Pure Bathing Culture >> You know it's your time, you're the one

Pure Bathing Culture - "Pendulum"

(Partisan Records [U.S.] / Memphis Industries [Europe],  2013)

It's a huge honor to present this song.  I first heard it in summer 2k13 on Sirius' XM U station.  I was immediately floored that an unknown new band could barge out of the gates with such a masterfully-crafted song.  (Though I secretly wondered if Pure Bathing Culture was Memoryhouse under a new name...)  And the opening jangly guitar chords made me think it was a cover of the Go-Betweens' brilliant "Streets Of Your Town" (see video embedded below), but luckily it turned out to be an entirely new song by an entirely new band, and it blew me an entirely new mind.

This truly should've been a massive radio hit.  If you're a fan of production like I am, you'll revel in every little detail of this song as it leaps out of the speakers with unmitigated authority, and it will truly be stuck in your head for the rest of your life.  I'm sure the band's manager or publicist is a nice person, and was smart enough to choose to work with such a talented band, but he or she needs to be replaced immediately.  In America's current musical climate, in which completely hookless, soulless songs by the likes of Vampire Weekend, Arctic Monkeys, and Arcade Fire are becoming hits or semi-hits left and right, it should be pretty easy for any trained squid to finesse this song onto playlists nationwide.  Obviously it did get onto Sirius, which is quite a taste-making entity, but the only times I've heard it on WTUL were when I requested it.  In fact, a DJ last fall played it back-to-back with "Streets Of Your Town," at my request.  I also got KLSU to play it last fall at my request.  It was on some sort of regular rotation on Sirius XM U, because I heard it several more times there.  In fact, Sirius was so devoted to this band that they hosted a live in-studio performance / interview session in September.  I recorded some of it, mainly because the lyrics to "Pendulum" were a lot easier to make out in the live version.  Watch it here.

Here's the Go-Betweens song I mentioned above.  Check out how similar the opening guitar part is to that of "Pendulum":

Note: That's the "big-budget" version of the video; there was also a more low-key original version that focused more literally on the streets of an Aussie town.  So, if the Go-Bees were able to get TWO videos made for their killer song, how come Pure Bathing Culture didn't even get one? Refer back to the criticisms I had for PBC's management...)

Download an interesting remix of this song called "Pendulum (Women's Hour Edit)" for free here.

Stairway left after bombing of Aleppo, Syria by the Assad regime. This reminded me of a pendulum.
(Posted by Tumblr user miymintimatmazel; photographer unknown.)

Planets with similar climates: The Go-Betweens - "Streets Of Your Town" (1988), Puro Instinct - "Slivers Of You" (2010), Cocteau Twins - "Heaven Or Las Vegas" (1990), Memoryhouse - "Heirloom" & "Sleep Patterns" (2011), Spiritualized - "Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space" (1997), Wild Nothing - "Through The Grass" (2012), Slowdive - "Alison" (1993).

Moons >> Saw you in a dream screaming in the dark

Moons - "Waves At Night"

(No Recordings, 2012)

I got this song via Under The Radar magazine's free mp3 sampler #44.  I bought the mag to give to my sister, since it has Grimes on the cover and it named Wild Nothing's Nocturne as the best album of 2012.  (That's my pick for album of the year too, by a wide margin.)  It's such a good issue that I bought it despite the fact that the phrases "Passion Pit" and "Sleigh Bells" appear on the cover.  Moons is apparently a one-man project by a guy named Patrick Canaday from Atlanta.  The vocodered vocals at the beginning are presumably by Canaday, and I read that the female vocals are by some people named Lorely Rodriguez & Arielle Guitar.  Looks like chillwave ain't dead yet...

This effing tight song is the b-side on Moons' debut 7" called "Bloody Mouths," which is the first-ever release on a label called No Recordings.  The 7" is limited to 250 copies on cream-colored vinyl, and the covers are made via hand-stamping; see several pics of it here.  Unfortunately, it retails for $10, but I would presume it'll be repressed on black vinyl at a much cheaper price once the demand begins to rise.  i think demand will indeed rise, since this single seems to be getting lots of attention on various music sites / blogs.

Here's the video for "Bloody Mouths," subtitled "(Watchtower Version)" for some reason, though it appears to be the only available version:

A rather daring and probably illegal performance art piece by Chris Burden; apparent inspiration for Trumans Water's "Skyjacker" 7"

Thur. Feb. 21: Saw Caspian, Junius, Aiua at Siberia.  It was very loud, and the club played Hüsker Dü's New Day Rising in between bands to ensure that it would not get any quieter.  Even local instro-rockers Aiua, who I had remembered as being quite atmospheric and spacey from seeing them at Dragon's Den, were aggressive and almost metal.  Two of their four members were shirtless by the end of their set.  Junius played my two favorite songs of theirs, "A Word Could Kill Her" and (as their final song) "The Fires Of Antediluvia" (a.k.a. "The Antediluvian Fire").  Their drumer wore a Deftones shirt.  A guy from Caspian wrote out a setlist for us afterwards from memory.  The merch table was so immense (covered the entire pool table and then some) that I took a pic of it.  I would say it rivaled Boris' for the most impressive merch table I've ever encountered, though The XX's from a few weeks ago is also in the discussion.

Planets with similar climates: Chromatics - "Lady" (2011), Maria Minerva - "Luvcool" (~2010), Memoryhouse - "Sleep Patterns" (2009), Julee Cruise & Angelo Badalamenti - "Falling" (1989), School Of Seven Bells - "Reappear" (2012), Grimes - "Skin" (2011), Makeup And Vanity Set feat. Jasmin Kaset - "Homecoming" (2012).

LAKE >> A falling leaf doesn't know where it goes

LAKE - "Don't Give Up"

(K Records, 2009)

I saw LAKE at the AllWays Lounge in April last year on a whim, after checking out their songs on iTunes and being struck by the simple, heartfelt beauty of "Don't Give Up." (Note: It's not a Peter Gabriel / Kate Bush cover.)  Why is LAKE able to pull off this kind of song when so many bands fail at it?  How does a 5-person band create enough space between notes for the song to breathe and have that elusive, magical, "breezy" feeling?  If the word LAKE were an acronym for something, what would it be?  Late August Kumbaya Echoes?  Love Always Kills Evil?  Low Altitude Kite Enjoyment?  Exactly.

