not squares: "fall far"

belfast trio not squares says: "just 3 guys who wanna make you dance. can you handle that?" yes. yes, we can.

the mojomatics: "you are the reason for my troubles"

last thursday my friend dave (aka gay dad) and i headed to los angeles for our second annual memorial day weekend vacation. we drove down the stodgy stretch of I-5 from san francisco past slaughterhouses and the ramshackle remnants of faded boomtowns. we played lots of music, naturally, and i always feel compelled to play songs by artists like bobbie gentry as that type of music suits the mood of the dirty, dusty atmosphere. had i been paying more attention and not flipping off motorists i would have included the mojomatics on the playlist. their tune "you are the reason for all my troubles" is a bluesy, rock 'n' roll ode to a bygone era (and a bygone love, judging from the lyrics) and the italian duo nails it.

jazzadezz: "fairy"

as a gay man i know a thing or two about fairies. but none are quite as exotic as this. jazzadezz is a romanian band and their track "fairy" was recently featured on the music alliance pact's may compilation*. the dreamy, atmospheric track is like a foggy san francisco morning. chilly and slightly mournful but with a promise of burning off into something warm and extraordinary.

*if you do not already do so you should get in the habit of downloading the monthly compilations from MAP. get exposed to music from all around the world for free.

ren harvieu: "through the night"

with a soft, creeping piano intro reminiscent of a great carole king song, 21-year-old ren harvieu takes jazz pop to new heights on the title track to her debut album through the night. the song, co-written and produced by harvieu, jimmy hogarth, ed harcourt and christopher o'neill, offers an excellent showcase for the young vocalist's sensual delivery. i don't usually go for these jazz-infused/cabaret-type pop songs but this one's too good not to post.

julia and the doogans: "down the line"

sometimes simplicity is best. a fragile voice backed by a soft piano, subtle string arrangement, and tinkling xylophone can be as effective as the most bombastic, outlandish, overproduced pop tune. such is the case with julia and the doogans' "down the line" from their latest EP diamonds. so honest and direct is it in its simple message of support and love that it's downright heartbreaking.

[ALBUM REVIEW] gossip: "a joyful noise"

by daniel samaniego

Rating: ★★★☆☆

gossip, the portland-based trio fronted by the fabulously spherical beth ditto, have returned with their fifth studio album, a joyful noise, after finding improbable international fame and acclaim with 2009's commercial breakthrough music for men. ditto's crackling, feral ad-libs are in fine form here, as soulful as any southern gospel diva's and as playfully plastic as madonna’s helium-cum-minnie mouse 80's heyday. ditto's instrument sounds equally at home belting and caterwauling over the raw garage rock that made gossip indie stars in the age of “white blood cells” as it does the chilly disco of her alluring eponymous solo EP produced by simian mobile disco.

a joyous noise eschews the residual jagged edges of the band's earlier sound for another dalliance with chic production: ditto's dark synthy baptism on her solo EP was an angle to expand the sonic palette of her band, resulting in the hiring of xenomania to produce the album which was recorded partly in england, seemingly removed from the dives that paint the best gossip songs so sublimely sleazy. there is a gaggle of joyously noisy gems to be heard here including "melody emergency," "into the wild," "horns," and "love in a foreign place."

on "into the wild," the twinkling keyboard intro gives way to a stomping bassline as ditto coos "in the wild/let's self destruct together/i'm part of you now. it's all over now." the lyrics are compelling. they recount the complicity of the end of an affair versus the predictable drama of a break-up rocker. "horns" is a standout thumping with a genuine savvy for '70s funk, clanking and undulating with ditto coolly chanting about "the lights going down" and other sexy business. "love in a foreign place" contains a much-needed jolt of urgency in its hurried tempo and desperate lyricism: "it's now or never/so much to lose."

indeed, a joyful noise is sometimes caught in a languid, mid-tempo shuffle. if lyrics are any indication of a band’s ethos (and they are), ditto seems bored rather than defiant singing about the spoiled rich girls that are now a part of her world as a cult celebrity and uninspired lovers who need to get lost. the band occasionally seems to be playing sleepily, unawares in a wash of synths. one does wish for ditto’s wild cackle to soar to the heights of "heavy cross" or "vertical rhythm." instead we are treated to ditto’s dreamy coos – dripping with feminine sensuality – the bright spots abruptly fading out to enhance their dreamlike quality. doubtless, a joyful noise is an intentionally more understated, headphones-oriented affair, but this is not the best gossip album. when the group is ready to marry the ferocious, inspired anthems of their earlier oeuvre with the melancholia of adult heartache heard here, then we'll take notice. still ditto and gossip remain a larger than life, magnetic force on a joyful noise despite the occasional listless misstep.

