Songs Of The Week #58: TCDroogsma & MinneSarah

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

J. Roddy Walston & The Business, No Age, White Denim, San Fermin, & BBGun...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies!  Welcome to Songs Of The Week #58!

For those of you who are new to the SOTW column, here's the story:  TCDroogsma and MinneSarah are both fans of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast.  They're also both opinionated and have access to computers.  Seeing an opportunity to let them indulge in their MP3 habit and put them to work writing reviews we created the Songs Of The Week column.  Over a year later later and here we are.

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 each song 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 who accrues the most votes wins the validation that comes from winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.

As per tradition TCDroogsma and MinneSarah have not read each other's reviews prior to posting

So... Droogsy, Sarah... thoughts?

01. J. Roddy Walston & The Business - Heavy Bells (from the album Essential Tremors)

TCDroogsma:

     Much like all of those Candian synth-pop bands suffer from the context of The Current Song Of The Day podcast, J. Roddy Walston & The Business benefit from it.  I mean, when was the last time I reviewed a song here that contained pounding electric guitars and actual, honest to god yelling?

     Unfortunately, I definitely get the sense that "Heavy Bells" only works in this context.  This sort of My-Morning-Jacket-as-garage-band thing isn't really my type of sound.  It's a fine single and a nice change of pace from the usual drudgery of SOTD tracks, but four minutes is about all I can take.

MinneSarah:

     "Country groove band" is the best I can do to sum up this sound.  A little funky, a little twangy, and very cyclical. The vocals are screaming to the point of distortion, and the chorus features vocal reverb akin to a three year old catching his breath from crying too violently.  While the lyrics repeat "You're going to wake up," this song would be superior to my current ear piercing alarm in making me actually get up to turn it off.  Maybe I'm missing some of the soul comforting aspects of Southern Rock, but this song makes me feel on edge.

Final Score: TCDroogsma - 2.5/5
                             MinneSarah - 2/5

02. No Age - An Impression (from the album An Object)

 
TCDroogsma:

     Wikipedia defines No Age as "experimental punk," which seems like an oxymoron to me.  I mean, wasn't the essence of punk rock trimming the fat of more experimental music?

     Well, for what it's worth, if "experimental punk" is a valid term than I suppose "An Impression" sums it up pretty well.  I've listened to plenty of bands over the years who've written an average song decided, "Fuck it, let's just wrap this up in some distortion" and call it a day.  No Age, however, actually sounds like they've carefully thought out just how much reverb & distortion to use to give "An Impression" it's character.  Throw in the fact that they've taken drums out of the equation & added some strings and "An Impression" suddenly occupies a space all its own.

MinneSarah:

     "An Impression" is a strange little song featuring an indie trip-hop beat, low-fi monotone vocals, and a full on violin solo.  While the violin adds a rich texture, it seems out of place with the rest of the song.  This genre is called "experimental" for a reason and isn't for everyone.  That's just my impression. 

Final Score: TCDroogsma - 3.5/5
                             MinneSarah - 1.5/5

03. White Denim - Pretty Green (from the album Corsicana Lemonade)

TCDroogsma:

     When I saw this song waiting in my queue I was really, really hoping White Denim had penned an ode to Liam Gallagher's clothing line.  Considering how nonsensical the lyrics are I suppose it's entirely possible that's what this song about (though it does contain the lyric "I was swinging up and down & hardly in vain..."  trust me, Liam Gallagher is nothing if not vain).

     Taking the meaning of the lyrics out of the equation, "Pretty Green" is a semi-interesting slice of country-boogie.  It's much smoother around the edges than that J. Roddy Walston song from up above, but I'm not totally sure that's a good thing.  "Heavy Bells" is at least defined by it's lo-fi, hard-hitting sound.  "Pretty Green" goes halfway on both counts and ends up sounding like neither.

