I generally like to have lots of kettles in the fire. I like to have new and exclusive songs arriving in my inbox at least on a weekly, if not daily, basis. But the summer doldrums have set in, as well as the fact that there are now so many music bloggers plying their trade. So I was happy to finally have the new song from the Ditty Bops arrive this morning. You may have heard of the Ditty Bops because of their numerous times on Grey’s Anatomy, or for the press their bike tours received, or for their support of same sex unions (they were married in 2008). But all that is a distraction from their music. Playful, old timey, swinging, circus cabaret would be an apt description.

The new song “Lemon Tree” is from an 8 track cd called The Color Album (previously on Warner the girls now are self released). You can buy the new album here. Here
s what Abby and Amanda have to say about the new record:

“Songs inspired by the colors of the rainbow, plus bonus color PINK. With everything from soothing lullabies to upbeat zesty tunes, this new colorful folk album is great for kids and grown ups. Each recycled paper CD jacket is hand-painted by The Ditty Bops,
so every cover is unique!”

Lemon Tree

Wishful Thinking video (Warner Records days)

The songs on Daniel Knox’s new, yet unreleased record, Evryman For Himself remind me a bit of the vampire-rock-opera-for-puppets that Jason Segel’s character in Forgetting Sarah Marshall was working on. Now I know that movie was a comedy and the music was intended to be funny yet I found it strangely compelling and so outside the mainstream that it was more refreshing than it was amusing. So the same can be said for the gothic cabaret stylings of Daniel Knox.

“I Make Enemies” is a fine example of what I’m talking about with it’s odd lyrics of “I make faces at the women and the kids all day long” but at the same time featuring John Zornesque sax solos and umpa lumpa tubas (?!).

Daniel Knox is appearing at Schubas on Wed. Nov 25 with Haley Bonar and Sin Ropas so you really can’t go that wrong.

I
Make Enemies

Andrew Phillip Tipton is an anti-folk artist of the finest caliber. His previous albums combine the strangeness of Daniel Johnston with the occasional tunefulness of Jonathan Richman. It’s an odd mixture and now that the new record is a nautical concept record of lofi sea shanties it only gets weirder. Admiral of the Narrow Sea is the name of this new project.

I believe music blogs should be the point of entry for music like this and not a place where remixers, big releases, and pr heavy bands constantly overwhelm the aggregators like Elbo.ws and Hype shutting out any truly new and unusual music.

“Looking For You” has all the charm you’d expect from a song recorded entirely in Andrew’s bedroom on Ukelele and what sounds like toy instruments.

Looking For You

In a world where everyone is doing some semblance of the same old thing Madame Pamita is a breath of fresh air. Her new record Madame Pamita’s Wax Works can be picked up here (comes with a fortune, a good luck penny from the 1800′s and an origami made by Pamita).

He’s In The Jailhouse Now
Cocaine

“Pink Pocketbook”

Fat Cat Records in the UK reminds me a lot of present day Sub Pop here in the states. They release whatever the hell they want regardless of genre and regardless of commercial success. The new record out on Fat Cat by The Balky Mules (Sam Jones from Movietone) is an example of a record that will surely fail by all of the normal measurable stats. But artistically it’s a completely different story.

“Range” from The Length Of The Rail has a little bit of that Jonathan Richman sweetness and naivety mixed with a slightly twee assortment of lyrics about CSNY, “99 Red Balloons, and “beans and egg and hash”. Musically it’s got just enough oddball percussion and catchy folk guitar riffs to be perfect for repeat listens. Although this is out now it’s very hard to find on the Fat Cat Records site. Good luck tracking this one down!

Range

I wrote about the extremely lofi twee folk of Andrew Phillip Tipton a while back (here and here). Now Andrew’s got a new ltd. edition covers record out. These two songs have a lot in common with classic Daniel Johnston. They share his fondness for out of tune ukeles, banjos and tinkling keys. Andrew’s voice is somewhere between that of a whisper and a the sound of a child. Thus it’s perfectly suited for this creepy Belle and Sebastian cover and the spooky version of the theme song to Disney’ ride The Haunted Mansion.

Dressed Up In You
Grim Grinning Ghosts

Animated version of the original “Grim Grinning Ghosts”

Belle and Sebastian on BBC doing “Dressed Up In You”

I wrote about Andrew Phillip Tipton way back when. He’s an anti-folk superstar (on the nyc subway platforms at least). His new record is called the Champion of Love and features a bit more robust sound as Phillip’s simple guitar strums have been supplemented with cello, percussion and electric guitar.

These songs combine the drug addled delusional rock of Daniel Johnston with the simple mindedness of Jonathan Richman. And if that’s not something you can get behind than I don’t know what else to say. The new record comes out June 13 on Big No One Records.

Love Champ

P.S. I’ll be posting infrequently this week as I leave for Sweden in a few hours. Any posts I do throw up will be more travelogue than mp3 blog. But I will be attending Hultsfred Festival where I hope to catch Kathleen Edwards and Rufus Wainwright. So perhaps I’ll be reviewing those. Wish me luck!?

I may not be the go to place for all things uke on the web, but hell I’m damn close. The new record from Jenny Jenkins is called Oventoucher and it’s just a little weird. Anti-folk tends to be that. I mean the instruments are barely played and often out of tune, vocals are gloriously out of key, and emotions are lain bare for all to see.

You can buy her new record here though Bicycle Records (at the moment the site is down but by the time you read this maybe it’ll be back up).

Buy Oventoucher here from Bicycle Records.

Chance
River