It's one of those songs that you just have to love, no matter what type of music you're into.  And you'll want to tell everyone, even your parents, if only to show them that hey, you do actually listen to some "normal" music.  LAKE did indeed play this song at the show, so I was glad I went.  I got some mediocre pics, so I won't post them.  I believe they also did their haunting, autumnal, rather stunning song "Gravel".  The small crowd was very loud, and the band kept having to shush them.  They even had to stop playing a particularly quiet song, and went onto another one instead.  Mild-mannered lead singer Ashley Eriksson was really peeved when that happened.  Drummer / keyboardist / backing vocalist Lindsay Schieff coolly stepped to the mic near the end and sang a song or two.  (I believe she sings "Gravel.")  They did lots of instrument-swapping throughout their set; in fact, the only bands I've ever seen do as much swapping during a performance were ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead ('98), Indian Jewelry ('08 & '10) and Tortoise ('98).  Portland seems to be a really talented area when it comes to music, and I would in fact call it a hotbed of music.  Coincidentally, I had seen another Portland band, YACHT, earlier that same day; they played for free at Tulane's main outdoor quad.  See a synth-tastic clip here.  I mentioned this to a LAKE member and he was surprised that he hadn't known about that show, and said "We're good friends with them."  In summary, there's no logical reason why LAKE is not one of the biggest bands in indie pop.  According to K Records' website, LAKE have "recorded 12 full length albums (only 3 of which have seen proper release)."

In honor of the band's name, here's a(n uncropped) photo that I took recently right behind NOMA (New Orleans Museum of Art):

If you know my love of swans, you'll know that I immediately made this my computer's desktop image.  A similar photo of two swans taken here in City Park has been my cellphone's "desktop" pic for around 5 years.

I was actually planning on posting a song called "The Sea" by the band I'm about to talk about, but you'll see why I'm not gonna.  However, you can download it for free here.

Wed. Oct. 24: I decided to go see Brooklyn band EXITMUSIC at Circle Bar in NOLA, even though I was not blown away by them when they opened for School Of Seven Bells in April in Baton Rouge.  (I will spell their name Exitmusic from here on out, just because.)  I wanted to see them as headliners, especially since they have a new, well-received album under their belt.

Detailed chalkboard marquee outside the bar

I hadn't been to this place in two years, and it had been shut down for most of that time for renovations and for not having a valid music license.  Anyway, it now finally has air conditioning, and the ceiling has been raised, but it's still the size of a large living room.  The opening act, local singer Miss Mec, was good in an old-fashioned, laid-back, Cat Power kind of way.  Her music is often described as "Cajun reggae."  She and a guy played for a while at low volume with no drummer, and got a good response from the crowd.  They did a cover of "Moody River," and ended with a cover of "A Change Is Gonna Come."

Mec did a slight faux-pas by telling us "Exit Wounds are up next, you guys. They're awesome!"  She quickly caught her error and corrected it, and made a quip about Samuel L. Jackson.  (I just looked up that movie and he's actually not in it, meaning it's one of about 6 movies from the last two decades that he has not been in.)  So everything was just dandy so far.  I'm chilling out in NOLA at one of its coziest, coolest little bars, about to see an up and coming band (whom I generally describe as "a darker Beach House") for 5 bucks, and there's even A/C now.  Little did I know that I was about to see the biggest meltdown I had ever seen from a band...

Exitmusic tried to do a soundcheck for a good while (I found out afterwards that their van had broken down), and the guitarist was getting a bit irked.  I should mention that back in April, they had a live drummer, but this time they didn't.  The walls were rattling, and there was a problem with the vocal mic'ing.  It didn't help that there was a very enthusiastic heckler bellowing obnoxious things when the singer was trying to warm up.  He finally said loudly "This isn't a sound system, this is a shit system!"  This was after he had said something like "This place is a joke."  The bartender shot back "Thanks for choosing Circle Bar!"  The guitarist growled back "Did someone just say something?"  I don't know if he knew that it was the bartender who had said that to him.  I took a brief video clip, but didn't want him to smash my camera or something, plus I was still holding out hope for some more songs, so I stopped filming.  Here's a verbatim quote from my clip: "I don't know why we got booked here to play a fuckin' show that we can't play... It just, uh... It doesn't fuckin' work."   Anyway, the guitarist announced to his bandmates that they would try to play 2 or 3 songs and then leave.  This was apparently news to said bandmates.  After several uncomfortable minutes, they played the beginning of "The Sea," then restarted it and played it all the way through.  Everything was rattling in the building, but at least they finished it, and the crowd cheered louder than you would think such a small crowd could.

They then played "The Modern Age" and got another big cheer.  I was actually a bit irked that the crowd was cheering so loudly after the club had just been disrespected, but I was happy that the show was getting underway.  But then things took a drastic turn for the worse as the guitarist literally screamed "My wife has the most beautiful voice in the world and you can't even fucking hear it!"  (I know that's a verbatim quote from "My" up to "world," and the rest is probably verbatim too.)  The club's booker, a really nice, mild-mannered guy named Jason Songe, walked up to him in a friendly way and talked with him.  He must've thought Songe was the soundman because he argued with him about the acoustics.  The singer appeared to be on the verge of tears, and she was definitely trying to keep the show going, but her husband was clearly on the warpath.   (I did not film any of this part.) I was wearing an Unwound shirt, and the word on my shirt felt pretty appropriate for what was going on.  I mentioned to the singer that I had seen them recently, and that I liked their final song at that concert a lot ("Sparks Of Light"), and asked if they could maybe just play it acoustically or something.  She seemed agreeable with that concept, and said "Yeah, we always finish with that song."  And they started both shows with "The Sea," for what it's worth.  But it never happened, and the band slowly took down its gear.  The bartender (I talked with her afterwards but didn't get her name) eventually found the band members when they were on this side porch area and said "You guys have got to leave."  She later told me "We were really excited about this show!  We promoted the hell out of it."  She said how much she loves her club and that she was not gonna let anyone disparage it.  So yeah, Exitmusic lived up to their name.  It was easily the biggest meltdown I had ever seen.  I had been chatting with this genial older couple next to me at the bar who said it was their first time ever coming to this place.  I really doubt they'll ever come back.

If a tree falls in a small forest and no one hears it, did it make a sound?  If no one hears about what happened on this night and the band gets off scot-free, would that be right?  On the other hand, do I want their career to be destroyed because of one dismal night?  Well, no.  What I have a problem with is the fact that this incident was kind of like if you went to see Wham! and Andrew Ridgely was being a dick, while George Michael was being professional and trying to get things back on track.  What I'm saying is, a person can destroy an artist's career by giving a biased summary of what happened, but in this case, the thing that would kill this band's career would be if someone had simply filmed the entire event from start to finish, with no narration or anything else.  In other words, with no critical opinion or bias involved.  The simple, unedited footage would simply stun club bookers across the country/world.  But as far as I know, no such footage exists, so the band's career is in no jeopardy.  To play devil's advocate, imagine you are in the band Exitmusic on the night of October 24, 2012.  You have van problems, then arrive at a club with that has an admittedly non-amazing sound system and lacks a soundman, then you get accidentally introduced as Exit Wounds by the opening act, then you get heckled while warming up, and you realize only a few dozen people have even shown up.  Would you be in a bit of a bad mood?  Of course.  But the first concert I ever saw at Circle Bar was Lubricated Goat, in March '04.  Including the bartender, there were FOUR people in the building, but the band played a set for us and didn't complain one bit.  That's called being professional.

