This is just another way we try to spread the word about all the good music out there. As you’ll notice, every song that reaches the #1 spot on this list will also appear on our 100 Best Songs of 2010 list at the end of December. We try to mix it up, offer a little something for everyone: sad songs, funny songs, upbeat songs, quieter stuff, you name it. If you don’t like one of these, you can always go on to the next one. The only one here that doesn’t have a link to the track is #1 and that’s because it’s so new.
1. Erica Smith & the 99 Cent Dreams – River King
Apprehensive, hauntingly and richly lyrical Nashville gothic. Nobody does it better than she does. She’ll be playing the Dave Campbell memorial concert at the Parkside on the 22nd.
2. Adam H. Stevens – The Cities That You’ve Burned
Cynical retro-70s pop, a snide portrait of a dissolute trendoid. From his forthcoming cd We Live on Cliffs – free download.
3. Mighty Fine – Ride
Absolutely kick ass garage rock with a funk/soul edge and an original style if you can believe it. They’re at Public Assembly on August 19.
4. The Anabolics – You Can’t Let People Walk All Over You
More kick-ass garage rock. They’re at Bruar Falls on August 1.
5. Jeremy Messersmith – Organ Donor
Creepy chamber pop, sort of on the Elliott Smith tip. He’s at Joe’s Pub on August 17.
6. Pete Galub – 300 Days in July
Pensive psychedelic pop song given the Martin Bisi treatment which means raw and authentic. Grab a free download.
7. Ernie Vega – I’ll Follow You Home (Sweet Isabelle)
Like early Dylan but better – both the guitar and the vocals.
8. The JPT Scare Band – Slow Sick Shuttle
Just stumbled across this twisted stumbling seven-minute 1973 slice of acid-warped bluesmetal while trolling for a completely unrelated video. Isn’t the internet wonderful.
9. The Audiobodies – Free
Upbeat acoustic soul shuffle with Barrington Levy-esque vox.
10. Under Byen – Kapitel
Dark dreamy art-rock – a sensation in Denmark.
July 19, 2010
Posted by delarue |
blues music, lists, Music, music, concert, rock music | 300 days in july, adam h. stevens, anabolics band, art-rock, audiobodies, audiobodies free, best rock songs, best songs, best songs of the week, blues, blues music, cities that you've burned, country rock, erica smith, erica smith 99 cent dreams, erica smith river king, Erica Smith singer, ernie vega, garage band, garage music, garage rock, goth music, goth rock, gothic music, gothic rock, heavy metal, i'll follow you home, jangle rock, janglerock, jeremy messersmith, jeremy messersmith organ donor, jpt scare band, metal music, mighty fine band, mighty fine ride, nashville gothic, Pete Galub, power pop, powerpop, psychedelia, psychedelic music, psychedelic rock, roots music, roots rock, slow sick shuttle, soul music, top ten songs, top ten songs of the week, UNDER BYEN, under byen kapitel, you can't let people walk all over you |
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OK, OK, we’re a day late. But who’s counting. This is just another way we try to spread the word about all the good music out there. As you’ll notice, every song that reaches the #1 spot on this list will also appear on our 100 Best Songs of 2010 list at the end of December. We try to mix it up, offer a little something for everyone: sad songs, funny songs, upbeat songs, quieter stuff, you name it. If you don’t like one of these, you can always go on to the next one. The only one here that doesn’t have a link to the track is #1 and that’s because it’s so new.
1. The Brooklyn What – Punk Rock Loneliness
About time Brooklyn’s most charismatic, intense, funny rockers returned to the top spot here. This one has a Dead Boys influence, with the two smoldering guitars and frontman Jamie Frey’s menacing lyric aimed at the gawkers who pass by what used to be CBGB. “You wanna be a dead boy?” Let’s get the Brooklyn What on Hipster Demolition Night!
2. Ernie Vega – Cocaine Blues
Not the one you’re thinking of – this one’s a lot more rustic and it’s hilarious, like something you’d hear on a Smithsonian recording from the 1920s.
3. Under Byen -Alt Er Tabt
A Danish version of the Creatures: catchy, atmospheric vocal overdubs, terse accordion and strings over a clattering Atrocity Exhibition rhythm.
