"What Was I Gonna Do With The Rest Of My Life" by Scot Sax

Hard to believe it's Halloween already! I originally wanted to post something with a spooky theme, but it's Monday, and I needed to hear something upbeat to get me going. Thank goodness, then, for "What Was I Gonna Do With The Rest of My Life" by Scot Sax. It has a strong, rocking beat and a live feel, and Scot's falsetto singing reminds me of Prince. And, to be honest, there's something spooky and haunting about the track. Minor chords in the verses, maybe? The doubling of the vocals on the chorus? The cool fuzztone on the lead guitar? Or maybe it's the song's attention to the ghosts of paths not taken in life? In any case, it's a great tune for Halloween or any day of the year...

"What Was I Gonna Do With The Rest Of My Life" is available for $1 (US) at BandCamp. If you like it, buy it.


And check out this ad for Scot's new CD, Grooved Pavement...

Weekend Music: When We Collide by Baker Man

The six tracks on Baker Man's When We Collide drift between the rough-hewn indie pop of early REM and the grinding garage punk of Dinosaur Jr. I also hear hints of the Decemberists and Ben Folds, particularly in the lead vocal of songwriter Mike Five on the album's opening and closing tracks ("What Tradition Means" and "Keeping Score"). The latter of these is a shimmering six-and-a-half minute opus that's equal parts dreamscape and early misty-morning hangover. Production on the album isn't slick -- nor is it meant to be -- but it's organic and has the feel of a live performance. These are the guys you saw performing in your buddy's basement or your favorite dive bar in college. Smart lyrics, jangly guitars, and a healthy dose of world-weary cynicism.

When We Collide is available on a sliding scale for $1 to $10 (you decide) on BandCamp. If you like it, buy it.

Morning Music: "Dust" by Jude McGee and the Soft Touch

After hearing "No Word from China" by pel mel a little while back, I found out that the band's singer, Jude McGee, has been working on a new project with her band the Soft Touch. Her album The Household Guide to Heartbreak has a polished, adult contemporary feel (as does her re-imagining of "No Word from China" (a free download definitely worth checking out)) that calls to mind The Beautiful South and Brandi Disterheft's 2009 album Second Side. Kicking off The Household Guide to Heartbreak, "Dust" opens with a charming flamenco guitar riff and a whistled melody straight out of an Enrico Morricone movie, and when a surf guitar joins the spare arrangement, the picture is complete: this is a song of loss and loneliness, but also a song of survival. McGee's haunting vocal floats through the track like the ghost of a shattered relationship, and there's a kind of creepy subtle electronic scratching noise that skitters through the song like a rat pawing through a long-abandoned home.

"Dust" is available for $1 (AUD) on BandCamp, and The Household Guide to Heartbreak is available for $10. If you like it, buy it.

"My Head"

Here's a song I wrote a long time ago -- back in high school when I was in my first band. We tried a bunch of names: DD-7 is one that I recall. I think we also tried Plaid Sasquatch. There were some others in there, too, until we settled on Circle Sky. Now that I think about it, we probably spent more time thinking of band names than we did working on music. But I did manage to build this song around a nonsensical chorus I'd thought of: "You stepped on my head, she said." I think I was trying to describe the life of an overworked housewife. It's the kind of thing that passes for deep when you're seventeen and it's 1990. In any case, my friend Joe Lavelle recently told me I should record the song -- so here it is, Joe...


PS: It's a free download this week. Just enter zero as the price you want to pay. Next week, I'll probably notch it up to a dollar.

PPS: Check out Joe's CD, More Popular Than Reagan!

Morning Music: "Head & Heart" by From Apes To Angels

Trippy, shimmering synths and a crunchy backbeat give "Head & Heart" a vibe reminiscent of the the Cure, and the lead vocals recalls Jeanette Landray's singing on the Glove's 1983 Blue Sunshine album. As with both Robert Smith projects, there's something dark and brooding lying in wait beneath the surface of this and other tracks by From Apes To Angels. On the surface, the song is about love, but the lyrics betray something else. Obsession, maybe? Jealousy? Hubris? A hint of rage? Whatever the case, "Head & Heart" is a deceptively twinkling tune with hidden, murky, even sinister depths.

From Apes to Angels are currently working on their debut EP. To help them out, download one of their singles at BandCamp and pay what you want...

Lovin' This Track: "Funky Cola" by Block35 feat. Thane

First thought: Shouldn't Christian Slater be riding a skateboard to this music in someone's empty swimming pool somewhere in the 80s? "Funky Cola" could definitely stand its ground alongside the entire Gleaming the Cube soundtrack or any number of teensploitation films of the era. (No surprise, of course, as their artist bio reads, "Through an inter-dimensional wormhole Block35 transmits the music from a parallel universe stuck between 1988 and 1992. The haunting soundtracks to its strange visions of a future that will never come.") A crisp, popping bass line bubbles through the song, and synth stabs reminiscent of the Pet Shop Boys (not to mention a rhythm track recalling the best of Technique-era New Order) bring this track to shimmering, syrupy life.

"Funky Cola" is $1 (US) on BandCamp. If you like it, buy it.

I'm Loving Lovers & Poets II by Lovers & Poets

Does it help that the first song I heard from the new Lovers and Poets album is a cover of one of my all-time favorite David Bowie songs? Yes, it most definitely does. Their cover of "Ashes to Ashes" is slow and moody with a lush, trippy backing track, and it captures the chill mood of the rest of the album. Highlights include album's opening track, "You + Me in the Summer," a soft-rock gem that isn't hard to imagine spinning on an L.A. turntable circa 1979. (I don't know what that means, exactly, but something about the track put that phrase in my head.) "That's the Way It Goes" opens with a piano riff that would be right at home on Carole King's Tapestry album, but as the song progresses, the funky clavs and synths take us into Buck Rogers territory (in the best way possible), and the rest of the album follows suit with a blend of rootsy singer-songwriter funk-and-disco-influenced rock and silky chillwave synths. "Here Comes the Morning" and a cover of "I Am Barely Breathing" have a distinct 90s vibe that's underscored by vocal reminiscent of Sarah McLachlan, and the album's closer, "Beautiful World" comes off as a prayer to the world we're all capable of making if we only put our hearts to it.

To sum it up, Lovers + Poets II = Carole King + Beach House + Sarah McLachlan. The album is available on BandCamp for $9.99 (US). Individual songs are $1. Definitely check out their version of "Ashes to Ashes." And if you like it, buy it.