Author: jeremyfingertips

<“It’s All In My Mind” – Teenage Fanclub

Glistening, accomplished pop from a Scottish band that came together in 1989 and has never quite had its day. Look how much these guys pull out of a simple melody set against a clockwork, tom-tom-accented beat, and how effortlessly they do it–largely by playing against the regularities they set up. Notice, to begin with, how the melody line of the verse starts first on the downbeat and then, when it repeats, begins on the upbeat; this creates an off-centered feeling to what is actually a regular, 4/4 beat. But then notice what happens in the chorus (which is just the words “It’s all in my mind” sung twice)–the beat is stretched to 6/4 for two measures, which manages both to ground the song and keep it slightly on edge. A minute and a half into things, we’re returned to the first verse but the song has shifted subtly, tom-tom giving way to a fuller drum kit, some gorgeous but unexpected harmonies fleshing out the words and their dreamy message. That the whole thing culminates in a spaced-out guitar break three-quarters of the way through–I love how the song sort of floats into the guitar solo, as if catching up to it–is only fitting. “It’s All In My Mind” is the lead track on the band’s new CD Man-Made, their seventh, scheduled for release next week on Merge Records.

“The World in 1984” – Shearwater

This song has the echoey, majestic sadness of a forgotten photo album, an impression accentuated by the timeless melody, backward-looking lyrics, and singer Jonathan Meiburg’s high, fluttery voice. There’s something haunting and lasting at work here, something I’d locate somewhere in the graceful interaction between the minor and major chords and the way they play out through the central, plaintive piano refrain. Shearwater features two members (keyboard player Meiburg and guitarist Will Sheff) of the somewhat better-known Okkervil River; reflecting Meiburg’s graduate-level involvement in ornithology (how does he have the time?), the band is named for a type of bird that flies close to the surface of the water. And the song comes from an album called Winged Life (released last year on Austin-based Misra Records), to continue the bird theme–although the phrase itself is William Blake’s (is it my imagination or are independent rock bands the last bastion of literate culture in our post-literate world?): “He who binds to himself a joy/Does the winged life destroy;/ But he who kisses the joy as it flies/Lives in eternity’s sun rise.” The MP3, by the way, is hosted on the band’s site.

“New Resolution” – the Heartless Bastards

Skeletal and elemental, “New Resolution” is driven by an aggressive drumbeat (hey, it’s distinctive drumbeat week) and Erika Wennerstrom’s achy-furious voice. She’s got something of that back-of-the-throat roughness that makes Lucinda Williams cut me to the core sometimes, but in this case it’s Lucinda crossed with Patti Smith, or maybe even Robert Plant. While “New Resolution” is rooted in a time-worn bass line, there is simultaneously a liberating vibe to this short and quirky tune, as if the band is gleefully writing its own rules as it goes. I for one find it impossible to argue with (not to mention half fall in love with) anyone who sings the following: “My new resolution is to be/Someone who does not care what anyone thinks of me/’Cause I don’t even like myself half the time/And what’s the use in worrying what’s on other people’s minds?” The Heartless Bastards are from Cincinnati; “New Resolution” can be found on the band’s debut CD, Stairs and Elevators, released in February on Fat Possum Records, a label previously known for blues recordings. The MP3 is available via the band’s web site.

“Waves” – Marjorie Fair

This is one of the most accomplished, forward-looking examples I’ve heard yet of the neo-soft-rock sound that seems to be bubbling up on the 21st-century rock scene alongside the neo-new-wave sound that’s getting most of the attention so far. What makes “Waves” a particular pleasure is the band’s success (Marjorie Fair is a band, not a person) in linking a sweetly melancholy America-esque sound with a grounded, indie-rock-style drive. Listen to the opening drumbeat: it means business, and prevents the jazzy chords that comprise the heart of the song (major sevenths and ninths and things like that) from turning mushy and dull. Likewise is the lovely melody—and singer Evan Slamka’s equally lovely delivery of said melody—counterbalanced by some edgy guitar work; beyond the central, chiming riff there are droning accents that work to create palpable mystique throughout the piece, rising at last to the surface by way of a brief, reverberant solo beginning at 2:56. This mellow-rock meets indie-rock mix might almost seem its own sort of formula except for the fact that hardly anyone can do this effectively—it’s not much of a formula if it isn’t easily replicated, after all. “Waves” is a song off the L.A. foursome’s debut CD, Self Help Serenade, which was released last year in the U.K. and is slated for a major-label stateside release in July. Capitol Records is cranking up the PR machine on this one, and while I am not always pleased by the way that manifests itself, I must remind myself that back in the day, the big labels regularly delivered good music to the masses; it’s not yet too late (I don’t think) for at least some of them to remember this.

