Anyhoo, what makes me mega, radly, ultra happy is the band Apes and Androids, from LA. They have a sound almost like if Of Montreal fell asleep at the wheel and drove into a ditch full of acid. Ooh. That sounds deadly serious. Hmm...I'll try again. "Nights of the Week" is smooth, like a 40 ounce at a nightclub with ripped velvet chairs. On the flip side, "Golden Prize" is like LCD Soundsystem style R & B with enough Of Montreal badassery to make you laugh so hard the option of dancing looks bleak.
Okay, I'll say they're an anomaly. But really, any more seasoned music journalist would be able to find a hybrid nomenclature for them. So let's leave it. Luckily (and no there's no scrunchie involved), Stereogum is all up on those downloadables, so you can get at those Apes, and court the Androids, simultaneously.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Basia Bulat, the soft spoken Canadian chanteuse (and not in the Chunklet meaning of the word, thank you) with beyond the beyond gorgeous blond locks and that H & M lookbook worthy face. She was influenced by the oldies but goldies, namely Motown heavyweights, Cole Porter to be one, I believe, and thus out of those pinky, bow shaped lips flows a warmth worthy of a Cat Power contemporary, and almost liquid melodies with a slight country twinge.
Can you tell I love her? Is it obvious yet...? Well, I'll go on then. Oh My Darling, her abso-fabso '07 debut, is a rare square gem among the piles and piles and (sixties retrograde obsessed) piles of female singer/songwriters that pumped out the mediocre, radio wave friendly tomfoolery last year. Mostly I just harbor a heterosexual chick crush on Bulat because she's all model perfection, and I covet her silken mane in unbiblical ways, but the best part of the whole shabang is that past that porcelain doll-like countenance and the modestly humble hype, lies a voice and a talent that is pure gold.Your electric bird,
Erika
