An Alternative History of "Pop" Music: Part 3, 2004 -

[jamiefairlie]

Parts & Labor - The Ceasing Now

https://youtu.be/Uzb_HWzj748



American experimental rock/noise rock band, formed 2002 in Brooklyn, NY.

This is from their fourth album "Receivers"

"They aim for tension and nuance where they'd previously shouted and bludgeoned (not that anyone minded the bludgeoning, of course) and their tables of broken toys sound like tidal waves of melody and sound."

[Greg Torso]

Micachu & The Shapes - Golden Phone





Micachu And The Shapes IS a band made of Mica Levi (aka Micachu), Raisa Khan and Marc Pell. Although, I think this single was just Micachu before the rest of The Shapes came together. It later appeared on the 2009 album Jewellery.

They later changed their name to Good Sad Happy Bad and released the excellent album Shades in 2020.

[Astronaut Omens]

Hudson Mohawke (versus Tweet)- Oops Oh my
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IoznkV2zaI

Hudson Mohawke is a Glaswegian elctronic producer whose mixture of hip-hop and kaleidoscopic,malfunctioning computer-game style electronics gained the interest of Kanye West, who subsequently signed him up to his GOOD record label. This, his debut single is a sneaky bootleg remix of the 2002 single Oops! by New York R and B singer Tweet, who we've had on the show before. Hudson Mohawke was associated with the Glasgow club night Numbers for a while- I can report that I went there once and they played "Rasputin" by Boney M.

[Greg Torso]

Silver Jews - Suffering Jukebox





The Silver Jews final album, Lookout Mountain Lookout Sea, I remember as being slightly better than the two before that, but still a bit of a disappointment. It looked like the last thing David Cloud Berman would do musically (until the Purple Mountains record) and was more of a fizzle that a bang, but over the years, and over recent years, it's come to shine a lot brighter than I originally thought.

This song came to have particular meaning for me when Bob Nastanovich chose it in his podcast 3 Songs as part of a special tribute to Berman after he died (Nastanovich being one of the founding members of SJ).

Particulary like the line "You got Tennessee tendencies and chemical dependencies / You make the same old jokes and malaprops on cue".

[Astronaut Omens]

Silver Jews - Suffering Jukebox


Particulary like the line "You got Tennessee tendencies and chemical dependencies / You make the same old jokes and malaprops on cue".

Incredible, thank you.

[Greg Torso]

Glad you liked!

[Astronaut Omens]

I have to fight a tendency within myself to be a jukebox, where if someone says certain words or brings up certain topics a kind of pre-written monologue I've said, repeated, rehearsed many times comes spooling out of my mouth without much thought or engagement with the other person going on, so it got to me. And I've also known lots of old fellas who always make the same gags. I think I read on here about someone's dad who said "k-nife and k-fork" at every single meal.

[Greg Torso]

Aeroplane ft Kathy Diamond - Whispers


This is the Belgian duo (at the time) Aeroplane with Sheffield-born singer Kathy Diamond doing some sweet beachfront Balearic disco.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Neil Diamond - If I Don't See You Again



The moist-eyed opening track from Diamond's second and final album with producer Rick Rubin. Like their previous collaboration, 12 Songs, it was a conscious attempt to strip away all the glitzy Vegas kitsch that had overshadowed Diamond's image and reputation since the late '70s.

The project yielded some of the best songs Diamond had written since his late '60s/'70s heyday.

_{The album this is taken from actually went to # 1, but I figured that since it wasn't a hit single it deserves a place in the thread.}

[Brundle-Fly]

Je M'Appelle Stereo - Fonda 500.  Released on Record Mountain in 2008.





Cet album est plutôt bien!

Fonda 500 (aka F500 or Fonda500) are a British band hailing from Kingston upon Hull.Formed by Simon Stone and Nicholas Broten in 1995, Fonda 500 have been releasing albums since 2000.
They have built up a cult following since 2000, chiefly through their explosive live performances and their unique musical style, which draws elements from 60's pop music (Beach Boys harmonies) bedroom pop (usage of novelty instruments) and indie rock (electric guitars).

