December 25, 2009

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD FIGHT …

 

Hi-yo.

 

Sledding is my favorite winter activity, and Penny's too ...
Sledding is my favorite winter activity, and Penny’s too …
Part of the semi-nativity scene at the Purdum house ...
Part of the semi-nativity scene at the Purdum house …
Penny, all bundled up in X-mas gear ...
Penny, all bundled up in X-mas gear …


I have so much to be thankful for this year; I have a beautiful wife that supports my creative endeavors, I have a lovely daughter who is only getting more fun with every new day and I have a great family …

Not only that, but I finally live close enough to them that we can all celebrate together and not fly away immediately afterward.

Other things I am thankful for at this moment:

  • Jamarcus Russell’s last-minute drive to beat the Broncos; when he threw the last touchdown, well, that might have been the high point of my life. 
  • Bands that keep my heart pumping; what would I do without them?
  • Women that look all HOT; yes, I’m married, but I still like to look;
  • Friends that give me a call every once in awhile; hey, thanks guy!

And that’s about it. Sorry I didn’t put more thought into this but I’m going off the top of my head here. So yeah, watch the video above and HAVE A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS!!!

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December 24, 2009

Mourning the broken-up bands of 2009 [Curiosities #32]

Chin Up Chin Up: A great band marked by tragedy.
Chin Up Chin Up: A great band marked by tragedy.
The Verve: Who's goin' solo this time?
The Verve: Who’s goin’ solo this time?
Mika Miko: Punk done.
Mika Miko: Punk done.


Stereogum is a great music site, and they have compiled a fantastic video — with more than a hint of cheekiness — of all the bands who hung up their hats in 2009. Yep, even as EVERY FAMOUS BAND OF THE LAST FIVE DECADES reunites amid dreams of that final cash-in there were several, mostly smaller, bands saying “fuck you” to their mates.

A short list of the victims: Chin Up Chin Up, Oasis, Queen (with Paul Rodgers), Cyann & Ben (one of my personal faves), Harvey Danger (they weren’t already broken up?), Brooks & Dunn (YEAH!), The Verve (who cares), Harlem Shakes, Mika Miko (no big loss, truth be told), The Rakes, Oxford Collapse (great Sub Pop band), Panther (I believe this is — was — a post-The Planet The band, and thus notable to Gumshoe).

So get yr tissues ready and watch Stereogum’s “In Memoriam” with hope in your hearts RIGHT HERE. That’s right, or RIGHT HERE!!! (or right here) …

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Filed under Brooks & Dunn, Chin Up Chin Up, Cyann & Ben, Harlem Shakes, Harvey Danger, Mika Miko, Oasis, Oxford Collapse, Panther, Queen, Rakes The, Rodgers Paul, Sub Pop Records, The Planet The, Verve The

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December 24, 2009

It’s a Team Mint Xmas Vol. 2! – Mint Records [X-mas Audio #9]

Full-voiced and full- ...
Full-voiced and full- …
"It's a Team Mint Xmas Vol. 2" - Mint Records
“It’s a Team Mint Xmas Vol. 2″ – Mint Records
Nuclear nonsense: Atomic 7.
Nuclear nonsense: Atomic 7.



I gotta tellya, I find Mint Records to be a maddeningly inconsistent label, albeit one with a ridiculous amount of spirit propelling it forward (hear/sample some of it via the two FREE MP3s posted below). 

It’s a Team Mint Xmas Vol. 2, sure enough, does double duty when it comes to testing my patience, its songs jumping wildly from rock-a-billy-fried punk to Ventures-esque instrumental rock to Social Distortion/Mike Ness-style acoustic storytelling to ecstatic pop with no twee reservations. None.

There’s no telling where a Christmas party with this many mixed nuts will take you. Ever found yourself in a hot tub with three naked elves? I didn’t think so …

Highlights of the second “Team Mint Xmas” include:

  • Carolyn Mark’s savvy blend of Neko Case country-indie and Folk Uke whimsy;
  • A T-in-cheek tune from Young and Sexy, a smear of Kim Deal/Breeders cool but, you know, piano-led;
  • A delightful genre-skipping instrumental from Atomic 7;
  • Speedballs-a-plenty from The Ramblin’ Ambassadors, retro garage-rockin’ with reindeer;
  • Many, many more Canadian indie-rock artists.

