A Frisbee One By One, Your Vinyl On Lamanent

With a near-unanimous vote, 2009 has well created a significant ground for indigenous female talents. So far, Fever Ray, Bat For Lashes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Camera Obscura, Gillian Welch, Neko Case and St. Vincent have almost made the year their own. Amongst the pop sensation and those with some passionate tastes, Imogen Heap’s third studio album Ellipse was so much anticipated. Judging by Imogen’s bright nightly twee-pop past and a prolific pop album as irresistible as 2005’s Speak For Yourself and then her more ambient works on Frou Frou, Ellipse might have been the biggest return of the year.

Unfortunately, The new record didn’t turn out as melodic and lovable as it should due to its state of being too conservative on creativity and song structures (remember "Hide and Seek"?). But no regrets! Ellipse still earns a huge deal of essentially Imogen songwritings. So we still see some vibrant electro-tinged moments. The opener “First Train Home”, if you don’t expect a lot, is a neat Heap song. Takes almost a middle-eastern minimal vocal effort and approximately a minute to find itself, and afterward leave the rest to Imogen’s tender synthesized voice to enjoy a settled at-easy pop tune. Most songs on the album are electronic by design and pop by content. I guess I didn’t have to represent twee-pop once more.

Lyrically though, the song is more than mature and crafted. This is no Amerie/Rihanna junk you hear everywhere. And which of these sluts mentioned les femmes can write lines as diverse and meticulous as “Temporal deadzone where clocks are barely breathing. Yet no one cares to notice for all the yelling. All night clamor to hold it together”? I guess you just got to keep the faith hearing these wave tunnels of kitchen utensils causing you nostalgia. Maybe that’s how oval Imogen Heap can rotate you around and depict a nice painting from your nightly worries. First train home, got to get on it to catch.

[mp3] Imogen Heap "First Train Home"

Glad Hearts

Let’s bend our ears about New Jersey’s Glad Hearts. They’re out with their debut The Oak and the Acorn. The alt-country and artfulness of this new band reminds us of the playful times of The Avett Brothers and will definitely make any Neutral Milk Hotel and Cassadaga-era Bright Eyes fan happy.

Glad Hearts is Cassidy McGrath, Mallory Leonard, John Valencia, and Ryan Bing and they formed in 2007. They have a promising cast of instruments: trumpet, mandolin, accordion, percussion and any other sort of tool that makes country music more colorful.

According to the product description: The band delivers fragile, summery folk hymns that quiver with equal parts indie rock sensitivity and dusty, booksmart poetry. Simultaneously, singer-songwriter Ryan Bing dumpster dives through the darkest moments of life – both his and others – and lays out his findings for all to see. However, what he's mining for isn't cheap tragedy, but hope.

[mp3] Glad Hearts "Raise Those Roof Beams"
[mp3] Glad Hearts "Nothing If We're Not Moving"
[mp3] Glad Hearts "West Fast Enough"
[mp3] Glad Hearts "Your Heart Is A Muscle the Size Of Your Fist"

Thanks to Jeff Royer @ Black Lodge PR for recommendation
MP3s are hosted by the band website
Use right click + "Save As" for downloading

We Searched All Night For A Piece of Bread, And When It Comes, Give It To The Birds Instead

Once again, there goes my weakness for lighthouses. And there’s one on the cover of the debut by Yorkshire singer/songwriter Laura Groves. It’s this irreplaceable solid feeling you get when you’re out on your own rambling one snowy night on the country-side inspecting the blissful sound of wind and caressing of the grasses. Laura Groves sings under the moniker of Blue Roses and she owes a whole lotta love to Joanna Newsom and Kate Bush, only if you eliminate their off-the-wall songwritings and be pleased with conventional nightly folk.

From the scratch you aspire for a tranquil acoustic beauty on the 2nd track of the album i.e. “Cover Your Tracks” and this “Silent Night” tenderness gets you in an instant. Before you know it, Groves reveals her permanent falsetto with “Go cover your tracks in the snow, time is slow, my hands are empty, go!” and this is just where you find there is also a Joni Mitchell waiting to be awakened inside her. That’s just the whimsical peace you were begging for.

[mp3] Blue Roses "Cover Your Tracks"

The Flaming Lips - Embryonic

So far, Wayne Coyne, Steven Drozd and Michael Ivins have made our grey cells busy with almost everything they desired. From the nihilistic alternative rock days of “She Don’t Use Jelly”, the playfulness and curiosity of Clouds Taste Metallic, the sheer experimental era of Zaireeka and then stepping into a mainstream and artistic phase with 1999’s The Soft Bulletin. I guess they never stopped alluring our subconscious as they almost never stayed the same Lips that we had known. They even went pseudo-electro-pop on the timeless Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and then tried to stretch that electro aura wider to bring anti-Bush reflections into the scene, the not-so-deserving At War With the Mystics was the result, and even At War was not a bad album in the end of the day.

But upon the next big FL thing, the soundtrack to their weird hallucinating film Christmas On Mars released last year might come as a good introduction, although it was all prepared in 2005. And then by the revelation of the cover art and this “she” character that has just opened up her eye to a whole new version of reality through a mind-rotation, one finds out that on Embryonic you might not be dealing with the post-1999 era of the Lips. You are about to hear The Lips of which the likes of you've never heard.

OK, I’ll admit that I really don’t understand! I remember this feeling earlier this year when I first listened to Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion, not that they sound similar whatsoever, but that these albums may not present the proper sound of the status quo, and they have to be scrutinized further in the upcoming decade. It’s right from the jump start of the opener “Convinced of the Hex” that I got the clue, this is void of any sort of Yoshimi charm or Soft Bulletin eccentric harmonies.

Embryonic is excessively surreal and stereotype-escaping in its deep hot core. And stepping vigorously on this path, the 18 track double disk record is least likely to sound edited and clean, but it’s almost clumsy and lousy in the end and sinister in words. The melodies and noisy-guitar lines are written so they can quickly flee. Wayne Coyne nearly forgets about singing and sticks to creating resonances and acting like a complementary instrument himself. Even when he does want to be heard there’s always this deep layer of psychedelic shell that covers our alertness. Despite being self-destructive and harsh to its real meaning, Embryonic pursues a certain path of sci-fi psychedelica death-bed that brings all the elements together to sound as one restless hallucinating journey, as though we are hearing vague conversations between an embryo and her mother or vice versa.

Among all the 18 works on these two disks, none seem to reach any summit. But investigating the band history and all that precious buoyant hits with likes of “Do You Realize??” (that later became the official rock anthem of Oklahoma), “Race For the Prize” and many others, the undecided essence of the songs on Embryonic is probably what makes the album the way it is. The record is probably too avant-garde even in this decade of post-modern indie glory and it would be the biggest mistake to simply clear it out as “experimental” and let it dust up in our CD collections. So, if you’re about to hear these impossible anecdotes of ambiguity and self-awareness, be patient. The Flaming Lips is not a band to get you instantly. I remember I used to skip the 2nd half of Yoshimi, until I gave them several listens and I used to think The Soft Bulletin is far from compatible with my ears. Hopefully, I was wrong!

[mp3] The Flaming Lips "Convinced of the Hex"
[mp3] The Flaming Lips "I Can Be A Frog"

p.s. Embryonic will be released on October 13, 2009. If you like to have a hairy deluxe edition of the album go here.

I Became A Prostitute Buried In Space

The follow-up to the massively lauded debut from Scotland’s Twilight Sad is just twice as sinister and violent as before. I couldn’t predict that not only they amplified their harsh nauseating shivering guitars, but even James Graham’s intense nostalgic traumas conducted through his thick Scott tongue loses its reflection in the midst of this car crash weather. And this is somehow what the band demands from you: losing your focus. The new album Forget the Night Ahead contains more layered guitars and less vocal hard times but it’s definitely worth the listen. Cause I don’t remember listening to Twilight Sad for pleasure in leisure.

The sepia-themed queasy video for the album’s 2nd track “I Became A Prostitute” thoroughly paints a picture of haunted hearts and desires. You may not be charmed, but you surely need a break after watching this. And this is just what happens when you give the album a full listen, too. So may lord cast his protection upon thee. The video is a montage of what looks like 1920's footage of Burlesque clubs from Eastern Europe.

