Infinite Mixtape #53: Indian Jewelry: "Lesser Snake"

These Houston-based noise-rockers aren't easy to pin down. Having gone by no less than five other bandnames in the past-- including such mind-blowing monikers as Corpses of Waco and Perpetual War Party Band-- they've now solidified their identity as Indian Jewelry. And frankly, no one's really sure whether they'll switch it to something else on a whim if the mood ever strikes.

But at least for now, they're one of Monitor Records' freshest signings since Battles, and "Lesser Snake", the leadoff track of their new Invasive Exotics LP, is a shrapnel-spitting jawcrusher, pounding together mutilated, blustery guitarwork, ominous vocals, and the heaviest stomping tribal percussion this side of Liars' Drums Not Dead.

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#0053 > Indian Jewelry: "Lesser Snake"
[from Invasive Exotics; Monitor Records]
Info: [Indian Jewelry] | [MySpace]| [Monitor]

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// Previously on The Infinite Mixtape:
#0052: Rock Plaza Central: "My Children, Be Joyful"
#0051: Deerhunter: "Spring Hall Convert"
#0050: Benoît Pioulard: "Palimend"
#0049: Frida Hyvönen: "I Drive My Friend"
#0048: Turbulence: "Notorious"
#0000: All Previous Infinite Mixtape Entries

Infinite Mixtape #52: Rock Plaza Central: "My Children, Be Joyful"

A horse is a horse is a horse (of course), but for Toronto's Rock Plaza Central, a horse is an animal ripe for lyrical personification. Not just any ol' horse, mind you: "Robotic horses who think they are real horses"-- as the band's MySpace claims-- is the premise behind their entire self-released LP Are We Not Horses. Um, yikes, dudes! But suspend disbelief a moment and ride this one out, as you'll soon find the promising septet thoughtfully treating their unlikely equine subjects with a heckuva lot more pathos, nuance, and scope than, say, your standard episode of "Mr. Ed".

Are We Not Horses first hits its stride with "My Children, Be Joyful", a majestic, celebratory hymn in the ramshackle fashion of Neutral Milk Hotel. (Like, maybe to the point that lots of people would be hard-pressed to tell the two apart.) But the song doesn't (ahem) horse around as much as others on the album, instead tackling a more ambiguous and universally applicable set of themes, making it an ideal introduction to an act with a wild idea that somehow works. And we ain't pulling your tail there.

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#0052 > Rock Plaza Central: "My Children, Be Joyful"
[from Are We Not Horses; self-released]
Info: [Rock Plaza Central] | [MySpace]

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// Previously on The Infinite Mixtape:
#0051: Deerhunter: "Spring Hall Convert"
#0050: Benoît Pioulard: "Palimend"
#0049: Frida Hyvönen: "I Drive My Friend"
#0048: Turbulence: "Notorious"
#0047: I'm From Barcelona: "We're From Barcelona"
#0046: Christopher Willits: "Colors Shifting"
#0000: All Previous Infinite Mixtape Entries

Infinite Mixtape #51: Deerhunter: "Spring Hall Convert"

Though one of the hip-hop world's fieriest hotspots, Atlanta isn't exactly known for its wealth of left-skewing noise-rock bands-- even indie rockers migrate to Athens. But every city has its anomalies, and after last year's truly deranged self-titled debut for Stickfigure Records, ATL-based Deerhunter have come into their own as a massive, psych-heavy, art-damaged four-piece, and one of the most inspired new bands we've heard in quite a while.

Citing Jesus and Mary Chain as their core influence, but also incorporating Thurston Moore guitar squalls, the super-rich, static-heavy layers of MBV, Spacemen 3's lonesome, jangly blissouts, and the brooding, claustrophobic atmospherics of early Martin Hannett-produced Factory Records releases, Deerhunter's forthcoming Kranky debut, Cryptograms (due January 29)-- not to mention their absolutely fucking insane live shows-- is likely to make them one of the most talked-about bands of 2007. Today, the album's gorgeous "Spring Hall Convert" marks the 51st entry in Pitchfork's Infinite Mixtape series. (And we highly encourage you to check their MySpace for three more.)