MinneSarah:

     Let me just say, I like the Black Keys as much as the next gal, and White Denim takes their sound back to the 70's and the 80's in this song.  The vocals are distinctly Southern Rock, and the band gets an A for effort keeping it upbeat and guitar driven.

     However, the lyrics aren't extremely coherent, and the song swings from rock to psychedelic funk as from chorus to verse.  I would say that maybe this is the type of song that makes more sense when you see it live, but it veers a little too Phish for me to seriously consider taking that plunge. 

Final Score: TCDroogsma - 2.5/5
                             MinneSarah - 1.5/5

04. San Fermin - Sonsick (from the album San Fermin)

 
TCDroogsma:

     San Fermin is the project of Brooklyn-based musician (and Yale graduate) Ellis Ludwig-Leone.  To paraphrase the immortal Roger Meyers, Jr., he should have majored in not sucking.

     "Sonsick" is an exercise in overthinking.  Ludwig-Leone takes the blueprint laid by Dave Longstreth's Dirty Projectors and takes all the wrong turns.  Instead of living in a world of subtle risks and rewards San Fermin goes big, bigger, biggest by adding vocals, horns, more vocals, drop outs, build ups.... all in the service of a pretty ridiculous.  I mean, only a hyphenated Brookyn-ite would pen a chorus like, "I'll fall for you soon enough, I resolve to love."  Take all the time you'd like, bud.  And don't hurt yourself.

MinneSarah:

     What is a "son kind of sickness"?  From the lyrics, I surmise it is something you pick up at a t-ball game while you think about what you could do for the rest of your life.

     This song tries to be epic, and it's the premise, not the execution that is a fail.  Since when did every single need to build itself up until completely unrecognizable from it's beginning?  "Sonsick" is from the debut album of an acclaimed young songwriter, so I don't fault him for wanting to make a statement.  However in the context of the rest of these songs of the day that use the same formula, I'm not impressed.

     The strength of this song is the earnest vocals, but they are soon layered, to form a pseudo chorus.  Midway through the song, the horns add in solemnly, but the sound is like walking past the high school band room.  I've never seen Glee, but I would not be surprised if I gave that show five minutes and what I saw was this song.

Final Score: TCDroogsma - 1/5
                             MinneSarah - 1.5/5

05. BBGun - Heavy (from the album BBGun)

TCDroogsma:

     "Heavy" is just that.  Over some easy-riffing guitars BBGun lives in a world of regret & missed opportunities.  Thankfully, that early-middle-age regret comes coupled with one last blast of youthful idealism:: the power of the electric guitar.

     Over the course of the week I was trying to figure out just what it was about "Heavy" that was so charming and I think it comes down to the fact that, at its core, this song could have been just about the most cliched, acoustic, singer/songwriter crap you could imagine.  Instead, Al Church & Neal Perbix took those , ahem, heavy problems, laughed 'em off, and turned up their amps, coming of like two guys who know that sometimes the only thing you can do is shrug your shoulders and laugh.

MinneSarah:

     While the lyrics proclaim that, "Things are getting heavy," this song keeps the mood light.  The jangly guitars are honest and the lyrics are genuinely delivered.  "Heavy" also features an apology in which the guitars stop to draw full attention to its sincerity.  The end of the song features some vocal aaahhs that sound quite beautiful behind the guitars and add to the mood of the song.

     While the subject matter is heavy - crying over the phone, having to move back with your family, accepting failures and mistakes - the song stays upbeat and adds a glimmer of hope to the situation.  If I walked into Lee's Liquor Lounge and heard this song, I'd certainly tap my toes in solidarity.


Final Score: TCDroogsma - 3/5
                             MinneSarah - 3/5

Well there you have it, MP3 junkies!  Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, & 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 hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio

For more MinneSarah be sure to give her a follow on Twitter (@MinneSarah).  She can also be found right here on Newest Industry filing reports out of St. Paul for our Big Day Out 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 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. 

