Press photo merged with press photo because the smirk was too much to bear
It starts out with a variation on the opening of “Walk like an Egyptian” set to hyperactive mode. Then it evolves into Blink 182, or a number of similar bands of that era with names with numbers in them (Sum 41?). The blistering, hop-hop beat only ever slows down for the pestering chorus that insists, “That I’m just having fun, that I’m just having fun, that I’m just having fun, with youuuuuu-uuu-uuuu, with youuuuu-uuuu-uuuu, with youuuu-uuuu-uuuuu” (well, clearly), and the bridge that goes, “Huuhhh-huhhh-huhhaaa-huhhhh”. If rebellion to intellectualism is your thing, this song is a champion of low brow. Embrace it.
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Download “Post Acid” by Wavves (if you must)
I was never a huge fan, yet I’m really surprised at Phosphorescent’s new song “The Mermaid Parade”. The voice is pretty as usual (great for singing forlornly about wolves), but this entire song is one boring melody repeated incessantly, with lyrics that attempt to invoke the salty smell of a sultry evening (I guess?) but fail to capture anything at all: the emotion is really flat (for being a sentimental song), and there’s not even an imagery or a rhyme that claims a territory in your brain. Did I mention there’s way too much bluesy guitar? That’s probably why The Tripwire thinks it’s “an American classic”, and that’s the only reason I’m terrified. Listen to it, what do you think?
PS. Just listened to it again. The ending is just horrendous.
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Download “The Mermaid Parade“
Photo above: Original by Sebastian Mlynarski. I just put my picture of a naked dancing “mermaid” on top it.
Paavo Hanninen and I sat on the internet, pretending to be in a Victorian room. The walls were a deep green, owing to the vintage wallpaper, and the armchairs were oversized and maroon. It was raining outside, so Paavo brought out a bottle of Jack Daniel’s.
I said, “I don’t know if you’ve heard of Yellow Fever, but I was listening to them on my iTunes, and a song I’d never heard before, by a band I couldn’t recognize, came on. It was dreamy pop with jingly guitar floating in space. I thought, How do I not know who this is? Sounds like someone relatively famous.”
Paavo put his glass down and leaned in, “Who was it?”
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Club 8′s new album The People’s Record, coming out on May 12, is a treat for the oncoming summer. Take it with you for the lying about in the park watching kites! The band is Swedish, comprising of Karolina Komstedt & Johan Angergård. I actually like the rest of the album better, but here’s “Western Hospitality”. Before I looked them up I thought they were Brazilian, and if I paid no attention to the lyrics, which is in English, I’d think this song was a vintage Disco number from a 70’s Bollywood movie. Not kidding, check out disco songs from 70’s Bollywood movies.
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It’s true, The Living Sisters is a hunk of estrogen; not because it’s a female “super group” consisting, at the moment, of Becky Stark (Lavender Diamond), Eleni Mandell, and Alex Lilly (Obi Best); not even because they look exactly like hot young mothers that all little boys (but their own) are blindly fascinated by; but because there is an undefinable yet easily recognizable embodiment of sisterhood in this band. Maybe it’s the flawless harmonies between three female voices on top of matching clothes and soothing songs, or the fact that each of these women is very woman-woman; I want to say, breast-baring-fertility-symbols-like women in their womanhood. Personally, I love Becky Stark. She’s pretty wacky in her love-and-peace hippie world: “A Harmony can never fail because even when it’s wrong, it’s hilarious.” Going by a few snippets I heard of their recording, it seems like they’re much more enjoyable live, for about 30 minutes; because, after all, lullabies, no matter how charming, put you to sleep.
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They opened for She & Him at Bowery Ballroom last night, and being that the set was about 30 minutes long, it was pretty pleasant. Owing to the harmony, my favorite was “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down”, but the track that’s internet-approved seems to be “How Are You Doing?” My pictures of them and She & Him are up on Brooklyn Vegan.
I don’t think North Highlands intended to channel Mongolia when they came up with that band name, but the intro to “Sugar Lips” sure evokes the highlands of that region. Apparently the band was born on “a lazy summer afternoon in Brooklyn”, the implied directionless of which, despite the obvious talent sitting about, seems pretty romantic to me; and the mood of that implication is definitely captured in this song.
I’m about to listen to the EP, which came out December last year, but so far the song “Sugar Lips” sounds like a refreshing break at a time when new music is beginning to get dull and formulaic. Also, singer Brenda Malvini’s voice is one of my favorite female voice types: it doesn’t’ scream “Hey, listen to me! Listen to me!”. It just says, “Hey, singing is kinda fun”.
Photo: Lena Hawkins
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Download “Sugar Lips” by North Highlands
Kristian Matsson / The Tallest Man on Earth. Photo: Sarahana
The Tallest Man on Earth’s next album will be The Wild Hunt, and he’s switched labels to Dead Oceans. The album is set for an April 13 release in the US. Everyone’s live favorite “King of Spain” (below) is the first listen we’re getting from it; as you might’ve expected, it’s pretty true to the live version. He also played a song called “The Wild Hunt” at the last few New York shows. Can’t wait to hear the rest!
Download “King of Spain” (album version)
Download lots of other Tallest Man goodies< on this site.
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The Tallest Man on Earth, The Wild Hunt album artwork
Brigid Dawson is second from left
Daytrotter posted a Thee Oh Sees session yesterday (“Ruby Go Home” included), and while the accompanying text talks about front man John Dwyer at length, it doesn’t mention Brigid Dawson by name once. But if you’re like me, it’s pretty obvious that the band would have half its might without Ms. Dawson. This thought led me to her wikipedia page, which had been deleted twice because she wasn’t deemed “notable” enough. So I went ahead and spent a good part of the morning re-creating a new one for her, highlighting her notability: My new Brigid Dawson page on Wikipedia.
Let’s see how long it will stay up.
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Download from Daytrotter
Members of the Beets, from Jackson Heights, Queens, play at the Brooklyn Museum
I just found out I’m allowed to post another track from that Beets album, Spit in the Face of People Who Don’t Want to Be Cool, so here’s one I like slightly better than the one I posted before. Besides, I forgot to mention that the parents of the two members who grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens (where cheap and delicious food of international flavors abound) were in attendance at the Brooklyn Museum show. Juan’s were notably excited and giddy. When they showed up he said, “Now I’m nervous”. I noticed the parents were wrapped in a Uruguayan flag, and there’s a Uruguayan flag on the back of their CD as well. You know who else is from Uruguay? The amazing Eduardo Galeano!
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Download “What Did I Do” by The Beets
Sweden’s Miss Li is the newest to join the line of iPod commercial stars, with her perky song “Bourgeois Shangri-La” gracing the equally colorful and hyper iPod Nano ad that shows off the device’s video-recording capabilities (and how much fun and color it can add to your otherwise bleak life!). What sticks out in the 30 seconds of this perfect iPod saleability is that bit of crunchy rock-and-roll-ness to Miss Li’s otherwise flirty, girly voice. I hope she intends to do a few blues numbers, too. (Photo stolen from her myspace page)
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Download “Bourgeois Shangri-La” by Miss Li
hooves on the turf is a mostly-music blog based out of brooklyn. i can be reached at hoovesontheturf [at] gmail [dot] com - please send me your lovely music as an attached mp3 or an mp3 link. if i like what you send, i'll be sure to ask for more.
