Indie Music Chatter

I have such an intense crush on Kathleen Hanna. So big in fact, that I follow every single thing she’s done — from Bikini Kill to her Julie Ruin project to Le Tigre.

I am tremendously in love with Le Tigre’s self titled album that I had no choice but to remove the album from my iPod. I kept coming back to that album so much that I had this tremendous backlog of albums that I never got to listen to in my player, so the painful decision to remove the source of my addiction. And the one song that I consistently play among all the other songs in that album? Deceptacon.

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Now playing: TV On The Radio - Province
via FoxyTunes

Kathleen Hanna, Le Tigre, Bikini Kill

My Amazon orders arrived today and finally got Snow Patrol’s Final Straw and Blue Screen Life, the second album from Pinback.

Now, one of the biggest mysteries for me is why Pinback is not even getting big. Even my friends who listen to basically the same stuff as I do never mention Pinback. They never got excited when I told them that Autumn of The Seraphs, their newest album, will be released September of this year. They do not even share my general enthusiasm for Pinback’s music.

I love Death Cab for Cutie and I think Ben Gibbard is a genius but Pinback has as much right to get as big as Death Cab, if not more. Zach Smith and Rob Crow are music geniuses. I personally think they are two of the most innovative artists ever to collaborate. I do hope that at some point in the future they finally get the recognition they so justly deserve.

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Now playing: Pinback - Good To Sea
via FoxyTunes

Pinback, Blue Screen Life, Autumn of The Seraphs, Death Cab for Cutie

It is quite surreal to discover a new band whose music you are so excited about only to hear some tragic news about them. I recently heard Chow Chow’s album Colours and Lines and immediately fell in love with their wonderfully unique sound. I was thinking to myself that this band has a great future and that they will likely create a lot of buzz for their great material. The euphoria I felt for listening to a great band while they are just on the brink of breaking out came to a very abrupt end though when I read that Chow Chow’s vocalist Thomas Ian Smith died almost a month ago. It is hard to reconcile what I am feeling right now. On the one hand I am excited about this band that is brimming with potential, but devastated to know that it is a potential that will never be realized.

To Thomas Ian Smith, rest in peace.

Chow Chow, Thomas Ian Smith, Colours and Lines

I’ve been hearing a smattering of news and views about the San Francisco based band Film School. Unfortunately, I never got around to hearing any of their works. The band has been around since 1998 but even though they are being touted as artists “on the brink of stardom” because of the attention that they have been getting from music fans I never got to hear any of their work.

A few days ago though I got a chance to get an advance copy of Film School’s third album Hideout. I was quite eager to hear what all the buzz was about so I decided to bump this album up my scheduled playlist for the week and started listening to it. First impressions? I was blown away by how tight Film School’s sound is.

The band has mastered a dark pop sensibility that reminds of you of all the best qualities of shoegaze, new wave and indie pop. the darker texture of the songs actually help distinguish it from the day-glo happiness that some bands seem to revel in. I am particularly reminded of 80’s band Darkside who have also mastered the swirling guitars and dreamy production values that Film School so adeptly use. I particularly love the instrumental flourishes that the band try to incorporate into every song, most notably in Two Kinds. The cello-like synth backdrop paints a more melancholic atmosphere but at the same time gives it an ethereal beauty. Special mention goes to Compare, the part where the guitars first come in gives me goosebumps every time and this very jaded music fan seldom experiences that. So props to them.

You can now count me as a big Film School fan.

Film School, Hideout, Darkside

I am currently going crazy over the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs EP entitled The Is Is. Their blistering brand of garage punk just keeps getting better and better. the funny thing about this EP though is that the songs were made in 2004 when the band was touring in support of their first full length Fever To Tell. The songs here are so much stronger than the songs in their sophomore effort Show Your Bones. Not to disparage the second album,which is another strong effort for the band, The Is Is possesses a rawer sound that suits the YYY’s brand of music better. The five-song format also allowed the band to come out with a very focused set of songs. No fillers here, thank you.

Oh, and Karen O still gets my gonads boiling everytime.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Is Is, Fever to Tell, Show your Bones

I was looking for a CD for my son this afternoon. He just came back from pre-school and it has become daily routine for me to play soft music while he drinks his milk. The whole process relaxes him enough that he falls asleep in less than twenty minutes — something that was quite difficult to do before I discovered this “trick.” I started with Mozart during the first week but I was pleasantly surprised that he loved Chet Baker’s Music for Lovers when I played it to break the monotony. He has come to call it his “favorite music”. Needless to say Dada is quite proud that his son has an inherent taste for good music.

