mp3: Nirgilis - Lucky Star
mp3: Nirgilis - Mayonaka No Shyunaidaa
mp3: Nirgilis - Eregiba
web: Nirgilis Official Website

Those lucky few who know me, know that I strongly dislike pop music. Especially – American or Western top 40. Not only do I despise it, I also rue and lament it. The same corporate monster that created this music nurtures it, feeds it, and makes sure that the machine of consumerism and capitalism is running smoothly, thoroughly crushing any breath of individuality and creativity in modern music. So it is in this vein that I make the following confession. Brace yourself.
I am addicted to Japanese pop music. I know I know. In a lot of ways it’s worse than what we have going on here in the US: bands are often cultivated en masse, great, corporate (typically television corporations) greenhouses where bands are literally planted. One after another they are produced, all bubble gum and frothing over with Disneyesque innocence and charm. They rule morning television, with often just a turnstile at their core – much like Menudo was in the 80’s; you age out and either move on to a ready-made solo career, or you fade into obscurity. But that’s not all of them.
Some bands are taking the Western pop formula and rewriting it, reworking it. Where once there was an homage to the 80’s and 90’s boy bands and spice girls, there is now an ever-expanding alternative that is changing the face of pop music as we know it. It’s pop with substance. Oh my head.

Take Nirgilis for example. You would classify them as alternative pop. They write their own music (Gasp!). They play their own instruments (Gasp!). They formed in university, and have remained a band at core despite having had no record deal or industry support, and with more than 20 members having come and gone in the nearly ten years they worked for a hit. More importantly, despite the electronic bleeps reminiscent of 1980’s house, techno and pop, they are good. Really good. Their sound is comprised of an assortment of loops layered over guitars and drum kit, and are reminiscent of everything from Rilo Kiley and the Fiery Furnaces to the club hit of the week. The lead singer often sounds like a Japanese Kay Hanley, with a greater range and decent lung capacity to boot. Their hooks are solid, songs are catchy, and each album has a song on it for your every mood.
Nirgilis is at the forefront of a new music “movement” sweeping through Asia of late. Called mash-rise, or better translated, mashed-up, it involves taking two entirely different songs and combining them into one song. It’s not quite sampling, it’s not even homogenous – both songs (and sometimes more) are oft played concurrent to each other: at the same time to the same music. These mash-ups can either be two songs written by the same entity, or an original paired with another popular song.
A perfect example of this is their international hit single “Sakura (Cherry Blossom)”, which many western folks may know as an opening theme to the popular anime “Eureka 7”. A really infectious chorus makes you almost forget the operatic rendition of “Amazing Grace” running through it. (And if that gets to be too much, the Sakura single features the non-mash-rise version for your auditory pleasure.)
Nirgilis has two albums and an assortment of EP singles. The mp3’s above are from their album New Standard. They are mild compared to some of their other records. Their latest album Girl features Peter Hook of New Order, and samples are currently streaming at their website. (Be forewarned though, they haven’t an English-language home on the web.)
So what with my current musical excursion, you can be sure to expect more from me in the near future on Japanese pop (and not so pop, I like some perdy weird stuff). Until then, enjoy Nirgilis.

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mp3: Live Set
web: The Vegas Valentinos

There has been much talk about the albums of this last year, and even though I’m probably not the most objective, or best person to review this, I am loathe to close the book on the music of 2006 without having something to say about the Vegas Valentinos Five and Dime Quartet.

The band is four guys out of New England who love rock, soul, blues, punk and anything to fall out of the hallowed halls of Stax or Sun Records. So it makes perfect sense that the 14 tracks were recorded in Memphis (at Sun), debuted at the Rockabilly Hall of Fame show and then premiered at Baltimore’s Night of 100 Elvises. It also makes perfect sense that despite a modern rock sound with heavy contemporary influences, the music harkens back to that familiar place.

The Five and Dime Quartet, as with all three previous efforts, is a jumping, energetic album, heavily sprinkled with tongue-in-cheek humor that translates beautifully to their live shows. From the open strains of “Springer” (an ode to the debauched television show) to “Games to Play” (a lament on a love grown cold) the VV’s give us their best, and you just have to love it. Even their covers of the Shods’ “The Zig”, and their ingenious medley of a Louis Prima and an Elvis song “Buena Sera/Kiss Me Quick” demonstrates their mastery of the musical medium.

Okay, so maybe I’m not the most objective reviewer here. After all, I am related to three of the four members of the band, and the bass player is well, Dad. However, this band is dynamic, and they can make the worst song a great song. Or at the very least make you laugh at it. They are a must-see live spectacle. You judge the quality of a band not only on its studio output, but most importantly on its live effort: this band has fun. They make good, often great music that is as much a joy to hear as it is for them to make it.

Above is a link to a live set you can find on their website.