What more do you need to know, dummy? GET ON IT and listen/investigate this in a manner befitting the stingiest audio gumshoe. NOW.

Atomic 7 - “Senor Santa El Es el Monstruo“

The Ramblin’ Ambassadors – “Don’t Fear the Reindeer”

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Filed under Atomic 7, Buttless Chaps The, Case, Neko, Duotang, Evaporators The, Folk Uke, Guliak John, Mark Carolyn, Mint Records, Ramblin' Ambassadors, Tennessee Twin, Young and Sexy

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December 23, 2009

The Walkmen – “Christmas Party” [X-mas Audio #8]

This image, by Grant Siedlecki, was too good not to repost.

I almost forgot about this cherish-worthy track The Walkmen released an X-mas or two ago. It starts with a wistful recap of the day’s festivities a la Charlie Brown’s Christmas, leap-frogs into some tom-totalling drumming, sleigh bell ringing, parlor piano, that same ol’ guitar presence and Hamilton Leithauser’s croon I can’t seem to get enough of these days.

A few years ago a free Walkmen track generated a lot of buzz, and I have a feeling this tune would garner even more attention if it were released in 2009, as You & Me has attracted a lot of attention.

Well, just trust Gumshoe to bring you the goods and stop reading those other damn sites. 

Here’s a link to the MP3, free for download:

The Walkmen – “Christmas Party” 

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Filed under Leithauser Hamilton, Walkmen, The

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December 23, 2009

Heroin – “All About” – Vinyl Communications [Lucky 7-inch #29]

 

The hardcore look in the '90s: Pretty much the same as today.

 

My “Lucky 7-inch” column really earned its name this week.

Shopping at Bart’s CD Cellar’s closing-its-doors-forever sale (sob) I found Heroin’s “All About” 7-incher tucked away, used for $2.99 (which was 50 percent off by dint of the sale). So yeah, for $1.50 I got Heroin’s debut 7″, and I didn’t even realize it was them until I got it home, once again proving that album art and instincts go hand in hand!

Consider Heroin’s legacy for a moment:

  •  Scott Bartoloni went on to play in Clikatat Ikatowi
  • Rob Johnson, bass, played in Second Story Window;
  • Vocalist Matt Anderson participated in Rice, Spacehorse, End Of The Line and Battalion of Saints;
  • Aaron Montaigne eventually started Antioch Arrow with Justin Pearson and a few others, a huge deal;

Heroin’s discography is scant, with just one full length and a few sevens. “All About” tells a different story than the group’s subsequent releases, which leaned more toward doom influence.

This is punk/hardcore/screamo with more frills and more kills than also-rans like Boy Sets Fire, fiery and emotional without getting all Further Seems Forever on us.

I can’t close the book on this review, however, without mentioning how raw and amateur this 7-inch is. We’re talking working-out-the-kinks action, big-time. I love their spirit, but it would be a few years before Heroin were truly ready to enter the veins of the few but furor-bent. 

The innovation they would fully flesh out later is most evident in “Has Been,” a scrappy track with prog-ish bass that scatters itself all over its fret, fluid, furious fill-drumming, a potent layer of trebly fuzz guitar and, best of all, screaming fit for hell’s gates.

“I have found one truth; I like to hurt you with it,” sings Anderson — any relation to Mike Anderson? — before his spittle-flinging shrieks lose their lyricism and we’re privvy to a flop-fest of the highest order. You have to wait the entire 7-inch to get to it, but this proto-screamo showcase is intense enough to kick yr dick in like Racebannon.

Heroin aren’t one of those punk groups with one immortal 7-inch and a bunch of crap to follow; “All About” is only the beginning. Interesting as it is, I’d say it’s only essential to those truly moved by the sludge they eventually worked up to. Or those of you who happen to find it for $1.50 in a Used bin. 

That’s a given. Don’t give up on me this week people, we’ve got more X-mas Audio from groups like The Walkmen, not to mention a few more Record Store Trips, a G-Rant and probably an Album As Art. Dig!

