One last beautiful mix into the sweet, sweet 2006 air...His name is Ubu.
>> Featured Artist: Band of Horses
When Band of Horses hit the scene with March's Sub Pop-released Everything All the Time, the Toaster found itself confused over the masses of music blogs swooning over "The Funeral," which Mister Toaster himself dubbed "an otherwise decent song."
The hype cruelly shattered with one swat of the Man Behind/Who Is the Toaster, we all moved on with our lives, leaving the Seattle band behind - you know, to think about what all those mp3 blogs had unwittingly done.
Meanwhile, one of our trusted blogger friends (we can't remember which one) posted "The Great Salt Lake." And Mister Toaster sent out a brief statement: "Oops."
This song, which begins the denouement of Ubu, combines a compelling melody with catchy stop-start instrumentation. We all hear a little Brian Wilson in the lead vocal, and - could it be?! - is that a remnant of that Christopher Cross song we hear?
Great tune, sure to do well on the 2006 charts.
>> Album Lookout: Two Thousand
The French Kicks - Released: July 18, 2006 Vagrant
The Toaster first got a taster for these guys when they opened for the Decemberists on the 2004 tour. After the show, everyone but the lead singer (typical...) came out to talk to fans and sign copies of their latest release, 2004's Trial of the Century.
Again, we remained underwhelmed by what got leaked and filed everything away for a second listen at a later date.
When Ubu started bringing the crew together, it kept coming back to "So Far We Are," which wound up slated as an alternate track and worked its way in to the Big Time after it kept getting stuck in Mister Toaster's head.
The rest of the mix is history; the rest of the album...um...we're still unconvinced.
Toaster mix connoisseurs have commented that Ubu has more than your typical load of "oldies." The Jewels' "Opportunity" is the cement that holds the mix's intro together, unstable as it is from all that new flava.
The Jewels' biggest hit may be deemed a classic by All Music Guide, but it gets drowned out by all the amazing music coming out of the early '60s girl group scene. What's more, The Jewels hail from our nation's capital, and we couldn't be prouder to give a shoutout to our fellow DCers.
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