Todd Fancey is Canadian and plays guitar for The New Pornographers, joining them on their latest disc, "Electric Version" (that isn't all you need to know, but isn't it enough). He was an astute addition to the band line-up, a band which lovingly wallows in a 1970's summertime heat glazed with a crunchy sugar coating, which leader Carl A.C. Newman is so fond of. Fancey himself is besotted with this oeuvre and acquits himself quite well on his self-titled release, uuhhh... "Fancey".
+ dial jupiter
+ saturday morning
+ Rock N Roll Rhythm
Fancey's album was produced by New Pornographers drummer and former Limblifter, Kurt Dahle.
artist website
Chuck E. Weiss has some friends you may have heard tell of.... namely Tom Waits (who performed on and co-produced "Extremely Cool") and Tom's old paramour, Rickie Lee Jones. Jones immortalised Weiss in her 1979 radio hit, "Chuck E.'s in Love", and Chuck E.'s best friend, Tom Waits, has written songs about Chuck too, including "Jitterbug Boy" and "I Wish I Was In New Orleans Again".
Weiss has released just two official albums, 1999's "Extremely Cool" and 2001's "Old Souls and Wolf Tickets". His very first release, "The Other Side Of Town", hit the market in 1981 without his approval and was soon pulled off the shelves.
Listen to the Weissian mixture of blues, jazz, rock, beat poetry, and even a little zydeco flavour, a musical gumbo that Weiss has called "alternative jungle music".
Chuck E. Weiss - Extremely Cool - Devil With Blue Suede Shoes
Chuck E. Weiss w/ Tom Waits - Extremely Cool - It Rains On Me
Chuck E. Weiss - Extremely Cool - Deeply Sorry
Chuck E. Weiss - Extremely Cool - Extremely Cool
Chuck E. Weiss - Old Souls and Wolf Tickets - Sneaky Jesus
Slip on your headphones, I don't mean those little plastic peanuts you plug into your auditory canals, I mean headphones - the emphasis on head. Feel the bass, welcome the slap of the drum, become lost in John Vanderslice's ability to pull you into another world in a 3 minute pop song.
+ white plains (mp3)
here's some more + more
One Star Hotel, I gotta say I love the name, may suffer slightly from mining the same rootsy indie territory as "Being There" era Wilco and a lead vocal similarity to Mr. Tweedy himself, but don't take my word for it, you may not hear what i hear... the only way to know is to give the Philadelphia band a listen. Don't get me wrong, the suffering will be at the hands of others, hell, everybody sounds like someone else, especially bands.
I would be interested in what *sixeyes readers feel these guys sound like, I'm sure it would be of interest to the band as well. Please leave your impressions in the comments.
Listen...
+ three tracks @ pure volume
Visit... the
One Star Hotel
