The Dream Mixtape
It's the soundtrack to your dreams, obviously.
You spend approximately six years of your life dreaming. Not the sit in your cubicle and "dream" of a better career and life stuff, but the activity you do at night tucked in amongst blankets with a pillow under your head. Dreams are one of those amazing things that can't fully be explained by science, yet theories abound as to why the brain does what it does when we close our eyes...
Posted by Lisa White on Nov 24, 2008 @ 7:00 am
New Music From The Temper Trap
How often can you say you like an Australian band? Not enough.
The Temper Trap is the hot new "crocodile rock" from down under. I think the band that last got that title was Men At Work some 25 years ago, but who doesn't love a good stereotype? Formed three years ago in Melbourne, The Temper Trap have become the hot new hope of their hometown – possibly a chance for them to get "Beyond Thunderdome" (someone please stop me).
Indonesian born singer Dougi Mandagi has a voice that could melt NASA grade titanium. Part Jimmy Somerville (Bronski Beat) and part David MacAlmont (MacAlmont and Butler), "Sweet Disposition" is one of those songs a band writes to appeal to everyone. When I say “everyone” I mean “everyone in Coldplay standards.” Lorenzo Sillitto's delayed guitar flourishes may take you to, "Where the streets have no name," but the driving rhythm section provided by Toby Dundas (drums) and Johnny Ahere (bass) recalls the heart crushing tribal stomp of Welsh group The Alarm. I know, not too much of a deviation in sound, but when compared to U2, The Alarm had "anthem" quality song-writing in the bag.
The Temper Trap represents a fine line of great Aussie bands (The Triffids, Powderfinger) that will most likely never break through in the US. But don't think their hard work won't pay off. "Sweet Disposition" will most likely be a happy little discovery your very hip teenage son will discover on your hard drive fifteen years from now. Look for a debut album produced by Jim Abbiss (Arctic Monkeys, Bjork, Placebo), and a short tour of the US to happen in early 2009.
Posted by Joe Roth on Nov 19, 2008 @ 7:00 am
We've Got You Covered
Taken By Trees takes on Guns N' Roses.
Barring some catastrophic mishap, Axl Rose will finally release the nearly two-decade opus known as Chinese Democracy. This album will be the first original material Guns N’ Roses has released since 1991. I know you probably want to get technical and say that this installment isn’t actually Guns N’ Roses – and you would be correct in this assessment – but the name is the same, so actually we’re both right...
Posted by Wes Soltis on Nov 17, 2008 @ 7:00 am
New Music From Stricken City
HEAVE gets smitten for Stricken City.
Some days living in the Midwest can really get you down. The shitty weather reflects your mood, and your mood reflects the dog poop you just stepped in. Nothing seems to taste, smell, or feel right - and you just want to get lost in something that demands absolutely nothing of you. And there's no better way to get you out of that maudlin funk than listening to completely nonsensical sloppy girl pop.
Stricken City are a London-based four piece fronted by Rebekah Raa, who may very well be this generations Rebeca Lwin (Bow Wow Wow). Their latest single, "Lost Art," is a danceable bundle of naive fun. Drummer Kit Godfrey keeps a steady tribal beat while guitarist Iain Pettifer weaves a familiar but glorious guitar line through out. Bassist Mike Hyland has studied his dub reggae hooks quite well, providing that extra bounce "Lost Art" is looking to put back into your step. It’s completely impossible to understand what Raa is going on about lyrically, but your attention remains with the song; sort of like listening to a lost Sugarcube’s b-side.
"Lost Art" is a spastic pop gem that is neither challenging or thought provoking, because doing so would make it a failure of a great song - only angering the deep thinking listener. You don't need to understand, just tap your toes and get lost in the Stricken City.
Posted by Joe Roth on Nov 12, 2008 @ 7:00 am
New Music from The Mountain Goats
Satan Delivers
The Mountain Goats’ music isn’t for everyone. John Darnielle’s nasally voice and critically elementary guitar work emphasize his lyrics that are consistently riddled with highly-detailed images of doom and despair quite well, but just don’t strike a chord with everyone.
If you are one of us who have fallen in love with the joyously melodic while downright exasperating “No Children” or his massively triumphant “Sax Rohmer #1,” you might be in the mood for John Darnielle’s latest effort: a 4-song work called The Satanic Messiah EP.
These songs present a drastic change from most of the rest of his catalog. With just John on guitar, drums, and piano, this recording features the independence seen in his earliest work coupled with the production quality he’s always deserved. Lyrically, there’s all the disheartenment and angsty fists in the air you’ve grown to love. New here is a more minimalistic style, in voice and music, that finally shows John understands there’s as much authority in silence as there is in his usual neurotic and frantic distress.
Download the work for free at his official website or, following the Radiohead model, for a price of your choosing. He suggests a fair price for The Satanic Messiah EP of $6.66 (Are we sensing a theme here?).
Posted by Mark Steffen on Nov 11, 2008 @ 7:00 am