[mp3] The Twilight Sad "I Became A Prostitute"

*****

Nevertheless if you thought you have survived that noise hurricane, sit tight and don’t lose your nerve cause Phil Elverum enjoys darkening our memories once again. The Microphones mastermind who has trouble finding a permanent moniker for his band returns with his most satanic and horrifying effort with Wind’s Poem. Last year he collaborated with Julie Doiron and Fred Squire on the obsolete but verbally poetic Lost Wisdom. But for Wind’s Poem, it’s much more black and white than you imagine as the Elverum examines his craft in a quasi-black-metal nightmare. So the noise intensification dissonances farther than anything related to The Glow, Pt. 2 (The Microphones’ highly acclaimed album) or any delicate state of mind Mount Eerie had thrived in creating.

“Between Two Mysteries” is probably the only accessible song found on the album, one that follows some certain regulations in melody - even though they all sound distant - and a vague dose of drums. It’s a sprawling mind travel that Elverum’s hushing and solemn voice plans. He can sometimes accomplish impossible tasks. How can xylophones convey a shimmering nightly mood. I remember they often played it for kids!

[mp3] Mount Eerie "Between Two Mysteries"

Top 10 MTV Best Video Moon Mans

Back in the glory retro days of the music vs. video struggles, MTV played the biggest role in presenting some of the best music videos that stood out as works of art in time. VMA has so far announced 26 videos (from 1984 to 2009) as best videos of the year. Here are my top 10 favorite best video moon mans. And may we not see this trophy in the hands of another whore next year cause there’s a lot of these sluts on the winners list jerking around and it’s a shame. And after all, ain’t music videos supposed to be about art direction? Where do masterpieces like Foo Fighters “Everlong”, White Stripes “Fell In Love With A Girl”, Johnny Cash’s “Hurt”, Nine Inch Nails’ “We’re In This Together”, Air’s “Playground Love” or Chemical Brothers’ “Star Guitar” exactly fit? Lady Gaga???

10 Green Day "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" 2005 (watch)
09 INXS "Need You Tonight/Mediate" 1988 (watch)
08 Dire Straits "Money For Nothing" 1986 (watch)
07 Eminem "The Real Slim Shady" 2000 (watch)
06 Lauryn Hill "Doo Wop (That Thing)" 1999 (watch)
05 Jamiroquai "Virtual Insanity" 1997 (watch)
04 R.E.M. "Losing My Religion" 1991 (watch)
03 Pearl Jam "Jeremy" 1993 (watch)
02 Smashing Pumpkins "Tonight, Tonight" 1995 (watch)
01 Peter Gabriel "Sledgehammer" 1987 (watch)

The Fiery Furnaces - I'm Going Away

The disobedient siblings of American indie rock couldn’t wait much longer to confess they also can come down to business sometimes. Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger are known to fans with their music presented as a kaleidoscope of weird pop tunes frequently interrupted by off-the-wall shifts to noise and then a great deal of nauseating electric guitar. This panoramic culture led to a handful of well-crafted buoyant albums, some slightly folk-driven (2003’s Gallowbird’s Bark) and some leaning more or less toward electronic (2004’s Blueberry Boat and 2006’s Bitter Tea). Though in defining any particular genre for The Fiery Furnaces other than experimental indie, one has to delve into more yellow pages as the duo are least likely to say “no” to a single curve and deviation. And all this beauty collided in the band’s most overwrought and splendid effort that was 2006’s Widow City. It was where all the eclectic charm met excessive melodies and a vintage concept, that despite all the sophisticated blatant rock and innate sinister nature could remind the listener of classic cinema moments of North By Northwest, From Russia With Love or even Casablanca.

The last thing we remember from the band was Remember(!), their first live album that didn’t open up any other knots. But the new LP, surprisingly refuses to cycle on the same lane and marks a departure for this Brooklyn-born brother and sister. I’m Going Away does not shove hard on any corners. It only contains some slight riot, but for most of the running time, we are dealing with an at-ease rational and hit-friendly version of the band (that in the end of the day won't stay hits, either). Probably it’s just the title track that Eleanor Friedberger’s voice flashbacks us to her hurried skepticism of the past and all those gallops and even that makes the shortest song on the album. For the rest, the Furnaces involve themselves with country-folk pop tunes and turn their corner avoiding many resonant vibrations just to stay meticulously focused on making proper pop songs.

And when it comes to lyrics, there’s no sign of that marital life eccentric and bold loops of confusion. They have instead shrank to lines such as “If I see you tomorrow I don't know what I will do, I'm not going to cut my hair or run, around the block, I'm not going to drive to Dallas with blurry eyes ever again” as heard in “Drive To Dallas”. It simply fails to fetch out a motive to pursue their effort. However there are eventually a small doze of fine anecdotes, too. “Cut the Cake” serves us well if we can only forget their past profile and be happy to see Matthew stepping nearer to the microphone sometimes. “Charmaine Champagne” desperately attempts to bring the hype back but it remains in complete isolation jammed between other works that merely try to provoke a 70s classic rock ear than any other enthusiastic brain thirsty for avant-garde unconventional moments.

To conclude, somehow this was all mandatory for The Fiery Furnaces to make a shelter they can hide out when they are too involved with their math-folk and psychedelic pop. This is exactly what Pearl Jam has done on their new album Backspacer. They like to step in the outcast zone for a little while. So if you can leave all that jazz behind, I’m Going Away might be a casual but interesting folk album designated for your old-school self.

[mp3] The Fiery Furnaces "Cut the Cake"

I Don't Say These Things Just To Anybody

In 2007, Liam Finn, the son of Neil Finn (Crowded House) released a moderately good collection of bedroom folk tunes in I’ll Be Lightning. By then, I thought of Liam as a ripoff of Elliott Smith who has a versatile talented hand in writing mediocre pop songs. The 26 year old newcomer who apparently likes to hide his mid-20s face in ugly facials and is fond of jumping up with his Converse shoes flying in the air in his pictures has collaborated with Eliza Jane (a.k.a E-J) who’s also an Aussie folk newcomer.

The outcome is a 5-song EP called Champagne In Seashells that consists of 3 moderately cool folk songs and two other ones. “Long Way To Go” sounds like another extension off I’ll Be Lightning and “Honest Face” is another mutual breath of fresh air. However, Eliza Jane’s appearance doesn’t show itself up that much ‘til we just reach the final ocean spray of “On Your Side” and speaking of oceans, there are more soothing effects (probably too much for an EP) found on the ending part of “Honest Face”.

On August 17th, Liam stated on his MySpace blog that he’s about to form a band, bizarrely called Having A Baby with Connan Mockasin, Lawrence Arabia, Seamus and of course E-J. Now still not clear if this EP is a spoiling point of that dream or we just have to wait a bit longer. But this collab is for real, because here's a song tossed out of it.

[mp3] Liam Finn & Eliza Jane "Honest Face"

I'm Not Carefree, No! I'm Free To Care, I Just Never Do

It should have happened in 2004 but it delayed until just now. But whatever it is, it’s nothing but pleasant news to see the union of three of the most gigantic faces in contemporary indie folk alongside another great producer. Monsters of Folk (as if you have just popped up from your egg and are in complete denial) are:

• Jim James of My Morning Jacket (a.k.a Yim Yames on his new solo tribute EP)
  
• Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes
• M. Ward
• and producer/engineer Mike Mogis who happens to be a Bright Eyes member as well
  

Monsters of Folk is a collage of all the talents. Each three singers lead a song and the others work great on the chorus. The record has its own gospel moments and the opener “Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F)" is the first of them. This is among the rare tracks (there are 15 of them) on the album that all three have their own moments and sing separately. If it’s J(Y)im J(Y)ames behind the mic, he surpasses emotionally with his ethereal falsetto. For M. Ward we still deal with his ol’ 45 gramophone voice and when it comes to Conor Oberst who is the best narrator among the three, he spits out his Dylan-ish lyric writing talents back at you. However the album does not include a track to climb high. In most cases we take this auspicious collaboration for granted and enjoy the mood and that’s the best way to deal with such rare albums. But if there is such a song found here, it’s definitely the solemn slow tender Oberst-driven acoustica of “Ahead of the Curve” and then "Say Please" comes 2nd. But for now let’s just hear the first tune remembering If you like this shit, go out and buy it! Old news!...nevermind.

