Category: MP3s

This Week’s Finds: January 16-22 (Audible, Provan, Chad VanGaalen)

“Sunday Bell” – Audible

The way the crisp guitars and simply articulated piano refrain leap into motion is instantly heartwarming; I already know I’m going to follow this song wherever it wants to go. I am quickly rewarded, as the first place it goes is into Mike Kennedy’s appealing tenor–he sounds like an upbeat Elliott Smith, replacing Smith’s wavering fragility with a bell-like resolution. The song gains a lot of power by its capacity to sound both sad and happy at the same tinme: the melody is bittersweet and descending, but the rhythm drives forward with vigor. Kennedy’s wonderful voice bridges the dichotomy perfectly, effective at both the upper (listen to how he sings the word “decision” in the second line) and lower ends of his register (as the melody heads downward, his voice seems to expand and envelope the sonic landscape). I also like how the driving rhythm is interrupted in the bridge section, itself split into two parts: opening with a sharp, punctuating beat, the melody continues but the accompaniment glides into a swinging sort of two-step. This whole section is underscored by a subtle dissonant sustained note on the synthesizer (sounds like maybe a ninth), before resolving into a reprise of the main melody. “Sunday Bell” will be found on the band’s debut CD, Sky Signal, scheduled for release on January 25th on Polyvinyl Records. The MP3 is available on the Polyvinyl web site.


“I Won the Context” – Provan

Sometimes, very often, maybe even most of the time, it’s just a little thing that makes a song fly. That’s what we’re looking for: songs that fly. Lots of songs walk reasonably well (even as, of course, many can’t even crawl), but not many soar. That said, there is no–absolutely no–formula for how to fly. Often it’ll be the plainest sort of extra touch (an almost random-seeming melodic twist, a particular chord in a particular place, the quality a singer’s voice attains during one specific syllable) that launches a song, unexpectedly. In this case, it’s singer/guitarist Joe Kelly’s one-octave vocal leap in the verse–when he gets to the word “prize,” to use the first example. It’s a simple thing, could’ve even been an afterthought, but when he does that, to my ears, the song takes off. Of course, one might reasonably ask whether this little vocal leap would have had the same effect without everything else cool going on in this song: the punchy, inventive drum work, the way the melodic lead guitar works against the band’s churning-crunchy sound, and the subtle strength of Kelly’s voice itself the rest of the way–while he sings with the high yearning sweetness of many a power-pop frontman, he’s got an underlying muscle to him (reminsicent, to me, of Peter Case, for those who know his stuff). So maybe it’s not a simple thing after all, come to think of it. “I Won the Context” is a song from a yet-unreleased EP from the Brooklyn-based Provan, who have two previous EPs to their name. The MP3 can be found on the band’s web site. Thanks to visitor Mary, from the PowerPop blog, for the tip on this one.


“Traffic” – Chad VanGaalen

With an endearing Neil Young-ish-ness to both his voice and the resolute idiosyncracy of his music, Chad VanGaalen is a Canadian bedroom rocker beginning to attract attention very much outside the bedroom. Crankily engaging from the get-go–there’s something satisfying and brilliant about how he matches his high voice in the verse against a bass playing the same notes way below–“Traffic” pumps along with both grit and perkiness, a lo-fi production with hi-fi instincts. After 10 years of writing and recording literally hundreds of songs, VanGaalen put 19 of these songs together onto a debut CD, Infiniheart, released in a very limited way last March by Flemish Eye Records. Slowly word began to spread; with the buzz really picking up by year-end 2004, the CD is now slated for a larger re-release this spring. “Traffic” is the closing song on VanGaalen’s CD; the MP3 is available on the Flemish Eye web site.

