Another Form of Relief

Our monthly look at the interesting songs that I was too lazy to write about! I’ve just been watching more episodes from the second season of Everwood, so I’m writing this with the feeling of general malaise that always strikes after that. Fun!

MP3 Matthew Friedberger - The Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company Resignation Letter
I don’t really get the Fiery Furnaces. I explored them after the high Pitchfork scores (yeah, I’m one of those people) but they never really clicked for me. A few songs did, like ‘Chris Michaels’, but on the most part, I don’t really care for them. Thus getting a Matthew Friedberger mp3 in my inbox wasn’t the most exciting of arrivals. I have to admit that I kind of like it though. It’s a little random and makes pretty much no sense, but it sounds jolly enough and Friedberger seems to have a vocal delivery thing going on that’s just this side of Blake Sennett. I don’t know if it’s enough to make me check out his album in itself, but if I heard another couple of songs like this, I might give it a shot.

MP3 Birdmonster - Cause You Can
I have absoluetly no idea who Birdmonster are, other than parts of the “blogosphere” (eugh) are trumping them as the next big thing. Whether that’s accurate or not isn’t for me to say, but I really like this song. It’s not groundbreakingly original, but it’s a solid, driven guitar song that has some fantastically urgent vocals.

MP3 The Idyllists - Chloe (expired)
Another song that isn’t original in the least, but it still manages to sound good. The Idyllists are a new band from LA that have been listening to way too much British rock. To be fair to them, their lead singer is actually British and their handful of live shows have included opening for The Subways. I don’t know how much we’ll be hearing from them in the future, but this one song is kind of fun, so I’m willing to go with it.

MP3 Weird Al Yankovic - Don’t Download This Song
Wow, I never imagined that I’d be putting a Weird Al song up on here. To be clear, this isn’t because I think the song is good at all. In fact, it’s pretty damn awful, but it’s somewhat interesting at least. I can only think of less than a handful of songs that have tackled the issue of downloading the RIAA directly, so it’s kind of welcome in that regard. It always makes a broadly accurate point that the whole music industry is ridiculous to chase customers for downloading. It even manages a nice bit of social commentary in mocking the way society seems to think one crime leads to another (”‘Cause you start out stealing songs and then you’re robbing liquor stores”). The downside to all of this is that it just sounds so badly outdated. Even if you look beyond the fact the song sounds like it’s from twenty years ago, the references (Lars Ulrich?) sound like someone who doesn’t really know what they are talking about. I mean, does anyone still use Morpheus or Grokster?

I’m a latecomer to The Decemberists party. I only really discovered them a fair bit after the buzz that surrounded their previous album, ‘Picaresque’. Since then, I’ve got into that album and a few other songs, but they’ve never excited me enough to try and find more of their albums. I don’t know why this is; I know that there is certainly nothing wrong with The Decemberists and their songs, and they should be a band I absolutely adore, but for some reason I just don’t.

Anyway, last year they created a small stir by signing with major label Capitol Records, leaving a bunch of fans eager to hear whether their sound has been reduced to a shadow of it’s former self. While this is what sadly happened to Death Cab For Cutie with the release of ‘Plans’, the change in environment seemingly hasn’t changed The Decemberists at all. If you’re familiar with the dodgier parts of the internet, you’ll probably know that The Decemberists’ upcoming album, ‘The Crane Wife’, is now “available”. Despite my previous reservations about the band, this has quickly become one of my favourite releases that I’ve heard this year. For those of you worried about a potential dumbing down, the standard eccentricities are here, to the point of multi-part songs (the album opens with ‘The Crane Wife 3′ - parts 1 and 2 come later) and two songs that are in excess of eleven minutes.

Today, the first “official” free download was made available when ‘Summersong’ from the upcoming album was offered up on Pitchfork. Seeing as it’s been up there all day, I imagine all of you have already got it, but if you’re one of the three readers of my blog who doesn’t read Pitchfork, feel free to enjoy the song below. It’s not my favourite song from the album (’O Valencia’ wins that by a mile’), but it’s the one I’m less likely to get sued for posting. If you’re familiar with The Decemberists, there won’t be anything massively new and exciting here. If you’re not, it’s probably one of their most accessible songs yet, a nice little indie folk number that still manages to be full of lyrical eccentricities. At the very least, it should be curious to make you want to seek out more from the album.

MP3 The Decemberists - Summersong (expired)

‘The Crane Wife’ is released on October 3 on Capitol Records.

The Decemberists: Website || Myspace

Here I was thinking I’d be falling back on them every week.

It’s been a slow week here at Another Form of Relief, mostly because I’ve spent much of it working in London, which combined with the commute, severely limits my time and energy levels. Everything is back to normal now though a regular blogging schedule should once again resume.

