LUNA (1992-2004)

[Third installment in our series of broken-up bands.]

Luna was born out of the break-up of Dean Wareham's previous band, Galaxie 500. I can't be sure, but I think I discovered them with the song "California (All the Way)," which remains my favorite Luna tune till this day. I don't know what it is, exactly, about Wareham's voice that I like so much. It has a certain unassuming, "woozy" quality that leaves me halfway between sadness and laughter (actually, a hell of a lot closer to "laughter").

All things considered, the group had a good, 12-year run, though I've heard a lot of Galaxie 500/early Luna fans bitch about the quality of the later albums. Granted, Rendezvous may not have been the strongest of swansongs, but there is ample solid material on each of their records to satisfy this listener.

Dean Wareham, by the way, released an album with second Luna bassist Britta Phillips in 2003 called L'Avventura. Their voices work well together, so I was happy to see that they're currently in the studio recording a follow-up with producer Tony Visconti. Stay tuned.

From the LP Bewitched, 1994 >>>
[MP3] "California (All the Way)"

From the LP Penthouse, 1995 >>>
[MP3] "Double Feature"

From the LP The Days of Our Nights, 1999 >>>
[MP3] "Superfreaky Memories"

From the LP Romantica, 2002 >>>
[MP3] "Mermaid Eyes"

From the LP Rendezvous, 2004 >>>
[MP3] "Astronaut"

DIVISION DAY

[I actually completed this entry nearly two weeks ago, but every time I go to post it, somebody scoops me. First, there was The Perm and the Skullet [here]. Then, there was Rock Insider [here]. But so be it. The time is nigh to hitch my wagon to this... um... bandwagon.]

Well, I'm far from the first blog to talk about the L.A.-based quartet Division Day, and I'm sure that I won't be the last. These guys were kind enough to send me a copy of their last EP, The Mean Way In, as well as an advance copy of their upcoming full-length CD Beartrap Island. They have a full eight songs currently available for download on their website, one of which you will also find below.

Describing Division Day's sound is no easy task. Listening to their songs, I found myself jotting down impressions such as: "early Flaming Lips," "Spoon," "Radiohead: Kid A," "Alan Parsons Project"[!!!], "playful-alternating-with-moody art-rock," "slightly unhinged lullaby" [re: "Hand to the Sound"], "understated majesty" [re: "Colorguard"], even "slight nods to '80s new wave." Then I remembered that the band had recorded at John Vanderslice's studio in San Francisco. That locked it in for me, because they definitely share that man's penchant for off-kilter instrumentation, arrangements, and mood.

Thus far, Division Day have primarily toured the West Coast (playing shows with the likes of Xiu Xiu, the Velvet Teen, and Cass McCombs). They're hoping to branch out further in U.S. this coming summer. In the meantime, Beartrap Island will be released in March. Here are my two favorite tracks from it...

[MP3] "Colorguard"

[MP3] "Dayenu" [REMOVED AT ARTISTS' REQUEST]

THE PASSION OF THE KILT

(MORE) ASSORTED BASTARDS & B-SIDES

[Speaking of bastards... today's picture is apropos of nothing other than the fact that Braveheart is my least favorite Best Picture winner of the past 12 years. (And that's saying something, as I didn't like Million Dollar Baby (2004), Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), Chicago (2002), or A Beautiful Mind (2001), either). (Lest you get the idea that I hate EVERYTHING, let me point to the Academy's sterling run from 1991-1993: The Silence of the Lambs, Unforgiven, and Schindler's List. Ah, now THOSE were the days.). More to the point, though: I can't stand Mel Gibson. His radical Catholicism. His rampant homophobia (see previous). His 107 kids (actually, just 7; but still: see previous). Oh, and let's not forget his Holocaust-denying father. What a lovely klan... er... "clan." (I can still remember thinking back in 1995 that Braveheart was the artistic equivalent of Mel Gibson jerking off in public for three hours. And wouldn't you know it - The Passion of the Christ turned out to be the same exact thing - the only difference being that the bastard did his jacking from BEHIND the camera. But enough already. End of rant.]

