The Depreciation Guild

Favorite new song alert! As soon as I heard their new single, “Dream About Me,” I rushed to alert my friend Chet who’s a big fan of Ocean Blue and Prefab Sprout and while he hasn’t reported back yet, I expect to hear that The Depreciation Guild is right up his alley. The band’s sound transports me back to the early nineties, the years Chet and I were in radio together. The band takes the lush, dreamy pop sounds of early 4ad bands and distresses them a bit with fuzzy electronics and gentle reverb. Lots of other folks are taking note as well—they’ve sold out of their new single and Kanine records just reissued their 2007 album. Speaking of friends who’d like this band, I’m surprised our own Clay Calloway didn’t beat me to the punch on this one, especially considering two-thirds of the band also play in The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, one of Clay’s recent crushes he’s gushed about on this site. The moonlighters will be extra busy as both bands head over to play the UK later this month. The band has some Midwest and East Coast dates before then, so if you like what you hear do some homework and catch them live, geography permitting.

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The Sky Drops

Sean and I were just trading jabs this week on Facebook regarding MBV comparisons on these pages. So it’s ironic that I’m gonna keep it going.

You gotta love it when a band fulfills its promises. How many times have you heard, “The new album will be out by the end of the year,” only to have it come out two years later or (in the case of MBV, a frequent reference when talking about the Sky Drops) not at all. The Sky Drops promised that despite a medical problem, their full album would be out in 2009, and they did it. Out now, the Sky Drops debut full length Bourgeois Beat, self-released on Fridabear Records, has them further fleshing out their wall of guitars with some mighty catchy hooks, moving from shoegazer fuzz-pop to fuzz-rock. I long ago gave up hope of another MBV album; with Bourgrois Beat filling that space, who needs it now?

From October 13, 2008:
Why didn’t someone tell me? Seriously, I feel like an idiot. My Bloody Valentine played somewhere where I actually live, and I MISSED it! Sure, I saw they were going to play some dates, but did I pay close attention? No. This review almost had me breaking my hand punching my desk. Next time, will someone please email me?

So in my misery, I turned to the Sky Drops for some comfort. These two songs are from last year and show them moving away from their MBV-infuenced shoegaze into their own territory, but the wall of guitar is still the focus. Their debut album, expected earlier this year, has been delayed due to Rob being unable to play the guitar, but they promise us it’ll be out in 2009.

From original post May 24, 2006:
Sean has baited me in the past making this comparison. I swore I would never do it, cause seriously, how can anyone ever approach the genius of Kevin Shields? Then I met the Sky Drops, Rob Montejo and Monika Bullette of Wilmington, Delaware. So when I make a My Bloody Valentine comparison here, I mean it. “Now Would Be” could be the last song on MBV’s Isn’t Anything, and “Green to Red” could have appeared on MBV’s Loveless right in between “When You Sleep” and “I Only Said.” Now, kind reader, a word. Please don’t assume I’m accusing the Sky Drops of plagiarism; au contraire, I’m paying them one of the highest compliments I can. And just think, they make all this racket with a guitar and drums!

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3some: Too Hot to Trot

Hopefully this 3some will become a regular feature here. That’s the plan. The idea is to share more music more often and to do so in fun party packs, organized and gathered around some similarity, theme, sound, or anything else our pea-brains might dream up. First up, three takes on flames, fire and heating up, which the weather in L.A. threatens to do again this week, just as the Station fire is about to be contained. Inevitably, and regrettably, such weather brings out murderous kooks and their matches.

Burn It Down [MP3, 4.4MB, 160kbps]
by The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker
Available now on Outta Site Records

Ruckus Roboticus

At 28, Dan Haug, aka Ruckus Roboticus, is the youngest DJ to be inducted into the elite forces of Solid Steel, Coldcut’s famed radio programme (as they spell it in the UK) and podcast…if my math is right. One thing I’m sure of, he’s the only DJ from Dayton, Ohio, to roll with Solid Steel. I discovered him in catching up with my podcasts and his last session (featured below) is utter dopeness. Listen to any of his smiles-a-minute dance mixes — most of which are free for the downloading on his newly refurbished site — and you can see what all the hype is about. He takes this body moving seriously. And, after you fall in love with his ability to work with other people’s music, be sure to purchase his equally infectious LP of original tunes, 2007’s Playing With Scratches, using the convenient e-commerce links below. It’s a quirky and sample-tastic romp in the vein of Kid Koala or Dosh. Thank you.

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Lord Newborn & The Magic Skulls

Well if this ain’t the musical equivalent of the Three Amigos. Three musical desperados gathered on the West Coast to create aural havoc and obviously had the time of their lives. The parties involved include: Money Mark, Tommy Guerrero, and Shawn Lee, three “sound scientists” who’ve all made their own marks flying below the mainstream radar, carving out a groove amidst all that is going to be cool tomorrow. Both Mark and Guerrero released music early on through Mo’ Wax and Shawn Lee recorded for Talking Loud and Wall of Sound early in his career. “Dirty Loco” is one of the two songs that serve as the dark heart of the record. The comparison is a bit ludicrous, but it sounds like a track off The Cure’s “Pornography” record if Robert Smith had grown up in Southern California, raised on funk and soul. The rest of the album is full of laid back, easy-listening funk tracks, improvised, trippy, and generally cheerful. Dare I say it, Lord Newborn is a rare-groove jam band that I’d be happy spending a summer or three trucking around the country following their wake.

