Bastardgeist - "Flee (to the hills)*"

The title of this post is the name of Bastardgeist's album. Yes, the name of it. In an email I got from him, he describes the album as "leftover insecurities from my childhood, sexuality, and my own inevitable death". I respect his candidness, and as this digital breeze wafts out of my laptop speakers, I like to wonder what part of his insecurities this represents. With the ripped and distant loops of singing children (are they singing?), I imagine some futuristic archaeologist finding only that 1-second clip and them playing it over and over, trying to rebuild the past. But I suppose that's what I'm doing, playing this song over and over, trying to fabricate a story to this gentle 3-minute sample, of a moment, of a day, or a month, however long this feeling lasted. If you're interested, the story involves finding a lost cell phone, a pair of shoes covered in duct tape, and one of those birthday cards that plays a song when you open it. [MySpace]

Hello, Blue Roses - "Hymn" (removed at label request)

The Hello, Blue Roses album may be largely uneventful, but the strange duo of Dan Bejar and Sydney Vermont sit up for this last song. Like when you went to church and you joined in on a rousing last song partly because they saved the best for last, but also because you knew mass was over. And here, as the guitar dabbles toes in the cool clear stream, and their voices weave ribbons 'round the maypole, I think of what must be one of Dan Bejar's secret fantasies; sitting dressed to the nines in Louis XIV garb, sipping brandy, being forced to make conversation, bored as hell. [Site]