The hottest music from Chicago & beyond

Month: July 2010 Page 1 of 3

Pick Your Poison: Friday 7-30-10

We’ve made it through yet another week. Put your feet up, relax, have a beer or two and celebrate a couple days off. Maybe even listen to some new music, which is what you can download below. Great stuff today includes Pretty Lights, The Mynabirds and a Snoop Dogg cover by Lollapalooza artist Neon Hitch. Enjoy it all, and we’ll chat more on Monday.

Air Conditioning School – Up On

AWOLNATION – Burn It Down

The Biters – Hang Around

Dad Rocks! – Nothing

Hopeless – Lies, Lies, Lies

The Mynambirds – Let the Record Go

Neon Hitch – Drop It Like It’s Hot

The Poison Arrows – Unveiled in Sequence

Pretty Lights – I Can See It In Your Face

Social Studies – Holler Boys

Live Friday: 7-30-10

In the continued tradition of featuring Lollapalooza artists in the weeks leading up to the actual festival, this week’s Live Friday is a session with The Morning Benders. The band plays a handful of songs off their latest album “Big Echo” and do an interview in which they discuss working with Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear and how their sound has evolved since their last record. It’s actually pretty good all around. Of course just the songs are available for download, and if you’re interested in the interview, stream it via the link below. The songs are well done and summery, as you might expect if you’ve heard the album. The band is surprisingly adept at recreating those sounds live. Go for the downloads if you like the band, or are just interested in learning more about them. And if you’re going to Lollapalooza next weekend, be sure to catch their set!

The Morning Benders, Live on WXPN 6-15-10:
The Morning Benders – Promises (Live on WXPN)
The Morning Benders – Wet Cement (Live on WXPN)
The Morning Benders – Mason Jar (Live on WXPN) [YouSendIt] [ZShare]
The Morning Benders – All Day Daylight (Live on WXPN)

Stream the entire interview/session

Buy “Big Echo” from Amazon

Pick Your Poison: Thursday 7-29-10

As a quick note to all the wonderful people and bands and artists and others that send me emails with fresh mp3s to feature on Pick Your Poison each day, I have to say thanks first of all. Secondly, as much as I’d like to feature every single thing I get sent, sometimes it doesn’t always work out that way but I do appreciate your initiative. Today’s selection of Pick Your Poison songs is pretty great in my opinion. The Black Angels and Black Mountain are two of the big names who have songs featured below. Halsted and Kim Taylor also get my personal thumbs up, as does Slate Eccentric. Really check all these songs out, virtually everything succeeds on one level or another.

The Black Angels – Telephone Blues

Black Mountain – The Hair Song

Brad Laner – Eyes Close

Gospel Claws – Summer Nights Lakeside

Grand Lake – Louise (I Live in a Fantasy)

Halsted – Sellout

Kim Taylor – Lost and Found

Meanest Man Contest – Takitani Edit (Superhumanoids Remix)

Paleo – World’s Smallest Violin

The Pass – Trap of Mirrors

Paul Rosales – Changed Faster (Railcars “Machine Heart” Remix)

Slate Pacific – Eccentrics

Unicycle Loves You – Justine

Album Review: Jaill – That’s How We Burn [Sub Pop]


The Milwaukee-based band Jaill has been around for 8 years, though chances are you’ve never heard of them until right now or at the very least earlier this year. They’re freshly signed to Sub Pop Records after years of paying their dues and making crappy bedroom recordings. What finally served as the foursome’s big break was their 2009 album “There’s No Sky (Oh My My)”, which they were particularly proud of and decided to promote as best they could. That meant getting copies out to bloggers and radio stations in addition to going on a national tour. The hard work paid off, as somebody at Sub Pop got a copy of the record and expressed interest in the band. Why did it take them several years to finally get signed? There seem to be a number of factors, from the exceptionally lo-fi (poor recording quality) of their earliest material to a band lineup that was constantly changing to general laziness when it came to self-promotion and touring. All the while they were in obscurity, Jaill had been building a more than solid catalogue of jangly guitar pop songs. Thanks to their Sub Pop debut “That’s How We Burn”, the band is out to prove they deserve every scrap of attention that’s come their way in the past year.

