Songs Of The Week #39

(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)

Houses, The Uncluded, The Veils, Shout Out Louds, & On And On...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies!  Welcome to Songs Of The Week #39!

For those of you who are still unfamiliar with the column, here's the story:  TCDroogsma has an MP3 problem.  Each week he downloads dozens of MP3's and typically won't shut up about them.  So, with that in mind, we put him to work.

So, each week he downloads the songs given away via The Current's Song Of The Day podcast.  After spending a few days with them we ask him to write a review of each song and give it a score of 1-5.

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 encourage you to give the songs a listen and then vote for your favorite in the poll to the right-hand side of this page.  The winning artist receives the validation that comes with winning an anonymous poll on a blog, arguably the greatest achievement a modern musician can attain.

So, Droogsy... thoughts?

01. Houses - The Beauty Surrounds (from the album A Quiet Darkness)

TCDroogsma:

     It took nearly an entire week of listening to "The Beauty Surrounds" before its... um... beauty finally revealed itself.  It should be noted, of course, that since this is the first song of the week it means I'm typically listening to it while I walk to work at 5:45 in the morning.  I can barely function at that point in the day let alone digest the subtleties of a chillwave-inflected pop song.

    
     And yet, I'm almost certain that when my playlist cycles back to this song each April I'm going to have one of those, "Oh damn!  I forgot about this one" moments.

     The song eases in like a sunrise, with a simple clicking loop and descending synth-line.  "There's some gold in my bones that I told you about..." is how we're greeted.  "So I'm pulling out my teeth and burying them deep underground."  What does that mean?  I have no idea.  Allegedly, A Quiet Darkness is a concept album about two people in post-apocalyptic America trying to reconnect.  Well, seeing as how I'm only reviewing the one song and not the whole concept, the lyrics don't make a ton of sense.

     Still, the co-lead vocals from Dexter Tortoriello and Megan Messina provide the same sort of warmth that one would expect from the aforementioned sunrise.  "All my love won't bring you back to me" is a universal sentiment, whether it's fictional post-apocalypse America or non-fiction, pre-apocalypse America, Houses manages to strike a chord that resonates longer each time I hear it.

Final Score: 3.5/5

02. The Uncluded - Delicate Cycle (from the album Hokey Fright)

TCDroogsma:

     It's almost unfair for me to review "Delicate Cycle."  As an Aesop Rock devotee, I'm almost too familiar with The Uncluded.  Thanks to Aesop's 900 Bats blog (not too mention his Twitter), I've heard "Delicate Cycle" in various forms for over a year.

    Conversely, having heard Aesop Rock & Kimya Dawson together for quite a while now, The Uncluded has little novelty value left to me.  The question, then, is does this project stand up once the surprise of hearing these two artists collaborate stand up?

     The short answer: Yes.  Aesop Rock had spent the years since None Shall Pass coping with a lot of things.  He's even more disconnected from New York City.  He's had friends and family pass away.  He's gone through a divorce.  All of these things were dealt with directly and indirectly on last year's Skelethon (and, in a very indirect way, on his Hail Mary Mallon project, which, with the benefit of time, sounds like a record consisting of a guy going out with his friends for a night on the town to try to forget the problems at home).

     "Delicate Cycle" treads on the more literal side of Aesop's struggles.  Of course, "literal" to Aesop still means layers and layers to dig through.  His first verse is the sound of a man growing older, trying to make his peace with his new place in life, and (most importantly) acknowledging just how fragile it all is.

     Kimya Dawson, as the opposite side of the same coin, spins a much more straightforward yarn of her dad working in a laundromat and the adventure's she had there.  Is this a true story?  I have no idea.  But that's really the genius of the collaboration.

     Dawson's tale of growing up in a laundromat (and the struggles of finally being able to afford her own washer and dryer, thus eliminating the need to go to the laundromat) may be fact, it may be fiction, but read as a very straight narrative leading up to the one big lesson (the "airing their dirty laundry" line) it leaves me with a new respect for her ability to get to the same place as Aesop with about 200 fewer words and 50 fewer metaphors.  In the end, as both grow older, their acknowledging that they've grown wiser but not necessarily happier.  Sometimes the only reasonable thing to do is to pick up a guitar and sing yourself a song.

Final Score: 4/5

03. The Veils - Through The Deep Dark Wood (from the album Time Stays, We Go)

TCDroogsma:

     I've been going pretty hard for The Veils over the last year or so thanks to a friend pushing their first two albums on me.  I wasn't an immediate fan, but they definitely won me over.

     
     "Through The Deep Dark Wood" is not a drastic departure for the band, but it does show The Veils reaching a new level in their craft.  Whereas they used to use singer Finn Andrews' howling-at-the-moon vocals to prop up songs when they flagged, "Through The Deep Dark Wood" has layers upon layers of charm.

