Those upbeat, jangly guitars!  That odd, addictive voice!  It can only be Houseguest!

A surprising gem in a sea of twee pop, messy garage rock, and electronic promo albums laying on my desk, Houseguest’s High Strangeness was one of my favorite albums that I received in 2007.  Quick, short, and to the point, High Strangeness is a high-energy pop record whose most interesting feature, its skewed, subversive tone, is carried strongly by singer Ted Mallison’s unique voice.  Upon first listen, I remember thinking, “Wow, these guys…actually know how to write a good song.  Awesome!”

Here are two tracks from High Strangeness, blazing album opener ‘Fashionable Living Room’ and the equally delightful ‘On Waldon Software’.  To listen to some new cuts from their up coming 2008 release, visit the band’s Myspace page.

Houseguest - Fashionable Living Room

Houseguest - On Walden Software

Purchase Houseguest’s High Strangeness on Amazon.com

A series of artistic images and blurry night scenes loosely based on New York band the National and the making of their breakthrough album Boxer, French director Vincent Moon’s music film A Skin, A Night is a bittersweet offering for fans of the band.

Shot using Moon’s trademark saturated cinematography and scored by odd layers and instrumental pieces taken from the album, A Skin, A Night is a great visual representation of the dark, dream-like quality present in the National’s music, however, and sadly, the film shows no interest in being a documentary. There are occasional glimpses of band members talking about anxiety and the group’s early days fighting up the ranks, and a very interesting studio moment where singer Matt Berninger shoots down a piano arrangement, insisting the band can come up with something better, but these are too few and far between. The film is much more interested in giving us a visual impression of the band than documenting the facts behind it. As an art piece, it works just fine; as a National dvd, it is pretty underwhelming.

I guess my biggest beef with the film is that it needed more actual National music to go along with all the abstract imagery. Most of the background music in the film is bits and pieces of studio sessions. These range from great- there is an awesome Slow Show/Blank Slate sequence and an extended live performance of About Today- to way too short, blips of Bryan Davendorf drumming on a metal fan cage or Padma Newsome playing the violin for 4 seconds. I would have loved to hear some of the demo recordings and live studio footage featured on Boxer’s teaser website. Those offered real, interesting looks at the ideas behind the songs and how they went on to form one of the most well-reviewed albums of 2007.

The small audience that will embrace this DVD are collector’s and die-hard fans of the band; and as you can tell by this review, even some of them will be a bit disappointed.

Purchase The National’s A Skin, A Night DVD on Amazon.com

StumbleUpon is so awesome for little things like this. If you do not have it on your Firefox, I suggest getting it immediately. This is a little animation of a paper Nintendo DS thing. I don’t know, watch it. It’s entertaining, at least for 1:09.

Formerly of the great No Knife, Ryan Ferguson is now working on some solo work.  It’s great news because No Knife was awesome and hearing his voice on top of some nice acoustic song is great.  It’s a nice change of pace for him, too.  His first release was back in 2005 with a EP that gave him immediate recognition and included a song as a lead track for EA Sport’s The Sims 2. For Ryan, it’s almost a flawless transition going from aggressive, fast-paced music to acoustic, feel-good pop music.  Take a listen.

Ryan Ferguson - Kill My Confidence

Buy Ryan Ferguson’s Debut Full-Length Only Trying To Help on Amazon.com

Director Jean-Luc Godard has famously said that all you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun. I would like to think that one of his contemporaries, Louis Malle, decided with The Fire Within to test this precept, as both are key to the plot of this striking work.

The gun is a sleek-looking Walther pistol that Alain Leroy has tucked away in a briefcase in his room. A depressed recovering alcoholic, Leroy plans on using it to commit suicide, a fact he states plainly and free of emotion one evening (this scene was quoted through Wes Anderson in his film The Royal Tenenbaums in the harrowing scene where Richie Tenenbaum slits his wrists).

There are many candidates for the girl sprinkled throughout this movie, but the one that seems to haunt Leroy most is his estranged wife, Carol. Their strained relationship is what sent him into a drunken spiral and landed him in a detox clinic, where he is still living despite being considered cured.

There are other women to consider, though, many of whom Leroy encounters in a long journey through Paris. As he visits them and his old haunts in the city, the deeper portrait of this troubled soul starts to surface, one that paints Leroy and many of the people his age as spiritually empty, filling the void with alcohol, drugs and casual sex.

The film is as much a devastating critique on a generational malaise that was slowly seeping into French society, as it is a heartbreaking portrait of depression. Leroy is at the mercy of the demons that still reside within him, an idea Malle visually expresses with several shots of his main character trying to force his way through an ever-flowing stream of traffic.

It isn’t easy to watch, considering the questions that Leroy and his friends mull over during the course of the film, but it is made a little easier to swallow by Maurice Ronet’s sympathetic and heartbreaking portrayal of a man unhinged. He doesn’t wallow or rail against the dying of the light, but instead marks everything through his expressive eyes and drags on his ever-present cigarette.

The film is also a testament to the genius of Malle, a director who throughout the early part of his career reflected so much of contemporary society back on his viewers, and often not in a very sympathetic light. The questions asked in this movie don’t come with easy answers, but as Malle demonstrates, demand that we ask of ourselves and of others.

