Upon returning from his summer-long bender -- this year spent in the air conditioned luxury of a chain motel somewhere near Butte, Montana -- Typing Monkey publisher S.L. Kreighton threw a royal hissy fit about the stacks of CDs that had piled up in the office.
So we made the new intern, Francine, sort through the discs and pick a dozen or so that she thought looked interesting. These selections were based on cover art alone, so we can’t guarantee the quality of anything she chose.
The next few entries will be short reviews based on the frenzied listening party that ensued.
***
RUN CHICO RUN
Rocket Surgery
(Reluctant Recordings)
A new EP by the (mostly) vintage-keyboard and drums duo who make pop with a tissue of psychedelic spookiness draped over it. Fun while there, and probably a good live show, but not hugely memorable once the six songs are over.
Standouts: The jazzy "Huh What" is good and "Ghetto Treat.
Released: April 12
myspace.com/runchicorun
SHAWN LEE'S PING PONG ORCHESTRA
Miles of Smiles
(Ubiquity)
Twenty more imaginary soundtracks from the multi-instrumentalist. Lee’s biggest hurdle is the abundance of legitimate library music from the '60s and '70s currently reissued on CD (and probably easily downloaded if you hate America). The Moog-y spacecapade "Greekout" makes the well-executed, if pedestrian, genre exercises sound weak by comparison. Judicious editing could reduce this to a dozen winners. In the right mood (a party, iPod shuffle), this is just fine.
Standouts: "Prague Rock" and "Dinosaur Island." (Jazz flutes are go!)
Released: May 6
myspace.com/shawnleemusic
