Fool's Gold - Surprise Hotel.

I really could've used this song on Sunday at my pool party bbq. This song is a harbinger of summer, calling us out to dance and swim and frolic like humans are meant to do. It taps into that primal urge for good times that lies not-so-deeply within us all.

Honestly, I couldn't be happier that African rhythms are currently being embraced by the indie world. The beats are just infectious, the guitar lines interesting, and the whole song becomes impossible to ignore.At the end of the day it's all pop music, which is a beautiful thing.

Fool's Gold here are based in LA, made up of folks from a couple other bands (Foreign Born, We Are Scientists, Glasser, The Fall) and they seem to be having a great time. This is their first single, on IAMSOUND. The album itself will be out on September 29 and as you can imagine it's going to be amazing.

Soft Black - I am an Animal.

I cannot lie to you, I like the '90s revival that's slowly taking place. The simplicity of it all is just so refreshing. I know that Soft Black are often marketed as a psych band, but I think that's somewhat misplaced. While they do have some fuzzy tendencies and can wander with the best of them, a song like this reminds me of the psych-by-way-of-'90s like the Afghan Whigs. It's got some soul, some fuzz and some personality.

The rest of the album is just as good, just simple hooks and straightforward jams to help wash down that watermelon this summer. There's even one song on there that my friend rightly describes as sounding like Bread. Which is a good thing.

The new record, The Earth is Black, will be out on Plays With Dolls in July. Definitely recommended.

They'll be at Echo Curio tonight in Echo Park for an intimate performance. It'll be worth your time.

The Jackson Five - Forever Came Today.

This came in the mail today. It's worth your time.

Teith features Trevor from Pelican.

Mos Def - Casa Bey.

Mos Def! I think many of us have the same experience with the onetime Dante Terrell Smith: we loved Black On Both Sides and Black Star, we dutifully checked out The New Danger, we heard about how True Magic wasn't really available anywhere, and that it was purple. We loved him in movies good and bad.

Now Mos Def is back with The Ecstatic, and I've only given it one full listen so far - but I already know I'm on board. It's got everything, yet it's focused and concise. It's even got old Black Star colleague Talib Kweli. There's no point resisting, so don't bother.

Saxon Shore - Nothing Changes.
Things are starting to wind up around here. The spring is coiling back, tightening. It's a slow process, but at some point soon it's going to release. You can feel it. The clockwork winds and winds, each quarter turn bringing us closer to the beginning.

For four years the Saxon Shore have been winding that spring, and on track one of their new album the finally let it all go. It's a glorious exercise in crescendo dynamics and remind me why I love this genre so much. Producer Dave Fridmann tucked his usual bloops and studio gadgets away for the moment to focus on the sound of the band unwinding. The guitars get louder, the fuzz thickens up, and the clean tone of the bass pierces through til the end.

The new album, It Doesn't Matter, is out now. You can pick it up from our old friends at insound. Definitely recommended.

Paz Lenchantin - Kentucky Hymn.

I fully support the current increase in popularity of small-batch, handmade vinyl-only labels. I love the attention to detail, the designs, the card stock. It's a great thing to order and get in the mail, knowing as much time and effort went into the packaging as did the recording inside. One such label is Black Tent Press here in Los Angeles. They have a small catalog so far but continue to grow, and when their two first releases are from Paz Lenchantin and David Pajo, you know that off to a good start.

The Lenchantin album is short and beautiful, hitting just the right tone. It's quiet without being a whisper, staying close enough to the ground without effervescing. It's also far removed from her current work with the Entrance band and her previous thundering stints with A Perfect Circle. Here she showcases her very able skills at string arrangements, with each song built around lush compositions. It's easy to get lost in here, in a good way.

I'm not sure of the origins of Kentucky Hymn, but it reminds me of the softer side of Ennio Morricone.

You can pick up the new record, Songs for Luci, here. Limited to 1,000 copies and very highly recommended.

Finally. Doesn't it seem like forever ago that we went to one of these things? Let's tell this june gloom to fuck off and go to a good old fashioned vice party.

June 13 - Los Angeles, Lot 613 - 613 Imperial Street

The bands are Night Marchers, Soft Pack, Japanese Motors, Lamps, No Age (DJ set) and Travis Keller from Buddyhead (DJ set)

There will be tequila drinks and tacos. I'm not sure who is providing the tacos but I can probably find out.

Free with RSVP. Let's do this up right.

Ethan Rose and Laura Gibson - Sun.

And here we have another gloomy Los Angeles day and here I am writing about a song about the Sun, from Portland no less. But as I type the sun is finding its way through the clouds and honestly it couldn't be more perfect. I've made no secret about my love for Ethan Rose's music, and it lays a perfect bed for Laura Gibson's voice. She ambles along the ambiance in such a way that it grabs a melody out of the ether. It's a beautiful thing.

The song itself is from the latest PDX Pop Now compilation, which held a release party last week at Holoscene with our old friend Copy. I bet it was a great time. For those of you unfamiliar, PDX Pop Now is a Portland-based non profit that boosts the local music scene. It's a great program, and probably something that a lot of cities could benefit from. Every year they put out a compilation to help raise money and its always packed with great local acts, like Ethan and Laura. And then there's this sweet gem from Explode into Colors:

Explode Into Colors - Paper (Hot Sax version).

