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.
José González
A Swedish import via the Parasol label group, so you know you’re in for a treat, right? Impeccable classical guitar work sets the rhythm for González’ intimate, hushed vocals. He’d fit right in with the current neu-folk folks as well as the regrettably departed parties of Nick Drake and Elliott Smith.
Cypress Hill
Cypress…Cypress Hill! So massively appealing, like the gangstas you’d take home to meet mom, yet there ain’t no love songs up in here (unless you count “I Love You Mary Jane”). What’s their secret? Those hypnotic DJ Muggs loops don’t hurt, but I think it’s all in B Real’s delivery. His nasal, sing-song flow allows for the possibility that maybe he’s just funnin’…about “comin’ to gat ya,†at least. All I know is, back in college, whenever I dropped “Hand on the Pump” for a party full of mostly white, mostly middle-class, mostly Mormon undergrads, the room went bananas. So yeah, I’ve included just a handful of the 100+ MP3s of remixes, side projects, collabos, and rarities B Real has made available for free on his personal site (now here is something Sony can’t understand…). Bless him. Bless us, every one. (Especially you, Tofu Hut!)
Song of the Lakes
Beware! Song of the Lakes is devoid of cynicism, coolness or hipness; the musicians probably don’t wear much black and they likely have a collective age of 200+ yrs. (for the four of them); the flute plays a prominent role in this song. Now that that’s taken care of, if you’re still interested, check out what this near-legendary live act from Up North (northern Michigan / the upper Great Lakes) has to offer. Besides the north woods and lakes, summer cottages and fall-apart piers, maritime traditions and the 19th century, you can hear influences from the British Isles and Scandinavia. More downloads with even more flute are available at the Song of the Lakes website.