Quick Hits, Vol. 7 (New Pornographers, Interpol, Johnny Winter, Sharon Van Etten, Body Count, Duck Sauce)

The New Pornographers - Brill Bruisers.  I like this album.  Fun pop mixed with interesting alternative and indie bits makes for a less obscure/more accessible Arcade Fire kind of sound.  I saw the New Pornographers years ago at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Waterloo Park and thought they were pretty cool.  Since then, I have come to love Neko Case and she definitely shines on this album.  Her voice is really a great thing.

This tune, Champions of Red Wine, is the most listened to song on the album, and it is just odd enough (those skipping choral sounds and skittering waterfall synth) to escape a straightforward pop/rock chug and be something better.

Interpol - El Pintor.  I tried these guys a few times during the run up to ACL, but they just don't click for me.  Reminds me of The National, where several people I know (who have good musical taste) dig them, but they just sound mopey and uninteresting to me.

Johnny Winter - Essential Johnny Winter.  This dude just died, and Rolling Stone wrote him up as a top-notch, greatest-guitarist-of-all-time conversation type talent.  As an aside, Winter was also apparently an albino, which is a weird but awesome fact for some like me who is pigmentally challenged.  And from Beaumont, which has so rarely produced anything of value.  This music reminds me of the Allman Brothers, with a little ZZ Top, and a little old roadhouse blues.  Winter is definitely skilled on the guitar, and can haul ass with major intensity.  The start of this one sounds just like some Stevie Ray Vaughan (and his bassist looks like Stephen King in need of a beard):

Knowing that he was doing this stuff in the 60's makes it even more impressive to me, because hearing this for the first time makes it sound derivative of the blues guitarists who have so obviously cribbed his style over the decades.  Cool look back into rock and roll history here.

Sharon Van Etten - Are We There.  The torchy feel of the Lana Del Rey songs.  Timid voice over slinky tunes and lyrics about love.  Not my cup of tea, but pretty.

Body Count - Body Count.  I remember buying this album when in came out back in high school and thinking I was a HUGE rebel.  Cop Killer!  Yeah!  And then I listened to it a few times and took it back to Waterloo (do they still offer full money back on returns within 10 days?  I would bet not in this day of mp3s, but that was awesome back then).  It popped back into my head the other day and I listened again - kind of funny (well, darkly funny, the way Django Unchained might be funny) but really not all that good as far as the music goes.  AND Cop Killer isn't actually on the album available on Spotify.  I wonder if they just erased the memory of that song ever since Ice T became a TV cop? Nope, it is still out there:

Still makes me feel like a rebel.

Duck Sauce - Quack.  Electronic disco dance.  And silly.  Loads of dumb duck and quacking references, little boing sounds, and random snippets of talk on here in between the tail-feather-wagging beats.  Fun music, but just not really something I want to hear while chilling at my desk. Here is the one "hit" I know of for them, Barbara Streisand:

Like I said, fun music, silly music, but not something I am going to seek out to jam all the time.