jesca hoop: "hospital (win your love)"

there's nothing like a broken arm to win your love. or so says jesca hoop on "hospital (win your love)," a track from her forthcoming new album the house that jack built. i've never actually considered making myself ill to win the affections and attention of a hot doctor, but hoop sure makes a strong case for it.

jesca hoop - hospital (win your love)

sphynx: "orbs"

according to their bio on facebook, sphynx was "conceived on a moonlit beach while three pals were looking at the ocean, drinking boone's farm, and talking about life and stuff." that sounds very homoerotic. i wish i was there. they also describe their sound as "Gold Chains. Fat Beats. Mediocre Songs." i say: true. true. false. there's nothing mediocre about the austin trio's flirty, fun tunes. sphynx is deluxe sonic sex.

the school: "the grass is always greener on the other side"

it's no surprise that the school list phil spector, ellie greenwich, carole king and brian wilson as influences on their facebook page. they have clearly studied in depth the hits of the '50s and '60s. the cardiff band's newest album, reading too much into things like everything, is a modest 12 tracks and clocks in at just 29 minutes. seems short but it makes sense. an LP from the '60s has only 15 minutes per side and the album is clearly an homage. just take a listen to "the grass is always greener on the other side," which sounds a helluva lot like the crystals' "da doo ron ron."

chairlift: "met before" and "take it out on me"

i've had chairlift's newest album something in my library for some time but couldn't bring myself to listen to it. that's because i associate them and their best-known tune, "bruises," with some painful events that were happening in my life at the time of the song's release. some songs just do that, you know? and i wasn't keen on being reminded. but things have changed so i decided to give something a whirl. i'm sure glad i did. the thing that struck me most was caroline polachek's elegant vocals. on tunes like "take it out on me" you can almost visualize her tongue wrapping around certain lyrics especially on the chorus: forget forgiveness/forget all the rules/just please don't do it here/bring on the fire/cause business is cool/and sophie's got somewhere to be. "met before," another standout track, is given a modern baroque pop treatment that evokes feelings of a great mamas and papas or carpenters song.

zowie: three tracks from love demolition

zowie's been kicking around for a couple of years but she just released her full-length debut album love demolition in her native new zealand. if sugary pop confections with a bite are your thing you need look no further. if katy perry were actually talented she might sound like zowie. her latest single from the album, the ridiculously enjoyable "my calculator," is reminiscent of britney's "i wanna go," but it's no match for the album's first single, the crunchy-guitar, thumping "smash it," which was recently featured on the show "pretty little liars." oh, lord, now i truly am a teenage girl.

[ALBUM REVIEW] garbage: "not your kind of people"

by daniel samaniego

Rating: ★★★☆☆

my first rock concert was garbage on their beautifulgarbage tour at the joint in las vegas in 2002. i smoked my first cigarette after abandoned pool’s opening set in a desperate demonstration that i was cool enough to be there, desperate for shirley manson to appear on stage, or desperate just for teenage desperation’s sake. after all, i was only 17, a social misfit at school and had never been kissed. my teenage angst was sublimated into garbage idolatry – i had spent hundreds collecting what seemed like impossibly obscure import singles; (for die-hard garbage fans, referred to as “darklings,” b-sides are the most beloved of all garbage tracks) and on that night had waited hours, ticket in-hand to get front and center for my sex, nicotine, and rock 'n' roll initiation. i knew every lyric. ("shut your mouth," "i think i’m paranoid" and "i’m only happy when it rains" forged the basis for my sonic adolescent rebellion.) shirley’s élan was the exact manifestation of my desire: androgynous, sugary and venomous - yet articulate; athletic, but delicate, darker and edgier than my other pop idols. the band played forcefully– but not at the expense of glamour. the music was controlled and refined – like on the records but louder, way louder. i developed a musical sensibility (this growing out of shirley’s diligent guidance), and began my life as a bitch of rock n’ roll.

after a seven year absence, just a week shy of my ten year anniversary as a garbage pledge, the band has released their new studio album not your kind of people. the lead single, “blood for poppies” (the music video for which is a must see – a clever homage to buñuel’s discrete charm of the bourgeouise – an apt allusion considering the band members curious position as forty-something, veteran rock stars) is an addictive, eclectic concoction; the ambivalence of which is found only in garbage’s best songs. a funky bass line, the nastiest of crunchy guitars, and pulsating synths provide an exquisite ground for shirley’s lyrics, brooding as they are hopeful, a hypnotic wail a la sioux slithers in and out of the verses:

i hate the things i think about you when i'm all alone
i know you're tough but i've been gone for so long
i play the memories of you inside my head
so all those pictures of us burn and radiate
watch the clouds and i'm falling, falling through the cracks
head beats and the heart is pounding fast
off the ground into the starry dark
into your arms i'm falling
i'm falling
i'm falling

frenetic opener "automatic systematic habit," a playful, but damning send-off to a litany of frenemies is a welcome reprise of the band’s techno-phile geekery, as high octane and anxious as anything on version 2.0.