     Don't get me wrong, Andrews' still brings to mind the best moments of Hamilton Leithauser, but the rest of the band seem to have finally found a way to work up their own version of "The Rat" behind him.  The guitars chime, the drums hurtle forward, and every time a break is needed, it's there building the suspense for the next blast.  Really, a brilliant job by a band that seems to have really found its footing.

Final Score: 4/5

04. Shout Out Louds - Illusions (from the album Optica)

 
TCDroogsma:

     Maybe I'm being unfair, but I've never been able to completely separate Shout Out Louds from the fact that that their Swedish.  Every song I ever hear from them is meticulously crafted, catchy as good be, but entirely non-threatening and always leaving me wondering if the song was really about anything.  Beautiful but distant.  Y'know, like Sweden.

     
     Take comfort, though, you sexy Nordic dance-poppers, there's a precedent here.  I always felt the same way about fellow-Swedes The Cardigans.  And here in 2013 I find myself one of the few people I know still willing to go to bat for that band.  Great pop music is great pop music and Shout Out Louds are undeniably great at writing pop music.

Final Score: 3.5/5

05. On And On - The Hunter (from the album Give In)

TCDroogsma:

     According to my extensive research (what up, Google!), On And On is a collaborative effort between musicians from Chicago and Minneapolis.  While my distaste for Chicago is at an all-time high right now (fucking Blackhawks), I've definitely embraced this collaboration.

    
     With "The Hunter" On And On manage to keep the sly, synth-heavy hooks that have dominated the Twin Cities over the last couple of years and mix them expertly with the kind of hammer-of-the-gods drums and guitar crunch that can only come from a city that couldn't be further from "Minnesota Nice."

     The result is a song that that kicks around in your head, but also leaves you to realize that you're walking around work singing a song that's menacingly, excitingly sexual under your breath, and that if anybody actually heard you muttering, "You are the hunted, you know why I'm coming..." you'd probably find yourself in the greatest Human Resources there ever was.  Any song that could theoretically lead to that scenario is a winner in my book.

Final Score: 4.5/5

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 its contributors is in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or Minnesota Public Radio.  We're just music fans with laptops and little 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 #38

(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)

Bleached, Keaton Henson, The Lonely Wild, Andy Burrows, & Har Mar Superstar...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies! Welcome to Songs Of The Week #38!

For those of you who are new to the column, here's the story: TCDroogsma likes to dork out about MP3's. We think he may have a problem. Each week we ask TCDroogsma to download the songs given away over the week by The Current's Song Of The Day podcast. After spending a few days with the songs we ask him to review the songs and give them a score of 1-5.

As always, we strongly suggest that you follow this link and subscribe to the podcast yourself. It's free music, people!

Alright, Droogsy... thoughts?

01. Bleached – Dead In Your Head (from the album Ride Your Heart)

TCDroogsma:

     I didn't know anything about Bleached going into this week's songs.  Turns out Bleached is the work of sisters Jennifer & Jessie Clavin.  The name "Bleached" seems appropriate as the band is based out of L.A. and definitely sounds like a band from the 90's with some of the Seattle grunge burned away, leaving us with a hook-heavy, hearbroken pop song.

    
     As has been pretty well documented in these columns, I'm a fan of anything that leans 90's and anything that leans shoegaze.  "Dead In Your Head" has both in spades.  While the prospect of MPR giving away yet another "we broke up, I'm feeling things" song is about as exciting as another week of winter, Bleached manages just enough tricks to keep it interesting.

     Coming off like 808's era Kanye, the Clavin sisters start off lashing, claiming, "It's time to think about what you lost, because you know, baby, it's gonna hit you..."  Sadly, instead of an entire track of kiss-offs, the chorus is hinges the phrase, "I never wanted to lose the boy I love the most..."  Honestly, this back-and-forth between anger and regret has been beat to death in this "Song Of The Day" format.  In a different venue I probably would have likes this song more, but after spending a week with "Dead In Your Head," I'm left with the desire to sit down with the Clavin sisters and tell them each to get their shit together.  Nobody wants to hear somebody complain about something they had and lost when they're not even sure they wanted it in the first place.

Final Score: 2.5/5

02. Keaton Henson – You (from the album Birthdays)

 
TCDroogsma:

     According to, wel... the internet, Keaton Henson is the "bedroom troubadour" archetype personified.  Evidently, Mr. Henson has been so racked with anxiety since he was a child that he rarely ventures out to play live, instead staying in crafting fragile pop songs.  Frankly, I blame his parents.  Who names their kid Keaton?

     Well, "You" definitely sounds like the work of somebody who spends all day in a bedroom.  It's lushly produced, with strings that are beautifully executed and percussion that builds & drops the way anxiety would well up if you were stuck in your own head all day.  From an instrumental standpoint, this is clearly the work of somebody who hasn't left the house (and I mean that as a compliment).

