Confessions of a Would-Be Hipster

end of year list #1

2009-12-12T18:48:00.000-08:00

I know it's early yet, but the holiday season is all a-buzz around us and I thought I'd go ahead and get the end-of-2009 stuff going with a little listmaking cheer. A warning, though: I'm an English major. This means I write a lot. So there's many a paragraph to brave. But you can make it. I have faith in you.

ten favorite albums

10 • Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix
I tried not to let Phoenix's show-stopping performance at this year's Monolith Festival influence my decision on this album's placement, but it didn't work. Where before I listened to this album I heard fun, bouncy indie-pop, now my mind is overcome with powerful images of smoke machines and strobe lights and I'm suddenly reminded just how fantastic it can be to be alive sometimes. Now just try telling me that music capable of conjuring that emotion doesn't belong on a list somewhere. I'd love to hear why.

9 • Intuit by Ramona Falls
Perhaps the year's most unlikely inclusion, if only because I honestly wasn't expecting to be that impressed by a solo album (sorta) by the guitarist/pianist from Menomena. I was wrong. If anything, this is even better than his mother act: an understated, often beautiful assortment of indie-rock songs that don't necessarily provide immediate satisfaction as much as crawl under your skin and stay there.

8 • Controlling Crowds, Pts. I-IV by Archive
A sprawling 127-minute behemoth that actually impresses because of its length rather than in spite of it. By deftly weaving together elements of electronica, prog-rock, and hip-hop, this British bazillion-piece creates a dark, hypnotic, otherworldly atmosphere unlike any other I have heard in music. The final product feels less like an album than its own self-contained universe. That its best moments (the seductive slow-burner "Collapse/Collide," the gorgeously melancholy "The Empty Bottle," the should-have-been-huge "Pills," and of course the splendid title cut) also constitute some of the year's finest tracks doesn't hurt, either.

7 • It's Blitz! by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Talk about a breakthrough. I had heard both of Yeah Yeah Yeahs' albums prior to 2009, but something about them failed to impress me. The decidedly glossier, more synthed-up It's Blitz, however, grabbed me by the throat and demanded my attention. Apparently it had a similar effect on the rest of the world: "Zero" is justly one of the most inescapable tracks of the year, and while my personal tastes gravitate more towards the likes of "Dull Life" and "Heads Will Roll," I can't begrudge these guys (and, of course, girl) a single ounce of their mainstream success. They've earned it.

6 • Daisy by Brand New
Especially after the consecutive home-runs of Deja Entendu and The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me, I'm not about to argue that Daisy isn't a deeply flawed album. It is. But it's also an immensely fascinating one, bringing to the forefront an unchecked aggression only previously hinted at. The result is far and away the band's angriest, most brutal outing to date. And even though the WTF-worthy opener "Vices" may not sound a damn thing like "Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't," the band retains its preternatural ability to make everything they do -- regardless of one's intrinsic bias against the styles they tackle -- sound fresh, exciting, and wonderful. Daisy may not represent the most rewarding or satisfying turn they've taken, but it nonetheless holds its own as an assured, forceful, and cathartic rock record. Admit to the truth: they're still the best at what they do.

5 • Fantasies by Metric
Metric has always been a good band. Emily Haines' charisma and the band's tight songwriting have always sort of ensured that. Fantasies was my first taste of how, with a little more focus and polish, they can also be a great one. Their past albums all had moments of brilliance, but the records themselves lacked the sort of consistency that Fantasies all but makes up for. As a piece, it's slick, tight, and totally addictive. But more to the point, it's a lot of fun. Describing just how warm and purely enjoyable this album is is no easy task, but it's perhaps not quite as difficult as resisting the urge to play it over again once it's finished.

4 • The Hazards of Love by The Decemberists
Despite being one of my favorite bands, The Decemberists and I have a bit of a tumultuous history; as a result, I probably listened to The Hazards of Love significantly fewer times than anything else on this list. This ain't gonna keep me from extolling its brilliance, though: Meloy & co. have always been ambitious, and here that ambition reaches an all-time high. A 70s-inspired rock opera may not seem like the best path for a band still most famous for folk songs and sea shanties, but it fits them like a glove. In fact, it's something of a tour de force: exciting, cohesive, and even a little bit "mossy and evil."

3 • Swoon by Silversun Pickups
This is exactly the record I wanted them to make. Without changing the sound they developed on 2006's (incredible) Carnavas, they nonetheless refine it into something paradoxically more aggressive, yet more tender; more assured, yet more fragile. Pitchfork, in what may be their worst review of all-time, criticized the band for sounding -- and I quote -- "way too much like themselves." I think that's the exact reason why Swoon is one of the best albums of the year.

2 • Amor Vincit Omnia by Pure Reason Revolution
The best album of the year that no one heard. I did my part to share it with all my like-minded friends, but even this can't hide the fact that I really only stumbled on it by accident. So what gives? This is a wonderful album, far and away the most accomplished electronic release of 2009. By combining traditional prog and synth-pop sensibilities with rich melodies and lush multi-part vocal harmonies, PRR have created a rewarding and ambitious collection as unique as it is life-affirming. Do yourself a favor and seek it out. It really is that good.

1 • Dragonslayer by Sunset Rubdown
Spencer Krug is not human. Humans make mistakes. Spencer Krug does not do this (I lay blame for Swan Lake on Dan Bejar). To wit: the man has made both of my album and song lists for five consecutive years. 99% of bands don't even make it as far as releasing something each year, much less having it be among the year's very best. At this point, I just leave spots open for Spencer with faith that he'll fill them in at some point in the ensuing twelve months. Dragonslayer is not Sunset Rubdown's best album, but in many ways it's their most accessible and straightforward. Krug's songwriting is still intimidatingly brilliant, and the band has never sounded tighter. I don't need to have heard all of the albums released in 2009. I am sure: this is the best.

ten favorite songs

10 • "Panic Attack" by Rinôçérôse from Futurino
It's important to get this party started on the right foot. There were any number of songs vying for tenth place, but one re-listen to Rinôçérôse's giddy electro-rock floorkiller immediately decimated the competition. This is one bouncy and catchy and habit-forming song. Oscillating between guitar-heavy verses and a synth-driven rave-up chorus, it emerges as one of the very best straightforward, no-holds-barred dance-pop songs I've heard in quite some time. And I like it like that.

9 • "Daniel" by Bat for Lashes from Two Suns
I'll be perfectly honest. I don't really "get" Bat for Lashes. I suppose I see what she's trying to do, but it doesn't really click for me. That said, I can't deny that "Daniel" is a hell of a song (and I kind of wish the rest of Two Suns had followed its retro-80s stylistic lead): catchy, atmospheric, and utterly beguiling. Plus, "When the fires came, the smell of cinders and rain perfumed almost everything: we laughed and laughed and laughed" is far and away my favorite lyric of the year.

8 • "Apollo and the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh!" by Sunset Rubdown from Dragonslayer
I don't know if Spencer Krug's lyrics really are more lucid and unambiguous here, or if I'm just in a position to better relate to them and therefore project my own clear interpreation, but either way this is likely the moodiest and most overtly melancholy song he's ever written. It's also gorgeous, emotional, and affecting enough that I feel entirely justified in my anger towards the band's decision to never play it live again.

7 • "I Say Fever" by Ramona Falls from Intuit
Even before it was graced with one of the year's coolest music videos, Brent Knopf's supremely enchanting piano ballad-turned-feedback laden rocker was already one of my favorite tunes of the year. Now it's pretty much mandated that I put it on this list somewhere. Special shout-out to "Clover," though. You almost made it, buddy.

6 • "Gold Guns Girls" by Metric from Fantasies
All you bands aiming to make the next great indie dance song, look no further than Emily Haines for a mentor. "Gold Guns Girls" might be the most unapologetically body-movin' thing the band has recorded to date, and its joyous, energetic synth-heavy sound is something wonderful to behold. And if the searing guitar riffs, the machine gun drumbeat, and the layered vocals weren't already enough to make it one of my favorite tracks of '09, the "more and more" coda pretty much seals it.

5 • "Controlling Crowds" by Archive from Controlling Crowds
Every year there's always a 10+ minute song so good that it ends up only feeling a quarter of its length ("Kissing the Beehive" last year, "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal" the year before). This year it's Archive's tremendous electro-trip-hop epic, which builds and releases so masterfully that, even on an album as gargantuan as the one from which the song takes its name, it remains the clear and unequivocal standout. The part where Dave Penney sings over softly strummed acoustic guitars, "Keep me calm, 'cause I'm scared of the controlling crowds -- HERE THEY COME!" and the song suddenly explodes in a rush of synths and drum machines is probably the most viscerally satisfying moment in all of music this year.

4 • "Well, Whatever" by The Kingsbury Manx from Ascenseur Ouvert!
The inevitable dark horse. Simply the prettiest, most charming indie-pop song of the year. That's all there is to it.

3 • "Where There Is Light" by VNV Nation from Of Faith, Power, and Glory
If anything, 2009 can be remembered as the year that saved VNV Nation. In the past twelve months they have not only given us a breathtaking series of live shows (no really, you need to see these guys live), but also delivered their best album in a decade. Its final track, "Where There Is Light," is the musical equivalent of standing upon a high cliff overlooking a sea of sparkling city lights: dazzling, windswept, awe-inspiring. It's their finest moment since 2002's "Beloved."

2 • "Panic Switch" by Silversun Pickups from Swoon
I do not understand all the Silversun Pickups hate. I don't. If these people would stop comparing Brian Aubert to Billy Corgan for two seconds and actually listen to the music, they might realize that "Panic Switch" isn't just a good rock song, but a friggin' great rock song. The "I'm waiting and fading and floating away" bridge is the stuff dreams are made of. Just you remember that; it'll give you warm fuzzies the next time you hear it.

1 • "Deus Ex Machina" by Pure Reason Revolution from Amor Vincit Omnia
#1 with a bullet. Truthfully, there was never any competition. I heard this in February and knew pretty much instantly it would be my song of the year. What PRR do with these five and a half minutes is something extremely special. Bouncing from one inspired musical idea to the next, they provide a jagged, utterly addictive amalgamation of some of my favorite musical styles: electro-pop, industrial dance, prog-rock, heavy metal, and maybe even more heretofore undiscovered. It's mean, it's aggressive, it's adrenaline-pumping, and it's nothing short of brilliant.

five favorite shows
I went to more shows in 2009 than in all previous years combined, and as a result I am so overwhelmed with awesomeness that I find it impossible to rank the best of them. All five of these mark some of the greatest nights of my life; to attempt to stratify them would be criminal.

• Apoptygma Berzerk @ the 9:30 Club (Washington, DC)
• Cut Copy @ the Bluebird Theater (Denver, CO)
• Metric @ the Ogden Theater (Denver, CO)
• Sunset Rubdown @ the Echoplex (Los Angeles, CA)
• VNV Nation @ the 9:30 Club (Washington, DC)

I live in Albuquerque.

in 2010 I might:
Make this post shorter. Then again, maybe not.

In any case, that does it for me. Check back for other hipsters' inevitable year-end lists, plus my own unenviable post-New Year's project of counting down my twenty-five favorite songs and albums of the decade. 'Til then!

mp3: "Panic Switch" by Silversun Pickups
mp3: "Pills" by Archive
mp3: "Deus Ex Machina" by Pure Reason Revolution
mp3: "Well, Whatever" by The Kingsbury Manx
mp3: "You Go On Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II)" by Sunset Rubdown

the get up kids @ the avalon

2009-11-01T19:57:00.000-08:00

author's note: This post is stupidly late. Like a month late. We were waiting for the drawings. I'm sure you’ll agree that they're totally worth it.

The Get Up Kids are touring again, and, if their Twitter is to be believed, they'll continue touring for awhile. This is very good news. If you haven't seen them, and you're not afraid of getting kicked in the face¹, you should catch a show. Three Would-be Hipsters sneaked out of work to get to the ridiculously early show at the Avalon, where I ran into two fellow fans I'd met at previous shows, because Get Up Kids fans are kind of awesome. Here's a bulleted list of things you should know about the show:

• First opener Pretty & Nice were, in fact, pretty nice. Motion City Soundtrack-esque punky pop played by boys in pants that are too tight.

• Second opener Youth Group disappointed us greatly, and we spent most of their set wondering how many porn flicks the lead singer had made, and hoping he didn't fall off the stage and bleed on us.

• The Get Up Kids sound just as tight and loud and wonderful as always, and they've even remembered how to play a lot of their old songs. ("Woodson" and "Off the Wagon"? Awesome.) They still seem unwilling to play "Shorty" for me, though.

• Most importantly, it seems the boys are writing again. With no fanfare other than frontman Matt Pryor's, "And then there was this," they launched into a new song. It doesn't sound very Get Up Kids-ish, but neither did 2004's Guilt Show, and that turned out pretty awesome. It does sound very bassy and very epic, and we at WBH headquarters are officially thrilled by it. According to their recent Daytrotter session², they've recorded nine new songs. And while I'm a bit torn about the idea of a new album, if there is one I promise to buy it, and I'll go to every show, and I'll get kicked in the glasses by a teenaged boy, and I'll like it, dammit.

Super Added Bonus Section!
the Would-be Hipsters proudly present
"GUK Salad...and an Angel?"
an art piece by Aude Lising Prachandsitthi

There was a sweaty sweater-clad carrot...

...and there was a sweaty tattooed tomato, too.

There was a cupcake underpants wearing sweaty potato, of course...

...and let's not forget the wild hair, hat-clad, tongue-pulling ear of corn (uncooked).

And then there was Rob "I don't sweat because sweating is for mortals" Pope.

1. If you are afraid of getting kicked in the head, front-row-center is probably not for you – although not every show involves crowd-surfing, so you might wanna risk it anyway ‘cause front-row is kinda awesome.
2. Download it. Now.

would-be hipsters in full force

2009-10-31T12:33:00.000-07:00

Hey loyal readers. And, most likely, random passers-by.

As you may have noticed, LMS has moved on to her own project, Panel. (If you're loyal enough to follow us on twitter or facebook, there's no way you could have possibly missed this.) This is just a quick note to let you know that while LMS is gone, the rest of us are still here, geeking out over good music and pie. In fact, we've got a lot of changes in the works, including a new layout, new features, and even a new Would-be Hipster. That's why things are running sort of slowly around here. There's more to come, we promise, so please bear with us.

goodbye, or?

2009-10-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

Two years ago, we started this blog...to get free stuff and foist our opinions on others.

One Christmas compilation, twenty-six months, numerous trips to House of Pies, and a zillion Swedish indie rock references later, I can now say: Mission accomplished.

Starting today I’ll have a new Internet home. Together with Darius Fong (a.k.a. producer extraordinaire), we'll be running WEarePANEL.com and the “We are Panel” iPhone application.

As far as websites and apps go, our goal is pretty simple—to bring you great music. Every week we’ll be hitting the streets, talking to the people who make music happen on every level: producers, purveyors, and provocateurs. Artist or business owner, famous or infamous, we guarantee one thing—our weekly “Panelist” will have a passion for music and a story to tell.

Not only are we dedicated to bringing you that story; we’ll be bringing you the music as well. Every week we’ll be streaming two complete Panelist-approved albums. That’s right—two album recommendations a week from some of the most knowledgeable fans in out there.

Confessions of a Would-Be Hipster has been a blast. Chances are I'll poke my head in from time to time and say hi. Until then, so long...and thanks for all the fish.

Love,

Laura (a.k.a. LMS)

A bevy of contact info:

laura(at)panelmusic(dot)com
Official site
Facebook
Facebook fan page
Myspace
Twitter
Last.fm
Last.fm (user group)
Youtube

make moon by make moon

2009-10-18T19:29:00.000-07:00

Make Moon is a band of guys who know how to follow instructions--going so far as to tell us what they sound like, dropping a CD in the mail, and then following up with an e-mail. Bands everywhere take note: this is how you get a review.

Food for thought.

Thankfully, Make Moon also makes particularly enjoyable music. A solid rock band, their sound is accented with unexpected elements of jazz, psychedelia, new wave and good 'ol fashioned pop.

Their self-titled EP is a slippery thing--just when you think you've got them pegged, just when you begin to worry that they'd be easily pigeon-holed, the music takes an abrupt about-face. "Wine and Grapes" could easily slip into now-defunct The Golden Republic's catalog. "Lady V" interrupts the song for a brief jazz piano interlude that would give the members of Menomena pause. I'm not sure who I have to sweet talk to get these guys on a triple bill with local favorites I Make This Sound and New York New Wavers French Kicks--but dang it, this is the sort of music that makes me want to try.

mp3: "It Will (Don't Worry)" by Make Moon

know better learn faster by thao with the get down stay down

2009-10-15T15:15:00.000-07:00

I’m floating in a bit of a bubble this week with limited Internet access. Somehow, this feeling of disconnect—like I’ve somehow managed to fall off the grid, makes Thao’s (and her band, the Get Down Stay Down) new album Know Better Learn Faster just a bit more extraordinary. I can’t access the cheat sheet press release, and Thao defies easy summaries. It’s a fair trade.

Thao’s music simultaneously boasts an old-fashioned throw down musicality—not unlike a few great American songwriters you could easily Google (Muddy Waters and Bob Dylan immediately come to mind) and a certain Je n’sais quoi that’s tougher to pin-point . Case in point? “When We Swam.” Any girl who can sound demure while singing “open your hips to me” is the definition of “indefinable.”

A paean to the pitfalls of love, Know Better Learn Faster walks the listener though thirteen romantically downtrodden scenarios. From the lovers shortcomings in the titular track (accented with Andrew Bird’s violin and vibrato-heavy whistle) to the dismaying prospect of being little more than a body in a bed (“Body”) Thao leaves no relationship-ending stone unturned.

Still, even amidst the lyrical gloom and doom, there’s still an undeniable musical glee. Thao may talk a good game—voice often cracking like a woman scorned—but it’s difficult to get the pity party started when the prevailing theme of the record seems to be, “Dang, this girl can throw down a mean lick!” With a winning combination of whit and musicality, Know Better Learn Faster proves that there are few things more fun than dancing the blues away.

72 musicians soundtrack

2009-10-13T13:35:00.000-07:00

I love rock documentaries. Don't Look Back, Woodstock, The Kids Are Alright, The Devil and Daniel Johnston, DiG! - any excuse to watch great musicians play great music and talk about how messed up they are, I'm there. I think it stems from the fact that, as much as I want to be a rock star, I never will be. Watching rockumentaries reminds me that these people are human too, and generally, their lives are actually worse than mine. If they have to be talented, rich, and good-looking, at least they can suffer a little too¹.

Which brings us to 72 Musicians, a new documentary featuring a slew of Kansas City / Lawrence, KS musicians, and several of my favorite small bands – White Whale, the Republic Tigers, the Get Up Kids. Oh. And Spoon². With candid interviews with members of 20 independent bands about the hardships and unglamorous wonders of being a musician, and terrific advice to startup musicians (e.g. "For god's sake, don't fuck anyone else who's on the tour."), it's a familiar format, but a slightly different theme and a larger scale than most rock documentaries.

And then of course there's the live performances. No video yet on the website, but there is a fully downloadable soundtrack – for free! Live performances from the documentary, including a rough (and slightly oddly mixed) version of White Whale's "We're Just Temporary Ma'am," one of my favorite songs of all time. The bands range from folky (Namelessnumberheadman, In the Pines) to straightforward indie rock (The Appleseed Cast, The Stella Link) to slightly strange (Ad Astra Per Aspera, Sal Retta) to, um, Coalesce. It's a great, eclectic group of songs, and I'm excited to see the film, which should be available for download on the site eventually. We'll try to keep you posted.

mp3: "We're Just Temporary Ma'am" by White Whale

1. Yes, I am a terrible person.
2. That's three of Rob Pope's bands. He's in the trailer. Making funny faces. Yup.

fever ray @ the henry fonda

2009-10-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

Some people go to horror films. Me? I get jacked up on sugar at House of Pies (Pecan -- for the record), and see Fever Ray. I’d be lying if I didn't admit that by the time the curtain rose on the chillingly beautiful set, my heart wasn't pounding as hard as any virginal teen being chased by a chainsaw-wielding maniac. (Which, come to think of it, might have been the inspiration for the abrasive house "music" between sets. Really, Henry Fonda?)

Interestingly enough, despite standing in the second row, I still have no idea what Karin DreijerAndersson looks like. Fever Ray may ultimately be the expression of a solo artist, but it's become so much more -- a fact driven home by elaborate stage design by Andreas Nilsson. Fringe-adorned lamps blinked ominously to the beat-heavy music. Clumps of incense burned at the front of the stage -- their sick sweetness washing over the audience. Man-made pathetic fallacy at its finest, fog freely billowed. By the end of the set the entire room would be nearly obscured.

The five-person band proceeded onto the stage to the dull chants of "If I Had a Heart" -- Andersson hidden under a mountain of furs lit from the inside. Even after she cast off her coat-of-one-color at the end of the third song (an attempt to foil photographers who were unceremoniously ushered out at that point?) she was still hidden under rolling smoke and heavy stage makeup that rendered her appearance more Ingmar Bergman's "Death" than human. Having made a career out of obscuring her identity with electro-Goth duo The Knife, this wasn't terribly surprising.

Andersson never said a word -- normally cause for complaint. But her stage persona -- part dark sorceress, part little-girl-lost -- spoke volumes. Even though she was sandwiched between equally costumed band members (I was particularly taken with her glasses-wearing, headdress-swinging laptop/guitarist who, despite layers of face paint, still managed to exude geek-chic) and competing with a smoke and a laser show, there was never a question as to where central focus was. Lasers were bounced around the stage and -- during "Triangle Walks" -- shot out into the audience, leaving the bottom half of the Fonda feeling like they were underwater -- but end the end it all came down to the first lady of Fever Ray. Moving only between keyboard and mic, emoting only with her hands -- which perpetually swayed in spell-casting circles -- Andersson clearly had the audience in her control.

During the penultimate song, we might -- just might -- have gotten a taste of the person behind the art. Andersson stepped to the front of the stage, and in a moment of near-vulnerability, sang a non-album song about the joy her children have brought her. (Then again, given the thematic darkness of the night, this could have been another clever metaphor.)¹

However, moment over, Andersson donned her mountain of furs and stepped back into the shadows. The band threw themselves into the ghostly clatter of "Coconut" and slowly, one by one, reversed their procession, back into the smoke and receding lights, leaving the audience to stare in slack-jawed wonder at fog swirling around an empty stage.

¹If anyone has any info on this track, I’m dying to get my hands on it.

mp3: "When I Grow Up (D Lissvik remix)" by Fever Ray

frightened rabbit @ the knitting factory

2009-10-05T15:43:00.001-07:00

Last week three of the Would-be Hipsters headed off to the Knitting Factory in Hollywood for a night of Scottish indie-rock perfection. Well, almost.

First opener was We Were Promised Jetpacks, who were brilliant. Loud, just poppy enough, great bass lines, clever lyrics, totally adorable and Scottish. I don't know how I've not had them in my life for so long. They've become my new walking-to-lunch music, and last week it took every ounce of composure not to dance down Fairfax while singing the chorus of "Quiet Little Voices." ¹

Second opener was The Twilight Sad, a fairly well known act that I'd managed to avoid. They were kinda boring, the drummer took most of the set to figure out how to drum, the guitarist was glued to his whammy bar, and the singer was keeping most of his personality in his cardigan. I think it's official that I don't like shoegaze, even if it's with a Scottish accent.² See what you think.

But then there was Frightened Rabbit, who are incredible live. And as enchanting as singer Scott Hutchinson is, drumming brother Grant sort of steals the show. At the end of their set (I believe the song was "Heads Roll Off" but I could be completely wrong), all the other members of the band wandered off stage, leaving Grant to finish the set in an epic drum solo, where he basically turned into Animal of the Muppets. Which was fantastic because Grant was wearing a t-shirt with Animal's head printed on it. Oh yes.