I hope you like it.

Buy.

mp3: Viva Voce - Birds on the Wing
mp3: Viva Voce - Alive with Pleasure
mp3: Viva Voce - From the Devil Himself

web: Official “Word of Mouth”

So here’s the thing. I love this band. I don’t really know why.
Perhaps it’s the upbeat way in which they chant, “we do not fuck around” in the song of the same name. Maybe it’s their occasional piano-bar sing-a-long gone wrong sound. Maybe it’s the way they sound somehow familiar, a conglomerate of beloved bands past: somehow part Apples in Stereo, part Mama’s and the Papas, part Delgados, part Polyphonic Spree, part Flaming Lips. Do I hear piano strains from The Rocky Horror Picture Show? A little Kim Deal patois? Perhaps.

In any case Viva Voce are great. Originally from Arkansas they now reside in Portland, Oregon, where they create beautiful music together. Literally. The band is Anita and Kevin Robinson, a couple who met at a concert in 1998, and by 2001 were releasing Lovers, Lead the Way!, recovering from a scrape with the record industry, and oh yeah, were married. After touring about the planet, they returned to their living room and began writing more fabulous songs you want to clap along to releasing a second album The Heat Can Melt Your Brain in 2004 and Get Yr Blood Sucked Out in 2006.

One moment sentimental, the next psychedelic, the next dark and melancholy, the songs are infectious and enjoyable: a happy cacophony of guitars, drums, keys, vocals with the occasional samples and loops. “Birds on the Wing” is from Lovers, Lead the Way!, “Alive with Pleasure” is from The Heat Can Melt Your Brain and “From the Devil Himself” is from Get Yr Blood Sucked Out.

I hope you like it.

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mp3: Bob Dylan - Wigwam
web: official bob

I don’t know much about this song.
I know it first appeared on his 1970 album Self Portrait, near the end sandwiched between “She Belongs to Me” and “Alberta #2″.
I don’t know what it means, what it is about or inspired by.
I do know that it fits today like no other.

I hope you like it.

Buy.

mp3: The Innocence Mission - Going Away
         The Innocence Mission - She May Turn Around
         The Innocence Mission - Lakes of Canada (sample)

web: The Innocence Mission Official Website

This album took me entirely by surprise.

I was sitting there minding my own business when I first heard the single “Snow.” It blew me away. It was not what I expected from the Innocence Mission.

What I knew of them was brief: a small group led by Karen and Don Peris, a married couple who had met in High School and are devout Catholics. I always thought of their sound as early Sixpence None The Richer meets 10,000 Maniacs: mellow, sweet, simple, religious. Not that I have any problems with that - it just never was my scene. My expectations as a result were always sort of low. The Innocence Mission - the name itself - had always struck me as some sort of directive for mass conversion. I have since come to realize that I was wrong. Birds of My Neighborhood has shown me that The Innocence Mission is not a crusade but a place where the longing, hope, and memories of simpler life take refuge, waiting for you to find them.

You probably have heard the Innocence Mission. In the mid-nineties they had a minor hit with the sweet but small song “Bright As Yellow”. It got moderate airplay in America and was featured in films like 1995’s Empire Records. A lovely pop song, you can play it to kindergarteners and not have to edit for content.

So when I heard “Snow” from their 1999 album Birds of My Neighborhood I was surprised. When I heard “Lakes of Canada” I was floored. When I heard “Going Away” I was sold. Karen Peris, singer and main songwriter for the group, has really achieved something here. The songs were recorded almost entirely at home spanning a long period of personal crisis and infertility that ultimately ended with the birth of her first child. Each song is almost precious, every line is a story (”This is the summer of your dad at the UN and the voice of Brian Wilson and the rain”), a mirror of current times and a prayer for simpler ones (”everything is changing while the day sky stays blue”). Images of childhood, of fear and of hope; of the expected and of loss, strung together with twinkling acoustic guitars and Peris’ own small, withering voice.

Birds of My Neighborhood was released in 1999, went missing and was reissued in 2005. I hope you like it.

Buy.

mp3: Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts - Mushroom Hunting (Live)
mp3: Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts - Blue (Live)
(God Help Me I’m Generous - I’ve even snuck another mp3 below…)
vid: watch the opening sequence of Cowboy Bebop featuring “Tank!”
web: Yoko Kanno Project

If you don’t know about Cowboy Bebop you are an unfortunate soul indeed. Bebop encompasses the holy trinity of perfect anime - perfect anything really: amazing storytelling, amazing animation and amazing music. You walk away not only hot on the characters, but hot on the music too.

Cowboy Bebop was released in 1998, was a single season long, and was made into a feature film (that takes place between the final two episodes). It’s story - the pursuits of a misfit gang of galactic bounty hunters - captivated audiences internationally, and made Bebop one of the most successful anime of all time.