[mp3] Monsters of Folk "Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F)"

Throw Me the Statue - Creaturesque

Stuart Murdoch’s feminine ego this year led to God Help the Girl. Though, in case anybody has missed any Belle & Sebastian tune, the guys in Throw Me the Statue have done their best to act as substitutes (only if you demand a Pursuit of Life kind of B&S). On their second LP called Creaturesque, the Seattle-based indie pop quartet continue walking on their synth-pop glockenspiel pop and mainly concentrate on creating tunes that don’t bore anyone to death with anything experimental. But speaking of boring stuff...keep reading!

In the end, Creaturesque is much more potent than the band’s first album Moonbeams (with that must-be-foiled-up cover art if you remember). It doesn’t sound sampled and MIDI anymore and it also refuses to be a slumber party as the Purpleface EP was. So the band is somewhat matured up in sound. They band is led by Scott Reitherman who started the project as a minimal DIY job (what they refer to as "bedroom pop") and then gathered up a stronger line-up with Phil Ek (The Shins, Built to Spill, Band of Horses) on board as co-producer as well as Aaron Goldman, Charlie Smith and Jarred Grimes to make TMTS more bandly than it was.

Reitherman’s songwriting resembles us of a vibrant Stuart Murdoch and his voice is a more masculine version of Jason Lytle (Grandaddy), pretty much something like Doug Martsch (Built To Spill) and let’s not forget TMTS’ own Grandaddy inspirations. Moreover, Beatles-esque existence of their indie pop makes tunes like “Dizzy From the Fall” and the quick pleasure of “Hi-fi Goon” shakable and mundane. To sum up, Creaturesque does not solidify itself to the point anybody calls it an excellent album. Not that it’s not cohesive, but because for the 12 songs on the disk, the whole album sounds so much predictable most of the time. Maybe it’s because of the overabundance of drum machines that makes songs like “Tag” and “Snowshoes” thoroughly dull and forgettable.

[mp3] Throw Me the Statue "Dizzy From the Fall" *
[mp3] Throw Me the Statue "Hi-fi Goon" *
[mp3] Throw Me the Statue "Ancestors" *
[mp3] Throw Me the Statue "Ship"
[mp3] Throw Me the Statue "Lolita"
[mp3] Throw Me the Statue "About To Walk"
[mp3] Throw Me the Statue "Yucatan Gold"

p.s. one: all the mp3s with the exception of "Dizzy From the Fall" are hosted by TMTS' official joint and two: only the first three tunes are from the new album Creaturesque and the others are from other works and are here for our fun!

Got Some If You Need It

Pearl Jam steps far away from their arrogant anti-Bush existence after years to come up with their 9th studio album Backspacer. Eddie Vedder used to be a man of metaphors and gibberish poetry. Now he’s called it quits. All the lyrics are exclusively written by Eddie. Backspacer is the band’s quickest and most accessible album running for only 36 minutes. Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard didn’t have a hard time on their guitars, since the album is not meant to be about public awareness and modernity. Instead, Backspacer focuses on anything but politics this time and I think this was all mandatory for a PJ fan. So, here, instead of dealing with arrogant nihilism and end-of-the-line music, we deal with other issues: drugs, being alone in a vacant bar and inspiration from posters. Yeah, I admit I was looking for such stuff from the band.

Apparently they have used the same approach Springsteen used about not meddling with the producer Brendan O’Brien (he has also worked with PJ on 1998's Yield). The songs are short, brief and surprisingly simple. No one would have thought Eddie would write a song as introspective and delightful as “Just Breathe”. But in most cases we’re dealing with a vs. era Pearl Jam as these Seattle rock darlings try to keep the tempo high all the time. “Got Some”, according to Vedder is about a drug dealer, but then he cannot stay this shallow, so he adds: “...the drug the dealer is selling is actually a great rock song.” Full circle restless rock charm from ‘90s stadium-fuckers intensified with Eddie’s shivering lung. Backspacer will be released tomorrow.

[mp3] Pearl Jam "Got Some"

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Higher Than the Stars EP

Early 2009 saw a potential dose of nostalgic noise pop with the serious advent of The Pains of Being Pure At Heart (following their first EP that was never a news maker). Their debut LP was moisturized with late 80s noise rock, only deeply sugarcane, teen and lush. The new 5-song EP by this NY based indie poppers is just as gracious and charming sequel as the album itself. Kip Berman, Kurt Feldman, Alex Naidus and Peggy Wang probably could not wait until the new year sweeps away the fans' appetite, so they decided to stretch out the joy while they can.

Higher Than the Stars earns the equal amount of quality with less than half the quantity offered earlier this year. Still the guitars resonate the harshness of My Bloody Valentine and the frivolous loud honey pot romance of The Jesus and the Mary Chain. The EP concludes with a remix of British synth-pop veterans St. Etienne for the title track that runs for nearly 7 minutes avoiding the EP to sound like a single disk. “103” and “Twins” are fast-paced noise while “Higher Than the Stars” and “Falling Over” try to keep the balance being staying relatively mellower. There might not be a hit such as “A Teenager In Love” and “Come Saturday” on the EP but it surely quenches the listener’s passion with more of this talented newcomers. The disk will be released in 5 days so try to catch up with the tour dates below.

[mp3] The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart "Higher Than the Stars"

9/17 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir (21+)
9/18 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall (All Ages)
9/19 - Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour (All Ages)
9/21 - San Diego, CA - The Casbah (21+)
9/22 - Tucson, AZ - Club Congress (All Ages)
9/24 - Fort Worth, TX - Lola’s (All Ages)
9/25 - Austin, TX - Mohawk (All Ages)
9/26 - New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jacks (18+)
9/27 - Tallahassee, FL - Club Down Under/FSU (18+)
9/28 - Atlanta, GA - Earl (18+)
9/29 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 (18+)
9/30 - Washington, DC - Black Cat (All Ages)
10/01 - Baltimore, MD - The Ottobar (All Ages)
10/03 - New York, NY - Webster Hall (18+)
10/05 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church (All Ages)
11/21 - Poitiers, FR - Confort Moderne
11/22 - Paris, FR - Point Ephemere
11/28 - London, UK - Reverence @ ICA
11/30 - Bristol, UK - Thekla
12/01 - Liverpool, UK - Academy 2
12/02 - Newcastle, UK - Academy 2
12/03 - Glasgow, UK - Stereo
12/04 - Manchester, UK - Academy 2
12/05 - Birmingham, UK - Academy 2

I Had Nothing To Offer Anybody Except My Own Confusion

From blatant lo-fi alternative to full circle '80s synth-techno and killer grooves, Karen O and her band The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have averted their tastes and inspirations by the moment they became aware of a diversion. That’s how It’s Blitz! Has turned out a discotheque rather than anything that reminds the fans of “Maps” and the sound of that period that was not a long time ago. So the line-up had to lock up their guitars and drums in the garage and work with synthesizers, just to prove they are easily capable of doing just anything. So the outcome has turned out partially experimental and amateur, but that shouldn’t make you think it’s so not worthwhile.

In fact, the first two tracks are purely satisfying. “Zero” made the headlines with various pads and layers that took me straight to Madonna’s “Ray of Light”. But then the best song on the disk remains “Heads Will Roll”, an early-90s-infused showstopper manicured with disco-balls, color-bars and fireworks all around. Karen O tries to paint the iron beats her way with “Glitter on the west streets, silver over everything, the rivers all wet, you’re all chrome”. It pretty much does what Cut Copy’s “Hearts On Fire” did with 2008 for the sake of 09’s dance floor poverty. So, dance til you're dead if it doesn't offend you!

