Written by Fense
“Need For Sunshine†is a wonderfully electro-poppy song by Autamata that fits someplace between the instrumentation of Beulah and the lyrics of The Polyphonic Spree. The video is an animated play on light versus dark in the manner of Tim Burton. Read More »Autamata: Need You Sunshine [Video]
Written by Fense
Whenever I hear the word Voxhaul, I think of (i) the European car company and (ii) the BBC show Top Gear, which continually covers their cars (typically dishing out poor reviews with a few minor positive exceptions). Now I have something else to think of—Voxhaul Broadcast, a folky jangle-pop band from Los Angeles. Read More »Voxhaul Broadcast: Rotten Apples [Video]
Written by Fense
Looking at Zach Hill’s album cover for Astrological Straits (out now on Ipecac Records), one is likely to blurt out a common acronym these days: WTF!?!? This cover shows Hill with what looks like play-dough face makeup. Not surprisingly, the same response is yielded when one hits the play button on Astrological Straits. The album is packed with a bizarre and eclectic style of avant garde experimentalism. Read More »Zach Hill: Hindsight Is Nowhere [Video]
Written by Fense
As I write this, I am not listening to the recent Sub Pop release of Antidotes by Foals (MySpace), which is a great album by the way. No, I am listening to their Daytrotter Session, available for download here. I am also reading a nice little notice by Sub Pop updating their beloved press contacts with the latest Foals news. Read More »Foals: Olympic Airways [Video]
Written by Fense
The Enright House (MySpace) is a masterful electronic and pop group from New Zealand that I discovered around the same time as Little Pictures (see my coverage of that band here). Both groups came to eep! productions for their videos and it’s easy to see why: eep! knows how to put together a great music video. Read More »The Enright House: Scattering The Sun [Video]
Written by Fense
It seems like everyone is doing the animation thing these days and here is yet another, this time by British artist Johnny Flynn (MySpace). I received Flynn’s EP Hong Kong Cemetery in the mail recently and then saw his recent album, A Larum (out now on Lost Highway Records) at Sonic Boom. “The Box†is the first track off A Larum and the final track on the EP. Read More »Johnny Flynn: The Box [Video]
I remember listening to Portishead in high school. “Glory Box” was a favorite, though at the time I did not know they mimicked the introduction from “Day Dream” by the late 60s, early 70s Belgian psych-pop group The Wallace Collection. Sampling from such artists was a common feature for Portishead and, while I am unaware of any potential sampling on their latest, Third, it’s likely present and accounted for. Today I’m looking at the music video for “The Rip” off that album.
Read More »Portishead: The Rip [Video] 
Written by Fense
My exposure to true World Music is quite limited and can easily be traced back a single year. Sure, I’ve taken intimate looks at music from around the world, but it tends to fit an alternate category, like pop or rock. True World Music, then, is music that comes from that culture with little outside influence. Read More »Umalali: Nibari [Video]
Electric President has given us a video for their song “Monsters” off their second LP, Sleep Well. This band could… Read More »“Monsters” Means More of the Same from Electric President
Written by Fense
The opening to “Persist†reminds me a bit of early Portishead. It’s got the hefty bass and pleasantly depressing strings. But All India Radio (MySpace) is nowhere near the Trip Hop that Portishead’s music fit into. Instead, the band fits a dark and dreamy pop mold that dabbles lightly in folk. Read More »All India Radio: Persist [Video]
