na: misha, mantronix

An indie-pop surprise, and some great old-school hip-hop classics.

Misha, Teardrop Sweetheart: Indie pop from the twee school, delicate and a little bit goofy, with some electronic flirtations (the album was released by Tomlab, distributors of the Books, Final Fantasy, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, etc). There is a slightly different edge, though, in that the singer’s voice sounds an awful lot like Marc Bolan of T. Rex, which makes this debut album sound a little less fleeting, less stylish, which is to its benefit. I recommend starting with “Losing.” Oh and also “Delovedly,” which I am hearing for the first time as I’m about to publish this post — SO good. Sounds like a T. Rex love song.

JVC Force, Force Field & Mantronix, Mantronix: Two early hip-hop classics, the JVC Force title from 1990, the Mantronix from 1985. Now, Force Field can’t touch Doin’ Damage (what can?), but there’s a lot to recommend it, especially “It’s a Force Thing.” The Mantronix were another NYC troupe, and Mantronix: The Album was there biggest and grandest statement. If you flip through the samples, I’d wager you’d be surprised by how many tracks you recognize. Very highly recommended.

Bia, Bossa Nova: Brazilian bossa singer, her previous material extremely minimal and stripped, this album a bit more filled out. Less contemporary than Bebel, one of the reasons I like her so much.

Various Artists, Holocene Music Remix Compilation Volume 1: The credits on this comp are wrong: this is not a Menomena album, the first track was simply done by them. This album collects a bunch of remixes and electronic-y compositions by Portland-based artists, so we get Menomena, the Thermals, the Blow, Yacht, etc. Worth cherry-picking.

Flin Flon, Dixie: Most recent album (2006) from the Teen Beat faves.

Circlesquare, Fight Sounds EP: A bit of industrial, some post-punk, too. “Fight Sounds” (the first version on this EP) is the track that made them their (limited) rep, and justifiably so. It’s a tense number, very jagged edged. The other versions on here are not nearly as special.