It’s early June and normally the new releases would have slowed down by now as the majority of students leave campus for the summer. Not the case here as the torrid pace continues. I’d really enjoy a chance to catch up and actually spin some of the more deserving recent cuts twice instead of the hectic “play it once and hope it sticks” strategy that the confluence of these songs creates.

Blitzen Trapper – “Sci-Fi Kid”
If not for the cheap-sounding synth solo near the end this would be a sure pick for the Thurs L&F “Found song of the week.” They have a well-formed retro early FM rock sound melding jangly acoustics with an overdriven rhythm section but very little interesting to say lyrically. Spun on 5/31/07.

A Band of Bees – “The Ocularist”
Their previous record was a stunning meld of early 70’s musical styles from soul to garage which displayed an impressive virtuosity that unfortunately is not apparent on this new one. Here we get some Brazilian influence melded with some British folk-prog swipes for an effective ‘what the hell is this song about’ soufflé. Unfortunately Ween did this 5X more effectively on their album The Mollusk, and it’s hard not to make a direct comparison rather than just enjoy the Bees on their merits.

Shepherdess – “Not Gonna Be There Now”
Reports of the death of Kimchee Records were premature, or perhaps we should just regard this as a posthumous release on that fine local label. A super-group of sorts, or maybe we should call it a stalwart-group. Some crunchy pop-rock which would sound just as comfortable with a 1995 copyright as a 2007, Hilken can always wring some sweet desperation from her weary voice and does so effectively on this track.

Mice Parade – “Tales of Las Negras”
The early synth line eerily reminds me of “Let ‘Em In” by Wings. That’s a positive association by the way. The clattering Fridmann-esque drums are also a positive. Mice Parade drafted a heap of vocal help for these tunes, this one benefits from Laetitia Sadier scraping the depths of her octave range and making it work amongst the traditionally deadpan vocals of her partners. Lovely build with some plucked strings aiding the tune towards its close.

Joakim – “Three-Legged Lantern”
The single from this schizophrenic album got a namedrop earlier in the year but I delayed discussing this 7+ minute blippy shoegazer anthem for a bit too long. As a whole the record is tough to pin down, with experimental instrumentals rubbing elbows with new wave dancefloor fillers and tweaked acoustic folk songs. And truthfully the length of this song precludes it from airplay on my show, where 7+ minutes is a territory reserved for songs of Red House Painters quality. But I still wanted to save a memory of this pretty little slice of wallpaper with unintelligibly looped vocals and catchy beats.

The Cinematic Orchestra – “As The Stars Fall”
Speaking of wallpaper, I can always count on the Cinematic Orchestra to provide a solid bedtime companion in the form of some reasonable winddown music. The opening jazz bassline certainly provides some promise, though they do spice it with some pedalicious guitar freakiness that thankfully never breaks out into Boris territory but instead cedes to more traditional strings. Meets expectations.

Piano Magic – “Saints Preserve Us”
Patrick of Subject to Change and myself are the resident Piano Magic fans at the station, and over the past week we’ve had the good fortune to compare and contrast this new effort and the Future Conditional side project (which I’ll talk about in a sec). Piano Magic is solidly on the new wave side of the ledger, with the signature soaring guitars and hazy vocals and understated synth backing making it sound big big big. Not as endearing as previous efforts but still honourably flying the flag for the “it ain’t post-punk” crowd.

Future Conditional – “Crying’s What You Need”
The concept sounds very Postal Service … Piano Magic supplies the music and recruits a bunch of vocalists to help provide life to the lyrics. But in execution the target seems to be much more New Order, I can practically hear Bernard’s phrasings in the execution of some of these tunes. While overall that execution is hit-and-miss the hits are long drives, like this one sung by Klima’s Angele David-Guillou which goes over the center field fence as she pleads with a friend (or maybe us?) to get over a sour relationship behind a sonic template worthy of inclusion on Low-Life. Feels like an end-of-year comp contender to me!

Apparat – “Fractales Pt. 1”
My only disappointment with the new Apparat album is that vocals mar the proceedings far too often. Slyly propulsive instrumentals like this one beckon for 2a.m. drives when the roads are clear and the only other lights are those suspended on poles from high above. The kind of music that makes Sans Serif such a pleasure on Tuesday evenings.

Flunk – “Two Icicles”
A particularly enthusiastic friend makes sure I don’t miss any of Flunk’s artistic efforts even though I don’t find the post-Portishead vibe as compelling as he does. The vocalist has a way of slurring and cutting off her syllables in an early Bjork solo release sorta way, while the downtempo music is very much trip-hop 101. Sure I like it, but I just can’t seem to adore it.

