[fingertipsmusic] This Week's Finds: Jan. 14-20

From: "Jeremy Schlosberg" <fingertipsmusic@xxxxxxxxx>
To: fingertipsmusic@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2007 16:58:01 -0500

*A new Fingertips contest is up and running, this one of particular interest
to you vinyl junkies out there. I have one copy of Be Your Own Pet's debut
album (Be Your Own Pet) in a spiffy, unopened 12-inch vinyl package.
Complete with two sides and everything. Details
here<http://www.fingertipsmusic.com/contests.htm>
.*

THIS WEEK'S FINDS <http://www.fingertipsmusic.com/this_weeks_finds.htm>
week of Jan. 14-20

"Sorry" - Youth Group <http://www.anti.com/download.php?id=385>
Crisp, glistening music that breaks no particular ground and yet makes me
happy in a bittersweet sort of way and compels me to go back and listen
again. This one launches with a crystalline guitar line, seven precise notes
twice in a row, and check out the "off" interval on the fourth note in the
second set--an ever-so-slightly jarring but actually amenable change that
right away suggests a well-crafted song. I like too the subtle contrast
between the song's brisk pace and singer Toby Martin's sweet and somewhat
languorous delivery. Those who remember the British band James may hear some
pleasing resonances here; this song boasts the soaring yet fleet-footed
touch of that band's best work. I've said it before and no doubt I'll say it
again: "good" is a far more important value than "new" when it comes to
judging music; criticism based largely upon something not being "new" or
"different" enough is almost always facile and suspect, in my opinion. Youth
Group is a quartet from Sydney, Australia; "Sorry" is from the band's new
CD, its third, entitled *Casino Twilight Dogs*, which is scheduled for
release in the U.S. next week on Anti Records
<http://www.fingertipsmusic.com/siteindex.htm#Anti>. The MP3 is via the Anti
site <http://www.anti.com/>.

"Barracuda" - Miho
Hatori<http://www.toolshed-media.com/ts/miho-hatori-barracuda.mp3>
Born in Tokyo, transplanted to Manhattan in the '90s, Miho Hatori became
known later in the decade as the singer in the experimental duo Cibo Matto,
which combined facets of trip-hop, rock, and Latin music in a vibrant
multicultural mélange. Now she's got a solo CD, called *Ecdysis*, on which
she emerges as a frisky-quirky eccentrically accented 21st-century musician
with maybe even more trans-global chops than the reigning queen of
frisky-quirky eccentrically accented 21st-century musicianhood, Björk. While
happy enough around beats and programming, Hatori likewise employs on her CD
a globetrotting battery of esoteric organic instruments--repique, zabumba,
timbau, and Indian ankle bells among them--that lend an earthy sincerity to
the sound. "Barracuda" in particular is propelled by an exotic drumbeat, a
slinky, Latin-esque keyboard riff, and a stuttery monkey-call-like counter
rhythm. Head full of transcultural metaphysics (she counts Joseph Campbell
as a major influence), Hatori writes both concretely and obliquely, which is
a fetching combination: I sense the real world very much around her, even as
I can't make heads or tails of what she's talking about most of the time.
The culiminating section in which she sings multilayered Portuguese (I
think?) lyrics against that jungly backbeat, plus some sort of accordion,
(starting around 2:20) is exuberant fun. *Ecdysis* was released on
Rykodisc<http://www.rykodisc.com/>in October; the MP3 is via
Toolshed <http://www.toolshed.biz/>, a music promotion company.

"Deadringer Deadringer" - the Book of Daniel
<http://www.pleasure-syndicate.de/riptide_v2/media/mp3/The_Book_of_Daniel_-_Deadringer_deadringer.mp3>
I have something of a soft spot for singers who don't have pretty voices who
sing pretty melodies, from Bob Dylan and Tom Waits to Shane McGowan and
Peter Garrett and then some. Sounds like Gothenburg's Daniel Gustaffson is a
budding member of the group; older brother of Boy
Omega<http://www.fingertipsmusic.com/TWFjul-aug06.htm#BoyOmega>'s
Martin Henrik Gustaffson (who also plays in Book of Daniel), Daniel G.,
leading his loosey-goosey, eight-person ensemble, doesn't grumble like Waits
or go gruffly off-pitch like McGowan but his voice sounds mostly like he
thinks he's still talking rather than singing--which makes the melodic charm
of this swingy, homespun tune all the more charming, to me. There's
something of *Moondance*-era Van Morrison in the air here, filtered through
a rollicking Swedish-pop sensibility. When the band joins in for a bit of
call and response (around :43), it's hard not to smile. Later on, the
extended trumpet solo (starting at 2:51) is just plain cool. "Deadringer
Deadringer" is from the Book of Daniel's debut full-length CD, *Songs for
the Locust King*, which was released late in November on Riptide
Recordingsin Germany, and then again in late December (I think; the
precise date is
oddly difficult to discern) on the Malmö-based Black Star
Foundation<http://www.blackstarfoundation.com/>label. The MP3 is
available via Riptide.

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[fingertipsmusic] This Week's Finds: Jan. 14-20

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