Fingertips

Strummer Contest still active

2008-07-15T14:58:00.002-04:00

The Fingertips Contest remains open for entry. Three winners this time will each get two related prizes: a copy of the movie The Future Is Unwritten on DVD, and a copy of the movie's soundtrack on CD. The Future Is Unwritten is a documentary about the life of the late, lamented Joe Strummer, released last week on DVD. Deadline is Thursday, July 24; contest details here.

Free and legal MP3 from Ancient Free Gardeners (distinctive, meandering yet meticulous rock from Australia)

2008-07-15T14:54:00.002-04:00

"Innards Out" - Ancient Free Gardeners
     I'm attracted to the meandering feeling of this song--the way it starts as if already in the middle (note: no introduction), and unfolds in an off-kilter way--because underneath I sense a meticulous purpose and drive. Vague and precise is a compelling juxtaposition. Because of the mysterious lyrical phrases, the desultory guitar lines, the stops and starts, and the oddball chords, I'm picking up something of a Steely Dan-ish vibe, by way of the Blue Nile; nothing, in any case, seems to be happening by accident. And when the song finally delivers us to an unabashed--if still eccentric--chorus, I feel as if some sort of salvation is at hand. And yet listen to how the song pulls away from an uncomplicated resolution: when front man James Milsom sings the words "the spider and the fly," by rights the word "fly" would come accompanied with a clear, satisfying, resolving chord. No such luck, however--we are taken to the brink and then everything scoots out the side door: Milsom dismembers the last line "We are both of these, you and I," dragging out the word "are," then offering the last two phrases as a kind of quizzical afterthought.
     And when the song is over, it ends. This is entirely refreshing.
     Ancient Free Gardeners are a quartet from Melbourne that has only been up and running since 2006. They released their debut EP last year and have put out two singles since; "Innards Out" is the latest, released in May. A full-length CD is expected later this year. All their songs, by the way, are available as free and legal downloads on their web site, including this one.

Free and legal MP3 from Haley Bonar (insistent, bittersweet, textured singer/songwriter pop)

2008-07-15T14:52:00.001-04:00

"Big Star" - Haley Bonar
     Rock'n'roll history is littered with singers dreaming of hitting the big time. That fame is in fact a double-edged sword is not something people usually apprehend until after they've been there (and then it's kind of too late). Here, however, is a song that captures, in anticipation, the bittersweet repercussions of "big stardom," both lyrically and--more memorably, to me--musically. My ears are struck throughout by an insistent sense of yearning, thanks to the major-minor chord shifts, the terrific and evocative instrumentation, and something achy and knowing in Bonar's clear, sad-eyed voice.
     Pay attention to what's going on in the background throughout the song. Electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals, and Bonar's mellotron are woven together with a complex and rather dazzling deftness, and yet remain subtle enough that often you have to think to hear them. The ridiculously experienced Tchad Blake (Elvis Costello, Pearl Jam, Peter Gabriel, Crowded House, et al) is credited at the mixing board here, and no doubt he had something to do with the mysterious yet vivid texture that transforms this from a simple singer/songwriter tune into something deeper and richer.
     Born in South Dakota, Bonar is based in Minneapolis. "Big Star" is the title track to her third CD, which was released in May on Afternoon Records. MP3 via the Afternoon web site.

Free and legal MP3 from Dead Heart Bloom (indie rockers who love their Bowie and Mott)

2008-07-15T14:49:00.001-04:00

"Our Last Martyr" - Dead Heart Bloom
Brisk, friendly, and slightly quirky, "Our Last Martyr" rocks with an unapologetic reverence for classic rock of the early-to-mid-'70s British variety (think Lennon, think Bowie, think Hunter). Front man Boris Skalsky sings, alternately, with an intimate, oddly-accented purr (the verse) and a rousing Ziggy-ish flair (the chorus). Note how the verse is sung with the rhythm section only--just bass and percussion providing an itchy aural skeleton for Skalsky's distinctive baritone. For that sing-along chorus, the full band kicks in, driven by the ear-catching interplay between a crisp acoustic rhythm guitar front and center and a soaring synth line up on top. The second half of the song is something of a jam session, as guitarist Paul Wood stretches out a bit on electric lead before we're swept away by a chorus of almost hypnotic "oo-oo-oo" vocals from Skalsky, who can hit the high notes too.
The core of NYC-based Dead Heart Bloom is singer/multi-instrumentalist Skalsky and guitarist Wood; other musicians play when the band performs lives. "Our Last Martyr" is one of five songs on the new Fall In EP, one of a series of EPs scheduled for release this year on the band's KEI Records label. The band has previously put out two full-length CDs. All songs are available on the band's web site as free and legal MP3s. Dead Heart Bloom was previously featured on Fingertips in Feb. '06, and also on the Fingertips: Unwebbed CD, when the band was still more of a solo project for Skalsky.