Nedelle – “Ex-Priest”
We’ll save that aforementioned adoration for the chanteuse Nedelle who offers another solo entry into her catalog. This one is strictly folk-pop with a few helping hands from veterans of the scene. There’s little that Nedelle could mate her voice with which would leave me grumbly, so while these tunes aren’t particularly dynamic I always find a lilt or working of a phrase (watch for her gorgeous reading of the “he ran OUT of love” line on this tune, especially the final extended one) that makes the experience worthwhile.

Blair – “Wolfboy”
Can’t inform you much about this debut cd which surfaced at the station, other than it seems to have nothing to do with The Facts of Life. Never really liked songs that use “Oh My God” as a lyric, especially in the chorus … a sign of the imagination-deprived. But they make it work here, with a loping pace and some nice guitar work during the chorus as the singer seems worked up over decidedly high-school issues. Nice bass coming out of the chorus, the band is very tight in its execution. Must remember to play!

The Pipettes – “Really That Bad”
Part 2 of my pilfering of b-sides that hadn’t yet seen the light of U.S. release. Do you really need me to gush over them anymore? A great little rationalization of lust in the face of mounting negative evidence … “ooh he remembered my name once and he even smiled at me!” Guess he really really really really really really can’t be that bad. Remind me to get a tattoo sometime soon … maybe she’ll throw herself at me next time!

Art Brut – “People In Love”
Well they only had two real ideas on their debut album, though the execution was fitfully promising. And to be fair that’s two more ideas than they have on this follow-up, which seems dreadfully dull and obvious by comparison. Or maybe I’m just immune to their wit now. This song is the post-breakup flipside to “Good Weekend” but cashes in none of their good karma chips.

Matt Pond PA – “If You Live”
We can blow out the candles in my household as Matt Pond PA have favoured us with a new ep to temporarily end our long national nightmare. Unfortunately 4 of the 5 songs are really BIG, it seems like the production budget was spent on achieving Lillywhite proportions. This is the only tune which really feels MPPA-ish to me, a mid-tempo dissertation on the impending demise of a relationship with advice for us, the presumptively lovelorn. I am living my love like it’s my last, thank you Mr. Pond.

Datarock – “Princess”
Another one where my ardor for the music isn’t matched by the vocal style. Imagine a band named Datarock in your mind and this is exactly what you’d come up with, so give them a point for truth in advertising. Jumpy new wave rock ditties that deserve comparisons with Devo, though on the lighter end of the spectrum. The shouted vocals can barely mask their inability to do anything but hoarsely damage whatever goodwill the instrumentals have earned.

Von Südenfeld – “The Rhino Head”
Well, leave it to the members of Mouse on Mars to make Mark E. Smith’s post-senile ramblings somewhat palatable. This team-up marries Mark’s vague utterances with much more potent backing than the last Fall record … my only complaint is there’s still more than enough Mark here to annoy me. Take him out of the equation and leave me with the instruments and backing vocals and my opinion of this effort certainly improves.

The Shout Out Louds – “Don’t Get Yourself Involved”
Is it just my cynicism or have the latest non-Clientele passel of Merge releases been cut from the same influences of Destroyer and/or Spoon and/or Arcade Fire? It seems like every new discovery on the Merge roster from White Whale to these glam-poppers are practically interchangeable. This introductory ep blend of ¾ Destroyer glam with ¼ Arcade Fire twinkle stars stomp is certainly impressive enough, but I can only have the same stew so many times before my sense of taste starts to dull.

The Loose Salute – “The Mutineer”
Side project of the Mojave 3 drummer carries little of that band’s influence. This gentle-pop confection has a dollop of 60’s hippie folk matched up with some glistening twee in the acoustic guitar and hushed female backing vocals variety. Certainly pretty, though as a whole not diverse enough to really entrance me for more than a moment or two.

Wheat – “Little White Dove”
The good news is Wheat made it through their major-label flirtation to put out another album, the bad news is I liked the major label record more than this one. The deliberate step away from polish and melody is expected given the history, but many of these fractured fairy tales have an unfinished quality that would sound out of place on Medieros. Sonically this song seems sliced together from snippets of three or four ideas, fidgeting and gliding and stumbling and looping. On songwriting it suffers from the same fate, repeating a variety of short lyrical snippets in hope that the listener will attach a meaning. Played on 5/31/07.