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Filed under Anderson Matt, Antioch Arrow, Bartoloni Scott, Battalion of Saints, Clikatat Ikatowi, End Of The Line, Gravity Records, Heroin, Johnson Rob, Montaigne Aaron, Rice, Second Story Window, Spacehorse, Vinyl Communications

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December 22, 2009

Jon Anderson’s “I Saw Three Ships” [X-mas Audio #7 / Curiosities #31]

I thought that Live Aid song, “Don’t They Know It’s Christmas?”, was a really, really BAD X-mas tune, but I had no idea how much CRAP was out there.

Jon Anderson, of Yes, put out perhaps the worst holiday cut of all when he took a WHACK at “I Saw Three Ships.” Not only is the video the stuff of legend (spaceships, wine, weird plotlines I can’t even follow), the song itself is a Buck Rogers-esque galaxy-quest that has no place underneath a Christmas tree or even stuffed down a stocking.

I wish I could say this is the worst of the bunch but I’ve got a few more for ya, stay tuned …

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Filed under Anderson Jon, Yes

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December 22, 2009

Eight Days of Hometapes, Part 2 [X-mas Audio #6]

All Tiny Creatures: Pale, full of ale.
All Tiny Creatures: Pale, full of ale.
The bushy-bushy beard family, aka Megafaun.
The bushy-bushy beard family, aka Megafaun.
Fairly tropical: Caribbean.
Fairly tropical: Caribbean.


Now that the “Eight Days of Hometapes” MP3 celebration is over it’s time to dive head-first into a holiday hangover, right?

Well, not quite. There’s still a lot of high-science fudge to be made and eaten; presents to be wrapped; more fudge to be made and eaten and then maybe even more presents …

I just wish there could be a new, free MP3 waiting for me at the beginning of every day. Why does it have to end? While I ask myself this question The Carribean’s “Christmastime is Here” starts to gurgle/bubble up from its prairie-dog hole, multiple voices echoing and churning as an acoustic rendition of the Charlie Brown favorite gets a fairly straight — though melancholy — reading.

There isn’t much time to prepare for All Tiny Creatures‘ “Kites,” and I’m not sure what you would do to get ready anyway. “Kites” flips the idea of an X-mas song on its noggy ear, and though I can’t say I am overwhelmed by it the Psychic TV-style presentation sparkles, offering a certain … gist you don’t get from many sleighbell-led tunes. All in all I’m won over, though this thing’s at least 5 minutes too long.

Megafaun’s take on “I Saw Three Ships” is a real eye-opener, fluent in the language of melody layering and burlacious in its use of banjo, not to mention a biting harmonica. It’s hard for me to believe Megafaun’s full length from this year appealed to me as little as it did, now that I’m hearing this, so I’ll be checking back in wit’ da ‘Faun soon enough.

Adam & Sara offer up the last sunny-sleighbell ride and it’s a doozy, a campy take on “Wonderful Christmastime” that’ll leave you struggling to remember what the original even sounded like. This had to be composed on a church organ, right? Or an effed-up Casio? What the fuck, guys … Nice work, reminds me of a cut from Tonstartssbandht’s An When record.

The Caribbean – “Christmastime is Here”

All Tiny Creatures – “Kites”

Megafaun – “I Saw Three Ships”

Adam & Sara – “Wonderful Christmastime” 

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Filed under Adam & Sara, All Tiny Creatures, Caribbean The, Hometapes Records, Megafaun, Tonstartssbandht

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December 21, 2009

“A Very Unschooled Christmas” – Unschooled Records [X-mas Audio #5]

Doofgoblin is all about the oof, the goof and the troof.
Doofgoblin is all about the oof, the goof and the troof.
"A Very Unschooled Christmas" - Unschooled Records
“A Very Unschooled Christmas” – Unschooled Records
Decomposure looks bored; all good musicians do.
Decomposure looks bored; all good musicians do.


A Christmas compilation containing Decomposure, Captain Ahab, Skates, Plat, Multi-Panel, A Bit Crusher, 1980, Doofgoblin, Ochre, Obliminal, 1st Class Lounge and Plan 29? FUCK YEAH, AMERICA!

