Let's jump right in: I'm torn between starting this post with "this Lemolo album is seriously haunting me" and "Lemolo could totally beat up your favorite synth-y indie dream-core band" because they're both true. In the case of the former, I find myself humming harmonies absentmindedly at varying points in my days and nights, wondering what the song is -- and then realizing it's a track off of The Kaleidoscope; and the case of the latter, the lyrics are smarter and more gripping than anything I've heard in this genre before, and the emotion-pendulum they swing on is more vast.

Whichever way you slice it, The Kaleidoscope is a keeper. It'll be your new go-to for warming up, coming down, pondering, soundtracking, arriving, leaving, making out, and everything in-between. The album as a whole is intelligent and tight, meandering over to casually shred your face off in one moment and placing it's hands directly on your heartstrings the next. There's such a big-yet-right-in-the-next-room feeling that pervades from start to finish, and it would be easy to make comparisons like 'Beach House with a better edge!' or 'Phantogram with less dance party and more smart-kid!' but we'd be doing Lemolo an injustice by saying so. Instead, I'll fine-tune it a bit and say that this album holds up to the landscape of Washed Out's "Feel It All Around" {one of my favorite dream-jam tracks} and the brilliance of a portion of the Broken Social Scene catalog {"Sweetest Kill" and "Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl come to mind}, while still standing apart with a tone and center all it's own.

Every single song has a piece in it somewhere that punches us square in the gut, in the very best of ways. "On Again, Off Again" is the big single from the album, and of course there's the "Open Air" video... it's great to finally hear tracks from shows put to waxdisc, like those two, "Who Loves" and "Whale Song" -- but "Move Me" is taking the proverbial cake at the moment. "Move Me" wraps the listener around the axle with the line that repeats I don't / want to / be away / from you / too long, and coincidentally enough, that's exactly how we feel about this album (and this band in general, PS).  I'd strongly encourage every single one of you reading this to be sure and catch Lemolo at Columbia City Theater this Friday and Saturday, but both shows are sold out. You'll just have to get yourself over to the Capitol Hill Block Party for a chance at taking in a live set.

While the Lemolo release and this next one have nothing to do with each other, they both hit my stratosphere in the same week, and so I've taken them in at the same time -- and as a result, there has definitely had a yin-and-yang effect taking place. When I'm all full-up on Lemolo's smart soundscape-y vibes, I shift my attention to my other favorite thing of the moment, the equally smart yet sonically-opposite Foreign Spells {the new Young Evils EP}. Foriegn Spells is short, to the point, and provides an excellent sampler-pack of songs that show the direction the band is headed in. While we've made no secret here in the imaginary office about how much we loves us some Enchanted Chapel, we're double-down excited about the new tunes that the Young Evils have seen fit to bestow us with, especially now that we've got "Darker Blue Bayou" in the flesh and can add it to the next mix we make. With the last release as evidence to compare and contrast against, the songs seem smarter, darker, fuller, and more concise -- the EP really shows the listener the difference between a bright idea and more of a fully-formed realization of what these stellar musicians are capable of. And while Foreign Spells is totally killer on the stereo, as is the case with many other bands, we think these lady-and-gents do their best work live -- so be sure to get yourself to the formal release party at Barboza next month, on July 13th.

There have been a handful of tracks that are making their way onto mixes of late, and a few doing repeat duty, so I thought it best to mention them as well if we're talking about what's been filling our imaginary ears and iPhones with happiness. Some are new-new, some are new-to-me, and some are just new in that they were buried at the bottom of the stack and recently found their way back up into heavy rotation.

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I have come to expect a few things from TMBG: Brass and polka-tron influences, references to interesting people of historical significance, and to err on the side of the absurd. TMBG have a strange influence on their fans - they appeal to children as much as adults, but one would should not mistake brevity for simplicity. I was delighted to find several TMBG tracks were included on a shyly-collated mixtape from my boyfriend; many years later we would play several of their songs at our wedding. I was sitting in a play a week ago, and the cast included "Ana Ng" in their scant soundtrack, without it sounding out of place. TMBG have a diverse appeal, in all their galloping, oom-pah-pah craziness and joy.

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I had a low-key Sunday writing nearly-overdue thank-you notes (which is actually quite fun because you get to gush to your friends about how great they are), sipping copious amounts of tea, and pulling an afternoon soundtrack from the most recently acquired vinyl in the stack. Near the top of the stack was the debut album by Melbourne, Australia's Summer Cats entitled Songs for Tuesdays. It's a mighty fine album (if the fact that it's on Slumberland Records wasn't enough proof) and all, but what raised my interest most was that the record is printed on what experts describe as "multi-color splatter vinyl." Songs for Tuesdays is both mesmerizing to listen to and to watch spin round as it plays. Note: the above photo doesn't do it much justice, but that's what happens when you've got an iPhone and bad lighting. You get the *idea* that it's spectacular though, right?

Colored vinyl is magical. It's way up there with the phrase "limited edition" on the list of things that make me lose my cool (and empty my wallet). I read somewhere that, for some scientific reason, colored vinyl doesn't have as good of sound quality as the standard black issue... but whatevs. I can't deny it's power.

It got me thinking... what vinyl records rank up there as prettiest? I put 7" and 12" in the running and came up with these off the top of my head:

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They Might Be Giants may be the most imaginary of bands. Imaginary Liz is a super-fan who even got to interview one of the two Johns, John Flansburgh in one of my favorite TIG interviews ever.

What I love about TMBG is the randomness that comes with every one of their live shows. I've seen them in bigger venues (The Paramount) and smaller places (EMP's Sky Church) and on Tuesday night they are continuing "Play your most influential album(s) week" in Seattle* with their first (and I think only) platinum album, Flood. While I'll miss the unpredictability of their sets (they have almost thirty years of songs to pull from a hat to play), Flood is a really great album with a lot of favorites, like "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" and "Particle Man". Their shows are plenty wild - they turned that packed Paramount crowd into the largest conga line I've ever seen.

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Chalk this up to the cutest thing I've seen in a while: They Might Be Giants are sponsoring little league teams around the country -- with one of the lucky (in names and sponsorship) beneficiaries being a Seattle pack of sweet-ums. It's even cuter than that wee batter with the stuffed elephant on his lap!

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Sick of slinging copies at your Kinko's night shift? Keep your nose to the grindstone and follow your dream. Maybe in 20 years, you'll have a 15-album back catalog, a devoted following and cartoon renditions of your songs.

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Recaptured joys of youth, where are you?

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Massachusetts-via-Brooklyn indie legends They Might Be Giants will be releasing their first non-kiddie album in 3 years come July. The odd thing is that its being produced by the Dust Brothers, the same fellows who brought us the soundtrack to Fight Club. Now, I'm always excited about a new TMBG disc (though their last couple haven't been that great) but it sounds like they're turning towards the sound from songs like "Man, It's So Loud in Here" and "Mr. Xcitement". Exciting? I guess we'll have to wait and see...

Over the course of an hour, Liz was able to learn the intricacies of the coffee bean and hear about the time TMBG opened for Chicago. Oh, and John and Liz have figured out what Sean Nelson should do next.

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Why is the world in love again??

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