I should mention that right when Exitmusic decided not to play any more songs, the jukebox began blasting David Bowie's "Let's Dance" at a much louder volume than I had ever heard any jukebox ever play before.  I cracked up at this song choice, and assumed the bartender had selected it, but she said it was just the next song up in the queue.  But it was still great to have a dour band chased offstage by such a bouncy, kinetic song, sung by someone who is presumably one of their idols.

Anyway, I'm glad I got to see two songs, and I commiserated with Miss Mec afterwards.  She is seriously one of the nicest, realest people ever, and I predict big things for her.  She told me she was singing with a Black Keys-ish band called Strange Roux the following week at the Carousel Bar.

Look at the body language in this poster and ask yourself which band member was probably the self-absorbed one and which was probably the sweet and apologetic one:

Hint: The nice one had a side gig acting on HBO's series Boardwalk Empire.

So, I very sarcastically dedicate LAKE's "Don't Give Up" to Exitmusic on several levels:
1.) Both bands are fronted by a married couple.
2.) Both have capitalized, one-word names.
3.) Both played shows in small clubs to approximately the same size crowd (~20 people) in New Orleans.
4.) Exitmusic gave up on their show, whereas LAKE did not, even though LAKE's lead singer was sick and Exitmusic seemed to be in perfect health.
5.) LAKE don't need extreme volume to get their songs across, because they are so meticulously sculpted that they'd sound good with loud amplification, acoustically, or anywhere in between.  Perhaps Exitmusic's songs are too, but I doubt we'll ever find out.

By the way, the bartender told me that Exitmusic donated the entirety of their cut of the money to the opening act.

Thu. Oct. 25: I went to Euclid Records.  Amazingly, the only other customer in there was a girl who had been at the show last night, but I didn't say anything to her.  I got a spare copy of The Lucy Show's awesome LP ...Undone for only a dollar.

I don't want to go into too much detail on it, but that night I had to call 911 for the first time in my life after an incident of road rage was directed at me.  Maybe more on this after I decide what kind of legal action to pursue or not pursue...  Another example of a simple unedited video clip being all that is needed to settle a dispute, and in this case, I do have a video clip of the incident.  The police officer to whom I showed the clip told me he'd "tear this guy a new one" if he ever got a hold of him.  Which, considering the extreme and violent stuff that cops see in their daily line of work, should tell you something about what happened.

Sat. Oct. 27: A severe cold front moved in, dropping the temperature from about 85º to about 60º. Rather than going to the ludicrously expensive Voodoo Fest in N.O., I went to a free festival called Houmapalooza.  ("HOE-muh-pah-LOO-zuh.")  The bands played on the steps of the Terrebone Parish Courthouse.  I skipped the first 4 bands but saw the others.

The first band I saw was a Houma pop/rock band called Autumn High.  They could become sort of Cranberries-esque or Sundays-esque if they develop more dreamy melodies.  Their singer has a ridiculously pretty, operatic voice, as can be heard in their new single "Jester".  If she can rein it in a bit, she could become literally the voice of Terrebone Parish.  They closed their set with that song.  Ocean Of Storms played a riff-heavy set.  Meta The Man were the undisputed highlight, and I got several video clips of them.  They were the main reason I went.  I had never heard of them until that afternoon, and after checking out their album on Bandcamp, I decided they were worth seeing.  They seem to be influenced by the overall aesthetic of At The Drive-In, with the addition of some progressive, artsy stuff.  But don't worry, they sound nothing like The Mars Volta.  Their keyboardist even played some noise cello (really) at one or two points.  I bought their CD afterwards for $5, and found out they're from the small town of Norco.  Outpost 11 were a full-on '80s metal band from down the road in Cut Off, home of the Cajun cannon, Bobby Hebert.  They had a drum riser and an underdeveloped fog show.  After allowing myself to let go of the pretentious music snob in me, I was able to enjoy them for what they are.  In true James Hetfield fashion, the singer began each with an enthusiastic "This next song is called ___!"  An old lady next to me lent me her Saints blanket after seeing I was shivering.  She exclaimed about one of Outpost 11's songs, after the singer announced that it has been getting play on 92.3 FM: "I liked that one.  Reminded me of Nickelback."   The only New Orleans band on the bill was next.  I, Octopus played an energetic instrumental set, with the Jazzmaster-wielding guitarist introducing each track by saying "This song is about sports," "This song is about bees," This song is about flowers," and so on.  I think he was antagonizing the crowd a bit.  It was very cold, and Voodoo had sucked away most of the music fans in the region, so the turnout was low.  The final band, Chaos Of The Cosmos (yes, lots of cool band names at this event) churned out some mediocre party rock.  They had two go-go dancers in front of the stage who also did some hula-hooping, and lots of little girls from the crowd joined in on the hula-ing.  It was pretty entertaining.  I should also point out I met a tremendous lady who is directing a documentary called Art On The Bayou, about local bands and artists who exist outside the sphere of Louisiana influence.  I'll be first in line to see it whenever it comes out.  And I wandered into a new art gallery and talked to a lady there who seemed interested in showing some of my art.  I also met I, Octopus' drummer and his girlfriend (wife?).  I've long thought of them as the Brangelina of the N.O. post-rock / indie rock scene, since if you don't see them at a show, you know it's not a cool show to be at.  He also drums for some other local bands.  So it was a pretty interesting day.  I stopped in at the only cool Houma music club, The Boxer & The Barrel, but a local band that I don't like was playing, so I bailed and drove home.  I have to say I can't believe I almost missed out this crazy day just so I could go see Silversun Pickups and Justice at Voodoo... Not that it would've sucked, but it would not have surpassed the peripheral things that I experienced at Houmapalooza.

Mon. Oct. 29: "Frankenstorm" hit the New England area, and conspiracy theories abound as to whether or not it was engineered by the gov't to give Obama a boost in the polls right before the election.  (See: HAARP.)  Sorry, but a snowstorm and a hurricane intersecting in late October, one week before the election?  The gov't. allowed Pearl Harbor (this is 100% fact) and 9/11 (about 90% sure) to happen, so this Frankenstorm thing doesn't surprise me at all.

