Hype Monitor: Memory Tapes, Lover!, Diamond District

October 15th, 2009 by J. Edward Keyes Leave a reply »


The Band: Memory Tapes
The Buzz: Ex-member of overlooked Philly punks Hail Social, Dave Hawk writes eerie, mysterious pop songs long on atmosphere and mood. This is no hipper-than-thou niche act: Hawk was recently contacted about remixing a Michael Jackson song for a posthumous collection.
Listen If: You’re slowly getting into this whole “chillwave” thing, but wish that chilly meant “spooky” as often as it meant “remote.”
Key Track: “Green Knight,” where Hawk’s unnaturally high voice glides over gently burbling percussion and strange, plaintive organs. It’s lovely and unsettling at the same time, like The Police’s “Wrapped Around Your Finger” sung by a choir of ghosts.

The Band: Lover!
The Buzz: In the first place, the frontman and key member’s name is Rich Crook, which is the kind of Pynchonian calling card most people make up. It also could be describing his future: cannily nabbing everything from grizzled mid-’70s garage to slowed-down surf music, Crook, as Lover!, writes the kind of scuzzy, tuneful pop that is instantly singable. It’s perhaps no surprise he used to be a member of similarly scuffed punker Jay Reatard’s band.
Listen If: Your favorite part of playing old Heartbreakers 45s is when a clump of dirt got stuck to the needle.
Key Track: The hyperactive “Worthless,” three-minutes of prattle and hum that roars by like a souped up Cadillac.

The Band: Diamond District
The Buzz: Longtime denizen of the underground Oddisee teams with MCs (and Scrabble proper-name points bonanzas) XO and YU for a record that documents the seamy underbelly of our nation’s capital, rapping about people in tight times pushed well past the breaking point.
Listen If: You don’t call it ” ’9...

Article Source: Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily

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