Now Downloading: New Releases 09.02.08

Short week, so short list, short intro. Of note, Kimya Dawson's foray into kids music makes it's digital debut a week early, along with the return of Tricky (which I featured a few days ago) but besides that there's new releases from Brian Wilson, Giant Sand, Apollo Sunshine, Bird Monster and TK Webb.

Playlist: New Releases 09.02.08

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Kimya Dawson - Alphabutt
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

The songwriting style of Kimya Dawson has always been endearingly juvenile, so it's hardly a stretch for her to release an album of children's music. It is an odd choice, though, for it to be the first album following Dawson's Juno breakthrough, and probably a year too late to cash in on the kid's music explosion, but Dawson's never been one to do what you'd expect (she's the real maverick, John). Inspired by her daughter Panda Delilah, who helps write and sings many of the songs, Dawson took her usual songwriting and added lots of 'pee' and 'poop.' I look forward to pulling out
"Pee-Pee in the Potty" when Zane begins that journey. (Actually, as I mentioned earlier this week, my son wrote a song called "Poop Bag," which, if I could decipher it, would fit in well with the songs here.) The next logical step, of course, is an appearance on Yo Gabba Gabba, Jack's Big Music Show or Pancake Mountain.

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Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

If it's a SMiLE sequel your looking for, you'll probably be disappointed. Brian Wilson is returning to his Beach Boys roots here, with the 50's and 60's in mind here. The Tin Pan Alley song "That Lucky Old Sun" works as the thread tying the album together, as it's reprised three different times in the album. Wilson reboot collaborator Van Dyke Parks is on board here, but his involvement here seems to be limited to spoken word narratives. It's a peculiar album overall, but there are plenty of highlights for a Beach Boy fan feast on, and perhaps, given Carl Love's current brand of Beach Boy nostalgia, that's all it needs to be. It's an album that made me smile listening to, but doesn't offer as much upon repeated listenings as SMiLE does.

Free album stream from AOL

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More on the radar this week:
Giant Sand - ProVISIONS / Free album stream / "Increments of Love" [mp3]
Tricky - Knowle West Boy (In Rhapsody a week early)
Apollo Sunshine - Shall Noise Upon / "Singing to the Earth (To Thank Her for You)" [mp3]
TK Webb & the Visions - Ancestor / Full Album Stream (Nylon) / "Teen Is Still Shaking" [mp3]
Birdmonster - From the Mountain To the Sea / Free album stream from AOL / "Born to Be Your Man" [mp3]
Sonya Kitchell - This Storm / "For Every Drop" [mp3]
Terrence Howard - Shine Through / Free album stream from AOL
Broadfield Marchers - The Inevitable Continuing / "Warchful Hill People" [mp3]
Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip - Angles / Free album stream from AOL
Jaguares - 45
Greater Than One - All the Masters Licked Me
Little Teeth - Child Bearing Man
Rainbow Arabia - The Basta EP
The Residents - The Bunny Boy
Young Jeezy - The Recession
Smithereens - B-sides - The Beatles
Rodney Crowell - Sex and Gasoline
REISSUE
Cracker - Countrysides / Free album stream from AOL / "The Black Hole" [mp3]

tags: music, album review, kimya dawson, tricky, indie rock, new releases, rhapsody

So Nice, So Smart

With all it's critical buzz and an opening weekend per screen average that was through the roof, Juno is already this year's little movie that could -- ala Little Miss Sunshine. One of the reasons that it's such an easy movie to root for is the underdog soundtrack that backs it, revolving around the music of Kimya Dawson, and we have actress Ellen Page to thank for that connection:

(Director) Jason Reitman and I were meeting...and he simply said, "Well, what do you think Juno would listen to?" ...I hopped on his computer and I played the Moldy Peaches for him. The next thing I knew he'd fallen in love.... and was in contact with Kimya Dawson, who is the female in the band, and he added the song ("Anyone Else But You") at the end of the film, which is a Moldy Peaches song. That song's been in my life for years, actually; there's a lot of sentimental value there. And the next thing we know Kimya Dawson is doing the music for the film. It was really incredible how that all worked out because it just feels perfect.
--Ellen Page, interview Pitchfork, 11-21-07

Dawson's quick and clever delivery in her songs are the perfect match for the Juno character, as the songs also evoke a strong feeling of innocence. While screenwriter Diablo Cody has such a strong presence in the film that the characters around Juno start to sound like her, the same could be said of Kimya Dawson and the rest of the music in the movie. As a result, we get "All I Want is You" by children's singer/songwriter Barry Louis Polisar, The Velvet Underground's "I'm Sticking with You," a Cat Power cover of "Sea of Love" and even Buddy Holly's "Dearest" -- all sounding like extensions of Dawson's music in the context of their surroundings.

Even Sonic Youth gets pulled into this precious sphere with their smart Carpenters cover of "Superstar," taken from the tribute album If I Were A Carpenter. Mark (Jason Bateman,) the prospective adoptive father, tries to use this song to connect with Juno -- the point where he turns from cool to slightly creepy. It's an interesting parallel having Mark identified with Sonic Youth, and Juno with The Moldy Peaches, as both bands were leaders of NY art-based reactionary movements some 20 years apart -- No Wave and Anti-Folk respectfully.

Besides the artists already mentioned there's The Kinks, Belle & Sebastian and Mott the Hoople to please the ears, but it's what's missing that is surprising. Juno, when asked to name her favorite band, says "a three-way tie between The Stooges, Patti Smith and The Runaways" and none of these appear in the soundtrack -- they're instead accompanied by a flash of black & white photos. It's just as well, because it's a construct of her character that seems too fantastical to believe, even buried under the spitfire of Cody's witty dialogue.

Playlist: Rssmbld Sndtrck - Juno
1. "Tire Swing" - Kimya Dawson
2. "My Rollercoaster (Juno Film Version)" - Kimya Dawson
3. "Once I Loved" - Astrud Gilberto
4. "All I Want Is You" - Barry Louis Polisar
5. "So Nice So Smart" - Kimya Dawson
6. "Besame Mucho" - Trio Los Panchos
7. "I Like Giants" - Kimya Dawson [mp3 - kimyadawson.com]
8. "A Well Respected Man" - The Kinks
9. "Doll Parts" - Hole
10. "I'm Sticking With You" - The Velvet Underground
11. "Dearest" - Buddy Holly
12. "Reminders Of Then" - Kimya Dawson
13. "Why Bother" - The Drop
14. "Sleep (Instrumental)" - Kimya Dawson
15. "Superstar" - Sonic Youth
16. "Up The Spout" - Mateo Messina
17. "12/26" - Kimya Dawson [mp3 - kimyadawson.com]
18. "Piazza, New York Catcher" - Belle and Sebastian
19. "Tree Hugger" - Kimya Dawson
20. "Expectations" - Belle and Sebastian
21. "Loose Lips" - Kimya Dawson [mp3 - kimyadawson.com]
22. "All The Young Dudes" - Mott the Hoople
23. "Anyone Else But You" - The Moldy Peaches [mp3]
24. "Sea Of Love" - Cat Power
25. "Vampire" - Antsy Pants
26. "Anyone Else But You" - Ellen Page, Michael Cera

More: Topless at The Mall - Juno and Iggy Pop