Lawrence Wilkerson, former Colin Powell aide, blasts Sununu, GOP, as 'full of racists'

Nation suddenly remembers simple comforts of having out-of-touch white man run country

Planets with similar climates: Papas Fritas - "Way You Walk" (2000), Ben Folds Five - "Smoke" (1996), Velour 100 - "Stare Into Light" (1996), The American Analog Set - "Gone To Earth" (1996).

Maria Minerva >> Northern star, what you are

Maria Minerva - "Luvcool" (a.k.a. "Lovecool")

(Not Not Fun Records, 2011)

This song is like a complex crystal built from deceptively simple molecules.  It's a perfect example of "less is more," and the importance of simply playing the right notes.  If that opening keyboard drone note was any lower or higher, it simply would not mesh with her voice the right way, and if Maria sang the opening word "Cool" differently, it would just not be as starkly beautiful.  Drea immediately remarked that this song has a real Twin Peaks feel to it, and I had to agree.

Maria Minerva was born Maria Juur in Estonia, and is now based in London.  She has written for the super-highbrow music magazine The Wire.  I had been hearing about her for the last year or so, as one of many artsy female electro-pop crooners.  After thinking about going to see her opening for Jesus & Mary Chain-esque retro fuzz-poppers Moon Duo, the evening arrived and still had not decided.  And there was a somewhat shockingly contentious Vice Presidential debate on TV.  The show was gonna start at 10 PM and I live an hour away.  I was quite sure I'd be able to see her when she returns as a headliner someday, but a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.  9:00 rolled around; listening to some of her stuff on YouTube... "I'm a dude whose main love is shoegaze & post-punk type music; why do I even feel the need to see all these solo female electronic musicians?"  Striking me as a more less-girly, more "European" version of Grimes, or a less pretentious Laurie Anderson... 9:15... Listening to some more, still also listening to the debate in the other room... I forgot to shower tonight... 9:30... Welp, after listening to "Lovecool" (how it's spelled on YT) about 5 times and having my soul / mind just turn to warm lime jello, I realized this song would be haunting me for the rest of my life, and hence I had to go see her.  So at 9:45 I headed out.

Listened to MSNBC's post-debate analysis on the radio; WTUL's DJ played my request for George McCrae's "I Get Lifted" right as I pulled up to Siberia.  I had previously only been to two shows here, and one Record Raid.  In fitting with its name, the club now serves what is billed as New Orleans' only true Russian / Slavic food, so I ordered a $4 provolone blini (Russian crepe) and $2 grilled asparagus while watching a blonde-looking lady setting up some equipment onstage in the nearly-empty building.  It turned out to be Maria, who I guess dyes her hair darker in her videos.  She began by saying "Can you guys come in closer, away from the bar?" and some people obeyed.  There were film clips projected behind her the whole time.  She had some sound problems, due to getting to the club right before 10; "This is what happens when you don't have a sound check," she said apologetically at one point after having to restart a song, and I had flashbacks to Grimes' performance at Tulane's quad last March.  She only played for 30 minutes, and did not do "Luvcool," so I was disappointed, but was still glad I had gone, since I would have always been wondering if she played it or not.  I think most of the crowd was a bit dumbfounded by her music, especially the singing.  Like many great singers her voice can admittedly sound off-key until your ears adjust to her style.  I could sense some snickering going on just based on how people were turning to their neighbors and talking while smiling.  (For example, Bob Dylan has a terrible voice but is a great singer, if that makes any sense.)  I think her voice is more suited to icy, almost-whispered songs like "Luvcool," just as Grimes' voice is better-suited to songs like "Be A Body."  She could totally become the go-to female guest vocalist in all of indiedom, not just in synth-popdom or chillwavedom.  I'm not trying to turn this site into Hipster Runoff or anything, but hopefully Maria will supplant the rather boring and pretentious Zola Jesus.

It's kind of freaky how much she resembles my dad's sister Kathleen.  I also kept thinking to myself how much she resembles Lindsey Vonn, even down to the height (probably almost 6 feet) and the frankly startling Olympic swimmer build, which was only startling because most indie dudettes & dudes tend to be so rail-thin and lacking in musculature.  Those N. Europeans are generally the most unweak on earth, which you'd know if you've ever watched those World's Strongest Man or CrossFit competitions on ESPN2.  Maria Minerva is probably Lindsey Vonn.  Maria Minerva is Lindsey Vonn.  Maria Minerva is the world's foremost female downhill skiier.  Lindsey Vonn is the most meteorically-rising composer of electronic avant-pop.  Maria Minerva was on a Wheaties box.

Pic with no flash during middle of her set, showing projected video

Pic with flash during her last song; the flash obviously killed the video

I took one flash pic as I on my way out the door to get a few moments of refreshing air; this turned out to be at the end of her last song.  Camera battery died soon after, so the existence of the pic itself is sort of a miracle.  Saw her outside a little later and gave my standard "Good show."  Her accent is quite odd, since English is probably not her main language; she sounds kind of like Marlee Matlin.  I was wearing a black shirt with 4 gold dolphins and the word "MAUI."  "Mah-oo-ee?" (or something like that) she asked, while touching the word on the shirt.  I told her I came in just to see "Luvcool" and added "and you didn't play it, or at least I don't think you did."  She confirmed she didn't, and asked if I had seen the video.  I said yeah.  She said she can't play it live because she no longer has the computer on which she composed it about 3 years ago, which had all the synth presets; I forgot if she said it had been stolen or if she just lost it.  I told her she should re-record it and should definitely keep working on it / start playing it, but I stupidly forgot to ask her what the song is about.  Also forgot to ask if she tried the club's food to see if it passed the authenticity test.  She said she was surprised at the low turnout because "Moon Duo are big," so I explained the neighborhood's new no-concert-flyers rule.  I asked if opening act Sir Stephen (misspelled on the chalkboard outside as Sir Stephan) had gone on before I got there, and she said "No, he's on next.  He's my fwend; you should come back inside and watch him."  Then she indicated that the convo was over when she reached out and shook my hand and said that she had to go back inside.  So yeah, that was my little 5-minute brush with the next Laurie Anderson or Grimes or, if she gets more into multimedia stuff, Miranda July.  Her future stardom is all but a given.  She has boundless charisma, friendliness and energy, and zero ego whatsoever, so it's weird that people probably think of her as an "ice queen" based on her music / image.

Other show tidbits: DJ Perpetual Care played Kraftwerk's "Trans Europe Express" and "Numbers," among dozens of other songs.  In fact, the vast majority of the music came from his decks, since there was only 75 mins. of live music in the 3.5 hours I spent there.  Sir Stephen, with trumpeter in tow, got bumped.  DJ PC pointed me to him, so we chit-chatted and he apologized and seemed really bummed out.  He's a local dude on 100% Silk Records, a disco-ish offshoot of Not Not Fun, hence he and Maria are basically labelmates.  He told me he and Maria had just met tonight, so I thought it was cute that Maria already thought of him as a friend.  But that's just her personality: super-friendly as fuck.