Scott was, however, responsible for the greatest band-heckle I've ever witnessed. A young guy in the crowd yelled, "I take showers to you!" during a brief break between songs, and Hutchinson assured him that he showers to the kid as well, with photos taped to the tiles, and how he should probably get them laminated. He also insisted that we in the crowd not applaud or cheer after one song, because they perform every night and are sick of all that ridiculous clapping – they wanted bored noises instead. Yawning at Frightened Rabbit was probably the hardest thing I've done all summer, and I just finished moving to a third-floor apartment…

It's also worth noting that they played two new songs, as they've recorded a new album. If those tracks are anything to go by, the next album will be brilliant, and provide an excellent for them to tour again.

mp3: "Ships With Holes Will Sink" by We Were Promised Jetpacks
mp3: "Don't" by Frightened Rabbit

1. LMS was not moved by WWPJP. I don't know what's wrong with her.
2. LMS liked them. Our Southwestern component, cev, had seen the same show earlier in the tour, and agreed with ako and myself, thus proving that we are in fact right, and LMS is, sadly, wrong in every way.

loney dear @ the troubadour

2009-10-03T11:05:00.000-07:00

For the record: I'm not stalking Loney Dear
(a.k.a. Emil Svanängen). But if he's going to insist on playing Los Angeles three times in any given year--once as a supporting act for another great artist, and once at my favorite club--before returning a third time with a notable opener of his own...well, I fail to see the downside of going for the trifecta.

First off was the sock-of-nickels sonic assault of Asobi Seksu. Despite demonstrating just how poorly balanced the Troubadour sound system was, and hypnotizing the audience with strobe lights on nearly every song (as my friend--who shall henceforth be known as "The Option Behind the Curtain"--helpfully pointed out, "If you mark every e-mail as urgent, none of them are."), they also managed to embody a surprising amount of shoegaze charm. Lead woman Yuki Chikudate's pure pop voice transcended the din, its delicious displacement elevating Asobi Seksu above the majority of their dream-pop contemporaries.

After Asobi Seksu's wall of noise, even the loyal (read: me) begun to wonder if Svanängen could match the energy and intensity of his opener.

Let's take a moment for a self-evaluation: Umm...Duh.

For those who chose to stick around, Svanängen and his four piece band (who also backed the first opener of the evening Anna Ternheim) once again proved that sincerity is the new irony. From his addressing the audience as "my friends" when first taking the stage, to a sincere "thank you for the wonderful evening" (no--thank you!) , Svanängen proved to be the sort of indie-rock poster boy you only wish you could bring home to meet your parents. (Sufjan, please take note.)

Musically, the Loney Dear collective was--as per usual--spot on. As "The Opinion Behind the Curtain" aptly described their style: "you can't have a crystalline voice without a crescendo." Live, this is--without a doubt--the musical personification of joy.

By the time each song--guided by Svanängen's sweet voice--swelled to a dramatic climax, you could feel the band's glee permeate the venue. Or was that just me? Svanängen has noted several times that his latest album Dear John is a work predicated on sadness. Regardless, by the end of the set--largely comprised of Dear John material--you'd be hard-pressed to find someone without a smile.

Set List:

1. I Was Only Going Out
2. Everything Turns to You
3. Summers
4. Under a Silent Sea
5. The Meter Marks Okay
6. Carrying a Stone
7. Take it Back
8. I Fought the Battle of Trinidad & Tobago
9. Hard Day’s 1.2.3.4

Encore

10. Airport Surroundings
11. Shivering Green
12. Sinister in a State of Hope
13. Dear John

mp3: "Airport Surroundings" by Loney Dear
mp3: "I Am John (live)" by Loney Dear
mp3: "Ignorant Boy, Beautiful Girl" by Loney Dear
mp3: "Suzanne" by Asobi Seksu
mp3: "Transparence" by Asobi Seksu

lend taken by trees a hand

2009-09-30T15:12:00.000-07:00

After seeing her live, and being enchanted by her new album East of Eden, we're sad to think that others may not get a chance to see Victoria Bergsman (a.k.a. Taken By Trees) preform. The dilemma straight from the lady's mouth (or rather fingers):

Dear All

I never thought it would come to this, me pleading for your help and support. Here I am with a finalised album and a excellent band willing to help me out, making some shows. To keep the music alive. Then the bitter truth comes around and laughs me right in the face. Letting me know it is financially impossible. These hard times does affect all of us. So here I am at stuck at home like a stranded whale. Unable to do any shows simply because there is no money for musicians these days. It feels so sad and boring to poor this all over you. But I didn´t know where else to turn. I am now asking you if you have any ideas or suggestions in how to make this happen, making it possible for tbt to do some shows? Maybe you even have a jet-plane for what I know...Please don´t hesitate in letting us know.

We need all the help we can get.

Love

TBT

mp3: "Tell Me (live)" by Taken By Trees
mp3: "Julia (live)" by Taken By Trees
mp3: "Watch the Waves" by Taken By Trees

daisy by brand new

2009-09-21T11:20:00.001-07:00

Brand New is a band that understands its strengths. Frontman Jesse Lacey put it best in the band's acerbic call to arms "Okay I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don't": "We admit to the truth; we are the best at what we do." Indeed, they possess an almost preternatural ability to take a style I do not care for (what the world at large pejoratively refers to as "emo," though this feels like a criminally unfair description) and transform it into some of the most compelling music that has touched these college ears. 2003's Deja Entendu is one of the best albums of its kind. 2006's follow-up The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me is one of the best albums, period. Due in no small part to this prodigious talent, their popularity is not insubstantial; in fact, one might even be able to make the case that they're among the most commercially successful American bands working today. Because of this, they have basically stood peerless in terms of pre-album hype in 2009. The internet has been all a-buzz for months. How will they follow up their masterpiece? What will the album sound like? What new turns will their music take?

Well, now that the answer is finally upon us, how about it? Is Daisy a good record? Of course it is. Its problem is that it's also an exceptionally difficult one, especially for the faction of oldschool fans still holding out for another Deja-style pop album. At times the band feels like it's trying way too hard to do something different; at others, it just feels like they're not trying at all for anything. This gives the album a sort of adverse take-it-or-leave-it feel that probably won't set well with people who aren't willing to be patient with it. Given the size of the band's fanbase, I fully expect this to be a hugely polarizing album.

When the boys make their magic work, though, it still casts an inimitable spell. For its five minutes, "Noro" -- the album's final and best song -- serves as a heart-wrenching reminder of what makes me love this band so much: the quietly despairing melody, Lacey's vulnerable vocals, the gradual build into noisy distortion. It's the one song on here that feels like it was crafted with the same amount of care and attention to detail that was present on virtually every track on The Devil and God, and it's honestly remarkable. If Daisy does indeed end up being the band's swan song, as Lacey has repeatedly hinted in interviews, this is a fitting and appropriate goodbye.

The rest of the album is a much tougher nut to crack. It's frequently rewarding, but the band seems so hellbent on defying expectations that appreciating it to its fullest extent is something that requires a considerable amount of time. "At the Bottom" was a wise choice for the album's first single: it's the only thing here that's even remotely suited for airplay, and it stands as a strong and fairly immediate glimpse into the stylistic changes the band has made. Other songs make no such attempt to ease the listener in. Anyone not knowing what to expect will probably have the shit scared out of them by opener "Vices," then spend the rest of its duration wondering what the hell happened to the band famous for its restrained, thoughtful anthems like "Jesus" and "Limousine." Still, jarring as it is, "Vices" is an exciting way to begin the record. 99 times out of 100, I would detest what the band is trying to do, but everything I said about them being able to take a highly disagreeable formula and turn it into something intriguing holds true for this song. It ... well, kind of rocks.

Elsewhere, "Sink" and "Bought a Bride" seem to most successfully exemplify the new direction the band is trying to take. The tracks are quick and brutal, but also melodic and memorable. Even so, one can't help but be bothered by the nagging feeling that these songs -- strong as they are -- could have been even better if they'd been expanded by another minute or two. "Sink," for instance, hits one of the record's most thrilling moments around its 2:30 mark, but doesn't bother staying around to capitalize on it. And in general, this is Daisy's biggest flaw: while there's nothing here that I wouldn't consider good (with the exception of "Be Gone," which is frankly one of the most embarrassing pieces of filler I've come across on an album in a long time and am led to wonder just what the hell these guys thought they were accomplishing by putting it on here), the songs all seem so short and hasty and underdeveloped. It's enough to make me wonder if this is the record these guys really wanted to make, or if someone's been tapping on their shoulders to remind them that, hey, it's been three years since they put something out and that they might want to consider releasing what they've got just to keep folks happy.

It's this conflict that makes Daisy such a rough album to put a finger on. It's comprised almost entirely of good (sometimes great) material, but its full potential feels compromised by a sense that the band's heart might not fully be in it anymore. But am I just saying that because it's really the case, or because I'm just having difficulty reconciling this with the band's monolithic past achievements? Who knows. For what it is, Daisy works, albeit somewhat more modestly than one might expect. What remains to be seen is whether this actually is the final chapter in the Brand New story, or just an intriguing pit stop along the way. If the latter is true (and let's hope it is), bring on the fifth album. I can't wait to see where they go from here. As much as I like it in a perverse sort of way, though, might I not suggest an entire album of "Vices"?

mp3: "Noro" by Brand New
mp3: "Sink" by Brand New

chairlift @ the troubadour

2009-09-18T14:59:00.000-07:00

Seriously Chairlift, I love you. I really do. But...a headline set of eight songs and no encore? After June's killer Getty show, and of course the continuing Would-Be Hipster love affair with your debut album, I couldn't help but hope for a bit more. I'm happy you hit the highlights--"Le Flying Saucer Hat" is quite possibly one of my favorite new tunes. And who hasn't had a giddy moment while singling along to "Bruises?"(Which--for the record--you nailed.) It's just...huh?

In lieu of any additional content, I highly suggest you head on over to Eszter Zimanyi who has a top-notch video of "Garbage" from the set.

Setlist:

1. Garbage
2. Dixie Gypsy
3. Le Flying Saucer Hat
4. Evident Utensil
5. Territory
6. Planet Health
7. Earwig Town
8. Bruises

letting up despite great faults by letting up despite great faults

2009-09-16T00:35:00.000-07:00

I've compared Letting Up Despite Great Faults to the Postal Service several times. All the touchstones are there: thoughtful electronic-based melodies, whispered vocals, modern romanticism. Although, as of late, I've been somewhat worried they were like the Postal Service in another way--After 2006's genteel EP Movement, word on a full-length hasn't been forthcoming. Were they too, ready to slink off into the perfect, electro-indie sunset, only to emerge in the legends of hipsters and would-be hipsters alike?

No!

The release date is still billed as "October 2009" but I'm happy to report first hand (and ear) knowledge that their self-titled debut full-length follow up exists. And boy was it worth the wait. Resting somewhere between a more sentential Radio Dept and a more accessible American Analog set, Mike Lee and his gang of collaborators (including engineer Jeff Lipton--who has worked with the likes of Andrew Bird and Spoon) are out to break a few hearts and...dance? Yes. It's true entering the mix since Movement is a bit of a unexpected groove. Songs line "Folding Under Stories Told" even feature levity-filled (slow) party-ready beats.

...not that they didn't already have us smiling.

mp3: "Folding Under Stories Told" by Letting Up Despite Great Faults
mp3: "In Steps" by Letting Up Despite Great Faults
mp3: "I Hear You Drowning but I'm Tied" by Letting Up Despite Great Faults (from Movement)

apoptygma berzerk @ the 9:30 club

2009-09-07T19:50:00.000-07:00

Apoptygma Berzerk changed my life. Before they entered my frame of existence back in 2004, my father's Kraftwerk LPs and post-OK Computer Radiohead were the only exposure I'd ever had to real electronic music. Yes, I -- the man whose musical entity seems practically defined by synthesizers a mere five years later -- had never actually explored the possibilities of electronica. I liked what I'd heard, but somehow my then-high school freshman self never really considered pursuing the genre any further. And then Apop happened. The album was Harmonizer, the song was "Until the End of the World." It was during those five and half minutes that my musical focus was altered irreversibly. The rest, as they say, is history.

When a full-time college student who is in between jobs spends an alarmingly large sum of money to fly literally across the country to see a mid-week concert, one damn well better expect this kind of backstory. Frankly, I can't think of another band I might have done this for. There were plenty of times, not the least of which was when I stood out of breath on the jetway after having come within five minutes of missing my flight, when I was forced to stop and ask myself, "Is this really worth it? Really?" But now all is said and done and I can look back on the experience with a definitive answer. It's not just a yes: it's a hell yes. I'd even go one step further, but children might be reading.

Now I remember why going to a concert can be such a religious experience. Now I remember the true feeling of esctacy that can take hold of you when you are physically in the middle of the music you love so much. For weeks before the show, lmc and I had discussed the logistics of finally seeing an Ultimate Band -- a band so special to you personally that few, past or present, could ever top them. As I stood in anticipation at D.C.'s 9:30 Club, I started to wonder if my lofty expectations could ever be met. Would they play what I wanted -- nay, needed -- to hear? What would the showmanship be like? Especially after having seen Apop's brothers-in-arms VNV Nation play a ridiculously fantastic show at the exact same venue in July, there was much to live up to.

The instant the band took the stage, every ounce of consternation immediately melted off my body. The next hour and a half were spent rocking out harder than I have ever rocked out at a show before. I often dream of bands playing The Perfect Setlist. In all the concerts I have ever gone to, I do believe Apop has come the closest to reaching this plateau. When I did my inevitable post-show "I wish they had played..." list, seriously all I could come up with were nitpicks. All of my huge need-to-hear songs were fulfilled, and my "oh my god I never thought they'd play that" ratio was so high that I really couldn't have given a damn. Yeah, "Paranoia" is a great song and it would've been awesome to hear, but really now.

The infallible one-two punch of "Starsign" and "Eclipse" kickstarted the evening, before the band started their journey through a remarkably even-handed representation of literally all aspects of their sound. Everything from early industrial staples ("Love Never Dies, Pt. 1," "Deep Red") to middle-period EBM/future-pop ("Kathy's Song," "Unicorn"), to their more recent synth-rock ("In This Together," "You Keep Me from Breaking Apart") was included, and despite stylistic differences, it all jelled perfectly. Probably due in large part to the fact that their (frankly kinda disappointing) 2009 album Rocket Science has yet to be released in the Americas, the selection of brand new stuff was somewhat limited. Still, they played "Asleep or Awake?" and that was the one new song I was really hoping for anyway. And yes, they played "Until the End of the World." I could have died happy.

Many of the surprises came with their selections of old school material. Since the beginning, "Burnin' Heretic" has been one of my favorite Apop songs, but it's such a "minor" track in their discography that I never would have dreamed I'd hear it in concert. Its inclusion just about knocked me over. The same went for "Non-Stop Violence," the highlight (in my opinion) of their 1996 album Seven; even though it was performed without its brilliant coda, it was tremendous. And, more recently, "Lost in Translation" has always been one of my top tracks from You and Me Against the World. Yeah, sure, it may have been one of the concert's more mellow moments, but it was a lovely inclusion.

As if this essay-length review wasn't already an indicator, this was a tremendous show for me. It surpassed all of my expectations and re-cemented the band's already permanent position in my all-time upper tier. Stephan Groth is a master performer with amazing energy and stage presence: he gives his songs the exuberance they deserve, and makes his shows as wonderful as possible for everyone present. That buzzing in my head after it was all over wasn't just from the amps being cranked up a bit too loud; it was also from the tingly feeling one can only get from witnessing a life-affirming concert.

So, to capitalize on said tingly feeling, lmc, ako, and I decided to wait outside the venue and stalk the band. Although it did eventually happen, we are very possibly the worst stalkers in history. It took us at least a half hour to realize the band had been hanging out right around the corner. Uh. Yeah.

Setlist: (slightly out of order, but complete)
1. Starsign
2. Eclipse
3. Asleep or Awake?
4. You Keep Me from Breaking Apart
5. In This Together
6. Mercy Kill
7. Shadow
8. Lost in Translation
9. Love Never Dies, Pt. 1
10. Burnin' Heretic
11. Apollo (Live on Your TV)
12. [some cover I don't remember]
13. Kathy's Song (Come Lie Next to Me)
14. Shine On
15. Deep Red
16. Until the End of the World

Encore 1:
17. Non-Stop Violence
18. Unicorn

Encore 2:
19. Mourn

mp3: "Non-Stop Violence" by Apoptygma Berzerk
mp3: "Until the End of the World" by Apoptygma Berzerk

spells by the happy hollows

2009-09-06T10:35:00.000-07:00

I'll make this short and snappy--it's nearing the end of the holiday weekend, you need a good soundtrack to your assorted adventures or while venturing around town. Those darn Silver Lake kids have you covered...

Karen O should be afraid. Very afraid. Coming across like a streetwise version of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sarah Negahdari and the Happy Hollows are out to take no prisoners. If their Imaginary EP was like a brief flirty bar encounter, this is a full-fledged slap across the face...with a gigantic hug and hot fudge sundae thrown in for good measure.

"Death to Vivek Kemp" plays like a childhood punk rock fantasy--a perfect ad hoc theme song for a band that seems to like ponies and rainbows as much as they do riotous riffs and frenzied drumming. And album centerpiece "Lieutenant" is simply breathtaking--a multi-movement power-house that's sure to that sure to shake out the cobwebs while scaring a few neighbors along the way. But rather than pick and chose favorites, I highly suggest consuming Spells as a whole--preferably with the car stereo cranked up to eleven and the speed at "65."

Party on.

mp3: "Lieutenant" by Happy Hollows

something to write home about reissue by the get up kids

2009-09-02T23:01:00.000-07:00

Author's note: If anyone actually reads this blog on a quasi-regular basis, they'll know that I like the Get Up Kids. A lot. So I'll spare you the "this is why they're good" bit and assume that if you like them you'll read this, and if you don't, you'll find LMS's most recent entry on someone who's probably Swedish.

I now own three copies of The Get Up Kids' seminal sophomore album Something to Write Home About: the CD, released in 1999, a recently re-released record (on pink vinyl, no less), and now the 10-year anniversary, two-disc re-release of the CD, complete with an expanded booklet full of beautifully unnecessary photos of the boys. The second disc is a DVD featuring a live performance of the whole album performed start to finish at Liberty Hall in Lawrence, Kansas to a packed audience of crowd-surfing, iPhoning, hand-waving kids. The highlight of the re-release package – to a fan-geek like me – has to be the archival footage. The sound quality is terrible for most of the short snippets of live performances (including keyboardist James Dewees’s first show with the band, drummer Ryan Pope’s first show, and the band’s second show ever in some girl’s basement) but they’re so young and enthusiastic and lanky and in such dire need of haircuts, it's hard to not lose yourself in the emo-nerd-love just a little. Although I really do think Matt needs to bring back those mutton chops.

(As a comparison, check out this footage from the Bamboozle festival earlier this year. For bonus points: spot the Get Up Kid who’s been touring with Britt Daniel!¹)

The re-issue is out September 8, and they’re touring in support of it². You should see them.

1. Damn Spoon.
2. I met a guy at the recent Weakerthans show who had been at the same GUK show I was at earlier this year. He didn’t think it was very good. I didn’t tell him at the time, but he was wrong.

modest mouse @ grove of anaheim

2009-09-01T17:04:00.000-07:00

Over the past week, my brain has filled with goo rendering all hints of intelligence null and void. Many will argue that this is how I live my life--and that no one can tell the difference. Honestly, who am I to argue? I'm goo girl. Surprisingly, as I discovered on Saturday, said goo often sounds not unlike the sweet cacophony of Modest Mouse live.

Interestingly enough, they did not play any of their singles that brought them to the sort of public attention that allows them to play a venue the size of the Grove of Anaheim. No "Dashboard." No "Ocean Breathes Salty." "Float On?" Hell no! Did I mind? Shockingly no. They had Isaac Brock's on-key but off-key voice. (I suspect he also knows the sound of one hand clapping.) They had two drummers. They had the whole freaking place throwing their hands up in the air as though they were moderately concerned. They even had the sort of power to make the audience wait though to longest gap ever between set and encore before they rewarded us with night closer, "The Good Times Are Killing Me." Killing me? No. Just a little tired and smokey. That's all.

Set list:

1. Invisible
2. Interstate 8
3. Gravity Rides Everything
4. The View
5. Autumn Beds
6. Black Cadillacs
7. The Whale Song
8. Fire It Up
9. Baby Blue Sedan
10. Shit Luck
11. Fly Trapped in a Jar
12. Here It Comes
13. Satellite Skin
14. Tiny Cities Made of Ashes

Encore

15. Talking Shit
16. 3rd Planet
17. Breakthrough
18. Good Times Are Killing Me

mp3: "Float On"(Ben Lee cover) – by Modest Mouse

confessions of a would-be hipster enters the terrible twos

2009-08-31T10:02:00.000-07:00

Here we are again, another year of geeking out, geeking in, rocking out, and rocking in. We've doubled our writing crew, put together a charity album that we adore, and eaten enough pie to sink a ship. Not bad for a couple o' geeks, huh?

In honor of our big 2, we asked a few friends, industry professionals, and family members what they thought of our blog. Needless we were flattered by their responses.

Confessions of a Would-Be Hipster: The testimonials.

What's a blog? - LMS' Grandfather

GET NAME BRAND PERSCRIPTION DRUGS 4 CHEEP - A Shady Netherlands-based Website

All of [WBH's] successes are no surprise, really. But you have to remember that even though in most cases it's great writing behind the great blogs - in this case (and I don't mean to sound egotistical, but it's true), it's largely due to my influence. Still. Way to go, bloggers; I'll definitely see you again soon. - Alcohol

Quit calling me! - Spencer Krug

Blog rating? 1. No, wait... 0.8. - Pitchfork.com

It has come to our attention that Confessions of a Would-Be Hipster is celebrating their second birthday. Of course, we have them to thank for such innovations as the wheel, fire, and sliced bread. So, here's to Would-Be Hipster: our bottles clink to you. - Some Hoboes

mp3: "Would Be Hipster" by Computerization (Our own theme song!)
mp3: "Are Birthdays Happy?" by Jens Lekman
mp3: "Happy Birthay" by Sufjan Stevens
mp3: "I Am So Important" by Logan Whitehurst ('Cause it's true!)
mp3: "Happy Birthday" by Röyksopp

fire! fire! the roof is on fire!

2009-08-30T22:37:00.001-07:00

Is California on fire? Yes. A post and playlist in honor of our stupidly brave partner-in-crime L.A.R. who is currently defying evacuation orders to work on art. Please, lift your Paps Blue Ribbon in tribute.

mp3: "Cinder and Smoke" by Iron and Wine
mp3: "Grapevine Fires (live)" by Death Cab For Cutie
mp3: "I'm on Fire (live)" by Bat For Lashes
mp3: "Ashes (demo)" by Rufus Wainwright
mp3: "Don't Blame the Weatherman (live)" by Steve Burns
mp3: "Los Angeles is Burning" by Bad Religion
mp3: "Campfire Kansas (live)" by Get Up Kids
mp3: "Catch My Disease (live at KCRW)" by Ben Lee

the phenomenal handclap band and friendly fires @ the el rey

2009-08-25T01:42:00.000-07:00

I am an old woman--'cause despite my night ending at a respectable 11:30 PM (the going out bit that is...), I left the El Rey, beat. Clearly you need to train for this kind of high octane concert going.

The night opened with The Phenomenal Handclap Band, a.k.a. quite possibly one of the most difficult name in the world to live up to. While the jury is still out on "phenomenal," (right now I'd peg them more as energetic and charming...although that's harder to fit on a marquee) there was less hand clapping than the name might imply (three times, including an energetic burst during the last song). However, the sheer number of tambourines made up for it, as did Laura Marin and Lady Tigra's Blondie by way of Schoolhouse Rock vocals on "15 to 20." The 70s may have ended--but it's clear the party rages on.

A brief opening set, the crowd was primed for recent Mercury Prize nominees, Friendly Fires. Purveyors of slick dance rock, their eleven song set rocked rougher than I'd expected--raw vocals crashing against screaming guitar, mixed with enthusiastic clapping by both band and audience (clearly on loan from their opener). Songs were stretched out and reinvented under the strobing colored lights. Vocalist Ed MacFarlane displayed a strut that could put Mick Jagger to shame, singing, playing keyboard and guitar, and drums--air and real--to the delight of a gyrating crowd.

And then there was me--clutching my notebook and trying not to put anyone's eye out with my pen. Surely we could get Laura Marin and Lady Tigra to sing a rousing version of "one of these things is not like the other..."