Free and legal MP3 from Still Corners (chimey, dreamy, well-constructed goodness)

2008-07-08T11:18:00.001-04:00

"History of Love" - Still Corners
     Swaying, reverb-laced, and nostalgic in a Julee Cruise/David Lynch sort of way, "History of Love" swirls with a big, chimey dreaminess enhanced by strings (both plucked and bowed) and a soaring organ that all but launches this one into some old-fashioned, Jetsons-like version of outer space.
     So, dream pop, yes. But while indie bands aiming in this direction too frequently slide into a murky mush of echo--droning guitars and mixed-down vocals working together to diminish the sense that we are in fact listening to a song--the unsigned British duo Still Corners will have none of that. They get the idea that being atmospheric does not require muddiness. I like how they continually ground their reverberant vibe in concrete sonic reality, whether it's those plucky strings, the nicely articulated bass, the cymbally drum work, or vocalist Olivia's breathy, echoey, but distinctly colored singing. Note, too, the care and idiosyncrasy displayed by the song itself--in particular, how we get that crazy-swirly blast of dreamy yearning, without lyrics, in place of an actual chorus.
     London-based Still Corners have so far released one evocatively designed six-song EP, entitled Remember Pepper?. That's where you'll find "History of Love." MP3 via Last.fm and the band.

Free and legal MP3 from Murdocks (edgy power pop)

2008-07-08T11:17:00.001-04:00

"Spirit of '95" - Murdocks
     Sunny power pop crossed with something trickier and edgier. I hesitate, however, to use the "punk pop" (or is it "pop punk"?) label, because to me that implies something (sorry to say) dumber and less nuanced that this little two-minute gem. Not that many punk pop bands write in 3/4 time, to begin with. This is no waltz, however--these guys have figured out how to make three-beated measures sound assertive and symmetrical. Punchy verses with an ascending tail alternate with an almost lilting chorus...and that's more or less the song. The lyrics basically stop less than halfway through; the song has such intriguing momentum one barely notices.
     A lot of "Spirit of '95"'s edginess is delivered via singer/guitarist Franklin Morris's no holds barred singing--he sounds perpetually on the verge of screaming, and yet comes across as warm and musical at the same time. Some of that feeling is generated specifically from the chorus, with its attractive, downward-trending, octave-spanning melody. I like by the way how he then uses a guitar break to give us a nice variation of the same line. That'll really get it stuck in your head.
     Murdocks are a trio from Austin that have been playing since 2003, although no longer with their original drummer or bass player. "Spirit of '95" is from the band's Roar! EP, which was released in April on Surprise Truck Entertainment.

Free and legal MP3 from Mark Northfield (alt-classical 'pop' from British pianist/composer)

2008-07-08T11:15:00.001-04:00

"Zero" - Mark Northfield
     And now for something completely different. Mark Northfield is a British pianist, composer, arranger, and sometime singer who has here taken his classical training and focused it on the production of something almost but not quite resembling a pop song. Beginning quietly, with voice and piano, "Zero" adds guitar, strings, and, eventually, a choir-like array of backing vocals; the piece evolves gently but determinedly towards two climaxes, the first string-driven, contained, and unresolved (roughly 3:08 through 3:25), the second louder, more fervent, and choral (beginning around 5:06).
     Pay attention throughout to the string arrangements, which are expressive but never pushy; the song is half over before he puts the strings center stage, and some of the nicest work comes after their "solo," when the violins, with restraint, offer high fills between lyrical phrases.
     "Zero" is a song from the CD Ascendant, which Northfield released on his own Substantive Recordings label earlier this year. On eight of the songs, Northfield doesn't sing himself, employing an assortment of guest vocalists, but on "Zero," it's him. An important aspect of the CD is that the nine songs are presented in an uninterrupted flow--as Northfield notes on his web site, the album is "designed to be heard (in a shuffle-free world) from start to finish, with introductions to each track lifting re-arranged fragments from elsewhere on the album to create a more or less continuous soundtrack." And yet Northfield is of course not unaware of how most people listen to their music in the 21st century; he is kind enough to offer seven of the songs in so-called "chopped" mode on his web site, including "Zero." Thanks to Owen Duff, himself a Fingertips-featured artist, for the head's up.

New Fingertips Contest: win the Joe Strummer documentary, plus soundtrack

2008-07-07T15:14:00.001-04:00

There's a new Fingertips Contest, now online, with two related prizes: a copy of the movie The Future Is Unwritten on DVD, and a copy of the movie's soundtrack on CD. The Future Is Unwritten is a documentary about the life of the late, lamented Joe Strummer, due out on DVD this week. Contest details here.

Tough and crunchy free and legal MP3 from Amy Ray (Indigo Girl, gone solo, kicks ass)

2008-07-01T19:48:00.001-04:00

"Blame is a Killer" - Amy Ray
     Tough, tight, crunchy rock'n'roll from Indigo Girl Amy Ray, who for the third time now trots out her kick-ass side on a solo record. Nothing complicated to report on, just a fast, slashing guitar attack counterbalanced by some nice chords and background harmonies in the chorus.
     That said, listen to how concise a sound Ray is working with here--the song rocks hard, but there's no sloppiness, no stray sounds, no wailing or echoing guitars, no extraneous drum bashing, no casually interacting instruments; "Blame is a Killer" drives forward with the compressed vitality of a Strokes song, leading me to half expect to hear Ray's voice processed through some sort of filter or distortion. Maybe that's why the fully sung and harmonized chorus feels especially refreshing after the clipped vocal phrases utilized in the verses.
     "Blame is a Killer" is a track from Didn't It Feel Kinder, Ray's third album as a solo artist, which will be released in August on Daemon Records, a not-for-profit record label founded by Ray back in 1990.