[mp3] Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Heads Will Roll"

*****

This year, two female artists tried to scare the shit out of us while walking alone in a forest. The Knife’s Karin Dreijer made it sound even spookier with his debut Fever Ray for the forest was almost out of time-space dimensions. I admit, it beautifully freaked me out knowing Karin Dreijer is indeed a scary electro-Medusa herself. And then it was, Natasha Khan and her mundane way of doing it. On Bat For Lashes’ Two Suns, you are left out in an abandoned nightly and perilous chamber totally unaware of your fate. “Sleep Alone” is a fine example of this feeling with Khan’s ghostly vocals resonating only your whereabouts to see the path ahead. It’s an ode to a lover buried deep, and meanwhile Khans sings of romantic chemical balances with thoughtful lines like “They say for every heart high there must be a low, and every sun ascending a lonesome moon will grow”. It embraces nowhere but our ravenous souls. Two Suns is an album of haunting dualities: Two Suns, “Two Planets”, “Moon and Moon” and as she states in “Sleep Alone” more clearly “The dream of love is a two-hearted dream”. So, no clue where it leads but it also gives me an Isaac Asimov sci-fi feeling (if you have read Nightfall).

[mp3] Bat For Lashes "Sleep Alone"

Class 6: Michael Jackson - Dangerous (1991)

Combination of factors led to the cruel understatement of Dangerous: Paparazzi was nearly killing Michael Jackson. His child-abuse scandal deteriorated his mental stability. And grunge wave was taking over the pop culture. It was all about Nirvana and distortions. However, the indisputable king of pop was far from submission in this battle. His previous album, 1987's Bad, had made him almost invincible to be replaced or even replicated. Despite all the hype, Michael was still an international hero to millions facing almost everything to destroy him both as a human-right activist and a superstar.

Putting all the dilemmas behind, saving his craftsmanship for the best and then forgetting about Quincy Jones and hiring new producers, Michael came up with the most underrated pop record in history while it was honestly... one of its neatests!

Dangerous might not be skillfully coherent as it employs a variety of genres and moods for the sake of acceptance. For the genre, it's nearly irresistible. He was totally aware of the emerge of hip-hop a decade prior and he always had this knack in writing funky ballads. He also took advantage of the era's bad ass hard rockers Guns 'N Roses and used Slash as a riff-machine on occasions, just the way he used Eddie Van Halen's talent on a hit as massive as “Beat It”. The drum composition of the album is rough, blatant, but then unbelievably groovy and danceable. And how beautifully they mix funk and hip-hop in end sound. Michael also evokes his versatile lung to sound nervous and dubious (“Jam”, “Who Is It?”), sinister (“Why You Wanna Trip On Me?”, “Dangerous”), rude but energetic and joyous (“She Drives Me Wild”, “Black Or White”) and of course righteously rhythm and blues (“Heal the World”, “Will You Be There?, “Gone Too Soon”) at the same time. These are all thanks to his innate and vast diversity when shifting from one specific aspect of pop to the other. There's almost not a single track on the album that is void of all this beauty.

And in the end, what is the centerpiece to a successful pop record? It's of course the density of its “hits”. And then we better take a look at the tracklisting once again and figure it out for ourselves. On paper, Dangerous overtakes Thriller, Bad and Off the Wall in songwriting, hit count and production. But who could ever face the zeitgeist? It's inevitable and somewhat unfair, but then it's the same reason that people don't listen to BB King, King Crimson and The Mamas & the Papas anymore.

jj "From Africa To Málaga"

For the time being, there's only 9 left:3 small, 3 medium & 3 large. "normal" sizes. No, wait a sec! I'm sorry. They are sold out ,too. And could you get the slightest clue even if you got one? jj. They are from Gutenberg, Sweden. They are signed to a record company called Sincerely Yours. Period. They are playing a Burial identity game with us, somehow. Try your best not to mix these gals/guys with JJ72, JJ Cale, JJ Johnson or maybe K-CI and JoJo! There are a couple of pics on last.fm but who knows?

For their second record (jj n° 2) which got released only a couple of months after the first one (jj n° 1) earlier in 09, it's all about a serene wanderlust that lasts for less than half an hour. But while it's on the play, this breeze from Africa to Málaga blows into your detached soul and accelerates its useless unrest. The reflection space created by the apt soft femme vocals and afro-beat electro-charm makes it even easier to dive into a low-tide shallow ocean coastline in the noon.

[mp3] jj "From Africa To Málaga"

Live Review: Muse - Resistance

This is the 2nd time I'm doing a live review. I once wrote one for Depeche Mode's Sounds of the Universe earlier this year. By design, a live review is spontaneous. Therefore it can merely reflect the first encounters of my ear drums with diverse wavelengths it receives. So let's stretch out our live reviewing abilities with one of the most successful alternative rock bands of the decade (from a commercial point of view). This trio from Teignmouth, UK have promised to deliver a new sound to their fans and judging from the band's early release of the single “Uprising” the new album notifies a disco spacepod. If it's so, it's least likely to be dismissed this soon. Cause Franz Ferdinand walked in the very path and proved their expertise at it. Let's see how the fifth studio album by Muse i.e. Resistance sounds. For the line-up, Muse has stayed untouched: We have the good ol' Matt Bellamy on lead guitar and the vox, Chris Wolstenholme on bass and Dominic Howard on drums and I'm going to expect a planetful deal of electro-drums and classical-oriented archetypes. Is Resistance an album of riot? Let's face it. Muse has been professionals at making deadly mind-blowing distortions and liquid walls of sound, although they have always carried a “commercial version of Radiohead” tag on their asses. But they have performed some great moments of headbanging and fun for us. It's more or less enough occasionally.

As the disk commences to spin, I thanked God for the absence of an intro. Muse tried it desperately with 2003's Absolution but the army manoeuvrings didn't work, so they skipped that well from that era on. I've written about “Uprising” before and now that I give it a listen once more, it's even more solid and hit-friendly. I still say the “come on” part reminds me of Blonde's “Call Me” and the lyrics are pseudo-slogans which makes the tune sound like a space-Clash!

The title track comes next. Apparently the intro part has been dragged and dropped to track #2. And with its Jean Michel Jarre (Oxygen) piano piece, how badly it tries to replace “Starlight” that was the second track in the previous album that was 2006's Black Holes and Revelations. Not a great sequel to the moving appetizer of “Uprising”. It happens to a lot of title tracks, so let's not plead them guilty this early.

Remember how “Supermassive Black Holes” was so pop-infused and charming for a rock band? “Undisclosed Desire” now has the same placebo effect. It's comprehensively electronic and due to its pop nature, there's an invisible “babe” involved. Matt Bellamy though, has narrowly survived rhyming “I want to reconcile the violence in your heart” with “I want to recognize your beauty is not just a mask” thanks to his British tongue. Otherwise there was no way these two lines could make a chorus. The song provides a mandatory breathing space for the album, so it's soothing and sweet at first glance.

“United States Of Eurasia [+Collateral Damage] ” is where we shift to an abrupt pompous mode for Muse. They always had this innate need to sound epic and this is somehow its first syndrome on the album, although the first two tracks were also striving hard to be as ground breaking. This song is a homage to Queen's “Bohemian Rhapsody”, but its massage is not as bohemian as you think. The massage here is “unity” and this is why it steps a bit further than you think. “United States of Eurasia” equals the world, and Muse are performing songs for the world's population. I'm not sure if they have the right to do so and I'm not sure they have thrived in the end but it ends with a 2 minute post-war piano solo to soothe your worries for unity down a bit. I thought we're supposed to write about global warming now!

Expanding the positive vibrations, it's a plethora of sunny noise on “Guiding Light”. Slow-paced but a little unfocused and undecided. It does not reach the hit threshold but there must be a song to make “United States of Eurasia” easier to digest after all. A Brian May sort of guitar solo shows up somewhere in the middle and it sinks in the strong noise-pad. No other surprises noticed. Moving on.

“Unnatural Selection” runs for 7 minutes because it comprises of four almost identical verses and a long bridge. After the first verse the opening guitar riffs resemble Queens Of the Stone Age's “You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar” dominating Muse' “New Born”: catchy at most moments but then not creative enough. The closing guitar takes you back to Dio's Holy Diver glory days, but the bridge in the middle is the most distracting thing all along. Could stand as a favorite with its classical stereotyped pleasure but eventually didn't.

