Things I’ve Heard Lately

I have nothing exciting to say about these tracks except that they’ve grown on me. El Perro Del Mar is very catchy, subtle, simple, comforting. I like that Sarah Assbring, the persona behind El Perro, has such a bold name. It can’t be her real name. How many pseudonym’s can an artist have? 

Lykke Li ’s music seems to follow the same simplicity that makes El Perro’s sound so appealing. Makes sense that they’re currently touring together. There’s something almost tribal about their music. Wonder if their live shows will feature an ensemble of strings. I don’t think there’ll be much dancing. Or maybe a new kind of dance will emerge?

Ed Harcourt’s got an interesting thing going. He’s a bit Rufus Wainright, a bit Cold Play, and a bit pretty. I like that his freebie track below gives a shout out to prostitutes, taxis, and Marxists. Now that’s bold lyricism. Do the kids even know who Marx was anymore? 

And what about You, Me and Iowa you ask? Oh, you didn’t ask? Well, it’s simple: They seem to be having lots of fun with their music. And isn’t that how it should be? Why even write a song if you’re not feeling it? I think these folks are feeling it. Now you feel it. Listen below.

Lykke Li : Dance, Dance, Dance
El Perro Del Mar : Glory to the World
You, Me and Iowa : Dress the Stage
Ed Harcourt : Revolution of the Heart

Hello Tokyo : Sell The Stars

Whenever I hear the word “hello” followed by a city’s name, I am reminded of the “Hello Cleveland!” scene from This Is Spinal Tap. Who doesn’t, really?

Hello Tokyo is nothing like that. They’re a cool power trio from Brooklyn led by a singer/ keyboardist named Kat who’s voice I’d also describe as “cool.” Their songs are crisp and upbeat, and I’d bet they put on a good show. Guitarist John and drummer Sam (no last names given in the liner notes, and those given on their MySpace page are fake) round out the lineup ably, but for me it’s definitely Kat’s show. Her voice is a nice blend of a furious Corrin Tucker and a sultry Debbie Harry– and at times, Jeff Buckley.

Of course, just because Kat steals the show doesn’t mean that Hello Tokyo is a synth band– they’re not. Songs oscillate between power- chord Pixies rock and syncopated U2- style atmospherics. The best track on the record for me is “The Affair,” and I look forward to them coming to San Francisco.

Hello Tokyo website
Hello Tokyo on Myspace

Words by Lee

Langhorne Slim : The War Eagles

Langhorne Slim’s music reminds me of the kind I used to see on a Wednesday night for two dollars as a freshman in college back in Athens, GA– and that’s not a bad thing.  I remember the Jager shots, having crushes on all the hippie chicks in the bar, and the paralyzing fear that the doorman would retroactively figure out that I had just used the same fake ID* as my other three friends to get in.  (And of course I remember the awful, awful dancing– mine and everyone else’s.)

Which is to say that there is decidedly a time and a place for Mr. Slim, though I’m not sure that his latest, Langhorne Slim & The War Eagles, is really it.  The songs– reminiscent at times of Van Morrison, and of Exile On Main Street at others, though filtered through a David Gray- type lens– are slightly cliched, and innocuous overall.  But oh, how I long for the days when I would have paid to get drunk on shitty keg beer, play pool, and seen them live.  

~lee.

*I’ve written of this before, but it bears repeating here:  my fake ID (which was handed down to me through a tradition I am forever sworn to secrecy about) was an old ID of a guy named Justin Gage– his name and stats forever burned into my brain, you can quiz me– and he now lives in Los Angeles and runs one of the best music blogs around, An Aquarium Drunkard. I didn’t know him then, and I don’t know him now, but nonetheless I just think that this is serendipitously hilarious. 

Langhorne Slim

Words by Lee