[fingertipsmusic] This Week's Finds, Oct. 29-Nov. 4
- From: "Jeremy Schlosberg" <fingertipsmusic@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: fingertipsmusic@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2006 17:31:44 -0500
THIS WEEK'S FINDS <http://www.fingertipsmusic.com/this_weeks_finds.htm>
week of Oct. 29-Nov. 4
"Last Cast" - End of the
World<http://www.flameshovel.com/mp3/TEOTW03-last.mp3>
A compelling mid-tempo rocker that's equal parts unresolved chords and
resolving melodies. It's also equal parts playful bass line and insistently
bashing cymbals, and as I listen I'm thinking these two things are related,
somehow, as both oppositions--the harmonic one and the one within the rhythm
section--foster a really chewy sort of dynamic, half unsettled and half
really comfortable. I haven't praised the trio concept in a while, so I
think I'll do that here, noting (yet again, for long-time Fingertips
visitors) how satisfyingly *present* a trio is in a rock context: with
guitar, bass, and drums, nothing is buried, no sound unaccounted for; I find
it a welcome relief, sometimes, from the sort of sonic overload that the
digital age has often brought upon us. This is another in a long (long...)
line of songs that I like but have no idea what they're about; what brings a
song like this to life, lyrically, anyway is when individual lines jump out
and intrigue; the one that does it for me here is: "Now it's the quiet
ones/That we watch out for." Again, no idea what's going on, but I'm
definitely curious and engaged. The End of the World are from New York City;
"Last Cast" is a song from their debut full-length CD, *You're Making It
Come Alive*, which was released earlier this month on Flameshovel
Records<http://www.fingertipsmusic.com/smaller_labels.htm#Flameshovel>.
The MP3 is via the Flameshovel site <http://www.flameshovel.com/>.
"Breakable" - Ingrid
Michaelson<http://www.ingridmichaelson.com/mp3s/Breakable.mp3>
Deconstructing waltz time beyond recognition, Ingrid Michaelson here
breathes fetching new life into a 3/4 piano ballad. The Brooklyn-based
Michaelson sings with a choppy sort of breathiness, and gives me the
impression that even she doesn't quite know which way a note is going to go
until her elastic voice lets it fly. I will do us all the favor of not
drawing on the usual comparisons that seem to beset any woman who plays the
piano, even when she sounds pretty much nothing like the person everyone is
always compared to <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tori_Amos>. Instead I find
myself drawn to her freshness, a not-quite-like-anyone-else quality that she
presents in a most familiar-seeming container. Many little things along the
way are just a bit different, from the plaintive same-note harmony vocals
matched against the pumping piano that open the song to the minimalist snare
and percussion she calls on to provide distinctive rhythmic support.
"Breakable" is a song from *Girls and Boys*, Michaelson's second CD, which
was self-released in May. The MP3 is available via her web
site<http://www.ingridmichaelson.com/>.
Thanks to Bruce at Some Velvet Blog
<http://somevelvetblog.blogspot.com/>for the lead.
"Harvest (Within You)" -
Clinic<http://www.dominorecordco.us/downloads/Clinic_Harvest.mp3>
If this one doesn't hit you on first listen, I urge you to listen two more
times. That's when it really began to sink in for me, and now of course I'm
not sure why I didn't hear it the first time, but music is a mysterious
thing--maybe even more so when created and performed by an enigmatic band
from Liverpool that wears surgical masks and costumes in all their publicity
photos, and apparently while performing as well. Against a "Lust For Life"
rhythm, "Harvest" unfolds with (sorry) almost clinical precision, with Ade
Blackburn's nasally-twitchy voice accompanied by ghostly harmonies, a
funereal organ, and a really really great-sounding guitar, all skeletal and
portentous. "Harvest (Within You)" is a song from *Visitations*, the band's
fourth CD, released in the U.K. and digitally this month on Domino Records.
(The U.S. hard copy will not arrive until January.) The MP3 is available via
the Domino web site <http://www.dominorecordco.com/>.
*A hearty thank you goes out to all who have donated to Fingertips. If
you've been thinking about it, what the heck: there's no time like the
present. Modest donations ($5 or $10) are entirely welcome, while larger
donations give you an opportunity to take a gift from the Prize
Closet<http://www.fingertipsmusic.com/prizecloset.htm>.
(Keep an eye on the Prize Closet over the coming week or two, by the way, as
a bunch of new arrivals will be added.) Click here to get the transaction
underway, courtesy of
Amazon.<http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/pay/T2MFZZF59DLWTH/102-0776598-3470526>
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