“Ballad of a Lonely Construction Worker” – Cuff the Duke

There’s a lost-epic feeling about this engaging, largely instrumental song, starting with its lengthy but chipper chimey-guitar build-up that comes complete with its own tempo shift (you hearing a “Free Bird” reference in that as I am?). It turns out the slower, weightier pace of the down-shifted part is where the song is heading; the second time the “Free Bird” section arrives, a crunchier, Neil Young-ish wall of guitar sound kicks in and singer/songwriter/guitarist Wayne Petti makes his delayed entrance (the song’s two and a half minutes old already), his thin tenor emerging first as a mixed-down, off-pitch counterpoint to the increased instrumental fury, but as he reaches the lyrical climax—an invocation-like repetition of the phrase “It’ll be all right”—he’s right there in the center, handing the song back to the guitars. Together the rhythm and lead slash and churn with yet heightened intensity before melting away for Petti’s final, quieter reprise of the same lyric from before with one subtle difference. “Ballad of a Construction Worker” is a song off the band’s debut CD, Life Stories for Minimum Wage, released in 2002 on Three Gut Records; the MP3 is hosted on the Three Gut web site. A new CD from the band is expected this August.

“Ecoutez Bien” – Eux Autres

To counter big-label promotion and epic-style earnestness, here’s a little shot of lo-fi goofiness—a brother/sister duo from Portland, Oregon offering a fetching two and a half minutes of garage rock a la francais. While it would never have occurred to me, for one, that crossing a chunky, freewheeling Stones vibe with spoken-sung lyrics in French would lead to anything in particular, there’s something smiley and effervescent in the outcome. This strikes me as rather fascinating, actually, given how much Debbie Harry-style archness is channeled by singer Heather Larimer, but I guess that’s another sign of the post-ironic world in which we live–that irony itself can now be used quite effectively to evoke sincerity. Add a distant but pounding piano riff, brother Nicholas’ megaphoned backing vocals, a flurry of well-timed whoops, and a one-line chorus, and you have an odd hodgepodge of a semi-song on the one hand, an almost-classic-sounding pop cultural tidbit on the other. “Ecoutez Bien” is the lead track on the band’s debut CD, Hell Is Eux Autres, released last year. The MP3 is available via band’s web site.

“It Dawned On Me” – Calla

At once driving and atmospheric, “It Dawned On Me” combines a melodic, nearly New Order-like guitar motif and classic rock chord progressions with a dreamy wash of what I can only call beautiful noise–I’m listening and listening and can’t quite figure out what exactly is behind the structure of sound that gives this song such weight and power. Given that two of the band’s three members are credited not only with playing instruments (bass, keyboards, percussion) but also with “programming,” I can only assume that some heavy-duty electronic know-how is partially responsible, but the beauty here is that the overall effect is extremely organic. Guitarist/vocalist Aurelio Valle’s dark, breathy voice has a lot to do with the song’s haunting nature, and, okay, if I can’t help hearing a bit of “Don’t Fear the Reaper”‘s minor-key elegance around the edges here, there’s nothing wrong with that either. “It Dawned On Me” is a song slated to appear on the Brooklyn-based band’s next CD, their fourth, entitled Collisions, scheduled for release this summer. The MP3 is available via the band’s web site.