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Jimmy Ohio

Who says you can’t judge a book by its cover? Basic Black is not only the title of Jimmy Ohio’s first EP, but a fitting description of the raw, bluesy, and timeless rock ‘n’ roll found therein. Last year, the Brooklynite flew back to his one-time home of Detroit and holed up in a former Baptist church for four days with some old pals, Dan Kroha (The Gories, Demolition Doll Rods), Trevor Naud (Zoos of Berlin, PAS/CAL), and Tony Maimone (Pere Ubu). The four songs that emerged each paint heartbreak with a slightly different brush, and offer tastes of what might have come of a longer recording session. From the bristling energy of “Hello and Goodbye” to the delicate reflection of “Quiet Sound” — each track leaves you wanting more. So…when’s the long-player, Jimmy?

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The Radio Dept.

The Radio Dept started a journey a number of years ago, a pop voyage (pronounced French-style) if you will, that has started a new leg. The fuzzed out bliss pop seems so very long ago, as they enter an orchestral funk pop phase, still framed with their signature techniques. Regardless of the destination, the fun is in getting there.

Second Post 5/9/2008:
The Radio Dept’s last LP Pet Grief further cemented their delicate pop sounds, built with the tools of 80’s pop (haunting keyboads, drum machines, echo pedals), as their sound. “Freddie and the Trojan Horse,” from their upcoming June EP, doesn’t mess with their formula, but it does turn up the tempo and the urgency.

Original Post 11/17/2004:
Like religious conversion or political persuasion, music can be very personal. Isn’t that why we like it? So rather than a cold, third-person blip about The Radio Dept., allow me to share something personal, which is that I just love The Radio Dept. Love. My longstanding record for the most times I’ve listened to a song in a row is Joe Jackson’s “Got the Time,” clocking in at 48 consecutive listens. But, at the rate I’m going, The Radio Dept.’s “Pulling Our Weight” is going to overtake that before the night is over.

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The Slew


Leave it to Kid Koala to roust me from my blogging negligence…well, Koala and friends. DJ extraordinaire Kid Koala and indie hip-hop producer Dynomite D had been working on the score to a documentary D’s cousin Jay Rowlands was making about an obscure ’70s psych rock band called The Slew. Known mostly among obsessive record collectors, who pay as much as $1000 for a copy of the band’s only album, Dust Collector, of which there are only 50 copies in existence. The documentary got shelved as enigmatic frontman (didn’t you just know there was an “enigmatic frontman” in this story?) Jack Slew backed out. Koala and D already had already remixed and retooled a lot of The Slew’s material. When Chris Ross and Myles Heskett, the former rhythm section of Wolfmother, heard the tracks, they offered to help perform the tracks live so the music could be heard by more ears. So this fall, they’re taking their show (reportedly involving six turntables) on the road, which is the only place where you can get this soundtrack-to-a-non-existent-movie-featuring-remixes-of-tracks-you’ve-probably-never-heard-before-by-a-band-you’ve-probably-never-heard-of-before, simply titled 100%.
Check Kid Koala’s site for tour dates. (Looks like the closest it’s coming to the Motor City is Chicago…or the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa).

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The Mattson 2 (The Present Sndtrk)

I feel like a schlub because I missed the screenings of Thomas Campbell’s new surf film The Present. And I’m making a desperate, last chance effort at redeeming myself by inviting all my fellow Southern California wave riders to San Clemente today at dusk to the Surfing Heritage Foundation to catch the screening of Dear & Yonder, the new surf film by Tiffany Campbell. Now, back to today’s music: The Mattson 2 are twin brothers Jared and Jonathan on guitar and drums respectively. This song in particular captures the spirit and tone of Campbell’s films, soulful surf jazz. The frantic back-to-school preparation for me and the kids is already leaving me nostalgic for this summer and the Mattson 2 along with Campbell’s films are sweet, Zen-like reminders that fall doesn’t arrive until September 22nd. Don’t rush it. Don’t rush it. If you like this track (note: the track that begins playing with the trailer below is not The Mattson 2, nor is it on the soundtrack, hmmm), I highly suggest you pick up the entire album which features other artists from Campbell’s boutique label Galaxia, plus Vetiver, David Axelrod, and Cass McCombs.

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Julie Peel

This song may not have even won my attention during a recent listening binge if my nose hadn’t been buried in a particular book. “Bastard Out of Carolina” by Dorothy Allison is that particularity. An insightful young lady, Ruth Anne “Bone” Boatwright narrates the novel, telling the story of growing up poor in the South amongst a colorful cast of aunts and uncles. The rhythm of the language is pure music, while Ruth Anne’s life is pure hell. Besides a couple aunts who come to her rescue, the closest thing that brings solace to Ruth Anne’s life is gospel music. Julie Peel doesn’t play gospel music in the traditional sense, but her soulful voice, and the deep strains of cello echo the yearnings of one searching for some sort of salvation. I assume Peel’s song “Unfold” is about the loss of a lover, but its lyrics and theme resonate acutely with Ruth Anne’s loss of motherly love. Even though that book and this song are filled with grief, discovering them together has been a pleasant harmonic convergence.

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