Today's Hotness: Benjamin Shaw, The Sun Parade

>> Our natural inclination is to slag off Audio Antihero for releasing a single for the best song from its recent Benjamin Shaw release some six months after said release, but of course the little London label that could has beaten us to the punch, pre-emptively dubbing the single -- actually an EP -- a "cash-in." Despite the weird timing, the You & Me EP is neither a crass money grab nor a strategic misstep, as Mr. Shaw's stand-out tune -- which we spotlighted in our review of the charming full-length Goodbye, Cagoule World in April -- is supported by three exceptionally good cover versions from others unfortunate enough to be tagged with the descriptor "Audio Antihero artist." Indeed, Shaw's marvelous, wry and jaunty original is complemented by terrific and distinctly different versions from Jack Hayter, erstwhile Bostonian Cloud and Broken Shoulder. One of our favorite musical elements of the original is the burbling synth line, which recalls Hypo's amazing "Nice Day." Cloud has taken that piece of the tune and layered delicate layers of icy guitar and angelic, edgeless vocals over top. Mr. Hayter toys with the meter of the lyrics and renders the tune as a Joe Cocker-esque sea shanty, his papery tenor speeding up and slowing down over alternately syrupy and sticky pedal steel. Experimental droner Broken Shoulder plays to its formidable strengths, rounding out the EP with a strong, other-worldly and five-minute-plus rendering that sounds like the scattering remnants of a dream about the original song. Audio Antihero released the You & Me EP Oct. 6 as a digital download, and we unreservedly recommend it to your attention. Stream the short set via the Bandcamp embed below, and click through to purchase for the ridiculously reasonable price of £1, which you should do, before Jamie Antihero starts talking about shutting down the label again.



>> Oh, how we have forsaken The Sun Parade. The Northampton, Mass.-based quartet's terrifically catchy Heart's Out EP was released a month ago, and the set's immediate and revved-up folk-rock tunes have been in steady rotation at the Clicky Clicky dojo ever since drummer Noam Schatz dropped the record on us a few weeks back. Mr. Schatz, long-time readers will recall, previously detonated the cans for the late, great Mobius Band. Schatz has spent time with a bit of musical this-and-that since the end of Mobius Band, but The Sun Parade is the first touring act he's joined up with since the mid-ish oughts. The Sun Parade was out last month with the popular-with-many-people-and-now-Boston-Calling-veterans Lake Street Dive, and we can't imagine its snappy numbers didn't find favor with the headliner's audience. The foursome's Beatles-fed Americana foregrounds sturdy vocal harmonies in its big choruses, punctuates its point with scads of scritchy rhythm guitar, and applies some pretty ripping lead guitar now and again, too, while all the while Mr. Schatz's physical playing spurs the compositions ever onward. EP highlight "I'm Still Here" works itself toward a frenzy in its final quarter, as does the groovier cut "A Plane To New Zealand," but the former tune's crafty chord changes and fluid harmonies in the chorus make for ready hooks that will be hard for listeners to shake. While out on tour The Sun Parade recorded the obligatory Daytrotter session, so if you chew through Heart's Out and need more music, keep your ears open for that. The act has scattered live engagements during the remainder of this fall, including a show in Providence next weekend, and you can check out all show dates right here. Stream the title track to Heart's Out via the Bandcamp embed below, and click through to stream the whole magilla and to purchase the short set on CD or as a digital download. It's worth reminding you that Schatz isn't the only Mobius Band alum with new music out there: last month we reviewed Cookies' excellent LP Music For Touching right here. That act is led by former Mobius Band fronter Ben Sterling.

Review: Cookies | Music For Touching

We spent more time than most in the first decade of this century watching Ben Sterling bend like a hinge over electronics in darkened rock clubs, the rhythm of the music and his duties on guitar for the visionary indie trio Mobius Band pulling him up while his obligations to punch pads on a sampler pulled him down. When the trio disbanded at the end of the oughts, we were more than a little disappointed, but that feeling was eventually ameliorated by a stream of 10" EPs that Mr. Sterling issued under the mildly ludicrous Cookies moniker starting in 2010. Finally, after life got in the way for a while, after Sterling patiently wrote and re-wrote the songs that would comprise it, Cookies issued last week the debut LP Music For Touching. It is a striking and rich collection of brilliantly conceived electropop, and proof positive that there are few songwriters -- at any sales level -- as smart as Ben Sterling.

It may surprise some that the set takes more cues from Prince or The Gap Band than the post-punk and post-rock that informed much of Mobius Band's work. Of course, given the four Cookies 10" records, those who claim surprise just haven't been paying attention. That aside, one need look no further than Mobius Band's swan song Heaven -- as well as certain of the cover tunes on the informal Valentine's Day EPs the trio still gives away for free -- for evidence of Sterling's affinity for more groovy and relatively conventional sounds. But it is a mistake to think that, just because Sterling's tastes have gravitated toward more traditional (or at least more traditionally listened-to) sounds and structures, that he has abandoned his marked yen for experimentation. The beautiful, languid rumination "The Dream" which closes Music For Touching illustrates that Sterling instead uses the latter to inform the former. The song works a slow R&B vamp, features some gloriously liquid guitar soloing, and lays both over minimal, clattering electronic rhythm tracks that gently remind of Sterling's bona fides as a former Ghostly Records signee. Maybe Sterling's aesthetic has always fed a conventional/experiemental duality, but it has never before been so purely expressed than on Music For Touching.

While the collection closes by fading into reverie, it pops open on the front end like a can of tennis balls. Staccato hand-claps and a foregrounded bleep establish a head-bobbing groove over which Sterling and vocalist Melissa Metrick coo from within the optimistic halo of young love gone right in "1,000 Breakfasts With You." That song claps itself out and is warmly met ("Hello. It's nice to see you.") by a robot voice introducing Music For Touching's second preview single, "Go Back." That joinder is the first of many snappy sequencing choices, the best of which may be where the primary descending three-note melody of the deliriously catchy "July 17" abuts the ascending three-note bumping bass line that drives the next tune, the funky -- and we do not use that word lightly -- standout "Crybaby." But it isn't just the sequencing of Music For Touching that makes it shine so bright; it's not even just the songwriting. During the four years it took to germinate the record, Sterling selected very arresting sounds, from the kalimba that provides the hypnotic counter-melody entering with the first chorus of "Spill Of Sugar," to the neon-dripping synth stabs and mind-scrambling baritone sax solo in the aforementioned "Crybaby," to the thick, Beatles-implying piano chords underpinning the title track.

We like to think of Mr. Sterling as the next generation's Daryl Hall -- "next generation" because he is that far ahead of the pack in terms of style -- but akin to Mr. Hall in his appreciation for substance, which is to say, actually substantial pop and, yes, even soul. As an aside, it's interesting to think how Sterling's arc as a songwriter roughly traces the rise of the music crit viewpoint known as poptimism, which rise itself tracks recent critical acceptance of music marked by glossy (even unrealistic) production and a distinct contemporary R&B influence. Clicky Clicky itself does not embrace the poptimist perspective ("rockism" forever! get off my lawn, youths! -- Ed.), and it will never aspire to be "in touch with the taste of average music fans." We expect Sterling would bristle at a reference to his music as poptimist, if only because, really, what makes music less fun than yoking it to some fairly bullshit intellectual name-calling. What we will say is that, while poptimism strains to make excuses for contemporary pop music, Sterling's only concern for pop or music is to make it smarter. While the above-linked article posits that poptimism stands in opposition to adventurousness, Sterling clearly carries with him that same sense of adventure that first manifested itself in the earliest Mobius Band music. Indeed, that adventurousness is even more intensified as a result of Sterling's sole responsibility for writing and producing all of Music For Touching. And it is what makes us such ardent fans of the musical places Sterling takes us. We are very eager to hear what comes next.

