No matter how hard I try, I will forever be at least two-and-a-half-ish weeks behind our inbox. I go through the mail every week, and every week I’m left with a bunch of stuff I want to investigate further. So I download what’s available, put it on my iPod, and let it play for a while to see what I think of it. This system is a little clunky and slow, but it gets the job done. Luckily, this band sent us mail well in advance of their new release so even if did take me almost a whole month, I’m still getting this up with plenty of time to spare. Thanks, Honeytrap!

So on to the good stuff. Honeytrap has, in their own words, “an exciting and unconventional sound which embraces klezmer, folk, alt.rock and the more outré elements of pop”. This is all true, but they haven’t mentioned the best stuff in that perfectly quotable sentence. Sure, they have that whole Eastern European folk thing going on, and they have a lot in common with bands like Beirut, Gogol Bordello, and DeVotchKa. So why do we need another gypsy punk-type band? Because they’re also bizarrely surrealistic and this new album has a song on it called “Roslin Is A Cylon”. How many other klezmer-influenced bands do you know that write songs about Battlestar Galactica? Honestly, this is probably the main reason I downloaded the album in the first place – it definitely caught my attention. I’m pretty sure there’s nothing I expected to hear less on this album than references to sci-fi TV shows. Not that the song really has anything to do with BSG – I don’t have the faintest idea what it’s really about. Listening closely to the lyrics doesn’t get me any nearer to knowing what any of it means – “his teeth were telescopes” – but they sure are interesting as hell.

Honeytrap’s manic surrealism and noughties references create a fascinating contrast between the theatrical old world of their musical style and the new world of their lyrics. Similarly, their underlying pop sensibility makes them feel more modern than some of the other bands I’ve mentioned here and Honeytrap has definitely grabbed me quicker than any of them did at first.

Petrushka is Honeytrap’s second album and will be released on their own label (Crooked Teeth Recording Club) on the 6th of September. Download their first single from the album, “To America”, for free from Bandcamp and pre-order Petrushka while you’re at it.

I haven’t had a chance to hear the new (out now for download, on the 31st on CD) Dan Sartain album, Dan Sartain Lives yet, but his new single is out and about, making the rounds. And just as we expect from Dan Sartain, it’s fast and furious. No, it’s not really a change for Sartain, he pretty much always sounds the way he does. But for a very few artists, that’s actually ok – I don’t really need him to be anything but rockabilly mayhem, as long as he continues to do that as well as he has in the past. And if you like what he does, you won’t be disappointed in “Atheist Funeral” (though I think I actually find the instrumental b-side, “Crimson Cinema Of Death (Dan Sartain Lives Motion Picture Version)” more intriguing) and I’m sure you’ll, like me, be anxious as hell to hear the new album.

‘Nuff said, really – we loves you, Tamboosh! I hope you have a wonderful birthday and, I promise, cupcakes for my best friend asap.

Happy Birthday!

His genres may range from World War II westerns to martial-arts, revenge epics to Grindhouse, exploitation-inspired, slasher flicks, but Quentin Tarantino’s signature directing style is like a blinking, whooping, neon sign. From the first scene, he transports us to another world that is very much his own. From the dialogue to his personal tastes in movies, music, comics and random stuff like cars and outfits to the teeniest props, not one of the meticulous details is an accident. There always seems to be a story behind something as seemingly trivial as a strategically placed styrofoam cup or the hairstyle a minor character might be sporting or even the color of a car. That is why his movies are so captivating; once the initial shock and awe dies down, the minute attention to detail has only just started to register. And we can’t help but keep coming back to try take it all in. Here are some random facts for your viewing pleasure. So ramblers, let’s get ramblin’!

1. Tarantino was thanked in the liner notes of Nirvana’s final studio album In Utero, though his name was spelled differently. In response, he thanked Nirvana on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack and added RIP Kurt. There’s a rumor Kurt & Courtney turned down an offer to act in Pulp Fiction as Lance & Jody. QT says this isn’t true, Kurt just really loved Reservoir Dogs.

2. His movies are known to always contain at least one scene that focus on women’s feet. He is, as Jules boasts in Pulp Fiction, “the foot fucking master”. He admitted that he does have an appreciation for feet in an interview. Check out this post on RopeOfSilicon.com that talks about his fetish with clips of the scenes in question.