Laura Marling has a free and legal MP3 (18-year-old British singer/songwriter, with depth)

2008-07-01T19:47:00.002-04:00

"I'm a Fly" - Laura Marling
     Here's one young British import who a) doesn't sing with an affected "street" accent, b) understands the utility of two names, and c) is interested in more than regaling us with tales of her dysfunctional love life, thank goodness.
     Everything about this short, precise song is warm and appealing, from its harp-like, folk-infused ukelele work through its subtly effective instrumentation and Marling's clear and compelling voice, both musically and lyrically. Listen in particular to how her backing vocals (it sounds sometimes like multi-tracked humming) are used almost as part of the rhythm section, adding a wonderful, organic sort of texture to a song that accomplishes the unusual trick of sounding traditional and post-modern at the same time.
     All of 18 years old at this point, Marling released her debut album, Alas, I Cannot Swim, to much acclaim in the U.K. in February. Astralwerks will be releasing the CD in the U.S. in August. "I'm a Fly" is a newer song, not from the CD; it can be found as a b-side on an EP released in the U.K. in June. MP3 via music.download.com.

Free and legal MP3 from Paper Rival (Shins-ish folk rock, w/ fiddle)

2008-07-01T19:45:00.001-04:00

"Cassandra" - Paper Rival
     The mournful fiddle melody and the crisp tom-tom beat, playing through alternating major and minor chords: what we have here is one smart and engaging introduction--and (better luck!), a song that lives up to its intro's promise.
     A mysterious reimagination of the cursed prophet of doom, "Cassandra" chugs along with a bittersweet, Shins-like sort of vibrancy, its leisurely melody lines unfolding against an unobtrusive but carefully constructed percussive backdrop. The fiddle is central to the vibe, its disconsolate strain standing in for the prophet's voice, in a tone reminiscent of the gypsy violin Scarlet Rivera brought, memorably, to Bob Dylan's Desire album back in the day.
     Paper Rival is a quintet from Nashville that did business as Keating until discovering that another band had the rights to the name; they chose their new name as a good-natured nose-thumbing to the gang that got to the Keating name first. "Cassandra" can be found on the band's debut full-length CD, Dialog, released in early June on Photo Finish Records. MP3 via Insound.

Free, legal MP3 from Jessie Baylin (smartly put together singer/songwriter pop)

2008-06-24T10:59:00.002-04:00

"Was I On Your Mind" - Jessie Baylin
     "Was I On Your Mind" has the hallmarks of a great pop hit--hooks, craft, canny performance--and yet is unlikely to be anything of the sort here in 2008, just because who the hell knows anymore. The music market is as unhinged as the oil market. History teaches us, however, that craziness is always an aberration in the long run. There is no reason to assume that a song as crisp, well put together, and engagingly sung as this one won't again find favor with the general public, but, alas, it'll probably be too late for Ms. Baylin.
     Fingertips, of course, exists in a sort of alternative universe in which what matters is the song, the spirit, the intelligence, the ineffable spark of human-to-human connection. So as far as I'm concerned this song is already a hit--an incisive example of how it's really really okay to apply polish and know-how to songwriting, at least when such things avoid cliché and are grounded in a voice, both lyrically and musically, that's feels real, solid, true. With her dusky alto and nimble delivery, the New Jersey-born, L.A.-based Baylin sounds to me, fetchingly, like Shawn Colvin doing a Sam Phillips impression; to the insistently upward, yearning melody of the chorus, she adds a textured presence that pretty much melts me. I like too how even in the context of this smartly produced number, little quirks can be found, including how the end note she hits repeatedly on the word "wrong" strikes the ear as unresolved, and how she breaks the songwriter "rule" of making the title the most repeated phrase in the song (which in this case would be "Tell Me I'm Wrong").
     You'll find this one on Baylin's new CD, Firesight, released this week on Verve Forecast. Produced by Roger Moutenot (Yo La Tengo, Sleater-Kinney), this is the 24-year-old's second album; the first, You, was an iTunes-only self-release.

Free, legal MP3 from Afternoons (orchestral, neo-hippie vibe meets solid songwriting)

2008-06-24T10:57:00.002-04:00

"Say Yes" - Afternoons
     This one carries the wacky, group-sing, neo-hippie vibe of the Polyphonic Spree but with the added benefit of really solid songwriting.
     "Say Yes" unfolds with a jaunty, trumpet-led rhythm augmented by a loopy backing vocal that brings the Star Trek theme song to mind. In the indie world, lots of songs pretty much end there--quirky, big-ensemble intro, and that's all we get. To its credit, "Say Yes" develops resoundingly beyond its minute-long intro, presenting us next with a verse featuring a non-repeating melody that stretches out for more than 40 seconds, incorporating 18 measures of music. That's all but unheard of in a rock band, but then again, Afternoons are an idiosyncratic rock band at best, being a seven-piece ensemble that includes two drummers, a trumpet player, and a classically trained opera singer. Three of the seven players were in the L.A.-based band Irving, which has been put aside now that that band's side projects have apparently overshadowed the main act (another Irving offshoot is Sea Wolf).
     The chorus, by the way, is nicely thought out too, and an apt counterpart to the extended verse: simply the words "say yes," architected into the bouncy trumpet refrain of the introduction. For something this big-hearted and loose-limbed, "Say Yes" is a pretty tight composition. It will eventually appear on Afternoons' debut CD, which is recorded but seems to lack, thus far, a release date. The band has been selling EPs at shows in L.A. but that's about it so far. MP3 courtesy of Irving's web site. Thanks to Filter for the tip.