This Week’s Finds: Jan. 2-8 (Imaginary Baseball League, Seachange, Controller.Controller)

“Fat Boys Are Not Athletes” – Imaginary Baseball League

Muscular and precise, this song is driven by a snare-less drumbeat and an itchy, energetic low-register guitar line. This is right away a wonderful thing, as rock’n’roll history is pockmarked by guitarists who tend to wail unaccountably in the upper register. But listen to how compelling and grounded and unpredictable the instrument sounds when the guitarist keeps his or her fingers up at the top of the neck. Singer/guitarist Aaron Robinson’s urgent—but, also, not too high—voice adds to the tension and drive; he has the nervous edge of a David Byrne or Adrian Belew while staying largely out of their sort of upper-register singing. Robinson actually reminds me of Gary Clark, lead singer of the by now obscure Scottish band Danny Wilson (they had a hit in the ’80s with the song “Mary’s Prayer”); there is something reminiscent of the Blue Nile in Imaginary Baseball League as well–perhaps they have an affinity for Scottish rock bands. I for one wouldn’t have expected it from a four-man band from the Nashville area, but clearly there’s more to the music scene down there than the Grand Ole Opry. “Fat Boys Are Not Athletes” comes from Imaginary Baseball League’s self-released 2004 CD Revive; you’ll find the MP3 on the group’s web site. Thanks to visitor Ben for the suggestion.


“Walking in the Air” – Seachange

A reverberant dream of a song, “Walking in the Air” sweeps me in and slows me down; it seems literally to require the listener to meet it on its own, decelerated terms. Using echoey synthesizers, aching minor chords, subtly shifting time signatures, and inventive production, Seachange succeeds in the more-difficult-than-it-seems task of creating real drama in a soft and langorous aural environment. The one-minute, ten-second introduction is itself a marvel of slowed-down luminosity; by the time the violin emerges from the background to add a sad, clean note over the gathering rumble, I feel my heart rate has already been slowed, my breathing deeper and more mindful. Singer/violinist Johanna Woodnutt’s breath-filled soprano, singing largely indecipherable words, seems the ideal addition to the half-folk, half-psychedelic ambiance; what else, after all, could this song be called but “Walking in the Air”? Seachange is a six-piece band from Nottingham, England; the song, apparently not otherwise released yet, is available as a Christmas present on the band’s web site. Thanks to the ever-vigilant Largehearted Boy for the tip.


“Silent Seven” – Controller.Controller

The Pretenders meet the Gang of Four via Public Image Ltd. Or something like that. In any case, this Toronto-based quintet has definitely found inspiration in some of the post-punk music of the late ’70s and early ’80s. But these guys seem to want more than anarchy or dissonance with their dancebeat; both in terms of melody and structure, “Silent Seven” is disarmingly well-crafted, unfolding with a simmering sense of grandeur. Funny, here’s another song with a minute-long introduction, but how different the vibe than with the Seachange song. And here’s another group with a nervous-edged vocalist, but here we have the exotic and powerful Nirmala Basnayake evoking Chrissie Hynde rather than David Byrne. As with many songs that I end up writing about, “Silent Seven” is another that delivers all the way through, rather than coasting towards a finish–note in this case the guitar chords that ring out, rhythmically, at around 3:45, and the nifty, satisfying change the instrument glides into at 3:50. This with the song nearly over. “Silent Seven” is the third track on an EP called History, the band’s first recording, which was released in 2004 on Paper Bag Records. You’ll find the MP3 on the band’s web site.

This Week’s Finds: Dec. 26-Jan . 1 (Dead Meadow, Bill Ricchini, Emma McGlynn)

“At Her Open Door” – Dead Meadow

I am always partial to bands that can establish a distinct sonic presence quickly. The D.C.-based trio Dead Meadow does well this way, with its Led Zeppelin-meets-R.E.M. vibe: big, searing guitar lines mixed into the background, propelled by a fuzzy folk-rock vibe and chords that take you right back to the late ’60s or early ’70s (for instance, count along with each of the opening beats and when you get to seven—there, that’s a combination of notes and sounds that speaks to us from the past). I also like the quality of singer-guitarist Jason Simon’s voice, how it is not of the usual tone or timbre that I’m used to hearing with this sort of slurry, heavy-chiming environment–he’s more Robert Smith (the Cure) than Robert Plant (Zep). The song weaves an insistent if nebulous spell through its largely indecipherable lyric section, then opens out at about 3:30 into an extended instrumental coda. Churning, psychedelic guitars come to the front, but listen too for the dreamy, choral-like synthesizers up on top. “At Her Open Door” will be found on the band’s CD Feathers, scheduled for release in February on Matador Records. The MP3 can be found on the Matador site.