[MP3] Franz Ferdinand/"Fabulously Lazy" [from the Do You Want To single]

[MP3] Madonna/"Fighting Spirit" [Confessions on a Dancefloor bonus track]

[MP3] Maximo Park/"Hammer Horror" [from the b-sides/rarities collection Missing Songs]

[MP3] Clap Your Hands Say Yeah/"Cigarettes" [BBC 6 Music Gideon Coe Session] [from the In This Home of Ice single]

ASSORTED BASTARDS & B-SIDES

[MP3] Belle and Sebastian/"Meat and Potatoes" [from the Funny Little Frog single]

[MP3] The New Pornographers/"High Art, Local News" [Twin Cinema bonus track]

[MP3] We Are Scientists/"This Means War" [from The Great Escape single]

[MP3] Hard-Fi/"Seven Nation Army" [White Stripes cover] [from the Cash Machine single]

SAVEFILE FRIDAY: INSERT 'GAY COWBOY JOKE' HERE

Well, Sunday night could be a steamrolling sort of situation for Brokeback Mountain. Or, there could be a backlash, and the movie could just go *poof*. So to speak.

I literally haven't seen ANY of the nominated films or performances yet (it's probably been three or four years since I stepped foot in a theater; this hermit prefers DVD in his thoroughly bubble-wrapped and bird flu-proof survival shelter). Still, I'll tune it to watch Jon Stewart and to see if Robert Altman tells the Academy to go screw itself.

[Today's tunes are of the SaveFile variety, so just left-click here, then again on the next screen, and then right-click/"save as" on the screen after that. Not too terribly tough.]

[MP3] Sparks/"Ride 'Em Cowboy"

[MP3] Lambchop/"Cowboy on the Moon"

[MP3] Husky Rescue/"Summertime Cowboy"

[MP3] Fred Eaglesmith/"Rodeo Boy"

[MP3] Paula Cole/"Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?"

THE DELGADOS (1994-2004)

[This is the second installment in our "R.I.P. [fill in band-name here]" series - an effort to celebrate those artists that, sadly, are no longer with us. Of course, they're not literally "dead," generally - just victims of that most nefarious of band-busting bugaboos ... "creative differences." Ah, the humanity.]

I didn't discover the Scottish band the Delgados until 2002, when they released the album Hate. Little did I know that they'd been together eight years by then, or that they'd only have a couple years left to linger. If I'd been compiling Top 10 album lists at the time, I'm sure Hate would have ended up occupying one of the more paramount positions that year. Listening to it today for the first time in a long time, I find it still holds up remarkably well. Some of that no doubt has to do with producer Dave Fridmann (Mercury Rev; The Flaming Lips), who began collaborating with the band on 2000's The Great Eastern.

The Delgados are one of those groups - like Stars and Rilo Kiley - who trade off male/female lead vocals. Perhaps it says something about me that, in all three examples, I prefer the female singer to the male. In the Delgados' case, that means that Emma Pollock gets my vote over Alun Woodward. Thus, all four of the songs I'm offering today feature Ms. Pollock on vox. Sorry, Mr. Woodward.

From the LP Hate, 2002 >>>
[MP3] "Coming in from the Cold"
[MP3] "Woke from Dreaming"

From the LP Universal Audio, 2004 >>>
[MP3] "I Fought the Angels"

From the LP The Great Eastern, 2000 >>>
[MP3] "Make Your Move" [Twin Peaks Mix]

MIGHTY SIX NINETY

I can't remember where I first heard about Mighty Six Ninety, but both Come Pick Me Up and My Old Kentucky Blog have jotted about them this year.

And yes, it's undeniably true that this American five-piece sounds an awful lot like the Smiths (with maybe a bit of New Order stirred into the mix), but I think they're swell, and I think you should think they're swell, too. (Also, they were nice enough to send me an MP3 after I rather rudely requested one through unsolicited e-mail.)

These next few weeks, the band will be playing a handful of shows out West, including the SXSW in Austin on March 18th (5 PM at the Red Fez, reportedly). After that, they'll return to the UK, where their sound has thus far been better received and appreciated than here in the States.

Finally, they will be releasing a single ("Believable") in the UK on March 13th. You can stream it on their MySpace page [here]. You can download the b-side ("Northern Border") [here]. And you can purchase the whole kit 'n' kaboodle [here].

[MP3] "Have You Ever Asked Yourself"

[MP3] "Leave This World"

[MP3] "Keeping You in Mind"

DUELING OOMPA LOOMPAS

This won't be a timely post, but as I just got around to watching Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory this past weekend, it will have to suffice.

First, I should probably establish the fact that the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was a childhood favorite of mine - shown once a year here in the Detroit area, a la The Wizard of Oz and The Sound of Music. [Of course, there weren't so many channels in those days - for us: just 2 (CBS), 4 (NBC), 7 (ABC), 9 (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) on the VHF (no remote control, so you actually had to get up off your ass and click!-click!-click! that upper dial). On the UHF, you had 20 (Green Acres, Petticoat Junction), 50 (Gilligan's Island; The Brady Bunch), 56 (PBS), and 62 (one-step up from community access) (spin that lower dial!). And that was it. How the hell did we ever survive that primitive, seemingly Amish-dominated era?]

