Stop Okay Go

David Shakes His Head

 

++Not trying to make this blog Komposer Korner but... L.A. composer Paul Bessenbacher! I'm liking this song of his, Surface. The lyrics are about being underwater and it somehow feels like being submerged, especially the last few seconds. Sounds like he wanted to include dolphin squeals but thankfully he exercised some restraint.:Paul Bessenbacher Surface and Opus Orange Wait Wait Wait were here.

Surface was part of the soundtrack to the 2006 movie about addiction David Shakes His Head.

Bessenbacher's diverse body of work also includes work with NBC's Last Comic Standing and the theme for the Suite Life of Zack and Cody. More recently, he's done the Johnsonville Sausage* commercial (catchy!) and has a side project called Opus Orange, and the track below that's also worth a listen:

++Via Pitchfork, I love this song by KBarnes & crew. It's quite Cake-y in consistency.

Quickies

++While everyone else has been focused on BP, Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt have been joining forces to oppose nukes.

++GNR's Steve Adler has written a memoir, because he's had Steve Adler's life and the stories *almost* write themselves.(via)

 

++From the inbox: Paul Dempsey, former lead singer of the Australian band Something For Kate has come out with a solo album and a beautiful song for the sampling that's in the same vein of Josh Ritter. He'll play The Living Room in New York on August 4th. Paul Dempsey Bats mp3 was here

++A music reviewer imagines Dan Bejar's prowess as a left fielder. C'mon man, cut him slack. He's Bejar.

++There exists a mini-documentary about Mica Levi of Micachu & the Shapes fame. In it, she discusses her collaboration with the London Sinfonettta and her musical process. Ah, but what of her left fielding skills??

Some people think Mica is deconstructing pop. I just wanna know how she got Golden Phone to be so funky.  Watch here.

++Whomadewho sure do know their way around a music video:

Peak Experience

From what I remember, Woodrow Wilson was a pretty stern, dignified statesman. Not sure how he'd feel about his name being used in a Dubstep mix. Maybe he would've been down. "T-Dubs" liked riding fast in his convertible.

This is from last year...a fantastic remix of Boy Crisis' Dressed to Digress. Nero reshaped the mood of the song entirely while mostly preserving the song. Listen to both 'n' compare.:

Boy Crisis Dressed to Digress and Nero Remix were here.mp3

A Dove On Fire

 

From the inbox:

Add William Brittelle's Sheena Easton to the long line of songs that uses the "Oh__(insert girl's name here)__" device. See also: Oh Mandy, Oh Kelly and O Dana.

The classically trained art rock composer's new album Television Landscape is out today. Fans of Alan Wilkis' song Burnin and AM goldness might find this song to their liking:

William Britelle Sheena Easton mp3 was here.

The Monkey Paw

I 'spose one of the great things about being anonymous musician would be getting to have your fame and still eat at restaurants, too. Or some other similar sounding platitude.

Bob Log III doesn't have any L.A. tourdates any time soon. BOO! (Photo by Rebecca Smeyne). More here.

Bob Log III Bump Pow mp3 was here.

Is That Part of the New Image?

I love the drama/screaming/whining generated in this song and video by sister act Zambri. Reminds me of Voices Carry. Or, like, the daydream of a girl who reads V.C. Andrews. 

Best part is when the dude in the mask is kissing the girl and her face is singin' out the back of her head. I could see this as a premise for a Tracy Morgan movie.

The colorful duo is currently unsigned. Hope someone sweeps them up because I'd love to hear them do something with Pat Wolf, especially after hearing the song below. Read more about Zambri after the jump. Sister sisters play Glasslands on 9/11.

Zambri Tonight We Fly mp3 was here

Uh Oh Uh Oh

 

It's a busy time for the U.K.'s Pixie Lott. The singer will star as "Fred (y'know, that one guy Fred) Figglehorn's crush" in Fred: The Movie and as Sharon Stone's daughter in the movie Sweet Baby Jesus alongside Adrien Brody.

Pixie Lott Mama Do mp3 was here.

Bonjour Monday

Got this song in the inbox over the weekend. Fuji Kureta are an electronica duo from Istanbul and have gained themselves quite a following on Youtube and Lastfm. They have a variety of moods that they have preserved digitally...here's their take on lightness.

Fuji Kureta Bonjour mp3 was here.

Sunset Sound

Wow a band from Newport Beach. That's kinda different. Young the Giant, not to be confused with Young Marble Giants, are all under 21 years of age and have been working with Joe Chiccarelli who has produced The White Stripes and The Shins. They will play the Troub on August 1st.

Will they have to use fake I.D.'s to get in to certain clubs?

No Ceilings

++  ?uestlove has compiled several of his celebrity encounters. Among my favorites, Jay Dee, Babyface, Eddie Murphy and his rollerskates, and Will Smith, who had a kitchen like the one on Good Times. (via)

++Well of course Gondry is going 3D. Who isn't these days??