Album Of The Week: September 16-22, 2013

My Album Of The Week for the week of September 16th-22nd, 2013:

The Tribe & Big Cats! - Let's Be Professional

Obviously, I'm kind of late to The Tribe & Big Cats! party as they broke up earlier this year.  However, that doesn't mean I can't go back and give them a spin now.

Like any Twin Cities hip-hop fan I've been at least peripherally aware of these guys for years.  I'm a big fan of the work Big Cats! has done with Guante and his solo album For My Mother has made at least one appearance on the Flatbasset Radio podcast.

So, sticking with last week's theme of digging into the back catalog of the Twin Cities I'll be spending the next week with this mixtape (which you can download here).  Should be fun.

Songs Of The Week #57: TCDroogsma & MinneSarah

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

Black Joe Lewis, King Khan & The Shrines, The Happy Hollows, & The Cloak Ox...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies!  Welcome to Songs Of The Week #57!

For those of you who are new to the SOTW column, here's the story:  TCDroogsma and MinneSarah are both fans of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast.  They're also both opinionated and have access to computers.  Seeing an opportunity to let them indulge in their MP3 habit and put them to work writing reviews we created the Songs Of The Week column.  Over a year later later and here we are.

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 each song 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 who accrues the most votes wins the validation that comes from winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.

As per tradition TCDroogsma and MinneSarah have not read each other's reviews prior to posting

So... Droogsy, Sarah... thoughts?

01. Black Joe Lewis - Come To My Party (from the album Electric Slave)

TCDroogsma:

     When I saw that I would be reviewing a song called "Come To My Party" by somebody called Black Joe Lewis I immediately had flashbacks to those Secret Stash Records songs (Sonny Knight, The Valdons) we've reviewed here before.  Turns out I wasn't off by much.

     "Come To My Party" comes on with a quick little backwards horn bit before launching into the type of horns-funk-chicka-chicka-shouting that's been populating funk/soul tracks since James Browns day.  Joe Lewis and his group certainly bring the energy, but with the exception of one horn break, you've heard this before.

MinneSarah:

     Send a link to this song as an e-vite to your next shindig!  "Come to My Party" is upbeat, soulful, and toe-tappingly catchy.  What if James Brown and Andrew W.K. had a child?  Well, as far as I can tell from this song, it'd be Black Joe Lewis.  The lyrics are pretty straight forward - party party party, but the sentiment is sweet - they'll move the furniture so that you can bring your loved ones.  The horns keep it interesting and although sax solos can go so very wrong, this song's sax is the life of the party.


Final Score: TCDroogsma - 2/5
                              MinneSarah - 4/5

02. King Khan & The Shrines - Born To Die (from the album Idle No More)

TCDroogsma:

     I have friends who have been telling me for years that I absolutely need to see King Khan & The Shrines live to have a full appreciation for what they do.  Listening to "Born To Die" (and their previous SOTD entry "Torture" from 2008), I can see their point.  Much like Black Joe Lewis up above, Khan & The Shrines have no interest in reinventing the wheel.

     Rather, they seem more than content to essentially recreate the garage rock they grew up with.  If that's the goal, than "Born To Die" does an admirable job.  The song rattles around on a catchy guitar riff & Khan's sing-shouting while gradually building via the addition of horns and keys.  It's nice on headphones, but I'll bet it makes a lot more sense with Khan preaching from the stage.

MinneSarah:

    Tambourine, wah-wah pedal, and garagey sounding vocals...yes, it's psychedelic garage rock revival!  On it's own merits, "Born To Die" is an upbeat song that moves quickly and makes you feel instantly California while listening to it.  Since I can't book a trip to the Sunset Strip circa 1969, this is as close as I'm getting.

     The intro bit is very grand with some orchestral grandeur, but the meat of the song is down to earth.  Horns build up with strings for the outro, and the song rises above expectations.  These conflicting elements work in harmony, but the most enjoyable part for me was the low key vocals that truly harken back to at least BRMC, possibly even the 60's.

