Despite my penchant for cheerful pop I do enjoy moody sounds more than occasionally. The Bell joins fellow Swedes, The Mary Onettes, as another Scandinavian ’80s flashback band with a darker edge. Who am I kidding? The Bell is about as dark as a fluffy white cloud getting between you and the sun. It may throw a shadow, but it won’t ruin your picnic. The Bell is as threatening as anything on the Pretty in Pink soundtrack. The Bell does capture the mood, what you remember as melancholy when your mom made you tear down your Cure posters or when she drove you to the barber to “fix” your self-coifed Tears For Fears hair-do, you may have often experienced as a teenager during the Reagan Years. This is all speculation of course, because really, what would I know about that?? Watch for The Bell’s U.S. release in February, twenty-two years after Andie, Duckie & Co. hit the big screen, on Badman Records.
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
There used to be a bunch of MP3’s available for Stephen Malkmus so that you could get a great sense of what the erstwhile Pavement frontman has been up to for most of the last decade — and if you haven’t been keeping up, you’re missing out. We’re down to one: the sprawling, guitarilicious Randy Newman cover (!) “Baltimore,” all 6 minutes and 37 seconds of it. The new album is called Real Emotional Trash and as far as I can tell there is no release date yet, so don’t wear out this stocking stuffer too soon because it may be all you get for Christmas.
The Loved Ones
Sometimes I like to look for songs that include the names of my kids. One of my daughter’s favorites is by Raffi. You know, whatever. I got a hit with The Loved Ones (nice, appropriate), and hey look, they’re even on 3hive! I figured I’d update Sean’s post from ’05 with another free download, “Suture Self,” and let everybody know that a new album’s coming out in February. Rock on.
Suture Self [MP3, 2.8MB, 128kbps]
Sean’s original post: 03/22/05
I know we’re late on this, but if you haven’t done so already, raid the SXSW site for a shload of MP3s (hit the day, then artist links) before they’re pulled. When in Texas, eat like a Texan. So, off to the The Salt Lick for slabs of heaven on earth. After demolishing three rounds of smoked ambrosia, my BBQ buddies dropped me off on Red River Street where I could hear The Loved Ones blasting their brand of stripped down, punk ‘n’ roll for all the world to hear. I scrambled my way up to the front of the stage for their raucous set, fueled by the bottled-up energy of their twenty-seven hour road trip to make the show. Me? I was fueled by brisket. Culinary and musical highlights coming together like magic.
New Grenada
We’ll go Detroit local for today’s post, and check out New Grenada’s punky rock riffs and rips, boops and bips, toy instruments and just about anything else they dig out of the closet. Like a lot of awesome indie rock outfits, John Nelson, Nicole Allie and Dave Melkonian seem to make a lot more sound than you’d expect from so few people. With three LPs and a handful of 7″ and other recordings to their credit, New Grenada seem to be about to hit the sweet spot (even if their photo suggests they’re survivng solely on the kindliness of others). Check out their latest tracks — “Emergency Brigade” and “Meat is Murdermobile,” from the 2006 release Modern Problems — for a sense of their sonic range.
The Sugarman Three
We really dig what Daptone’s been up to this year. But they’ve been working at reviving soul for some years now; their comeuppance is due. One of their earliest releases is an album from The Sugarman Three, an outfit built around saxophonist Neal Sugarman and a Hammond B-3 organ. It’s a crying shame that tracks from their debut album, Sugar’s Boogaloo, aren’t available, and that your first taste of the band comes in the form of remixes, but you just shouldn’t take another breath until you get yourself a lil’ Sugarman action. These remixes are from a complete remix compilation that’s been freely available for a couple weeks courtesy of Daptone and friends. Dig deep from the Daptone well friends.
Plastic Passion
On these very pages I have previously used the term “dance punk disco funk” to describe the Rapture. So please pardon me for applying the same label late on a Sunday night to London’s Plastic Passion. Owing an obvious debt to the Cure for inspiration and the name of their band, Plastic Passion are a rough and raw complication of their post-punk/new wave influences in an age where similar bands are perhaps a bit too slick in their production. I can unfortunately only imagine what grand fun their live shows are, combining said roughness with the palpable energy of their songs.
Silversun Pickups Remix EP
Springfactory
I dragged myself out of my toasty-warm bed this morning only to be welcomed by a rare Southern California chill and this early holiday treat. Springfactory! And they’ve got what I never tire of: bright, sunny, Swedish-pop, delivered to the U.S.A. this winter, just in time to warm the fingertips and toes, via Series Two, a Nebraska-based CD-R label. Among the members of Springfactory are singer Lina Cullemark and Peter Gunnarson from Suburban Kids With Biblical Names. Lina also plays in a band called This Big Picture and boy it’s about time she’s got the mic. Her voice is playful and sweet and is especially endearing in the rousing “Get Out of Bed.” Springfactory released their first EP in 2005 and Series Two just put out a limited run of handmade, 10 song CD-Rs featuring the band’s two soldout EPs and two unreleased songs, including the glitchy and oh-so catchy “Peggy Pear,” an eleventh hour entry to my year-end favorites.
The Swimmers
The Swimmers released a pretty darn good MP3 EP back in August. It’s a fun piano pop romp, and I probably should have posted about it back then. But I’m glad I waited because now I have even more praise to heap on these kids from the Illadelph. As some of you know, I”m a complete nut for Christmas music — especially fresh, new Christmas compositions that capture the magic of the season, rather than the uninspired covers that bombard me everywhere I go these days. And that’s just what The Swimmers have created with “The Christmas Sound”: a buoyant Christmas hit replete with sleigh bells, drum trills, and a sing-along chorus. As we all learn in the movie Elf, “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.” Word to Buddy…
The Swimmers’ next present to the world will be their debut album, due out in March.
Dead Meadow
Somehow, this holiday season snuck up on me. No more pigs in blankets! No more cheap red wine! I revolt. I can’t listen to DJ’s play the greatest hits of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s anymore! I revolt! I am deeply desirous of a comfortable pair of pajamas, a cup of tea, some only-me-and-no-one-else time and the piece de resistance… new Dead Meadow playing on repeat. Shan called it way back in ’05—“blissful rock and roll melancholyâ€. I couldn’t agree more. What better place to escape to in the midst of small talk, velvet dresses, candles and fake snow? These guys had it right when they took their fifth-album making selves to rural Indiana to create these tunes—there is something deliciously escapist about them.
What Needs [MP3, 5.9MB, 192kbps]