Beach Fossils - “Daydream”
Some musical combinations make intuitive sense, like rappers who can’t sing and Auto-Tune, for example. But others don’t make sense until you hear them, like surf music and fuzz-rock. Thankfully, Beach Fossils (Dustin Payseur’s one-man band) is proving to me that this combination isn’t as nutty as it sounds.
This track from the Beach Fossils starts with a great surfy, summery guitar/bass hook the music reminds me a bit of the Crystal Stilts. However, it’s not until you get to the vocals that Beach Fossils becomes truly interesting. Sounding like they’ve been run through a combination distortion/delay filter, the vocals sound like little else I can recall. The combination of minimally-fuzzy, surfy music with distorted vocals is an oddly relaxing yet moody combination that I’m coming back to more often than I expected. I haven’t heard of any album/EP plans from Beach Fossils, but I’m definitely on the look out if anyone knows something I don’t.
Rural Alberta Advantage - “Frank, AB”
Thanks goes out to My Old Kentucky Blog for giving this Canadian band a showcase last weekend. Rural Alberta Advantage kindly drove down to Indianapolis from Toronto to pay us a visit, and of course their first full-length album Hometowns sounds magnificent live. Don’t Haunt This Place is a track making its rounds, but don’t miss out on all the other nostalgic gems. RAA is solid, not just blog hype, and they’ve been making good tunes for a few years.
Michael Jackson - “Smooth Criminal”
If there’s one thing MJ did better than anyone, it’s music videos: “Thriller”, “Black or White”, “Scream”, and of course, “Smooth Criminal”, just to name a few. All epic in their length, cost, scope, and awesomeness. Above you’ll find the full, 10-minute version of the “Smooth Criminal” video, which is an all-time favorite of mine (skip to 7:15 for the how-did-they-do-that lean that I loved so much as a kid). You can say and think what you want about the man’s personal life, but his musical career is full of undeniable excellence, and he will be missed.
RIP Michael.
The Eels - “All the Beautiful Things”
The Eels’ music is built on juxtaposition: (typically) downtrodden lyrics on a bed of crisp, pop melodies (with the occasional noisy freakout). Take this song for example. Lyrically, “All the Beautiful Things” is about longing and unrequited love (a fairly common topic for the Eels), but the music feels more like a cool, happy, sunny summer morning. I don’t know what it is about this kind of dichotomy, but I’m incapable of getting enough of it.
This simple ditty can be found on the Eels latest album, Hombre Lobo (appropriately subtitled “12 Songs of Desire”). Hitting a (generally) more mellow, raw and upbeat stride than other Eels albums, I think Hombre Lobo is one of the better efforts from the band in recent memory. However, if you’re new to the Eels, I still think Beauitful Freak is the best place to start.
WWTB?
Ever so slightly later than usual, but here’s this week’s list of albums Tuneage would buy.
- Deer Tick - Born on Flag Day (Buy the CD/Buy the MP3s)
- Dinosaur Jr - Farm (Buy the CD/Buy the MP3s) (kick-ass cover art pictured above)
- The Mars Volta - Octahedron (Buy the CD/Buy the MP3s)
- Regina Spektor - far (Buy the CD/Buy the MP3s)
- Tortoise - Beacons of Ancestorship (Buy the CD/Buy the MP3s)
Regina Spektor - “Wallet”
This track is off Regina Spektor’s latest album entitled far which comes out today! Not only do I love the story in this song, but I think it really represents the overall feel to the album.
Regina had the opportunity to work with the following four producers on this album: Mike Elizondo (Dr. Dre, Fiona Apple), David Kahne (Regina’s last album, The Strokes), Garret “Jacknife” Lee (REM, Weezer) and Jeff Lynne (ELO, Traveling Wilburys), who produced this track. Even with the handful of producers, each bringing very different backgrounds and their own style to the table, far is a cohesive collection of some of Regina’s greatest work.
Also, of all the songs that manage to sneak in a reference to a Blockbuster card (is there more than one?), this might just be the best one.
Lucksmiths - “The Music Next Door”
Despite having been around since the early 90s (and despite having recently broken up), I only learned about Melbourne, Australia’s The Lucksmiths during my recent Spring-induced twee binge. Better late than never, right?
My foray into The Lucksmiths started with their 2005 release, Warmer Corners, which is a delightfully cohesive, uncomplicated, easy-to-enjoy album of pure indie pop. This track is one of the stand-outs from the album, and is yet another in a long list of perfect-for-summer tunes.
Beck - “Sunday Morning”
An upcoming addition to Beck’s website known as Record Club will have him hopping into the studio with some friends, covering an entire classic album (without the benefit of rehearsal), and posting one song a week from the session. Lucky for us, he started with a perennial favorite, The Velvet Underground’s The Velvet Underground & Nico. The first track off the album, one we’ve posted here before, is also the first of the Record Club sessions to be released. And as obvious as it may be, this song really is my favorite song to play on a Sunday morning.
Discovery - “Orange Shirt”
Discovery is the unlikely side project built from members of two bands I wouldn’t necessarily have put together: Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend and Wes Miles of Ra Ra Riot. This odd couple doesn’t just work, it kills. Their debut album, the coyly titled LP, is a blast from start to finish. Drenched in synthesizers and handclaps (with no shortage of Auto-Tune), the music doesn’t sound like Vampire Weekend or Ra Ra Riot, but rather has a more trippy, R&B-cum-indie vibe that’s near impossible to get out of my head. LP should prove to be one of the summer’s most fun albums, so track down a copy when it’s released on July 7th.
Japandroids - “Young Hearts Spark Fire”
On “Young Hearts Spark Fire” the garage rock duo Japandroids confronts the problem of youth: aging. “We used to dream. Now we worry about dying” the group laments, but the existential panic is never heavy-handed. In fact, it sounds like they’re on a rollercoaster ride.
