Category: MP3s

“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.

“Speech With Animals” – Palaxy Tracks

I find the beginning of this song has been popping in my head randomly and repeatedly for the past couple of weeks, ever since I first listened to it. The only explanation I can offer is that this is one incredibly, indelibly gorgeous song; even before I had fully absorbed it, my brain was singing it back to me. After a laid-back but authoritative drumbeat, shuffly and welcoming, we hear a guitar describing a simple third that descends and ascends, just that, plainly and without hurry. Then comes the central melody, aching and beautiful, accentuated by lead singer Brandon Durham’s tender but resilient voice. The guy sounds like he’s sitting on a lot of hurt, but refuses to get maudlin about it; everything here is about understatement—that this is a song without a chorus seems only fitting somehow. The lyrics are elusively about a relationship on the brink of ruin, and arrive at an emotional brink themselves as a swelling sort of controlled noise rises in the background but never quite takes over. “Speech With Animals” will be the lead track on the band’s new CD, Twelve Rooms, due out in April. The MP3 comes from SXSW.com.

“Cold Cold Water” – Mirah

A strangely hypnotic sort of indie-folk-rock epic, complete with orchestral flourishes and dramatic gestures, “Cold Cold Water” is held together first and foremost by Mirah’s immediately endearing voice. Picture Edie Brickell crossed with Liz Phair and you might get close to Mirah’s matter-of-fact sweetness; add a sprinkle (just a sprinkle) of Kate Bush for an underlying sense of drama and here you are, in a place you’ve probably never been before. “Cold Cold Water” develops instrumentally in an almost indescribable way–much of the time, Mirah sings against a sparse but evocative background; intermittently things explode in various ways; nothing happens quite the same way twice; all sorts of interesting accompaniments (listen for strings and percussion in particular) are encountered along the way. I can’t think of that many songs that pull off the feat of being truly innovative and truly engaging simultaneously but this does it for me. A road warrior and full-fledged free spirit (apparently born on a kitchen table, she grew up in an artistic, hippie, macrobiotic household), Mirah (full name: Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn) has aquired a devoted left-of-center following over the past four or five years, and while not to be confused with the band Marah, both are in fact from Philadelphia. “Cold Cold Water” can be found on Mirah’s 2002 CD, Advisory Committee, released by K Records. The MP3 is available on the K Records web site.

“Don’t Push” – the Exit

Here’s a New York City trio that answers the burning question: what would the Police have sounded like if Thom Yorke had been the lead singer? I for one find the Police influence refreshing; and I’m talking the early, reggae-inflected, percussive singles like “Roxanne” and “Can’t Stand Losing You.” For all that Sting has become, for better or worse, over the years, it’s nice to take a breath and remember the raw vivid energy the Police hit the ground with in the late ’70s, and nice to see a new band drawing upon that sound for some 21st-century-style inspiration. “Don’t Push” may not be a truly great song but it sounds great coming out of the speakers, all sharp-edged, rumbly, and assured. Maybe it’s just me reliving a moment of actual awe (I swear I can still picture where I was and who I was with when we threw the “Roxanne” 45–yeah it was an actual 45 back then–on the turntable and sat there slackjawed at what we heard), but what the heck. Yet another MP3 from the incredible SXSW.com repository, this song is from The Exit’s 2004 CD Home For an Island, released on Some Records.

“I Predict a Riot” – the Kaiser Chiefs

In both sound and sheer exuberant panache, this song more than any I’ve heard in the last few years recalls one of rock history’s greatest of time/places–Great Britain in the late ’70s. Urgent, vibrant, crazy-catchy singles poured overseas from the U.K. during that high-spirited time when punk transmuted into new wave. There was no separation between pop and credibility back then, perhaps because back then pop music could have (for lack of a more elegant word) balls–not to be confused with simple vulgarity, by the way. From the Sex Pistols, the Clash, and the Jam through the Stiff Records gang (Elvis Costello among them), the Buzzcocks, the Undertones, and many others, the years 1977 through 1979 gave birth to a flood of roiling, vivid singles, each sporting a terrific melody–even if the singer (as often was the case) sneered his way through the song. “I Predict a Riot” gives us simple, memorable melodies in all three sections of the song (verse, bridge, chorus), which sounds like a straightforward feat until you realize how few songs bother to achieve it. Like many of the Jam singles in particular (check that band out please if you’ve never heard them!), this song adds a thread of minor-key and lyrical menace to the cheery fabric; the vague sensation that maybe you’ve heard this all before only heightens the engagement. The song, a sensation in England, will be available in the U.S. on Employment, the band’s debut CD, set for a major-label release here this week on Universal. The MP3 can be found on SXSW.com.

