sonic slang

Marah: Do the Kids from Philly Finally Deliver the Goods?

There was, as usual, significant buzz surrounding the release of Marah's latest disc, If You Didn't Laugh, You'd Cry last month. Can we believe the hype this time?

Ever since Marah (photo left, by archphoto) released their second LP Kids in Philly, hurling them into "next big thing" purgatory...well let's just say it's been a struggle to climb out. Their two official releases since then have been hit-or-miss (20,000 Streets Under the Sky being the hit, and Float Away with the Friday Night Gods being the big, bloated miss). But both discs had their moments of working-class genius with roots rock riffs and street-poet fairy tales convincing enough to make a fan of Bruce Springsteen (he appeared on Float Away).

So we waited for the boys to pull it together and drop the classic we all knew they had in them. Hold onto your hats folks because this one might finally be it.

You can stream a few tracks on their Myspace page and decide for yourself if it's the real deal. Tour info is available here.

Q and Not U Frontman Goes Solo

Filter reports that Ris Paul Ric (Chris Paul Richards), former frontman for Q and Not U, has released a solo record called Purple Blaze on Academy Fight Song.  Judging by the tracks available on his Myspace page, the album looks to be a tad more delicate and poppy than the rock sound of his old band. 

The title track, a sprightly little acoustic ditty, is actually pretty catchy (though barely two minutes in length).

Ric is currently touring through the end of December.

Ester Drang

Ester Drang's third full-length may not drop till Jan. 24 but you can download "Come Back Alive" now, and start getting excited.

"Come Back Alive"

For the newbies, a little background, via the Jadetree website:

"Though considered by many to be a relatively new act, Ester Drang has spent the last eight years droning away in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, playing their elegant and arty songs to a dedicated but rather modest following. Convinced it would be a travesty to let these engaging symphonies go unnoticed, Jade Tree signed the band in early 2003, providing a home for their swinging-door guitar lines, hollowed out drum beats and synth-covered yearnings, while allowing the group to deliver their visions with Technicolor radiance. These days the Drang seem to tight-rope walk along the same musical heights as heady experimentalists like Spiritualized, the Sea and Cake or even their neighbors and occasional collaborators the Flaming Lips."

Trey Anastasio - Teaching the Trust Fund Hippies to Dance Again

In his first solo offering since the demise of Phish,  Trey Anastasio give us his most pop-accessible set since...well ever really. Shine is due this Tuesday, and for fans of his work with Oysterhead, this could be a letdown.  But if you still get your hippie groove on to discs like Hoist, then you might be in for a treat.

VH1 is streaming the entire album here.  Check out the title track, and "Sweet Dreams Melinda."

dios (malos)

Legend has it that sunny/psychedelic beach popsters dios (malos) sold bootleg copies of SMILE on Ebay to finance their self-titled debut.  The Beach Boys influence almost clubs you over the head on that disc, but these guys are no second-rate cover act, and after the initial warm critical reception, expectations were high for their sophomore effort (released 10/11).

Judging by the first single, "Feels Good Being Somebody," the sound is a bit brighter and poppier this time around, but they California harmonies have happily remained.

Stream the track here.

Buy it, or Courtney Love Takes Her Top Off Again

For those of you that were thoroughly underwhelmed by With the Lights Out, the triple-disc Nirvana box set, and I believe there are many of you, perhaps the Nov. 1st release of Sliver: The Best of the Box will more fondly recall you flannel-clad youth.

When a band as great as Nirvana suffers a premature demise, I suppose fans want to believe in some tremendous, magical backlog of unreleased brilliance that sits in storage somewhere, waiting to be unleashed upon the world, further proving their genius. Prince is rumored to have such a vault.  Springsteen proved it, to some extent, with Tracks, but Nirvana's entry was an overblown mess of a release that was basically a pile of demos, poor recordings, and half-finished songs with a few gems peppered here and there. But hey, being prolific and being great aren't necessarily the same thing kids.  Richie Valens had like three songs.

At any rate, now Sliver alleges to distill the best of With the Lights Out not unlike Springsteen's one-disc follow to Tracks, 18 Tracks. I don't remember hearing enough great songs to warrant all this, but hey, I guess it's still better than another Courtney Love solo disc...

Get the track list here, and you can stream one of the "new" tracks, "Sappy," here.

Thanks to Stereogum for the link

The Music Genome Project

Many of you guys may already be familiar with this, but for those that aren't, The Music Genome Project's Pandora is something to behold, and an exercise in some of the most exhaustive music obsession that you'll ever see.

Taken from their website: "We set out to capture the essence of music at the most fundamental level. We ended up assembling literally hundreds of musical attributes or "genes" into a very large Music Genome...Over the past 5 years, we've carefully listened to the songs of over 10,000 different artists - ranging from popular to obscure - and analyzed the musical qualities of each song one attribute at a time."

What do all those countless hours add up to?  Well, basically it's a personal DJ that will take your song or artist suggestions, and create a complete music library based around similar-sounding tracks. 

The first ten hours are free, then it's only three bucks a month thereafter.  It's an impressive feat, and well worth the price. Try it here.

He's a Macho Man

According to America's Most Wanted's website, authorities in California have issued a warrant for Victor Edward Willis, better known as the Cop from the Village People. 

Willis skipped out on an October 21st court appearance where he would be sentenced for a July drug arrest.  Caught at a traffic light with crack cocaine, a loaded pistol and other paraphernalia in his corvette (yes, the cop from the Village People drives a corvette), Willis had been released on $100,000 bail.

Willis was also convicted in 1990 of drug possession and acquitted of rape in 1993. 

See now the biker guy would have made sense, although dirty cops in Cali is never big news these days.  At any rate, actually staying at the YMCA might be looking pretty good once police catch up with him.  I wouldn't imagine jail to be a good experience for a fella who wrote "Macho Man."

New York Doll Opens in NYC/LA

New York Doll, already a hit at Sundance, will make its premier in LA and NYC on the 28th, expanding thereafter.

The documentary delves into the life of the late Arthur Kane, mild-mannered employee at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint’s Family History Center library, and more famously, founding member of The New York Dolls where he was better known as the gender-bending bassist, "Killer Kane."

A one-time punk who went Mormon is, in itself, a fascinating story. But coupled with the recent revival of his pioneering glam-rock band, Kane's triumphant return the band and subsequent untimely death in 04' from Leukemia, the story becomes essential viewing.

Check out the film's official website for more info.

MusicLINK: Wilco Previews Live Set

Wilco's live, double-album, Kicking Television, will be releases on  Nov. 15, but you can preview four of the tracks on their website via quicktime.

Thanks to Chromewaves for the link.