“MK Ultra” charmed me as it was reminiscent of the old Showbiz Muse days with its queasy sci-fi electro-guitars and nimble drum lines. Muse is among the few mainstream bands who can synchronize all this noise and bond them all together. “Uno” from Showbiz and “Hypermusic” from 2001's Origin of Symmetry are good examples for comparison.

And then just before the trilogy starts, “I Belong To You [+Mon Coeur S'Ouvre A Ta Voix] ” is entertainment. French horns, Balkan clarinet and gauzy piano on a pop tune led by Chris Wolstenholme's wistful presence on the bass and Mathew's vocals on the top layer, the song enchants even the most skeptical fans. The ones who were disappointed with “Time Is Running Out” and “Supermassive Black Hole” have no other way but to accept the fact that their favorite band should play it fun sometimes. So Matthews tests his French blatantly, come what may.

From the first glimpse at the tracklisting, it's the “Exogenesis” trilogy that shines out and notifies a promising song-chamber. Apparently the guys have a weakness when it comes to “Exo”. E.g. “Exo-politics” was the most rock thing found on Black Holes and Revelations. So let's figure these ones out:

“Exogenesis: Symphony Part 1 [Overture] ”: Seemingly we're about to deal with a genuine symphony, so prepare for a dose of cello, violin and George Lucas film soundtracks. Matt is on his famous falsetto again almost on the whole run (remember “Microcuts”?). But the “Overture” does not declare a fraction anywhere and points out the intro to the three anthems, instead.

“Exogenesis: Symphony Part 2 [Cross-pollination] ”: The melodrama carries on the way it was. It's only much more piano-driven and there's a middle part that ascends Absolution style and then sinks down again. The guys are not trying to make the closing series that MTV friendly. So let's just see if Resistance can conquer in the final curtain.

“Exogenesis: Symphony Part 3 [Redemption]”: Alright I give up! Man? “Exogenesis” was not a work of surprise in the first place. It's a soundtrack to an ascending sun at dawn, the final relief, the way the band wanted it to sound. It's optimistic and it's wisely orchestrated. Probably nothing more. Period.

After all, adding Resistance to Muse's meticulous catalog makes them more abundant in creating space rock environments to play with your ears. They might not sound fully original, but the line-up has acted so mature in performance. Resistance can be a neat sampler of Muse' versatility from their early days to the present. It resonates an alarming siren in my head to know these guys have been in the mainstream for more than a decade now (eliminating their early 90s works).

Modest Mouse - No One's First and You're Next EP

Having two complementary notions in mind, you are not going to except a lot from Modest Mouse, only at this particular release. First, that Isaac Brock has modestly called this 8-track an EP, while it offers 33 minutes of music, much more entertainment time that Vivian Girls or jj can give you in a full length. Second, that it contains all the thrown-outs from the band's previous two albums 2004's Good News For People Who Love Bad News and 2007's We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. Just to sum up, the disk truly has no new colors to add up to Modest Mouse's catalog.

Among the 8 works, two stand out confidently on their own as they don't sound like B-sides and rarities at all. There's still no evidence upon the vibes of the upcoming Modest Mouse album and whether or not it's going to be the words from the diaries of a whale-captain. But “King Rat” and “I've Got It All (Most)” relatively sound brand new. And it's unfortunately only “King Rat” that could get me the most. Maybe it's because of the news behind it: The video to this joyous tune is directed by the late Heath Ledger and reflects his thoughts around “the illegal commercial whale hunts taking place of the coast of Australia each year”. The video strongly conveys that concept as whales take control of the ship and trade places with humans. Ledger died before the video was finalized but being released on the same day as this EP, added a vibe to this flamboyant Modest Mouse opus.

For the rest of the disk, they pretty much warm (and sometimes destroy) the mood up for the arrival of “King Rat” to the degree that it will be quite an understatement categorizing the song to sheer B-side. It's more potent and wealthy than many satisfying Isaac Brock songwritings. Though it also obeys the band routine, therefore it comes to a poignant end that adds up to the excitement of the song. And all along, it's once more Brock's one-legged one-eye sinister comic book captain personality that departs us all from the reality for minutes with excitement.

[mp3] Modest Mouse "King Rat"

Top 10 Queen Songs

Queen and Freddie Mercury were always about grandeur. Small pleasures never quenched their thirst. With every song they wrote they wanted to conquer over all. I was never a fan, but who could ever escape their timeless hits chamber? Here are my top 10 Queen songs and I don't have to remind you once more that they're badly personal.

10 Somebody to Love
09 Show Must Go On
08 I Want It All
07 We Are the Champions
06 Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy
05 We Will Rock You
04 Radio Ga Ga
03 Bohemian Rhapsody
02 I Want To Break Free
01 Killer Queen

ZirGround: Interview w/ O-Hum

The hype began when in the midst of the lingering tragedy of Iranian Los Angeles pop in the public ear and the absence of a voice that speaks for the zeitgeist (caused by the the widespread imprisonment of a word called “art” in the country), Shahram Sherbaf thought of a recipe to bend the waves. Leading a phenomenal band called O-Hum, they adopted an amalgam of juicy ear-caressing Iranian traditional vibes based rhythmically on '90s alternative rock charm spicing it up borrowing words from legendary Persian poets a la Hafez and Rumi. The outcome was nothing but promising and welcome. It was at this particular era when Persian underground movement blossomed and dared to surface despite all the barriers ahead.



A decade later, O-Hum has fortunately survived various hurricanes. Being elaborate on their current line-up and then sharing his thought balloons on the whole underground issue, the songsmith of the band Shahram is here with us for an interview. Here we go then:

TW: Tell us a brief status quo of your band, upcoming good/bad news and the current formation.
Sh: Well it's been a good year for O-Hum both musically and mentally. The most good thing which could happen was Shahrokh's (O-Hum's original guitar player and my long time friend) return to the band after 7 years. He's been living in Canada since our 2002 move to Vancouver (I returned to Tehran 11 months later) and was busy with his new life and his new family these past years. I knew he had freaked out on hard situation we were experiencing with O-Hum during the early years, and in fact it was a real nightmare playing this kind of music in Iran and trying to convince Ershad [The ministry of Guidance in Iran] and record companies to accept us. He has always had a great impact on O-hum's music and sound and I can't imagine having somebody else on albums playing guitars or writing songs with me. So our original gang is back together again (I've been playing music with him since 15) and we're planning to record a new O-Hum album here in Tehran this autumn or winter. Another good news (even for myself!) was the 10th anniversary of O-Hum: I knew we could make more music in these 10 years and be more fruitful, but anybody who knows a bit about music and generally art industry in Iran can imagine how hard (and valuable, at the same time) it is to keep an artistic project alive in this environment for such a long time. There was a lot of financial, social and official problems to deal with during this period and for sure there would be some magic involved here that O-Hum is still alive today! And it's not something I did personally and alone: Honestly 50% of this truth (that O-Hum is still on the map today) is about fans (or O-Humies, as they call themselves) who always dedicated us such a huge support, love and energy. This is no exaggeration or bulshit: there have been a lot of time that I was completely ready and happy to end O-Hum and quit this game but every time they changed my mind. I always felt I would look so weak and stupid to give up, so I continued.

Musically it's been OK with O-Hum too, cause finally I could finish E-Hum project (O-Hum Remixes) and make it ready to be released this autumn. I was so busy with handling everything in my life that I couldn't put enough time to finish it in a fixed period (that's something
that happened to Aloodeh too and it took a year or two to be done. Now when I hear them I can say they are not really remixes, maybe an electronic version of those songs as the title suggests (E-Hum).

Regarding the current formation beside Shahrokh's move in, there wouldn't be any other changes to O-Hum. We would play and record with other musicians (who are our close friends and been with us all these past years) on stage and in studio, but the two of us are actually O-Hum's engine.

