Lykke Li.
Pretentious, yet memorable and compelling, Lykke Li (at the very least) tries. Expect the hype-machine to touch down in your town sometime very soon. Say August 19th 2008?
{ Category Archives }
rock
My Dad Is Dead.
Before hearing My Dad Is Dead I had no idea that one person (in this case, Mark Edwards) could play every instrument in a traditional rock band and end up with songs that sound like an actual band, then it only took me a decade to figure out how he did it.
Lightning Bolt.
My dad is dead. Seven months before he died, he swung by to catch a baseball game with me. Two days before he came over I was chatting with a friend, Evan, who said that I had to see this band. It was their last show; they had played twice in town in the last week and this was it for a while. Evan and I laughed at the prospect of taking my dad to see Lightning Bolt, me more than Evan. In retrospect, I wish I had taken my dad to this show. He was artsy, well, he was an architect, and I think he would’ve really enjoyed the spectacle and volume of the show, and the math and practice of the playing. Of course, the Giants lost.
Return to Forever.
Speaking of fusion. Some wags laugh at Return to Forever; too excessive, too serious, too much. I think RtF often sounds like a group that’s having a really good time killing it.
Sun City Girls.
By my count, the Sun City Girls have released more than 51 full-length albums. Trying to provide a representative snapshot of who they are, what they do, or what they sound like is like trying to parse an avalanche. Good luck, sucker!
From 330,003 Crossdressers from Beyond the Rig Veda, an awesomely creepy song.
Followed directly by the perfect counterpoint.
Mahavishnu Orchestra.
The supercharged supergroup showing real restraint. A beautiful song that’s part of a soundtrack for a movie that has yet to be made.
The Dodos.
The Dodos make lemons into lemonade, squeezing an old song until it’s new and delicious. Okay, sort of like lemons into lemonade. Also, as a friend pointed out, they occasionally sound like Adam and the Ants. What’s not to like?
Broadcast.
Broadcast was once a quintet and now they’re a duo. The quintet was a little too stereolab-light for me, but I’m a big fan of Broadcast the duo.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions.
This Year’s Model. A band at its height, perfectly recorded.