Free, legal MP3 from William F. Gibbs (dreamy yet incisive piano ballad)

2008-06-24T10:55:00.002-04:00

"Operate" - William F. Gibbs
     He's got a name like a character actor or a middle school principal, but he's got the dreamy voice of a romantic troubadour, a guy who's seen enough to abandon his dreams but hangs onto them anyway.
     A steady, unhurried piano ballad with an immediately engaging melody, "Operate" comes alive via a combination of Gibbs' singing (don't miss the phased harmonies at 1:47) and some lovely, understated guitar work. From the outset, an acoustic guitar plays in tandem with the piano, but often just at the edges of awareness; sometimes you can hear fingers moving along strings more prominently than the actual notes, which adds to an interesting sort of tension the song sustains between movement and languidness. Best of all are the dreamy slide guitar licks that get a little showcase from 1:06 through 1:32, returning in only the most whispery way through the rest of the song.
     "Operate" is a track from My Fellow Sophisticates, Gibbs' debut CD, released earlier this month on Old Man Records.

Free and legal MP3 from Joe Pug (Dylanesque youngster with heady lyrics and a big heart)

2008-06-17T16:00:00.001-04:00

"Hymn #101" - Joe Pug
     Had the Bob Dylan haunting the Greenwich Village folk scene in 1961 and 1962 augmented his sociopolitical preoccupation with a wide-eyed spiritual awareness, he might have composed a spare, literate neo-folk marvel such as "Hymn #101." Carefully written and plainly presented (just guitar and voice, thank you), "Hymn #101" glows with humanity and intellect, its simple Dylanesque melody hosting any number of unexpected observations and descriptions, delivered with a voice that channels not only the great one from Hibbing but multiple generations of "next Dylans" as well, from John Prine to Steve Earle to Josh Ritter and then some.
     While a potent cultural critique is layered into the song's semi-mysterious lyrics, what moves me the most here are the moments when Pug reveals a metaphysical depth not often encountered on the indie scene. The conclusion he works up to is all but breathtaking: "Will you recognize my face/When God's awful grace/Strips me of my jacket and my vest/And reveals all the treasure in my chest."
     "Hymn #101" can be found on Joe Pug's debut EP, Nation of Heat, self-released in May; MP3 via his web site. And by the way, can this be his real name? Joe Pug? His biographical information is so scanty that I suspect he's intent on another Dylanesque maneuver: romantic obfuscation of his past.

Free and legal MP3 from Windsor For The Derby (brisk, soothing indie post-rock)

2008-06-17T15:58:00.002-04:00

"Hold On" - Windsor For The Derby
     "Hold On" indeed: this song begins with an extended introduction, featuring a rhythm both brisk and soothing. Listen closely and for all the apparent movement you really can't discern a whole lot of obvious activity: there's a guitar strumming without quite wanting to call too much attention to itself, there's a fuzzy organ that seems to dissipate as soon as you hear it, there's a bass that appears to be playing only one note the whole time, and all one minute and six seconds of the intro features an alternation between just two chords, separated by a simple half-step.
     Then the vocals start, rather wispy and mixed down in that Yo La Tengo, resolutely-indie sort of way. But pay attention at 1:20--we finally hear a third chord. It's a great moment but it flows quickly by, and is itself easy to miss except that the song shifts and deepens at this point. Though exactly towards what end we still don't know. (Remember: hold on.) The melody leads us through a few more chords rather quickly (considering the context), the verse repeats, and then, at long last, two full minutes in, the chorus arrives, complete with--of all things--soaring, Brian Wilson-inspired backing harmonies. Nothing about this song signaled that it was going there. It's a startling juxtaposition, and well worth the long and subtle buildup.
     Led by Dan Matz and Jason McNeeley, Windsor For The Derby has gone through a number of personnel changes since the group's formation in Austin in the mid-'90s. The band is now a quintet; Matz and McNeeley, recently relocated to Philadelphia, are the only the remaining original members. "Hold On" is a song from the CD How We lost, the band's eighth, released last month on Secretly Canadian records. MP3 via the Secretly Canadian web site.