Final Score: TCDroogsma - 2.5/5
                              MinneSarah - 3.5/5

03. The Happy Hollows - Endless (from the album Amethyst)

TCDroogsma:

     If somebody told you to try to imagine an L.A.-based, kind of jangly indie-pop band The Happy Hollows is probably exactly what you'd imagine (especially if you're prone to imagining bands with female singers).

     "Endless" keeps pretty much the same pace for the duration of the song.  As the beat marches ever forward we're treated to some quirk-tastic vocals from Sarah Negahdari about... something, I'd imagine.  Sometimes she's joined by a group of voices for some almost punkish "Whooaaahhh's," other times her voice is replaces by chiming guitars that imply a working knowledge of post-punk.  And all the while the song marches along, leaving every moment filled with something yet leaving nothing memorable behind.

MinneSarah:

     While this song's guitars and drums seem to be kept on a loop, it just makes the singer's vocals stand out even more distinctly.  Singer, Sarah Negahdari's vocals are truly unique.  She has a wide vocal range, and a passionate delivery.  While I couldn't really make out the lyrics of this song, at least enough to tell definitively what it was about, this shows how the vocals are used another instrument - focusing instead on emotionally charged oohs and ahhs.

     While I wouldn't wish another Florence and the Machine on anyone, "Endless" diverges enough to still sound new and fresh in an indie scene tripping over each other's ankles trying to stand on top of each other.


Final Score: TCDroogsma - 2/5
                              MinneSarah - 3.5/5

04. The Cloak Ox - King Rope (from the album Shoot The Dog)

TCDroogsma:

     I'd be lying if I said I wasn't already all in on this new Shoot The Dog album from The Cloak Ox.  Andrw Broder's great, Martin Dosh is great, & a band that isn't afraid to get weird in the subtle ways that could only be done by truly professional musicians is just what the Twin Cities needs.  They should fit in brilliantly alongside TGNP labelmates like Marijuana Deathsquads & Moonstone Continuum.

     However, even a week on I have no idea what to make of "King Rope."  The Cloak Ox set the bar in an odd place early this year on the new TGNP sampler with "Josephine," which came on like Ted Leo fronting Fountains Of Wayne.  "King Rope" definitely keeps the Ted Leo singing style, but rather than razor guitars & hooks we're treated to vaguely atmospheric reggae, bongos, string swells, and plenty of other sounds that were probably meticulously arranged.  I'll bet it would be interesting to sit down with these guys and ask them to deconstruct everything floating around throughout "King Rope.:

      Going back to my initial statement, that's why I'm excited about their album.  The refuses to give in and reveal itself.  I don't think a whole album of this stuff would work too well, but spending 5 minutes with "King Rope" is an intriguing investment.

MinneSarah:

     "King Rope" is a time investment, which is broken up by a few different transitions.  If you aren't paying attention, at times you may think you've skipped to the next song.

     The more I listened to this track, the more I began to think it was actually Thom York's jam band project.  The guitars and bongos add a funky bass line, while there are certainly some experimental electrical components.  The singer doesn't necessary sound like Thom (except during the chorus), but the delivery coupled with the slow to fast electronics are blatant enough for comparison.  The last minute brings in the strings, and amid an epic violin send out, which sounds organic, although how often do you hear a song where jam band bongos and epic orchestral ending make sense? 

Final Score: TCDroogsma - 3.5/5
                              MinneSarah - 3.5/5

Well there you have it, MP3 junkies!  Another week's worth of songs downloaded, reviewed, & 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 hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio

For more MinneSarah be sure to give her a follow on Twitter (@MinneSarah).  She can also be found right here on Newest Industry filing reports out of St. Paul for our Big Day Out 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 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. 

