Panda & Angel: "Ohio December 24th"

Don’t be fooled by the picture – they aren’t that sad.

Panda & Angel are the result of various clicks and links on MySpace – that’s how I came across them at least. Their music wasn’t anything terrific, in my opinion, until “Ohio December 24th” came on. Something about that song struck a chord in the “musical opinion” sector of my brain. The simple guitar picking, subtle entrance of xylophone, wailing strings, and lyrics that tell a story as well as a ballad really work for the group. What appeared to be somewhat of a side-project for two of the group members appears to be taking on the form of a full-time band. Rightfully so, their sound could be distantly compared to that of Cat Power with more angst. Yes, it is possible.

[MP3] Panda & Angel – Ohio December 24th

Check out their MySpace for band info and an additional MP3!
They’re blazing across the entire US over the next few months.. check ‘em out!

P.S. Not sure how many of you have seen Little Miss Sunshine yet, but Heather (I am Fuel, You are Friends) took a great look at the (awesome) music used in the movie. Check out her post!

The Cherry Tempo

In the words of the Arctic Monkeys, “Put on your dancing shoes!” The Cherry Tempo entered my speakers, penetrated my ears, bobbed my head, and then exited my body via foot tapping. Suffice it to say, these guys can concoct some catchy beats. Electronica being fused with indie rock is suddenly showing up everywhere, and I’m not complaining. In fact, I’m proposing a swift orderly change to name this growing genre. Electro-indie? Indieronica?

Who knows.. what I do know is that The Cherry Tempo are one of the few (great) bands that hail from the southwest. Coming straight out of New Mexico – the innovative four piece pop band are very talented at crafting a delicious melody. The Cherry Tempo’s sound falls somewhere in between lackadaisical, mellow, and lo-fi indie rock. I’m not a New Mexico native by any means, but is this the New Mexican sound?!

[MP3] The Cherry Tempo – Treble Is High (Dance time!)
[MP3] The Cherry Tempo – In Hindsight I Know

Buy their debut album for only $10!
They’re trekking across the southern U.S. – catch a show. They look pretty intense judging from their MySpace pics.

Bonus [MP3] The Cherry Tempo – Wake Up! Gertrude Stein

The Thermals, "A Pillar Of Salt"

I’m a Thermals newbie. I hadn’t heard of them, much less their music, before receiving a promo of their latest critcally acclaimed album, The Body, The Blood, The Machine. A few passive listens made me relatively uninterested–I felt like the album lacked enough variety and depth to be worth my time. But now I know those banal feelings were more a result of my original passive listening and not of the music itself. The following song is probably one of the truest songs I’ve heard all year:

[MP3] The Thermals – A Pillar Of Salt
Lead singer Hutch Harris has one of those voices and styles of singing that can become tedious in an album’s worth of songs…and maybe that’s what failed to impress me before really digging deep into the album. On this song, however, he sings with so much emotion and truth, and his lyrics cry for attention (using the collective “we” as a call-to-arms of sorts). This is the song that I wish Ted Leo would write. A great hook, passionate lyrics, and music as punk as punk gets–at least in this day and age.

Buy The Body, The Blood, The Machine from Insound for $11.99
Check out the Hype Machine for more MP3s

also

Rachael from Underrated has an awesome column on Break Thru Radio, this one showcasing a nice collection of bloggers, aptly titled “Meet The Bloggers.” Check it out!

Tour Filter

After solving some of the mystery that was Volcano, I’m Still Excited!!, I can now talk about the coolest thing to grace my inbox in some time. It’s something that I’ve wished had been in existence for years!

Do all good music related things contain the word filter? Possibly so, because Tour Filter is making concert awareness the coolest thing since L.A. Gear. Tour Filter is an outreach site for a free show alert service, based out of Boston and already spreading roots in 17 cities so far.