Music For Touching is available now as a very attractive 12" vinyl LP and digital download, both of which can be ordered via the act's Bandcamp outpost here. The vinyl edition comes with a "newspaper of companion images by Emily Keegan titled "Tools For Touching." Cookies fête the release of Music For Touching with a show at Baby's All Right in Brooklyn Tuesday; the night also features performances by Superhuman Happiness and The Great Void. Boston-area fans should set aside the evening of Sept. 24, as Cookies will be making a very rare area appearance at Cafe 939 in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood. The Boston date is part of a short strand of shows Cookies will embark upon with tourmates Dawn Of Midi Sept. 22 that swirl through the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Full dates are below.

Cookies: Bandcamp | Facebook | Interzizzles | Soundcloud

09.22 -- Washington, DC -- The Black Cat
09.24 -- Boston, MA -- Cafe 939
09.25 -- Portland, ME -- Space Cafe
09.26 -- Burlington, VT -- Signal Kitchen
09.28 -- Hamden, CT -- The Space
09.29 -- Philadelphia, PA -- Johnny Brenda's



Related Coverage:
Today's Hotness: Cookies
Today's Hotness: Cookies
Today's Hotness: Mobius Band

Today's Hotness: The Wolfhounds, Soltero, Household

>> Long-time readers are well aware of our penchant for big-guitar belters, and a forthcoming single from veteran UK indie rockers The Wolfhounds authoritatively delivers the goods. The band first formed in the mid-'80s before folding around 1990, and those first five years yielded many things, of which perhaps the best is the towering second single "The Anti-Midas Touch." The band reformed in 2005 to mark the 20th anniversary of its first single, and the next year played a 20th anniversary celebration for the seminal NME "C86" compilation, according to our shadowy friends over at the Wikipedia. The Wolfhounds' latest, "Divide And Fall" b/w "The Ten Commandments Of Public Life" is being released digitally Oct. 28 via Oddbox Records, and pre-orders of the limited edition of 300 blood-red vinyl 7" discs will ship out on or around Nov. 4. The single's very formidable A-side is rough, desperate and melodic, and recalls the best of Superchunk's first four years. "The Ten Commandments Of Public Life" is more subdued, contemplative and psychedelic, and stretches across more than five minutes that somehow still feel too short. This single is the band's second of the year on Oddbox; in January the label released The Wolfhounds "Cheer Up" single, which boasts four songs and is apparently still available on vinyl. Based on a tweet from Oddbox Thursday, the forthcoming single is already at least half sold-out on pre-orders, so you'd be well-served to get your order in sooner rather than later. Could there be a full-length in the offing? We certainly hope so, because this latest single is among the best music The Wolfhounds have recorded in any decade. Stream "Divide And Fall" b/w "The Ten Commandments Of Public Life" via the Bandcamp embed below, and click through to order a copy before they go the way of the dodo bird.



>> It's hard to believe, but it's been 11 years since we first saw long-running, itinerant indie pop concern Soltero. It was a memorable night, headlined by the then-still-unsigned but already-incredible Mobius Band, and punctuated by our first experience standing near the late, great Billy Ruane as he was going off, charging around in front of the band at various acute angles, driven by the music. Soltero was terrific, with fronter Tim Howard practically shaking as the songs flowed through him, and we distinctly remember turning to a friend after the band finished up the brilliant "The Moment You Said Yes" and one of us making a favorable comparison to Elvis Costello. In the many years since then, Mr. Howard has lived in two more major mid-Atlantic metropolises, as well as North Carolina and Central America, and he's released just about as many records as he's had residences. The moving around suggests a restlessness and yen for adventure that can be heard in the music of Soltero's latest collection, the short set Jamming The Gaydar. The patient and mildly spooky opener "In The Sun" is pocked with hand percussion and muted guitar, while its melody glides along on flotillas of organ, droning tenor saxophone and cascading guitar lines. Album highlight "Big Satellite" commences with a wistful guitar melody and organ, then blossoms via layers of guitars and stacked sax tracks into something like a more reserved scale model of a weighty Built To Spill-styled jammer. Jamming The Gaydar is a very rewarding (and, incidentally, very seasonally appropriate) collection that showcases Howard's songwriting and arranging acumen, and it is available now as a free download -- at least for now -- via Bandcamp. We've embedded the entire record for your perusal below, which we certainly recommend to your attention.



>> Paul Simon once wrote "my life is made of patterns that can scarcely be controlled." One careening cycle that this reviewer has observed in his brief time was the rise of and retreat from the popular consciousness of lean, taut, and danceable post-punk. Indeed, the first four years of the present millennium were a glorious time for that particular aesthetic, until over-exposure eventually got the best of the movement and it fell from fashion. Absence, of course, can make the heart grow fonder, and so we were pleased to recently happen upon Household, whose preview single "A New Leaf" serves not only as a nice taste of their upcoming, six-song EP -- titled Elaines and due on Dull Knife Records -- but also as a pleasant reminder of the finer points of upbeat indie. In the wake of the Brooklyn combo's 2011 debut full-length Items, the band continues to nip and tuck at their core sound. "A New Leaf" presents pared-down instrumentation, resulting in a complete excision of excess notes or drum beats. And yes, while the rigid guitar lines and Wire-styled strums of the chorus recall the clean Telecasters of the kinetic punk of yore, or even a peppier Young Marble Giants, Household still manages to imprint their own identity on its music. Much of the vocals, dry production, and DIY slinkiness have more in common with many of the earnest female-led outfits within the Pacific Northwest scene, like Grass Widow, Chastity Belt and myriad other basement dwellers and K Records signatories. Taken in sum, the complete package inspires the need to bob the head and shake the hips a bit, and provides a refreshing twist to a familiar sound. Elaines was originally slated for release Nov. 5, but a manufacturing error has delayed the release of the vinyl until Nov. 30. Pre-order the EP from Dull Knife right here, and stream "A New Leaf" via the Bandcamp embed below. -- Edward Charlton

Today's Hotness: Cookies, The Swimmers

>> We find it hard to believe we haven't written about Brooklyn-based electropop duo Cookies for almost a year, especially because of its wonderful second single which was released late this past spring, but there you go. The duo of former Mobius Band guitarist Ben Sterling and singer Melissa Metrick has just dropped its genius third single, the apparently digital-only pairing of "Wilderness Tips" b/w "The Dream." The thumping A-side is deftly composed, an arresting mid-tempo hand-clapper that croons and thumps. The flip, "The Dream," is perhaps even more remarkable, as spare and soulful vocals float over rhythm tracks that echo certain of the best German electropop acts of the last decade. Mr. Sterling's loose, Frisell-esque guitar lead at the tail end of the track is life-affirming, and Ms. Metrick's layered backing vocal here is pleasantly reminiscent of that of the chorus to Zero 7's "In The Waiting Line," which you likely first heard on the 2004 soundtrack to the Zach Braff vehicle Garden State. Two previous Cookies singles, last year's "Summer Jam" b/w "Throw A Parade" and "Boycrazy" b/w "1,000 Breakfasts With You," were released on 10" vinyl. For the physical media-impaired, you can download MP3s of all three singles at the Cookies Internet Home Page right here, and we highly recommend you do. One thing we didn't know is that Mr. Sterling also devotes a fair amount of time to composing for hire, and you can sample some of his "professional work" right here. Cookies also has a Tumblr, because, you know, why not? Check out "Wilderness Tips" via the Soundcloud embed below and then go download all that stuff, it's wonderful.

Cookies' "Wilderness Tips" by clicky clicky music blog

>> Philadelphia-based indie rockers The Swimmers make a long-awaited return to the stage Sept. 24 at Kung-Fu Necktie in its hometown; we haven't heard from the band since its unsettling but superlative 2009 sophomore set People Are Soft [review here]. An email from the quartet promises the show will contain material from The Swimmers' wonderful debut Fighting Trees as well as "some new surprises," so hopefully we'll be hearing more from the act soon. Fighting Trees was one of our favorite records of 2008. If you'd care to have your face rocked off, why not watch this video of "Drug Party," filmed at Piano's in New York in Nov. 2009. The tune was the highlight of People Are Soft.

Today's Hotness: Johnny Foreigner, Mobius Band, Yuck

Oh, the things we haven't had a chance to report during our very busy last several weeks. Let's catch up together, shall we?

