Rock Torch

Jared Molyneux of The Shivas recommends TodaysHits

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Jared Molyneux of the Shivas and James Swanberg of TodaysHits

Jared Molyneux of the Shivas and James Swanberg of TodaysHits

Jared Molyneux’s artist recommendation: “I want to tell you all about one of my favorite bands, TodaysHits (pronounced Today’s Hits) from Chicago, Illinois. The first thing that I usually tell people about the band is that James Swanberg, the principal member of the group, writes, records and posts online to Tumblr one song every day. The second thing is that now, James is nearing his 1,000th day.

I first encountered the band on a trip to Chicago a few years back, only a couple hundred days into the project. At that point the band was just James on the mic and playing a Casio. Soon after it absorbed some guys from some of my other Chicago favorites, Magic Milk and The Sueves, and since then it has grown so that now, aside from keeping to the song a day regimen, they run their own cassette label Tripp Tapes, tour the country, and have upcoming releases on Burger Records, Gnar Tapes and Randy Records.

Now, not only is it impressive to me that they are able to stick to writing a song a day for so long, but also the sheer number of true “hits” that come from the process. You might expect a song a day to produce a lot of filler to just get some material posted by midnight, but that is not the case with a lot of these pop gems. TodaysHits’ particular brand of rock and roll is well suited by many of the aspects of music production that their rapid pace necessitates. A song a day ensures a minimalism in instrumentation with the result bearing heavy resemblance to the 50’s jams that TodaysHits numbers always bring me back to. Also, a song a day means primarily home recording, nothing fancy, which makes it perfect. It sounds the way black and white TV looks, you see everything you need to, nothing more and nothing less. None of this hi-res, hi-fi, hi-def where a mole on Vin Diesel’s ass is visible from fifty yards … no one wants that. All this said, their live performance is even better than the recordings. Their melodies are relentlessly catchy and their lyrics are so clear and relatable that they completely entrance the audience. They don’t play very fast nor very loud, but they manage to get everyone’s hearts beating and feet moving.

I think the spirit of TodaysHits is well illustrated by the image of James’ apartment, which I saw recently for the first time. I knew he had lived there for a while, which is why when I first walked in I was surprised. It’s pretty much empty. It reminded me of the pictures of Syd Barrett in his empty apartment on the cover of Madcap Laughs. That’s when it became clear to me that all this guy does is write songs (both when he is and isn’t slinging bottles at the liquor store down the street). In the middle of the bare living room is a curious five foot tall stack of Olde English boxes. I asked him what they were for and he told me that this was the radio tower from which the hits are broadcasted to the world. This is the only place in the apartment he can get his neighbors’ internet in order to upload the songs. Throughout the course of the project, speaker and headphone jacks have broken, computers have broken, mixes have been done blindly, but equipment breaking never means missing a day.”

New to TodaysHits? Jared suggests you start here: “With TodaysHits, aside from the undeniably catchy stripped down songs that are in extreme abundance, it is the spirit of the whole thing that captures me. See for yourself, you can find all of their songs archived on the TodaysHits Tumblr as well as some favorites catalogued into collections on TodaysHits Band Camp page. Also, look out for their new tape “Gourmet Jerks” out soon on Burger Records and Gnar Tapes and their new 7” on Randy.”

Jared MolyneuxAbout our guest author, Jared Molyneux: When listening to this year’s Music Fest NW broadcast, KEXP broadcasters announced that we’d be hearing a set from their ‘favorite new band.’ Rock Torch HQ sat in a hush waiting for the band name to be revealed. And…it’s…THE SHIVAS, and they killed it at MFNW. We were late to learning about the band, so big thanks to KEXP for schooling us about these guys. They’re garage, surf, harmonized, low-fi, retro and most important of all, fun to listen to. The Shivas (whose name is taken from the Hindu god of destruction and restoration) hails from Portland, OR and recently released a fantastic LP, Whiteout! on K Records. They also impressively won the opening slot on a slew of dates opening for The Dandy Warhols. Now that KEXP has effectively spread the word, you have no excuse – get on board with this very great band. Check The Shivas website for tour info, news and more.

Robert Dale of Belgian Fog recommends Jacques Brel

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Robert Dale and Jacques Brel

Robert Dale and Jacques Brel

Robert Dale’s artist recommendation: “For Belgian Fog, the biggest inspiration really comes from Flemish chanteur Jacques Brel. Brel voiced the struggles of very disparate people through characters he created as a way to commentate on Western culture and the general Weltanschauung of his time(1950s and 60s). The realism and emotion he was able to convey just fascinates me and the variety of characters and issues he worked with really inspires me. The genre he worked in demanded fairly intricate orchestral arrangements and I have no doubt he would be making avant-art-pop if he were a young man alive today.

Brel was a whimsical, flighty, romantic, charismatic and brilliant individual who quit his job at a cardboard factory against his family’s wishes to move to Paris to live a rather Bohemian lifestyle and pursue the art which he felt fulfilled him the most. When he began his musical career, his work was mediocre at best and his performances were terribly dull as he sat sedately strumming the classical guitar in front of him. He was told to ditch the guitar and stand as he performed which opened a new world for him and in all probability affected his songwriting.

