Big sunset

I'll admit it, various daily grinds have gotten on top of me and fatigue has set in. The time is ripe for a little 'blague vacation, so I'll be laying low for the next week. Here's a fitting sunset ride-off tune, consumed as I still am with Tangerine Dream and their many flavors of reflection. This one comes from a soundtrack to a movie about baby aliens stranded on Earth and discovered by the dude who one short year later would star in Revenge of the Nerds. Hang on to that mental image for a few days. See you back on 4/9.

Tangerine Dream - Alley Walk

Maidenly sounds

Oh hell, let's just ditch that experimental otherworldiness and just jump into the forest, tambourine in hand. The British folk revival wave has probably passed, but there are plenty of original sources that still deserve a listen. Here's one that not enough people talked about. I remember first hearing them in the apartment of a former bandmate's friend. One of those post-gig mellow-outs where nothing sounded more perfect than the strains of these hinterland troubadours.

Midwinter - Sanctuary Stone

Echo inside

Whenever I'm overwhelmed by dystopian visions, it's comforting to turn to music that suggests a future populated by some of our best things. Like this song. Woodsy vocal invocations, baby synths and weird textures, not to mention a riff that sounds hauntingly like a rockless "Baba O'Riley". Even if you're just living in the present moment, this Julia Holter is someone worth listening to.

Julia Holter - Fur Felix

In the city

Manishevitz were another of those also-ran bands from the early-'00s indie rock sweepstakes that populate my record collection more than I would've thought. Bummer, because aside from the obvious Bryan Ferry meets Mark E. Smith vocal tics, these guys had a nice little sound going. Their City Life album is worth your 40 minutes, and this cut makes me happy a lot. Talking barroom-style piano adorning an urbane shuffle. And just plain good songwriting.

Manishevitz - City Life

Crafty guitarists

It could've been an '80s teen movie. Loner art class introvert Fripp finally steps out of his shell and befriends popular Andy, whose band has all the girls swooning for their blond locks. They hang out after school, find surprising items their record collections have in common, and get around to some light petting (ie, they turn on the tape machine). Of course, the reality blurs these caricatures (they're both total dorks, as were the Police and King Crimson overall), but the narrative is appealing enough. Nothing earth-shattering about their early-'80s collaboration, but their little guitar bromance actually yielded some nice sketches under the guise of musical R&D. As partnerships go, it was a short-lived dalliance. Oh well, they could've made a nice couple.

Andy Summers & Robert Fripp - Hardy Country

Alive unto you

Moving along from guitar propulsion to gentle, spare sounds. The less beats per minute, the more they count. This is how I like my ballads. A slow build to a soar. A voice that's so unaffected it can't help but affect you. And steel guitar. Let it carry you through the weekend.

Cass McCombs - You Saved My Life

Jaws

You know those days where the sum of events conspire to put a fierce tension in your jaw? You want to literally explode out of yourself, and even having recognized the childishness of that impulse, you still fail to have a laugh at it. Here's some musical therapy for that. Hey, it actually works! Fierce corrective rocking out, happily available over the proverbial counter.

The Men - Lotus

I and this guy

Nothing like a little Wednesday Alan Parsons to seriously up the dweeb quotient of your week. Whatever your viewpoint on this kind of AOR slickness, you have to give them credit for keeping some genuine funkiness in what could've been the stiffest of studio products. Props to them also for providing the timeless soundtrack for starting lineup announcements at NBA games. Having enjoyed such an event up close last night (and, wow, the Toronto Raptors need not only good players, but also a name change), I'm also feeling these guys in the sweet spring air as well. Mr. Parsons's Eye in the Sky gently winks in your direction.

The Alan Parsons Project - Step By Step

Elements

Some music is made great by great construction, its parts so effortlessly intertwined that you could never imagine them disassembled or reorganized. And some music is cool for just the opposite reason. You admire the textures and materials, each under their own microscope. The decisions feel like suggestions rather than glue. And so your brain plays with it, Rubik's Cube style. That's what's going for me with this one. That is, when I'm not spooked by the album cover, in which Klaus resembles a drunk former boss of mine who had a fairly unbelievable Scottish brogue. But that's something for another song.

Klaus Krüger - Deutschland

Exploring

If the only thing Gabo Gulbenkian had going for him was his charming name, I'd still probably want to learn more about him. The fact that he does a brand of electronic music that defies category makes him an easy choice for 'blague-ifying. This is the kind of stuff that reminds you to always give a hearty eye-roll when someone starts going on about how there's nothing new in music. His Explorers album is aptly titled. It's a big big world, and it's good to take time to explore more of the sound shapes it offers.

Gabo Gulbenkian - Arthur Rimbaud

Smoky mountain

When it comes to music about drugs (or made with drugs), I don't go for subtlety. In an age where there's no longer anything taboo about the subject, there's nothing lamer than coded references or droopy winking eyes to hint at the matter. And while I generally don't like music that requires drugs to enjoy, I sure do enjoy tunes that evoke their stinkiest cultural signifiers — spilled bongwater, filthy leather jackets, big blown speakers in the basement, etc. This one's got all that, plus some nice krautrock vibes keeping the high from getting too low.