>> Birmingham, England-based noise pop titans Johnny Foreigner are presently in the midst of their first full tour of North America (mostly the U.S.), where they've been supporting the truly terrific Los Campesinos! But the big news is the announcement of two releases on new label Alcopop! The first is an EP confoundingly titled You Thought You Saw A Shooting Star But Yr Eyes Were Blurred With Tears And That Lighthouse Can Be Pretty Deceiving With The Sky So Clear And Sea So Calm, and it contains six songs: "The Wind And The Weathervanes," "Who Needs Comment Boxes When You've Got Knives," "Elegy For Post Teenage Living (Parts 1 and 2)," "Robert Scargill Takes The Prize," "Harriet By Proxy" and "Yr Loved." Alcopop! will issue the EP in November in physicial and digital editions, but the EP is already available to North American ITunes shoppers [LINK] as a way to harness the hype the band hopes to generate during the current tour. The physical release of You Thought You Saw... will feature unique art for each unit shifted, which art is being crowdsourced from actual photos being submitted by fans. More deets about that right here. The second release Johnny Foreigner will do with Alcopop is a split single with new labelmates Stagecoach. The split, limited to 500 copies and carrying a Nov. 15 release date, features each band performing one of their own songs as well as one song by the other act. Johnny Foreigner's contributions are the new track "Tru Punx" and Stagecoach's "Good Luck With Your 45;" Stagecoach turn in what is apparently an amazing acoustic version of Johnny Foreigner's "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella" and the new track "Not Even Giles (... Would Say We'll Be OK)." The two bands tour the UK from 18 November through 11 December, and you can see all the tour dates here at ThisIsFakeDIY. Pre-orders for the Johnny Foreigner EP will be taken imminently; the JoFo/Stagecoach split will be sold on the bands' tour, but we have it on good authority there will be some copies stocked in the Alcopop! store and Banquet Records is already doing pre-orders as well.

>> Reformed post-rockers/electropop geniuses Mobius Band officially announced its hiatus. This is sad, in a rented hatchback. The very fine trio has released to date two excellent full length recordings and a seemingly endless number of EPs, and we're sad to see the band taking an indefinite break, although that break has been going on for what seems like a couple years at this point, so it is not exactly a shock. Each band member continues pursuing musical interests. Guitarist Ben Sterling's Cookies project already has a 10" record on offer with the tracks "Summer Jam" b/w "Throw A Parade." The a-side sounds very much of a piece with the Heaven-era Mobius Band stuff, and features a very solid female vocalist whose identity we don't know. Both tracks can be downloaded or streamed at the Cookies web hacienda right here. Ah, what the hell, here's the link to the .zip file, have at it, music aficionadoes. Cookies will make its live debut Nov. 5 in Manhattan at Mercury Lounge. Mobius Band drummer Noam Schatz -- seriously, the drummingest mofo you will ever meet, by the way -- has a new project LOLFM and an album of electropop gems titled We Are Its Waves freely downloadable from Bandcamp right here. Bassist Peter Sax also has free rock on offer under the nom de rock Ladies And Gentlemen; check out "Up To Us" here and "What You Could" here. All of these new musics have their charms, but we certainly harbor hopes the trio will be reconstituted at some later date. Mobius Band, we salute you.

>> Superlative upstart indie rockers Yuck, who make their US debut in Boston at Paradise Rock Club next Wednesday who recently cancelled their planned US dates (see comment), have signed with Fat Possum. The label will release the London-based act's full-length debut -- as-yet untitled -- in early 2011; the set will be issued in Europe by The Pharmacy Recording Company around the same time. Preceding the full-length will be a US single on Fat Possum for Yuck's "Georgia" b/w "The Base Of A Dream Is Empty." The single will be issued Nov. 23; fans, of course, know that "Georgia" was previously issued as a single in the U.K. in March. U.K. fans have a new, 12" Yuck single to look forward to as well: "Rubber" b/w "The Base Of A Dream Is Empty" and "Dark Magnet" will be released Nov. 1 on The Pharmacy Recording Company. If you haven't yet heard "Georgia" in all of its Yo La Tengo-esque deliciousness, feast your ears on this.

Yuck -- "Georgia" -- "Georgia" b/w "The Base Of A Dream Is Empty"
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[pre-order the single from Fat Possum right here]

Today's Hotness: Johnny Foreigner, Gentle Friendly, Venice Is Sinking

>> [IMAGE CREDIT: Lewes Herriot] We've acquired more information about those early Johnny Foreigner recordings we posted about here last week, straight from singer/guitarist Alexei Berrow and drummer Junior Laidley. The two emailed in details about founding bandmate Dan and the collection Weallleftyousleepingandgonenow, which is not imaginary as we had speculated. In fact, Weallleftyousleepingandgonenow contained 14 tracks and was released in a hyper-limited edition of 40 handmade copies sleeved in pictures of buildings from Johnny Foreigner's beloved hometown Birmingham, England folded together to form some sort of house. The collection was self-recorded and the songs have since been lost to the band due to hardware failures of one sort or another. All of which means that if you own one of these 40 physical copies of Weallleftyousleepingandgonenow, we know a guy in Boston who really wants to talk to you.

But anyway, back to Dan, whose last name we could not determine, but who is described by the Johnny Foreigner chaps as "ridiculously talented." Since leaving Johnny Foreigner -- to which he contributed keyboards, samples and guitar work -- Dan has been playing in the London-based bands Gentle Friendly and Buttonhead. If the name Gentle Friendly sounds familiar to you, it's because the Casio-and-samples-and-loops wielding duo -- which also includes a chap named David -- had a couple songs featured on the vowel-hating RCRDLBL music site last year. Gentle Friendly plan a full-length release this spring, and previously issued the EP Night Tape in November and a cassette titled Esses Together/Blast Debris (Debris From Blasts Had 1968 - 2008), which certainly sounds like an early Pavement title, doesn't it? The band has a handful of live appearances forthcoming with acts including Ponytail and Spectrum that you can review at its MySpace dojo here. Buttonhead is more guitar-based and structured, but equally eccentric; we'll try to devote some time to the quintet in the near future. Johnny Foreigner -- the current model, featuring Kelly Southern on bass -- for its part released the single "Lea Room" b/w "DJs Get Doubts" earlier this week in the UK on Best Before Records. We're working on an interview with the band, in which we hope to delve further into its plans to begin working on a new record in March.

Gentle Friendly -- "Five Girl Night" -- Night Tape EP
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[buy Gentle Friendly recordings from the band here]

>> Georgia-based Venice Is Sinking will release its forthcoming sophomore set AZAR March 31. As we wrote here last August, the five-year-old chamber-pop quintet began recording the collection in May 2007 and, after all was said and done, it ended up recording two separate long-players in different studios in Georgia and North Carolina. The second, non-AZAR set has yet to earn a title or release date, but do not forget that the band has it in its back pocket when it needs it. Venice Is Sinking issued its debut Sorry About The Flowers in 2006. In the meantime, the band is offering for free track two from the 11-song AZAR, "Ryan's Song," for free to the denizens of the Internet. The tune is bubbles with Duran Duran synth work but is kept suspended by cautious bass work and murmured vocals. It's quite a track. Here it is.

Venice Is Sinking -- "Ryan's Song" -- AZAR
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[watch the band's web site for pre-order details]

>> Mobius Band sent a brief missive with some live dates and a vague promise of "heading up to a completely empty house in the middle of nowhere this weekend to do some top secret recording." We're eager to hear more from these guys, whose 2007 release Heaven was one of our favorites of that year. The band plays D.C. tonight and New York's Bowery Ballroom Jan. 27. All of which reminds us that we saw something about Editors recently saying their new record will be a balance of guitars and synths, which sounds to us like a bit of touring with Mobius Band rubbing off on them. We'll see. Well, more likely, we'll hear. Hopefully it'll sound a bit like this:

Mobius Band -- "A Hint Of Blood" -- Heaven
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[buy Mobius Band records from Newbury Comics right here]

Today's Hotness: Psapp, This Town Needs Guns, Mobius Band

>> London-based electro-twee duo Psapp, best known for having its song used as the theme to the popular American hospital soap "Grey's Anatomy," has released a video for the first single from its forthcoming third fourth record (what's this 2004 record Northdown listed at Wikipedia? Ah, Japan-only). The single "The Monster Song" will be featured on The Camel's Back, which is to be released by Domino in the U.K. Oct. 27. Frankly, our initial assessment of the track wasn't totally favorable, but the more we listen the more we hear the hooks, and we've definitely come around. "The Monster Song" is built on looped drums, guitars, flutes and kazoo (well, we're not sure about the kazoo). Its animated video is fantastic and wonderful and is sort of about where cat food comes from (fans will recall that Psapp is obsessed with cats), so we've posted it above. The U.S. release of The Camel's Back was supposed to have transpired a week after the U.K. release, but Wikipedia says it is now tentatively slated for early 2009.

