4/29/09 - Here We Go Magic

Today is my girlfriend's birthday, so today's band is going to be one that reminds me of her. One morning at SXSW we started out the day lounging on the lawn of the French Legation Museum, eating breakfast tacos (delicious!) and drinking Cokes. The night before, Camera Obscura had headlined a free show under the same tent, and they were a pretty good barometer for what kind of bands were best suited to a small gently sloping lawn hidden from the highway by trees on one side and the "oldest French structure in Austin" on the other (what? something older than the La Madelaine chain restaurant locations?). It was a sunny day, we were on bikes, and it seemed a no-brainer to spend at least an hour or so outside enjoying the day before we delved into the sticky-floored, stale-beer smelling dank bars and clubs where we'd be seeing bands for the rest of the day (including, happily, Those Darlins mentioned below).

We went to see Dent May and his Magnificent Ukelele, who I might just make one of my Daily Bombs somewhere on down the line, but I ended up really enjoying this band called Here We Go Magic. Having one of the gayest names of all time (possibly ranking number two after Death Cab for Cutie), and being from Brooklyn (damn that place!), and being compared (unfairly, I say) to Wavves (who is overrated and borrrrring), this band seems to have a lot going against it. However, the low-fi aspect of this music transcends most bands of that Pitchfork-hyped genre, and manages to take the best of analog home recording, acoustic strumming, and layered vocals and turn it into a warm and oddly catchy, looping, swirling collection of phrases that wash over you nicely. Besides the fact that it reminds me how much I'd rather be sitting in the sun, eating breakfast tacos and smiling at my girlfriend than sitting in a cubicle typing this...

If you didn't know better, you might mistake the vocals in the opening of "Tunnelvision" for a lady, but Here We Go Magic is essentially Luke Temple, a pleasant folky popster under his own moniker, working alone in his bedroom studio to record music that doesn't sound exactly like the Luke Temple we might know and love. Albeit still a bit ladylike. Granted, some of the offerings on Here We Go Magic's myspace player devolve into self-loving noodling, but besides the enjoyable "Tunnelvision," I've really taken to playing "Fangala" as often as possible, and have an affinity for "Only Pieces" as well.

Enjoy. Preferably in the sunshine with a breakfast taco and a nice girl.

http://www.myspace.com/herewegomagic

4/28/09 - Telepathe

Sometimes I hate Brooklyn. Yep, I said it. Between the ecstatic embrace of journalists and music nerds, Brooklyn is probably the most jizz-covered burg in the world. I think it annoys me when there is music coming out of Brooklyn that I really like. I feel like I've sold out my own version of West Coast snobbery to acknowledge that there might, in fact, just be some kind of validity to the claims of Brooklynites that East is best.

There is something out there right now that they are calling avant-garde. It doesn't sound a goddamn thing like Philip Glass, but more like Erase Errata meets melodic electronic noodling. Somewhere in this scene (which apparently includes Gang Gang Dance and Effi Briest), Telepathe hovers. Telepathe (pronounced tel-EP-ath-ee), however, seem to be going alarmingly toward the hook-driven landscape of, dare I say, pop music. Say it isn't so!? Well, bless those kids for doing it, because somewhere between avant garde and pop isn't a bad place to be if it means that you've caught the ear of TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek, who then agrees to produce your first full length album. Not half bad, really.

Back when Telepathe started out a few years ago, there wasn't much to distinguish them from any other revolving group of knob-twiddling, droning Brooklyn hipsters. But, with their album
Dance Mother (released 4/14/09), they bring the bass, the hooks, and incongruously, even a little hip hop delivery. With childlike female vocals half-chanting, half lulling over some potential dance floor beats, DJs can see fit to pack this comfortably in their crates for events of any occasion. I especially love the moaning intro, cavernous arrangement, and clean bass of the first single, "So Fine."