I put 2011 as the date at the top of this page, even though I mentioned that she said she recorded the song about 3 years ago, which would be around 2009 or early 2010.  If you stole her computer, please return it to me.

Staking Chinese Pistachio trees with Parkway Partners peeps, incl. Nell Howard, Tim Hurley, and two guys whose names I have temporarily forgotten.  This was the biggest and most annoying tree, so we had to rock the roots back and forth to sever some of them.  Pic by my sis, who provided moral encouragement and called this pic the "Iwo Jima moment."  I'm in the red Drew Brees jersey, as I mentioned before:

Mon. Oct. 15: Saw MONO at the Spanish Moon for the fourth time; Chris Brokaw (ex-Codeine guy) opened.  More on that show next time maybe.

Today: Tamaryn's new album drops, but they are not coming here on their tour with the equally dream-poppy Young Prisms.  Still mad at myself for skipping the Prisms last year.  Tamaryn's new single is sorta forgettable, not nearly as amazing as "Dawning" (then again, what is?), but the new album is allegedly more radio-friendly as a whole.
Probably going to eat at GW Fins tonight for my parents' anniversary, even though it's a seafood restaurant and I don't eat seafood.

Oops: Without permission, Paul Ryan and family show up washing clean dishes at Ohio soup kitchen - "The Post reports that Ryan made the unscheduled stop after an event at Youngstown State University, and was there for about 15 minutes.  But though the pictures taken show Ryan apparently doing dishes, the food had already been served and everything had already been cleaned before he got there."

Planets with similar climates: Julee Cruise & Angelo Badalamenti - "Falling" (1989), Memoryhouse - "Lately" (2009), Laurie Anderson - "Walking & Falling" (1982), Chairlift - "Cool As A Fire" (2011), Slowdive - "Losing Today" (1990), Insides - "Darling Effect" (1993).

School Of Seven Bells >> Swing my weight around

School Of Seven Bells - "Windstorm"

(Ghostly International / Vagrant Records [U.S.]; Full Time Hobby Records [U.K.], 2010)

My town is about to get a direct hit from Hurricane Isaac, so this was the only song that kept coming to mind.  It's only gonna be a category 1, and we took a direct category 2 hit from Gustav in '08, so I'm not very worried.  The only annoying thing is moving my 100+ outdoor potted plants around.  Perhaps based on their extremely polished sound, I had always thought SVIIB were on a major label, but a check of my Disconnect From Desire CD, in beautiful paper gatefold packaging, proves otherwise.  This is truly one of the catchiest choruses I've ever heard, so beware, because it can really get stuck in your head for months at a time.  This song came out on a red vinyl 7" in the U.K., but only as a "digital single" in the U.S.  More proof that the Brits have always valued these kinds of bands more than we have over here, though ours did have an extra track, since we believe in super-sizing.

This song has that duelling-simultaneous-choruses style that reminds me of the old nursery rhyme "Frère Jacques," as well as the Psychedelic Furs' immortal "The Ghost In You."  The wussiness of the song's opening chant used to put me off, but Alejandra Deheza's main vocals have a deep, resonant, almost androgynous tone that is very awesome to my male ears, especially during the "When the fire's burning from sky to ground..." part.  The drums have a loose, jazzy feel that suits the music perfectly.  It was NPR's song of the day: "[Ben] Curtis says he began writing the chord progression based on a melody that Alejandra Deheza was singing while they were driving through the Alps; they constructed the song's transporting sound to remind listeners of the mountains."

The aforementioned extra track on the U.S. single is a predictably pounding remix by A Place To Bury Strangers.

"Bye Bye Bye" actually had more potential to be a hit than "Windstorm" did, in my opinion.

Fun Fact: The album title is from Brian Eno's storied Oblique Strategies card deck.  Yes, this band is pretentious and meticulous in all the best ways...

As I mentioned a few months ago (see here), I saw SVIIB in April '11 opening for Interpol at House Of Blues in New Orleans, and headlining at the Spanish Moon in Baton Rouge in April of this year.

Alejandra's twin sister Claudia had left the band in Sept. 2010, right after Disconnect From Desire came out, so I guess I'll never get to see the "real" / original SVIIB live.  Note: They were not at their merch table either time, so don't plan on saying hi to them at a gig.  And they did not have the "Windstorm" 7" for sale at either gig, since it had presumably sold out long ago.  They also didn't play "Dust Devil" either time, so don't go hoping to see it.  I did see Ben Curtis playing pool upstairs at the Spanish Moon right before opening act EXITMUSIC went on and unspooled their gloom-rock.  Ben's previous band, Secret Machines, kicked moderate ass at Voodoo Fest '05, doing a bombastic type of Led Zeppelin meets prog rock thing.

Former print mag CMJ's digital cover from July 26, 2010. Hilarious Fact: This was actually not SVIIB's debut album..

Go check out the album cover and then look for that strange symbol, on the band members' bodies and elsewhere, in the music video:

There was also a deluxe version of the CD that came in a box with tarot cards; these cards are reproduced in the booklet of the regular CD issue too, so don't break the bank on the deluxe CD.  I usually complain about bands that I like making super-catchy songs and then not receiving enough of a marketing push.  Well, this album got a truly impressive and diverse promotional blitz, but SVIIB's music proved to be not quite simplistic enough to compete in the current major-label or indie climates, in which lobotomized party music reigns supreme.

Cheesy '80s-style album announcement poster

You may wish to read this article, if only for the stylish photos: The evolution of Brooklyn's School Of Seven Bells

Map from two days ago

Map from today

I was gonna see the Jeff Buckley-channeling band Ours, of "Sometimes" fame, at the Parish in N.O. last night, but it was cancelled due to the storm.  I guess I'll go when it gets rescheduled.

My sister sez noted Lana Del Rey hater Brian Williams has been following around her crew at her hospital in N.O. today, so you can probably catch a glimpse of her on tonight's NBC News.

Hipster traps appear around New York City - "...which include sunglasses, a yellow bicycle chain, a Holga camera, a can of PBR and a pack of American Spirits as bait."

Planets with similar climates: My Bloody Valentine - "Drive It All Over Me" (1988), Curve - "Horror Head" (1992), The Psychedelic Furs - "The Ghost In You" (1984), Lush - "Take" (1992), Pearl Harbor / Puro Instinct - "Slivers Of You" (2010), Catherine Wheel - "Flower To Hide" (1992), Bleach - "Dipping" (1991).

