MySpace Rundown: Montana Skies

Montana Skies is maybe part of indie music rediscovering stringed instruments other than the guitar, or maybe a sign that this rediscovery is waning. They have a nice sense of structure--a similar feel for the architecture of string music as, say, Calexico--but end up somehow more genre-bound, in a schizophrenic sort of way.

They often come close to sounding promising: Canyon Breeze has a simple and almost compelling base line, but remains placidly in the easy listening category; Another Brick in the Wall starts out with drive and energy but loses momentum before it ends. Eventually, though, each song seems to fit into the dreamy-sweeping category, or the folksy-bouncing category, with not much in between.

I get the idea that they would put on a lovely, engaging live show; but somehow there's no real reason to listen to their recorded music instead of other, less binary fare. With a little more contrast, a little more harshness or nuance, and a little less sweep, they could be much more compelling.

tags: [Music], [Montana Skies], [String instruments], [Myspace music], [mp3]

Myspace Find: Plushgun's EP

Plushgun, who I've mentioned earlier, has an EP up for listening (though not downloading or buying) on Myspace. I'm inclined to be disappointed; the energetic beat of Just Impolite camouflaged the tremendous sentimentality of the vocals, and new tracks "The Dark in You" and "An Aria" aren't nearly as balanced. I'm going to be the ravenous fan and demand more before I make up my mind; you may notice that it's the same mp3 and the same image between the two entries. That's all there is! For the degree of polish in the music, there's oddly few materials available. I'd really like to see Plushgun get some kind of production deal and have enough of a presence that I can finally make up my mind about them!

tags: [Music], [Myspace], [mp3], [Plushgun]

Myspace Rundown: Greg Schuler, Shrinking Islands, Austin Newcomers, Roy Davis

Greg Schuler is . . . can boys sing bubble gum pop? Can there be a one-member boy band? That's the sound he seems to be going for, with maybe a little more old-school instrumentation than most: I can almost see the instrument-boogie the horn chorus is doing.

Shrinking Islands has a nice though unexceptional sound--guitars, drum set, male tenor (when did we decide all male vocalists have to be tenors?)--but their vocalists need better mikes.

Austin Newcomers's first track Kamikaze is firmly in the frenetic party pop category, but On the Roof and You Must Try are more meditative. They do sound like a band that would do well live in Austin, too.

Roy Davis sounds a bit like Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst, but not so bloody over-the-top. It can be a nice sound, when it isn't overdone, but there isn't anything else striking enough about these tracks to recommend them.

Overall, a disappointing, unexceptional bunch of MySpace denizens. Dammit.

tags: [Music], [Myspace], [New Music]

Top o' the Inbox: Plushgun - Impolite

Just Impolite starts out sounding a whole lot like Postal Service, with luminous, upbeat electronica and a thin tenor; the vocals become less Gibbardly as the song goes on, although I couldn't say what they do become. Sadly, that's the only Plushgun song; it'd be nice to hear an EP's worth of this and get a feel for the range of the band.

tags: [Music], [mp3], [Myspace], [Postal Service], [Plushgun]

Myspace Find: Mason Proper

MySpace find Mason Proper is a bit of an odd band: they go from startlingly metallic in My My Bad Fruit, to meandering Explosions in the Sky-style intro to Chemical Dress Eliza, to more usual vocalist-driven rock that reminds me of OK Go--within three songs. It's a little challenging imaging all this melding into a coherent show, but overall the songs have a enjoyable, smart vibe to them.

Fortunately for me, they've got a show at the MidEast Upstairs on March 30; I may have to see if I can't get to that--and it may even work, since Birdmonster will be taking the stage as well!

tags: [Music], [Myspace Music], [mp3], [Mason Proper], [Birdmonster]

Cuckoo Canoe Revisited

Or, an object lesson in listening to the whole CD. . . when first exposed to Cuckoo Canoe's music via
their Myspace, I couldn't put them together into a coherent band with a sound. But now I've got my hands on Basketball Freedom Overdrive and listened to it a few times through, it's much clearer: they're a brash, energetic band leaning towards the latter-day New Wave stylings that are making the rounds again. Alaska Wolf Slay is the most clearly infectious, but that vigor pervades the CD. It's a good listen.

tags: [Music], [mp3], [Cuckoo Canoe]

Myspace Rundown: The Electrolites, Pleasant, The Speakers, Mean Creek, Day Action Band, The Simples

Oh yes, another one! I've got far too many friend requests from bands I've never heard of, so it's time to weed through them and see if any get the stamp of approval.

The Electrolites are kinda good; very seventies-sounding vocals (they use a tambourine, too!). They're jangly and bouncy and pleasant, if you can take that seventies-style musical optimism. Togetherness: B. Creativity: B.

Pleasant is more usual guitar-driven rocky stuff; there's a tangled harmony in the guitars that's a little unusual (in a good way), but the vocals are doing that retro-mod sound I still need a name for. It's more posturing than I'm happy to hear. Togetherness: B+. Creativity: B-.

The Speakers come as a nice contrast--sweet and dreamy--although maybe equally hackneyed, since the two major types of indie vocals now seem to be the posturing retro-mod thing (think Editors) and the humble blurry sweet approach (think Iron & Wine). Togetherness: B+. Creativity: B-.

I kinda like Mean Creek; they combine brash instrumentals with the softer vocal style, and it works pretty well--the crashing and the sweetness go together rather nicely. Togetherness: A. Creativity: B+.

Day Action Band is immediately appealing: steady, harmonic guitar, fluid vocals, and lyrics with just enough subtlety catch your attention. Togetherness: A. Creativity: A-.

The Simples have a rather awful Myspace page, where the designer can't resist putting a very cool graphic in the background, despite the fact that it makes a good deal of the text illegible. Despite that, they're pleasant if unexceptional. Togetherness: A-. Creativity: A-.

