old with the old

This blog has been pretty dead the past month or two. Not because I'm any less excited about all the new music I've been jammin out too lately, but more because I haven't had the time to muster up the writing to accompany it. And that seems to have been the problem with this whole venture from the start: trying to digest the music quick enough to compose a paragraph or two about it that's actually worth reading is not really sustainable given the internet's relentlessly real-time pace. It's time to tweek the medium.

So I've upgraded, moved to a new location and a new incarnation --- one thats stripped down and much better for what this blog is trying to do: share the music.

Find me now over at www.radior.tumblr.com Bang-a-rang.

Atlas Sound - Walkabout

[no cover today. if you've seen it you know why....]

It's so balmy out it feels like summer right now. Gotta post some warm weather music. Here's a track from Atlas Sound, the impressive side project of Deerhunter's Bradford Cox. The man is prolific. This song is from last year's excellent and hazy Logos, and features help on vocals from Animal Collective's Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear).

The Morning Benders - Excuses and Promises

For your Monday morning pleasure, check out San Francisco band The Morning Benders. Below are the first two songs from their breakthrough record, The Big Echo, out this month on Rough Trade.

I don't know if it's a sign of growing out of touch or just the jaded consequence of consuming as much music as possible, but this year I've found myself less than excited about whats been coming out the indie-rock/pop world. Happily, The Morning Benders have me bucking that trend. Their music is lush and detailed -- and ridiculously easy to listen to. As of last week, I've had their jangly orchestral pop playing on a feverish repeat. It's employment of soaring harmony and jangly melody is nothing groundbreaking, of course; but the way they hem it altogether is what makes their baroque music stand out amongst the throngs of myspace usuals.

David Byrne & Brian Eno - Life is Long and Help Me Somebody

Just a quick flyby, courtesy of the OG's of pretty much all that's happened in independent music's 30 plus years: David Byrne & Brian Eno. The first song is off their still slept-on 2008 release, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, the duo's first collaborative release since their groundbreaking 1981 record, My Life In The Bush of Ghosts, which is where you'd find the second track's origin. Same as it ever was? Give a listen....

Broken Bells - The Mall & Misery

Singer/songwriter James Mercer (the man, the myth, and the legend behind The Shins) and producer-in-demand Danger Mouse (of Grey Album and Gnarls Barkley fame) have teamed up to form the side project Broken Bells. While the result may not be quite as paradigm-shattering as the first time you heard Mercer's band soundtracking the protagonist's self-realizations in that movie about New Jersey that saved your relationship, a few things remain clear: one, dude still knows how to write some great songs; and two, Danger Mouse is getting really good at the producer's balancing act -- coaching the artist he's working with out of their familiar provinces and into new territory, without ever playing an overbearing role.

Case in point: "Mall & Misery," the album's ace closer. Here things start out all spaghetti western -- clearly the influence of a producer-mind like Danger Mouse's -- with cinematic strings and a few sparse twangs plucked from some lonesome-cowboy's guitar. However, as soon as the build-up's gone on long enough to set the mood, in bursts an over-driven Hammond organ and Mercer's opening line, backed by a razor-sharp riff straight outta The Clash's playbook. The upbeat turn of pace is thrilling, but then you realize Mercer is singing about modern dissatisfaction and know that we haven't gotten to far removed from Zach Braff after all. But hey, with Mercer behind the hooks and now Danger Mouse at the helm, this is not such a bad place to be.