Newest Industry Presents: Flatbasset Radio - Episode #18

My family knows I only iron once a year...

Hello again, free music fans! Welcome to Flatbasset Radio: Episode #18!

For those of you who are unaware of the Flatbasset Radio format, here's what you're looking at: TCDroogsma is our resident MP3 junkie. As you've probably noticed in his Songs Of The Week column, he's not always the most positive music fan. In an effort to prove that he is, in fact, a fan of music, we give him an hour each week to play the songs he's digging and talk a little bit about them. Once he's recorded his podcast we put it right here on the website for free to stream!

In this week's edition Droogsy gets sweaty, explains why Liam Gallagher is a "Capital 'R,' Capital 'S'" Rock Star, puts an alt-rock icon on blast, admits that an appliance is his best friend, celebrates an album's twenty-year anniversary by struggling with the concept of time, plays Tom Gilbert's theme song, implores us all to embrace the big, stupid, cornball single and much, much more !

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #18 by Tcdroogsma on Mixcloud

Here's how Episode #18 plays out:

01. Beady Eye - Flick Of The Finger
02. Run The Jewels - Sea Legs
03. Edison - My Modesty, Your Venn Diagram
04. Open Mike Eagle (w/Busdriver) - Degrassi Picture Day (Hellfyre Jackets)
05. Pixies - Bagboy
06. Loudman - Ghana
07. Sage Francis - Zero (Update)
08. Down By Law - Air Conditioner
09. Bad Religion - American Jesus
10. Dessa - Icing Burns
11. Treetop Flyers - Things Will Change
12. Sugar Ray - Someday

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  He can also be found right here on Newest Industry reviewing new tracks in our weekly Songs Of The Week column. Previous episodes of Flatbasset Radio can be found at TCDroogsma's MixCloud page.

 





For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors.  More importantly we have a Facebook page here.  Trivial as it seems stopping by and giving us a "Like" is a free & legit way to support the blog.

Songs Of The Week #49

Jonny Fritz, Boards Of Canada, Sonny & The Sunsets, Susanne Sundfor, & First Communion Afterparty...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies! Welcome to Songs Of The Week #49!

For those of you who are new to the SOTW column, here's the deal: TCDroogsma has been a devoted fan of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast since its inception back in 2007. Droogsy is also kind of opinionated and has a lot of free time. As such we figured we'd put him to work reviewing the songs given away each week. 49 weeks later and he's still doing it.

As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself. It's free and it's fun for the whole family!

To that end, once you've given the songs a spin or two we encourage you to cast a vote for your favorite Song Of The Week in the poll to the right side of the page. The artist with the most votes receives the validation of winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.

So, Droogsy... thoughts?

01. Jonny Fritz – Trash Day (from the album Dad Country)

TCDroogsma:

     Back in May I reviewed Jonny Fritz's song "Goodbye Summer" for Songs Of The Week #40.  Admittedly, I was not a fan.  I gave that track a final score of 1.5/5, calling it, "A pretty standard country rave-up could have legs if there was a story to be told, but really, "Goodbye Summer" sounds an awful lot like a genre exercise and not much more."

     You can imagine, then, that I wasn't particularly excited about reviewing another Fritz track just two months later.  Based on "Goodbye Summer," I assumed I was in for another character sketch-type track that was heavy on details but slim on purpose.  Fortunately, I was way off the mark.

    
     Over a low-key shuffle Fritz crafts three succinct verses in "Trash Day."  In the first he laments that he forgot to take the trash out and that his woman will be upset with him.  In the second he explains that his neighbors never forget to take their trash out, they never fight, and, "I hate them."  In the third he reminds himself that tonight is the night that he needs to take the trash it.  Cleverly, he ends each verse with a refrain of "Oh my god..." delivered with varying levels of sadness, anger, & resignation.

     What Fritz does so brilliantly in "Trash Day" is sum up the exhaustion of the little things in life.  The small responsibilities that serve to cause the cracks in a person's whole life.  He smartly ends each verse with snarling guitar solos that somehow manage to capture that anger better than any lyrics ever could.  As a lament on the mundane pressures of being a regular dude in America you won't find many better songs than this one.

Final Score: 4/5

02. Boards Of Canada – Reach For The Dead (from the album Tomorrow's Harvest)

TCDroogsma:

     A few years back I dated a girl who was a big Boards Of Canada fan.  She tried desperately to get me to appreciate their first somewhat iconic album Music Has The Right To Children.  At the time I was even more pop-oriented than I am now and the sparse, glitchy album held absolutely no appeal for me.

     Well, as the years have passed it seems that Boards Of Canada and I have met somewhere in the middle.  As I mention here frequently, I've developed a much deeper appreciation for the mood & structure of instrumental music.  For their part, with "Reach For The Dead" BoC has left behind any vocals or "found sounds" and left me with a very moody, slow-burning instrumental.

