Alice Cohen, Ramona Falls, Eternal Sunshine

Hey, just catching up on what looks likely be purely recreational listening...a couple of albums that I liked at least medium but will probably not be reviewing.

Alice Cohen's Pink Keys is a floaty, synthy, soul-kissed daydream that reminds me, at its best moments, of Bachelorette.  Cohen is best known for her years fronting new wave's The Vels, a band out of Philadelphia that once opened for the Psychedelic Furs and the Thompson Twins.  I like the way the keyboards squish and melt all over the drum machine sounds in "Sunspots", sort of like that Dali painting with the liquifying clock faces. 



 Also just passed the four-times mark on Prophet from Ramona Falls, which is a new-ish project from Brent Knopf (ex of Menomena).  I like it.  It's brainy, intricate, complicated and also kind of haphazard at the same time, like a geodesic dome made out of popsicle sticks. 



Also, watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind again last night on Netflix and continue to believe that this is maybe the most romantic movie ever...all about trying to preserve love against memory, against time, against indifference.  when the two of them get to their first memory together (the last one to go), the guy says, "This will be over soon.  What do we do know."  and teh girl answers: "Enjoy it."  Which is sort of how I feel about love and loss and oblivian...been thinking about this a lot because of some medical issues which, god I hope they're nothing...Anyway, great movie.  Made me cry again.

They say the things that must be said

I’ve been kind of a fan of Menomena’s herky-jerk pop since the last album, Friend or Foe, but it seems to me that this new one, Mines, is even better. Plus, bonus trivia, Brent Knopf and I went to the same college…though decades apart. Here’s to people who mortgage their futures to the Ivy League and then spend their lives farting around with indie rock. Go team!

Anyway, I said:

“Mines feels considerably smoother, sleeker and more premeditated than usual. There were always songs hidden in the mesh of conflicting rhythms. This time, they seem more obviously melodic, less manically crowded, fluid even, though certainly not predictable or clichéd.”

I said more, too, if that’s not enough


I put “TAOS,” which I like a lot, on my last mix. You can download that here.


Here they are playing “KILLEMALL” (Kill ‘Em All?) at PDX Pop.