One Final Down, Three To Go
Alright, so I’ve got one final down (Psych. 101), and since it went well I have gained false confidence that has convinced me that I can post on the site and hold off studying for my Art History final until 5 AM tomorrow (exam is at 2:30). So below is a round-up of what I’ve been listening to and what’s awesome right now.
First of all, I’d like to introduce the newest member of the Good Weather For Airstrikes team, Zack Friendly. After lengthy contract negotiations we’ve come to a contractual agreement, involving hip-hop articles in return for living vicariously through me. Zack will be bringing you all the freshest hip-hop james on a weekly basis, and whatever else tickles his fancy that has managaed to slip under my radar. Tomorrow he’ll be starting things off with his first installment. I’d also like to take the time to give mad props to Everett, whose done a smash-up job taking the reins for the week. In the words of Molly Wilkof: “I like his style. He’s hired.” Look for more posts from him in the future, especially after his winter break starts in eight days and he becomes a second-semester high school senior (Evro’s growing up!), and be sure to download “Heaven Hammer” (Air’s remix of Beck’s “Missing”) from his most recent post on Beck’s Guerolito. Also, ’tis still the season, so be sure to grab M3 Holiday Edition for all your indie-rcok holiday needs. Finally, in my Ted Leo/Rx post I said Ted Leo is my favorite person over 40. Turns out he will have to rescind his title because he is only 34. I’m sorry for the inconvenience. AND, I’ve also updated the music video archive and added a metric ton of music videos for your viewing pleasure. It’s not exactly in order right now but have fun wading through it all.But now that all of that administrative stuff is taken care of, onto the hot jams.
I only have two songs by them, but I’m fairly certain that Voxtrot is amazing. Well at the very least “The Start of Something” is incredible. I owe this find entirely to Gorilla vs. Bear, who first brought them to my attention (but for some ridiculous reason I never downloaded anything by them) and Lizzy Plapinger, who convinced me to download the song by telling me how amazing it was. In conclusion, both GVB and Lizzy were right, this song is incredible. I’d describe it as sounding a lot like Belle & Sebastian, only I like this better than any Belle & Sebastian song I’ve ever heard (I have all of the B&S releases, but I’m not exactly a die hard fan). I feel like it’s a borderline crime that this band remains unsigned, but I can assure you I will be buying their debut EP, Raised By Wolves, as soon as possible. Download “The Start of Something”, which will definitely have a presence on my year-end Best Songs of 2005 list, as well as “Wrecking Force” (also off the Raised By Wolves EP). You can also go to their myspace page to listen to a new song from their upcoming EP (due out Spring 2006) titled “Mothers, Sisters, Daughters” .
“The Start of Something” - Voxtrot [highly recommended]
“Wrecking Force” - Voxtrot
————————————————————————————–
Finally, in what should be the best news ever for Maret students and Class of ‘05 alumni (the term “alumnus” makes me feel like I’m at least 30), I finally have in my possession Hellogoodbye’s immaculate video for their equally flawless dance-rock-pop-punk classic, “Call N’ Return”. For those of you not in the know, Hellogoodbye are a kind of pop-punk novelty band (I mean, their promo photos show them with lasers coming out of their eyes, they wear short shorts, and they sell Hellogoodbye fannypacks at their shows) signed to Drive Thru Records that just creates unbelievably comical pop-punk songs and fortunately does not take themselves seriously at all (see picture above). Basically they’re amazing, and their video for “Call N’ Return” is the funniest music video I’ve ever seen, perfectly capturing the homo-erotic whimsy of the song. Hellogoodbye is also releasing a DVD, which is sure to be a must-have, but the Drive Thru store isn’t being cooperative enough to link you to it, so you’ll have to venture over there for yourself.