Her name is Merrill Garbus and she is tUnE-yArDs and she’s brilliant. She does the amazing looping-herself thing when she plays live, like Andrew Bird and Juana Molina. I recommend listening to her album BiRd-BrAinS right now!
I just got my hands on a ton of new music. Of course I haven’t had time to listen to it all. I’m working my way through it, but I’ve been sidetracked listening to the Clues album a lot. I’m really excited to hear the 2 new Mountain Goats (one is a bonus disc, but they’re both both bible themed) and the new Built to Spill album. Karen O does a version of Daniel Johnston’s “worried shoes” that I love on the Where the Wild Things are soundtrack. Interesting that the Arcade Fire song from the movie trailer isn’t even on the soundtrack. I’m including links to download the albums, which can mostly be found on flamingmilk.blogspot.com and oursociety.tsururadio.com
Flaming Lips – Embryonic
Built To Spill – There Is No Enemy (indie guitar rock)
Karen O and the Kids – Where The Wild Things Are Soundtrack (Karen from Yeah Yeah Yeah’s)
The Mountain Goats – The Life Of The World To Come
The Mountain Goats – The Life of the World in Flux
Alec Ounsworth – Mo Beauty (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah singer)
Neon Indian – Psychic Chasms (trendy electronica stuff)
Thomas Function – In The Valley Of Sickness
Daniel Johnston – Is And Always Was
Memory Tapes – Seek Magic
The Almighty Defenders – S/T (Black Lips & King Khan side project)
New Moon Soundtrack (Twilight is lame, but it’s got Grizzly Bear, Thom Yorke, Bon Iver)
Old Canes – Feral Harmonic (Appleseed Cast side project)
Former Ghosts – Fleurs (New Xiu Xiu project)
Ben Gibbard & Jay Farrar – One Fast Move (Death Cab guy and Uncle Tupelo guy)
The Swell Season – Strict Joy (The couple from the movie Once?)
Flashy Python – Skin & Bones (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah side project)
Sharing some songs from bands I recently discovered:
Clues (As a big fan of the Montreal group Unicorns, I really should have been more on top of this one. I downloaded a couple Clues tracks a few months ago without realizing that it’s Alden Penner’s (Unicorns) new band. I subsequently got the rest of their s/t debut album. Anyways, shuffle a playlist with these songs and some tracks by Islands, and you’ve got another Unicorns album, though more grown up.
[Clues - Approach the Throne] mp3
[Clues - Ledmonton] mp3
Micachu & The Shapes (All I know is that these kids are like 21 and British. But really unique/happy/catchy)
[Micachu - Golden Phone] mp3
Chris Garneau (Sounds a little like Sufjan Stevens, with a soft voice and orchestral sounds. To me, this is a good thing since Sufjan hasn’t released anything in a while, except his new instrumental album about a bridge in Queens)
[Chris Garneau - No More Pirates] mp3
Immaculate Machine (Boy/Girl vocals, power poppy)
[Immaculate Machine - Dear Confessor] mp3
Rafter
[Rafter - No One Home Ever] mp3
Box Elders (Short messy poppy songs)
[Box Elders - Jackie Wood] mp3
Also of note is a tour album I found online from Mountain Goats and John Vanderslice. Download here.
It’s not hard to figure out where you are once you enter the old abandoned Harrod’s building on Florida Street. The word “TANGO”, in simple all-caps helvetica, is plastered everywhere to announce the 2009 Tengo Festival. It’s two weeks of tango music, tango dancing, tango clothes. Tango worship.
I went the other night to check out a couple electro-tango bands, Otros Aires and Narcotango. I missed most of the former, but I caught up with my friend Jessica and we scored 2nd row seats for Narcotango. The show was good, with interesting video footage projected behind the band. The music was pretty chill, hence the “narc” name. Where’s my vicodin? Electro-tango is a Gotan Project kind of sound, which is as “electronica” as one can get while still incorporating an accordian into the mix.
[Gotan Project - Notas] mp3
