Thursday, March 25, 2010

Bear In Heaven - "Wholehearted Mess"

Bear In Heaven - "Wholehearted Mess": "I tend to avoid 'bear'-titled bands, partially because there are so many of them and partially because I don't want anyone to accuse me of pandering. This was still my intention when I was led to Bear In Heaven's 1am show (Thursday, Mohawk inside)...but they won me over. Strangely calm and frantic at the same time, there's an epic quality to a lot of their tunes and more than a touch of strange. You can hear touches of 70s prog and synths, but it never feels dated."

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Class Actress - "Let Me Take You Out"

Class Actress - "Let Me Take You Out": "Sadly, I missed checking this band out at SXSW, but I intended to! I got turned onto this song by KEXP just before SXSW and it totally hits my sweet spot of new wave synthpop with guitars, here female-fronted. It recalls some of the female vocal tracks from Stars and My Favorite, which is a good thing in my book."

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The Whigs - "I Am For Real"

The Whigs - "I Am For Real": "I'm late, but I'm starting my 2010 SXSW Recap now. I saw these guys rip this track up live (Friday, Sony Day Party) and it's just as good on record (ok, a little better live, but they're GREAT live). They really do get better on every record."

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Robbers On High Street - "Cool It Now"

Robbers On High Street - "Cool It Now": "ROHS provide a surprisingly suave version of New Edition's "Cool It Now" which may reinforce the more lush direction they've taken their music, but suits them and this track well here."

Monday, March 08, 2010

Surfer Blood - "Anchorage"

Surfer Blood - "Anchorage": "I don't know if this whole record has the '90s indie rock' vibe that I was told it did, but this song does seem to. That's probably why I've gravitated towards it the most. (And we're talking 'indie rock' from a musical perspective here, not lo-fi audio or anything like that.)"

Friday, March 05, 2010

The Innocence Mission - "Snow"

The Innocence Mission - "Snow": "Hauntingly, heartbreakingly, simply beautiful. It gives me chills."

Thursday, March 04, 2010

INXS - "Listen Like Thieves"

INXS - "Listen Like Thieves": "I realized I haven't acknowledged my continued Aussie sojurn in a bit, so here's another of my fave tracks from my current surroundings. INXS is so much better than they're given credit for, this record (Listen Like Thieves) in particular."

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Aimee Mann - "The Scientist (Live)"

Aimee Mann - "The Scientist (Live)": "Heaven knows I got sick of this song being overplayed when it came out, so it's not like I was clamoring for it to be reborn as a cover. Aimee's take didn't 'fix' this with a radical re-working or anything like that, but the beautiful harmony vocals she adds near the end of the song ("ooo...it's such a shame...") easily justify the whole cover on their own. Kudos."

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "A Teenager In Love"

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "A Teenager In Love": "The song is so sweet and twee that it's almost too much to handle - until you realize they're singing about a teenager in love with Christ and heroin. I think I was humming it back to myself before I realized what the lyrics were. Cheeky."

Monday, March 01, 2010

Eurythmics - "Revenge"

Eurythmics - "Revenge": "Not the synthpop of "Sweet Dreams" or the rock'n'soul of "Would I Lie To You", this early Eurythmics cut is a blend of the icy cool of their earlier works but with the organic instrumentation of their middle period. There's also a nice dry humor at work here too."