    Lyrically, however, it also sounds like the work of somebody who hasn't left the house (and I don't mean that as a compliment).  "You" is filled with cliche & platitudes of a third-party telling somebody how to cope with life.  The fact that it's somebody who struggles to actually leave the house and live a life is readily apparent.  The lyric's revolve around "If... then..." statements.  "If you must leave," "If you must mourn," "If you must weep..."  The answer to all these questions a rote.  Honestly, the song sounds like an address from Henson to his own anxiety, questions answered with a mix of continued hibernation or calls to action, which leaves no right or wrong option.  Everything action or inaction justified.

    The song was definitely going to be a 2, but I'm bumping it up to a 3 for the line, "If you must die, sweetheart, die knowing your life was my life's best part..."  That is my early 2013 nomination for "Soul-Crushing Line Of The Year."

Final Score: 3/5

03. The Lonely Wild – Everything You Need (from the album The Sun As It Comes)

TCDroogsma:

     The Lonely Wild introduces "Everything You Need" with some upbeat-indie guitar and, unexpectedly, mariachi horns.  If the bastard child of The Helio Sequence & Calexico seems interesting, you should probably give The Lonely Wild a listen.

    
     Is this interesting to me?  Not especially.  "Everything You Need" is certainly well-executed and delivered with passion.  Sadly, The Lonely Wild seems to be counting on this indie-mash up sound to be their most compelling fact, rather than the actual content of the song.  Everything is so well-done and between the lines that even the moment of abandon (when the horns & rhythm vaguely abandon the songs structure around the 2:30 mark) seems a little too well coordinated.  "Everything You Need" is a welcome addition to the iPod Shuffle library, but I can't imagine listening to 50 minutes of this.

Final Score: 3/5

04. Andy Burrows – Keep On Moving On (from the album Company)

TCDroogsma:

     Andy Burrows is the former drummer for the band Razorlight.  Unless you're English (or an NME junkie), this may not mean much to you, but Razorlight was arena-show huge in England.  I'll explain why this is relevant in a bit.

     I'm sure he hates the fact that pretty much every article or review about him starts this way.  Honestly, until I googled his name I didn't know this fact.  The reason I googled his name, however, is because "Keep On Moving On" starts off like a hundred other indie rock songs.  The harmonies and hooks are big, but the song takes a real turn around the 1:00 mark when a big time guitar solo turns up.  Form that point on the song takes on an REO Speedwagon kind of vibe.  I mean that as a compliment.  So many of these Current songs are so far up their own ass that they can't see the light of day.

    What Burrows does with "Keep On Moving On" is incredibly refreshing.  He aims big with the second half of the song, something too many indie-bands undertake only with the knowing wink of, "here we go, right?!?"  Clearly, Burrows learned a lesson or two playing the big stages with Razorlight.  That lesson: Just fucking go for it once in a while.  If the songs above suffer for their venue (This "Song Of The Day" format), the Burrows benefits from it.  This song doesn't belong on MPR, it belongs on KQRS.

Final Score: 3.5/5

05. Har Mar Superstar – Lady, You Shot Me (from the album Bye Bye 17)

TCDroogsma:

     I've already written pretty extensively on "Lady, You Shot Me" right here on Newest Industry for their Singles Mixer column (click here to give it a read).  I'm not going to re-hash everything I said there, so in summation: this is a pretty great single.

Final Score: 4/5

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

As always, please bear in mind that neither Newest Industry nor its 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 playing some songs & bantering on 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.

Newest Industry Presents: Flatbasset Radio - Episode #15

(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)

My head's so big you can't sit behind me...

Well hello again, free music fans! Welcome to Episode #15 of Flatbasset Radio!

For those of you unfamiliar with the podcast, here's the story: TCDroogsma is a music junkie. So much so that just writing our Songs Of The Week column is not enough for him. So, in addition to reviewing songs each week, he records this podcast and we give it away as a free download or streaming right here on Newest Industry.

Episode #15 represents the triumphant return of the podcast after a month off. In this episode TCDroogsma calls for The Smiths to stay broken up, tries to explain why indie rappers are so quick to defend Lil' Wayne, stumps for his favorite spring album, gives The Strokes career advice, and deems one of the most over-the-top acts of the last decade “classic.”

Click that player above to stream the podcast or click the download button to have a copy for your very own. Always free, sometimes good.

Flatbasset Radio: Episode #15

01. Sonic Youth – 100%

02. Tree – Nino

03. Har Mar Superstar – Lady, You Shot Me

04. Johnny Marr – European Me

05. Veronica Falls – Everybody's Changing

06. Abstract Rude – Rejuvenation

07. Low – Clarence White

08. Kanye West (w/Lil' Wayne) – Barry Bonds

09. The Strokes – Welcome To Japan

10. Kwame – The Rhythm

11. Bomba de Luz – Howl At That Moon

12. My Chemical Romance – Welcome To The Black Parade

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma). He can also be found right here on Newest Industry reviewing songs for our Songs Of The Week column.

