Nature’s Radio Plays Music In Our Homes

Animal Collective “Grass” – After teasing their audience with occasional dabblings in quasi-pop songwriting for as long as they have existed, the Animal Collective have finally caved and made a (relatively) accessable art rock record with some songs that could fit comfortably on the radio alongside The Arcade Fire, Mercury Rev, Modest Mouse, Interpol, and The Flaming Lips. Now I don’t want to seem as though I’m accusing them of “selling out” or being crass – if anything, I applaud them for showing some sign of careerism and the common sense to continue to cultivate and expand their already inexplicably large audience. (The Sun City Girls surely never had it so good.) I suppose what I appreciate the most about this new record is that it seems so deliberate and disciplined, whereas much of the material released after Spirit They’re Gone Spirit They’ve Vanished often seemed like tossed-off improvisation that was only ever as good as chance would allow. (Click here to pre-order from No Karma.)

The Rosebuds “Blue Bird” – Video treatment: A man in his early to mid 30s is cleaning his apartment. He’s not freaking out, but he’s clearly a bit anxious – you can see him second guessing himself in some minor decisions along the way, and you can get the sense that he’s not particularly happy with his home. It’s a very modest apartment at best, and he has a bit too much stuff and not enough places to put things. He hides a few potentially embarrassing items from plain site, and foregrounds some other things (i.e. strategically chosen “intellectual” books and magazines). You see him leave and go to some stores – he buys some wine, some food. He gets home and begins to cook. You see him struggle a bit, but he’s not an incompetant. He goes back out into his living room and continues to clean out of nervousness. He tries to read, but he can’t concentrate. He checks his watch. As the song concludes, the doorbell rings and you see him buzz the guest up. In the final moments of the song, he answers the door and his date enters. She’s about the same age and is pretty but not model/actress/Suicide Girl-ish at all. She smiles, and as she enters the door closes behind her, and we fade to black as it shuts. (Click here to pre-order it from Merge Records.)

I’m Not A Piece Of Meat, Stimulate My Brain

Sara Jorge “Dirty Business” – I’m curious as to whether or not this song was written with Kylie in mind. It seems like it would have been a pretty good fit, and Jorge’s vocal similarity to Ms. Minogue only reinforces that notion. The track is elegant and sleek, so much so that it seems to be the entire point of its existence. It has this way of making me feel very poor when I listen to it, which is maybe a peculiar thing to get out of something that I definitely enjoy. (Click here for the official Sara Jorge site.)

Clea “We Don’t Have To Take Our Clothes Off” – It’s not entirely clear on why this group of British televised singing-contest also-rans decided to resurrect Jermaine Stewart’s pro-abstinence (and cherry wine) anthem, but the kitsch-loving part of me cannot possibly complain, especially since the song has a special place in my heart after it was immortalized in this Failed Pilot phone prank by Andy Earles. It’s a great pop song, but it seems like such a random thing to cover, especially with this sort of earnestness. (Click here for the official Clea site and here to buy the Just Farr A Laugh cd from Failed Pilot.)

Isn’t It Good?

The Fiery Furnaces “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” – It’s a bit perverse to cover a Beatles song and take substantial liberties with the melody, of all things. I had been hoping that this recording (made for a compilation celebrating the 40th anniversary of Rubber Soul) would play it fairly straight and feature the vocals of Matt Friedberger, whose voice and persona seem perfectly suited to the melody and lyrics of this particular song. Instead, we get a peculiar psychedelic lounge arrangement that feels slippery and restless but strangely stagnant, eventually slowing down and reaching an abrubt conclusion. Eleanor Friedberger sings the song with an odd sort of bewildered breathlessness, almost as though she intended to make the character sound a bit naive, dim, and more than a little bit stoned. This is certainly not their best work, but it is definitely an intriguing experiment. (Click here for the official site of the This Bird Has Flown compilation.)

The Word Is That He Was Delta Force

Thanks to WFMU‘s Aircheck program, I’ve recently been introduced to the brilliance of syndicated radio host Phil Hendrie. Hendrie’s show airs on mostly AM stations throughout the United States, but is inexplicably unavailable in the New York area except on satellite radio. Hendrie’s show is in many ways very similar to the comedy sketches by Tom Scharpling, Jon Wurster, and Andy Earles on The Best Show On WFMU, but rather than working with a partner, he manages to play both the guest and the straight man in his bits, alternating between his default radio host voice and the character so convincingly that there is never any shortage of suckered audience members calling in to express their outrage and spar with the character. Though both programs are mainly concerned with finding humor in characters driven by extreme selfishness, vanity, and self-delusion, Hendrie consistently keeps his premises and characters right on the edge of believability, whereas the Best Show gives itself license to take bits in occasionally surreal and cartoonish directions.

