forest fire

I apologize for the little hiatus I took from blogging. Now that its summer I've been traveling a bit up and down the California coast. I stopped in Carmel for a bit. The smoke from the fires in Big Sur still haven't fully cleared. The sky was tinted the smokey orange while the sun set over the ocean. And it felt good to escape from the City Of Angels.

It was up in Carmel that I discovered Forest Fire, Catbird Record's new discovery. The small but mighty record label just recently released the bands debut album Survival. The album is available for free from the record labels website, with the option of choosing to pay what you want. The Brooklyn and Portland split band recorded the album over and eighth month period and were left with a spectacular collection of songs that express "a picture of the whole world - or so much of it as I have seen. Boiling it down always rather than spreading it out thin" [Ernest Hemingway].

The band has the sound of a hazed romance, drawing influences from folk rock but also toying with screeching electronics like in the song "Steer Me" and "Sunshine City". Forest Fire's songs though dotted with beautiful guitar melodies also hold a darker feeling of punk up held in the song "Promise", which is only supported by the grinding electronics used sparingly through out the album. I was surprised when I listened to "Through My Gloves" and Mark Thresher's hair raising voice reminded me of Thom Yorke. The albums second track "Fortune Teller" is certainly the most pop accessible. In all this album is held together with enough and heart and reflectiveness on the modern world that it is definitely one of my favorite albums of the year so far.

Mp3:
Forest Fire - I Make Windows
Forest Fire - Fortune Teller

eat skull

I have to say "Shredders on Fry" is my song of the day. Its cheery little piano in the beginning has brightened my day. Eat Skull has a prickly sound that you have to warm up to. A full on embrace of their songs would be like hugging a cactus. You need to pad up before you attempt such a feat, so that you can reach the juicy fruit beneath all the thorns. Eat Skulls songs are caked in distortion and their sound is defined by their songs titles: "Shredders on Fry", "Punk Trips". Yet underneath the lo-fi recording echoes a world of catchy melodies and words shouted into a mic indifferent to key. The two Kiwis latest release is Sick to Death, is a good addition to both the Lo-fi scene that is continuing to grow and the world.

Download:
Eat Skull - Shredders on Fry

the dø

You the know how you used to sing the scale "do re me fa sol la ti do". Well the two Finns Olivia B.Merilahti and Dan Levy have borrowed the first and last notes of the scale to form the intrepid pop folk duo The Dø. The groups latest release, A Mouthful, though not a complete hit was flecked with a couple of pop acoustic gems upheld by catchy melodies and Olivia's witty lyrics about dysfunctional relationships, great for a summer drive.

Download:
The Dø - On My Shoulders
The Dø - Stay (Just A Little Bit More)

shock of pleasure

I can't realy tell if Dallas's Shock of Pleasure's name refers to their sound or Kelley Christian their singer. All things considered their sound is slow electronic-pop that is a "shock of pleasure"(ooh) to the ears and when analyzed becomes deeper like all good pop. I can't say I'm a huge fan of this type of lounge music but the group's Thievery Corporationesc cover of The Carpenter's "Superstar" is quite pleasing to listen to as the deep electronic bass is caressed by Kelley Christian's astral voice. Any lovers of Bittersweet will most likely love this. Also posted below is the track "Spooky", off the groups upcoming album Its About Time due out September 15th.

Download:
Shock of Pleasure - Superstar
Shock of Pleasure - Spooky

sic alps

Sic Alps has basically taken control of my headphones for the past few days with their lo-fi psychedelic garage pop. Which might be a hefty mouthful for a band that seems not to care what people think, but thats just it; Mike Donovan's strained voice whistling over his distorted guitar and Matt Hartman's crunchy drum beats congeal to form a array of sound that speaks in a poetic tongue of soaring skies and lands filled with "Gelly Roll Gum Drops". Sic Alps new album, U.S. EZ, is definitely at the top of my to get list.

Download:
Sic Alps - Bathman
Sic Alps - Gelly Roll Gum Drop

a drunken sing-along

Ron Sexsmith is 44 years old and still is waiting to hit it big. His records have been applauded by the likes of Elvis Costello, Steve Earl, and Paul McCartney and his songs have been covered by artists such as Rod Stewart and Feist. Come August 8th, Ron Sexsmith will release his new album, Exit Strategy of the Soul. Ron's Pop-Folk style in this album seems has fallen into a darker realm that he calls "shadowed gospel". This new found style is heard through the albums single, "This is How I Know", and even the more light-hearted "Brandy Alexander" that he co-wrote with Feist. In an interveiw Ron spoke "In general, I try to write songs that will stand up by themselves if I’m not there. My heroes are people who could write all different kinds of songs. Lennon could write something really powerful, and be really funny in the next song; Dylan the same way." Well Ron certainly has achieved his goal. Brandy Alexander certainly holds up as the delicate pop-rock song sung by Feist, but it also finds its own as the "drunken sing-along" he saw it to be.

Download:
Ron Sexsmith - Brandy Alexander (co-written by Feist)
Ron Sexsmith - This Is How I Know

so many swedes so little time

"And if Cupid's got a gun, then he's shooting." - Lykke Li

Kleerup is the brainchild of producer Andreas Kleerup. Kleerup this past may released his debut featuring a score of guest vocalists like Robyn, and Lykke Li singing over his calm disco beats. Since Lykke Li will be releasing her debut album, Youth Novels, this August I figured it would be appropriate to post her joint effort with Kleerup, "Until We Bleed".

Download:
Kleerup - Until We Bleed (ft. Lykke Li)

italians do it better tag tiedye

Ever since I discovered Tiedye's remix of Rubies' "I Feel Electric", I've been waiting to hear more of these swedes. Well they have finally opened a up new website, with mp3s, one them being a cover of Nirvana's "Nothing Else Matters", included along with a little bio about the group.

Tiedye was formed during nights of bikemoshing, slowdancing and wierdsailing. Two guys form the heart of this obscure and obvious formation of what we call the band Tiedye.
From the rocks and waves of the west coast of Sweden Tiedye explores and develops the sounds of dreaming disco, windblowing pop and gruyèresmelling rock.
The gritty Italians Do It Better Records got a nose for the smell of saltwater drained boogierock and adopted Tiedye to the dramatic Italians-family.

Download:
Rubies - I Feel Electric (feat. Feist) (TieDye Version)
Tiedye - Nothing Else Matters

baby's on fire

"Better throw her in the water"image

Jaguar Farm is the solo project of Alexander Iadarola who conducts his funky electronic shoegazey electro pop ballads with a keyboard, his computer and a pair of black raybans that he never goes without. This cover of Brian Eno's is one of the quirkiest songs I've probably ever heard. Think Animal Collective with a steadier rhythm.


Jaguar Farm - Baby's On Fire

an eduction on death row

LA Times - death row report sees failed system

Though I thought this article ended a little to soon It was educational for someone who knows nothing about what is happening in our courts and just showed how fucked the California court is when it comes to dealing with the dark cloud hovering above their heads.

"The time from death sentence to execution in California is 20 to 25 years, compared with the national average of 12 years, the commission said. Thirty inmates have been on death row more than 25 years, 119 for more than 20 years and 240 for more than 15, according to the report. The state spends about $138 million a year on the death penalty and has executed 13 people over the last three decades, the commission said."

Download:
Grizzly Bear - While You Wait For The Others (live on KCRW)