Glasspipe | mp3

Neutral (Leo123 Remix) | mp3

Armed only with his synths and breakbeats, LA-based producer Eliot Lipp manages to craft electronic instrumentals with a soul, building up layers of sound and beats that move with an effortless grace, imparting something highly personal with their interweaving of texture, melody and cultural references. Music directors take note - I will be extremely surprised if these songs don't start turning up all over the place in the near future, a la Ratatat - TV, ads, film, etc...

Here we have two songs off his latest full-length, Tacoma Mockingbird, out now on Hefty Records. Rap Tight, the first song above, is an anthem - the kind of song that makes you want to hit the gym, mow your lawn - take up boxing, perhaps... the kind of song you want in your corner, playing in your head as you take on life's daily battles.

Glasspipe, on the other hand, is perfect freeway music - laid back and meandering, on this track Lipp keeps it straight up West Coast with the high-pitched synths. The last song, Neutral, is off his 2004 self-titled LP, out on Eastern Developments.

Check out his website for more.

Daniel' s Song | mp3

The Finches are a folk duo from the Bay Area. Their simple, elegant songs feature a nice mix of girl/boy vocals over lightly picked and strummed acoutic guitars. Weaving subtle narrative elements through classic, sing-along structures, they craft songs that seem remembered from some distant, shared past. Nothing derivative here, though - there's a sincerity in the lyrical intimacy and honest delivery that has a way of wrapping you up in the highly intimate worlds of these songs.

Check their website for more and to purchase the EP Six Songs.
(artwork by the band.)

All Soul's Day | mp3

Okay, I know it's been a while - January is almost over, and this is officially my first post of 2006. But let's not dwell on the past - mistakes were made, resolutions were broken, and now it's time to move on to bigger and better things in the (not so) new year...

To kick things off, we have a few from singer/songwriter Garrett Pierce, currently based in the Bay Area. Though minimal on the surface, his songs reveal themselves to have significant depth, conjuring places, events and lives half-remembered. With deliberate pacing and subtle instrumentation, Pierce carves out a sound that's remarkably self-assured while remaining highly personal and intimate, handling layers of history without being derivative.

Lyrically, the songs are poetic but restrained, moving between narrative and abstraction, revealing just enough to evoke scenes, places and moods. With such a minimal palette, it's the details that really make these songs come alive - his timing and delivery are near perfect, filling every note, pause and empty space with meaning and intention.

These two songs are from his debut full-length Like A Moth - just released last month, it's available in a few stores on the West Coast right now (Sea Level and Amoeba in LA), or can be purchased online here. Check out his website for more.

Wow... My apologies for the long dry spell - you know how things get around this time of year. I'm back on the East Coast right now, and thought I would do a big LA-themed post to try and make up for my delinquency.

Unfortunately I'm not really in a state to write anything coherent right now, so the next few posts are just songs and links (sans commentary) from some amazing LA bands that have caught my interest recently. Enjoy and have a Happy New Year!

Speaking of which, I'm going to be in Paris the first week of January and London the second week - if anyone out there knows of anything exciting going on (shows, etc.) please let me know... e-mail me at matthew.lutz@gmail.com or just leave a comment here. Thanks!

Tambourine | mp3

website
MySpace

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George Washington | mp3

The Instruments | mp3

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Condition Down | mp3

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Ghosts and Unicorns | mp3

MySpace

Yeah, guess I'd better visit soon (Venice, that is)... I've actually heard some conflicting reports on the subject, so if any locals or hydrology experts out there can confirm or deny the severity of this problem, please leave a comment so we can all plan our travel accordingly...

As for the music, there's definitely something tidal about this song - the drums kick in, then the strings wash in and out, and the whole composition fills up and lifts you, carrying you along for a while, bobbing on on the waves. Then just as swiftly as it began, it all recedes, leaving only the vocals at the end, quietly heading back out to sea... It's always nice when a band's whole identity somehow seeps into the music they're making. If this is any indication, I think we can look forward to some good things in the near future.

An EP is available on their website - check their MySpace page for more.

As 2005 finally draws to a close and we all get that unavoidable urge to classify and rank, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this is, hands down, the best song I've heard all year. I'm not going to try and describe it for you, just listen... It sounds like winter.

The result of a collaboration between producer / electronic artist Burnt Friedman and Jaki Liebezeit, featuring David Sylvian on vocals, this song originally appeared on the 3-song mini-LP Out In The Sticks released earlier this year on nonplace.

Continuing their collaboration under the name Nine Horses, Sylvian and Friedman have released a new album entitled Snow Borne Sorrow on samadhisound featuring another version of "The Librarian."

Thanks to the ever-on-point moebius rex for pointing this one out earlier in the summer.

Little Wet Head | mp3

With lyrics at once precise and surreal, the Minus Story build up their own little world, crafting narratives that might seem hermetic and impenetrable at first, but open up after a few listens to reveal some deeper resonance with the world at large. Revisiting the old tropes of death and rebirth from new and strange angles, they come away with something engaging and oddly relevant.

Musically as well, the songs open out enough to allow for multiple ways in. Rather than hitting us over the head with their own heroic brand of experimentation, on their latest album No Rest For Ghosts the Minus Story seem to have scaled things back a bit, creating pockets of air amidst the shuffle and giving the songs some room to breathe.

buy No Rest For Ghosts from insound.

Jagjaguwar Records
Minus Story website

Surf Seven Seas | mp3

If you've been waiting with bated breath for the resurgence of Ragtime as a force in popular music, your prayers have been answered at long last... Enter the New Rags, determined to resurrect the ghost of Scott Joplin for a new generation. Their sound is really more of a mash-up, a Ragtime-y aesthetic over a foundation of pure rock and roll - reminiscent of the Delta 72 at times, but with a much more freewheeling, party-time vibe. What's most impressive, there's only two guys behind this racket, banging it out on a Fender Rhodes and a drum kit, with nary a guitar in sight... Just check out the opening riff of "Your Room" to see what I'm talking about.

Buy their 6-song EP Take Jennie to Brooklyn here.

More stuff on their website and myspace page.

A Feat So Bold | mp3

I Said OK. The Wind Said No | mp3

Lo-fi knob-tweaker and crooner extraordinaire Bobby Birdman has a new(ish) 10" out on LA's not not fun records... buy it here. You'll have to pick it up for yourself to hear the new stuff, but in the meantime here are a few songs to blow you away from his two releases on states rights.

Check the website for more...

Some all-out, unabashed Brit-pop revivalism here. It's clear these guys want to be huge - and there's nothing wrong with that in my book if you've got the skills to back it up... someone's got to play stadium shows over the coming years, and Soft is definitely arena-ready. They've got the requisite sweeping, anthemic songs - but it's their deeply layered, deliberate production that really makes the whole thing work...

You can buy their debut EP from insound.

Check out their website for more.