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#0051 > Deerhunter: "Spring Hall Convert"
[from Cryptograms; Kranky]
Info: [MySpace] | [Kranky]

------------------------------------------------------

// Previously on The Infinite Mixtape:
#0050: Benoît Pioulard: "Palimend"
#0049: Frida Hyvönen: "I Drive My Friend"
#0048: Turbulence: "Notorious"
#0047: I'm From Barcelona: "We're From Barcelona"
#0046: Christopher Willits: "Colors Shifting"
#0045: Giddy Motors: "Panzrama"
#0044: Bound Stems: "Western Biographic"
#0043: Tim Hecker: "Chimeras"
#0042: Working for a Nuclear Free City: "Troubled Son"
#0041: Fujiya & Miyagi: "Collarbone"
#0000: All Previous Infinite Mixtape Entries

Infinite Mixtape #50: Benoit Pioulard: "Palimend"

Who is Benoît Pioulard? The name sounds vaguely familiar-- is he some impressionist painter? Some cheeky dadaist? Some dude who dabbled in the New York avant garde scene in the late 1970s? Nope, just some Michigan-dwelling kid named Thomas Meluch, who only reached drinking age last year, and who happens to have recorded a gorgeous album of wistful electro-folk under that sophisticated-sounding, faux-French, accent-adorned adopted moniker.

Pioulard's debut Precís dropped on Kranky earlier this week. Its centerpiece, the lush "Palimend", floats along on a haunting chorus melody and stately acoustic strum, while against the gallop of ghost snare and some spectral moaning, young Pioulard offers an incantation to impermanence: "I always wanted you to know/ I never wanted you to go." The result: another autumnal smash and the landmark 50th addition to Pitchfork's Infinite Mixtape series.

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#0050 > Benoît Pioulard: "Palimend"
[from Precís; Kranky]
Info: [Benoît Pioulard] | [MySpace] | [Kranky]

------------------------------------------------------

// Previously on The Infinite Mixtape:
#0049: Frida Hyvönen: "I Drive My Friend"
#0048: Turbulence: "Notorious"
#0047: I'm From Barcelona: "We're From Barcelona"
#0046: Christopher Willits: "Colors Shifting"
#0045: Giddy Motors: "Panzrama"
#0044: Bound Stems: "Western Biographic"
#0043: Tim Hecker: "Chimeras"
#0042: Working for a Nuclear Free City: "Troubled Son"
#0041: Fujiya & Miyagi: "Collarbone"
#0000: All Previous Infinite Mixtape Entries

Infinite Mixtape #49: Frida Hyvönen: "I Drive My Friend"

Sometimes simple works best. With "I Drive My Friend", from her Secretly Canadian-released U.S. debut Until Death Comes, Swedish singer-songwriter, Jens Lekman tourmate, and Concretes chum Frida Hyvönen relates a fairly simple sentiment (bliss that's settled into contentment) surrounding a fairly simple event (parting ways with a lover) by way of a fairly simple tune (basically a one-two piano ditty).

Yet hidden in the furrows of all that cantering simplicity is a richly sincere ode to separation that might just intimate sorrows to come, as Hyvönen closes each verse by extending the phrase "your return" into "turn turn turn, turn turn turn." "The sun is shining/ I have everything/ A driver's license, a car, and a song to sing," she concludes, this time repeating the word "sing." Is she being playful, or has the word become a desperate self-command, leaving one to wonder what happens when the singing stops? Maybe it's not so simple after all.