From what I can tell, it has been well received and the site is currently trying to increase awareness, sign ups etc. There really isn’t a reason to check this site out and sign up, especially if you live in/near a big city. I’m not sure about you, but I HATE finding out a good band was in town and being completely unaware of their presence. Now you’ve got no excuse – since finding out who is playing in your town just got 50x easier.

Check out Tour Filter and be sure to sign up for updates!

Volcano, We’re Still Excited!!

Being the musically versed readers that you are, perhaps you can aide your Hardy Boy-like skillz in answering the question:

Where in the world are Volcano, I’m Still Excited!!?

A year ago I had come across a bunch of great songs by these guys and haven’t been able to find anything from them since. No news of break-up. No news of a new album. No news of a tour. Plain and simple – no news! Being a blogger, it can be pretty maddening to know of a great band (who were on Polyvinyl and friends with Mates of State) and then just see them drop off the face of the planet. Perhaps they’ve been kidnapped and thrown in a trunk? Killed in a gunfight?

[MP3] Volcano, I’m Still Excited!! – Trunk Of My Car
[MP3] Volcano, I’m Still Excited!! – 2nd Gun

Perhaps it’s my internet connection, but I can’t even load their official site. Let alone, their Polyvinyl page is so dated it could make for a good bottle of Merlot.

Any band that can utilize singing in rounds that well just can’t disappear, right? Anyone have info on the whereabouts of these guys?

Jeremy Enigk, "Wayward Love"

I recently posted the excellent track “Been Here Before” from SDRE singer Jeremy Enigk’s upcoming solo album World Waits, which is hitting stores on October 17th. Since then I’ve been listening to the album more and more, adjusting my opinion and finetuning a way to approach/listen to it (you ever notice that? that with some things you have to listen a certain way to really appreciate all it has to offer?) … Here’s another song that I’ve been digging from that album:

[MP3] Jeremy Enigk – Wayward Love
This is such a different song than “Been Here Before.” Well-timed acoustic picking and subtle drumming begin the song and continue throughout, a basis for Enigk’s multi-layered vocals and harmonies. I’m a huge Rogue Wave fan, and this song could easily wiggle its way onto either of RW’s releases. If anything, this song demonstrates the depth and variety of World Waits. It’s really not an album to be missed. One of the best of the year.

The Hype Machine has more MP3s for you

The Submarines – Fall Tour

The Submarines are a dynamic duo! After putting out a terrific LP (Declare A New State) and playing gigs in various venues throughout the US of A, The Subs are back on the road again! They’re clinging to the coasts with a few dashes of Midwestern love sprinkled in the mix.

09/05 Vancouver, BC – Plaza Club
09/06 Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
09/07 San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
09/08 Los Angeles, CA – Music Box @ Fonda
09/11 Englewood, CO – Gothic Theatre
09/13 Chicago, IL – Metro / Smart Bar
09/15 Montreal, QB – Club Soda
09/16 Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
09/17 Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe Live
09/19 New York, NY – Webster Hall
09/21 Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse
09/22 Orlando, FL
09/23 Miami, FL- Studio A

In other news, The Submarines recorded an iTunes session with famed indie rock producer Adam Lassus (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Yo La Tengo), which will be available this Fall. In addition to alternative version of songs from Declare a New State, The Submarines recorded covers of Galaxie 500’s “Tugboat” and Kinks’ “Waterloo Sunset.” Now, those are some covers I wouldn’t mine listening to.

[MP3] The Submarines – Peace & Hate

Want to know more about The Submarines? An older post should convince you to check out one of their shows.

