Quick You Fool, Catch The Sun!

Summer arrived last week. It arrived, scorched everyone's pasty skin (except mine, sun: "hisssssssssssssssss") and then departed with the sort abruptness that one might describe as rude. 

Reports from taxi drivers give snow in some parts for tomorrow, but then taxi drivers will also tell you stories about how David Bowie has a house in Maesteg, how pigeons carry space measles and how David Cameron is an entity constructed entirely from ham. 

One of those is absolutely true.

In honour of our fleeting glimpse into the mythical land of barbeque, I give you a couple of summery tracks.

• Haystacks, The Cave Singers, No Witch. Jingly jangly farming fun, fun, fun, fun. 
• I've Been Waiting, Uninhabitable Mansions, live on WFMU. Hipster haze.
• Bola Bola, Gorky's Zygotic Monkey, Barafundle. Always reminds me of the Wicker Man... and misspent summers past.

.... Oh and this:

• Technicolor Health, Harlem Shakers, Techincolor Health. Yes, colour is misspelt, but I like it rather a lot.  

Cider, Parks and the Creeping Sensation of Sunburn

The Lure of the Possibilities of Summer ... Aber Almost Looks Nice

Matt Pond PA were one of the first bands I found courtesy of the sparkly new technology of the interweb, with its “www’s”, mp3s and other … modern things. Back in the dark age of dial-up. Back before google had become a verb when rickets still roamed the Earth. If I remember rightly Polyvinyl Records were offering some free tracks of Saturday Looks Good to Me - least I think they were free, surely everything was back in those halcyon days; free or bartered for with pigs. Anyway, since Matt Pond PA were part of the same stable and also (very probably) free I gave them a go.

I’ve a soft spot for the band. Matt Pond, now located over at Altitude, ticks along with a myriad of chums who come and go like ships in the night. Generally Pond et al, create gentle indie of a wishy-washy nature; expansive yet at odds with Pond’s frailty. Don’t get me wrong, it’s (thankfully) nowhere near Conor ‘here’s-a-tissue, give-it-a-good-hard-blow’ Oberst’s intense wail, but there’s the same time there's a similar crunched up awkwardness; Pond oscillates between nervy hand-wringer and dreamy tree-hugger. At worst it’s just pleasant background music but at best it’s ridiculously catchy, or apt to tweak the corners of your mouth upwards. It also fits well with the sunshine.

Which brings me to my point; the nice weather dictated a playthrough of 2010’s ‘The Dark Leaves’ in its entirety; I really rather enjoyed it. Whilst it's neither bursting with originality or tenderness, Dark Leaves is however good at what it does; with a nature element that makes one feel almost out-doorsy. It's the musical equivalent of a hand crafted wooden kitchen table, one whose burns and spill stains only make it seem all the more homely and loved. Dark Leaves is gentle but solid, and I’m recommending Matt Pond PA as the perfect accompaniment to cider, picnics in parks and the creeping sensation of sunburn.

• New Hampshire - Emblems,2004
• Ruins - The Dark Leaves, 2010
• Possibilities of Summer - Deer Apartments, 1998

Still Corners - The Musical Equivalent of Floaty Sleeves

Another beautiful spring Sunday; blue skies, birds, squinting whilst muttering about lost sunglasses (left in a pub). It can mean only one thing; time to pull shut the velvet curtains, maintain my consumptive pallour (not to mention vitamin D deficiency) and wither away in bitter darkness, but all whilst listening to sunshine songs.

Still Corners recently signed to Sub Pop where they're currently slogging away on an upcoming album that should be out in time for summer. The band makes 'dream-pop', aka music that sound wispy/ethereal and is this case comes with with heavy organ usage; it's melodic, but too skewed to be wholesome. Imagine the tunes playing in Christopher Lee's head when he's gadding about in that Wicker Man wig; all flowers and nature one minute and then virgin sacrifices the next. Got it? Lord Summerisle's internal soundtrack -that's them.

Not that that's bad thing! Still Corners's first self produced album 'Remember Pepper' is intriguing and eerily tranquil; a 1960s dream of smoke and silent waters, though like the sticky drips of a melting mivvy it can be a bit too much of a good thing. However their last EP 'Endless Summer' is a haunting ball of fuzzy noise and reverberating drums, packing a hidden punch and boding well for the upcoming album. It may be a hazy summer love-affair brought on my the shimmer of the sun, but right now they're definitely worth a listen.

• Endless Summer - Still Corners