My favorite songs of the month:
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MP3 - Beautiful Life :: Gui Boratto
This song pulses along to a mechanical throb reminiscent of Krautrock, but also dips and dives through some mesmerizing keyboard flashes that recall all my least favorite music of the 80’s. I can’t explain my fascination with this song. It’s like The Knife, only happy and beautiful. It’s so far removed from most of the music I listen to that it seems to come from another dimension, one filled with an elegance and wonder that I’m not related to. I can’t seem to escape this song, and I don’t want to. Gui Boratto's website.
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MP3 - Intervention :: The Arcade Fire (live from KRCW radio)
The studio version begins with an organ that sounds like it’s from some 1944 horror movie. But this one, recorded live on KRCW, is a rated PG version, not nearly as unsettling. Gentle piano and acoustic guitar set the scene, but Win Butler is feeling the disillusionment of a childhood surrounded by a religion that doesn’t mean a thing to a realist. He’s feeling the irreparable effects of a war waged under the very lies he’s been railing against for too long. Neon Bible hits stores on March 6 and easily lives up to the hype. It is the best, most fully realized, album of this young year. Check back tomorrow for a full album review. Arcade Fire website.
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MP3 - Four Winds :: Bright Eyes
The first single from April’s Cassadaga finds Conor Oberst and crew borrowing heavily from “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” during the first minute’s instrumental lead in. But once he gets going with his fire and brimstone lyrics the holiday setting is quickly blown away. The song sounds like a news report from a battlefield just minutes after the battle, the bounding music belies the certain doom of the lyric. A sweeping anthem for all you undying pessimists. Bright Eyes/Saddle Creek website
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MP3 - Almost Ready :: Dinosaur Jr.
This song bursts through the gates with more energy than that of most bands 20 years younger. The first song off the first Dinosaur Jr. album with all 3 original members since 1989, Beyond, has all the creaky melodies and sludgy rhythms of the band in its prime, as well as the heroic guitar of post-Lou Barlow classics such as Where You Been. Not only did they not miss a step, they’re setting the pace. Dinosaur Jr. website, myspace.
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MP3 - Bushels :: Frog Eyes
Previously described as a 9-minute assault on the senses, this song finds lead singer Carey Mercer gasping for air and yelping his lungs out in the middle of a hurricane. One that subsides and picks up over and over again, crashing into him and tossing him about, only to taunt him with relief before doing it again, and again. Mercer is determined, never letting down his guard, as he continuously mounts comebacks. Comes complete with the dreaded open-ended conclusion. Tears Of The Valedictorian will be released May 1 through Absolutely Kosher Records. Frog Eyes website, myspace.
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MP3 - Like New :: Deerhunter
Deerhunter’s Cryptograms was very well-received, and hot on its heels comes the Flourescent Grey EP, a follow-up release that was recorded at the same time as the album. This song begs to be played loud as it shimmers in all its shoe-gaze glory. Deerhunter myspace.
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MP3 - All These Accidents :: Track A Tiger
“All These Accidents” is from Track A Tiger’s forthcoming sophomore album, tentatively titled I Speak To You With A Single Heart. The song is more of the alluring laptop-folk previously displayed on last year’s Woke Up Early The Day I Died, only this is more confident. It struts boldly out of your iPod and dares you to sneak it onto the mix you’re making for your indie-hipster little brother. Track A Tiger website, myspace.
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