Little Ones, "Lovers Who Uncover"

I posted on Little Ones a little while ago [see here], but I just can’t get enough. If there’s one song that’s kept me going all summer, lifted my spirits whenever it came on my iTunes randomly, generally just made the summer better, it’s “Lovers Who Uncover.” Comparisons to The Shins ran rampant (we even nodded to it too, eek), but that’s a little hasty. While they obviously have plenty of influences, I’d say their sound is actually pretty unique. I mean, sure there’s poppy indie-rock everywhere, but Little Ones touch on something that a lot of bands only hint at. I really can’t wait for their debut…

[MP3] Little Ones – Lovers Who Uncover
I really can’t describe how good this song makes me feel. I forget about everything else whenever it’s on…it’s always that “perfect” song that comes on randomly, like the one that you just needed to hear at that moment…but that moment is always. Hand clapping, girlie male vocals, chanting, an impossibly catchy riff…aaaaannnndddd… I think I hear woodblock. Fuck yeah.

Buy Sing Song EP at Insound for just $7 (totally worth it)
The Hype Machine comes through with more MP3s, as always

Matthew Friedberger, "Up The River"

Much like Matt, I would never have caught myself listening to The Fiery Furnaces. I’ve tried, many times, to cut through the density of their sound, to really find goodness somewhere inside thier releases, but have failed in that search…most likely, I got bored trying. With Matthew Friedberger’s newest solo album, I don’t have to try. Where FF has me lost and disinterested, Friedberger’s Winter Women has me impossibly captivated and impressed.

I’ve heard Winter Women described as a wonderful mix of Sgt. Pepper’s and Yoshimi, like some dream combination of the best of both those realms of pop perfection. While that’s a generally wild analogy, Friedberger’s album (a double disc actually) does in fact come pretty damn close to the fringe of those iconic albums. I won’t say Winter Women is itself “iconic,” but it is certainly a noteworthy entry into 2006’s release pool, and despite general critical dissatisfaction (partly because of the entirely patience-testing Holy Ghost Language School half of the release), it’s most assuredly not to be missed. Like 4realz.

[MP3] Matthew Friedberger – Up The River
In perhaps an all-too-convenient correllation with what I said above, there’s a lot about the beginning of this song to recommend to Beatles‘ fans. The punch-key piano, the fragmented strings, the aged harmonica…it all suggests that there’s a great story somewhere to be heard, that it’s all worth it…or worth something at least. This song is both musically soothing and lyrically refreshing. Despite Friedberger’s soft vocals, the orchestration of the song marks a poignant subtlety ambiguously resonating in the lyrics… Put in few words, “Up The River” is a great song, no matter the circumstance.

[Bonus MP3] Matthew Friedberger – The Pennsylvania Rock Oil Co.

But Winter Women/Holy Ghost Language School at Insound for just $15 (2 CDs!)
The Hype Machine has more MP3s!

Weeds

Maybe I’m jumping on the bandwagon, maybe its because I don’t have Showtime, or maybe its because TV on DVD is greatest thing ever… but Weeds is an amazing show. Everything about the show – the concept, cast, story, direction, writing, and humor are perfect.

For those (like me) who aren’t graced with the Showtime package, Weeds follows Nancy Botwin, played by (the extremely hot) Mary-Louise Parker, who struggles with the sudden death of her husband and agonizes over how she’ll support and raise two young boys on her own. Without any discernible career skills, the widow finds good-paying work as the local pot dealer in the pristine, new LA suburb known as Agrestic.

Like all my favorite shows, Weeds comes with a flawless musical selection.

[MP3] Malvina Reynolds – Little Boxes (Weeds Theme)
[MP3] Michael Franti & Spearhead – Ganja Babe
[MP3] The New Pornographers – The Laws Have Changed
[MP3] Sufjan Stevens – All The Trees Of The Field Will Clap Their Hands
[MP3] Nellie McKay – David
[MP3] The Mountain Goats – Cotton

The second season of Weeds has just started, with the theme song (“Little Boxes”) being covered by a variety of artists with each one being aired during the opening credits of a different episode. Death Cab, Regina Spektor, Elvis Costello, and many others have jumped on board.

While I prepare to call up my cable company and order Showtime in time for tomorrow’s episode- you can catch up on all of the episodes, stream all the music they use, buy season one, or get the awesome soundtrack.