TW: Did you see the Persian underground scene as a phenomenon a decade ago? If so, what kept it separate from the rest?
Sh: Yes, for sure it was. It happened so natural and wide between young Iranian people. Each band or musician had their own style and sound and I think it was the first time after the revolution that people had started to appreciate and listen to Persian rock music which had been created inside the country. I clearly remember my teenage days when listening to any rock or pop music created by any local musician was cheap and people would only like English rock music or LA pop tunes. They used to listen to some Iranian pop\rock songs left by before-the-revolution musicians, but there was really nothing new to be heard. Due to the situation and lack of music resources, recording gear and generally closed environment there was a big difference and gap between what was created inside and outside (and honestly it was real).

Today, it's not surprising that many young boys and girls are fans of Iranian bands and listen to their music everyday. Back those days, it was really hard to convince people that there could be a good (or at least standard) Iranian rock band. I remember playing "Wish You Were Here" to some guys telling it's done by our friends in Tehran: every time after a minute or so they used to start saying it's obvious it's done by Iranians cause the vocalist is not good and out of tune(!), guitars are played by a amateur and generally the whole song sucks! I swear we used to play our own songs to them saying it's a rare track of Pink Floyd or Dire Straits and after the first beat they would like it and began to give compliments on how great those bands are!!

So it was the first time that some really fresh music was heard among young people in Iran. I believe in two strong reasons for it being such phenomenon: Most importantly it was created and played by bands or musicians with a lot of soul and heart, no matter which style it would be. It was not ordered or purchased by anybody. They knew themselves there's a very little chance they could breakthrough and be heard widely. They had the least equipments or home studios and they couldn't earn a living with it. But still all of us kept playing and trying to survive. When your music is your only weapon , you put a lot of soul and energy behind it to make sure it will travel between people. The second reason: It happened naturally and not by any official sources or companies. Anybody who had listened to a track by an Iranian band and liked it, would copy the tape or CD for his\her friends and the song would start to fly among people. It was started and continued based on natural love of music. That's why it was so real and exciting in really years, some things that were disappeared a bit later. Soon it turned to be a source for being famous or selling bulshit or simply cheating audiences. There are always a lot of people who like to fake something for the sake of something else.

TW: What's your point of view on the new rap movement in Iran? It seems like everybody's trying to have a corner and apparently the public ear has no problem spreading the word.
Sh: I have a positive view on whole movement, but I don't like the details and stories behind all these rappers. Firstly, there should be all kinds of music out there for people to choose and hear cause there are all kinds of people out there. There should be pop, rock, rap, metal, khaltoor [a common musical expression amongst Iranians meaning "music void of any artistic values"], sorood [psalm] or any type of music on the market cause each of these styles have a different mood and are required for different situations. For example, a traditional Iranian family in Iran can't think about dancing to any other kind of music in their wedding or birthday parties (and it's all alright and natural). And the guy who works behind a computer all day long or does a sport with mp3 player on ears needs a different kind of music. So rap is also fine with me. What I see as a problem here is every few years, something new comes to this scene and it seems it's like a new brand, device, cell phone or TV: everybody wants to have the new one cause their friends have it! and the musicians behind this new movement always feel they have to fight or deny previous ones to take the maximum attention. And when this happens it starts to be bulshit and full of cliché, something all of us have seen on Iranian satellite channels. Maybe the very first rappers who came out had really something new to say like Hich Kas or Yas. The rest of these guys have nothing to say and just fake it like they have a problem, and because rap and hip-hop music is all about beat and drums they don't feel they need to know or play music. I know many of them who make music by browsing through music loop CDs and dropping all kinds of sounds to a software to accidentally write a piece of music. that's why they sound so senseless and don't generate a feeling in you.

The third generation of these guys which always arrive later make it worst: I mean the people who are not musicians or even rappers at all. They could be businessmen, taxi drivers or simply anybody who love to see himself on TV. They are interested only on side effects of this whole process (making more money, getting more women or simply being "somebody"). I think it's not their fault and in societies like ours, it's usual to have this kind of reactions. all of us need something to help prove and show ourselves but when we don't have (or know) the right choice it goes like this.

Regarding the public ear, yeah they accept it so easily. What makes rap so popular between young people is words. Rap is usually about what is exactly going on in streets and that attracts people specially if it's about forbidden things and the audience are young. They hear their own life stories or experiences in these rappings, and when you know that 70% of Iran's society are young people under 29, it's not so surprising that rap is so popular here. The western life style, fashion and culture behind it also attracts teenagers a lot.

TW: To what extent does a talented newcomer in this helter-skelter political crisis in the country stand a chance to shine out and present his/her work?
Sh: If you mean today and in this situation, it would be hard if this newcomer wants to make a real new music. It's so crowded and there are lot of wanna-be's out there making noises and since most of young audience listen to electronic\dancey\trippy music by DJs, it would be difficult to start something completely new and find a fan base among them. I guess he\she will have to take this current music movement and evolve it to something new. Something O-Hum did with rock music. Those days, English rock was so popular and we tried to transform our music to a mix of western and Persian moods by adding Iranian instruments or playing in Persian scales. If he or she wants to make it officially (getting permission from Ershad and...) I guess there would be no chance. It doesn't matter how good or bad the music is. It will be shut down, unless they're supported or connected to certain sources...



TW: The last four years has been even more traumatic for the genre. Do you have anything against it?
Sh: Yes I have! A funny story happened a few months ago when they called me from Persian BBC to interview on a live program about "Persian Underground Music". I didn't know there are a few other so-called "underground musician" guests on the program too (cause I was on the phone and not watching TV). And they were exactly asking me the same question. So I said how I believe "underground music" has turned to a stupid cliché and a way to be famous without doing anything special, and how some people take the advantage of hiding between these two words to cover their lack of musicality and dreaming of making a shortcut to the top of music channels overnight. I was supposed to talk for 5 minutes and then the rest of guys would say their thoughts but she kept asking questions and nobody else was saying anything. Silence. And a few minutes later I realized that all other guests on the program were "underground wanna-be's", claiming they couldn't get permission from Ershad and the same old story. I guess I was so furious with my words cause they kept being quiet, and when the program host asked a girl (who said she's a forbidden[!] underground rapper and the first one in the country) about why she thinks she's an underground artist she started to mumbling and telling obscure words and reasons. She didn't know herself why she's calling herself "a forbidden-underground rapper girl from Tehran". Later I checked BBC website and I saw some photos from those underground guys. One of them was really amazing: a young boy sitting in center of a room having 10 or 20 guitars, amps, laptops and recording stuffs around himself. It looked like a real music store! I don't have anything against them personally cause I know they are young and they really desire to be rich and famous just like the superstars they see on movies. And they don't know any other way except sticking to something that is selling good at the moment.

TW: When a Persian rock act emerges and finds its way abroad to tour, is the mere fever of "These guys are from Iran!" enough or they have to dig deeper to sound more unique and satisfying?
Sh: I guess it wouldn't be enough these days to be just this band from Tehran. There was a time that it was enough to come out of Tehran for any artist to be welcomed abroad. I guess that happened to Iranian cinema too and after Kiarostami movies a lot of directors started to make strange films, showing any odd thing from Iran to win festivals and competitions. but these days things have changed a lot. the new generation of Persian music is well known and accepted worldwide and you can't be out there for the sake of being Iranian! Back those days, nobody expected a young Iranian band to be 100% professional and it was more about the vibe and a new sound. Today they see and compare it with other rock music from other countries so it requires more talent and energy to step out. But still I see a great chance for Iranian bands anywhere. If we add our own flavor and vibe to our music, like any musician from any places around the world, we will find our audience anywhere. Our music have to show where it's coming from. Rock is rock anywhere, but you can turn it to your own rock music cause western ears don't usually hear a rock music with Sehtar [a four string lute used in Iranian traditional music] or Daf [a type of frame drum used in Middle Eastern traditional music] on TV and radio.

TW: How much can a label's credibility matter to publicize a new act? Are you buying CDs according to the labels they're signed to?
Sh: In case of Persian music I don't think record labels have that impact on people. Maybe some LA khaltoor labels have that effect on their old school listeners cause people have got used to expect albums by certain singers from certain labels. But in case of modern Persian music, it has not happened yet. There are some small Iranian labels whom try to be specialized in this kind of music but because of financial problems and the fucked up music industry they have to release anything to survive. This way, you can't expect a label to always offer good music to its audience. Between every one or two good albums, they have to sell a lot of bulshit to earn a living and keep their business balanced. And within this internet world, you no longer need a record label to release or promote your music. Anybody can sell their music online without signing a single piece of paper. I guess in this new situation, it's mostly about having a good manager or managing agent to sort things for live gigs and things like that. Personally, I've never cared about record labels when choosing any album neither by Iranian nor foreign artists. And welcome to Iran: no original CDs, no copyright, no record companies,...