on most garbage albums, the noisy wall-to-wall aggression of the first half dozen tracks relents to an atmospheric moodiness on the second half of the lp. not your kind of people breaks the formula, shifting tempo restlessly between each track – throbbing all the way until the elegant closer, "beloved freak." for the band’s legion of fans -- queers, misfits, and beautiful losers -- shirley is a sex deity, sage and fairy godmother, and she has sent us a potent message: nothing good was ever free/no one gets it/none sees/here you stand beloved freak/you’re not alone.

there is a weary frankness to the songwriting here that is compelling: it’s a heart-to-heart with an old friend, something between a call-to-arms and an order to march on. for this loveless freak-a-zoid, this all sounds bloody good. and i’ll be waiting, early, and as excited as my seventeen-year old self in line to see them on tour. i’ll come alone, no cigarette this time. i might even wear my size XS, doll pink, garbage baby tee i found for a buck a few weeks back. maybe. just to prove i still have what it takes, and maybe for the joy of freaking boys out, just because i can.

the music cannot help but elicit pangs of nostalgia. after all, garbage was such a visual and successful band of the late 1990s who formed a powerful bond with a generation of darklings with stories like my own. but whereas with earlier studio efforts, a constant criticism was that garbage’s own musical influences cut too close to the fore. not your kind of people mines garbage’s own sonic canon – sounding, well ,garbage-y. not like any one album in particular, but chunky slices of the first four albums. it is the sound of four individuals in synergy, returning triumphantly, albeit cautiously, to the music that made them stars.

[CONCERT] the drums @ the great american music hall

[via]

the last time the drums rolled through san francisco they played to a sold out crowd at the independent. while the audience enjoyed their set, and the room became reminiscent of a modern-day hipster sock hop, lead singer jonny pierce seemed tired and somewhat aloof. (at one point, he thought he was in seattle, the city they had just played.) but at their sold out may 12 show at the great american music hall, the drums were anything but aloof; they ratcheted up the energy to a fever pitch and slammed through a 90-minute show with pomp and circumstance.

[via]

playing more than a dozen tunes, most from their recent album portamento, the band commanded the stage from their opening number "what you were." anyone who went to last saturday's show expecting that the band's lo-fi studio recordings would translate to a low-key affair were sadly mistaken. they ripped through "best friend," "money," and their latest single "days" with such fervor and delight and nary a moment to breathe.

the room was packed and sweltering and i kept waiting for pierce, who was dressed in an olympics t-shirt, jeans, sneakers and black-and-white striped jacket, to remove his top layer to keep cool but he didn't. his voice was strong and his rhythmic, somewhat awkward dancing, which has become a kind of trademark, was charming. the band was tight and clean, however the only drawback of the entire drums performance was the bassist at stage left. he stood stone faced throughout the entire set and rarely cracked a smile; he played fine but looked as though he would have rather been anywhere else than onstage. for a band that no doubt hundreds if not thousands of bassists would clamor to go on tour with, his lack of interest was evident and provided the only blemish on an otherwise solid performance. 

"this is a song about being retard-- er, mentally ill," pierce said, quickly correcting himself, before launching into "i need a doctor." oddly enough the song was the most sensual and erotically charged of the entire set. the band dedicated "down by the water" to president obama for his recent announcement of support for same-sex marriage.

"this is by far the best audience we've had so far on this tour," pierce said early in the set. there was no doubt the audience was enthusiastic as they danced, cheered and sung along to every tune. by the time the band played their final encore number, "let's go surfing," the crowd's excitement reached an orgiastic frenzy. 

there were two opening bands: craft spells, who played a brief, lively set that was well-received, and part time, who succeeded only in making the other two bands look even better than they already were. 

check out the drums' upcoming tour dates here.

gemini club: "nothing but history"

handclaps and tambourines. yes. from gemini club's second EP here we sit, which you can download here.

gemini club - nothing but history

marina and the diamonds: "bubblegum bitch"

on the lead track of electra heart marina and the diamonds wants to make it clear: this time around, it's all about pop, feeling good and having fun. well, not exactly. 

while marina diamandis's sophomore album certainly marks a departure in sound from her first, trading piano-pop for electropop/dance, the tone of electra heart is strikingly similar to the family jewels. both are exceedingly melancholy and steeped in pain and self-loathing. and therein lies the problem. 

there's nothing wrong with making a sad album, nor is there nothing wrong with making a dance-pop album rife with melancholy lyrics. but electra heart sends mixed messages and the listener is caught in the balance of deciding whether marina wants us to drink and dance the night away or drink ourselves into a self-hating blackout.

marina and the diamonds - bubblegum bitch

scissor sisters: "only the horses" + calvin harris remix

the scissor sisters' newest is awfully predictable and doesn't break any new ground but it's nonetheless enjoyable.