Set List

1. Lovesick
2. Jump in the Pool
3. Strobe
4. Hospital
5. White Diamonds
6. Skeleton Boy
7. Kiss of Life
8. Photobooth
9. On Board
10. Paris

Encore
11. Ex-Lover

mp3: "15 to 20" by The Phenomenal Handclap Band
mp3: "Paris (Friendly Fires cover)" by Au Revoir Simone

we all die by new found land

2009-08-16T01:04:00.000-07:00

Memo to bands looking to catch bloggers' attention: compare yourself to another act we love. Granted we'll be terribly incredulous--as I was when New Found Land sent us a Myspace message comparing their work to WBH favorite Loney Dear--but chances are, you'll peak our interest. Lucky for New Found Land, their chutzpa isn't ill-founded. The do in fact share the same sweet but sorrowful world view as their fellow countryman Emil Svanängen. However, the Göteborg duo's sweet chemistry and polished pop makes their debut album We All Die (out now) a distinctly unique and beautiful musical outing. These are the sort of songs you listen to with a smile on your face and a tear in your eye.

Between the mournful voice singer Anna Roxenholt and and Karl Krook's gently strummed guitar, occasionally the Spartan melancholy tilts towards painfully beautiful--as with album highlight, "By Your Side"--which plays like a paean to the ghosts of relationships past, or like the perfect Once b-side.

Simple, but never boring New Found Land also shows the sort of musical variety that makes waiting and wondering about their sophomore album a interesting exercise. "By Your Side" may show the sort of direct sadness and delicate finger-picking that could make Jose Gonzales green with envy, but "Leave it All Behind" find them rocking like a two-person I'm From Barcelona. Meanwhile, album opener "It Would Mean the World to Me" finds Roxenholt tapping into her inner El Perro del Mar, coupled with an almost Concretes-like breezy musicality.

Of course, comparing them to fellow Swedish acts is only a start. With their natural charm, sweet chemistry, and musical grace, New Found Land can move in any direction--musical or geographical--they might choose...and probably capture a few hearts along the way.

(photo new found land: Fredrik Åkum)

mp3: "By Your Side" by New Found Land

the soft skin by brown recluse

2009-08-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

I'm not the kind of girl who is scared of spiders. Yet, I have to admit that Brown Recluse's questionable name almost kept me from giving them a spin. What can I say...I also like books with pretty covers.

Getting past the creepy crawlies, Brown Recluse's debut EP The Soft Skin (out September 8th on Slumberland) is one of those debuts where you can almost feel the well-deserved accolades brewing. Less twee than Belle and Sebastian and more accessible than Jens Lekman--with a little Os Mutantes thrown in for good measure, this is the sort of all-around agreeable music we've been waiting for. Between the poppy keyboards and light dusting of horns, it's simple, it's direct, and darn it...it works! Who needs weird musical genre hybrids when you've got pop? Sweet sweet pop.

I'm going to buy a copy for my mother. I'm going to fob a copy off on my judgmental brother. I'm going bug the crap out of my friends by singing the catchy refrain to "Night Train" inappropriate moments.

Just try and stop me.

mp3: "Contour and Context" by Brown Recluse

resevoir by fanfarlo

2009-08-02T11:56:00.000-07:00

Little known fact: The girl to the right is Sigurrós, sister of...you guessed it, Sigur Rós lead singer, Jónsi Birgisson.

The more you know!

Fanfarlo is a British orchestral-pop outfit, featuring: strings, horns, handclaps, and a quirky Swedish singer. In a perfect world this is all I'd have to say. You'd jump up and down at the thought of a great new band, then we'd link arms and skip down to the pub--where the band would be buying rounds and leading sing-alongs.

Of course, that's not going to happen. The problem here is Fanfarlo defies being boiled down into a simple statement. I could say "next Arcade Fire." But then we'd just have an awkward moment of silence. I could also say that that lead singer Simon Balthazar sounds like a renegade Clap Your Hands Say Yeah member--but then the whole band would come under suspension and you'd start thinking "flash in the pan" rather than "layered orchestral dramatics with long term, multi-album potential." Do you see the quandary?

Balthazar recognizes the unexpected duality of his work. "I always try to write accessible lyrics that people will get and understand, but it always ends up as impenetrable. Then I attempt to write deep, serious and difficult music, and somehow it keeps coming out as pop."

Gosh...I hope he's not losing any sleep over it. With Zach Condon having final given in to his electronic urges, the world needs a new Beirut to bring a tear to their eye. With Clap Your Hands Say Yeah doing...well, whatever CYHSY is doing, we need another "...our generation's Talking Heads." The fact this contradictory package is all wrapped up in a single band also embodying a mix of light-hearted whimsy and emotional darkness rarely seen outside a Jean-Pierre Jeunet film? Even better.

mp3: "I'm a Pilot" by Fanfarlo
mp3: "Drownding Men (acoustic version)" by Fanfarlo

pink and purple by alan wilkis

2009-07-31T03:20:00.000-07:00

It's been a long, hot Los Angeles summer, and between my various summery-type activities I've been frustrated by my lack of an “official summer album.” You know; the one album that will play on your i-pod all summer long and forever define the coming hot and sweaty months of 2009. It wasn't for lack of trying, either - many albums had been called, but few had been chosen... well, actually, none had been chosen. Until now.

You see, dear reader, I had been lost in a sea of post-punk; adrift in a tempest of emotionally charged indie shoe-gaze, and awash in a maelstrom of electro-lament ambient-core. Lost! Lost and left searching for meaning – until I found what can only be described as some sort of electronical-funky nirvana in Alan Wilkis's “Pink and Purple.” It's so cool it's hot - and so hot ... it's awesome. Crafting solid electro-funk tracks replete with hooks, catchy vocals, slick production and the almighty 808, Wilkis knows how to make you get down with a sound that can best described as a mix between scoping out beautiful ladies at the beach and playing an epic synth solo whilst standing atop the Hollywood sign... all in the most awesome way possible.

“Snuggle Up to Nail Down” has an 808 line that'll get you moving, guaranteed; “Dance With You” brings on the disco-funk; and “N.I.C.E” is maybe my favorite track of the album with it's layered, smooth-as-silk production, catchy vocals, and funky attitude to spare. The album won't change the way you listen to music; but that is hardly it's intent. It's admittedly just a fun, awesome listen that'll put a smile on your face and get you tapping you feet – and at that, it succeeds on all levels. It's infectious, and listening was a sheer delight; pop as it should be – fun and unashamed of it's levity. Life can be like pop, sometimes – but not nearly enough. I think we could all use some more hooks and 808's in our lives – Get more than your fair share with Pink and Purple. Check him out!

mp3: "Pink and Purple" by Alan Wilkis
mp3: "N.I.C.E." by Alan Wilkis

junior boys @ webster hall

2009-07-29T12:30:00.000-07:00

Historically, I have never counted sleep deprivation as a good thing. It makes me cranky and unpleasant, gives the world a somewhat disconcerting fuzzy-around-the-edges feeling, and is generally just not a fun state to exist in. However, due to various extenuating circumstances, lmc and I found ourselves more or less stranded, hotel and/or crash pad-less, in New York City in such a state. In hindsight, I probably wouldn't have had it any other way. In a rare example of actually doing research before diving into something, we noticed that Junior Boys were going to be playing a show at a place called Webster Hall the same night that we were planning to be in the general area. Despite neither of us being terribly big Junior Boys fans, we naturally bought tickets and eagerly awaited the show.

Exhaustion and the finely detailed eccentricities of this particular venue aside (they have one unisex bathroom inside which there is a vendor who sells candy and Sun Chips), this turned out to be something of an Experience. Speaking as someone who was a small fan of 2006's So This Is Goodbye and frankly bored to tears by this year's aptly titled Begone Dull Care, Junior Boys themselves were actually surprisingly awesome. I have a feeling they came onstage with the intention of playing one of the more energetic shows of their career: when they were touring back in May, they had a massive equipment flip-out at this very same venue that forced them to cancel the show two or three songs into their set. Singer Jeremy Greenspan has gone on record saying that that was one of the worst nights of his life, and I'm sure it was something of a redemptive occasion for the whole band to finally be able to come back and do the thing right.

Their enthusiasm was palpable, as they rattled through various choice cuts from each of their three albums. Fan favorites "In the Morning" and "Birthday" (before which Greenspan announced that at midnight it would, in fact, be the drummer's birthday) were punctuated with rocking renditions of tracks like "Double Shadow" and "The Equalizer." Even the songs from Begone Dull Care were given a vitality I could never have imagined based solely on their sleepy album versions: "Hazel," which opened the set, was groovy in a cool nerd-dance kind of way, and "Work" stands tall as one of the evening's biggest highlights. Even so, they conspicuously saved the best for last. Bands' encores are rarely better than the main set, but the Boys re-emerged to play a 10-minute extended jam version of Last Exit track "Under the Sun" that could likely beat the hell out of anything they've ever produced in the studio. It was that awesome.

Still, in spite of this revelatory performance, it was the opening bands that made the evening so ... er, memorable. First opening act San Serac may be the biggest dork I have ever seen onstage before, and I most certainly mean that in the most endearing way possible. The man was dancing his ass off so un-self-consciously that I can't help but feel something of an attachment.

Second opening act, on the other hand, I have no words for. Their name was Perfect Storm, and try as I might to summarize their performance, I just can't. This is the best I could come up with:
‽

Suffice it to say I LOST MY SHIT. No opening band for the rest of time will be able to match these guys. The Decemberists could open for Sunset Rubdown and I'd be like, "Well, they're no Perfect Storm." Now all I have to do is convince myself they actually exist. Sleep deprivation does mess with you and, eerily, there is no information about these guys anywhere online. No matter what, though, the trip down the rabbit hole was a fun one. Now I finally know what's on the other side. It's Webster Hall in NYC, and it's kind of glorious.

mp3: "In the Morning" by Junior Boys
mp3: "Work" by Junior Boys

kleerup by kleerup

2009-07-28T00:16:00.000-07:00

Insanity makes for great music. It also makes for a pseudo adult-life filed with late nights and sugary breakfast cereals...but as per usual that's my cross to bear.

Producer Andreas Kleerup is someone who took insanity (and time in a Swedish rehab center) to a great musical place. (Although now I'm longing to ask him on his stance on Frosted Flakes.) After having produced and remixed for the likes of The Shout out Louds, The Concretes, and Cyndi Lauper, Kleerup's self-titled debut album is finally being released stateside (today). A release that's being touted as... an introspective trip into Igmar Bergman-inspired dance-music. The problem of course being that other than picturing this scene with a disco ball, I'm far to ignorant to give you an idea of what that could entail.

Instead, how about another Scandinavian frame of reference? You'd be forgiven for mistaking the mid-tempo, shimmery synths of Kleerup for the lesser-work of another dance mastermind--or rather two masterminds: Norwegian duo Röyksopp. Kleerup goes so far as to take a cue directly from Röyksopp's recent album Junior, enlisting the help of both Lykke Li and Robyn--both whose breathy tracks breath life into his sorrowful but sweet creations. Even the unlikely disco queen Marit Bergman's voice on key track "3Am" weirdly fits--creating some of the cutest disco this side of Sally Shapiro.

It still doesn't flow well enough to give Röyksopp a run for their money (or on the atmospheric final track "I Just Want to Make That Sad Boy Smile" -- Moby). The driving beat of "Thank You For Nothing" falters under the addition of canned vocals. Meanwhile, "Tower Of Trellick" falls flat under an overbearing, repetitive them. Still, overall there's still enough sensitivity and 80s-tinged creativity to make Kleerup an album ripe for repeat listens -- late nights and breakfast cereal optional.

mp3: "Until We Bleed (feat. Lykke Li) (Mikael's Cello Version)" by Kleerup

so many dynamos @ spaceland

2009-07-23T22:59:00.000-07:00

I knew it was going to be an amazing show when one of my friends gestured to Spaceland's small stage and said, "Wait. Is he sitting on the bass drum?" The 'he' in question was So Many Dynamos’ drummer Norm, and yes he was. After a short set from Kinch¹, Cast Spells did a brilliant set. Not only did the drummer play the bass drum while sitting on it, there was a cello, and some lovely folky indie noise played on a semi-hollow bodied guitar by a lovely man with a beard who happens to belong to Maps & Atlases². They have an EP coming out in August, or July, depending on who you listen to. And you should buy it.

But really, we were there to see So Many Dynamos. They're big favorites around the WBH headquarters, what with the loudness and the clever lyrics and the disregard for rational time signatures and the screaming about all the fun ways to die in the apocalypse and the flailing and the loudness. Theyre really loud, in a 'vibrate every atom of your body because you're standing too close to the synths' sort of way. Four otherwise unassuming, geeky young men³ should not be able to make that much noise, especially not in such a controlled way. "Sorry about all the science projects," guitarist Ryan kept apologizing, as effects pedals were swapped and dials were twirled and synthesizers were battled and a number of percussive things were hit rather hard – for a few moments, the other guitarist, Griffin, was actually playing the cable he'd unplugged from his guitar. Just the cable. Seriously.

The set was largely songs from their recently released album, The Loud Wars, with a healthy smattering from Flashlights, which ako and I agree is one of the greatest albums ever recorded. The set was decidedly too short and they actually denied us an encore, but there was enough energy and thrashing and awesome to make up for the shortness of the show. Besides, we got to buy glow-in-the-dark octopus shirts from Ryan in the end, and if anyone can come up with a better way to end a show that doesn’t involve pie, please let us know.

1. Not bad, but nothing to write home about. The bassist plays like a 1967 session guy, and the singer messed himself up in a pretty cute way, and sounds like the guy from the Walkmen.
2. The man belongs to Maps & Atlases. Not the beard. His name is David Davison. I don’t know what his beard is named.
3. Geeky young men are the best, and always seem to rock the hardest. So hard was their geek rocking that synth-bassist/vocalist Aaron rocked off his dark-rimmed spectacles, even though they had a strap on them. That's rock 'n' roll, man!

(photo Cast Spells & So Many Dynamos: Aude Prachandsitthi)

mp3: "Glamorous Glowing" by Cast Spells
mp3: "We Vibrate, We Do" by So Many Dynamos

radiolarians III by medeski martin & wood

2009-07-19T01:09:00.000-07:00

Sometimes blogging can lead to the most random musical encounters -- like when someone you respect takes you by the arm and expounds upon his favorite bands...only to have one favorite band's newest album show up in your inbox less than twenty-four hours later. My life -- as a rule -- is never that serendipitous. Oh Medeski Martin & Wood...you had me at hello.

The experimental jazz trio's newest album Radiolarians III (out August 4th) is the oh-so-cleverly named third disk in the Radiolarians series. The concept is simple: Tour. Play and perfect new material. Go into the studio and record. Lather, rinse, and repeat. Mock anyone who tells you that a band that has been together eighteen years can't pull off that kind of intensity.

I might have made that last part up.

The results are an engaging no-holds-barred experiment in creativity that is intensely enjoyable and highly varied. At times it's loungey...without evoking the need for listeners to be clad in any form of polyester. It's wildy-experimental at points, often verging on complete collapse...without the listener having to take a music theory class to understand what they are trying to accomplish. Once and awhile, it also manages to sound incredibly synthetic...without ever allowing the listener to forget these are three guys, playing every freaking note. Had someone introduced me to contrasting themes and elements like this at an early age, I might not have been so quick to give up on jazz band....

....then again, there's something to be said for everything happening in its time.

mp3: "Undone" by Medeski Martin & Wood

battle for the sun by placebo

2009-07-16T00:25:00.000-07:00

Here's the thing about Placebo: they sound like Placebo. They've always sounded like Placebo, and they probably always will. But Placebo sound really good, so it's totally acceptable. It does, however, make reviewing their albums slightly difficult¹.

Battle for the Sun sounds rather a lot like Placebo's previous albums. That means that it's loud in a strangely symphonic way, and scary in a pretty, androgynous boys way, and bass- and drum-heavy in a really good way. There's some subtle synthy bits, and some very nice guitar work, and dark, twisty lyrics about god and drugs and self-deprecation and the deprecation of others and being lost and other metaphors I can't really follow because I don't have enough black in my wardrobe. Battle for the Sun – which came out last month – doesn’t quite have the same umph as last year's Meds, but it's still full of those wonderfully unexpected minor chords, and it's got Brian Molko's wonderfully compelling, nasally warbling voice, so it hardly matters.

So basically, if you like music made by pale, melodramatic English boys with eyeliner who are prettier than you are², rock on! And if you don't, well, um, don't? Although the drums in the first minute of this video might change your mind:

If not, this one is glammier and has more eye makeup and sexy visual effects.

1. This is one of the reasons this review is so distressingly late. Other reasons include my car getting totaled, finally finding meaningful employment, and my own general laziness.
2. The Cure, Muse, David Bowie, et al.

mp3: "Julien" by Placebo

of faith, power and glory by vnv nation

2009-07-15T14:14:00.000-07:00

Anyone who as ever spoken with me at length (or even in brief, I imagine) about music knows that I'm pretty big on electronica. The synth is my homeboy. While I have no doubt that I would have inevitably fallen in love with the genre one way or another, the path that led me to where I am today owes a huge debt of gratitude to VNV Nation. This British/Irish duo, along with futurepop contemporaries Apoptygma Berzerk and Assemblage 23, more or less defined my love for techno music in the early half of this decade. Years later, they still epitomize what I look for in a solid electronic track: they're raw, energetic, have a keen ear for melody, and they're extremely danceable.

Naturally, it is a with a tremendous reserve of goodwill that I approach Of Faith, Power and Glory, the band's newest record and seventh album overall. Historically, VNV's discography is by no means either perfect or consistent. Barring a couple songs, I was none too impressed with either 2002's Futureperfect or 2005's Matter + Form, and on the flipside I've spent years trying to reconcile the fact that it is extremely unlikely that they'll ever again make an album as fully realized as 1999's Empires. That being said, it seems the best they can do at this point in their career is to strive for a solid, satisfying middle ground. 2007's Judgment started this trend and, luckily, Of Faith, Power and Glory seems quite happy to continue it.

When I say that VNV have found a workable formula and stuck to it, I don't mean to imply that the new record is a retread or that the boys have stopped trying. On the contrary, it just seems as if they've reached the plateau that all bands invariably aim for: they've become comfortable being themselves. The necessity for restless invention and tweaking has become secondary to writing songs designed for their already-established sound. This attitude makes it tempting to label Faith as "just another VNV album," and maybe it is, but they're so good at what they do that it scarcely matters.

As with every one of their releases, some of the material clicks and some just doesn't. The downtempo "Ghost" is probably the only song here that I'd say doesn't work at all. I see what Ronan Harris is going for, but it's just too much of a slow-burner and it never quite gets off the ground. On a similar plane, the piano-driven "From My Hands" is pretty and atmospheric, but doesn't do a whole lot to hold my interest. But for every track that doesn't quite click, there are two that do, and -- again, like all VNV albums -- the highlights are so strong that you can spot them a mile off. For one thing, the opening triad of "Sentinel" (amusingly misspelled on the CD cover), "Tomorrow Never Comes," and "The Great Divide" is likely the best 1-2-3 punch the guys have delivered since "Standing"/"Legion"/"Dark Angel" on Empires. While "Tomorrow Never Comes" is perhaps the most straightforward floorkiller of the bunch, "The Great Divide" is practically radio-friendly, and "Sentinel" delivers the kind of soaring synth-pop chorus that New Order would've killed for twenty years ago.

Still, as great as these songs are, they wisely save the very best for last. The majestic "Where There Is Light" is quite simply one of the best songs they have ever put to tape. While still making inherent danceability its number one priority, it also comes equipped with a heartstring-tugging melody and the record's most powerful vocal delivery. Shoot me before I get too corny, but it's dangerously close to being the musical equivalent of standing on a high cliff, arms outstretched, with the wind rippling through your clothes and hair. It's magnificent.

In the end, the album is admirable for being exactly what it sets out to be: a VNV Nation album. With upwards of fifteen years of experience behind them, these guys have been at this long enough and have worked enough magic through their past output that they've earned the right to just sit back and let the mold they've worked so hard to create serve them for a change. Contrary to their abbreviated Victory, Not Vengeance moniker, Of Faith, Power and Glory isn't a victory lap. It's just the kind of record a band makes when they've managed to conquer the world. I mean, where exactly can you go from there?

mp3: "Where There Is Light" by VNV Nation
mp3: "Standing" by VNV Nation

my guilty pleasure by sally shapiro

2009-07-13T21:27:00.000-07:00

With all due respect to Swedish chanteuse Sally Shapiro and her producer Johan Agebjörn, you only got the title of your sophomore album half-right. Pleasure? Well...duh. But My Guilty Pleasure? Please...you've already stripped away my cynicism. We're way too far into this relationship for shame or guilt.

Out August 25th, My Guilty Pleasure delivers another round of Shapiro's cotton-candy sweet Italo-disco straight to the brain. Honestly, I feel buzzed just writing this. Sally has notably said in regards to her newest release, "It will hopefully make you fall in love with the person sitting next to you on the bus." Somewhere amidst my giddiness, I feel somewhat sad LA public transportation is so lacking. Now I'll never find true love...::tear::

There's a notable additional layer of confidence present this time out. This isn't just a simple homage -- for Shapiro and Agebjörn it's a manifesto. From the summer-fling giddiness of single "Love In July" (Featuring backing vocals from Cloetta Paris) that which spawned a cuter-than-thou video, to the hope-drenched "Miracle," to the straight-up pop sensibilities of "My Moonlight Dance," the synths and hopeless-romanticism are running high. And why shouldn't it? Channeling elements of Italo-disco, acid house, and ABBA (why not?), Shapiro just keeps getting better and better. Too short at a scant nine tracks, including almost completely instrumental opener "Swimming Through the Blue Lagoon?" Yes. Push repeat. Push it twice.

Fair warning -- your summer just got a bit dreamier.

mp3: "Miracle" by Sally Shapiro
mp3: "He Keeps Me Alive" by Sally Shapiro (From Disco Romance)

andrew bird @ the greek

2009-07-11T10:53:00.000-07:00

You know who's awesome? Web In Front. Although I'd highly recommend you refrain from entering any of their contests...next time they give away tickets to someone as cool as Andrew Bird I'd hate to think I'd sabotaged my chances of winning.

That Andrew Bird guy is pretty awesome too. At this this point, I'd like to official retract any doubts I've ever expressed about him, either verbally or in writing. Even when faced with microphones gone awry, with looping pedals gone rogue -- forcing a brief interlude while dumbfounded techs crawled around the stage looking for loose wires, causing "Anonanimal" to become a two-part song -- he's still a consummate entertainer. A consummate entertainer who can whistle, swap a guitar for a violin for a glockenspiel for a guitar again...while whistling. A consummate entertainer who can still look shocked when an entire venue bursts out in an impromptu chorus of "Happy Birthday." Okay, okay. I retract any and all doubts...and replace them with a misplaced irritation. I've never dealt well with perceived perfection. It just makes the rest of us look bad.

One of the (many) joys of watching "Mr.Perfect" live in concert is the endless variations he brings to his songs. From additional violin flourishes decorating the top of familiar songs, to Armchair Apocrypha's "Darkmatter" becoming completely transformed into "Sweetbreads" a playful ode to eating of brains and other vital organs, every song was given the sort of live face-lift that makes seeing him live (even twice in the same year) an adventure worth taking.

Material from this year's Noble Beast¹ was kept to a surprising minimum. However, in its place was several beloved favorites, including Weather Systems' "Lull" (featuring my new favorite lyric ever, "I'm so lame I bet I think this song is about me") and an encore featuring the titular track of Weather Systems -- which Bird was quick to call an "outdoor song." Ending the concert alone on stage his violin, half a dozen loops, neon-colored socks peaking out from tailored pant-legs, well...it was pretty dang awesome.

1. On a side note: I will buy a drink to anyone who can disprove my theory that Noble Beast is heavily based on Bob Dylan's album Desire.

mp3: "Anonanimal (Live at Radio City Music Hall)" by Andrew Bird
mp3: "Sweetbreads (Live at Radio City Music Hall)" by Andrew Bird
mp3: "Oh No (live on The Tonight Show)" by Andrew Bird
mp3: "Plasticities (live)" by Andrew Bird

eros and omissions by LANDy

2009-07-06T11:45:00.000-07:00

Yes, the capitalization confused LANDy, is Adam Goldberg. Yes, in addition to being a musician, Adam Goldberg is an actor. But, I've learned that just because I can't walk and chew gum doesn't mean that people like Goldberg can't have multiple talents. However, if I find out he boasts a third skill, like dance or macrame, I'm going to start accusing him of dabbling in the black arts.

