8/28 - Flashback Fridays: Jobriath

Considered at the time one of pop music's biggest marketing blunders, Jobriath once boasted buses and billboards covered in larger than life images of his naked torso, was touted as the American Glam Rock sensation, and was also the first out gay singer in the pop world. But lest you blam Jobriath's spectacular sales failures on his outre sexuality - the truth lies somewhere closer to the fact that the music just isn't really all that great. I discovered this when I dusted off a copy of the first album and rescued it from a dollar bin - thinking I'd scored huge, but realizing I'd scored about $1. Looking back 35 years, however, to the following appearances on Midnight Special, one can't help but glean a little glee from Jobriath's alien Bowie presence. And a LOT of glee from Gladys Knight's snarky introduction to his theatrical performances. You'd think from the look on her face that she'd been asked to introduce a herd of pooping poodles!

Jobriath died of AIDs in the early 80s after experiencing a renaissance as a cabaret style singer, but happily, we still have the two below performances to ogle in order to keep a little bit of him alive.

8/26 - Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele

Shit, let's get real here. Who can hate a self-reflective nerd from Mississippi who plays a ukelele and sings garden party 60s pop? Not me! I totally imagine Dent May as the kind of troubadour who would follow around the main characters in a romantic dream - replete with acid-flashback cartoon animals and puffy hearts above kissing lips. He'd strum this impossibly miniscule instrument, belt out some tenored warbling, and accuse them prettily of being delusional alcoholics.

This is no Bruddah Iz here, kiddos - you won't be hearing any sweet renditions of Over the Rainbow coming from under these oversized glasses.

http://www.myspace.com/dentmay

8/25 - Little Dragon

In my imagination, Sweden is this glorious place where wonderful, glowing people are all carrying instruments to their magnificent practice space where they will gather together to make pretty, life-affirming, upbeat pop music that will then travel to the headphones of the rest of the world and bring peace to mankind. In reality, Sweden may well suck, and there probably are at least a FEW unattractive people there (though I'm yet to be provided proof of this), but in my head I'd prefer to believe in this musical Valhalla.

Riding on the backs of the feathery mystical pets of Odin, direct to your stereo this month, are the kids from Gothenberg called Little Dragon. A couple of years ago, Little Dragon provided an eponymous album of bedroom jazzy electrofusion, with a couple of really sublime sad and slow golden nuggets, and quite a few total disappointments. This month, they release their second foray and emerge with a tighter, bigger, more mature sound, leaving much of their slow musings to the likes of Fever Ray, in favor of some upbeat funky outings.

Thankfully, they haven't left behind their penchant for cool videos, though.

8/14 - Flashback Friday: Singapore and Hong Kong Rocks!

In the 1960s and early 70s, the budding musicians of Singapore and Hong Kong mined a good portion fo their inpiration from American pop radio. Singaporean surf bands, drenched in enough reverb to make Duane Eddy lose his head, backed chirpy voiced, heavily-accented coastal cuties in covers of nearly every US frat party track you could possibly imagine. There's something delighfully innocent in the earnest way these musicians throw themselves headfirst into these girl group and garage party covers. Lately, the record bins have been largely vacant of potentially undiscovered gems from Singapore and Hong Kong, as collectors have caught on in a big way. If you can find albums nowadays by bands such as The Quests (absolute excellence!), The Crescendos or the Thunderbirds, or by the inimitable singer Nancy Sit, good luck leaving with the shirt on your back.

For today, though, we'll enjoy some of the song stylings for free right here.

8/13 - Soko & Marina

Christ, I think I'm just gonna let you listen to this song without the fanfare. Soko joins up with Marina Vello (of Bonde do Role) and the guys from Radioclit, pulls an instantly recognizable sample and turns it into...hellllllllll yessssss!

8/12 - The xx

The xx sound really terrifically British. Which, I guess they should, since they are from London, but they've got this cool, languid phraseology that just sounds decidedly anglo. Their music is all about the quiet spaces, and pregnant pauses in between notes. Bass is spare, guitar is one-track, vocals are whispery and sleepy. It's hard, almost, to say exactly why this works as well as it does. But it does.

The debut album will be released by Rough Trade overseas on Monday. For now, limited copies of the single "Basic Space" are available on 7" & 12". A video for the song reveals the female vocalist to sport one of my favorite facial features - an adorable little underbite. I had a boyfriend with one of those once. He looked like a little Irish street brawler. In reality he was actually a very self-satisfied guitar player. But I still liked the underbite.





http://www.myspace.com/thexx

8/7 - Flashback Fridays: John Cale - Paris 1919

Generally, it isn't common to herald the most accessible work by a musician as inventive and sweeping as John Cale as also probably the best. But, such is the truth (as I see it, at least) for his 1973 solo album PARIS 1919. The songs combine a literary lyricsm, avant folk, and the intense point of view that made him always the darkest, most interesting member of the Velvet Underground during his tenure in the group.

