Chad VanGaalen
Skelliconnection
SubPop Records 

Thou shall not listen to a Chad VanGaalen record on random. This is the basic principle to remember when attempting to decode the hidden charm of Skelliconnection. To be honest, the Canadian songwriter’s sophomore album, released on SubPop records, gave me a bit of trouble at first. It’s the kind of record I like to describe as one made of gradual builds, that when played from beginning to end deliver effectively, but when skipped through and played at random seem to go nowhere at all. This necessity, for the listener to devote his full time & attention to the music, can be seen as a negating demand from the artist VanGaalen or it can be interpreted as a sign of the album’s brilliance. It’s up the listener to decide which. Continue Reading »

El Boxeo
Awake & Dreaming
Suburban Sprawl Music

Do the words El Boxeo sound familiar to you? It should, seeing as how they were featured in a download write up back on July 14th. It’s been long enough between then and now for you to have gone out of your box and given them a listen, but for those of you who haven’t, here’s another plea.

For those of you who do not know random words in Spanish, El Boxeo means boxing. It’s also the name of a trio from Livonia, Michigan that play mainly of violin, drums and bass (not to be confused with drum n’ bass). This setup is what makes the band truly unique. There is no guitar anywhere to be found, and for that I am quite pleased. With the full sound El Boxeo is able to create, there isn’t really a need for anything else. Continue Reading »

Theta Naught & Alex Caldiero
Sound Weave
Differential Records 

When I first listened to this, I listened to it out of order and it in turn started me out on a bad foot. There are two seperate discs on this release and I had listened to the bonus disc. I thought I knew what I was expecting to hear, but I failed to hear it. It was purely instrumental pianos, drums, synths, strings, et cetera. Then I finally get around to the main disc; the one with Theta Naught and Alex Caldiero. Immediately after listening, the phrase “avante-garde” came to my mind. It’s not in the same vein of John Cage 4′33″, but it’s definitely crossing certain pre-ordained musical boundaries. I listen to some spoken word/poetry, but nothing like this. Continue Reading »

Straight talk:  Islands are a band.  They are very good.  Here is an mp3 from their album Return to the Sea. 

‘Don’t Call Me Whitney, Bobby’ has this very carefree temperament to it that makes me smile every time I listen.  The gently strummed guitars and playful ‘doot doo’s’ are all comfortably laid out before your nit picky ears, creating a full 2 and a half minutes of music that goes down smoother than a half pint of that expensive movie star water.

Enjoy the sound.

Islands - Don’t Call Me Whitney, Bobby

Early last month, staff writer Matthew Grannell had the opportunity to speak with Headlights guitarist Tristan Wright via electronic mail. What you are about to read, after the jump, is the full, unedited interview that resulted.

Warning: What you are about to read may blow your mind. Continue Reading »

Mike Kinsella, your reputation proceeds you. As a youth, you helped launch important bands like Cap’n Jazz, Joan of Arc, and American Football, and then, when it seemed like you were done creating Chicago’s official list whos-who of indie rock, you even began playing in a band called Owls with your brother Tim. Why is it then that critics have chosen to openly pick on your solo project, Owen?

I remember when I first saw your solo show, on the Mewithoutyou tour some years ago. You took the stage and softly began to strum your guitar. Then without so much as batting an eye you began picking the strings at a feverous pace. Next, came the vocals. If I remember correctly the line was something clever about a girl, or something. I was smart enough to know who you were- the guy who played in American Football- so I stood quietly and let you do your thing. You deserved it. However, the rest of the crowd wasn’t as knowledgeable of your past.

The first guy who yelled out in the middle of your second song probably just wanted attention for himself. The second and third guys, on the other hand, seemed like they genuinely had something against you. What gives? Mr. American Football himself is playing a quiet, intimate acoustic set and all these meat heads can do is interrupt your contemplative musings on women & relationships? That tickled my pickle. If you hadn’t stopped playing mid-song and gone into a nervous rant on the stress of life compared to the distracting qualities of touring the country, I would have stepped in and defended you.

But you took matters into your own hands- which isn’t surprising considering you are the same man who had enough heart to found some of Chicago’s best independent bands of the last 10 years. You told the jerks straight up that you weren’t trying to be special or different. You just wanted to play some songs you wrote a handful of years ago, finish your set, then get on with the show. The honesty in which you explained yourself was inspiring, however, when you then dropped your guitar and left the stage, I was a bit saddened.

As human beings, we hate watching others suffer in awkward or confrontational situations like yours that night. We put ourselves in your shoes and feel every tangled emotion. That is why I, Richard of Invisible Limb, won’t allow myself to criticize the following song from your up coming record At Home with Owen. Although the vocals on ‘Bad News’ aren’t my cup of tea- in my opinion, they sound mismatched with the more charming musical background- I won’t tell anyone that. I believe in showing tact, something indie magazine know-it-all’s have never learned. They are all still hung up on the fact that your lyrics are a little too wordy and a little too much.

Don’t they know the whole story? For some of us who do, and those who were even around to witness it first hand, we have a special place in our hearts for what you’ve done. If you want to record and tour in support of your acoustic songs, you should. You have definitely earned it.

Owen - Bad News

Headlights
Kill Them With Kindness
Polyvinyl Records

Ahhh… summer. The time of year when the sun is up for 15 hours a day at least. When jockey high school boys are constantly outside playing basketball with their shirts off. When neighbors sit together on their porches in conversation, drinking beer . When things finally start picking up again in the National Football League.

