An acquaintance recently described the music of art-pop duo Sparks to me this way: “Think like over-the-top insane dudes, making giant almost operatic opuses but with lyrical content not that much different than your typical indie rock song. It’s kind of insane glam but with a heart.”

I was skeptical … but after listening to this track Perfume about, oooooh, 27 times on Wednesday, I’m sold. Crazy thing is, the pair – brothers Ron and Russell Mael – have been around since the ’70s, yet this is the first I’d heard of them. Learn something new every day. And that’s the beauty of the blogs … expanding my horizons.

At heart, Perfume, from the LP Hello Young Lovers (due for U.S. release in March I believe), is pretty basic in its intent: He wants to spend the rest of his life with this girl because “you don’t wear no perfume.” It’d be wholly ridiculous if the musical composition weren’t absolutely pop greatness.

Perhaps my favorite line:

“The olfactory sense is the sense
that most strongly evokes
memories of the past …
Well, screw the past.”

Listen to the bass and piano lines. Even if you find the lyrics laughable or pretentious, there is no denying the near-perfect pop construction of the instrumentation.

The great Marathonpacks has another mp3 from the album here.

Sparks | Perfume

Also …

After two months of not being able to sign on to MySpace, I’m baaaaaack. Hit me up!

We also created a page for our iSpin night, which is now a week out, here. On that note, we have an amazing sponsor on board: iLounge.com, the site for all things iPod. Give them a visit. iLounge is graciously providing iTunes gift cards for the best three sets of the evening. Time to ramp it up!

The news of this release almost slipped through the cracks, but I’m glad I caught up with it. On Feb. 21, Jonah Matranga – former frontman of Far, New End Original and recently of Gratitude and also known for his solo project Onelinedrawing – is putting out a live CD/DVD There’s A Lot in Here. Here’s the info from Equal Vision Records:

“The CD contains some of his greatest songs, recorded live, all on one CD. The DVD features two live shows (one in a living room, one in a rock club) and 11 videos (with optional commentary by Jonah) by director XDOANEX, one for each song off of the excellent Onelinedrawing album The Volunteers.”

I’m a huge fan of Far, one of the great post-grunge, “emocore” bands of the ’90s; Water & Solutions is a must-have for any collection. Matranga’s work as Onelinedrawing is more stripped down but equally appealing.

If what I’ve heard is true, Gratitude is finished, and, quite frankly, that seemed like an ill-fated project from the get-go. The music was too glossy, like a hasty attempt to spin out a radio hit. Maybe it’s just me, but Jonah didn’t seem to fit.

So, I’m hoping this CD/DVD release leads him more along the line of Onelinedrawing-type material. He’s playing some dates in California next week and then hits the East Coast in March for some dates with Ian Love, a new favorite here. Get the tour dates here.

Also, be sure to browse Jonah’s Web site. And visit the store area, where Jonah offers to make “unique recordings” at fans’ requests. He also lays out a most generous policy in terms of sharing/downloading/buying. An excerpt: “For now, if you’ve downloaded or burned a lot of stuff over the years, I’ve made an easy way for you to give whatever you think is fair for this art, regardless of how you got it. … No guilt trip, just trust.” Visit his store for a liberal pricing structure, that benefits both artist and fan. The way it should be.

Here’s a few tracks from some of Jonah’s projects. Enjoy. Buy There’s A Lot In Here for only $12.

Far | Man Overboard
Far | I Like It (both highly recommended)
Far | Monkey Gone to Heaven (Pixies cover, from tribute album)

New End Original | Hostage

Onelinedrawing | Over It
Onelinedrawing | Ghost
(Probably my two favorite songs off The Volunteers.)

I know my wife thinks I’m insane for hitting the record shops once (twice?) a week. Definitely there are times when I know I’ve combed over just about everything there is to see. Until I stumble upon a gem, like this four-song Pete Yorn live promo CD from 2001 (for $3.99!).

Yeah, you can buy his double-CD Live from New Jersey. But this sweet little promo – recorded at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles, June 14, 2001 – has him briefly covering Springsteen (Dancin’ in the Dark) and the Smiths (Panic). In the immortal words of Champ Kind: “Whammy!”

Do yourselves a favor and grab these. Not sure how long I’ll keep them up.

Pete Yorn: Live, promo CD:

1. Dancin’ in the Dark/Murray
2. For Nancy (‘Cos it Already Is)
3. Strange Condition
4. Panic/Life on a Chain

The anticipation for the release of the new Built to Spill album, You In Reverse, has me dusting off all things Doug Martsch lately. That means a few spins for the Halo Benders’ The Rebels Not In.

The Halo Benders was a side project – though three albums seems like more of a commitment than a side project – for Martsch and K Records owner/artist Calvin Johnson. I can almost guarantee, with 99.98887 percent certainty, that you will never hear more disparate vocal pitches than the pairing of these two, and, yet, it works.

Martsch’s high whine is matched in its extremity on the opposite spectrum by Johnson’s beyond-baritone talky style. It’s not quite anything like Built to Spill, which forced me to concentrate a little bit more when listening.

Speaking of Built to Spill, You In Reverse will be released April 11, but my inside sources (OK, I’m on the BtS mailing list) tell me it will be available digitally Feb. 7. That’s, like, next week. Meanwhile, we continue to wait for an update – for about five years now – to BuilttoSpill.com.

