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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "David Bash" <bashpop@earthlink.net> |
| Subject | Some Stuff I've Been Listening To Lately |
| Date | Thu, 12 Feb 2004 16:48:15 -0800 |
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Hey Everyone,
Just thought I'd report on some recent releases that have been floating my
boat (I know I've already posted about some of these, but didn't think there
was any harm in doing it again):
Blankety Blank-Is This Your Pill?: This Atlanta combo came out of nowhere as
a band who submitted cold for IPO. Yeah, lots of bands these days do modern
power pop (especially at IPO), but Blankety Blank is one of the best of the
genre I've heard lately. Songs, hooks, good vocals, harmonies, they're all
here. www.blanketyblankband.com
Chris Church-Let The Echo Decide: Songwriter from North Carolina whose style
falls somewhere in between Bill Lloyd and Matthew Sweet. This one
definitely snuck up on me, as I kept noticing that all of the hooks were
sticking in my head. His backing band is called The Automatic Pilots, I
believe. www.jealousy-records.com
Jason Falkner-Bliss Descending EP: It's been a long time since the last disc
of new Jason Falkner material, but this EP is certainly worth the wait! All
the Falkner signatures are here: mind-numbing chord structures, plenty of
seamless twists and turns, those strong art rock influences, and that
amazing voice. The lead track, "The Neighbor" is definitely my favorite,
and probably the most accessible song he's ever done as it utilizes the lost
art of constantly repeating the hook line. www.jasonfalkner.com
Gail George-Follow Your Bliss EP: Lots of "bliss" going on here! John
Borack once described her as sounding a lot like Aimee Mann, and he's not
wrong there if you want to leave out all of Mann's vitriol and cursing!
Very deep, pretty, heartfelt stuff. Gail wrote all the songs, and had a
little help from friends like Tom Richards, Lisa Mychols, and Ricky Tubb of
The Waking Hours, and Mike Simmons of Sparkle*jets UK. I would love to hear
her do "It's Not Me" acoustically, in a very small room. I guarantee you
wouldn't hear a pin drop. www.gailgeorge.com
Gingersol-Eastern: Their most beautiful album to date. They always reminded
me of a softer Replacements, but on Eastern, Steve Tagliere's vocals take on
a worn E kind of feel. www.gingersol.com
Hindu Rodeo-Nalladaloobr: A very "80s sounding disc" and, starting with song
2, not unlike the kind of stuff Utopia was doing post Deface The Music, or
The Pursuit Of Happiness sans the overtly cheeky lyrics (although Hindu
Rodeo is lyrically very interesting, and occasionally very clever).
www.hindurodeo.com
The Lolas-Something You Oughta Know: Not quite as immediately catchy or
filled with as many sudden bursts of unusual chord changes as the first two
Lolas albums, but definitely mining some new territory while retaining
familiar themes. By the third listen (or maybe the first listen) Lolas fans
will probably love it as much as they did the first two discs. Coming out
soon on Jam Records. http://www.angelfire.com/zine2/timmeh/lolas_top.html
The Privates-S/T: A Nashville band comprised of several members of other
Nashville bands, most notably the recently signed Features. Really cool,
exciting, manic indie-pop with edgy vocals. It wouldn't suprise me if they
follow the fortunes of The Features. They'll be playing IPO Nashville on
Monday, March 8. www.theprivates.net
Raquel's Boys-Music For The Girl You Love: A wonderfully charming disc on
Jam Records, filled with songs that can sort of be characterized as what
'60s pop songs would sound like if done by an '80s college radio band; in
other words, carefree musical
and lyrical themes with somewhat dark overtones. Very cool stuff! I think
Beatifics fans will particularly love this one! www.jamrecordings.com
RockFour-Nationwide: Many Auditeers know this Israeli band for their unique,
dynamic combination of psychedelic-era Byrds meets the haze of early Pink
Floyd meets Freakbeat! Probably their most accessible album to date, though