For more Newest Industry be sure to give us a follow on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1) to stay up on the work being done by all 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 #37

(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)

Young Man, The Thermals, Mudhoney, Cayucas, & Web Of Sunsets...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies! Welcome to Songs Of The Week #37!

For those of you who aren't quite sure what you're looking at, here's the story: Each week we ask our resident music dork TCDroogsma to download the songs given away via The Current's Song Of The Day podcast. After spending a few days with the tracks we ask him to give us his thoughts on the songs and to give them a score of 1-5.

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

We'd also love for you to share your opinions of the songs by voting for your favorite in the poll to the right of the page. The winning artist receives the validation of winning an anonymous internet poll on a blog, arguably the highest achievement a musician can attain.

So, Droogsy... thoughts?

01. Young Man – In A Sense (from the album Beyond Is All Around Me)

TCDroogsma:

     When I first saw that I was downloading a song called "In A Sense" I was nearly certain that it was a play on the word "innocence."  While Colin Caulfield never overtly says that, the song does take on one of those last moments of innocence: a truly rough breakup that requires one to choose between forgiveness and bitterness.

     As a man who's prone to bitterness, it's admirable that Caulfield would approach his situation by, "waiting on another wasted afternoon, spent up long in thought, forgiving you..." Mentioning the end result of this thoughts softens the blow of the chorus in which he rattles off more than enough reasons to wallow into bitterness.  In a way, by forgiving this person he's preserving his own innocence.

     As if the lyrics aren't enough, the song carries a peaceful melody, as if he's merely recapping the thought process rather than considering options.  "In A Sense" is, um... in a sense, an end to that small chapter in the book of Caulfield's youth.  He remains charmingly innocent for now.

Final Score: 3/5

02. The Thermals – The Sunset (from the album Desperate Ground)

TCDroogsma:

     The Thermals is another in a surprisingly long list of band that I know only through the Song Of The Day podcast.  I don't know enough of their stuff to say, "Oh, I'm a fan of The Thermals," but, with "The Sunset" I've also heard at least one song off of each of their last three albums.  It's actually kind of a fun way to follow a band, receiving these songs like postcards from old friends that can only say so much in the small space allotted for notes.

     So what's their to take away from "The Sunset?"  Well, The Thermals don't sound like they've calmed down too much.  The guitars are nowhere near as wiry or bouncy as they used to be, implying either a level of growing up or growing bored.  Without hearing the rest of Desperate Ground it's impossible to know which.

     One thing remains, though, Hutch Harris knows how to sell a song.  My favorite song by The Thermals, "Now We Can See" was a nice, punky rave-up held together by Harris' belief in both his lyrics and his vocal chords.  "The Sunset" deals vaguely with a sense of paranoia.  Harris opens the song by claiming, "I am never alone, my shadows are close where I need them to be, I keep them with me."  Like an army of one, those shadows are Harris proof that he's not alone.  Whether they're haunting or helping remains to be seen.  Again, it's possible that I'm reading too much into this since I only deal with The Thermals one song at a time, but "The Sunset" seems like the middle of story started years ago when emotions ran more wildly.  Where The Thermals go next is bound to re-frame "The Sunset."  Until then, enjoy it for what it is.

Final Score: 3.5/5

04. Mudhoney – I Like It Small (from the album Vanishing Point)

TCDroogsma:

     For anybody who grew up in the 90's, Mudhoney was always the litmus test to differentiate between the kids who liked Nirvana & Soundgarden songs on the radio and the kids who really "got it."  The riffs were always a little gnarlier, the lyrics more caustic, more straightforward, and more funny.

     To hear Mudhoney in 2013 is, for those of us who grew up in the 90's, a real treat.  I feel like anybody younger than 30 won't quite get it.  The fact that Mark Arm (who's quickly turning into the American Mark E. Smith) spends, "I Like It Small" mocking/glorifying a concept of "selling out" that is foreign to those under 30 (and quaint to those of us over 30) leaves this song with a relatively small demographic of people who would "get it."  Though, of course, maybe that was the point all along.  It's really hard to tell.

     Mudhoney works up the kind of pop-grunge groove they've been making for 20-odd years.  Arm, as I mentioned above, doesn't so much sing as he does rattle off a list of things that could be taken as sincere ("minimum production, low yield, intimate settings, limited appeal"), but, given Mudhoney's career trajectory, have a bit of a curmudgeonly "You can't fire me, I quit!" vibe.  At least, Arm retains his sense of humor when he claims that, "when I orgy, I cap it at 12, any more than that and I get overwhelmed."

