The projects are piling up, and the songs of the month are running behind! The song for June is called Carrie.

Not much to say about this one. There are four songs ready to record, and this one just struck me as the one to do. I’ve always liked songs with a name for a title. There is no Carrie. That should be evident by the fairly nonsensical nature of the lyrics. Thanks for tuning in!

Lyrics:

You say you can’t believe your eyes
I have a hard time finding that odd
Who put the bound in your rebound?
Who put the fun in fundamentally flawed?

If it comes down to me and you
I think you know who’s gonna win
I’ve packed enough to go that far
True without and false within

Carrie, Carrie won’t you leave right now?
Your fake pony and your false reports
Get thee hence now, hop airports
Carrie, oh, Carrie, oh

I saw you front that awful band
I saw them bouncing by and by
I saw you out with your new man
If only with my one good eye

One more day to even try
Only by your estimate
Only all in aggregate
Ask to stay, ask to stay

Carrie, Carrie won’t you go right now?
Your fake teeth and your false eyelash
The last song was the sure-fire smash
Carrie, oh, Carrie, oh

Do do do do do do
You see now that I’ve gone too far
Just tell me if you’ll be there in my car
Carrie, oh, Carrie, oh

May to June is too much time
The seagulls screamed and fell in line
Why didn’t we listen?
Oh, why didn’t we listen?

Okay, so the headline is much too confrontational for what will actually be a fun, completely cooperative evening of music. Still, it would make a halfway decent Godzilla-type movie. Here are the specifics:

Autoclamp will be performing with Missle Wings at Munkabeans Cafe in Hopkins on Friday, July 11 at 7 p.m. The last Missle Wings show at Munkabeans was great, so you don’t want to miss it! Hope to see you there!

Munkabeans is located at 1206 Mainstreet in scenic Hopkins, MN. Click here for a different poster.

Just in the nick of time, This is Halfcore.

What is “halfcore?” Husker Du had “ultracore.” FAWM had “casiocore.” Pulp had “This is Hardcore.” Autoclamp has “This is Halfcore.”

Lame? Well, what do you want for free?

The Lyrics:

This is halfcore
A little more than part the way there
It’s half the way there
Like a newfound shame that can’t quite remember its name
As I may have mentioned before

This is halfcore
When you sent that box of my things
You left out the rings
Like bullet too late, like a state bird without a state
There’s no reason to be sore
This is halfcore

They dropped me off on the corner at nine
I walked back when you made that call
Somewhere between feeling fine
And feeling nothing much at all
If you must know I don’t wanna go
This is halfcore

From the thrift shop
I watched as you and he hit the street
The soles of your feet
Never touched the ground
What’s this strange sensation I’ve found?
And how can I make it stop?

This is baseless
I’ve heard the things you’re calling me now
And I don’t know how
You can sleep when you know that I never treated you so
But it really matters no more
This is halfcore

Why ask when you can’t hear me?
Why pretend to care at all?
Now there is nothing left to see
And nothing left to take the fall
You must know I never wanted to go

This is halfcore
A little more than part the way there
It’s half the way there
Like a newfound shame that can’t quite remember its name
As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before

Live in the Twin Cities? Able to walk or bike to work, at least part of the way? Check out Twin Cities Bike Walk to Work Week. You can register to win some great prizes, and participate in all kinds of neat events. Check it out!

Traitor Mouse (formerly the Eric Distad Trio)
The G-Slab Experience
T-Spoon
Autoclamp
Missile Wings
Dapple Throat
Sacrificial Glam
Static Captain
Todd Norem
Matt Pierce

No cover! Donations will be graciously accepted, though. Hope to see you there!

With great albums from Pete and the Pirates and Throw Me the Statue, it’s already been a good year for quirky, nervous pop-rock bands. Frightened Rabbit leaves behind some of the hesitancy of their last album and the lack of muscle among their peers, and comes up with a great record of accidental anthems. The lyrics may still be quite melancholic, but the rousing arrangements betray a band that has definitely found their groove. Recommended!

