The Montgolfier Brothers - "Journey's End". The Montgolfier Brothers' "World is Flat" (which I wrote about here, and which you can listen to here,) is an incredibly sad song. It's a song of smiling rock-bottom, of standing at a window with empty hands. And I never thought that Roger Quigley would stay in that unhappy place. It's with some worry, therefore, that I listen to All My Bad Thoughts and find that things have not got much brighter for him. The Montgolfier Brothers are stuck in the bluegrey dawn hours when everything feels hopeless, when everything is painted beautiful. "Journey's End" is a song of horrific loss, of paralysis, of longing. It's the opposite of Xiu Xiu's inward cursing - The Montgolfier Brothers look out, across the town, to where the former lover is sleeping; they look out, around the world, to where the sun is curving to greet them; they look out, out, out, to all the places they've ever gone, they've ever kissed, they've ever felt happy. The piano plays with a sharp loveliness, a circling serenade, but there under its surface is the wreck, the dread, the awful fucking inevitability of things that have already happened.

[buy All My Bad Thoughts]

George - "Song of Degrees". I saw this band last week - a pair in wilted evening-wear. They were better than the indie klezmer that followed them (sorry Hawk and a Hacksaw), better than the free folk that preceded them (sorry Nalle). They were modest and wry and played sweet, sweet songs. Suzy Mangion plays electric organ and Michael Varty plays clarinet, banjo, toy drums. There's something morose about them, like employees at a charity shop who have seen too many wedding dresses brought in, but so too is there the anticipation of happiness, the promise of a smile. Flickers of Aimee Mann and even (on "This Will Not Stop") of Final Fantasy, but most of all George remind me of Low, Low in an alternate universe, Low after getting washed up on a Brighton shore, amnesiacs reared on caramel-corn and summer romances.

[buy A Week of Kindness]

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I may not love the White Stripes, but I do so love their new video (dir: michel gondry. also starring: conan o'brien.)

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Fellow Clem Snide fans -- a collection of Eef's demo recordings from the early 90s have just been released on the iTunes Music Store. They're called Suburban Field Recordings 1. You can listen to one of the tracks, "A Parable", here.