“Axons and Dendrites” – Shipping News

Perhaps it’s only fitting that a song called “Axons and Dendrites” have so much depth and tension, so much implied mysteriously below the surface. As far as I can tell, this piece is built largely upon a recurring two-chord progression (the two nerve processes of the title?), but the chords are so spacious and so good–the second so completely satisfying and yet continually unexpected-sounding an arrival point–that a fully textured adventure results. Shipping News affects a lot through juxtaposition, the most prominent one being the matching of a rapid, tribal-like drumbeat against the slow unfolding of the two chords; listen as well to the way the ringing guitar that offers the signature chords plays against an undercurrent of muddy-fuzzy guitar noise, and to how the bass flits in and out of awareness, sometimes offering high-register melody, other times sinking down into the primal groove driving the song ever forward. A four-piece band with roots in Louisville, Kentucky, these guys have been around since 1996 and the experience shows. “Axons and Dendrites” is the opening track on their third CD, Flies the Field, to be released next week on Quarterstick Records.

“Oh Heart” – Jill Barber

An old-timey tune sung by a young Canadian singer/songwriter with an old-timey voice, “Oh Heart” is not the sort of song that screamed “Pick me! Pick me!,” waving its hands and jumping out of its chair to get here. But there was something in its insinuating melody and well-crafted homespun-iness that has worked to charm me as I’ve listened repeatedly over the last couple of weeks. (Note that it did keep calling for repeated listens.) Fans of Kate and Anna McGarrigle will feel an immediate affinity to Barber’s tremulous alto and back-porch arrangements; I hear hints of the great Ron Sexsmith (another Canadian) in the way this song mixes fragile beauty with rock-solid songwriting. Barber is the younger sister of Matthew Barber, who is himself far more well-known up North than he is here in the U.S. “Oh Heart” comes from a six-song EP Barber released last year by Dependent Music. The MP3 comes (where else?) from SXSW.com.

“The Engine Driver” – the Decemberists

With crisp, minor-chord rhythm guitar, spacious yet intimate percussion, and an unusually effective melodica, the Decemberists deliver a haunting take on the time-honored train song—whether metaphorical or actual, the train conjured here both lyrically and musically feels lost even as it chugs by necessity along its predestined tracks. While not as obviously a historical tale as many this unique band has told, there’s yet something in the graceful fabric that suggests history (and history’s handmaiden, loss)—something that has much to do with the distinctive, nasal urgings of singer/songwriter Colin Meloy’s voice and his singular syntax and vocabulary. “The Engine Driver” will be found on the band’s new Picaresque CD, due out on the Kill Rock Stars label on March 22. MP3 via Better Propaganda.

“Turtle and the Flightless Bird” – Devin Davis

Chicago bedroom rocker Devin Davis opens his mouth and Ray Davies all but tumbles out. This is a fine thing in and of itself, as I am kindly disposed to anyone properly inspired by the Kinks. But Davis (and isn’t come to think of it “Davies” pronounced “Davis” in the U.K.?), to my ears, has much more going for him than a Kinks fixation, a fact made clearest by his achievement as a singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/arranger/engineer/producer. Technology has made it easy enough to be a one-person band in your own home studio, but rarely will you hear a bedroom rocker who sounds as loose and unfettered as Davis does. Think of it: to do all this yourself requires incredible precision and repetition; how do you then produce something that sounds so loose and alive? Playing the part here of a crestfallen turtle who appears to have lost his true, inter-species love, Davis delivers a song buzzing with spirit and life. From the quiet, bouncy-sad electric piano intro through to the heart-opening chorus, with its stirring melody and ramshackle feel, he not only transcends his influences, he transcends his technology. “Turtle and the Flightless Bird” comes from Davis’s debut CD, Lonely People of the World, Unite!, set for release on (of course) his own Mousse Records imprint next week. The MP3 is available on his web site.

“The Swish” – the Hold Steady

Cross early Bruce Springsteen with mid-career Iggy Pop and you get a harsh, riveting slash of wordy, sardonic rock’n’roll that at the same time offers a bracing, Dada-ist antidote to the retro-’80s love-fest dominating the indie rock scene here in the mid’-00s. (As singer/guitarist Craig Finn directly notes in this song: “I’ve survived the 80s one time already/And I don’t recall them all that fondly.”) This song isn’t pretty; there’s no real chorus; the band isn’t trying to get you to like them. The Hold Steady throw a lot of electricity into their particular rock’n’roll stew and the end result may not be beautiful but to me it sounds not only compelling but maybe even original, which is saying a lot at this particular point in the rock timeline. “The Swish” comes from The Hold Steady Almost Killed Me, the band’s first CD, released last year on French Kiss Records. A new CD is due out in May. The MP3 is available on the band’s web site.

“Woman King” – Iron and Wine

A timeless sort of mystery hangs in the air from the opening rhythms of this satisfying new song from Sam Beam, the one-man band who calls himself Iron and Wine. While the critically-acclaimed Beam in the past has been just a little too whispery-slow for my tastes, here he finds a propulsive, ancient-seeming groove to explore; combined with concrete, evocative lyrics, the results are deep, elusive, and magical. While his acoustic guitar is still center stage (I’m loving his slide work in particular), Beam delivers an outstandingly textured song through the use of precise percussion, engaging electric guitar accents, even what sounds like a woodwind-like synthesizer line. “Woman King” is the title track to a six-song EP released last week on Sub Pop Records. The MP3 is up on the Sub Pop site. Me, I’m going to go back and listen to some of his other songs again; maybe I’m now ready to hear what many others have been hearing in him for a while already.

