Just when I thought I knew who I was and what I was into, this song came along and turned all that on its head. I couldn’t find an MP3 for a long time, but I’d sign on to YouTube just so I could listen to it. As a bonus, the video is perfectly wonderful. VHS STYLEEE! 1986!!! Kindness MySpace.
Just a damn fine song. The tagline on the band's MySpace reads “good at songs, bad at fidelity,” which about sums it up. They really are good at songs. And, while the fidelity isn't great, it isn't distracting, either. Some of these lo-fi acts remind me of Ally Sheedy in The Breakfast Club, you know? She was totally beautiful, but maybe not very confident, so she kind of hid behind her baggy clothes and crazy hair and then Molly Ringwald came along and made her look like a prom queen. Internet Forever, though, are great just the way they are. Besides, Ally Sheedy was totally out of my league after Molly Ringwald got done with her. Internet Forever MySpace.
A pleasantly chugging song, with nice boom-y drums. If I knew anything about music production, maybe I'd be able to say something intelligent about that, because I really like the way this song is recorded. It has a kind of flat, echoing quality to it and the guitar sounds great. Spectrals MySpace.
I thought this was timely, seeing as Kurt Cobain was recently defiled memorialized in Guitar Hero 5. I heard that one of Kurt’s actual cardigans is now in a glass case in a Hard Rock Cafe somewhere. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have blown up since their full-length was released, but this song is still my favorite of theirs. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart MySpace.
More loud, lovely, noisy rock played by Japanese women. Exciting stuff, this. Nisennenmondai MySpace.
The current crop of lo- and no-fi musicians have nothing on Charlie McAlister. This is, like, negative fidelity. Charlie McAlister MySpace.
A rattling, clattering kind of a song, with a messy exuberance to it that doesn't get old on repeat listens. To my ear, Explode Into Colors don't sound a whole lot like anything else that's going on right now. Explode Into Colors MySpace.
This song should be grating, but somehow manages the exact opposite. It sounds like it was recorded on wax cylinder, but is totally catchy and exciting. When this stuff works, it works really well. The video is pretty excellent too. The Choir Quit MySpace.
This is one of my favorite tracks from John Peel’s treasure chest of 7-inch singles. A light, bouncy affair, quite different from most of the other material in the collection.
OK, so I’m getting kind of tired of hearing about Brooklyn. At some point the place is bound to reach critical mass, collapsing into a black hole of hype, cheap beer, and irony. The thing is, though, that a lot of these bands are actually really, really good. Darlings are positively delightful. Darlings MySpace.
Chocolate Bobka has the original NME C86 cassette available for download. All I can remember about 1986 is the Challenger exploding over and over on television, so I hope I can be forgiven for missing out on this the first time around.
One of my favorite songs ever. The band’s description of themselves is better than anything I could do:
2 young Japanese girls rock duo from Osaka JAPAN!Naked rock!!!!! Naked soul!!! Red red strong red dress!! FreeeeeeeeedamAfrirampo Official Site
paradice rock! Jump! With improvisation.
Sooo fantastic & wild performance !
wowowowowowowowowwoooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s hard to explain what this song does to me, but it probably has something to do with being 16 years old and riding shotgun through the suburbs in my best friend’s Buick LeSabre. I’m firmly convinced that there is an alternate universe in which Alan Sutherland is a superstar. Land of the Loops MySpace.
I think there’s only really one Dum Dum Girl — a librarian from Los Angeles named Dee Dee. Melodic as all get out, with just enough noise to give you something to grab hold of. Dum Dum Girls MySpace.
I haven’t been able to find out very much about Madison Electric, but I kind of like the idea that they just recorded a few perfect songs and then disappeared. There’s something to be said for that — for saying all you have to say and then moving on.
Tres Williams and Kitsy Christner were 10 and 11 years old when they recorded this song. For my money, this is right up there with Belle and Sebastian’s “My Wandering Days Are Over” and Sgt. Pepper for band-origin songs. There’s more information on these two at Swan Fungus.
