Ronald Reagan? The actor?

Surely there must be a finite amount of band names. Well, I guess in reality you could form a band and call it "The Household Tiger Believers" (courtesy of this) and pretty much guarantee that no-one else has already bagsy'd that name (I just google'd it to make sure!).

Call yourself Delorean on the other hand and I'm guessing quite a few people will have seen Back To The Future a few too many times and also chosen that name. A search on MySpace shows there's another 279 bands called Delorean. Frustrating.

I've blogged about band names before and how strange it is that it bothers me when I could just let the music do the talking (or singing in this case). So ignore me and listen to the real Delorean...

They kind of remind me a bit of a Swedish (even though they're Spanish) Phoenix produced by Cornelius... maybe. Plus they're turning the tide against the now-cliché cowbell in favour of what appears to be the Amen break... nice!

Delorean - "Deli" (YSI) (ZShare)

Genoa what I mean?

I love it when you listen to a song and have no idea what you're about to hear.

I'd heard the name Teengirl Fantasy around the internet, mainly in the form of remixes he/she/they had done, although I knew nothing about their own stuff... even to the point that I had no idea what genre it might even fit into. Of course I knew they weren't a Norwegian Black Metal band but still...

So I listened to TF's track “Portofino” (the pick from their EP "T G I F") with interest...

0:01 - Okay so this is like a glitchy, Jackson & His Computer Band kind of thing. Do I buy a BMW now?
0:12 - No wait, I see... It's like a Four Tet/Presfuse 73 track. Any minute now Slug from Atmosphere will start rapping about Lucy.
0.34 - Huh? Where's the MC? I'm confused now...
0:58 - Ahh, it's gonna be a Drum & Bass track. Kinda of weird start to the song but I've got my gun fingers/rave horn ready for the drop... it's gonna be a stinker!
01:15 - Wah??? How did this become a Wavves song being covered by Neon Indian without me even noticing?

etc.

Teengirl Fantasy - "Portofino" (YSI) (ZShare)

Download the whole EP here... for free!!!

Why does the floor move?

Damnit!! There's nothing worse (for a music blogger) than a band that really reminds you of someone but you just can't put your finger on it. It's been a long week...

Anyway along with Finland's other recent and great export, Le Corps Mince de Françoise, Zebra & Snake have really caught my eye. Excluding the above nameless band they remind me of bits of The Tough Alliance, Low-era Bowie mixed with a whole heap of late 70's/early80's glam-art-rock.

Here's the entrancing track "Colours":

Zebra and Snake – "Colours" (YSI) (ZShare)

...and the equally mesmeric video:



Kippis!

Ultra-magnetic!

Are you the sort of person who needs to read the information next to paintings in art galleries? I guess it's a bit of an aesthetic dilemma; does knowing who the artist is enhance your appreciation of the artwork or does it prevent you from experiencing it on the most immediate and fundamental level? What does that have to do with Memory Tapes? I dunno...

If you don't want to be bogged down with information then go ahead and marvel at the psycho-Rapture/DIY:MGMT love-in that is "Bicycle":

Memory Tapes - "Bicycle" (YSI) (ZShare)

However if you're interested in where and from whom this track came you'll have to do a little digging (as I'm not even sure I've got it down correctly). Deep breath... it seems as if Weird Tapes, who is one of the people from Hail Social, has collaborated with Memory Cassette (who's EP "Rewind While Sleeping" was one of my favourite releases of 2008) to form Memory Tapes.

As a bonus here's a video that's amazing but is it amazing because I know it's directed by David Lynch? Go figure:

He shot Cyrus!

It's kind of hard to blog about a band who's entire press shots involve them wearing Wayfarers... The problem is that you end up looking so myspace that people ignore the fact that you are a great little band.

Take Magic Wands as a case in point. They might even be wearing them in the above shot, who knows! Anyway the way they market themselves could be a real turn-off which is a damn shame as their music, while not breaking any huge conventions, is very good... kind of like a 90's pop-style Blondie/Cocteau Twins/Felt Mountain-era Goldfrapp.

Here's the official video to "Warrior", my favourite track from their "Magic, Love and Dreams" EP (buy here):



and as a bonus here's some great remixes by Defend Moscow and The Xx:

Magic Wands - "Warrior (Defend Moscow via Lenny Picko mix)" (YSI) (ZShare)
Magic Wands - "Warrior (The Xx remix)" (YSI) (ZShare)

White Noise Minority

Just when you thought Brooklyn had surpassed Montreal as the scene du jour those pesky Canadians come back with another band to break your heart.

Sure Duchess Says have been around as long as fellow Québécois art-noisers AIDS Wolf, who DS have certainly sounded a lot like in earlier material, but there new stuff seems a little more accessible... and that's no bad thing at all.

Stand-out track from their new EP "Begging The 3 T’s" has to be "Black Flag" and it's frickin' awesome! Here's the original plus a remix by DFA records' The Juan Maclean:

Duchess Says- "Black Flag" (YSI) (ZShare)
Duchess Says- "Black Flag (The Juan Maclean Remix)" (YSI) (ZShare)

And as a bonus here's the equally fantastic music video which appears to feature footage from some sort of brainwashing cult's promo film!