All I wanna do is clap/All I wanna do is sing/I don’t wanna sing another song in anger sing Zeus on “Kindergarten”, and I couldn’t be happier about all the musical things they do or don’t wanna do, because Say Us is a seriously good time. It’s got hand claps, group singing, parlour piano, bumbling bass lines and enough ooh’s and ahh’s to fill a swimming pool.

Zeus make no attempts to hide the fact that this Say Us is a pop album through and through. Sure, it has some buzzing, straight-up rock moments (“You Gotta Teller”) and sure it can simmer (“Heavy On Me”), and sure Zeus can do the buzzing, simmering thing well, but it’s when they give in to every pop-loving instinct in their bodies that the album comes so vibrantly alive.

Say Us has a grinning approach to music that just reeks of good times, often bringing a very Kinks-esque silliness to the songs that I completely adore.  And I could sit here listening to the album on repeat, pinpointing exact moments where Zeus bring to mind other musicians from yesteryear (because their sound can indeed be described with a lot of sounds-likes), but I’ll leave that to somebody else who’d rather pick apart the origins of Zeus’ hook-laden awesomeness than just enjoy the hook-laden awesomeness for all its awesomity.

And check out the equally a-word video for the album’s first single, “Marching Through Your Head”:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Say Us (2010)

(mp3) Zeus – Fever of the Time

(mp3) Zeus – Kindergarten

MySpace | Website | Buy

If you’re a fan of this rendition, the generous Pomplamooses have made it and all of their covers available for FREE download. Right here. How lovely of them. Don’t forget to check out their original material as well—it’s not to be missed. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Pomplamoose Covers (2010)

(mp3) Pomplamoose – Don’t Want to Miss a Thing

Pomplamoose VideoSongs

(mp3) Pomplamoose – Expiration Date

MySpace | Website | YouTube | iTunes

I’m in love with NPR, and in particular the podcasts “This American Life” and “Radiolab.” They should be mandatory listening, as far as I’m concerned. Apart from featuring incredible stories, and addressing fascinating questions, they also contain really, really good music. As you may know, “This American Life” recently became a TV series on Showtime (you can stream on Netflix!), and their soundtrack includes some music from the band, Pale White Moon. If you are a fan of instrumental music definitely check out the debut album that released today called, Call of The Wolf Peach.

Pale White Moon’s music has an elegant, baroque sound that I really enjoy. “Heirlooms” and Yann Tiersen-esque “Sir Basil Humphrey’s House Oh The Hill” are my two favorite tracks on the album. And believe it or not, the band was able to somehow pull off using cicadas as instruments in the song, “The Seven Year Cicadas!” It’s actually enjoyable to listen to and they get major points for quirkiness. Instead of buying a sound sample of cicadas, frontman, Doug Slawin, went around New Haven, Connecticut to record. Awesome.

I think the story behind this album is really cool. Instead of Pale White Moon being a band, it’s more of a collective started by  Slawin. He dedicated the album to his hometown of New Haven, CT and got various people around his community to contribute. Read more about Pale White Moon at the New Haven Register.

Call of The Wolf Peach (2010):

(mp3) Pale White Moon – Heirlooms

(mp3) Pale White Moon - Sir Basil Humphrey’s House On The Hill

Buy at MF (only $6!)| Myspace

There’s a really cool new site called Kickstarter that allows people working on independent projects to raise funding through friends, family, and awesome folks around the internet. And better yet, funders usually get some really neat swag in return (i.e. an artist trying to raise money to record an album, will often times send it to a supporter for free). You are bound to find amazing people on this site–and given they are seeking help from the community, it’s fair to say most of them are extremely modest, unlike some of their industry “(insert mean word)” counterparts.

One project that gets a big IndieMuse stamp of approval is called Sound Through Sight: A Gonzo Road Trip to Understand Music In 2010. It’s started by Tom Williams (writer), Sarah Mulligan (photographer), and Rahawa Haile (filmaker).