>> Oxford, England-based This Town Needs Guns reports that it has inked an agreement with Sargent House to release the angular emo foursome's new UK release Animals in the states. Sargent House, based in Los Angeles, will issue Animals domestically in early 2009, according to the band's blog. This Town Needs Guns plans a tour of the U.S. to support the release. Sargent House has previously released records by mathy brothers-in-arms Maps & Atlases, Russian Circles and former At The Drive-In guy Omar Rodriquez-Lopez. Big Scary Monsters was the label responsible for the UK release of Animals, which occurred this week.

>> Mobius Band has booked two U.S. live dates for later this month. The cyborg-rock trio will play Philadelphia's First Unitarian Church Oct. 29, and an undisclosed Boston University venue the following night. Both shows are with the hotly tipped Canadian indie rock act Tokyo Police Club. Fans may have heard that Tokyo Police Club recently taped segments for a forthcoming episode of "Desperate Housewives." That is profoundly weird. Anyway, one has to wonder whether Mobius Band will perform any new material, as its most recent set Heaven was issued a year ago and has been toured to death. We're heavy into Mobius Band both old and new. Here's the trio performing "Starts Off With A Bang" live at the Monolith Festival last year.

The Mobius Band -- "Starts Off With A Bang (Live)" -- Monolith Festival 2007
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[buy Mobius Band records from Newbury Comics right here]

Today's Hotness: Paper Cranes, Meneguar, Psapp

>> [Photo: The author, as shot by Watson, Cracow, 1997] In the 10 seconds it took us to rise from bed this morning and place ourselves under the shower head, some wiseguy on morning gabber "The Today Show" said the word "eastern;" we don't know if he was saying "Eastern Europe" or "Middle Eastern" or what. But what we do know is that immediately this Paper Cranes jam started playing in our head, and has been there most of the day. Right now we are attempting to exorcise it by listening to the track.

We can't recall where how this MP3 made its way to us, although there is metadata in the file indicating it must have come from AreYouFamiliar.Blogspot.com, which we don't recall ever reading and which hasn't posted an update since 2006. The mystery remains. As best we can tell the band is the same one you can find at this MySpace dojo, although we are not certain. If indeed it is them, The Paper Cranes' current material is decidedly more pop, less rough around the edges and spiky. But certainly worth a listen. But this one below is the jam, at least for frigid winter days, which of course is as far from the weather we have in Boston right now as it could get.

Paper Cranes -- "January In Eastern Europe" -- Demo 2005
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[buy Paper Cranes records from the band here]

>> Indie punk geniuses Meneguar and freakier/jammier sister act Woods (it's not really a side project, it is really its own thing) have just disclosed some European tour dates that you can view here. None of the dates is in the UK, so we imagine somewhere right about now certain dudes in Johnny Foreigner are cursing their busy touring schedule and likely attendant inability to catch the tour as it wends its way from The Netherlands to the Czech Republic. Remember how awesome Meneguar's sophomore full length Strangers In Our House was? No? Here's a reminder.

Meneguar -- "Paint You" -- Strangers In Our House
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[buy Meneguar records from Troubleman Unlimited right here]

>> Funny how we just mentioned electrotweesters Psapp the other day during our ramblings about the July Muxtape, and now today comes news that the British duo will be releasing a new record in October. The set, Psapp's third, is called The Camel's Back, and it will be out in the U.K. Oct. 27 and in the States the following week. Domino reissued the band's debut Tiger, My Friend, last November. It has the track "Curuncula" on it, which is divine, and so you should have that record. No word on which label will issue The Camel's Back, but it would not surprise us if it is Domino. Surprised we will not be. So there.

>> Clicky Clicky faves Mobius Band play a free hometown show this Sunday at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn. The notable trio is slated to appear around 9PM at what is being billed as a Breeders afterparty. So presumably The Breeders are performing thereabouts that afternoon, perhaps at one of those free outdoor swimming pool dealies? Where's our New York correspondent when we need him/her/it. Mobius Band's sophomore set Heaven was issued last year and was one of our favorite records of 2007. Believe it or not, despite the band tirelessly touring Europe and the UK during the last year, Heaven has yet to be released in the UK. This will allegedly happen "soon." Ahh, soon. Anyway, remember this jam?

Mobius Band -- "Hallie" -- Heaven
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[buy Mobius Band records from Misra here]

>> At least one reader out there likes to tease us about our affinity for the various bands of Ben Parker, including Superman Revenge Squad and the mighty Nosferatu D2. So for him, here is a link to a blog post from Mr. Parker indicating a Nosferatu D2 reunion of sorts is planned for a gig to take place on Parker's birthday. A few more details here.

>> We would have loved to hear Modest Mouse cover almost the entirety of Built To Spill's unparalleled There's Nothing Wrong With Love. Alas.

Today's Hotness: Muxtape Numero Dos, Silver Jews, MySpace Music

>> New Muxtape "STEADY NOW DON'T FALL APART" up tonight here. Again, we were hugely frustrated by the amount of our digital collection that we ripped in AAC. We had really intended to start this mix off with "Cadali" by The Coctails, which is a truly unparalleled beauty of a pop song. But we didn't feel like re-ripping it. Well, now we're changing our mind, because it's really that good. Hold on. Sorry Bikini Kill's "For Tammy Rae," you just got bumped. Anyway, our notes are below.

1. The Coctails -- "Cadali" -- The Coctails
(makes us think of walking past the library and to WESU on a cold winter's day and realizing there's only so long you can ignore the elephant in the room)

2. California Snow Story -- "Suddenly Everything Happens" -- single
(immediately gripping, powerfully melancholy)

3. Barnabys -- "Gargamel" -- Jiffy Boy Records' 10 Cent Fix comp
(so many guitars, so much sitting with legs crossed knowing there's no real reason etc. etc. etc.)

4. Chapterhouse -- "Breather" -- Whirlpool
(sleeper track for us from one of the most important mix tapes we ever received, given to us by a guy who now owns sheep and doesn't really follow music anymore)

5. Daylight's For The Birds -- "To No One" -- Trouble Everyday
(pretty, cinematic, captivating singer)

6. Mobius Band -- "Frozen Lake In Unison" -- Three EP
(those early self-released EPs from Mobius Band are no joke. this song always makes our ears perk up when it shuffles into the mix)

7. Happy Mondays -- "Bob's Yer Uncle" -- Thrills, Pills and Bellyaches
(another classic mix tape cut from a tape received from a different guy who now lives in the middle of nowhere and doesn't really follow music anymore. this song distinguishes itself as being the only Happy Mondays track we enjoy. it occurs to us that the secret theme of this mix might be flute)

8. Jawbreaker -- "Rich" -- Hardcore Breakout USA
(we came to this band late, despite everyone raving in the '90s. we came to this song even later, but it is certainly one of Jawbreaker's best, right up there with "Chesterfield Kings")

9. Finger -- "Ship Full Of Holes" -- Jettison 18 single
(North Carolina act whose single we bought probably because of an ad in the back of Spin or maybe in a hard copy catalog from Alias or Merge or Jettison or Antenna or one of those Carolina labels. All of which reminds us we don't have any Connells in CD or digital form. We'll have to remedy that. This one's a pretty straight rocker, enjoyable nonetheless)

10. Portastatic -- "Look, Honey, Peaches" -- A Day In The Park compilation
(the epitome of sad, lovestruck Mac, in our opinion. Portastatic is too band-y and glossy for us nowadays, and whenever a new set comes out we long for more numbers like this and the stuff on Slow Note From A Sinking Ship)

>> Example of the commutative property of mathematics: we love Babar the Elephant; the cover of the forthcoming Silver Jews record has Babar on it; therefore we love the cover of the forthcoming Silver Jews record, which is titled Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea. Pantsfork has all the details here.