     After spending a week with "Reach For The Dead," I can't help but think that, much like Marijuana Deathsquads' "Wade" a couple weeks back, it makes a lot more sense as a piece of a larger album.  Taken on its own it comes off a bit meandering.  Still, it's nearly impossible to listen to the song and not feel the sense of dread that they were no doubt aiming for.  It takes nearly two minutes of bass drum & static his before a synthesizer line finally starts to break through the mist, but as it comes closer and closer to the fore it brings with it the energy of a chase moving from suspicion to a brisk walk to a dead sprint.  I've no idea what's suppose to chasing me (or what the literal harvest of the album's title implies), but it seems terrifying.

Final Score: 3.5/5

03. Sonny & The Sunsets – Void (from the album Antenna To The Afterworld)

TCDroogsma:

     Growing up a fan of punk rock I never had much time for anything that could be considered "psychedelic."  That whole late-60's, early-70's sound, with its instrumental freakouts and acid-damaged lyrics did nothing but annoy me.  To this day I still hate The Doors.

    
     Fortunately over the last seven or eight years the retro-ideas of psychedelic rock have mated with the stripped down energy of good old punk rock.  Bands like King Khan & The Shrines & The Black Lips have managed to craft a new, exciting sound out of two genres that were pretty much running on fumes.

     Enter Sonny & The Sunsets.  Taking a cues from both Syd Barret & The Dead Milkmen, "Void" comes on with a sort of casual immediacy.  That's not a term that's easily describable, but opening a song with lines like, "When I look into your eyes... though you're trying hard to hide... you know it's a funny kind of sad joy, I see the void..."  Much like the term "casual immediacy, those opening lines are the kind of lines that make no sense yet are immediately relatable.

     Sonny & The Sunsets spend the rest of the track building on the template laid out over that first.  More passionate vocals, more fuzzed out guitar, & some hoots and hollers continue to build the song before it finally comes to brief climax of an organ solo.  On its surface it seems like none of this should work, but that was true of mixing those aforementioned genres from the very beginning.  "Void" is a great summer single that should appeal to anybody who enjoys guitar rock, hooks, and just a bit of "WTF?"

Final Score: 4/5

04. Susanne Sundfor – White Foxes (from the album The Silicon Veil)

TCDroogsma:

     "White Foxes" stands as my introduction to Susanne Sundfor and my first impression was that she sounds like Fiona Apple.  While, a bit of Google searching turned up that not only do their share a sound, but Sundfor created stir during an award acceptance speech in her native Norway claiming, "I am first and foremost an artist, not first and foremost a woman."  That's not quite, "This is all bullshit," but the sentiment is certainly there.

     "White Foxes" opens with an atmospheric low end hum before Sundfor's voice cuts through the noise, claiming clearly and aggressively, "Poses, poses... that's all you are to me.... Roses, roses, that's all you're offering me..."  Clearly, this is an artist with no time for moral victories or trivial awards.

     The song builds with piano and further impassioned vocals until Sundfor let's loose with a chorus of, "You gave me my very first gun, I'll go out and hunt, with white foxes..." With a line like that it's hard not to view the metaphorical "gun" as one of the spotlight afforded to her via one of those trivial awards, the metaphorical "hunt" a feminist demand.

     Of course, it's entirely possible that I'm missing the point and than these aren't metaphors at all, and that Sundfor has a stable of white foxes she brings with her while hunting.  Given the barely concealed anger of the song that's an intriguing concept.  Regardless, being compared to Fiona Apple is certainly a compliment and not one that I would dole out casually.  Sundfor's passion is clear as a bright, Norwegian winter morning.

Final Score: 3.5/5

05. First Communion Afterparty – Jesus Told You (from the album Earth Heat Sound)

TCDroogsma:

     My knowledge of First Communion Afterparty is not particularly extensive.  I've seen them live a couple of times and, via it's appearance as a Song Of The Day, am very familiar with the song "Twenty-Five."  When they turned up on the MPLS landscape a few years back they were met with plenty of deserving hype.

    
     As I've lamented many times before, the Twin Cities used to be awash is precious, arty, keyboard-pop bands.  Don't get me wrong, it still is, but a couple of years back their wasn't really anybody just turning up their guitars and creating a racket.  That's why FCAP was such a breath of fresh air back then.  These days, however, the pendulum has swung back towards the middle and the city is once again populated with shaggy-dog rock n roll bands.  Unfortunately for FCAP competition hasn't seemed to cause them to bring their sound up to the next level.

     "Jesus Told You" is a fine tune, make no mistake.  The shoe-gaze guitar drone & boy/girl spaced out vocals are still a unique sound in the Twin Cities.  Unlike, say, Sonny & The Sunsets up above, FCAP doesn't look to take an old sound and give it a new twist as much as they just want to embrace an old sound and bring it back.

     Not to bring up Marijuana Deathsquads again, but FCAP suffers from the same problem that's plagued that band for years: finding a way to take a sound based far more on texture, repetition, and volume than hooks and put it to tape.  Both of these bands are awfully close to cracking the code, but neither is quite their yet.  I'm certain that in a venue like 7th St. or The Turf Club "Jesus Told You" is an epic, chest-rattling tidal wave.  As an MP3 single it loses that extra oomph.

