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Mixtape: Left-Handed Scissors and Sushi
Le Mercredi Mixtape returns. Yep, it’s *sixeyes sharing music on Torontoist with you the Torontoist readers. So, put a plug in it, plug in and listen up while Torontoist plugs some recent discoveries and some favourites.
1. Kyle Andrews – “Sushi”
Nashville indie-pop upstart, Kyle Andrews, sounds like he’s having fun telling us about a Sushi bar and asking, “You gonna save me or not?” Uh, will listening over and over save you? Then, yeah. Torontoist is your 911.
2. Rademacher – “Playing For Fun”
Off the Californian band’s upcoming EP, Ice Age, well, here’s what was said on *sixeyes: “A song which finds the singer waltzing through an acoustic carnival full of tempered guitar twang, crashing cymbals, and reedy organ. Trying to weave up through it all is the very distinctive vocal of that singer, Mike M; bearing a voice that once you’ve heard it, you won’t mistake for anyone else.”
3. Portastatic – “I Wanna Know Girls”
Mac McCaughan and band, Portastatic, kick out a ‘made-for-bygone-radio’ classic in “I Wanna Know Girls”. The kind of song that would have roared from ‘top down’ cars twenty or more years ago, each and every radio tuned to the same station. That doesn’t happen anymore, at least I don’t think it does. This song has something for everyone, the simple pattern and great tone of the guitar line (air guitar), swooping back up vocals (sing along), and a big sound (woofer and tweeter nuts). Do you know The Wrens? It takes these guys awhile to get their sound sounding like they want. Not sure if they’re slow or very picky. The band’s sound ‘sounds’ heavy and thick… dense, without being so. Kinda like the weather lately, heavy, humid air that feels heavy, but isn’t. Take some scissors and snip away at a Wrens song. The 3rd or 4th guitar… snip. The 4th or 5th vocal track… snip. Snip away at the dense aural weave of a Wrens song like “Per Second Second”… and you are still looking at brilliance. “I Wanna Know Girls” is brilliance, tight and concise. Like cruising in a convertible, top down, AC on.
4. Scissors for Lefty – “Ghetto Ways”
Torontoist loves the sound San Francisco based, Scissors for Lefty (pictured left… without scissors), make on “Ghetto Ways”. The soft falsettoed ha haha haa haha… try not to ha haha along, Torontoist dares you. Torontoist had a hard time deciding which track to feature here on Le Mercredi Mixtape. Torontoist thinks a drive should be started to bring these west coast musicians to Toronto. If you like this song, let Torontoist know and we will bring ’em back next week.
5. The Lovely Feathers – “Fudgicle”
A very young band from Montreal, who didn’t take long at all to learn how to harness and channel their youthful energy into spastic and bristling indie pop. Keep your eyes open, they will tour shortly with Metric and Jason Collett.
6. The Wrens – “I Guess We’re Done”
On The Meadowlands, the New Jersey bands most acclaimed album is “Per Second Second”. A great example of how this band can twist so much together in one track. An interesting thing about the song is that the lead vocal was scrapped and they adopted the back-up vocal track as the lead. Did Torontoist mention something about these guys being picky earlier? From their EP, Abbott 1135, “I Guess We’re Done” shows the boys layering harmonies in a beautifully smoky melody that just flares into flame long enough to show you how good they are.
7. Great Lakes Myth Society – “Across The Bridge”
When your music isn’t shaped by major label pressure, when you can let it burst forth and grow organically… well, that can imbue music with a joy you can hear. Great Lakes Myth Society have imbued it up the front and down the back. And there’s banjo.
8. The Album Leaf “Over The Pond”
As Torontoist listened to The Album Leaf song, “Over The Pond”, for the second time, the icy piano notes began to fall into the pond water, the water freezing over… a winter black. As if the piano, perhaps a grand piano, was nestled into a snowdrift, it’s ivory ‘words’ skating over a shining, black Steinway pond.
9. John Vanderslice – “Exodus Damage”
Torontoist has said it before (well, *sixeyes at least) that JV is an artist. Maybe he’s one of those cursed, or blessed, folks who can see sound… see it as different colours. Perhaps he arranges these sound colours until they are aesthetically pleasing and then… awww, hell, the only way to make music like JV is to have talent and great taste. Pixel Revolt lands on August 23rd.
10. Pinkle – “Over Underestimated”
Pinkle is a generous guy, his website is a digital download candy store, the glass counter cases stuffed with mp3s he has written and recorded. He latches onto a helluva catchy melody here and treads a little lighter than usual into the electronic flourishes on this track. Thank you, acoustic guitar.
The End … for now.