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Tune-Yards

 

Two days ago I had no knowledge of Tune-Yards. I stumbled upon them while searching through the webs looking for something new. I came across a description on Pitchfork.com of their music, calling it a mixture of folk, R&B, funk, Afro-pop, and rock. That combination of genre’s peaked my musical curiosity. I had to check them out.

Tune-Yards newest album, W H O K I L L, is even cooler than I imagined, and the song, “Bizness” is a great example of the album as a whole. The song is full of layers, like a musical trifle if you will. Layers of saxaphone, drums, background vocals, and what I think is a keyboard, but can’t tell for sure. All those components are held together by a driving bass line, from new member, Nate Brenner, that really moves the song along. Singer (and sole member before the addition of Brenner) Merrill Garbus seems to strain as she sings/yells/almost raps at times the lyrics. This is a great song to put on repeat while in the car and blast it for all the passers-by to enjoy with you.

 

Tune-Yards – Bizness

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Suedehead

One of the off-shoots of British Mod music is a branch known as Northern Soul which took its cues from little known American soul bands. Now a little known band out of Costa Mesa, California is doing its darndest to revive the sound here on U.S. shores. That band, as you probably already guessed, is Suedehead and they have quite the pedigree. Singer and guitarist Davey Warsop used to sing with a British punk band called Beat Union. Chris Bradley (guitars) ran a small punk rock label called Unity Squad Records, and keyboardist Greg Kuehn did the same for punk rock legends T.S.O.L.

While Suedehead definitely has a punk rock energy and aesthetic about them, they’d be more fit at the head of dance floor than a mosh pit. They wear their affinity for Paul Weller and all things Jam on their sleeves, and that’s a good thing. Rocking out to their new EP, I’ve been asked several times if I was sure this isn’t Elvis Costello. And I’m sure, but it’s a good comparison if we went back in time and Costello was 27 again. The two treats we’re including from the band represent the second, darker half of their EP: the crowd favorite “Young & In Love,” and the video for the oh-so-danceable “Can’t Stop.” Tune in!

Suedehead – Young & In Love

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Mind Spiders

Mind Spiders is the new project of Marked Men singer Mark Ryan. Their debut self-titled album is definitely not a Marked Men redo. The punk rock is still there, just now it’s full of reverb and distortion, like mold has grown on it. Along with the fuzz is the sci-fi noises that make the album sound at times like it was intended for a B-movie soundtrack. The song “No Romance” is one of the more punk rock songs on the album. It’s quick song, just under two minutes, but it gives you a small taste of the lo-fi goodness that this album consists of. Thirteen songs in total, including a spaced out version of Little Richard’s “Slippin’ and Slidin”, the album takes a little over 30 minutes to listen to before you start it over again, because it’s so good, you’ll have to play it again.

– By Todd S

No Romance

Mind Spiders Site
Dirtnap Records

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Bill Callahan

I’ve been captivated by Bill Callahan ever since I discovered him at my favorite record store. Callahan has been recording music for sometime now, since 1992 as Smog, a moniker he shed with his first self-titled album in 2007. His new album, Apocalypse, is his fifteenth. His voice is dark and smooth like a tub of margarine with bits of toast residue in it. It reminds me a bit of Chris Goss from Masters of Reality. Some musical parts in his newest album remind me of a few Mike Watt songs.

With only seven songs, the album appears to be short, but there are 40 minutes of tremendous song structures mixed with one of more original voices I have heard in a long time. This track, “Baby’s Breath”, starts out slowly, builds to a nice pace, then settles down into its original tempo. It repeats this pattern throughout. The emotional crux of the song hits as he exclaims, “Oh I’m a helpless man, so help me”, while his guitar cries out in pain. As of right now Apocalypse is the best album I have heard this year. I highly recommended it.