MP3 Ted Leo - Since U Been Gone (expired) (Kelly Clarkson)
There seems to be a lot of appreciation for the regular kind of pop music lately, and Kelly Clarkson seems to be at the forefront of this. Call me a jaded indie kid but I don’t get it all. It’s just generic pop music. Pretty shitty generic pop music at that. A strong singing voice in itself doesn’t equate to good music. This will just have to be one of those things that remains a mystery to me though. I don’t know whether Ted Leo was trying to be ironic or not in covering this one, but somehow it comes off rather well. Granted his high notes seem a little too high at times, but the rest of it all works well, from the powerful acoustic guitar through to the song suddenly diverting into a cover of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ ‘Maps’ halfway through. That you can move from Kelly Clarkson into The Yeah Yeah Yeahs so easily is more than just a little disturbing.

MP3 The Bens - I Touch Myself (live) (expired) (The Divinyls)
For those unfamiliar, The Bens is a supergroup consisting of Ben Folds, Ben Kweller and Ben Lee. They released one EP back in 2004 and toured together a little, but that was it. This is something of a shame as they were actually really good. This cover is taken from a show in Sydney that was recorded for radio. For the most part it’s Folds and Lee playing off of each other, although Kweller does make it into the song at the end. This is the weekly cover where I’m not familiar with the original, so I can’t really tell you how it compares, but it somehow manages to be the perfect kind of song for these guys. A tad juvenile? Of course. A hell of a lot of fun? Most certainly.

MP3 Nada Surf - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (expired) (The Smiths)
Much as I can respect the influence that The Smiths have had over music as a whole, I’ve never really liked them very much. There’s nothing wrong with their music at all and the songs are good, but I’ve never found myself actually wanting to listen to The Smith, or Morrissey for that matter. That said, there are a handful of Smiths songs that I enjoy, and ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’ is one of them. It also seems to be the most covered Smiths song, although most of them sound pretty awful. There’s a version by The Lucksmiths that I like though, even if it’s almost a note perfect copy of the original, and there’s this one by Nada Surf. I really like Nada Surf, even if their music sometimes wanders into the middle of the road. I’m not sure where this recording comes from, although from the quality I’d hazard a guess it’s from a live radio performance or something. Obviously if anyone can clarify where it does come from, the comment box is waiting below. As for the song itself, Matthew Caws doesn’t have the vocal power of Morrissey, but it doesn’t really matter with a song like this. Caws delivers the song as if he is incredibly weary and just wants to rest. He’s backed up by a nicely restrained guitar and some strings that soar, but never overwealm the other elements of the song. It’s not perfect, and the start seems a little bland, but once it gets going, it’s far better than it really has any right to be.

I’m working in London this week, so posts will be briefer than usual I’m afraid.

Back at the start of June I talked about how I didn’t really like many female singer-songwriters. Since then, I seem to keep finding ones that I’m enjoying. A couple of months ago we had Ruth Theodore, then the constantly referenced Kate Nash, and now we have the similarly named but differently sounding Kate Walsh.

Walsh is from Brighton, cites Rufus Wainwright, Ben Kweller and Kathleen Edwards among her influences and already has an entire album over her belt, entitled ‘Clocktower Park’. She’s also only 20 years old, which I point out merely because it scares the hell out of me when I’m a fair bit older than the people with the talent. Anyway, her songs are the deceptively simple; usually just Walsh and a guitar, but there’s a greater depth here than seems initially obvious. I didn’t think all that much of these songs at the start, but a few plays later and they are firmly planted in my head.

MP3 Kate Walsh - Your Song (expired)
MP3 Kate Walsh - Talk Of The Town (expired)
MP3 Kate Walsh - Don’t Break My Heart (expired)
MP3 Kate Walsh - French Song (expired)

Kate Walsh: Website || Myspace

Regular readers of this blog will know that I don’t talk about local music very often. Part of this is because I like to write about bands that genuinely excite me, and only a handful can manage that. The larger part of this though is that I’m just not really familiar with the local scene. I’ve been trying to rectify this of late, partly out of necessity as I want to try and get into live music promotion in the area. Anyway, you may remember a few months ago when I went to see Kate Nash, I ended up catching a local band called Quadmyre who I rather liked the sound of. A few weeks ago the band let me know that they would be playing a set at Bluewater as part of a several day music event that would be happening there.