Phil Hendrie “David G. Hall Wants More Female Listeners (August 14, 2001)” – In this sketch, fictional Vice President of Syndication for the Phil Hendrie show David G. Hall calls in to tell Phil about his proactive plans to increase his female audience, which amounts to a series of staggeringly sexist suggestions which result in Phil’s audible discomfort with the new corporate demands and the understandable outrage of several female callers.

Phil Hendrie “Bobbi Dooley on the American Flag (September 24, 2001)” – By all accounts, Bobbi Dooley is Hendrie’s most popular recurring character. Dooley is the shallow and overbearing president of the Western Estates Homeowners’ Association, a gated community in Southern California. Her husband Steve often cuts in with comments from the background, and she is prone to mindblowing levels of condescension and smugness. In this skit, Bobbi chastises people for not flying flags of the appropriate size in the wake of 9/11.

Phil Hendrie “R.C. Collins on Teen Sex (May 24, 2001)” – R.C. Collins is another popular recurring character, but tends to be far less defined than Dooley or Hall. The character is consistently a squeaky-voiced teenager, but his political views and situation in life change radically from sketch to sketch, ranging from him being a buff jingoistic military school student to a Satan-worshipping goth kid to a terminally ill cancer patient. In this sketch, R.C. talks about being one of the rare teenagers to actually go all the way and have sex, as well as voicing his deep resentment of the “Baby Bomber” generation.

(Click here for new Phil Hendrie broadcasts, podcasts, and archived audio in the paid membership area.)

These People Talk To Me But I Don’t Know Their Names

Death Cab For Cutie “Different Names For The Same Thing” – I had never thought much of Ben Gibbard’s music until fairly recently, and even now I approach his work with some reservation. On the surface, his music with Death Cab For Cutie and the Postal Service is amiable but somewhat indistinct, much of it coming off as bland and aggressively “tasteful,” like a contemporary literary fiction writer’s conception of what a sincere indie pop band would sound like. It’s hardly a shock that soundtrack people would gravitate to his catalog, or that television writers would have sensitive but deeply self-absorbed characters like Seth Cohen and Claire Fisher be fans of his records. It just sounds right and makes intuitive sense as a shorthand for an entire aesthetic.

As it turns out, I had mistaken Gibbard’s relative genericness for outright mediocrity. Though much of his catalog does not do much for me, he is capable of periodic flashes of low-key brilliance, particularly when he is in his comfort zone of creating a vaguely arty version of soft rock. He’s famous for covering Phil Collins, and judging by his best songs, doing that was never an ironic or kitschy gesture. “Different Names For The Same Thing” echoes late period John Lennon and Wilco, but the reason it works is mainly due to the subtle Phil Collins-ness of the melody and his vocal deliverary as he pushes for melodrama in a way that is more akin to the nuance of cinema than stage theatricality. Like Collins, Gibbard excels when he takes small moments and emotions and frames them so that they seem grandiose and life changing. This is clearly the work of a man who (rightly) believes that “Tonight Tonight Tonight,” “Take Me Home” and “In The Air Tonight” are great and unique pop songs. (Click here to pre-order it from Amazon.)

Audio Bullys “I’m In Love” – And it sounds like he’s in love, too. It’s not delirious or giddy or particularly dramatic, but more of a gentle, laid back sort of love best expressed by slow but bouncey saw wave synths, tinkly lead piano, contented la-la-la-ing, and a bit of heavily accented British lad rapping. (Click here to pre-order it from Amazon.)

I Should Write A Song About You

Robyn “Crash and Burn Girl” – Though I am very pleased to see that Robyn’s “Konichiwa Bitches” is slowly gaining in popularity on the internet and among critics, I worry that the rest of her new album is being overlooked. I can’t overstate the excellence of this record – with the exception of the brief and entertaining skits that punctuate the first half of the running order, virtually every song is post-worthy, not to mention hit-worthy. On an album full of unlikely musical choices for a Swedish pop singer, “Crash and Burn Girl” is actually pretty close to what one might expect from one – slick eurodisco with minimal beats and sampled strings, almost like the house flip side to the record’s first single, “Be Mine.” (There’s certainly some lyrical continuity as well, but then again, almost every song on the album is more or less treading the same bad-breakup ground.) The dynamics are brilliant, particularly when the song shifts from the string-based hook to verses backed up entirely by an electronic kick drum, followed shortly by a fluid bass groove that must sound amazing on a loud, high end soundsystem. (Click here for the official Robyn site.)