don't get me wrong: it's still marked by complex arrangements and like Jason
Falkner, is able to mesh disparate structures into seamless wholes. Coming
out in March, on Rainbow Quartz. www.rockfour.com www.rainbowquartz.com
Rob Smith-Better World Tomorrow: The second solo album by a member of one of
the most beloved power pop bands ever to come out of Australia, The
Innocents. Like the first one, Better World Tomorrow is unfailingly upbeat,
optimistic, and innocent, very much like late '70s Rubinoos albums or Meet
Ed James. Suffice it to say that if you like those, you'll love Better
World Tomorrow. www.robsmith.com.au
Wilshire-New Universe: The latest disc by the duo of Lori and Micah
Wilshire. This is a "real guilty" pleasure for me, as it's got so many of
those major label trappings I don't connect with, like glossy production,
safe, antiseptic melody lines, and that faux angst-ridden tear in Lori
Wilshire's voice. But I just can't deny the exquisite harmonies, catchy
choruses, and obvious musical chemistry this couple has, not unlike the
softer material Roxette used to do. Though they're originally from
Nashville they now reside in L.A., and are doing a residency at Hotel Cafe
every Wednesday this month. I definitely plan on being there next week.
www.wilshiremusic.com
Hey! It's A Teenacide Pajama Party!: Compilation of L.A. girl bands
organized by Jim Freek, who is definitely in line to carry the torch of
*the* L.A. music scenster whenever Rodney Bingeheimer decides to pass it
along (as if that's ever going to happen!). Anyone who knows Mr. Freek
won't be surprised by the large content of '60s influenced punky pop sounds
herein; a lot of these tunes are really good, and ""Feelin' Alright" (not
the oft-covered '60s rock tune) by Stimulator is absolutely transcendent.
If you're into that kind of sound, you need to check this out!
www.teenaciderecords.com
Reissues:
Bill Fay-From The Bottom Of An Old Grandfather Clock: A collection of demos
and outtakes circa '66-'70s by a British songwriter who was known for his
dark, sometimes disturbing tunes on his two albums. This stuff is more
subdued, somewhere in between Dylan and maybe early Cat Stevens, with
minimal production. Really pretty stuff, which does serve as a portent of
things to come. On the awesome reissue label, Tenth Planet.
The Shivvers-Til The Word Gets Out: The Shivvers were a Milwaukee-based band
from the early '80s, featuring the great pipes of Jill Kossoris. If you
like vintage power pop, this stuff is the sh*t!! Twenty-four would-be hits
in all! Their drummer was Jim Richardson, who I believe is the same guy who
Shoes used for both of their IPO performances. I've recently contacted the
band about doing a reunion show at IPO, and hopefully it can happen someday.
Thank you to Chuck Warner of Hyped To Death for sending this to me.
www.hyped2death.com
Steam-Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye: Yeah, the title song was a #1 hit in
1969, and even if you're not over 40 you've heard it blared at several
sporting events, particularly at White Sox games after somebody hit a home
run. The success of the title track tended to help obscure the fact that
this is a really good pop/bubblegum/soul LP. Unfortunately, they had the
annoying habit of starting out several of the tracks with the same opening
as the title track, which ain't gonna get you much credibility with the
music critics, not that this kind of music ever did, anyway. On Repertoire.
Twin Engine-S/T: The duo of former member of The Poor, Randy Naylor, and
L.A. musician Constantine Gusias. This is among the sweetest country-rock
I've ever heard, kinda similar to the countrier side of Bread or Curt
Boettcher, and the fact that Boettcher's co-Millennium member Joey Stec
produced this album might explain some of that. One of the songs on the
album "The Time Is Now", was also recorded by someone else, and it's really
bugging me that I can't think of it. If any of you have actually gotten
this far without hating me, and know who else recorded this song, please let
me know offlist. www.revola.co.uk
--
Lots of pop rules!!!!!
Take Care,
David
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