Tune In Saturdays: The High Llamas

I think I should have known about London's the High Llamas a long, long time ago. Seems they've been around forever, but apparently just out of earshot from me. It's brilliant elevator music, and that's meant in a good way. They sound like a Burt Bacharach/Brian Wilson sandwich. And, it tastes good, my friends.

From allmusic:

"Over the course of their career, the High Llamas successfully combined '60s pop sensibilities with burbling analog synth accents and laid-back, West Coast vibes with a NYC session cat's journeyman aesthetic. Every Llamas album has embraced these creative styles in varying degrees: from Gideon Gaye's decidedly '60s Brit-pop bent, to Hawaii's sprawling and breezy beaches, to Cold and Bouncy's warmly clinical brand of slickness, to Beet, Maize & Corn's detailed chamber pop, the Llamas have succeeded at every slight stylistic turn they have taken."

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Tune In Saturdays: Andrew Bird

This weeks tune in is the Jeff Buckley-esque Chicago native and violin virtuoso Andrew Bird. It's definitely still pop music for the most part, but flirts with folk, classical and jazz. It's beautiful at times, and frantic at others. Big highs and big lows, but it's all interesting as hell.

From Drowned in Sound:

"Bird sounds more classical than ever; not classical in a strict sense, but each pull on the violin is more pomp than punk. This pulling strategy has crafted a fine album, full of subtle, melodic masterpieces that, while not trenchantly classical, exude romance via musicianship embedded in the classical realm."

I know it sounds rather weird, but it's friggin' brilliant.

Andrew Bird - Heretic (mp3)

Below is a live from Bonnaroo recording of A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left.

Tune In Saturdays: The Rosewood Thieves

Here's one I bet the Copyblogger, Brian Clark will enjoy. This week, Tune In features The Rosewood Thieves, a group of barely 20-somethings that sound much more weathered than their age would indicate. It's country, but pop, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it alt-country either (thankfully). They bleed Dylan, and apparently are pretty enamored with the Beatles, although I don't really hear it any more than you might in any other band on the planet.

Check out MySpace for more songs From the Decker House,  or watch the video below.

Tune In Saturdays: The Explorers Club

It appears the only internet I'll have for the next few days belongs to Starbucks, so this will be the shortest of short Tune Ins. This week, it's the Beach Boys minus the hangover with South Carolina's own, The Explorers Club.

At this point, you can only buy a 4 song ep on Itunes, but the first full length is on the way.

The Explorers Club - Forever (mp3)

From Stylus:

"To be fair, the Explorers Club themselves most definitely deserve the assist on that front; it’s hard not to objectify a band’s music when they’re clearly just as fetishistic as you. On paper, their sound probably isn’t anything too remarkable—“Hey guys! I just found another band that loves the Beach Boys!” “Is that the Association I hear in there?” etc.—but wait until you hear this stuff play out. Their EP might as well be one twenty-minute treatise on the ecstasies of getting something to sound just right—after all, it’s one thing to admire Carl Wilson or Phil Spector’s gifts, but it’s another thing entirely to try to make use of similar gifts in the same way."

Tune In Saturdays: Charlotte Gainsbourg

This week could be considered a new throwback, in a way. Charlotte Gainsbourg makes me think of what it could have been like to live in Paris in the 60's. She's incredible. The music was written by the boys from french electronic pop duo Air, with lyrical collaboration from Jarvis Cocker of Pulp, Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy and production by Radiohead, Beck and Paul McCartney's producer, Nigel Godrich. And, it sounds pretty much like you'd expect a resume like that to sound.

From the Guardian:

"What stops 5:55 being a well-meaning pastiche, what makes the album touching rather ghoulish, is the sheer quality of the songwriting. Charlotte Gainsbourg is, it seems, a difficult customer in front of the microphone - she apparently overcame her shyness by singing while hidden under a sheet - but her reticence seems to have forced everyone else involved to the top of their game. Exquisite melodies and heart-stopping choruses abound..."

Hotness.

Home+MySpace+Video of The Songs that We Sing below.

Tune In Saturdays: Menomena

I finally got my fucking electricity back! Dallas is in the middle of about the weirdest dust bowl ever, so I had nothing until about 20 minutes ago. That being so, this Saturday is a super duper quickie, cause I gots to get gone.