Anyway, back to my story. Zach had already fallen asleep but I wanted to play a couple more CDs for him while he’s sleeping (I believe in all that subliminal shit). First on my list was Tom Waits’ Closing Time, which I have already blogged about before. I am still nuts over this album and at the rate things are going I may have to request that this CD play incessantly at my wake when I die. I’ll also ask to be cremated with a copy of the CD. After this superb album finished playing I decided to play The Aluminum Group’s Pedals. I absolutely love the folkie electronica feel of this album — and yes, I don’t care that I’m making my son listen to a music group composed of gay brothers. Good music defies sexual preference.

Aluminum Group, Tom Waits, Chet Baker

My mind has been too cluttered lately because of work, various writing assignments and doing preliminary work for a new business that I’m getting into with a couple of friends. A busy mind means that I’m not as open to listening to new music. I never get the chance to really digest what I hear and everything sounds the same at some point. Whenever I’m in this mental state I just pop in familiar music — CDs that I’ve listened to before and enjoyed. It’s a chance for me to stop being too much of a critic and just be a fan.

One of the albums that I revisited today is The Arctic Monkeys‘ debut Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. The title’s still a handful for me but the songs have actually aged well. I think the songs actually sound better compared to last few times I’ve heard it. It could be a tired mind making things more palatable or it could be because the last few albums that I’ve listened to last week pale in comparison to the Arctic Monkeys’ tight songs. Whatever it is, I am loving it.

Arctic Monkeys, critic, debut

I am having a lot of fun listening to The Rumble Strips. The band’s sound evokes nostalgia because they sound like Dexy’s Midnight Runners with a very unmistakeable 2 Tone influence. It’s fun to hear a band that sounds like they are just having fun and not taking themselves too seriously (hear that Interpol? But I still love you guys).

I don’t know what it is about the Brits but they do make ska sound so much more enjoyable and fun when compared to their American counterparts. I remember the time when No Doubt first became popular and they were being called ska band. I’m sorry, but No Doubt are dreadful. The Rumble Strips, on the other hand, has taken the ska formula and really ran away with it. The songs in their album Girls and Weather may have very strong Ska influences but they have managed to inject their own personalities into their songs, which actually made their sound develop into something that is distinctly unique. The album may not be that strong but anyone who listens to Girls and Weather will definitely hear a group that is having a lot of fun doing what they love.

I highly recommend this album.

The Rumble Strips, Girls and Weather, Interpol, No Doubt


I immediately fell in love with The Kooks from the moment I first heard their debut album Inside In/Inside Out. I just think that their album was absolutely sensational. There were perfect pop moments in that album that I can safely say helped shape my memories of 2006 — the year they released their CD. Almost a year and half since the album’s release and I am still in love with their songs. I just absolutely adore Naive. Give it a listen…

Yesterday I talked about Tom Waits and how I think that Closing Time is one of the greatest albums of all time. With your indulgence I’d like to talk about another relatively “old” album that occupies the rarefied club of all time greats.

Allow me to talk about My Bloody Valentine and Loveless.

Loveless is consistently in the top ten of almost all “greatest albums of all time” list — and rightfully so. My Bloody Valentine’s technical and artistic achievement with Loveless is incomparable. More than any album, Loveless has achieved that rare transcendence of elevating a song into sonic landscapes. Each song paints a picture in your mind, and you’re just listening to the instruments.

True it could be hard to swallow Loveless at times — some complain that Kevin Shields and co.’s masterpiece is too noisy, or that it has a tendency to meander. But, as I love to say to friends, this is one of those albums where you will need to invest time. You need to wait for that magic moment, when your intellectual mind shuts off and you allow yourself to be carried by the music. What you need is to surrender to My Bloody Valentine and they will hold you by the hand and show you one of the most beautiful sonic pictures you will encounter.

Tomorrow, I promise I’ll write something a little more current. I’m just in this old school funk the past few weeks, rediscovering my collection– revisiting old friends, as I love to tell my wife.

My Bloody Valentine, Loveless, Kevin Shields

I was on a nostalgic mood a couple of nights ago so I decided to take out a few albums that I haven’t heard in a while — mind you these are works that were made way back in the 70’s.

First on the list was Tom Waits‘ Closing Time. And man, I have to say that the power and artistry of this album just becomes more and more potent as it acquires the patina of time. From the opening bars of ‘Ol 55, Tom Waits’ debut still packs the wallop of a freight train. This is one of the strongest albums I have heard both lyrically and musically. Couple that with Tom Waits’ amazing vocal delivery and what you have is an album that consistently stands the test of time.