Free and legal MP3 from Ndidi Onukwulu (jazzy, brass-infused blues, with a world music chaser)

2008-06-17T15:54:00.004-04:00

"SK Final" - Ndidi Onukwulu
     Happy-sounding blues, with horn charts, "SK Final" hides its musical inventiveness beneath a brassy, old-fashioned vibe. Onukwulu is a British Columbia native born to Nigerian parents, and in her songs seeks to combine blues, jazz, and African music. Check out, for instance, how the song starts: those reverberant drum beats are not directly blues-based, but evoke another continent's rhythms. When Onukwulu starts singing, she's accompanied further by an acoustic rhythm guitar, softly marking the beat as she sings off of it, while an electric guitar soon begins to supply gentle flourishes that, again, bring a world-music flair to the musical landscape.
     In the end, however, "SK Final" is dominated by pretty much two things: Onukwulu's vibrant alto, with its fleeting vibrato, and those snappy horns, which kick in right before the chorus. While providing traditional horn-chart-y punctuation to the lyrics, the horns also offer a mellower sort of instrumental aside (1:07, for example; even better, 1:39) that to my ears gives them a sneaky and enticing spirit, even when finishing the song off in full rave-up mode, as Onukwulu assures us, with frisky defiance, that she's not going to cry over you again. Like I said, happy blues.
     "SK Final" is the lead track on Onukwulu's second CD, The Contradictor, released this week on the Vancouver-based label Jericho Beach Music.

Fingertips Contest: Control DVD giveaway

2008-06-13T10:51:00.001-04:00

There's a new Fingertips Contest online: the prize this time is a copy of the movie Control on DVD. Control is the acclaimed biopic of Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis. Deadline for entry is June 18; click here for details.

New free and legal download from the Stills (majestic and affecting rock from Canada)

2008-06-10T22:59:00.001-04:00

"Being Here" - the Stills
     There's a mystery to the majesty of good pop music. Seemingly lacking both surface-level complexity and a weighty philosophical foundation, pop music has always been dismissed by "serious" musicians and critics as insubstantial at best, culturally harmful at worst. What pop's most supercilious critics don't understand, however, is that just because pop isn't "high art" (whatever that really is) doesn't mean it can't, in the right hands (underline that part), be an artistically valid mode of creative expression. Pop music cannot be dismissed simply because it does not measure up to the standards of so-called "serious music" (whether classical or avant-garde); that would be like criticizing a cat for not being a dog.
     And so can an apparently simple composition like "Being Here"--even the title communicates the ultimate in unadorned declarations--deliver something ineffably beautiful and moving in a swift three and a half minutes. You've heard these chords before, and the plain descending melody, centered around four adjacent notes. You've heard the guitars, you've heard the large, anthemic vibe. Whatever this song has can't and won't be "explained" by its constituent parts. There's something in the sound, in the presentation, and maybe in singer Tim Fletcher's big-hearted voice (a voice that brings to mind the late, lamented Stuart Adamson, of the Scottish band Big Country), that rivets the ear, that makes me, in any case, stop, listen, and feel truly--if mysteriously--affected.
     "Being Here" is a song off the Stills' third album, Oceans Will Rise, which will be released on the Arts & Crafts label in August. This is the Montreal quintet's third appearance on Fingertips (check the Master Artist List for details). Thanks to Jonk Music for the lead. MP3 courtesy of the Canadian music magazine Exclaim.

The Last Town Chorus MP3 (idiosyncratic, dreamy lap steel pop)

2008-06-10T22:54:00.004-04:00

"Loud and Clear" - the Last Town Chorus
And this, oddly enough, is the second song called "Loud and Clear" now featured on Fingertips (the first being this one, from the duo Pink and Noseworthy), for those keeping score at home. This "Loud and Clear" is particularly well-named, because Megan Hickey, who plays lap steel guitar and sings, has a sweet, clear-toned voice and a round, indelible sound, as she plays her instrument using effect pedals not typically employed, creating both dreamy textures and memorable lead lines in the process. This is not your Grand Ole Opry lap steel. Hickey has an instinctive feel for just how much to glide and bend her notes, avoiding country cliches while invigorating the song with inventive shapes and sounds.
Although originally a duo, the Last Town Chorus has since 2004 been the Brooklyn-based Hickey playing with a changing ensemble of musicians. "Loud and Clear" is a single from an as-yet untitled CD, to be released at some as-yet unspecified date by Hacktone Records. (Warning: the Hacktone web site is a Flash-based nightmare; enter at your own risk. You're far better off checking out Hickey's "travelogue," a regularly updated blog featuring pictures and thoughts from her life on the road, posted via cell phone.) MP3 via Hacktone.

New MP3 from the Wedding Present (great guitars, via Albini and veteran Brit band)

2008-06-10T22:52:00.002-04:00

"I Lost the Monkey" - the Wedding Present
     From its gentle, even poignant opening, "I Lost the Monkey" blossoms into a loud-but-controlled midtempo construction of prepossessing precision, with consistently impressive guitar work and a brilliant chorus.
     Just listen to those guitars--whether it's the semi-dissonance of the second "intro" (the extended instrumental after the quiet opening verse, starting at 0:34) or the melodicism that emerges in the middle of the chorus, and then more prominently in the second verse (starting around 1:57), the guitars are used here with unusual care and sensitivity. This is not just a couple of guys strumming to fill in empty space. And then there's that terrific chorus, which is rendered all the more affecting by lead man David Gedge's restrained, almost whispered vocals, which make no effort to rise above the guitars, but somehow create a quiet clearing in the middle of the noise in which they can nonetheless be heard.
     A veteran band from Leeds, the Wedding Present has been through a number of lineup changes since its formation back in 1985; by now, the only constant through the years has been Gedge, now 48. (Note that in 1992, the Wedding Present released a new single on the first Monday of every month--a very internet music scene-like thing to do, well before the birth of the internet music scene.) For their new album, El Rey, the band has brought studio whiz Steve Albini back to the controls (Albini previously engineered CDs for the band in 1989 and 1991; he does not want to be called a producer, by the way). I've no idea what the rest of the album sounds like, but this one soars.