“14th Street” – Laura Cantrell

Not unlike the kind of sweet, well-crafted singer/songwriter songs Nanci Griffith gathered so effectively on her much-admired Other Voices, Other Rooms CD, “14th Street” is at once breezy and poignant, held together by Cantrell’s startlingly pure, somewhat Griffith-like voice and her admirable capacity to keep the musical focus strong and simple. This song could have taken an indulgent turn, production-wise, in any number of places but is ever held in check by the crystal-clear interaction between acoustic guitar, piano, drum, voice. Cantrell’s decision to exploit the song’s Brill Building roots (check out the sleighbell/drum accent that kicks in at 1:35; I love how the Spector beat is implied without it actively materializing) creates a fetching amalgam of traditional country and traditional pop. Cantrell is a Nashville-born, New York-based musician and radio host (her weekly “Radio Thrift Shop” program can be heard on WFMU) who recorded two highly-acclaimed CDs before quitting her day job at a Manhattan-based financial firm to do music full-time. These sturdy, tradition-minded recordings of hers have attracted a number of notable music-industry fans over the last five years, including Elvis Costello (who picked her to open for him on a number of his 2002 concerts) and the late John Peel, who in 2001 called her first CD “my favourite record of the last ten years and possibly my life.” Written by a Portland, Oregon-based songwriter named Emily Spray, “14th Street” will be the lead track on Cantrell’s new CD, Humming By The Flowered Vine, to be released on Matador Records next month. The CD, as usual for Cantrell, will mix her own songs with traditional songs and songs from other songwriters. The MP3 arrives via the Matador web site.

“Trance Manual” – John Vanderslice

There’s a “Carpet Crawlers”-like sense of gorgeous contemplation underscoring this new tune from the underappreciated Mr. Vanderslice. Pristine without being boring, intricately produced without falling into the kitchen-sink syndrome, “Trance Manual” floats along in its own indelible world; again not unlike Peter Gabriel-era Genesis at their best, Vanderslice offers us lyrical imagery that manages the difficult trick of being both concrete and enigmatic, set against an almost orchestral sense of instrumental diversity. There’s plenty of Vanderslice’s production genius on display this time around, from the insistent chime-like drone that’s never far below the surface to the precise but limited use of flute flourishes to the wonderful way he uses keyboards (I think) to sound like backward guitars to the incredible arrival of pizzicato strings just before the three-minute mark–a truly unexpected and instantly perfect touch. “Trance Manual” has just been made available as an MP3 on the Barsuk Records site; it will appear on the next Vanderslice CD, Pixel Revolt, due out in August.

“Glorious” – A. Graham and the Moment Band

There are certain sorts of on-and-off-pitch voices that are so immediately friendly and unassuming that they welcome you in like an old friend handing you a beer. Andy Graham has one of those voices. Then again, this entire song is kind of like an old friend handing you a beer, most of all the loose-limbed, sing-along chorus, featuring four of the English language’s finest words—“Glorious/ Triumphant/ Optimistic/ Transcendent”—woven together with spot-on pedal steel accents. Like Doris Henson, A. Graham and the Moment Band are another endearing, worthy band from Kansas City, Kansas. “Glorious” is the lead track on the band’s 2004 CD This Tyrant is Free, released on Sonic Unyon Records. The MP3 is available via Lawrence.com, one of the better (if also unassuming) local/regional music resources on the web.

“Heavy Packer” – Amy Miles

Alternating tense, sparse verses with a spacious, gorgeous chorus, the NYC-based singer/songwriter Amy Miles here channels Martha Davis (remember the Motels? anyone?) to great effect. I find it relatively easy to lose patience with slow-building songs, but Miles holds my interest through the simmering opening minute and a half, with its ominous beat, evocative lyrics, and knowing touches—listen to the way the drum stutters on the fourth beat of every fourth measure, and how a deep synthesizer augments the staccato base line with a sustained series of almost below ear level notes. When the song arrives at the chorus—melody now slowed by half, showing Miles’ voice off at its prettiest–the effect is glistening. Don’t miss the elastic guitar accents underneath, without which the song would not have soared nearly as high. “Heavy Packer” comes from Miles’ second CD, Noble Hatch, released in March on the Pcoop label, via Redeye Distribution. Noble Hatch, by the way, was the actual name of a boy Miles had a crush on in sixth grade in Arkansas; the album apparently reflects repeatedly back on that broken-hearted period of her young life.