Purchase The Fire Within Criterion Collection DVD on Amazon.com

Apologies to the Queen Mary was a solid little record. Perhaps not as great as the initial buzz promised but I know the first time I heard ‘You Are a Runner and I am My Father’s Son’ it put a smile on my face. I still listen to the album every once in a while. It’s still solid. I still smile.

I’m not sure about Wolf Parade’s new mp3, however. ‘Call It a Ritual’ isn’t a bad song- it’s actually pretty ’solid’- but it doesn’t make me smile. Nor does it get me too excited for the band’s up coming sophomore album At Mount Zoomer (out June 17th). The track actually reminds me of the first time I heard the Arcade Fire’s ‘Black Mirror’, a few weeks before Neon Bible was released. It was a darker song, undeniably well put together, but despite hitting all the regular marks for the band, I just ‘wasn’t feeling it’. That didn’t stop Neon Bible from being great though so I’m still holding out hope for this record. The Amazon product description calls At Mount Zoomer ‘this generation’s Marquee Moon‘ so at least we know the hype wheels are spinning.

Wolf Parade - Call It a Ritual

Pre-order Wolf Parade’s At Mount Zoomer on Amazon.com

BONUS! UNRELEASED MP3S FROM UP COMING SUB POP ALBUMS:

CSS - Rat is Dead
Appearing on the up-coming Sub Pop album Donkey (release date TBA)

Purchase CSS’s debut album Cansei de Ser Sexy on Amazon.com

Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal
Appearing on the up coming Sub Pop album Fleet Foxes (out June 3rd)

Pre-order Fleet Foxes’ self titled album on Amazon.com

For a four piece band Bodies of Water sure sound busy on record. The Los Angeles band’s self-released debut Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink is a swirling storm of melodramatic pop, harmonized vocals and jangly percussion. Of course, much of the magic was added in the studio but the band does often recruit an expanded lineup for hometown shows to help re-create their frantic pop sound. When I saw them open up for John Vanderslice last year in LA, I was treated to an army of musicians hitting, blowing, & strumming whatever they could fit on stage with them, and shouting- I remember there was lots of group shouting. Despite all the activity, however, the music is never very chaotic; a little over-indulgent perhaps but never offensive.

‘Under the Pines’ is the first mp3 released off the group’s up coming sophomore record- and Secretly Canadian debut- A Certain Feeling (out July 22nd). Despite the better production, the song still carries much of the feeling of their debut- group melodies, long instrumental stretches, lots and lots of percussion. The theatrical ‘flair’ is here too, which seems to be becoming one of the band’s distinguishing trademarks.

Bodies of Water - Under the Pines

Pre-order Bodies of Water’s A Certain Feeling on Amazon.com

BONUS FUN FACT:

Lead singer and organ player Meredith Metcalf supposedly doubles as a commercial actress (see the following Domino’s Oreo pizza beard commercial).

Out of all the bands I have found out about through random myspace profile hopping, I think that This Will Destroy You is the one I’m most happy I found. They have an incredibly goofy name, but in the midst of this giant post-rock craze, they really stand out to me. What they are able to do is find some really great melodies and allow them to progress so well. Sure, to a lot of you they may just sound like another Explosions In The Sky copycat, but give ‘em a chance. They stand out on their own in my mind.

p.s. - I’ve watched a view YouTube videos and I would LOVE to see these guys play live.

This Will Destroy You - They Move On Never Ending Tracks Of Light

Purchase This Will Destroy You’s self-titled sophomore album on Amazon.com

We’ve seen stop-motion animations that combine 2d art with real world backdrops but this short film from Argentinian street artist Blu takes things to another level. The animation starts with a single brick falling out of a wall and goes everywhere from there, spilling on to the sidewalk and hopping all over the city. Just hit play and see what we’re talking about.

The name of the film is ‘MUTO’ however other applicable titles include “Holy Cow” and “Coolest Video You’ll See This Week”.

Watch MUTO on Blu’s official website

I would be such a cheese if I posted my friends band on my first post for invisible limb, but I’m going to do it anyway because Why Intercept is a genuinely good band from Chicago. I personally have been waiting hear some new recordings for some time now and now that I have finally heard the album it is some pretty fantastic stuff. The album was produced and recorded by Paul Malinowski (ex-Shiner). This band is pretty much for fans of Russian Circles and Cave-In, circa Jupiter/Antenna. They are currently pressing hard copies and will be available shortly, just keep checking their myspace. The song posted is best exemplifies their sound.

Why Intercept - The Far Northwest

Sibling labels Jagjaguwar, Dead Oceans, and Secretly Canadian have always attracted solid talent to their roster and Wisconsin’s Bon Iver is no exception. Meaning “good winter”, Bon Iver is the stage name for solo artist Justin Vernon and his sparse, personal folk music which has collected much praise since his debut record For Emma, Forever Ago was released in February. The album was recorded in a remote cabin in Wisconsin during Vernon’s self-imposed hibernation from the outside world. The plan, according to Vernon, wasn’t to write a record during this time but it happened and no one can complain with the end result. On ‘Skinny Love’ the grizzled, flannel-loving Vernon shouts, whispers, and sings in his ear-grabbing falsetto, finding any way he can to get the lonely feeling of the track across. The acoustic music and sparse tone may be familiar ground for these kinds of projects but the raw delivery is something worth hiding out from the world for.

Bon Iver - Skinny Love

Purchase Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago on Amazon.com