One Bird; Hold the Bowl of Fire

I stumbled on Andrew Bird years and years ago at SXSW. back then he was with 2-3 other gents as Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire. At the time his claim to fame was playing violin on the Squirrel Nut Zippers records. Well, he quietly kept to his weird art jazz stylings, kept putting out records and touring and kept putting out great work. He has since dropped the Bowl of Fire, and has continued to cultivate his style, in all kinds of ways, all of them good. He's an amazing songwriter and violinist and a showman. If you have a chance to see him, I recommend it highly. It's a show even your parents would enjoy. His shows get a 9, the first two Bowl of Fire records get 9, and his latest, Mysterious Production of Eggs, gets a 8.

So here's some flavor from his latest offering:
Andrew Bird- Nervous Tick Motion of the Head to the Left
Andrew Bird- Fake Palindromes

And an old school Bowl Of Fire track as well:
Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire- Glass Figurine

Ooops

Sorry about the Black Moustache track. I forgot I got that one on iTunes. If it happens again, just let me know...

More girls...

Obviously I love all things British. But don't think that I am limited to British indie music. I even love the cheesy British top 40 chart pablum. They know how to do pop much better than we do, no question. And my latest faves are Girls Aloud. They actually aren't that cute, or hot really, and they don't sing particularly well. But they have that undeniable top of the UK charts sound and feel that US acts just can't replicate. For more pics check out their website.

This was for me probably the single of 2005. Perfect pop music. Their record, Chemistry, gets a 6, this track gets a 9.

Girls Aloud- Biology

Get the Chikinki...

A few SXSWs ago, I was at Waterloo debating what records to buy and checking out The Cooper Temple Clause instore performance. As I went over the list of possible purchases, Ben of The Coopers advised plainly and strongly, "Get The Chikinki. Trust me, just get the Chikinki."
So I did. And I still can't believe this band doesn't have a label in the US. (Even though this seems to be my M.O., If I like a band, they cant get a US label. It's my curse.) Chikinki makes dance rock, somewhat in the vein of the Rapture, especially live. But they seem to truly toe the line between dance and rock better than most though. I have seen their tracks on dance mixes as much as indie compilations. They have a new record but I have yet to hear it. I'll keep you posted. For now, Lick your Ticket by Chikinki gets a 7.5.

Chikinki- Ether Radio

On Fire!

First off, I have to say that a couple of years ago, I declared a moratorium on comparing bands to My Bloody Valentine. MBV seemed to have become the "go to" band to compare new acts to. If there was some feedback or dissonance, the band was the second coming of MBV. But they ALL failed. No one sounds like MBV and most of the bands that try just depress me. So, no more, let's put that to rest!

Now while they are no MBV, Amusement Parks On Fire do have some good tunes. Yes, there is some feedback and the word "ethereal" does come to mind. And yeah the songs do have a nice pop tune underlying the chaos. So that should be enjoyed, not compared. And just to avoid the MBV thing, let's say they remind me of Catherine Wheel and Swervedriver. I only have an EP of theirs, but unlike other bands, it actually convinced me more than their live show (which was a bit lacking). Live they get a 5, but this EP gets a 7. If you are itching to find a new shoe gazer band, you could do a lot worse.

Amusement Parks On Fire- Blackout

Make way for the Esss Ohhhh Veeee

I first heard Lady Sovereign on the Streets "Fit But You Know It (Remix)". Of the 4 guest MCs (all men except for her), she was the total standout. Maybe it was her voice or her swagger, but I will also say she has some rhyme skills as well. She's very cute (which I am sure makes a difference to me), tre british, very snotty, but also totally listenable. Some disagree with that and can't stand her, and I will say that she's proabably an acquired taste. And honestly as I hear more of her stuff I see that she may never bat a thousand, but she does have some real bangers. So far, she has only released Vertically Challenged in the US and that gets a 6, but some tracks on there are more like 8s. Here's my fave:

Lady Sovereign- Random

She also has a collabo with the Ordinary Boys (another fave I'll post about soon). So check that out here:

Lady Sovereign- 9 to 5 (Ordinary Boys remix)

Belgian rock and roll

So this band is one of the main reasons I started this thing. Millionaire is a band from Belgium. They rose from the ashes of Belgium's Evil Superstars which also begat dEUS. The "band" is actually one guy, Tim Van Hammel. He acutally toured in a version of the Eagles of Death Metal a while back and he has worked with Josh Homme of QOTSA and EODM on various things.

The first thing that caught my attention about this band was their video for a song on their Outside the Simian Flock record called "Champagne." The video was made by a friend of Tim's and it had actually been making the rounds for a while. Reportedly offers from bands like the Beasties had been snubbed for a few years. But the song worked so well with the Millionaire track that they ok'd it for Tim. It's fab. Note those are rollerskates, not inline skates.

Here's that video:


From there I asked around and got a hold of the whole record. The songs range from almost metal to sweet ballads and is just kind of all over the place, but in the best way possible. Their new record only gets about a 6 but Simian Flock gets a 8.5. It may be hard to find, but it's worth the search.

Millionaire also has lots of tracks that would fit in nicely in my dream strip club set list, such as:

Millionaire- Body Experience Revue

Commentary please

Oh btw, comment a lot on here. I have no way of knowing if you like or hate these songs, so speak up early and often so I can get you what you want. Also, if you know of a record that is coming out and you really want to hear something from it, let me know. If i don't have it I can probably get it.

So chat it up.

Black Angels

I don't remember where I heard about these guys (My Space maybe). The Black Angels are from Austin and have a great handle on that psychedelia thing that is making waves nowadays (Warlocks, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Dead Meadow, etc.). Proof they are cool... The morning after girls have become friends with them (the similarities are there). I think the Black Angels are a bit more retro than the girls, but still worth your time. The full length runs a bit too long for my tastes, but it' still pretty strong. I give it a 7.

Check out tracks at Scenestars.net:

The Black Angels- Manipulation
The Black Angels- Empire

Franz remixed

I love me some Franz Ferdinand. I also love a good remix that really f's up the original. So when I heard this remix a few months back, I was in heaven. It's as though FF took a class in the basics of hiphop and came out with a Zulu Nation tribute. Justice kills it. Plain and simple.

Justice has been signed to Vice in the US and they are doing a bang up job in the remix game. if you see their rmxs, get em. This one in particular gets an 8.

Franz Ferdinand- "The Fallen (Ruined by Justice)" (via SovietPanda)