In my childhood, summer was one of my favorite times of year. Now in my young adult life, it is one of my least favorites (I hate sweating). This particular one I’ve been thinking a lot about the summers of lore, when I would shoot hoops and play catch with my brother or my myriad of neighbor friends. When we would go on bike rides through the park. When we would be at football practice five times a week the last three weeks in August. Continue Reading »

David Bazan
Fewer Moving Parts
Jade Tree Records

Some people make silly decisions. A lot of people do. All people even. David Bazan is no exception. Dave is the former frontman for influential “Christian-but-not-Christian” indie rock band (if you could even call it a band) Pedro the Lion. Recently, he decided to retire that moniker, and keep writing and recording under his own name. This is unecessary for two reasons. (1) What’s the point of the changing of an artist’s name when new songs are sounding like an extension of what said artist was already doing? (2) In this specific case, after Pedro the Lion released the debut Whole EP as a band, it ended up turning more into a Bazan solo project anyway, though featuring guest musicians, by the first full length, It’s Hard to Find a Friend. So again I ask, “What’s the point?”

All of this aside, I’m not surprised at all that Bazan’s newest musical endeavor, Fewer Moving Parts, turned out the way it did, sounding like the next Pedro the Lion record. I mean this in the best way possible. Sure, Pedro never did anything incredibly original. Bazan even admits so himself on opening track “Selling Advertising.” What made Pedro so special was the sincerity, humility, and raw spirituality behind the lyrics. Most of this is still intact, sans the humility, unless these songs are tongue in cheek, which they probably are. Continue Reading »

Unlike this headline, the above title is actually correct.  Baltimore, Maryland’s Page France have signed to Suicide Squeeze Records, the home of such diverse independent artists as Minus the Bear, Headphones, and Crystal Skulls.  The pop band’s first release on the label will be a re-issue of their most recent full length, Hello, Dear Wind, scheduled for a September 12th street date.

Here are 2 tracks from the re-issue, as well as 2 others from Page France’s debut album Come, I’m A Lion! on Fall Records.  When I first heard ‘Rhythm’ about a year or so ago, it reminded me of a poppier Death Cab.  Now listening to ‘Bush’ I stand by my comparison.

Page France - Junkyard
Page France - Bush
Page France - Rhythm
Page France - Air Pollution

Dear AT&T,

My name is Richard and I hate you. You were supposed to provide my house with DSL internet service and satellite tv, however, like the terrible company you are, you didn’t do that. What you did do was allow one of your employees to sell me some bogus satellite/internet combo plan, tell me a technician would visit my house by August 17th, and then proceed to NOT put my order in.

It wasn’t until a week and a half later when the 17th rolls around and the DSL box is still flashing red for no signal and no one is knocking on my door to install a satellite dish that I realized something was not going right. That’s when I called your customer service line and talked to a female employee who told me that my order had never been put in and the only thing I had even been signed up for was some long distance phone plan (the first employee told me I had to switch long distance carriers in order to receive his non-existent, made up plan).

The female employees only response to the fact that I had been lied to and deceived was “Do you want to sign up for one of our real plans?” NO. I do not want to sign up for one of your real plans. I want you to find whoever it was that wasted a week of my life & hold them accountable for selling me some bullshit plan. That’s what I want.

The bottom line is your company is a joke. I hope everyone who reads this heeds the warning and stays far away from your crappy, non-ethical business.

Sincerely,
Richard

Now, here is your happy weekly recap!

LISA PAPINEAU IS BIG TIME
I am not a big fan of the whole heavy electronic, distorted vocals, sultry female solo music thing, but the following singer lent her talents to the last M83 record, so she is ok in my book. The woman I am talking about is none other than Lisa Papineau. Besides having a last name that requires I spend a serious amount of time glancing back at her press sheet for the correct spelling, she is French and signed to Sony/BMG, which is no shocker. Listening to the song ‘Shucking, Jiving’ it’s pretty obvious this is a major label deal we’re talking here. The production and writing is catered more towards a mainstream audience, which, depending on who you are, can be a good or bad thing. Did I mention she appeared on the last M83 album?

Lisa Papineau - Shucking, Jiving

HEADLIGHTS TO USE HEADLIGHTS AT NIGHT ON NEXT US TOUR
Polyvinyl Records band Headlights have announced plans to tour the US and kick out their jams alongside rock and roll outfit Decibully. For a full list of dates, check out Headlights’ tour page here.

SUBPOP SIGNS LONEY, DEAR
Swedish musician Emil Svanängen and his band Loney, Dear have just signed to SubPop Records. Their debut record for the label, Loney, Noir, will be released February 6th, 2007. To listen to Loney, Dear visit their Myspace page here. They also have a wealth of mp3s on their official site, but they are only one minute clips, which is terribly lame and annoying.

CHRIS PRICE MAKES BEATS
This fellow Chris Price sent me an e-mail asking me to listen to his music. So I did, and it’s pretty funky. Think mad beats, cool old school rap/talking, and sweet keyboards. Check out his Myspace here and download his song ‘And She Was’ below.

Chris Price - And She Was

MORE LINKS TO WET YOUR PALATE!
Here are some other links that we found click-worthy this week.

I Guess I’m Floating’s awesome movie soundtrack compilation.
Something Awful reviews the latest Mars Volta disc so we don’t have to.
It’s never too late to harass your friends, Snakes on a Plane style.
Clell Tickle is a dangerous man.
Fred Armisen cameos in the video above, he is also on Myspace.