Sigur Ros is a four-piece band from Iceland who specializes in rhapsodic, atmospheric rock music that’s all about the junction of mood, melody, and occasionally noise. In 2006, they decided to tour their native country after traveling the world, and it was a true “Duluth Tour.” They made it a point to visit out-of-the-way places, many of which were barely populated and hadn’t seen a touring band in years. The shows were unannounced, out in the open, and free.

It’s a nice story, but is it compelling enough to fill a 90-minute documentary? Add to the mix a famously media-shy band whose atmospheric music isn’t out of place in an art gallery, and it sounds like you’ve got all the makings of a sleep aid.

The resulting film “Heima,” however, succeeds outrageously, and it does so by putting the people and the scenery of Iceland in the forefront. Sure, the band is interviewed, and they play beautifully, but you’ll leave this movie thinking instead of soaring kites and cliffs that seem to rise from nowhere. You’ll remember the impossibly beautiful children and mossy decay of abandoned towns as much as you’ll remember the dreamy, wonderful music. Even if you aren’t a fan of Sigur Ros, I defy you to watch this film and not dream of a springtime visit to Iceland. It’s a breathtaking, sometimes even moving film. I’ve watched it four or five times now, and look forward to the next viewing.

The April song has been posted. It’s a happy little number called Only Time Can Stop the Healing, and it can be found on the 2008 Song-of-the-Month Club page. Fun! Thanks for tuning in.

Because the lyrics fly by a little quickly, I thought I’d post them:

Only Time Can Stop the Healing

Complicit? Yes, he’d said so once
Just before he dropped me off
He spoke this line then stopped to cough
“I only ever did her wrong,”
I thought that he had made his point
Another half-wit king yet to anoint

Albert wasn’t after much
He only wanted what he’d had
An hour before it all went bad
I stood awhile in silence there
I hadn’t thought about that day
But I just stood there anyway

The dishes have yet to do themselves
Only time can stop the healing
Or so said the guy who couldn’t know
Half the joy that I’ve been feeling
Only time can stop the healing

Really? No I’ve never been
I planned to go but things they change
The signal drifted out of range
And just before she closed the deal
She brought to mind that bitter day
From Escondido to LA

Emboldened? He’d said that, too
And I was blessed with eyes to see
The last words that she’d mouthed to me
Were “deja vu” or something like
She only wanted what she’d had
An hour before it all went bad

The shoes have yet to pair themselves
Only time can stop the healing
Or so said the helpful guy
Who patched the holes there in my ceiling
Only time

Your neck has yet to hang itself
Only time can stop the healing
And now I call your name every hour
Every hour, every hour
Only time can stop the healing

The four people watching seemed to enjoy it, anyway. I love their album Moonbeams, and highly recommend it.

Also check out other “Take-Away Shows” on the LaBlogotheque’s Channel.

Basia Bulat - Oh, My Darling

Sure, the music is winsome, and she may singlehandedly bring back the Autoharp as the instrument to buy this year. Whatever brings you to Basia Bulat, though, you’ll stay for the melodies. Like my favorite from last year, Emma Pollock, Basia Bulat’s primary gift is the ability to create catchy, complex vocals that hit on all cylinders.

The Whitsundays - The Whitsundays

Listen: Sorry James

Some bands thrive on innovation; The Whitsundays thrive on commitment. Faint praise? Hardly. Though their album at first seems like nothing you couldn’t cobble together from a few Turtles and Zombies records, the precision and attention detail will make you feel oh, so 1966. Dig the amazing harmonies! From beginning to end, a very entertaining listen.

The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride

The news here is that the Mountain Goats have abandoned the theme-based, autobiographical album format for the first time since 2002, and this album is all the stronger and more entertaining for it.

What have you been listening to, from this or any year?