How Much You Want to Give Away Just to Feel Loved/I Will Turn the Hose on This Culture, Make My Presence Known

(photo via NRK P3's Flickr)

You've probably heard of Ida Maria (myspace) already.  You should have!  People tried to tell me, tried plenty.  Bill from Soundbites tried to drag me to see her at Galapagos last year at CMJ, and since then there's been a building critical alignment behind her single "Oh My God."  (Amy has the track up, and pretty much all the review it requires.)

But this isn't for the critics, it's not darling, this should be on mainstream rock radio playlists, this should have been pumping out your car radio on your way to the shore this weekend.

I initially refused to listen because she's Norwegian, and Norway's too close to Sweden, and if you slop "Sweden" and "indie" in the same sentence I'm outta there faster'n Usain Bolt.  Let others splash around in La Breaish pits of preciousness.  What folks should have told me is that, birthplace aside, Ms. Maria rocks most Irishly.  Not because her music is anthemic or treacly or jiggy; it's in her flavor and phrasing.  There's drinking and haplessness and guilt (hopefully no one sees that song and mistakes it for some OMG tweenpop anthem), there's a respect for time-tested rock structures and a willingness to shove those in back so the vocal line can go splat with expressive disregard.

("Oh My God" would sound great spilling out the gaps of Shane MacGowan's mouth.  I'd like to hear her cover Van Morrison.  Or hear Van Morrison cover her "Drive Away My Heart.")

It's hard to remember the last time there was any genuine popular and critical commitment to a rock band.  Probably The Strokes?  Oh, good:  Ida Maria also sings songs that people could consider Strokes-ish ("Morning Light," "Louie").  If you liked The Strokes, you should like Ida Maria too.  There you go!

Except that Ida (apparently pronounced EE-da, not EYE-da) is too full of life to bury herself behind a megaphone like Casablancas.  All you need to know about her is in the track below.  "Queen of the World" is my favorite track on her record, a lament against the threat of impending maturity delivered with a grasshopper's glee.  Or something, whatever.  But that part right there around the 1:35 mark where she sings "Free..." should be everywhere, all the time.

Ida Maria - Queen of the World (mp3) (buy)

Exclamation points.

Fortress Round My Heart is a real good record (One apparently without any planned American distribution, so guys, let's work on that, huh?),  not a bad banana in the bunch... though it would be better had they dropped closer "See Me Through."  It's a quiet track meant to bookend "Oh My God."  There's mandolin.  Fuck that.  Better to go out on QotW, bumping and spinning and singing and singing and singing.

(photo from f o x x x's Flickr)

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(photo from Chris Frump's Flickr)

The more I listen to Screaming Females' What if Someone is Watching Their TV? the more I'm convinced this was the best album from last year that no one was listening to.  Record's real raw sounding, not in the hazy lo-fi way that's all the rage, more like a traditional lo-budg basement tape.  There's some slop, and some stiffness, but this is real. real good.

Screaming Females - Fun (mp3) (buy)

Screaming Females - Starve the Beat (mp3) (buy)

Every time Marissa P. backs away from the microphone I have no idea where her guitar will go.  "Everyone has the music they love," she sings; people are bound to hear different bits of favorites popping in.  "Starve the Beat" moves from its post-punk riff into psych-rock noodling to noise so smoothly it feels both surprising and right.  One part holds the thing together, the rest makes it interesting.  Glue and feathers.  And these solos aren't indulgent, they're never long enough for that.  They're worthy asides, relevant tangents.

I should probably mention Television somehwere, so:  Television.  And many more!

You can buy the record here.  You can hear more on their myspace.  "Boyfriend" is still a best favorite.

I really need to get off my ass and see these guys live so I can officially wave the Important Band flag.  It's been so long since I've needed that one.  Not sure where I've put it.  Probably in a box somewhere.

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I've been overtaken by matters practical; also, my internet has mostly disappeared!  Posting should be spottier than usual over the next couple weeks.  I know!  Anyway, go elsewhere.  Outside, maybe!  I don't recall another August spent in this town where the AC has been allowed to stay silent for weeks on end.  Enjoy your Labor Day.

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Important Greatest Huh? on What? Update:

Wow!  A TOUCHDOWN.  Two, even!  In preseason!  Hope they've got something left in the tank!

Our first score only counted after a coach's challenge.  WE ARE AN OFFENSIVE MEGAPOWERHAUS.

tags: screaming females  ida maria  

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