songs:illinois

If Ann Arbor doesn’t become the next Brooklyn I’d be surprised. Whilst researching another band from Ann Arbor (who I hope to have for you tomorrow) I came across the new record from Charlene Kaye. The new record is called Things I Will Need In The Past and is as eclectic as her geographic identity (Honolulu, Phoenix and Ann Arbor). On the song “Skin And Bones” she impossibly mixes symphonic pop, with operatic folk and piano rock (a la Tori Amos).

If the whole record is like this (and I’m told it is) it should be one fine listen. PR flaks are always telling me that such and such are a “force to be reckoned with”. It’s an immediate turnoff but in this case it’s probably an apt description of Charlene Kaye. Buy the new record here through Cd Baby.

Skin and Bones

“Skin and Bones” video

(ahh I used to love that comic)

How I couldn’t have heard of Kirsty McGee is beyond me. Well, now that I’ve found her she may very well take the place of Holy Cole, Aimee Mann, Suzanne Vega and Madeline Peyroux in my cd collection. This British chanteuse has a fondness for Kansas City meets New Orleans jazz and has the pipes of Billie Holiday. In this day and age it’s an odd, completely noncommercial, combination - making this all the more daring and lovable.

She’s calling her style “vaudebilly”. I think that’s a nice summation of her influences. Here are two songs from her upcoming album The Kansas Session. You can attempt to pre-order this through the artist’s mailorder site Hoboshop here.

Bonecrusher
Sandman

Bonus tracks

Killer Wasps

P.S. My alter ego (or is it split personality?) Swedesplease is thrilled with new music from Detektivbyrän.

I haven’t heard anything from Julian Cope in a long time. I miss his psychotic babblings about mother earth, Stonehenge and the little people living under the ground. The Durds are not exactly a perfect substitute, but they do mine the same, very odd, ground.

The Durds have a new record out this week on Banazan Records. The record is a called Cucumber Mosaic Virus Rampages Through My Field. The title track rambles along at a slow folky pace and mostly concerns itself with a banana subspecies called plantains (which btw are great, there’s a Cuban grocery store with a deli in the back on Devon that serves up especially juicy fired plantains and rice). While “Sultry Summer Nights” has an electronic beat and appears to be exactly what the title suggests (making it almost the weirder of the two tracks).

Order the record here.

Cucumber Mosaic Virus Rampage

Bonus

Sultry Summer Nights (at the European Court of Human Rights)

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(Editor’s note: I woke up this morning intending to post this piece about The Black Hollies but Some Velvet Blog Beat me to the punch. Still loving the track though, so I thought I’d just add it on to the bottom of this post instead or relegating it to the stack of throwaway posts.)

You’ve probably heard your fair share of 60’s influenced garage rock here on Songs:Illinois. We’ve kicked it old style from the beginning of the site with the likes of The Original Sins to The Fleshtones. Here’s a new one for me - The Black Hollies. I could be wrong; maybe it’s late/lack of sleep/delirium caused by too much computer time but I’m bopping my head and tapping my feet to this little nugget.

You can pre-order this Feb. 12 release called Casting Shadows from Ernest Jennings Record Co. here now.

Paisley Pattern Ground