Hey Muscles, I Love You, I Want To Have Your Babies…

…Thus begins the chorus to one of the most crazy exciting songs I’ve heard in a while. I found this track while looking through random Muxtapes this weekend and I had no choice but to immediately make it my life goal to make “Hey Muscles, I Love You” known to everyone in the universe. If that means blogging about it nonstop, or putting it as track 1 on every mixtape I ever make from now on, or procuring a media-by so I can broadcast the track to every house simultaneously, I will have to do it. Why, you ask? Because once the song goes triple platinum, every single house party in the world will be playing this song and then we will all sing in unison the glorious chorus, and then all will be right in the universe. Well, maybe I went a bit overboard, but yea, it’s a great song.

So who is this Muscles guy that has created the ultimate in musical bliss. His identity is shrouded in mystery but he from Australia and apparently is a gigantic success (here’s a picture from a typical Muscles gig) in his homeland while being completely unknown over here. This has got to change. I could go on about how incredibly infectious this song is or how it perfectly apes 80’s electro with it’s mind-blowing synths (which are like an overdriven version of the ones from “Forever Young”). One thing is certain: this is one the best retro dance song since Justice had us do the D.A.N.C.E.

MP3 Muscles – Hey Muscles, I Love You… <–hey you, download this song!!!

KissAtlanta.com loves Muscles also (and most likely wants to have his babies).

Stricken City

I was just recently tipped off to the London-dwelling, indie pop troupe Stricken City by Chris at GVB and I think “stricken” would be an appropriate word to describe my feelings for them (actually “smitten” is probably more correct, oh well). I’ve only heard a few songs from the band but they have made quite the impression. The band is releasing a debut EP on ACTH Recordings sometime in the upcoming months.

The band’s strength is their mixture of catchy pop melodies with reverb-y guitars and new-wave keyboard action. “Tak o Tak” is a complete gem, with equal amounts of pop charm and punk edge to give anyone who listens butterflies. “Better As A Girl” has a similar dynamic going on with a definite lo-fi feel (could be because it’s just a demo). It’s still an extremely fun track with an awesome bass line and some really cool 80’s glam keyboards. Tons of potential here folks, I’m betting this band will make waves once they, you know, actually releases something. Until then download the tracks below.

MP3 Tak O Tak
MP3 Better As A Girl (demo)

Walk The Line DVD Giveaway – The Winners!

You guys must really want this Walk The Line DVD because I got tons of great entries but I narrowed it down to three well-thought out answers that would make for great biopics.

“Elliott Smith, played by Christian Bale. Yes, indeed. That is my choice. Complete, dramatic life story, from beginning to end.”

MP3 Elliott Smith – Waltz #2

Elliott Smith probably was the highest submitted entry (with good reason), but this was the first and I think Christian Bale could really throw himself into the role. He also kindof looks like a younger Elliott Smith.

“Seeing as how I just finished “Just a Modern Rock Story,” the Belle and Sebastian biography, I am thinking that Stuart Murdoch might make an interesting character for a biopic. I think that the same way his characters connect with his listeners, so would his life’s story. He was an athlete, he was a confused youth, he got sick and lost 7 years of his life but it spawned his career and B&S. Even the B&S story is an interesting one, having become popular without talking to the press for half their career. And then, ten years after their start, they released one of their most critically acclaimed albums, The Life Pursuit. The film might not draw a large crowd but I think it would be a fantastic addition to the biopic trend.”

MP3 Belle & Sebastian – The State I Am In

This is a great choice. I absolutely love Belle & Sebastian, the book would provide great source material, and the music for this film would be fantastic. Paul Bettany would kill in the role of Stuart.

“Without a doubt the only choice can be the Tim Kasher biopic, So-So Gigolo.

