Hello,

Now that Intern Edition: The Show is over, we’re going to take a short hiatus to develop more content, and hopefully return to daily operations shortly. In the meanwhile, enjoy the archived picks from our contributors (folks like Becky Martinez, Mike Winters, Nicole Runningen, Cale Grove, Todd Welstein, Sarah Handelman, Whitney Winn, Pat Frank, and Allison Chang).

–Eds.

Caribou

“Melody Day” – Hear It: http://www.myspace.com/cariboumanitoba

Andorra [Merge]

Under the moniker Caribou, Dan Snaith has pioneered a distinctly postmodern mélange. He borrows freely from the past: ethereal vocal harmonies from 60s Brit-pop, pulsating rhythms adapted from krautrock experimentalism, supplementary electronic production derived from any number of IDM outfits. But Snaith has such a tactful and fastidious ear that this potentially unruly amalgam sounds all his own, and on “Melody Day” he leverages it into a new single which is equal parts woozy beauty and throbbing psychedelia.

Snaith has spent the better part of the last seven years refining both his sound and his intellect. While he was honing his expansive musical concept—which peaked on 2005’s The Milk of Human Kindness—he earned his Ph.D. in mathematics. He returns in August with a new album called Andorra, from which this single was selected.

If “Melody Day” is any indication, the new record should be a doozy. The vocal tracks drift by on a hazy current reminiscent of The Zombies, though recontextualized over an incessant, driving rhythm complete with all the bells and whistles—quite literally—of prog-rock gone by. The whole thing slows to a false ending, heliotropic flutes and all, before returning with a guitar-driven shout chorus, full psychedelic steam ahead. The ingredients aren’t new, to be sure, but Caribou’s brand of alchemistry just might be.

–Patrick Jarenwattananon, NPR Music

Steven Malkmus and The Jicks

Pig Lib [Matador]

I was a sophomore in college when my best friend, a devout fan of the ’90s indie rock band Pavement, gave me lead singer Stephen Malkmus’ second solo album. Being unfamiliar with Pavement’s work, I was initially surprised by Malkmus’ aggressive quasi-sprechstimme style. What eventually won me over was how his lyrics – sometimes antagonistic, often nonsensical, always witty – worked so well over such undeniably catchy music.

With deadpan delivery, Malkmus’ lyrics are scenic and, though sardonic, more sophisticated than his Pavement days. And with the Jicks, the overall sound is more cohesive, the music more comfortable. In mellower songs, simple continuous guitar picking is often relieved by sudden accompaniment by jazz drum and bass. In the heavier songs, drums are hit harder and amps are turned louder for the occasional jam-band-esque interlude. Malkmus’ voice becomes occasionally aggressive and he experiments with distortion, menacing crowd-chanted choruses, and screaming. All of it sounds deliberately orchestrated.

My favorite song on the album, “Vanessa from Queens,” is by far Pig Lib’s catchiest and most accessible song. The guitar and keyboard chords are light, funky and playful under the raw and mockingly-romantic lyrics: “There’s aggression in the air this morning/Got your ballerina tights around my head/In a samurai pose on the bed/Vanessa from Queens.” Indeed, Malkmus delivers for grown-up fans of ’90s indie rock and/or puns – as well as people who are looking to jazz up their copycat rock band palette. Pig Lib is full of effectively experimental rock without losing its center.

–Becky Martinez, Weekend Edition Saturday

Sam Bush

“Girl from the North Country” – Hear It: http://myoldkyhome.blogspot.com/2006/05/girl-from-north-country.html

Ice Caps: Peaks of Telluride [Sugarhill]

Mandolin virtuoso Sam Bush has been a presence in the Newgrass sub-genre since the 1970s when he co-founded the band New Grass Revival, which included Bela Fleck on the banjo in its later years. Newgrass can be described as jammin’ bluegrass blended with rock, served best with a tall glass of lemonade while watching the sunset from the front porch.

Bush is one among a roster of artists who have covered Bob Dylan’s “Girl From the North Country.” The song is the second track on Bush’s live album Ice Caps: Peaks of Telluride. As Dylan’s mellow lyrics collide with Bush’s upbeat mandolin pickin’, the result is something very different from the original – but something very enjoyable.