Final Score: 3.5/5

04. Cayucas – High School Lover (from the album Bigfoot)

TCDroogsma:

     With it's sorta-indie, sorta-african sound, "High School Lover" comes on like a track from Now! That's What I Call Indie Rock 2008!  Is that a band thing?  Not really.  It's catchy enough and definitely makes a fine warm weather jam.

    
     Still, the sentiment of the songs protagonist (who sounds like he's just returning home from his first year of college), is hard to fathom.  He claims that he hasn't read the letters she sent him while he was away (because evidently he's going to college in a world without e-mail, Facebook, GChat, or Twitter) and that, after accidentally seeing her undress, he couldn't help but claiming they should have been together in high school.  Call me crazy, but who comes home from college pining for the girls in high school?  Dude probably just spent a whole season wowing freshman gals into bed with his charming little indie songs.  I'm not buying it.

Final Score: 2.5/5

05. Web Of Sunsets – Fool's Melodies (from the 7” Fool's Melodies)

TCDroogsma:

      Just in time for spring, we get Web Of Sunsets "Fool's Melodies."  It's easy guitar strumming and air-y vocals make the song sound like it's being performed while sitting around a bonfire on the beach.  The lyrics carry the echo of pain and disappointment that comes to thousands of couples around the Twin Cities who stayed together through the winter only to split up once the temps went up.  Not a sad song so much as one tinged with instant nostalgia.

Final Score: 3.5/5

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

As always, please remember that neither Newest Industry nor its contributors are in any way affiliated with the artists above, The Current, or Minnesota Public Radio. 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” if a free & legitimate way to support the blog.

Songs Of The Week #35: TCDroogsma

(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY)

Wall., William Tyler, Villagers, Hey Marseilles, & Weird Visions...

Well hello again, mp3 junkies! Welcome to Songs Of The Week #35!

For those of you who don't quite know what you're looking at, here's the scoop: Each week we ask two of our regular contributors to download the songs given away via The Current's Song Of The Day podcast. Once they've spent a few days with the songs we ask them to write a review and give the songs a score of 1-5.

As always, we strongly suggest that you click here to subscribe to the podcast yourself. It's free, occasionally good music! To that end, we also have a poll to the right side of the page. Please vote for whichever of this week's song was your favorite. The winner receives the validation that comes with winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the greatest achievement a musician can receive.

Sadly, we've still yet to find a second contributor to review the songs. Thankfully, we have the always dependable (and always available) TCDroogsma.

So, Droogsy... thoughts?

01. Wall. - Left To Wonder (from the EP Shoestring )

TCDroogsma:

      Whether it's due to an expanding pallet or through the massive exposure provided by stations like The Current, I've actually grown quite fond of synth-y, electro-pop over the last couple of years. Wall., however, sounds not quite like any of the other songs I've heard.

      Most electro-pop songs come on one of two ways: Either they start big and hope you get lost in a see of hooks & keyboard lines or they stay cold & distant, hoping you'll appreciate the fragility of the song. Remarkably, “Left To Wonder” takes neither of these approaches.  Rather, Wall. comes on like a space heater, slowly enveloping the listener.

      The first minute finds just keyboard & bass guitar backing some airy vocals. As the song hits the first chorus, though, the vocals become more forceful, the keyboard lines more varied, and the slow-burn potential realized.

      As “Left To Wonder” presses on more vocals are added to the mix, the sparseness of the songs initial lines (like the loneliness of that first morning after a breakup) eventually gives way to strangely parallel vocals & echoes (which calls to mind the various thoughts that come with the breakup: regret, longing, nostalgia, & resolve). All things considered, “Let To Wonder” is the rare electro-pop song that grows better (and more relatable) with every play.

Final Score: 3.5/5

02. William Tyler – Cadillac Desert (from the album Impossible Truth)

TCDroogsma:

      Remember a couple of weeks ago when I reviewed an instrumental track called “I Take Comfort In Your Ignorance” by Ulrich Schnauss? Well, if not, I tried to make a point about the title of instrumental tracks carrying more weight than they would on a track with vocals. Inevitably, since there's no voice telling you otherwise, you can't help but let the title color the song. In the case of Schnauss, this was a bad thing, as it gave the song a condescending air that it probably wouldn't have carried if it was called something like “Bullet Train” or “I'm German, This Is Music I Play.”

      So, with that in mind, “Cadillac Desert” sounds like, well, a song you would play as you were driving a Cadillac through the desert. I have no idea if that's what William Tyler had in mind when he wrote the song or when he gave it a title, but the title defines it.

     The song comes on bluntly, with the opening strings & circular guitar sounding like a revving engine. That quickly gives way to some more nifty guitar work, with the strings coming & going intermittently, as if Tyler were driving that car through the last couple stop lights in town and out toward that desert.

