Catnip for Hipsters

Yo La Tengo - Here to Fall

I saw the legendary Yo La Tengo perform to a packed house in Wellington last night and was blown away by the level of musicianship on display. Playing for over two hours, the show was filled with amazing material from start to finish, but having come to Yo La Tengo’s music late (read: 2010), one of my favorite songs that they performed was the opening track to their new album, ‘Popular Songs’. While there have been more articulate lyrics in music history, something about the way that Ira sings “I know you’re worried, I’m worried too” over a beautiful, rising string section that gets me every time the chorus comes around. The simple fact that these indie rock stalwarts are still creating emotionally resonate music two decades after their formation is a cause for celebration.

indierawk:

Miike Snow - Black & Blue.

Anybody else in awe at how much the Swedes just get pop music these days? Miike Snow, jj, El Perro Del Mar, Kings of Convenience (well, they’re Norwegian, but close enough)… All these bands are simply on another level.

tuneage:

Dent May - “You Can’t Force a Dance Party”

I don’t often tend to write about myself except for the occasional note about concerts I’m attending, but last weekend I attended a music festival in New Zealand that warrants a change in protocol. Campus A Low Hum is a New Zealand music festival held in an abandoned boarding school in the middle of the nowhere, with only one thousand people in attendance and no bands being announced beforehand. This ensures that there are never any waiting in lines, all the artists are equally respected, and everyone will have a great time.

There are so many highlights from the festival, it’s difficult to narrow it down but here is a list of just a few: seeing Dan Deacon playing a show in an abandoned pool and dancing on stage with reckless abandon; enjoying the ice cream social that the Polka Dot Dot Dots put on; listening to the sweet, twee sounds of Jens Lekman on the last night; participating in a Physical Education class run by Dan Deacon, the official king of the campus.

By far the best thing about Campus is seeing new bands that you have never heard of. The festival is set up so that no bands play at the same time, so you never have to decide between which bands to see. The best surprise of the festival was the good feeling music of Dent May and his magnificent ukulele. While walking by the stage where Dent was performing, I was immediately taken in by his magnetic stage presence, which is incredible given how many bands I had seen in the last twenty-four hours. Performing with only a ukulele and a sideman equipped with a tambourine and maracas, he filled the campus with his great songs and crooning voice. After a fantastic set on the main stage, he also performed a low-key set at ten-thirty in the morning down the hall from my dorm room, covering the Beach Boys and Waylon Jennings. If you live in New Zealand and care about music, make sure not to miss this unique and fun event next year.

On another personal note, I have recently resigned from my job and will be going back to school to obtain a Masters degree. I only mention this because my posting frequency will be significantly reduced because I will not be listening to music eight hours a day as I do now. Catnip will continue to highlight some of my favorite tracks, so please stick around and discover some new music.

Neon Indian - Deadbeat Summer

I will be the first to admit that I am extremely late to the chillwave party, but in my defense it’s rather difficult to get into fuzzy, chilled out music when you are wearing two jumpers, woolen socks, and find yourself gathered around a gas heater trying to stop your blood from freezing. Having some distance on the whole phenomenon where every band with a dancy, lo-fi sound was getting buzz, I think that one of the true talents that has emerged from the pile is Neon Indian. ‘Deadbeat Summer’ is unabashedly retro, with the sound that wouldn’t sound out of place coming from a overplayed cassette tape blasting out of a boombox. Whereas a lot of chillwave artists seem happy to let nostalgia alone carry a song, Neon Indian’s clear love of pop music allows him to build something unique and creative out of the rubble of the past, instead of using it simply as a crutch.

If you like what you hear, check out the Imaginary Summer mixtape carefully constructed by my friend Jay over at Mix Lovers International, which has many other great chillwave acts like Javelin, Memory Cassette, and Washed Out.

Neko Case - Deep Red Bells

Picking a song to highlight from the lovely Neko Case’s catalog is more than a little difficult. Starting with “Blacklisted” and continuing to her most recent album, “Middle Cyclone”, she has produced some of the most beautiful and striking Americana music of the decade. ‘Deep Red Bells’ is one of the darkest lyrical tracks that Neko has written, inspired by feelings of vulnerability of being a young woman while the Green River Killer was on the loose in Washington. I have always been chilled by her description of blood in the first verse as “[looking] a lot like engine oil and tastes like being poor and small, and Popsicles in the summer”.

Camera Obscura - Lloyd, I’m Ready to be Heartbroken

Anyone paying attention yesterday could have easily figured out which artist would be featured on Catnip today, the twee indie rockers, Camera Obscura. While French Navy remains my favorite track from this Glasgow band, the lead track from ‘Let’s Get Out of the Country’ is a close second. Written as a response to Lloyd Cole and the Commotions’ ‘Are You Ready to be Heartbroken’, this deceptively simple song gets under your skin with the resignation of Tracyanne Campbell’s delivery, accepting the heartbreak that she views as inevitable.