Something New Mondays- October 20

Last week was Thanksgiving Monday here in Canada, so I'm sorry for no post last week as I was indulging in turkey. I'll make it up as I promise to post something everyday this week.

ANGELA DESVEAUX- The Mighty Ship
Other Side
Hide From You- I talked about this CD briefly a few weeks ago, but I finally bought the rest of songs (from iTunes) and it's a fine album. In my mind, the first three songs are the best tracks (the two here and Sure Enough), as they really set the bar high for the rest of the disc. It drags a bit in the middle, but album closes with two more great songs, For Design and You Remind Me. In many ways she reminds me of Kathleen Edwards (without the sharp tongue and hockey references) when I listen to this or her first release, a little bit alt-country, a little bit alt-rock. Angela's voice is stronger and more confident on Mighty Ship and the band is tighter and the songs are more complex. Well worth buying or downloading!

DEERHOOF- Offend Maggie
The Tears And Music Of Love
Offend Maggie- I must admit I didn't know much about Deerhoof a few weeks ago, but they looked and sounded interesting enough to seek out their newest album, Offend Maggie. Deerhoof have been around over 10 years forming in San Francisco and have released ten full length albums and a couple of EP's. The band's vocalist Satomi Matsuzaki, had no prior musical experience when she joined the band and within a week of joining they toured. Their unconventional sound is hard to classify, their earlier work was much more frantic and heavier than Offend Maggie, which almost sounds melodic. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about the band:
Although typically classified as indie rock due to their having been on an indie rock label (Kill Rock Stars) for the entirety of their career, the unconventional nature of Deerhoof's music makes genre identification difficult. But several recurring features can be said to constitute Deerhoof's distinctive sound: unassuming vocal delivery set against hyper-expressive instrumental playing; an elastic approach to group dynamics and rhythm more akin to the rubato of classical music performance practice than rock; odd melodies; harmonic sophistication and dissonance; disjointed, condensed, asymmetrical and otherwise unconventional song structures; raw and at times strident sound surfaces; and improvisation. Sounds crazy, if you like this, do yourself a favour and seek out their earlier albums.