TW: Share three of your post-millennium favorite albums (2000-09) worldwide.
Sh: Brushfire Fairytales (Jack Johnson\2001): I like the simplicity and good vibe behind all his songs (I guess it comes from this fact that they are from Hawaii!). The album is produced very smartly and sounds so great as a music by a 3-piece band. You should check out drums sound in this album. They're always on a good edge of being commercial and a different rock band.

Audioslave (Audioslave\2002): One of the most powerful rock music after 2000. I know they started to be commercial after a while (and that's why Chris Cornell quit the band and they disbanded) but still it was so real and touching specially their hit song 'Like a Stone'. Again, a
very well produced album. I think it was one of the best collections of great musicians gathered in a band. Each of those guys are actually producers\engineers themselves. that's why their music sounds so rich.

On an Inland (David Gilmour\2006): I think this one doesn't need any comments. This is the latest solo album by the master of progressive rock song writing and guitar playing. Listening to his music (specially his guitar sound) is both nostalgic and rocking. There's a big change in his mood and sound in this album: He sings much softer and classical-type songs and plays most guitar parts with hollow body guitars which is a big shift by him whose always been a famous fender player. His acoustic concert was even better and they played a lot of classic Floyd songs in a completely different way.

Links:
O-Hum's Official Website
O-Hum's Fan Page on Facebook
O-Hum on MySpace

Thanks to Shahram Sherbaf for the interview

Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs

Ira Kaplan and his band Yo La Tengo opt for walking in two different paths since their partial mid-90s recognition (although they had been around for more than a decade even back then). Most of their works can be categorized under either late-60s psych-pop with more trend on pop, and then a deeply shoe-gaze reflective band on hibernation. On their 2000's critically acclaimed And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-out, it was the latter fad that was dominant. So they became critic darlings. The album was void of any surprises and it deliberately was planned to put you to sleep. It was Yo La Tengo's flair in writing bedtime-music that led to their documentary soundtracks The Sounds of the Sounds of Science. It was this very melancholy of whispers that they decided to carry on with on their 2003's Summer Sun, too.

But by 2006, the band once again pined for the past and they relatively decided to write pop songs again. The record, despite carrying the worst album title of the decade had various fun moments. I'm Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat You Ass started out with a ten minute noise machine with an addicting melody called “Pass the Hatchet I Think I'm Goodkind”. This was a delirious effort that was least likely to end. It notified a widely challenging album, while by the end of the opener, turned out it was not. It was mainly a collection of neat but again not surprising pop songs. Three years after that the band is brave enough to have learned the best out of their I'm Not Afraid moments and therefore redefine their anti-experimental history with Popular Songs.

Having Yo La Tengo's woozy nature on its back, Popular Songs is yet another album that runs for a long time on your player, though it's also vindicated and much more cleaner than I'm Not Afraid. For the Fans of And Then Nothing Turned..., the album has only few moments to offer as the sole track that resemble that particular ego of the band is “The Fireside”. Although there are two other 9+ minute songs on the collection as well. Even those once are reluctant to distract an ear. Despite its vintage pop core, the record again can be easily split. The first 9 tracks are short psych-tinged charmers that earn a cohesive songwriting from the bands and fun moments for the listener. And then comes the final 3 tracks that walk in the opposite direction by stretching themselves out and boring us yet another time,though they're not meant to meditate you at all. But in the end, the album title says it all. You can cling on this one the way you could connect to I'm Not Afraid of You. It's a bit hard to say that Yo La Tengo is still a sheer favorite of the critics with tracks like “Periodically Double Or Triple” that represent a mature and aware-of-the-hype songwriting. Why does it abruptly open a gateway to The Doors era to me? Am I seeing visions as well?

[mp3] Yo La Tengo "Periodically Double or Triple"
[mp3] Yo La Tengo "Here To Fall"

p.s. The mp3s are hosted by the band website

Michael McDonald Sings on Grizzly Bear / St. Vincent "Marrow"

Grizzly Bear decides to garnish their timeless hit “While You Wait For the Others” and they have found the right lemon for it. As the band sets to release the single, they do a reprise of this alluring opus featuring Michael McDonald (formerly of The Doobie Brothers) on the vox. To me, the song turns from a 5-star mindset-altering indie piece to an pseudo-opera of old school veterans. Michael McDonald's paternal shadow casts upon a band that can play versatile when they tend to create a soundscape for delirium and concerns. He spares more details in a short interview with SPIN. Apparently he was not meant to do the lead vocals at first but he fortunately was destined to become the worried Godfather of the song.

[mp3] Grizzly Bear ft. Michael McDonald "While You Wait For the Others"

(Buy the song from iTunes or from the band)

*****

Annie Clark is veraciously defying contemporary pop and she seems to love to state this on each single track on her shockingly satisfying sophomore i.e. Actor. Her solemn soft voice and her classic Hollywood-soundtrack arrangements stand in contrast with how the songs meet their ends with queasy guitar riffs. Her role is the confused housewife amidst her failures in the vicinity where she inhabits. “Marrow” is probably an extract from the peak of this puzzling boredom. Beside another instant pleasure called “Actor Out of Work”, these two tend to keep the noise up all day. But it's “Marrow” that despite its violent nature, outlasts and glitters as a pop song.

[mp3] St. Vincent "Marrow"

(buy the song from Amazon)
[photo by Yash.Man]

The Touques

The Touques (pronounced like “two-ks”) come from Reno, Nevada and their latest self-titled EP is for free. The band consists of Julian Chang (vocals, piano, guitar), Jordan Ahbran Morrison (guitar, vocals) and Elliott Olson (drums, vocals). Together they make music that sounds like Ian Curtis locked up in a police headquarter cell and then making friends with Bloc Party. Therefore they're energetic and broody at the same time. This is of course the impression I get from the first two songs. The opener “4” inherits some fast-pace post-punk drums with anxiety-infused guitar lines. The 2nd track “Rot Stampler” stands out on the EP as it's charmed halfway through with a potent instrumental piece that extracts some gray cells of doubt from your brain. They also have another EP and two LPs in their knapsacks and they've been around for 3 years now.

[mp3] The Touques "Roy Stampler"
[mp3] The Touques "4"

If you need to know more, spend some time on their page for dirty secrets and the whole EP download. And they have 2 upcoming remaining shows in September so make sure you revise your to-do list tonight:

09/25/2009 – Hungry Tiger with Almost Dark and Air War – Portland, OR
09/26/2009 – Le Voyeur Cafe and Lounge with Thought Bandit and Repeaters – Olympia, WA

Thanks to Julian Chang for sharing

Among the Oak & Ash - Among the Oak & Ash

Among the Oak & Ash is what happens when two singer/songwriters collide! Josh Joplin from NY and Garrison Starr from Nashville who had their own solo careers signed with major labels. Their roads overlapped and they didn't have anything better to do than record a full collaboration album consisted of traditional folk songs a.k.a. Appalachian murder ballads that are reportedly “Songs of death and hope, murder and love, lechery and splendor, transcendence and cruelty!” and they think the tunes immensely fit into our modern societies even after all these times.

Although most songs are originally traditional, the duo have decided to paint the covers by means of their own country folk brush and since you see both musicians behind the mic, the album has turned out to be a breath of fresh air. The band also gets help from their friends producer and bass player Brian Harrison (Shelby Lynne) and drummer Bryan Owings (Emmylou Harris) who guarantee the audience a good time in case they are aware enough of old-school root music to sing along to these vibrant efforts that tell sad stories.