“Ablaze” – Liz Durrett

Liz Durrett proves that slow doesn’t have to mean boring, trombones aren’t necessarily out of place in a moody rock song, and that Athens, Georgia isn’t finished spawning worthy musicians. After a pensive, minor-key guitar intro, Durrett enters, awash in echoes and echoed by (yes) a trombone chorus. I am hooked by the oddly glowing shadowiness of it all. Durrett has a substantive duskiness to her voice, and a pleasing way of creating melody out of a minimum of notes. “Ablaze” is one of nine songs on her debut CD, Husk, which was released last week on Athens-based Warm Records. Durrett is a niece of the offbeat singer/songwriter Vic Chesnutt, who produced the record. These songs were all written between 1996 and 1999, when Durrett was still in her teens; an album of newer material will apparently be released before the year is out. The “Ablaze” MP3 is available
through SXSW.com.

“Underwater Wave Game” – Pit Er Pat

A strangely engaging little song from a strange little guitar-free band. Keep your ears on the opening piano motif–an endearing string of ascending four-note clusters. They form the backbone of this indecipherable song; when they disappear in the chorus, we’re a little disconcerted but some of the unusual intervals singer/keyboard player Fay Davis-Jeffers leaps to and from vocally become their own sort of hook, and before long we’re swimming along again with the endearing piano. At about 1:55, however, I feel I’m in over my head as the song hits an almost dissonant stretch all the way to 2:45. But—hurrah—the piano motif returns triumphantly, and in so doing justifies the ornery section. All in all this sounds engagingly like, oh, I don’t know—maybe the Waitresses singing Genesis after listening to Talking Heads ’77. Or maybe not. In any case, I have been listening and listening to this, continually assuming I wouldn’t actually end up featuring it but I kept hitting the play button again and again, finally alerting me to the fact that even if my brain can’t figure out why I like this some other parts of me obviously do. The song will be on Pit Er Pat’s full-length debut, entitled Shakey, to be released in early March on Thrill Jockey Records. The MP3 is available on the band’s site.

“California” – Low

How much to keep sounding the same and how much to evolve and explore is a question that faces all bands that manage to stay together for more than a few years. Remain too much the same and risk staleness (“There’s a fine line between a groove and rut,” as Christine Lavin once sang); change too much and risk alienating fans who like how you sound already, thank you very much. And in the indie rock world, any change that smacks of “accessibility” is treated with the harshest of scorn, for reasons I have never quite figured out. In any case, here’s Low, a band from northern Minnesota that cultivated a devoted following through the ’90s while giving new depth of meaning to the word “slow” in the so-called “slowcore” genre. And here’s a song from their latest CD, The Great Destroyer (Subpop Records) that moves with a nice crunchy, toe-tappy bounce. This is not the first upbeat song the band has recorded by any means, but so far they remain indelibly associated with their brooding, slow-burning material. Me, I’m enjoying the grit and intensity a band that knows slow brings to a peppier number. On the one hand, I love the big, fat, but still ambiguous chords that open the song, and drive its center; but on the other hand, check this out: right at the moment in the song where songs that have these kind of big, fat chords will break into a bashing, cathartic instrumental break (at around 2:00 here), Low, slyly, retreats into quiet–instead of big bashes we get a slow, ringing guitar and gentle harmonies, which simmer slowly together before delivering a final almost-bash. Pretty cool. The MP3 is available on the Subpop web site; the CD was released in January.

“Born” – Over the Rhine

Over the Rhine’s Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist have learned over the years how to make a singular sort of aching, exquisite music–at once brilliantly wrought and deeply relaxed, equal parts off-hand expertise and deep humanity. “Born” is soft and soulful, an acoustic strummer enhanced by melancholy, restrained steel guitar accents and a piano played with such a warm touch I want to curl up in bed with it. And then of course there’s Bergquist’s bewitching voice, which, if an acquired taste, is way worth acquiring. “Born” will be found on the band’s new CD Drunkard’s Prayer, set for release in late March on Back Porch Records. The MP3 is one of two from the CD now available at PasteMusic.com.

“Sidestepping” – Doris Henson

From the largely ignored metropolis of Kansas City, Kansas comes this curiously named five-man band with a curious-sounding song. Over an itchy, bare-bones rhythm (drumbeat, erratically strummed guitar with some well-placed feedback), “Sidestepping” begins sketchily, singer Matthew Dunehoo’s airy, high-pitched voice kind of toying with the lyrics at first. There seems not to be a verse or chorus; instead, Dunehoo merely sings a lazy, descending melody in between instrumental breaks. But, hey: the volume and intensity of the accompaniment cranks up a notch at around 2:13 and as this subtly new soundscape unfolds, I am transfixed. Everything is the same but different: the lazy descending melody is stretched and hung now upon dramatic chord changes, and Dunehoo’s singing acquires an edgy substance that sounds appealingly to me like Brian Eno doing his best Ray Davies impersonation. “Sidestepping” comes from the band’s new CD, Give Me All Your Money, their second, which will be released later this month on Desoto Records. The MP3 has moved around over the years but it’s still up as of 2011 on The Pitch, a Kansas City alternative paper.