Archive for April 2010
Episode 1366 is up
April 19, 2010Episode 1365 is up
April 19, 2010Alphabet Soup, Episode 1, April 18 2010 Playlist
April 18, 2010A Camp, The Crowning
Adele, Chasing Pavements
A Girl Called Eddy, The Soundtrack of Your Life
Ah Holly Faml’y, Lucky Peak
The Aislers Set, Hit the Snow
Lily Allen, 22
Dot Allison, Colour Me
All Girl Summer Fun Band, Mr. and Mrs. Troublemaker
An Horse, Horizons
An April March, Magnet
Amps, Tipp City
Angus and Julia Stone, Hollywood
The Anniversary, Emma Discovery
Maya Angelou, Run Joe
¡andale!, Walk Away
ApSci, Let’s Go!!!
April March, Sugar
astroPuppees, Woo Hoo Hoo
Asobi Seksu, Transparence
Joel’s Hit Show, Episode 60, April 18 2010 Playlist
April 18, 2010Schooner, Feel Better
Twin Tigers, Red Fox Run
Codeine Velvet, Hollywood
Veil Veil Vanish, Change in the Neon Light
SPC ECO, See You Soon
Charlotte Gainsbourg, IRM
J. Perdiod and Nneka, Walking
Xmal Deustchland, Dreamhouse
Olof Arnalds, I Nyju Husi
Innocent Bandits, When Another Sun Shines
Smile Smile, Truth on Tape
Blue Skies for Black Hearts, Siouxsie Please Come Home
Nneka, God of Mercy
Gigi, Impossible Love
Slow Club, When I Go
Benyaro “Good Day Better”
April 15, 2010Pretty standard folk fare here. They are better than you expect, in that nobody has heard of them, but they know what they are doing. “All My Money on You” tells a story with a predictable plot, but the song is put together well. “Dogs” reminds me of Counting Crows and Extreme.
“Eureka” has a classic feel, more Bonnie Raitt than what the modern folkers are doing. It has saxophone straight out of 1987, I swear it. It says here it is a tenor sax. I believe it.
“Mother/Daughter” reminds me of a cross between a standard Barenaked Ladies ballad and Adam Sandler’s “I’m Wasted.” “More or Less” is the last track, and it is an unsurprising slow one to send us all home.
This record is what it is: A slightly upbeat folk album with male and female vocals. It may not make a good day better, but it doesn’t make it suck, either.
Episode 1364 is up
April 15, 2010The Bundles “The Bundles”
April 14, 2010The lead singer, Kimya Dawson, was in Moldy Peaches, it says here. Apparently, The Bundles were around before that but never recorded anything. This explains the sound, which reminds me of old Rilo Kiley or some of the less-weird Kung Fu U.S.A. tracks, because of the boy-girl vocals.
“Pirates Declare War” has a power-pop sensibility to it, although it isn’t fuzzy at all. It’s very structured and lo-fi. “Shamrock Glamrock” does the thing where one vocalist says one set of lyrics while the other vocalist does the same thing. It’s like when Kelly & Kline would tell the dirty joke in one ear and the clean joke in the other. Or if you lived too far from San Francisco then you didn’t get reception in stereo, so you just heard both no matter what. That’s this song.
“Desert Bundles” has that weird mouth instrument thing that Snoopy would play when he was on the bus going to camp, such as on “Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown.” This song would be worth seeing live, if nothing else, just to see someone play it.
“Be Yourself” is the last track and might be a cover. It sounds familiar, but that could be the case because I’ve just heard the rest of the album. Musically, this sounds like Blake Babies, and vocally it sounds like Matt & Kim. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
Episode 1363 is up
April 14, 2010Hildur Victoria “Herringbone EP”
April 13, 2010It’s an EP. “Four Young Sons” sounds like Tanya Donelly. It’s slow but not plodding. It’s very stripped down and sounds like what you’d hear from an opener at Slim’s. Then, as you walk down Ninth to get to Civic Center BART, you talk about how the opener was much better than the headliner, and if only you’d bought a CD because you’re far too drunk to remember her name when you get home to see what you can torrent out there.
“Diamond Eyes” has stronger guitar and some heart behind the vocals. The sticker tells me it is the single. Sure, why not. It could use another chord, but it’s still very accessible. “Palisades” turns the lead singer’s voice (Hildur Victoria is a band, not a she) into Kate Bush’s, but the music sounds like something Paramore would do. At this point you have to wonder what direction the band is going in. They’ve really settled into this midtempo style that focuses on plus vocals and crisp mixing, but I feel that the structure is confining them too much. They need to cover a Ramones song. I can’t picture them being any faster than Pink Floyd.
“Wilder-Ness” would be funnier spelled “Wild-erness” because they are from Minnesota. How did they miss the playoffs, anyway? Their uniforms are so rad! The songs sound a lot alike, and all I hear is raw talent with no glue or fertilizer. We all have to start somewhere. I hope that they continue to grow. Next stop: melody and a Moog.
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