The Velvet Teen have always been cool about sharing their deepest discontents, and it turns out the secret ain’t the riffs. On these lilting new tracks they nearly forgo guitars completely and opt for a baby grand just shy of overblown that helps Judah Nagler get in touch with his inner torch singer and they replace the riffs with a string section that gives “precious” a good name. But don’t worry, those signature keyboards and rhythms still sparkle like a sky full of shooting stars.
The Dismemberment Plan
After ten years of recording their own spastic, elastic brand of pop, The Dismemberment Plan “open sourced” 11 of their songs and let the public have at them in a sort of remix-off. Some notable — and wildly eclectic — results were released on last fall’s swan song, A People’s History of The Dismemberment Plan. Me? I can’t decide between the breakneck bricolage of “Pay for the Piano” (featuring cameos by Elvis Costello’s “Pump It Up”) or the strolling mash-up of “Superpowers” (built on the guitar line from the Faces’ “Ooh La La”).
(The Sounds of) Kaleidoscope
(The Sounds of) Kaleidoscope excel at producing that whirling, swirling D.C. (okay, mid-Atlantic, maybe even all the way up to Boston) indie sound. With ex-members of The Ropers and The Still joining founder Damien Taylor, and Lilys Kurt Heasley lending a helping hand, how could they not?
Your toes are gonna be tapping in no time. I guarantee it.
Pilot to Gunner
Seaweed + Fugazi + Quicksand + Superchunk = Pilot to Gunner. Hey, this ain’t mathematics; no equation is perfect, but I’ll be damned if PtG aren’t channelling shards of four of my absolute favorite bands from the ’90s.
Vetiver
Folk is well on its way to becoming the sound du jour thanks to the likes of Andy Cabic and the group of friends and neighbors he enlists (Devendra Banhart, Hope Sandoval, Joanna Newsome, and Colm O’Ciosoig) in crafting a collection of acoustic gems lined with daydream edges. An extravagantly simple melody that you can really sink your ears into.
The High Dials
Each of these harmony-drenched psychedelic pop romps tells a chapter in the story of a fictional character named Silas. Does that make it sound any sweeter? Not really, but it’ll give you something to talk about as you play this for friends.
Mirah
While Liz Phair’s spent the new century embedded in VH1’s Culture Vultureplex, Mirah’s been embedded in evergreen indieland (that’s Olympia, Washington) making sweet and musically adventurous paeans to relationships, politics, and many of the other things that make us think about more than our cholesterol. “Jerusalem” is the only new track here, but it’s worth downloading the others to see how easy it is to fall in love with a singer whose mind is as irresistible as her disarmingly delicate voice.
Juana Molina
In Latino circles, this same Juana Molina is best known as the star of “Juana y Sus Hermanas,” an Argentinian sketch comedy TV series. In my circle, she’s famous for delicate, undulating serenades that are both timely and timeless. Talk about range…
The Autumns
Soaring vocals, soaring guitars, soaring pop.
Mantler
Some songs inspire me to write music. Mantler’s like that. Simple melodies I can get my head around. I imagine myself sitting down at the piano and fiddling around with a few keys until a riff comes to life. If only I could pull myself away from this QWERTY keyboard for two minutes…and I’d have to find a drummer (ain’t got a lick of rhythm).