Rare are the times I jump into an album by a band I’ve never heard of with very high expectations. Helps keep disappointment to a minimum.

Well, Figurines are proving to be the exception. The four-piece outfit from Denmark is winning me over with bright guitars and singer Christian Hjelm’s somewhat off-key (not quite Clap Your Hands off-key) yet charming vocals.

The group’s influences – Pavement, Built to Spill, Neil Young – are all pretty clear. But the rhythms and melodies are a little more taut in the hands of Figurines. At times, chord progressions move quickly; think Built to Spill on Red Bull.

Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke is a fan. And I’ll be damned if I just missed Figurines on KEXP the other day.

Buy Skeleton at Amazon. Check out the group’s media and downloads page for more goodies.

Figurines | Silver Ponds
Figurines | Rivalry

Some good shows continue to pour into Phoenix, including this April 2 date for the Cloud Room at Rhythm Room, another Stateside Presents offering.

By now, you’ve all got the scoop on the Cloud Room, right? Jesus, I hate to link to Pitchfork, but here ya go. It’s actually a decent story. Anyway, I’m usually telling my wife to listen to this band or that band. But when she came home one day and said, “Have you listened to the Cloud Room?” I had no clue who she was talking about. She heard the insanely catchy Hey Now Now on Sirius and was hooked.

Of course, the trick with a band who punches out a great track is to get past that song and find some meat on the rest of the album (buy here), which I do believe there is on the group’s self-titled debut. I’m sure you know where to find Hey Now Now (maybe even at the group’s Web site). Here’s a couple different tracks:

(For those in Phoenix, tickets can be purchased here for a scant $7.)

The Cloud Room | We Sleep in the Ocean (highly recommended)
The Cloud Room | Blue Jean

Because I’ll be one of the few mp3 bloggers not going to SXSW (boo!), I have to train my focus on March 29, when my wife and I will be seeing The National (hooray!) at the Troubadour in Los Angeles – and partying with the Drunkard and his wife.

I always love to see who opens shows for bands I hold in high regard. Because, hey, if they’re good enough for The National …

Talkdemonic – a duo from Portland, Ore., made up of multi-instrumentalists Kevin O’Connor and Lisa Molinaro – is one of two openers (Baby Dayliner is the other).

Unless it’s a DJ (say, Shadow or RJD2), all-instrumental compositions usually just ain’t my thing. However, these sounds by Talkdemonic – with O’Connor playing (among other things) drums, synth, Wurlitzer, laptop and Molinaro on viola and synths – are pretty enthralling. The band calls it “folktronic hop”: wispy indie vibes grounded by electronic/hip-hop beats.

I’ll be very curious to see how it translates live.

Beat Romantic is due out March 21 on Arena Rock Recording Co.

Talkdemonic | Mountaintops in Caves

So the wife and I are making the two-hour trek to check out Low tonight in Tucson. I have little to offer in the way of thoughtful examination because I’ve been drinking a little too much for a Tuesday night. So I’ll leave you with a couple of tracks. I’m hopeful that I’ll be coming back with good photos. Cross your fingers.

Low |Blue-Eyed Devil (Soul Coughing cover)
Low |California (on KEXP)

Damien Jurado | Texas to Ohio
(Thank you to Chad for turning me on to this song and album.)

UPDATE: You better get over to Analog Giant and get the DJ Shadow Funky Skunk mix if you know what’s good for you.

Typically, I try to avoid the pitfall of hyperbole when writing about bands I like. Otherwise, after awhile, it’s just going to sound like you’re crying wolf (hey, I didn’t say I avoided cliches).

So take my word when I tell you I’m really (italics, even!) excited about Magneto, a four-piece outfit from Seattle. It just so happens Magneto will be in Phoenix on April 2, playing with sourceVictoria and Seven Storey Mountain. (Venue TBD.)

The Seattle Times recently hailed Magneto as “a promising Dinosaur Jr.-meets-My Bloody Valentine (don’t try this at home) quartet. Lian Light, sounding like the stepdaughter of J Mascis, could be Seattle’s next indie icon.” Heady praise and probably spot on.

Without hearing the whole of Magneto’s new LP Sounds Like Space, my initial attempt at a comparison is something in the vein of Hum – spacious, unconfined guitars (sounds like space, perhaps?) and vocals that drift over the whole arrangement. Those big, melodic guitar lines might even be categorized as “shoegazing,” if one were so inclined.

Buy Sounds like Space (on The Swingline label) at CDbaby or iTunes.
Check Magneto’s MySpace page.

Magneto | Touch and Go (very highly recommended. really.)
Magneto | So Tired

Mates of State at Austin City Limits festival last year.
I have to be honest: I’m still not sure how I feel about Mates of State. The best way I can say it is that some days I like them better than other days. I feel like I have to be in a certain mood, though I haven’t quite put a finger on what that mood is.

Typically, I like my pop/indie rock a little more downtrodden and somber. But I find myself coming back to the cool two-part vocals of Mates of State and those hooky synth lines.