Update to the Fingertips Top 10

2008-06-04T14:01:00.004-04:00

Time for an update about the Fingertips Top 10, which has changed significantly since the last Top 10 post in April. Here's what the list looks like as of June 4; newcomers since April are marked with an asterisk:

1. "Cat Swallow" - the Royal Bangs
2. "Right Away" - Pattern is Movement*
3. "Animé Eyes" - the Awkward Stage*
4. "Torn Blue Foam Couch" - the Grand Archives
5. "To Be Gone" - Anna Ternheim
6. "Yer Motion" - Reeve Oliver*
7. "Boarded Doors" - the Morning Benders*
8. "Big Sound" - the M's
9. "Black Lungs" - the New Frontiers*
10. "Fire" - Alibi Tom*

"Cat Swallow" is not new to the list but is new to the number-one slot, replacing "Beyond the Door" by 13ghosts, which held the spot for the previous two months. The Top 10 list is my way of putting a little bit of extra attention on ten particularly wonderful songs at any given time, but remember that Fingertips only features carefully filtered music to begin with, so you can't go wrong with any of the MP3s featured here. Songs remain in the Top 10 for a maximum of three months, before they are retired to the Retired Top 10 Songs page, logically enough. (Note that the music player on the blog cannot find the Alibi Tom MP3 because of a technological quirk, but the song still can be downloaded if you click on it.)

MP3s from the Last Shadow Puppets, the New Frontiers, and the Morning Benders--free and legal, from Fingertips

2008-06-03T10:23:00.001-04:00

"My Mistakes Were Made For You" - the Last Shadow Puppets
     If the Decemberists were to write a James Bond theme song, they might come up with something like "My Mistakes Were Made For You." Echoingly atmospheric, with melodramatic strings, an ominous surf guitar, and melancholy horn charts, "My Mistakes Were Made For You" has at the same time a pleasantly wordy feel, which strikes me as an unexpected twist for a song with this sort of spy-movie vibe. (Songs from James Bond movies are, rather, renowned for the relentless fatuousness of their lyrics.)
     Another amiable difference here is Alex Turner's simmering vocal delivery; more well known as the front man of the Arctic Monkeys, Turner here turns from the more frenetic, ejective singing style he uses with his "other" band to a softer, almost soulful sort of approach. Turner does not lose his accent (apparently a Sheffield accent) while singing; while American me is accustomed to hearing an accent like this in a hard-rocking setting (a cliche perhaps but that's mostly what we hear of it here), I can't say I've been treated to it in quite this context before. I find it rather charming.
     The Last Shadow Puppets is a collaboration between Turner and his friend Miles Kane, who's also in a band called the Rascals. "My Mistakes Were Made For You" is from the duo's debut release, The Age of the Understatement, which came out last month on Domino Records.

"Black Lungs" - the New Frontiers
     Here's a prime example of an oft-repeated Fingertips theme: music does not have to be new to be great. A band need not blaze trails to be worthy. I think we'd have more consistently good music being played out there, in fact, if bands weren't so often trying too hard to be different.
     A quintet from Dallas, the New Frontiers do not try to be different; they try to be good. With "Black Lungs," they succeed, for reasons that are a bit difficult to pinpoint, since this appealing, well-crafted song seems to be trying not to stand out; it sounds like something we've all loved for a long time and kind of take for granted by now. But let's see: that crying, arcing guitar line that launches the song is one terrific thing; singer Nathan Pettijohn is another, with his tender-rugged voice and his refusal to leap into falsetto, even when the song threatens to go there; and then there's the chorus, which delivers a great back-door hook--which happens right around the words "back door," in fact. The hook delights me, because it sounds like we'd already heard the hook (the leap up at 0:56, around the words "everything's fine"), and then, in the second part of the chorus ("don't you kick me out the back door"), the melody slyly returns to the eighth-note pattern used in the first part of the verse and that just nails everything together. There's something old-timey and classic at work here. Close your eyes and breathe it in.
     The New Frontiers were previously known as Stellamaris, and recorded one CD in 2005 under that name. "Black Lungs" is the opening track on Mending, their first CD as the New Frontiers, which was released in April on the Militia Group.

