What I've Been Listening to This Week, Vol. 1: This Is A Song For Carol!

I bid you welcome to the first installment of Father to a Sister of Thought's "What I've Been Listening to This Week". In this edition, we'll be taking a look at a couple of incredi-buzz indie acts and some of the patron saints of alt-rock. So without further ado...

Antony and the Johnsons-I Am A Bird Now (Buy it from Amazon.com)
I was pleased to see this in my roomate's LiveJournal the other day, because that meant I could steal it from her and finally see what everyone’s been talking about. I Am A Bird Now is angelic, androgynous cabaret pop from the angelic, androgynous Antony and his Johnsons (huh huh). Though Antony’s voice sometimes sounds like it belongs to a Ziggy Stardust-worshiping Josh Groban, the lyrical themes of birth, death and rebirth (all tying to gender and sexuality) distances the album from middle-of-the-road radio pap. Boy George, Rufus Wainright, Devendra Banhart and motherfuckin’ Lou Reed all show up to lend a hand; Reed’s spoken word intro on “Fistful of Love” acts as a stamp of approval for the song’s white soul take on the dark secrets that pop couldn’t explore before “Venus In Furs”.


Rogue Wave-Descended Like Vultures (Buy it)
I was drinking with some friends last year when one of them put on Rogue Wave's debut LP, Out of the Shadow. I wasn’t impressed. It was good, catchy indie pop, but there was something lacking. It didn’t seem to sink it's hooks into me like other records have. Fast forward to this week, Descended Like Vultures, and it’s opening number “Bird On A Wire”. Damned if those caterwaulling guitars weren’t what I was searching for (they might have been on the first album, but I wasn’t in the right state of mind to hear them). "10:1" starts off as a pristine rocker, but when that Elvis Costello organ squeal comes in after the first verse, you know things will only end up immaculately disordered.


Pixies-Surfer Rosa (Buy it)
Forgive me father, for I have sinned: up until this week, I had, for all intents and purposes, pretty much ignored the Pixies. I had "Where Is My Mind?" and "Monkey Gone to Heaven", but no full Pixies albums in my possession. After a week of classes with "Bone Machine" and "Gigantic" looping in head, I'm simultaneously angry and glad I didn't get into the band earlier. I shall now perform thirty spooky "ooo-ooo's" and fifteen "You're so pretty when you're faithful to me's" to atone for my tresspasses.