[fingertipsmusic] This Week's Finds: Dec. 31-Jan. 6

From: "Jeremy Schlosberg" <fingertipsmusic@xxxxxxxxx>
To: fingertipsmusic@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2007 16:53:57 -0500

THIS WEEK'S FINDS <http://www.fingertipsmusic.com/this_weeks_finds.htm>
week of Dec. 31-Jan. 6

"Here's Your Future" - the
Thermals<http://www.subpop.com/scripts/main/download.php?url=/downloads/free/Heres_your_future399.mp3&mid=399>
Let's hit the ground running here in '07, shall we? Bracing and
uncompromising, "Here's Your Future" is a two-and-a-half-minute blast of
literate, crafty 21st-century punk rock from a band that walks the walk.
(The Thermals made news early last year for turning down a $50,000 request
from Hummer to use a song of theirs in a commercial.) Fueled by a fast
five-chord guitar riff, "Here's Your Future" is both bleak and poignant; the
song offers only the comfort (if you can call it that) of standing up and
facing uncomfortable facts in a world incapable of saving itself, a world
that looks again and again for salvation in exactly the wrong place (note
opening chord from the church organ). Singer/guitarist Hutch Harris pummels
his guitars and sings without quite singing while bassist Kathy Foster plays
one-woman rhythm section--the band had lost its original drummer late last
year so that's Foster bashing away on the drums as well. (Since recording,
they've enlisted a new drummer and are back to being a trio.) From Portland,
Oregon, the Thermals have been at it since 2002; "Here's Your Future" is the
lead track from *The Body, The Blood, The Machine* (Sub Pop), the band's
third CD. While not necessarily a concept album, this one features songs
that apparently envision the U.S. as being governed by Christian fascists.
Not sure how much envisioning that took. The MP3 is available via the Sub
Pop site <http://www.subpop.com/>.

"Guitar Swing" - the
Winks<http://www.acherecords.com/achemp3/TheWinks-GuitarSwing.mp3>
At the core of this peculiar but compelling song is the primordially
affecting two-chord progression that works magic just about wherever it
goes: this is the one where a major tonic chord alternates with the minor
mediant chord--that's the I and the iii, as they say in music theory land.
In "Guitar Swing," the chords underpin a cryptic song with an insistent beat
and the unusual if not unique instrumental combination of cello and
mandolin. In a wavery tenor that sounds, somehow, both heartbroken and
indifferent, singer/mandolinist Todd MacDonald intersperses the largely
impenetrable lyrics with Delphic pronouncements--"Sleepers know the facts";
"Tuxedos are only as strong as your heart"--that engage and mystify
simultaneously. Meanwhile, bandmate Tyr Jami uses her cello both as rhythmic
texture and melodic color, and sings a bit too, with a smiley-er tone than
her partner. Don't miss the "wa-wa" duet section, beginning at 2:23, during
which MacDonald and Jami explore the I-iii alternation with earnest whimsy.
The Winks are a Montreal-based duo that use a rotating cast of 13 musicians
to fill in as needed. "Guitar Swing" is a track off the band's *Birthday
Party* CD, which was released on Ache Records
<http://www.acherecords.com/>in November.
*Birthday Party* is the band's second full-length, widely released CD, but
their eighth CD in all (the first five were limited-edition CD-Rs; they've
also done a split with their side-project, Tights). The MP3 is via the Ache
site.

"Hollywood" - Eastern Conference
Champions<http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/11/1/340594/ECChollywood.mp3>
Any band combining gorgeous melody with ghostly electronics is going to
bring Radiohead to mind at this point, and the suburban Philadelphia band
Eastern Conference Champions certainly does that here. I will note--as I
have in the past--that it is no sin for one band to remind us of another; I
always believe a good song is a good song. "Hollywood" is a very good song
indeed, its delicate, soaring melody telling an elusive tale of loss and
disappointment, accompanied only by percussion and synths and maybe some
samples. I like how the song feels expressive and expansive and even organic
without any guitar in the mix. Maybe it has something to do with the
sleighbells. Lead singer Josh Ostrander has a thin, high voice, not unlike
Thom Yorke's, that sometimes crackles with syllable shifts; he is joined
here on backing vocals by Maura Davis of the group Ambulette, a nice touch
that accentuates the lullaby-like nature of the song (as do those
sleighbells) while creating a little distance from the Radiohead-ish vibe.
If you'd like to hear the band in a tenser, more driving mode, check out,
additionally, the song "Nice Clean
Shirt<http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/11/1/340594/ECCnicecleanshirt.mp3>."
Both songs can be found on ECC's debut EP, *The Southampton Collection*, was
released on Retone Records back in March. The band was signed shortly
thereafter to Suretone Records, but what a difference two letters
make--Suretone is an offshoot of Interscope Records, part of the Geffen
family. ECC's next full-length will be out on Suretone this spring.

*Another year, another carrot, as Bugs Bunny used to say. Is it time again
to toss a modest contribution this way? Or maybe contribute for the first
time? As always, $5 or $10 donations are entirely welcome, while larger
donations give you an opportunity to take a gift from the Prize Closet (have
you checked out the new arrivals?). Click
here<http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/pay/T2MFZZF59DLWTH/102-0776598-3470526>to
get the transaction underway, courtesy of Amazon.
*

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[fingertipsmusic] This Week's Finds: Dec. 31-Jan. 6

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