The music was a massive international success, due entirely to the genius of artist Yoko Kanno, who continues to pen for anime, games and films, including the incredibly beautiful soundtrack of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. The opening theme “Tank!” was an international hit, even charting in some unexpected places. If nothing else, you’ve probably heard “Tank!” as in the last three years it has been used in television commercials for high end automobiles.

The magic of Kanno’s music lies in her innate ability to compose for pretty much any occasion. In Bebop there is blues, country, jazz, classical, pop and funk. And opera people! HIP OPERA! If you never see any of the films, games or programs her music is in, hunt down her music. It is worth every second.

Here I’ve included two favorites from the vast cornucopia that is the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack. There is so much to choose from, I wanted to sample a bit of the fun and a bit of the amazing - not easy when you consider that the music has been released over two separate CD soundtrack releases, a five disc CD boxed set, a film soundtrack CD, and Earth Girls Are Easy: Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts Live CD. The first “Mushroom Hunting” is 1970’s Shaft-style funk, jazz and world music just loaded with fun. The second is one of my all time favorite songs. We’re talking top ten favorite. It is called ‘Blue’, and its more of a rock ballad. With opera. Both are from Earth Girls Are Easy.

I hope you like it.

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mp3: Stiv Bators - Sonic Reducer
website: www.stivbators.com, stiv at bomp (great photos)

Stiv Bators was a Dead Boy. In Cincinnati, 1975 Stiv and his friends sent out a call for fellow musicians to participate in an Iggy Pop cover band. They called themselves ‘Frankenstein’ and started their infamous live career (by which they would forever be defined) on Halloween. They released a three song EP under this name, and “Sonic Reducer” - a classic, thrash-punk staple - was included. Very soon after that, the band changed its name to ‘The Dead Boys’ and walked into punk rock legend forever. Their live shows enticed the kind of melee that today’s little bands only dream about. They fit into the late 1970’s punk scene like a puzzle piece. They toured with the Damned, and were embraced by the legendary Johnny Thunders of New York Dolls fame. A staple of CBGB’s (the legendary NY club), they came on loud, strong and fast, living under the motto “Fuck art, let’s rock!” - introducing American kids to a sight and sound that had not yet crossed the pond. In 1979, after only two albums (’77’s “Young Loud and Snotty” and ’78’s “We Have Come for Your Children”), several lineups and extensive touring, The Dead Boys broke up.

Stiv would continue to search for an outlet to perform. He recorded a single for Bomp records (that differed completely from his work with the Dead Boys), and in 1980 released Disconnected - his only completed solo effort. In 1981, Sire released the infamous third Dead Boys Album (posthumously entitled Night of the Living Dead Boys), which the band was pressured to record, but was deemed unreleasable due to Bator’s purposely sabotaged lyrics. He rerecorded them and Bomp set the LP loose later that year.

Over the next decade he would record and perform with a myriad of legendary punk and underground musicians, performers and producers, even making an appearance in John Water’s film Polyester. He would form several projects and bands including the Wanderers and the Lords of the New Church. The Wanderers - though having a great sound, and great promise - would never see their sound take off. However, it was the Lords of the New Church that would bring Stiv back to the forefront. Composed of former members of the Barracudas, the Dead Boys, Sham 69 and the Damned, they released three albums, were produced by Miles Copeland and later signed to IRS records - harbingers of the Police and REM. With LOTNC, Bators once again picked up his onstage debauch and violence, even nearly hanging himself to death with his mic cord in 1983.

After the breakup of LOTNC in 1989, Stiv began working on a new solo effort. Unfortunately that project would never come to fruition, as he was killed by a car while standing on a Paris sidewalk. Even his death would become legendary, as he died later in the day due to internal injuries he didn’t feel. It turns out he had a diminished capacity to feel pain. This sort of explains all the weird onstage stuff that often went too far, requiring emergency medical attention and the like.

Included here is a live MP3 of Stiv’s Dead Boys classic “Sonic Reducer”. It’s dedicated to Jackson Publick, Doc Hammer and the Monarch.
Hope you like it.

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mp3: Guided By Voices - (S)mothering and Coaching
web: gbv.com

Song of the day is already overdue. I’m sorry. It’s three a.m. and I’m here to offer you this little gem. It’s by Guided by Voices from their goodbye album Half Smiles of the Decomposed. It’s rather beautiful and self-explanatory. Good night. I’ll post something more interesting soon, I promise.

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MP3: Julie Ruin - Aerobicide
MP3: Julie Ruin – the Punk Singer

Web: Julie Ruin Factsheet

Julie Ruin is Kathleen Hannah. Kathleen Hannah is an underground icon. As an outspoken feminist activist she wrote (literally) the zine that started what would be known as the riot grrl revolution.

