Recommending Some Recommendations

I'm finding it increasingly more impossible to keep up with all the great music that crosses my path these days. Don't get me wrong, I'm up to the challenge of encountering even more. I'm kinda nutty that way. But for me to write about every great band I come across just ain't gonna happen. However, today I'm going to take advantage of the fact that I have a few spare moments and nothing else to blab about to briefly share with you a few artists that have been recently recommended to me. These are three artists that I know relatively little about, but from what I've heard, they're bound to make my cheeks all rosy red with delight!!




Your 33 Black Angels are from New York, New York and they remind me of all of the great bands that boast that ultra cool, laid back New Yorksy sound. You know who I'm talking about and you know that you don't have to necessarily be from New York to sport such a sound. All of the Lou Reed's and Stephen Malkmus's and Thurston Moore's out there who make sounding cool seem painlessly simple. Well, add Your 33 Black Angels to that list. They've been around for a couple of years but earlier this year they released "Lonely Street", and it's receiving some pretty honorable type mentionings from some pretty honorable type people. Rolling Stones' David Fricke, for example, described it as one of this year's treasures. I haven't yet heard the CD, but judging by the songs on their myspace page, it's probably wise for me to get on that. I particularly like "Psycho On Your Side," which is like an upbeat love song from the bizarro world.

Download: Psycho On Your Side mp3
Myspace: Your 33 Black Angels (you can also purchase "Lonely Street" on their myspace page)




While conversing with William Rees of Mystery Jets during their visit to T.O. earlier this year, he told me that I must check out UK's Late Of The Pier. This is a band that may have a more critical case of ADD than I do. If you listen to their song "Bathroom Gurgle" for instance, the song does not run much longer than your typical top 40 tune, except it goes through more changes than a newborn baby's diaper. There is very little online information about these guys but I guess that I would best describe them as equal parts Prince, Gary Numan and Bobby Conn. They're a lot of fun, they're easy to dance to, and they put a smile on my face. What more can I say? Glam rock with its nose to the funkstone.

Download: Space and the Woods mp3
Myspace: Late Of The Pier

Finally, there's Denmark's Death Valley Sleepers. Tobias Winberg is the brains behind this operation, playing all of the instruments himself. What I find really neat is that it sounds like a full fledged band performing these songs, which is a real testament to the talent and attention to detail that Tobias has carefully honed. Not to sound like a broken record, but I'm sure you've all figured out that I can't get enough of the 60's influenced sound. But DVS is quite unique in that to me it sounds like surf music that you'd hear in a Serge Leone film, if Serge Leone were to put surf music in one of his spaghetti western type films. Which would never happen. Thus the word 'unique.'

Download: Sweet End mp3
Myspace: Death Valley Sleepers