Memoryhouse >> I'm not breathing without machines

Memoryhouse - "Lately (Deuxième)" (a.k.a. just "Lately")

(Beko DSL, 2009 [digital single] [France] / Arcade Sound Ltd., 2009 [digital-only EP] [Canada] / Inflated Records, 2010 [ltd. 7"], Sub Pop Records, 2011 [re-recorded CD-EP])

Memoryhouse barged into the crowded field of female-fronted dream-pop bands like a 4WD Ford F-550 dualie with Truck Nutz plowing into a herd of quail or endangered salamanders on an organic commune.  By using a low speaking voice instead of a shout at a loud party, it's often easier for one's voice to be heard, and Memoryhouse got noticed by doing essentially the same thing.  They're an example of the occasional good band that is propelled to star status by the indie music blogs and review sites, whilst getting basically zero notice from actual music magazines.  Chalk one up for new media over old media.  I really think this is one of the most important bands out there today, but unfortunately they often get dismissed as the poor man's Beach House, which is laughable.  Yes, both bands are on Sub Pop, both are boy-girl duos making depressive, dreamy music, and both have names ending in "House," but Beach House have a different, more "masculine," non-spacey, almost campy, "Euro-friendly" sound, in my opinion.  I think of their quiet stuff as just segues in between their singer's throaty bellowing, whereas for Memoryhouse the quiet stuff is the framework of everything.  I think everyone can agree that Beach House has no ties to the "chillwave" trend, whereas Memoryhouse does.  This is one of those songs that really re-established my love of music in the often dreary modern musical climate.

Original 2009/10 version:

2011 re-recording:

Mash 'em up!
Note: I will be taking down the Sub Pop version after a certain amount of time.

Yes, this song has been released by four different labels so far, though the first two are digital-only "labels," so I don't know if they count.  The Sub Pop re-recording has more prominent (DEVASTATING) piano, an ultra-powerful vocal performance, and, to top it all off, the addition of some amazingly nuanced violin.  It also has less of that thumping chillwave beat that's in the '09 version. Confusingly, the original version is subtitled "Deuxième," which is French for "Second."  So there must've been an earlier (still unreleased) version, which means the Sub Pop re-recording is actually a third version.  Got that?  Overall, it might be the best re-recording I've ever heard, and it almost singlehandedly rescues Sub Pop from the abyss of irrelevance.  (Easiest way to tell which one you have: The original version is 3:23 long and the Sub Pop one is 4:05.)

I don't know if this song is comparing having a broken heart to being on life support in a hospital, but one has to assume that it is.  When Denise distantly pleads "Shut me off," it has to be one of the most devastating lines ever uttered in any song.  Denise pretty much has a built-in Autotune in her throat, which makes her singing very unique, kind of like that of Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval.  They each like to split individual syllables into different discrete parts.  Rob Dickinson of Catherine Wheel is my favorite at this technique, used to particularly stunning effect on their debut album Ferment (which is my #2 favorite album ever).  This way of singing gives the vocals a cool stop-motion effect, like you're listening to an old movie reel with a hitch in it.  Evan Abeele's guitar playing is cinematic and pastel-like, and I think both he and Denise play synths on the song.  The music video does not feature Denise or Evan:

With only one digital EP and one 7" to their name, the 'House hit the pavement hard in 2010 on an ambitious headlining tour of indie clubs:

In August of that very annum, my sister & I saw them at One Eyed Jacks in New Orleans, with opening acts Twin Sister and a new local band called Kindest Lines.  Partly due to a thunderstorm and extreme heat, the turnout was quite low, maybe 40 or so people, but it was great to see the 'Mem rock a club with a large stage and a top-notch sound system.  They had a third member in tow on electric bass.  Denise seemed bored and distant, looking at the ceiling a lot, and she never once said anything to the crowd.
I bought the "Lately" 7" on limited colored vinyl at this show from members of Twin Sister who were manning the merch table; it's obviously one of the finest singles I've ever bought.  The b-side is a nicely trippy, deconstructed, chillwavey remix by Teengirl Fantasy.  I pretty much went to that show just to see them perform this song, and it was worth trekking into the heart of the French Quarter on this ridiculously hot / stormy / humid night.  I had my sister film "Lately," but she can't find the clip anywhere.  Sorry.  She also lost her clip of Twin Sister doing a tremendous rendition of "The Other Side Of Your Face."

iPhone pic by my sister, near the start of their set.

My 7" bought at the 2010 show; too bad it's not on black vinyl for better sound quality.  Yes, I like the "Dutch Angle" photo technique.
Notice the nearly-identical color scheme / photo treatment / clothing on the cover of their 2012 album.

Some of this song's vocals (pitch-shifted higher) were sampled in the downtempo / dream-rap (er, "cloud rap," as Generation Z calls it) song "Breaking" by a one-off supergroup called Seeing Suge.

Facebook users band together to exile Pitbull to Alaskan WalMart - “I’ve known Pitbull for a few years now, and he’s up for a party – whether it’s around the corner, or you have to get there by three planes and a boat in between, as I understand it takes to get to Kodiak.”

Planets with similar climates: Slowdive - "Losing Today" (1991), Julee Cruise - "Falling" (1989), Low - "I Remember" (original 7" version) (1998), Velour 100 - "Stare Into Light" (1996), Chairlift - "Cool As A Fire" (2011), Ella Fitzgerald - "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most" (1961), Yo La Tengo - "Damage" (1997), Red House Painters - "Drop" (1995), Portishead - "Roads" (1994).

The Sea And Cake >> Water breathing warm and heavy

The Sea And Cake - "Choice Blanket"

(Thrill Jockey Records [U.S.] / Rough Trade Records [U.K.], 1993)

Few songs immediately make me feel summer's warmth deep in my bones like this one, so I had to post it to kick off the summer.  I think I've told this story before, but in October 1996, I heard a stunningly strange and joyous song on WTUL while stuck in traffic on Jefferson Hwy. driving to a dermatology appointment.  It turned out to be "Lamont's Lament" by a band called The Sea And Cake.  I couldn't even hazard a guess as to what year it had been made, what city the band was from, what ethnicity its members were, etc., which is usually a good sign of a unique work of art.  It bewitched and bewildered me so much that I immediately sent some money to Thrill Jockey Recs. and demanded that they send me whichever TSAC CD had "Lamont's Lament" on it.  I got the CD, Nassau, a week or so later.  It came with a Thrill Jockey catalog full of stuff I would soon obtain, by groups with intriguing names like Trans Am, Tortoise, and Oval, all of whom have recently been Blowtorch Babied.  Brad Wood recorded this album in early September 1993, fresh off of becoming indie rock's producer célèbre after twiddling knobs on Liz Phair's Exile In Guyville.

