Today's featured shit

This is what indie rock is supposed to be about: varying styles of music by the same act, all rallying around a certain rhythm so you don’t feel threatened. Proud Simon can sound like R.E.M. (“Last One Left”). They can sound like country (“Bled Red Wine”). But most importantly they can sound good.

“Clockwork On and On” is a bit tripped in the ’90s, but if you want that Gin Blossoms/Toad the Wet Sprocket sound, then why look further? Here’s a hint: You don’t have to.

Everybody is into long song titles these days, but “Everyone on the Train Could Use a Little Change” is more than that. This ’70s-sounding track channels “Ramblin’ Man” by The Allman Brothers. Honest and for true!

“Honeymoon” has harmonica. It’s only missing Tom Petty, really, but that’s necessarily a bad thing. This track is a bit more dialed down than a lot of the others, and I think it takes away from the strengths of the band.

A lot of thought was put into this CD. A lot of thought was put into everything except the music. This is another upbeat contemporary hit radio pop (CHR Pop) take on Christmas carols. The production is very slick, and some degreasing of your computer may be necessary after you have played this album. Or your car stereo. I can’t be everywhere. The last track is “Auld Lang Syne,” which is sensible, of course, because New Year’s Day is after Christmas. But “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” is not the first track. In fact it is not on this album at all. Not a beat can be heard, not even from a mouse.

These tracks are generally missing soul, which might be ironic. “O Holy Night” forgets it is a holiday song and busts out with the drum machine and other preprogrammed bits and beats. It sounds like hold music while on the Butterball hotline when your turkey didn’t thaw properly, and now you’re trying to impress your boyfriend’s mother with your cooking prowess.

“Angels We Have Heard on High” is fun. It sounds like something out of a Disney movie, even if the music sounds as if it was made with a computer. i guess these days everything is made with computers.

This whole album should play in the background at your holiday party, I am told. I played Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Perry Como at my holiday party. I stand by my decision.

Mia Riddle, not to be confused with Steve Riddle, will tumble for ya on “Tumble and Drag.” She is another singer/songwriter with an above average voice and a full band backing here. Her voice isn’t as unique as Carol van Dyk’s (Bettie Serveert), but it goes in that direction, hopefully without the chain smoking.

“Hurricane” starts the album off and would be great live if it were just her and a guitar. She could do that thing where people slap the guitar to provide their own drumming during the parts where there is drumming and no guitaring.

“Echo” has a real good tempo and has a wonderful complement of musicianship with it. “Texas” has clapping and backing vocals harmonizing, making me think of “Road to Nowhere” by Talking Heads, only with a woman up front.

“Both Ways” is the last track and, similar to “Road Movie to Berlin” by They Might Be Giants, is slow, plodding and piano-based. Stick with the faster stuff on this one.

Three tracks of Equatorial semidanceable funk, Anjulie begins with “Boom.” It has a beat reminiscent of Propellerheads’ “History Repeating.” Not that lyrics really matter in electro stuff, but they really are pretty bad here. This is great background music.

“Love Songs” has a more R&B feel. This is well-produced and has everything.

“Day Will Soon Come” sounds like a sequel to “Love Songs.” It’s fine, but it’s not as good. It has a Fergie feel to it, really.

I hope she goes the “Boom” way and focuses on the dance stuff, because the R&B stuff, as good as it is, is a dime a dozen.

More Portland singer-songwriter stuff here. Anne Adams is/was in Per Se, a much better use of her time, not that this is bad. It’s just that the power of an all-girl band is exponentially better than a solo artist. It would take eight Grey Annes to equal one Per Se. The style is definitely better than farmers market stuff. It sounds like a lot of piNoisepop bands, although her heritage is unknown (and irrelevant) to me. Maybe if the lead singer of Moonpools and Caterpillars did some work on the side? Sure.

“Adelaide” reminds me of something Willow Willow would do. But the keyboard work — or is it her singing? — is distinctly Portland. This is the kind of stuff I would listen to all day if people stopped making new music for me to review.

“Riddle” is a bit peppier and has accordion in it. By this point it is pretty clear that Adams has figured out what works for her in terms of success, so there should be no cause for alarm when the songs start to run together. This is not an album to listen to from beginning to end. Instead, mix it with a few other albums (compare and contrast to taste) and stick it on random or shuffle or whatever it is you kids like these days.

