[fingertipsmusic] This Week's Finds: Jan. 20-26

From: "Jeremy Schlosberg" <fingertipsmusic@xxxxxxxxx>
To: fingertipsmusic@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:05:23 -0500

THIS WEEK'S FINDS <http://www.fingertipsmusic.com/this_weeks_finds.htm>
Jan. 20-26

"Boys" - the Autumns <http://worlds-fair.net/media/autumns/Boys.mp3>
Riveting, dramatic, slightly breathless, and thoroughly satisfying,
"Boys" is the perfect soundtrack somehow to a crisp blue January day, even
if the band is named the Autumns, not the Winters. The song opens with a
distinctive drumbeat that launches us into an edgy, unusually dynamic
melody. The edginess comes from two elements: first, the melody appears to
start off the tonic--that is, the tune begins within a chord that is somehow
not home base, which is an unusual circumstance, especially in a pop song;
second, the melody never in fact seems to settle in a place that feels
centered. The third and fourth measures are the closest we get to a "home"
feeling, harmonically, and even there it's vague and fleeting; after that,
the melody in the verse springs from an almost startling series of chord
changes.
And the band is really just getting started at that point. The chorus
continues the kinetic vibe: an angular guitar chord--another off-center
thing--leads us into a soaring section in which singer Matthew Kelly,
leaping up a minor sixth (0:26), shows off a formidable falsetto; here the
melodic momentum is such that it seems to be dragging Kelly along with it,
the way the tide moves the water but is *not* the water: up and down he
goes, in and out of his upper range, and in and out of singing actual
words--the lyrics break for a stretch of wordless syllables right in the
heart of the chorus (which themselves mirror the underlying drumbeat), and
the effect is of a song overcome by its own fervor.
Perhaps long-time Fingertips visitors remember the L.A.-based Autumns
from three years ago<http://www.fingertipsmusic.com/TWFjan-feb05.htm#Autumns>,
when they were featured here for the song "Slumberdoll." That was darn good;
this is truly great. "Boys" is a song from the CD *Fake Noise From a Box of
Toys*, the band's fourth, which was released in the U.K. in the fall, and is
slated for a U.S. release in April on Bella Union<http://www.bellaunion.com/>
.

"Bag of Hammers" - Thao With the Get Down Stay Down
<http://www.toolshed-media.com/ts/thao-nguyen-bag-of-hammers.mp3>
Thao Nguyen has a woolly-textured, back-of-the-throat sort of voice
that brings to mind Erica Wennerstrom of the Heartless
Bastards<http://www.fingertipsmusic.com/TWFsept-oct06.htm#HB>.
Thao has an airier air about her, however--a feeling supported by the cheery
banjo with which she chooses to accompany herself and the sprightly,
slightly cockeyed rhythm that bounces us along. The jaunty guilelessness on
display in fact puts me in the mind of the sound pioneered by Talking Heads
in their early recordings: this sense of simple yet off-kilter music that
surprises even the people playing it, as they play it.
Nguyen, from Virginia, released her first CD in 2005, a solo effort
entitled *Like the Linen*. The disc eventually found its way to Tucker
Marine, who plays with Laura Veirs and has produced the Decemberists and
Sufjan Stevens. And now, also, he has produced *We Brave Bee Stings and All*,
Thao's second full-length, recorded with her band, to be released later this
month on Kill Rock
Stars<http://www.fingertipsmusic.com/smaller_labels.htm#KRS>(that's a
record label). "Bag of Hammers" is the album's second track.

"Him" - Biirdie <http://teamclermont.com/mp3/biirdie_him.mp3>
This one features both a classic-sounding melody, almost folk-like in
its sturdiness, and an ongoing urge to deconstruct it. Sometimes oddball
electronics wander in. Other times, the band grinds itself more or less to a
halt, just when you were air drumming to the Phil Spector-ish beat. The
bass, meanwhile, seems to come and go, and when present opts often for
extended notes rather than a typical, rhythm-oriented pulse. And how often
does the worn-out sounding male vocalist get a sweetly harmonizing female
vocalist to sing with? Not very often is the answer.
So this trio calling itself Biirdie--oops, another L.A. outfit this
week--kind of makes you listen more than once. Much the way their name kind
of makes you look more than once. In the old days, by the way, I'd find the
oddly-spelled name somewhat irritating. But here in the Google Age, the name
is a boon: search on "Biirdie" and you pretty much get stuff about them and
only them. However accidental the origin--they had wanted merely to be
Birdie but there was already a Birdie band--the strategy appears sound. I
fear a trend coming on.
You'll find "Him" on the CD *Catherine Avenue*, coming out this week on
Love Minus Zero Records <http://www.loveminuszero.net/>.

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[fingertipsmusic] This Week's Finds: Jan. 20-26

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