Now for those of you unfamiliar with the area, Bluewater is a large shopping centre. In fact, I think it may be the largest in Europe, but don’t quote me on that. My point is that it’s hardly the place to hold a music festival type thing. As the weeks went on, I could find absolutely nothing on the net about the event, and even people who should have known about it had no clue. Put simply, this was the most poorly advertised event that I have ever heard of. There was absolutely nothing in the way of promotion for it. When I got the place on the day, I had no idea where to go, and only after wandering around for a bit did I find a stage outside of the food court with some kid belting out cover versions. That’s the kind of event that this was. He was quickly followed by an Elvis impersonator, which was about the time I decided to go and look around the shops for a while. I headed back outside just before Quadmyre were due on to find a small crowd and the band setting up, and everything seemed to be going well enough. That’s until it started pouring with rain just as the band started, sending a lot of the crowd heading for cover and making the few remaining die-hards take refuge in the tent, which was helpfully set up a long way back from the stage as the picture demonstrates.

As for Quadmyre themselves, they played an excellent set despite these setbacks. This was the first time I’d seen them play a complete set. Well, that’s actually a lie. I saw the whole set at the Beacon Court show, I just wasn’t really paying attention until they won me over about halfway through. They had a 45 minute slot, and made full use of it, getting through a ton of songs of varying sounds, from 60s styled pop numbers to ballads to a fantastic closer called (I think) ‘Quadyssey’ that was full on rock opera. Looking into the band, it seems that they only starting playing together last year and yet they already sound great together and have a ton of fully prepared songs. The guitars play wonderfully off of each other, and the band harmonises perfectly behind lead singer Greg’s impressive vocals. They didn’t play either of the songs that are available below at the Bluewater show, but these are the ones that are available online for your enjoyment.

MP3 Quadmyre - Free Thing (expired)
MP3 Quadmyre - Night Out (expired)

Quadmyre will be playing this Sunday at the Beacon Court Tavern in Gillingham. Other bands playing are Mary’s Dog and The Anasazi. Doors open at 7:30pm, £3 entry, which goes to charity.

Quadmyre: Website || Myspace

Boy, someone has sure been drinking their Pavement juice. While The Light Footwork’s album from earlier this year, ‘One State Two State’ featured a bunch of Pavement and Malkmus influences, it was also heavily coated in other weird and wacky pop like that of Beulah. ‘Melville’ sounds like something that wouldn’t have seemed out of place on ‘Crooked Rain Crooked Rain’ or ‘Wowee Zowee’ though.

I lost count of how many times the pace of this song jumps from slow to fast or there’s a key change. It’s continually surprising through all of it’s five minute running time. The vocals are all over the place too, moving from restrained one minute to urgent the next. It doesn’t make a great deal of sense as a song, but since when has that ever mattered? It sounds good and is a lot of fun to listen to, and it’s nice to see bands not afraid to throw a little insanity into the proceedings.

If you’re still not familiar with The Light Footwork, you’re really missing out on something special. ‘One State Two State’ has proved to be one of the finest albums from this year, and with new songs like this, it looks as if that was no fluke. It’s baffling to me how these guys don’t have a proper record deal by now, but that’s the crazy nature of the industry I guess.

MP3 The Light Footwork - Melville (expired)

The Light Footwork have also released a video for ‘The Art Of Everyday Communication Part 1′, the best song on ‘One State Two State’. You can watch it here on Youtube.

The Light Footwork: Website || Myspace || AFoR Interview

Up until the last few months, I hated remixes. I don’t say that lightly either. I really, genuinely despised them. It’s hard for me to equate that feeling into words, but it was something to do with the destruction of an original work. I know that remixes are usually done with the consent of the original artist, but it always just seemed wrong to me. Kind of like another director re-editing someone else’s film. Recently though, something has changed, and I don’t know what. I started getting hold of remixes of songs I already liked, and while disliking a lot of them, some of them were actually pretty good. Whether this is to do with an increasing tolerance for varied works or my growing appreciation for all things electronic (which most remixes seem to meddle in) I don’t know. I just know that I’m getting a kick out of a lot of remixes lately. So much so that I decided to make a little mix of some of my favourites.

This was largely inspired by picking up the remixes of Of Montreal (hat tip) and The Diggs (hat tip) in the past few days. They got me thinking that there is probably enough of them that I like now to make a little mix of some kind, so I started playing around with the idea. I’m pretty happy with the results. It even includes one remix of a song I don’t even like. I really can’t stand Bloc Party (beyond Helicopter), so it’s a testament to the skills of MSTRKRFT that this version of ‘Two More Years’ is fantastic. You’ll find a bunch of electronic trickery here, and probably some things that will be considered blasphemy by some, but it’s an interesting ride nonetheless.

