The perfect companion to last week’s post on Cause Co-Motion!, since the two Brooklyn bands are currently touring the West Coast together. (I had planned on seeing them tonight in Oakland, but alas, I’ve got torn knee ligaments.)
The Slumberland page for their new album Alight of Night makes reference to a whole slew of bands: Velvet Underground, 13th Floor Elevators, Red Crayola, the Gun Club, the Mary Chain, and also bands from Flying Nun, Rough Trade, and Factory Records. I’d also throw in early Walkmen and the Recoys. Feel free to add your own.
As I was putting this post together, and listening to “All the Way Down,” I started thinking about a conversation I had a few years ago with Jen Larson. At the time, she was my student; now, she’s a college grad in a half-dozen Chicago bands and is cooler by three-and-a-half times than I ever was. Anyway, one day I made a random comment about how I don’t really care all that much for The Beatles. I was like, “Who really listens to them anyway?” And you can probably guess how she looked at me — This guy doesn’t like The Beatles? How can he be qualified to teach me anything? This is a long way of saying that of course I was wrong, and that Nik Freitas reminds me of clean 60s and 70s pop in all the right ways. “Sun Down” might be one of the nicest little songs of the year, smooth yet inspirational (as if those are contradictory). For some fun, and a little Built to Spill style without all the noise, check out “Normal” from Freitas’ 2002 debut. And if you still want to hear more, check out his website for a few more free downloads.
They’re young (barely 18), German (yes, they sing in their native tongue), angular (think Wire, The Fall), and they’re following in the footsteps of obscure ’80s post-punk compatriots (Palais Schaumburg anyone? Yeah, they were new to me too). I’m showing my age when I say that I remember when people actually pogo-danced at shows, but 1000 Robata’s Liquid Liquid groove coupled with their angry-Devo delivery bounce me back happily to those seminal years.
Only one minute and thirty four seconds for you today, but it’s brilliant DIY pop from Brooklyn’s Cause Co-Motion! (or alternately caUSE Co-MOTION!) doing their take on the early Television Personalities, or what the Buzzcocks would have sounded like if they had formed in the USA in the heyday of 50’s sock hop. It’s Time!, a 14 song singles compilation is out on tomorrow on Slumberland, and they’re also starting a West Coast tour with Slumberland’s the Crystal Stilts this week.
It was a colder-than-normal Sunday when the new Horse Feathers CD went into the car stereo. We had the boy and his cousin with us and were searching for the perfect pumpkin patch to take their photo — y’know, to get that genuine “we’re a happy family†feel. The patch we found turned out to be muddy and, as a result, a messy wonderland for the boys. The music was a wonderland for us grown-ups: soft vocals with shades of 
If you’re looking for mellow, melodic and pleasant — as opposed to mellow and just plain slow or mellow and super-hyper-overcontemplative (you know what I mean, right?) — The Olympic Symphonium might work for you. This trio from Maritime Canada brings an intimacy and gentleness to the ten tracks on More in Sorrow Than in Anger, their sophomore release due out in a week or two. Though the instrumentation changes a bit here and there, the album maintains a pleasant pop cool, perfect for the change in seasons. “Intentions Alone,” the free download down there, kind of has that crunching-the-leaves feel to it; check out the rest of this disc to maintain that vibe.
This track is a gem among gems on the new 