[ALBUM REVIEW] king charles: "loveblood"

Rating: ★★★★☆

king charles blew up the blogosphere, and my iPod, with his track "love lust" in 2009. two years prior, charles costa, once a sociology student at durham university, adopted the moniker and personality of the foppish king charles; he used his chops as a classically trained singer and instrumentalist to produce a mesmerizing often manic blend of psychedelic folk-pop. imagine peter, paul and mary collaborated with donovan and produced an album while they were on the greatest acid trip of their lives. the result might be loveblood, king charles' long-awaited debut.

though he toured extensively and released two singles from the album in 2011 the king has generally flown under the radar the last two years. that can be damaging for a new artist's career in this instant-gratification, short attention span-culture. "here today, gone tomorrow" isn't just a well-worn phrase, it's a way of life in the independent music world. luckily, loveblood will restore king charles to the forefront of public consciousness. there is so much happening on this record. doo-wop ("bam bam," "love road"), banjo picking ("the brightest lights"), island steel drums ("lady percy"), as well as country and glam rock all have their moments to shine but, somehow, it works. and king charles' works his pipes to maximum effect.

king charles - loveblood

king charles - bam bam

king charles - polar bear

king charles - lady percy

aleksander with: "nightrun"

it's no surprise that aleksander with performed one of a-ha's songs when he was in the top 3 of norway's idol competition. with sounds a lot like his fellow norwegians. (for the record the song was "i've been losing you" and with was in the top 3.) with's third eponymous album is rife with pop glamour especially on tracks like the synth-sparkling "nightrun."

aleksander with - nightrun

jj: "beautiful life"

when i saw that jj's newest single was called "beautiful life" i thought for sure it was a cover of ace of base's 1995 hit. sadly, this is not the case. but jj's own "beautiful life" is full of tropical sunsets, summertime sadness, and cocaine.

adam lambert: "never close our eyes"

it's not that i don't like adam lambert or any of the american idol alum. adam is talented for sure. it's just that the winners, the runners-up, the show, the format, etc. are all contrived. isn't there enough terrible music out there? ai is the corporate machine of boring. after kelly clarkson, the show should have been canceled. (although sanjaya was amusing.) that said, adam kills it on his new single "never close our eyes" from his forthcoming album trespassing. maybe there's hope after all.

nite jewel: "in the dark"

mystery jets: "take me where the roses grow"

for mystery jets' latest album, radlands, the u.k. rockers hunkered down in an austin recording studio following a show at SXSW and drew inspiration from the southwest scenery. the result is as you might expect: organic tunes heavy on guitars and pedal steel, all evoking the sensations of a dusty, dreamy sun-drenched landscape. 

mystery jets - take me where the roses grow

st. lucia: "all eyes on you" and "before the dive"

there are two alternative weeklies in san francisco: SF weekly and the san francisco bay guardian. i love and hate both for various reasons. but one thing is for sure: nobody better bother me on wednesdays when the new issues are out. i read both cover-to-cover and by the last pages i always end up appreciating a bit more just how fucking cool san francisco is. i read SF weekly first. there's a column called "bouncer" by katy st. clair near the end of each issue. each piece is like "sex & the city" only boyfriends are replaced by the city's bars and watering holes. (i believe the working title was "sips & the city.") while i've been reading for the paper for years katy's column never interested me. then i read it one day and realized i was missing a gold mine of funny, insightful musings and damn good writing. now it's the first thing i read in SF weekly every wednesday.

she talks about her life, friends, opinions and ideas and ties each bar review together with a theme or idea. over the years i've created a perfect image of what she looks like in my head. i know what color her hair is, how long it is, whether or not she wears glasses (hint: she wears sunglasses, but always takes them off indoors no matter the lighting), what kind of clothes she wears. it sounds creepy but truthfully i have never seen a picture of her. i don't actually know what she looks like. and i don't want to know. for all i know i've sat next to her on BART several times. she's exactly who i want her to be in my head and i like it that way.

we do this with writers, artists, musicians, actors, etc. it's celebrity culture. we create their persona in our heads, draw conclusions and make judgments. sometimes if you get to meet that person in real life it's never quite what you imagined. how could it be? you're either pleasantly surprised or overwhelmingly devastated.

so when i heard st. lucia and decided to post a couple of his songs i was tempted to do my obligatory google search, facebook wall read and twitter twatting to find out some juicy tidbits. but i didn't. his music, lush and classical like crashing waves at the seashore, was just too perfect in my head. what if i dug around for information and found out he wasn't interesting or i didn't like him. then again i might find out we share a love for some obscure artist. but in my head he and his music are exactly what i want them to be.