Occupying a unique space of the imagination somewhere between Frank Zappa and Ren n’ Stimpy, a young Logan Whitehurst recorded a wealth of brilliant and unique works in his short but hugely creative life. Before succumbing to a brain tumor at the age of 29, he told his family that playing his music for people was one of the most important things to him. Among his many talents, Logan was also a cartoonist (or click on the animated gif for his comics page) in a style that fits his songwriting humor like a glove. The guy was a treasure. His work lives on. It’s genius in both art and craft, original yet instantly familiar, with a rare levity the world could sure use more of. As such, his music is available for download and streaming from freemusicarchive.org, and this is truly something to celebrate. You can buy the CD’s direct from his site, too. Enjoy.

Don’t usually hear of a lot bands from Austria. But lately the power pop and progressive rock stuff has been coming from new corners of the globe, lots of lesser known towns in Europe and elsewhere, so I’m not terribly surprised. This is something gorgeous, a very sweet production and a great big composition. Hmm, coffee setting in as I try to form first sentences of the day. Anyway, I like this song, that’s all. Nice of these gentlemen and lady to share it. <3 to Superfan for the tip.

Monk
“Santa Ana Murders And The Neonlights Of Love” (mp3)
from “The Man Who Sleeps On His Breath”
(sevenahalf records)

Need more!

Titus Andronicus are as much a carny of crazed vagabond poets as they are a hard hitting, dangerous sounding punk rock band. Pogues, Clash, Springsteen, Replacements, Pixies and Nirvana influences all prominent, but it’s almost silly to say that, since the voice that shines through this material is so blazingly fresh and sincere. The comparisons also end with their arrangements. This song for example, develops way past your standard three minute power-pop burst, into an epic piece stuffed with simultaneously dire and humorously clever narrative, and relentless musical invention that grows organically and never seems forced. This anthemic track is from their new album, The Monitor, for which they are currently on Monitour. Dates on their myspace. Tip o’ the brim to Tony in Louisville for sending linky. Stumendous.

Spunge – “Idols” mp3

Buster the Ska Doggie, with whom I am acquainted, posted a sweet series of ska and ska related mp3s with his own peculiar annotation. It must be a dog’s life, posting blurbs about ska songs all day and night. You can listen to the lot of it @ Buster’s blog on ska4u.com. Here’s one of the tunes, I just have to re-post – “Idols” by UK ska rockers Spunge. Big silly good ska-pop-punky fun, about something I think we can all relate to sometimes. Which idol do I wanna be like? Why Buster the Ska Doggie, of course.

I was thinking today about the Harvey Danger song “Little Round Mirrors,” from their “Little By Little” EP. I was completely gobsmacked by it when they released it in late 2005, and though I haven’t heard it since a bunch of spins back then, I can recall the magnificent hooks in vivid detail and it’s one of those songs that just pops up from time to time in my mental playlist. So this morning I went to their site to see what’s up with them now, only to learn that like many recording artists in this era of severe public apathy about new music, they have called it quits. Their statement about hanging it up is gracious and completely without bitterness, which is about what I would expect from a band of such talent and generosity. You see, what they did with this EP, is they released the whole thing, for free, asking for donations if you felt like giving them something for their efforts, but hoping simply for their music to be heard. They detailed their reasons rather eloquently here. Their conclusion is by no means unique – plenty of bands have realized the same thing, and I wouldn’t bother posting this if not for one thing: the song is magnificent. It deserves to be heard. It’s a beautiful performance of a great pop composition that while difficult to classify, is immensely accessible. The hooks are breathtaking, the lyrics intelligent, poetic, compassionate and heartbreaking. I could go on. Think “Pet Sounds” goes to Seattle or, like, Jellyfish without the clown makeup. The whole EP is great, in fact, as I am just discovering now. Thanks to HD for leaving it up there. As a musician in a band myself, I know the cost in time, money and gear that it takes to write, rehearse, record, mix and master a record this good is anything but trivial. If you like, you can send the band some $ to offset their investment a bit, here. Hey it worked for Radiohead. Or you can go old school and buy a hard copy. Either way I think you’ll really enjoy their music.

Here’s a lesser known gem from original Two-Tone giants The Selecter. Haven’t lived til you’ve seen this group live, oh my freakin gawd. Pauline Black is an amazing vocalist, and if her onstage energy could be tapped it would solve the energy crisis. Like all the Two-Tone era ska bands, The Selecter was never shy about expressing their politics in song, as in this defiant broadside against racist ignorance and fear. Musically there’s an interesting twist in this track – while most of the song contains their trademark Hammond Organ, a vintage Arp String Ensemble sound pops in at the bridge for an eerie, dark transition between the bouncy and bright choruses. Massive. Pick up a bevvy of their mp3s on the Three Minute Hero collection.

The Selecter

Three Minute Hero

Here’s an anthemic rocker from the out of control and marvelous Parkas. These guys rocked live, made some great music and called it quits. Their posthumous record, You Should have Killed Us When You Had The Chance is great. I love the lyrics to this song and the hooks would be at home on a Replacements, Clash or Springsteen record. I generally dislike like the over-flogged term “brutally honest,” but this is some brutally honest work. Bad ass rock with real guts and heart.

Parkas
“The Gang’s All Gone” (mp3)
from “You Should Have Killed Us When You Had the Chance”
(Saved by Radio)

Need more!

This rare pop gem from Berkeley-based garage band the Gazillions defies description, but the title speaks for itself. Fronted by the inimitable David Hollogram, this remarkable group only played together long enough to do a few legendary gigs and release an amazing album called “The Gazillions Have Landed.” This song is now also featured on the MP3 Jackpot Winners compilation CD. As Hollogram himself once revealed, “Hobbit Love was inspired by dating in Humboldt County. There were all these beautiful people, but they were all such hobbits in their minds. I finished this song on the cab stand as I worked my late night shift in Eureka, CA.”

Young Scottish quartet We Were Promised Jetpacks uses a traditional two guitars, bass and drums formula, to create something far from ordinary. Like their brilliant Fat Cat labelmates Frightened Rabbit, the Jetpacks mine the depths of bleakness to bring up artifacts of surprising beauty. “Ships With Holes Will Sink” lurches bodily at its subject matter and wrestles it to the ground, in a sort of epic battle between vitality and futility. The lyrics, depending on your mood, could be hilarious, or truly frightening. Regardless, this is original work, rich in passion, intelligence, and a certain courage, that I find myself returning to as it reveals a little more each time. Now, about those Jetpacks..

We Were Promised Jetpacks
“Ships With Holes Will Sink” (mp3)
from “These Four Walls”
(Fat Cat Records)

Need more!

My friend Rebecca AKA Breakup Babe sent me a linky to Devin Davis‘ site a coupla years ago and I picked up his CD. Listening to it again lately, somehow it goes well with winter. A very creative singer-songwriter in the more intellectual pop rock realm of things, Davis’ clever lyrics are matched by some lovely harmony and call and answer vocal arrangements. At the heart though, I think the reason his songs work so well is their very human conscience, and a yearning that ends up sounding universal. Check out “Turtle and the Flightless Bird” and “Iron Woman” on Devin’s mp3 page. Raw, unvarnished production adds to the delicious desperation of these works. And hey, if you like the songs, buy his CD won’t you, so maybe he’ll make good on his promise to make another one! Becky and I would both be so pleased. Thank you.