Twin Shadow – Five Seconds.

My previous touchstones for George Lewis Jr pretty much stopped and started at the Cure. That wasn’t a bad thing and Forget was one of the more promising debuts to come out of 2010. This new track though, has me thinking about Prince, which I hadn’t really thought before. It’s the sexy urgency, the primal need in his shouted confessions that brings it out. The guitar is still mostly Robert Smith and doesn’t erupt in majestic shredding like Prince does (though how incredible would that be!) and we’ve also got a thin, reedy acoustic guitar deep in the mix, which hints at a little Faith-era George Michael (as does the way he sings the refrain “there’s no way to forget it all”).

It’s a hot piece of sexual nu wave for a slippery Spring day, and I highly recommend it.

Thanks for everything, MCA. You were very important to us.

It was eight years ago today that we wrote our first post. In that time many of us robots have gotten married, had babies, changed jobs a bunch of times, gone to countless shows, listened to tons (at least dozens…) of records and met a whole bunch of incredible people. A few of us don’t really write here anymore, but we’re all still friends. We know that we don’t write nearly as much as we used to, but we love our little tiny corner of the internet too much to give it up.

So happy birthday to us, and thanks for sticking with us.

Caveman – Old Friend.

This one’s hazy. It’s a little reverb-washed song to get your Friday started, while you’re waiting for the coffee to kick in and the world to make more sense. No reason to start things off too sharply, right? Let Caveman ease you into things.

This is from the New York band’s debut CoCo Beware, out now on Fat Possum.

Layers!

Theresa Andersson – Hold On To Me.

That’s what Theresa Andersson is all about. I usually roll my eyes at musicians who love to loop, but between Andersson and Andrew Bird, I’m starting to respect artists who can do it right. You may remember the video in which Andersson runs around her kitchen, adding layers to perform “Birds Fly Away.” That video  makes clear that Andersson knows how to build a song, and “Hold On To Me” finds her growing into a dissonance that suits her.

This song is from Andersson’s new album Street Dance, out April 24 on Basin Street Records. You can pre-order it here.

These guys just refuse to disappoint. It’s not in their mission statement, and I love them for it.

Gift of Gab (feat. Samantha Kravitz) – Protocol.

Man is this one fun. I forgot how much I used to love Blackalicious, especially Blazing Arrow, with its strange Harry Nilsson samples and badass cover. Gab’s been gone so long that you’d be forgiven for needing a reminder about his skills. But here he is with a new solo record, The Next Logical Progression, due out March 27 on Quannam Projects. It’s damn good, so check it out next week. (You can hear the whole thing here.)

Also, I thought I’d mention that Gab recently revealed a couple of things. First, he went into kidney failure recently, but he’s on dialysis, has a kidney donor, and he’s feeling good. Also, there’s a new Blackalicious record in the works. Great news all around.

Slowdim – Money.

That cover up there is exactly right, isn’t it? This is FM music from a hazy past, from road trips with your family, car trips with the windows down and the sun about to set. It’s not that Slowdim is a nostalgia act, it’s just that these are tricks you already have in your brain: that circular guitar riff, those Teenage Fanclub harmonies, that backbeat. (And how’s this for weird? I was going to write all that anyway, and then last night I was driving around with the windows down for the first time in months, and this song came on the radio. That can only mean one thing: I am MAGIC.)

Slowdim hails from Boston, and this is the first single off their upcoming debut LP. You can find some more music from them here.

What can I say about these guys that hasn’t already been said about the Count Five, The Troggs, The Stones, The Black Lips, The Strange Boys…  so just know that their album is available for free on their bandcamp and it’s going to be stuck in your rotation for awhile.

Hospitality – Betty Wang.

What is it about Hospitality that reminds me of the ’90s? It certainly doesn’t sound grungy. Maybe it’s the resemblance to bands like Belle & Sebastian, even though they were aiming for something from the ’60s. Either way, this sounds like a band who is equally interested in pop music and songcraft, which is a combination I can fully get behind. Their self-titled debut, out now on Merge, is very a satisfying listen, with surprises around every corner and melodies that are built to last.

Buy Hospitality now.