But to get back on point... Johnny Depp certainly amused me in the new version of Chocolate Factory (though no one will ever hold a candle to Gene Wilder in that role), and there were some nice visual bits, as you'd expect from Tim Burton (I especially liked the nut-shucking squirrels). So... C+, I guess.

As for the music, I've always liked Danny Elfman's scores (hell, I even went through an Oingo Boingo stage, though I don't like to talk about that). I was also always a big fan of the Oompa Loompas in the original film. They (and the songs they sang) had a certain "menacing" quality to them that appealed to me as a child (you just know that, given half a chance, they would have turned any number of Munchkins and Von Trapp children into dinner).

I liked the digitally-manipulated Oompa Loompas in the new film as well, though they seemed to be played more for humor than horror. As for their musical interludes, I'll leave it for you to decide which version reigns supreme...

From Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 2005 >>>
[MP3] "Augustus Gloop"
[MP3] "Violet Beauregarde"
[MP3] "Veruca Salt"
[MP3] "Mike Teavee"

From Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, 1971 >>>
[MP3] "Oompa Loompa Song #1"
[MP3] "Oompa Loompa Song #2"
[MP3] "Oompa Loompa Song #3"
[MP3] "Oompa Loompa Song #4"

SERGE GAINSBOURG

Not too long ago I wrote about Jens Lekman-precursor Scott Walker [here]. Well, Mr. Walker was big-time smitten with the French, dirty-old-man composer Serge Gainsbourg. Today - in Europe, at least - a tribute album to Mr. Gainsbourg will be released featuring such artists as Portishead, Tricky, Michael Stipe, and Placebo. Entitled Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited, it also sees Franz Ferdinand and Cat Power take a crack at the master - the Monsieurs Ferdinand with Gainsbourg songbird Jane Birkin; Ms. Marshall with White Stripe wife Karen Elson. (The Cat Power track already seems to be drawing an awful lot of vitriol on the web. I don't know; it sounds okay to me. Light. Fluffy. At worst: harmless. And what's up with all these nasty heroin rumors about Cat? I mean, sheesh... I thought the girl just had a grade-A case of stage-fright.)

Regardless, the other three fingers making up today's fistful are originals sung by some of Gainsbourg's too-numerous-to-enumerate female proteges. They are French, and they are fun. No translation required.

[MP3] Franz Ferdinand & Jane Birkin/"A Song for Sorry Angel"

[MP3] Cat Power & Karen Elson/"I Love You (Me Either)"

[MP3] Francoise Hardy/"Comment Te Dire Adieu"

[MP3] France Gall/"Les Sucettes"

[MP3] Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin/"Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus"

THE INDELICATES

Normally, I would never so callously cannibalize another blogger's post as I am about to today. But today is not "normally"; it's Friday. And I'm so ecstatic about this band that I just might wet my pants. So I can't help myself, you see. Not guilty by reason of imminent incontinence.

The band I'm urine-ing for you to immerse yourselves in is the British the Indelicates, and the blog I'm cannibalizing is the Italian Indie for Dummies. The Indelicates hail from Brighton and have only been in existence since September 2005. They are led by Simon and Julia Indelicate - whose married-in-name-and-novelty-only vocal interplay brings to mind the Shane MacGowan/Kirsty MacColl dynamic of "Fairytale of New York." Or maybe they're what would happen if you jammed Jarvis Cocker, Black Box Recorder, and Billy Bragg in a blender. You'd get something thick. A bit bitter. Dark. Delightful. Delicious. Ah, leave it to the Brits....

If you like what you hear below, please visit the Indelicates' website [here] and fling your virtual underthings at them. As yet, they are unsigned, and they no doubt could use the affirmation and affection. [Also, go to Indie for Dummies to download another Indelicates song - "Vladimir" - and to thank him for helping get this train out of the station.]

[MP3] "We Hate the Kids"

[MP3] "Julia, We Don't Live in the 60s"

[MP3] "New Art for the People"

[MP3] "Waiting for Pete Doherty to Die"

LOOKS LIKE THINGS ARE GOING WELL IN THE STUDIO...

... OK, MAYBE NOT...

