Usually this series focuses on a single musician or track, and if you can give us four minutes, we can give you something fresh to experience. Since we’ve been laid off for so long, though, I thought it would be best to throw in a super-sized installment, themed around stuff that doesn’t stand out based on a five second description, but grows on you as soon as you listen to it.
The Twees – It’s an indie band from New York named The Twees. This group starts with two strikes, but they swing for the fences once you give it a listen. Lessons to Connect is a streamlined, confident ride that’s worth taking off the lot. I’m sure everyone involved in making it is tired of hearing connections that other modern/vintage New York band with jangling guitars and laid back vocals, but the self-effacing lyrics feel genuinely humorous, the production is simple without feeling low-budget, and Jason Abrishami’s vocals are smooth and confident. Full Circle and Different Pages are the main showstoppers on the record, but since it’s a short listen, there isn’t a sense of quality decay. You can get it for free, if you sign up for the group’s mailing list. Seems well worth it. Visit them at http://thetwees.fanbridge.com/ and investigate, or listen to this right now:
Leopold and his Fiction – When I was introduced to this group, I was asked to “think Dead Weather meets Wolfmother”. What a terrible thing to think about. It’s a good thing that once you put the record on, you’ll be able to think much happier thoughts. If you absolutely had to play the tedious “x meets x” game, you’d probably start the grit of a 70’s blues group and stir in the passion of an underground group out of the 80’s. Leopold and his Fiction grabs a bunch of bits you’re just barely able to recognize, stirs them in a blender of inventiveness and pours out a concoction you won’t be able to pull out of your ears easily. Ain’t No Surprise has been in my CD player for a couple of weeks now, and it’s fighting off all contenders. Break your daily hustle and bustle long enough to give this a chance, and it’s almost guaranteed to move you.
Infinien – I’ve wanted to write about this group for the last year or so, and since they’re working on their next album (there will be a feature on these guys later, count on it), I figured now would be an excellent time to hype their debut record. It’s amazing in a way that makes the idea of describing it verbally sound absurd. The songs are so dense that it’s hard to nail down one overriding feel to it, but it doesn’t sound like a sloppy mess, either. The entire thing is available to stream below, but make sure you’ve got ten dollars in your PayPal account, because after thirty seconds, you’ll probably be reaching for your wallet.
Knights on Earth – Knights of Earth transitions smoothly between atmospheric post-rock and chilled out blues – it’s not something you hear often (or ever), but damned if it doesn’t work wonderfully. Their record, Move Slow, Life Ends feels most comfortable when it’s throwing a curve at the listener – the smooth kind of stuff that you’d play at a coffeehouse works well enough, though, and is smooth without being seep-inducing. It’s a shame that Gentle Spoken Flight isn’t on Move Slow, Life Ends – I like it as much as anything on the record itself.
It’s been a year and change since I last posted on this site, and I wouldn’t be shocked if people stumbled onto the main page, read some articles (and do feel free to plunge the archives, that stuff is timeless if I say so myself) and left, assuming this was another promising but abruptly discontinued music blog – there are, unfortunately, so many of those. I wasn’t even polite enough to leave a note on the door letting visitors know I as on indefinite hiatus. I didn’t post on the forums, and while I responded to emails and other messages – thanks to everyone who sent little notes asking me where I was and how I was, doing by the way – Stereo Zeitgeist had become something I wanted to put way at the back of my mind.
Money had a little something to do with it.
Laziness and a profit motive can derail useful endeavors – just ask the guys at BP. As easy as it is to rail against a faceless corporate bureaucrat for making easy decisions that cost people their lives and livelihood, we make many of the same decisions on a smaller scale in our everyday lives. I started getting some writing published, mostly boring stuff and mostly under pseudonyms. I wish that hadn’t affected my ability to make good, compelling posts for SZ. I wish I could tell you I was even more motivated to get my labor of love off the ground. But the thing about labors of love is that they’re best when they’re not closely related to your labors of, well, labor. Running a music blog is a thrilling diversion for an accountant in need of a creative outlet, but if you’re already writing professionally, you tend to sit in front of a screen and think “great, more words”.
But even as I took my… extended leave from the site, the music was always around. Between the interesting stuff that I got through this website and picks from people in my real life, there was always something going on between my ears that I had the urge to share with people. Finally, so much of it built up that I felt like I was gonna pop if I didn’t. So, we brought it back.
I’d rather not have any of the tunes share the spotlight with my meta posting – by the way, if you like hearing about why there isn’t a new post or what the guys here ate for lunch… just follow the Twitter account, which will keep you up to date on new postings and other trivial manners from now on.