In case you haven’t seen it yet, we took part in this month’s Hype Machine Radio, which happened to go up today. Yesterday I wrote about Gamble House and the song of theirs I chose for inclusion “Second to None.” The wonderful editing team for Hype Radio managed to make me sound alright in my segment, so for that I thank them.
Related to that activity was the involvement of another blog from Vancouver, BC., Chipped Hip in the same September edition of Hype Radio. Alex from that site chose a track from Frankie Rose and the Outs to highlight, entitled “Little Brown Haired Girls.” Andy previously wrote about that track here on our site a while ago, so I’ve got another one from the band via Aquarium Drunkard that will be part of (or at least teaser for) an all girl-group mixtape they happen to be putting together. If you’ve listened to any of Frankie Rose’s previous bands, Dum Gum Girls/Vivian Girls/Crystal Stilts, you’ll have an idea of what you’re in for. This particular track is a cover of an old Dee Dee Warwick song, sung in a style all the rage these days.
Frankie Rose and the Outs – You’re No Good (Dee Dee Warwick cover) (mp3)
is still well within the running for my favorite album of 2010. There are few other albums I’ve listened to more. In “All Day Day Light” we get another swell single and another entertaining video. Each and every track off the album merits single-dom. As for the video, it is nothing spectacular, just an enjoyable few minutes honoring a good song. The best thing the video does is highlight the best part of the song, which is the sets of three handclaps.
Before this track, I hadn’t heard much about The War on Drugs – neither the US Government version nor the indie rock band one. Sure, I was vaguely familiar with their meanings, but not particularly well-versed in either. And then yesterday, with our entire Twitter feed buzzing about a new track from them, I figured I ought to stop and listen.
I went down to the Bug Jar on Monday to put up some posters and meet with their booking guy Tim to talk shows and plans for the next couple of months. And while I was there, he got a confirmation from Eternal Summers that they would be playing Bug Jar on Wednesday, October 27th. He was pretty excited about booking that show, and made me listen to the band right then. To my surprise, I’d already heard “Able To,” but I have no idea where I’d heard it before that moment. Maybe it’s just so good that it seems like I’ve known it all along.
Hosannas, from what I can tell, seem to be a band that is steeped in change. They’ve gone through at least one name change (from their old moniker ‘Church’ to their current name), and have seven different past contributors listed on their MySpace. In June, two of their members left after the release of their most recent album – Then & Now & Then, but the two remaining members – brothers Brandon and Richard Law are continuing on.
I once read that “Facebook is for friends you’re no longer close to. Twitter is for people who should have been your friends all along.” (Note: this quote is completely butchered. It was much more eloquent when I read it.) The second part of that is a pretty accurate statement; I love Twitter for the connections with like-minded people. This past week we connected with the guys over at 
Dirty Projectors are a divisive bunch, aren’t they? Listeners either love them or hate them almost immediately, and there aren’t easy converts to the pro-Projector side once they’ve made a decision. Consider me a fan; Bitte Orca was my favorite album of 2009, and with the news that they’re re-releasing it through 
Our birthday show this past March had a late addition to the line-up, if you weren’t there or already aware: Rochester’s own Walri. (That’s pronounced ‘wall-rye’ if you were curious.) And I’ve been meaning to talk about them a bit more since the re-release of their debut album Paper Crane showed up in my mailbox via their lead singer, Amos.