Final Score: 2.5/5

Well there you have it everybody! Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, and filed away!

As always, please keep in mind that neither Newest Industry nor our contributors are in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR. We're just music fans with laptops and a bit too much time on our hands.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma). He can also be found right here on Newest Industry playing the songs he loves while hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio

For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors. More importantly, we have a Facebook page here. Trivial as it seems, stopping by and giving us a “Like” is a free & legitimate way to support the blog

Trendsetting #9: Mike Otto & TCDroogsma

Hurry up with my damn croissants!

Well hello again everybody! Welcome to the ninth installment of Trendsetting!

For those of you who don't know quite what you're looking at, here's the scoop: Each week we scan the newspaper and internet for news stories that are trending both here in Minnesota and around the world. Once we come up with ten stories we send them off to Mike & Travis and ask them to give us their thoughts on the stories.

As always, Mike & Travis have not read each other's comments prior to posting.

So, Mikey, Droogsy... It was another crazy week out there. What do ya think?

01. Florida's George Zimmerman was acquitted of both second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in the shooting death of 17 year old Trayvon Marton

TCDroogsma:

    
     While the Zimmerman verdict stunned many, it's very encouraging to see how America's reacted to the news.  It's so nice to see the American people & media take to the subtle, nuanced, and difficult conversation that a trial like this invites rather than just spitting out platitudes, hyperbole, grand generalizations, and poorly thought out calls for violence as a response to a young man's death at the hands of a man with a poorly thought out concept of violence and retribution.

Mike Otto:

   
     Homer Simpson was right, Florida truly is America's wang.

   
     I don't trust Florida. Any place with that many orange trees makes me suspicious. The sign welcoming you to Florida should read: "FLORIDA! WHERE ELECTIONS ARE STOLEN AND MURDERERS WALK FREE...oh and lots of old people and oranges too...maybe the occasional hurricane, but hey great time shares down here!"

   
     Casey Anthony and George Zimmerman should rent an apartment together. Now doesn't that sound like a sitcom Fox would pick up in a heartbeat? At the end of season one, do us a favor and just put them both out on a raft in the Atlantic.

02. With Sunday's 10-4 victory the Minnesota Twins take a weekend series at Yankee Stadium two games to one, marking the first time in Ron Gardenhire's tenure that his Twins squad has won a series at Yankee Stadium

TCDroogsma:

    
     Thirteen years without a series victory at Yankee Stadium is an incredible run of failure, but we're only seeing one side of the coin.  In those thirteen years of trips to The Bronx none of the Twins have been mugged, only two of their cars were stolen, and only three of their boats were started on fire in the middle of a street.  No, those sort of things don't show up in the standings, but that kind of protection is what makes Ron Gardenhire such a special manager to his players.  Well, that and no expectations of any success on the field whatsoever.

Mike Otto:

   
     That was a depressing 13 years of baseball. It would have been so much sweeter if DICKHEAD and King Bro Nick Swisher was still patrolling right field. This feels like such an empty victory to me. I can only imagine how Gardy felt. To quote the great J. Peterman; Ron Gardenhire, congratulations on a job, done. 

03. Cory Monteith, who played Finn Hudson on the hit show Glee, found dead at 31 in a Vancouver hotel room

TCDroogsma:

    
     I wish I could say I'm surprised by this news, but have you ever seen an episode of Glee?  I could put together a whole blog post just listing the variety of chemicals I'd have to ingest to just to watch an episode.  I can only imagine the mental state you'd have to craft for yourself to create such consistently awful television.

Mike Otto:

   
     I always knew choreographed song and dance was a dangerous pastime. All those hours in the dance hall, toe tapping around until your feet ached, you had to turn to the booze. But then the booze wasn't enough anymore was it? Noooooo, not even booze can shake the memory of that Grease themed episode you did, so you turned to stronger barbiturates and next thing you know, you're sitting in a bathtub of your own vomit humming the theme song to Mama Mia. Is Finn Hudson a man or a woman? Whatever, rest in peace sweet prince or princess.

04. Sales of the British crime novel "The Cuckoo's Calling" jump 507,000% (not a typo) after it's reveled that author "Robert Galbraith" is a pen name of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling

TCDroogsma:

    
     Well, that cat's out of the bag then, isn't it?  I suppose this seems like the appropriate time for a confession:  "TCDroogsma" is really just another pen name that I, J.K. Rowling, have been using for years.  You see, I didn't want to taint the good name & high quality of Newest Industry by having the blog in any way affiliated with those mundane little wizard stories I wrote.  While it was certainly difficult for me to turn off the funny & poignant part of my brain responsible for my "TCDroogsma" posts, bills needed to be paid and making up some story about a boy wizard & his battle with, well, other wizards, couldn't have been easier.  Like the old saying goes, nobody ever went broke underestimating the British public.

   
     However, now that my true identity has been exposed, it's probably time that I, J.K. Rowling, began receiving payment for the work I do here for Newest Industry.  Please make checks out to "Cash" and mail them to Newest Industry c/o The C.C. Club, 2600 Lyndale Ave., Minneapolis, MN.  Remember, make them out to "Cash."

