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Denver Dalley is a man with many a finger in many a project. He’s one of those musicians who also continues to add to his catalog of accomplishments without slowing down. Some of the musical accomplishments already include, Statistics, Desaparecidos, Intramural, City Light, and he fit time to record an album with Leta Lucy from The Twilight Singers, among others.
I first heard Statistics years ago and loved it right away. It was the kind of music that never left my CD player for weeks and weeks. Then the greatest rock band of all time came across my lap, Desaparecidos. Read Music/Speak Spanish by Desaparecidos, from beginning to end, just doesn’t dip or stop rocking and the lyrics on are as good easily as any work Conor has done in Bright Eyes. Recently I actually gave it a perfect rating. It is a perfect record for me. Intramural is a great idea for a project, which is Denver writing the music for songs and wrangling a bunch of singers such as Judah Nagler of The Velvet Teen, John Roderick of the Long Winters, Tricia Kanne of Minipop, Matt Friction of Pink Spiders and many more to contribute to them. I am excited to really delve into that and for future material released by Intramural.
We did it! We have made it to the end of 2007, which proved to be a way better year for music. Pretty much the only thing 2006 delivered was Ys, The Avalanche and Shut Up I Am Dreaming. This year we got a plethora of new great records, and those of us who are aren’t googly crying babies, actually had a top 10 worth mentioning without struggling to get there.
We decided instead of arguing about what was the best as a whole without all killing each other, we’ve decided to all just list our favorite records of 2007 separately. Some are the same and some aren’t and either way you get to hear an opinion on each and why it’s there and all that fun.
Indie Schmarm’s top records of 2007 (Sorry, no Panda Bear. We aren’t puppets):
And now, Strong Bad gives us the story of Christmas:
End Scene,
Dan Tana
The Music:
Mae - Destination: Beautiful
I decided to not be elitist and hip, and pick a record to spite my friend Mike, and because it’s just good. I was there, you don’t know! Mae is actually one of the best live bands that I’ve ever seen. Yes that’s right, ever. Of course they can’t win over Sigur Ros, Radiohead, Ugly Casanova, Sufjan Stevens and Joanna Newsom, but who can? Perhaps reviving some of the dead maybe. Mae though really shocked me when I first saw them at the Roxy years ago and was blown away by how good they were. Admittedly there are a few lyrical dips in Destination Beautiful, but who cares? We’re all having a good time. It is also very unfortunate that they have since slowly formed into what is known in the industry as “dog crap”, but I will always enjoy Destination Beautiful and so should you.
Oh dear, thank you for this gift during the holiday season.
It is the mission of this 30th Century Man to bring to the readers of Indie Schmarm albums from the past with a story behind them. The tragic commercial flop of a next-big-thing band, the unsung masterpiece of 1968, the daring departure from an artist’s catalog on which he plumbed the depths of a dark side he’d never been before or since…these are the types of albums I will bring to you, dear reader, and together we will celebrate them.
Album: “Twin Engine” by Twin Engine
Recorded/Released: 1971/2004
Obscurity Factor: VII
Sunset Rubdown have made their triumphant return to Daytrotter.com! As some of you may remember, all the way back in 2K6 they dropped by the Daytrotter studio to record some raucous renditions of older tunes and previewed the then-previously-unreleased “Winged/Wicked Things”, which of course went on to become one of the highlights of this year’s superb Random Spirit Lover. This time they’ve given us yet another brand new jam, “Idiot Heart”, as well as a slower, somewhat ballad-ish run through of “The Mending of the Gown” and the live show highlight “Three Colors” (originally released in two light, breezy parts on their self-titled EP, now somehow transformed into one six-and-a-half minute, vaguely bluesy rager.)
And, of course, it’s all free. God bless Daytrotter and the horse they rode in on.
Yours,
Torquil Crossingham
Every once in a while you’ll stumble across a small band that’s just getting started and you feel like you’ve struck gold because of how good they are and all the bragging rights that will soon come when they break through and you can say “I knew them when”, Francisco the Man! is that band.
Out of Orange County with members that barely earned the right to drink legally, this four piece studied at the church of Neil Young and Wilco and lead singer/guitarist Scotty Cantino’s vocals eerily recall Jim James while Joel Bond’s (guitar, keys) occasional lead and backing vocals harmonize with Cantino perfectly. The group is rounded out by Nestor Romero on bass and Abdeel Ortega on drums.
I’m a busy, busy man. Between Indie Schmarm staff meetings in our underground bunker, hosting my own cooking show on the Brazilian Food Network and maintaining my bonsai tree sculpture of Jack Bauer, I don’t have a lot of time to hunker down and listen to music. I do, however, make it a point to set aside a few passing moments every so often to take a good look at music. Therefore, I now present you with a brief analysis of some choice album covers…
I enjoy being pleasantly surprised by bands. After thousands of shows and seeing thousands of local bands in LA, it really all starts to sound the same. Being the complete schmarm and snob that I am, it takes kind of a lot to impress me off a first impression. I do recognize good music when I see it though and I’m not one of those LA elitist club goers who A) Just want to be seen at a venue/club or B) Have no soul. The later is usually found in LA. The Weather Underground however will be sure to penetrate any veneer anyone puts on. They have catchy songs and the singer Harley moves around so much on stage that even in your heated cocktail conversation about Ron Paul, you’ll take notice. On the 29th of November they caught my and others attention yet again. You can get an idea by the fact that my shitty camera can’t keep up with the movements of Harley. They simply just rock.
The Movie:
Juno (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Thanks to the awards season and my wonderful roommate being a member of SAG, she has been receiving “screeners” in the mail lately and a good chunk of them have yet to be released on DVD and a few have yet to even make it to the theaters. One of these is the new movie Juno from director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody that had me a little more than excited to watch.
I remember talking to the singer of Casxio, Lucas Guerin, a few years ago telling him to start a band because his solo stuff was really good. He kept saying he was trying, and was looking for people, but to no avail. Then one day out of nowhere it seems, it happened. He pulled Zach Schrock (Drums), Eric Saez (Guitar), and Andrea Choe (Keys) out of the magic band member hat and had a band. With this full band, Lucas could realize his funk dreams and bring more soul to music than any white man ever has…yes even more than Justin Timberlake. Casxio then smartly started to play in the Silverlake area…which is the only thing resembling a scene in Los Angeles, and not too long after booked a Monday residency at the Silverlake Lounge.