Might change my grading criteria to Skill and Sound, since I think they're more accurate labels.

tags: [Music], [Myspace], [Music on Myspace]

MySpace Rundown: Hannah Speller, Dave Lewis, Get Set Go, Most Bitter, Lindi Ortega

Another one of the bits on musicians/bands who randomly friend me on Myspace; I wait until they reach critical mass, which seems to take about two weeks. (Wow, this crop has it together; nobody who desperately needs instrumental or vocal training.)

Hannah Speller: Strong voice, dynamic, competent instrumentation, and lyrics that are a litte interesting. Should the lyrics of Never Gonna (I don't need love/ I don't need love/ I do not dream of you) meant to be taken straight, or is it a Methinks the Lady Doth sorta situation? "Hush Hush" is . . . a little blunt, a little too genre-shaped, too easy to pigeonhole; same for "Here Comes the Rain." Togetherness: A-. Creativity: B/B+.

Dave Lewis: Pleasant if wandering instrumentals, less proggy, more jazzy than Mogwai or Mars Volta. The vocals, when they show up, are sort of. . . pointless? shapeless? It's not quite Muzak--but not far away. Togetherness: A-. Creativity: C+.

Get Set Go: Well, they win points for starting off with a bouncy song called "I Hate Everyone." The contrast between the nasty lyrics and the cheerful, enjoyable music reminds me of old-school Guster. Fortunately, they seem to understand that band cannot live on bile alone, so the rest of the songs are varied--although the sweet, happy sound is consistent. Good music to listen to when you're pissed or miserable but not wanting to mope--it's happily bitter bubble gum. Togetherness: A-. Creativity: B+.

Most Bitter: Quite odd. Buzzing, cheap-sound instrumentals and arhythmic almost-spoken-word vocals. Sort of reminds me of Magnetic Fields, without the drive, humor, and beauty. Togetherness: B. Creativity: B+.

Lindi Ortega: Wow, she sounds like a young, less-aggressive Kristin Hersh . . . but the songs aren't very interesting, country-inflected ballads and breakup songs. Not bad, but no real substance. Togetherness: A-. Creativity: C.

tags: [Music], [mp3], [Myspace], [Music on Myspace]

Myspace Rundown: The Triple Threat, December Remember, Daroe, Since November, Rob Gezschman

The intermittent rundown of bands or musicians that randomly friend me on MySpace--an exercise in maintaining critical balance. MySpace bands are definitely graded on a curve--an A- on MySpace is probably a B or so for music encountered commercially.

The Triple Threat: Sweet, and distinctly pleasant, but unexceptional. B.

December Remember: Oh god. This is like a mix of Bright Eyes, Joanna Newsom, and really, really bad. Possibly the most confused music I've heard; I can't tell if it's on purpose or not (is he off-key and off-beat deliberately? is it some complex mathematical manipulation of either or both?), but I don't care. C-? D?

Daroe: One of the more together bands that've featured on Myspace Rundown; they're on-beat and maybe even a bit interesting. Skillful instrumentals and vocals, but "Slaves" is lame. B- (without considering the self-conscious grunge lyrics of "Slaves," B+)

Since November: The publicity photo is atrocious--very Scandinavian, mouth-open, smash-banged foolishness. I like the music, though; a nice mix of acoustic instrumentals and distorted vocals. I'm a sucker for juxtaposing very acoustic layers and very electronic layers. A--.

Rob Getzschman: I wish it to be understood that bad acoustic covers of Postal Service songs win nobody points. Amanda Palmer can pull it off; Rob Getzschman can't. Following it up with subgenre in-joke "Anti-Folk Is Dead" doesn't get any points either, actually. The dude seems competent but incapable of doing a non-derivative song. Why showcase those two, really? C-.

I may split Myspace grades into two aspects, which are I think togetherness and creativity. Sometimes bands that are not very interesting get rated highly, because they can keep time and find their way around their instruments without getting obviously lost; some bands aim higher than they can fly. I'd like to take both into account.

tags: [Music], [Myspace]

Myspace Rundown

New sorta feature. Now that I'm on the tweener's paradise, I get random friends requests from a fair number've small bands. Thought a brief rundown might be a nice thing to do; it'll also make me write about music that isn't a particular favorite, as part of my ongoing Really Be Critical campaign.

Joe Pena Greyhound Soul: Not bad. Nice laid-back vibe, weak vocals on some tracks like "Into the Room;" but "World Demo" has a Tom Waitsy kinda appeal. B+, mebbe.

Lono: At first glance, not very interesting. Overwrought Tool-type music without the structural depth of Maynard. It's got some of the same driven testosterone appeal, so it's ok if that metal's your bag in general, but there's no particular draw or reason to hang on to it otherwise. C+.

Fallen View: Pretty bland, but pretty nice. Their little blurby bit by their picture (I'm sure that part of a profile has a name, but I don't know what it is) about sums it up: vocally-driven melodic niceness. C+.

mechanical birds: Loses points before I've even heard anything by doing this odd white-out thing that makes the Myspace URL hard to read. Why do that? It's sugary techno-pop, maybe a little more skilled than I would have expected. B.

There seems to be a common theme here--most of these bands fill a niche very adequately but without much innovation or creativity (always remembering, of course, that these opinions were formed after listening to three tracks a couple of times each). I don't think this is necessarily representative of musicians on myspace--a'tris is my favorite example, they're damned good, and there are all kinds of really stellar people like Regina Spektor and Casey Dienel and Birdmonster. Is it just the law of averages, or are bands looking to befriend random music bloggers uniformly mediocre? Only time will tell, I s'pose.

tags: [Music], [myspace],