Someone Else's Dream

It seems I'm just bursting at the seams with "full disclosure" here lately, but here we go again. Erin (Lead Vocals/Keys/Enchantress) is an old friend of mine from college and she is fronting this wonderful little band called The Rosen Association these days.


The Rosen Association - Gum of Beauty

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I can't tell you much about their collective history as a band, but I can tell you that I once gave a Deftones button to Erin off of my old satchel for reasons that I can't quite remember. I can also tell you that she and I were both party to a conversation with a gentleman who claims he once took a bath in Bjork's tub. I believe his story to be true.


The Rosen Association - Drones

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Back to the subject at hand. This type of music is right up my alley. The guitars are awash with delay and reverb, the rhythm section is tight and the synths are abuzz with warm, gooey goodness. While I shudder to use the word "darkwave," it does have a hint of that flavor to it, though in all honesty, it's the atmospheric kinship they share with groups like Longwave and Asobi Seksu that draws me into it the most. You could conceivably dance to some of this if dancing is your thang. If not, it's an equally enjoyable listen while simply enjoying a glass or seven of wine. Your call really. It's actually a very soothing record. The vocals are smooth, not very acrobatic as a general rule and really suit the overall sound quite nicely.


The Rosen Association - Emergency Broadcast

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It's only $6.99 on CD Baby for a digital download of the whole thing. It's not perfect, but it's damn good. I mean, I bought it. If that's not a good enough reason for you to follow suit, I don't know what is. Sure, you could be a contrarian ass-master about it, but you'd be missing out. Do the right thing.

Re-arrange Stars Using Sunlight from Our Smiles

One of my biggest weaknesses is women who make great music. As such, I've lately been listening to a lot of lovely ladies; everything from some of my local favorites like Sherree Chamberlain and Samantha Crain to big names like Björk and Neko Case. I need not delve into the sordid details of my musical infatuations. Suffice it to say that the existence of such artists sustains the hopeless romantic in me which longs to find one of the opposite sex who puts music in as important a place in her life as I. And has good taste for that matter.


Enter Asobi Seksu. No, the singer's name is not Asobi just as Ian Anderson and Darius Rucker aren't the eponymous members of Jethro Tull and Hootie and the Blowfish respectively. Get this right and we can still be friends. Her name is name is Yuki Chikudate and she is rocking my small world as I write this. Their name translates colloquially from Japanese as "Casual Sex," though I think they sound more like a "sexplosion." They're from New York and fit very nicely into that "Dream Pop" mold I talked about in my post about Longwave. Their most recent release is called "Rewolf" and it consists of acoustish versions of songs on their last three albums.


Asobi Seksu - Breathe Into Glass (Acoustic at Olympic Studios)

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Now, this probably won't give you the best idea of what they sound like on the reg, but I've been listening to this one a lot lately. Most of their songs have a bit more of a kick to them i.e. plugged in with layers of reverb and delay. If one were to describe their sound as the aforementioned "sexplosion," this record would be more akin to being roused from sleep next to that hypothetical significant other on a cold winter morning by the sunlight reflecting off of freshly fallen snow and onto your not-quite-ready-to-open eyelids.


Asobi Seksu - New Years (Acoustic at Olympic Studios)

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Oh, and did I mention that Yuki has one of the most soothing voices I've heard in recent years? Add to that the fact that she sings in both English and fluent Japanese and that the music is gorgeous/lush/amazing, and you have a guaranteed winning combination as far as I'm concerned. They just went back into the studio to start work on their next album and I am sooooo ready for it. If you want to get into their stuff in a way other than this not-quite-acoustic record, I would recommend picking up "Citrus." I would post a track from that record, but my files for it seem to be corrupted and I don't feel like ripping it right now. Tough cookies.