She formed the seminal grrl punk band Bikini Kill in the early 1990’s. Bikini Kill was a confrontational, screaming ball of feminist rage. Listening to a Bikini Kill song is like having the truth screamed at you centimeters from your face, and loving every minute of it. Their albums were released on Kill Rock Stars, propelling the label to the forefront of indie underground.

In 1998, after Bikini called it a day, Kathleen did a few little projects (the Fakes, Helter Skillet) then settled back into her Olympia, WA apartment with a sampler, a drum machine and an 8-track. Fifteen tracks later, she released the album under the name Julie Ruin.

These days Kathleen Hannah is best known as the voice of Le Tigre, the electronic-punk feminist band that has gained massive popularity - even breaking into the mainstream (they have signed to a major label and their songs have been heard in television commercials).

Julie Ruin represents a critical stage in the evolution of Kathleen Hannah. This album is the bridge between what Bikini Kill was and what Le Tigre would soon be.

I hope you like it.

Buy.

(Click here to see an early 1990’s spoken word piece of Kathleen Hannah’s)

MP3: Gary Jules - Mad World

In honor of a bizarro day, I have selected this song. It is interesting in two ways: First being that it’s a cover of a somewhat boppy Tears for Fears song, that points out what I’ve always said about Tears for Fears writing some of the most depressing songs ever. Second being that this song gained popularity suddenly some five years after it was recorded and put into the amazing film Donnie Darko.

It also must be said that this version is beautiful in its simplicity, and rather addictive.
If you are hearing it for the first time, I hope you like it.

Maybe later when I’m slightly less exhausted I’ll write a bit about Gary Jules. But today this is a post about a song.

 Buy.

MP3: Sole “Human Races the Tortoise” w/ Doseone
Website: Anticon, Sole, Doseone

“We choose to learn to sacrifice nothing.”

Today’s song of the day is brought to you by the letters S and D and the number One. Strike that. Today’s song of the day is brought to you by the letter A for Anticon, the independent renegade hip-hop label located somewhere in California.

Anticon is not your average label. Started by fine artists, poets, and musicians the beats, the melodies, the words are true works of art. Sole, a founding member of the label has made a name for himself with his true prose: politically conscious rhymes with more depth and flow than could be expected from a white boy from Maine. Yes, a brilliant white rapper from Maine, USA. Seriously.

This track was recorded for anticon presents: music for the advancement of hip hop (Anticon - 1998), and features the sociological/environmental/ethical conundrum of man and his place in nature, put in an almost elegant way, something strange and lacking in today’s rap and hip hop. It may even be what rap was meant to be - maybe even something more. (RE: “Once upon a time the tortoise and the ocean spoke and laughed on the day she ate herself. Tides swallowed, mountains drowned, all structures, species cleanse.”)

Featured on this track is the nasally voice of Doseone, another Anticon alum, whose strange vocal prowess fits the track perfectly. His lyrics and his beats are very cutting, very smart, and his work too is worth looking in to.

I hope to be able to bring you all more letters from this label – like A for Alias and T for Tarsier, whom I know many will fall head over heels for (think six-string hip hop with a lilting lullaby) – in the upcoming SOTD’s.

I hope you like it.

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mp3: Never Gonna Sleep

further info: free kitten factsheet, free kitten at epitonic

For the three people out there who don’t know Free Kitten:

This is what happens when a founding member of a long-established underground, iconic band starts a side project featuring other underground and independent musicians, puts out a few subversive art-rock albums and become the best known secret in independent music since sliced bread.

(Yep, sliced bread was popular with the indie crowd. Very retro-chic that wonder bread be.)

As a Sonic Youth fan, as well as a fan of the Kill Rock Stars label, when I first heard Kim Gordon was putting out some solo stuff, I jumped at the chance to get a hold of that shiny shiny vinyl. Nice Ass wasn’t quite what I was expecting. Typically side projects are somewhat predictable (think Tom Petty). However, not once did I jump up and accuse my record player of regurgitating “Goo” in my face. With this album I was surprised to find something more. It’s loud. It’s punk. It’s disco. It’s art. It was in 1994 what bands in 2006 are trying to be… and that’s just the first album.

Luckily for us Free Kitten is not a one time gig, with six full length albums, dozens of singles, compilations, and much more spanning nine independent record labels.

Free Kitten constantly experiments with raw sounds and electronic beats, on top of drawing upon an illustrious history that includes the Boredoms, Pussy Galore and Pavement. Each new release is consistent in this evolution and doesn’t disappoint, be it a fabulous cover (they’ve recorded such songs as X-Ray Spex “Oh Bondage, Up Yours!” and Serge Gainsbourg’s “Teenie Weenie Boppie”) or a trippy original, dripping with grrl rage.

“Never Gonna Sleep” is what happens when neither side of the pillow is cool.

I hope you like it.

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