[jamiefairlie]

Peter Broderick - With the Notes in my ears

https://youtu.be/AKUioYc-qYk



Peter Broderick (born January 20, 1987) is an American musician and composer from Carlton, Oregon. He has released solo material under his own name, been a member of Efterklang

This is from the album "Home"

"this is a work oft-enchanting and tenderly relayed: the sound of a first hand both confident and considered, whetting the appetite for more from this young American with a stately flourish."

[jamiefairlie]

Portishead - The Rip

https://youtu.be/kBOaLjtR4mw



An English band formed in 1991 in Bristol. They are often considered one of the pioneers of trip hop

This is from "Third"

"As radical reinventions go, Third-- the first Portishead studio album since 1997-- is surprisingly natural. Darker and bleaker lyrically than their previous work, Third is a sort of re-debut-- the band's sound after it has excised every possible remnant of trip-hop from it."

[jamiefairlie]

Rosie and the Goldbug - Soldier Blues

https://youtu.be/gjMx-_ROujI



From Cornwall, they formed in 2007.

This is from their self-titled only album.

"The trio from Cornwall, led by piano-playing singer Rosie Vanier, draws a line of influences between Kate Bush's wonderment, Cyndi Lauper's pop and a dash of Debbie Harry and Blondie's poise."

[Clatty McCutcheon]

Grace Jones - Corporate Cannibal

From Hurricane, her first studio album for 19 years, and her most recent album to date, Grace Jones goes a bit Nine Inch Nails (sort of) on this broadside against corporate greed (not sure how easy it is to square with her recent advert for Barclaycard, but there we are).

This track was released as the first single from the album, but did not chart.

[Clatty McCutcheon]

Shearwater - I Was a Cloud

By way of contrast to the last selection, this delicate, twinkly track, reminiscent of mid-to-late-period Talk Talk, is taken from Rook, the 2008 album by the Austin, Texas-based outfit fronted by Jonathan Meiburg.

[jamiefairlie]

Sennen - Falling For You

https://youtu.be/bvO_4hrMpfs



An English alternative rock band, formed in Norwich in 2002

This is from their second album "Where the Light Gets In"

"like Explosions In The Sky and Mogwai, taking in their expansive, multi-instrumental nature and filtering in tunefully tender vocal melodies."

[jamiefairlie]

Sharon Kraus - In The Middle Of Summer

https://youtu.be/NX2SbhmdrpU



An English/US singer, songwriter, born in New York but grew up in Leicester

This is from the "The Fox's Wedding" album

"Kraus has firmly established herself as a genuine heiress to the UK folk ancestry of Shirley Collins, Lal Waterson, or Maddy Prior."

[jamiefairlie]

Sparkadia - Sleeping Lion

https://youtu.be/kFnYMBfTRcE



An Australian band, formed in Sydney in 2004.

This is from debut album "Postcards"

"Sparkadia create songs that are catchy as hell, yet delivered with just enough emotional connection to make them sound believable and sincere. "

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Johnny Flynn - Tickle Me Pink

Johnny Flynn is a British actor, musician, and singer-songwriter born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Flynn has starred in the Channel 4 and Netflix television sitcom Lovesick (previously known as Scrotal Recall), and portrayed David Bowie in the film Stardust.

Flynn is the lead singer and songwriter of the band Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit. He has released five studio albums, in addition to numerous soundtracks and live albums. Flynn came to greater prominence in 2014 when he wrote the score and theme song for the critically-acclaimed and BAFTA-award-winning BBC Four television series Detectorists.

[jamiefairlie]

Stereolab - Valley Hi!

https://youtu.be/u0VtItkh-Ak



Taken from the album "Chemical Chords"


"With a sound so omnivorous and open to influences that span decades and styles, Stereolab have carved one of the more intriguing and rewarding catalogs of the past 15 years; their new horn-laded album, Chemical Chords is one of their strongest outings in some time."

[jamiefairlie]

Tears Run Rings - Waiting for the End

https://youtu.be/ISkLvvHLlF8



An American shoegaze band consisting of singer/bassist Laura Watling, singer/guitarist Matthew Bice, guitarist Ed Mazzucco, guitarist Tim Morris, and drummer Dwayne Palasek

This is from their debut album "Always, Sometimes, Seldom, Never"

"may be a dead ringer for Slowdive, right down to their torrents of cascading, distorted, and delayed guitars and ubiquitous male-female cooing, with slight seasonings of Moose, Chapterhouse, and Kitchens of Distinction"

[jamiefairlie]

the bats - the guilty office

https://youtu.be/ACNgamAL7Zk



Title track of their seventh album

"From melodic, bobbing lead "Countersign" to bucolic closer "The Orchard", Office is a comfortable, comforting listen, wonderful in its very familiarity. Even as the band sticks to the path of least resistance, it skirts the MOR sandtrap that sinks so many indie rock acts that manage to last a quarter century."