“August Morning Haze” – Oneida

Like some strange psychedelic nugget from the ’60s, “August Morning Haze” opens with a prickly, vaguely Near Eastern guitar line. In comes a sitar—no, wait, it’s a banjo. Who’d have thought. Together they jangle towards an unexpected and quite satisfying harmonic resolution before veering off into the first verse. The words march out in precise, repeated rhythm (ONE-two ONE-two; I looked it up—it’s trochaic tetrameter, I think), a tumble of landscape and nature images that hypnotize me entirely. I’m trying and I can’t focus on their concrete meaning, and then, wow, there are those wonderful, resolving chords again. Instruments are brought in and out with wondrous subtlety—some strings here, an accordion there, all in service of the relentless trochees. “Pictures of Matchstick Men” meets XTC’s Skylarking, if you squint a little. The song is the final track on Oneida’s new CD, The Wedding, released last week on Jagjaguwar Records in the U.S., Three Gut Records in Canada. The MP3 is hosted on the Three Gut web site. Largehearted Boy pointed the way.

“Hold That Thought” – Trademark

Resplendent electro-pop from an Oxford synthesizer trio that apparently wears lab coats onstage. While drawing obvious inspiration from bands like Soft Cell, Depeche Mode, and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Trademark immediately announces its own presence with the opening synthesizer riff, featuring a deeper, buzzier, funkier tone than their ’80s forebears. The song swings along in a rapid 6/8 (maybe?) shuffle, and even as vocalist Oliver Horton’s blase, slightly nasal delivery recalls the likes of Neil Tennant (of the Pet Shop Boys), there’s something sturdier and more passionate going on here. Maybe because it was all new back then, and maybe there were serious technological limitations at the time, but ’80s synth-pop had a distinct air of preprogrammed relentlessness to it—as if the groups got going by pushing a button and letting the machines do the rest. Listen, by contrast, to the way the introduction here leads into the first verse: how the rhythm shifts and the three interweaving synthesizers are redefined around the vocals—how in fact they are played musically rather than electronically, even though they are, still, electronic instruments. It may sound on the surface like the ’80s but this is the ’00s we’re listening to, and a seriously wonderful new song. “Hold That Thought” can be found on Trademark’s debut CD, Trademark Want More, released in the U.K. last year on Truck Records. The MP3 is available via the band’s web site. Thanks to The Acousticwoodlands for the lead.

“American Grotesque” – Barry Thomas Goldberg

Straightforward old-school rock with a vibrant edge. Goldberg is a singer/songwriter in his fifties who’s been kicking around the Minneapolis music scene for a couple of decades; his age and experience blaze through this simultaneously good-natured and apocalyptic song. Goldberg’s deep, cigarette-stained voice brings the late Warren Zevon to mind, but there’s an added Graham Parker-like snap and snarl to his delivery and something Dylanesque about the whole carnival-like enterprise, with its cavalcade of characters and situations set to a rollicking 3/4 beat. “American Grotesque” is the title track of Goldberg’s most recent CD, released earlier this year. The MP3 is available on Goldberg’s web site. Thanks to visitor Paul for the suggestion.

“The Guns of Brixton” – Nouvelle Vague

It’s the Clash song, it’s a French collective which has made an album transforming punk and new wave songs from the late ’70s and early ’80s into jazzy-poppy bossa nova-inflected tunes, and it’s way more successful and alluring than it has any right to be. The idea to do this came from French producer/multi-instrumentalists Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux—Marc’s idea, originally. (The web site claims that “Nouvelle Vague” means “new wave” in French and “bossa nova” in Portuguese; this seems cheeky to me, but cute.) The plan was to jettison the cultural context, focus on the strength of the song, and (a great touch) employ young singers who had never heard the original in the first place. On “The Guns of Brixton,” Camille (she uses just her first name) brings a beguiling early ’60s-style insouciance to the task, as the great Paul Simonon song is transformed into a jaunty lounge number with mind-boggling panache. Hear the incredible way she links the first verse to the chorus 48 seconds into the song, the audible out-breath she uses to get from the phrase “death row” to “You can crush us” etc. All through it of course is the crazy juxtaposition of this voice and these lyrics, but even that would not have been enough without the arrangement. What Collin and Libaux highlight most of all with this project is the sheer magic of musical arrangement, and the brilliance that can result when just the right instrument does just the right thing at just the right time without, somehow, sounding overly precise and calculated. One small example among many is the way a dark piano bass line is added at the beginning of the second verse—just perfect. Among the other songs covered by Nouvelle Vague on the CD are “Love Will Tear Us Apart” and “Making Plans for Nigel.” Released overseas last June on the U.K.-based Peacefrog Records, Nouvelle Vague comes out this week in the U.S. on Luaka Bop Records. The MP3 is hosted by Insound.