What really amazes me is how any husband and wife co-exist as bandmates. Don’t get me wrong: I love my wife and all, but might there be some awkward moments when one is trying to do some writing about the other? But it appears to be working for Mates of State, the Rosebuds and The Arcade Fire.

Mates of State vs. the Rosebuds. Steel-cage match. Fight to the death. Who ya got?

Anyway, I’m enjoying the new Mates of State album Bring it Back, due for release March 21. Visit Barsuk for more information.

Mates of State | Fraud in the ’80s
Mates of State | For the Actor

Also …

Matt asked about the iSpin debut last Thursday … and, well, it went OK. Could have been better, could have been worse. We’re scoping out new venues for the idea, possibly closer to the Arizona State campus to lure the college folk. These young kids and their iPods.
Here is the winning playlist, from Sam (aka DJ G3K). He put nice time and effort into to it, and, for that, he wins a $50 iTunes gift card courtesy of iLounge. We’re excited about the potential of the event and we’ve got lots o’ good ideas for it. We’ll keep ya posted.

And Annie and I are headed to Tucson to check out Low and Damien Jurado at Club Congress on Wednesday. (Any Tucson readers in the house?) Expect a post for that on Wednesday. Thanks to Chad for getting me hooked on Jurado’s Where Shall You Take Me?.

So, I’m not sure if there’s some sort of statute of limitations that must expire before you should post a second time about a band. But I like the Radar Bros. quite a bit, and I posted on them way back in August, around the time I discovered The Fallen Leaf Pages, so I figured it was time to revisit them.

Oddly, the Radar Bros. (on Merge) don’t seem to be blogged about very much, not that that’s some damning statement of their music. But Merge is such a great label (one of my favorites), so I just assumed people would have picked up on them.

Maybe the Radar Bros. aren’t indie enough? Is that even a plausible theory? I don’t know. But I typically find myself helplessly sucked in when I listen to them with their delicate lyrics and sweeping instrumentation. Catchy melodies aren’t readily apparent, but there’s something alluring about that. Their deliberate pacing somehow manages to rein in my quick trigger finger on my iPod. They remind me to slooooow down and enjoy the music.

Here’s a few of my favorites:

Radar Bros. | Shifty Lies
(From The Singing Hatchet)
Radar Bros. | On the Line
(From And the Surrounding Mountains)
Radar Bros. | Government Land
(From The Fallen Leaf Pages)

And the Surrounding Mountains and The Fallen Leaf Pages are available – as is most of the Merge catalog – at eMusic, so pick ’em up using their free trial of 50 mp3s.

About that live Nada Surf …

Some folks were asking about live recordings from Monday’s Nada Surf show. With the group’s permission, I recorded the in-store performance at Stinkweeds. They asked to hear the files before posting to ensure sound quality and such, which I absolutely respect. I’ll be sending those tracks to them via e-mail. It was a tremendous set of 11 (!) songs.

We all love freebies. And I’ve come across a few free promo sampler CDs in the past couple weeks on my record-store excursions. So, thank you, Zia Records and Stinkweeds.

Part of the fun of promo samplers is weeding through the, um, crap to get to the goods. I don’t wanna name any names (Scott Stapp) but there was some garbage (new Rolling Stones) to pluck through. But I do the hard work so you don’t have to.

Included in the pile of the choice cuts are The Wand by the Flaming Lips (I know, I’m a little late here), the Strokes’ B-side Hawaii and the Most Serene Mix of the Stars’ Ageless Beauty.

From Monitor This! (Dec. 05/Jan. 06):
Death Cab for Cutie | Jealousy Rides With Me

From Monitor This! (Feb./March 06):
The Flaming Lips | The Wand
The Strokes | Hawaii
Ray Davies | After the Fall

From Polyvinyl Summer/Fall 2005:
Saturday Looks Good to Me | Lift Me Up
Owen | I Woke Up Today (from Japanese release of I Do Perceive)

From Arts & Crafts Adventures in Advertising:
Stars | Ageless Beauty (Most Serene Mix)

Contest winner …

Nobody correctly guessed my other favorite hip-hop album (along with Tribe’s Midnight Marauders) in my contest for a pair of 12″ records. Perhaps I made it too difficult, but one contestant – cbtoot – was excruciatingly close with this comment: “Since i highly doubt it was run dmc’s tougher than leather, i’m gonna have to go with Straight Out the Jungle by the JBs.”

It actually is Run-D.M.C.’s Tougher Than Leather. Now I have to wonder why anyone would “highly doubt” that. My reasons are strongly sentimental – it was one of my first tapes – but also because I thought the group was branching out a bit but still keeping its edge. Hard to explain, really. Raising Hell is probably the default choice of most for a favorite Run-D.M.C. record. I’ve just always felt a stronger pull to Tougher Than Leather.

Alas, the winner was selected by my wife at random from all entrants by pieces of paper from a hat. She pulled … (drum roll, please) … the man who goes by Jon Manyjars! Get in touch, Jon, and we’ll square away shipping details. Thanks to all for playing!

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.)