There's a bunch more songs on the album. It's definitely worth your time.. You can order it online here.

We made it back. It took a couple days, including a very long car ride with two cats who did not want to going on a very long car ride. But here we are in Newton Highlands, living in my late grandmother's house until the dust settles. It's funny how things work out sometimes.

Faces On Film - Famous Last Words.

So now it's just a question of getting back into the Boston music scene. To start, I headed over to the Boston Phoenix's Best Music Poll entries the other day, and was encouraged by what I found. Among the singer/songwriter entries is Mike Fiore, a.k.a. Faces On Film.

This one gallops right along, with just the right gait. And given that I'm a sucker for old-time piano and catchy melodies, I really had no chance against this song. It had me at ka-thump.

You can buy the Faces on Film record The Troubles from Amazon.

Discovery - Orange Shirt.

Listen; I know this is everywhere today, but who honestly cares. The fact is that this song is way too fun to ignore. One of the more interesting things is how unlike Ra Ra Riot and Vampire Weekend it is. Those are both fine bands, and bands who know how to have fun with their music and performance. So it makes sense that when two of their members got together to lay down some booty bass that it'd be this good of a time.

The production is so clean and sweet. I love that they've unironically co-opted elements of the mainstream hits. It's not a funny song, but it's definitely a fun time, which is how it should be. So for that they get respect.

The album comes out July 7th on XL. Definitely recommended.

Lightning Dust - I Knew.

It's the day after the rains here in Los Angeles and there's work to be done. There's no time for sitting around, feeling sorry for ourselves. It's time to strap on our boots and head out. Clean ourselves up a bit, hot shower, quick shave, out the door. Lightning Dust only gives us two minutes and thirty seconds to get this all done, so we better be focused and we better be quick.

The introduction of electronic elements -- the drum machine, the synth line -- feel entirely organic. Amber Weber's voice has completely come into its own as one of the greats. Earlier this year she did her best EmmyLou Harris on the Pink Mountaintops record and it was perfect. Now she steps back into the spotlight on the second Lightning Dust record and she's got everything under control. The vibratto, the soaring -- it's all under control. In lesser hands this vocal would go flying off the rails, but Amber's got half a dozen releases under belt and countless nights on stage. Clearly this has all paid off, as this Lightning Dust has an energy and focus that weren't as strong the last time around.

This song is really working for me. And man, Jagjaguwar was been on a roll lately, eh? The whole Secretly Canadian family, really. This new record will be out on August 4th. Highly recommended.

When we moved here, we were a bit dazed. My dad had just died of cancer, and we were going somewhere completely new and foreign. We didn't know what to expect, and we didn't have much time to think about it. Luckily, Minneapolis and St. Paul have proven to be awesome cities. We've not only made some great friends here, but we've been able to appreciate the absolutely amazing arts scene: from the Walker Art Center to First Ave., where I've seen more good shows than I can count (though I'll go out on a limb and say the sold-out Hold Steady show in 2006 was the best).

This won't mean much for you all, because I'll still be posting music I care about, no matter where it comes from. I'm excited to not only stay in touch with the local bands I've loved the most (expect a detailed post about the Minneapolis scene sometime in June), but to get back into the Boston music scene, which I know next to nothing about. (Letters to Cleo are still around, right, guys? Guys?)

In the meantime, here's the best Minneapolis song I've heard since we moved here in 2004. I heard it in 2006, and it pretty much blows me away every time I hear it.

Mouthful of Bees - The Now.

My wife and I have been writing a blog about leaving Minneapolis, and about all the stuff we've been trying to squeeze in before we leave. Feel free to check it out here. (Our last item on the list is First Ave., which we'll be visiting one more time for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs show on Saturday. Another item was seeing Purple Rain for the first time. Um ... I can't believe that movie exists.)

Thanks for everything, Minneapolis. It's been fun.

- Robot David

PS Thanks to Erin D. for her mad Photoshop skillz.

It turns out he was great, and it was one of the better shows I saw that year. He and Ed ran through a bunch of original tunes as well as some that were scrapped from the YHF sessions, including Venus Stopped the Train, A Magazine Called Sunset, and that one about getting high and stealing christmas trees. He mentioned how Tweedy had let him have the songs, since they were mostly his anyways. At the end of the show he called the two opening bands up on stage (whose names are lost to history) to play a cover of George Harrison's Isn't It a Pity. It completely brought the house down. People in the audience were visibly crying. I couldn't believe it. This guy who seemed sort of incapable of sincerity, threw himself 100% into the song and left it all out on the stage. It was one of the best encores I've ever seen.

This mp3 version, from an old George Harrison tribute record, doesn't even remotely do it justice. But still, it's a nice reminder of what Jay Bennett was actually capable of. You can also hear a lot of Wilco's musical ideas in it, from the chord changes to the overall tone. It's also a fitting tribute to the interesting character that was Jay Bennett.

Jay Bennett and Ed Burch - Isn't it a Pity.