The collection, fortunately does sound like all the traditional tunes resurrected and maturely performed and sung. It's Garrison Starr's gifted country lung and Josh Joplin's alertness in stepping forward or illuminating the background that vitalize the core of this valuable cover album. However, the 13 tracks on the disk do not owe their virtue thoroughly to the past. It includes two original songs, one written by Joplin (“Joseph Hillström 1879-1915”) and another written by the due (“High, Low & Wide”). The list also ends with a bonus cover of The Smith's “Bigmouth Strikes Again” that has given a '70s classic aura to this '80s song.

[mp3] Among the Oak & Ash "Angel Gabriel"

Atlas Sound ft. Noah Lennox "Walkabout" / Elliott Smith "Grand Mal" / Brad P & the Son of Sam

Check this statement out and let me know if you feel a headache falling down on you:

Bradford Cox of Deerhunter and Atlas Sound joins forces with Noah Lennox of Animal Collective and Panda Bear!

The outcome is expected to have a mutual taste while it surprisingly stands out. It's Brad's Atlas Sound ego vs. Noah's Panda side. “Walkabout” is a lush merry go round that resemble last year's El Guincho and all that theme park aesthetics. Two thumbs up for the song is void of Deerhunter's nihilistic ambient punk and Panda Bear's haziness. Not that they didn't sooth down your hard day's afternoon, but because the offspring of today's two most avant-garde acts has its own vibrations.

[mp3] Atlas Sound ft. Noah Lennox "Walkabout"

*****

“Forget it, now it's too fast...”

Another posthumous Elliott Smith b-side leaks and it belongs to XO days. “Grand Mal” though, fits closer to Either/Or era if you ask me. God knows how many other rarities will hit the web in the future. It may make us feel the double disk compilation of New Moon was just the beginning. It's a 2-min acoustic ballad utterly Elliott Smith style and apparently he's not happy with its tempo in the end, so there ought to be a slower version of the track as well.

[mp3] Elliott Smith "Grand Mal"

*****

Speaking of Elliott Smith, we'd better take a plane from Portland to Davis, CA to check out a band called Brad P & the Son of Sam. Chances are, you hear nothing to remind you of 90's folk. Instead it's a fast-beat jolly comedy high school punk rock band that sing energetically shallow.

They have released their first album under this name and they think fans of Elvis Costello, the Thermals, Talking Heads, and Velvet Underground would probably tolerate it. Only if you put all these influences in a blender and ready, steady, gallop!

[mp3] Brad P & the Son of Sam "Girl In A Box"
[mp3] Brad P & the Son of Sam "Crazy Weekend"

Thanks to Bradley Petering for sharing
p.s. The last two files are hosted by the band

The Antlers - Hospice

You may have a genuine and immaculate vision that does not blossom out while doing the household chores, paying your taxes or drinking coffee at Starbucks. In fact our social self has become so alike. Especially when we drink, we like to talk as a team. It's only in a day's partial solitude where you try to discover what you're missing. And in case you have a flair to paint, write or sing, it's in complete isolation when you get closer to your inner human/animal. That's where art commences to glitter out of your head. Stanley Kubrick might be a good example of isolation-generated talent and it has happened to music much more than we can imagine. Pearl Jam's “In Hiding” as an instance, speaks around this state precisely. And of course a thousand other songs.

Last year, it was Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) who experienced such meditation and it yielded an album all worthwhile (For Emma, Forever Ego). But in case of Peter Silberman, this year's locking-up story was much more risky. It didn't last a winter. In fact, it took over a year for The Antler's latest work Hospice to form. One year without a connection! That's a bit intense for contemporary art but it's for real.

Hospice is a meticulous concept album with two main characters: Silberman himself as a care-taker over a hospital bed belonging to a girl he's unfortunately in love with, and a patient suffering from a disease presumably cancer and presumably again in coma (the girl Silberman has deep feelings for). Her name is never mentioned and it's unlikely to be Sylvia or Shiva. The album consists of 10 tracks including a prologue and an epilogue around a sad story that's not necessary scarce but the way Silberman puts them in his affectionate visual simulator, it's almost impossible not to have sympathetic love for. Though Hospice is not an easy album to deal with due to its great amount of ambient pianos and noise that explain two contradictory environments: Ambient, for hours of patiently watching over a cancer victim, for visualizing the deadly silent hours in a hospital and for presenting reflection and melancholy. Noise, in contrast to ambient plays as the tension machine. It evokes restlessness and confusion and therefore there are harsh moments that the listener has to enjoy enduring! Hospice is not an album to listen with your friends around drinking.

Following a prologue to give you a taste of the white hospital gloominess to come, is “Kettering”. Silberman's gentle, weeping and whispering voice depicts a worried mind that is on the threshold of losing his beloved girl. There are no masterworks in production but eventually the sound has turned out as overwhelming as a blizzard when it bursts into noise after giving you an elaborate sense of the condition. It's blissful how Silberman's lips almost work as an instrument.

“Sylvia” may give you the wrong impression over who's singing, but it's not a female. It's probably the feminine lung inside Silberman that shrieks the name Sylvia desperately and begs her to get her head out of the oven. And this very “oven” pops a link up instantly. If you go to the band website (today), you see two different versions of a Sylvia Plath painting: One intact and the other burned. Sylvia Plath as you may know, committed suicide by putting her head in an oven and turning the gas on. She was only 30. This is somehow how the storyteller feels about this imminent loss and it haunts him. “Sylvia” is an epic noise song that takes patience to establish. Just like other songs on the album, they mostly don't stand on their own feet. They're best heard bonded together, although we can relate to some more than the others. But if there's a song with proper chorus and structure, it's “Sylvia”.

But it's not just a juxtaposition of ambient and noise. Hospice is infused with acoustic tenderness as well. It's when solace lies, where there's a shelter to hide. “Atrophy” ends with one of these Utopian enchanted hymns and “Two” shares a long story that wouldn't do without a constant strumming on an electric guitar without an amp. And that's not even where the acoustic delight ends.

“Bear” might be the pop effort of this dreary masterpiece. Though it only sounds so joyful and blessed, while it also grieves about the cause of all this sadness. We only wish we could get rid of this deadly bear sometime soon: “There's a bear inside your stomach / The cub's been kicking from within / He's loud, though without vocal chords / We'll put an end to him.”

“Shiva” as we mentioned earlier, is not the frail girl's name. It's the God of destruction and death. It's the focal point of the tragedy when all hope is gone. It's where every machine stops at once and the vital signs begin to perish. Curtain call! Though it shouldn't sound that tragic, maybe the protagonist is still in shock and doubt. So the chimes and sax dance in a celestial tranquility. The centerpiece of the tragedy though, lies in “Wake”, where you hear drums that resemble a funeral. It's the longest song on the album with more noise-density and repetitive chorus lines.

Hospice meets its fate with “Epilogue” that acts as a pain killer to all that bitterness. It shares the verse melodies of “Bear” with an acoustic guitar to illustrate a post-death situation in which Silberman spares a nightmare: “In a nightmare, I am falling from the ceiling into bed beside you /You're asleep, I'm screaming, shoving you to try to wake you up /And like before, you've got no interest in the life you live when you're awake.” And before your subliminal decides to sum up all this beauty, on just 4:07 into the closer you fall asleep to a lo-fi ambient slump that fades out in your memory when you're totally unaware it's almost the end. An end to an epic concept collection of opuses that took place in a hospital room.

The album is so likely to linger on the upcoming editor's choice and end-year lists. It's not an easy album to digest. Its charm cleaves out of repeated plays. There are no puzzles to unclench and no mysteries to divulge, though the beauty hides in its state of solemn grandeur and provocative curiosity.

Though Silberman has built up a small career with his previous EPs (New York Hospitals, Cold War, and In The Attic Of The Universe) it's his skeptic, maverick and cynical ego that has made The Antlers line-up sound so disciplined. Other member of the band are Darby Cicci and Michael Lerner who have followed Silberman's strict laws to come up with something like Hospice.

Though as I said, the album needs space and time to prove itself. So don't listen to it while you're driving and make sure you come back to it every once in a while, cause otherwise you're going to miss the dying angel and the poor care-taker.

And in the end, I'm enticed to read some Sylvia Plath poetry and children books though I don't want to call it quits the way she did and despite my deep expressions towards this album, there's not a single character who I like to act as in this story.

[mp3] The Antlers "Kettering"