Your latest "so hot right now" music

My file server is currently down, so please excuse the blog linkage, but I've been meaning to post about a few bands lately. Well, really, I just wanted to post about:

Devendra Banhart. He's the latest in "freak folk", the latest hippie to tell us to grow our hair out and to not support the war. He's also the latest to be so simple as to be boring once you've heard each song one and a half times. I still suggest it, but I won't give it an extended-use warranty. Go to Rewriteable Content for "Long Haired Child", hold tight for the better "Cripple Crow" which I'll deliver as soon as my file server is up again.

So who I really want to post about is:

The Theater Fire


These guys are incredible. They've been called "alt-country" because of their country twang and banjos, but there's something much more lurking there. A lot of the songs make you feel as if you're in an old bar (or a saloon if you please!) singing songs with a big group of drinking buddies, or better yet, the whole town. They're joyous but at the same time there's a very light eariness that is weaved into the songs, mostly due to the background noises, recording quality, and the singers' voices. "The Fiddleback Weaver" includes Mariachi-style music, which sounds almost crazy but feels as normal as can be. They're very skilled musically and their songs all create a thick and entertaining atmosphere. It's like stepping into a new land. If you saw "Big Fish" you might remember the strange town where nobody where's shoes and at night the whole town comes out to dance in the grass while surrounded by Christmas lights. That's kind of how The Theater Fire is, but sometimes with more grit and more dirt. It's magical and beautiful and it suspends you in disbelief. You're not in California anymore, kids.

TRACKS:
download everything at Aquarium Drunkard as well as "Swimming" (or whatever else you'd like) over at musicisnotdead

And today I just heard "The Bicycles", the newest in twee, and they aren't too shabby. Go to The Smudge of Ashen Fluff and download "Paris Be Mine"