Album Of The Week: September 9-15, 2013

My Album Of The Week for the week of September 9th-15th, 2013:

12 Rods - Split Personalities

I was up at The Electric Fetus the other day poking through their used CD's when I stumbled onto this bad boy for $4.99.  In my quest to familiarize with a wider variety of Twin Cities music (both past & present), I thought that was a worthy investment.

I don't know much about 12 Rods (with the exception of a track called "Astro Gimp" of the Twin Town High Vol. 4 compilation).  I do know that they're one of those bands that routinely turns up on lists of Twin Cities bands that people wish would reunite.  I also know that they're halcyon days were the last 90's and that they looked like this:

If that doesn't scream "Alternative Nation Buzz Bin!" than I don't know what does.  As somebody whose halcyon days were also in the late 90's I can definitely get behind this.

Songs Of The Week #56: TCDroogsma & MinneSarah

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

Typhoon, The Lower 48, Willy Mason, DIANA, & Sonny Knight & The Lakers...

Well hello again, MP3 junkies!  Welcome to Songs Of The Week #56!

For those of you who are new to the SOTW column, here's the story:  TCDroogsma and MinneSarah are both fans of The Current's Song Of The Day podcast.  They're also both opinionated and have access to computers.  Seeing an opportunity to let them indulge in their MP3 habit and put them to work writing reviews we created the Songs Of The Week column.  Over a year later later and here we are.

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 each song 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 who accrues the most votes wins the validation that comes from winning an anonymous internet poll, arguably the loftiest height to which a modern musician can aspire.

As per tradition TCDroogsma and MinneSarah have not read each other's reviews prior to posting

So... Droogsy, Sarah... thoughts?

01. Typhoon - Young Fathers (from the album White Lighter)

 
TCDroogsma:

     When I would listen to "Young Fathers" each morning over the last week I was struck by two things: First, with its stop & start intro I thought my computer was broken, which was annoying.  Second, my Last.fm Scrobbler would show me a picture of these guys and remind me that they were voted "Best Band" in Portland, which was even more annoying.

     Now, I'm sure in some circles being known as the best band in Portland carries a bit of weight.  I do not reside in those circles.  In fact, being named the best band in Portland is like being named the most attractive monkey in the monkey house.  Sure, it's a nice achievement, but you're competing against a bunch of other fucking monkeys.  Congrats.

     Anyway, "Young Fathers" embodies pretty much every terrible stereotype you'd expect from a Portland-based eleven-piece (!?!) act.  The aforementioned intro is a brutal way to start a song, dropping in and out of the headphones with some cooing, an electric guitar, some strings, I think there's some cinnamon in there...  From there the song only gets worse.  Lead singer Kyle Morton does an admirable impression of every uselessly quirky indie kid you've ever met while lending paternal pseudo-gravitas to lyrics like, "Now I'm as old as you when you had me, should I be afraid?" & "I just called to say 'learn from your mistakes,' you were my inspiration..."  Then a female voice comes in for a while, then a breakdown with some strings, then Morton, then the group...  It just goes on like this...

MinneSarah:

     "Young Fathers" starts with a trick opening - it drastically cuts to silence after three tries, reminding me of a Beavis And Butthead line, "I mean, it sucked, but at least it was short."  But I digress, as that is not the case with this song on either front.

     Although this is another band that has over ten members, a healthy string majority, a whistling gallery, and a folky electronic feel, it also has some lyrics that are a refreshing new take on the "world is a scary place" theme.  One of which, "think of the children, and the imagine the world that we've willed them, is populated with weirdos that kill them, and break their hearts" makes the band breaking into a barroom chorus later in the song more than tolerable.

Final Score: TCDroogsma - 1/5
                             MinneSarah - 3/5

02. The Lower 48 - That's What I'll Say (from the album The Lower 48)

  
 
TCDroogsma:

     My only interaction with The Lower 48 prior to "That's What I'll Say" came back in October of 2009 and their song "Miles From Minnesota," a strummy, folky affair about the joy of the open road.  It was a slight but pleasant tune.

