Melanie, my favorite French street-artist-turned-K-Records-stalwart, has released her second LP Wider. Her live show that I caught several years is one of my favorite live shows of the past ten years. To quote myself in our Junk Drawer: “Holy moly, Melanie was incredible, part musician/poet/child/dancer/manipulator/artist/provacateur/comic/songwriter. And her voice live is so loud, so strong, so filling.” She set up on the floor in front of the stage for maximum audience interaction, which involved her punching me in the stomach, taking and wearing my wife’s coat, and rifling through the pockets of my friend Vince. With her new album, she continues to craft her electronic performance-pop, with sweet melodies and varying tempos, harmonizing with herself about love and life.
Original post 10/12/2005:
As previously mentioned, my personal goal of attending all shows by 3hive bands in my hometown has been quite a failure, coming in right now at about 3 out of who knows…10? 20? 30? That’s gonna improve slightly when Tender Forever comes to town on November 6 with His Royal Highness of Indiedom Calvin Johnson. A musical journey from Bordeaux, France, to Olympia, Washington, can only mean one thing: exquisite Franco-American pop. Melanie Valera and friends, see you soon.
Someday, when every respectable university offers sampling/remix/mashup culture curricula and tweed jackets are replaced by hoodies, expect to find lectures devoted to a particular five minutes and 23 seconds of musical history: Double Dee and Steinski’s “The Payoff Mix.” The track, an entry by a couple of first-time bedroom producers to a remix contest put on by Tommy Boy Records in 1983, has shaped both underground and popular music for decades (two and a half to be exact) and still stands on its own two legs… The technique of audio juxtaposition and recontextualization (otherwise known as “rewind moments”) and even the specific samples the duo used on that pioneering track have become as common to hip-hop, remixes, and mash-ups as backspins and “yes y’alls” — if you can’t help but read, “And, say children, what does it all mean?” in the voice of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia (even if you had no idea who you were imitating) you’ve been affected by Double Dee and Steinski.
If it’s possible to have a father figure whom you’ve never actually met, Neil Young is mine. Ever since I can remember, he’s taught me some valuable lessons just by picking (or swinging) at his guitar, blowing into his harmonica, and singing in that sweet, cracked falsetto. You get the sense that Bowery Boy Blue has learned a lot as well. Zeb Gould (who, with his wife Megan, also makes music as Stereofan) certainly borrows from Young’s catalog for both his quieter moments and for his way with guitar fuzz. But he’s equally enamored, as with Will Oldham and many of his kind, with the gothic roots of Americana. The result is songs that are somber, heartfelt, and sublime.
Sean’s in L.A., so maybe he knows about The Hectors. I’m in Michigan, and all I know about is the Red Wings, the Pistons, and Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s text messages. Therefore, this old-school SoCal indie pop-rock sounds fresh to me, like Pavement meets a girl who can sing. But back to this whole regional thing… Sean, a Lakers-Pistons is possible, especially if the Celtics’ airplane gets lost and flies around over Canada for a few days. The Stanley Cup’s in the bag. Maybe check out The Hectors in San Diego in June? I’ve never been there….
Haley Bonar first appeared on these pages almost four years. I’m not so into acoustic guitars, but seeing her live almost four years, I was completely blown away by the power of her voice. Her albums, a thoughtful mixture of folk and delicate tunes, don’t seem to be able to fully capture that voice; they give just a little picture of what she’s got. The new album, Big Star, no doubt named after one of her influences, is out June 10.
Since I first posted Ratatat four years ago all the original MP3s have been taken down. See, you gotta grab the goods while there are goods to grab (you can still download their second mixtape 
While Daniel Ahearn’s group project, Ill Lit, was one of our earliest posts, they never really enjoyed proper coverage on this site. Now’s the time to make up for such an oversight. Ahearn emerges with a solo EP almost two years after Ill Lit’s self-released album, Tom Cruise. To be honest, it’s not much different from Ill Lit’s electro-tinged americana sound. That’s a good thing. The difference is Ahearn wrote the songs on Pray for Me By Name so that he felt comfortable playing them alone with an acoustic guitar. Rather than painting himself into a corner, this restraint, this simplification allows Ahearn to create a small masterpiece in “Down for the Count.” A gritty keyboard groove opens the song with a bounce, then smoothes out giving way to a soft, sweet, soaring chorus. Don’t let the gentle tone fool you. Ahearn couches both the ups and downs, the sunshine and the Santa Anas, of West Coast living in one friendly tune.
Has it really been a year since The Lodger released their first album Grown-Ups? Here they are again with their new LP Life is Sweet, not even twelve months later, turning it up a notch with crisp production to further refine their Yorkshire pop sensibilities. Let’s just hope that they can keep up this pace!
Time to hit Athens again with the indie rock of Mass Solo Revolt. Other reviewers, publicists, and music sources bring up the apparent 90’s indie rock influences of MSR, listing off the obvious suspects, but what else would one expect of a band that grew up on said influences? MSR, though, aren’t content with just mimicing; they have an earnestness that shows they’re doing what they want to do. The Flaming Lips, Dinosaur, Jr., Superchunk, The Wedding Present, and (personal fave) the Grifters have been known to have that effect on impressionable young ears.
Good evening. I’m going to try very very hard not to make any “Pants” jokes here. O.k. — Let’s do this. He impressed Mr. Peanut Butter Wolf and now he’s impressing us with his neon-bathed, wheel-pitched funk. A sneak peak at the new album from James Pants, “Ka$h” draws a lot of comparison to Prince, Pharrell and the ’80s. More specifically, I would say it dates back when nerds *weren’t* cool, and Mr. Nelson was knocking the genres of the day on their sorry asses. There’s a DRM version out there now, but I’m holding out more. You could say I can’t wait for the rest of these Pants to drop. Ah, crap. I’m soooo sorry.