“Walter Reed” – Michael Penn

Michael Penn can’t catch a break. The guy spent the first half of his musical career battling the perception that he was “only” Sean Penn’s older brother (when anyone was paying any attention at all), and now seems destined to spend the second half identified “merely” as Aimee Mann’s husband. On top of this, he had his pop cultural moment early—bursting on the musical scene with the brilliant semi-hit “No Myth” from his first CD, March, he has sold relatively few albums since. During the ’90s he found himself in one of those weird only-in-the-record-industry stories in which he was neither allowed to make a record nor to break his contract for four years. It also didn’t help that he released what strikes me as his only weak-ish CD–2000’s cleverly titled MP4 (’twas his fourth album, see)–right when his wife was hitting her stride in terms of widespread recognition and critical regard. Like I said, he can’t catch a break, which is a terrible shame as he is the real thing, a seriously talented singer/songwriter with an indelible voice, an enviable sense of craft, and a proven knack for neo-Beatle-isms. Do yourself a favor and find his second album, 1992’s Free-for-All, which is something of a lost classic. So, okay, “Walter Reed”: a song from his next CD, Mr. Hollywood, Jr., 1947. Typically midtempo and crisp, the song alternates a subdued lyric with a classically Penn-ish melodic chorus hook. The CD is apparently going to be some sort of concept album, ruminating on American society in the immediate aftermath of World War II. The CD is slated for a summer release on Penn’s Mimeograph Records, available through spinART Records. Thanks to Thomas Bartlett at Salon for the head’s up on this one. MP3 via Better Propaganda.

“Driver Education” – Amy Ray

Peppy, good-hearted NRBQ-style rock’n’roll from Indigo Girl Ray. With a tight little Hammond B3-enhanced groove, “Driver Education” finds the big-voiced Ray in a relaxed, even playful context, reminiscing about high school’s emotional battlefields in a song alternating word-tumbling verses and an almost haiku-like chorus. While as a group the Indigo Girls have always maintained their integrity, success over the years seemed to morph their earnestness into an unnecessary sort of solemnity that undermined the heart and spirit of the music. In her solo work, Ray seems able to cut loose more, both musically and energetically, and the results are gladdening. “Driver Education” is not the only song to deal with emerging gender relationships from a teenaged perspective on her new CD, which is called Prom and was released earlier this month on Ray’s own, not-for-profit Daemon Records label. The MP3 is available via the Daemon web site.

“Dirty Lives” – Love as Laughter

Sounding somewhat like the Replacements if they were just goofy rather than drunk and goofy, the West Coast band Love as Laughter has an immediately endearing sort of tight-yet-sloppy (or is that sloppy-yet-tight?) vibe to them; think the Shins crossed with early-’70s Rolling Stones and you’re somewhere near the sound this outfit crunches out. I’ll leave it to the relentlessly trend-focused indie rock writers on the web to figure out where these guys fit on the rock/indie-rock/retro-rock spectrum while I sit back and enjoy the heck out of the way they breathe vivid life into a sound too often ossified as “classic rock.” So even as this one surely churns itself out “Bang a Gong”-ishly, there’s way more to it. Listen to the opening guitar line, for instance: maybe it takes you back to the ’70s, but the subtle, rubbery uncertainty of the notes themselves add new character to the sound, as does singer/songwriter/guitarist Sam Jayne’s good-natured voice and capacity for writing rollicking melodies. The song comes from the band’s new Laughter’s Fifth CD, released this week on Sub Pop Records. The MP3 is available via Better Propaganda. Hat’s off to Largehearted Boy for the tip.

