Music Video Mondays: Fresh Espresso

Fresh Espresso are a Seattle-based hip-hop/dance duo, whose glammy vibes and high-energy shows have quickly established them as a hometown fave. (They even opened for Surfer Blood and Atlas Sound back in February, and -- according to this review -- drew more attention than poor ole Bradford Cox.)

Anyway, I can't decide if this video (for single "Big or small") is ridiculously awesome, or just ridiculous -- but either way it's worth a spin. Variety is the spice of life!

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Going home for the holidays always feels like travelling back in time

I'm in my childhood room, in my childhood bed, and everything surrounding me has been that way forever -- the furniture, books, little knick-knacks -- as if my parents haven't purchased anything new in years.

My childhood bedroom. Very pink. (Plus my phone takes tinted photos.)

But sometimes what's old and perhaps out-dated can be fabulous, right? Because once it's old enough it comes back into style?

My mom was cleaning out her closet this weekend, and pitching bags of shoes. Luckily, we have the same size feet, so I pulled out this loot. I can't believe she was going to toss them!

This would cost like $400 at Urban Outfitters.

Digging through clothing piles, I stumbled upon this little number -- maybe it's just me, but I feel like current trends are not too far off from here!

sexxxxxy.

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A Happy Tunng Thanksgiving

Tunng don't write Thanksgiving tunes -- in fact, they're not even American (although if you really think about it, all those Thanksgiving pilgrims were technically British anyway). But there's always been something earthy and autumnal about their tunes, and this video -- with its large mishmash of people, food, and random household items -- reminds me a little of our family dinner table this time of year, when Bracaglias far and wide gather together (some of us in our Sunday best, others sporting Flaming Lips tees) to put aside our differences, and celebrate all we're thankful for.

To all my friends, and music lover everywhere -- Happy Thanksgiving from Underwater Explosions.

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Music Video Mondays: The Cinnamon Band

The Cinnamon Band are a Staunton, VA-based indie duo who write straight-ahead rockers with a focus on melody, and a hint of country twang. They first won my attention in July 2009 when I caught them opening for another insatiable duo -- the Handsome Furs -- and have been on my radar ever since.

The Cinnamon Band at Johnny Brenda's, July '09
(Photo Kate Bracaglia for Phrequency.com)

Their debut EP, All Dressed Up, dropped this past summer, and is an easy listen of radio-friendly charmers, such as stompin' opener, "I'm asking you," performed here in live, living color.

I don't know why -- but something about the Thanksgiving season always make me want to break out the alt country. Good thing The Cinnamon Band are here to satiate that craving.

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Best New Music: Girl Talk

Music fans, I've noticed, tend to be very divided on the subject of Girl Talk. They either love it -- regarding creator Gregg Gillis as some sort of contemporary, creative madmen -- or strongly dislike it, writing it off as a cheap, pop culture experiment. The naysayers are entitled to their opinion. But this post is meant mainly for the people in the first category, who love and revere GT with the fire of 1,000 head-banging, arena rock singles.

GT, looking stylish!

What is it about Girl Talk that is so enticing? Why do his remixes attract more attention than pretty much any other DJ, ever? And how does a skinny white boy from Pittsburgh -- armed with a laptop and a bunch of hits from the '90s -- sell out stadiums and rile crowds across the nation?

Riling.

These are the big questions. Is it because Gillis is at the forefront of a new cultural medium -- sampling, re-purposing, Creative Commons -- doing what 5th graders and 8th graders all over the place are doing (re-mixing, re-creating) -- only doing it better? Or is it because the music he chooses -- big hits, tunes of our youth -- are so ingrained in our psyches that listening to them mixed together is a like experiencing them for the first time all over -- reveling in nostalgia and creating new sensory pathways ?

I've thought about this a lot the past few days, while listening to All Day, Gillis's new LP, and I've concluded: it's hard to say. But since there's no harm in trying -- I thus present to you: FOUR REASONS WHY LISTENING TO GIRL TALK RULEZ. Only at your Rad Remix Central, Phrequency.com.

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Neighborhood Watch: A Poem Tree groweth at 13th + Pine

Spotted on my way to work this morning...



Who do these art students think we are, anyway? Williamsburg?

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Music Video Mondays: Unicycle Loves You

Unicycle Loves You hail from Chicago, where their warm, luscious melodies and bubbly synths have captured many a pop lovers' affections. But it's not all hearts and rainbows for this playful trio -- many of their songs contain a much darker undercurrent, as this video -- for single "Mirror Mirror" -- makes clear.

The take-away lesson? Don't kill your lover's boyfriend -- this might piss her off. But if you do (because everyone knows: mistakes happen!!), just be sure to resurrect his dead body as a zombie, and everything will be fine. Ain't that always the way?

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Haiku Review: Sufjan Stevens

Forget acoustic;

this Sufjan does gala the
best way possible


Photo Yusuf Muhammad for Phrequency.com


Read the full review (Wednesday night, Academy of Music) here!

