Songs That Might Otherwise Pass You By

Miracle Fortress, "Have You Seen in Your Dreams" (Downloaded from their Myspace)

I love strange songs that are off in so many ways and in so many places. I hear what sounds like turkeys gobbling at the beginning. Towards the end what sounds like a different song overlays the music. After going to every webpage I had open and hitting "stop" on every embedded player, I realized it was part of the original song. I love whatever that instrument that is making a sound like a ghostly woman singing "ahhh". I love how this song makes me think of Andrew Bird doing a His Name is Alive song (the dischordia and the reverbed guitar especially remind me of His Name is Alive). I wish they had an actual website, though. I'd love to learn more about this band. I guess that's part of the mystique, though.

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Miracle Fortress miraculously fortify their fortress using only their instruments and a sweater...

Jenny Omnichord, "Buildings"

I never knew I'd like the sound of an omnichord. I never knew what an omnichord sounded like. In this song it sounds like a very delicate, space-agy accent to a song that's already sparse and minimally-populated. A little bit of a guitar and keyboards support Jenny's precocious voice, with the omnichord sliding in the spaces between. With the music being so minimal, her voice carries most of the personality of the song, and the personality is coy, playfully taunting, like a little girl when she knows something you don't know. She knows she's going to tell you, but she enjoys stretching out the story and watching your reaction.

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Jenny Omnichord wonders if it's possible to play all of these at once.

The Quavers, "Fireflies"

I love the slow-build of this song. The singer's voice starts off calm, quiet and not at all threatening. He lulls you into thinking "oh what a nice little folk song". Then the lullabye drones into an ever-insistent demand to know "How can you wait?", steadily crawling up my bloodstream and picking the edges of my nerves. The violin knows (as all violins do) how to creepily merge with the voice to shred whatever ease I have left in my consciousness. Then the guitar comes in to blanket the whole thing with harsh reverb, making me think that I would like to hide now in a comforting white, softly padded room, please.

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If I were naming this photo of The Quavers, I'd name it "Invisible Arm Wrestling Partner". However, I'm not naming it. The photographer, Michael Ackerman, probably named it. I don't know what he named it, though.

SPLIT - THE QUAVERS - Sea Won't Take Long
by lablogotheque

This is the video I saw from them first--it absolutely blew me away. I wish I could've found a legal, free .mp3 for that one. The song is called "The Sea Won't Take Long" and it's from the 2004 album of the same name.

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I'll put the regular blog post up Sunday--I decided to reverse the order I put the podcast and blog up because I don't want the blog post to go unnoticed in the shadow of the podcast shownotes :)

Shownotes:

Theme Music! Dust Rhinos, "Victoria"

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The Quavers, "God Made Cars"

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The Ocean Blue,"Pedestrian"

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Amy Rigby, "Dancing With Joey Ramone" (Thanks to Anonymous commenter for the heads-up on this link)

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Club 8, "Heaven"

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Available through Napster and other outlets

Jason Collett, "I'll Bring The Sun"

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Headlights, "Cherry Tulips"

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Amandine, "Faintest of Sparks"

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By at eMusic and other outlets

The Mountain Goats, "Sax Rohmer #1"

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Songs That Might Otherwise Pass You By

The Bell, "On and On"

Alot of reviews are giving comparisons of this band to 80's bands (my musical home) like Echo and the Bunnymen, Joy Division (hmmm...without the direness, maybe), Jesus and the Mary Chain (I can see that) and newer bands like Interpol. I would agree somewhat with those likenesses, but I would throw in a comparison to The Editors, also very proficient at cloaking their songs in a choked intensity. There is a haziness to "On and On" that definitely brings me back to the sonic headiness of that cross between new wave and post-punk. Too aggro to be really new wave and too melodic to be punk. It pumps out from smoke-filled rooms just around the corner. You hear it when you're stumbling down the alley, and you're intrigued by it, but you can't really tell where it's coming from. From there on, the memory plants itself in your brain, even if you're a little sketchy on the details.

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The Bell stare down the camera . The camera will do their bidding.

The Republic Tigers, "Buildings and Mountains" (Thanks to Filter-Mag)

There's something expansive about the sound in this song. It sounds massive, like it encompasses buildings and mountains. Maybe it's cause I just saw that movie Jumper where the guy teleports to all these incredible sites across the continents (by the by--great scenery, mediocre movie) but I think of the desert when I hear this song. The vocals sound like they were carried in by the sands, seemingly without beginning and end. The music seems effortless, imprinting itself on the song without drawing attention away from the song as a whole. It eases into my consciousness and before I'm fully aware of it, it eases right back out.

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Members of The Republic Tigers try to convince their bandmate on the right that the camera will not steal his soul or his fashion sense.

Basia Bulat, "In The Night"

A hip hootenany. I thought I'd never hear it. I mean, I love a good hootenanny once in awhile, but I never thought I'd find one I wanted to post on my blog. This is not your grandpappy's hootenanny, though. Basia's voice is strong, exuberant and confident. She plays some instrument I'm not at all familiar with, but it sure is nifty-looking. I think it may be an autoharp. The video features her hopping through a series of odd scenes--skeletans dancing, bears playing drums-all the while singing and playing with enthusiasm that's so catching I want to be part of it. Of course I'd have to get off the couch to do that, and today that ain't happening.

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Basia Bulat is in conspiracy with the camera. We will do their bidding.

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SHOWNOTES:

Theme Music! Dust Rhinos, "Victoria"

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Amy Rigby, "Like Rasputin" (I got the song from Podsafe Music, and it doesn't seem like they want me to post the .mp3).