“Ballad in 2D” – Bill Ricchini

This song has a lot of things going against it, to my ears. I’m not a particular fan of lo-fi, “bedroom”-style rock’n’roll, which this most definitely is; while I like Elliott Smith’s music, I’m not usually happy with anyone who sort of sounds like him; and I also tend to hold in suspicion songs with lyrics that don’t scan well (i.e. when the singer has sometimes to put the emphasis on the incorrect syllable to make the line fit with the music). All these things apply to “Ballad in 2D,” and, what do you know, I still think it’s haunting and memorable–perhaps all the more haunting and memorable because it manages to transcend its potential drawbacks. Ricchini knows his way around the sounds at his disposal, but he doesn’t overdue it–he uses layers organically, while other bedroom recorders tend to overcompensate and pile on in a way that sounds phony. But what sells me finally is the beautiful and beautifully presented chorus. Here Ricchini allows the simple but brilliant, Bacharach-esque melody to take center stage, much the way Ron Sexsmith so often does with his simple and brilliant melodies. “Ballad in 2D” comes from Ricchini’s one and only CD to date, Ordinary Time, which was recorded (yup) in his bedroom in South Philadelphia and released in 2002. The MP3 can be found on Ricchini’s web site.


“Whole Heap” – Emma McGlynn and the Monorails

Blistering and glistening, “Whole Heap” is an emotional freight train of a song. While Ani DiFranco inevitably comes to mind (ferocious acoustic guitar work, emotive singing, hyper-self-involved lyrics, self-owned record company), I think McGlynn is carving out her own sound within this particular niche. Both musically and lyrically harsher than “Impatience” (a Fingertips Top 10 selection earlier this year) “Whole Heap” uses blazing electric guitars and thrashing drumwork to crank the intensity up a few notches. Even in the more frenzied setting, McGlynn sings with uncanny precision–a sort of out-of-control control. And then I like how she pulls back at around a minute-fifty, running her voice through a filter, only to plunge forward into a full-fledged PJ Harvey-ish catharsis as the piece careers toward a distorted, plug-pulling end. “Whole Heap” is the lead track on McGlynn’s Kamikaze Birdie CD, which was originally released last year on McGlynn’s own Impatio Sound label; it was apparently re-released in September of this year with distribution through Genepool/Universal. The MP3 is available on McGlynn’s web site. (Be aware that there are a number of audible “naughty words” along the way, in case you’re playing this on your speakers where others can hear.)

This Week’s Finds: Dec. 19-25 (Explosions in the Sky, Amy Miles, Autolux)

“Memorial” – Explosions in the Sky

At once contemplative and majestic, the instrumental “Memorial” unfolds with precision and grace; it feels like a story someone is telling you in a language you can’t quite understand. With chiming guitars, an expansive sense of song, and a controlled use of both ends of the volume dial, Explosions in the Sky sound like they must be from Europe somewhere. But what the heck, they’re just a little old band from Texas, which gives me more faith in Texas than I might otherwise have (no offense to the many other Texans I don’t know who would also give me faith in the place!). This is an edited version (it’s still 6:23) of a longer (8:50) piece; one of just five long songs on the band’s second CD, The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place, released last year on the Temporary Residence label. You’ll find the MP3 on the Temporary Residence site. “First Breath After Coma,” another excellent song from the CD, is available as an MP3 through the Bella Union Records site (Bella Union is the band’s label in the U.K.); the only reason I didn’t choose that song over this one is because to access the MP3 at Bella Union, you have to give them an email address. I have no particular issues about doing that, but I prefer if possible not to feature MP3s with obstacles.)


“Kill to Know” – Amy Miles

Like Liz Phair before her extreme makeover, Amy Miles writes down and dirty songs and sings them with an appealing sort of blase-ness. The verse here is sly, itchy, and confrontational; the instrumentation effectively sparse but spacious. Well and good, left at that. But check out the chorus–even as the rhythm continues its unassuming chugging in the background, Miles here sneaks in a casually perfect melodic line (with the words “What is it that you want to know?”), something you might hear in a song by the band Garbage, or maybe in one of the Pretenders’ older, poppier moments. A nugget of surprise in this homespun number, the chorus is subtly augmented by well-placed noodles on the electric guitar underneath and blossoming synthesizers above. This musical moment makes me smile each time it comes around, as does her voice the more I listen to it. “Kill to Know” is the lead track on the CD Dirty Stay-Out (2002), her only album to date. The MP3 is available on her web site. (No more MP3 available but here’s the video….)