"Boarded Doors" - the Morning Benders
     The Morning Benders return with their elusively familiar brand of sturdy yet off-kilter pop. "Boarded Doors" shuffles between a cartoony menace (that prickly guitar, that schemingly descending melody line) and a yearny sort of wistfulness, to great effect. Chris Chu sings so casually he may as well be talking, but the more I listen, the more impressed I am with his tone and tunefulness. The entire band tends to sneak up on me like that--they sound like they're just sort of rehearsing, but underneath the informal surface lies a tight little song and a lot of expertise.
     I'm fascinated by the concise, unresolved chorus, which gives us a quick shot of something that sounds like a backward guitar and perfectly placed "oo-oo" backing vocals and then vanishes before one quite realizes hey, that was the chorus. If, in fact, a song could have a verse and a bridge and no chorus (which I think is impossible by definition) then the Morning Benders have managed to write it.
     An amiable quartet from Berkeley, California (they claim to have met while all working on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland), the Morning Benders released their first full-length CD last month, called Talking Through Tin Cans, on +1 Records. MP3 courtesy of Spinner.

Free and legal MP3s from the Catalysts, Soltero, and Langhorne Slim, via Fingertips

2008-05-19T23:58:00.003-04:00

"Goes On Forever" - the Catalysts
     Anchored by a shimmering guitar-and-harmonica sound that will take you back to the '60s even if you were never actually there, "Goes On Forever" is one part pure breeze, one part bittersweet homage to times gone by. The relentless good nature of the solid backbeat and genial melody is counteracted by enough suspended chords in the chorus to give you the impression of clouds passing in front of the sun. The words tumble out in a sort of Dylanesque swirl; some of the ones that I can catch do in fact, either coincidentally or not, appear to refer to music from the '60s and '70s ("I'm a Believer," "It's a Beautiful Day," and the way the title phrase comes right after the word "dream," which calls the old Todd Rundgren song to mind).
     The Catalysts is a band name, but there's really no band at this point--just a guy named Ulric Kennedy, from Glasgow, with a history in a number of independent bands dating back to the late '80s. Kennedy is a bass player by trade, and he lays down a particularly interesting bass line here--listen closely and you'll hear how he plays bass more like a lead instrument than a bit player in the rhythm section: not only is the bass given the melodic lick that drives the entire song, but Kennedy also plays sustained notes that frequently drop the bass out of the rhythm altogether. It's not the kind of thing your ear is supposed to notice consciously, but it does add subtle sonic interest to the song as it develops. And don't miss the fake fade-out--not subtle at all, but mysteriously alluring nonetheless.
     Kennedy is getting the Cloudberry Records treatment for this new Catalysts release: a three-inch CD-R three-song single, released in a hand-numbered batch of 100; "Goes On Forever" is one of the two "b-side" songs on the "Autumn Everywhere" single, due out next month. MP3 courtesy of Cloudberry.

"Out at the Wall" - Soltero
     This song has an unexpectedly spacious presence for something so relatively quiet and contemplative, thanks in part to the in-the-distance production effects, which include a hammering, machine-like noise, an electronic surf sound, the whistle of a ghost train, and echoey, drop-like percussion accents, with some mysterious tinkly sounds thrown in for good measure. And it's not just the sounds themselves that create the space, it's the fact that these sounds are dropped behind the tidy pulse of an acoustic guitar. Note too how the reverb that Tim Howard uses on his voice feels somehow crisper than the often muddy wash of reverb we tend to hear in indie-land in this day and age; while muddy reverb veers sonically towards both the claustrophobic and the impersonal, what Howard does here feels open and vulnerable.
     Quiet, contemplative songs also don't tend to move along in this brisk and shuffly sort of way, which is another juxtaposition that enriches the vibe. Then we get that part of the song in which Howard unleashes his upper register, at which point the guitar pretty much drops out and it's all the echoey ghostly carryings-on in the background. Cool stuff.
     And the theme this week so far, unintentionally, is bands that aren't bands, since Soltero this time around is pretty much a solo effort for Tim Howard (over the years, Soltero has sometimes been a band and sometimes not; Howard's previous appearance on Fingertips back in '04 was also a solo affair). "Out at the Wall" is a song from the new Soltero CD, You're No Dream, being released this week on the Pennsylvania-based label La Société Expéditionnaire. MP3 via the label's site.

"Rebel Side of Heaven" - Langhorne Slim
     I have a soft spot for songs that start off the tonic chord--that is, songs that open on a chord that feels obviously not the song's home base. I'm never sure how we even know this so quickly but we do. Listen to the first three or four seconds of "Rebel Side of Heaven" and you'll hear it yourself, and then enjoy the way the song slides itself into the tonic, then--oops--out again, before settling in at 0:12, just before the singing starts.
     And what singing! Langhorne Slim (nee Sean Scolnick, who grew up in Langhorne, Pennsylvania) has a high-pitched warble that manages still to be warm and approachable, kind of like if Jeff Tweedy were singing with Neil Young's voice. With its good-natured swagger and great horn charts, the song is a rollicking good time, but unlike the vast majority of rollicking-good-time rock songs, it's neither uncomfortably dumb nor way too long. The lyrics, in fact, are not only idiosyncratic and engaging, but feature at their heart what strikes me as a novel idea ("And though we have sinned all of our lives/We ain't going to hell/Well we're going to the rebel side of heaven." Whether he got it from something he read or made it up himself, it beats the pants off the lyrics to most good-timey songs in the rock canon.
     "Rebel Side of Heaven" is from the debut, self-titled Langhorne Slim full-length, released last month on Kemado Records. MP3 via Kemado.