“April & May” – David Fridlund

Built around a simple but sturdy minor-key piano riff, “April & May” sounds like Ben Folds doing Kurt Weill, with the extra air of mystery provided by Fridlund’s Scandanavian-inflected English. With only a double bass providing support for the piano, the song acquires a wonderful heft thanks to Sara Culler’s expert backing vocals. I’m not quite sure how she manages to be so in sync as to almost disappear and yet so present as to be integral to the song’s success, but there she is just the same. I love how she finally emerges on her own with some wordless vocals at the very end–a perfect finishing touch. And then oh yeah, before that, there’s that magical little bit of synthesized harp or some such thing that chimes in, along with an acoustic guitar, around two and half minutes into the proceedings. I assume these are the responsibility of Johan T. Karlsson, who is thanked on the album for the “space echo and other small things that really made a difference.” Fridlund is known in Sweden as leader of the trio David & the Citizens; “April & May” is the second track on his first solo CD, Amaterasu (Amaterasu is the Japanese Shinto sun goddess, just so you know; her name means “She who shines in the heavens”). Culler is in fact featured prominently throughout the disc, which will be released in the U.S. early next month on Hidden Agenda Records. The MP3 is available via Parasol Records, which is Hidden Agenda’s parent label.

“Hole in the Road” – Jennifer O’Connor

Smart, engaging indie-singer-songwriter-rock from the NYC-based O’Connor. While her plainspoken vocal style quickly brings pre-2003 Liz Phair to mind, this is on the one hand a great starting point, to my ears, and on the other hand it becomes with repeated listens only a starting point, as O’Connor’s ability to combine drive, melody, and cool lyrics helps to create her own particular vibe. This is one deftly written and produced song, flowing knowingly from a crisp acoustic rhythm guitar intro into a full-band propulsiveness. There in fact is where the song wins me over, as the band kicks in and is followed shortly by O’Connor now backing herself with octave harmonies. I remain ever the sucker for octave harmonies–that is, when the harmony vocal is singing the same note as the melody but either one octave higher or lower. I love this almost every time. At this point I begin to notice how certain lines from the lyrics jump out and resonate—“I didn’t know I was a target till you made me feel like one”; “Maybe next time you’ll remember to remember every time”–even as the song never pauses long enough to draw extra attention to the sad story being told. Nice stuff. “Hole in the Road” will appear on O’Connor’s new CD, The Color and the Light, when it is released in early May on Red Panda Records. The MP3 is available via O’Connor’s web site.

“For Real” – Okkervil River

Time and again here in the 21st century I am taken aback—pleasantly and resonantly—by the musical depth and breadth on display by the widest variety of independent bands and artists from both around the country and around the world. The Austin-based band Okkervil River—whose song “It Ends With a Fall” was a “This Week’s Finds” pick in February 2004—is a great example of how rich and confident a sound awaits us from any number of relatively unknown ensembles. If last time I was perhaps a bit distracted by what I heard as the band’s distinct Wilco-ishness, this time Okkervil River has a whole lot more on immediate display, offering up a vibrant, edgy song combining a range of sounds and emotion into one dramatic whole. “For Real” is marked by a palpable tension between constraint and unfettered release—heard most obviously in the juxtaposition of the quiet singing and loud guitar bursts in the opening section, and carried through most of all in singer Will Sheff’s vocals, which alternate between a tender waver and an emotion-choked wail. This song is the second track on the band’s new CD Black Sheep Boy, their fourth full-length disc, released earlier this month on Jagjaguwar Records; the MP3 comes to us via the record label site.

“Boys and Children (Sing for Summer)” – Those Transatlantics
This song makes me happy–a bright blue flowering tree smell sort of silly happy, to be somewhat specific, while rather vague at the same time. What begins as a clean-cut sort of dreamy-jangly-sing-song-y pop song evolves through almost five minutes into an unexpectedly satisfying if goofy aural adventure. Anchored in the crisp, airy, layered vocals of Kathleen Bracken, “Boys and Children” chimes along sweetly for two full minutes, keeping the listener suspended in a what’s-going-to-happen-next state of awareness before a fluttery fadeout brings us smack into a jaunty time change, as Bracken starts a fetching sort of call-and-response section with herself. Early Jane Siberry comes to mind, not only because of Bracken’s vocal resemblance to Queen Jane but because of how the band as a whole combines playfulness with a resilient musical assuredness. Forty seconds later we fade again, only to revisit the opening melody, joyously re-set with a glistening new beat, underscored by happy keyboard riffs. And then the final payoff–a return to the call-and-response section, but now keyboard player Chris Hatfield joins in and addresses Bracken directly; the song ends with a goofy discussion of the song itself, set to music. Fun. Hailing from the funky central Michigan college town of Mt. Pleasant, Those Transatlantics were founded in 2003 and have two EPs out to date. “Boys and Children” appears to be a new song; the MP3 comes from the band’s web site.