4. Golden Triangle – Neon Noose
X as played by late 80s Jesus & Mary Chain – they’re at South St. Seaport on 7/16 at 6
5. Loose Limbs – Underdog
Lo-fi garage rock with soul/gospel vocals – if you like the Detroit Cobras you’ll like Loose Limbs. They’re at South St. Seaport on 7/23 at 6
6. Jeff Lang – Home to You
Wild insane steel guitar blues by the innovative Aussie guitarist.
7. Mike Rimbaud – Dirty Little Bomb
Classic new wave songwriting by a survivor from the very end of the era, still going strong twenty years later.
8. Costanza – Just Another Alien
The lyrics are the text from a US Immigration form. Eerie and apropos.
9. J-Ron – Weed Song
Texas faux “R&B.”
10. Amy Coleman – Goodbye New York
This is such a blast from the past, it’s kinda funny: the bastard child of DollHouse and Pet Benetar. Suddenly it’s 1979 again. Except it’s not.
July 13, 2010
Posted by delarue |
blues music, lists, Music, music, concert, rock music | acoustic music, amy coleman, amy coleman goodbye new york, art-rock, blues, blues guitar, brooklyn bands, brooklyn what, brooklyn what punk rock loneliness, costanza just another alien, creatures band, danish bands, danish rock, delta blues, detroit cobras, ernie vega, ernie vega cocaine blues, garage music, golden triangle band, golden triangle neon noose, great guitarist, hokum blues, j-ron hip-hop, j-ron rap, j-ron weed song, jamie frey, jeff lang, jeff lang guitar, jeff lang home to you, literate rock, loose limbs band, loose limbs underdog, mashup, mike rimbaud, neon noose, new wave, new wave music, political music, political song, punk music, punk rock, punk rock loneliness, singer-songwriter, slide guitar, slide guitarist, songwriter, UNDER BYEN |
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Danish band Under Byen’s latest album offers up more of the intriguingly cinematic, often starkly intense chamber rock that’s earned them an avid worldwide cult following. Frontwoman Henriette Sennenvaldt’s ethereal delivery comes across as something of a cross between Bjork and Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval. The album title translates as “all is lost,” and while an eeriness pervades pretty much everything here, there’s also a lot of quirky fun and innovative, completely out-of-the-box songwriting. Songs swirl and then shift shape suddenly, eschewing any kind of verse/chorus pattern. Instead of using traditional rock drums, they keep their percussion low-key and lo-fi. Banjo, acoustic and electric piano add plaintive, sometimes ominous melody over atmospheric strings and tricky rhythms, established with the breathy first track. The album’s second cut, Territorium echoes Joy Division, its somber bassline over simple drum machine rhythm, layers of strings alternately swooping and crashing. The title track layers catchy, atmospheric vocal overdubs, terse accordion and strings over a clattering Atrocity Exhibition rhythm – imagine a Danish version of the Creatures.
Salades sets whispery, austere vocalese over reverb banjo, gamelanesque percussion and the occasional seemingly random string accent, followed by a warped, atmospheric trip-hop song that matches disconcertingly out-of-focus vocals to wobbly bent-note banjo. The album’s most intense, epic track is Unoder, atmospherics contrasting with a repetitively looping series of chase themes that alternate noise with melody. Eerie bell-like keyboard tones dominate the next cut, Konstant, vocal and instrumental textures fading into the mix only to disappear in a split second. The album closes with two studies in contrasts, dreamy vocals pushed along by pulsing, astringent string arrangements, and the stately Kapitel 1, a fugue of sorts, voice alternating with accordion, piano, banjo and a big string section. This is a great late-night album.
April 7, 2010
Posted by delarue |
Music, music, concert, review, Reviews, rock music | ambient music, art-rock, atmospheric music, avant garde rock, avant-garde music, bjork, chamber pop, chamber rock, classical rock, creatures band, danish bands, danish rock, goth music, goth rock, gothic music, gothic rock, henriette sennenvaldt, hope sandoval, indie rock, joy division, mazzy star, orchestrated rock, prog rock, progressive rock, rock music, UNDER BYEN |
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