This early, I am already exposing my son to Closing Time. This is one album that I want both of us — father and son — to bond over. Twenty years from now, when I am old an gray and my son is ready to take on the world, I want Tom Waits’ masterpiece to connect us — to remind us of a time when he was still a small child resting on his father’s chest while we fall into sweet slumber to the tunes of Waits himself.

Tom Waits, Closing Time, ‘Ol 55

I can’t stop whistling the “whistling part” in the Peter, Bjorn and John single Young Folks. Ever since I saw the video (how someone can do something that is both creepy and cute at the same time I will never know) and bought their CD Writer’s Block, I always catch myself whistling that part a number of times every day. I have come to call it the Barry Manilow syndrome — a state wherein a particularly catchy hook or melody manages to lodge itself into your subconscious that you can’t help but sing, hum or, yes, whistle that particular part. Why do I call it Barry Manilow syndrome? Well, just imagine any part of Mandy or Copa Cabana playing inside your head and more often than not you’d find that it will get stuck in your brain. Don’t say that I didn’t warn you.

But then I’d rather have Young Folks and Peter Bjorn and John’s catchy song play in my mind the whole day long instead of Copa Cabana.

Peter Bjorn and John, Young Folks, Barry Manilow

I recently visited a friend’s blog to see what’s going on with his life. I haven’t spoken to him at length for almost a month so it was great time to check up on his activities. My friend is also into the same kind of music so a visit to his blog is also an opportunity for me to find out about new bands or new music gems that he has recently discovered.

This particular visit had been especially fruitful because he posted a link to a video for one of Yuki Isoya’s songs. Yuki, for those who are not too familiar with J (Japanese) music, was the former vocalist of the renowned Japanese punk/pop band Judy and Mary.Yuki’s video for Sentimental Journey is beautiful in its simplicity. What made it stand out though is the “visual effect” that was used to make the video interesting. I won’t even attempt to describe it. Just watch the video for yourself.

Yuki, Judy and Mary, Japanese music

Over the years I have built a reputation among my friends as the go-to guy when it comes to music. I obsessively collect CDs and I love reading about anything related to music. I may love indie the fiercest but I do listen to other types of music as well. In my CD shelf it will not be uncommon to see Janet Jackson alongside Jessamine or Norah Jones sharing shelf space with Nusrath Fateh Ali Khan and Owen (yes, I sort my CDs alphabetically).

A couple of weeks ago a friend asked me for recommendations for music he can play at his party. He already knew that I’ve been grooving to The Klaxons so I wanted to throw him a curve ball and recommend an artist that he most probably never even heard. So, very casually, I said “Girl Talk.” He asked me if it sounded if I was recommending something along the lines of The Klaxons. I smiled, gave him my iPod, and told him to just listen for himself. The look on his face said it all — it was a mixture of bewilderment, dawning comprehension and a loopy grin. A good description for Girl Talk’s music, if you ask me.

You see, Girl Talk (which is the moniker of Greg Gillis) makes what I’ve come to call Frankenmusic. Gillis pastes together snippets from different songs in order to make a whole new song. Imagine DJ Shadow but only with more recognizable samples and a tongue-in-cheek perspective towards the whole process and you’ve got the basic idea behind Girl Talk. In one song, you’d probably hear a part from The Pixies’ Where is My Mind spliced to James Taylor’s Your Smiling Face while D4L raps over the track.

My friend went home with the intent of playing Girl Talk’s Night Ripper album. I’m pretty sure that the party will be a success gauging by the music he intends to play.

Girl Talk, Greg Gillis,  Pixies, Night Ripper

I woke up this morning feeling extra cheerful. It’s my son’s third birthday and the enthusiasm for my son reaching a milestone (I survived the terrible two’s!) made me want to start off the morning with the perfect “soundtrack” to reflect my mood. So I went to my record collection and immediately chose The Delays’ Faded Seaside Glamour. I popped it in my CD player and cranked my amp to a respectable volume (not too loud or my son would complain that it’s hurting his ears) and the familar wash of the dreamy and atmospheric music of the The Delays flooded our house. My wife, who was curled on the sofa, trying her best to wake up, immediately noticed the music and asked me who the female singer was. “It’s Greg Gilbert honey, and she’s a he.”

I can safely say that the vocals of Greg Gilbert is one of the main factors that make The Delays’ music work. The kind of dream pop they play would only work with Gilbert’s breathy, near-androgynous voice. I think the Delays has hit on a great formula by standing out not only for their music but for their frontman, who I love to think is channeling Elizabeth Fraser whenever he sings.

As it is, The Delays makes my mornings so much more brighter when I listen to them.

The Delays, Faded Seaside Glamour, Elizabeth Fraser