3. He has acted in TV shows and movies. On the small screen, he has been on The Golden Girls as an Elvis impersonator, All American Girl, and Alias. He has had several roles in his own and other directors such as his BFF Robert Rodriquez projects. Sometimes he gives himself tiny sneaky cameos like the electronic voice on Jackie Browne’s answering machine, the very first scalping shown in Inglourious Basterds on a dead Nazi is a dummy made in his likeness and when Uma Thurman’s Bride stands over the remains of the Crazy 88s, a masked Quentin Tarantino is among them.

4. He hates product placement and makes up his own brands instead, which adds to his movies’ surreal feel. On a different note, has anybody else ever craved a Kahuna Burger?? I do everytime it pops up on screen – and yes I know how crazy that sounds. Oo and maybe I could wash away my Kahuna burger with a nice refreshing glass of butterbeer from The Three Broomsticks. Yum.

Fictional product placement:
Kahuna burger
Red apple cigarettes
Fruit Brute and Kabooom! (both cereal brands really existed in the seventies)
G.O. Juice
Teriyaki Donuts
Jack Rabbit Slims

5. Quentin Tarantino wrote the character Mr. Pink from Reservoir Dogs for himself and told Steve Buscemi the only way he would give away the role was if he blew him away in the audition. And the rest is history.

6. Some movies Quentin Tarantino will supposedly be working on:
Kill Bill 3 is said will be ready for the public in 2014.
Remakes of cult hits:
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Come Drink With Me

7. QT movie stats:
Reservoir Dogs:
How many times did the word “fuck” feature in the film – 272
Body count – 16

From Dusk Till Dawn:
Body count – 122

Kill Bill:
Body count – 95
At a measly 17, this is the first movie that features less than a 100 “fucks”.
Over 450 gallons of fake blood were used on the two movies.

Deathproof:
Fucks – 144
Body count – (gasp) only 6!

Inglourious Basterds:
Body Count – 76

OK, so I don’t have all the stats from all his movies, but the powers that be (movie dorks/accountants) have not revealed the stats of the other movies and I sure as hell am not going to count them …

8. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is not fond of red blood. It’s OK if it’s grey though, which is supposedly why the big Crazy 88 fight scene is shot in black and white. And also why the blood stains on Uma’s clothes in the trailer are poopie brown (much better) or black. In fact, Kill Bill was the first movie to be subjected to the MPAA’s no blood policy for trailers – a policy they came up with after watching the original Kill Bill trailer …

9. Tarantino’s movies are often linked together in the oddest ways. Sometimes by a certain line, sometimes through a specific outfit (the suit that Jackie Brown buys is the same that Mia Wallace wears in Pulp Fiction). In Deathproof one of the characters’ ringtone is the whisteled tune from Twisted Nerve, also used in Kill Bill. I really love it when he links the different worlds through family bonds. Mr. Blonde from Reservoir Dogs real name is Vic Vega. This is the same surname as Vince from Pulp Fiction. Tarantino has revealed that Vic and Vince are brothers. He also had plans to do a prequel to both films called Double V Vega, which would have starred the Michael Madsen and John Travolta, but last we heard he has abandoned the project altogether.

10. He is known for making oddball agreements with his friends in da biz: Robert Rodriguez scored Kill Bill for one dollar. Quentin Tarantino repaid him by directing a scene in Rodriguez’s movie Sin City for one dollar. Robert Kurtzman did the special make-up effects for Reservoir Dogs, on the condition that Quentin Tarantino write a script for From Dusk Till Dawn based on a story by Kurtzman.

Hey kids, guess what?? It’s Bean’s birthday!! So put out the streamers, eat a cupcake and bring on the parade.

Happy Birthday my dear, dear friend. Remember: if you ever feel so happy you land in jail – I’m your bail. I hope you have a magical day!

I’m both shocked and dismayed to realize that I’ve yet to post about one of my very favorite – top 5, without a doubt – releases from last year. Cast Spells’ “Bright Works And Batons” EP came out last August and, although I immediately liked it – mostly because of David Davison’s captivating voice – it took me a little while to really love it. It snuck up on me over time, one track here and there on shuffle, until I noticed that it was what I most wanted to listen to first when I turned on my iPod. And since “Bright Works And Batons” is so very very wonderful, I’ve already checked (um, maybe more than once) the internets for other Cast Spells releases.