Jaill aren’t going to reinvent the wheel. They’re playing in a sandbox where so many have been before and are exploiting a sound that’s all too common among up-and-coming indie bands these days. It takes a special kind of band to break free from the pack and establish a solid following. With “That’s How We Burn”, Jaill may have done exactly that. As an introduction to the band and album, “The Stroller” has the band leading off with a muscular number that’s got a solid hook and a little bit of a psychedelic edge to it. Impressive as it may be, the next track “Everyone’s Hip” is pure guitar pop with a bouncy melody that gets even better if it’s sunny and warm outside while you listen to it. “Thank Us Later” has a sly surf rock edge to it and even recalls The Walkmen a little bit thanks to the guitar work, though Jaill singer Vinnie Kircher’s vocals sound nowhere near the lackadaisical wail of Hamilton Leithauser’s. Though it’s remarkably sparse with primarily an acoustic guitar and vocals, “Summer Mess” is one of the album’s highlights thanks to how it shakes things up stylistically. It’s one of the few moments on the record where bouncy electric guitars aren’t the norm, which can start to feel a little blended together after awhile. Still, the middle half of the album has a great streak of highlights from the early R.E.M.-like “She’s My Baby” and the positively rocking “Snake Shake” which at nearly 4 minutes long is the longest song on the album and also the most complicated – in a good way. There’s a distinct 60’s pop vibe about “Baby I”, which slows things down a half step before the pulse-racing excitement that “How’s the Grave” provides that’s reminiscent of a Pavement song on speed. Finally the title track ends the album on a typically bright and upbeat note with another solid jangly guitar melody. The whole thing is over and done within a mere 30 minutes, and though it does start to blend together for a bit on the second half, the speed at which it passes keeps it from really harming your overall impression of the record.

One listen to “That’s How We Burn” and you should be convinced that Jaill are a band that’s going places. All that time spent in obscurity has left them with enough time to hone their craft and come out swinging. Not every track quite hits with the force that’s needed to bring this band success on a massive level just yet, but there’s a whole lot of promise that makes it fully understandable as to why they were able to get a record deal with one of the best indie labels around. The hooks are dynamite, and lyrically Kircher is pretty brilliant in the way he blends the lighthearted music with words that are anything but. Perhaps if they shake up their sound a little and work harder to incorporate more bits from other genres then they’ll really start to make waves. A couple ballads wouldn’t hurt either, instead of charging straight through every song like a punk rock band on a mission. Whatever the solution, Jaill are definitely worth checking out in the here and now, as “That’s How We Burn” makes for yet another great album that’s ripe for soundtracking summer fun whether it’s hanging out with friends or simply driving around with all the windows down and a cool breeze in your hair.

Jaill – The Stroller

Buy “That’s How We Burn” from Sub Pop

Album Review: Menomena – Mines [Barsuk]

The way Menomena records music is a little different compared to how almost every other band does it. In an effort to develop their songs as organically and democratically as possible, the band builds their songs one piece at a time, using a looping program to improvise a riff or a drum part or whatever other instrument strikes their fancy. Each member of the trio takes a turn recording a snippet before passing the microphone onto the next guy, who then builds from that. If you’ve ever seen an artist like Andrew Bird perform solo, the way he pieces together his songs via the use of looping pedals is similar to what Menomena does, only their style is far more improvisational. It’s led to some fascinating creative choices, first brought to light via their 2004 debut album “I Am the Fun Blame Monster” and more recently on 2007’s “Friend and Foe”. It’s been yet another 3 year gap as a testament to the band’s arduous recording process, which means that Menomena owes us another album. “Mines” fulfills that imaginary debt, and it turns out to be their most realistically composed and beautiful record to date.