     Two minutes in, and the strings have been relegated to the rear view mirror. We have four and a half minutes left to go and each one passes like a car doing 80 across the desert, trying desperately to leave whatever's in the city behind. The guitars weave in and out like a mind reeling with consequences real or imagined. The cruise control remains set until the last 25 seconds of the song, when everything settles down. That city and it's ghosts no longer visible, the panic in the guitar gives way to peace and the open road.

Final Score: 3/5

03. Villagers – Nothing Arrived (from the album Awayland)

TCDroogsma:

      It's somewhat telling that, despite not uttering one word, William Tyler was able to paint an entire picture in that previous song whereas Villagers gives us three verses and doesn't really say anything.

     “Nothing Arrived” is the perfect title for this song, as singer Conor O'Brien says almost nothing of consequence. The lyrics traffic in the type of vague, grey area that let's the song be applied by anybody to any situation they'd like. “I waited for something and something died, so I waited for nothing and nothing arrived...” is the lead to the chorus. What was that something? Dunno. It's implied that O'Brien has just gotten out of some sort of relationship (could be romantic, could be platonic) and that's vowing not to fall into that trap again.

      A third verse brings almost no clarity, “I guess it's over, I guess it's begun, it's a loser's table but we've already won, it's a funny battle, it's a constant game, I guess I was busy when nothing came...”

      Now, don't get me wrong, many an artist has taken to generalization in hopes of casting the widest net possible. The memorable ones (The Smiths, Bright Eyes, The Mountain Goats, etc...) add just enough specifics to give the song personality. Sadly, “Nothing Arrived” never finds those moments.

Final Score: 2.5/5

04. Hey Marseilles – Bright Stars Burning (from the album Lines We Trace)

TCDroogsma:

      Conversely, we have Hey Marseilles, who does a fine job of using just a few specifics to fill in the blanks of the clichés that make up most of a song. Lines like, “When I go so far you leave me in the dark I just want to be your light...” and “Summer skies don't shine the same, winter cold won't numb the pain...” are definitely cringe inducing. However, lines like the opener, “Don't rely on things you read on highway signs or magazines,” find that moment between cliché and specific, giving the song life and making the listener feel like they can relate to the sentiment of the song if not the specific story. And really, that's the trick.

      “Bright Stars Burning” is a very agreeable song, but Hey Marseilles definitely sound like they graduated with honors from the Ben Gibbard Academy Of Cardigans & Jaded Optimism. The references to seasons, nature, stars, and light make this song sound like it was somehow mistakenly left off of Plans (to say nothing of the extreme polish of the production). Of course, Plans is my favorite Death Cab For Cutie record, so consider that a compliment.

Final Score: 3/5

05. Weird Visions – Make To It (w/Holly Newsom) (from the 7” Weird Visions)

 
TCDroogsma:

      I hate to say it, but “Make To It” will probably go down as the moment that the MPLS-spawned “Gayngs” sound was finally played out.

      Look, I actually kind of dig “Make To It.” I think Holly Newsom of Zoo Animal has been building to this sort of thing for quite a while. Her voice is oppressively sexy when fronting her own band and it remains so on “Make To It.” I'm also a fan of Grant Cutler (though that's been a relationship of diminishing returns since the first Lookbook record.)  The dilemma is that, where Ryan Olson was able us auto-tune to give Channy Leaneagh's voice a warm, sensual appeal with Polica, Cutler uses the same technology to make Newsom sound less sensual & more like a sexbot.

      If “Make To It” existed in an alternate universe (or maybe just a different city) where Ryan Olson hadn't already blazed this trail then Weird Visions could probably go down as something fresh & new at best or at least an intriguing curiosity at worst. Unfortunately for Weird Visions (though fortunately for us), the Gayngs & Polica record exist, relegating Weird Visions to also-ran status.

Final Score: 2.5/5

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

As always, please bear 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 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 all the work being done by 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.

Newest Industry Presents: Flatbasset Radio - Episode #6

(IF YOU CAN BELIEVE IT, THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY.  HENCE THE TITLE.  PRETTY STRAIGHT FORWARD...)

Ain't got no milk, no mothafuckin' cereal...

Well hello again, free music fans!  Welcome to the sixth episode of Flatbasset Radio!

As you may or may not know by now, Flatbasset Radio is a weekly podcast put together by regular contributor TCDroogsma.  He spends so much time on this blog being a snarky asshole that we almost feel obligated to have him put together a podcast to prove that yes, he does actually like music.

This week TCDroogsma reveals his personal theme song, reluctantly plays Neil Young, coldly uses his friends heartache for his own selfish means, laments the breakup of the internet's favorite rap group, ponders a world in which Interpol died in a tire fire, and celebrates Phatnumber's birthday!



Click the embedded player above to give it a listen or click the title below to download the podcast for your very own.