Mike Otto:

   
     Jesus Christ. Rowling could publish a collection of her bowel movements and that shit would sell. Look, I'm sure it's a well written book, I'm sure all the punctuation is in the right place, and I'm sure it has a great twist at the end, but I just don't give a fuck. Until she writes Harry Potter and the Custodial Job At New Yorks Port Authority, I'm not reading.

05. The 19th Annual Basilica Block Party was held this weekend, headlined by Goo Goo Dolls, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, and Matchbox 20

TCDroogsma:

    
     Fans of the event reported that both the Goo Goo Dolls & Matchbox 20 played great sets.  They were disappointed, however, with the traffic congestion that came with having to drive to 1998 for the show.

Mike Otto:

   
     The highlight of the show was when Rob Thomas broke down crying on stage in the middle of performing "Long Day". When asked why he lost his composure, Thomas is quoted as saying through muffled sobs into a pillow "you try being Rob Thomas for 41 years." Touche.

06. NSA leaker Edward Snowden emerges from the transit zone of the Moscow airport for an interview, asking for asylum in Russia, & announcing acceptance of asylum in Latin America

TCDroogsma:

    
     Having followed the Snowden story since the day it broke, it's my opinion that Edward Snowden is a great American hero in a time when America desperately needs one.  His courageous exposure of a government gone mad with power, with severe personal consequences, should be celebrated as a tremendous example of the morals and principles our forefathers envisioned when they built a country designed to govern for the will of the people rather than for the expansion and abuse of power. Any country that grants Snowden asylum should be hailed as a friend of the American people.

     Edward Snowden is history's greatest monster.

Mike Otto:

   
     Wait, Snowden is getting tired of hanging out in a Moscow airport? No way!

   
     I'm really getting sick of hearing about this guy. He doesn't believe in anything, he is a little attention whore, America don't give a fuck about you dude. In the end you will fade away, become desperate for attention again, and then and only then, once your relevance has completely faded, will you return to the U.S. to be captured and face whatever charges the powers at be see fit. But hey, at least your name will be in the paper again.

07. The SyFy Network show Sharknado becomes a surprise hit thanks to thousands of posts via social media sites Twitter & Facebook

TCDroogsma:

    
     By the end of the weekend I was fairly certain that Twitter wanted me to put on a hoodie and march for all the people slain by the Sharknado.  Good lookin' out, Twitter.

Mike Otto:

   
     Tara Reid needed this. She DESERVED this. She was once an attractive young actress who turned herself into a hot-dogged skinned plastic surgery disaster, and she did it for YOU, America. She just wanted you to like her, but NO, you turned her into the punch line of every bad actress joke and belittled her meager accomplishments. Well welcome to the Summer Of Her Resurgence and the Summer Of Your Discontent!

   
     Her comeback has come in the form of a shark-wielding water spout of a tornado, just like we all envisioned it years ago when her titty slipped out on the red carpet. Wow remember when she used to get invited to things that didn't involve keg stands and beer pong? I mean like real award shows. Those were the days. Let me be the first to welcome you back to relevance Tara Reid, we missed you, try to keep the puppies in your dress this time.

08. Astronomers report that they've discovered a planet, dubbed HD 189733b, sharing Earth's pale blue color.  The planet is thought to be incapable of sustaining life as it is a gaseous, maintains a surface temperature of 1800 degrees Fahrenheit, contains winds up to 4000 MPH, and rains glass

TCDroogsma:

    
     According to reports NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has already begun plans to relocate the Jacksonville Jaguars to this new blue planet for the 2016 season.  The HD 189733b Jaguars 2016 schedule & apparel should be available by the end of the month.

Mike Otto:

     
     Liberal scientists have already labeled this as the final stage of global warming and assured us that if our planet keeps warming at its current rate, we will be seeing downpours of glass by 2030.

09. Norman, a three-year-old sheepdog from Georgia, sets the new world record by riding a scooter 30 meters in 30 seconds

TCDroogsma:

     
     Not only did he set this record, but he also maintained his standing as having the highest IQ of anybody in the greater Atlanta area. Nice weekend, Normy.

Mike Otto:

   
     This dog is more talented and coordinated than most 5 year old kids. Also it's kind of demoralizing when you realize there is a dog out there that could not only do your job, but look cuter while he does it.

   
     This is the best thing to happen in Atlanta since Gucci Mane punched Mac Breezy in the head on stage... check that...Chipper Jones retiring is the best thing to happen in Atlanta since... maybe ever.

10. Temar Boggs & his friend, two teenage boys in Lancaster, PA, are being hailed as heroes after chasing down a kidnapping suspect for 15 minutes on their bike before the kidnapper realized what was happening and released the victim, 5 year old Jocelyn Rojas, and speeding away

TCDroogsma:

     
     When the Lancaster media finally caught up with Boggs he told them, "Y'know, we were just trying to do what was right and help this girl.  It didn't help that all these yuppies in their SUV's wouldn't respect our right to take a whole lane of traffic."  He paused to take a sip of kombucha and eat a kale chip, "It's a good thing I spent all night over a Squid's place giving this fixed-gear a solid tune up while we ironically listened to old Huey Lewis albums and sipped individually cupped fair-trade, organic..."

