Are you going to bottle all that up inside you?

(written Sat, July 6)

It's been a rainy and winded two days. Two hours of sleep doesn't complement four hours of salsa dancing the next day, from which a 2am return can't complement a college interview later that morning, which shouldn't complement later travel research at a local bureau, which certainly doesn't complement another few hours of practice with the frisbee team after. But that's how it worked out. And it worked. I'm exhausted. This set is a shot of caffeine to my weary nerves.

While driving a full car home from salsa dancing, with a belly full of fast food and blistered feet pushing gas pedals, I couldn't help but notice how the moon glared like a headlight to illuminate the night. It's a second daytime, that period between late evening and early morning, when you can see the navy shadows of leaves stain silvery porches. Anyway, we drove north, and suddenly these illuminations broke the sky in the distance. The first was a greenish flash near the horizon. It was like a firework, but its flash lit the low-flying clouds in a way unlike any firecracker I had seen. Something of a pyromaniac's daydream. Many other illuminations followed, all of differing colors and at vastly different points around our vehicle, to create the impression that some alien bombardment had stricken the earth. We drove on, playing with the idea of chasing the lights on the horizon.

Enter: The Fall of Troy. For all their hyperactivity and reckless precision, The Fall of Troy is a moon-washed night sky broken by blistery, multicolored illuminations. They hail from Mukilteo, WA. The selections are from their second debut, "Doppelgänger."

The Fall of Troy - I Just Got This Symphony Goin'
The Fall of Troy - Mouths Like Sidewinder Missiles
The Fall of Troy - Macaulay McCulkin
[Buy Doppelgänger]
[The Fall of Troy band site]

The Fall of Troy's energy recalled some other groups that had emerged from my diggings, lately. Crossing over from Japan, OOIOO and Boredoms are two bands sharing a leading member named Yoshimi. They've had some influence in American music, as I've read that Yoshimi's name was borrowed by the Flaming Lips for that one album of theirs, and Boredoms benefited from the support of Nirvana and Sonic Youth in gaining temporary backing from a major US label, Warner for the album "Pop-Tari," which "has been called the least commercially viable album released on a major label since Metal Machine Music, Lou Reed’s infamous feedback drenched double album which many are convinced was made to break his contract with RCA." [source]

Boredoms - Arrow Up
Boredoms - Bore Now Bore
Boredoms - Seadrum
[visit Boredoms on MySpace]


OOIOO - On Mani
OOIOO - ATS
OOIOO - Grow Sound Tree
[band site]

Super Numeri round off from Liverpool, in good way. The way an awkwardly-shaped piece fits perfectly into the puzzle where you had least expected it to.

Super Numeri - The Babies
Super Numeri - The Chart
Super Numeri - The Sea Wolves
[ninjatune site]

Further:
Nippop - a great Japanese music resource

image: OOIOO album cover