It would start with playing in low scale venues in omaha with now obscure bands eventually joining cursive. It would all be fun staying out and sleeping in and getting drunk with his friends until he gets married and moves to portland. This would be the first moody, dramatic part of the movie. Tim’s working on a divorce and a healthy drinking habit. Plus he really misses Cursive. He eventually wises up, gets a divorce and oh no! a lung infection. eeps! (second emotional part! he beats death and learns to appreciate his bandmates and fans). third dramatic cliffhanger comes from rob nansel deciding to not release the first good life album on saddle creek and tim having to settle with better looking records. He think about giving it all up, but then is inspired by a child with cancer or something.

the movie would climax with their memorable july 2006 gig at the canopy club in champaign (you see because I was there). required in this biopic would be the line “I’m Tim fucking Kasher” and someone asking Tim as a waiter “Why must you shit where you eat?” replied with “cause I’m ‘the martyr'”. Also most of it would take place in a bar. The actor doesn’t matter. The boldness that is tim kasher’s essence will command the audience, actor, and even the cameras. It won’t be a movie, it will be a religious experience.”

MP3 The Good Life – Beaten Path

Wow, this is so well thought-out it’s almost scary. Totally original and awesome answer, and spoken with so much conviction that I couldn’t possibly not award this entry as contest winner (even though anyone who has heard Kasher’s music knows that this movie would most likely be extremely depressing).

British Sea Power/1900s – Live @ Canopy Club (Void Stage)

I’m of the opinion that British Sea Power’s recent album Do You Like Rock Music? is the best rock album of the year and I’ve only heard good things about the band’s live show, so you can imagine how excited I was going into Saturday’s Canopy Club show. I was also eagerly anticipating hearing the 1900’s, a Chicago folk collective who released the wonderful Cold & Kind last year.

The 1990s had a lot of trouble setting up their seven members on the tiny stage, and to add to being ridiculously cramped, the lead singer kept getting electrocuted by the microphones. The band held together somehow (was probably the whiskey shots that they took between about every song) and actually ended up sounding pretty good. “Medium Way”, “When I Say Go” and “Two Ways” were all fantastic and the girls in the band = foxy.

MP3 1900s – When I Say Go

British Sea Power took the stage next immediately playing some of my favorites from DYLRM?: “Atom”, “No Lucifer”, and “Lights Out For Darker Skies”. It was extremely loud and epic but the band didn’t really throw themselves into it until midset when they busted out “Remember Me” and “Waving Flags”. Their lead guitarist, who goes by “Noble”, is basically godly. His rock star poses and extreme riffing was incredible to watch. The band also had a female violinists and a trumpet/keyboard player and two lead singers that switched off between songs. After playing a couple slower tracks, “Canvey Island” and “The Great Skua”, they ended the first set with the massive “Carrion” and they absolutely tore the song up.

The last song was a merging of “The Spirit of St. Louis” and a mostly improvisational track “Rock in A”. They completely made up for their relatively static first-half behavior with the outrageous energy of this encore. Noble threw down his guitar and jumped into the crowd out of nowhere and did a complete face-plant. Not to be discouraged, he got back up and did it again (this time we were prepared). After we shifted him around the room a bit he got caught in the curtains to the side of the stage and began spinning around on them (which in all honesty could have taken down the the whole stage). After he got back on the stage he jumped on the keyboard player (who had picked up the dropped the guitar and was playing it with his trumpet) and catapulted himself into the rest of the band. It was soo awesome. The audience was clearly in shock after they left the stage at what we just witnessed. So in summation, go see British Sea Power and stay for the encore. They will rock your face off.

MP3 British Sea Power – Waving Flags
MP3 British Sea Power – No Lucifer

Video(s): Jamie Lidell and Be Your Own Pet

I’ve got two videos to show you today, both from artists that have highly-approved-by-me albums released this year. Both videos also have unexpectedly violent endings. Hooray! The first is from funky neo-soul man, Jamie Lidell, who I last saw doing his thing at Pitchfork Fest a year ago. I hadn’t heard of him at the time but his set completely won me over. The video is for fantastic single “Little Bit of Feel Good” where Jamie is seen courting a lady unicorn and dancing with her under colorful flashing lights. It’s all fun and games until he chops of his unicorn-date’s head and adds it to his shrine of vaguely religious relics.