Black Mountain - Druganaut

Express train

It really is a shame that many people default to the '70s when they think about funky music. More often than not, it's the taut, mechanical bounce of '80s grooves that puts the silly looks on my face. And that's before we even get to those heavenly pitch bends and break dance magic. Here's a track that suffers from none of the dubious authenticity of yesterday's. A hot chestnut from days of block parties past. Also a total short-lister for my wedding dance party soundtrack.

D Train - You're The One For Me

See thru

I'm a bit ambivalent about all these pale-face bedroom slo-jam dudes. Seems like an incomplete co-optation — solid pop and smooth enough, but something about the breathy slinky sexiness seems kinda by the numbers. Like they're taking seriously what was once a joke, but still not ready to go full-on R Kelly about it. Having said that, let's get those lights turned down....

Beacon - See Through You

Homo superior

Some bands make you believe they can do just about anything. And some rock bands make you believe that rock n' roll has the genetic juice to evolve into a higher state of exquisite being.

There were plenty of innovations in the post-punk era, but few bands took the punk snarl and made such beautiful, jagged, and surreal permutations as the Homosexuals. I could've randomly chosen any song from their catalog to illustrate, but this has been acting as one of my mental anthems for some years now. Never fails to wrap me in astral glamour.

The Homosexuals - Vociferous Slam

Good airs

More and more, the arrival of spring air makes my ears ears go gooey for unabashedly new age vibes. Case in point — 3 gentlemen from Germany whose album came to my attention sometime in winter, but who have been lifting me skyward only in the last couple weeks. This despite the unfortunate moustaches and perspective fail on their album cover.

Kolbe/Illenberger/Dauner - Annalisa
Kolbe/Illenberger/Dauner - Zen Tri Fuge

Empty the dresser drawer

The excellently-named Geneva Jacuzzi has graced this space before, albeit under another assumed name. I recently got an earful of her full-length album and cannot deny its mondo hypnagogic appeal.

I'm not sure why so many performance artist types end up doing demented variations on new wave in their musical pursuits. In Jacuzzi's case, I think she's just demented, period. At any rate, I'm very glad about this tendency. Here's a little nightmarish toetapper to ease you into the weekend. Something deliciously demonic about these clothes strewn on the bed.

Geneva Jacuzzi - Clothes On The Bed

Old Brooklyn

It's easy to do a lot of face-palming when you watch Andy Statman go animal on stage. In his case, of course, the animal is a gentle, smiling creature that just happens to be preternaturally fleet-fingered on mandolin and so deeply reflective on clarinet that you can practically see the shtetl in a thought bubble.

It's funny that it took him so long to combine his bluegrass and klezmer prowess, and it's so gratifying that the result is anything but gimmicky. Here are just a couple great tunes on his latest. Both are mandolin-based, so you'll have to take my word on the clarinet playing. Or, you know, go get the record yourself and find out.

Andy Statman - My Hollywood Girls
Andy Statman - Eitan and Zaidy

Astromusic interlude

Ever wonder what interstellar cabaret sounds like? All the way through this instrumental, I expect a vocal instrument like none I've ever heard to kick in and thoroughly unrecognizable dancing to begin. Sadly, you could put this on quietly at a restaurant, and most patrons probably wouldn't even pause their forks.

Marcello Giombini - Gemini

Women who dream don't stay too long

Talk about unlikely pairings. This one seems almost too weird/good to be true — under-appreciated rock/r&b vocalist par excellence meets dude from Tangerine Dream to make a new age pop soul album!? Yup. And it's a pretty fine offering too. There was a time when I'd call a song like this cheesy. There was also a time a lot of great things were lost on me. Hopefully, you will fly over such traps.

Nona Hendryx - Women Who Fly

Happy mutations

Mass audience rock n' roll has been stagnant and mostly irrelevant for so long that one can easily forget to appreciate the many mutant strains that dot the landscape these days. I find myself surprised at how unsurprising the field of possible fusions has become. If everything is possible, nothing really shocks.

So when these Chicago sprites came up on the stereo, my first thought was to tick off the points of reference — Hella's spastic rhythmic restlessness, Don Caballero's mathy, guitar-tapping antics, Dirty Projectors' vocal rubberbanding — without too much excitement. Trainspotting is usually a dead end for enjoyment. But enjoy these guys, I do. And it's a very undramatic pleasure. No fist-pumping rebellion against faded forms or panting inability to get my mind around a whole new sound. Just happy that some super-competent kids are putting things together as they please and making a nice noise in the process. Hope you enjoy this little shot of youthful exuberance on this March Monday.

Maps & Atlases - The Most Trustworthy Tin Cans

We could go kick down some doors together

It seems like everyone has a kind word for Spoon. And why not? They've made skeletal pop melodic and still mainstream for a good run of albums now. Sometimes, they out-clever themselves, but usually they're inspiringly rigorous about pruning. This one is mysterious and still a bit warm. And it's got count-it-off clacking sticks as the main drumbeat! My cap is tipped.

Spoon - Paper Tiger

Before they were robots

OK, so you got locked out of all the Kraftwerk MOMA shows. Guess what? They're not actually playing their whole discography. I'm not sure why they've disowned their pre-Autobahn work (some of which features the two gentlemen who would form the groundbreaking Neu!). Maybe they just didn't want you to remember that they were once human beings. So here they are, as a duo, playing some very fleshy krautrock that you will not hear in reunion form.

Kraftwerk - Elektrisches Roulette