Five Songs I'm Loving This Week

Anathallo, "O Holy Night"

This may be my favorite non-traditional version of this song. I've posted the band before--they're one of my favorite current bands (what a coincidence--band I love, song I love). Like all the Anathallo songs I'm fond of (don't think I don't know there's a drinking game for every time I say "love"), this one is long, ambles, and changes so much you'd swear there was another song in there: precisely why I think they're such geniuses. Their songs are epic in a Queen way, if Queen had been a folk band.


Anathallo's Website and Myspace. They even have a Wikipedia entry. It's never occured to me to look in Wikepedia for a band's info. Luckily Google was thinking for me! (I'm afraid of a world where Google thinks for me.)

Junip, "Official"

I've been going around for a few weeks listening to this song, thinking "man, this sounds just like Jose Gonzalez". Of course when I looked up information about the band today, I found out that Junip is Jose Gonzalez' band! I feel a little silly now, but that's okay. I usually feel really silly--"a little silly" is an improvement. Much like Gonzalez' solo work, this song is sparse, haunting and beautifully crafted. If you want to hear more Jose Gonzalez, this is my favorite of his songs.


Junip's Website and Myspace.

Tokyo Police Club, "Citizens of Tomorrow"

I love the handclapping in this song. I love the expansive keyboard sound. The Greek chorus chant of "no we can't" reminds me of Arcade Fire, while the rest of the song reminds me of nothing I can pinpoint. The singer's delivery is low-key most of the time, but goes into a kind of emo, pleading state mid-way through the song with the lyrics "this is not how we planned it", like a Death Cab For Cutie song hijacked by Bright Eyes mid-way. Aside from the emo-bridge, though, this is a very good mix of guitar-rock, spacey keyboard music (they mention robots!) and shouty indie music (a la Arcade Fire). Go to their Myspace to listen to a stripped-down version of the song. (From the album A Lesson In Crime) Tokyo Police Club's Myspace and Website


What? Someone stole a speaker? *Whistles* I have no idea where it could be...

Tap Tap, "100,000 Thoughts"

I'm a sucker for guitars-played-as-ukelules, especially when they're smack in the middle of really punchy songs. Punchy song this is, though I'm not sure if an actual ukulele is used (I tried to find song credits, but none were to be found). The rhythm of this song seems to be made by guitars, bass and the singer's plaintive voice (and a good 'ole dose of hand-clapping). These few things come together, steadily ascending and forming a wholly realized piece of pop music. The album LanzaFame is mostly sold-out, but can be ordered through their label.


Hey--let's form a band. Dude, can you play guitar? Tap Tap's Myspace and Website.

The Orange Peels, "April Come She Will"

I just heard of The Orange Peels a few days ago. Literally about three or four days ago. I don't remember how I heard about them, but now I have several of their songs and podcasts (podcasts!). I also feel like I've been listening to them for years. They do a wholly different take on Simon and Garfunkel's "April Come She Will". They've altered the melody enough to where it's recognizable, but removed from the original. The band took the song and dispersed its elements, regrouping them into a completely new song. That's what I look for in a cover: still obviously the same song, but rebranded. Their Myspace and Website.


The Orange Peels squint into the camera.

Oh yeah! Podcast!

By the by: I found out that EZArchive only lets me have 100MBs. How did I find out? Several minutes spent "posting" the Orange Peels song, only to have it freeze. I restarted the computer and it still didn't work. That's when it occured to me to check my stats. Even after deleting enough music to get ti down to 97MBs (the song's less than 3), it still wan't having it, so I dusted off Libsyn again (Libsyn which I'd wanted to reserve solely for podcasts)...so the lesson is I still can't keep songs posted for more than a few weeks. Get them while they're up!

I plan on doing a post next week, unless something prevents me (I have been feeling under the weather).