Jeremy Jay, "Slow Dance" (K Records)
Hyped on: Gorilla vs. Bear; the finest kiss; I Rock Cleveland
MySpace
Who: Our hero splits time between Los Angeles and Paris and is tall, lean and good-looking—like Beck, pre-Scientology. So it’s fair to say that JJ (we’re friends like that) has a bit of a look and feel going here. It transcends cool, really. We’d actually, most likely, poke fun at this dude if we weren’t hypnotized by the tunes so much. He also sounds a lot like Jonathan Richman, which we like.
What: Re: hypnosis, take the title track. It’s all bendy, icy synth line—think ‘80s fantasy flick soundtrack—acoustic guitar and head nodding, finger snapping cool. Jay repeats the album’s thesis, “slow, slow, slow, slow, slow,” skewing interest/disinterest like the young Bowie did so well. “Breaking the Ice” is more developed, with a skippy ‘60s psychedelic vibe, and rocker “In This Lonely Town” highlights the album, oddly resembling the John Mellencamp version of Van Morrison’s “Wild Night.”
Made for: Fans of affected, sing-speak vocals, like a fey Serge Gainsbourg. Horse lovers (it's that time of year, after all): “Gallop” includes the lyrics “Giddy up, horsy, giddy up” (we’d love to see him sing that with a straight face). Moody “Canter Canter” follows.
X-Factor: Says JJ to Nylon magazine, about his music re-imagined as film: “It would be a slice of life movie filled with love, loss, and wonder. Night escapades and fleeting romance. Running down the beach and jumping into the water naked.” – MR
Vienna Teng, "Inland Territory" (Rounder)
Hyped on: RockPaperCity; aTunes; Earvolution
Official site
MySpace
Who: A classically trained pianist and former Silicon Valley software engineer, Teng self-released her first solo album in 2001 and eventually landed on indie folk/Americana label Rounder Records, home to other acoustic-based but hard-to-categorize artists like Madeleine Peyroux and Martha Wainwright. Her fourth album presents some of her most accessible melodies, even as it expands on her self-described “chamber folk” sound with plenty of layered strings, horns and choir-like backing vocals.
What: Teng’s lush, almost cinematic music and gorgeously dewy voice inspire frequent comparisons to Tori Amos and Sarah McLachlan; like them, she's capable of mixing ambitious, complex music with straightforward pop songcraft. Her most brilliant moments on “Inland Territory” are often her simplest: the surging, Top 40–friendly chorus on “White Light,” the back porch hoedown of “Grandmother Song,” the way she lets the spaces breathe between her voice, piano and the distantly tolling bells on the stunning “Watershed.” If Teng has an Achilles’ heel, it’s her lyrics, which occasionally veer into pretension; she pulls off the reincarnation fantasy “In Another Life” with grittily specific imagery, but the love-is-a-battlefield metaphors on “Antebellum” fall flat. Still, “Inland Territory” is a gutsy, expansive album from an artist who sounds like she’s just hitting her stride.
Made for: Fans of thoughtful, literate folk-pop, i.e. anyone who’s always thought Emily Saliers is the more talented Indigo Girl and Suzanne Vega’s first album remains her best. Classical music junkies looking for something their hipster friends won’t make fun of. Indie bookstores in search of a good weekend soundtrack.
X-Factor: Teng’s real name is Cynthia Yih Shih; she took her stage name from Mozart’s hometown and Taiwanese pop singer Teresa Teng. – AH
Micachu, "Jewellery" (Rough Trade)
Hyped on: You Ain't No Picasso; Pop Tarts Suck Toasted; fork/knife
MySpace
Who: East London cool kid Mica Levi makes music under the moniker Micachu, and put out her first full-length album in the U.S. this month. Only 21 years old, she’s a bit of an enigma, personally and sonically. Micachu dresses kinda New Rave, looks rather tomboy-ish and gives off a city-cool vibe mixed with a certain naiveté. Think of her as a more musically accessible (and British) answer to Dan Deacon.
What: Micachu may call this “pop music,” but she’s using the broadest sense of that term. It has certainly proven popular in her native U.K., with both her early singles like “Golden Phone” and “Lips” making the alterna-club rounds, and her “Filthy Friends” mixtape getting DJ notice. Exactly how to categorize her output is another matter. The LP was produced by Matthew Herbert (known for his own releases, and work with the likes of Björk), and he provides a solid foundation for Micachu’s various experiments in melding current Brit rock, New Rave, homemade, dance, electro-weirdo, post-M.I.A. “world music” and grime. It’s a bit out there and rambunctious, but also surprisingly coherent and decidedly catchy. It makes you want to get up and move, bounce around a bit, get loose, call some friends, have a party, start some silliness.
Made for: Anyone throwing a bash tonight. Indie crafters, makers, D.I.Y.ers and dancers. Next-wave New Ravers and freak-poppers who are “so over Dan Deacon and M.I. A.” Rockers who think they don’t enjoy experimental sorta-electro.
X-Factor: Micachu likes to make her own instruments; she has one crafted out of a CD rack. – KND