     Sadly, nobody knows how the interview ended, as even members of the Lancaster media can't suffer through listening to bikers talk about their insufferable culture.  The fact that they even made it that far into the conversation makes them the real heroes.

Mike Otto:

   
     It's nice to have some good news to end this batch of trend setting. These two 15 year old boys are certainly heroes. After spotting the kidnapped 5 year old, Jocelyn Rojas, in a sedan with a 50-70 year old man, they chased the kidnapping suspect for 15 heart pounding minutes, ON THEIR BIKES. After the suspect realized he was being followed, he gave up and let Jocelyn out at a stop light. The frightened young girl ran into Temar Boggs arms, asking for her mother.

   
     Unfortunately, George Zimmerman saw two teenage African Americans with a 5 year old Hispanic girl and, finding this incredibly suspicious, confronted and shot both teens after a brief skirmish. George Zimmerman, protector of peace and justice, strikes again. But, hey, that's his job, right?

Well there you have it, folks!  Another crazy week put in perspective!

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  He can also be found right here on Newest Industry hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio.

For more Mike Otto be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@SwervinTaters).  Be sure to stay tuned to Newest Industry in the upcoming months when Mike's Minnesota Vikings column Ten & Six returns for the 2013 season.

For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors.  More importantly we have a Facebook page here.  Trivial as it seems, stopping by and giving us a "Like" is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.

Songs Of The Week #48

Treetop Flyers, Smith Westerns, & Standish/Carlyon...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies! Welcome to Songs Of The Week #48!

For those of you who remain unfamiliar with the SOTW column, here's the scoop: TCDroogsma has been a devoted follower of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast since its inception back in 2007. He's also opinionated and owns a laptop. Seeing an opportunity to put him to work (while also allowing him to indulge his addiction for new songs), we asked him to review each week's batch of new tracks. Forty eight weeks later and here we are.

As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast for yourself. It's free and it's fun for the whole family!

To that end, once you given each of the songs a listen, please cast a vote for your favorite in the poll on the right side of the page. The artist with the most votes at closing time receives the validation that comes with winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest goal a modern musician can achieve.

So, Droogsy... thoughts?

01. Treetop Flyers – Things Will Change (from the album Mountain Moves)

TCDroogsma:

     Well, well, well... what a little treat "Things Will Change" turned out to be.  Every time I think that I'm over jangly-breezy-indie rock somebody like Treetop Flyers shows up (with their debut no less) and reminds me why I fell for this type of stuff in the first place.

     
      Honestly, "Things Will Change" doesn't so much harken back my teens as it does to my childhood when my dad had a tape containing both "Ventura Highway" and "Horse With No Name" that we would listen to with the top down in his Volkswagen Rabbit.  Treetop Flyers may have been aiming for this "America" (the band, not the awesome country) sound or maybe it's just a coincidence, but I'm inclined to believe the former (especially considering they took their name from a Stephen Stills song).  For that they deserve credit, as almost no band in the history of music has been as uncool as America.

     "Things Will Change" traffics the country-folk vibe that was emanating from post-Summer-Of-Love California and pulls it off with authenticity, which is no small feat considering they're a group of 20-somethings from London.  "Things Will Change" is rich in harmonies, hooks, and the kind of sunny guitar line that calls to mind an idealized California that perhaps only exists in the minds of people who have never been there.  Definitely a summer treat.

Final Score: 4/5

02. Smith Westerns – Varsity (from the album Soft Will)

TCDroogsma:

     Smith Westerns had their coming out party back in 2011 with their album Dye It Blonde.  On that album the Chicago band shone brightly with a mix of hooks, idealism, and just enough left turns to keep the listener interested.

    
     With that previous success in mind, it's always interesting to see if bands can live up to their newly-attained status as something worth following.  If "Varsity" is any indication Smith Westerns are going to be a going concerned for quite some time.

     "Varsity" comes on with a swirly syth/bouncy bass combo that aims straight for the pleasure center of my brain.  Just in case that doesn't grab your interest singer Connor Omori comes on cooing, "Ya thought I was a loner until I went out on my own..." with the confidence of a man who's more than willing to step into the spotlight.  When the chorus bursts through, with all the jangling guitar, hooks, and harmonies you'd expect from a Chicago band trying to sound like a British one, it's clear that now that Smith Westerns are standing firmly in the spotlight they've little intention of leaving any time soon.

Final Score: 4/5

03. Standish/Carlyon – Gucci Mountain (from the album Deleted Scenes)

TCDroogsma:

     What the hell is going on, Australia?  Back in May it was that brutal Alpine song and now I'm tasked with reviewing this?  You used to be cool, Australia.