This week, we feature Menomena, a band with such huge balls that they named themselves after the skit below.

Yeah...I don't know why I find that so badass, but I do. Sue me.

Anyway, Menomena is pretty friggin' weird, and pretty friggin' computer-driven, too. But it works. From Prefix:

"Menomena's musical hash is some of the most interesting stuff you're likely to hear. The Portland-based trio creates its mix 'n' match pop anthems in a decidedly peculiar way: Deeler, a computer program created by drummer Danny Seim, creates loops out of short improvised riffs that each member comes up with. These loops are assembled into some peculiar, but undeniably catchy, shapes."

Also, if you happen to be in Dallas tonight, meet me at the Granada for a show featuring three tune in saturdays alumni - Midlake - St. Vincent - Tacks, the boy disaster.

And, some extra mp3 love.

Midlake - Roscoe (mp3)

St. Vincent - Paris is Burning (mp3)

Tacks, The Boy Disaster  - Forget Me Not (mp3)

Tune In Saturdays: Sondre Lerche

Norwegian crooner Sondre Lerche (As in Sandra Leer-key) grew up and grew a pair. I found this guy about a year ago while we were toying with music for a TV (yes, TV, I said it) campaign for one of our clients. The guy was pretty much considered a light-hearted jazz crooner. I bet some called him a pop artist, but he wasn't really. But, now, he's fully embracing the electric guitar, the distortion pedal and the power chord. You could say there jazz infused moments, but Phantom Punch is very much a rock record. Well, an indie-pop record, at least.

And while I'd hardly call Phantom Punch as charming as the earlier work, and it's probably not the most original thing I've ever heard, the album grows on you quickly, and doesn't have the quick wear-out that I expected. Here's a taste of both for your musical discernment.

From his earlier work, the first video is Everybody's Rooting For You, sung live.

And, from the title track from his new album, Phantom Punch.

Tune In Saturdays: Tacks, the boy disaster

From the indie-pop haven of Austin, Texas emerges our next Tune In victim, Tacks, the boy disaster.  They remind me of a mash-up of Brendan Benson and Of Montreal at their most subdued. 

From the Austin Chronicle, after rating TtBD's Oh Beatrice as the number one album out of Austin in 2006,

"To be sure, the indie-pop foursome seemed to emerge as if from nowhere, garnering local attention, praise from a universe of blogs and even some Austin-area radio play. But their seven-song debut EP, Oh, Beatrice, evidences a songwriting talent of astonishing maturity. Tacks effortlessly navigates across a vast range of pop sounds, with richly-textured songs whose accessibility is rivalled only by their musical depth."

Go to MySpace to hear more, or listen to a couple mp3's below. Also, you can see a clip of a video for "Forget me not."

Tacks, the boy disaster - Forget Me Not.mp3
Tacks, the boy disaster - Matilda.mp3

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_trXMhNqY3s]

Tune In Saturdays: Page France

If Neutral Milk Hotel made babies with Deathcab, their spawn would sound similar to Page France, the music from the mind of Michael Nau.  They sport all the lo-fi Texas twang and indie sappiness that keeps me so rooted in the music of my home state, even if it actually comes from Maryland, of all places.

It's just plain, good-old hammock music. It's understated, but since I've gotten my hands on it, I can't get through two songs by anybody else without finding myself missing these guys.

Unfortunately, no proper music videos, but I did find this video from New Year's Eve.  In case you can't handle the crappy sound, here's a few songs for your ear-y nourishment. And there's more on MySpace.

Page France - Windy (mp3)
Page France - Jesus (mp3)
Page France - Chariot (mp3)

Tune In Saturdays: M. Ward

M. Ward's Post-War is a record that took me a long time to buy. It repeatedly showed up on ITunes in the little "Listeners Also Bought" section, alerting me that I would probably like the album. But, every time I listened to a 30 second clip, it just felt like something I shouldn't like. It's music that should be too popular to fit my snobbish music tastes.

But, damnit, I'm getting old now, and my wall of snobbery crumbled quick. It's just full of too many gems, like a folky Coldplay, back before Apple popped out, and Coldplay started sucking.  Essentially, M. Ward sounds like hipster Texas country from Portland. And, that's basically what it is.

MySpace, Home, and today, there's a double dip, an mp3 of To Go Home, and the video from Chinese Translation.

M. Ward - To Go Home