or: How I spent my four free iTunes downloads over the course of two days
I received these free downloads, innocuously enough, from Ticketmeister, the behemoth from which I purchased tickets to the upcoming Wilco/Low and Smashing Pumpkins shows in Charlotte and Asheville, respectively.
Inspired by the recent buzz of news updates and website crashing mahem for which the Pumpkins have been responsible, the first of these tunes was “Tarantula” the lead single off the ‘Kins latest record “Zeitgeist,” a record that sounds like quite the post-Machina/Machina II/ZWAN/TheFutureEmbrace. The song begins, appropriately enough, with a spate of harmonic feedback before the band launches into a swirling, churning double-time march reminescent of Mellon-Collie’s “Bodies” and “Zero.” And yes, Virginia, the guitar solos are back. After all this time of cooled obsession with my teenage-years’ once proclaimed “greatest band in the world,” listening to this track, thinking about the upcoming sold-out show (on July 5th), I began to realize that the Pumpkins are (next to Sleater-Kinney and Yo La Tengo, strange bedfellows indeed) perhaps the loudest thing in my CD rack at the moment.
The second of these tunes, “Dirty Town,” comes from Montreal quintet Mother Mother and is the first track from their 2007 rehash of their 2005 self-titled debut, the new album being appropriately titled Touch-Up. The song itself sounds like a mash-up of Man Man and the Be Good Tanyas, building vocal harmonies atop abrupt tempo changes and odd time signatures. Incidentally, I first heard this song yesterday on the way to the grocery store with Brittany; it was striking enough to inspire me to stay in the car in the 82 degree heat…
Pick #3 comes from Swedish pop outfit Acid House Kings, a twee-as-fuck band with a knack for classic pop songcraft. The track “This Heart is a Stone” (from 2005’s Sing Along With…) begins chamingly with a catchy arpeggiated acoustic guitar, percussive snaps, tambourine jangles and the beguilingly lovely line ”They say your middle name is trouble, but I know it’s Caroline…” I was reminded to check out this band again lately because of Brittany’s mention of their inclusion on recent XMU playlists. Being a sucker for good pop music that rebelliously embraces cliches, I was naturally thankful for this recent mention.
The last of these tracks is a surprisingly straightforward ballad from Spiritualized; “Any Way That You Want Me” from the Me and You and Everyone We Know soundtrack. The 2005 film, written and directed by the enormously talented Miranda July, has remained on my subconscious indie film “best of” list since I first watched it at Charlotte’s historic Manor (alas I knew ye well). The track is queued up to Richard and Caroline’s final, epochal embrace in the closing minutes of the film; a scene of sweet tenderness in a film full of such moments.
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