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#0049 > Frida Hyvönen: "I Drive My Friend"
[from Until Death Comes; Secretly Canadian]
Info: [Frida Hyvönen] | [MySpace] | [Secretly Canadian]

------------------------------------------------------

// Previously on The Infinite Mixtape:
#0048: Turbulence: "Notorious"
#0047: I'm From Barcelona: "We're From Barcelona"
#0046: Christopher Willits: "Colors Shifting"
#0045: Giddy Motors: "Panzrama"
#0044: Bound Stems: "Western Biographic"
#0043: Tim Hecker: "Chimeras"
#0042: Working for a Nuclear Free City: "Troubled Son"
#0041: Fujiya & Miyagi: "Collarbone"
#0000: All Previous Infinite Mixtape Entries

Infinite Mixtape #48: Turbulence: "Notorious"

Fasten your safety belts, lift your trays, and return your seats to an upright position, because aptly-named Jamaican reggae star Turbulence is about ready to shake things up. As the leadoff cut on XL Records' expertly-curated forthcoming compilation Serious Times (due November 7), his hit song "Notorious"-- originally released nearly two years ago-- is on the cusp of finding the widespread audience it deserves.

Pitchfork columnist and reggae/dancehall guru Dave Stelfox named "Notorious" his favorite track of 2005, calling this "rough-and-tumble voicing over a rudimentary hip-hop-style beat" an example of "what I've always loved about this music: no frills, no hype, just great songs full of honesty and passion." It's dark, fierce, gritty, and pretty much impossible to resist.

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#0048 > Turbulence: "Notorious"
[from Serious Times; XL Recordings]
Info: [MySpace] | [XL]

------------------------------------------------------

// Previously on The Infinite Mixtape:
#0047: I'm From Barcelona: "We're From Barcelona"
#0046: Christopher Willits: "Colors Shifting"
#0045: Giddy Motors: "Panzrama"
#0044: Bound Stems: "Western Biographic"
#0043: Tim Hecker: "Chimeras"
#0042: Working for a Nuclear Free City: "Troubled Son"
#0041: Fujiya & Miyagi: "Collarbone"
#0000: All Previous Infinite Mixtape Entries

Infinite Mixtape #47: I'm From Barcelona: "We're From Barcelona"

Who knew chilly Sweden-- home to deadly serious dudes like August Strindberg and Ingmar Bergman-- could prove such a font of jollity in this century? Yet in 2006, the Sweden-bred indie pop insurrection is in full force, and representing for the movement is 29-member-strong, Jönköping-based collective I'm From Barcelona (not so puzzling a moniker when you learn that it alludes to "Fawlty Towers" character Manuel, whose name resembles that of lead vocalist Emanuel Lundgren).

"We're From Barcelona" is an anthem for the new twee republic, a delightful sing-along festooned with big, buttery choruses and ebullient horns. And, like the best indie pop, it marries feel-good vibes and childlike glee with rich sentiment and honesty. "Love is a feeling that we don't understand/ But we're gonna give it to you," they proclaim-- in two lines encapsulating the m.o. of generations of songwriters. A couple months back, we awarded this track the coveted five-star rating, and now, we've got the go-ahead to share it with you. Behold, the power of twee.

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#0047 > I'm From Barcelona: "We're From Barcelona"
[from Let Me Introduce My Friends; Dolores Recordings]
Info: [I'm From Barcelona] | [MySpace] | [Dolores]

------------------------------------------------------

// Previously on The Infinite Mixtape:
#0046: Christopher Willits: "Colors Shifting"
#0045: Giddy Motors: "Panzrama"
#0044: Bound Stems: "Western Biographic"
#0043: Tim Hecker: "Chimeras"
#0042: Working for a Nuclear Free City: "Troubled Son"
#0041: Fujiya & Miyagi: "Collarbone"
#0000: All Previous Infinite Mixtape Entries

Infinite Mixtape #46: Christopher Willits: "Colors Shifting"

With the Postal Service temporarily out of business, who will provide us with warm blips and bloops underscoring male and female vocalists harmonizing all lovey-dovey stylee? One gentleman up to the task is West Coast soundsmith and North Valley Subconscious Orchestra co-conductor Christopher Willits. His forthcoming Ghostly International debut Surf Boundaries (due October 17) is awash in lush blankets of drone, comforting crackles, murmurs, and frequently, hushed, whispery vocals.

