Probably Admin’s favorite band for this year, it’s about time Vampire Weekend gets recognized on this website. So let me recite what I know about them from memory. Vampire Weekend formed in New York, since its members all graduated from Colombia University. They were referred to as one of the biggest bands to come out NY since Interpol, and are probably one of the most interesting bands out right now.

You’ve probably already heard of them though, and might not understand the indie hype. Unless you listen to their album you never will. Take African pop music (Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa) mix it with flirty violins and pile that over a bouncy drum and guitar to understand what they are doing. VW is a melting pot of sound, lyrics and creativity. Here’s a newer song from a movie that recently came out and another from their self titled cd. 

Ottoman

Campus

Zechs Marquise.  Legendary pilot of the OZ-00MS Tallgeese.  Callsign “Preventer Wind”.  Respected on the El Paso music scene.

This is more than a reason to impose a flashback to my formative years on the blog.  Just bear with me.  A while ago I had heard that Marcel and Marfred Rodriguez-Lopez (related to Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of The Mars Volta) had put together a side project called Zechs Marquise and were keeping it a separate entity in the hopes of not being catapulted into the spotlight by The Mars Volta.  For a while, it seems, they remained pretty obscure and hadn’t been playing any shows in my area, but recently I got ahold of their 2008 LP and an EP and am extremely pleased.

Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare incorporates elements of progressive rock and jazz, but it doesn’t play like a Mars Volta record; or it doesn’t play like a recent Volta record.  There’s a sense of spaciousness on the album that provides room for layers of instrumentals, jams, and ambience to build up into walls of sound that feel ready either to crumble or crush.  The tracks “Strapped to the Mast” and “Sirenum Scopuli” are the perfect examples, escalating from a funky, minimalist jazz overture to an exploding grind, plateauing with an agoraphobic, spacey jam, exploding again, and leaving you with a sort of electronic paranoia.

I’ll be the first to admit that I have a bias when it comes to the wankery that the Rodriguez-Lopez familia produces, but I don’t think it’s a unreasonable one.  The music is damn good.

Strapped to the Mast

Sirenum Scopuli
 

http://www.myspace.com/zechsmarquise

Let’s take this next one all the way back to now. 

Chromeo’s chirping apegiators, clean drums, and humorous instrumentals and lyrics makes this band a funky and functional duo. P-Thugg (Patrick Gemayel), on keyboards, synthesizers, and talk box, and Dave 1 (David Macklovitch) on guitar and lead vocals have been best friends since childhood. They pride themselves as being the only successful Arab/Jewish collaboration since the beginning of time.

The duo’s chemistry is great, creating seriously outrageous tracks like Momma’s Boy and Fancy Footwork. Their music is funky, clean cut with only essential chirps, dings and buzzes that encourages at least a little head bop if not a full dance routine. If not, then let the themes to every song put a smile on your face. enjoi

Bonafied Lovin

Fancy Footwork
 

Sorry about the long wait. It’s been a busy week. But this is a song to calm the masses.

Belle and Sebastian have been regarded as the “greatest scottish band ever” probably because they speak an intelligible english, or because they have very awesome music. You have probably heard of them, but if you haven’t try any cd they’ve came out with. Their music is easily enjoyed by anyone, the lyrics are always interesting and wonderful. This song is a personal favorite. I implore you to find more songs. Enjoy.

Fox in the Snow

An angry man walks into a bar, If I Ever Feel Better is playing in the background and the man looses control of himself and breaks out dancing. Pardon me if you thought that set up was for a joke, because it was not. Since that didn’t make you smile, try listening to Phoenix. 

Phoenix is a four-man funky/disco pop band from La France. Their guitarist Laurent Brancowitz was part of the band Darlin’ with Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, the men who eventually became Daft Punk (helping explain that funky sound they produce). 

The two songs featured come from the same album, UNITED. So click below to listen to them, hopefully they will make smile, or break out dancing. enjoi

If I ever Feel Better
 

Hospital Beds is an excellent song that’s as somber as it is uplifting. The lyrics describe a truth that all living can relate to, the “joy and misery” we face everyday. The way Nathan Willet screeches the lyrics over the instrumentals gives the song a gospel/blues-like credibility that pain unleashes.

The piano plays like a lethargic sunday afternoon with its beaming notes and pleasant shine. Its occasional twinkling keys mimic wind chimes, or dancing window blinds on an open window and create an atmosphere that is far from lifeless. 

” ‘There’s nothing to do here some just whine and complain’, in bed at the hospital.”

Think of your life as your own hospital and listen to the music, even if you have never stepped foot in a hospital you’ll realize that you can relate more than you think. 

Cold War Kids have a new album coming out the 24th so look forward to that. Enjoy

Normally not a big fan of alternative music for predictability in it’s delivery, this man is the exception.

Jon Foreman, front man of Switchfoot, released four EP’s (Summer, Spring, Fall, Winter) from 07 through 08. The EP’s are a magnificent display of his abilities as an artist and are all very interesting to listen to. All he needs is his voice and the guitar, all else is filler, but create an interesting ambience. 

Very good. enjoi

The Cure For Pain
 

Learning How To Die

After a lot of moving this week, I’m finally back in place and have plenty of new posts to bring.

Fleet Foxes are a great place to start. Their sound is novel, for this decade, like the first time you heard The Shins. A current favorite in the blogosphere and nearly everywhere else from Rollingstone to Pitchfork, Fleet Foxes’ music takes the listener back a few decades, leaves them stranded with an acoustic guitar and tambourines, and tells them to shut the f**k up and enjoy the ride. Of course you will not have any trouble enjoying “Mykonos’ ” sound because it is ‘feel good summery, listen to it and take a dip in a lake’ type music. Their music at the same time is mysterious in it’s delivery:

And you will go to Mykonos
With a vision of a gentle coast
And a sun to maybe dissipate
Shadows of the mess you made

Take a listen. enjoi

Mykonos

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