I was a fan of Be Your Own Pet‘s first s/t album and their new one Get Awkward is another winner from the young frentic garage punk band. The first single “The Kelly Affair” is about as energetic and riff-heavy as they come, and it’s got a fitting Halloween costume party video to go along with it. It turns out though, that there’s some kind of caged monster in the basement and the host is a transvestite cannibal who eats the entire band. But whatevs, it’s all in good fun.

MP3 Be Your Own Pet – The Kelly Affair

Little Beirut

The term “Little Beirut” is best known as the George Bush Sr.-penned nickname for Portland, Oregon (read about it here), but it’s also the moniker for a Portland-residing guitar pop band, who named their band in tribute of their town’s nickname. I was a little worried when I first listened to the band that the music would sound too close to that other Beirut band (of whom I completely adore) and cause some unwanted confusion, but, luckily it’s nothing alike. Little Beirut are much more likely to be listening to The Smiths, Sunny Day Real Estate, and a range of British Shoegazer bands than Balkan folk music. The album is full of simmering guitar and sunny melodies with plenty of washed-out distortion in between.

“Sniper’s Lament” is the great example of the band’s range and their songwriting craft. Twinkling guitar work and a wisely subtle drum machine introduces the song, and the verses are sung over a pretty piano melody. The highlight though is the bridge which sang over an aura of strings. The instrumentation is spread out enough that it never seems too complex or interfering, making for a refreshing pop tune. “The Lottery” kicks it up a notch, with an urgent guitar riff and chorus that seems like it’s right out of Jeremy Enigk’s playbook (and anything that reminds one of Sunny Day Real Estate deserves repeated listens in my opinion).

MP3 Sniper’s Lament
MP3 The Lottery

Buy their debut, High Dive.
Read Obscure Sound’sglowing review

Walk The Line: Extended Cut DVD Giveaway!

If you couldn’t tell by the post title, I’m giving away free copies of the new Walk the Line: Extended Cut DVD, which will be shipped straight to your address. The DVD has a crapload of special features/documentaries/deleted scenes/commentaries, so if you’re as big of a fan of this film as I am, it’s safe to say that you’re going to want to get your hands on one of these. I’m giving away THREE copies so you’re chances of getting one is pretty good.

How To Enter:

To enter all you have to do is tell me which artist/band you would like see portrayed in a biopic. I’ll pick my three favorites to be the winners. You can also choose the actor/actress that you would like to play them, but it’s not required (it might help your chances though!). Leave entries in the comments and make sure to leave your email address with me so I can get in touch with you if you win. The contest will be over on March 26th. Shortly afterwards, I’ll mail out your prizes (unfortunately this means I can’t allow entries from outside the U.S.). Sounds easy enough right?

Here’s a couple of my favorite Cash tunes:

MP3 Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire
MP3 Johnny Cash – One (U2 Cover)

The Dodos

Contrary to their name which refers to everyone’s favorite extinct bird, The Dodos play a type of music that is thriving in the indie world. That type being psych folk, or weird folk, or “music that sounds a lot like Animal Collective”, or whatever you’d like to call it (look here for a list of applicable bands). The Dodos put their own unique spin on the genre, using almost completely on acoustic elements to fill the sonic landscape and putting a sharp focus on melody in all their songs, making the music very accessible. Their musicmanship is made even more impressive by the fact that they are a duo (which you would never know from listening). Their debut album, Visiter, is out today on Frenchkiss.

“Fools” was the first track that I heard from The Dodos and it hooked me right away. The intensely played drums and acoustic guitar create a thick wash, while the lead vocals (which are not unlike Zach Condon of Beirut) seem to carelessly float above the music. The “whoa-oh” chorus is completely infectious and features a rare usage of electric guitar for the band. “Winter” is another track which I’ve replayed over and over, partly because I want to figure out where I’ve heard the melody before, it just seems so natural. The song is another exercise in free-spirited drumming and acoustic fretplay and features beautiful trumpet and piano interludes. These guys are extremely talented and I believe Visiter will prove to be one of biggest breakthrough debuts of the year.