While it begins just like a PS banger, "Colors Shifting"-- rather than flutter about like Jimmy Tamborello's compositions-- calmly drifts, in no particular hurry to get anywhere. The vocalists, likewise, linger on their words longer, less intent on crafting quotable love letter poetry than on evoking texture and color through sound. Like the slowcore drift of Ida meeting the Books' glitch-laden electro/acoustic textures, it's one of the best blissed-out dream-pop cuts we've heard this year.

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#0046 > Christopher Willits: "Colors Shifting"
[from Surf Boundaries; Ghostly International]
Info: [Christopher Willits] | [MySpace] | [Ghostly]

------------------------------------------------------

// Previously on The Infinite Mixtape:
#0045: Giddy Motors: "Panzrama"
#0044: Bound Stems: "Western Biographic"
#0043: Tim Hecker: "Chimeras"
#0042: Working for a Nuclear Free City: "Troubled Son"
#0041: Fujiya & Miyagi: "Collarbone"
#0040: Malajube: "La Monogamie"
#0000: All Previous Infinite Mixtape Entries

Infinite Mixtape #45: Giddy Motors: "Panzrama"

Charles "Carl" Panzram was a notorious 1920s American serial killer-- noted for his brutality, nihilism, and utter lack of remorse-- who once wrote that the he was "the spirit of meanness personified." UK noise rockers Giddy Motors, meanwhile, look like pretty mean blokes (even when brushing their teeth) and they dare to explore the man's twisted psyche on this cut from their second full-length, Do Easy (FatCat).

What's that hell sound like? Alternately menacing and explosive, with a twisted, brooding bassline, frenzied guitars, and frantic drumming. So, pretty goddamn awesome. Giddy vocalist Gaverick de Vis plays the devil on the shoulder, hissing and gasping out a series of grim proclamations, then erupting into a tortured chorus: "DISEASE! DISEASE! INSIDE YOU! INSIDE YOU!" It all amounts to a harrowing portrait of a man grappling with horrifying personal issues-- a great track for anyone with a serious noise-rock itch in the aftermath of Touch and Go's 25th anniversary block party.

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#0045 > Giddy Motors: "Panzrama"
[from Do Easy; FatCat Records]
Info: [Giddy Motors] | [MySpace] | [FatCat]

------------------------------------------------------

// Previously on The Infinite Mixtape:
#0044: Bound Stems: "Western Biographic"
#0043: Tim Hecker: "Chimeras"
#0042: Working for a Nuclear Free City: "Troubled Son"
#0041: Fujiya & Miyagi: "Collarbone"
#0040: Malajube: "La Monogamie"
#0000: All Previous Infinite Mixtape Entries

Infinite Mixtape #44: Bound Stems: "Western Biographic"

Not a day goes by at Pitchfork World Headquarters that we don't get our eyes and ears molested by news of some hot new band said to be intrepidly melding genres x, y, and z, cultivating "a sound that is all their own," saving the children, fighting the power, and changing the face of modern music as we know it.

And no, Bound Stems aren't that band, either. But "Western Biographic", from the Chicago-based four-piece's recent Flameshovel LP Appreciation Night, succeeds gloriously on its own merits by continually thwarting expectations, never settling on one genre, melody, or arrangement for long. In two-and-a-half short minutes, the band shifts from brooding guitarwork to barnburning mayhem to prancy piano to a bass-driven breakdown, and a chorus that erupts from the speakers with volcanic might. If this is how Chicago rolls from now on, consider us along for the ride.