Out now, and having sat on my blogging "to-do" list for way too long, Eros and Omissions is the kind of musically quilted soundscape that deserves its day in the sun¹. Featuring the talents of Stephen Drozd of the Flaming Lips and Aaron Espinoza of Earlimart, this is more than a simple case of "anyone who's a friend of the Flaming Lips and Earlimart is a friend of mine." (Even if there's rarely been a truer statement to grace the pages of our blog.) Goldberg, who got his start recording early numbers into a small Sony tape recorder before looping them with the help of his stereo, is an accomplished and compelling musician. His dabbling, both alone and amongst friends has produced an album that's part epic-freak out (opener "Just a Thought"), part dark-daydream ("Apology (Valentine)," "Home"), and a whole lotta weird.

Even in its breezier moments, Eros and Omissions is permeated with a sense of unease. This is Hollywood in the dark, long after Sunset Strip has closed down for the night. What I can't figure out though -- as I clutch my purse tightly and fondle my pepper spray, opening bars of "Day for Night" playing in my head -- is why the heck is it's so darn comforting!

Chalk it up to the fact that, under LANDy's superficial weirdness, there's a uniting sense of introspection, highlighting Goldberg's vocal sincerity (not unlike Wayne Coyne by way of Zuma Beach). This isn't just an iPod generation collection of singles, this is the sort of album album that can make even the biggest linguistic geek (read: me) forget about LANDy's hanging lower case "y."Will I be your "BFF!"? Why the heck not.

1. SPF 30

mp3: "BFF!" by LANDy

wait for me by moby

2009-07-02T11:03:00.000-07:00

It is always a distinct pleasure to write a review for an artist who feels like an old friend. While I've never met Moby, my life over the last ten years(!) has been scored by so much of his work, he might as well have a standing invitation to join us for pie at Real Foods Daily next time he's in town.

All this to say that while I didn't like last year's Last Night (It seems Moby has yet to tap into the all important dance music market: dance music for people who don't like to dance, and often don't like themselves¹.), I couldn't help but feel excited over the possibly of Wait for Me (out now).

My hope was not unfounded. This the introspective and mornful Moby I remember falling for: gentle synths, female voices, and yes gospel-over-electronic tricks, bringing to mind the best elements of Everything is Wrong, Play, and Hotel...without regurgitation or repetition.

Blame David Lynch.

Inspired in response to a speech Lynch delivered about the concept of artistic freedom and creativity without market pressure, Moby cuddled up in his bedroom recoding studio with a few close friends, aiming to create, not just a single, but an honest-to-goodness-start-to-finish-album. Remember those? And from the obvious bedroom record dynamics, to the sharpie drawn cover-art, he's done just that.

Thank you.

Ironically, in creating a truly personal artistic expression, Moby has made yet another album ripe for cooperate sponsorship. Think you could get it nominated as the official Real Foods Daily soundtrack? I'd ~~eat pie~~ drink to that!

1. I only hope we can get the beats to those who need to hear them the most!

mp3: "Shot In the Back of the Head" by Moby

sunset rubdown @ the echoplex

2009-06-30T16:53:00.000-07:00

Twenty-Third Law of Nerd:The geekiest thing you can possibly do when you're in love with a band is travelling thousands of miles to see them live on the release date of their latest album, telling them, and then blogging about it.

Corollary: I don't care.

The show that Sunset Rubdown bestowed upon LA last Tuesday (one of the brittlest California nights I've experienced) was far more than I ever anticipated. Amid all the hipster sweat and the pungent smell of weed, a charge began to build from the moment I clung to the wall at centre stage. Of course, I didn't know how familiar I was going to be with that wall by the end of the night (read: it proposed; I rejected it), but that's a different story entirely.

First, I'm wary of opening bands. My experiences haven't been of the best, each typically leading to a tiny, logarithmic growth in wariness with each show I attend. (Note: The opening bands for Xiu Xiu in 2008 created a spike on my wary-o-meter akin to how a modern Italian seismologist might have perceived Vesuvius' eruption in 79 AD.) However, openers have been exponentially redeemed in my eyes forever (or, at least, until my next show) by the talented Witchies and the otherworldly Elfin Saddle, both of which boasted a mischievous crackle of energy in their music and a prodigious penchant for multitasking. Of the aforementioned, the latter was my favourite; not only was the array of instrumentation they presented conducive to this orchestra geek's state of near-comatose glee, but the way Elfin Saddle utilised all of their neat toys was beyond impressive. It reminded me of an inside-out Polyphonic Spree: few players, sparse but soaring orchestration, and a kajillion instruments - all of which, amazingly, find purpose. Granted, about half of the songs were in Japanese, but we were assured that if we had questions about the meaning of the lyrics, we could ask after the show. Translation: Even though Emi Honda is absolutely adorable, I couldn't quite muster the courage to do so. I do, however, fully recommend buying their new album, Ringing for the Begin Again. It's pretty fantastic.

This next part will illustrate what I've been struggling with for the past few days. In my mind, there is still no adequate way to portray this show coherently. So, if you don't mind inadequate and incoherent (which you have no obvious issue with if you've read anything else I've written), I'll start from the point at which Sunset Rubdown claimed the stage.

I was pleasantly surprised by the trip back in time to Shut Up I Am Dreaming with "The Empty Threats of Little Lord," followed by a flash-mix of Dragonslayer and Random Spirit Lover. ("Mending of the Gown"? Yes please. Actually, more like "Mending of the Shirt," as the moshing - oh yes, there was moshing, and apparently I shouldn't be surprised by this - grew to an incomprehensible level, leaving me with bruises in the most inconvenient places.) The encore, which consisted of "Us Ones in Between" and the beautifully insane "Nightingale/December Song," sealed the deal: I am irreversibly in love with this band and we should get married.

Space Jungle (the sexy thirty-second "side project" of Sunset Rubdown's Michael Doerksen and Jordan Robson-Cramer) also made an interesting debut, though I refuse to promote them further until they inevitably take over the world.

Also, Spencer Krug seems to have developed his stage persona a bit more since the last time I saw this band live. Not that he has a theatrical alter ego (unless he has a moustache; then, we just call him Pedro), but he looks like he's getting more comfortable with himself on stage. Granted, it might be the addition of Krug's fan to Sunset Rubdown's minimalist prop list ("I want to be forever known as the boy with floofy hair," he jokes), or it could be strength gleaned from the teasing on-stage rivalry with Camilla Wynne Ingr ("He won't let the rest of us have fans on stage"), or it could be that more people are noticing that Mark Nicol plays bass upside down (thank you, m.a.b.). It's hard to tell.

It might simply be the emergence of an era in this band's growth wherein they've learned to deftly snatch up the concept of "just rock" and vow to never let go.

Alas, it was so close to being the perfect concert. It would have been ideal if they would have simply taken the WBH-approved path and played everything Krug has ever written. Twice.

"We'd be here for like, four hours," Krug admonishes the crowd, which elicits the temporal response: "So?" (Or, in more worldly fans: "Only four?")

But it wasn't to be. However, I did enjoy the time I had with them. Apparently, they felt the same way. "Shows are typically seventy- to eighty-percent fun," Krug says. "This show was about ninety percent fun."

WBH caught up with Sunset Rubdown after the show, mostly to gawk and find out whether they glowed in real life. They don't glow, per se, but they will be back in Los Angeles sometime in October (according to Jordan), where an extra dowsing in smog and "marine layer" will definitely aid the glowing process. The fact that they're a group of incredibly cool people can't hurt.

Further illustrating his amusing entrapment in numbers, Krug remarks, "I hear we're about an eight?"

Oh, Spencer. You guys'll always be a ten in my book.

mp3: "The Procession" by Elfin Saddle
mp3: "Silver Moons (live)" by Sunset Rubdown

reminder: tell us about summer music...win free crap!

2009-06-30T11:46:00.001-07:00

Just a friendly reminder/repost:

I'll keep this one short and sweet.

We like summer. You like free crap. Hockey likes a rock song with a good hook.

Why not combine forces?

Contest: email us at Wouldbehipster@gmail.com with your favorite summer anthem and memory attached to it. We're not looking for the most obscure, indie-riffic song out there,¹just a good story, preferably one with a suitably high geek factor. Extra points for illustrations and/or pie references.

Two Winners (that's right -- two!) will win autographed Hockey vinyl.

Contest closes July 6th at midnight.

Good luck!

1.Would-Be Hipster guilty pleasures include (but are not limited to): The Monkeys, Ace of Bass, Boy George, Kenny Loggins and Crowded House...and no, I'm not naming names.

amanda palmer @ the troubadour

2009-06-30T02:16:00.000-07:00

You know it's going to be a weird night when you see both the recently deceased King of Pop and king of pop parodies, Weird Al in the same place.

Par for course when Amanda Palmer is involved. The princess of punk cabaret, only one thing's for certain when catching her live -- you'll never see the same show twice. Well that and when the weird starts raining down, no one's going to so much as blink.

Material from last year's beautiful and occasionally heedy masterpiece Who Killed Amanda Palmer was kept to a minimum, keeping the show from becoming a repeat of her December show at the Henry Fonda. Without only “Ampersand,” “Runs in the Family,” “Astronaut,” and “Oasis” making the cut, it left a lot of time up in the air -- not that it was a problem!

Again -- Amanda may claim that she has trouble not repeating herself...but try telling that to the sold-out room who would have been happy with anything she cared to try...even blatant repetition. And goodness knows, if there's one thing Amanda cares to try, it's limit pushing. Covers were the order of the night. From the whisper-sung ukulele version of Bright Eye's "Lua," to the shout along Avril Lavigne "Complicated," to the hushed Leonard Cohen classic, “Hallelujah" to the natural choice, "Billie Jean" by Micheal Jackson, a bevy genres were covered -- all with Amanda's trademark melancholic-joie-de-vie.

Of course, with Amanda Palmer, you're never going to get "just" music. She's a storyteller damnit! This time we were treated to two rounds of "Ask Amanda" where the audience, obsessed with her newly announced relationship with author Neil Gaiman, forced Amanda to answer several potentially embarrassing questions about their relationship, including “What is your favorite body part of Neil Gaiman?” The final answer—“His hair is an amazing, chaotic halo of life. But I think I like his smile best.”—elicited coos from the audience.

Of course, it only seems natural that the project that brought Gaiman and Amanda together was heavily advertised...not that anyone seemed to mind. A coffee table photo/story book, Who Killed Amanda Palmer couples pictures of "The Late Amanda Palmer" with stories about her grizzly deaths written by Gaiman. The show halted in favor of story time, a move that would have derailed a concert by a lesser artist. However, with Amanda as our narrator, you could have heard a pin drop. The final nail in the coffin, seeing Amanda Palmer live time and time again proves that, as a dead girl, she simply kills.

mp3: "Ampersand (live)" by Amanda Palmer
mp3: "On The Radio (Regina Spektor cover)" by Amanda Palmer
mp3: "Umbrella (Rihanna cover)" Amanda Palmer
mp3: "I Will Follow You Into The Dark (Death Cab For Cutie cover) " by Amanda Palmer

michael jackson remembered

2009-06-25T22:56:00.000-07:00

Oh, Michael Jackson. He's provided us with so many years of entertainment, in so many different forms - both intentionally and not so much. He'll be missed, he'll be lauded, he'll be scorned, and here at WBH headquarters, he'll be remembered in cover format.

mp3: "Beat It" covered by Supergrass
mp3: "Billie Jean" covered by Belle & Sebastian
mp3: "The Girl is Mine" covered by Umphrey's McGee
mp3: "Thriller" covered by Ben Gibbard

mp3: "Come Together" covered by Michael Jackson

dragonslayer by sunset rubdown

2009-06-24T21:01:00.000-07:00

miracle, n.: an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a work of God.

I'm through beating around the bush with this: Sunset Rubdown is my favorite band. Hands down. No exceptions. I've spent ages in a frustrating state of noncommittal, but it's time I just faced the facts. No other band has ever spoken to me, musically or lyrically, the same way that Spencer Krug's brilliantly left-of-center indie-pop outfit has. What the man can do is astounding in ways I find difficult to put into words. Adjust all expectations for this review accordingly.

Say what you will about 2007's Random Spirit Lover. Ripping on it seems to be the trendy thing to do these days, but I don't care. I still adhere firmly to my opinion that it was not only Album of the Year, but also one of the most exciting and unique releases of the entire decade. Dense, complex, and occasionally frustrating? Yes, but also infinitely rewarding. It was the sort of album that most acts spend entire careers trying to build to, and these guys managed to pull it off on just their second release as a fleshed-out band. Naturally, they had some pretty big shoes to fill. Expectations for a follow-up were immediately set almost unreasonably high.

But now June 23, 2009 has come and gone. The world has finally seen the release of Dragonslayer, that much-awaited third album. And while the tirelessly prolific Krug could have understandably used it as a victory lap, he instead once again cements his position as World's Greatest Songwriter by not disappointing in the slightest. If the bar isn't necessarily being set higher, it's at least being matched; given the great heights at which it was already placed, this is an achievement indeed. The hype surrounding the album is fairly accurate: this is a more accessible, less studio-oriented affair than its predecessor. Don't let this trick you into thinking you're getting something else, though. This is still fundamentally a Sunset Rubdown record. It demands multiple listens to sink in, but Krug is not so unkind as to fail to repay you for your time. New things get discovered with each spin, new lyrical turns of phrase leap out from the speakers, and pretty soon you realize you're in the midst of another startlingly accomplished set of songs.

Rare is the album where I cannot choose a favorite song. Rarer still is the fine breed where at least half the songs on the tracklist could vie for that honor. The haunting piano ballad "Silver Moons" is as gorgeous as anything Krug has ever written, the noisy and feedback-laden "Black Swan" rocks out in heretofore unexplored ways, and "Nightingale/December Song" -- a self-described clusterfuck -- once again pushes the envelope for what studio arrangements the band is capable of conjuring. Still, as blissful as all of these are, Dragonslayer's finest moment may well be the epically titled "Apollo and the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh!" Although steeped in metaphor, the nostalgia-soaked lyrics are among Krug's most lucid to date. By setting them to a lovely, melancholy melody, the result is one of the most unabashedly emotional accomplishments of Sunset Rubdown's career. Let's be honest, though. There isn't a bad song in sight. More to the point, there isn't a song that doesn't approach the sort of excellence we have come to expect from this band. Even the curiously chosen Swan Lake "cover" "Paper Lace" can hold its own without any problems.

For a time, the notion of the band even coming close to matching their past achievements seemed impossible to me. But here they've done it, and done it so effortlessly that it feels like the Sunset Rubdown machine is still only getting warmed up. It must be something of a miracle, something entirely in keeping with my long-standing assertion that Spencer Krug is, in fact, God. So I return to the above definition. Will I live, will I live in said physical world? Of course. And with albums like Dragonslayer to fill it, the living not only becomes easier, but an immense pleasure as well.

mp3: "Apollo and the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh!" by Sunset Rubdown
mp3: "The Mending of the Gown" by Sunset Rubdown

contest: win hockey vinyl

2009-06-23T09:24:00.000-07:00

I'll keep this one short and sweet.

We like summer. You like free crap. Hockey likes a rock song with a good hook.

Why not combine forces?

Two Winners (that's right -- two!) will win autographed Hockey vinyl.

Contest closes July 6th at midnight.

Good luck!

1.Would-Be Hipster guilty pleasures include (but are not limited to): The Monkeys, Ace of Bass, Boy George, Kenny Loggins and Crowded House...and no, I'm not naming names.

chairlift @ the getty

2009-06-22T00:03:00.000-07:00

A good synth is hard to find. That is, unless you were at the Getty Center Saturday night, rocking out to Chairlift.

Despite the somewhat awkward preforming conditions (How do you sell synth rock to an huge audience -- a portion of which are restless, albeit art-appreciating families accidentally caught in the glut of hipsterdom?), the band tossed off their trademark sultry and occasionally creepy music with the ease of an already seasoned ensemble. (Of course, with a touring schedule like this, that's not hard to achieve.)

Of course, for those of us that knew what we were in for, the night held a series of reminders: Your speakers are crap, and if you ever want to replicate the live experience you should probably look into replacing them. By the time you remember to do so, there'll probably be several new Chairlift songs to enjoy, all filled with the same sort of energy that made you fall in love in the first place...

I watched the brief set from a spot far past the bar, just behind the fountain, tree branches in my eyes. Somewhere in the distance, Caroline Polachek didn't just play her keyboard but appeared to float over the top of it, startling large voice ringing out a call to anyone who dare challenge her, whacking a cowbell with what could only be described as an untapped vengeance. I could have complained about the obscured view, about the people around me who were out for an evening's picnic rather than a show. But somehow, brushing leaves out of my hair, shivering slightly in the night air, the scene was perfect. "This is the music of hipster forest nymphs!" I whispered to my friends, all who shook their heads in agreement. We smiled, and together, watched as, for a moment, our lives were graced with a strange, synth-tinged perfection.

Video by: Eszter Zimanyi

Edit: Now that Chairlift is playing in the big leagues, previous Mp3 freebies are considered "copyright infringement." Pity.

~~mp3: "Earwig Town" by Chairlift~~
~~mp3: "Evident Utensil" by Chairlift~~

emily wells @ hotel cafe

2009-06-20T10:14:00.000-07:00

What is there left to write about Emily Wells? No really. Check out previous, superlative-filled, geeky rants. She knows a catchy lick. She's got a rapper's style with interesting, introspective lyrics. And then live she reminds you -- oh yea, she can play the violin like no one's business.

You see, now it's just getting embarrassing.

Last night's show at Hotel Cafe served as a release party for Wells' new EP Dirty. In addition to ripping though several of the "Symphonies" from her previous full-length ("Symphony 1 In the Barrel of a Gun" sounded particularly inspiring live), and the EP (including "Juicy", an impressive showcase of Wells' rapping skills), the audience was treated to what Wells described as "why did you leave that off the album" song, "Passenger." A catchy blend of a symphony and pop song, I'll add my voice to the inquiry -- no really Emily, why did you leave that off the album? Can we have it as a single? Pretty please?¹

Wells sent her audience off into the summer night a mere forty-five minutes later (darn Hotel Cafe booking!) with the breezy, seasonally appropriate, ukulele tune "Take it Easy San Francisco." We may not be San Francisco, but after a cool show like that and a weekend ahead of us, I'm sure LA was more than willing to heed the advice.

1. At this point, the woman next to me started freaking out, telling her friend, "She's got no bad notes! I can't handle it! I don't know what to do with myself!" And all this time I thought I was the queen of rants.

mp3: "Symphony 6: Fair Thee Well & The Requiem Mix (live at KCRW)" by Emily Wells

bat for lashes @ el rey

2009-06-18T09:45:00.000-07:00

I want to be Natasha Khan (a.k.a. Bat For Lashes) when I grow up. Possessing a magical ability to to synthesize words, sounds, and visuals into an otherworldly live experience, seeing her at El Rey theater was like...well, indescribable. (Dude.)

The night started big with Two Suns opener "Glass." And by big I mean big. The perfect glass shattering note in the chorus? I've been living in denial -- she can hit it live. Coupled with the second song of the night, conveniently the second song off Two Suns, "Sleep Alone," I begun to wonder if Khan realized she still had another hour and a half or so of stage time. That's just it though -- every song rang with power and confidence (as did I my ears -- I was two dumbfounded to remember earplugs) and, well...is it fair to say out right awesomeness? This folks, is the kind of show that leaves attendees slack-jawed and bloggers sounding sycophantic. Not that there's anything wrong with that. (Dude!)

The highlights of the night were seeing Khan preform reworkings of songs I've yet to emotionally connect with. "Peace of Mind" proved all Khan needs to captivate a large auditorium is an auto harp and her voice, "The Wizard" demonstrated the engrossing power of sleigh bells, and "Two Planets" was an percussive blanket of sound -- the kind of engrossing wave of energy that makes you want to invest in floor-to-ceiling speakers for your home. So that's what it's supposed to sound like! (Dude!!) We even had two chances to appreciate Two Sun's single "Daniel." After a harpsichord version (which slowed the song down to a haunting ballad that could have slipped into either Bat For Lashes album) we were given an extra encore dose of "Daniel" in its synth-heavy danceable form. Now normally repeating a song feels like a bit of a cop-out, but by the second encore I surely wasn't the only one wishing I cold be Khan when I grow up. It's Bat For Lashes' (surreal) world...we're just living in it.

I may sound even geekier than usual, but I urge you...go see Bat For Lashes live. Be sure to let me know what you think. Maybe your grownup words are stronger than mine.

mp3: "Glass (live via RCRDL)" by Bat For Lashes
mp3: "I'm On Fire (live)" by Bat For Lashes

metric @ the ogden theatre

2009-06-12T23:25:00.000-07:00

Emily Haines is a babe. I knew this already. I also knew that Metric is one of the biggest bands on the indie scene at the moment, and almost certainly one of the most energetic. Yet somehow knowledge of these things wasn't enough to prepare me for what may possibly be the best rock show I have ever been to. I grant you that I'm still quite young and have not been to very many, but nonetheless these are words I don't throw around lightly. Rarely have I seen a band so in tune with what its audience wants, and even more infrequently have I seen one as able to deliver on that promise.

If anything, Haines understands that a concert isn't just showing up, playing your songs, putting in your 90 minutes, and moving on to the next town. A concert means performing. It means giving the crowd something they can't get just by sitting at home and spinning an album. It's this sort of conviction that can even make a band's decidedly less stunning tracks into defining moments when placed in a live setting. For instance, since March I've been of the opinion that "Stadium Love" is easily the weakest moment on their latest long-player Fantasies. You'd never know it if you just showed up to the concert. Such energy they packed into its performance, and such undiluted enthusiasm, that it just came across as one more awesome song in a set that felt jam-packed with these sorts of moments.

Predictably, the setlist was skewed heavily in favor of Fantasies ("Collect Call" and "Blindness" were the only two left out), with only a light spattering of earlier material, but seeing them perform the way they did made it impossible to argue with any of their choices. Alongside refreshingly adrenaline-laced renditions of fan favorites "Help I'm Alive" and "Gold Guns Girls," they also found room for a few legitimate surprises. Slow-burner "Twilight Galaxy" may seem at first an unorthodox way to kickstart the evening, but the band's singular take on it -- which included both a dissonant, theremin-driven intro and an ear-crushingly loud synth freakout ending (yes, this is still "Twilight Galaxy" I'm talking about) -- immediately assuaged any fears I may have had that Haines & co. didn't know exactly what they were doing. They did, and how. Still, despite the awesomeness inherent in their newer stuff, the absolute high point of the evening was Live It Out opener "Empty." Sure, Haines may sing lyrics like We couldn't see what was coming, but by now we're all aware of what happens in the song. Knowingly, the band took this and ran with it: the amped-up midsection alone got stretched out to something like seven or eight minutes, with Haines bouncing around the stage and riling up the crowd in a way that felt both effortless and genuine.

At the risk of making a "converting to Metric" joke, I'll just say this: I went to the show a fan, but not a diehard. If ever there was an opportunity for me to make the leap, I experienced it. In the end, I think the beautiful and charismatic frontwoman said it best in her intro to "Gimme Sympathy": "Who'd you rather be? The Beatles or the Rolling Stones? It's a tough question. So we decided we wanted to be a Canadian cross between the two." They can do it, too. Give them time. Their show crackles with passion, excitement, and exuberance. In the rare moments I was able to take my eyes off the stage to look at the crowd, I became intimately aware that there was likely not a soul in the room who would've rather been anywhere else. That's how good these guys are. Emily Haines isn't just a babe. Emily Haines is a friggin' rock star.

I of course had nothing to do with its existence, but an inevitable, completely unauthorized opportunity to live vicariously exists here.

(Oh by the way, my name's Chris. Nice to meet you!)

mp3: "Empty" by Metric
mp3: "Gold Guns Girls" by Metric

dark night of the soul by david lynch, danger mouse, and sparklehorse

2009-06-12T02:11:00.000-07:00

You can't legally obtain what might be the coolest album of the year. Which is a shame really, middle-of-the-night music this atmospherically weird and affecting should not sit on a shelf.

A meeting of minds between Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse, Dark Night of The Soul was originally created as a soundtrack to a David Lynch photography collection. Of course, due to an unrevealed legal tangle the book and exhibition (through July 11th) are flying solo.

Again, a shame. Shouldn't every artist earn a little latte money for his work?

Taking Dark Night of the Soul for a spin is not unlike experiencing your favorite David Lynch film. With track guests ranging from sweet-voiced Nina Persson (The Cardigans), to every-man Julian Casablancas (The Strokes), to career weirdo Wayne Coyne (Flaming Lips), there's a marked sense that somewhere, buried under layers of electronic atmospherics and an overwhelming sense of foreboding, there's a narrative.