Here Comes Everybody” – Autolux

Breathy-noisy neo-psychedelic rock’n’roll from a well-connected new Los Angeles band. Don’t miss the opening notes–they may sound like a throw-away electronic bangle but there’s a lot going on here. First of all, listen to the sound itself: it’s a strange and wonderful blending of a plucked string and a retro-future-y sort of synthesizer-static noise. Very cool. And even cooler that the octave interval the noise describes is seamlessly incorporated into the open-chorded introduction, and again later in the song. Turns out this bit is one of many engaging and sophisticated production touches you’ll hear here. And guess why? Autolux was signed to DMZ Records, a label co-created by T Bone Burnett and movie makers Joel and Ethan Coen; Burnett is the producer here. Great to hear a gifted (older) hand at the dials for a new band–I think there are bountiful synergies to be encountered via such couplings; too bad the mechanics and economics of the music world don’t often allow it. The song comes from the band’s debut CD, Future Perfect, released in October; the MP3 is available on Insound. (There is no direct link available, so you can’t hear it, but the MP3 is still on Insound for downloading if you click on the song title.)

This Week’s Finds: Dec. 12-18 (Danny Allen, De Novo Dahl, Muckner)

“Howdy” – Danny Allen

This song is driven by a vivid, swampy-slowness that I wouldn’t have previously identified as a sound that would pull me in. And yet “Howdy”–without a glistening melody or engaging complexity–pulls me in most assuredly. How does this work? Well, to begin with, the opening minor-key guitar arpeggio is satisfyingly skewed. Then Allen enters with his full-throated voice detailing a series of odd but concrete images. Before long an atmospheric steel guitar begins to issue languid phrases in the background. Then we arrive at the wordless bridge (around 1:25), a melodic moan in the middle of this overheated summer night of a song; the song sways, coalesces, gets under my skin. Danny Allen is a Californian who apparently led an L.A. band called Harvette a couple years back before striking out on his own. He’s since returned to his hometown of Oakland, for what it’s worth. “Howdy” is the title track of a CD released earlier this year on the Stanley Recordings label. The MP3 can be found on Allen’s web site.


“Waiting For My Friends” – De Novo Dahl

Exuberant, theatrical rock’n’roll–one part Super Furry Animals, one part Queen, and one part something they must put in the water down there in Nashville. De Novo Dahl is a six-piece outfit that named themselves after author Roald Dahl, of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fame; whimsy is part of the mix, in other words. So are a lot of sounds, and no I can’t begin to identify them all. But what I like is how worked into the gleeful momentum of the song they all are–I didn’t fully notice most of the shall we say more peculiar noises (chugging beeps, trilling boops, et al) until I listened a few different times (okay I noticed the screams right away), so otherwise transported was I by the whole over-the-top enterprise. I don’t think I’m going to hear a more satisfying chorus for a while, for both its power-pop-goes-to-heaven chord progression and its unexpectedly silly-yet-poignant lyrical climax (I’ll let you listen and discover it for yourself). “Waiting for My Friends” comes from a six-song EP the band released last year; the MP3, as usual, is waiting for you on the band’s site.


“Transamericana” – Muckner

An exceedingly well put together song, with one masterful touch arising after another. This song is not only about traveling, it sounds like traveling: listen to the wordless vocal (hey! it’s wordless vocal day) that drives the beginning of the introduction, underneath the drumbeat. It doesn’t sound like a car, but it sounds like driving. “Transamericana” is propelled by a steady acoustic beat, some especially effective use of fingers-on-metal-guitar-strings sounds, and guitarist Dan Erb’s gritty but gentle voice. The melody is at once urgent and soothing, full of subtle knowledge (listen to how it dips at the end of the second and fourth lines in the verse). And then the touch that seals it for me: how Lisa Smith (who plays bass and cello in the band) joins Erb in the chorus, but just on alternate lines. For some reason I really like that effect. Plus, on the first line she sings with him, she doesn’t harmonize, merely sings the same notes. For some reason I really like that effect as well. “Transamericana” comes from If I Can’t Talk to You, Then I Can’t Talk to Anybody, released in mid-November on Buttermilk Records. You’ll find the MP3 on the band’s web site.