April March “Sugar” – This is another entry in a semi-regular series of posts dedicated to revisiting songs that were staples of my old mix tapes and cds circa 1996-2001. There’s really no place else to put this version of “Sugar” in a sequence other than at the start of a cd or a tape side. The intro is key to the song’s appeal, as it piles on pleasing rhythmic and melodic elements until a gorgeous ringing guitar motif comes in about thirty seconds into the track. March’s voice could do to be a little less flat, but her girlish charm matches the whimsical tone of the arrangement perfectly. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

All Of The Beautiful Things That Make You Weep

Rilo Kiley “I Never” – I am only a man of flesh and bone, and I am prone to irrationality. In this case, Rilo Kiley used to be on Saddle Creek, which put them at one step removal from Conor Oberst, and that simple fact tainted my opinion of them so much that when I sampled More Adventurous around the time it came out, I’m fairly certain I did not actually hear any of the music that was actually on the album. Whatever it was that I heard, it just seemed very bland and not particularly interesting, and I certainly wasn’t being convinced by the whole “baby, I’m bad news” angle at that particular moment in time. But I had never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never heard this song. There’s no way that I could have, because I can’t imagine not immediately loving it, and appreciating the way that it subtly updates the Dusty Springfield blue eyed soul aesthetic for 20something indie rock girls without seeming the least bit contrived. Jenny Lewis and her band totally sell this song with grace and feeling, and never go over the top or come off as young fogeys a la Texas. Seriously, the only thing that makes this fall into the increasingly nebulous indie genre is context. That’s it. This is pop, this is country, this is soul. This is far more Shania than Chan, that’s for sure. They should make a nice video for this and send it to CMT and cross their fingers. For real. Also, if this isn’t being played at weddings in the future as an occasional substitute for “At Last,” I’d be a little disappointed. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Ladyfuzz “Hold Up!” – The song seems to be running against a current of “Academy Fight Song”-ish guitar stabs on the verses, which sounds fine on its own, but it’s all set up for that lovely transition into the chorus, as it suddenly lets out all the tension and feels like it’s gliding in the air at high speed, only to be suddenly grounded. It repeats the cycle, of course, only to make the song evoke some sort of Sisyphean struggle. (Click here for the official Ladyfuzz site.)

Special Guest Post By Eppy From Clap Clap Blog!

Ralph Myerz & The Jack Herren Band “L.I.P.S.T.I.C.K.” – Am I supposed to be embarrassed about liking Dmitri From Paris’ late-90s album Sacrebleu? It always just sounded so good, driving around central New York in my parent’s Corolla with the air conditioning on. Anyway, this song sounds like what Dmitri should be doing today, as it’s strongly influenced by Gallic lounge-pop, but gleefully tainted by disco, melding its relaxed atmosphere with a straightforward beat and gorgeous string runs. Would that more nu-disco acts incorporated the latter, and would that more songs were as great as this. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Geoff Reacher “You Like My Song” – Geoff Reacher’s bio lets us know that “It sounds live because it is…sequenced and variously twisted in real time using a foot pedal rig.” It’s a testament to the quality of this song, a MIDI-breakbeat-laden pop-country kissoff tune, that the liveness isn’t even an issue. The flourish of strings at the beginning draw you in, the drums tumble over themselves, and if Reacher can’t quite hit the high notes, well, it just serves to nicely undercut his message of “you’ll be dead in no time.” The track ends with a two-minute FX romp that, appropriately, sounds like a drum machine and acoustic guitar slowly expiring. (Click here to buy it from Geoff Reacher’s site.)

Wake Up In The Future

Prototokyo “Underneath The Sheets (Of Time)” – Is this like some kind of Doctor Who slow jam? Is this what centuries-old guys with time machines play when they want to get some action with 19 year old blondes in their TARDIS? (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Whomadewho “Space For Rent” – Please appreciate the fact that it took a great deal of restraint for me not to select the Whomadewho song “Rose” in order to keep up a Doctor Who theme in this entry, thus confusing the hell out of the vast majority of who, who have very likely never seen the excellent current version of the series. Also please enjoy the fact that I did not take the title of this song as an opportunity to whine at length about the difficulty of finding a suitable two bedroom apartment in New York City. (Click here to buy it from Juno.)

Also: Hello, Slate readers. I hope that you enjoyed that post from two years ago that they inexplicably linked to in that article.