    
    Standish/Carlyon is a side-project of Devastations Conrad Standish & Tom Carlyon and sounds every bit the part.  Over some vague blips and pointless atmospheric swirls Standish turns up the falsetto and aims for full on Casanova mode.  He comes off sounding a lot like you're younger brother trying to tell you about The Weeknd by singing one of their songs (which would be adorable).  Unfortunately, Standish isn't your adorable little brother, but rather an aging Aussie hipster with a mustache that may or may not be ironic.  Frankly, I doubt even he knows at this point.

     It's really a shame to waste a song title as great as "Gucci Mountain" on a song as bad as this.  Sadly, there's just nothing redeeming about this genre exercise.  If it's a joke it's not funny and if it's an honest attempt a spaced-out PBR & B it fails miserably.  Given the title and mustache, I'm leaning toward unfunny joke.

Final Score: 0/5

Well there you have it, folks! Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, and filed away!

As always, please keep in mind that neither Newest Industry nor any of our contributors is in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR. We're just music fans with laptops and bit too much time on our hands.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma). He can also be found right here on Newest Industry hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio.

For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors. More importantly, we have a Facebook page here. Trivial as it seems, stopping by and giving us a “Like” is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.

Songs Of The Week #47

Gold Panda, Natalia Clavier, Alela Diane, Lightning Dust, & Marijuana Deathsquads...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies! Welcome to Songs Of The Week #47!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the SOTW column, here's the scoop: TCDroogsma has been a devoted fan of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast since its inception back in 2007. TCDroogsma also likes to talk about music. Seeing an opportunity to satisfy his vices while simultaneously putting him to work we had him start reviewing those Current Song Of The Day tracks. 47 weeks later and here we are...

As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself. It's free & it's fun for the whole family!

To that end, once you've given the tracks a spin or two, feel free to cast a vote for your favorite Song Of The Week in the poll to the right side of the page. The artist with the most votes receives the validation that comes with winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.

So, Droogsy... thoughts?

01. Gold Panda – Brazil (from the album Half Of Where You Live)

TCDroogsma:

     As I've written in this column many times, I've come to genuinely appreciate instrumental music over the last 3 or 4 years.  While the pop music fan in my head craves hooks and melodies, as I've gotten older I've found myself enjoying the subtle movements that come alone with instrumental music in general and producer-based instrumental music in particular.

    
     Also, as I've written in this space many times, when a song lacks lyrics or vocals I find myself using the title of the song to color the song's meaning.  I'm not completely certain this is a fair, however, the artist could have called the song anything they like, so the title should carry some weight.

     Which brings me to "Brazil" by London-based producer Gold Panda.  For better or (mostly) worse, "Brazil" is an instrumental track that contains vocals.  Sadly, those vocals are just the word "Brazil" said repeatedly with little to no variation.  This repetition is so numbing that it's nearly impossible to focus on the movement of the music underneath, rendering only a brutal ping-pong ball percussive sound as the only thing that actually sticks in my brain.  Basically, by adding these lyrics Gold Panda has taken any narrative away from the title and made the literal word "Brazil" the focus of what could have been an interesting track.  What's left is just a smattering of noise that seems to start and end with no discernible reason.

Final Score: 1/5

02. Natalia Clavier – Trouble (from the album Lumen)

TCDroogsma:

     With "Trouble," Natalia Clavier makes her attempt to fill the neo-pop-soul void left behind by Amy Winehouse.  "Trouble" has a all the hallmarks of the late Back In Black singer.  The vocals are both strong and vulnerable.  The music's bouncy bass & horn combo is so spot on that Mark Ronson could probably be awarded compensation in a copyright suit.  Hell, the song even opens with the line, "I know I've been bad, real bad, still I think I'm gonna do it again..."

    
    So, taken as its own original creation, "Trouble" fails miserably.  There is nothing here that you haven't heard (and heard done better) before by the likes of Winehouse & Sharon Jones.  It's only moment of originality comes courtesy of a horn solo that sounds like it was transported from The Specials "Ghost Town" with the formerly on-the-dole musician playing with the enthusiasm of finding a well-paying job.

     Taken as a bid for the throne, however, "Trouble" carries some weight.  It's certainly got the swagger & sexiness to make people to dance.  I'd imagine it sounds phenomenal when played live, the kind of song that would instantly grab anybody in attendance and convert them immediately.

     Sadly, I'm hearing it live and I was never much of a fan of this new soul sound anyway.  Great horn solo, though.

Final Score: 2/5

03. Alela Diane – About Farewell (from the album About Farewell)

TCDroogsma:

     The first few times I listened to "About Farewell" I was pretty dismissive.  It seemed to be a fairly rote entry in the world of "tender singer songwriter" and offered little to distinguish itself from its thousands of peers.

    
     However, "About Farewell" proved to be a grower as the week went on.  I was finally struck by the instrumentation of the song.  First off, it is completely percussion free.  Cleverly, a charming little guitar figure opens the song and reappears several times, giving the song a dynamic structure that's difficult to attain without a drummer.  As Diane laments both the mental approach to saying farewell and the literal act of saying farewell, what sounds like flutes (or keyboards approximating flutes) liners underneath everything, streaking through the time signature and mirroring the fact that rationalizing a goodbye doesn't make the act any easier.  When Diane delivers the line, "So honey, I've got to let you go..." these flutes are used to remarkable effect, echoing the sound of a train pulling away from a station.