>> This Wired.com piece contains all the details about the planned MySpace Music service. And you know what? It all sounds boring. Perhaps if MySpace founder Chris DeWolfe offered more than the sort of boasts that a more critical reporter would not accept at face value. Wired touts the interview as "in-depth," but the piece reads more like an email interview conducted by an inexperienced blogger without the chutzpah to challenge DeWolfe's marketing-speak.

Review: Frightened Rabbit | The Midnight Organ Fight [MP3s]

Glaswegian indie rock foursome Frightened Rabbit has slowly revealed more and more of itself (in approximate proportion to the almost humorous multiplication of its membership) since unceremoniously shuffling into the consciousness of the American indiescenti in 2006. While the five-year-old band's principals remain cagey about using their last name (for the record: Hutchison, Hutchison, Kennedy; a new third guitarist is named Andy Monaghan, according to Wikipedia), the gradual revelation is audibly manifested in the steady scrubbing away of noise and clamor of Frightened Rabbit's recordings. This cleansing culminates with the release of the trio's spectacular sophomore full-length, The Midnight Organ Fight. The set was recorded by Peter Katis (Interpol in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Mobius Band), and, indeed, his production renders the tracks nearly crystalline.

Not that The Midnight Organ Fight is a pop recording, although founder and fronter Scott Hutchison's tunes fully realized in the studio are stamped with new and sometimes pop-accessible tonality and dynamics -- particularly the excellent mid-tempo thumper "The Twist." We will likely continue to prefer the grittier demo and live version of certain tracks, such as the cataclysmically self-negating "The Modern Leper." Even so, the song's Reznorian lyrics communicate a black desperation -- seriously, have you heard this song live? -- that even Katis' illumination can't brighten. Simply the inclusion of "The Modern Leper" makes The Midnight Organ Fight a remarkable record, although the stark sincerity of Scott's vocals (notably in "Head Rolls Off," when he proclaims "I believe in a house in the clouds," or at the opening of and throughout the standout "My Backwards Walk") gives every Frightened Rabbit number an arresting charm. Disease, inebriation and dysfunction is not new subject matter for the musical underground, although some -- we're looking at you, Mr. Dulli -- tell the story better than others. So it is Mr. Hutchison's confessional earnestness that is perhaps his music's most singular characteristic.

While we were skeptical at first of the clean, crisp sound on this new set, The Midnight Organ Fight is a landmark recording for the band. Where Katis's production really shines is on interstitial compositions such as "Extrasupervery" (which was crafted from the fizzing backing tracks of the aforementioned "The Twist"). Sing The Greys included similar short pieces, but Katis' production transforms the new sketches into potent cinematic moments that harness the band's burgeoning interest in orchestration -- loyal readers may recall the choral flip-side to FR's holiday single "It's Christmas So We'll Stop" -- and steers it toward spine-tingling territory. Such fertile new directions may produce the most stunning Frightened Rabbit work in the future. As unlikely as it sounds, "Extrasupervery" hints at Disintegration-caliber genius. Fatcat releases The Midnight Organ Fight in North America April 15.

Frightened Rabbit -- "The Modern Leper" -- The Midnight Organ Fight
Frightened Rabbit -- "Head Rolls off" -- The Midnight Organ Fight
[right click and save as]
[more on this album]

Frightened Rabbit: Internets | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr

Previous Frightened Rabbit coverage:

Today's Hotness: Frightened Rabbit, Distophia, Mobius Band
That Was The Show That Was: Frightened Rabbit | Great Scott
Greys Over America: Frightened Rabbit Prep Next U.S. Onslaught
Frightened Rabbit Releases Sings The Greys In US Oct. 2
Saturday Night's Alright For Frightened: New FR Live Set
Show Us Yours #5: Frightened Rabbit [MP3s]

Today's Hotness: Kurt Cobain, A Weather, Mobius Band

>> So we went 0-for-3 seeing shows this past week. We had intended to get out to see Seattle electropop act Say Hi at Great Scott last night after viewing the newly released DVD Kurt Cobain: About A Son. However, the film is so subdued, nearly static -- as well as somewhat repetitive of Michael Azerrad's very good Cobain biography "Come As You Are" -- that we were lulled into a state of not wanting to drive across the river come show time. So we didn't. Further comments on the film: The colors -- particularly the greens -- are stunning. Is that the work of a particular color filter, or digital processing, or was the footage just captured during those perfect spring days where the greens are so green? Also notable is the pleasantly diaphanous soundtrack written by Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard and producer Steve Fisk. Ultimately Kurt Cobain: About A Son is a somewhat unusual blend of video travelogue and intimate audio interview that succeeds most of the time, although we think viewers without any knowledge that the film is actually Azerrad's semi-legendary interviews set to pretty pictures may find the proceedings somewhat unsatisfactory. For those interested in seeing the film in tiny chunks, it appears this YouTube user has put the whole film online. We've posted the trailer for the film atop this item. Here's some free Death Cab For Cutie courtesy of the band's web site.

Death Cab For Cutie -- "Company Calls Epilogue (Alternate)" -- Forbidden Love EP
[right click and save as]
[Buy Death Cab For Cutie and Nirvana records from Newbury Comics here and here]

>> It is worth reminding you that Portland, Ore.-based quintet A Weather's exceptional full-length debut Cove will be released by Team Love Tuesday. We've returned to this record over and over again during the last 90 days and it is a good bet that the set will be included among our favorite records of 2008. We reviewed Cove here. Gang Of Four's Dave Allen recently interviewed the band for a recent Pampelmoose podcast you can download right here. And if you are fan of the band's stirring brooder "Oh My Stars" we highly recommended listening in, because the podcast includes a live or alternate version of the track -- it's never explicitly stated whether the band is actually performing live or not. The Pampelmoose version (for lack of a better descriptor) features some perfect slide guitar, which fits so nicely we wonder why it wasn't included in the studio recording. Also somewhat different in the Pampelmoose rendition: some clanking percussion; a different vocal arrangement at the climax of the song. Whatever the source of this version, we're hoping the track is eventually offered as a standalone MP3. For now, here's the studio version of "Oh My Stars."

A Weather -- "Oh My Stars" -- Cove
[right click and save as]
[buy Cove from Saddle Creek right here]

>> There's no surer sign of spring than the waves of spring tours that kriss-kross the land like so many sets of youngsters wearing pants backwards. Clicky Clicky faves Mobius Band -- after returning from its current successful European tour next month -- sets its sights on America (with Cut Copy and hype-hamstrung blog darlings Black Kids in tow) with the aim of further evangelizing the October release of the sophomore set Heaven. Here are the your Mobius Band 2008 U.S. tour dates below. While we're on the subject, exemplary rockers Minus The Bear and Cardiff, Wales-based indie pop sensations Los Campesinos! will also circumnavigate the states this spring. Both acts will come to entertain in Boston, and Pantsfork has tour dates for each here and here respectively.

MOBIUS BAND TOUR DATES

04.28 -- Doug Fir Lounge -- Portland, Oregon
04.29 -- Richard’s On Richards -- Vancouver, British Columbia
04.30 -- Neumos -- Seattle, Washington
05.02 -- Urban Lounge -- Salt Lake City, Utah
05.03 -- Larimer Lounge -- Denver, Colorado
05.05 -- Waiting Room -- Omaha, Nebraska
05.06 -- 7th Street Entry -- Minneapolis, Minnesota
05.07 -- Abbey Pub -- Chicago, Illinois
05.08 -- Magic Stick -- Detroit, Michigan
05.09 -- Lee’s Palace -- Toronto, Ontario
05.10 -- Cabaret Music Hall -- Montreal, Quebec
05.12 -- Paradise -- Boston, Massachusetts
05.14 -- Bowery Ballroom -- New York, New York
05.15 -- Black Cat -- Washington, D.C.
05.16 -- Pure -- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

>> We've been spending some time with Scottish post-rock behemoth Mogwai's Come On Die Young as of late. And we'd like to show just how dense we can be sometimes. Despite the record coming out in 1999 and our listening to it for months on end upon its release, it occurred to us only just yesterday that the song title "Cody" is an acronym for the album title. Sometimes stuff just goes over our head.

