Fellow shut-ins and shut-outs: There are free jams out there! Just in case you haven't been paying attention. And there are artists making them and giving them away to court your further support! Try it! The government won't get you ... but the marketers might. (So be careful out there!) Here are the latest findings from my inter-trips. Enjoy! See you next week.
Great Lakes Myth Society
"She's come Home to Steal Her Rainbows"/"Brablec Farms"
Their first single, believe it or not. Available for free download and purchase in the real world. It's yer standard Radiohead/NiN model 'cept it's music you actually enjoy and not music you grudgingly respect based on past glories and present tweaking of the corporate rock business model. "Steal Her Rainbows" is a kind of Midwest Hill—folk doppelganger for the Buzzcocks' "Why Can't I Touch It?" A rumbly rhythmic guitar and bass line carry the verse and a soaring, pleading, pounding chorus. Ahh...that's the stuff! And "Brablec Farms," meanwhile, is Timmy Monger pining poetic and pastoral for — to paraphrase Jonathan Richman — That [Indian] Summer Feeling.
greatlakesmythsociety.com
ChildBite
"Never Ending Mountain Slammed"/"Banana Gorgon"
Banana. Gorgon. Think about it. Fuckin' genius! The record it's on? Fantastic Gusts of Blood. Again. "Never Ending" sound sneaks up Pere Ubu beating holy hell out of an Atari 2600 while a well-trained ska band does whippits and forgets the rules in the next room. "Banana Gorgon" is a pounding adenoidal new century panic note, written from a rubber room with a second act that reaches toward Andrew WK major chord pop and bombast triumph (without ever leaving said room). Phew! Throw in a tinkly, bloopy, creepy and funk-ily infectious dance remix of their jam "Bone/Sleep" (from the new EP Exquisite Luxury) by Thunderbirds Are Now!'s Scott Allen and you can get to know the Bite pretty damn well via the Internets. And what's not to love?
myspace.com/childbite
tinyurl.com/67a7yh (for the "Bone/Sleep" Scott Allen remix)
The Chap
"They Have a Name"
Young Limeys rockin' breathy, repetitive — unto layered in-the-round-esque voices, a seemingly broken synth, a couple squeals and a nearly flatulent, but unfailingly — on drum slap. The Chap does more with less, baking new romance, dance and indie funk into this little cupcake of a jam. Unpretentious minimalist fun. It's not officially out 'til July but hear me now, believe me later: The Chap can be heard now serving your frontal cortex and appealing to your rear end without an ironic exclamation mark in sight!
ghostly.com/mp3
Andrew WK
"Young Lord Kenneth"
Thanks to the lovely folks at The Wire magazine, we get further proof that AWK's not just about the party. This here is an exclusive download (and there's an interview with Andrew, too, if anyone's still into reading) of an unreleased, in-progress joint. It's a moderately bleak, ambient, warped and unfinished piece and bears no resemblance to white t-shirted hard-charging piano-based metal vamps. So caveat, downloader, or whatever ...
thewire.co.uk/articles/564
