Sunday 31 May 2009



New best friends

(photo: wearethedrums.com)

(photo: wearethedrums.com)

When you mention Factory Records and Pelle Carlberg all in one sentence, my ears prick up and take notice.  Apparently so do those of Brooklyn Vegan and a number of others who witnessed the debut performance of best friends Jonathan Pierce and Jacob Graham, aka The Drums, who made their live debut at Popfest.  Described as a blend of 80s dance pop, 90s indie rock, and 50s surf sounds, The Drums certainly are beating a different drum then most the acts out there right now. They’re influenced by the sound of 80s Factory Records and a current fascination with surf music, and they’re also really damn cute.

The Drums are working on an EP set for release at the start of August, but have gotten the ball rolling with a pair of exclusive tracks that won’t be featured on any future releases.  You might have been able to hear these tracks when they opened for Pelle Carlberg last night at Brooklyn’s Union Hall (see I was getting to how he fit into all this).  Instead, try catching them at their month long residency at The Annex in NYC.

MP3: The Drums “I Felt Stupid”
MP3: The Drums “Instruct Me”
Myspace: The Drums

Remixer Telemitry finally has some original music for dance music fans to sink their teeth into.  “Get Up” features a “new talent” going by the name of Future, and is one crackerjack dance tune.  At points I hear Dead Or Alive’s “You Spin Me ‘Round”, and that’s not a bad thing in my books.

MP3: Telemitry (featuring Future) “Get Up”
Myspace: Telemitry

Also on the remix tip is a new one by Dr. Rosen Rosen (who did a bang up job of reworking Department of Eagles a while back), who mold Phoenix’s “Lisztomania” into a mellow, haunting slow jam.

MP3: Phoenix “Lisztomania (Dr. Rosen Rosen Remix)”
Myspace: Phoenix
Myspace: Dr. Rosen Rosen

On the other end of the musical spectrum, Canada’s beloved Skydiggers are celebrating 20 years together with a career-spanning retrospective called The Truth About Us.  22 tracks get remastered and packaged in a lovely edition that features a DVD and 16 page booklet full of reminiscences from Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy, Sarah Harmer, and The ‘Hip’s Gord Downie.

MP3: Skydiggers “Slow Burning Fire”
Myspace: Skydiggers





by J. Di Gioia | 1 Comment »

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 31st, 2009 at 8:00 am and is filed under MP3. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Response to “New best friends”

Quick Before it Melts » 4 for the weekend 01•09•10 January 9th, 2010 at 10:32 am

[...] and we spent a bit of time talking about New York’s The Drums.  I first wrote about the band back in May,  before their infectious EP Summertime! was released but haven’t mentioned them much [...]