While it may take a few over-zealous film scholars to get to the bottom of narrative specifics, themes are evident -- even to the layman. While Iggy Pop questions the very nature of existence and man's relationship with God on "Pain," Jason Lytle experiences romantic pain via a dysfunctional relationship in "Everytime I'm With You." Vic Chesnutt goes into old memories in not one but two songs, sounding almost wistful for his painful memories and dreams, ...like a Norman Rockwell painting. This is, in short, a highly stylized meditation on all the painful dark emotions and ugly feelings -- you know, the pain that drives us to funnel our quasi-artistic rages into drinking, generalized exhortations of angst, or creating self-deprecating music blogs. Jealous? Wait...I bet there's a song for that too.

Stream Dark Night of the Soul here.

~~mp3: "Revenge (feat. Wayne Coyne)" by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse~~
~~mp3: "Little Girl (feat. Julian Casablancas)" by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse~~
Edit: like we said. You can't get it legally!

csn demos by crosby, stills & nash

2009-06-11T16:14:00.000-07:00

Here’s the thing. 60s folk rock isn’t hip. I know this. I don’t even think it’s would-be hip. I mean yeah, it’s hip to like the Beatles, ‘cause they’re, y’know, the Beatles. And the Stones are awesome, and Zeppelin is cool in a nerdy, Lord of the Rings sort of way. You might even get some ironic hip points for liking the Monkees¹. But Crosby, Stills & Nash? Didn’t my parents listen to them²? Blech.

CSN’s new album of old demos from the late 60s and early 70s – released earlier this month and titled, surprisingly enough, CSN Demos – may not be the greatest starter album, as part of its appeal is the fact that it’s demos of well-loved songs, and so you’re able to see how the song changed through its lifespan, with different lyrics, different moods, different styles of each of the musicians before producers’ and collaborators’ influences could affect things. The classic Stills song “Love the One You’re With” (don’t try to tell me you haven’t sung along with the classic rock station) is represented here on an acoustic guitar, significantly rawer and sung in a more call-and-response style. Crosby’s “Almost Cut My Hair” is less defiant and more somber, giving the line “I’m going to let my freak flag fly” a slightly different meaning.

That being said, you don’t have to be a life-long fan like myself3 to enjoy this album. This is genuinely good music. There’s great songwriting, political dissent, beautiful harmonies, and amazing guitar playing. If you’re into stuff like Iron & Wine, Jose Gonzalez, M. Ward or the New Amsterdams, Crosby Stills & Nash are worth looking into. Because sometimes you parents aren’t wrong.

1. One of my favorite modern, very hip musicians once confided that the Monkees’ album Head
2. It occurs to me that, at 26, I’m an old woman, and the majority of readers probably have parents who actually listened to Fleetwood Mac or Prince or Twisted Sister or something. Sorry.
3. The first concert I ever went to was a CSN show in Thousand Oaks in 1999 when I was sixteen years old. I had to lie to my parents to be able to go. That’s how totally hardcore I was as a teen. is one of his favorites.

mp3: "You Don't Have to Cry" by Stephen Stills

classic sinatra II by frank sinatra

2009-06-10T15:00:00.000-07:00

Frank Sinatra is one of those rare artists that have an undisputed cross-cultural, multi-generational appeal. Hipsters love him because, well, let's face it -- most of them seem to still be trying to emulate his slick sense of cool. Fans of The Godfather dig his potential gangster connection. Hopeless romantics like me love his dreamy, slightly camp view of love. Even my grandmother loved him, probably because she had a few romantic nights sound-tracked by Ol' Blue Eyes. Heck, even now defunct Los Angeles radio station Indie 103.1 used to play the "Furious Frankie at Five." Because no one's more punk rock than Sinatra!

For those ready to move past the first round of essential Sinatra, Classic Sinatra II is a brilliant collection. This is of course, not a difficult review -- Sinatra never went electric, made a metal album, or indulged in Euro-reggae, thus leaving him with a cohesive body of work ripe for album repacking and Woody Allen soundtracks for years still to come. In addition to to tracks you probably haven't absorbed via pop-culture, there's "All of Me" (also covered by Billie Holiday), and familiar for anyone who's shamefully set though an episode of "Married With Children, " "Love and Marriage." (No matter how refined you think you are I dare you not to think of Al Bundy by the second note.)

Bottom line¹: Buy this and you'll be a sexier, more well-rounded music fan.

See look! Instant sex-appeal:

1. I love me a good cooperate shill.

Stream: "Pennies From Heaven" by Frank Sinatra

the loud wars by so many dynamos

2009-06-08T18:08:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow -- Tuesday, June 9, 2009 -- Vagrant Records is releasing So Many Dynamos' third full-length album, titled The Loud Wars. And, readers? I feel very strongly about this: You should go buy it. You should go buy it twice.

Okay. Maybe I'm a little overly invested because I've been reading their blog for two years. Maybe, just maybe, my objectivity is suspect due to the fact that their excellent 2006 album, Flashlights, dropped into my life under gloriously exceptional circumstances that I'll probably never recover from. But neither of these concessions really changes anything.

The Loud Wars is good. It's fun and danceable, it's appropriately loud, and, in the end, it reminds us that we're all going to die. Probably in an earthquake.¹ Much of the apocalyptic imagery extends directly from Flashlights, except this time around the effect is somewhat less sobering and somewhat more like being trapped in a vintage video game where you get all the way to level 367, only to drown in lava. Like I said, fun.

Also fun? Going to live shows. Dynamos have already embarked on the requisite album-supporting tour, and you should definitely go see them. I'm rusty at this blogging thing; I have no witty closing line. Just go!

¹Not that, as a resident of Los Angeles, this was really news to me.

mp3: "New Bones" by So Many Dynamos

carina round @ hotel cafe + autographed cd contest

2009-06-06T19:43:00.000-07:00

Carina Round is awesome. Wanna know exactly how awesome she is?

Contest: E-mail us with your mailing address and profound or absurd fact that we should know. The person who makes us giggle or ponder our on mortality the most wins an autographed copy of Carina Round's new EP Things You Should Know. Contest closes Monday night @ 8pm (PST).

Edit: Congrats to Ash Morse, who told us about this! RAD!

And now, the big question: How is she live? Well...I'd recommend making her show a priority. Round is pretty girl with an edge -- and she'll be damned if you walk away without realizing it. An explosive, big-voiced performer, Round doesn't just borrow a page from the PJ Harvey playbook -- she bleeds all over it, infusing the style with so much of her personal DNA there's no chance Polly Jean is ever getting it back .

Interestingly enough, it's Round's intimidating and candid performer's spirit that also made Wednesday night's gig such an intriguing, yet accessible show. In between songs, speaking voice punctuated with a series of girly giggles, Round flirted with the audience, mentioning that it only took a month to sell out her residence, encouraging people to buy her album and/or buy her a drink, and punctuating each joke with a playful, "just kidding." A gracious host at what was essentially her personal closed-bar cocktail party, it was clear that love between the audience and performer went both ways -- as evidenced by the crowded room's willingness to chime in on the chorus of "Backseat."

Her last show at Hotel Cafe before heading overseas to her native UK for a string of gigs, it was clear that neither that by set's end, no one was quite ready to call it a night. That's okay, no matter how far Round roams, it's clear she'll always be welcomed home to LA with open arms.

(photo Carina Round: David Studarus)

mp3: " Backseat (Flash In the Pan remix)" by Carina Round

tactical POP! for coffee cadets by socialist leisure party

2009-06-03T08:20:00.000-07:00

Growing up in southern California, early morning fog, or June gloom, is always a cause for celebration -- summer is approaching! Even now, a gray day makes me long for some good 'ol fashioned pop, and a much needed vacation. Tactical POP! For Coffee Cadets by Socialist Leisure Party has been sitting in my "listen to" pile for the better party of three weeks, just waiting for a moment like this. Burr...

A post punk, utterly poppy affair clocking in at a tantalizingly brief twenty size minutes, the album is comprised of a six song EP and two song 7-inch. The band moves across the spectrum of glee, from the Spinto Band-like opener, to instrumental closer "Mondayland" which clearly takes a page out of The Go! Team playbook. It's the perfect thing to get a summer party started, provided you're all willing to dance like a modern-day like Annette Funicellos and Frankie Avalons on the beach.

Now if you pardon me, I'm going to go put on a sweater and start researching my "What I did on my summer vacation" essay.

mp3: "Head in the Hay" by The Socialist Leisure Party

king khan & the shrines @ the echo

2009-06-01T23:03:00.000-07:00

I’m gonna try to make this one short and sweet. I went to a rock show at the Echo Friday night. And it rocked.

Wounded Lion open. Never have I been quite so blown away by an unknown opener. Lead singer is a 40-year-old with a cop ‘stache. Keyboardist is a pudgy, speccy Asian dude who probably worked with my engineer father on the stealth bomber. Musical instruments are shared by all and switched often. There’s a couple of young geeky kids in the back somewhere. They’re doing garage post-punk music about constellations and physics and Star Wars. They do Credence’s "Bad Moon Rising" as if Devo and the Ramones had formed a super group. Oh yes.

Second opener isMark Sultan, also known as BBQ. He plays guitar and drums at the same time, and does amazing garage doo-wop songs while the crowd bopps and flails and moshes. The irritating redhead who was slamming into people all night gets an empty Red Stripe bottle smashed over his head¹. This does not, however, stop the rock.

King Khan and the Shrines take the stage. There’s about a dozen people performing, including horns, keyboards, guitars, bass, and Hagrid on drums. Let us not forget the cheerleader with black pom-poms, cute little fascinator, and a jar of glitter. And King Khan himself, dressed in white leopard print jacket and feathered headband. For the hour he’s onstage, he rules the world. There’s a five-minute monologue about being "reborn" in the most graphic sense possible, but other than that, it’s nothing but loud, stupid, wonderful rock ‘n’ roll music that sounds like it should have been dug up from the rafters of Motown headquarters where Spector stashed it in 1968 for being a little too psychedelic and raunchy. I don't really know how to describe the music, but it makes me dance. This is seriously powerful stuff, man.

mp3: "Outta My Mind" by BBQ, from Tie Your Noose
mp3: "No Regrets" by King Khan & the Shrines, from What Is?!

1. Let this be a lesson, kids: Just because you’re excited about the show, that doesn’t mean it’s your job to get everyone else excited too, because some of us are grownups and it hurts our bum hips to jump around that much. Not that I’m condoning the beating of college students, just please, stop rubbing up against me. Especially after a girl's poured a drink poured over your head for being an ass. Ick.

preliminaries by iggy pop

2009-06-01T08:13:00.000-07:00

Iggy Pop had never interested me. Of course now that I've heard his newest album, the break from punk-form Preliminaries (out 6/2), I find myself so intoxicated with his voice and writing I can't help but wondering if French pop and New Orleans jazz might be a gateway drug to the world of punk.

Based on the French novel Possibility of an Island by Michel Houellebecq, and originally conceived as a film soundtrack, Preliminaries is worlds away from a style Pop himself described as "idiot thugs with guitars." Instead, we're treated to a twelve song jazz tribute to the wash of memories one collects with ages.

Of course, even with Iggy Pop 2.0, he is and will always be a punk. His raspy delivery rattles "Nice To Be Dead," his take no prisoners approach to self-evaluation reminding us on "I Want To Go To The Beach" that, You can convince the world you're some kind of superstar/When an asshole is what you are. He may be approaching the age that many begin plotting retirement, but he hasn't gone soft.

Pop's history as an actor comes in handy as he tosses off a pitch-perfect spoken word track, his world-weary baritone asking, What is a dog, but a machine for loving? Normally this is a convention that leaves me cold -- but within the context of a soundtrack for a film yet to be made, why wouldn't we need a monologue to drive home a point?

Iggy Pop has spent a large portion of his career wanting to be your dog. But now at 62, he's unequivocally proven that as "King of the Dogs." Songs sung in phonetic French? Why not? Breathy part punk, part Serge Gainsbourg duets like "She's A Business" ? He can be anything he wants.

passion pit @ the echoplex

2009-05-30T17:47:00.000-07:00

When all the evening's entertainment was said and done, my friend turned to me and remarked, "that was the happiest show I've ever been to!" With succinct friends like this, who needs blogging? He's right though, after the rainbow-dripped synths of Passion Pit, the only appropriate closing act would have been a box of puppies.

The amount of energy and charm Passion Pit brings to the stage is ridiculous. Formed only two years ago and minted as a critics' darlings of this year's SXSW, it's tough to remember these guys -- already pros -- are still just kids. Watching the band hold court over the sold-out, wildly dancing Echoplex, crowd cheering with approval at first-note recognition of favorites off just-released Manners, it doesn't take an expert to predict that they've got a brilliant electro-indie future. While the show lacked in introspective moments, how can argue with a falsetto-laced "Sleepyhead" singalong? Certainly not me.

Also playing were Harlem Shakes, a large musical collective whose radio-friendly pop-refrains and skinny jeans left me longing for a return of the glory days of Ween and Weezer. Opening the show was Cale Parks, a man with a drum set, large sample collection, and an abundance of ambition that makes me think it's time I set about finishing my novel and/or joining my friends for karaoke night.

(photo Passion Pit: Elizabeth Weinberg)

mp3: "Moth's Wings" by Passion Pit

jens lekman @ the echo

2009-05-28T09:59:00.000-07:00

To truly understand the WBH love for Jens Lekman, I strongly suggest starting with our previous concert reviews. Not that every time Jens takes the stage isn't a unique experience (each show is so intimate that last night he made the "naïve request" that no one post audio or video of the show to keep it "just between us"). It's just, how many times can I squeal in a public forum before I start coming off as a slightly deranged, slightly repetitive, ~~slightly~~ decidedly fanatical fan-girl? These are the questions that keep me up at night.

After over a year's absence, Jens' return to Los Angeles was the love-fest we've all been waiting for. Taking the tiny Echo stage with his truncated band and faithful DJ Viktor Sjöberg, Jens opened with a new song, the homage-heavy "The Summer Never Ends", before seamlessly launching into clear audience favorites, "Your Arms Around Me" and "Sipping On the Sweet Nectar", complete with a "arm-airplane" trip around the stage. That was me, grinning like an idiot. Irony is so hipster-2008.

In addition to debuting several new songs, including the Paul Simon-esque "The End of the World is Bigger Than Love" and Australia-themed, "Argument With Myself", Jens also surprised his audience by playing several live-rarities, including a sing-along version of my 2007 theme song "Kanske Ar Jag Kar i Dig¹." The night ended with Jens on one knee, playing "Silvia", an ode to what he that was a memory of meeting the queen of Sweden -- only to be told by his mother after he wrote it that said memory was a dream. Thankfully, his charming preformance was 100% real.

Opening the show was comedienne Tig Notaro, whose wry humor complimented Jens' music far better than any opening band.

1. However, it can be argued that the line, Best way to touch your heart/is to make an ass of myself, is really more of a life theme.

mp3: "Do You Remember The Riots (orchestral version)" by Jens Lekman
mp3: "Lönlöv (Swedish version of Maple Leaves)" by Jens Lekman

the dears @ the echoplex

2009-05-24T19:18:00.000-07:00

I am not a Dears scholar. Quite the opposite actually -- the only Dears album currently in my possession was lent to me by a fellow Would-be Hipster en-route to last night's show¹ at the Echoplex. Granted, I'm pretty sure I could have listened to their entire catalog and not been prepared for what was to come. Seeing The Dears live is one heck of an introduction.

From the moment lead-singer Murry Lightburn started his slow, intimidating stroll from the back of the Echoplex to the stage during opener "Saviour," crowds parting as though in the presence of a messianic indie-rock figure, the night was set to be grand. And it just kept getting better and better. Stomping through each song with a frenetic focus of a big-tent revivalist, the band maintained an almost Radiohead-like level of intensity. Often, the comparison could be taken even further as Lightburn's rich baritone stretched into a Thom Yorke-like falsetto. With ghostly backing-vocals provided by Lightburn's wife and band-mate Natalia Yanchak over a bed of intensely layered sound (the saxophone might have been sampled, but the band was clearly working their butts off), it was hard not to feel a little overwhelmed. Clearly I've got a lot of listening to do...

Of course, it all comes down to a charismatic leader. When doesn't it? Watching Lightburn preform is a mesmerizing study in contrasts. The dower stage persona gives way to a genuine thankfulness that people are listening at all. A line screamed directly into the face of a fan is accompanied by a hug and a high five. It's tough to peg where he's coming from or where he'll be next, making the performance both unusual and highly compelling. All I'm saying is that when you can unironically use a keytar without audience backlash and/or open mockery, you're in a class of elite performers.

Taking the stage earlier in the evening was Los Angeles-based band Eulogies. Although somberly named, their rocking warm sound is just the sort of thing you soundtrack you envision accompanying your night out with friends. A strong strong start to the evening and a good sign of things to come.

And of course, there was also WBH favorite, Great Northern, playing their first hometown show since the release of their new album -- an album filled with the sort of anthemic, soaring songs that where meant to be seen live. I suggest you do so immediately.

1. Sponsored by WBH's favorite magazine, Under the Radar. Really, who doesn't love a show that comes with free reading material?

(photo The Dears: Liam Maloney)
(photo Great Northern: David Studarus)

mp3: "Who Are You Defenders of the Universe" by The Dears
mp3: "Half Mast" by The Dears
mp3: "Houses" by Great Northern
mp3: "One Man" by Eulogies

the decemberists @ the hollywood palladium

2009-05-23T14:36:00.000-07:00

There is a rule here at WBH headquarters: If the Decemberists (or, for that matter, any of their constituent parts) are performing anywhere in the greater Los Angeles area¹, m.a.b. and ako must go. So when the Decemberists kicked off their tour to support their epic rock opera The Hazards of Love at the Hollywood Palladium on Tuesday, we were not only there, but there early enough to chat with a security guard who thought that the crowd was likely to start moshing. That was only the beginning of the night’s surreality.

Other Lives opened, and were a perfect compliment to the Decemberists. They make lovely acoustic guitar/piano/cello moody indie-folk music. They are also very polite people. And the lead singer looks like like T.R. Knight with a beard. All of which are admirable qualities, and had the Decemberists not been waiting in the wings to come on, I could have listened to them all night.

The Decemberists took the stage – along with Lavander Diamond’s Becky Stark (playing Margaret) and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden (playing The Queen) – and launched into The Hazards of Love² which was played straight through without pause. And really, what can be said? It was perfect. The band was amazing and tight and gorgeous. Becky floated around the stage with her beautiful soprano voice and flowing white gown. Shara stomped and ran and growled and wailed and I’m a little afraid of her. Colin’s sideburns and suspenders set the mood quite nicely. The highlight – by far – was “The Rake’s Song.” Colin on guitar, Nate on bass, everyone else on drums. Choreographed drums and screaming. Having Becky Stark right in front of me pounding on tom toms with mallets and screaming “all right!” while trying to look like a bad-ass in her white sparkly chiffon while Colin Meloy sings about killing children? Highlight of my life.

After a brief intermission, the band came back for a too-short set of older songs. Highlights included: duets with both Becky and Shara; “Dracula’s Daughter” not only arranged for the whole but as an intro to “O Valencia!”; Colin forgetting the words to a handful of songs; and a beautiful singalong of “Sons & Daughters”; and the John and Colin comedy hour as they came out to do “Raincoat Song” for the first song of the encore. And then, as most Decemberist shows do, the evening ended with “I Was Meant for the Stage.” While not my favorite song, it is the greatest show ender I’ve ever seen. The song ends in chaos, every member writhing on the floor – including Nate Query, holding his bass up over his head with his foot. Yes, it’s a rock ‘n’ roll cliché, but when lit-rock geeks do it, it’s just transcendent.

p.s. ako filmed "Los Angeles, I'm Yours" and it's pretty darned awesome.

1. Other than the Hollywood Bowl. The Hollywood Bowl is not an acceptable to see indie rock, or much of anything, really.
2. So “launched” is probably not exactly appropriate, as it began with Jenny Conlee slowly building up a few chords on her Hammond for the prelude.

mp3: "Black Tables" by Other Lives
mp3: "We Both Go Down Together" by the Decemberists

m83 @ the glass house

2009-05-21T23:19:00.000-07:00

Wow. I feel like I should be reviewing Wednesday night's show at The Glass House in haiku. Given the dizzying poetics of Saturdays=Youth, it wouldn't be completely out of order. Instead, I'll lead off per WBH usual, complaints that the show was far too short. Isn't it always? However, to M83 lead-man Anthony Gonzales' credit, even with the brevity of the set, clocking in at eight songs and an encore, there was a lot going on.

Although obstinately a solo-project, M83 live is all about chemistry. Gonzales was joined by keyboardist/vocalist Morgan Kibby, who, despite early technical glitches covering much of her early performance, felt perfectly cast for eighties-reminiscent numbers "Skin of the Night" and "We Own the Sky." And, even though a marketed amount of drum machine was also evident, there was, behind a transparent barrier, a real live drummer. His enthusiastic pounding, coupled with Kibby and Gonzales' bobbing and weaving, made for a weirdly hypnotic visual -- the rock equivalent of watching waves crash on the shore. The metaphor of course cracked every time Gonzales stepped to the front of the stage, guitar in hand. While a fan of electronica, I've never been convinced laptops are actually an instrument. (Thus, I'll never be in a rush to buy Girl Talk tickets.) So, while enjoying the bloops and bleeps as much as the next fan (although, probably not as much as the few brave kids dancing like it's 1989), visual and auditory conformation that Gonzales is a proficient and enthusiastic guitar player was welcome.

And here is where your geek-in-residence has a confession to make: Despite previous attempts at fandom, Saturdays=Youth is the first M83 album I've emotionally connected to. Yes, I can see the beauty in previous efforts (I'd score an epic film with anything on Before the Dawn Heals Us). But, it's don't worry, it's not you, it's me. So, even with the grand spectacle of songs like "Teen Angst" and "Sitting" sparking audience clap-alongs, it was the John Hughes-worthy tracks, including epic encore song "Coleurs" that really made my night. And, oh, what a night.

mp3: "Kim and Jesse (Montag mix)" by M83
mp3: "We Own the Sky (Maps Remix)" by M83

core memory unwound by christopher tignor

2009-05-20T00:37:00.000-07:00

Instrumental albums are notoriously difficult to write about. It's the proverbial dancing about architecture. So, until you can listen to Christopher Tignor's (also of Slow Six) new album Core Memory Unwound (out now) for yourself, just pretend I'm enthusiastically humming in your ear as you read this. Wait, strike that...I'm tone deaf.

Consisting of violin and piano, each composition is played twice -- first in its organic form, and then looped, sampled, and otherwise twisted. And like a memory falling apart (or rather, being unwound), the process happens so gradually it's difficult to track the subtle changes, until you realize the the slow musical journey has taken you someplace new.

Like a samples-based Dustin O'Halloran or a Philip Glass-inspired Dntel, Tignor's work contains an undeniable minimalist sensitivity. More about tonality than melody, the listener lead through a sea of sound and auditory textures. Awash in a near seamless outing, the gestalt is clear: this is a gentle ambient album, not for the reviewer or listener spoil with words, but to enhance with dreams and memories of their own.

mp3: "Meeting in a Colored Shadow (excerpt)" by Christopher Tignor
mp3: "Cathedral (pt 1) (excerpt)" by Christopher Tignor

m83 haiku contest winners

2009-05-18T15:50:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all entrants

You made our judging day full

of geeky delights!

Congrats to winners
Ian Cox and Brie Savard
M83 tix!

they were my first love
innocence lost to casette
synesthizer sex
by: Ian Cox

Eighty-six nightdrive
Pulsing neon all around;
Futures now long past.
by: Brie Savard

loney dear @ spaceland

2009-05-17T13:34:00.000-07:00

There are few ills in life that Emil Svanängen's (a.k.a. the driving force behind Loney Dear) sweet voice cannot cure. I offer this, not as a point of discussion, but as a simple statement of fact. Last night at Spaceland was all the empirical evidence one needs. (Of course, his ~~four~~ five-album catalog also helps. edit: geeks can't count. It's true.)

From set opener "Everything Turns to You" to encore closer "Dear John," (both songs from latest album, Dear John) Loney Dear, who earned a standing ovation opening for Andrew Bird earlier this year, clearly had the audience in the palm of their hand -- so much in fact, that when Svanängen asked for a volunteer to restring his guitar (shredded during the opener in an aggressive, all-or-nothing playing style that would continue though the night), one quickly rose to the occasion. Unwilling to stop the rock, Svanängen, much to his audience's continued delight, guided his ad-hoc guitar tech to the location of spare strings via an on-the-fly giggled-lyrical rewrite of "Harsh Words." Charming.

