Perhaps I’m not as hep as I once was, but yesterday I discovered the band The Postal Service.
It’s a side project of singer Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie (which isn’t my favourite band) and producer Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel, Headset and Figurine (also, not my favourite stuff).
It reminds me a bit of Frazier Chorus with more bleeps and bloops. And for some reason it reminds me a bit of Pieter Nooten And Michael Brook’s album Sleeps with the Fishes - if it were more pop-ish.
They have some other b-sides or singles or whatever they are. Against All Odds, Be Still My Heart, Suddenly Everything Has Changed.
There’s also (This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan, which is usually credited to Dntel, but is really the first Postal Service song.
Another good song featuring Ben Gibbard is Couches in Alleys by Styrofoam.
There’s also some of his solo stuff, including an acoustic version of (This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan. Carolina and You Remind Me of Home are lovely.
If you like them, try Erlend Oye. Similar “electronic”-sounding music that doesn’t fall into the category of electronica/techno/dance music.
Also, Jenny Lewis, who provices female vocals in the Postal Service, is a wonderful singer with both the indie rock group Rilo Kiley (three wonderful albums) and most recently as an alt-country solo artist (her album *Rabbit Fur Coat * is great as well).
It is good stuff, isn’t it? I always felt like they do a particularly nice job with lyrics. Sleeping in, Nothing Better, and Such Great Heights are quite well written, in my opinion.
Ben Gibbard does a fantastic acoustic version of “Brand New Colony” at his solo performances these days. He also played “Such Great Heights” when I saw him last August.
The only two other Postal Service songs I haven’t seen mentioned here are “There’s Never Enough Time” and “Grow Old With Me” (John Lennon cover). Both are excellent.
Erlend Øye’s solo stuff is pretty good, but he’s also done a lot of good stuff with his band, Kings of Convenience. Caught a concert with them in Molde last summer - really good, atmospheric, the-sun-is-shining kind of music.
Edit: Also, mad props for his mad dance skills. Napoleon Dynamite, bite me!
OT: I love Frazier Chorus (Sue, not so much the other CDs). You might want to look into Stars. When I first heard On Peak Hill, I thought Frazier Chorus.
Yeah,. the lyrics are good. I also like his timing. It’s one of the things that caught my ear. He’s not afraid to pause and let the line take hold. Kind of like using negitive space in a photograph.
Like this band (and the above mentioned Frazier Chorus) the subject matter of the songs is an interesting mix of mundane and genius lines.
The second verse of “We Will Become Silhouettes” is perfect.