With so many bands releasing compelling debut albums and then falling by the wayside with follow-ups that don’t live up to the hype, Menomena are working on an opposite track, learning from their past albums to evolve. Not to say that their previous efforts weren’t good (both are great in fact), but it’s the little things, the things you don’t always notice initially, that proves the band is growing little by little. The songs on “Mines” are tighter, smarter and better crafted than anything they’ve done previously. It’s also a quieter album, choosing to rely more on sheer nuance and evoking a certain emotion rather than attempting to be particularly catchy or easily digestible. You need to give it a few listens before many of the songs really start to sink in and reveal their depth, and considering it’s a pretty gorgeous ride from the get-go, hopefully racking up the repeat plays won’t be too cumbersome. Picking out the individual instruments as they weave in and out of each song is part of the fun, and you’ll find everything from saxophones to trumpets and piano and xylophones, often within the same track. It’d feel random if it wasn’t so gorgeous and natural at the same time.

Outside of the aesthetic value “Mines” provides, there’s also plenty of fascinating lyrics to keep your mind occupied. Trying to determine some sort of logical meaning behind what’s being said might prove to be an impossible challenge given that much of the lyrics are probably just various phrases shoved together. But even if there’s no specific pattern or storyline you can easily catch onto, either the word arrangement or simply the way they’re sung is wholly compelling. The band will sometimes take a singular phrase and repeat it several times in a row in different ways that gives it a new strength every time. “Dirty Cartoons” features a chorus of “I’d like to go home” that seems plain reading it on paper, but given Menomena’s dynamite harmonies combined with the forceful instrumental, it hits mighty hard. The same goes for the nuance of a line like “All this could be yours someday” from “Five Little Rooms”, which makes it one of the more memorable and catchy tracks on the album. Equally great is also the brash and sheer energy of “Taos”, a track that’s probably closest to the Menomena of old and makes for possibly the best song on the entire album.

Speaking of memorable and catchy, certainly one of the complaints about “Mines” will be that most of the songs lack the hooks previous Menomena albums have had. There are fewer verse-chorus-verse songs than in the past, and the record is generally slower which can strip away much of the band’s poppier side. But like any piece of great art, the austere beauty is what keeps you coming back, not so much because of how fun or immediate it is. Sigur Ros never takes any flak for crafting epic, 7-minute songs with no choruses, so why should Menomena get different treatment just because most of their songs are about 5 minutes and only sometimes have choruses? Perhaps it’s because Menomena has proven with songs like “Wet and Rusting” or “Evil Bee” that they can deliver incredible pop-leaning songs, and that they’re not doing as much about it on “Mines” can be frustrating for some.

Fans of Menomena from their previous albums shouldn’t have much trouble liking “Mines”. The band has been around long enough to create certain expectations with each one of their songs, and thankfully that’s something they continue to deliver on. There’s still the army of different instruments played by each of the band members in a rotating fashion, that pop up at moments that might seem so wrong but feel so right. That’s part of Menomena’s brilliance, and they have it on full display with this new record. Most everything’s improved on some level or another from what they’ve done before, though that’s also caused many of their songs to be that much more impenetrable. It’ll probably take some work to buy into what’s being sold here, but like some of the best things in life, the reward is worth the trip. Yet again Menomena have crafted another gem, and one worthy of being remembered at the end of the year. Buy a copy and discover the magic of “Mines” for yourself.

Menomena – Five Little Rooms

Buy “Mines” from Amazon

Pick Your Poison: Wednesday 7-28-10

This is the introduction area where I typically write something about how the week is long or the weather is good or bad or whatever silly topic is on my mind at the time. Now I’m writing this as an intro so things don’t get too stale. Real riveting to read, eh? Ok, so today’s Pick Your Poison greats include a free EP from the great rapper El-P, who recorded these tracks with Camu Tao, who died a little while back. It’s good and worth your time. Thanks to the Hopscotch Music Fest, there are also two mp3s from The Rosebuds, one of which is a Bee Gees cover. There’s also a Tobacco track which features none other than Beck, and something from the latest Woven Bones album. All worth your time.

Abner Trio – You’re Gorgeous, Believe It!