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Haiku Review: Mumford & Sons

Breezy folk anthems
grow and expand into full,
cathartic release

Photo Yusuf Muhammad for Phrequency.com


Read the full review (Tuesday night, Electric Factory) here!

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Best New Music: Humans

You have to be pretty ballsy to name your band Humans -- or at least have a sense of humor biting enough to claim to represent all of mankind. Luckily, Humans -- who prefer to be photographed dressed up as animals -- do, as is evident in their debut EP, Avec Mes Mecs.




A burgeoning force on the Vancouver dance scene, Humans craft brash, boisterous party jams that still maintain hipster sensibilities, thanks to crass, tongue-in-cheek lyrics about sexting and bike rides; DFA-worthy disco beats; and a live show already infamous across the upper part of the continent. Perhaps you've seen their Muppet-liscious video for "Bike home" already? If not, I'd head over to Phrequency.com stat, and give it a spin. It's not "Daft Punk is playing at my house," but it might be the next best thing.

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Music Video Mondays: Solid Space

Solid Space are a little known '80s synth-pop band, who released one album (the atmospheric Space Museum) in 1982, then pretty much disappeared from the public eye. (Not to be confused with this British electronic act, who are now called "Shades of Class.")

Anyway, "Darkness in my soul" is probably their most famous number, and this video is eerie and effective. For fans of Joy Division, The Church, The Cure, and all those others '80s bands with a dark, encompassing sound.

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10 Talking Points from the Guided by Voices show last night

In case you were wondering: the name of this blog, Underwater Explosions, is more than just a clever metaphor for culture happening underneath the surface. It's actually a song by Guided by Voices, which appears on their 1996 album Under the Bushes Under the Stars. Never heard of it? That's ok. They have like 500 songs, and only one of them is "I am a scientist."

Anyway, the '90s, prolific, lo-fi masters visited the Trocadero last night, and I was there to see them. And you weren't. But that's ok, because here are 10 talking points which will help you fake your way through a conversation with anyone who loves GBV.

GBV. From my cameraphone, from the balcony.

1.This was the "classic" line-up, which means: the people Robert Pollard chilled with most in his garage in the early 90s, and who eventually joined him on tour in the mid '90s. I know this, because I once read a book about Guided by Voices.

2. At 53, Pollard is all white hair, looks a smidge like a taller Bill Clinton (especially from a distance), and can still kick his leg high into their air with abandon. Other talents that have never left him include: microphone-swinging, drunken slurring, Jose Cuervo-swigging, shirt-sweating, and singing.

3. Pollard's former right-hand man, Tobin Sprout, seemed particularly demure, was clad in a polo shirt, and exhibited significantly less chattiness than is apparent on all those Vh1 documentaries he's a commentator for. (How do you get that job anyway?) Perhaps he is too busy working on his children's book?

4. Bassist Greg Demos wore striped pants, a frilly tuxedo shirt, and a vest, for an overall image that was not unlike that of a creepy carnival ringmaster clown. He also exhibited impressive knee strength, doing this pose for most of the set:

Not Greg Demos.

5. Guitarist Mitch Mitchell -- besides having the coolest name ever -- wore a black anarchist shirt and chain-smoked the entire time, while doing occasional windmills with his arms.

6. Drummer Kevin Fennell was there too, but no one noticed him with all the other chaos.

7. The band played for 2 hours; their set included most of Bee Thousand, including "Buzzards and dreadful crows," "Tractor rape chain," "The gold heart mountain queen directory," "Hot freaks," "Smothered in hugs," "Echos Myron," "Gold star for robot boy," "Awful bliss," "I am a scientist", and probably 1 or 2 others I don't remember.

8. The band offered not 1, not 2, but 3 encores -- each one sounding drunker and more awesome than the last.

Pollard. (Not in Philly.) Photo by Tony Nelson.

9. Midway through the second encore, Pollard decided he had had enough of the Jose C., and passed the bottle around to the audience.

10. In the middle of "Hot freaks" Pollard sang Took me to Pie Land / Said I'm a thigh man. Or at least: that's what everyone THOUGHT he sang. What he was really sang was: Took me to Pilam / Said I'm a thigh man. See, Robert Pollard knows that Pilam is awesome, and full of hot freaks. (Ok, just kidding on this last point. But everything else I swear is true!)

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Haiku Review: Interpol

Blast to the past; it's

2002 and Interpol
is bleak and intense

Photo Teresa McCullough for Phrequency.com

Read the full review (Thursday night, Tower Theatre) here!

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Best New Music: Eternal Summers

In some ways, the name says it all. Eternal Summers craft tunes that are not necessarily summery, but imbued with a summer mindset -- which is to say, simple, hazy, and invigorating. Silver, their debut LP on Kanine Records, plays out like a day in the sun: starting with a punk-y burst; slowing down to lay on the beach and nap; then catching a few waves in the surf before the day is through.



And it seems I'm not the only one riding the wave. They were a band to watch at SXSW this year, and just recorded a session with Y-Rock on XPN (which I can't WAIT to hear!) Read more about your new (winter) summer love, at your fave Website-on-the-Beach, Phrequency.com.

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