Every 3-5 years I break out my No Means No cds, expecting to bask in teenage nostalgia. But to my surprise, the songs sound different, new. This is the mark of a truly visionary band; their music grows with you. The layers of complexity were always there, waiting for you to catch up. This is starting to sound a little lofty. Basically what I'm saying is that No Means No were my favourite band as a teenager and I still love them.
I'm pretty down with Television these days. Early art-punk-rockers from New York, they recorded two great albums in the 70's and promptly broke up. You could probably bury this song, from their debut, Marquee Moon ('77), in a Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! or Wolf Parade cd and no one would bat an eyelash.
Hard to believe that the cutest couple in indie-rock have released four full length albums already, not to mention several solid ep's. The work ethic is killing me. Mates of State are a married duo from the Bay Area (they now live in Connecticut or something?) who play pared down prog/emo/indie prettiness. They're easy to fall in love with. She plays an organ and he plays drums and they both sing like the mics don't work. Plus they have babies and tour like dogs at the same time. This is the first single from their new album, Bring It Back.
Hot Chip are from London and they're wierd. Their stuff is all over the place. From glitchy techno-soul to new-wave disco. This is a single from their upcoming album, The Warning.
Thanks to a tip from Cam Blain I've discovered this prolific little community of 8 bit music enthusiasts. They compose mostly using old nintendo and gameboy sounds. Some of it's pretty boring, once you get past the inevitable nostalgia for your youth. But some of it is genuinely interesting and even moving. This is a cover of a Cure song by one of the main dudes, David Sugar. It's much more accessible than most of the work, but if you like what you hear check out their website. It's chock full of free music.
The good news: Grandaddy have a new album coming out. The bad news: it will be the last Grandaddy album. This Modesto, CA quintet have been making me sad-happy (one of my favourite ways to be) for years now and it sounds like they've finally had enough of me and my moods. They will dutifully release this album (their 4th full length? 5th?) and then politely decline any and all touring opportunities. So, if you saw em at the Commodore a few years back, you saw their last Vancouver appearance. That is, until they do their Pixies-style reunion tour in ten years. This is a song from the excellent ep they released last year, Excerpts from the Diary of Todd Zilla.
These exclamation mark bands are gonna be really embarrassed one day if they aren't already. I'm sure it seemed like a great idea three years ago when they all formed. The unfortunate thing is that a lot of them are really excellent bands that don't deserved to be lumped in with some passing trend. I was gonna describe these vancouver kids as Le Tigre meets Pretty Girls Make Graves but then I went to their website and that's exactly what their blurb said! No shit. I guess they really do sound like that. This song reminds me of being 17 and packing into Pitt Meadows community hall to watch Submission Hold bang on their instruments and shout about western imperialism, which I like. (the memory, not the western imperialism)
