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A couple of years ago, I found three singles by this band, Tokyo Electron. They were great--they tore my speakers up, they got me rocking. They got my neighbors rocking, too, that's how loud those singles were.

Problem was, those singles were from 2004/2005. Tokyo Electron had fallen off the face of the planet as far as I could tell. I was sad, but only for so long. There are a lot of bands out there, and it's tough to spare time in regret for the ones that no longer exist.

Then I come online one day and it turns out that Tokyo Electron has put together a goddamn album. Took 'em like four years, but it was fucking worth it. These songs tear like the old songs tore, and my neighbors are once again coming up with ways to destroy my cheap speakers. Now it's your turn to piss off everyone nearby. Get to it.

Tokyo Electron - AZ 238

Tokyo Electron - Desert Snow

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DC local brother-duo Hays and Ryan Holladay, also known as "Bluebrain" put on a great show this past Saturday night (1/16) at The Fridge, a small warehouse-esque gallery space behind the Capital. Openers included talented artists DJ Autorock, as well as Outputmessage. Autorock appropriately pumped everyone up and kept them dancing prior to and after the music sets finished with fresh mash-ups drawing on R&B, rock, pop and electro to get feet tappin with funky beatz. Outputmessage sang over electronic compositions, working his computer with mic in hand. Although there was hesitance to dance at the beginning, a few people held it down on the dance floor until about 200 people showed up, filling the building and keeping it moving. Bluebrain ended the show with a bang, each brother set up with their own podium holding all their devices necessary to produce their futuristic beats. Ryan and Hays both sang over their catchy songs, full of space sounds, percussion, and keyboard. Everyone got their dance on by this point, hypnotized by the intensity of the music coupled with video footage of snakes, face morphs, and hovercrafts.The evening itself was a fun, free alternative to bar-hopping and displayed the great local talent that exists in the DC area! Bluebrain successfully combined dance party with art display with socializing. Hopefully we will see more concerts and art shows at The Fridge, as well as more from Bluebrain and Co. 

Bluebrain released a free EP this past fall entitled "Cult Following", and will be releasing their full length album, "Soft Power", in February. Bluebrain has some shows coming up that aren't listed yet, so check in on their website for more info.

All Photos by Rachel Eisley.

Bluebrain - Cult Following

AutoRock Remix of Deleted Scenes Song - Ithaca (AutoRock Remix)

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L'orchestre Folklorique Tout Puissant Konono N°1 de Mingiedi, more commonly known as Konono N°1, are a spectacular group of musicians, singers and dancers from the Congo. I was introduced to this remarkable band by a coworker of mine and was immediately hooked to their heavily energized, highly distorted and altogether brilliant sound.

Konono N°1, founded sometime in the 1970's by Mawangu Mingiedi, adapts traditional Bazombo trance/dance music and is performed with three likembé (thumb pianos), an array of percussion instruments, singers and dancers. Their distorted sound is because their instruments and amplifiers are home-made. The likembé are equipped with metal plates for pickups. A microphone is made out of a piece of carved wood and a magnet from a car's alternator. The percussion instruments are fabricated from items found in a junkyard. Their amplifers are made from previously discarded amps and a large horn. This band is so delightfully strange and easily some of the best and most innovative music I've heard in a long time.

A little side note: If you were a fan of Björk's Volta, you might remember the thunderous opening track "Earth Intruders", which is a collaboration with Konono N°1.

Konono N°1 - Lufuala Ndonga

Konono N°1 - Kule Kule Reprise

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NYC based Lo-fi pop folk band, Woods is on tour. Made up of Jeremy Earl, Jarvis Taveniere, and G Lucas Crane, Woods seems to be building a real following. Screechy, scratchy, surprisingly hooky experimental songs, with joyfully absurd lyrics fill their albums, but I have no idea how that will work live. Probably very well. Most shows with the also excellent Real Estate.

Woods - Silence Is Golden

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Rick Deckard, pilots his floating car through dystopian Los Angeles. Andriods flee from Deckard and he chases them through a maze of neon lights and derelict marketplaces. Visions of Blade Runner pulse in my head while listening to French musician, Etienne Jaumet's debut album Night Music. Produced by the famous Detriot techno producer Carl Craig, Night Music is a minimalistic, reverberating and tense voyage into the future. The first track is titled "For Falling Asleep"; perhaps implying that you're meant to doze off somewhere during its 20 minutes of bass drone, vibrating synth lines, eerie resonating chants and cool saxophone. But you won't sleep. You'll travel to mars.

Etienne Jaumet - Entropy

Etienne Jaumet - Through the Strata

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The Ruby Suns are set to release a new album on March 2nd via Sub Pop Records, entitled Fight Softly. Judging from their released single "Cranberries", they have decided to move onwards in a more synthesized direction, diverging from their bells, live drums, and international flair that so encompassed their first album, Sea Lion. According to singer-songwriter Ryan McPhun, this newer album is "probably the opposite of what I did for the last one", adding more synthetic elements such as effected guitar and and bigger bass. Those of you that appreciated The Ruby Suns as a breath of fresh air from the overly synthed out music scene may find yourselves disappointed with the new album. However, Fight Softly still maintains a hint of  Sea Lion, with a dash of techno. 

