Dump

is the solo project of James McNew, bass player of Yo La Tengo.

It's warm and fuzzy indie rock, and i love it. It's all i listened to at work today.

In 2000, he put out an album of all prince covers called "That Skinny Mother Fucker with the High Voice?."

Your everyday Prince fans might not like it, since its not as hi-fi of a sound, but i think he definitely does the material justice.

Download it here if you want (don't forget the password, you'll need it when you extract the files):

That Skinny Mother Fucker With the High Voice?
password = p-l-m.blogspot.com

I've only been able to find one Dump video on the youtube...

here that is:


He also recorded a great cover of Why?'s YoYo Bye Bye...here that is:
Dump sings Yoyo Bye Bye

And here he is peforming the song with Why? You also get to hear Yoni quote Snoop Dogg when asked what song they're about to play. Hilarious.

Tone - Small Arm of the Sea

Artist name: Tone
Album title: Small Arm of the Sea



I found this Danish artist via an electronic music website called www.pitchmedia.com, (not to be confused with the popular indie music site www.pitchforkmedia.com). I had no idea i would enjoy her album, i was just happy to see she was giving it away for free. So the music itself is an eclectic blend of many styles of electronica to say the least, but I'm more drawn to her voice, which at times reminds me of one of the girls from Cocorosie,

and at other times, Erykah Badu.

I also hear traces of older female jazz singers, depending on how she sings/filters her voice. Her electronic skittering breakbeats are all very nice, but for me they're overshadowed by her ethereal voice.

Anyway, you can download her album from her page for free here:
www.tonetone.org
You can also donate money to her via the paypal link on her page if you wish. I think she's worth it. :)

Alarm Will Sound performs Aphex Twin

Copy pasted from their website (http://www.alarmwillsound.com):

Alarm Will Sound is a 20-member band committed to innovative performances and recordings of today's music. Former Musical Artists-in-Residence at Dickinson College, they have established a reputation for performing demanding music with energetic virtuosity. Their performances have been described as "equal parts exuberance, nonchalance, and virtuosity" by the London Financial Times and as "a triumph of ensemble playing" by the San Francisco Chronicle. The New York Times says Alarm Will Sound is "the future of classical music."

In their interpretations of Aphex Twin (aka Richard D. James), they manage to organically reproduce (with traditional band and orchestra instruments) and perform every single drum hit and synth that were originally recorded by James himself, never to miss a beat. They even stay true to form when its time to shout: "Come on you cunt, let's have some Aphex acid!!!" If you're at all familiar with Aphex Twin's work (and go ahead and wikipedia him if you aren't), you'll know how insane an undertaking this must have been.

Their version of Avril 14th is somewhat unnecessary, since it was a solo piano in the first place, but everything else sounds very fresh and different, while remaining very faithful to the original recordings. I marvel at how much creativity they had in reproducing such a bizarre array of synthetic sounds.

Their merchandise page is hilarious...it's a Cafe Press page, and so it all looks horribly generic, especially the "Alarm Will Sound" thong underwear. I wonder if anyone has ever paid $8.99 for those.

You can stream the whole album at http://www.bleep.com

Beach House

are one of my favorite new bands, and the dreamiest and most soothing music I've heard in quite some time.

Their newest album, Devotion, is nearing the top of my list of albums of the year. #2, in fact.



Victoria Legrand's voice is hauntingly beautiful, and I love the combination of her organs with the guitars and minimal percussion.

Record available via http://www.carparkrecords.com/shopUSA.htm

Here they are performing their new single, Used to Be, as well as a little T.L.C.



Had the pleasure of seeing them at Solar Culture, and they were absolutely sublime.