W♥M

Islands - Rough Gem

Rough Gem

While I can't claim to understand exactly what's happening in Island's video for their single "Rough Gem," I can tell you without any hint of uncertainty that the song itself is awesome. It's from ex-Unicorns Nick Diamond and J'aime Tambeur, and appeared on their 2005 release Return to the Sea. The whole album's kind of environmentally charged, songs ranging from diamond mines to Argentina freezing over.

This song in particular does especially well with Island's fantastic line-up -- everything meshes well, from the spastic drums to the pizzicato violins, from the smooth layering of instrumentations to Nick's rather off-kilter voice.

Plus, in typical Diamond fashion, the lyrics are wacky and visual, leading to some pretty weird mental pictures. The CD's definitely worth checking out (if you haven't already; it's been out for a while and has seen some success round these parts).

--Gus

Beirut - "Postcards from Italy"

Postcards from Italy

Beirut

Artist: Beirut
Title: "Postcards From Italy"
Album: Gulag Orkestar

There's something almost charming about Eastern Europe folk music. I'm not quite sure what it is -- I can't think of anything dorkier than a bunch of mustachioed ex-Soviets pounding away on big kettle drums and blaring loud, brassy little ditties on trumpets, trombones, or, for that matter, the good ol' Tuba. But when you really listen to it, there's something downright irresistible about the whole shebang.

Then again, I might just be crazy.

Whatever the case may be, Beirut is one of those bands that sort of came out of left field a while ago and took the whole indie music world by storm. I was introduced to them by a friend of mine while I was in school in Monterey. I was riding shotgun to go see some movie or another, and this song came on his iPod. By the divine magic of shuffle, "Postcards from Italy" immediately began to fill the inside of his Jetta. I can't think of a single more fitting manner or place to be introduced to such a song. Everything about this song screams summer time music -- it has that golden, lilty sort of atmosphere to it that you get when thinking about merry-go-rounds, or that one time at the beach when you were fourteen, and you tried to seduce every girl that walked your way with funnel cake and a big, powdery smile.

And I'm sure everyone out there has heard this particular track. But, well, darn-it, today was just sunny and warm enough to give me a taste for summer, and this song came on...

--Gus

Asobi Seksu - Thursday

Asobi Seksu - Thursday

Shoegaze is on the rise these days; from bands like The Autumns and Stella Luna sticking to the original shoegaze mechanics (a la Ride's "Vapour Trail"), to veteran rockers trading in their noise for a wall of sound, it's hard to accept that the gazer movement is long gone.

Asobi Seksu

Enter Asobi Seksu, whose name translates from Japanese into something like "playful sex," or "casual sex." Their 2006 sophomore album Citrus was pure aural magic. Every bit of this CD screamed nostalgia -- not only nostalgia for the heady heydays of bands like My Morning Jacket, The Church, and Sonic Youth, but nostalgia for things like summer drives with the windows rolled down, and other flower, happy things like that.

And that's the magic of Citrus; every obscure, whispered lyric, every sneaky little guitar riff is well played. It's pop brilliance, and a return to a genre that, quite frankly, needed a returning-to.

Their video for the single "Thursday" is a pretty decent visual representation of the shoegaze "sound." It's pastel, hazy, and definitely dream-like. If you like this, the mp3 is free to download at their website, as well as several more from various other albums. They're on tour now with The Appleseed Cast, which is a story for another day.

--Gus

23

Blonde Redhead

 

Blonde Redhead - 23

Blonde Redhead

 

They've been fielding Sonic Youth comparisons for as long as I can remember, but with their last LP Misery is a Butterfly, Blonde Redhead did that thing where they came unto their own.

I was surfing around their website, and found out that these 4AD (Modern English, Cocteau Twins, The Pixies) vets are releasing a new CD in April. Being a huge fan of their previous albums (specifically the aforementioned Misery and Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons), I snatched up the single off their forthcoming album and gave it a much needed listening-to.

The track in particular, "23" (pronounced "two-three," vice "twenty-three") starts off with distorted guitars, a persistent beat, and lead singer Kazu Makino's ghostly vocals. They do their thing perfectly here -- anyone with a heart for 4AD nostalgia would do well to check this one out. It blends Blonde Redhead's signature weirdness with classic shoegaze elements -- over-the-top guitars, a wall-of-sound approach, and that tingly feeling you get shortly thereafter.

--Gus

The Dead Science - Threnody

Threnody

The Dead Science

So it's not very upbeat, nor poppy. There's something downright spooky about The Dead Science's particular blend of music that almost begs to be labeled spookcore. They take the goth-y, dark themes straight out of a Bauhaus album and combine them with off-kilter, well-played bebop rhythms. "Threnody," in particular, combines Southern jazz with a killer bass-line and barely-there vocals.

Yeah, I know.
Halloween came just a bit early this year...

If you like it, you should check out the rest of this album; it has some pretty spectacular high points, specifically in tracks like "The Ghost Integrity" and "White Train." The Dead Science's music page on their site has three free downloads, and are worth listening to if you liked this track.

-Gus

Jens Lekman - Maple Leaves

Jens Lekman

Maple Leaves

Jens Lekman

I'm not gonna claim to have the most macho music collection in the world---nay, my playlists are usually devoid of many a hard-rockin', ass-kickin' song. I'll admit it; I'm into the frilly stuff most people stay so very far away from. The fact is, it's pretty hard to deny great musicianship when you hear it. With Jens Lekman, he isn't just letting  you hear it, he's inviting you in to his musically dense, lyrically entertaining music. And that's A-OK with me.

Lekman's eponymous single from the EP "Maple Leaves" is endearing in all the right ways, and sympathetically funny in all the others. While Jens' wonderfully atmospheric indie-pop isn't quite exactly the music to play on a night out with the guys, it's wonderfully endearing and boppy enough to warrant a listen when you're all by your lonesome.

-Gus