mp3 blog number eleventy-whatever
Work stuff is making my brain hurt, I am in the middle of writing too many stories, and it's a lovely overcast afternoon that I should be frolicking in. But, like, three different people on my friendslist have complained recently of being in the music doldrums, so I think it's time for an mp3 post.
I did the poll thing, where I asked if people wanted me to change the format of these mp3 blog posts. The response I got amounted to, "Yeah, some of those other ideas are cool, but what you're doing is fine." At some point in the future-- i.e., when I'm suffused in New Favorite Band Glow-- I'll do an artist feature, but for now I'm back to the brief reviews and the links to the downloads.
Airiel - Firefly
I admit unreservedly that I downloaded this song because of its title. Usually, that ends in heartbreak, but this is a beautiful song: dreamy female vocals over spacey guitars, like the Cocteau Twins but not so much that it's a problem. It wouldn't make a very good songvid, though.
Bang Sugar Bang - Super Cool
I love bands that sound like they're having fun. BSB sound like the mutant offspring of T-Rex and The Kinks, fronted by Joan Jett. But they're from L.A., not New York, and unlike other glam-revival bands, they're not doing this just to be cute.
bloom. - Don't Tell a Dead Man How to Die
I am so in love with this song. I bounce around the kitchen, rocking out to its insistent beat and its escalating vocals, which sound a little like John Lennon in angry mode. This totally feeds my insatiable love for hooky pop songs with catchy choruses, but don't hold that against it.
Chin Up Chin Up - We Never Should Have Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers
I love this band for its titles alone; fortunately, that's not their best feature. This is danceable and fun math rock-- if that sounds like a contradiction in terms, well, that's the point. It's accessible because it's original and groovetastic, not because it's trying to make people love it.
The Heartless Bastards - Onions
The reviews are right: this band's (female) lead singer sounds pleasingly like Robert Plant. The song is a poppy affirmation of post-relationship happiness, but that classic-rock tenor sounds like it took a long time to get to the point of the "I'm all right now" in the chorus.
Martha's Trouble - Brighter From Here
Winsome Canadian optimism at its finest. There are bongo drums, and there are lyrics like "You can't hold me down for too long," but it all seems convincing, somehow. It's a perfect lazy late-summer song, like pleasantly oversweetened lemonade.
Josh Ritter - Kathleen
Josh Ritter seriously thinks he's Bob Dylan, but unlike most male singer-songwriters with that sort of belief, he's got some logic to back him up. His voice is thin but honest, and this lost-love ballad sparkles with Dylanesque urgency. We can forgive him the girl's name in the title and the organ solo at the end.
Rock Plaza Central - A Town at the Bottom of the Ocean
This song just keeps on doing things you don't expect it to. The band's name made me expect something loud and brash, but it's more along the Sufjan Stevens line of delicate-is-the-new-rocking-out. It takes forever for the vocals to come in, and forever again for you to realize they're hilarious, and another brief forever for you to realize that this song is also gorgeous. Four whole minutes that make you go, "What is this?" in a good way.
Heidi Saperstein - I Heart You (Link is to her homepage; click on "audio" and choose the song to download it)
I love Saperstein's gravelly, sex-drenched voice and the herky-jerky guitars on this track. It's girly folk-rock with a touch of Echo and the Bunnymen, and yet it's soooo New York.
Tristen Shields - Brand New Eyes
What might otherwise be another boring singer-songwriter number is lovely and original when buoyed with a squishy, retro electronica beat. The marriage of sensitive-boy vocals and synth noises is an uneasy one, and it lends a necessary aura of doubt to an ostensibly happy song.
In other news, the Survivor reruns on OLN will be the downfall of my academic career.
I did the poll thing, where I asked if people wanted me to change the format of these mp3 blog posts. The response I got amounted to, "Yeah, some of those other ideas are cool, but what you're doing is fine." At some point in the future-- i.e., when I'm suffused in New Favorite Band Glow-- I'll do an artist feature, but for now I'm back to the brief reviews and the links to the downloads.
Airiel - Firefly
I admit unreservedly that I downloaded this song because of its title. Usually, that ends in heartbreak, but this is a beautiful song: dreamy female vocals over spacey guitars, like the Cocteau Twins but not so much that it's a problem. It wouldn't make a very good songvid, though.
Bang Sugar Bang - Super Cool
I love bands that sound like they're having fun. BSB sound like the mutant offspring of T-Rex and The Kinks, fronted by Joan Jett. But they're from L.A., not New York, and unlike other glam-revival bands, they're not doing this just to be cute.
bloom. - Don't Tell a Dead Man How to Die
I am so in love with this song. I bounce around the kitchen, rocking out to its insistent beat and its escalating vocals, which sound a little like John Lennon in angry mode. This totally feeds my insatiable love for hooky pop songs with catchy choruses, but don't hold that against it.
Chin Up Chin Up - We Never Should Have Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers
I love this band for its titles alone; fortunately, that's not their best feature. This is danceable and fun math rock-- if that sounds like a contradiction in terms, well, that's the point. It's accessible because it's original and groovetastic, not because it's trying to make people love it.
The Heartless Bastards - Onions
The reviews are right: this band's (female) lead singer sounds pleasingly like Robert Plant. The song is a poppy affirmation of post-relationship happiness, but that classic-rock tenor sounds like it took a long time to get to the point of the "I'm all right now" in the chorus.
Martha's Trouble - Brighter From Here
Winsome Canadian optimism at its finest. There are bongo drums, and there are lyrics like "You can't hold me down for too long," but it all seems convincing, somehow. It's a perfect lazy late-summer song, like pleasantly oversweetened lemonade.
Josh Ritter - Kathleen
Josh Ritter seriously thinks he's Bob Dylan, but unlike most male singer-songwriters with that sort of belief, he's got some logic to back him up. His voice is thin but honest, and this lost-love ballad sparkles with Dylanesque urgency. We can forgive him the girl's name in the title and the organ solo at the end.
Rock Plaza Central - A Town at the Bottom of the Ocean
This song just keeps on doing things you don't expect it to. The band's name made me expect something loud and brash, but it's more along the Sufjan Stevens line of delicate-is-the-new-rocking-out. It takes forever for the vocals to come in, and forever again for you to realize they're hilarious, and another brief forever for you to realize that this song is also gorgeous. Four whole minutes that make you go, "What is this?" in a good way.
Heidi Saperstein - I Heart You (Link is to her homepage; click on "audio" and choose the song to download it)
I love Saperstein's gravelly, sex-drenched voice and the herky-jerky guitars on this track. It's girly folk-rock with a touch of Echo and the Bunnymen, and yet it's soooo New York.
Tristen Shields - Brand New Eyes
What might otherwise be another boring singer-songwriter number is lovely and original when buoyed with a squishy, retro electronica beat. The marriage of sensitive-boy vocals and synth noises is an uneasy one, and it lends a necessary aura of doubt to an ostensibly happy song.
In other news, the Survivor reruns on OLN will be the downfall of my academic career.