All The Pennies And The Pounds

Golden Silvers “Magic Touch” – As I see it, there are two ways to be old-fashioned: You can either be a slave to tradition, and end up with music that sounds stiff, airtight, and fussy, or you can lean hard on old ideas until they tip over into the present tense. The Golden Silvers are doing the latter. The melodies, harmonies, and beats in “Magic Touch” feel like something I’ve known my entire life, but the band pull it off in such a way that it nevertheless feels flashy, fresh, and firmly rooted in the present. I’m hard-pressed to tell you exactly why — maybe it’s in the details of the production, maybe it’s in the way the band seem so entirely inside of the moment, maybe it’s a spark in the groove that just wouldn’t sit right 20 or 30 years ago. Any which way, this is a minor triumph of craft and style. (Click here for the Golden Silvers’ MySpace page.)

DJ Downfall & Gene Serene “Seven Dials” –  Like all good duos, Gene Serene and DJ Downfall play to each others strengths — Gene sings songs about shaping one’s own identity and summoning personal strength, and Downfall creates tracks that dramatize a burst of confidence and creative energy. “Seven Dials” comes from a place of insecurity and instability, but as it crests, the singer is right on the verge of getting her emotions all sorted out, and moving onwards and hopefully upwards. There’s bitterness and confusion in the song, but more than anything, there’s a lot of optimism. (Click here for the DJ Downfall MySpace page.)