I was busy at a show last night, so the update from yesterday will become today’s!

Olivia Tremor Control - California Demise (3)

Olivia Tremor Control is one of the best Elephant 6 bands. They produce(d) great psychedelic rock/pop and this is one of my favorite examples of their more conventional work. They did a ton of experimental stuff, of course, with the best example being the dual record Opera House EP with two individual songs which, when played at the same time, would make one song. Anyway, this song is a live version, but that’s good because it has the same feel with some reality to the voices and sounds. I like the album version still, but this is a good different perspective on it.

Also listen to: No Growing (Exegesis), Holiday Surprise 1, 2, 3, The Opera House, Courtyard, Jumping Fences (from Music from the Unrealized Film Script) as well as other more experimental songs on Black Foliage: Animation Music

Spoon - Metal Detektor

If you want some good ‘n simple indie rock there’s few better than Spoon. This song, from A Series of Sneaks, is one of the best songs on this oft forgotten album. The vocals sound similar to the later album Girls Can Tell, which I always feel sound somewhat grungish, perhaps. This song is also outrageously catchy, like all that Spoon does. It’s also somewhat minimalist, which you get about half the time with Spoon.

Also listen to: All of Spoon’s albums (especially Girls Can Tell, Kill the Moonlight, Gimme Fiction, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga)

I was going to include a picture of Spoon from the House of Blues last year when they came to Dallas, but my pictures are on my other hard drive which I don’t have with me. Meh.

Andrew Tinker (myspace)

Andrew Tinker is a local artist who I know very little about. It’s hard to find any tracks on line, either, and I don’t have any myself. Nonetheless I saw him and others yesterday night and feel I should link to anything. At first glance he sounds a lot like Ben Folds Five, but I don’t listen to Ben Folds a lot so take it with a grain of salt. It’s basically just strong piano driven rock.

Handsome Furs - The Radio’s Hot Sun

This Handsome Fur’s song from Plague Park is not really all that average. The other songs aren’t acoustic and are heavily electronic friendly and feature a drum machine. This one does not. I like it best, however, even if it is somewhat like Wolf Parade, comparatively speaking. Dan really does have a way with these awesome ending tracks with ambiguous meaning and strong impact.

Also listen to: Plague Park (all songs - esp: Handsome Furs Hate This City, Dumb Animals, and Snakes on the Ladder)

Cold War Kids - The Soloist in the Living Room

Cold War Kids are great at their semi-lo-fi blues rock and this song is no exception. Their LP from 2006 got blog attention, so I’ll focus on another song I like from their Mulberry Street EP. This song is pretty unpolished, but that goes well with the blues they got going on. It worked well for The White Stripes, right? Anyway, I love meta-songs and in my world this is one of them, about performing and the emotions and thoughts it causes.

Also listen to: Robbers & Cowards and assorted EPs

Well that’s it for today, hope you got something out of it.