[Clatty McCutcheon]

Everest - Rebels in the Roses

Opening track of Ghost Notes, the debut album by Californian band Everest, whose members had previously played with various acts, including Sebadoh, Earlimart, Folk Implosion, and The Watson Twins.

[Clatty McCutcheon]

Lightspeed Champion - Galaxy of the Lost

A second entry from Falling off the Lavender Bridge, Dev Hynes's first album under the name Lightspeed Champion, having previously been a member of the fairly dreadfully named Test Icicles. Hynes now records under the name Blood Orange.

[jamiefairlie]

The Occasional Keepers - Snow And Feathers

https://youtu.be/eChhAeLBalU




"Trio comprised of the Field Mice's Bobby Wratten, plus The Wake's Carolyn Allen and Gerard "Caesar" McInulty, release their follow-up to 2005's The Beauty of the Empty Vessle, blending electronic elements with field recordings to conjure up a cold, quiet, foggy North Country."

[jamiefairlie]

The Radio Dept.- freddie and the trojan horse

https://youtu.be/nATWkup7CXA





"With this new EP, dubbed after the opening track "Freddie And The Trojan Horse", The Radio Dept. find themselves morphing into an even darker beast than was once thought possible. In the title track, this is emphasized through electro-new-wave-y melancholy vocals and percussive beats, as well as the dark sound that encompasses the keys"

[jamiefairlie]

The Rosie Taylor Project - The Water's Edge

https://youtu.be/6YZp0EnRZr8





"Leeds' The Rosie Taylor Project are an attractive proposition: a band of gentle acoustic lullabies that reference Nick Drake, Kings of Convenience, Iron and Wine, Bonnie "Prince" Billy and any other downbeat, sensitive singer-songwriters you care to mention. This debut album - a whopping eight-tracks long - is like a light breeze of melody, marrying Parisian café sounds with folksy mumbling, singers Jonny and Sophie complementing each other daintily."

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

The Decemberists - Valerie Plame

Another selection from the American history-obsessed folk-rock collective, this is a Hey Jude-esque ode to...

Valerie Plame is an American writer, spy novelist, and former CIA officer. As the subject of the 2003 Plame affair, also known as the CIA leak scandal, Plame's identity as a CIA officer was leaked to and subsequently published by Robert Novak of The Washington Post.

In the aftermath of the scandal, Richard Armitage in the U.S. Department of State was identified as one source of the information, and Scooter Libby, Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted of lying to investigators. After a failed appeal, President George W. Bush commuted Libby's sentence and in 2018, President Donald Trump pardoned him. No one was formally charged with leaking the information.

In collaboration with a ghostwriter, Plame wrote a memoir detailing her career and the events leading up to her resignation from the CIA. She has subsequently written and published at least two spy novels. A 2010 biographical feature film, Fair Game, was produced based on memoirs by her and her husband.

[jamiefairlie]

The Twilight Sad - Here, It Never Snowed. Afterwards It Did.

https://youtu.be/mnBbBqcKFKk



Title track of an EP.

"an escalating gauze of swirling shoegaze, allowing James Graham's crystalline articulation to remain the focal point of the music. "

[jamiefairlie]

The Welcome Wagon -- Hail to the Lord's Annointed

https://youtu.be/lUbXRMaocQI





"Recorded, engineered, mixed, and designed by Sufjan Stevens (he also wrote the liner notes, released it on his label, Asthmatic Kitty, and contributes banjo, bass, drums, electric and acoustic guitar, percussion, piano, ukulele, and vocals), Welcome to the Welcome Wagon sounds-- yup-- an awful lot like a Sufjan Stevens album: rich, almost childlike vocal harmonies, gentle banjo strums, and elaborate orchestral arrangements coalescing into something warm, layered, and instantly familiar."