The only thing these electronic/IDM/drill ‘n’ bass/electroclash/etc. acts have in common is they don’t seem to make sense in a Christmas context. I mean, have you ever been wished a “merry X-mas” by a coked-out Rave Robot?

Didn’t think so. That said, this would make one helluva Christmas dance party if you played it front to back in a gym with disco lights and invited others to join in like Autechre, Books On Tape, Plaid, Aphex Twin, Kid Spatula and Clark.

Some A Very Unschooled Christmas‘ tunes (listen to/buy them HERE) are recognizable as time-honored Christmas classics, others are much too trippy to even resemble the original composition. I personally favor the musicians who took the time to make their shit close to the genuine article like Decomposure, who turn “Little Drummer Boy” on its ear, or Multi-Panel, whose run-through of “Silent Night” is as tranquil as the original and futuristic as a Terminator movie.

A Bit Crusher stay relatively close to the source material too, to fascinating effect, as if a Coleco were chiming down the holidays, aided by a sampling machine and a classic music box.

The more oblique efforts, conversely, are a bit lost on me — as in they’re good, but unnecessary to A Very Unschooled Christmas. Plat’s take on “Oh Holy Night” is nice enough on its own but light years away from the tender voicings of the original. Not to mention that 1980’s entry sucks so bad it doesn’t matter how faithful/unfaithful they were; it just doesn’t work.

These tiny missteps in the snow amount to a tiny tear of singed tinsel; A Very Unschooled Christmas is a great way to whip yrself into a holiday frenzy without big-band renditions and Country Favorites compilations.

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Filed under 1980, 1st Class Lounge, A Bit Crusher, Captain Ahab, Decomposure, Doofgoblin, Multi-Panel, Obliminal, Ochre, Plan 29, Plat, Skates, Unschooled Records

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December 18, 2009

“Yulesville” – Warner Bros [X-mas Audio #4 / Album As Art #22]

Again: Holy GOD man!
Again: Holy GOD man!
A look at the goodz.
A look at the goodz.
Holy GOD, this actually happened?
Holy GOD, this actually happened?


Why were the ’80s such a confusing time for so many … artists? The rich musicians offering awkward “Merry Christmas” greetings on Yulesville sound like they stumbled out of a million-dollar coke party just in time to be corralled into a studio space to record these horrible spots. 

And why sequence four audio X-mas greetings in a row? The tendency would be to stagger the playlist a bit so the listener doesn’t go absolute banana fuck-nuts by the time the records over; seems at Warner Bros they never learned this skill.

These curiosities aside, Yulesville is a fascinating compilation that serves as a glimpse into another dimension, where Madonna suddenly cares about whether you drive drunk and George Harrison is roused from a nap in order to read a cue card for a few seconds.

When you finally do get to the music, it’s pretty good. 54.40 will get your balls jingling like sleigh bells with its corn-doggin’ synths and even-higher-corn-content synth-drums, Aztec Camera offer up a cool guitar jam-off, Julie Brown’s rant … well, that doesn’t jingle a goddamn thing and it’s unfunny to boot. I think she invented the unnecessary “like” in conversation too, so, you know, she should be gassed for that (I think she invented the unnecessary “you know,” too; godDAMN).

Book Of Love’s “We Three Kings” keeps the queersville theme going with a seemingly serious and seriously flawed take on “We Three Kings”; thank god Joey Ramone and his Ramones are here to save the day with “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight),” far from “53rd & 3rd” but still better than most of the pap on this christcomp. I just have to wonder: What happened to the fuzzy, snarly crunch of their guitars in the ’80s?

If you were old enough in the ’80s, you were probably wondering what happened to Brian Wilson, too. He’s on here, but only as a quick, record-it-and-get-out audio snippet, promising that “You’ll be hearing from me in 1988.” How comforting! Then, just as you’re starting to assume this will be a bunk stocking stuffer, The Pretenders do what they did in the mid-to-late ’80s: Kick everyone else’s ass. “2000 Miles” (no comma) does just that (check out the video above!).