     Well, all of those miles from Minnesota led to The Lower 48 calling Portland home & embracing a more muscular, British Invasion-esque pop sound.  While I certainly can't get behind decamping to Porty Pie, the change in musical direction seems like a kind of progress.  "That's What I'll Say" starts out with a guitar riff straight from the west coast (think Buffalo Springfield), before taking a Byrds/Herman's Hermits turn during the chorus, with plenty of "do-do-doo's" and "Oooh-oooohs" to give the hook some extra heft.

     Lyrically the song isn't really about anything at all as far as I can tell.  There's a brief romance that ends with our protagonist laughing at a young woman asking if they're in love.  Whatever.  The goal of this song seems to be jangly guitars and hooks and that's a mark The Lower 48 can certainly hit.

MinneSarah:

     "She fell in love with the sixties, and we broke her heart," pretty much sums up this catchy tune from the Lower 48.  The song's incessant tambourine, upbeat guitar, and raw drums hearken back to the sixties, but the singer vacillates between Rick Okasec and Lou Reed.  There are some well placed do-do-do's and ahh-ahh-ahhs, and generally this song is a fun blast from the past as interpreted by the future (at least by 80's standards).

     I'm amazed that it takes kids born in the 90's to bring back to feel of the 60's into the popular music scene, but I'm also quite glad.  They are far enough removed from the situation to create a great homage without sounding completely derivative. Go youth!
 
Final Score: TCDroogsma - 2.5/5
                             MinneSarah - 3.5/5

03. Willy Mason - Restless Fugitive (from the album Carry On)

TCDroogsma:

     The first few times I listened to "Restless Fugitive" I did not care for it at all.  The song has a vaguely reggae-ish vibe that is just not my scene and Willy Mason's back story (child of two folk singers, grew up on Martha's Vineyard, direct descendant of philosopher William James) gave the song an air of being a put-on.  Throw in the fact that the archetype of the "restless fugitive" is about as old as storytelling and this six and a half minute song didn't offer much.

     However, as I've mentioned dozens of times, there's a reason I listen to these songs every day over the course of a week.  Sometimes these songs are slow-blooming and "Restless Fugitive" eventually revealed its charm.  I'm still not sold on Willy Mason telling the story, but the idea of Willy Mason playing a bluesman telling the story of the titular restless fugitive has some legs.

     Mason's tale of the fugitive is pretty trivial with images of heaven, fled towns, burning, forgiveness, etc... The genius of the song, cleverly, rests with  that groove that Mason works out.  Yes, it's reggae-ish, but the electric guitar squiggles give it some color.  More importantly, it's mellow & consistent the whole way through, implying an even-keeled single-mindedness that would allow the "restless fugitive" to look back at all those aforementioned topics without getting too high or too low, merely cold & collected.

MinneSarah:

     Deconstructed reggae beat.  Does this draw you in?  How about over six minutes of said beat, which sounds a little Jungle Book-esqe?  Now, do you like Randy Newman?  Excellent.  I have nothing else to say about this song but that this may be your jam.

Final Score: TCDroogsma - 3/5
                             MinneSarah - 1/5

04. DIANA - Perpetual Surrender (from the album DIANA)

TCDroogsma:

     I really, really enjoyed "Perpetual Surrender."  DIANA tackles so many things that could have gone very wrong in this song and somehow turns it into a brilliant tune.  They're Canadian, so of course there's boy/girl vocals throughout the chorus, but rather than go the poppy-New-Pornographer route that's driven me to ranting like so many other Canadian artists, DIANE takes a cue from fellow Torontonians The Weeknd.

    "Perpetual Surrender" is smartly-paced and resists the urge to ever give us the big payoff.  Rather, we're treated to a sneaky synth-line, some drums that sound like they're coming from the next house over, and finally, a saxophone solo that retroactively justifies the last year's worth of terrible sax solos as building blocks to this moment of triumph.  Singer Carmen Elle comes on like Emily Haines if Emily Haines wasn't a caricature while the band is clearly content to construct a canvas around her performance that rewards the listeners focus no matter where it's directed.