– By Todd S

Baby’s Breath [MP3, 10.1MB, 255kbps]

dragcity.com

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Velocity Girl

I have this tendency to get addicted to songs to the point that the people around me begin throwing heavy objects at my throat and knee-caps. The detox process consists of playing the song over and over while I write a little narrative of my relationship with that song. Lately, I haven’t detoxed; it’s hard to get back into that habit once you’ve abandoned it. After today I promise not to discuss my lingering absence.

My latest awakening is due to one of my all time favorite roadtrip songs, “Go Coastal”by a forgotten favorite: Velocity Girl. I rolled the song over, along with a gaggle more, in a recent refresh of my exercise playlist (I only listen to that about once a week by the way…) and now I can’t live without it. It took me about 10 listens to re-memorize the lyrics, I’m slow like that, and now I’ll enjoy singing along to it for another 50 or so.

I talked a lot about Velocity Girl in my Sarah Shannon review, and now I’ll reciprocate. After Velocity Girl broke up in ’96 (the same year I brought a child into the world, man, those 14 years flew by), Sarah reappeared with a couple of the velocity boys in Starry Eyes, put out two solo records in ’02 and ’06, sang on a Free Design cover with Styrofoam, brought a couple of children into the world herself, and is now writing and performing songs inspired, I imagine, by those children. I’m gonna call my friends at Yo Gabba Gabba and see what I can do about getting Sarah’s voice stuck in the head of cool kids and parents worldwide!

Forgotten Favorite [MP3]
Go Coastal [MP3]

Velocity Girl at subpop.com
thenot-its.com

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3hive Rewinds and Fast Forwards

Let’s face it, 2010 was less than stellar at this url. The principals and our reviewers all dropped out of ear-shot simultaneously and for months 3hive has been out of commission. No particular reason really. Life unplugged us, and once unplugged it’s hard to get back into gear, back into the groove.

Twenty-eleven’s gonna be different. I can only speak for myself, but I’m back on the wagon. I’m good for a couple posts a week, maybe even three. I’ll likely drop in the readings I’m obsessed with on occassion, like this, this , and this.

3hive’s Most Popular Posts from 2010:

11. Jaga Jazzist
10. Inlets
09. Let’s Say We Did
08. Happy Birthday
07. The Royal Chains
06. Bonobo
05. Junk Science
04. Cap’n Jazz [re-issue]
03. Galactic
02. Phantogram
01. Tycho

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Junk Science

My problem with a lot of so-called “avant-hop” music, even some of that released on our beloved Anticon label, is that it’s just not funky enough. To quote that great skit from De La Soul Is Dead: “Maybe if you flipped it on 45, so I could dance to it…”

The Brooklyn duo known as Junk Science has been typecast as avant-hop thanks to intricate (and sometimes arrhythmic) production and autobiographical (and sometimes heavy) lyrics. What they should be known for is their ability to move a crowd, in both senses of the word. DJ Snafu is a sample connoisseur — dusting off everything from AM Gold to deep jazz to informercials — and puts a little “whazzat?” into every drum pattern he lays down. Baje One has an easy flow with lyrics that are at once approachable and hard to touch. And they know it, too.

In fact, MC Baje One regularly puzzles over his strictly underground status, as he does in the soulful shimmy “Do It Easy”: “Tryin’ to sell a couple records/At the club they come to check us/But dog, what kinda money do y’think I’m stackin’ y’all/Coachin’ JV high school basketball?” But he isn’t about change his style to goose his iTunes royalties: “Vitamins and nutrients, static in the bass/Plus I get extra points ’cause I ain’t rappin’ in your face.”

Baje One is taking matters into his own hands now, shedding their decidedly underground label, Embedded, for an imprint of his own making called Modern Shark. There’s a whole page of freeMP3bies to be had over at modernshark.com/free. From the sounds of it, his financial future looks bright.

That said, based on the clever punchlines of their latest single, “Millins”, even if Junk Science were to start making dollars we probably wouldn’t see a spike in Hennessey sales. But you better believe that JV team would get the finest throwback Nikes money can buy…

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