In between songs, we were treated to a recap of the perils that four Scandinavian musicians face while negating peculiarities of the English language. From the slippery "z" sounds in "cheeseburger" (personally, I recommend the veggie burger), to our fear of the metric system, it's a lot to take in one tour. In regards to our incomprehensible units of measurement, Svanängen offered the following evaluation whist taking a mid-set water break:

Svanängen: I've tried to learn the English measuring system. But what's a fl. oz? Do you even know what a fl.oz. is?"

Audience: Silence. (In what I assume was reckless contemplation.)

Svanängen: I think I just drank a half a gallon!

While engaging the audience with musical tricks similar to their previous LA performance -- an intimate microphone-free rendition of "I Love You" and rousing sing-along with "The Meter Marks OK," the performance never came off as canned or insincere, as both performers and three-quarter-filled club seemed mutually engaged and charmed with each other. At the end of well-deserved encore, a clearly exhausted band took their final bows, Svanängen promising, "I'll see you...well...er, soon."

Soon? I hope so.

mp3: "Airport Surroundings" by Loney Dear
mp3: "I Am John (live)" by Loney Dear
mp3: "Ignorant Boy, Beautiful Girl" by Loney Dear

confessions of a would-be hipster is now on facebook!

2009-05-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

We've finally caught up with the times! Or, at least, we've managed to touch the back of the times' t-shirt before it sprinted away from us in amazement and terror. Regardless, we're now on Facebook, so add us!

Also, a reminder (in case you haven't been spammed with it enough):

In the mid-Spring haze
The Would-Be Hipsters unite
To bring you rapture.

You see, we have two
Outstanding sets of tickets
We'd love to give you.

M83, yes!
It is written in your stars.
These tickets are yours.

All you need to do
Is put the 80s in verse.
It isn't that hard.

Let's go! Huzzah!

ticket giveaway: m83 @ glass house in pomona (5/20)

2009-05-12T12:18:00.000-07:00

The Powers That Be have smiled upon Confessions of a Would-Be Hipster, providing us with two pairs of tickets to the upcoming M83 show at the Glass House in Pomona, Wednesday 5/20. This is one of the last west coast dates supporting John Hughes-inspired Saturdays=Youth, so needless to say, the geek-outs around WBH HQ are at a high.

To win: e-mail us at wouldbehipster(at)gmail.com with an 80s-themed haiku.

Pontificate on Madonna's cone bra or Robert Smith's make-up. Write an ode to your favorite Saturday morning cartoon. Immortalize that terrible fashion choice you made in high school -- anything is fair game as long as it's in haiku form.

The two most amusing poems will both get a pair of tickets to the show.

Contest closes Sunday, 5/17.

Winners will be announced Monday, 5/18.

Good luck!

dirty by emily wells

2009-05-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

Again, I find myself at that weird impasse where I've written about an artist so many times I feel like I've crossed the line into obsessive blogger territory. Or at least repetition. But Emily Wells, with her constant touring and new EP Dirty (Out May 26th), keeps giving bloggers and fans alike plenty of reasons to keep talking.

Two of Dirty's tracks, "Symphony 4: America's Mercy War" and "Symphony 6: Fair Thee Well & The Requiem Mix" also appeared as album highlights on last year's genre-breaking The Symphonies: Dreams Memories & Parties -- so chances are you probably have them. If not, hearing them pulled out of context and mixed in with new material is an excellent primer for the new listener. But what about the established fan and/or blogger with too much time on her hands? How about a beautiful remix of "Symphony 9 & the Sunshine" where, stripped of beats and slowed, the spotlight is on Well's virtuoso violin skills? Despite my love/hate relationship with the remixing world, it feels like, given Wells' affection for her looping pedal, she could take her music in any one of many dramatically different directions. I, for one, wouldn't mind hearing a few more symphony re-imaginings.

The new material on Dirty finds Wells experimenting and expanding her self-created "Symphonic Folktronica Fantasy" sound. On the breezy "Take It Easy San Francisco" she temporarily sets aside her trademark violin, instead favoring ukulele accompaniment to create a light summer tune. The good-time atmosphere is continued on pizzicato-happy "Whiskey and Rags." Of course, securing her status as "unclassifiable," Wells also includes Notorious B.I.G. cover, "Juicy," slowing the song to a melodic, downtrodden-but-dreamy meditation on poverty.

Usually when you see phrases on a press sheet like, "Nina Simone and Biggie Smalls make my world go round," it's a case for incredulity. But when it comes to Wells, you can clearly hear the influence of many disparate genres. More than a musical parlor trick, she makes genre mash-up and boundary-pushing work in her favor. Good thing...I suspect the music world isn't done talking about her yet.

(photo Emily Wells: Anne Carmack)

mp3: "Symphony 6: Fair Thee Well & The Requiem Mix (live at KCRW)" by Emily Wells

learning to live on poison by archivist

2009-05-10T18:25:00.000-07:00

There's something curiously appealing about a band that embraces the musical freedom of art-rock, where impressionistic chaos boils beneath the temper of a single idea, feeling, or scene. What's even more appealing is the result of that intimate intensity when it mingles with a brocade of tight harmonies and inimitable mastery of syncopation, creating a solid brace between emotion and logic as they battle for dominance.

Archivist, a band whose proclivity for assembling a Trail Mix of musical inspiration has caused them to elude actual classification (though the merit of classification at all these days eludes me - at my most eloquent, I'll pretty much go with "this sounds real good"), is a fantastic example of the aforementioned concept. I've never been a huge believer in the prospect that something could be "so complicated that it's simple"; even knowing that Schnabel described the sonatas of Mozart as existing in this phenomenon, it still seems like a farfetched and pretentious notion. Still, I can't help but acknowledge how much each song on this album is packed with the frequencies of the subtlest tics of human consciousness, and all of the implications that lie within a central theme of, as expected, living on poison.

The best part about all of this is that the music is simple. Each beat is expertly arranged; from the dissonance and pulsating grid-locked rhythm of "Pop Litany" to "Closing," an electronic sea shanty with a delicate face and a powerful body, I could wager on each track being completely danceable in some form or another. (This with the exception of "Flowers," which pretty much stands on its own for containing the epitome of existential rants and a general feeling of doom. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.)

"If that isn't a bad thing," you ask, "then what is?" An example of a Bad Thing would be the sudden realisation that one of the main preservatives in foods (propylene glycol) is nothing more or less than embalming fluid. The more you know!

Learning to Live on Poison is set to release on June 2nd, 2009.

mp3: "Pop Litany" by Archivist

'em are i by jeffrey lewis & the junkyard

2009-05-08T16:12:00.000-07:00

I first discovered Jeffrey Lewis when he opened for the Mountain Goats last year. At said show, Lewis – part anti-folk singer, part comic book artist, part political satirist – covered Crass songs, gave instructions on how to kill zombies, and presented an illustrated, sung history of Communism. Needless to say, I was instantly smitten. Simple guitar chords, nearly monotone vocal melodies that aren't quite sing-talking, but close: every song tells a story, sometimes rambling, sometimes tragic, mostly funny, but almost always engaging and conversational. I think the sing-talking helps.

Lewis's newest release, 'Em Are I, out May 19, follows the previous formula fairly closely, but with cleaner production, added instruments, more experimentation and, in "Broken Broken Broken Heart," more poppy handclaps. It's still got strange plotlines (like avoiding corpses, pigs who think they're jeeps, women who travel in space and time…), philosophy (like the reasons to be happy if you end up in Hell), deftly plucked guitars, references to New York City, and totally awesome bassist/brother Jack.

The best way to sum up 'Em Are I, and the bulk of Jeffrey Lewis's catalogue, is a line from my personal favorite off the album, "If Life Exists (?)": …it's hard to get too bored when you pick the right two chords / and you keep on strumming as if you don't know what's coming.

mp3: "Whistle Past" by Jeffrey Lewis

things you should know by carina round

2009-05-06T22:44:00.000-07:00

British-transplant and current Los Angeleno Carina Round has Things You Should Know. Or at least so claims the title and opening line of the press release for her new EP (out May 12th). Although, in all fairness, what you should know is minimal: that life is full of emotion and Round experiences it all to the fullest. However, like most knowledge, it's the quest that's imperative. Impressively, Round takes us though that journey to this understanding in a scant five songs and twenty-four minutes.

Like fellow LA-based singer-songwriter Sara Lov, Round paints songs filled with vivid images and melancholy. However, while Lov's narratives are tinged with sweet nostalgia, Round takes her listener to a darker place, ethereal voice and emotional commitment easily earning comparisons to PJ Harvey and Patti Smith. It's a weapon she wields skilfully, often moving from a haunted whisper to a howl in the course of a single song.

Album atmospherics are far and above what one would expect from the over-generalized "singer-songwriter" genre. While a cohesive body of work, each song stands out with individual melodramatic flourishes, from the jagged guitars of "Everything for a Reason," to the haunting chorus of "Thief of the Sky," all fitting together to form a world that's both surreal and painfully honest. However, it's the ambitious album opener "Backseat" that feels set to propel Round to the next level of stardom (or, at the very least, additional spins on KCRW). What starts out like the electronic patter of rain quickly blossoms into a choir-backed piano ballad, as Round chants, It should be forever / God told me -- a painful lament that grows more and more gut-wrenching with each conviction-filled repeat.

Of course, while the economic slowdown inspires some artists, it gets in the way of said art actually being made. In the grand tradition of the artists of old, Round is currently enacting a patron program to fund her next album. Donate generously -- there's so much more we need to know.

mp3: " Backseat (Flash In the Pan remix)" by Carina Round

over and over by the legends

2009-05-04T10:54:00.000-07:00

Again with the Labrador Records posts? I'd lie and say it's not an addiction, that I can quit anytime I want. But why?

The Legend's newest release, Over and Over, (out stateside June 16th¹), with its first single "Seconds Away" touted as "the nosiest pop single to ever come out of Sweden," is another tasty treat. Of course, this is to be expected from the hardest working musician in the Swedish pop scene, Johan Angergård (who, in a remarkable feat of overachieving, also fronts Club 8 and The Acid House Kings in addition to co-owning Sweden's answer to SubPop).

Dipping his fingers into multiple musical pies, along with the several-year break between albums, has paid off. Throughout Over and Over, one can hear elements of Angergård's other projects -- from the Club 8-with-reverb "Turn Away" to tracks that sparkle with a undeniable pop sensibility like the Acid-House-Kings-set-to-electronics "Monday to Saturday," to the decidedly Legends "Dancefloor," the album successfully sparkles with a something-for-everyone feel that never dilutes its overall power. Yes, it is a bit all over the board, but again, tasty. The Whitman's Sampler of the electro world if you will.

The single's claim to noise holds true for the first third of the record, much of it so washed in loud feedback that my dog refused to say in the same room. (She's much more of a Club 8 fan.) While after few listens I too discovered moments where I couldn't help but agree with my dog, there's also a distinct and pleasing progression from the loud to the gentle. What starts out as an ode to angst, including "He Knows the Sun" sequel "Always the Same," slowly gives way to a sunny take on sadness. By the time one hits the shoegazy reverb and fuzzed out titular track, it's easy to imagine that if M83 mastermind Anthony Gonzalez fell in love with the Beach Boys rather than Molly Ringwald, we could have been living Saturdays = Youth, Over and Over.

While fitting into The Legends canon of change, the notable difference here is a distinct chipper spirit. Over and Over's tone is significantly removed from the melancholy stance of previous Legends records². As Angergård himself put it, "I recorded this album as a cure for angst, so it's certainly a mixed blessing that it turned out so bloody good that I will suffer of anxiety for years trying to surpass it."

Surely, this is the sort of problem every musician longs to suffer from.

Got angst? Stream Over and Over here.

1. I know, it's early for us Americans, but there's always mail order beginning May 6th.

2. Does disco still suck?

mp3: "Seconds Away" by The Legends

help a fellow would-be hipster

2009-04-30T11:08:00.000-07:00

I'm riding my bike to San Francisco to support AIDS research and treatment, but I need 3k monies to do it. Can you help?

Confessions of a Would-Be Hipster loves a good cause, and our fellow would-be hipster L.A.R. has a great one: biking from Los Angeles to San Francisco to raise money for AIDS research.

We suspect if you're reading this, you might be much like us -- poor music lovers. But if between working for the "the man" and waiting for your Emusic to renew, you happen to have a few extra bucks to donate to L.A.R.'s mission, we hope you'll consider it!

black monk time by the monks

2009-04-28T13:42:00.000-07:00

In their only full-length LP, Black Monk Time, the Monks proved to be amazingly ahead of their time. Recorded in 1965 by a group of American G.I.s living in Germany, the album was more abrasive than the Stones dreamed of being, its humor darker than the Who were managing; the only element of the Monks' music keeping the sound firmly tethered to the mid-sixties is the organ. The drums are pure beat with few fills and fewer cymbals. The guitars occasionally stumble on a melody, but they're mostly there to sustain the rhythm of the vocals and to freak out on feedback. There's also the occasional brilliant lead-bass line, and did I mention the six-stringed banjo? I don't know what they sound like, but it's not a mid-sixties skiffle group. It's shaved-head, cassock-wearing, 1960s punk rock. With a banjo.

The vocals are often screaming, angry rants and strange non sequiturs. This was before folk-rock protest songs like Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" were beginning to enter the mainstream. But the Monks were war vets, and they had a lot of protesting to do. A lot of angry protesting – none of that "everybody look what's going down" stuff. "I Hate You" is a three-and-a-half minute rant about hating commies "with a passion, baby!" with a minute of feedback-frenzied guitar wailing in the middle - just for good measure. Album opener "Monk Time" begins with lead singer Gary Burger enthusiastically bashing the army, the Vietcong, the atomic bomb, killing children…and something about James Bond? All to a totally danceable beat. "Shut Up" laments how the world is so worried / Shut up! Don't cry! There's also a healthy smattering of love songs (with varying sauciness-to-pop ratios), a song about a cuckoo, and of course, what album recorded by rockers with tonsures would be complete without the world's heaviest monk chant?

The point is, Black Monk Time has been around for awhile in CD and digital form, but it's coming out on vinyl today. If you like rock 'n' roll, punk rock, garage rock, or any kind of loud, good music, I suggest you buy yourself a copy and blow your mind. A DVD is apparently coming in May as well which, if this is anything to go by, should be just as awesome:

mp3: "I Hate You" by the Monks

polly scattergood by polly scattergood

2009-04-27T21:38:00.000-07:00

I have a work playlist. It consists of sweet, lovable, but ultimately unchallenging music that I use to help me ignore my own issues, shut out distractions, and get down to business.

Polly Scattergood, with her idiosyncratic, Joanna Newsom-like vocal range, and lyrics ranging from insipid to inspired, is not on that list.

Her self-titled debut album (out in the US May 19th) is guaranteed to be a polarizing affair. Which is funny, since for the life of me I can't figure out how I feel about it. Of course, while I can't always say I "get" what she's going for, it's difficult to argue that it isn't a welcome break from safer musical trends -- even if the "quirky songstress" is starting to become a micro-trend in and of itself.

Simultaneously fragile and theatrical, Scattergood is best when playing close to her element: the self-aware, wry Bell Jar fan. While songs like the overtly confessional "I Am Strong" (sample lyric: ...I am not in a place where I can talk to you. Umm...pardon?) fall flat, her lighter, nearly humorous moments are tossed off with a certain lyrical ease, as in "Please Don't Touch" when amidst pontificating on the "sadness in the air" she confesses, ...there are lots of broken fingers in the dark parts of my room, or in indisputable album high-point "Nitrogen Pink" when, amidst several grandiose metaphors she mentions ...a pack of catsup that he spilt on his tie. After her little-girl delivery has the listener subconsciously preparing for an album of teenage-poetry, (hey I can't judge, everyone's got a volume or two shoved into a drawer somewhere), these little self-aware moments hint that there might be more to the little-girl-lost persona than meets the ear.

While the album might have benefited from a hair less lyrical melodrama, its highlights are all moments that veer toward the instrumentally over-indulgent. Centered around electronic textures ranging from "Bunny Club"'s deep-house leanings, to "Nitrogen Pink"'s Broadway-musical crescendo, melodrama wins hands down. Scattergood's mastery of drama easily overshadows the dragging organic moments of melodically unfocused "Poem Song" or plodding album-closer "Breathe In, Breathe Out."

But what does it all mean? Weird and fragile, after numerous spins I still don't always get it. And yet, I can't help but be curious to find out what Scattergood will be up to next. Judging by the her debut, her sophomore effort could bring us any number of singer-songwriter personae. It might be more polished. It might be more accessible. But the enigmatic character she's created here will never be as intriguing or honest as it is on first introduction.

mp3: "Please Don't Touch ( The Golden Filter Pop Mix)" by Polly Scattergood

mini-reviews: under the radar and under-appreciated

2009-04-23T01:35:00.000-07:00

Too much music, too few hours of the day, too many unread messages in the inbox. Dang, you Would-Be Hipster readers and press agents are a prolific bunch!

Mini-review theme: under the radar and under-appreciated. But let me tell you kid (pulls cigar from her teeth), don't worry kid, you'll be big one day, you'll be a star!

hot star maps by pam shaffer

Pam Shaffer, a sexy librarian with an enviable shoe collection, crafts sultry but sweet piano ballads. They're sweet, and it might take several listens before you realize that her wry Joanna Newsom-style honey-voiced persona is slyly pilfering from the Amanda Palmer playbook. Hollywood, in all its empty glitz, big promises, and yes, star maps, should be so sweet.

mp3: "Hot Star Maps" by Pam Shaffer

woah billy! by lucky soul

Somewhere in London, blood of Dusty Springfield and the Ronettes running through their veins, Lucky Soul are prepping their second album. "Whoa Billy!", the first demo-single to emerge from the yet-unnamed sophomore release, shows that retro girl-group melodies, handclaps, and non-ironic tunes about love never go out fashion. Never. They do however leave you craving a malt and a spin around the floor at the sockhop. Cool, daddy-o.

mp3: "Whoa Billy!" by Lucky Soul

in steps by letting up despite great faults

No matter how many candle-lit vigils we hold (okay...how many I hold), Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello aren't going to make another album. (If they do, I owe you a Coke.) Then again, do we really want the electro-indie-pop Chinese Democracy? I mean, look what happened with, well...Chinese Democracy. Thankfully, we have Letting Up Despite Great Faults to fill that Postal Service-shaped hole in our hearts. As with previous release Movement, "In Steps," the first demo off the upcoming album, contains a charming, bittersweet quality. The production is sparse, wonderfully slick, and more complete sounding than the term "demo" implies. In short: proof positive that good things are on the way for electro-indie-pop fans everywhere.

mp3: "In Steps (demo)" by Letting Up Despite Great Faults
mp3: "I Hear You Drowning but I'm Tied" by Letting Up Despite Great Faults (from Movement)

bat in the blowhole by the jellyfish bandits

I'm kind of love with the Jellyfish Bandits, easily one of the most ridiculously named bands I've come across in awhile. The music is just as lighthearted as their name. The Pacific Northwest two-piece toy with the sound of Matt & Kim and Half-handed Cloud, while embodying the spirit of a stripped-down Architecture in Helsinki. Of course, the thing they're really out to toy with is your heart, as a protagonist who hopes if he dies he'll become a ghost and watch the woman he loves though her window but ...hope you don't think that's creepy, it's just that you complete me. Creepy, maybe a little. But cute. Would you expect any less from a band out to steal sealife and your heart?

mp3: "Ghostical Love" by The Jellyfish Bandits

skaizerkite by montt mardié

2009-04-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

Montt Mardié, as m.a.b helpfully pointed out, has a sound that would not be out of place at a skating rink. As many of my happy childhood memories were centered around the roller skating rink, I can't help but see this as a compliment. My favorite moment of each skate night was when the lights would dim, the disco ball would drop, and something not unlike Montt Mardié would play. Who wouldn't want to experience that feeling of child-like wonder and fulfillment again? (Puberty on the other hand, I can pass.) Mardié's third album (fourth if you care to count last year's well-compiled Introducing the Best Of), Skaizerkite is a very good place to start recapturing that old feeling.

Back are the swelling crescendos, horn- and string-section accents, and clever wordplay. Anthemic opening track "Welcome to Stalingrad" name-drops Douglas Coupland, and it's off to the races, from the glam-heavy "Girls on Film" kissing-cousin "Click Click," to the disco-ready duet "Unknown Pleasures," to the introspective voice and guitar "Elisabeth By the Piano." In practice, this should result in a genre train wreck. But Mardié carries it off with the style and grace of a seasoned performer: no matter what the style, no matter the amount of truth each song may or may not contain, he's going to make you feel it. I'm not ashamed to say I fall for it every time.

Also back is Mardié's romantic fatalism, never more heartbreaking and real than the aforementioned narrative-rich ode to vacation romance, "Elisabeth by the Piano." Couple that with Annie, the reoccurring girl-who-got-away, who on Skaizerkite is getting married to someone else in "A Wedding in June" even as Mardié's still proclaiming his love for her in closing track "I Love You Annie," and you've got the stuff broken hearts and melodramas alike are made of. Of course, emo teens and soap actors only wish they had such an impressive falsetto.

Of course, when it comes to love songs, there is one track that deserves a special mention and special WBH adoration. A song which, without a doubt, is the best geek break-up song committed to tape, the gut-wrenching "Dungeons and Dragons": a tragic tale chronicling the torrid love affair between a too cool girl and a boy who ...know[s] every word Woody Allen wrote. By the last refrain of ~~goodbye~~ ...may the force be with you, I found myself a bit wistful and more that a little disturbed that Mardié seems to have joined the legions of musicians reading my diary¹. A bit of a reality check? Maybe. But darn it...I'll skate to that!

Once again: No US release date. Seriously Sweden, must you hold out on us? Thankfully you can buy it via Hybris. Click the link, support the artist -- it's the great circle of life.

1. Gotta get a better lock for the thing.

mp3: "Dancing Shoes" by Montt Mardié

eden, how we miss you by the dandelion council

2009-04-17T00:16:00.000-07:00

Friend, musician, Plastic Snow cohort, and occasional "guest hipster" The Dandelion Council's (a.k.a. Pip Craighead and assorted friends) newest EP, Eden, How We Miss You, is out now on iTunes.

Let me step out of my completely unbiased blogger persona for a moment: Yea!

After having previously admitted that his various musical incarnations (our friendship has endured though several mini-genre shifts, band name changes and lineups) are directly responsible for my ongoing interest in electronica¹, I'm happy to say that The Dandelion Council's newest offering represents a continuing maturation and increased musical sensitivity. This is wonderfully peaceful ambient music, with cleverly placed tonal hues assuring it never grows monotonous or repetitive. With songs like the soothing "Atop Mount Wilson, 1978" or the echo-filled "Starlit Days and Nights" playing like lost breezes in the titular garden's summer days, this is the sound of quiet ambition realized. In short -- the sound of a mini auditory paradise.

1.And the majority of posts in March.

mp3: "Atop Mount Wilson, 1978" by The Dandelion Council

spring tides by jeniferever

2009-04-15T09:23:00.000-07:00

Jeniferever represents another rare split decision. I hate split decisions: they ruin my blogging M.O., which consists of jumping up and down and screaming, "No really! This is awesome! Buy it!" (This statement may or may not be punctuated by a girly scream.) However, I suspect if I hadn't been infected with ako's shoegazing fever, thus requiring an almost constant stream of Mew and Silversun Pickups, I'd probably have let the Uppsala quartet's newest album, Spring Tides (out now) completely pass me by.

Instrumentally, I'm 100% behind this album. There's a delicate sensitivity, reminiscent of Sigur Ros by way of Explosions In the Sky. The vocal-free moments of the titular track almost match the pace of a beating heart. Neat. Even before I'd googled the cover art, the music had me dreaming of laying under the night sky with a loved one (tba). As far as tone poetry goes, this is a success.