This Week’s Finds: Dec. 5-11 (Gina Villalobos, Dealership, Jane Siberry)

“Why” – Gina Villalobos

Every now and then someone new comes along doing something not-very-new so sparklingly well that it seems new all over again. Operating in the well-worn roots/Americana corner of the rock’n’roll world, Gina Villalobos invites a “usual suspects” list of comparisons–in her case, Lucinda Williams and Ryan Adams seem to be the first names out of everyone’s mouths–but I find her closest to the wondrous Kathleen Edwards, both in her rasp-inflected, emotive voice and in her capacity to channel some older and deeper rock’n’roll forces (think Neil Young in particular) and give them new life and force in the new century. From the minor key Tom Petty-ness of the intro, “Why” drives ahead with an authoritative stutter in the drum beat and a brilliant confluence and melody and voice in the second half of the verse: when she sings the phrase “If I can talk to what I see in the ceiling,” my goodness. Listen to the second syllable of the word “ceiling” and see if your heart doesn’t melt just a little. I won’t try to describe it. The song is the third track on Villalobos’ second CD, Rock’n’Roll Pony, released in June on the Kick Music label. The MP3 is one of six available on her web site, and all of them are good, including a satisfying cover of the old World Party nugget, “Put the Message in the Box.”


“Forest” – Dealership

A certain sort of confidence is required to open a song with the line “Let’s go, and I’ll play all my songs,” but singer Chris Groves has such a sweet-sailing voice that he has me right there–I’m thinking, sure, go ahead, play away. A do-it-yourself style trio from San Francisco, Dealership transcends its indie trappings through gorgeous melodicism and songwriting aplomb. The song is propelled by the juxtaposition of a jittery/infectious guitar line against a bell-like (and inexpensive-sounding) keyboard underneath a melody that cascades on itself, like noiseless fireworks arcing pattern upon pattern. When Groves arrives at the chorus, singing, “An electronic forest, a pixelated version” and then whatever he sings next (I can’t decipher the words at that point), we are in a certain sort of pop heaven. That guitarist Miyuki Jane Pinckard adds some solid yet airy (go figure) harmonies to the proceedings only adds to the feeling of being transported somewhere quite lovely, if a little bittersweet. I like how the band doesn’t waste the last minute of the song (which is when a lot of songs go into automatic pilot): listen to the edge Groves’ voice acquires at around the 2:15 point, and then feel the band pull the energy back at around 2:30 only to kick into a punched-up sprint to the finish at 2:50 or so. It’s all pretty subtle but I tend to like subtle. “Forest” is from the CD Action/Adventure, the band’s third, released in August on Turn Records; the MP3 can be found on the band’s web site.


“Hockey” – Jane Siberry

Anyone missing the hockey season yet? Well, in any case, it’s past time to get some Jane Siberry up here on Fingertips. For those unfamiliar with the work of the magical mystical Ms. Siberry, this song at least hints, in lots of small and idiosyncratic ways, at her deep and abiding allure. It’s all about childhood in-the-dying-light-of-late-afternoon-on-the-river hockey games, and Siberry’s earthy poetry evokes the scene beautifully, not just pictorially–“You skate as fast as you can ’til you hit the snowbank (that’s how you stop)”– but logistically: the song turns in part on the idea of how the game would wind down as more and more kids are called in for dinner, a subtle (that again) and masterful touch. I’m particularly enchanted by characteristic Siberry lyrical asides; I’ve never seen anyone else write lyrics like this and probably never will: “He’ll have that scar on his chin forever someday his girlfriend will say hey where…/He might look out the window…or not.” “Hockey” originally appeared on her 1989 album Bound by the Beauty; this is a slightly re-mixed version, with dog barks introduced to remove a potentially offending (but actually quite charming in context) word. You’ll find the MP3 on her self-owned record company web site.

This Week’s Finds: Nov. 28-Dec. 4 (David Byrne, Greta Gertler, Trembling Blue Stars)

Free and legal MP3s this week from David Byrne, Greta Gertler, and the Trembling Blue Stars.