–Mike Winters, Digital Media/Sponsorship

The Modern Skirts

Catalogue of Generous Men [Modern Skirts]

The Modern Skirts come from the quaint music hub of Athens, Ga., a place that births big-name acts with regularity. Given their obvious talent, the Skirts seem poised to become the city’s newest breakout act, the next Widespread Panic, or Indigo Girls, or even, say, R.E.M. For years, the Skirts have starred at local venues and events like the 40 Watt Club, Little Kings Club and ATHFest, and they were voted “Best Pop Band” and “Best Up and Coming Band” at the 2004 Athens Flagpole Music Awards.

Yet the Skirts maintain their humility, electing to stay relatively close to home and their local fan base. It would seem that they quite like their simple and lighthearted approach, self-described as “good clean fun.” Each member of the band is a singer-songwriter, and contributes his individual personality to the collaboration. The result is a blend of experimental, mathematical harmonies with dense instrumentation. On their first release, Catalogue of Generous Men, they scored an instant hit with a distinctive fusion of Brit-pop sound, piano melodies and heartfelt lyrics. Highlights include the clever and upbeat “Pasadena” and “New York Song.”

But a group like this can’t stay hidden forever. Having garnered support as Athens favorites, the Skirts are generating significant buzz from loyal listeners and expanding their tour around the Southeast to places like Raleigh, N.C. and Austin, Texas. It’s no wonder that their fan base is gaining strength: their catchy tunes give listeners a much needed dose of optimism.

–Nicole Runningen, Digital Media/Consumer Products

The Blood Brothers

“Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck” – Hear It: http://myspace.com/thebloodbrothersband

Crimes [V2 Records]

The Blood Brothers are not happy. Their songs, even their song titles, evoke something like moral nihilism. Ironically, though, on “Love Rhymes …” their music twists back upon itself, creating an hummable monster of a song that espouses everything wrong with society as it sticks on the tip of your tongue.

“Love Rhymes …” demands repeated listens. Indeed, the Blood Brothers are a band with hardcore roots; any listening requires sufficient preparation for large amounts of screaming. But there is something else lurking behind the Blood Brothers’ decidedly unfriendly approach to music. With each gut-wrenching scream, it seems as though the Blood Brothers are attempting to overcome the world they describe, where their protagonist “traded her [his partner] in for a better-looking brand.” As singer Johnny Whitney repeatedly bleats “love, love, love” during the chorus, he is answered by his partner-in-crime Jordan Blilie, murmuring “It rhymes with sympathy / It rhymes with pity.” Even in their twisted, immoral world, the Blood Brothers affirm the ideals behind moral constructs like love, while lamenting the impossibility of realizing those ideals.

The Blood Brothers are an impossible band, and appropriately, this is an impossible song. Easily the most accessible entry in their whole catalog, “Love Rhymes …” is also impossibly catchy. The band is always tight and together, quite a feat considering the Blood Brothers’ love of odd time signatures and abrupt shifts. If one can simply get over the initial hurdle of Whitney’s voice (which sounds most like a screaming 13 year old girl), “Love Rhymes …” is full of the most vivid lyrical imagery. That alone makes it a compelling listen for anyone who could even feasibly like The Blood Brothers’ somewhat inaccessible style.

–Cale Grove, Finance

Róisín Murphy

Ruby Blue [Echo]

One of the best pop releases of 2006 actually came out in 2005 – in the U.K. But when it did cross the pond for distribution last year, Róisín Murphy’s Ruby Blue failed to make a splash stateside. It’s not terribly difficult to see why it didn’t generate any buzz: Murphy’s isn’t exactly a household name; her former band Moloko trafficked more or less in trip-hop, which U.S. audiences typically give short shrift to; and her producer Matthew Herbert carries even less name recognition cachet. Still, actually spinning the record makes one wonder why so many said so little when it finally hit American shores.

Ruby Blue is very much a pop record engineered with the dance floor in mind. Murphy’s voice cuts through webs of piercing, stylized electronic throbbing with something of the controlled fragility of a Leslie Feist, coupled with a more direct, penetrating attitude. At the same time, Herbert’s beats are so original, so eccentric that one wonders whether he really wants us to get down, or if we should stay put, listening intently for the next semi-recognizable surprise. At times, he gives us something wholly modern yet reminiscent of disco gone by (“Dear Diary,” “If We’re In Love”), or toys with horns in a way that evokes, but does not immediately signify Motown backing arrangements (“Night of the Dancing Flame,” “So Into You”). Throughout it all, there’s a certain experimental spirit determined to bring the abrasive, the dissonant, the unconventional into the groove, peaking on tracks like “Leaving The City” or “Off On It.”

