unpiano: music

Sort of can’t wait for the new Caribou album which seems like it’s gonna be filled with dance music. I guess that’s one of the awesome things about having complete control of your band. If you make some indie rock albums and then want to rock the fuck out on the dance floor the next time around, there is no one to tell you otherwise. Good thing too, or else we would have missed this single.

Caribou – Odessa

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Wow.. I’m so late with this that I may as well not even post it. I think by now this song has even been on that show Gossip Girl so I’ll make this brief for anyone who hasn’t heard these guys yet. Miike Snow are a trio of friends from Sweden (surprise surprise) two of which make up the production team Bloodshy & Avant who happened to produce Britney Spears’ best song ‘Toxic’ a while back. They make some really great retro electro-pop which has the ability to create an instant smile on your face ala Passion Pit and contains the organic, psych feel of Animal Collective to tie it all together. No wonder then, that those two bands have been cited every time someone writes about Miike Snow. The real key here though is that singer/songwriter Andrew Wyatt’s voice sounds like fucking Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins combined! That means their songs have some further subconscious appeal that people who grew up dancing to Genesis in the 80’s will find instantly likable. It has a very cheesy quality for sure, but didn’t you just hear me say “retro electro-pop” five seconds ago? What did you expect? Anyways, despite all that and despite my being way behind on posting them (fuck you – I can’t get to everyone!), this album just may save me from a late winter depression.

Miike Snow – Animal
Miike Snow – Silvia
Miike Snow – Song for no one
Miike Snow – Cult Logic

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Bonus:
Miike Snow – Animal (Mark Ronson Remix)

I’ve watched Jonny Ollsin shred the stage for some time now. First it was with the Vancouver thrash-metal band S.T.R.E.E.T.S. with whom he played guitar, and then after they broke up, it was with his band Children which enlisted Early Man drummer Adam Bennati to make it extra heavy. Whenever I see his name pop up I always give a listen, and luckily Jonny has been recording music recently with his wife and vocalist Kim Krans. Their music as Family Band is a much turned down sound from those earlier days and has been described as “heavy mellow”. And indeed while it is much quieter, you can hear Jonny’s intricate metal riffs making their way back into each melody and culminate in a very distinctive sound. I’ve heard the comparisons that they have inevitably drawn (you can figure them out on your own) and I’m not going to argue. But I can safely say that after listening to their new album Miller Path, which is due out soon, they have carved a small place out for themselves. A comforting, warm place filled with longing and beautiful sadness that can be such a sweet gift in the depths of winter.

Family Band – Hatred
Family Band – No Sound
Family Band – Fantasy

Bonus:
Family Band – Blessed (video/live)
You can see more videos including some great footage of their recording sessions during Miller Path by clicking here.

Nancy’s cover of ‘Let Me Kiss You’ is from her 2004 self titled album and rivals Morrissey’s version in the best ways. It’s always nice to hear the same Morrissey phrasing sung by a woman’s voice, makes me think of those old Sandie Shaw covers. Anyways, it’s rainy and everyone is melancholy. Sometimes when I listen to songs like this I wish I was unhappy in real life, for heartbreak is the height of romance.

Nancy Sinatra – Let Me Kiss You
Morrissey – Let Me Kiss You

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R.I.P.

Jay Reatard – Oh It’s Such A Shame

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I never really got too deep into goth bands, so every time I unearth some good songs from the early nineties it’s like Christmas morning around here. My girlfriend spent most of the evening on Sunday night looking for songs she used to like when she was a teenager and she kept going on about this one Ikon song being a goth anthem and how people used to freak about it. I don’t know about all that, but it’s a pretty good song none the less. Check out how it gets all “Smiths-y” during the chorus. Granted they owe a lot more to Joy Division but then again who doesn’t? Ikon started out in Melbourne around 1991 from the ashes of fellow Australian band Death In The Dark and seem to be still releasing albums which may or may not be a good thing. These songs are from 1996’s Flowers For The Gathering which proves that while I was tripping my fucking balls off at some some rave in Maine that year, some people were embracing despair, getting real dark and writing good songs.

Ikon – In Trust I Return
Ikon – Persuation
Ikon – Stranger I’ve Become

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Oh yeah.. forgot about these guys until I needed something to make this evening’s cold bike ride bearable. This is exactly why I have kept huge books of cds for the last ten years. When I need a rare gem that I can’t find online, I just flip the book open randomly and see what I can find. Atlanta’s Micranots always came hard back in the nineties with some heavy kick and snare beats, smart rhymes and floating melodies. Plus who can fuck with phrases like “Killa Cali” and “Money-murder-apolis”.. Pure gold.

The Micranots – Balance
The Micranots – Monuments

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I keep reading about how they are gonna take all the cars off of Market Street in San Francisco and make it more bike friendly. That’s great and all but I keep wondering how much longer I’ll get to go really, really fast and dodge in between cars on my bike while blasting songs like So Cow’s ‘Casablanca’. I mean.. now that it’s the new year and I have cut back on my drugs and drinking (ahem), how am I supposed to get my heart rate over one hundred? Anyways, while I lament about one of the only SF places to bike in heavy traffic, Ireland’s So Cow (Brian Kelly) have been making a bunch of great EPs that have flown well under the radar for a while now. Luckily Tic Tac Totally records in Chicago just put out a collection of the last couple years material. I think he is playing San Francisco in March at The Hemlock and you should probably check it out.

So Cow – Casablanca
So Cow – Oh For Fuck’s Sake
So Cow – Commuting
So Cow – Lee Remick (cover)

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(That last song is a cover off a EP of covers he put out recently. You can download the entire thing by clicking here. Some really great covers on there including Shonen Knife and Del Shannon.)

Whew.. you made it. Hopefully you can breathe a sigh of relief and know that you dodged whatever bullets you had coming in 2009. This year coming up is gonna be a great one, you just watch and see. Fucking magic. Anyways, here is to all my friends and here is to this amazing cover of Big County’s best known single. Montreal’s Tonstartssbandht have made a washed out, slow burning, distorted bedtime story that goes very well with a snow covered city and a New Year’s drink.

Tonstartssbandht – Black Country

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//photo by estevan oriol

Damn.. new Snoop album just came out recently and he killed it. I think at this point he is pretty much infallible, with even the corny stuff finding a place in my heart due to some amazing guest spots (what’s up R. Kelly and Lil’ John). Snoop has always sounded older than his years and I think that’s pretty much what’s going on here. He was managed to stay ahead of the game for a decade with very few mis-steps. The single off this album ‘Gangta Luv’ may sound super lame at first but after twenty listens you’ll be humming it all day at work guaranteed. It’s basically the new ‘Bartender’. Granted there are always a few pitfalls on every album and this time around you can’t help but shake your head when he raps about how much he loves his wife. There is a great article by New York Times go-to hip hop guy Jon Caramanica (remember him from Vice Magazine a while back? – nice jump Jon) that breaks Snoop as well as the new album down in a very concise way. It’s well worth the read.

Snoop Dogg – Gangsta Luv
Snoop Dogg – I Wanna Rock
Snoop Dogg – 2 Minute Warning
Snoop Dogg – Upside Down

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