Brie Stoner – Delicate Hour

El-P and Camu Tao – Central Services EP  (ZIP)

The Knocks – Make It Better (Emil and Friends Remix)

The Murdocks – Black Jesus Knocking

Quitzow – Whatever

Rich Bennett – Misty Valley

Rocketsmiths – A Shot at the Seat

The Rosebuds – Stayin’ Alive (Bee Gees cover)
The Rosebuds – Secret Life of the Rosebuds

Setting Sun – The Sympathetic CEO

Tobacco – Fresh Hex (feat. Beck)

Woven Bones – I’ve Gotta Get

Pick Your Poison: Tuesday 7-27-10

Good stuff on today’s Pick Your Poison. There’s a new track from David Dondero that’s worth checking out. If you like hip hop, rappers The Alchemist and Oh No have teamed up on a new project called Gangrene, and you can download the first mp3 from them below. There’s a fresh song from the band Happy Birthday off their latest release, and something new from the great female singer-songwriter Lissie, whose debut album will be out in the U.S. soon.

Arab Strap – Packs of Three

BUSSES – Foundation Myth

Crystal Fighters – In the Summer (Picture House’s Summer in the Balearics Mix)

David Dondero – Zero With A Bullet

Gangrene – Chain Swinging

Happy Birthday – Too Shy

Lissie – Bully

The Shimmies – Beloved Enemies

Team Bayside High – No Sleeves Attached DJ Mix

Wormburner – The Interstate

Album Review: Best Coast – Crazy For You [Mexican Summer]

When searching for the ultimate summer album, the key components to keep an ear out for are sunny, upbeat and fun melodies that are filled to the brim with hooks and never get too obtuse or complicated. Should be simple enough, right? After all, there’s got to be a reason why Katy Perry and her “California Gurls” are so popular at the moment. The issue with pop music like that though is how it’s spoon-fed to the masses using the “tricks of the trade”, forcing songs on you via radio and video exposure rather than letting the public choose for themselves what’s good. It’s a tragedy, and it takes away from other great artists that might be making even better music. Robyn is one person who comes to mind. The other is Bethany Cosentino. She’s the frontwoman for a little trio known as Best Coast, and their debut album “Crazy For You” is perhaps the hottest thing to come out of this summer and that’s despite soaring temperatures.

What makes “Crazy For You” so attractive is the sincere charm it oozes out of every musical pore. Cosentino is quite the personality as evidenced by both a highly entertaining Twitter account and a live show that’s simply a blast to watch. She writes songs that tend to deal with four basic subjects: boys, weed, summer, and her (awesome) cat Snacks. Her lyrics are immensely straightforward, as you learn from the very first track “Boyfriend”, where the deceptively simple line “I wish he was my boyfriend” gets repeated enough that it stuck in your head less than halfway through the 2.5 minute song. That’s the sort of thing that happens not just once, but several times across the entire record. Over half of the dozen songs on “Crazy For You” are catchy and light enough to be singles, even as they traverse through various stylistic shifts. Guitarist Bobb Bruno is responsible for many of the melodies that move anywhere from surf rock to garage rock and through classically informed 60’s pop. It’s a little bit of an adjustment from the first couple Best Coast EPs released last year, which pushed pretty hard on the fuzzy lo-fi aesthetic. Now that lo-fi has all but been shown the door and Best Coast has a record label’s financial backing to actually record something with clarity, they jump at the chance and the results have turned out better than most might have anticipated. By placing Cosentino’s vocals front and center on close to every song, she moves up into a league with notables like Liz Phair and (pre-drugs) Courtney Love, both of whom have established strong reputations for emotionally affective and tonally strident singing. Blunt honesty also comes along with that territory, and though you can’t imagine Cosentino writing a song like “Fuck and Run”, she doesn’t mean it any less when singing a line like “I want you so much”.

The barbs thrown Best Coast’s way largely have to do with a lack of sonic and subject matter diversity. Apparently writing a bunch of songs about hook-ups, break-ups and make-ups gets stale rather quickly, despite the fact that there are already millions more tracks that deal with that exact same subject matter. Hell, leveling that complaint about Best Coast is like saying The Beatles weren’t very good because of all those damn songs they wrote about love. Besides that, “Crazy For You” is a mere 31 minutes long, with only one track barely scraping above the 3 minute mark. You’re not going to get a full length album much shorter than that, so the same-ness of the record bothers you, take comfort that it will be over in the amount of time it takes you to sit through an episode of your favorite sitcom.

