Epitonic Newsletter: Vol. 4, No. 25 - 'Summer Soundtrack'
06/28/02
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Hello all you sun-dappled girls and boys, we trust you ushered
in the summer properly on the solstice last week by dancing on the
beach in a ritual circle of energy and life while waving smudge
sticks and rattling rainsticks as the June strawberry moon rose
triumphantly into the velvety summer sky. No doubt you held each
others' hands as you sat in the sand, a ceremonial bonfire warming
your faces, while the leader of your group played lilting folk
melodies on the mandolin to honor the goddess who had brought our
blessed planet full circle once again.
Or maybe not. However, you don't have to be a new age hippie to
enjoy the advance of summer. Here we offer you a collection of
summertime songs guaranteed to bring some extra flavor to your
back porch barbeque. We'll be gone next week in honor of our
country's Independence Day festivities (which we hope you enjoy
if you're also in our country), but we'll be back with you in the
second week of July. 'Til then, buy some SPF 30 and enjoy the sun!
"Summer Days"
by
Miss Mary
Sweet Miss Mary, not at all contrary. This garage-pop chanteuse has emerged from New Hampshire garage band The Oscillators to produce clever, simple pop gems that linger in the memory and even, somehow, on the lips, like the afterthought of a treasured kiss.
"Face Like Summer"
by
Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
We can't speak highly enough about this veteran Welsh band's unique take on pop music. Mixing up melancholy and whimsy, nonsense and euphoria, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci creates soaring, folk-influenced tunes that you can just float away on.
"Sunshine Yellow"
by
Bertrand Burgalat
Talk about music for the jet set. Esteemed French producer Bertrand Burgalat -- called by some the Phil Spector of Europe -- crafts lush, exotic, electronic pop with heavy hints of the Cocktail Nation ethos, spy soundtrack melodrama, drum and bass tension, and modern synth-loving indie rock. Grab your martini and get ready to get decadent.
"Age of the Sun"
by
The Sunshine Fix
One of the two pop geniuses behind the Olivia Tremor Control, Bill Doss has moved on to a more straightforward brand of giddy psychedelic pop with The Sunshine Fix, which substitutes mellow soul and country influences for obtuse experimentalism. Lush, relaxed, and optimistic California pop.
"Two Beers Later"
by
Cadallaca
As Cadallaca, Kissy, Dusty, and Junior (aka Corin Tucker, Sarah Dougher, and sts) immerse themselves in the big cars, bad girls, and beehive hairdos aesthetic of '60s girl groups. The result is soaring pop songs full of adventure, attitude, and lovelorn tragedy.
"Hot"
by
Golden
Golden is a brilliant collection of musicians who know how to take an idea, a sound, a beat, and a few guitars, and draw you into a simple, growing, thriving tonality that synchronizes with itself to create an orgiastic experience of elastic instrumental bliss.
"June Is Finally Here"
by
Don Caballero
Don Caballero constructs dynamic architectural soundscapes infused with jazz and punk intensity. By turns psychotic and enigmatic, this instrumental math rock outfit takes its lessons from spirographs and the entropy of the universe.
"Red Sun"
by
Half Japanese
They've been around two decades now, but Jad Fair and Company remain among the strangest and most original voices in rock. Other venerable independent artists have slowly entered the mainstream over the course of their careers, but Half Japanese's weird brand of childish, experimental avant-rock has always remained further out than the music of any of their contemporaries.
"Faces and Beer"
by
The Capitol Years
Initially The Capitol Years was the spacey pop-rock alter ego of the ever-enigmatic Philadelphia Shai, Son of Eli; after he recruited a full band, The Capitol Years became a glorious rock and roll beast -- glorious in their swooping harmonies, beastly in their fierce, ragged vigor.
"The New Cobweb Summer"
by
Lambchop
This raving mad collective of more than a dozen musicians drinks from the cup of nearly every imaginable American style -- Nashville country, Philly soul, Tin Pan Alley pop, avant-garde experimental, Broadway cabaret, the Las Vegas all-nude female revue -- producing a sound that's messy but smooth, absurd but soulful, a sound which people have been struggling to describe for nearly a decade.
"Ice Cold Lemonade"
by
Death By Chocolate
Death By Chocolate cooks up scrumptious, beguilingly original pop morsels. These nonchalant little celebrations of British candy culture set to simple, loungy pop tunes will definitely make your sweet tooth ache. There are definitely worse ways to go.
"In The Sun"
by
Archer Prewitt
Shimmering, warm, and lovely orchestral pop music in the tradition of '70s AM radio. Archer Prewitt refines both the sound and the mood of his music until it shines like a pool of melted ice cream on a hot sidewalk.
"June"
by
Jan Cardell
Jan Cardell's sculptures are a fusion of Fat
Albert's junkyard musical aesthetic and the
creepy automation of Ray Bradbury's "Happylife
Home." The music these sculptures make
depends on the composer's whims, but the
process of creation is always fascinating.
"Sunny Cove (Poolside Mix)"
by
Miguel Migs
House master DJ/producer Miguel Migs comes clean with the debut record on Zebra...a slamming fog city house track.
"Vegan BBQ"
by
The Forest Fires Collective
The same lunatics who brought you the damaged high-speed nightmare-comedy known as The Latter have recruited some of their crazy friends for a second round of extremely experimental hip hop called The Forest Fires Collective.
