Ariel Pink is some freak folk dude from America. California I believe. I could be wrong, but I haven't been bothered to fact check [check complete: yes! from California]. Haunted Graffiti is his band.
Regardless, this song came up on the Sparkadiatwitter feed yesterday and it caught my attention. Its a soft rock tune but its hell catchy. Have a listen and tell me what you think.
I'm in study land. I've almost completed my MA in International Relations. I'm on the home stretch. Post essays will mean more music blogging, but until then, expect not much. Apologies to the various groups who've sent me music over the past few weeks - I'm flat out.
Anyway, I was sitting back, relaxing the other day, recalling with some sadness the fact that the vast bulk of my pre-2005 music collection died due to a hard drive failure (lucky I have much of it on CD), when I remember a little group from Washington DC in the states who put out a really funky indie pop song. The group was Georgie James and the song was 'Need Your Needs'. The band featured a guy who resembled Phillip Seymour Hoffman and a girl who was/is extremely attractive. They are John Davis and Laura Burhenn.
While it may be showing its age a bit here, it still a pretty cool little song. Have a listen for yourself.
I've been reminiscing this week. Brisbane music in the late 1990s/early 2000s was quite fun really. Has much changed? Well I’ll leave you to judge. But back in the good ol’ days, Dave McCormack of Custard produced the debut record of a great local band: Arbuckle, Custard 'of the Gold Coast'.
Perhaps that comparison is not entirely accurate, but there are similarities. To the best of my knowledge, Arbuckle put out a handful of EPs and one record “No Heroics”. I feature the record's first tune ‘It’s Going to Happen’ here for your enjoyment (see link below).
Sadly, Arbuckle are no more (one member is now making music with The Bell Divers). I’m not sure if you can actually get any Arbuckle records anywhere anymore (perhaps iTunes?). If anyone has any that they’re willing to perhaps sell to me, please get in contact. I know Seja covered one of their songs at her Troubadour gig a few weeks back which rekindled my interest in the band. Don’t know the name of the song covered (its not on "No Heroics") but if anyone who was there knows its title, again, please get in contact.
Ps. Unrelated link, but James Pusey has written an interesting article on his thoughts as to why Mumford and Sons is so popular. Check it out here.
I love the Daytrotter Sessions. For those not 'in the know', Daytrotter is a website that offers free mp3 downloads of 'the best emerging bands'. They even have a studio where bands and artists come in specifically to record sessions and offer them up for public consumption. A lot of them are not actually 'emerging' but fairly well established, and there are couple of absolute gem sessions lurking amongst an impressive back catalog. The Mountain Goats set is one I recently came across.
I'm not too familiar with the Mountain Goats. I did really like that song 'Alibi' from the Babylon Springs EP, but other than that I've not really listened to them that much (and yes, I know it is led by John Darnielle and the band roster changes constantly).
Anyway, the Mountain Goats' Daytrotter session features a great little tune. Darnielle explains that it didn't make the cut of 2002's "Tallahasee", but I really like it. It begins with some chord changes that sound very like a sped up version of Radiohead's 'True Love Waits' before diving into a entertaining story about the seemingly dysfunctional relationship between two people. I particularly like the chorus lyrics.
"Good things never last, bad things never die."
You can have a listen to 'Ethiopians' by clicking on the link below.
It seems that Scotland has a love affair with indie pop music. I mean, how many awesome pop acts come out of this magical land? Off the top of my head: Teenage Fanclub, Belle & Sebastian, Camera Obscura and many more. And why does it keep producing such quality? I wager a pouch of guineas that it is the haggis. Or perhaps deep-fried mars bar. Or some other stereotypically Scottish cultural object.
Anyway, I quickly want to chat about a great little ditty from The Delgados, a band that I have not had the pleasure of listening to in some time. I revisited them en route to work just this morning, which spurred on this ramble.
‘Coming in From the Cold’ from “Hate” has always been my favourite Delgados tune. I say this for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was the song that introduced me to the band. I do still recall the exact moment it first graced my eardrums - I was working with my father painting someone’s apartment and listening to Triple J during the summer of 2002 when it came on the morning show. I was immediately smitten.
Secondly, well, I just love the wide-eyed optimism encapsulated most clearly in the uplifting guitar melody that plays over Emma Pollock’s vocals during the chorus. While I think that "The Great Eastern" was a better record, I don’t think any individual Delgados song ever got much better than this one.
Die-hard Delgados fans may disagree with my over-the-top blushing. arguably I’ve picked the most palatable and 'mainstream' song of The Delgados discography. But fuck it, I like it and I don’t care (am I wrong? Please tell me I'm not :D). I was fortunate to catch one of their last ever shows when they toured Brisbane in early 2005. Weeks later they broke up and that was that.