The Halo Benders | Lonesome Sundown
The Halo Benders | Love Travels Faster

View trailer here.
Find an independent retailer to purchase.

Before I write anything about this DVD, I should mention: I like Bloc Party. Silent Alarm was in the top 5 of my favorite albums list of 2005 (I’m sure they’re flattered) and their set at ACL was the first time I’d seen the band live, and I was mightily impressed.

That said, the release of God Bless Bloc Party made me question how vulnerable (gullible?) we are as fans. An LP is never enough. To sate our thirst for more (or is that the record label’s thirst?) we open our wallets for a remix album and DVDs, these stopgap measures to tide us over until a new album is released. (Full disclosure: I was sent a review copy at no cost to me; however, I would have purchased this DVD otherwise.)

God Bless Bloc Party is a two-part DVD: about an hourlong documentary (filmed around June 2005 shows at the El Rey in LA) and about 20 minutes of festival footage from Belfort, France. The live footage from France is fantastic. Multiple camera angles and polished production pretty much tip you off that this DVD was in the works when they filmed the show in July. Matt Tong’s amazing work on the drums is enough to hold my attention.

My beef comes with the so-called documentary portion of the disc. Ideally, a documentary (in its truest sense) has a story to tell, some compelling reason a camera is trained on a band or person. God Bless left me feeling pretty empty. Ask yourself (honestly): Is Bloc Party, one album into its career, a worthy subject for a documentary?

Maybe it’s unfair to compare, but the Wilco movie I Am Trying to Break Your Heart set a standard, in my mind, for music documentaries. This isn’t just a about a band, but there was a story to tell, about Wilco’s struggle within the industry.

God Bless is nothing of the like. This documentary is more or less backstage footage – look, drummer Matt Tong is making a backstage sandwich! – spliced around a live concert. Worse, the guys in Bloc Party look terribly uneasy and/or uninterested at times when the camera is rolling. Scenes of the guys being interviewed by journalists in green rooms and trailers are almost unbearable to watch. (To wit: when a journalist is stumbling, trying to ask singer Kele Okereke about sounding British when he sings; Okereke’s response: “Really? I sound British when I speak as well.” Gulp. Next question.)

Maybe the mistake is in the packaging. Why promote this as a documentary? Just call it what it is: Bloc Party, live in concert. Labeling this a “documentary” feels too self-important (as if titling it God Bless Bloc Party didn’t already), and there’s nothing I gleaned from God Bless that I couldn’t have learned in an in-depth magazine article.

I think the most enlightening words come early in the documentary, when Matt Tong is talking about being “on the other side” – as in, being in the band and not as a fan subjected to the constant blitz of consumerism: “Hopefully, people see beyond the hype, really, and appreciate us for what we are.”

Bloc Party | The Answer
(downloaded from Bloc Party Web site)

Sir Dark Invader vs. The Fanglord is an album I purchased this year, listened to once, then put it off. I rediscovered it this week, and though it wouldn’t have found a spot in my favorite albums of the year, I have been attached to it the past few days.

The collaboration of Richard Buckner and Jon Langford (Waco Brothers, The Mekons) apparently was a one-shot deal, recorded in the apartment of Mekons member Sally Timms. It was released on Langford’s Buried Treasure label.

I’ve been a huge fan of Buckner, but Langford was new to me. The difference in styles is apparent: Buckner’s husky growl vs. Langford’s grainier high-pitched tone. I was skeptical, but I like how Langford takes a bit of the edge off Buckner’s usual somber temperament.

Pick up Sir Dark Invader at eMusic.

Richard Buckner-Jon Langford | Rolling of the Eyes (highly recommended)
Richard Buckner-Jon Langford | Do You Wanna Go Somewhere?

This post is dedicated to my awesome 2-year-old niece Quinn, who astounded me on Christmas with her indie prowess.

My wife and I bought Quinn an iZ toy for Christmas. iZ is a robot that plays music with rhythms and beats that you can change by turning his ears and pressing various buttons. Plus, you can hook an iPod up to iZ then add sound effects to the song selection; sometimes iZ talks, too. Pretty neat. Anyway, we hook the iPod up and play Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, an apropos song for a robot toy, I’d say. To my astonishment, Quinn starts singing along with Wayne Coyne; she calls it the “robots eat me song.” She even gave a little “hey, hey!” right after the line, “she’s a black belt in karate.”

We promptly decided that iZ would be renamed to Yoshimi. So here’s a live version of Yoshimi from the Future Soundtrack for America compilation.

The Flaming Lips | Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (live on BBC)

Did everyone have a good Christmas? (Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish readers; I’m half-Jewish, for those who didn’t know.) Anyway, my wife got me one of these. Sweet! We are an iPod-friendly home.
On with the music … Admittedly, I know nothing about Battle. In fact, I’m not even sure how I came across this band from London. But, I did take notice of their tentative title to their album due for release in 2006: Our First Impressions of Earth Were Before Yours. So, maybe I’m a dummy, but this seems like a direct knock at the Strokes’ album First Impressions of Earth. Even Battle’s Web site says: “… Then it’s all about finishing our record (provisionally titled ‘Our First Impressions Of Earth Were Before Yours’ – pending lawsuits).”

Anyone know anything about this? Nevertheless, here’s a single Battle made available for download on its site.

Battle | Wicked Owl