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(Due to the Memorial Day Weekend holiday in the U.S., there will be no MP3 selections next week.)

This week's Fingertips MP3s: free and legal downloads from Stereolab, Tokyo Police Club, and Oh Darling

2008-05-12T10:38:00.001-04:00

"Three Women" - Stereolab
     The semi-legendary, relentlessly inscrutable Stereolab--with their sexy vocalist, arcane musical references, and Marxist leanings--may never hit the big time, but they sure know how to entertain the left of center. Perhaps the first band to be called "post-rock," back in the early '90s, this British-based outfit were spinning out intellectually giddy genre-mashups when today's laptop-rockers were in preschool. As I'm not a long-time or super-knowledgeable fan, I always find myself surprised by how sunny and accessible a lot of Stereolab's music sounds at the simple level of listening--never-minding the underpinnings of influence and philosophy. You really don't have to know what they're doing--intermingling krautrock, lounge music, funk, jazz, '60s pop, and contemporary classical minimalism, among other things, leaning on vintage electronic instruments in the process--to like what you're hearing.
     On Fingertips, we last visited with vocalist Lætitia Sadier not too long ago, as her side project Monarde was featured in February; here, she sounds just as sultry-sophisticated (she sings in French again, as she often does), but a bit more light-hearted, as the music this time bubbles along with great pep and texture. Launched off a classic R&B groove, "Three Women" features a sneaky, meandering melody and a bright instrumental coalescence--I'm hearing Farfisa organ, marimba (or, perhaps, vibes?), trumpets, maybe even a celesta--that effortlessly evokes some other time and place without it being quite clear what time or place that might actually be. Sadier purrs, the music rolls along, and if we really have no idea what she's saying or why, well, this is Stereolab. Absorb the vibe, observe the craft, and enjoy the download.
     "Three Women" can be found the band's forthcoming CD Chemical Chords, not due out till August, on Duophonic UHF Disks/4AD. MP3 courtesy of Beggars Group.

"In a Cave" - Tokyo Police Club
     Buzzy, driven, incisive indie pop from a Toronto quartet with a knowledgeable vibe and the added attraction of having a singing bass player (discussed when last we met these guys). This songs strikes me as very smartly constructed--elements added at just the right time, pieces interacting with a casual sort of precision. Example of element added at just the right time: those unexpected, shouting background vocals that chime in at 0:49; example of casually precise interaction: the almost feedbacky guitar line that enters at 0:40 and, first, mimicks the melody line as it's sung but then continues even as the melody moves on (right into the shouting vocal part in fact).
     And what are they singing about? The cave is metaphorical, to be sure, and there's that nice touch about reversing the effects of being in the cave once deciding to leave ("All my hair grows in/Wrinkles leave my skin"), which is skillful way of extending the metaphor; beyond that we get a skittery atmosphere, both musically and lyrically, and we're left to figure out exactly what's going on on our own.
     As per last week's comment about web writers who disparage music when it's not "new" enough, TPC is likely to catch some flak in this regard--and already have, in fact: "Tokyo Police Club aren't smashing templates or changing lives," proclaims Stereogum, "but this stuff is catchy [as hell], easily digestible fun." Here's a clue for you to take around the web: anyone who does that "damning with faint praise" routine is revealing more about their own insecurities than about the subject at hand. Either like something, don't like it, or, even, partially like it--just do so clearly; ground it in observable fact. Is that so hard? "Easily digestible fun" means "this isn't really 'cool' enough for me to like but I like it anyway." Humbug. "In a Cave" is from TPC's debut CD, Elephant Shell (the phrase comes from this song; listen carefully), and is another sign that these guys mean business. It was released last month on Saddle Creek Records.

"Shoulda Never" - Oh Darling
     This one clicks for me in the chorus, at the end of the second line, when the melody steps slightly down, into that unresolved place, and just stays there (around 1:11). Goes to show yet again that you never know where a hook is coming from, or why. And this sort of thing doesn't happen in a vacuum--the whole reason that unresolved detour sounds so apt is because of everything that's come before it. For a relatively new band, these guys have recorded something that glows with preternatural charm and know-how.
     Right away note the juxtaposition of that staccato bass-and-guitar intro, a reliable implement in the rock toolbox at least since the Cars came along, and lead singer Jasmine Ash's pure, almost child-like tone--an intriguing blend that pulls us into "Shoulda Never," establishing the song's subtle push/pull of soft and hard, naive and experienced, female and male (the quartet features two men and two women, and includes a mixed-gender rhythm section--male drummer, female bass). Familiar-sounding in appealing ways, the song also offers its share of subtle surprises, one of my favorites being the whistly, almost flute-like synthesizer that creates a kind of lost-world ambiance, first heard in the instrumental break at 1:24.
     Formed in 2006, Oh Darling self-released an EP at the end of last year. The band's full-length debut is expected out this summer, on Nice Records. "Shoulda Never" can be found on both discs. MP3 courtesy of the band's wonderful-looking web site.