Interesting Summer Distractions, Part 2: Music
Posted on | September 3, 2006 at 1:53 pm | 2 Comments
Yes, I did plan on continuing this series…
So what music have I been listening to this summer?
The album spending the most time on my various players is of course the new Loud Family + Anton Barbeau disc, What If It Works? I’m just so thankful to have any new Scott Miller tunes at all that I don’t mind him sharing the spotlight with Anton and also doing three covers out of twelve songs. Plus, I’ve always been an Anton fan, and his tracks are up there with the best of his stuff. There’s really not much in the way of filler here. That said, my favorite tune is Total Mass Destruction, which is actually an older song. Following a cover of the Stones’ Rocks Off with an original tune called Song About “Rocks Off” is just such a Scott thing to do, but it works. Especially since the cover is A-1 and the original song is gorgeous.
A pleasant surprise has been The Entire Combustible World In One Small Room by Don Dixon. This is actually the first Dixon disc I’ve owned, even though I’ve liked some of what I heard from him in the past. And truthfully, the first time I heard this disc, I didn’t like it. It seemed too midtempo, almost languid, and I thought the whole “room” theme was a bit stretched. But on the second listen, it all clicked into place. It took hearing the melodies twice for them to burrow into my head and not let go. And now I think the lyrical theme holds together well.
(Yes, I realize that both of the above releases are on 125 Records, and I have to point out that Sue & Joe of 125 are good friends of mine. But I think their great taste in music may have something to do with why we are friends, or at least how we became friends in the first place. They do know how to pick ‘em.)
I’ve already mentioned the latest Sparks release Hello Young Lovers, which continues to grow on me everytime I hear it. Like Paula mentions in the comments of my last entry, it’s worthy of being on the Best of 2006 list. It’s hard to imagine a more epic song than Dick Around. In a just world, it would be as big a hit as Bohemian Rhapsody. Bonus points for the lads performing Perfume on the season finale of Gilmore Girls. I’ve only got this in MP3 format from eMusic right now, but I plan on buying the disc.
The Black Magic Show from NYC band Elefant has also been spending a lot of time in the CD player. This is another one of those bands that is attempting to bridge the gap between retro-80s sensibilities and modern pop/rock, complete with analog synths and all. At times, I hear echoes of The Stranglers, The House Of Love, and Death Cab For Cutie. But they’re really their own thing. It was the little tremoloed guitar bit at the end of each phrase of the chorus to It’s A Shame that pushed me from “enjoyable” to “classic” on the first listen. Although for some reason it’s a lot harder to hear that bit on the ripped MP3 version than on the CD itself. Damn you, lossy encoding!
The Editors are another one of those groups (from the UK, this time) in the Interpol/Joy Division/Kitchens Of Distinction/She Wants Revenge vocal arena. Debut disc The Back Room is driving and hooky, exemplified by the almost-impossible-to-escape-for-awhile single Munich. I love this disc.
I’ve bought very few CDs this year. Seems like almost everything I’ve been on the lookout for shows up on eMusic, so I’ve been doing a lot of downloading. The discs I buy are mainly limited to stuff from people I collect (like the Loud Family above) or are cheap discs that look interesting and induce me to take a chance on (like the Elefant). Some of the eMusic bands that I’ve been enjoying lately but which I need to listen to more are (in no particular order): White Whale (WWI), The Stills (Without Feathers), Espers (II), Pipettes (We Are The Pipettes), Raconteurs (Broken Boy Soldiers), Elf Power (Back To The Web), Jon Auer (Songs From The Year Of Our Demise), Violet Nine (Any Wonder), Celebrity Pilots (Beneath The Pavement, A Beach!), New Radiant Storm King (The Steady Hand), Wedding Present (Take Fountain), and Sing-Sing (The Joy Of Sing-Sing and Sing-Sing And I). And many more.
Also, I must mention that the EP Taste from The Capes is even better than the full-length CD (Hello) that succeeded it. The only song on Taste that is also on Hello is the one song from Hello (Tightly Wound) that I put on my Best of 2005 mix CD. The song Regional Heat has a spectacularly catchy chorus.
Disappointments: The new Keane (Under The Iron Sea) sounds a bit too generic compared to their first album. And the Thom Yorke solo album (Eraser) just makes me sleepy. I can’t stand the weird percussion. But I haven’t been all that thrilled with the last few Radiohead albums either in that respect.
Latre.
Comments
2 Responses to “Interesting Summer Distractions, Part 2: Music”
September 4th, 2006 @ 12:18 pm
Thanks for recommending our releases — I’m glad you like ‘em both
I have also really been enjoying the Raconteurs album, as well as the eMusic stuff I downloaded on your recommendation (Celebrity Pilots & New Radiant Storm King). Will have to check out some of the others on your list.
September 5th, 2006 @ 4:14 am
Hey, my Emusic downloads just refreshed today, and I’d forgotten that the Wedding Present had a recent album, so thanks for the recommendation. Watusi was an important album to me back in the day, and this new one sounds lovely.
The NRSK album is great, another best-o-06 for me.