“My Fair Lady” – David Byrne

There’s an almost Baroque stateliness to this churning little ditty from the estimable Mr. Byrne. While probably not a classic addition to the Byrne oeuvre (the subject matter–entrancing woman in a magazine–seems tired by now), this contribution to Wired Magazine’s Rip. Sample. Mash. Share. project has its charms, beginning with the former Talking Heads leader’s inscrutably ingratiating voice. I mean, there’s nothing about this somewhat whiny, high-pitched, more than a little nasally voice that should engage us, and yet I find above all it’s always his voice that draws me in, through all his incarnations over lo these many years. For a geeky, intellectual sort of guy he’s proven himself to be a fearless singer; maybe that’s what lends such deep appeal to the Byrne vibe. If nothing else, don’t miss the grunt at 2:38–it’s perfect. I’m also getting a kick out of how Byrne bleeds his voice directly into the synthesizer at the end. And hey there are one or two more well-delivered grunts in the last few seconds too.


“Away” – Greta Gertler & Peccadillo

The beginning of this song sounds interestingly slidey and sloppy, like a small orchestra warming up, but keep the piano’s off-kilter theme in mind–it returns very effectively later. The intro gives way to a stripped-down, beat-driven verse, followed by a simple chorus sung over an oscillating violin line, at which point this so-called “chamber pop band” (an unusual combination of strings and winds, plus Gertler’s piano and some percussion) kicks in to flesh the song out with a wonderful assortment of organic flourishes. (Check out the great, punctuating sound at the two-minute mark–I think one of the stringed instruments does that, but which one? and how?). Combining a crystalline sort of yearning quality to her voice (think Lisa Loeb) with a knack for layered vocals and striking instrumentation (think Kirsty MacColl), Gertler packs a lot into a three and a half minute pop song. While the melody is relatively modest, the package is assured and engaging; when the opening theme returns about two and a half minutes into the proceedings–that wonderful, lop-sided piano theme augmented by all sorts of knowing squeaks and squiggles from the band–I’m won over for good. “Away” comes from a brand new album, Nervous Breakthroughs, that was begun way back in 1998 but was only recently finished. The MP3 can be found on Gertler’s web site.


“Helen Reddy” – Trembling Blue Stars

Naming a song after a singer seems a particularly fetching thing to me. For all I know this stems from my lasting devotion to the Replacements’ “Alex Chilton” (one of the mysteriously great rock songs of all time), but what the heck, the world is full of strange and wonderful inter-connections. In any case, “Helen Reddy” is its own kind of good. Driven by singer Beth Arzy’s simultaneously warm-yet-distant vocals, the song succeeds in evoking the evanescent nostalgia of listening to distant radio stations at night as a child; the way certain lyrics spring forward clearly (“These nights are made for sleeping”) while others recede into the blurry aural landscape accentuates the mood and subject matter. The soft but steady beat, the subtle buzz of vague keyboard noise, and Arzy’s Georgia Hubley-ish voice all bring Yo La Tengo to mind, but there’s an airy warmth here that’s different from that band’s murkier sort of reserve. “Helen Reddy” is the lead track on the band’s latest CD, Seven Autumn Flowers, released on Elefant Records in Europe and, apparently, on Bar/None Records here in October, although the Bar/None web site still doesn’t list it anywhere. The MP3 can be found on the Elefant Records site.

This Week’s Finds: Nov. 21-27 (One Star Hotel, Stirling, Ephemera)

“Can’t Be Trusted” – One Star Hotel

At once bouncy and earnest, good-natured and serious, “Can’t Be Trusted” takes a timeless Allman Brothers rhythm and infuses it with a Wilco-informed indie-Americana spirit. Singer Steve Yutzy-Burkey (also the band’s guitarist and songwriter) has a comfortable, Tweedy-ish throatiness to his voice and an equally Tweedy-ish way of writing subtle and agreeable twists into his songs. In fact, for Wilco fans a bit befuddled by the band’s tendency to deconstruct its songs over the last two CDs, One Star Hotel may come as a comfy aural balm–Wilco without the weirdness. But this Philadelphia-based quartet has a lot more going for it than mimickry. I like the way the main melodic phrase extends into a third measure, turning upward in a way that pulls you into the center of the song. Listen also for some extra sonic treats–twinkly synthesizer flourishes, controlled use of feedback, and, I think, a touch of harmonica buried into the texture as well. “Can’t Be Trusted” can be found on the band’s new CD Good Morning, West Gordon, to be released tomorrow on Stereo Field Recordings. This is One Star Hotel’s first full-length CD; their one previous recording was a self-titled EP released last year. The MP3 can be found on PureVolume.com.