Side B is an even bigger mess than Side A, full of artists that never were, never could be or never should have been considered. Here’s a quick round-up:

  •  Weirdos I’ve never heard of like The Winans (a bad combo of Michael McDonald and Michael Bolton), Siedah Garrett, Force M.D.’s and Sherrick offer limp-dick holiday cheer;
  • Prince offers a “Purple Rain”-esque cut that really, really cooks; no smart-ass comment here … he’s … he’s the king …
  • Bee Gees talk for 11 seconds, then leave;
  • With Body Count still just a gleam their collective eye, Ice-T and Evil-E embarrass the SHIT out of themselves;
  • The New Monkees — there was a New Monkees? HOLY GOD — stink things up; this idea should have never left the office building it was cooked up in;
  • Fleetwood Mac, Randy Travis and Los Lobos? Ok, time to end this while I’ve still got dignity …

And there you have it: Way too much confusion on nice, red vinyl. At least they had artistic sense in the ’80s! Just to make sure you hear it, here’s an MP3 link to The Pretenders song:

The Pretenders – “2000 Miles”

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Filed under 54.40, Aztec Camera, Bee Gees, Book Of Love, Evil-E, Fleetwood Mac, Force M.D.'s, Garrett Siedah, Harrison George, Ice-T, Madonna, New Monkees, Pretenders, Prince, Ramones, The, Sherrick, Winans The

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December 17, 2009

The Eight Days of Hometapes Part 1, a Christmas miracle! [X-Mas Audio #3]

Pattern Is Movement, not quite kings of the publicity shot.
Pattern Is Movement, not quite kings of the publicity shot.
Slaraffenland, kings of the publicity shot.
Slaraffenland, kings of the publicity shot.
Couldn't find a pic of Shannon Fields alone, so ... Stars Like Fleas, everyone!
Couldn’t find a pic of Shannon Fields alone, so … Stars Like Fleas, everyone!



I meant to drape this little bit of tinsel a long time ago, but I’m space-y as Kevin this time of year and vulnerable to long bouts of eating, drinking and overall indulging. For instance, last night Penny and I indulged in a metric ton of taco chips and watched movies. Normally I’d stop eating at some point but HEY, IT’S THE HOLIDAYS.

Hometapes know, perhaps more than anyone, that Christmas only comes but once a year, and must be celebrated to the utmost. Hence the creation of the Eight Days Of Hometapes series, eight Christmas/holiday tunes by eight artists, released over the course of — you didn’t forget! — eight days.

The artists are as follows: Slaraffenland, Shannon Fields, Pattern Is Movement, Brad Laner, The Carribean and … and (littering and) … and … I GUESS WE’LL JUST FIND OUT IN THE COMING DAYS, NO?

Slaraffenland, as I suspected from the beginning, have delivered my favorite interpretation (UPDATE: I actually love-love Shannon Fields’ entry too so, you know, not so fast) so far with an acoustic slam of “Little Drummer Boy.” But just mentioning the acoustic geetar and moving on would be, well, stupid; there are also xylophone tippy-taps, piano tics, S-land’s patented chanting and nearly patented trumpets.

Then you have Shannon Fields (of Stars Like Fleas, a crazy-ass jug-band, if the jugs were filled with devil-ether and melted US Maple bars) and her kaleidoscopic, misanthropic take on “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” an echo-, synth- and found-sound-soaked sleighride through Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, if the lead character were a lonely, tiny Casio wandering through a desert of paper-mache vultures and ended up in a recording studio with some drunk people. Lead-on sentence HO!!!

I was eager to hear what Pattern Is Movement would do with “Oh Holy Night,” such a gem in Sufjan Stevens‘ and so many others’ hands. They have not disappointed me. Somewhere between a melodica and an accordion reside PIM, their voices resounding in the deep like a ghost choir slowly sinking down to hell. WHAT IN GOD’S NAME AM I TALKING ABOUT (sorry guys)? 