RADIOHEAD GET 'NUDE'

Well, I was none too pleased yesterday when ever-stylish, ever-elegant Achtung Baby! posted the full-band version of Radiohead's "Nude" (aka "Big Ideas (don't get any)"). Like him, I had heard the other day that Radiohead were finally working on a studio version of that long-time fan favorite. No telling whether it will make the upcoming record, be released as a b-side, or perhaps be offered as a downloadable track before the band takes to the road this summer. (There's also no telling, I suppose, whether they'll actually follow through with the thing till it's finished; they tend to be a fickle lot.)

Regardless, below you will find a few different live takes on the song, starting with a full-band version that is similar to Achtung's but is from a separate concert. The second and third are performed by Thom Yorke solo, the first in Japan in 1998, the second in the UK in 2005.

Also, I've included a couple of other tunes that the band has never properly recorded. "Lift," which is from the post-Bends/pre-Computer period and was performed by the band in 1996. And "Follow Me Around," which is newer-but-not-new, and was played by Thom and Jonny Greenwood (I believe) in December of 2003.

[BTW, the sound quality is somewhat erratic with these, but I think the songs are worth it.]

[MP3] "Big Ideas (don't get any)" [aka "Nude"] [live/full-band]
[MP3] "Big Ideas (don't get any)" [aka "Nude"] [live/Thom 1998]
[MP3] "Big Ideas (don't get any)" [aka "Nude"] [live/Thom 2005]

[MP3] "Lift" [live/full-band/1996]

[MP3] "Follow Me Around" [live/Thom/Jonny/2003]

MATT MAYS

& EL TORPEDO

MATT MAYS & EL TORPEDO

I hate radio. All the stations tend to be owned by the same handful of massive corporations, and they all tend to play the same crappy songs, again and again and again. But last summer, after dropping my sister and her kids at the airport, I had to drive her SUV back to my house. Alas, I hadn't a single CD in the car, and the radio was my only option.

Fortunately, while blindly scanning the stations, I stumbled upon 89X out of nearby Windsor, Canada. They played some songs that I liked just fine (Death Cab, Stellastarr*) and a few that had me longing for the dull, empty drone of rubber on road (Creed, Nickelback). Eventually, I came across a catchy rocker called "Cocaine Cowgirl." by Matt Mays-something-or-other. But by the time I reached my driveway, I'd pretty much forgotten about it.

Fast-forward to about a week ago, when a random scan of the Hype Machine brought me to the MP3 blog Come Pick Me Up and a song called "The Plan." By none other than Matt Mays & El Torpedo.

Ah-hah, said I, suddenly remembering my post-airport, Canadian-radio "Cocaine Cowgirl" moment of a summer ago. I proceeded to Google "Matt Mays," which got me to the band's website. From there, I learned that Matt Mays & El Torpedo are from Nova Scotia, Canada, which we like - as we like bands from Canada (although, truth be told, we like bands from anywhere... so long as they don't sound like Creed or Nickelback). Regardless, Matt Mays released a solo album in 2002, then put together a four-man band to record their self-titled CD (released in March of 2005). Since then, they have been touring extensively and have been nominated for a number of music awards in Canada.

The CD can be purchased at various on-line sites, including the Canadian Maple Music.

Also, the band will be touring Ontario and Nova Scotia throughout March, with one noteworthy stop in Austin, Texas on March 15th as part of the SXSW Music Festival [at the Creekside Cafe - on the same night as fellow Canadians (and MP3 blog regulars) Cuff the Duke]. If you can, catch them. In the meantime, here are some nice tunes to give you a taste of them...

[MP3] "Cocaine Cowgirl"

[MP3] "On the Hood"

THE ONE THAT ISN'T JOPLIN

JANIS IAN

Let's send a little old-school love out to Janis Ian, whose new album, Folk is the New Black, hits U.S. retail shelves today.

Of course, Ian is best known for her song "At Seventeen," which many deride for its on-its-sleeve, maudlin sentimentality. As somebody who was a kid in the '70s and listened to a lot of such songs on AM radio, I have a certain, no-doubt-unholy attraction to these types of ditties. (Maybe tomorrow I'll post Charlene's "I've Never Been to Me" and that thing where somebody leaves Richard Harris' cake out in the rain.)

Ms. Ian has been a somewhat mercurial performer and personality over the past 30 years, but she deserves at least some kind of credit for taking on subjects like sexual identity and self-esteem long before it became fashionable to do so.

From the LP Folk is the New Black, 2006 >>>
[MP3] "Folk is the New Black"

From the LP Between the Lines, 1975 >>>
[MP3] "At Seventeen"

THIS GUY PROBABLY COULDN'T HOLD THE COUNTRY TOGETHER DURING A CIVIL WAR...