“Côte D’Azur” – Stirling

With no free and legal MP3s to be had from the new U2 CD, this one just might serve as an admirable substitute. Stirling is a band from Edmonton, relocated to Toronto, with a flair for Bono-like drama and Edge-like guitar riffs. This is the kind of song that walks the fine line between tension and bombast, but I think the bombast is held at bay by the concise, siren-like guitar line, the satisfying chord changes, and the fact that the whole thing drives by in three minutes. Never underestimate the power of keeping things short; had the band dragged this out to five minutes (the urge to do this is apparently compelling), I think my interest would have waned. Instead I find myself taken in by the urgent melodrama of it all. The song is the lead track on Stirling’s debut CD, Northern Light, released in June in Canada; the MP3 is on the band’s web site.

“Saddest Day” – Ephemera

A three-woman Norwegian band channeling Astrud Gilberto via Frente–yes, the world can be a wonderful place when we all just mingle together peacefully and see what happens. Bright, silvery, and airy, “Saddest Day” is that sweetest of pop confections: a sad song wrapped in an upbeat package. Stars in their native country (they received the Norwegian equivalent of a Grammy earlier this year), Ephemera have released four CDs to date; this spring, a compilation disc called Score was released for the U.S. market. Not yet out of their 20s, Ephemera has nevertheless been together for 10 years now. “Saddest Day” was originally from the band’s 2000 CD, Sun, which was their second; it is also found on a CD called Score, a compilation released for the U.S. market this past spring. The MP3 is on the band’s web site. Thanks to visitor Jeff for the head’s up.

This Week’s Finds: Nov. 14-20 (S, Rilo Kiley, Bloc Party)

“Falling” – S

Combining a crackling edginess with a wash of electronica mystery, “Falling” feels like how the Sundays would sound with a bit too much caffeine in their system. While neither the itchy-bass-line-driven verse on the one hand nor the more expansive, open-chorded not-quite-a-chorus chorus might stand out on their own, they work niftily against each other to create more sonic drama than often contained in a mere four minutes. The effect is augmented through some distinctive electronic stitches between sections. S is the internet-unfriendly name (Google it and you’ll get more than 1 billion results) that Seattle’s Jenn Ghetto has been recording under since the late ’90s; “Falling” can be found on her new CD, Puking and Crying, released in September on Suicide Squeeze Records. The MP3 is from the Suicide Squeeze web site.


“With Arms Outstretched” – Rilo Kiley

Far more charming than any relatively straightforward steel-guitar-laced strummer has a right to be. Whereas last week we heard the Geraldine Fibbers cross indie rock with country to explore some raw and prickly territory, this week note how Rilo Kiley mixes the same genres like they want to be your best friend, and, on top of that, they know that you want them to be too. To my ears, no small amount of Rilo Kiley’s appeal–beyond intelligent songwriting and smart production skills–lies in singer/guitarist Jenny Lewis’s disarmingly direct vocal style. What can I say? I do, I want her to be my best friend. At once familiar and fresh, “With Arms Outstretched” features a leisurely and timeless-seeming melody; when Lewis is joined about two minutes in by a chorus of ragged male voices (including Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst), that does it. It’s all just too charming. The song comes from the band’s second CD, The Execution of All Things, which was released in 2001 on Saddle Creek Records; the MP3 is on the Saddle Creek site. Their third and most recent CD, More Adventurous, was recently released on Barsuk Records (go the band’s web site and you can hear it in its entirety).