At this point in time we’re about 1/3rd of the way through the official summer season. Temperatures are scorching hot more often than not, and you can feel free to hang out at the beach provided it doesn’t rain too much. It’s somewhat telling that the cover art of “Crazy For You” features a beach-like animated scene of water and palm trees and sun, with Cosentino’s cat Snacks hanging out in the middle of it. This is the perfect sort of album to listen to in one of those sunny, oceanside situations whether you have a cat with you or not. In other words, it’s THE summer record of 2010. It’s also one of the year’s best. Please do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. With the weather like it is right now, the sooner the better.

Buy “Crazy For You” from Amazon

Pick Your Poison: Monday 7-26-10

It’s Monday, the start of another week, but take comfort in the fact that July is close to being over. Unless of course you love this month and its typically oppressive heat. Today’s Pick Your Poison highlights include s new song from Burnt Ones. I can also definitely recommend the track from Little Gold, and there’s something new from Fleet Foxes’ own J. Tillman, who’s got another solo record out soon. Enjoy!

Backwords – Quilt and Then Sigh

The Bird and the Monkey – If Love’s A Cure

Burnt Ones – Burnt To Lose

Clean Equations – Buried Translations

Don Diablo – Klassroom Mix at Kissy Sell Out Show (BBC Radio 1)

Ezequiel Ezequiel – Dear Permafrost

Gladshot – Nobody’s Looking

J. Tillman – Three Sisters

Lazy – Who Could Break Your Heart

Little Gold – Completely Fucked!

Styrofoam Ones – Blue Lines

Sunset – Loveshines II

Titles – Pillow Case

Live Friday: 7-23-10

If you’ve not yet heard it or purchased it or whatever, The National’s latest album “High Violet” should be on your “to do” list in the coming months. It’s an excellent record, one of the best this year has had to offer so far, which is only part of the reason why I’m featuring the band this week on Live Friday. Additionally, The National will be playing Lollapalooza in a couple weeks, and I’m using these live sessions leading up to the festival to help give you some insight into how various bands might perform. The National are, of course, great. This session was recorded a week ago and the band plays 4 songs off of “High Violet”. There’s also an interview available for you to stream below. In it, Bryce Dessner talks a little about the creation of the indie all-star charity album “Dark Was the Night” and his various side projects. Singer Matt Berninger also gets on topic about his writing process and how that relates to the recording of a National album. It’s worth a listen if you really like the band and are interested in hearing about that sort of stuff.

Note: Due to some small hosting issues, you’ll need to download the song “Runaway” via YouSendIt or ZShare. Sorry about that, I’m trying to get the problem fixed.

The National, Live on WXPN 7-16-10:
The National – Bloodbuzz Ohio (Live on WXPN)
The National – Afraid of Everyone (Live on WXPN)
The National – Runaway [YouSendIt] [ZShare]
The National – Terrible Love (Live on WXPN)

Stream the entire interview/performance

Buy “High Violet” from Amazon

Pick Your Poison: Friday 7-23-10

For a Friday and the start of what looks to be a grand weekend, today’s Pick Your Poison is pretty jam packed with great songs. You’ve got a new download available from Delorean’s latest album “Subiza” that’s fantastic. There’s also a Neon Indian cover that entertains more than you might think. Wolf People have also released a song from their forthcoming album, which is worth your while. Also see the Woodhands track and a brand new one from one of the best drummers working today, Zach Hill.

Br’er – Whitewash

The Chord and The Fawn – Right As Rain

Dearling Physique – Sleep and the Heart

Delorean – Real Love

Elk City – Nine O’ Clock in France (Pocket vs. Ray Ketchem Remix)

Jesse Woods – Mind Drips (Neon Indian cover)

K-X-P – 18 Hours of Love
K-X-P – Pockets (Annie Vocal Mix)

Luna Is Honey – Who Wouldn’t

My Other Friend – Collectors

Rich Aucoin – Push

Sunset – Sunshine Hair

Wolf People – Tiny Circle

Woodhands – CP24 (Teen Mix)

Zach Hill – Memo to the Man

Album Review: Mountain Man – Made the Harbor [Bella Union/Partisan]

Some albums are just best listened to alone. Find yourself a quiet environment, be it a bedroom or an uncrowded park, and strap on the ‘ol headphones while you mentally “check out” for awhile to enjoy the music. If you choose the right record for the situation, the results can be transcendent and revealing. On the flip side of that coin, you can completely ruin an album if you listen to it in the wrong context. Such is the case with the new album from the East Coast trio of ladies known as Mountain Man. Their second album (the first with halfway decent distribution) is titled “Made the Harbor”, and it demands a silent room and a calm demeanor to be fully appreciated.

