Something about the way The Movies play a fast beat real slow-like just gets the “they sound like” comparative juices flowing. The guitar chimes and backbeat are what The Promise Ring would sound like if you played their 45s at 33 and a third. Their wistful vocals are what the Tindersticks would sound like if they were from the Midwest. Their wail-and-repeat lyrics are a bit like The Fall without the dissonance, or like Fugazi fronted by Jonathan Richman. And yet, the newest of these tracks, “Rock in the Slingshot,” picks ups the pace ever-so-slightly – “they sound like” Gang of Four in the chill-out room.
Laura Cantrell
Laura Cantrell’s third album came out about a month ago, and I finally got around to ordering it. I’m excited to hear her latest collection of genre-crossing originals and well-chosen covers (check out her version of Elvis Costello’s “Indoor Fireworks,” available on her website along with many more downloads). I’m guessing it will be rich and subtle, if “14th Street,” the first MP3 released, is any indication. If you’re looking for a bit more twang, check out earlier tracks like “Roll, Truck, Roll,” released alongside albums full of trucker songs on the Diesel Only label. Finally, if you really enjoyed Ballboy (posted on 3hive in May), you might enjoy the gentle ballad “I Lost You,” recorded live and loose with Ballboy-er Gordon McIntire for John Peel.
Join the Clubbo
Mus
Please do not confuse Mus, the delightful Spanish duo of Fran Gayo and Mónica Vacas, with MUS, short for Memphis University School, the all-boy prep school I attended from 7th through 9th grades. First of all, Mus has a female, and there were no females at MUS. Mus use the soaring female voice as an instrument, highlighting their minimal approach, be it coolly electronic or calmly acoustic. And that voice sings in Asturian, from the Principality of Asturias in northwest Spain, making Mus as mysterious as a girl at an all-boy prep school.
A Fancey Magical Summer
Boom Bip
It’s gonna be really hard expressing in words how much I like this track. There’s an undeniable Kraftwerk vibe at work here and more importantly Boom Bip manages to hold his own. “The Move” is the 2005 version of “Tour de France” sans all the huffing and puffing. I obviously have a thing for songs that sound as if they could accompany a sporting event. Having remixed tracks for Mogwai, Sonic Youth, Her Space Holiday, and Lali Puna, I’d be a bit surprised if you weren’t already familiar with his work. If not, start here and dig deep!
Art Brut
Sardonic, Mark E. Smith-esque romps which, as my dear British colleagues say, “take the piss” out of “Top of the Pops” and other beloved mainstream icons. Unfortunately, these tracks are demo versions of sorts — several versions removed from the album takes, wherein the guitars typically come out in full force. Also on the Art Brut site are some really interesting remixes/mashups/covers (“Brutlegs,” as they call them), including a rap version of their uncharacteristically tender love song, “Emily Kane,” and “My Sharona Formed a Band,” which is fairly self-explanatory.
Martha Wainwright
The Wainwrights are the most prolific multi-generational musical family this side of the Carters and the Guthries. And those families never made their own travails quite so voyeuristic: listening to the Wainwrights is a bit like watching a whole season of Six Feet Under in one sitting. Martha’s brother is Rufus, her father is Loudon III, her mother and aunt are Kate and Anna McGarrigle. You can hear the family resemblance in Martha’s sweet supper club number “How Soon” — Martha’s melancholy is almost uplifting. But the languid, atmospheric hum of “I Will Internalize” is proof of a student who has moved beyond simply parroting her teachers. And “BMFA,” whose acronym of a title we’ll let you figure out for yourself (and which she’s dedicated to her father in concert), is the most alluring piece of profanity since Liz Phair traded in her diary for a gold lamé tube top and designer jeans. Let’s hope Martha keeps her current pants on.