MinneSarah:

     Yes, the eighties are coming back! Imagine a steamy Miami Vice night, with more modern female vocals.  It's got bongos, sultry backing vocals, stutter drums (think 21 Jump Street) and a full on sax solo!  The lyrics are about not giving into the temptation of a fling, and the delivery is a little loungy.  The whole feel is a very chill, but also has drama from the well placed elements above.  Certainly unexpected, it's not a genre I expected to hear resurrected.

Final Score: TCDroogsma - 4/5
                             MinneSarah - 2.5/5

05.  Sonny Knight & The Lakers - Hey Girl (from the Hey Girl single)

TCDroogsma:

     Is this just something we're going to do once a year?  Alright, those Secret Stash guys unearthed another lost gem from the pre-Prince era of Minneapolis soul music and are now releasing it on vinyl.  I'm not trying to be an asshole here.  I do genuinely believe those Secret Stash guys are doing a service to the Twin Cities music community by finding these old songs.  Frankly, however, I'm not going to get excited about this every year.  I thought that Valdons track last year was pretty solid, but not much more.

     Sonny Knight & The Lakers, despite their genuinely awesome name, sound exactly like what you would expect a lost funk/soul song from the 70's to sound like.  The horns are pretty great, the drumming is frenetic, Sonny Knight comes on like he's refrained from masturbating for a solid 7-8 weeks, there's an instrumental breakdown, and bye bye three minutes of your life.  Let's be honest here, if this song isn't a "lost gem," but rather was a song that had been easily accessible for the last 40 years, Sonny Knight would have been written off as one of a hundred different artists trying to get just a slice of the James Brown pie.  Again, I'm not trying to be an asshole, but that's the truth.

MinneSarah:

It's about to get funkalicious in here!  Coming out of that Twin Cities Funk and Soul album that took the Cities by storm last fall, Sonny Knight and the Lakers bring Sonny's soul roots to the present day.  While the lyrics are exactly what you'd expect from a funk song, the horns, vocals, and organ are so upbeat it doesn't really matter - why reinvent the wheel?  Although I feel a little like I'm being yelled at from a car, I'd rather have this on my iPod than some of catcalls I actually hear.

Final Score: TCDroogsma - 2/5
                             MinneSarah - 3/5

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

As always, please remember that neither Newest Industry nor our contributors are in any way affiliated with the artist 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 hosting our free weekly podcast Flatbasset Radio

For more MinneSarah be sure to give her a follow on Twitter (@MinneSarah).  She can also be found right here on Newest Industry filing dispatches out of St. Paul for our Big Day Out 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 of our contributors.  More importantly we have a Facebook page here.  Trivial as it seems stopping by & giving is a "Like" is a free & legitimate way to support the blog
  

Album Of The Week: September 2-September 8, 2013

My Album Of The Week for the week of September 2nd-September 8th, 2013:

Dem Atlas - Charle Brwn

A couple of weeks ago my Album Of The Week was the new EP from SIFU Hotman, a one-off collaboration between Guante, Dem Atlas, & Rube.  Well, I was suitably intrigued by Dem Atlas' work on the microphone that I hit up his Bandcamp page to see what I could find.

Turns out that he only has one solo release to his name, this Charle Brwn EP.  In his words:

"This is my first project and with this EP, i am chronicling the life and times of our beloved, Charlie Brown. I feel like I relate to Charlie Brown bc, he is a bit of a sad figure, yet reliant in the ways in which he fails time and time again, but continues to try and try again."

If that's not a sale's pitch than I don't know what is.  I'm excited to spend the week with this one. Follow that Bandcamp link above to give it a spin for yourself.

Most Played Albums: August '13

My most played albums of August, 2013:

via Last.fm