Clever seemingly juxtaposed song titles highlight 18th Dye’s “Amorine Queen.” When you name your tracks “Soft the Hard Way,” “Chinese Spoon” and “Text Is My Killer,” it’s hard to take the band seriously. Maybe that’s the point.

“Soft the Hard Way” has a distinctly local feel to it, but they are from Denmark, so that’s not it. But if you’re into the San Francisco scene, you’ll definitely find a lot about this track to like. Go ‘n’ Go is not about me after I’ve drunk a gallon, er, four litres, of apple juice. It has a Pixies feel to it, especially when that gal is singing.

“Amorines” starts slower and has strings — not like spaghetti squash but the good kind. Then later it has tambourine and picks up a little. It reminds me of The Amps, only with a dude singing. Sometimes a woman sings too though.

“Is” is fun but has swearing in it. I wonder if it’s funnier to swear in another language when you’re Danish. It sure is when you’re American.

All songs were written by Hiroshi Kono, and my grandma is Japanese, so that was what attracted me to this album. Otherwise it’s a standard indie rock album. When you think of J-pop, you won’t think of Mar Project, but there is a reason for the label. It’s hard for Japanese music to get past the stereotype of simultaneously goofy and serious lyrics and musicianship.

“Fist of Soul” has a fun bridge, giving visuals of driving on the freeway late at night after a fun evening of having dinner at a coworker’s house. “Run” sounds like an early ’90s Electronic kick to it, no doubt inspired by Johnny Marr himself.

The 21st Century Blues is the epitome of stereotypical Japanese music in English. What other song would pair the words “humongous” and “balloon”?

“Astonishing” sounds like Velocity Girl, except with a male singer. The singing is slightly deliberate, which makes the lyrics easier to understand. If things don’t work out with the Mar Project, perhaps the singer has a future in broadcast news.

Like Troy McClure, you may better recognize Dave Gahan as something else, in this case the lead singer of Depeche Mode. He is here with a solo effort, 10 tracks of, for lack of better phrasing, post-modern Depeche Mode.

Different songs seem to be from different eras. “Deeper & Deeper” has a mid-90s Daft Punk feel. It also makes me think of a Depeche Mode song from the same era: It’s No Good.

When he focuses on music instead of lyrics, the result is better. “Saw Something” is the first track on the album and also allows for his programming skill to thrive.

“21 Days” sounds like something Trent Reznor would do. If you’re a NINny, give it a shot. There’s not much originality here. Also lacking originality is “Use You,” which has the same beat as Kate Bush’s “Eat the Music.” That’s great if you are a DJ.

Remember when White Zombie experimented with beats on “More Human Than Human”? “Insoluble” travels down this path. I’m not saying Gahan wants money, but he seems to have run out of ideas after 30 years in the biz.

This is another pianist’s interpretation of Christmas music, including opportunities to do the piano equivalent of guitar wanking. Seriously.

“Jolly Old St. Nick” starts things off and is innocent enough. I could hear this in a department store, possibly Nordstrom, without batting an eye. But it’s not all like this.

“Joy to the World” has the fervor of last minute holiday shopping, complete with unnecessary detours of measures and measures of crazy Christmas tangents. This song doesn’t need to be nearly six minutes long.

“Angels We Have Heard on High” sounds like a piano interpretation of a video game’s interpretation of Christmas music. So really if you like any of these things, especially the Legend of Zelda, this track is for you.

“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” is great if you skip the elongated introduction. Seriously, is piano wanking a phenomenon I was unaware of?

This album really grows on you and suffers from a poor track order. “Not Enough” starts the album off and makes you think it is an Evanescence ripoff, but actualy many of the songs hold their own and remind the listener of stuff that is much less annoying.

“Maybe” reminds me a bit of Paramore and definitely has a modern feel to it, assuming Paramore are still hip. “Drowning” has a Charlatans U.K. early-’90s feel to it.

“Alone” makes me think of standard female-fronted casino pop rock. The music sounds like Stretch Princess, but the vocals aren’t as good. Make no mistake, the singing in Faces of March is great, but it’s all relative, isn’t it? “Wanna Be” is for fans of Damone (the good first album, not the second shitty one).

“Who’s to Blame” is forgettable. “Too Late” is a ballad with no heart. Turn Around also offers that Evanescence style. Despite the lack of focus, “Confessions” is very listenable.