At first glance, Mountain Man has the sound of a female version of Fleet Foxes. They’re all folk melodies and intense, 3-part harmonies. When Amelia Randall Meath, Molly Erin Sarle and Alexandra Sauser-Monnig put their voices together, beauty happens of the highest order. They’re so confident in that, many of the songs on “Made the Harbor” are performed completely a capella. When there are instruments, an acoustic guitar or two is about all you’re going to get, but that’s really all you need. It’s rather exciting to have songs so sparsely composed yet sounding so rich and refined. More than anything else, the album feels like a throwback to the all-girl groups of the 1950’s, when times were far different and more innocent than they are today. The lyrics are also pretty old fashioned as well, talking about animals, nature and young maidens. Helping to complete that portrait is the fact that the album was recorded at an abandoned ice cream parlor from the early 20th century. And even smarter was the move to produce it completely roughshod, leaving in all the little imperfections that come with avoiding a traditional studio. So if you listen carefully you’ll hear the occasional shuffle of feet or background noise. It’s relentlessly charming and austere, which is part of what makes it so unique and worthwhile in today’s digital age.

Perhaps the best thing about “Made the Harbor” is how timeless it is. The album could just as easily have been a “lost recording” from the past just recently discovered as much as it is something that was made yesterday. These girls know how to write a compelling folk song that can stick with you if you let it. Of course that partly requires the ability to sit still and give this record your attention and patience. This isn’t an album for everybody, and it runs into the occasional problem of a song feeling only half finished, but for those who can fully appreciate the sweet siren call of Mountain Man, it’s the sort of delight that only comes around once in a blue moon.

Mountain Man – Soft Skin

Buy “Made the Harbor” from Amazon

Pick Your Poison: Thursday 7-22-10

Take a deep breath and wash those Thursday blues away, because Pick Your Poison is here to soothe your ears. With Friday fast approaching like a speeding freight train about to usher in yet another weekend, here’s a fresh set of mp3s for your downloading pleasure. The great stuff today includes tracks from Arab Strap, David Singer, and Linda Draper, among others. You may want to check out the mp3 from famed comedian Neil Hamburger as well.

Alright Alright – Resurrection Mary

Arab Strap – Daughters of Darkness

David Singer – My Autobiography

Embarrassing Fruits – Long Distance Breakup Summer

Linda Draper – The Sleeping Giant

Lost in the Trees – Walk Around the Lake

Midtown Dickens – Old Dogs

Munk – Down in L.A. (Them Jeans Remix)

Neil Hamburger – Incident in Kabul

Nihiti – Black Cars (A Sinistra)
Nihiti – The Return of Kind Ropes

Waxx Maxx – Celine and Julie Go Boating

Yvette Rovira – Let’s Go Out Tonight

EP Review: Amanda Palmer – Amanda Palmer Plays the Popular Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukulele [Self-Released]

Amanda Palmer is great. First as part of The Dresden Dolls, later as a solo artist, and currently as one half of the duo Evelyn Evelyn, she’s a true original who embraces both showmanship and the do-it-yourself ethos. Now that she’s free from the constraints of her contract with Roadrunner Records after a hard-fought battle to be released, Palmer has taken on the burden of being a true solo artist by foregoing a record label and releasing all her music independently from here on out. Fan support is crucial for this venture, which is why she offers plenty of purchasing options for whatever projects she does. This week, she released an EP’s worth of Radiohead covers, as performed on her ukulele with the occasional piano or violin part to flesh out the arrangements.