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The Whigs, "Right Hand On My Heart"

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Amazonair, "Amazing" (I guess they thought the band name wasn't right either--according to their website they're changing their name to Passtime Poets)

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Ravens & Chimes, "General Lafayette! You Are Not Alone"

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(We Are) Performance, "Lost Youth" (Thanks to Music of the Moment for the link)

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The Buddyrevelles "I Dream of Rodney"

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Robert Francis, "One By One"

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(No website listed)

Songs That Might Otherwise Pass You By


The Interiors, "Power Lines" (Thanks to Fingertips for the link)

Okay, so I have no idea what this frikkin' song is about. "Power Lines" has some of the oddest lyrics I've heard in the last few months--at one point he says he demands respect from the dial tone. Well, I suppose we all want respect from the phone company (in my case it's the cable company). He's saying he's calling all lovers, his brother, his mother...eh, I don't know. The song sounds awesome, though. The guitarist plays so loudly and ferociously that I wonder if the building expanded to accommodate it. The singer whoops with glee, relishing the words he's pushing out. There's even hand-clapping, and you know I love hand-clapping.

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The Interiors, in an..interior

Angus & Julia Stone, "Paper Aeroplane"

I'm not sure what this song is about--before I looked up the lyrics I didn't have a clue, but after finding the lyrics, it seems that the song is about a letter. Lyrical meaning isn't the draw for me on this song, though. To me, the song is about the voice, the melody and the instruments. The vocals are languid --the singer shapes each word as if he were recrafting each one. There's a sensuality in his voice--when the singer goes "mmmm", I start to feel a little faint. Just a little. The song's relaxed without seeming listless. Imagine Jack Johnson with a little more edge. The duo, two young siblings from Australian, have been around for a few years (this song is from their '06 EP), but since Spinner just found out about them, I don't feel so out of the loop.

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This is neither Lena Headey or Rachel Weisz. Instead, the lovely woman on the left is Julia Stone, of Angus & Julia Stone

The Buddyrevelles, "The Foreigner"

What first drew me to this song was how much it reminded me of Chin Up Chin Up, one of my favorite current bands. While I still think that, I also began judging the band on their own merits (horror!) the more I heard their music. I love the loud, driving guitar in this song, and the hushed, terse, multiple vocals blend well without being identical or unidentifiable. The lyrics reflect real, honest and distressing thoughts people have. He asks if he's become an imposition, and he implies that his situation is having a negative effect on him (he talks about not being able to make ends meet). He says he listens to music to mediate the frustration in his life. Hmm...I can relate to that.

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Well, I tried to find another picture of The Buddyrevelles, but they seem to really want people to use this photo!

I should've done this a long time ago, but I just kept putting it off. Now that I'm unemployed, I have no excuse!

Here's the link to subscribe to my podcast in iTunes. I also included the link to download iTunes. If anyone uses a non-iTunes podcatcher (which is totally awesome--less power to the man, etc.), then all you need to do is find the subscribe button in your podcatcher and add subscription manually. The link will be the RSS link. I should probably go in and add that, also. I will at some point.

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Songs That Might Otherwise Pass You By


Kate Tucker and the Sons of Sweden, "In the End"

Slide Guitar + Tremulous Female Voice + Heartbreaking Subject Matter = Lola crying like Britney Spears when her BFF told her he didn't like her BF. Well, I'd like to think there's more substance to this song than anything Britney's ever done. Also, I don't have a baby Yorkie. I do have enough heartbreak stored up to fuel many crying sessions, and this is the type of song to bring it out: emotion-laden, but not in the least bit melodramatic. Dramatic, yes, but not unnecessarily so.

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Kate Tucker & The Sons of Sweden ask the photographer if this is what he/she means by "framing" the photo.

Maritime, "Guns of Navarrone"

There is such a great energy to this song; if you weren't paying attention to the words, you would have no idea that the lyrics make the song darker than it sounds. The singer starts out with "You are going to have to lie to me. I've been breathing in since I don't when, I didn't know anything" and from there the uncertainty seems to stack up on itself. He sings "sticks and stones may break [his] skin and bones", letting some of the fear creep into his voice. As dark as the lyrics are, until that point his vocals had displayed a confidence that was strangely (and interestingly) at odds with the message. The music even seems to tighten, to narrow a little later on in the song when the tone of the vocals start to leak out a hint of bitterness. A little cattiness seems to enter into the singer's voice when he sings "You can win instantly, all that time on your hands so carelessly." It's the perfect progression for a song that seems to adapt itself to the subject's evolving mind-set.

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They're called Maritime, but I don't see any water. Well, unless they're at a club like the local clubs here where the bathrooms do occasionally overflow...

King of Prussia, "Misadventures of the Campaign Kids"

What is it that I love so much about this song? The Beatles-esque marching pace? Yep, that's part of it. The way it slides from a stern, staccato verse to a fluid, melodious chorus? Oh, that's definitely a large part of it. I think what struck me the most (at least initially) was the fact that there's a line that says TONY DANZA IS ON THE RUN!!! How frikkin' awesome is that? Now I want to know what Alyssa Milano, Judith Light (and especially) Katherine Helmond are doing. Are they on the run, also? It would be totally awesome if they gathered some of my other 80's favorites like Jason Bateman (I love you, Jason Bateman) and Rick(y) Shroeder and started a bank-robbing gang. That'd be an awesome show. I know--Jason Bateman's busy doing even more awesome stuff. I think I'd probably lose interest in the bank-robbing gang if Jason Bateman's not involved. So, if he's not available, maybe we'd better forget it. We'll let Tony Danza run off into the sunset, doing whatever it is that Tony Danza does.

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King

of Prussia


from "Save the Scene"


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