MP3 Fools
MP3 Winter

Grab another fantastic track “Jodi” at Rock Insider.

Headlights/Evangelicals – Live @ Canopy Club

Photo by Frank

Last week was Headlights CD Release Show of Some Racing, Some Stopping (which is totally great if you haven’t heard). Evangelicals, who had already released one of the finest albums of the year so far with The Evening Descends opened. The bands gathered at the Canopy Club, located right in the middle of University of Illinois campus. Needless to say, it was a excellent show, one of the best I’ve seen in a while.

Photo by Frank

Although I was definitely there for Headlights, it was Evangelicals that blew me away the most. The band’s energy and showmanship was tremendous, and their sound was flawless (good work canopy club sound team!). They played a set primarily of songs off their latest album including a chilling rendition of “Party Crashin'”, “Midnight Vignette”, and an amped-up “Paperback Suicide”, all while filling the room with a smokey haze and ominous lighting.

The obvious highlight was set-closer “Skeleton Man”. The band brought up Headlights for the song to jam with them and played an extended version of the song (which is easily one of my favorite tracks of ’08). During the epic climax of the track, the lead singer Josh Jones jumped into the crowd jumped into the crowd and then climbed up 10 foot high tower of speakers, all while screaming into the mic. So freakin’ awesome.

MP3 Skeleton Man

Photo by Frank

Headlights, who are now touring as a five-piece, stepped on stage to the welcoming hometown crowd. This being the CD Release show, they played Some Racing, Some Stopping pretty much straight way through (with a few exceptions). “Get Your Head Around It”, being the album opener, started off the set wonderfully and the live renditions of songs like “Market Girl” and “Catch Them All” just improved my already glowing opinion of the album. Erin and Tristan’s vocals sounded better than ever, and having an additional two members on stage allowed for much more instrumentation whether it be slide guitar, tambourines, or accordian.

The band closed the set with their fantastic lead-off single “Cherry Tulips”, which is by far the feel-good love song of the year. The whole crowd sang “I want the sea, I want the whole sea, for you and me, oh just for you and me” and it was a perfect moment. The band then played an extensive encore of Kill Me With Kindness songs including favorites like “TV”, “Lions”, and “Put Us Back Together”. If you have a chance to see this tour, you absolutely must.

MP3 Cherry Tulips

These United States

Sorry for the downtime yesterday. There was a security breach at musicforants.com headquarters last night. I don’t want to go into too much detail but it looked something like this. Luckily, I had a back-up available so I was able to get it into working order again last night/this morning, just in time to tell you about a great new band These United States . The band, who are fittingly from the nation’s capital, have just released their debut album, A Picture of the Three of Us at the Gate to the Garden of Eden, and it’s a complete delight. They could perhaps best be described as garage folk (they’d fit perfectly next to Josh Ritter, M. Ward, and even Ryan Adams), with some diversions into indie pop, country, and freak folk.

A perfect example of the band’s skillful genre-jumping is the single, “First Sight”, which sounds more like The Postal Service than any of the previous mentioned bands. It’s a incredibly simple tune but it’s so catchy you’ll be humming it before it even ends. The gorgeous keyboard melodies entice you initially while the whispery vocals and clever lyrics keep you intrigued. It’s such a likable song that’s it’s almost a shame that the band doesn’t diverge into the indie pop/electronica realm more often. “The Business” is a bit closer to norm for them, a lively folk-rock tune that playfully explores the working man’s blues. The melody is top-notch but it’s the rollicking instrumentation (including multiple guitars and horns) and Jesse Elliott’s croon that makes this song stand out. Definitely check out these tunes below.

MP3 These United States – First Sight
MP3 These United States – The Business

Buy A Picture of the Three of Us at the Gate to the Garden of Eden