Nothing to find yet, other than a split EP with Good Old War (recommended) and some news that David Davison does plan further Cast Spells releases eventually. Because, something I didn’t know earlier, Cast Spells is actually a side project. I’d never heard of Maps & Atlases before, but being such a fan of Davison’s gorgeous vocals, I immediately downloaded their 2008 “You And Me And The Mountain” EP. Maps & Atlases is apparently described as ‘math rock’ – if that’s true, maybe math is rock is something I can get down with after all. But wait, there’s more – Davison is also part of the experimental Hey!Tonal. This one is most definitely a little more unconventional and may take a bit more listening to get into, but given how much I like Davison’s other bands, I’ll definitely give it a chance.

But anyway, back to Cast Spells. I love the whole EP, obviously, but my very favorite track – a song I just can’t stop listening to, and which never ever loses its gentle power – is “A Badge”. Stunning.

Chiddy Bang ft MGMT – Opposite Of Adults (myspace, Amazon.co.uk)

The Drums – Best Friend (official site, Amazon.co.uk)

Allo Darlin’ – Dreaming (official site, emusic)

Beach House – Zebra (official site, emusic)

* No theme, these songs are totally random – but I will say that three of them are songs I first heard and loved on BBC 6music. You’ll probably know by now that this station is under threat, something we’ll be talking about around here very soon, so I just wanted to give credit where it’s due and all.

Yeah, it’s been a while since we Merry Merry Month-ed, but January started off 2010 right with some fantastic releases. The obvious, the one everyone talked about, the one that had people gathered around their website waiting for a hint of what was to come is, of course, Vampire Weekend. Kicking of the new year, Contra didn’t quite knock my socks off on the first listen. Sure, “Horchata” was catchy-as-hell, but I wondered if perhaps their sound could really only sustain them for a short time. But it’s grown on me over the few weeks and, even without anything like the triple threat of “Oxford Comma”, “A Punk”, and “Mansford Roof”, I still feel it’s a worthy follow-up to their debut. No big surprises – it’s fun and insanely catchy in pretty much exactly the way I’d expected – but songs like “White Sky” easily remind us why we all liked them so much in the first place.

Laura Veirs‘ July Flame is perhaps a little less spunky, but still a pleasure to listen to. Here’s where I should admit that I’ve never actually heard a full Laura Veirs album before. I’ve got one EP, and she’s high on that mental list of artists I keep meaning to finally check out properly, but, shamefully, I still haven’t gotten to it. So it is that July Flame is the first one and, as a result, I have nothing to compare this to. I can’t say if it lives up to past releases or if she’s changed her ways since the last; I can only say that “Summer Is The Champion” and “Wide-Eyed, Legless” (below) were my immediate favorites and I expect July Flame to soundtrack many thoughtful moods in the future.

Now, there are a few artists, few enough that I could probably count them on one hand, that blow away the competition almost by default. Unless something tragic happens, other releases don’t stand a change against theirs. One of that few is the lovely Mark Oliver Everett and his Eels. Assuming he doesn’t totally go off the deep end and release, say, a gansta rap album*, his albums are probably always going to outshine the rest. Last year’s Hombre Lobo had bite; January’s End Times is all stunning heartache and loss. It bluntly describes, as Everett himself put it, “the state of the desperate times we live in. The bottom line-ness of it all. The end of common decency. The loss of caring about doing a good job. These are tough times. Who can you trust? Walter Cronkite is just a ghost.” Add to that a renewed sense of personal hurt and aloneness and you have the recipe for some truly depressing listening. So how is it that Eels albums never quite are? There always seems to be a tiny spark of hope, of defiance, underneath it all that keeps it from sinking into total despair. Everett’s talent lies in his ability to be almost painfully honest in his lyrics, while managing to find beauty in even the deepest sadness.

*Though, honestly, I’d totally listen to a Eels gangsta rap album at least once. It would be interesting, if nothing else.

As for singles, it seems that January ’10 had some greatness to offer in that department as well.

These New Puritans – We Want War

This song gives me goosebumps. It starts with a slow drum and gradually turns into a dark force with a choir, middle eastern-inspired percussion and creepy-inspired creepiness. It has the same effect as The Imperial Death March. Seriously, if ever I decide to become a super villain I’d choose this song for my theme. It feels menacing, like the harbinger of evil. Blows my mind.