Flatbasset Radio - Episode #6

01. Pavement - Summer Babe (Winter Version)
02. Wu-Tang Clan - Da Mystery Of Chessboxin'
03. Fiona Apple - Hot Knife (Blockhead Remix)
04. Eels - Last Stop: This Town
05. Das Racist - Puerto Rican Cousins
06. The Damned - Fan Club
07. Pet Shop Boys - It's A Sin
08. Suga Free - Let Me Pimp Or Let Me Die
09. Phatnumber - The Fastest Cowboy Out There
10. Neil Young - Harvest Moon
11. Jay-Z - 99 Problems (El-P Remix)
12. Down By Law - Radio Ragga
13. Interpol - The New

Boom!  Free music!  Tell a friend!  Tell two friends!

If, for some reason, this is not enough TCDroogsma he can be found on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  Give him a follow if you like inside jokes between him and his idiot friends.  He can also be found rambling away on his own Flatbasset blog.  You were warned.

Of course Newest Industry also maintains a Twitter home (@NewestIndustry1).  Give us a follow to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors.  More importantly, we have a Facebook page here.  Though it seems trivial, stopping by and giving us a "like" is actually the best way to support Newest Industry short of buying us each a new pair of gloves.

Songs Of The Week #17: MinneSarah & TCDroogsma

(THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARS ON THE TWIN CITIES BLOG NEWEST INDUSTRY.  GO TO THE BLOG AND READ THE THINGS.  THE... THE THINGS...)

Mike Coykendall, The Coup, A.C. Newman, Aaron Embry, & Prissy Clerks...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies! Welcome to Songs Of The Week #17!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the SOTW format, each week we ask two of our regular contributors to download and listen to The Current's Song Of The Day podcast. At the end of the week we ask them to give us their thoughts on the tracks and a score of 1 through 5.

This week we had MinneSarah & TCDroogsma give the tracks a listen.

As always, we highly recommend that you download the podcast for yourself and give the tracks a listen. Click here to subscribe to the podcast. It's free music and it's fun for the whole family!

As you can probably see, there is a poll to the righthand side of the screen. Please, vote for your favorite track. The vote doesn't count for anything, really. It's an internet poll, though, and everybody loves internet polls.

So, all that said, what'd you think, kids? 

01. Mike Coykendall - The Hippie Girl

MinneSarah: 

     What did you all do this weekend?  I can tell you what I did - watched Alice's Restaurant - the story of Arlo Guthrie's 60's-infused life leading up to the titular song. While I dislike folk music more than most, and did not enjoy the movie much either (surprise!), this song reminds me of when lyrics told a story, or at least they thought they did.

     Mike Coykendall is a folkey guy, may have actually been alive in the 60's, and he knew a hippie girl who he is praising with some mad props. For a two minute ditty about a hippie girl, who is great in principle, but is still not good enough for Mike himself ("she's perfect for you").  I'd have to agree - maybe this song'd be perfect for you - I mean, have you even seen Alice's Restaurant?

TCDroogsma:

     Only an aging hippie would think to write a song about the virtue of hippie girls.  He doesn't even make a convincing argument, he just rattles off the things that those of us who weren't born until at least the 80's hate about hippies.  She's not perfect for me, Mike.  If she was, she wouldn't need her dad to write a song about how great she is.

     Also, I realize you can barely hear him, but Ben fucking Gibbard is back on this podcast!  That's enough!  It's gonna be death cab for everybody at MPR if you don't stop with this shit!

Final Score: MinneSarah - 2/5
                    TCDroogsma - 0/5

02. The Coup – Magic Clap (from the album Sorry To Bother You)

MinneSarah: 

     First off - The Coup is a pretty amazing soul political hip hop group.  Their 2006 song, "My Favorite Mutiny" carried me through many a pretentious train ride.  The complexity of their songs, including their well written, political lyrics, the singer's Andre 3000 quickfire delivery, and catchy beats are worth checking out. 

     Second - I couldn't stop laughing at the double entendre of the lyrics - it's called magic clap people.  I know it's political, because it always is, but seriously, he said magic clap.

TCDroogsma:

     The first couple of times I listened to "Magic Clap" I wasn't really feeling it.  It took me a bit to realize that was mostly because I had become a little to accustomed to my old definition of The Coup as angry, politicized, boom-pap style rap.  Once I made my peace with the fact that this is now a full band operation, the song really grew on me.

     Admittedly, it's a pretty run-of-the-mill funk workout, but that's not really a bad thing.  I mean, The Coup is now and always will be about Boots Riley's lyrics.  Took much funk would have drowned that out.  Riley brings a B+ game (especially the third verse) and the song is more enjoyable than riot-inducing.  Still, kudos to The Coup for realizing that the revolution may not be televised, but it will almost certainly involved ass shaking.