Your Taste It Mirrors Mine

Kylie Minogue “Sweet Music” – I must have loved this song for at least a year without ever stopping to notice its lyrics. That fact alone ought to be enough of a recommendation, really. Exhiliration is generally well enough for me when it comes to pop music.

One way or another, I came to notice the words that Kylie was singing, and it became clear to me that this wasn’t just an incredible dance pop track, but also a song about the act of creating an incredible dance pop track. There’s a lot of art made about the creation of art, but in my experience, it normally concerns the emotional and intellectual problems tied in with being an artist (notions of orginality/authenticity, inspiration and/or lack thereof, frustration/experimentation with process, etc.), but very seldom an earnest expression of the joy of creation. There’s certainly a great deal of music made about a love of performing, but that’s arguably a very different thing, even in the case of improvisation.

What’s more is that “Sweet Music” is specifically about the joy of creating in a collaborative relationship. This is somewhat common in hip hop, but not much else as far as I know. The genius of this song is that it captures that rush of enthusiasm, optimism, and confidence that comes from knowing that you’re making great work, as well as the special sort of instinctual semi-telepathy and friendly competition that’s incredibly similar to flirtation and intense sexual attraction.

The conflation of artistic collaboration and the beginning stages of infatuation is no mistake, especially for an artist like Minogue who works within the traditional pop paradigm of working with multiple writers, musicians, and producers rather than the artistic monogamy that is encouraged and idealized in rock music. It’s funny how pop musicians (especially rock stars) are very seldom disparaged for infidelity in their personal lives, but the audience is usually all too eager to punish them for straying from their collaborators, sometimes to the point of villifying an artist who abandons a less desirable or self-sufficient partner in the way that we might turn against the ex of a close friend who has recently been dumped. So it’s not shocking that the most extreme rockists would think of pop stars as being artistic sluts, even if rockism favors the image of sexual freedom and inhibition in presentation. From that point of view, sex and love comes and goes, but loyalty to your artistic/business partners is paramount. It’s a flawed morality, but it’s pragmatic.

It’s worth pointing out that there’s almost nothing in the lyrics of “Sweet Music” that would exclude collaborative monogamy – in fact, the stray line that asserts that what they are doing is “no exotic affair” would seem to support that concept very well. But let’s be real – this is about a non-permanent arrangement, and that’s actually a lot to do with the freshness and the immediacy and the joy of it, not to mention the excitement of not being able to fully anticipate the new partner’s next move. This is a song, after all, with the refrain “I’m looking for that new sensation.” (And I don’t think it’s just a nod to Minogue’s ex-lover Michael Hutchence!) This is a celebration of new sensations, and it’s a romantic, beautiful thing. Perhaps moreso than any other song or piece of art that I’ve ever experienced, this song goes a long way towards explaining why so many artists become (or remain) artists in the first place. It’s definitely a better and more realistic alternative to the old “I must express my angst and pain” model, right? (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

What Was So Scary Once Is Now A Little Bit Quaint

Portion Control Scissor Sisters @ Mercury Lounge 7/27/2005
Laura / Can’t Decide / Hybrid / Tits On The Radio / Cher Baby / Paul McCartney / Magnifique / Other Side / Take Your Mama / Everybody Wants The Same Thing / Mary / Comfortably Numb (w/ Carlos Alomar on lead guitar) / Filthy/Gorgeous // Music Is The Victim

Scissor Sisters “Everybody Wants The Same Thing (Live @ Live 8)” – Have no fear, Scissor Sisters fans – their next album is going to be fabulous. All six of the new songs performed last night were instantly catchy and lovable, especially the jaunty banjo romp “Can’t Decide” and “Everybody Wants The Same Thing,” which received the most rapturous audience response to an unreleased song that I’ve ever witnessed. It was vaguely disconcerting to see the Sisters in such a tiny room after being at their huge homecoming show at the Hammerstein Ballroom last December. All of the songs, especially the new ones, seem designed for big rooms and massive outdoor shows, and their personalities are so much larger than life that it was almost surreal to be so close to them. Before the show, Jake Shears was standing about three feet away from me in pretty normal clothing, which seemed about as weird to me as if someone who I saw every day suddenly started dressing like…well, Jake Shears! (Fun fact: Jake announced that his father made the leather pants that he was wearing. That’s one supportive dad!) (Click here for the official Scissor Sisters website.)