Archer Prewitt shows why he is the thinking jazzbo's guitar hero on this song, unfurling effortlessly cool licks as though the bloated and/or macho genres that marred the music scenes of the 1970s, '80s, and '90s never happened.  Sam Prekop's creaky vocals are unmistakable, and his falsetto near the end is the perfect closing touch.  It's worth listening closely to his lyrics, which are cryptically beautiful and naïve in almost a beat poet kind of way.  Even the maracas are perfectly shaken on the off beats.  The baffling cover art deserves mention, since it is a guy's afro made up of around a hundred cotton balls.  There's also a painting of Charles Mingus by TSAC's bassist, Eric Claridge.  I should mention he's one of the best bassists ever, period.  The combination of that one particular shade of sky blue with that one particular shade of corn yellow just works perfectly, and puts me in the perfect mindstate to listen to the music.  See all the artwork (of the U.K. LP, to be exact) here.  As for me giving this the tag "should've been a #1 hit," well, I'm not necessarily referring to the '90s; in the '50s or '60s it could've made serious inroads on AM pop radio, and I bet the band would've been fighting off major label offers left and right.

AllMusic Guide's 4.5-star review succinctly said "The Sea and Cake's buoyant debut is a breath of fresh air, an utterly distinctive and innovative work that expands the scope of frontman Sam Prekop's work in the great Shrimp Boat to incorporate a new fascination with Afro-Caribbean rhythms and textures. Recorded by Brad Wood, the album simply glows -- Prekop's dry vocals and free-associative lyrics skip along a shimmering and lushly pastoral backdrop that nimbly fuses pop, soul, jazz, and even prog rock; tracks like 'Jacking the Ball,' 'Flat Lay the Water,' and 'Showboat Angel' are as seductive as they are elusive."

This summerrific image is used on the back cover of the CD & LP, as well as on the LP itself

My TSAC timeline:

Jan. 1996: Read about them in a long article about this new-fangled scene called "post-rock" in a guitar magazine.

Oct. '96: Hear "Lamont's Lament," immediately buy their sophomore album Nassau. (See above.)

Mar. '97: Hear a few songs from their brand-new album The Fawn in my car and am blown away.

Spring '97: Buy The Fawn on LP at Tower Records in New Orleans.

June '97: Buy The Sea And Cake CD for my dad. (See above.)
Mar. '98: Got a free The Fawn promo poster from mailorder; promptly put it up on my wall for almost a decade.

Mid-'98: Buy Two Gentlemen remix 12" from Thrill Jockey mailorder.

Early '99: Borrow The Biz and Sam Prekop's debut solo CD from hip friend Andrew Mister.

Ca. '99: Buy Shrimp Boat's CD Cavale, since Prekop fronted this band before TSAC.  (Claridge and Wood also did time in the Boat; a very incestuous scene there in Chicago.)

Late '00: Somewhat disappointed by new album Oui after sampling it on the listening station at Borders; lose faith in band for a few years.

Mid-'03: Download Glass EP from eMusic; "An Echo In" restores my faith in the band's prowess.

9/23/03: After waiting 7 years for TSAC to come to NOLA, I sell my stereo to a pawn shop for $35 to buy a ticket to go see them play at TwiRoPa.  An incredibly boring band called The Kingsbury Manx opened.  TSAC were loud and used lots of distortion, which disappointed me, since I wanted a quiet, crisp, nuanced show.
Ca. '06: Buy a beautiful neon green Nassau promo poster on eBay.
Early 2009: "Jacking The Ball" is used in a commercial for the ultra-evil criminal enterprise* known as Citibank.  (In this live clip of the band's first-ever gig, Sam says the phrase means "Bring out your firearms and ammo."  I had only been wondering for 15 years!)
Early 2010: "Parasol" is used in the R. Patz "I'm-not-just-a-brooding-vampire" drama Remember Me.

I would say that, along with "Lamont's Lament," "Jacking The Ball" and "Parasol" were The Sea And Cake's two best-known songs, even before they got the aforementioned exposure recently.  The band's recordings since then have been pretty spotty, essentially treading water, though few bands are skilled enough to tread water like TSAC can, and fewer still are even allowed in the same pool.  Overall, Nassau remains my favorite album of theirs, with The Fawn and The Sea And Cake tying for second.  Buy all three.

Tue. June 19: Saw two garter snakes mating below my parents' neighbor's doorstep.  Later was called upon to help extricate a baby raccoon from her enclosed swimming pool room / greenhouse.  Stayed up all night talking to Drea online.

Wed. June 20: Finished up with two weeks of house-sitting for my parents while my mom was in Japan & other parts of Asia.  Realized I might be slightly allergic to dogs, since I always seem to get sinus problems when I stay there too long.  I've also banned my favorite food, blueberries, from my diet since I think I might have a sensitivity to them.

Yes, that's a Prince CD

Thurs. June 21: I got into one of the most HILARIOUS and rewarding incidents of my life.  I'm driving down Hwy. 20 to Thibodaux when some psycho person starts tailgating on me, while combing his/her hair, and weaving side to side on the road, nearly going off it a few times.  It's a narrow 55 MPH road with nowhere to pull over.  So I maintain my speed and take a film clip in my rearview mirrors using a little digital camera that I often bring with me, making sure to periodically show my speed, as well the time & date, on the dashboard display.  Down in Thibodaux, after being tailgated for over 10 miles, a cop pulls me over.  I'm trying not to laugh as she walks up to my car on this 90º day, since I know all my shit is up-to-date and on point and I will put my 20 years of driving up against anyone's.  She tells me that someone called the police and said I was photographing them while driving.  I say "Yes, and I have video of that person tailgating me right here."  HAHAHAHAHAHA.  LOL.  She watches the clip and decides I'm right, since she can see/hear that I even tried to wave the person around me at one point.  (FWIW, she was short, blonde, cute, and slightly chubby, with a gigantic, staggeringly vicious pink scar in a semicircle under her chin / on her throat.  I seriously was amazed that anyone could even survive such a wound.  A bite from the lower jaw of an alligator?)  She even gives me a business card with the Lafourche Parish police dept.'s phone #s on it so I can report tailgaters in the future.  So this was fun and all, but a few minutes later, I start to think what would've happened if I hadn't taken that video, if it was just my word against the tailgater's.  Would I have been ticketed?  And since two cop cars were dispatched to intercept me, and the cop declined my offer to burn a copy of the video for them to use against the tailgater, that meant the tailgater probably got away scot-free.  Not so funny.  But this did remind me of the power of video in clearing up a dispute, and coincidentally it came a few days after the death of Rodney King.
Continued on to Hebert's Nursery and labeled a bunch of their cacti for them.  At Rouses, being a huge Guinness fan, I took a chance on an amazing beer by Guinness called Foreign Extra Stout.  It's almost comically full of flavors like coffee, chocolate, honey, toffee, etc.  By far the best beer I've ever had.  The cHeat won the NBA title.