Point is, it’s a nice track. I’m sure Brad Laner’s is too but I don’t have any more time for this post (so LISTEN, ok?). Here are the first four entries in list form, in case, you know, you didn’t catch the OBVIOUS LINKS above: 

Slaraffenland — “Little Drummer Boy”

 Shannon Fields of Stars Like Fleas (featuring the Canizeres family) — “I’ll Be Home For Christmas (If Only In My Dreams)”

Pattern Is Movement — “O Holy Night”

Brad Laner — “It’s Christmas (But I Don’t Care)”

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Filed under Fields Shannon, Hometapes Records, Laner Brad, Pattern Is Movement, Slaraffenland, Stars Like Fleas, Stevens, Sufjan, US Maple

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December 16, 2009

Gumshoe year-end 2009: Standing in the Cheese Line [Cases of Note #4]

 

A sneek-peak at my wife Caro's accompanying drawing.

Finished this LONG, LUSCIOUS article up JUST in the nick of time for Tiny Mix Tapes. It’s a bit long but I feel good about it, and the drawing my wife did turned out aww-aww-awesomely.

So snuggle up with a cup of hot cocoa and read to yr heart’s content. I’ll be watching you from a nearby window, waiting for the right time to jump out and kill you (and maybe your family).

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Filed under Black Lips, Fiery Furnaces, The, Friedberger Matthew, Radiohead, Wavves

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December 15, 2009

Check out this week’s Top-10, Album of the Week #6 and Gumshoe’s infamous “Listening Log”

 

Completely unrelated, but I love this guy ...

 

Hey, I’m just trying to share the love; spread it around a little, maybe.

Mincemeat Or Tenspeed won out on Album of the Week because, though I haven’t even listened to Strange Gods in a few weeks, it’s stayed with me in spirit. 

As far as the Top-10 goes, I was thinking back on a trip to Chicago I took last summer and realized I had nabbed three or four Rococo Records releases on one record-shopping trip, including a fantastic John Wiese/Andy Ortmann split one-sided 12-inch — on dark-dark-blue vinyl — that came with a heavy-deavy metal plate I had to carry around the Windy City for hours on end.

It was worth it. 

As far as the Listening Log goes, well, it’s pretty much self-explanatory. Just keep in mind I do actually listen to the albums I post there …

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Filed under Rococo Records

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December 15, 2009

Gumshoe’s Top-25 of 2009 [Curiosities #28]



I’ve finally decided to give in and post my Top-25. With so many things to review it’s easy to slack but I gotta get down to BUSiness here. 

A few bands endeared themselves to me especially heavily this year, for the first time: Tonestartssbandht (the only group with more than one album), The Fresh & Onlys (whom I’ve been raving about all year) and Ganglians.

They made 2009 particularly interesting, but there was a whole lot of goodness goin’ down. Whether Anfang, Sylvester, O-Rod (Omar Rodriguez-Lopez), Locrian or the always-unpredictable Broadcast, ‘09 was a year of teeming creativity. 

And so it is, my Top-Two-fizzle. My nizzle:

1. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post-Pavillion

2. Tonestartssbandht – An When

3. The Fresh & Onlys – Grey-Eyed Girls

4. Ganglians – Monster Head Room

5. Sylvester Anfang II – s/t

6. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez – Old Money

7. Broadcast/The Focus Group – Witch Trials

8. Gay Beast – Second Wave

9. Sunn O))) – Monoliths & Dimensions

10. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic

11. Boredoms – Super Roots 10

12. Thee Oh Sees – Zork’s Tape Bruise

13. Blank Dogs – Under and Under

14. Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. – Dark Side of the Black Moon

15. Dan Deacon – Bromst

16. Oneida – Rated O

17. Crocodiles – Summer of Hate

18. Doom – Born Like This

19. Titus Andronicus – The Airing of Grievances

20. Racebannon + Merzbow = Merzbannon

21. The Darlings – Yeah I Know

22. Mincemeat Or Tenspeed – Strange Gods

23. Awol One & Factor – Owl Hours

24. Tonestartssbandht – Dick Nights

25. Lotus Plaza – The Floodlight Collective

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Filed under Deakin, Ganglians, Geologist, Panda Bear, Sylvester Anfang II, Tonstartssbandht

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December 14, 2009

“Stealing Christmas” by Eric Alexandrakis [Song Cycle #15 / X-mas Audio #2]

Eric Alexandrakis: Gumshoe's first indie case?
Eric Alexandrakis: Gumshoe’s first indie case?
Some trippy X-mas stuff here ...
Some trippy X-mas stuff here …
Eric Alexandrakis - "I.V. Catatonia"
Eric Alexandrakis – “I.V. Catatonia”


Eric Alexandrakis is one of my favorite music-journalist stories.