Lightspeed Champion – Marlene

I first heard this song in concert two years ago (which by the way, was freaking amazing) and I remember looking for it afterwards, because it made such an instant impact. Dev warned the crowd that it was a bit different from his usual stuff. The crowd went nuts, so then he said he wondered whether to be worried that his other songs didn’t get quite the same booming response. To be honest, I’ll listen to anything he dishes out, but “Marlene” truly is a remarkable single with an harder edge and even some psychedelic influences. If you haven’t heard it yet, listen and love, my friend.

The nasal, high-pitched vocals sound like that guy from Empire Of The Sun. I mean, exactly like him! Wait, it’s not the same guy, is it? Uncanny. Anyway, this sounds like a wonderfully, sixties rock-inspired pop song. It’s really sunny and playful and for some reason it made me wish for the warm summer days that ended with a slushy that turned my tongue blue. But I think that might be a personal thing.

Plastiscines – Bitch

Les Plastiscines – following Meredith Brooks before them, aren’t trying to change the world with their earth shattering lyricism, they’re just announcing their superb B-I-T-C-H status with some rowdy Rawk ‘n Roll! “Bitch” has an uncomplicated message, if you can call it that, and mild shock value – well if you’re Amish and consider Avril’s musical endeavors “punk”, but it’s a whole lot of fun.

Oh my goodness, I love this song – from the electronic bleeps to the sweeping guitar. Its lyrics tap into the essence of human emotions without getting sickeningly sentimental. It’s the work of one beardy man with an amazing understanding how to play with words and melody to create something that’ll make a lasting impression. I know it’s not fair to compare, but I’ve listened to them in succession and couldn’t help but note his lyrics make the Plastiscines seem very silly indeed, still fun but so very silly.

OK Go – This Too Shall Pass

So sweet. I forgot that despite the somewhat gimmicky feel of their quirky, memorable videos, OK Go make some really great pop songs as well. This one is ridiculously catchy, upsweeping and uplifting and features a whole dang marching band. It will turn your mood from Tim Burton to Roberto Begnini in a heartbeat. AND it has a quirky, memorable video.

Jay Z, Rihanna, Bono & The Edge – Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)

The proceeds of this single go to relief funds for Haiti. It’s a great cause, a great single and a wonderful way to spend 99 cents.

New year, new month, new band day. And the new band in question is a doozy, let me tell ya! Dragging Pianos from Queensland, Australia is – as far as I can tell – one man named Sam, and according to his myspace his buds help him along. His debut EP’s called The Food Chain and the title song is oh so pretty. How pretty, you ask? If it was a girl she’d be running around scantily clad in a Lenny Kravitz video. That pretty. As per usual I know very little else about the band so if you know more, please do pay it forward.

We are pulled in by a wistful female voice accompanied by a banjo which create a warm yet melancholy mood. Meanwhile, the sparse lyrics are merely there to highlight the song’s echo-y rhythm and the end result is as hypnotizing and enchanting as a constantly repeated mantra. Judging solely by this song this band doesn’t seem to need fancy tricks to create a wonderfully complicated landscape, but manages to still sound very much homemade. I really hope it promises more beautiful things to come.

There’s a small handful of bands that, for whatever reason, haven’t yet been noticed by the blogosphere but really deserve to be. Shout Magic is high on that list (or my version of that list – I’m sure everyone has their own). How could such a great band be so under-appreciated?

Here’s your chance to catch up and love this band along with me: after two EPs, Shout Magic is just about to release their debut LP, Plenty. I want you to go get it, listen to it a lot, and love it as much as I do – but I always get stuck on how to coherently explain why they’re so fantastic, or even what they sound like. I always have some crazy-ass description that only barely makes sense, so let’s just get that out of the way: Shout Magic is what would happen if you put today’s indie music in a time machine, sent it back to the ’60s, and had Burt Bacharach form a rock band with it. But instead of being sappy (not that there’s anything wrong with that), add a sense of humor, some jazz, and a smattering of horns.

Maybe someone else with broader musical knowledge than myself could pull out a more apt modern comparison, but for the moment, the only band I know that is even vaguely similar to Shout Magic is Tapes ‘n Tapes (or The Loon, anyway). Not the best comparison ever, but they do both have an almost-jazzy undercurrent driven along by a Pixies-esque quiet-loud back-and-forth. Shout Magic is more subtle, and so far, more consistent, but I should think that fans of one would enjoy the other as well. All I know for sure is that Plenty is (indie) pop at its finest and by the purest definition: music that makes you feel good. Like the sky when it’s bright pink just before a sunset and all feels right with the world – both soothing and uplifting. It’s exactly what I’ve come to expect from Shout Magic, but even better than before.

