Pretty & Nice

Pretty & Nice are words people use when wit is not available and confrontation is not worthwhile. But I have no ambivalence about "Golden Rules For Golden People," the newly released but long-time coming record from Pretty & Nice. I haven't been this excited about a release since...the other stuff I've deemed exciting enough to post on this blog.

This band defies comparison, but if you're actually lazy in such a special way that you'd rather read on than just click through the link below, I'll say it brings up similar feelings of joy that I had when I first discovered Deerhoof. Poppy, fun, full of compositional genius and enthusiastic drums - laid down by Kevin Walsh. Full disclosure: I've been cultivating a man-crush on Kevin Walsh since I was a little boy.

Way too much fun to pass up, and the release is perfectly timed to give you many summer nights of manic living room dancing. Check out "Money Music" - the dude sounds like Prince.

The record is currently streaming for free on alt-press. Buy it from equal vison.

Just below, Pretty & Nice perform "Yonkers" - with Kevin Walsh on drums!

Here we go magic - jumping on bandwagon

I knew nothing of this band before, but I'm on board now. "A Different Ship" has got me dancing in my kitchen. This album will please a broad spectrum of listeners - it immediately draws comparisons to Coldplay (apt as they'll be touring with them), Radiohead and Spiritualized. A great listen for a summer evening to keep spirits high.

You can check out a video on the band's tumblr, but I recommend diving straight into the album. You won't regret it!

http://herewegomagicband.tumblr.com/media

Caddywhompus releases Maze Demos

Caddywhompus has released a free digital download of the Maze Demos - a fun Side B to it's EP "The Weight." These songs were previously available only on the physical tape release, which forced my hand in breaking out the old tape player - and earned my gratitude for subsequent revisits to Kraftwerk's "Autobahn," Van Halen's "1984" and Madonna's "Like a Prayer" - all awesome tapes. You need not worry about your own flights of nostalgia, though, as you can check out these sweet tracks with a simple click over here:

chinquapinrecords.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2b43ccf87030437eccf7ed5d4&id=08f761563d&e=94fb0f4c89
Released by Chinquapin Records

Virginia post-script: Check out Caddywhompus at MACRoCk on Saturday 4/7, 7:50 PM @ Downtown 34. Other tour dates here

Consider the French

For the better part of the new millennium, a circle of French musicians (many in Lyon) have been producing batches of spirited DIY punk - whose output, purity, and idealism can give any jaded fool reason for optimism.

I was first turned on to the french punk scene at an Amanda Woodward show at 007 Strahov in Prague. The now defunct five-piece's EPs and two full lengths (try "La Decadence de la Decadence" for a start) inspired a search for similar artists. I quickly found Daitro, whose LP "Laissez Vivre Les Squelettes" is regarded as their best work and an underground favorite.

Daitro released "Y" in 2009 amid a delicious non-controversy involving a tour offer from american band Thursday, which Daitro declined on principle (emails were published on Daitro's website to clear the air). The band is now on hiatus, but has planned a reunion show in Toulouse in May with Sed Non Satiata.

Members of Daitro have quickly gone on to several other projects. Baton Rouge (trio fronted by Daitro guitarist/vocalist Julien Paget) released a full length last year titled "Fragments d'eux Memes" - a more straightforward and stripped down punk/guitar noise sound to Daitro's melodic, raucous, turn on a dime, deliberate and lengthy works.  And this year 12XU (also fronted by Julien) released a full length as well. I think 12XU put out a more cohesive sound in its 4-part 7" single series, but it's all available for a free listen on their bandcamp.

There is a lot here to catch up on. It's been exciting to follow the projects spawned from Daitro, I haven't listed them all so I hope to update in the future when there is material to post. Daitro remains my favorite of all the bands I've mentioned, and they have a great sample of mp3s here for the uninitiated. It's been hard to obtain physical copies of Daitro's releases in the US - frustrating when you want to support something you love - but Baton Rouge and 12XU seem to have embraced wider distribution through Bandcamp, and a US distributer Bakery Outlet.

Yamgo launches Aux Send channel

Today is the launch of the Aux Send channel on Yamgo TV - a free mobile TV app for Apple, Android and Blackberry devices. The Aux Send channel will stream the show's first season of artist performances and interviews including Wes Swing, Nelly Kate and Seal Skin.

"The Weight" - Caddywhompus

Caddywhompus has gone great lengths to create a seamless universe with "The Weight," blending wavering guitar drones, vocal vibrato and undulating waves of crashing drums to remove the lines between energy and matter. A listen to this EP doesn't bring you into a room with the band, you become the room - the sounds emanating from within, building into forms then dissolving but never fully dissipating.

The traditional guitar/drum/voice interplay is blurred around the edges with a heavy dose of deep reverb, slap-back delay, and touches of 8-bit and noise, but the overall "mic in a room" aesthetic is too painstaking to call lo-fi. And it's worth noting here that the songs are energetic, melodic, memorable and precisely executed. The brilliance of "The Weight" is that the subtlety of the musicianship pays deference to the comfortable distance of the listener. While each song covers a wide range of energetic output, the effect is not one of manipulation of the senses, rather a natural progression of events. Think less a roller coaster ride and more a day of surfing (not that I'd know).

With "The Weight," Caddywhompus has proven itself capable of executing a masterful artistic vision from start to finish, in composition and production. I've followed the band with joy through its EPs and full length "Remainder," and am thrilled by the way the band has refined, rather than pushed past, it's earlier forms.

So many great works are undercut with remarks like "the best is yet to come" or "this band is going places." Well, a great work is here. Enjoy it, celebrate it. It's free to download. You can't even pay for it if you try. (Actually you can buy "The Weight" on tape, or get their full length "Remainder" on cd/vinyl at Community Records.) I must remember to thank them.

http://communityrecords.org/theweight/

kishi bashi (entry #1)

Kishi Bashi weaves a gorgeous tapestry with exotic threads to craft an instantly gratifying sound of rewarding depth and complexity.

It's tempting but difficult to parse out the subtle elements that comprise any given measure of "Room for Dream." Bouncy folk-futurism punctuates instantly memorable melodies, high-flying fantasy ballad gives way to balkan gypsy instrumentation, and everything tucked safely into a bloom of lush strings.

Live performance reveals a diverse global influence, including mid-east and south-asian percussive rhythms, so that a set begins to feel like a masterfully guided trip around the world. With a violin and a few time-altering tools, Kishi Bashi never leads you far from the wonderfully familiar. You love it before you've heard it. Which is great news, because K is gearing up for the release of his debut full-length "151a" with a kickstarter campaign.

Now is the time to get involved with this exciting new musician at the ground level:

Listen to "Room For Dream" at bandcamp: http://kishibashi.bandcamp.com/
Pre-order "151a" by contributing to the kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kishibashi/kishi-bashis-making-a-debut-album
Like Kishi Bashi on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kishi-Bashi/188036121235527