New Wave

 

The Death Set have finished their new album, titled Michel Poiccard, the lead character from the movie Breathless.

The album follows the death of songwriter Beau Velasco in September of last year.

The Death Set Around the world mp3 was here.

The King of Harmony Pop

++Chris Rainbow is a Scottish vocalist who had two minor hits in the 70s, including the one above, and was a vocalist for the Alan Parsons Project.

Masonry

New music from the inbox:

++Brooklyn's Paul and the Patients are at Week 34 of their Song of the Week project, giving away the infectious Squeeze-like song Factory this week. Check back at their Bandcamp page for more music and other assorted shenanigans.

Paul and the patients factory mp3 was here.

++The intro of this ditty by Jukebox the Ghost, and it's spritely energy remind me of LCD Soundsystem. Maybe a little Mountain Goats in there, too. Favorite lines:

"My heart is my key and you are a threate'nan me." (Note: Add double snap at your own discretion)

"You're a far cry from an empire at peace."

Jukebox the ghost empire mp3 was here

++Here's a possibly NSFW, nicely executed video by Mathias Modica aka Munk for the song Down In L.A. that came out last year. Them Jeans has done a new remix of the song, below:

Munk down in la mp3 was here.

Vice Squad

Much like the song by WhoMadeWho from the other day, this video by Typhoon has a real cinematic feel to it.  It's kind of a cross between Amazing Stories and The Last Waltz, having something to do the Hadron Collider. I like the way the video seems to catch up with the band in mid-step. The lead singer, has a nice urgent yet warm Will Sheff-ian quality to his voice. It's more of a meditation than a song but I love how....peaceful... the song sounds. Hunger and Thirst is out now through Tender Loving.

Typhoon Starting Over mp3 was here.

Quickies

++You don't come across too many guys who can transition between folk and electronica like Andy Cabic from Vetiver and who was once in the experimental and "rhythm-centric" band Tussle.

Vetiver THrough the front door mp3 was here

++Congrats to Villagers, who were nominated for the Mercury Prize. Conor J. O'Brien and crew will play Hotel Cafe on 7/27.

++ Darn. I was really hoping that Tim Robbins would be doing a cover of Midlife Crisis.

Emergency Exit

Dang, this video by WhoMadeWho is one of my favorites in recent memory. So well-shot and twisted!  At first I thought there was a mistake in the title since the chorus repeats "Keep me in my place," but then he talks about food tasting good at 50,000 feet..so I think it's an ode to wanting to stay rich and successful. Or is it??  The video complements the song perfectly.

Formally favorited!

whomadewho keep me in my plane mp3 was here.

Forest Song

++Here's video of members of Gauntlet Hair being interviewed inside a smoky car and in black and white. They say they only recently started getting internet again. During their break they weren't aware of what was happening in music and made the kind of music that they would like to hear. This is something probably more bands should do.

GvB has a video of Our Scenery ft. a young Will Oldham.

gauntlet hair our scenery was here

++This is Rich.

Drank It Down

This song by Kat Burns and Forest City Lovers starts off um, kinda polka (Tejano?).

Kat Burns whispers breathily like women in Gregory Peck movies once did. The band is charmingly just a hair off-beat, calling to mind a school dance.

Born Ruffians' Luke Lalond chimes in and now we've got full blown Romance. All these ingredients would seem to add up to a syrupy song, and it certainly comes close to stepping over that sticky line. Thankfully, there's a slight grittiness to Lalond's harmony and Forest City Lovers know when to shut it down, which is to say, way too soon. (Thanks to swedesplease and iheartmusic.)

Carriage, FCL's new album is out now. Forest City Lovers Pocketful of Rocks mp3 was here.

Two Little Dancers From School

Wow, music has been getting buckwild. People are trying all kinds of different things. Well maybe not lately, Two Dancers by Wild Beasts came out last year but this is the first time I'm hearing of them. With their eccentric sound they were a big draw at Glastonbury, because you know.... Glastonbury.

This song delivers the line "This is my booty call" in the style of the Mikado.

Disclosure: No snobbery; author's entire knowledge of the Mikado courtesy of Frasier.

Wild Beasts Fun Powder Plot Mp3 was here recommended.

Windswept

Time to bust open the inbox!:

 

++David Borkmann is an up and coming producer from the West Coast of Sweden. He's recently done remixes of songs by Eat More Cake, Avatars and The Berndt. Have a listen to the original version of Superior off his new EP Mercury.:

++Even when The Darkness' Justin Hawkins isn't doing anything he's still busy "laughing in the face of a reunion" or "furiously" denying a reunion. Being retired must be tiring. (He *will* be starring in a film with Charisma Carpenter, however.)

++Grammy Camp? Also, it's good that Creed has a side gig for when The Office ends.