Monday Music Roundup

Anyone who went through the ’80s knows that maybe sometimes, for some reasons, you might just miss the side ponytail. On Saturday night I went to a (totally radical) ’80s dance party out in the suburbs of Arvada and bravely dressed in my best finery from that decade. It felt so excellent and dare I say liberating to revisit the hairstyle of 5th grade and to not be alone.

The entertainment (+ fun complimentary personal mixing lesson!) was provided by DJ Hot To Death and DJ Goose from Denver. If you are feeling listless and cubicle-bound this morning, you can download a sizzling DJ Hot To Death set from the preset at the Film On The Rocks series last week at Red Rocks:

DJ Hot To Death set @ Red Rocks
Includes music from – The White Stripes * Santogold * Dropkick Murphys * Gnarls Barkley * Electric 6 * Modest Mouse * Crookers * AC/DC * She Wants Revenge * The Pixies * Diplo * The Clash * and more…
It’s a bit of Saturday night fun to start things off this Monday morning.

Stop Rip & Roll
J Roddy Walston and The Business
Just click play – this song hits like a most jubilant and unlikely combination of the Pogues and Queen. Tennessee-born J Roddy Walston and The Business have recorded one of my favorite tracks to be posted here in a long time. Second in a miniature series of “Bands Who Have Opened Recently for The Hold Steady,” JR&TB come flying at you and are completely unrelenting. Purveyors of a scathing live show, the Arkansas Times wrote “they’re loud, relentless, and wear you out before they’re even halfway done with you.” Well, I don’t wear out easily but I can see how they’d come close with stuff like this. Hail Mega Boys is out now on the Southern Brethren label.

123 Stop
The Postelles
Hailing from New York City, The Postelles are four fresh-faced younguns whose new album is also the inaugural production effort of Albert Hammond Jr. Citing obvious influences, our friends over at MOKB are calling this new single “Strokes-meets-Billy Joel.” From the traditional retro sugar of the chorus hooks to the teenager-in-love laments of songs you may know from a handful of decades ago, this is infectious and delightful music. The Hammond project is forthcoming, although there is an older EP available on iTunes. The Postelles will be playing Lollapalooza and some dates with The Whigs in the coming months, and I don’t see how their live show could be anything other than fun.

Wreck
The Bittersweets
As much as I am enjoying the new Ryan Auffenberg album, I’ll have to admit occasionally missing the perfect counterpoint to his smooth vocals that was provided by singer Hannah Prater on older songs like “Under All The Bright Lights.” Prater’s band The Bittersweets (also featuring members Chris Meyers and former Counting Crows / Luce / Third Eye Blind drummer Steve Bowman) has relocated from Northern California to the Americana heartland of Nashville. Their new album Goodnight San Francisco is out September 9th on Compass Records, and it’s good to hear Hannah’s gorgeously warm and winning voice again as she questions “Why’d you go and wreck this all?“

A Sweet Summer’s Night On Hammer Hill
Jens Lekman
This 2005 song recently came up on my summer shuffling and seems so fitting for July, all shiny trumpets and handclaps. Jens Lekman is one in the stream of likable Swedish acts to charmingly convince me to lend an ear. This song is a little cabaret in an unrehearsed way, conjuring up soulful images of standing around on a street-corner, singing and clapping as a fire hydrant goes off (I guess maybe that universally carries as a summer sentiment over to Sweden?). From Oh, You’re So Silent Jens (Secretly Canadian Records).