i hate the sound of guitars

Via Steve:

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your Spring. Post these instructions in along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.

1. “Yellow Cab,” China Dub Soundsystem from Made in China and Look Directly into the Sun
   I know almost nothing about this clamorous, off-kilter slab of weirdo/creepy/sexy brilliance. Martin Atkins (P.I.L., Pigface, etc.) seems to be involved in some capacity; I first heard this track (misnamed, as “Pink 09, Determining the Dose”) on Look Directly into the Sun, some sort of Chinese post-punk compilation that he curated. The rest of the China Dub Soundsystem album sounds nothing like this track, it turns out. “Yellow Cab” is a teeny bit like very early Fall covering The Normal’s “Warm Leatherette,” with some kind of techno erotica cross-pollination.
2. “I’ll Never Fear Ghosts Again,” Soccer Team, from Play
   Soccer Team is one of those steeped-in DC-punk bands that I’m genetically programmed to love, this one helmed by Ryan Nelson (Most Secret Method, Beauty Pill). “I’ll Never Fear Ghosts Again” is their contribution to the super-cool indie rock kid’s comp Play. This bouncy, catchy number features my current fave lyric fragment , “it’s best to just be good/when you’re hanging in the hood/there are times when you’ll be mad, but you will cope!”
3. “Shop Hard at Logan Circle,” Dead Teenagers from Motor Cycle Wars can go fuck themselves E.P. [sic]
   Coincidentally(?) another Ryan Nelson joint, this one with Erik Denno of Kersone 454/Oswego. In the innocent summer of 2001 two spunky little bands of DC scenesters manufactured a not-so-good -natured rivalry for themselves. Motor Cycle Wars put on tongue-in-cheek Stooges-style spectacles with every show; Dead Teenagers picked a very narrow mid-80s cali-hardcore sort of sound and just flat rocked. I went through at least 3 copies of this CDR-only release before I found one that played all the way through (I think they got tired of selling them to me). I’m really glad I persisted, though.
4. “She Makes Amazing Look Stupid,” The Capstan Shafts from Dreamily’s Throttled Revolts
5. “Playing Doctrine,” The Capstan Shafts from Dreamily’s Throttled Revolts
   It took more effort to track down DTR than any of the other Capstan Shafts releases I’ve found so far (unless you count the one I bought from the Rainbow Quartz webstore that they never shipped; but the second time I bought that — from a different vendor — was quick and easy) so it’s lucky I’ve fallen as hard in love with some of its songs.
6. “Mr. Woods,” Big Dipper from Heavens
   I am super, super psyched for Big Dipper tonight. “Mr. Woods” is by no means my favorite Big Dipper tune, but I love several of the lyric fragments (”Big, big Mr. Woods … can’t see the trees for himself” and “Someone stole our street sign…now we live on nothing lane” especially) and it’s been the Big Dipper earworm of the week for sure.
7. “Everybody Here is a Cloud,” Cloud Cult from Feel Good Ghosts
   I am falling hard for the new Cloud Cult album, and somewhat belatedly falling hard for the previous one, The Meaning of 8, too. The facile comparison is certainly to the Flaming Lips; these are densely, inventively, and eclectically arranged albums that tackle Big Honkin’ Pretentious Themes like, y’know, God, and stuff. Some of it (like the Simon and Garfunkle-ish “The Ghost Inside Our House”) is a little too precious for me. Fortunately, lead Cloud Cultist Craig Minowa brings plenty of catchy tunes to the party.