The problem, of course, are the vocals. Sitting above the mix rather than in it, Kristofer Jönson's vocals come straight from the school of early 90s sensitive radio-friendly rock. At the best moments they remind me of a angst-free Conor Oberst, which, being a Bright Eyes fan, I'm more than willing to offer up as a compliment. And on songs like "Concrete and Glass" it works. Well, almost. However, I can't help but thinking if Jönson's voice were pulled back into the mix just a tiny bit more, acting as an additional instrumental element rather than a focal point, its haunting, transformative tone would have elevated Spring Tides to something really magical.

mp3: "Green Meadow Island" by Jeniferever

mythomania by cryptacize

2009-04-13T09:57:00.000-07:00

If there's one thing I've come to grips with, it's that as I get older, life is not going to slow down. Ever. The treadmill is stuck on high. Lately, I've found myself resorting to the culinary crime against humanity of microwaving tea -- and finding myself trying to "hurry" it along. On bad days, the music of my mind isn't a Benny Hill soundtrack -- it's an experimental noise-rock trio. Emphasis on "experimental." All this to say, Mythomania (out April 21st) the new album from Asthmatic Kitty's Cryptacize, is unnerving. But not for the reasons you'd expect.

Embodying a languorous, yet bouncy charm, not unlike contemporaries Beach House or Ariel Pink, Mythomania is an appealing throwback to a simpler place and time; what you'd expect from a band that brags about recording in a cabin outside of Yosemite. Lead by the haunting innocent-voiced echo of vocalist Nedelle Torris, and ex-Deerhoof member Chris Cohen, their sound is folky, unnervingly sparse, and a bit sweet. Never once does their reach extend their grasp, thus making the exercise in restraint -- from the poppy "Mythomania" to the slow building "Gotta Get Into That Feeling" -- an understated success. They've taken the label "experimental" from a terrible description of the static in my head to a place of wonder, evoking faded, lens flare-filled images of the past. I, for one, am more than happy to knock back my ill-brewed tea, ignore my boss's e-mails, and join their musical daydream.

mp3: "Blue Tears" by Cryptacize

two suns by bat for lashes

2009-04-07T00:12:00.000-07:00

It took me awhile to get my "grown-up" words around Bat For Lashes sophomore album Two Suns (out today). Even now, I think incessant chanting of the phrase "dude" might be a more articulate response than anything set to follow. I'm a Southern Californian.

After the strong debut Fur and Gold that, while enticing, seemed to work better in pieces than as a concept album, former film student Natasha Khan has called on every cinematic trick in the book for her follow up, and along the way blows your semester of film theory 101 out of the water.

While "Daniel," the least arresting cut of the album, is acting as the album's current "trailer", it feels like a gross misrepresentation. I love Khan's voice in almost every context, but still am not completely sure how the 80s drum machine is representative of an otherwise organic album. Album opener "Glass," on the other hand, is enough to make any listener sit up and take notice, from its whispered Song of Solomon opening to the soaring chorus, dripping with untapped longing. This, folks, is what we in the biz call, "opening with a bang."

Every screenwriter knows that by the end of the first act, you need to introduce a memorable villain. Aided by duet partner "Pearl," her "destructive, femme fatale persona," Khan gives us one of the best musical character introductions ever in duel album highlights: "Siren Song," a paean to a simple life of unconditional unobtainable love, and "Pearl's Dream," a pulsating battle call capturing what happens when the dark side takes over.

Of course, when the villain is internalized, can you ever win? Even with weary third-act denouncement, "Traveling Woman" we're given little indication that the battle will ever be won, only that, weary, the heroine must trudge on to fight again, making the same mistakes over and over.

The album is sent to a uncertain rest with closer ‘The Big Sleep," featuring Scott Walker: an uneasy duet that hauntingly pushes Khan to the edge of her vocal range. It's chilling two minutes and forty-two seconds composed of a single piano mixed so raw, to close your eyes is to bring yourself into the lament's inner circle. Of course, your "Pearl" isn't far behind.

Here's hoping for a sequel.

mp3: "Glass (live via RCRDL)" by Bat For Lashes
mp3: "I'm On Fire (live)" by Bat For Lashes

the get up kids @ the troubadour

2009-04-04T12:45:00.000-07:00

Y'know what's really awesome? When your favorite band does a gig at your favorite venue on a Friday night, and you're crammed up against the stage and the bassists' arsenal of effect pedals, and the music is brilliant and the crowd is amazing. This basically sums up the Get Up Kids' show last night at the Troubadour, and I could probably stop this review here by just saying, "Dude." But I think that might be a disservice to the band, so forgive me as I babble on.

The Get Up Kids broke up in 2005, but you'd never know it from the show. They're incredibly tight musically: even though lead singer Matt Pryor insisted we "listen for the fuckups," they were few, far between, and hardly noticeable. Apparently Ryan Pope was forgetting drum fills, but no one would've noticed if he hadn't announced the fact to his bassist brother, Rob. I tend to judge bands and concerts on the rhythm section, and the Get Up Kids won my heart long ago because of the Popes – no other band that I've ever heard has not only lead bass, but lead drums as well. Halfway through the show, Rob's bass was turned up, just to make sure everyone knew how brilliant his playing was. (More astute readers will know that I was okay with this.) The only moment of musical fail was when the crowd insisted on hearing "Off the Wagon," and neither guitar player could remember how to play it. Although admittedly, it was on their first EP released in '96, and they had a hard time remembering how to play it in '05 too.

The onstage banter between the band was sparse but hilarious. Apparently there was a $500 bet to get Rob to play the show shirtless, and he was teased appropriately. Guitarist Jim can always be counted on to say something slightly foolish that Matt can mock him for. The band also wasted no time teasing the crowd, too: when asked to clap along, the song had to be stopped, because we were "a really white show," and we couldn't keep the tempo.

It has to be said that a big part of the awesomeness of the show was the crowd. I've never seen the Troubadour so full, or so bouncy, or so willing to scream every lyric so enthusiastically. Even the stage-diving during an inappropriate song and the bruised pelvis I sustained by being slammed into the stage were beautiful things. The highlight, however, may have been when one particularly enthusiastic fan really wanted to crowd surf, and Matt helped out by directing the crowd. "He really wants it. Pick him up. Now move him that way! Back this way. Aaaand down!" This apparently gave him a real sense of control. Although really, the band had each and every one of us in the palm of their collective hand from the very first chord. And they totally knew it.

It should also be noted that the Miniature Tigers opened¹, and were great. L.M.S described them as "cuddly Weezer," and they do indeed make wonderful, cute power-pop-type songs. They played the shortest opening set I've ever witnessed. Both of which I thank them for.

(photo Get Up Kids: MySpace)

1. We'd been told that Train the Dentist – a supergroup composed of members of Coalesce, the Anniversary, and Hot Rod Circuit covering Four Minute Mile, TGUK's first LP - would open. I'm kinda bummed that they didn't.

mp3: "Holiday" by the Get Up Kids, from Something to Write Home About
mp3: "Martyr Me" by the Get Up Kids, from Guilt Show
mp3: "No Love" by the Get Up Kids, from their "Final Show" in '05

gooseberries by sterling andrews

2009-04-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

The intersection between art and music is an interesting place: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec got bored painting, wandered down to the Moulin Rouge for a break, and voila, the seeds for cover art were sown -- along with, if records are any indication, a whole lot of wild oats...or so I've heard. Even with the mp3 player shrinking our favorite album images down to smudgy squares in the corners of our iTunes, generations later artists and musicians are still teaming together finding new ways of co-sponsoring our flights of fancy.

In that proud tradition, LA-based rock photographer Sterling Andrews has captured music's power to transport and inspire in the whimsical lithograph collection Goosberries (available today).

The premise: LA-based bands (including WBH favorites: Silversun Pickups, Earlimart, and Great Northern) are photographed against bright, hand-painted backdrops. The result: punk fairy-tale images, far removed from traditional band lineup shots.

It's clear the musicians were more than willing to play Andrews' game. Natural storytellers, they become otherworldly characters inhabiting the dynamic backdrops -- The Happy Hollows pose as punk fortune tellers -- not a stretch by any means, but dang they look like they're having fun! Meanwhile, Afternoons stage a gothic family portrait, and Great Northern looks ready to conjure up magic, be it musical or otherwise...

A collection for musical/art completists alike, the limited edition book also comes with a behind-the-scenes DVD. 'Cause if there's one thing more intriguing than having your favorite artists inspire your daydreams, it's peeking behind the curtain to figure out how out how they do it.

mp3: "Lieutenant" by Happy Hollows
mp3: "Wanting Want" by Pity Party
mp3: "Song For" by Earlimart
mp3: "Houses" by Great Northern

fantasies by metric

2009-04-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

I'm just going to come right out and say it -- I really like Fantasies (out April 14th). It's a little too early to use the other L-word; we only met a few weeks ago and haven't had the crucial relationship-defining moment. It's probably too early to say if we'll be spending weekends and holidays together...but it's decidedly a watershed moment. Fantasies is the first of Metric's albums that I've managed to not only listen to from start to finish, but really enjoy.

This isn't to say this love isn't completely unprecedented, even if it is surprising. Three years ago, Metric lead-woman Emily Haines released a solo album -- a collection of moody melancholic tunes that were simply stunning. (If you haven't yet experienced Knives Don't Have Your Back, go buy a copy. Don't worry, I'll wait here.) However, after extensively touring behind the album, Haines suddenly had the epiphany, mid-concert, that sad isn't the new happy, it's just sad. Thus, the gang is back together and the aggressive indie-electro rock is flying.

But will the album fly with hardcore fans? So far, reviews are somewhat mixed. My personal favorite is one last.fm user who likened Fantasies to a Gossip Girl soundtrack. Now, I don't know about that -- I've never seen the show. But due to m.a.b.'s insistence, I've recently become a die-hard Dr.Who fan. Since I've never thought of myself as that kind of geek before now¹, I've since learned it's best to leave one's options open. Who knows, maybe cheesy shows about teens with too much money and time might actually be my kind of thing².

Maybe Metric fans aren't ones for uniformity. (Feel free to correct and or rant at this assumption.) Unlike previous albums, which hopscotched across ideas and genres (thus lending to my personal assumption that Metric is hit-or-miss at best), Fantasies is neatly cohesive from the start -- any song could be pulled out as a single. While this does lend the album a homogeneous air, it's hard to argue with their collective abilities to start parties (nothing, but nothing, says good times and "Stadium Love" like pitting a "cougar vs. snake") ...or heated fan debate.

All this joy and energy, and yet I, emo child, still find myself attached to Knives Don't Have Your Back-referencing lyrics in album highlight "Twilight Galaxy": Thinking sorrow was perfection, I'd wallow till you told me, there's no glitter in the gutter there's no Twilight Galaxy.... No glitter in the gutter, maybe, but there's more than a fair share of sparkle to Fantasies.

1. Note from m.a.b.: I'm pretty sure I'm meant to be offended here. Doctor Who fans are the loveliest, smartest, and most agreeable sort. Until they get drunk and start tripping over their scarves.
2. Unlikely.

mp3: "Monster Hospital" by Metric (from the album Live it Out)
mp3: "Doctor Blind" by Emily Haines (from the album Knives Don't Have Your Back)

welcome to mali by amadou & mariam

2009-04-01T10:38:00.000-07:00

To quote the great Richie Havens, "We're all made of the same stuff. If you find someone made of something different let me know; it'll freak me out!" As a travel addict (I'd spoon with my passport at night if it didn't bend the pages), I'm always disproportionally gleeful when we can add a new "location" tag. Conversely, I abhor the phrase "world music" and everything it stands for. Let's face it, the phrase evokes inaccessible tribal beats -- stirring to action that dormant part of my¹ Anglo-Saxon brain that screams, "this is not like me! Cannot compute! AHAHHAHA!" But, without tapping into the ultra-hippy side of my personality, aren't we all part of the same "world?" (I'll hold hands and sing "Kumbaya" if you will.) This internal struggle is probably why it's taken me so long to give Amadou & Mariam the respect they deserve.

The real question: isn't music just music? Every musician, be it five-year-olds in classical piano classes or the aforementioned tribal drummers, all start out with the same basic building blocks. Then, those five-year-olds grow up, start snarky music blogs, and spend years convincing themselves they have nothing in common with musicians a few continents over. That is, until a blind husband and wife team come along and shatter all their preconceived notions. Without sacrificing any of their cultural sensibilities, Amadou & Nariam have struck a universal chord. Welcome to Mali marries traditional beats to modern electronics and classic pop structures. It's infectious with a clear wide appeal. So much so in fact Coldplay (a.k.a. the whitest culturally sensitive guys since U2) have asked them to open their summer tour. And you know what? For once, I simply cannot mock Chris Martin and the gang. From the electro happy choruses of "Sabali" to the chant happy "Africa" to the down right joyful lyrics freely alternating between French and English -- it's hard not to feel engaged. Joyfully engaged.

World music...it's all "world music." I'll let you know when we start getting blog submissions from intergalactic bands. Then I'll really freak out.

1. Ill-advised hyperbole for dramatic effect.

the good feeling music of dent may & his magnificent ukulele by dent may

2009-03-29T23:25:00.000-07:00

Ever since I got my grubby mitts on Dent May's self-released EP, A brush with Velvet, at some point last year, I knew I wanted to hear more; but alas, Dent May was not signed and his myspace was not updated. I cried. Then I refreshed the webpage and listened to the songs again. Then I cried some more.

Luckily for all us emotionally fragile would-be hipsters, Dent May signed to Paw Tracks late last year -- and since then I've been up in arms about getting a copy of the result of that beautiful union -- namely, the good feeling music of dent may & his magnificent ukulele, and my friends, I'm proud to say it was worth the wait.

OK, get a recording studio -- then, throw in a little lounge, a dash of exotica and a little folky-home-grown, glasses-wearing nerdiness and season the whole thing heavily with irony and a frail-sounding croon. What do you get? 100 percent awesome, that's what. Good feeling music is like a handmade quilt of sounds -- referencing and taking from all sorts of genres and stitching them together into a lovely (and useful) gift that in the end -- somehow -- manages to stay totally and distinctly itself. It's not lounge, it's not folk... it's ...Dent May.

May's sweet, lilting lyrics detailing the beautiful failures and exquisite mediocrities of life are packed with wit and fun. College Town Boy details the epic of a post-college failure; Other notable tracks include Howard, washed up star; At the Academic Conference and I'm an alcoholic. Dent May's knit a world of loungy, easy-to-love tunes that just keep rolling around in my head. Check it out.

mp3: "Meet Me in the Garden" by Dent May
mp3: "I'm an Alcoholic" by Dent May

junior by röyksopp

2009-03-29T21:38:00.000-07:00

Go ahead, take a good look at...the album artwork? Yeah...I don't know either. Regardless of puzzling visuals (seriously...who knew Dali was alive and kicking in the 80s?), Röyksopp's third album Junior (out now -- in case you too have been asleep at the wheel) is really good. An excellent way to cap off our beat-heavy March.

Considering my unabashed love for Air, you think I'd already be on the Röyksopp bandwagon. I must admit that it's times like this that I realize futility of masquerading as someone with all encompassing knowledge of the musical landscape. Sometimes bands just fall by the wayside. But with indie-friendly guest spots, and easy-to-digest retro-smooth songs, it's only a matter of time before Junior gets gobbled up by mainstream marketing. Hey, it worked for Moby.

The instrumental tracks all play with understated melodrama. Where Cut Copy's (the other retro-electro men currently living in my mind and playlist and thus this month's arbitrary point of reference) music explodes in an auditory, all-encompassing rainbow, Röyksopp's music wraps the listener in a cooler palette, tinted with an air of self-importance. Good -- my megalomania has gone severely undernourished as of late. No really: you cannot listen to "Royksopp Forever" without delusions of cinematic grander. You just can't. Music supervisors: this is where the heroine has her dramatic, late-night, introspective realization. In slow motion.

Sorry, I got nothing here. Unless the real drama is realizing that the key to Junior really lies in the guest spots. Womens' voices skating atop Röyksopp's frosty muted-rainbow base, we're treated to to Robyn's sultry dance-club croon ("The Girl And The Robot"), to Lykke Li's girlish whisper ("Miss It So Much" easily matching up to anything on last year's debut album Youth Novels) and to Fever Ray's Karin Dreijer Andersson's howling over aggressive beats on "Tricky Tricky," -- a track that wouldn't be out of place on her next album with The Knife. The amazing part is that, somehow, all these otherwise disparate styles manage to work on what's essentially the same musical base -- sort of an alluring version of elevator music karaoke. Although to be fair, if elevator music contained half the sex-appeal of Junior's instrumental tracks and bases, I'd never take the stairs. Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland are very good at choosing their friends.

Like I said, this is good stuff. Röyksopp has created a cool world full of kitschy possibility. A world where, if they're to be believed, a perfectly-polished electronica album is enough to make even mutant-eye flowers cry tears of joy.

mp3: "Happy Birthday" by Röyksopp

redlinespotting by örnsberg

2009-03-27T10:19:00.000-07:00

Due to draconian social convention, I am forced to work for a living rather than sit on my butt all day writing five-minute essays about whatever music captures my fancy. It's probably worse for musicians who are forced to work a day job, sometimes two, simply so they can make the music they love, and maybe, just maybe, have enough money left over to buy that fancy effects pedal.

Örnsberg (a.k.a. Johan Ragnarsson) understands the plight of the working man. With a project named for a metro stop on his daily commute, his debut album Redlinespotting (out in April) perfectly captures that chilly morning reluctance to leave the house and plunge forward into anything resembling a daily routine. This is the sound of love, of a man plunging forward into a different sort of work for the heck of it, burying his longing to transcend the ordinary with songs like "Arlanda," "Away Away," and "Every City" -- the beat-heavy tale of a broken hearts and drugs in both Stockholm and Amsterdam. Thematically, it's more than enough to open up a few emotional scars for listeners suffering from chronic wanderlust...but gosh darn it if it isn't charming. (Hey look! We found the record label title!)

Of course, sheer determination isn't enough to transcend daily existence. (Although an iPod with the volume limiter turned off is a good start.) Underneath the low-fi beats and off-kilter vocals, Ragnarsson demonstrates a distinct understanding of basic pop structure. It's a bit like listening to New Order demos, without, you know, all the suicidal impulses. One of my favorite qualities of Swedish indie-pop (or any music really) is that unquantifiable sense of levity mixed with nostalgia -- a quality Örnsberg has in spades. While the beats occasionally feel a bit forced ("Put Your Hands Up For Örnsberg" feels like a remix away from a bonafide hit) the good far supersede the faults.

The tone of Redlinespotting is best summed up on stand-out track "Weekend Lights" where Swedish indie-pop royalty Magnus Carlson (of the Weeping Willows) shares a guest spot along side actual samples of the Swedish metro. Yes, there's a whiff of the melancholy to the plight of the working man. But sometimes, we don't have to work so hard to supersede our emotional entropy. Sometimes, as Ragnarsson surely would be quick to point out, working day catharsis is as close as a stolen moment alone with one's headphones.

mp3: "Every City" by Örnsberg

lablaza by dieter schöön

2009-03-25T15:05:00.000-07:00

Dieter Schöön freaks me out -- not necessarily a bad thing. There's so much going on in his newest offering Lablaza (available in Europe and iTunes), at first listen it's a bit overwhelming and decidedly weird. My synapses just don't fire that quickly, I guess.

I realize that I'm pretty much screwed when it comes to a proper review. There are so many influences that without some sort of touchstone, describing Schöön's music and genre is like playing Scrabble with no vowels. Would you call me on it if I said his genre was "xzcwqpr?¹"

Fine then. For the record, that's the last time I play Scrabble with you. How about influences? Paris-based Swede Schöön has all the charm of fellow country-man Jens Lekman -- should he have been trapped in a blender with Mugison and a scratched-up copy of Mellow Gold. There's a lot of almosts: The almost folk "Jethead," the almost chant-like "Lots of Free Shoes but Nowhere to Run" the almost techno "I'll Go There." But there is one absolute: sifting though the hip-hop beats, tweaked-slacker vocals, and aggressive genre shifts, these songs are, without a doubt, the singular cracked-vision world view of one artist. Absolutely.

Let's get the dirty word out of the way, shall we? This is an experimental album. Yeah, I know, I don't like experimental music either. It makes me crave aspirin and a strong cup of coffee. Or better yet, earplugs. It's a term that gets a lot of bad press, and most of the time, rightly so.

But now, the tides are changing. Schöön has created an experimental project that's almost as much fun to listen to as it must be to play. Freaky.

1. Triple word score!

mp3: "I'll Go There" by Dieter Schöön

histoire de melody nelson by serge gainsbourg

2009-03-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

Hey did you hear the one about sex selling? Ha! The original French playboy Serge Gainsbourg is back with a very cool posthumous rerelease, Histoire de Melody Nelson (out today via A Light in The Attic Records).

The seven-song EP is the story of a man's chance encounter, subsequent seduction, and the tragic end of underaged, "natural redhead," Melody Nelson. While the French art world is littered with such parings, it's taboo stuff to our prudish North-American sensibilities. Of course, form brings meaning to content. I suspect even grocery lists could be rendered questionable in Gainsbourg's trademark sing-speak. Although to be fair, the thematic material is handled with extreme care. Accompanied by his wife Jane Birkin, demonstrating where daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg gained her unique phrasing, the only eyebrow-raising track to the non-French speaker is "En Melody," which plays like a toned-down sequel to subversive, Catholic-church condemned "Je T'aime...Moi Non Plus."\

Musically, this is easily Gainsbourg at his finest and a great place to start for those with even a passing interest in French pop. Between the cohesive instrumentation -- including a bass line all musical students should be studying, soaring choral work and orchestration, and, bien sur, Gainsbourg's melodramatic intonation -- there's a conceptual synergy that's hard to beat, one that even today has artists like Air, Jarvis Cocker and Beck referencing it in their own work. Of course, ever the epitome of subversive French sex-appeal, Monsieur Gainsboug probably wouldn't have had it any other way.

begone dull care by junior boys

2009-03-22T01:10:00.000-07:00

I'm going to go ahead and declare March the month of electronica. Looking back on our coverage to date it hasn't been as one-sided as I thought -- but every time I daydream, my mind instantly fills with bloops and bleeps. It's either been a really good month for beats, or my brain tumor is acting up again. For those of you craving guitars and the human touch, I apologize, I'll see what I can do next month.

In the meantime, we've got Junior Boys' newest album Begone Dull Care (out April 7th). Another entry in the "Canada, like America only cooler" file, Junior Boys continue to do what they do best: marry traditional pop structures (I'm risking life and limb for drawing the comparison, but think Bee Gees or Prince song structure without all the scary falsetto) to grove-worthy electro-beats. Yeah, as much as I've personally worn the phrase to the ground, it's electro "night music." You know, for those relatively mellow sort of nights, filled with house guests and punctuated with the occasional bout of slow motion dance. Charming, a bit sleepy at times, but darn it if they're not going out while doing their darnedest to entertain.

Sonically warmer (and still a completely inappropriate soundtrack for Southern California¹) than 2006's auditory-icy So This Is Goodbye, I have to admit being initially thrown off by Begone Dull Care's direction and thaw to Junior Boys' signature sound. Although, the effect of the subtle transformation is difficult to argue with. Tweaks aside, what we're left with is a lively, more unexpected album filled with smooth sax solos (not to be confused with "smooth jazz," an evil that must be combated in all forms), gently plucked bass lines, and sparse samples, all framing singer Jeremy Greenspan's breathy whisper, a normally subdued instrument that approaches near bombast on album highlights "Hazel" and "Dull to Pause." Quiet bombast -- I can get behind that.

1. In spite of my now insatiable urge to go meditate in a sunbeam with the album on repeat

mp3: "Jackie Jackie Junior (Junior Boys remix)" by Sally Shapiro

fever ray by fever ray

2009-03-19T16:46:00.000-07:00

Other than the one at Disneyland (which all good children of the Southern California sunshine are wont to experience), I really don’t like haunted houses. No doubt some traumatic, long since repressed memory from childhood.

I listen to Swedish electro-goth group The Knife in roughly the same emotional space – other than tempting fate to put it on late at night when I’m home alone (because no one is ever hacked to pieces while rocking out to twee), I really can’t find a place for it in my daily audio diet. Needless to say I popped Fever Ray, (out in hard form 3/24) debut solo album from Knife lead-woman Karin Dreijer Andersson, into the player with extreme caution: lights on, doors dead bolted, sun still high in the sky. You know, I think the truly sad part of this whole entry is that while a certain amount of hyperbole goes on around these parts ( I will neither confirm nor deny specifics), this is not far from the truth.

Let me be the first to give Fever Ray the wimp’s seal of approval. Now there's a blurb that's sure to sell records.