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#0044 > Bound Stems: "Western Biographic"
[from Appreciation Night; Flameshovel Records]
Info: [Bound Stems] | [MySpace] | [Flameshovel]

------------------------------------------------------

// Previously on The Infinite Mixtape:
#0043: Tim Hecker: "Chimeras"
#0042: Working for a Nuclear Free City: "Troubled Son"
#0041: Fujiya & Miyagi: "Collarbone"
#0040: Malajube: "La Monogamie"
#0039: The Polyphonic Spree: "Sonic Bloom"
#0038: Oxford Collapse: "Please Visit Your National Parks"
#0037: Peter Bjorn & John: "Young Folks [ft. Victoria Bergsman]"
#0036: Flying Canyon: "In the Reflection"
#0035: Califone: "The Orchids"
#0000: All Previous Infinite Mixtape Entries

Infinite Mixtape #43: Tim Hecker: "Chimeras"

While his peers in ambient music seem content to explore cosmic and terrestrial realms, Canada's Tim Hecker crafts electronic compositions that evoke vast innerspaces as much as outer, both synthetic and organic. A study in contradiction, his pieces temper the warm, the rich, and the inviting with coldness, distance, and longing.

It's the womb-warm, arpeggiated bassline forming the underbelly of "Chimeras"-- from Hecker's forthcoming longplayer Harmony in Ultraviolet (October 16, Kranky)-- that lures us in here. But just as we start to get comfortable, a reverb-soaked guitar creeps in, lending the track a sense of restless yearning. Elementally simple, really, but profoundly affecting.

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#0043 > Tim Hecker: "Chimeras"
[from Harmony in Ultraviolet; Kranky Records]
Info: [Tim Hecker] | [MySpace] | [Kranky]

------------------------------------------------------

// Previously on The Infinite Mixtape:
#0042: Working for a Nuclear Free City: "Troubled Son"
#0041: Fujiya & Miyagi: "Collarbone"
#0040: Malajube: "La Monogamie"
#0039: The Polyphonic Spree: "Sonic Bloom"
#0038: Oxford Collapse: "Please Visit Your National Parks"
#0037: Peter Bjorn & John: "Young Folks [ft. Victoria Bergsman]"
#0036: Flying Canyon: "In the Reflection"
#0035: Califone: "The Orchids"
#0000: All Previous Infinite Mixtape Entries

Infinite Mixtape #42: Working for a Nuclear Free City: "Troubled Son"

Hey, remember when MTV actually played music videos? Remember "Amp", which escorted us into the wee hours of darkness, playing anything loosely classified as club, dub, dance, disco, house, techno, all that good shit? Fresh as it sounds in 2006, something tells me Manchester-based Working for a Nuclear Free City would have fit right in back then too.

They'd probably have a video with sleek cars speeding through tunnels at night, plenty of tracking shots of club corridors, femme fatales, mixed drinks, fog machines, flashing lights, faceless revelers, and everything in constant motion. Maybe Chris Cunningham would have directed it, or Mark Romanek, or Dom & Nic. And guess what? It would've politely kicked the club-worn arses of everything else on the program that night.

With "Troubled Son", off their self-titled Melodic Records debut, the band delivers a propulsive, hallucinogenic foray into the urban night hours. The melodic seesawing over that chugging rhythm will surely incite gyrations, while the sung-spoken vocal lead keeps things cosmopolitan and blissed-out and backing vocals beckon from somewhere beyond the pale. The only shortcoming: It's over way too soon, so you might just want to include it on yr mixtape twice.

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#0042 > Working for a Nuclear Free City: "Troubled Son"
[from Working for a Nuclear Free City; Melodic Records]
Info: [Working for a Nuclear Free City] | [MySpace] | [Melodic]

------------------------------------------------------

// Previously on The Infinite Mixtape:
#0041: Fujiya & Miyagi: "Collarbone"
#0040: Malajube: "La Monogamie"
#0039: The Polyphonic Spree: "Sonic Bloom"
#0038: Oxford Collapse: "Please Visit Your National Parks"
#0037: Peter Bjorn & John: "Young Folks [ft. Victoria Bergsman]"
#0036: Flying Canyon: "In the Reflection"
#0035: Califone: "The Orchids"
#0000: All Previous Infinite Mixtape Entries

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