New Music Smorgasbord: Jean on Jean, Atlas Sound, Volcano Suns, Sage Francis, and more

Download: Jean On Jean - "Tonight"
Download: Holding Mercury - "Downfall of an Empire"
Download: Atlas Sound - "Maybe Logic"
Download: Marcio Local - "Samba Sem Nenhum Problema"
Download: Yonlu - "I Know What It's Like"
Download: Japanese Motors - "Spending Days"
Download: Volcano Suns - "Jak"
Download: Volcano Suns - "White Elephant"
Download: Sage Francis - "Conspiracy to Riot"
Download: Johann Johannson - "The Rocket Builder"
Download: The Problemaddicts & Masta Ace - "Hurting"
Download: The Problemaddicts - "Over The Colour You Like"
Download: Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt - "Fast Forward Regrets"

Here's a collection of new MP3s, as well as my thoughts on them. Here they are:


Jean on Jean - definitely sounds like someone is trying to cheer themselves up by singing a song, but also recognizes the utter futility of doing so. This starts out as an anti-folk version of a girl-group anthem, but then slowly adds a church organ (research organs), xylophone, and other Specter-esque production tricks. There's not much imaginative songwriting, but bells-and-whistles are still nice.

Marcio Local - well, the title certainly negates the need for explaining the style of this song.

Holding Mercury - sounds like Nickelback doing Cheap Trick. Melody is reminiscent of The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony", but instead of orchestral transcendence, we get a douchey chorus. This is the sound of a band struggling against themselves, and it's painful to listen to. There's something here to suggest that they could still learn something from Rick Nielsen and Co., but that would mean going all the way to Budokan.


Atlas Sound - Another appealing slice of dream-pop from Bradford Cox.

Yonlu - Beautiful, melancholy music that marries Brazilian musical stylings with a George Harrison-esque sense of songcraft.

Japenese Motors - "Spendin Days" is not revelatory to anyone who's heard either garage-pop from the 60s, or New Wave from the early 80s, but an amiable melody and some nice clean guitar tones make for a pleasant listen.

Volcano Suns - Two new old songs from Volcano Suns, who bear a positive resemblance to Guided By Voices and Husker Du.

Sage Francis - A special MP3 released to raise awareness to journalists mistreatment in St. Paul, the Providence-based MC crafts a scathing indictment of authoritarianism. The last minute of sampled audio footage sends chills down the spine.

Johann Johannsson - A part of a planned musical trilogy about technology, Johannsson, uses minimalist motifs to create a haunting piece. For those who admire the Kronos Quartet's work in Darren Aronofsky's films.

The Problemaddicts - Two solid hip-hop tracks from a Rhymesayers-minded group.

(Jonathan Graef)
jon@minneapolisfuckingrocks.com

New Atlas Sound - "Coffin Trick"

Download: Atlas Sound - "Coffin Trick"

New Atlas Sound track, 4AD style. Let's talk about it.

Atlas Sound on MySpace

(Ian Anderson)

New Deerhunter - "Winter Never Stops" (Plus: New Atlas Sound EP!!)

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After a brief hiatus of sorts, activity has started to pick up around the Deerhunter camp. The band has added a new guitarist, Whitney Petty, and you can see her in action by watching her play on a new song, presumably one that has been demoed for the Atlanta-based psych-punk group's forthcoming Microcastle record. The track is called "Winter Never Stops", and its a song that, even in acoustic form, is highly reminiscent of The Beatles, as well as Bradford Cox's previous material. Despite the stripped down setting, I can hear the ambient touches that the band will undoubtedly add already.

Additionally, Cox made a new Atlas Sound EP available for download directly from his blog. It's called The Things I Miss EP, and it's all about the stuff that Bradford gets homesick for while he is recording. For instance, "My Car", the first song from the EP that you can listen to at the top of the post.

Download it here.

Deerhunter MySpace PAge

(Jonathan Graef)

Deerhunter Blog Posts Ominous Castle's Cover Of "Cryptograms" (Plus New Atlas Sound MP3s)

Download: Deerhunter - "Cryptograms"
Download: Ominous Castle - "Cryptograms"
Download: Atlas Sound - "I'll Be Your Mirror"
Download: The Velvet Underground - "I'll Be Your Mirror"
Download: Lotus Plaza - "What Grows"
Download: Atlas Sound - "Walks Backwards"
Download: Atlas Sound - "Cobwebs"

Here's something which you don't necessarily see everyday: An artist posting a cover version of his original song on his very own blog. But that was the case yesterday with Deerhunter's Bradford Cox posting a cover of "Cryptograms", the title track of Atlanta-based quartet's full-length LP released at the beginning of the year, on the Deerhunter/Atlas Sound/Lotus Plaza Blog. Of the cover version, Cox said:

(The Ominous Circle)cover of Cryptograms' title track that in my opinion is far better than the original. Whoever made this please identify yourself and let use know where we can here more of your stuff...
and tell us what you used to record this cover. it sounds amazing.
you improved the vocals a LOT.

After having listened to both versions of "Cryptograms", the original definitely still has the upper hand on the cover. Ominous Castle's version is sounds like someone kidnapped Devo and forced them to record "Cryptograms" as the theme song for a daytime TV game show. It makes sense to bring out some of the new wave influence in Deerhunter's songs, which in turn could highlight any sort of humanism that's been previously hidden in Deerhunter's work. But, in trying to achieve that artistic goal, OC strips away many of the elements which made the original version so compelling. Namely, the dark, hypnotically robotic pulse which drives the song, Bradford Cox's forceful monotone vocals, and the incredibly lush guitars. You could certainly take those elements away and have a compelling version of the same song. However, Ominous Castle's version simply does not work because the band did not replace the original's merits with different ones.

Still, listening to both is absolutely recommended, because it shows what a world of difference something like instrumentation can make.

Listen to both versions of "Cryptograms" at the top of the post, in addition to recent Atlas Sound MP3s, (which includes a cover of The Velvet Underground "I'll Be Your Mirror. We've also gone ahead and posted the original of that one) as well as an Lotus Plaza MP3.

Read the original post here.

Deerhunter MySpace Page
Ominous Castle MySpace Page (maybe)
Deerhunter Blog

(Jonathan Graef)