Plenty will be officially released on January 15th – order the CD from Chief City Recordings, or download the album for free via bandcamp.

Do you ever look something up online and take so many strange turns that you end up reading up on a topic that has nothing even remotely to do with the original search? Me, ALL the time – it’s like wiki-ADD. The other day I started off wanting to know why Pluto (the dwarf planet, not the Disney dog) was demoted only three years ago.* Somehow, and I can’t for the life of me remember how, I’ve become an expert on where the phrase ‘mama-se, mama-sa, mama-makossa’ comes from. True story! Well, I say “expert”, I mean I now know as much as the person who wrote the Wikipedia entry.

You may have heard the phrase around the playground, it’s been used by a plethora of artists as varied as the Blood Hound Gang and Rihanna. I first heard it in Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” and have been trying to get it out of my head since that first listen years and years ago. I found out that Makossa is a musical style popular in West and Central Africa in which traditional African music is mixed with Jazz, Highlife and Soul. Cameroonian saxophonist Manu Dibango popularized the sound with his hit, “Soul Makossa”, now known as a forerunner of disco.

The single was originally a B-side and released in 1972. David Mancuso, the New York based, self-proclaimed “musical host” used to spin records in his building at the very first, underground dance parties, known as The Loft. To this day, he refuses to call himself a DJ, but he is slowly being recognized as a major influence in the history of the DJ. Anyhoo, he got a hold of a copy and started playing it regularly at these underground, Loft parties. The song became high in demand but there were only a handful of copies, so it was sold out in a jiffy. The smart people at Atlantic licensed it and reproduced it en masse, but not before a couple dozen other bands had covered and released the song, trying to hitch a ride on its popular coattails. Moreover, artists have been using “mama-se, mama-sa” in some form or another ever since, and continue to do so.

The original Manu Dibango song is ridiculously catchy and so freakin’ funky it’s gonna makes you want to cut a rug, heck make that twelve rugs. It doesn’t take any stretch of the imagination to see why this song is known as a prime example of proto-disco.

Here are some songs that perpetuate the popularity of the phrase:

*In the unlikely event anyone was reading this hoping for an answer to the Pluto question: it wasn’t till 2006 that the term “planet” was first truly defined by the International Astronomical Union. Pluto only covers two out of three criteria that make a planet a planet and ever since it gets bullied by the other 8 proper planets. Poor, tiny Pluto.

Ho-ho-holy crap, can you believe how warm it still is at this time of year? There may be a distinct lack of frost, sleighs and snowmen and I haven’t once put on thermal socks, but it still is coming on the holiday season, which means it’s time for 100bells!

This song is as undrippy as a Christmas song can get with lyrics like “I wrecked your daddy’s car and went down on your mother” – sung by Cyndi Lauper, no less! Maybe not the most Christmassy of sentiments, but just focus on the jolly bells and the happy tunes if you’re disturbed by the images conjured up by the words. I never thought The Hives and one of my fave eighties icons would pair up but pair up they did and the result is as entertaining and cheery as I expected, but with a slightly disturbing twist. In one word: Santastic. Yeh … I really just said that and I’m sticking with it.

I’ve already described my feelings about Julian Plenti’s (aka Paul Banks) recent solo effort, and – unsurprisingly – I feel pretty much the same about Julian Casablancas’. Seriously – why bother with a solo record if you’re just going to make the exact same music as you do with your band? Those albums pretty much just sound like watered down versions of Interpol and The Strokes, respectively, and their album covers even look freakishly similar. (What’s up with that, anyway?!)

While Alec Ounsworth suffers the same problem, perhaps even more so, that those two singers do – having an incredibly distinctive voice that listeners will automatically associate with the band they heard it in previously – his Mo Beauty doesn’t just sound like a lost Clap Your Hands Say Yeah album. It’s not miles away from his usual endeavors, but Mo Beauty does at least play around with styles and sounds that could never work in CYHSY. I haven’t listened to this enough to make a serious judgement on the album as a whole, but the New Orleans jazz sounds in “Idiots In The Rain” (below) caught my attention right away.

Credit where it’s due, the Tamboosh dug up this hilarious little tune for our aDawgg’s big day today, and she done good. These is some seriously Funky Birthday Jamz.

Happy Birthday, Dawgg!