Telepathe's Dance Mother is available on iTunes, and 8 songs (including a stellar Atticus Ross remix of "Michael") can be heard on their myspace page:

www.myspace.com/telepathe

Here's an extremely random video for "So Fine" as well:

4/27/09 - Those Darlins

I've always been a sucker for a good hootenanny. I even just love that word: hootenanny. Go ahead - repeat it a few dozen times and tell me you ain't a-grinnin'. Well, if there's one to be had out there nowadays, Those Darlins from Murfeesboro, TN might just be the gals to hoot it. Hands down one of my favorite finds from this year's SXSW, the three girls formed a unified front at the edge of the staged, be-frilled with multi-chromatic bloomers, boots, strumming acoustic instruments, and cheeky vocals. In a town overflowing with big-ticket major label bands that have busted the indie mold of SXSWs of yore, Those Darlins reminded that bigger isn't always better. Their songs are like front-porch backwoods jams filtered through a tough-talkin' Southern female aesthetic that goes all the way back to Prohibition. They sing about "Snaggle-toothed Mamas" and wild drunken women, put to a driving jamboree beat that makes you wanna lift your knees and slap along.*

My favorite song is called "The Whole Damn Thing" which is about eating the leftovers of a chicken of questionable vintage. "I got drunk and I ate a chicken," they sing, "I ate a chicken I found in my kitchen. Not just a thigh and not just a wing. I'd like to let you know I ate the whole damn thing." Reminds me a lot of the handful of times I've fallen asleep in the middle of a drunken Hot Pocket feast, only to find it laying limp on my chest when I wake up in the morning. They sound like my kinds of ladies.

They can be found on myspace at :
www.myspace.com/darlins

And their debut EP, "Wild One" is available on iTunes, with a debut full length album to appear in July.

*Knee-slapping was aided in part by the free Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka available at the SXSW day show they played. Fittingly paired, and simultaneously delicious.

4/24/09 - Marina & the Diamonds

I've had my eye on Marina & the Diamonds for a few months now. Her (and despite the "& the Diamonds" moniker, I'm fairly sure we're just eyeballing one singular lady here) first single, "Obsessions," begins like a simple girl-and-piano ballad with plenty of ballad-y theatricality. After a few measures, though, it settles into a sonic spectrum of heavy acoustic chords, light electro pulsations, a driving beat and open-throated vocals and becomes sublime. Despite the strength of the single, I prefer the presumed B-side, "Mowgli's Road" for its Goldfrapp meets Yeah Yeah Yeah's caterwauling, and a downright witchy, creeped out bridge that'll probably guarantee it'll never be recruited by any Disney soundtracks - thank god.

Unfortunately, though the myspace page promises that she can be found on iTunes, I've had no such luck actually locating anything downloadable. In the meantime, you can find several remixes of "Obsessions" on BigStereo.net, which is a great site for any lovers of dance, electro, and nu-disco, btw. And below is the link to Marina & the Diamonds' myspace page, which features 4 songs:

http://www.myspace.com/marinaandthediamonds

Hello, My Name Is...

I thought I'd start this little thingy to keep a running life-sized mix tape of whatever bands I'm listening to on any particular day. They don't have to be new, they don't have to be old, they don't have to be buzz bands, indie bands, rock bands, rap singers...they're just, simply, people making music that vibrates my antennae. And by antennae, I mean...well, hopefully you know what I mean.

Who the hell am I to think that anyone is going to care what kind of music I like? I'm nobody. I'm just a girl who listens to a lot of music, always looking for the next thing that sounds like love. I read magazines, blogs, websites, listen to web radio, Pandora, myspace band pages, download free MP3s, buy stuff on iTunes, and just generally keep my ear to the ground.

I like music I can dance to, music I can stomp my feet to, and music that I can curl up in a ball and cry to. Sometimes I even DJ for more than just that poor friend I've trapped in my apartment with my record collection and a 12 pack of Tecate.

So, we'll see how this goes...If you happen to be reading, hello, and thank you.