Final Score: MinneSarah - 3.5/5

                   TCDroogsma - 3.5/5

03. A.C. Newman – Encyclopedia Of Classic Takedowns (from the album Shut Down The Streets)

MinneSarah: 

     Can we give an award for best song title?  I would like to see said encyclopedia.   Unfortunately, this song isn't as caustic as my song of the same title would be.  Everyone loves A.C. Newman, and this is because he sounds so darn upbeat and wholesome.  His songs turn my hate into RC Cola. This song is catchy, upbeat, and lyrically confusing.  I'd listen to it on repeat as I daydreamed what kind of classic takedowns belong in an encyclopedia and possibly A.C. Slater enacting them.  This is where my mind is, sorry.

TCDroogsma:

     By all logic A.C. Newman should be one of my favorite artists.  By combining two things I love (hooks and Canadians), he should, theoretically, always be playing at Planet New Basset.

     For whatever reason, that's just not the case.  I think "Encyclopedia Of Classic Takedowns" is a great example of why that's the case.  It's certainly catchy enough and cleverly polite in a Canadian kind of way, but it just never lets go.  I always get the sense with Newman that he's holding something back in the name of making a track sound just so.  One listen to the chorus (especially when he goes all falsetto up in there) and you can't help but picture him fretting with the backup singers trying to get that high note just right.  In the end, being too much of a perfectionist ends up costing him.

Final Score: MinneSarah - 3/5

                   TCDroogsma -3/5

04. Aaron Embry – Moon Of A Daylit Sky (from the album Tiny Prayers)

MinneSarah: 

     Starting a song with a harmonica is no way to cry out for attention.  If I weren't reviewing this song, I would change the station or turn it off immediately   However, I am reviewing this song, so this is what I think moving past the harmonica.  This guy has a good vocal range, and can pull a vocal melody to hypnotize you until that damn harmonica breaks in again. Aaron relies on the simplicity of an acoustic guitar, harmonica, some background drums and his voice, making it very roots-y singer songwriter stuff.  If you are a fan of Americana, this may be up your alley.

TCDroogsma:

     In the name of the type of Conor-Oberst-pseudo-honesty Aaron Embry brings to the table I won't pull any punches with this "Moon Of A Daylit Sky."  This is probably the worst Song Of The Day of 2012.  Move over Cjell Cruz!  Sorry Touissant Morrison!  There's a new sheriff in town!  And he brought his harmonica because of course he brought his harmonica!

     Look, I'm not trying to be a total asshole here, but I've got no time for this acoustic-harmonica-singer-songwriter bullshit.  Especially yet another tune about some abstract fucking occurrence in nature that's supposed to remind you how beautiful life is.  Motherfucker, I ate toast for dinner tonight because pay day's still 3 days out.  Fuck your moon and fuck your harmonica.

Final Score: MinneSarah - 2/5

                   TCDroogsma - 0/5

05. Prissy Clerks – Bruise Or Be Bruised (from the album Prissy Clerks)

MinneSarah: 

     This song is has a West Coast vibe (although they are local), and the girl singing over heavy guitars and drums is sweet.  The guitars and vocal echo effects are a welcome treat after this week's offerings. The quick and prominent drum beat fuels rest of the song and it clocks in at just over 2 minutes.  As the kind of song I would have enjoyed immensely in high school for it's upbeat, cut to the chase, ethos - I'm gonna break with tradition just come out and say well done, Prissy Clerks.

TCDroogsma:

     I just knew Minnesota was going to come through after those last two clunkers.  Maybe it's just context, but God bless you, Prissy Clerks.

     Fuzzed out guitar?  Check.  Charming female harmonies?  Check.  Vaguely sexual, vaguely violent lyrics?  Check and check (and I mean check!).  This is exactly the type of catchy yet loose vibe that A.C. Newman will just never get right.  I'm sure a lot of effort goes in to sounding this effortless, but for two minutes it sounds like the most fun anybody could have playing music.

Final Score: MinneSarah - 4/5

                   TCDroogsma - 4/5

There you have it, music fans. Another week's worth of tracks downloaded, debated, and filed away.

As always we'd like to take a second to remind everybody that neither Newest Industry or its contributors is in any way affiliated with Minnesota Public Radio, The Current, or any of the artists played. We're merely music fans with keyboards and too much time on our hands.

For more of the always charming MinneSarah be sure to give her a follow on Twitter (@MinneSarah). Especially if you're a fan of cats, nail polish, and/or Evan Dando.

For more of the seldom charming TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma) or check out his personal blog Flatbasset. TCDroogsma also hosts our weekly Flatbasset podcast. Check out all those things out if you're a fan of basset hounds, nail polish, and/or Evan Dando.

 




Of course Newest Industry also lives on Twitter (@NewestIndustry1). Give us a follow to stay up on the work being done by all of our contributors. More importantly, Newest Industry has a Facebook page here. Fucked up as it is, stopping by and giving us a “like” is the best way to show your support for the blog short of cutting us a check. If you're so inclined, though, please make the check out to “Cash.”