Today's Hotness: Mobius Band, Dirty On Purpose, Neptune

>> So we didn't have to wait until Thursday to learn cyborg rockers Mobius Band's aforementioned surprise after all. As we suspected, and as the band hinted, the surprise is recordings from Mobius Band's recent woodshedding in Western Massachusetts collected under the titled Love Will Reign Supreme EP. The EP is comprised of six covers including versions of Daft Punk's undeniable dance anthem "Digital Love," Neil Young's "Razor Love," Bob Dylan's "I'll Keep It With Mine" and Daniel Johnston's "True Love Will Find You In The End." Which is proof, in case you didn't already know, that Mobius Band are bigger music nerds than you. Love Will Reign Supreme will be available for free (and with cover art) at the band's web site on Thursday. It is unclear whether the tunes will continue to be available thereafter, so it'd be best for you to make a mental note to snatch them that day. As we noted previously, Mobius Band begins a seven-week UK-and-European tour Feb. 21 in Dublin. Since the band is kicking it old school with its choice of covers, how about some old school Mobius Band? Here is the original version of "Taxi Cab," from the band's self-released 2002 EP Two.

Mobius Band -- "Taxi Cab" -- Two
[right click and save as]
[buy Mobius Band records from Newbury Comics here]

>> Dedicated readers may recall in December when we reported that Brooklyn shoegaze quartet Dirty On Purpose would be releasing a series of four digital singles via the irritatingly spelled rcrdlbl blog. Well, it turns out the second single is now available, and the series of singles is now being referred to as the digital-only free EP Dead Volcanoes -- although now that we look at the ID3 tag for the first rcrdlbl release, "Leaving," we see the information was there all along. The new song is called "Hard To Tell You" and you can download it here. It is surprisingly anchored by acoustic guitar and has bleepy synth tucked into its eaves. And, frankly, it doesn't approach the sublime bliss-out that is "The Audience In The Room" from Dirty On Purpose's recently issued Like Bees EP. But the folksy vibe and neatly organized layers of sound complement each other and give the song an interesting early '70s feel.

>> Finally, we'd be remiss not to mention the Neptune record release show Saturday at Great Scott in Boston, because the bill is one of the best to come around in a while. Noise-rock behemoths Neptune will be supported by the unhinged and angular rock of Helms, among others, which makes this pretty much the best show this month. A second Neptune record release spectacular will occur Sunday in Providence, RI at AS220 and the official street date for the trio's forthcoming fifth set Gong Lake is the following Tuesday, Feb. 19. As we noted here in November, the new set will be issued by Radium/Table Of The Elements as part of the two-record deal announced in August 2006. Neptune will tour for much of March to support the release of Gong Lake, and you can check out all the dates here.

Today's Hotness: The Hooters, Spinto Band, Songerize

>> Un.Be.Lievable. Philly-based '80s rockers The Hooters released a new record, Time Stand Still, this week. It looks like you can stream most of it at the band's MySpace dojo here (we didn't think we'd ever type the words "Hooters" and "MySpace" in the same sentence), which we just did. We don't hear pop hits, but the set has an easy folk-rock vibe with the expected but not overpowering religious references. There was a year back there in the '80s when the quintet was bigger than big. We distinctly remember being a kid getting driven to The Mall in the way back of a station wagon the year that the follow-up to Nervous Night was released and "Satellite" was on the radio. A pretty damn good song, and certainly much better than "Johnny B," which one of the articles linked supra contends is something of a phenomenon to this day in Germany. Anyway, a lot of our Hooters memories are tied into being a passenger in the car -- no surprise given our age at the time. Nervous Night was huge one summer during which we drove most every day to the cringe-inducingly affluent "swim club" to which our family belonged. And of course a car plays a prominent role in this video for "And We Danced," which Sony BMG refuses to let us embed for you no matter how amazing the short bridge to the song is. The Hooters' Eric Bazilian ended up moving into a house across the street from one of our girlfriends back in the day, if memory serves.

>> Delaware-proud (Debella-ware, anyone?) indie pop septet Spinto Band -- this decade's Hooters? Man, that would probably be a hell of a touring bill -- is poised to release its eighth long-player this summer. The set is titled Moonwink, and the lads will support its release with a spring tour including the obligatory dates at SXSW, which is fun to type because all the letters are adjacent to each other. Too bad Austin isn't right next to Boston -- which would be particularly awesome not only because of access to primo Tex-Mex, but also because they rhyme. But we digress. No release date or label has been disclosed for Moonwink, according to this bit in CMJ, and the information is conspicuously absent from a presser that was flaregunned Tuesday. But we recall Philebrity reporting in Jan. 2006 [here] that Spinto Band has a 700,000 pound licensing deal with Virgin UK. So don't worry, the guys aren't starving. In fact they displayed an almost absurd degree of pep when we saw them sandwiched between Johnny Foreigner and Los Campesinos! Nov. 30 [review]. Spinto Band's most recent full-length Nice And Nicely Done was released three years ago -- or, roughly 10,000 years in so-called Internetz time -- on Bar-None. Because it never gets old, here is "Oh Mandy."

Spinto Band -- "Oh Mandy" -- Nice And Nicely Done
[right click and save as]
[buy Spinto Band records from Newbury Comics here]

>> A few words about Songerize. Is this thing brilliant or what? It is bloody drop-dead easy to use. And although it doesn't have any advanced functionality such as playlisting, that very well may be the beauty of the thing. Songerize is a pure diner jukebox with almost endless inventory -- well, endless capacity, anyway. We wanted to hear "Destroyer" by The Kinks, we typed it in and boom. Huey Lewis and The News' "Do You Believe In Love?" or Bold's "Wise Up"? Well, no dice. But The Jam's "Down In The Tube Station," voila! Sure, there is no playlisting, but for people who want to actively consume and not passively consume, it is hard to beat Songerize -- assuming the song is available. Of course, it is probably not even close to legal, but -- as one of our digital music industry pals points out -- it may be the most legal thing that embattled media search engine creator Seeqpod has created (Seeqpod is currently being sued by Warner Music Group). It is interesting to note that Songerize doesn't seem to scrape music that is made freely available through Last.FM. We punched in a few titles by smaller acts (such as Nosferatu D2's genius "A Footnote") that we know that the Viacom-backed and UK-based social music play offers for free and none of the tunes came up.

>> Mobius Band is promising some form of Valentine's Day surprise. We're hoping it is a cover of Robert Palmer's "Addicted To Love." Either way, we're guessing the surprise is something the cyborg-rock trio recorded during the band's recent woodshedding in Western Massachusetts. Of course, the surprise could be anything. Time will tell.

>> Uhhh, given the touring history shared between the bands, the first fellow we'd call to fix this problem if we were Kevin Shields is J. Mascis. Might be hard to fit in his schedule, as Witch is just about to release a new record and tour Europe.

Today's Hotness: The Answering Machine, Notwist, Mobius Band

>> Manchester, England-based indie pop wunderkinds The Answering Machine have posted a demo of the new track "Romantic And Square" for free download at its MySpace hacienda. The track doesn't stray too far from the dimensions of the band's prior gems, although the end jams out a bit and the entire track is graced by some sublime melodica. The tune is destined to be a hit, and it is perhaps even stronger than the incalculably catchy "Silent Hotels." We're very excited to hear what The Answering Machine does next, and we think the quartet expects to put another demo online at MySpace sometime this week. We'll save you the trip for now and post "Romantic And Square" below. Fans who've found the band's new message boards will find other fans sharing rarities and radio sessions -- well worth hunting down.