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah @ Mercury Lounge 7/27/2005
Graceful Retreat / Is This Love / Cigarettes / Yellow Teeth / Over And Over Again (Lost And Found) / In This Home On Ice / Details On The War / Satan / Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood [This is taken from the setlist that was on the stage – the unreleased songs may have longer titles, and the order could possibly be different from what was actually played.]

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah “Is This Love?” – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah didn’t seem quite right coming between the stylish, high energy disco pop sets by Maxi Geil and the Scissor Sisters, but outside of that context, they played a fine if not particularly memorable set of songs that recalled at various points David Byrne, Jonathan Richman, Violent Femmes, and all manner of indie pop from Elephant Six to 80s New Zealand to present-day Pacific Northwest but mainly sounded like the Arcade Fire crossbred with The Shins. (Not such a shock that they would catch on so quickly given that math, right?) At their best, they have a knack for quietly likeable pop ideal for mix tapes and riding around in cars on sunny afternoons, so it’s hard to question their sudden success since that’s half of what the indie audience is looking for to begin with. (Click here to buy it from Insound.)

Maxi Geil & Playcolt @ Mercury Lounge 7/27/2005
Here Comes Maxi / Teenage Extreme / That’s How The Story Goes / Paying For Something New / Sunday Morning / Artist’s Lament / The Love I Lose / Makin’ Love In The Sunshine / Please Remember Me

Maxi Geil & Playcolt “Makin’ Love In The Sunshine” – This set started off a bit wobbly, but Maxi and the band fell into place about halfway through “That’s How The Story Goes” and kept it up though the set until the climactic disco showstopper “Makin’ Love In The Sunshine,” which has quickly become my new favorite song in their catalog. Unfortunately for the band, the superenthusiastic crew of buff gay dudes who danced nonstop through the Scissor Sisters show and the DJ set immediately before it had not showed up yet. I’m sure those guys would’ve been way into this set.

But oh man, “Makin’ Love In The Sunshine” – seriously, if this song doesn’t make you all love them, I just don’t know what is wrong with you. How do you resist this? How do you not love a song with a verse like this:

This kind of love is like Das Kapital
I often quote it, know who wrote it, never read it all.
This kind of love is like the Red Brigade
What was so scary once is now a little bit quaint.
This kind of love is like the SLA
It took a debutante to make me want to move its way.
This kind of love is like a guillotine
I just lost my head to a cause greater than me.

This track is going to be out on a limited edition vinyl picture disc with “That’s How The Story Goes” sometime in the next couple months. Keep an eye on the Maxi Geil site if you want to buy a copy. (Click here to visit the Maxi Geil website)

You’re Gonna Know Me For The Rest Of Your Life

Kudu “Physical World” – Ah, it’s too bad Missy Elliott just put out a record with speakeasy imagery on the cover – that concept would’ve been more appropriate for a hypothetical single for this song. (Maybe I’m being too literal, though.) The Kudu album yields consistently strong results in spite (or because) of their restless style hopping, but their singer never seems quite as comfortable and in full command of her voice and persona as on this cabaret/jazz vocal/r&b/electronic mut. (Click here to visit the official Kudu site.)

While I was out yesterday, I saw a teenager wearing what I believe might be the saddest rock band t-shirt that I’ve ever seen. Here’s the front of it:

Now, I’m not trying to rag on Everclear here. I don’t hate them (in fact, I quite like at least six or seven of their songs), and the near total lack of coolness of that band really isn’t that much of a factor in why I find this shirt so sad and desperate. (If that was the case, I’d surely be mocking a Candlebox or Seven Mary Three t-shirt instead.) The “disco still sucks” thing is the most obvious problem here – judging by the tour dates on the back of the shirt, this was made in 2000, placing it about 20 years after the point when the whole “disco sucks” thing was relevant. It just seems like a pitiful last gasp of a lifelong rockist who is totally out of it, hung up on ridiculous old grudges, and oblivious to the fact that the record the shirt is ostensibly promoting actually sorta flirts with disco-ish pop on a few tracks. But on the other hand, Everclear may be doing the public at large a favor by helpfully marking out clueless rockist (potentially homophobic/racist/sexist) turbodouches in a crowd, so that we can all avoid their company.

And then there’s the sad happy face. Is there any better way to force the impression that you’re a cut-rate Walmart version of Nirvana than by putting a half-assed generic variation of their iconic, highly ubiquitous stoned happy face logo on your band’s t-shirt?