He wrote primarily using his guitar and later collaborated with two other fellows to work out the arrangements and production. This team churned out song after song of absolute inimitability and his work began to draw opera-houses full of fans who would watch in amazement at his emotionally acrobatic display. He stopped abruptly in the late 60s out of sheer exhaustion. He has a quote that goes something like, “When I started out, no one liked my music and they wanted me to stop, but now, I want to stop and they tell me I mustn’t.”

Watching his performances is the absolute best way to experience his music. The emotional intensity, be it beauty, pain, humor, etc. is magnified immensely with his exaggerated gestures and facial expressions. We think of actors suffering from trying to feel the necessary emotions for a given scene, but the emotional toll it must have taken on Brel to get into character is difficult to understand.”

New to Jacques Brel? Robert suggests you start here: “Probably the best album he ever released was Ces Gens-La, and for non-French speakers like myself, I recommend looking up videos of his performances with subtitles on YouTube.”

Robert DaleAbout our guest author, Robert Dale: LA native Robert Dale has been in several bands, but his latest focus lies with his solo project, Belgian Fog. Beautifully blending electronic and lo-fi elements, his music is mixed to evenly blend his pastiche pop arrangements and his strong vocal presence. His songs perfectly combine ’80s synth and Morrisey’s croon and have recently attracted John Goodmanson, who has worked with Los Campesions and Death Cab For Cutie and is now mixing Belgian Fog songs. Robert now writes, records and produces from his home studio in his Seattle residence.

Alina Simone recommends Daniel Johnston

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Alina Simone and Daniel Johnston

Alina Simone and Daniel Johnston

Alina Simone’s recommendation: “I love Daniel Johnston. I spent three years living in Austin when his cassette tapes were still on sale for three dollars next to the cash registers of most of the record stores in town. One of the tapes I bought then, Yip Jump Music, lives in a little portable tape player I bought for this express purpose. His music manages to combine the pop genius of Beatlesque melodies with the heart-clawing rawness of outsider art. Lately I’ve been listening a lot to Rocket Ship. I love the chilling falsetto of Johnston’s voice, the way he pumps the chord organ propulsively to build the tension as we approach lift-off, and the glorious, sloppy, shimmering mess of the last verse, “The stars are blurry, we’re going fast!” The whole thing is more like an audio poem, the words anthropomorphized by the quaver in Johnston’s voice and the klang of the cheap air organ keys hitting the baseboard. As a singer, my chief concern is always, “How do I make people FEEL something? How can I make every note interesting and every word matter?” I never want to just coast through a song. I hate “mellow.” I want the tension strung like a tight wire. It’s a reason to love my music or hate it. Daniel achieves this seemingly effortlessly. We are with him in that rocketship. And even if it’s made of cardboard and the controls are nothing but a string of christmas lights, we’re taking off.”

Alina SimoneAbout our guest author, Alina Simone: We learned about Alina Simone from our long time friends at Donewaiting.com and shame on us for not hearing about her sooner. This Brooklyn based indie wonder made USA Today’s Top 100 People List in 2008 and from there the praise just kept on a-comin’. Her 2008 release Everyone Is Crying Out To Me, Beware snagged 3 1/2 stars from Spin Magazine and landed on Yahoo Music and The Huffington Post’s best music of the year lists. Her new record, Make Your Own Danger has perked up the ears of Pitchfork who praised her as ‘…always being on the verge of blowing up’ and secured a solid 7.2 rating. And if all the acclaim for Alina’s music wasn’t enough, she is also getting attention in the literary world for her collection of essays, You Must Go and Win. Be sure to check Alina’s site for Summer tour dates.

Check the single (MP3): Beautiful Machine by Alina Simone from Make Your Own Danger

And stream the entire album here:

Adam Green carries a torch for Turner Cody

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Adam Green and Turner Cody

Adam Green and Turner Cody

Adam Green’s recommendation: “I recommend Turner Cody, he’s one of my favorite songwriters. We got started together, both playing at open mics and on the subway in New York. I look up to him because he has a deep grasp of poetics and because he’s tall. Turner is somewhat of a contrarian (e.g. he’s a Jewish Republican who was born a Waspy Democrat) and his music likewise is unconventional. A song like ‘This Springtime’ is cunningly intellectual while still serving to continue the folk tradition. Nobody writes more romantic songs than Turner. Unfortunately one could maybe use a libretto for some of his lyrics because he mumbles sometimes.”

New to Turner Cody? Adam Green suggests you start here: “People should start off with a compilation 60 Seasons which is available on iTunes. I wish it had ‘Nicole’s Song’ on it (one of my favorites) but it’s a good introduction to his early work and people can get an idea from there. He’s probably recorded 10 albums which you can probably acquire if you go to his MySpace page. Enjoy!”

MP3: Next To You by Turner Cody

Adam GreenAbout the guest author, Adam Green: Adam Green’s music career began in the mid ’90s when he and Kimya Dawson formed the wildly popular indie band, The Moldy Peaches, a duo that later expanded into a six piece outfit that opened internationally for The Strokes. The band’s ‘Anyone Else But You’ was recently featured in Juno, featuring Michael Cera and Ellen Page’s adorable take on the song before the credit roll. The Moldy Peaches are on hiatus and Adam has since released a slew of great CDs, complete with songs about ‘Rich Kids,’ ‘White Women,’ ‘Hairy Women’ and, well, Jessica Simpson (see below). Adam’s is touring so be sure to spy the dates here.


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