New Music Showcase: The Intoxicators!

One of the many highlights of attending this year's Hukilau was getting to catch a few performances by Tallahasee surf band, the Intoxicators! Here's a review of their 13-track CD, Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Journey to the Center of the Earth is a good mix of well executed surf tunes - classic and new, live and studio recorded. Almost as fun as listening to the CD is imaging the improbable images that the songs' titles suggest: "Prostitutes in a Clown Car," "The Claw End of the Hammer of the Gods," and "Tijuana Catfight" are a few examples.

My favorite song on Journey is the slowed down, atmospheric "Phantom Mustang" which would be the perfect song for any teenage male finding himself in the following situation: in the backseat of his daddy's '57 Chevy, necking with the girl of his dreams who has bubblegum breath and wears a fuzzy pink sweater and a skirt with a poodle on it. Yeah, the song's that good.

Of course, even better than listening to the CD is watching these boys live. They're tight.

Photography by Tiki Chris © 2007

Click here to visit the Intoxicators! website.

Click here to listen to the Intoxicators! on MySpace.

New Music Showcase: The Pandas

For the second post in my New Music Showcase series, I'm happy to let readers in on a little secret: Worcester, Massachusetts is home to some of the best experimental music out there, and it's all because four musicians collectively known as the Pandas happen to reside there.

I've been enjoying the Panda's second album, Solutions, for awhile now and have come to the conclusion that it is one of the most intelligent and subtly provocative mix of songs that I've heard in years. It's engaging without getting 'in your face' and clever without a trace of pretense. In fact, with its charismatic melodies, steady rhythm and aural intensity, Solutions is downright seductive.

More than songwriting, the Pandas' approach to music might be better described as layering "raw lo-fi dissonance, melodic hooks, and mechanical loops" to create minimalist soundscapes. Much as a great photograph captures a truer essence of its subject than the naked eye ever could, the Pandas' songs distill sound to its aural essence.

Solutions reminds me of the best of psychedelic and progression rock minus any histrionics, unnecessary noodling or psycho-babble blather. The album's eight instrumental songs interact in such a way as to suggest a genuine love of sound. Loops, samples and sythesized noises blend comfortably with more organic textures such as guitar, melodica and glockenspiel. The result? Approachable music that soothes like Jobim, insinuates like Morricone, plays like Esquivel, and reasons like Stereolab. Click here to purchase Solutions online.














Visit www.pandaphonics.com for more info.
Click here for the Pandas on MySpace.

Here's a short snippet of a recent Pandas performance:

New Music Showcase: Ash Valley

For my first New Music Showcase post, I've chosen Castle in the Clouds by Ash Valley, a band from my hometown of Chickamauga. And, I'm happy to report that it's really, really good!













In the spirit of Hank Williams’ "A Mansion on the Hill," Castle in the Clouds deals with the “struggles of downcast valley folk.” Ash Valley vocalist/lyricist Andy Ampersand explains:

I grew up the son of blue-collar workers and have always been acutely aware of the brilliant metaphor inherent in the fact that the wealthy live in lofty mansions that overlook the plebeians down in the mournful, laboring valley.

Andy's conceptual valley provides ample opportunity for him to wax metaphorical. The album's 10 songs are a series of character sketches of individuals who have “lost their faith and hope and have fallen into spiritual/emotional valleys of despair.” However, all is not lost. The title song closes the album with the possibility of "triumph over seemingly-insurmountable circumstances."

Sounds like a John Edwards speech? Kinda. Fortunately, as "mournful and laboring" as Ampersand's lyrical downs may be, a mountain of music rises above to inspire. Elements of Bonnie 'Prince' Billy are happily noted as well as Bruce Springsteen's folkier side. Each song is sincere and catchy - pleasant to play with plenty of aural texture should listeners decide to dig a little deeper. Castle in the Clouds steadily moves from song to song while retaining a dynamic intensity.

For all its blue collar/Appalachian positioning, listening to Castle in the Clouds elicits the same response as a lot of British pop. This is fuzzy sweater music. Electronic bleeps and blips weave in and out of an otherwise acoustic landscape. I'm reminded of ear candy classics by the Cure and of kooky Welsh bands from the Nineties - just a little less quirky and a bit more earnest. As incongruous as this blend may seem to imagine, it works.

The ideal cover art for the next Ash Valley album? Think Howard Finster meets Pete Fowler.




















Castle in the Clouds is a very listenable set of songs and an impressive first release!

Click here to visit Ash Valley's MySpace profile where you can listen to samples from Castle in the Clouds and purchase a copy (CD or download) for yourself.