     "About Farewell" stands up well because Diane manages to undertake the concept of "farewell" from several different angles and manages to sound sincere in each approach.  All without drums.  A lovely, if hearbreaking, tune if given room to breath.

Final Score: 3/5

04. Lightning Dust – Loaded Gun (from the album Fantasy)

TCDroogsma:

     Lightning Dust is the side project of Amber Webber & Josh Wells of the Vancouver-based Black Mountain.  I'll spare you from another of my rants about a Canadian boy/girl group crafting meticulous indie-pop songs, just know that, yet again, I find myself reviewing a song by a Canadian boy/girl group that crafts meticulous indie-pop songs.  Stick with what you know, The Current.

     Anyway, Lightning Dust is slightly more intriguing than the usual songs in this genre simply because the goal of this side project is to scale everything down rather than cram as many bells, whistles, voices, and hooks into one song and most of the other Canadian pop songs I review.  To that end, "Loaded Gun" does a nice job.  Taking the percussion from Nine Inch Nails "Closer" and giving it some burbling-but-danceable bass work creates a fine palette for Webber & her double tracked vocals.

     The track does not deviate much from the kick-snare-kick formula and that serves the song well.  Adding different elements as the song goes on (keyboard squiggles, second and third vocals, the odd crescendo...), "Loaded Gun" stays consistently interesting despite never really adding a hook.  An interesting song, but clearly the work of people exploring a new genre and their own self-imposed restrictions.

Final Score: 3/5

05. Marijuana Deathsquads – Wade (from the album Music Rocks I & II)

TCDroogsma:

     If you're at all familiar with Marijuana Deathsquads you can immediately understand why reviewing them in the context of a "singles" column is pretty much useless.  To be blunt, MDS does not traffic in singles.  They occupy a strange world of multiple drummer, muddied vocals, glitchy-synths, and whatever strikes Ryan Olson's fancy during largely improvisational performances.

    
     All that said, I did spend a week with Music Rocks I & II earlier this month, so I have the benefit of at least knowing how "Wade" fits into the whole of that album (an album which doesn't feature any breaks between songs, but rather functions as one long, live movement).  Hell, I even tackled this earlier this month when I played "Remembories" on the Flatbasset Radio podcast as it has the most immediate hook on the whole album.

     Well, "Wade" is indicative of Music Rocks I & II as a whole.  The band has mastered the art of the build-drop-climax better than just about anybody.  The fact that they get to do it with two drummers gives that climax an extra push that most bands could only dream of.  Issac Gale's vocals serve mainly as a place holder on "Wade," giving the song some verse-chorus structure, but not much.  This is going to sound super corny, but Marijuana Deathsquads doesn't want to you to hum along.  Hell, they don't even want you to think.  The goal here is to get lost in the sound & fury.  This makes for a hell of time in forty-minute, multi-song-suit doses.  Doing it for a mere five minutes will likely just leave the casual listener confused.

    I highly recommend downloading Music Rocks I & II.  It's free here at the Totally Gross National Product site.  Within the context of the album "Wade" is a fine track (though the track it leads into, "GhostCop 2," is an instant classic).

Final Score: 4/5

Well there you have it, everybody! Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, and filed away!

Please keep in mind that neither Newest Industry nor our contributors are in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR. We're just music fans with laptops and a little too much time on our hands.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma). He can also be found right here on Newest Industry hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio.

For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors. More importantly, we have a Facebook page here. Trivial as it seems, stopping by and giving us a “Like” is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.

Songs Of The Week #46

Rogue Wave, The Besnard Lakes, Dark Horses, Imaginary Cities, & Alison Rae...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies! Welcome to Songs Of The Week #46!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the SOTW column, here's the scoop: TCDroogsma has been a devoted fan of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast since its inception back in 2007. He also has an incredible amount of free time. Seeing an opportunity, we've put him to work reviewing the songs he downloads each week.

As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself. It's free and it's fun for the whole family!

To that end, we also invite you to vote for your favorite song of the week in the poll to the right side side of this page. The artist with the most votes at the end of the week receives the validation that comes from winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.

So, Droogsy... thoughts?

01. Rogue Wave – College (from the album Nightingale Floors)

TCDroogsma:

     I'll be honest, I spent the first three days listening to "College" and trying to figure out why I didn't like it.  Then I remembered that Rogue Wave and Longwave are different bands and I should probably recalibrate my expectations.

    
     Spending the next four days with my new expectations my opinion of "College" changed from, "this is no good" (which it isn't if you think it's supposed to be a Longwave song) to "relentlessly average."  Lead singer & songwriter Zach Schwartz has built whole verses out of lyrics seemingly designed to be cryptic & deep but come off like nonsensical indie Mad Libs.  This is the first verse:

     When we go home keep to ourselves
     From all those gutter eyes
     Ending down in the ground because it always was
     And it always is
     The shadow we come out and it helps with our outside

     The fuck am I supposed to make of this?  It's utter gibberish.