Here’s a small blurb from their Kickstarter page explaining the project:

Picture Chuck Klosterman and Alexis de Tocquevillie joining Hunter S. Thompson, going not on a drug-fueled rampage across Las Vegas but on a trip of discovery across America, seeking to understand where music and the music industry stands in 2010, how we got here, and where we’re going. We are three passionate young music lovers who intend to do just that. To understand these questions and to look for answers, we are going on a Gonzo road trip, searching for insights and answers on the back roads of America. We will then write a book on the trip which attempts to answers those questions we just posed. We will also create a book of photography from our travels across North America and a short documentary about the music we encounter on this trip.

The money we are seeking to raise here will go towards printing the first edition of the book, as well as the gas, food, and other minor travel expenses we’ll need to complete this trip. (more)

If you have a few extra dollars in your pocket, you should consider helping out! A $15 donation will even score you a free copy of the book once it’s published!

Song of the day: Avi Buffalo – Where’s Your Dirty Mind

I’m really digging Cuckoo Chaos’ new EP, We Are from Deerplants. The band will be releasing their debut later in the year, and this is a sign of good things to come. If you’e a fan of Devendra Banhart, The Bowerbirds, or that general folk sound, I highly recommend checking them out.

My favorite track on the EP is “It’s Easy, Ya Know. ” It’s short and catchy, and among my favorite songs of the year. I’m also drawn to the tracks “Hymn Number Twelve,” and “Preparing for the Eternal Winter, We,” both of which creatively incorporate eerie, staticy voices to fully drive that lo-fi sound.  Overall, just a solid EP. Keep your eyes on Cuckoo Chaos.

Cuckoo Chaos is based out of San Diego, and is fronted by Scott Wheeler.

We Are From Deerplants EP (2010)

(mp3) Cuckoo Chaos – It’s Easy, Ya Know

(mp3) Cuckoo Chaos – Slowly Counting Down To Nothing

Myspace | iTunes

If you’re a fan of large, multi-instrumental bands be sure to check out Cuddle Magic’s sophomore album, Picture. It just released yesterday, and includes some great tracks.

The ensemble is based out of New York and Philadelphia, and made up of  12 musicians, or more, at any given time (and a 3-foot plastic penguin). Their sound covers a wide range of genres, including folk, world, and avant-pop. The diversity won’t be for everyone, but it’s always interesting to see how bands craft their music with such a variety of instruments (strings, percussion, vibraphone, clarinet, keyboards, guitars, and a whole lot more). Several tracks I recommend include “Expectations,”"Anyone,”"One Useful Song,” and “Say When.”

I might need to take a breather in between, but here’s the current roster in the band: Alec Spigelman, Ashley Paul, Ben Davis, Bridget Kearney, Christopher McDonald, Cole Kamen-Green, Dave Flaherty, (inhale-exhale), Eric Lane, Kristin Slipp, Lucy Railton, Max Haft, and Mike Calarese. Many of them got their training from the New England Conservatory.

Picture (2010):

(mp3) Cuddle Magic – Expectations

(mp3) Cuddle Magic – Anyone

site | label | MF (IndieMuse’s new music store where artists keep all the proceeds, cause we love em)

I highly recommend checking out Headless Heroes if you’re a fan of Beth Orton, Cat Power, or simply a fan of great cover songs. Headless Heroes is a group of established musicians who got together to cover songs spanning forty years. Artists covered include Daniel Johnston, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Vashti Bunyan, Linda Perhacs and The Gentle Soul.

The album, called The Silence of Love, is the brainchild of producers Eddie Bezalel and Hugo Nicholson. They recruited talented musicians for the album, including Alela Diane, Josh Klinghoffer (Beck, Jon Brion, Red Hot Chilli Peppers), Joey Waronker (Elliott Smith), Woody Jackson, Leo Abrahams, and Gus Seyffert.

Alela, an artist signed to Rough trade, is the female vocalist you hear on all the tracks. She was asked to take part in the project after Bezalel came across her Myspace page. The music varies from what she is used to making, but she says “it was quite liberating to just sing! And not worry about it being my record, or it being different from the type of music that I’m used to making.”