Lip Service

Chomp Chomp Chomp

Finishing your vegetables just got easier...



http://www.myspace.com/lettucefunk

Keep Your Day Job

From America to Iceland, the world is going through something I like to call "the recession blues". So as a nice contrast, I'd like to introduce a phenomenally freaky band from Malmö, Sweden, coined "Quit your Day Job". One listen to Quit Your Day Job's intoxicating beats and fantastically erratic ghoulish screams will obliterate all your cash concerns and wealth woes. They sound a bit like Gogol Bordello, but it is as if Eugene Hütz has been injected with lightening and chained to a keyboard. My two favorite songs are "Bodypoppers" and "Vlado Video. Bodypoppers is all about oiling up popcorn (or maybe yourself) and putting the whole mess into the microwave and watching it pop pop POP!!! "Vlado Video" has a lovely quick beat and ghoulish falsetto voices throughout. "Sweden we got a problem", "Sperms are germs", and "Freaks are out" are also spine tinglingly two-steppingly terrific. They could literally burn a house down, but you'd get the insurance money. Listen, gobble, oogle, and enjoy!


http://www.myspace.com/qyd

Micachu I Choose You!

After a brief hiatus and a long toilsome search through cyberspace, I am proud to present "Micachu and the Shapes".  Unlike the other bands on this site, Micachu and the Shapes have already gained a fair amount of recognition. They have a plethora of tour dates on their myspace and most notably, they played the Siren Music Festival in Coney Island and are lined up to play at Iceland Airwaves.  They recently released their first studio album "Jewellery" on March 9.  They also have a mix tape that features a couple of Mica Levi's solo singles entitled "Filthy Friends".  

Its not just about names with Micachu and the Shapes, although their band name and album titles are enchanting. Mica Levi, the lead singer and song writer of the band is inspired most by Harry Partch (an instrument creator and American composer in the mid twentieth century). Like Partch, Levi also makes her own instruments (she created the "Chu" which is a modified guitar played with a hammering motion) or uses household items such as a vacuum cleaner to create a very distinctive sound. To think of the work that went into those albums, the cultivating of specific sounds, be they broken bottles, or original creations, make the listener feel more enriched while absorbing Micachu and the Shapes. Download, ear nuzzle, and experience euphoria!

http://www.myspace.com/micayomusic

The Unicorns Are the Best Kind of Ghosts

This is one of my favorite bands with an odd name:

Back to School With Ambience!

As nearly chilly September approaches, school starts, and work continues as usual, we are all looking for some nice ambient noise. Aren't we? Ambient music can create wonderful background noise while you do whatever work you have piling up.  If you are an ambient afficionado already,  I ask you to push over your John Cage and Brian Eno discs and consider "ChOcklate CaKE".  Not only does it have a very silly name, but it is in my opinion, some of the choicest ambient noise. They use mostly industrial sounds and it reminds one of lying down in the middle of a working factory (including the myriad dream-like shouts of workers). They have no myspace and a google search of "ChOcklate CaKE" comes up with the obvious culinary related hits. Regardless, I want you to have them! Their album Pre-Historic BeAcH is a thing of beauty, my favorites are primal goo, smiley goo, and brehistoric peach. Download, brain nuzzle, and enjoy!

You can go to sadsteve.com and find em'...

http://sadsteve.com/search.py?q=chocklate+CaKE

(I am not responsible for any repercussions  from using above website) 

Lots o' Fun!

Dress Your Kittens in Rhinestones and Juggernauts!

I've been in a kitten mood lately, so I decided to do a bit of random searching to find bands using the keyword "kitten".  I think I found a gem...this week's distraction is deemed "Kitten Glitter".  I also found "Switchblade Kittens", "Tiny Paws of Fury" and "Atomic Kittens" but I never found another band that succumbed to the cuteness that the word kitten evokes. Kitten Glitter does what "The Unicorns" did, they take their name and run with it. 

With a sudden tornado of  varied sounds and sometimes little squeaks, this unsigned band from Lubbock, Texas, achieves an exciting paddy paw tapping pulse that is reminiscent of Anamanaguchi with a dash of Aphex Twin. Some would say "but this just seems like electrononsence!" But I say there is a cohesive rhythm. When dancing to Kitten Glitter you have to forge your own way.  Get out your two step machete and plow through the video game-esque tunes until you find the underlying beat. It takes a bit of getting used to at first, but after a few listens I found Kitten Glitter's beats to be charmingly erractic. My favorites are "Land seahorse" and "13 Hay Muchos Gatos". 

http://www.myspace.com/kittenglitter

Calling all satanists and horn lovers...

Here ye here ye!  The self-released eight-piece satirical sin ship deemed "Jesus H. Christ & the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse" is the first to be announced in a treasure trove of bands with odd names.  Jesus H. Christ & the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse have a fantastic horn section that gives the songs a dash of Parliament Funkadelity. Besides their swing, my favorite part about them are their lyrics. Their songs bring out the humor in all mundane and gloomy aspects of everyday life. My personal favorites are "Julie on the Fung Wah Bus" in which vocalist Risa Mickenberg recounts a Fund Wah Bus ride with a woman named Julie, "Obviously" where a young man is accused again and again of sleeping with a woman he met at his high school reunion...apparantly she was gross. "Connecticut's for Fucking" speaks for its self. Download, ear suckle, memorize...

http://www.myspace.com/jesushchristrocks