Of late, I've been thinking of the title track often - with it's brass, strings, and otherworldly etherialism - and that sweeping, amazing swell of a chorus. It was put on a mix tape for me a decade ago by a friend, without a word of heed, and had been long since lost to the shifts of technology. But on certain days, it still sticks in my head. Today's one of 'em.

8/6 - Fan Death

Disco sucks? Disco sucks? Disco sucks? Fan Death may as well be saying, "If you don't like the disco, go the fuck home!" If "Veronica's Veil" doesn't immediately make you want to put on your little micro-pleat diaphonous dresses and spin ecstatically in circles, then you might need to get your ears checked. The swelling strings of the intro alone promise all the joy of a shallow, vapid, dancefloor hit, and the duelling teutonic-sounding ladies' vocals deliver. Who wants their disco to be deep? Who ever wanted to hear a political statement when they were busy sucking up poppers and rubbing against a polyester boner under the influence of 8 gin fizzes? Not me, my friends. I like my polyester boner rubbing to be free of consciousness and guilt. Thanks Fan Death. I'm gonna play you tonight right after I play Jigsaw's "Sky High."

8/4/ - Anavan

To see Anavan play live is pretty much akin to doing a full-scale aerobic workout on mushrooms. I once asked Aaron, the manic, dynamic drummer/singer how I should describe their music, and he told me he liked to consider it "experimental electronic." I'll buy that for a dollar fifty.

The first time I saw Anavan was about three years ago at SXSW. They were playing a pretty depressing day show. Molly, the keyboardist/singer, happens to be my close friend's sister. Otherwise, the way I was feeling that day (read: HAGGARD), I never would have crawled my carcass into any kind of establishment that would possibly make me have to smell alcohol. But, that being said, despite the sparsity of the crowd at that particular show, Anavan kicked me in the ass like a snootful of cocaine. Generally speaking, when a friend says, "Oh my sister's band is really good. No, really." You bide your time until you go to your one obligatory show and rehearse deception in front of the mirror, "sure, yeah, they were great," and practice your excuses for never having to see them again.

Not this time, my friends. Anavan is the peak of what you want to see in a live show. Explosive drums, bass that makes you dance like someone's shooting pistols at your feet, and above all...showmanship. Something that, in my book, is sorely lacking in plenty of bands in the LA scene. Anavan plays often with the likes of Abe Vigoda and HEALTH, who have both managed to escalate to a little more national recognition than Anavan. I certainly won't say that's undeserved, but a little Anavan love is far overdue. Not only is this three-piece fun, fresh, and electric, but they're also damn smart, and that's another thing we need a little more of.



http://www.myspace.com/anavan

8/3 - My Tiger My Timing

I'm beginning to suspect that the world is running out of band names. I can only in my wildest imagination guess what the hell My Tiger My Timing was inspired by when naming themselves. Unless one of them is a one armed drummer who owns a tiger and was a little slow at feeding time, I remain baffled.

It reminds me of this one time when I was hanging out with my much-much-cooler-than-me friends Cathy and Tyler at someone's fancy loft apartment in Dallas. As, I'm not kidding you, a parade of models visiting from NY traipsed in and out, the owner of the loft was attempting to pirate Adult Swim episodes and talking about his record collection. As I'm watching this conversation with all the slightly disturbed wonder a naturist displays watching birds screw mid-flight, the loft owner asks Tyler, "Have you heard the Bald Mermaid album?" At this point, I prod Cathy and stage whisper, "You've got to be fucking kidding me, right?" She nonchalantly exhales a stream of smoke in the direction of, no kidding, a Bald Mermaid album. So, I adopt this nonchalance and respond to the group, "It's not nearly as innovative as the Constipated Yak album that came out the same year." Needless to say, they weren't amused, so I went back to sulking and surreptitiously ogling the models.

Unwieldy name aside, My Tiger My Timing is nice experimental pop 4 piece band out of South London. Though they've been accused of twiddling with afrobeat rhythms, I find that a lot more obvious in their remixes. In the first single, released late in '08 called "This is Not the Fire," the real ear-catching part of the sound comes from the melding of an almost Tina Weymouth/Tom Tom Club sensibility with a 4-part free for all on the vocals. I'm not sure that they're breaking any new ground here, but they've definitely got catchy in their back pockets, so I look forward to the release of their first EP, "I Am Sound" coming out in September.



http://www.myspace.com/mytigermytiming