The Answering Machine -- "Romantic And Square (Demo)"
[right click and save as]
[load up on Answering Machine singles at EMusic right here]

>> The web site for German electropop heroes Notwist has been updated with a video clip of the band watching an orchestra track a dynamic and discordant crescendo. It's likely a taste of what is to come on the band's forthcoming set, which is expected for release this spring. Thanks to the Notwist-Ultra blog for the email tip. Notwist is slated to perform May 9 in Berlin, and we just received another half-dozen European dates in an email from City Slang rendered completely in German. Fortunately for us H-Dawg From Accounts Receivable has ninja-like German capabilities. The email had no new album news, but still, if you are in Prague, Steyr, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Graz or Vienna at the end of April, you have reason to be stoked. We reviewed the excellent DVD "On | Off The Record," which memorialized the making of Notwist's superlative 2002 set Neon Golden, right here last February.

>> Brooklyn-based cyborg rockers Mobius Band are mounting a seven-week tour of Europe beginning at the end of the month. It's the trio's first jaunt across the pond and they have so many dates booked you'd think they were afraid Europe was going to go out of style. The tour commences in Dublin Feb. 21, culminates in Paris April 7, and between the band will make the sort of irregular but somewhat counterclockwise circuit of continental Europe familiar to backpackers the world over. We're too lazy to post the full slate of dates, but we expect they will make their way onto the band's MySpace yert or the Misra web site sometime soon. Personally we're hoping the lads will be able to report back whether in fact Zurich is indeed stained, as Pavement asserted some 17 years ago. Mobius Band will not be going it alone on their trip, but rather they will be supporting Editors as they did previously in America for a series of dates a couple years ago. More recently Mobius Band convened at drummer Noam Schatz's Western Massachusetts abode for some quick recording, and you can read all about that here. Mobius Band released its sophomore set Heaven oct. 2.

Today's Hotness: A Weather, Mobius Band, Wye Oak

>> The final solicitation of 2007 to catch our fancy was a pitch for A Weather, a Portland, Ore.-based quintet. A Weather's serenity and domestic intimacy recall for us the quiet rock of Track A Tiger, although we expect there are more on-point comparisons if we stop and think (perhaps Rocketship crossed with The Softies?). The verse of A Weather's "Spiders, Snakes" quietly marches and purrs and yearns, envisioning a tryst consummated while Bedhead plays on the hi-fi. The chorus offers some relief in the form of bright optimism, or at least some pragmatic pleading for managed expectations. On the whole the track is a perfect love song for the indie-conscious, cardigan-wearing set we struggle to believe survived the mid-1990s. No less affecting is the track "Oh My Stars," whose fractured waltz layers vocals into a spine-tingling minor crescendo in its final minute. Cove, A Weather's debut, will be released by Team Love March 8. The label also released a single by the band, "The Feather Test" b/w "One More One Night Stand," last spring.

A Weather -- "Spiders, Snakes" -- Cove
A Weather -- "Oh My Stars" -- Cove
[right click and save as]
[pre-order Cove from Team Love].

>> Daytrotter commences 2008 correctly by posting this new session featuring Brooklyn-based cyborg rockers Mobius Band. The session features four tracks -- although the ID3 tags suggests a fifth was also recorded -- including "A Hint Of Blood," "Friends Like These," "Hallie" and "The Loving Sounds Of Static." And while we take every opportunity to embiggen the formerly Massachusetts-based trio, the recordings of the first two tracks sound a little flat. The songs, of course, are excellent, each one a highlight of the band's near-decade of existence. But somehow the live mix here makes the songs sound small -- certainly much smaller and less potent than their studio counterparts. Whatever the problems, they are dispelled on the recording of "Hallie," which sounds significantly more peppy, despite the tune's down-in-the-mouth story. And the bluesy, almost Palace-ish rendering of "Static" with haunting and woeful vocal harmonies is a pleasant surprise. Download the tracks from the good people of Daytrotter here. Mobius Band released its sophomore set Heaven on Misra/Ghostly International in October.

>> We checked out Merge's new act Wye Oak on Frank Chromewaves' recommendation and we are saying "yes" to the Baltimore-based duo. Thank god bands are putting feedback back into their recordings. Or at least some of them -- we popped over to the band's MySpace wigwam and some of the other tracks are more basic acoustic numbers. Wye Oak releases its Merge debut If Children April 8. It is touring in an erratic path throughout January (Brooklyn last night, from the Carolinas to Florida next week, and then on to the Pacific Northwest); check out all the dates at the MySpace linked supra. Here is the first promo MP3 for a delightful cut entitled "Warning."

Wye Oak -- "Warning" - If Children
[right click and save as]

>> Death Cab For Cutie guitarist Chris Walla characterizes the quartet's forthcoming release as "polarizing," "dissonant" and "abrasive," according to this Billboard article, which all sounds very promising to us. While we admit to only having heard half of the record, we didn't find much of interest on the popular indie rock band's major label debut Plans beyond "Marching Bands In Manhattan," and the record made us miss the Death Cab of We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes. Or even Transatlanticism, of which we were surprised to read recently there is some perception out there that the record is slagworthy. What? The Seattle quartet's next record, its second for Atlantic, is as-yet untitled and is slated for a May release.

>> Wow, Warner Music Group's ADA distro arm bought Insound.com, according to this bit at GloNo. Hope all those old school Insound dudes got paid, assuming they are still with the company. The full story, such as it is, is at Billboard.biz here.

Clicky Clicky Music Blog: Favorite Tracks of 2007 [Imeem Playlist]

If you're like us, you can't be arsed to read all of those year-end lists. We don't even like to read our own. But we think the whole list thing can be greatly improved with the addition of some on-demand audio streams. Lo and behold, music social networking play Imeem has stepped into the breach -- and allowed us to use all these hackneyed phrases -- by soliciting lists from various and sundry bloggerati, present company included. And so we present below our favorite tracks of 2007. As with our albums list, inclusion in the list was based solely on amount of plays each track earned in our ITunes. Only one track per band was allowed, which is one of the reasons there are some tracks here not from our best records list. There are others, but they are not interesting. Two final notes: you can check out Imeem's amalgamation of a whole mess of lists right here, and we can't believe the Dntel's "Breakfast In Bed" featuring vocals by Conor Oberst is not in this list. That's a hell of a track. But ITunes doesn't lie.

Clicky Clicky Music Blog: The Best Records Of 2007

In the past we've cast our annually anointed selections as "records you should have heard," which served a two-fold purpose. The designation reiterated our focus on relatively unsung releases and differentiated us (we hope) from the lockstep feel of many music blogs' lists of year-end favorites. You can read our 2006 list here, 2005 here (albums | songs), and we expect if you look around the Interweb a little you can find lists for other years. While we harbor hopes that our list stands out, as in the past our method of choosing the top records comes down to a very simple tabulation of the number of plays each album has garnered in our ITunes in the given year. So there's really no magic to it: our favorite records are the ones we listened to most.

We report with great satisfaction that one of our top picks for 2007, the recently issued EP Arcs Across The City, came from an act that was unknown to us prior to February of this year. Johnny Foreigner's then-manager emailed on an odd Saturday, said he thought we'd like the band, and gave us some links to MP3s. Our fandom was instant. The larger message here is that, beyond all the bullshit of press hype, actual Hype and awkward MySpace solicitations, this music blogging thing continues to be rewarding. On a one-to-one level, some cat from another country can see that you love Meneguar, email you some files, and bang: dumb joy. We look forward to many similar experiences in 2008, although we recognize how fleetingly rare such experiences are. Our picks for favorite songs of the year will be along later. For now, we welcome you to consider what we believe to be the best records of 2007.

1. Meneguar -- Strangers In Our House -- Troubleman Unlimited [BUY]

The lyric "you get what you want when you don't want it anymore" somehow one-ups and explodes John Lydon's anarchistic boast "don't know what I want but I know how to get it." But for the most part we don't know what singer Jarvis Taverniere is on about for much of this record. All the same, when he shouts "you could never do what distance does" or even "at the bottom of my heart there is a ledge" we are suitably moved. Strangers In Our House is a blockbuster collection of sophisticated indie rock anthems, with the emphasis on rock. We already proclaimed it the rock record of the year when we reviewed the set here in September. Prior to Strangers In Our House being released we saw Meneguar explode in a basement up at Tufts University. While we weren't familiar with much of the new material at that point, the set was astounding, and we were able to stand close enough to the action to get jostled by the band rocking out. Read our review of the show here. Meneguar will be touring the east coast of the United State in February, and in the meantime the quartet is working on a new record that will be released through Woodsist.

