Earworms: Snowden, Some By Sea, Sigur Ros/We Are Scientists

Snowden is an Atlanta band that says on their myspace page that they're "post-shoegaze." I'm not entirely sure what that is--I thought the point of shoegaze was that it was gauzy, heartfelt, and melancholic, which doesn't so much fit Snowden. Their guitarwork does sorta remind me of Trespassers William (the limit of my experience of shoegazer stuff) in that they both remind me of the geometric string designs I did in first or second grade--the curves there are approximated by a repetition of straight lines. Their CD Anti-Anti comes out from Jade Tree 22 August, which can be preordered at their woefully flash-based website, where there's also a link to download most of the Snowden EP.

Snowden - Good News





Some By Sea I got from Obscure Sound, as On Fire! (Igloo) made the cut for the best CDs of the year at half-time. I'm a sucker for strings and vocal harmony, both of which they do very nicely, and their lyrics are vivid, impressionistic, and miserable.

Some By Sea - The Beginning of the World Often Comes





This next one goes under unexpected covers for sure; it's We Are Scientists covering "Hoppipolla," which is worth it just to get to see somebody else do Sigur Ros. Nobody covers Sigur Ros! They sing in a made-up language! Apparently Murray had a phonetic crib-sheet for the lyrics--although I'm confused because Ain't No Picasso says he got the crib sheet from someone who speaks Icelandic. How would that help with Jon Birgisson's Hopelandic? Do the two share phonetic codes, or what? Anyway, it's a great song nonetheless.

We Are Scientists - Hoppipolla




It should be noted that We Are Scientists are part of the exalted company, along with Alexi Murdoch, Psapp, Jose Gonzalez, Final Fantasy, Calexico, and Aimee Mann, THAT BLOODY CHOSE TO PLAY SHOWS IN BOSTON THE WEEK I WAS OUT OF TOWN! All of those in one week! It isn't fair.