     For better or worse, this Mad Libs approach is adopted for the music & hooks too, which standup pretty well, but offer nothing that hasn't been heard hundreds of times before.  Everything from the stuttering chorus to the quiet breakdown-slow buildup-last chorus is entirely predictable, which makes "College" the perfect fit for a radio station that claims to be open minded but understands that selling people the same thing repeatedly one of the first rules of business. 

Final Score: 1/5

02. The Besnard Lakes – People Of The Sticks (from the album Until In Excess, Imperceptible UFO)

TCDroogsma:

     Back in Songs Of The Week #42 I fell into the trap of judging the Gold & Youth single "Jewel" partly through the lens that they're a Canadian band and they sound very much like tons of other Canadian bands:  Clean sounds, hooks, keyboards, lyrics that are sharp like a pillow...

    
     Obviously, this isn't a totally fair thing to say as plenty of Canadian bands do not sound like this.  And hell, I'm from a city that leads the nation in synth-pop bands per capita (take that Brooklyn!).  Still, I think that statement contains some validity because, as I explained in that review, my opinion that they sounded "Canadian" came organically, as I drew that conclusion before finding out that they are, in fact, Canadian.

     Why do I bring all this up?  Well, The Besnard Lakes are from Montreal.  They play indie-pop that's soaked in keyboards, has a sneaky good hook, male-female vocals song by a husband/wife duo, and fails to linger in my head once the song ends.  I'm no longer capable of judging whether any of these songs is better or worse than the others, so I'm just going to give it a 2..5 out of 5 and move on.

Final Score: 2.5/5

03. Dark Horses – Alone (from the album Black Music)

TCDroogsma:

     I had never heard of Dark Horses before spending the week with "Alone."  After failing to see its appeal for a couple of days, it finally hit like a flash flood.

     Sharing the same synth-dance roots with bands like The Rapture & The Shout Out Louds (but with a slightly menacing edge ala that recent Savages track), "Alone" is a grower in the best sense of the words.  The hooks are more subtle than those aforementioned bands, but the songs rising and falling waves are more rewarding than most sugar-rush hooks.  Unfortunately, the song seems to suffer somewhat from poor production.  With a cleaner sound and a bit more dynamic between the highs and the lows this could have been a really great single.

Final Score: 3/5

04. Imaginary Cities – Bells Of Cologne (from the album Fall Of Romance)

TCDroogsma:

     A bouncy indie-pop song that leans on a great hook, some girl/boy vocals (though, admittedly, the male vocals are resigned to background status), some keyboard work, a nice clean sound... I wonder where Imaginary Cities is from?

   
     Oh, they're from Winnipeg!  Surprising!

    Alright, look, I'm not trying to be an asshole with this.  I have no desire to pick a fight with Canada.  I love Canada!  I love your peameal bacon! I love your pea soup! Your real maple syrup!  Your Mounties! Your Ukranian dancers! Your fiddlers! Your fiddleheads!  I love your moose, and your trappers, and your courer-de-bois! I love those funny little woodland creatures and your hockey players!  Like Wayne Gretzky!  Wayne Gretzky takes Pierre Trudeau into the boards... Trudeau's down... Good!  But I digress...

     I actually like most of these songs too.  "Bells Of Cologne" is actually good enough that I can distinguish it from that Besnard Lakes song.  Though, if I'm being completely honest, if somebody had told me this was a New Pornographers or Stars single I wouldn't have any reason to doubt them.

Final Score: 2.5/5

05. Alison Rae – Hide And Seek (from the EP Hide And Seek)

TCDroogsma:

      Alison Rae's "Hide And Seek" suffers from the misfortune of arriving in my iPod just a week after the stellar From Gods To Gamma Rays song "Burn Me Through."  Both songs linger in atmospheric acoustic guitar and lyrics of longing sung with convincing desperation by a talented female singer.

     "Hide And Seek" actually serves to prove the point I was driving toward in my review of "Burn Me Through."  I commended the production work on that song as it was transformed from a touching-but-average song via murky sounds that burst with clarity when the lyrics & chorus demanded it.  Conversely, "Hide And Seek" is the touching-but-average song that "Burn Me Through" could have been.

     "Hide And Seek" isn't a bad song by any means.  Rae's vocal performance is great, with double-tracked takes used in service of selling the hook and some nice Kim-Deal-Where-Is-My-Mind echoes thrown into the mix.  Combining that performance with a straight-forward guitar strum and some strings for window dressing leaves "Hide And Seek" as a lovely tune with an unfortunate release date.

Final Score: 3/5

There you have it, music fans! Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, and filed away.

As always, please keep in mind that neither Newest Industry nor its contributors is in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or MPR. We're just music fans with laptops and a little too much free time.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma). He can also be found right here on Newest Industry hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio.

For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors. More importantly, we have a Facebook page here. Trivial as it seems, stopping by and giving us a “Like” is a free & legitimate way to support the blog.