“The Answer” – Bloc Party

Cross the Strokes with Joy Division, add a touch of the Jam for flavoring, and here you are. I’m not sure what they’re singing about, but you don’t have to know to know; the energy is exquisitely charged, the whole burbling thing about to blow. But wow: listen to the chords they take you through in the chorus, about a minute-twenty into the song, and the lyrics with which they take you there: “Grown in a parental fugue/Weight loss in self respect/Bomb, bomb, bomb us back together/A new way into a lost answer.” Like I said, I have no idea what they’re singing about. But my goodness they’re singing about something, aren’t they? I am encouraged to no end by a new generation of bands out there who seem to be moving intelligently into the future by being aware of the past, both musically and otherwise. Here’s what the band members themselves say, on their web site: “Suffice to say there would be no band without the efforts of guitar bands formed in British and American towns in the 70s, 80s and 90s, as well as visionary writers and artists of various kinds whose work has informed the world and culture itself as it stands.” “The Answer” comes from the band’s self-titled debut EP, released in September on Dim Mak Records. The MP3 can be found on the band’s web site.

This Week’s Finds: Nov. 7-13 (Super Furry Animals, The Geraldine Fibbers, The Brotherkite

“Ysbeidiau Heulog” – Super Furry Animals

I don’t know about you, but me, after last week, I think I really need to listen to some rock’n’roll sung in Welsh. Good thing those wacky neo-psychsters Super Furry Animals are up to the task. “Ysbeidiau Heulog” (which translates as “Sunny Intervals”) was the lone single off the band’s all-Welsh Mwng, a CD released in 2000 on Placid Casual Records. As the band itself notes, “this one went right over the heads of the chart organisation.” I find the whole thing sort of endearing–the goofy ELO-meets-Moby-at-the-cartoons vibe, the earnest cheerfulness of the incomprehensible lyrics, and, to top it all off, the translation (“I must say that we had some/Sunny Intervals, Sunny Intervals/But on the whole it was rather cloudy…”). Super Furry Animals were formed in Cardiff in 1993, and it should be noted that Mwng was not the band’s first all-Welsh effort; their debut EP–Lianfairpwllgywgyllgoger Chwymdrobwlltysiliogoygoyocynygofod (In Space)–was also sung entirely in Welsh, as was their second EP, the somewhat easier to pronounce Moog Droog. The “Ysbeidiau Heulog” MP3 can be found on an adjunct site to the band’s main web site.


“Lily Belle” – the Geraldine Fibbers

Last week also prompts a deep desire to listen to music from, oh, let’s say, the mid-’90s–back when men were men, women were women, and presidents felt our pain rather than created it. And this song really puts you through the paces, which feels necessary this week, from its mournful, viola-driven introduction through its cathartic burst of rage later on. Singer Carla Bozulich is almost scarily unrestrained, her depth-laced voice alternating between a duskier version of Tanya Donelly and full-throttled Patti Smith-ish-ness (she more or less out-Pattis Patti before this one is done). The Geraldine Fibbers played their singular brand of country-folk-punk, or some such thing, through three ’90s CDs. “Lily Belle” was the lead track on the band’s 1995 debut, Lost Somewhere Between the Earth and My Home. I know the feeling. The MP3 can be found on Carla Bozluich’s web site, along with a nice assortment of others from both the Geraldine Fibbers and other Bozulich projects. Thanks to the good folks at 3hive for the head’s up on this one.


“The Music Box” – Thebrotherkite

And now this muscular sort of power pop with a side order of noise is just the thing to nudge me back to life as we know it. Bristling with spirit and know-how, “The Music Box” rises far above typical indie-rock offerings through Thebrotherkite’s songwriting wherewithal. After an introduction featuring a driving beat and ringing guitar theme, the song veers to the left as both the key and the time signature shift; the effect is at once unexpected and completely satisfying. The song holds its center around the tension between 6/4 and 4/4 measures, linked by a resonant melody (okay, so it’s “Evergreen”) and the recurrence of the opening guitar theme at crucial moments. Thebrotherkite is a five-piece band from Providence; what little press they’ve received so far relentlessly places them in the so-called “shoegaze” genre (one of the less wonderful coinages of recent decades, I’d say), but the band members have eclectic tastes and display an admirable sense of pre-’90s musical tradition. (For the record, I really don’t think as many bands are influenced by My Bloody Valentine as internet music writers seem to believe.) “The Music Box” comes from Thebrotherkite’s self-titled debut CD, released this summer on the Sacramento-based Clairecords. The MP3 is available on the band’s web site.