SOUNDTRACK: THE ZOLAS (3 Tracks on CBC 3 Radio) (2009).
I must have heard “The Great Collapse” on CBC 3 a few weeks ago because I heard it today and it was so catchy I was sure that I knew the band. And yet, when I saw the artist, I’d never heard of them before.
But it was so catchy I had to investigate.
The Zolas are from Vancouver, BC and must be the least self-promoting band ever. They have a Myspace and a Facebook site, but man it was hard to find anything about their CD. It’s available at Amazon (.ca and .com) but it’s for sale at a much more reasonable price here. (Ah, except that it’s $11 shipping to the States, which is more than the disc itself.)
The band list says there’s only two member and that they were previously (or concurrently) in a band called Lotus Children. But that this incarnation of their songwriting chops is a bit more dramatic, baroque even.
And these three songs have instantly made me want to get their disc. They are poppy, with wonderful choruses, and yet there are tempo changes and falsettos and surprise twists and turns.
“You’re Too Cool” has about three completely different songs in it, starting as a rollicking rock song, having a rousing chorus, and then, in the middle rather than a bridge we get almost a completely new, mellow song. “The Great Collapse” is a piano fueled romper with the real catch being the unexpected minor chord at the end of the verses. The third song “Marlaina Kamikaze” alters the style from the other two with a magnificent guitar intro. Although it also shifts at the midpoint to include more piano marching type music. And another killer chorus. The bridge then comes from out of nowhere (or perhaps from the circus) with a great piano breakdown section, slowly building up to the chanting chorus once more.
Thanks, CBC, for this band.
[READ: January-February 2010] Anonyponymous
This is the third book that Sarah gave me for Christmas. I thought I’d read it more quickly, but I got caught up in other books.
So, we’d read a summary of this book in The Week. This book is a collection of word origins that come from a person’s name (eponymous). The twist is that for the most part, the people are forgotten or unknown (hence anonymous). Anon-eponymous, aha!
There are tons of etymological books out there, but this one is very deliberately designed as a casual reader’s book. In fact, when a book lists itself in the definition of “crapper” then you can tell the tone of th ebook? What? Yes:
Crapper: A toilet; also, in phr. “crapper material,” a book or magazine meant to be read in the bathroom, e.g., this one. (more…)
I’m not sure how I first learned about 
SOUNDTRACK: LCD SOUNDSYSTEM-LCD Soundsystem (2005).
What’s a metal/prog guy like myself listening to LCD Soundsystem for? Even though the music of this genre (techno/electronica/ whateveritscalledthesedays) is not very complex…most songs in fact repeat the same motif for the entire 5 minutes of the song, and yet, damn if it’s not catchy. I tend to get excited by rave reviews of records, and there were some great reviews of the newest LCD record. I wound up getting the first one instead on the excitement of “Daft Punk is Playing in My House,” a ridiculous song that’s basically three notes repeated for 4 and a half minutes, but the conceit of the song, that Daft Punk is playing at his house, makes the song not only catchy, but also singable. Great good fun. Overall, this genre of music can get repetitive, which is great for the dance floor, but can get tiresome when just listening for pleasure (see the Hackers Soundtrack for an excruciatingly bland listen, and for a hilarious picture of Angelina Jolie when she was like 12 or something). But after a couple of dance floor tracks, he mixes it up a little bit with what is almost a ballad “Never as Tired as When I’m Waking Up.” This is a strong collection of songs. 
I Just Read About That... 