“Fudgicle” – the Lovely Feathers
Many are now aware that Canada is all but flooding us with high-quality 21st-century rock’n’roll, but I don’t think we all know about this Montreal quintet with the odd name and a penchant for tight, punchy, somewhat off-kilter music. My goodness, just listen to the opening chords: it’s a simple riff but it bursts with a substance and spirit that transcends the notes being crunched out. The Lovely Feathers feature a pair of twitchy vocalists, Mark Kupfert and Richard Yanofsky, both of whom waver between reined-in tunefulness and wigged-out Pere Ubu-ishness, but I’m with them all the way because of a wonderful recurring motif that appears, almost out of the blue, forty seconds in–a thorny guitar melody set off against a majestic, new-wave-ish synthesizer. How this arises and weaves into the confident drive of this urgent song speaks to me of a band that really knows what it’s doing. On the other hand, what the hell are they singing about? Your guess is, probably, better than mine. “Fudgicle” is a song off the band’s debut CD, My Best Friend Daniel, released in 2004 on a label called Love Your Diary; the MP3 is available via the band’s site.

“What Happened to the Sands” – Pas/Cal
Detroit’s answer to Belle and Sebastian, if Stuart Murdoch had a love-hate relationship with Brian Wilson. Smooth and peppy on the surface, this song offers an outpouring of sonic treats, from appealing melodies and spiffy chord changes to spacious drum beats, falsetto harmonies, and sleighbell accents, wrapped up in a listenable but mystifying structure. The time changes 40 seconds in and never changes back, and there seems to be neither a chorus nor, in fact, any discernible verses. And yet somehow it still feels very much like a song, which strikes me as both an interesting effect and a worthy accomplishment. “What Happened to the Sands” can be found on the band’s second EP, entitled Oh Honey, We’re Ridiculous, released in March 2004 by Le Grand Magistery. A full-length CD is apparently in the works. The MP3 arrives courtesy of band’s site.

“Old Shit/New Shit” – Eels

There is something weirdly comforting about hearing Mark Oliver Everett–aka E, doing business as Eels—unload a new cheerful/depressing song on us, just when we need it most. The driving beat, the distinctive chimes, the seriously despairful lyrics, the unaccountable moments of silence, and E’s gruff but disarmingly melodious voice–all of it brings me back to, oh, 1996 or so. And yet (as he well knows) how much is very very different now than it was back when he had a minor pop cultural moment seeking some novocaine for his soul. Gliding by in an airy couple of minutes, “Old Shit/New Shit” is one of more than 30 songs on eels’ upcoming double-CD Blinking Lights and Other Revelations, to be released later this month on Vagrant Records.

“This Time” – Lismore

An appealing amalgam of trip-hoppy textures and wistful melody, “This Time” launches off the repetition of two notes, the first repeated seven times, the second five times. The notes are adjacent to one another, which makes it a so-called “second” interval. It’s an interesting interval because it’s the most natural one when the notes are played separately (we’re talking “do” to “re” here, one logical step up) and yet a jarring (in musical terms, “dissonant”) interval if the notes are played at the same time. There is a compelling, depth-laden tension in the air, then, when a songs grounds itself in a second interval; Lismore works within and around the tension astutely, floating mismatched synthesizer lines on top, glitching up the middle with a variety of electronica fuzz, and anchoring the bottom with an actual bass and drum kit. That we are dealing with a singer with as warm a voice as Australia-born Penelope Trappes adds to the delicious juxtapositions here. “This Time” can be found on Lismore’s debut full-length CD, We Could Connect Or We Could Not, released earlier this year on Cult Hero Records. The MP3 is available via the band’s web site.