I reviewed his I.V. Catatonia, an album about the rigors of chemotherapy, waaaaay back in 2002, when I was still a journalism student at WSU and harbored dreams of someday working for Spin (at this point I was also much more innocent; it was before I became Editor in Chief at WSU’s school paper and went through HELL with no advisor). 

I.V. Catatonia was an out-of-nowhere surprise just weird enough to catch my fickle attention, as I wasn’t really into listening to anything I hadn’t heard of back then — which is funny because now all I want to listen to is stuff I’ve never heard of.

Alexandrakis helped me realize how important it is to keep at least a finger on the pulse of the deep, deep underground because a lot of the groups that are huge — or getting there — in the indie-rock scene, whether they know it or not, take direct cues from I.V. Catatonia. 

Musicians like Avey Tare from Animal Collective, Emperor X, Dosh (not to mention several other weird-rock Anticon artists), Au and several others, while far from carbon-copying Alexandrakis’
schizophrenic sound, seem to find ways to carry it on.

Now, A-Drakis has given me another reason with the great “Stealing Christmas,” an instrumental mash-up of sorts that contains a lot of familiar elements and just as much original intrigue. I could spend all day trying to pin this shit down but I’ll just let you check it out yrself.

Ho-Ho-Ho!!!

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Filed under Alexandrakis Eric, Animal Collective, Avey Tare

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December 14, 2009

Modey Lemon – “You Bug Me” b/w “Combustion (Bring it On)” – Crash Bang Wallop Records [Lucky 7-inch #28]

The "Star Wars intro" view ...
The “Star Wars intro” view …
Sealed copy in a Used bin? I'll take it ...
Sealed copy in a Used bin? I’ll take it …
Modey Lemon - "You Bug Me" 7-inch
Modey Lemon – “You Bug Me” 7-inch


Modey Lemon are one of my favorite bands to emerge from the overcrowded scrap heap that produced a bunch of great garage-rock out of Detroit, Pittsburgh and other blue-collar communities — think Cobra Verde, The White Stripes, Whirlwind Heat, The Sights — and a lot of not-so-great garage-rock — think The Black Keys.

“You Bug Me” is a formative 7-inch for the group, blasted to tape in 2001, but their signature synth whirl, drum-bash and vocal snarl were already in place. Come to think of it, this is sort of what The Unicorns ended up sounding like: Fuzzy-navel guitars, loose rhythms, attitude for miles … what Modey Lemon add on top is the punk-ierj vocals of Phil Boyd and a more aggressive songwriting bent.

Not to mention an obsession with cyborgs and the Future, a subject M. Lemon would explore on then-upcoming Curious City. At this point though, the duo were relatively traditional, save the sobbing, throbbing buzz they caked on top of their guitars and the Dr. Who synths.

Oh yeah, and the inSANE clean-ass riff carrying “Combustion (Bring it On)” is no fuckin’ joke. We’re talking serious diddling; it sounds like a bass guitar taken up a half-step and detuned just enough to make all the sense in the world. Truth be told, “Combustion” is a much more interesting clash of styles, jumpy like only a composition by a 20-something-year-old can be and FRESH as Bel Air’s Prince.

“You Bug Me,” for its part, has especially narrow lyrics, as the title implies, and “Combustion (Bring it On)” isn’t any closer to a grad-student-thesis-turned-rock-project, but that’s not what you want from Modey Lemon if you know anything about their strengths.

I saw them at South By Southwest in 2004 and couldn’t hear the vocals at all, and I didn’t want to; they would have only gotten in the way of the push-push-push-PULL of the geets ‘n’ drms. 

Raw and wriggling, the “You Bug Me” 7-inch is only a tease from a group that would go on to tip the scales with tubby prog-lite jams and bass-heavy lean. As introductions go, it’s pretty damn fine, however.

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