Music Stuff

If you love Franz Ferdinand like me, you will really dig Panic! at the Disco. They are, lyrically, one of the most original alternative pop bands to hit mainstream radio since Franz - although the fact they are American glam will probably draw more (inaccurate) comparisons to The Killers. Like Franz, Panic! has the same sort of wry, never-serious tone that - upon a deeper listen - reveals genuine angst, whereas Brandon Flowers tries quite hard to be arty and poppy and grim all at once. I really loved Hot Fuss, but I already have doubts about The Killers' follow-up, Sam’s Town, which will be released in October. Luckily, Panic! is here!

These are the videos for "I Write the Sins Not Tragedies" and "But It's Better if You Do," and this is for The Killers' first new single, "When You Were Young." I am reserving judgment on the latter - I think it's the new facial hair that bothers me.

Then, after you have enjoyed Panic!'s antics, go find Ok Go. They are kooks. I just heard their music on iTunes, sans videos, which is a fun sort of alternative that does not blend in with the other Two Door Blink Rejects. But they are in fact insane. Here is the video with treadmills, and the one with backyard dancing (which is the better song). Good times. I actually think the videos distract from the songs, but the guys know how to get noticed.

I have also (finally) found myself back in a girly mood. Not since the years of Lilith Fair have I been this craving of substantial doses of music performed by females. Part of this revival has been fueled by two particular artists. First, Charlotte Martin is what Tori Amos was a la "Cornflake Girl." She is AMAZING. Stomata (click on this link to look it up, coz I know you don’t know what it means) is her new album and single, due out next week. Her video can be seen here: she looks like the creepy TV chic from The Ring playing the piano.

The other is Jolie Holland. I received her second album Escondida as a birthday gift last year, but I am only just getting into it now. She is... Americana. Of sorts. Crazy shit, all bayou moonshine and warbles. A person on Amazon who reviewed of her newest album, Springtime Can Kill You, described her like this:

Jolie Holland's first album, Catalpa, sounded almost like a Library of Congress recording from the 1930s of some porch singer in the bayou. Her second album, Escondida, didn't sound primitive anymore, but was definitely tentative about all this newfangled band stuff. But with her third album, she's moved out of that bayou for good. She no longer sounds barefoot...instead, perhaps some well-worn used pumps from a thrift shop, opium in a tentament apartment rather than moonshine on the back porch.

It's easy to say she's on her way to becoming a female Tom Waits, but that's perhaps too easy. Certainly, the similarities are there - the murky sound, the exaggerated voice, lyrics drawn from the deepest wells of weird Americana, blues that sound more like some uptown cousin of Son House than a white adopted grandchild of Muddy Waters. And maybe more similar, you'll either love her or hate her.

Which is exactly how I would have described her.

Finally, check out Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys, a collection of traditional tunes by all manner of Anglo types. Bono, Jarvis Cocker, Nick Cave, Jolie Holland, Sting, Andrea Corr, Rufus Wainwright (and his dad), Brian Ferry, Lucinda Williams, Gavin Friday, and Lou Reed all contribute, among others. The result result is a span of Celtic, Isles, and Americana, all bound by the parameters of "music of the sea." Fantastic and refreshingly different from any standard radio pop rehash.

All of the above are on my Christmas list or reserved at the library... coz I'm cheap and have to make do.