The back of the t-shirt is arguably more depressing than the front, with a long Mother 13-esque tour itinerary comprised entirely of radio festivals. I did not infer that these were radio festivals just from a quick glance, mind you. It says that it’s a radio festival tour, right there in big bold letters. Now I guess it’s admirable in a way that Everclear is unashamed and unpretentious about sucking up to corporate radio on a full-time basis (after all, it is/was their bread and butter), but um, maybe they should at least be a little more discreet about it! There’s really only two ways of reading that itinerary – 1) Everclear is a band desperate to stay in the good graces of Clearchannel et al and will do anything to keep their music in rotation 2) Everclear is a band so beaten down by the commercial process that they just don’t care at all what anyone thinks of them. It’s a little bit of both, I’m sure, but I can’t help but suspect that it was born mainly out of resignation.

I Want To Look Into Your Future

Morningwood “Nth Degree” – Oh my God, it’s the audio equivalent of Skittles! The chanting-out-the-letters-of-their-name bit in the middle is probably better suited to live performances, but I suppose they could just be legitimately concerned about journalists getting the name right, being a new band and all. (Click here for the official Morningwood site.)

Clor “Magic Touch” – This song teeters right on the edge of confidence and insecurity, but ultimately errs on the side of self-assurance, but how could it not with a refrain like “you’ll come alive with my magic touch”? Nice synth squiggles too, by the way. I’m pretty sure that this song reminds me of some obscure Prince song, but it’s a vague feeling and I really can’t place it. (Click here to buy it from Amazon UK.)

Lost In The Cracks Between The Paving Stones

Jenny Wilson “Love Ain’t Just A Four Letter Word” – I can’t tell you how many times I listened to this song before I figured out why it seemed so familiar to me, despite being rather distinct in its oddball Swedish cabaret-pop style. On the surface, it would seem very Kate Bush, but if you just listen to the melodies and the vocal tics and the shifts in structure, it becomes quite clear that this isn’t very far removed from Sleater-Kinney’s The Hot Rock. That would explain the way the chorus cuts right into my heart very well – really, I’m just a sucker for these kinds of melodies and progressions, and my sentimentality for that particular Sleater-Kinney record only intensifies a reaction that could just be instictive for me. But if you hate Sleater-Kinney, don’t be put off – I’m sure many people will think I’m crazy for making the connection in the first place. (Click here to visit the official Jenny Wilson website.)

David Wrench “Sodium Lights” – I love living in a world where there are actually Welsh albino synthpop stars. Many of you will remember David Wrench for his song “World War IV,” which I believe to be one of the finest songs ever to be featured on this site. “Sodium Lights” does not quite reach those giddy heights, but it has a grand romantic sweep that is difficult to resist and a chorus that will likely take up residence in the back of your mind for weeks to come. (Click here to buy it from Amazon UK.)

The Stars Would Be Their Own

Fannypack “Nu Nu (Yeah Yeah) (Double J and Haze UK Edit) – We’ve still got a month and a half of summer left, right? It’s not too late for this to be the summer jam that it deserves to be. I mean, it’d be great if this was a hit (mainstream, cult, or otherwise) at any time, but let’s face it – this song is meant for the summer. Especially the sticky, kinda gross parts of the season that everyone but me seems to loves so much. This track is a thing of perfect pop beauty, as relentlessly hooky as The New Pornographers at their sugary best, or more accurately, like a superconcentrated dosage of early Salt N Pepa. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Helen Love “Debbie Loves Joey” – Awww. So sweet! If Helen Love is the ultimate British twee indie pop band (and I believe that they are), then this must be the ultimate Helen Love song; the one that sums up their aesthetic so perfectly that you can figure out whether or not you’d like, love, or hate the rest of their catalog based on hearing this one track. Amazingly (and luckily, I suppose), this is the very first Helen Love single to be released domestically in the US. (Click here to buy it from Scratch Records.)

This Is The Pressure That Competes To Keep My Soul Alive

Drink Me “Manifesto” – You all can have a ball annotating the bits in this composition lifted from other songs in the comments box. The funniest thing about this track is that one of the bands Drink Me are obviously knicking is Elastica, who built their career with the same sort of magpie songwriting tactics and cool-girl sass. If the bubbly disco beat and sexy vocals aren’t enough to sell this song, lyrics detailing dreams involving gossiping with Robert Smith in mundane settings and some vague talk about a manifesto ought to do the trick. (Click here to buy it from Piccadilly Records.)

Avenue D “You Love This Ass (Pete Loves This Acid mix)” – Sticking with EPs, singles, and guest spots on other people’s records has been a good career move for Avenue D, whether it is intentional or not. For one thing, a little bit of their hipster booty music shtick goes a long way – a full record of them would be very overwhelming, and inviting numbness and boredom is sort of antithetical to what they’re all about. It’d be nice to see them get a bit of credit for being quality songwriters, but lord knows those sort of accolades are rarely bestowed upon anyone who writes fun novelty dance pop songs about loving asses. (Click here to buy it from Juno.)

