Beale Street Music Festival

Memphis in May is almost around the corner. The one thing I cannot figure out is how this year's Beale Street Music Festival's band lineup could possibly be worse than the last year's... and the year before that... and they year before that... you get the picture. This festival, and Memphis in general, definitely do not cater to my Indie Rock tastes. The lineup this year consists of (for the most part) either pretentious and over done sell-outs that I would pay money NOT to see or unknown bands that most likely aspire to be like the previously mentioned group. There are very few exceptions like Gomez who I would actually like to go see, but for the price of one ticket ($20) and the wading through all the crap (bands and literally crap), there is no way that is going to happen. It's just not worth it. Sorry Gomez. :( Yet again Memphis has and will continue to fail us with non maintstream taste as a "great" music city. I can't wait to not go and hear how bad it sucked.. again.

Slow Runner

Slow Runner, who I happened to see at the Young Avenue Deli a while back when they first formed, is an indie/electronic rock band that has a differing sound. The lead singer/songwriter Michael Flynn has a comforting and sympathetic if not empathetic voice. He reminds you of a younger Ben Folds, minus the glasses, because he is a thin white kid who plays the keyboards/piano. I saw Slow Runner again 3/25/06 at the Young Avenue Deli where they were promoting their new album called "No Disassemble".

The first track on the CD is a short electronic track of 44 seconds that leads straight into the song ("Break Your Mama's Back") that made its public debut on Grey's Anatomy a little over a month ago. This is somewhat of an upbeat song that immediately introduces you to the type of music this band performs. The following track called "The Sea is Never Full" is a bit slower with lyrics like "Every tear can feel its mother's pull..." making it a more compassionate song than some of the others. The fourth song is faster with a steady beat and occational banjo picking, which makes it not only more enjoyable, but more original. The next song, which is great live, is titled "You're in Luck". This is probably one of the most upbeat songs on the whole CD which could be classified as a "feel good" song. The CD slows down from this point on. The casual banjo picking comes back in the lyricless "Class of '86" which makes the song somewhat soothing and continuous. The CD ends with "Moody Suburban Teenage Love Song" which sounds just like a moody suburban teenage love song might. It reminds you of your own teenage days and brings the CD to a nostalgic close rather than ending with a bang.

All in all, this CD is definitely worth checking out or buying and if you get a chance, I would go see them in concert. They are currently on a national tour and their tour dates can be found on their website.

Dave Doobinin

Dave Doobinin's sophomore full album One Station Away starts out with a tense, fast paced track called "Hurricane Trees". Just listening to it makes me a little nervous and it concludes leaving you the same place you started. If there were to be a single, then the next song, "100 Watts", would definitely be it. This song is a little slower paced than the first one, but has a nice reemerging hook. The next song carries the same pace, then the album slows as it comes to "Father's Day". At a short 1:20, you can feel the lyrics such as "..Pretty makeup falling down mother's face.." and "We plant flowers, your body will help them grow. Watch them tower over your tombstone.." affect your heart. After the next song, the CD picks up speed again with "Never Enough", which sounds pretty similar to Weezer's green album. But keep in mind that in general, Dave Doobinin should never be compared to new Weezer with the small exception of his voice sounding a bit like Rivers'. His title track comes next. It starts out slow and then moves toward a cacophony of noises compiled into a decent feel good song with some soul influence. Two tracks later at 4:52, "Man vs. Machine" has the most presence (and length) of any of the songs on One Station Later. It is mechanical in both sound and structure. Towards minute three of the song, there is a very small hint of Ben Lee's voice in "Grammercy Park Hotel". One Station Later concludes with "Wonder" where a female backup singer helps create a soft and melodic conclusion.

The CD is a short 10 Tracks, but better shorter with substance than longer and without. It has a good mix of electic and acoustic instruments throughout the CD. Clearly Dave Doobinin avoided the typical sophomore slump.

Husky Rescue - Country Falls

Husky Rescue, a Helsinki based band, have put out a relaxing album called Country Falls. This indie electronic album lures you in with its soft and relaxed tempos and vocals. Country Falls is an album that combines the soft jazz feel with the experimentation of the Animatrix soundtrack in a calming way. It's a perfect album to listen to while staying in bed on a slow, rainy day.

Jose Gonzalez - Veneer

Jose Gonzalez was mentioned in my last post for his cover of The Knife's Heartbeats (iTMS link). He does cover the song to great effect, and his effort is on Veneer. However, Gonzalez is about as far as you can get from The Knife. Deep Cuts is big and loud (literally) and experimental and weird. Veneer is a CD full of simple-yet-complex arpeggiated acoustic guitar tunes. You're for the most part just listening to him and his guitar, and the songwriting is there enough for this to work. Gonzalez's music fades into the background. The music is very good but it's quiet and unassuming, and none of the tracks are horribly infectious (save Heartbeats and maybe Deadweight on Velveteen). The songs are a touch melancholy. You're not breaking any new ground when you listen to it - it's almost like listening to Simon and Garfunkel, except more if they had a kid that combined the best of their respective talents - but that's part of the appeal. I honestly waver on it a bit. Sometimes I feel the album is warm and comforting, and sometimes it seems almost as if Gonzalez stapled his heart to his sleeve; that is, cold and honest. Overwhelmingly, it's a disc that you want to curl up in an easy chair and listen to while drinking some nice green tea or French press coffee. And then you want to swear at it because, at 30 minutes long, it'll have ended before you finish your drink. Definitely worth a shot. (Try it from iTMS.)

Couse and the Impossible

Dave Couse created a new band called Couse and the Impossible who released their first album last year called The World Should Know. The band is from Dublin, Ireland. More news about the band can be fodnu on the ZOP website. This CD is good ol' Indie Rock. The most upbeat and catchy song on the album which I highly recommend you listen to is "Batman & Robin". On February 14th, they released their second single of the album which is called "Beauty Is". You can find a copy of their CD at Road Records.com.

The Knife - Deep Cuts

As much as I hate to do it, I'm going to review this CD. You may have heard of this band, since their opening track on this album ("Heartbeats") was covered to great effect by Jose Gonzalez and is currently making the rounds. The Knife is a Swedish group that - on this album - seem to be focused around a very 80's style of synthpop. Their tracks are full of heavy synth bass and stereotypical pop waveforms. They even throw in some steel drum too. Vocals are interesting - there's no way to get around the fact that yes, they are from Sweden, but it's complimentary and not really distracting.

Deep Cuts is 17 tracks long. It's sort-of hit and miss. The opening track is good, and the one after ("Girl's Night Out") is as well. After that, it's a bit of a tossup. Some of the tracks - "You Make Me Like Charity" and "The Cop" notably - are weird. The album almost feels padded out. However, that said, there are enough good tracks on it that it's worth just anteing up the $10 for a copy from iTunes. Definitely a preview before you buy album though.

Broken Social Scene

Broken Social Scene is a Canadian band with many members. Guests come and go on their albums and they sound like indie rock and experimental pop. Broken Social Scene sound a little like The Good Listeners. Their label is called Arts&Crafts. I like them mostly because of their sampling and manipulation of sound into catchy beats. Their second CD You Forgot it in People got a couple of good reviews from Pitchfork Media and the BBC. Their latest self titled album got a pretty good review from Pitchfork Media as well. I recommend both of these albums and hope you get a chance to listen to them because it's well worth it. I'm looking forward to future CDs by this expiremental indie rock band.