Monday Music Roundup

Wahoo Colts! I had so much fun watching the Superbowl yesterday (although it’s not quite as stirring as my first love of soccer, the true “football”). It was, however, an American cultural event not to be missed, as always — and a fine excuse to eat chips and chili-cheese dip with beer for dinner with friends. Right on.

Undecided (i.e. apathetic) going into the game since neither of my teams were playing, I quickly decided to root for the underdog after the Bears scored that pretty phenomenal opening touchdown. I picked the right team as the Colts controlled the play for almost the entire time, mercilessly pushing forward with steady gains and some great plays. I was a bit apprehensive of the tiny-manness of the halftime show (which is always so over-the-top and odd, even more so with the Polly-Pocket of funk, Prince) . . .

I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
(Prince cover)
Eels
As I watched Prince prance about with his patent-leather heeled boots, his man-handkerchief do-rag thingie, with the drum majors all up in his business (and a Foo Fighters cover?!), I found myself wistfully thinking of Prince songs that I like more than the ones he chose (the show was flashy, but just alright for me, dawg). Now this is an incisive & fantastic song, with a droll twist by E from Eels.

My Favorite Mutiny
The Coup
Bay Area band (straight outta Oakland) that I am leaning towards seeing at Noise Pop, just for something different from my usual fare. I must say, if I go, it will be my first hip-hop show since when I saw Sugarhill Gang in Florence, Italy with a bunch of Italians. And that was a blast. But since then? I’ve been woefully lacking in any good hip-hop concerts. In visiting the MySpace pages of the acts on this bill, I was impressed by all of them, and immediately drawn to the old school samples in this track (a free download -1 of 4- from The Coup’s MySpace page). From their 2006 album Pick A Bigger Weapon (Epitaph), which features musicians as varied as Tom Morello (Audioslave), members of Parliament-Funkadelic, and the formidable Toni! Tony! Toné! (You can tell they mean business because of all! the exclamation points!). I like it.

Game of Pricks
(Guided By Voices cover)
The Broken West
Justin over at Aquarium Drunkard had a special visit by the guys from (Fuel-favorite) Broken West during his Little Radio show last week. In addition to live versions of three hits from their new, absolutely fantastic album I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On, they also score props for their fine little cover of GBV (and the original).
Snag the rest of the live mp3s on AD, and check out the Broken West when they head out on tour with The Long Winters this Spring.

Say It All
Sondre Lerche
This one almost slipped by me – Norwegian extraordinaire Sondre Lerche has a new album coming out tomorrow on Astralwerks called Phantom Punch (phantoms are so hot right now), in which he continues to make catchy pop songs with an enjoyable punch. I love the way he always sounds so disaffected while he’s singing, like he’s lying in a bathtub and just can’t be bothered.

Mr. Wilson
Optiganally Yours
I thought the name of this band had something to do with Sesame Street or some other show wherein you learn about octagons and other shapes, but rather Optiganally Yours is another Rob Crow (Pinback) side project, this time focusing on the wonderful mid-’70s musical instrument the Optigan (optical organ) and its funky, weird instrumental loops. This song is kitschy and fabulous, sounding significantly better than any songs I was ever able to make with the plastic instruments of my childhood. From the 1997 album Spotlight On Optiganally Yours, billed as “Mattel Lounge music for all ages.” (thx Clea!)