Birthed from a period of post-natal exhaustion, Fever Ray is weirdly sentimental, one of the elements that saves the project from being a The Knife retread. Andersson has jettisoned the hyper-political stance of her main band, trading it for quiet fairy tales and the landscapes of an exhausted daydream -- along the way stripping down the trademark electro-goth sound without diminishing any of its trademark creep factor. Instead of leaping on you, fangs bared, it's more likely to sneak around the corner, teasing your subconscious with melancholic visions of your own childhood ("Seven") or the potential of a night spent wandering in the empty streets (predictably, "Keep The Streets Empty").

While the sound has been considerably lightened, most notable is the change in vocal styles. While opening track "If I Had a Heart" utilizes The Knife's tradmark Lurch-style voice filtration, Andersson's affected voice -- part Bjork, part Tegan Quinn, is often left bare, startling against the inorganic instrumental backdrop. This girl can sing -- and she's out to prove it.

If this isn't the most fantastically atmospheric album you've listened to all year...well let me know where this stuff is being hidden. No really! Now if you pardon me, I'm going to go check my locks.

mp3: "When I Grow Up (D Lissvik remix)" by Fever Ray

great northern @ silverlake lounge

2009-03-17T18:35:00.000-07:00

If it looks like a dive bar, and sounds like a dive bar, it's probably an elitist concert venue, crammed with hipsters prepped to welcome one of their own back to the the public eye with open arms. While I too enjoy exclusivity (mainly because I am, of course, a terrible person) and am occasionally up for cramming into a tiny hot-box with a mere 100 or so of my best friends, I couldn't help but wish Great Northern's triumphal unveiling of the new material could have occurred in a venue more concerned with selling sound than suds /gripe.

Since their debut, Great Northern has slowly but surely risen in status around WBH HQ from "those people who recorded the CD I got with my KCRW membership," to loved band -- a transformation capped off by their contribution to last year's Plastic Snow album. (We're contractually required to mention it once a month.) Needless to say, last night's fleeting sneak-peek at what Great Northern has done on their summer vacation (and winter, and summer and winter again...) has left me -- and going off crowd response, a whole lot of other people -- excited about the new album. (Out April 28th...children of Silver Lake, book your camping spot outside Amoeba now.) At the very least, I'm sure to give it the attention it deserves from day one rather than letting the disk languish in my car for weeks before giving it a test spin. However, judging by what I've just heard, I suspect that album neglect won't be an issue.

There's a decided subtle shift to the new material, or failing that, an interesting dichotomy between live Great Northern and recorded Great Northern. Their debut album Trading Twilight for Daylight is a beautiful, introspective tome. The sort of perfectly balanced soundtrack for rainy days and moments of quiet introspection. (No wonder it took me so long to get on board.) However, if the live performance was any indication (or rather if my ability to deduce sounds through a wall of unchecked bass), members Rachel Stole and Solon Bixler have harnessed their rock roots (she: a former hardcore singer, he: former member of...30 Seconds to Mars?), pushing their signature sound into a more rockin' form. In the interest of journalistic integrity (no really, quit laughing) and lacking reference material, or at the very least, another show to compare and contrast, I'll postpone overly-intellectual conclusions. After all, it's music; don't over-think a happy relationship...just steer it clear of those dark, fuzzy-sounding watering holes.

(photo Great Northern: David Studarus)

mp3: "The Middle" by Great Northern

i was a king by i was a king

2009-03-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

Promotional material for I Was a King seems to enjoy reminding us that they're just a couple of musicians from Norway and guest-star Sufjan Stevens. After listening to their album, other than the fact they throw the sort of parties I wish I were invited to, I guarantee there's precious little information you can extrapolate from that claim. However, I can assure that their self-titled debut album (out 4/7) is an utterly pleasant, cliched Scandinavian pop and banjo-free affair.

In all actuality the sound of I a Was King feels a lot closer to home. Deft but sloppy narration, plodding guitars, playful yet nasal lyrics. Guys, have you been watching The O.C.? Hanging out with Jason Schwartzman? This can't be an accident -- there's even a song called "California" about -- what else? -- a girl leaving for California. Who are you, really? Come on, I won't tell. I will however hold a lighter aloft and nod my head in appreciation every time "Norman Bleik" pops up on my iTunes.

I Was a King has been subject to a lot of hype, and chances are before the dust settles and people being to listen, actually listen, there'll be a lot more. Which is a shame, since we all know that hype breeds backlash. So, in the interest of reasonable expectations for a solid and fun album, the official Confessions of a Would-Be Hipster position is as follows: I Was a King will not cure cancer. It will make you prettier or smarter. It will not do your taxes, protect your property or person in case of a domestic or international strike, or elevate your consciences to higher more transcendent sphere. It will however, make you smile. It will make you long to put the top down and drive down the PCH. It might make you dance. It might make you want to form a band of your own or at the very least take to the town for a night of karaoke. It might even serve as the musical backdrop to several fun, carefree hours with friends and family, thus serving as fodder for sweet reminiscences in the months and years to follow.

In short, this is a good album, able to stand on its own merits. I only hope we can get this message to the people who need to hear it the most.

mp3: "It's All You" by I Was King

cut copy @ the henry fonda, club nokia

2009-03-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

There's a point in your night where things simply stop making sense and, despite your better judgment - was it the lack of sleep you got the night before? The glass of wine with dinner? The phase of the moon? - you find your formally buttoned-up self, well...busting a very white girl move. Don't analyze it - my willingness to to embarrass myself first in public and now in cyber form should provide all the empirical evidence you need. When applied to an otherwise rational existence, Cut Copy's live show is stronger than the logic.

Openers Matt and Kim kicked off the night with untold amounts of geeky joy. While their new album Grand is being heralded (by KCRW anyway) as a maturation, I'm happy to report that other than a few additional chord changes, they're still the same group of crazy kids who seem incapable of believing they're the ones on stage, choosing to deal with it by dancing, shouting, and grinning their way though an infectious set of deceptively simplistic yet catchy punk-pop. Even initial sound issues (was I the only one who felt like Kim's drumming was taking over the free world while Matt's voice was almost lost?) couldn't stop the audience from catching the party spirit.

After a long intermission that included epic light show preparations, Cut Copy took the stage. Revelation: unless the band members start wearing large signs announcing themselves as Cut Copy, there's no way I'd ever recognize them off-stage. Judging by their roles as glam party-starters (an intention announced and reintegrated throughout the night), coupled with the, yes, epic light show, this is probably not exactly what they're after. My apologies guys. This is why I fail at stalking.

But what is it about these otherwise ordinary Aussies that can get a crowd of almost two-thousand on their feet and waving their hands in the air? (Moderately concerned or otherwise?) Clearly, it's due to their kung-fu-esque grasp of the power of repetition, backed by a deadly bed of rainbow synth-pop. At least it's that which somehow manages to move me past my comfort zones, be it the gym session that never ends, or to the irrational belief that I can flail my limbs wildly in public and have it somehow come off as dancing.

This isn't to say that my rational mind was completely abandoned. During show highlight "So Haunted," half of Club Nokia's sound system went out. I, ever the bellwether of rational, turned to my concert companion, a look of what was later described as "pure terror" splashed across my face. For the record, no, I hadn't gone deaf. She heard it too. The only slight blemish on an otherwise perfect set, and proof if I want to continue enjoying said sets I should probably upgrade the quality of my earplugs.

With a record as strong as In Ghost Colours and a show covering the entire album plus highlights off Bright Like Neon Love, including the almost-acoustic "Autobahn Music Box," picking a show highlight becomes a music fanatic's Sophie's Choice. Well at least this is my issue, as in a post-concert haze I find myself trying to auditoryily gorge on an artist's entire catalog all at once, thus reducing any articulate description or commentary, within the first 48 hours or so, to a simple "gagagag!!! music!!!!" But...despite my chronic indecision, the audience (or at least the guy yelling in my ear) clearly didn't share my struggle, calling for their (his) favorite, "Lights and Music," which was finally, riotously delivered as the evening's barn-burning closer. Lights in our eyes and logic on pause, the crowd responded, and for one final moment, logic be damned, life was one big dance party.

mp3: "Hearts on Fire (Midnight Juggernauts remix)" by Cut Copy
mp3: "Yea Yeah" by Matt and Kim

bite my tongue by friday bridge

2009-03-11T09:13:00.000-07:00

I'm a sucker for a catchy pop tune set to synths. Honestly, it's that simple. Needless to say, Friday Bridge,'s delicious auditory anachronisms immediately caught my ear. Musical kissing-cousins to fellow Swedish-synth revivalists Sally Shapiro and Cloetta Paris, the band's noted goal is to create musical perfection. While this may be a pretty difficult goal to obtain, or even measure for that matter, we at CWBH -- regardless of personal tastes -- applaud bands with mission statements...probably owing to our complete lack of one.

More musically aggressive than its predecessor, Bite My Tongue (out today), has shed most of Intricacy's harpsichord in favor of driving dance beats: an innovation no more obvious than album opener "How To Spend It." This is a band interested in perfection though gradual evolution. It seems to be working. Bite My Tongue is a step forward from their charming debut, which found Friday Bridge creating dignified, albeit ivory tower pop. This time, the duo has stepped out to play with the common folks, and believe me, we're all the better for it.

Of course, certain hallmarks are still in place. Still present is the tantalizing smattering of French lyrics (any band that can satisfy both my Francophile nature and synth love gets extra bonus points, redeemable for your choice of pie, bien sûr), slick, almost mechanical production values, and singer Ylva Lindberg's glamor-girl vocals. The resulting music feels pulled completely out of time: the demure turn-of-the-century ingenue consorting with the 1980s party boy. It's incredibly easy to romanticize Friday Bridge's catalogue: past, present, and (with any luck) future. Which, given their stated goals, might actually qualify their work as perfect after all.

mp3: "Shanghi Shipping" by Friday Bridge

under the texas sky

2009-03-10T07:56:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again. Birds are singing, spring has sprung, and a young lady's thoughts turn to selling a kidney on the black market in exchange for SXSW tickets. (Takers? Anyone?)

I sadly, am not going. Chalk it up to bad timing, chalk it up to bad economy (personal and otherwise), chalk it up to not being able to break away from a full schedule (this one is a stretch.) And, to be perfectly honest, all this chalk was making me feel better (must have been the dust in the air from eraser clapping). That is, until I saw this:

Camera Obscura, and Chairlift and (my beloved) Loney Dear? My keyboard is wet with tears. So for those going to SXSW, please: enjoy. Take lots of pictures, take lots of notes, take time to let me live vicariously though you. Just don't rub it in too much, 'kay?

Edit: Now that Chairlift is playing in the big leagues, previous Mp3 freebies are considered "copyright infringement." Pity.

mp3: "Airport Surrondings" by Loney Dear
~~mp3: "Evident Utensil" by Chairlift~~
mp3: "Teenager" by Camera Obscura

the hectors, summer darling, and the monolators @ the echo

2009-03-05T21:24:00.000-08:00

I don't own a record player (yet). Origami Records, Echo Park's all-vinyl Sea Level replacement isn't open (yet). But after Monday night's free curated show at the Echo, I love them (already).

The evening started with The Hectors. For all of you who didn't get there for the opening band (and judging by how the room filled up during the course of the evening I'd say there's quite a few), might I just say: shame. Always always always show up for the opening band. What's the fun of being a music fan if you don't, ya know, go out and actually discover music? And hey, if they hit the big time, you can say you knew them when. (Radiohead was probably an opening band at one point...just saying.) See, instant cool points. And advice on how to be cool from a blog that calls itself "Would-Be Hipster." (Shot myself in the foot, didn't I?)

I wouldn't be surprised if the Hectors went on to make a name for themselves. It's no accident that they're already local favorites. I love when a band's live performance holds up to the promise of their recorded material. Live, "one-of-the-boys" lead-woman Corinne Dinner's vocals sound fantastic over the band's layered, well-honed instrumentation. If I were a betting woman, I'd put my money on their collective ability to lift your spirit, make the soundtrack to your night a bit more glamorous, and up your cool factor by at least ten. (Any claims that their live show can freshen your breath, help you drop weight quickly, or refinance your home have been wildly over-exaggerated.)

Summer Darling, who hold residency honors for the month, are simply terrific. Is that too generic? How about, ultra-terrific? Striping myself of any cool I might have gained by telling you about the Hectors -- I have to admit feeling a bit ashamed that before the show I'd only done cursory listening. But after a set filled with trading male and female vocals, dark riffs built off of obvious band chemistry, and some of the most controlled feedback I've ever seen, I promise to do penance.

At the witching hour, the Monolators showed no sign of slowing things down. I love a band with sweaters, humor, and energy to spare. (Especially when mine was starting to fade -- darn day job, trying so hard to stop the rock.) It should be a surprise to no one that the Monolators' wild, energetic catalogue translates to a wild, energetic show. I know, crazy, right?

Now I've mentioned my love for women who drum many times before, but after seeing her play live, Mary Monolator holds a special place in heart. In front of the drum set, a sweet, charming, unassuming lady. Behind the drum set, a sweet charming, unassuming lady who happens to move faster than a lightening strike, attacking every bouncy Buddy Holly-meets-punk tune with a warrior's spirit. This of course, neatly compliments her husband's, lead-man Eli, performance style where over the course of the night he attempted the closest thing to a stage dive one can get at the Echo (sort of a stage roll), perched on her drum set, and assisted in the demi-destruction of band-mate Ray's guitar. Punk rock man!

Maybe I'm just an impressionable kid. Wait, strike that -- I know I'm an impressionable kid. But this is decidedly the sort of marketing that works. Origami Records is going to keep serving up Monday nights this strong, I might have to go get myself a turntable.

(photos by: David Studarus)

mp3: "A Million Fingers" by The Hectors
mp3: "Ride This Wave of Good Feelings" by Summer Darling
mp3: "I Must Be Dreaming" by The Monolators

songs for edna by caroline weeks

2009-03-04T23:57:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, at first listen, Caroline Weeks' debut album Songs For Edna (out 3/17) didn't exactly grab me. Maybe it was the stigma of being a former Bat For Lashes cohort. I was expecting big. I was expecting weird. What I got is a low-fi recording of a single woman strumming her guitar, warbling in an almost medieval soprano. Hello dramatic paradigm shift!

When removed from artificially inflated expectations, Songs For Edna is intriguing. No doubt the stripped-down instrumentation and lo-fi production will lead many people to label this as intimate or personal. I however, will respectfully disagree. Instead of a heart-on-her sleeve singer-songwriter, this the work of a troubadour in the traditional, high-middle ages sense of the word. Songs For Edna is a impenetrable collection of musical poetry, lush imagery, and stories of love and loss. There is a passion and committal to the form, almost more than the finished product: one gets the impression she's playing for the pure love of the story -- listeners be damned. While this makes for a beautiful, more-or-less interesting piece of work, ultimately it might be Weeks' impersonal touch that proves to be her undoing.

(photo Caroline Weeks: Rupert Noble)

mp3: "Elegy" by Caroline Weeks

persuader by pooma

2009-02-27T16:49:00.000-08:00

File this one under "stuff I should have really known about two years ago." But since Pooma felt it necessary to drop their album Persuader into my inbox on Wednesday (along with a letter hinting at an upcoming American rerelease), and their myspace mentions they're "concentrating on new material," now is as good of a time as any to get caught up, right? The Finnish promotional machine works in mysterious ways.

Produced by Gunnar Örn Tynes of Múm and drawing on "scandinavian melancholy", Persuader has the same, introspective shoegaze charm I find myself becoming more and more taken with. I tend to be a meaning and lyrics girl -- therein lies my issue with most of the genre. At the end of the day I find myself drawn to the human voice and lyrics. Although I'll be the first to argue that content can be given meaning though musical form -- as is the case with vocalist Tuire Lukka's haunting refrain of "would you" in the song so appropriately titled "Would You."

I hate to over-generalize based on location (even if I, as an American, am currently sitting in my enormous pajama pants, snacking, and watching a perfectly good Friday afternoon slide by my open window), but after first growing hopelessly attached to Iceland's Bang Gang and now sincerely enjoying my first introduction to Pooma, there might be something to this whole Scandinavian shoegaze thing. This is the sort of heartfelt, melodramatic, birthed by personal experience music with a personal history I simply can't conceive. No really, my brain would freeze over just trying to wrap my mind around a single winter. Maybe it's true what they say: the grass is always just a bit greener, and, from my place in the California sunshine: Pooma's melodies are just a bit cooler.

mp3: "Snow" by Pooma

heroes presented by War Child

2009-02-25T18:46:00.000-08:00

If there's one thing I like, it's covers. If there's one thing the Would-be Hipsters as a whole like, it's benefit albums. (See: Plastic Snow) So when Heroes: an album to benefit children affected by war appeared in our mailbox, we were all happy as proverbial clams.

War Child is an organization that helps children affected by wars all over the world. They've got a lot of celebrity support, as evidenced by the lineup of Heroes: they had some of the most important names in rock 'n' roll (Dylan, the Kinks, the Ramones, Iggy Pop, U2, Bowie, etc.) personally pick a track from their catalogue and a modern artist to cover it. The result is predictably awesome. Beck covers Dylan's "Leopard-skin Pill-box Hat". The Yeah Yeah Yeahs do "Sheena is a Punk Rocker". TV on the Radio do a great David Bowie. It all makes perfect sense. (Click here to see the full tracklist.)

The only flaw that I see in this album – and it's a minor one – is that some of the covers are just a little bit too good. The Hold Steady sounds exactly like Springsteen. It's uncanny. Elbow is essentially U2 on downers any day of the week, so their rendition of "Running to Stand Still" isn't too far from the beloved Bono & co. track. There's a few moments of shake up: Rufus Wainwright does strip down Brian Wilson's "Smile" medley, and Adam Cohen's cover of his father's "Take This Waltz" is sung in Spanish. Regardless, the tracks are great, there's something on it for everybody, and it's for an amazing cause. Pick up a copy today and feel good about helping out War Child while rockin' out to some stellar covers.

heavy ghost by dm stith

2009-02-25T02:17:00.000-08:00

Another fun round of late-night ~~babble~~ blogging. Someone, help me out: are vampires still cool, or was that sooo three months ago? It might be my fractured, sleep-deprived state, but Heavy Ghost, DM Stith's debut full-length (out 3/10) makes me think of those dark creatures of the night. Then again it could be a throwback to my impressionable teenage years, reading Interview With a Vampire (yet another in the list of household banned books...oh mom, how you tried) to the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack -- thus forever rendering anything with a hint of melodrama "otherworldly."

But surely otherworldly isn't too far off the mark. Percussive heavy, orchestrally dense, and punctuated with a "voice in the wind"-style chorus, Heavy Ghost is incredibly haunting and atmospheric -- easily fulfilling all of fleetingly short Curtain Speech's promise. Best of all, the musical driving force, Stith's unsettling voice, sits front-and-center atop all this melodic discordance -- and yes, the gestalt is still quite beautiful.

Of course, with his previous EP, he's already proven he can do atmospheric. Now Stith is out to prove he can "feel," wonderfully evident on one of the many album highlights, "Fire of Birds," which plays like the ending sequence to 8 1/2, where over the course of five minutes you can hear the ghosts of his past come encircle him, celebrating the depth and breath of the human experience. Rest assured in song, this sounds significantly less pretentious.

I think the biggest problem in reviewing Heavy Ghost, is that its experimental nature precludes easy comparison to better-known musical tropes. Maybe the most definitive statement that can be made regarding Heavy Ghost is that in his current musical incarnation, DM Stith is in no danger of invading the top 40 charts. Tragic maybe, only because I'm narcissistic enough to believe everyone should think like me. But one thing's for certain: for emotive, otherworldly music, this might be incredibly difficult to beat.

mp3: "Thanksgiving Moon" by DM Stith

andrew bird and loney dear @ the orpheum

2009-02-20T12:06:00.000-08:00

I'm sure there's such thing as too much good music. Really, I'm sure that at some point the brain overloads -- causing the listener to crave the sweet, sweet pre-fab pop of top 40 or to take to huddling in elevators allowing the unobtrusive soundtrack to soothe his or her over-stimulated ears. After spending Thursday night at the Orpheum, the combined forces of Loney Dear and Andrew Bird brought me close to that precarious edge. But seeing as how I rolled out of bed the next day wanting nothing more than to throw myself ears first into Loney Dear's tour-only albums (reissued copies of his first and second records), I think we can safely assume the worst is behind us. But it was a close call.

Opening the evening was Loney Dear. Confession from your Would-Be Hipster: I was there for him. I know, I know, given my track record of "Scandinavian Appreciation" (trademark pending), this is indeed a shocking moment for us all. And (flame me if you must), I do believe in many ways the unassuming Swede emotionally stole the show. Beginning of the set: an ambivalent half-filled theater, punctuated by random bursts of idle chatter and cell phone lights gyrating to frantic texting. Slowly but surely, Loney Dear's melancholic rock and falsetto took hold. One could almost plot the turning of the tides. The gradual shift of attention to the stage, the increasingly frequent glance up to take note of endlessly catchy "I Am John," the unprecedented willingness of the crowd to sing back up vocals for an opener. By the time Loney Dear mastermind Emil Svanängen stepped away from the mic to sing the chorus of "I Love You," the transformation was complete -- unaided, his voice carried to the end of the theater where, if you were listening carefully you could hear a pin drop. By the end of the set the theater was nearly full with two-thirds of the audience on their feet. A standing ovation? Not bad for the new kid in town.

Then there was Andrew Bird. Which given his (rightfully) self-assured swagger is really the only introduction he needs. To loud cheers he kicked off his shoes, pursed his lips, and settled down to business. Watching Andrew Bird play is a thing of beauty. Switching between his trademark violin and guitar, band members and whirling gramophone, there's simply a lot of chaos around him. And yet, not only does he recreate and embellish every note -- he manages to do so in a matter that suggests the relaxed posture of a men's attire model.

Of course, you can't review Andrew Bird without discussing his whistling. Amidst all the the aforementioned chaos he whistled well...like a bird. (Yeah I know, cheesy, but sometimes it's important to call a spade a spade, or rather a bird a bird.) I have fond memories of my childhood, where my mother tried and tried again to teach me the finer points of whistling. Thanks to her, today -- if the wind is blowing just right, the stars are aligned and my lips aren't chapped -- I can produce the ghost of a whistle. Thanks mom! Combine this terrible handicap with my well-documented fascination with live sampling and well, Mr. Bird, I tip my metaphorical and physical hats to you. Chirp away.

One of my big concerns was that -- despite several attempts, I just haven't connected with Andrew Bird's new material. Funny then, that one of my highlights of the evening was his rather rocking rendition of "Anonanimal." A new song, and a new favorite. This revelation was surpassed only by set closer "Tables and Chairs." How can you not love a man who closes his show with a carefree mention of snacks at the apocalypse? Yeah, that's right, you can't.

(photo Andrew Bird: Cameron Witting)

mp3: "Plasticities (live)" by Andrew Bird
mp3: "I Am John (live)" by Loney Dear
mp3: "Airport Surroundings" by Loney Dear

everyone all at once by the rest

2009-02-16T19:09:00.000-08:00

Clearly I've been doing something right. Lately, amazing music has been dropping into the Would-Be Hipster inbox, ripe for the picking. A few more weeks like this and I'll have to take up eating bon-bons and watching my "stories" to whittle away all my extra hours previously spent hunting down these sorts of gems...

Carrying on.

America, we're about to get a good 'ol fashioned ass whoopin' from our neighbors up north. Yes, our Salvation Army can take out their actual army -- but I'm seriously starting to worry about our place in the international music war. Canada's newest recruits, Ontario-based seven-piece The Rest have toured with their nation's finest (anyone who's a friend of Final Fantasy is a friend of mine), and, even more terrifying, their press-release brags that they "speak snow." These are the sort of things that keep me up at night. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Everyone All At Once plays with a startling sophistication -- this is the sort of orchestral sonic assault that should have Win Butler looking over his shoulder. Yes, I'm going there and making the Arcade Fire comparison. I might be sipping on the blogger Kool-Aid, but The Rest is clearly chugging from some musically-enchanted Canuck fountain. Ya know, the kind that promises reckless musical abandon, lead singers with a uniquely nasally range, and the sort of emotionally gripping swells that will have movie music supervisors come knocking sooner than later. Can I get that bottled?

In a display of kindness, The Rest let us chose what song to offer to our readers. I might as well have thrown a dart into their track listing. Even with my inability to hit the broad side of the barn, it was a mission where there was simply no going wrong. Enjoy the early warning -- because The Rest will be commanding the next Canadian invasion.

mp3: "Walk on Water (Auspicious Beginnings)" by The Rest