Some American

Song Of The Day | Bit Shifter - Hexidecimal Genome

So this song, “Hexidecimal Genome” by chiptune (?) artist and 8bitpeoples cheiftan Bit Shifter, is beyond killer. I make no secret of the fact that I have been into video games my whole life, and everything about this takes me all the way back to the days when I would spend hours in front of my tv, playing the hell out of Streets of Rage and the like. My affinity for the sounds and textures of this track probably has a lot to do with the amount of game music I absorbed from the legendary Yamaha YM2612 FM chip inside the console.

There is a huge glut of musicians in this genre, but so much of what they produce fails in the same way a lot of amateur music does; its one note and lacking in originality. What Bit Shifter does so well is to take the limited, quirky tones and textures of a Nintendo Game Boy and meld them into something with a huge amount of forward momentum and energy. Call it chiptune for the rest of us. 

The collection Information Chase is available for free via 8bitpeoples.

Song Of The Day | The Arctic Monkeys - Dangerous Animals

I shy away from most “it” bands and their related projects, and usually with good reason. In worst case scenarios they are almost overwhelmingly contrived, to the point of being completely obnoxious (Vampire Weekend) or in best case scenarios, they can simply fail to deliver on their promise. The latter applies to Arctic Monkeys, a band once hailed as the “next Beatles” in some circles, and their third album Humbug. Produced by Joshua Homme (of QOTSA fame) and purported to “completely defy any expectations or presumptions and explore the depths of what the band can reach when stepping foot outside their accepted styles,” the album wound up sounding like a solid band doing their best interpretation of Rated R. I think much of this had to do with the producer, who has a track record of dominating every musical relationship he gets involved in. I guess this is hardly a surprise, as Homme has made or participated in some of the most exciting and unique rock records of the past decade. I probably wouldn’t have been able to stand up to him on a creative level either. 

Not to say that the album was a total wash, as “Dangerous Animals” demonstrated. The thrust/retreat tempo of the off-kilter drums and bass that sounds like it is swimming in motor oil interplays nicely with the somewhat suave delivery of frontman Alex Turner’s vocals, lending the whole affair a drunken, smarmy quality. Like the whole band is on an acid bender while being carted around in the back of a Rolls Royce. I typically find that Turner’s lyrics verge on being overly clever and feature imagery that does its best to get in the way of just enjoying a song, but “Dangerous Animals” is one of the few examples on Humbug that doesn’t suffer from this affliction.

(The) Arctic Monkeys have stated that they would be interested in working with Homme again, should scheduling permit. I think they should consider going in their own direction, or at least enter Rancho De La Luna with the mindset that they are making their own record, not someone else’s. 

Humbug was released August 24th, 2009 on Domino Records.

Song Of The Day | My Name Is John Michael - The People That Come And Go

So our song of the day today comes to us courtesy of New Orleans’ own My Name Is John Michael (MNIJM henceforth), one of two or three bands from the city that seem posed to set the larger music community ablaze. 

“The People That Come And Go” is kind of like cliff notes for the band’s debut of the same name. Somber lyrics and mellow vocal delivery provide an engaging counterpoint to effervescent melodies played across a variety of instruments, electronics, and found objects. Given that the six members of MNIJM are all veterans of other seasoned touring acts, the tight, practiced vibe that comes across on the whole collection is hardly a surprise and the care that went into crafting these densely layered songs is readily apparent. At the same time, the incredible amount of nuance and subtlety never seems to take away from the sense of joy. If you need a visual summation, imagine what Carl Sagan might have been like on the monkey bars as a kid. How’s that for an abstraction?

I am really looking forward to seeing what the band puts out next, and although a recent postponement is a bit of a downer, I have no doubt it will lead to something pretty extraordinary. 

The People That Come And Go was self released in the spring of 2009.