“Freakin’ Out” – Graham Coxon

An unabashed shot of guitar rock, emphasis on guitar, from the former Blur guitarist. After nodding off to a few too many Blur songs that idled in one key, almost literally (and don’t get me wrong, I mostly liked the band!), I find myself all but slapped to attention by the crisp and crackly sizzle immediately on display here. On top of its Clash-like swagger and British-punk energy, “Freakin’ Out” adds enough fiery guitar work to spring-clean your brain in three and a half minutes. Anthemic riffs, solid arcs of sound, acrobatic fingerwork, and a way-too-cool solo, it’s all here, wrapped in and around a just-this-side-of-insipid ditty. Great for blasting out the windows if the weather ever warms up and if it stops raining. “Freakin’ Out” is the single from Coxon’s latest CD, Happiness in Magazines, released in the U.S. in January on Astralwerks. (The record was originally released in the U.K. last May.) The MP3 is stored over at SXSW.com.

“Hey Now Now” – the Cloud Room

Cross the Strokes with New Order and they might come out sounding like this, if the lead singer were Richard Butler’s first cousin (Butler being the lead singer of the Psychedelic Furs). Whether the titular nod to OutKast’s monster “Hey Ya” is intentional, there’s something of that song’s relentless infectiousness at play here, funneled through a downtown NYC sound, all rumbly drumbeats, Farfisa-like keyboards, and prickly, surf-style guitars. I imagine if you were to hear this song live in a club you wouldn’t stop bouncing around for a good few days, and I’m tempted to think we could all use that sort of vibe right about now. Not to be confused with the wonderful Laura Veirs song of the same name, the Cloud Room is a New York-based foursome featuring a guy named J on vocals and guitar, just so you know. “Hey Now Now” will be found on the band’s self-titled debut CD, scheduled for release on Gigantic Music on April 19th.

“A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left” – Andrew Bird

I’m not sure when I’ve heard such a diverse, unexpected, and yet disconcertingly organic 20 seconds of music as can be found towards the end of the introductory section of this curiously titled song from the idiosyncratic Mr. Bird. After an echoey electronic burst, the song begins with voice and acoustic guitar, the singer providing a clear if rather wacky introduction to the subject at hand, and then, around 45 seconds into it, comes this marvelous 20-second stretch: a violin takes over, changes key at least twice without playing many notes, then (somehow) hands it off seamlessly to an electric guitar; said guitar issues an assured couple of strums before giving way to what sounds like a ghostly synthesizer, accompanied by some Beatle-like string punctuations. But hold on, this “synthesizer” is Bird himself, whistling. He’s an expert whistler, it seems, in addition to being a classically trained violinist. This song is so hard to describe and yet so craftily put together that I seem only to be able to talk about short stretches of it. Another great one happens at around 1:45, at the end of the verse; here, Bird breaks off, nearly a capella, and modulates himself through a captivating series of chord changes, leading into the chorus, from whence cometh the title. I have a feeling many listens are required to have this all coalesce meaningfully, and I have no doubt that those listens will be rewarded. This song can be found on Bird’s latest CD, The Mysterious Production of Eggs, which was released in February on Righteous Babe Records. The MP3 can be found on Bird’s web site.

“So Begins Our Alabee” – Of Montreal

This is another unusually put together song, but in quite a different way than “Nervous Tic.” Opening like the Beach Boys on Ecstasy, “So Begins Our Alabee” flits through a number of different electronic and guitar sounds in its extended introduction before settling on a driving beat that sets up a very simple but undeniably catchy vocal section. Singer/guitarist Kevin Barnes bears a happy aural resemblance to Aztec Camera’s Roddy Frame, and sings with the same elastic bounce in his throat; even though he ends up repeating the same melody line over and over in lieu of any real chorus or verse structure, he does so with such engaging energy, surrounds himself with gleeful harmonies, and leaves off with a memorable lyric (“Girl I never want to be your little friendly abject failure”) that it all seems to work somehow. Of Montreal is actually not; rather than being another cool band from Canada, they are another cool band from Athens, Georgia, emerging in 1997 out of the so-called Elephant 6 collective–and no, I can never quite get my arms around what a “collective” actually is, but no doubt it’s a generational difficulty on my part; at some point in the ’90s bands started having this loose, shape-shift-y way of “emerging” from “collectives.” I do know that “So Begins Our Alabee” is a song from the band’s new CD, The Sunlandic Twins, to be released on Polyvinyl Records on April 12th. The MP3 is on the Polyvinyl web site.