*Citibank received $45 billion in federal bailout money in late 2008, with which they immediately, brazenly, bought a $50 million corporate jet and then teetered on the edge of insolvency for a while as people like me gleefully waited for them to fail.  According to Bloomberg in 2011, "Citigroup paid back $20 billion of its bailout funds and the Treasury converted the remaining $25 billion into a 27 percent stake in the bank, which it began selling last year. It sold the last of its investment in December, realizing an overall gain for taxpayers of about $12 billion."  It is clear that that groovy Sea And Cake song singlehandedly revived the bank's fortunes and hence really paid off for the taxpayers in the end.  America.

Mark Bittman: What's wrong with what we eat - A fascinating, disturbing, and oft-humorous video

Beirutopia: Could Lebanon's capital become a garden city?

Man sees his stolen bike on Craigslist, steals it back - "A spoke for a spoke, so to speak."

Planets with similar climates: The Promise Ring - "A Picture Postcard" (1996), Luna - "California (All The Way)" (1994), The Sundays - "Summertime" (1997), The Cardigans - "Carnival" (1994), The Police - "Bring On The Night" & "The Bed's Too Big Without You" (1979), The Church - "Already Yesterday" (1986), The Smiths - "This Charming Man" (1983).

Bethany Curve >> You will need something stronger still

I can't believe it's still California Month, tremor #54:

Bethany Curve - "Long Beach"

(Unit Circle Rekkids, 2001)

This band is so California that their name and this song's name are actual places in Cali, though their sound is strictly England ca. 1990-93.  This album is called You Brought Us Here, which is the best retort that a weary parent can make after their kids ask "Are we there yet?"

The vocal harmonizing starting at 3:05 is one of the most perfect things ever, and the guitar symphony near the end is a winner too.  The krautrock-y drum beat and undulating bassline round the recipe out perfectly.  This is arguably BC's best-known song, so I wanted to post a different one, but I didn't want to be a dumbass.  I have their two previous CDs, but those tend more towards gothy pouting, while this one is more melodic and shoegazey.  Richard Millang's vocals are beautiful, but are not exactly easy to make out; for a hilariously inaccurate stab at the lyrics, click here.  I'm pretty sure "You will need something stronger still" is an actual lyric, but maybe not.

I interviewed Bethany Curve for my zine in 2002, and I remember Millang telling me how Black Francis (Frank Black) is/was his all-time lyrical idol, something that you would surely never guess from his lyrics or delivery.  But that's preferable to someone simply aping his or her idol.  I remember jokingly accusing the band of stealing the inspiration for their name from Catherine Wheel (female name + word related to circles), and he told me he hated them.  (CW's album Ferment is my #2 favorite album ever.)  They were the first band that ever did an interview with me, so I have to give them big ups.  (Read my review of this album by clicking here and scrolling down to Cold Comfort.  Read all the other reviews on that page too, of course.)  BC never played in New Orleans as far as I know, so I never got to see them, but they might still be together.

I wore my Barry Sanders jersey today, but the Lions still got whupped; tomorrow is #1 LSU vs. #3 Arkansas.  A song about a beach is the only reason I need to post this TV still:

Lara Goodison on U.K. TV show Shipwrecked, 2008

Planets with similar climates: Slowdive - "Alison" (1993), Verve - "Slide Away" (1993), Tearwave - "Lotus Flower" (2007).

Cush >> Try stickin' to the pool and the dive

I can't believe it's still California Month, tremor #50:

Cush - "The Touch"

(Northern Records, 2000)

There are two David Bowie references in the lyrics: "Ziggy is dancing up a recall" and "Major Tom."  It also references the Stones ("I've been lookin' for satisfaction") and the Beatles ("Hey Jude, is that the best that we've done?").  So it has several strikes against it from a lyrical standpoint, but luckily they are overcome by its melodic and instrumental elegance.

I dig male falsetto vocals, and I was pretty shocked to find out Cush's singer was white.  I found this possibly-factual bit of information on a YouTube posting of this song: "The legendary first release by the mysterious revolving membership band called Cush. This album caused quite a buzz in 2000, especially due to the Cush Manifesto that was accidentally circulated at Cornerstone 2000. This manifesto, reprinted below, best describes their sound.
In a declaration of Truth and its winding road, members of the Prayer Chain, LSU [Lifesavers Underground], Honey, Fold Zandura, Duraluxe, Bloomsday, The Lassie Foundation, and Adam Again, have agreed to document below (the CUSH Manifesto) in which all members will seek the Truth and its Consequences. The result, A New Sound.
CUSH."

(This is presumably a spoof of Valerie Solanis' notorious SCUM Manifesto.)  So Cush was apparently a Christian rock supergroup, but you would never know any of this stuff from the CD booklet, which is pretty bare-bones.  I got it around 10 years ago, I think after hearing about it on the Blisscent shoegaze mailing list, and its cover photo of someone doing a flamboyant ski jump still cracks me up.  Some other good songs on the album include "Porpoise", which is dark and choppy with a nocturnal trip-hop soul; the elegiac "The Bomb Was Brighter Than The Stars"; and the shoulda-been hit "Angelica".

Yesterday in Hammond I heard one of my favorite songs ever on the radio in a Goodwill while buying some books:

I would wager that Cush are probably Talk Talk fans.

I bought some book about guitars several years ago just so I could rip out this two-page spread on the Fender Jazzmaster and hang it on my wall:

It's the coolest, sexiest and best guitar / musical instrument ever, and you can See Cush's guitarist using one in this live clip of "The Touch."  It was the guitar of choice for surf and shoegaze bands, and was the main axe of Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Dinosaur Jr., Elvis Costello, Magic Dirt, The Surfaris, and Curve, plus newer acts like Film School, The Horrors, A Place To Bury Strangers, Marnie Stern, No Joy, etc.  And, uh... TAD used one too.  I could write a whole article on it, and I think I will at some point.

Planets with similar climates: Nation Skyline - "Cadence Of Water" (2001), The Sundays - "Blood On My Hands" (1992), Mercury Rev - "Car Wash Hair" (1991) & "Sudden Ray Of Hope" (1995), Yo La Tengo - "Pablo And Andrea" (1995), Catherine Wheel - "Indigo Is Blue" (1992), Talk Talk - "Life's What You Make It" (1986).