Check out "Cranberries" below. It starts out as you might anticipate, but ends up somewhere in the land of Ace of Base. To me, its a strange combination, but it works, and...I still don't want to turn it off. 

They are touring with Toro y Moi this spring.

The Ruby Suns - Cranberries

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Beach House, a Baltimore based duo will be releasing their third album, Teen Dream, in late January 2010 (yes, we have concluded the 2000s. tear.) Released by Sub Pop, it can be found here. Pre-order, and receive a free poster! The album was recorded in upstate NY, with produced Chris Coady. Their first release with the Sub Pop label, Beach House will certainly deliver their dreamy pop sound full of organs, echoing vocals, and soft rhythms. Check out their song "Norway" from Teen Dream below!

Beach House - Norway

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Tis the season for catching up on the music world, while on a short break from work or school or whatever else you are doing. After perusing the interwebs for some catchy tunes, I happened upon Holly Miranda, a once-Detroit resident turned Brooklynite equipped with a soft, raspy voice that beautifully enhances acoustic guitar, lovely harmonies, and trumpets. Her Sleep on Fire EP can be purchased here and was produced by Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio. Kanye West has also hyped her music (before Pitchfork! scene points), and she recently toured with The Antlers and The XX. Check her out, because according to Vanity Fair, she is the "real deal", and why would they ever lie to you?

Holly Miranda - Forest Green Oh Forest Green

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I'm really enjoying the new Yeasayer album, Odd Blood, which comes out February 9, but leaked a few weeks ago. It's as great as everyone says, and I really want to post a track other than Ambling Alp here, but I feel like that's cheating the band, even if some other blogs are doing it. We'll just have to survive on youtube clips of early-ish live versions. And tons of tour dates.

Yeasayer - Ambling Alp

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Everyone's favorite British electropop band, Hot Chip, is touring this spring, to promote their new album, One Life Stand, which comes out in February and is purported to be "more mid-tempo and disco influenced" than Made in the Dark. I still enjoy their first album, Coming on Strong, which I feel was never given enough love.

They're awesome live, and better still, they'll be playing with The XX, who are pretty darn good in their own right.

Hot Chip - One Life Stand

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Crunchholdoh is a electronic/psychedelic pop band based in Richmond, VA, and consists of Jonatron - Crunch Collin - Hold David - Oh, according to myspace. I'm not sure exactly how many of those are separate people. They've put out a pretty sweet/strange album, which you can download for free, or even just stream if you're not ready for the kind of commitment that comes with downloading something.

Crunchholdoh - Woodstock '99

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You weren't thinking of Christmas music in August, but, if you're anything like me, you're up to your eyeballs in it now. It's not exactly the quintessence of avant garde or cutting edge --most of the genre is a soup of sucrose and tired standards. They evoke memories of puberty, of awkward family gatherings, yes--but seldom do they speak to creativity and emerging talent within the music industry.

Thankfully, Lauren Zettler and Cameron Mizell, here playing as Be Still, were thinking--all the way back in August--of how they could elevate the otherwise tired genre of holiday music. And, one listen to Zettler's wispy vocals and Mizell's deft touch to support Zettler's powerful voice with a range of sounds that evokes the blustery days of winter, you'll quickly forget this EP was made in the waning days of summer. 

Be Still - Sounds Like Snow

This video contains some nudity and is uncensored:

Yeasayer - Ambling Alp

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I am not a music critic, because I cannot think or write about music critically. My response to music is visceral and immediate; either it grabs me and I dig it, on some kind of spiritual level, or I don't and I toss it away.

With television, books, and movies, my opinions change more frequently, and I think that is because I understand those forms on a more analytic level. I understand the language of books and television, I perceive the art within them.

Music... I see no such art. Which isn't to say music isn't artistic, because it is. I just cannot perceive the art. So music becomes emotional for me. I don't care if one band sounds a lot like another if it's a sound I find irresistible. Such is the case with the Jacuzzi Boys, who sound like a sunbaked Black Lips. That's cool with me, the Black Lips are great and so are the Jacuzzi Boys. They perform in Miami pretty regular, and they just dropped a new album on Florida's Dying. Give them your dollar bills.

Jacuzzi Boys - Smells Dead

Jacuzzi Boys - Fruits

For me, perhaps like you, music is a passion, and you savor those moments on the El, the metro, the bus, or the car--when you can sink in to the rhythms and rhymes of a new crop of indie talent. Heck, depending on how committed you are to this 'looking cool' business, you might pull out an air drums and get totally lost in your morning commute. You're here, at this bastion of cool, this locus of indie-street-cred-energy--and maybe you're a bit overwhelmed. No time or dough for concerts? Not sure what the buzz is all about? I offer, from my iPod, 20 tracks that speak to the best and brightest of what's happening at the grassroots of the music industry. Try it out, see how it suits you and get a taste of my new favorites, in no particular order...