I don’t know much about PUNCHES, like whether it’s essential for me to capitalize their moniker or not.  There apparently are four of them in the group, they hail (like most these days) from Brooklyn; but above all their remix of Au Revoir Simone is worth the capitalization faux pas.  It’s funky, laced with strings and horns, and lives up to the high standard of the original while giving it a completely different – and equally valid – feeling.

The group had their debut show this past weekend in their home borough; the track in the video below is from that show, and it demonstrates how talented the group is outside the realm of remixing; “Feeling Right” is eminently danceable.  Their MySpace is a little barren, as they seem to just be getting started, but there is another track available there as well.  Look for good things in the future.

Au Revoir Simone – Only You Can Make You Happy (PUNCHES Remix) (mp3)

Au Revoir Simone – Only You Can Make You Happy (mp3) from Still Night, Still Light

Even before we were proprietors of a blog, Dave and I were constantly looking for music – new music, old music, cheap music, free music. We have the musical metabolisms of hummingbirds, consuming constantly, sometimes to our own detriment. Speaking for myself, I know that in my quest to accumulate music, I can often miss a good song when I first get it. It sometimes takes weeks/months/years for me to discover something I’ve owned for a long time.

The folks at Amie Street aren’t making anything easier on me in that regard. Since being drawn in by the allure of a half price album through their ads on Hype Machine, I’ve spent $42.50. But with that $42.50, I’ve purchased the following:

1. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion
2. Au Revoir Simone – Still Night, Still Light
3. Au Revoir Simone – Reverse Migration
4. Au Revoir Simone – The Bird of Music
5. Au Revoir Simone – Verses of Comfort, Assurance & Salvation
6. Harlem Shakes – Technicolor Health
7. It Hugs Back – Inside Your Guitar
8. k-os – Yes! (Deluxe Edition)
9. Pelican – The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw
10. Jeremy Enigk – The Missing Link
11. The Black Keys – Chulahoma

In addition to those 11 albums, I purchased 34 songs to complete some albums, and I still have a balance of $21. (To be fair, the Au Revoir Simone was a package deal – if you purchased their new album, you got their other three for free.)

This type of purchasing on Amazon would have cost me about $130 altogether, and I’ve only spent $42 on Amie Street. In addition to offering excellent pre-pay deals (they match the amount you pre-pay over $25, but they are running a special right now where they match whatever you pre-pay from $5 and up), the community at Amie Street is consumer driven. If no one purchases a song/album, the music remains free or very cheap. (There are albums that sell for less than $1.) Popular albums generally cap at $8.98, and popular songs cap at 98 cents.

Finally, once you’re purchased a song, you have the ability to recommend it to other listeners. If the price of the song you’ve recommended increases, you receive a kickback to your account – keeping the music socially driven, and creating a sense of community on the site itself. (I have yet to try this, although I know I should.)

It’s nice to be a part of a site that is so clearly focused on word of mouth – the backbone of what good music always has been about anyway, and one that strikes a happy medium between artists and fans. While they don’t always have what I’m looking for, they’re fast becoming the first place I look for an album or song.

Please, go and check out Amie Street. Pre-pay $25 (or more!) and look around the site. Get some albums you were intending to but haven’t. Take a chance on an artist who has an album for less than $1. Find something you didn’t know you loved. Involve yourself in talking about what you already do love. You won’t regret it.