All this, of course, is anchored by Róisín Murphy’s vocals. With the underappreciated Moloko, the Irish-born singer developed both her conventional pop cred and her slightly askew tendencies. In this new context—her full-length solo debut—she refines both Janusian faces for a progressive-minded effort that carries all the way to the club.

–Patrick Jarenwattananon, NPR Music

Robin Guthrie and Harold Budd

“Turn On The Moon”

Before the Day Breaks [Darla Records]

For his latest project, Robin Guthrie, former guitarist and producer for the influential Cocteau Twins, teamed up once again with avant-garde minimalist composer Harold Budd on two simultaneously-released ambient albums: After the Night Falls and Before the Day Breaks. The duo go back over 20 years to 1986’s The Moon and the Melodies, which featured Budd alongside Guthrie and other members of the Cocteau Twins. The newest discs, released in June of 2007,  feature beautiful, subdued atmospheres perfect for moments of introspection.

“Turn on the Moon,” corollary to “Turn off the Sun” from its companion album, starts out with a repetitive melody on synthesizer, backed by two accompanying tracks of Guthrie’s distinctive clean guitar. The reverb and delay are dense and prominent, just as important as the instrumentation itself; the sense of space is strong. At 0:48 a light drum machine pattern appears underneath the melody; piano and acoustic guitar soon follow.  At 2:24, breaking from album convention, bass and distorted rhythm guitar kick in, building a harmonic context and adding urgency to the cascading piano ostinato. The energy builds with additional clean guitar, feedback, and sharp distorted octaves until everything comes to an abrupt but gentle landing on a bed of delicate reverb and synthesizer. It all makes for a wonderfully disconnected effect: try listening in the subway at rush hour walking among the scurrying population – it’s otherworldly.

–Todd Welstein, Digital Media Technical

Gilberto Gil

Gilberto Gil (Cérebro Eletrónico) [Philips]

Considering Gilberto Gil alongside abettors Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, Tom Zé, and Os Mutantes, the Brazilian Tropicália movement and its immediate aftermath spawned at least 13 self-titled albums, plus the genre-establishing compilation called Tropicália ou Panis et Circenses (that is, Tropicália or Bread and Circuses). Despite growing interest in this sonic revolution of the late 1960s, there are certainly masterpieces which remain rare and un-reissued in the U.S. market. One of these gems is Gilberto Gil’s most experimental album, recorded in 1969.

The album spawned Gil’s first hit single with “Aquele Abraço,” a relatively straightforward if ironically bittersweet samba-pop hit. The rest of the record captures that which defined Tropicália, if it can be defined: traditional Brazilian rhythms meet psychedelic guitar fuzz, musique concrete, avant-garde poetry, and political activism. Remaining tunes range from popular music with noise elements (the catchiest being “Volks-Volkswagen Blue” and “Cérebro Eletrónico”) to noise music with pop elements (see the tape effects and spoken word of “2001” and “Objecto Semi-Identificado”).

Because of its boundary-pushing ambition, Cérebro Eletrónico remains less consistently accessible than its 1968 predecessor, Gilberto Gil (Frevo Rasgado). It also doesn’t feature the symphonic arrangements of Rogério Duprat, or Os Mutantes, Brazil’s answer to the Beatles, as a back-up band. By the same token, Gil’s 1969 self-titled offering traffics in a different aesthetic, one more dedicated to pushing the aural envelope. It’s some of the edgiest music in Gil’s catalog; that said, it’s still Gilberto Gil’s catalog: Cérebro Eletrónico grooves pretty hard too.

–Patrick Jarenwattananon, NPR Music

Coconut Records

“Nighttiming” – Hear It: http://www.myspace.com/coconutrecords

Nighttiming [Young Baby]

Jason Schwartzman is not your typical actor-turned-musician. After earning serious cred as the drummer of Phantom Planet, he’s back with a new brainchild and a new album. His band Coconut Records is a one-man show, but from the sounds of the addictive title track “Nighttiming,” it’s obvious that Schwartzman knows how to make a truly delicious pop song.

“Nighttiming” is about partying and being a little irresponsible; i.e. a perfect theme for summer nights. Still, with the combination of Schwartzman’s smooth voice and catchy hooks, the song transcends time of day, making it a viable alternative to caffeine in the middle of the afternoon.

While the track doesn’t last long, you’re in for a satisfying quickie in under three minutes: Schwartzman loads it full of infectious beats and sweeping strings that sound like they were adapted from a disco club hit. “Nighttiming” is the right kind of pick-me-up that will get you to Last Call, or just back to work.

–Sarah Handelman, Communications-Creative Design