You’re In A Sleepless Dream

Annie and the Anniemals “The Wedding (Sirius Satellite Radio Session)” – This new unreleased song was recorded in NYC right around the time Annie and her band were in town for their show at the Tribeca Grand. “The Wedding” bodes well for Annie’s eventual second album, boasting a bouncy and immediately catchy synth funk track that sounds like early Tom Tom Club or mid-period Talking Heads, and coy, spunky vocals reminiscent of Cristina on Sleep It Off in place of the wispiness that characterized most of Anniemal. (Click here for the official Annie site.)

Broadcast “Goodbye Girls” – Following a fairly radical downsizing of the band’s membership, Trish Keenan and James Cargill continue on with the Broadcast name as a duo on the forthcoming Tender Buttons LP. The personality of the band remains intact, though the ponderous percussion and baroque sci-fi orchestration of The Noise Made By People has been jettisoned in favor of stark, streamlined electronic arrangements which ironically radiate more warmth and humanity than their more organic (and far fussier) recordings. I don’t think that I would have gleaned that “Goodbye Girls” is about prostitution just by listening to it, but according to Keenan, the song is about making peace with the idea of prostitution, and the fact that there are prostitutes in her family. It’s not a particularly positive or negative song, but rather one which acknowledges and respects the social and emotional complexity of the world’s oldest profession. (Click here to pre-order it from Amazon.)

Tying You Is Fine And Whipping You Is Grand

This is the second in a series of posts dedicated to revisiting songs that were staples of my old mix tapes and cds circa 1996-2001.

Millie Jackson “It Hurts So Good” – I never kept any records so I don’t know for certain, but I find it hard to imagine that any other song appeared on as many of my various tapes and cds as this sexy ode to masochistic love. I originally acquired the track on a free soul compilation that came with some British magazine circa early 1998. This song usually came in somewhere in the middle of side a, and I seem to remember that it frequently came after “Seeing Other People” by Belle & Sebastian. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

United States of America “I Won’t Leave My Wooden Wife For You, Sugar” – Oh, so classic! I bought the United States of America album on import at Other Music during my “getting to know the canon” phase, and it was worth every penny just for this jaunty little number about a selfish, hypocritical man dismissing his college-aged BDSM partner and embracing the suburban lifestyle with his wife and kids. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Oh Yeah, Captain Fudge and the Fantasies

Amy sings with Prince for Caroline – This is a found recording of a girl named Amy singing along with Prince’s “Kiss” at the start of a mix cd that she made for her girlfriend Caroline. Amy makes flirtatious comments throughout the track ranging from cryptic in-jokes and adorable come-ons to possessive (and very pushy) declarations of love. It’s a fascinating document of a person putting their heart on the line, and the most devastating thing about it is that it’s hard to imagine Caroline not being put off by Amy’s earnest intensity. When Amy says “you’ve got to love me, Caroline, because I love you so much, and you will never love me as much as I love you” on the bridge, I can’t help but feel that it was probably a very accurate assessment of their relationship. I hope for Amy’s sake that I am wrong! (Many thanks to WFMU’s The Professor for acquiring this track and broadcasting it on The Audio Kitchen.)

Pitchfork’s Intonation Music Festival ought to become the new template for outdoor multi-band shows in the United States. The park was set up very well, and ideal for a show of this size. The prices, even for concessions, were entirely reasonable. The audience was mellow and low key, but definitely put forth a huge amount of enthusiasm when the artists called for it. Everything ran smoothly, and everyone seemed comfortable and happy even in spite of some rather intense heat. The most encouraging thing about the festival is that it proves that a line up of artists who are either relatively unknown or smallish cult acts can be commercially successful and draw a few thousand people. Sure, a lot of it has to do with the Pitchfork brand name and that it happened in Chicago, but it’s a very positive thing no matter what.