2. Johnny Foreigner -- Arcs Across The City -- Best Before Records [BUY]

After anticipating this release and subsisting off of MySpace rips of songs from Arcs Across The City for months, Johnny Foreigner's finished product surpasses our expectations. Although the appealing grit and rough edges of the successive demos are partially scrubbed away, the Birmingham, England trio's characteristic, irresistible energy remains and is augmented by additional guitars, vocal parts and production flourishes. With a first full-length basically in the can and poised for a spring release, it will be interesting to see whether working with a noted emo and hard rock producer burnishes or dims the band's aural charms. Arcs Across The City is a formidable debut, packed with compelling narratives, fractured arrangements, big guitars and miles and miles of anthemic lyrics. It is a compelling declaration from a trio that went from nowhere to everywhere in our esteem over the course of 2007. We reviewed the record here last week.

3. Dinosaur Jr. -- Beyond -- Fat Possum [BUY]

We reviewed this record here. Beyond is a gift that keeps on giving... although we're starting to wonder whether they'll be making another gift anytime soon? The Dinosaur Jr. tour has gone just about everywhere this year (we've got one of their roadie's blogs in our RSS reader), and it even made a stop at the local clothing store Urban Outfitters in June. We reviewed the awesome show here. But the record is just superlative, melding the potency of vintage '80s Dinosaur with the compact brilliance displayed on Mascis' astonishingly strong solo release More Light. This record succeeds because it doesn't try to overthink anything: there are great songs augmented with ample and sublime shredding throughout. Mascis is as cryptically charismatic as ever. And it helps that Murph beats the hell out of the drums. Dinosaur Jr. just played two dates at Boston's Paradise Rock Club before Thanksgiving, and unfortunately our travel plans made it impossible for us to attend. But we are looking forward to whatever comes next from J, Lou and Murph.

Dinosaur Jr. -- "Almost Ready" -- Beyond
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4. Spoon -- Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga -- Merge [BUY]

We listened to this record over and over and over: in the car; in the office; in the kitchen. It's exceptional. Taut, glistening pop-rock, touches of spacey, warts-and-all production, and hooks galore. The songs all flow with an ease, an internal logic that is so finite that each tune seems representative of what indie rock is, at its core. If (when?) space aliens come to the United States asking about indie rock, perhaps the most obvious example to hand them is Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. We reviewed the Texas-based quartet's October show at the Roxy here.

Spoon -- "The Underdog" -- Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
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5. Frightened Rabbit -- Sing The Greys [US release] -- Fat Cat [BUY]

This record was issued at the tail end of a stint this year during which we worked 40-something days in a row at the day job, a time when we were suffering with tendonitis in both wrists from all the hours. On the first Friday in October we decided we'd had enough so we took the day off and went to the oldest fair in America. On the way we stopped at a satellite branch of trusty Newbury Comics and we bought Sing The Greys. And then we got in the car, cranked it up, rolled the windows down, and had a perfect fall day. We'll always remember that. Oh yeah, the record is great. While we never wrote a proper review of this rough-hewn indie gem, we otherwise offered microscopic coverage of the stellar Glaswegian trio in 2007, up to its Nov. 11 show at Boston's Great Scott nightclub, which we reviewed here. Sing The Greys is packed with hits, and we recommend listening to it often.

6. The Mendoza Line -- 30 Year Low -- Glurp [BUY]

30 Year Low, a slightly odd double-disc collection, was released almost in tandem with the announcement that the band's two principal songwriters, married for a short time, were divorcing and going their separate ways. And so the discs ache and throb in places, or at least some of the compositions lend themselves to having the songwriters' travails projected onto them. But elsewhere on the set there is a bit of glee, a touch of drunken hijinks. Whether feel-good or feel-bad, the music feels immediate and real, like you've caught a strange wild animal in your hands, and now you can't believe you've caught it and don't know what to do. Just listen. We reviewed 30 Year Low here, and a triumphant show in May by the now-truncated band here.

The Mendoza Line -- "30 Year Low" -- 30 Year Low
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7. Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start -- Worst Band Name Ever -- Gradwell House [BUY]

As we said in this review in July: "Worst band name ever? Does it matter if your band is among the best American indie rock bands currently working?" The latest addition to a rock-solid catalog packed with trebly reverie and cacaphonous crescendoes, Worst Band Name Ever presents Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start in its most refined state. The band has always championed brevity, melody and nostalgic romance. On Worst Band Name Ever the music is more laid back than ever before, with acoustic guitars setting the scene for a lot numbers. Even with a somewhat more reserved approach UUDDLRLRBAS still succeeds in imbuing tracks with dynamic changes, and no other band this year has created a record with more subtlety.

UUDDLRLRBAS -- "The Red Loop" -- Worst Band Name Ever
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8. Mobius Band -- Heaven -- Misra Ghostly [BUY]

The fact that a young woman writing for a popular online publication just trashed this record in a ridiculous manner makes us love Heaven even more. And while we don't feel it is worth the time to refute her outlandish assertions, we do feel like it is worth noting that she is simply wrong. We can tie this to one example: somewhere in the review she makes some comment that conveys the idea that the music on Heaven is more conventional than the music on its predecessor, 2005's The Loving Sounds Of Static. This is simply untrue. The compositions on Heaven are markedly more sophisticated and make nods here and there to the more complicated music of Mobius Band's self-released series of EPs, which are well worth seeking out. On top of that is a melancholy that is manifested in fairly sublime ways throughout the record. Weathering life's disappointments offers a great well of experience for artists to leverage and/or exorcise in their work, and of our year-end selections Heaven is the set that does this most openly, and very intelligently. But it is hard not to circle back to the way Heaven *sounds*. Mobius Band's dense, gritty electronic production is remarkable, and we expect that the trio will begin to be in demand as much for production chops as for their records before this decade is over.

Mobius Band -- "Hallie" -- Heaven
Mobius Band -- "Friends Like These" -- Heaven
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9. Ringo Deathstarr -- Ringo Deathstarr EP -- SVC Records [BUY]

We breathlessly exhorted you to check out Ringo Deathstarr as soon as we heard a promo MP3 posted by its label SVC Records. The Austin, Texas-based quartet's sturdy rendering of the most captivating aspects of Jesus And Mary Chain ("Some Kind Of Sad") and My Bloody Valentine ("Swirly") -- that would be airy vocals and guitars, chunky bass and keys -- is irresistible. At just five tracks in length, the Ringo Deathstarr EP is easy to listen to so often you just hear it in your head all the time. Not bad for a band with a shifting line-up (albeit one consistently led by Elliot Frazier) and -- reportedly -- no ready source of transportation to gigs. Well the transportation thing must be sorted out, because we are told that Ringo Deathstarr will be touring in February, and at least one of the planned dates is in the Boston area. Hopefully a full-length record isn't too far off either, because the EP is dynamite.

Ringo Deathstarr -- "Sweet Girl" -- Ringo Deathstarr EP
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10. The Good, The Bad & The Queen -- The Good, The Bad & The Queen -- EMI [BUY]

Yeah, a major label record -- we're as surprised as you are. But something about The Good, The Bad & The Queen really fire our imaginations, over and over. It is an immensely deep and massively patient collection of songs from one of the pillars of '90s Britpop; a sideman from one of the greatest bands of all time who by many accounts is responsible for bringing ska and reggae into the punk consciousness; an Afrobeat drummer; and a fourth player whose identity we can't even recall without walking across the room and consulting the liner notes (this is still our first instinct, even though Google is two clicks away). And yet Damon Albarn's quartet The Good, The Bad & The Queen made what is perhaps this year's most engrossing record. And, as we are in the middle of reading the book "Britpop!" we must reiterate what we think we saw written elsewhere earlier this year: With The Good, The Bad & The Queen, Albarn has finally succeeded in making the quintessential British record.