth grade. Realizing that we weren’t about to get our song books out and sing “Kookaburra” anymore, Mr. Beasley started taping “MV-60,” an early MTV-like music video show, and playing it in class. Among the other videos that left an impression — Yaz’s “Don’t Go,” Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit,” Art of Noise’s “Close to the Edit” — was Run DMC’s “Rock Box.” Mr. B also let students bring in their own records once a week, which is how I heard that first DMC record. It was so raw and real from end to end. By contrast, Sugarhill Gang was disco and Run DMC was rap. Thanks to Run DMC, my ears we ready for Big Daddy Kane, Eric B and Rakim, Public Enemy, among others. Come to think of it, thanks to Mr. Beasley as well: you were a good music teacher.
The Morning After Girls
When I lived in San Francisco, I worked for a company whose founders were from Melbourne, a city they often called “Australia’s San Francisco†for its artistic community and hipster quotient. It makes sense, then, that the Morning After Girls, whose delicious guitar psychedelia sounds perfect on a podcast next to San Fran’s Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, would hail from Melbourne. They are too cool for school, no doubt, but with the Cobain-esque wail of “High Skies†and the Ride-esque riffs of “Straight Thru You,†they make school seem way less than cool anyway.
New Donna Regina Album
The Lil’ Fighters
Upon seeing the Walkmen play the Hi-tone on Tuesday night, I was just blown away. They were so good and so loud live that I couldn’t even stand to listen their own albums the next day. So while we can’t post the Walkmen again, we can instead talk about the Lil’ Fighters, a New York band with links to the Walkmen. The Lil’ Fighters, however, don’t share that much musically with the Walkmen, prefering a pop foundation that lends to glowing warmth and feeling pleasant and singing lots of la-la’s, which is just what I need to let my ears recover.
Podcasts Are Go!
Kingfisherg
Kingfisherg is from Liege, Belgium, and is on Carte Postal Records. Now you know as much as I do about Kingfisherg. But with electronic music this enchanting, that’s really all you need to know. You see, at my new job, I’m on the other side of a raspberry-colored cubicle wall from a woman who listens to easy listening that frankly BLASTS from the radio on her desk. No, it’s not actually that loud, but I cannot think while being forced to listen to this music. Fortunately for me, I can put on my headphones and listen to Kingfisherg’s brand of easy listening.
Delaney
Midas himself must have touched the ears of the folks over at Pehr. They’ve just released the first album from 33-year-old Parisienne, Christelle Delaney, here in the States and I find myself going back for more and more (kind of like I did last week with the cream puffs at Papa Beard’s). Delaney is indeed comfort food to the ears, whether you’re looking for a little ray of sunshine, “A Quoi Bon” (dig the dusty beat), or a soundtrack for heart break, “La Nuit On A Toujours Tout.” Either way, prepare for deliciousness.
Build Buildings
Sometimes I can only explain my bias for a certain artist at a certain moment by blaming the weather. Build Buildings to me is autumnesque in its flickering warmth. Tape glitches and synth chirps swirl around you like cool fog on a country road, with moments of bright melody and humanity bursting through the periphery like orange, red, and yellow leaves. Whether or not you buy the meteorological analogy, you have to admit Ben Tweel’s open-structured compositions are mature beyond the age of his laptop.