MP3 Bloc Party - Two More Years (MSTRKRFT remix) (expired)
MP3 Arab Strap - The Shy Retirer (Dirty Hospital remix) (expired)
MP3 Her Space Holiday - Something To Do With My Hands (Arab Strap remix) (expired)
MP3 Bright Eyes - Gold Mine Gutted (Her Space Holiday mix) (expired)
MP3 Beck - Girl (Octet remix) (expired)
MP3 Feist - Mushaboom (Postal Service remix) (expired)
MP3 The Postal Service - Nothing Better (Styrofoam remix) (expired)
MP3 Of Montreal - The Party’s Crashing Us (I Am The World Trade Center mix) (expired)
MP3 The Diggs - Everyone’s Starting Over (Cassettes Won’t Listen remix) (expired)
MP3 Tom Vek - I Ain’t Say My Goodbyes (Phones 12″ remix) (expired)

Other Stuff

The Los Campesinos! gig in London next month (Sep 11, Water Rats) seems to have grown into something much bigger than originally intended. It’s moved from Nambucca to the more central Water Rats and now features a four band line-up, featuring Los Campesinos!, The Hot Puppies, Julian Donkey Boy and The Royal Treatment Plant. It’s also gone up in price to £5. A bargain in itself, but even better for those of us who already had tickets beforehand.

I haven’t pimped this in a while, so it’s time to mention eMusic’s fantastic offer of 25 free mp3s, and this time I even have an excuse! eMusic have just launched their UK service, selling download packages for silly prices, from £9 for 40 downloads per month up to £15 for 90. Which is damn cheap compared to things like iTunes and the such. If I regularly used any kind of download service, eMusic would be it for me. Take the free trial and have a look around at least. Don’t forget that Audio Lunchbox are still offering 50 free mp3s as well.

Anyone who knows me in person will know that I wear Threadless t-shirts pretty much exclusively these days. Well folks, you too can look as cool as me, as they are doing another one of their awesome $10 sales. It runs until monday but I imagine the best shirts will sell out quickly, so get yourself over there and have a look around.

Finally, in relatively local news: Does anyone know anything about the music festivities type things that are supposed to be happening at Bluewater this sunday? The only thing I know is that the good folks of Quadmyre are playing there a couple of times during the day and that it’s supposed to be some kind of music festival, but I can’t find out details out about it anywhere. So on the off-chance that you’re local and have any idea what’s going on, let me know.

A band like The Bicycles are going to be far too twee for a lot of people. To sort out which side you fall into, do you think ‘The Good, The Bad and The Cuddly’ is a great or terrible title for an album? If you think it actually sounds pretty good, you’re probably going to like the music too.

The Bicycles are four guys and a girl from Toronto who pay homage to “the bubblegum popstars of yesteryear” like The Kinks and Brian Wilson. For those of you who enjoy more modern comparisons, we’re looking at somewhere halfway through the Of Montral back catalog. There’s the flashes of insanity that made their early albums a lot of fun, and the songwriting and polish that shines through on their newer works. We’re talking about lots of handclaps, a tamborine and a ton of 60s flavoured melodies. Music doesn’t really come in a much more fun form than this.

It seems that The Bicycles have built up quite the following in Canada from their live shows, performing with Feist, The Constantines and the aforementioned Of Montreal. Their shows also sound like a lot of fun, making use of “matching outfits, lifesize cut-outs, amusing banter, and choreographed hi-fives”, which I think you’ll all agree are missing from far too many shows these days.

MP3 The Bicycles - Gotta Get Out
MP3 The Bicycles - Paris Be Mine
MP3 The Bicycles - I Know We Have To Be Apart

The Bicycles: Website || Myspace

Think writing a music blog is easy? That all you do is get great new music sent to you which you can then write about? Sadly, it’s nothing like that. Writing about music involves having to deal with people like Clell Tickle: Indie Marketing Guru.

If you enjoyed that, you may also like other Aziz Ansari short videos: Indie Clerk Assholes and Shittiest Mixtape Boombox Blast.

It seems that Cardiff of all places is the happening place for new music right now. Following on from the awesomeness of Los Campesinos! (who I’ll be seeing next month, yay!), I now present Yossarian for your listening pleasure. Yossarian are “four boys, some songs and some hopes”, which is a rather nice description for a band. As for their sound, you’ll find elements of Pavement and Interpol in here musically, and vocally, singer David Smith sounds remarkably like Alan Donahue of The Rakes.

Below you’ll find two songs from their new demo CD, which is far better than you’d expect from the word demo. Rather than sounding rough around the edges, this is a band that is confident in it’s sound, each song more developed than those of a lot of major label bands. ‘Invincible’ is one of the best songs I’ve heard in a long time, a wonderful stream of consciousness ramble of spending a saturday lounging around the house. It’s so gleefully mundane (”Fancy a cup of tea? / Fuck, we’ve got no milk / Ben, d’you fancy going down the shop?”) that it’s pretty impossible not to relate to it.

MP3 Yossarian - Invincible (expired)
MP3 Yossarian - Indie Disco (expired)

You can download the other two songs from their current CD on their Myspace, and best of all, if you send them your address, they will happily send you a copy on CD! You can’t really say fairer than that.

Yossarian: Website || Myspace