Covering Radiohead is basically the most impossible of impossible tasks. It’s not something to be undertaken lightly, though perhaps that might be the smartest move considering there’s no way you’ll ever top the original versions of the songs. Complete reinterpretations also hold some weight, as renowned classical pianist Christopher O’Riley released two albums of Radiohead songs dressed up with the instrumental flourishes of a grand piano. There was also the “Rockabye Baby” Radiohead album, which used glockenspiels to turn the band’s songs into lullabies. What Amanda Palmer does is deliver mostly straight interpretations of some of Radiohead’s most iconic tracks, though the ukulele really brings a more “acoustic-lite” feeling to the whole thing. On the EP’s opening “Fake Plastic Trees”, Palmer mostly uses the ukulele to keep some sense of rhythm in the song, because there are barely any chord changes. Instead, the melody carries via her voice. Though she can clearly handle the vocals (though does any voice REALLY compare with Thom Yorke’s?), on the whole the track comes off a bit thin. Of course when you’ve only got a uke, thin is about the best you can do. “High and Dry” fares a little better, as it lends itself to the ukulele, but it’s the very small splashes of piano that additionall help the melody where it most desperately needs it. Still not great, but satisfactory. Continuing with the upward mobility, “No Surprises” wisely adds not only piano, but just a hint of toy piano along with some overdubbed harmonies. Given the original’s relative simplicity, it’s not too difficult to replicate. Both “Idioteque” and the two versions of “Creep” function as expected, though none of them really grab you like they should. What does work in the most effective way imaginable, is Palmer’s version of “Exit Music (From A Film)”. There is no ukulele this time, it’s instead supplanted by the piano. Compared to the plain acoustic and atmospherics of the Radiohead version, it feels as emotionally bare and paranoid as the original. Some bits of cello and violin also add to the dramatic flair, and it practically makes the entire EP worthwhile on its own.

What does make the entire EP worthwhile is the high, high cost of 84 cents for all 7 songs. All those songs for cheaper than a single iTunes track, and you get a choice of 320k mp3, lossless, or a handful of other formats. Yes, there’s also the option to pay any amount higher than 84 cents should you feel it to be worth that. And while most of the other possible packages for purchase are already sold out, there’s a T-shirt and digital version of the EP combo for $20 still available, along with the most expensive $1,000 version which gets you a 32GB iPhone, a DVD, a vinyl and digital version of the EP, a shirt and various other trinkets, plus a personal phone call from Amanda who will play a cover song for you and sing a Haiku of your choosing as well. Yes, there are some choices. Unless you’re a hardcore Amanda Palmer fan who is willing to support every little thing she does, chances are just the digital version of the EP will suffice. For 84 cents, this is worth a purchase if you like Palmer, Radiohead or both of them even a little bit. Hell, maybe even throw 5-10 bucks her way and help pay her bills for another month. This isn’t going to change your life, nor will it probably compel you to listen to it repeatedly, but it is a novelty worth having on hand for the occasional times you want to hear a halfway decent Radiohead cover. Or just Amanda Palmer singing songs you’re more readily familiar with, if you’re not her biggest fan.

Stream the songs and purchase the EP via Amanda Palmer’s official site

Pick Your Poison: Wednesday 7-21-10

It’s the middle of the week, and to help get you over that hump, Pick Your Poison is super-sized today. Among the more exciting things available for you to download, there’s a remix of a Fischerspooner song that’s pretty good. There’s also a fresh b-side from the cool band Midnight Juggernauts, a Salem remix of a These New Puritans song, and YACHT covering the great 80’s band X.

Darren Hanlon – All These Things

Drunken Barn Dance – A Winter’s Tale

Fischerspooner – Infidels of the World Unite (Trash Yourself Remix)

Gladshot – All I Want Is You
Gladshot – Straight from the Fridge

Halloween Swim Team – Pitch Black

Harper Blynn – 25 Years

Hooray for Earth – Form (Oh No Ono Remix)

Midnight Juggernauts – Michael’s Deadline

Paul and the Patients – Factory

Procedure Club – Vermont

Soft Metals – Love or Music

These New Puritans – Hologram (Salem Remix)

Two Hours Traffic – Happiness Burns

YACHT – Nausea (X cover)

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