The M’s – Amiable indie rock, probably didn’t get as much attention from me as they deserved. 6.3

AC Newman – It was great to hear all of those songs from The Slow Wonder played live, especially “Secretarial,” “The Town Halo,” and “On The Table,” which was actually played twice in a row at the beginning because Newman’s guitar was out of tune the first time. He also played a very good Tall Dwarfs song that I only kinda knew and can’t remember the title of – it’s the one with the line “I want to screw you” in the chorus. 8.7

Magnolia Electric Company – Not very compelling but a fine soundtrack for sitting in the shade and chatting. 4.9

Four Tet – Pretty good, even if it got to be a little much towards the end. Not much to look at, but it worked pretty well if you were on the other side of the park waiting on line for concessions, as I was at the time. 6.5

Broken Social Scene – I didn’t watch this, but listened to it in the shade near the other stage while waiting for the Go! Team. It was okay. 5.2

The Go! Team – So much fun! The audience loved them, and they seemed to be having a great time. The lead vocalist is extremely charming and charismatic, especially when she was dancing with all the little black kids (who had previously been dancing to Four Tet by the public pool adjacent to the park) they brought on stage at the end for “Ladyflash.” They played a few brand new songs, and they were just as good, if not better, than the songs from the first album. 9.3

Prefuse 73 – What I heard sounded pretty good, but I left during this set. 6.0

Dungen – They are much better live than on album. Stoner psychedelia always goes over well in the early afternoon at an outdoor festival. The bass player was particularly good, both in terms of playing, and in stage presence. 7.3

Out Hud – Oh. My. God. Out Hud were incredible. They only played five songs and skipped my favorite (“It’s For You”), but it didn’t matter, they were so on, and got a huge number of people to dance nonstop in the punishing midday sun. I can’t believe I’ve never bothered to see them play before. I need to do it again sometime soon. Wow. 9.5

The Hold Steady – Very enjoyable for about 15 minutes, and then I walked away and met up with some friends. 6.4

Andrew Bird – This was sort of ideal for sitting in the shade and taking it easy in the middle of the day. Very beautiful at times; I’m going to have to listen to the album again. 6.5

Deerhoof – I had intended to get closer to Deerhoof, but never got around to it. It sounded okay from across the park, but nothing really amazing. 5.6

The Wrens – I just thought they were alright. Apparently the front section for their show was packed full of superenthusiastic Wrens fans. Well, good for them. 5.1

Les Savy Fav – I’d always been okay with Les Savy Fav, but hadn’t ever bothered to see them. What a mistake. This set was intense, and I had a perfect spot for it, right on the line so I could view Tim Harrington’s over the top antics on stage as well as watch the front of the crowd sing along and flip out to every single song in the show. Harrington was an amazing thing to see, starting off in red short shorts and a tank top and eventually stripping down to a speedo and sneakers; making out with people that he brought on stage; setting up a slip n’ slide in the audience halfway through the show; getting a huge number of people in the crowd to squat down and make guttural noises through the middle of “She Believes You;” leading one of the most incredible call and response breakdowns I’ve ever witnessed in “ROME,” and dancing with a crazy Napoleon Dynamite-looking dude who got up on stage towards the end. I’m still overwhelmed by this show. Easily one of the best punk shows I’ve ever seen, and probably ever will see. 9.5

The Decemberists – I think I get the Decemberists thing a lot more live than on record. Their albums are so mannered and mellow compared to their performance, which is very driven by audience participation and silly stage antics. Very fun, even though they did not play “The Engine Driver.” 7.6

Watch The Skies: My Star Keeps Glowing Brighter

Rinôçérôse “Bitch” – I spend a lot of time searching for music, and I don’t always know what I’m looking for. I think that I do a pretty good job of keeping the quality control pretty tight on this site, but lately I’ve been feeling like I haven’t been getting many new pop songs that have that certain spark that I want need. This song doesn’t just have sparks – this is more like fireworks. Like, the grand finale on the 4th of July. Times ten! The vocals are wonderfully androgynous, but there’s nothing ambiguous about the song’s raw sexuality. The hooks are huge and relentless, as though the music was created in a lab for maximum pop power. Frankly, I’m in awe of it. This is unquestionably one of the best singles of 2005. (Click here to visit the official Rinôçérôse site.)

Special bonus: Stream the JD Twitch/Optimo remix of “Bitch.”

Gene Serene & John Downfall “U Want Me” – Those of you who read the comments box yesterday already know, but the bad news is that Louise de Fraine aka Gene Serene was hit head-on by a taxi in Berlin a few weeks ago. Luckily, she is in stable condition and is recovering nicely, and will hopefully be back to her pop antics before too long. Louise has an amazing voice for dance pop; it just overflows with sexual confidence and coy flirtatiousness, but it’s not without a subtle undertow of humanity and vulnerability. Her discography is very small at the moment, but as far as I’m concerned she has already recorded four all-out classics including this song, which has yet to be released commercially. (Click here for the official Gene Serene website.)