You call this doleful? Sheesh.
They call it Blue Monday over here because of the day's high suicide rate. Christmas cheer is dead, its bills are coming due, weather sucks, etc. I, however, see it as an opportunity, so here're seven bands to give us luck and hope and stuff.
The Billionaires –
The End Of Summer Song mp3 – In case you're just clicking down the list, there's another by The Billionaires at
Some Velvet Blog.
Sykosonics –
Ultralite mp3 – Okay, thanks again to
Milk Milk Lemonade for the headsup on this. I waited a discreet interval before posting, as
promised. Same with the next one, even without the promise.
American Suitcase –
Lloyd Christmas mp3 – And besides, I'm already getting in the mood for Christmas 2008. Not. For a good song, though? Always. BTW, there's more by these excellent Norsemen
here, plus other fun stuff.
Doleful Lions –
The Warriors End Table wma – Have you ever been on the way to the store and as soon as you turn on the key, a great song you'd only heard once before when buying it at
eMusic comes on and accompanies you all the way and you walk through the store humming the wonderful thing over and over and then drive an extra couple of miles on the way home so you can hear it a couple more times? Am I being too personal? Anyway, that happened with me and this song a couple of weeks ago. And it was cold and rainy and wonderful, too. And I'm really digging these Oswegians these days, and they make me feel exactly opposite of their first name and exactly like their second. Like, roarrrrrr, ya know?
Thirdimension –
Other Side Of Town wma – I loved this next one by these same Malmovians when I posted it back in May.
Sorry if I'm not being
Hyper Enough, or maybe too. Just riding the crest of the rave. I'll hurry shoreward.
Chairs in the Arno –
Winter Song mp3 – Some of these musicians threw chairs in the Arno and decided to name themselves accordingly. It's paying off musically. In case you missed it,
I recently posted a link to the song named after what they had to do after rescuing the chairs. (Poetic license alert.)
Jason Dove and the Magic Whip –
Stoned on Beer mp3 – I don't know if this had anything to do with the chair-throwing. It's the only segue I'm coming up with at the moment.
Yeh, I know, it's really eight bands, but I like to walk the knife's edge of danger.
Yep.
I loved gazy Angelenos, Mezzanine Owls, as soon as I heard “Lightbulb” last spring and sent “you” over to 3hive to share the pleasure. My friend chadio featured them on Citizen Snob Radio, and I quickly got on their mailing list. This eventually resulted in permission from singer/songwriter Jack Burnside to post the nice pair below from their excellent debut, Slingshot Echoes, which I bought at iTunes (clicky clicky) and heartily recommend. (The rest of the parliament includes Dan Horne, Pauline Mu, and Jonathan Zeitlin.) I’m also delighted to find their Snowglobe/Temporary Health 7” is due out in February. Spinner.com had "Snow Globe" as Free MP3 of the Day yesterday, so click here, if you like. The Owls cite Jesus and Mary Chain, Ride, My Bloody Valentine, The Kinks, Yo La Tengo, R.E.M., The Cure, Neil Young, The Silver Jews, The Go-Betweens and “about a billion other things” as influences. I don’t know about the billion others, but the ten named are firmly in my wheelhouse. I don’t really know what a wheelhouse is, but those are mighty righteous influences. Come to think of it, I’m not quite sure what a mezzanine owl is, either. Note to self: Ask Jack?
Maybe this doesn't do it for you in terms of visual aesthetics, but I'm contemplating one or two folks who'll "dig" it.
