BEN VARIAN "Part of the Y’all" (MJMJ)

A slimmed-down version of the paunchy skipper we’ve all known has moved his crew from yacht to dinghy. He attributes his agility to his recent weight loss, and uses it to advance kawaii. The Steely Youth spends most of his time in the “cafe,” a corner in the back-of-house where he takes his coffee standing, bugging the head chef and prep cooks with his quaint observations and weird sense of humor. Yesterday, his second mate was startled to find him at the wheel, dressed as a furry, blowing bubbles out of a plastic novelty pipe.

“Capitano, where is your uniform?”
“In my cabin. Thought I could use a sea change.”
“But, capitano, what if the others sea you like this?”
“Junior, it’ll be our little seacret.”
“OK. I’ll hasten down the wind and close the blinds.”

“Yes. Sea to it. Thank you.”

Low morale corroded the minds of the highly esteemed crew. They had been lost at sea for months, and, consequently, were a little cracked. Not one of them expected to see land again. They would stay the course. Lunacy and heavy ribbing became the name of the game as their aimless water-wanderings became lifestyle. Klepto’s trenchcoat. Scissors cutting cigars and coattails. Spaghetti hat. Candelabra helmets. Floral drag and falsetto. Silk scarves waving “yoo-hoo.” The shocking gum trick. Peroxide in the shampoo. Snakes in the shaker. Alien on the autopsy table. Urine in the soap dispenser. Turds mixed in with the meatballs. Was this a Marx Bros. gag or a respectable crew? Just another ship of fools…

They only turned the cameras on during moments of leisure—at the “cafe,” so to speak. We never saw them doing any real work. The more waving scarves, the higher the ratings. What started as potentially twee, turned and went madcap. It took a few seasons to earn their wings.

https://mjmjrecords.bandcamp.com

-- Rick Weaver

LITTLE SPOON"Girlfriend Forever" (MJMJ Records)

The cassette cover is of a slightly out of focus young woman with a dripping rainbow across her face (please note: the above photo was ripped from the artist's website ... the actual cassette cover is a close up of the above photo). It reminds me of local access children television programming, family friendly craft fairs or one of those discombobulating pink house wackos from "A Family Finds Entertainment". The girl is, please forgive me here, good looking, with subtle messy bangs, a calming expression and a flirtatious tilt of the head.

The music seems to match this visual well. It's appealing, stimulating yet calming dance music. It is gay in the old fashioned usage of the word, even when the music is bittersweet in temperament. I sense even a little of "the Cure" in the synth tone.

Little Spoons vocalists at times sound like a tenor young Prince (or as the artist formerly known as) but they can also make like native American tribal chanters. At other times their voices sound without gender. This androgyny is engaging the same way Ziggy Stardust era Bowie was engaging, although these are dreamy dance songs, not intergalactic ballads. A female voice emerges at the beginning of side B ... or maybe it's the same voice? I dunno... but it's got me listening, which is a very good sign of a good cassette.

I think one thing that makes this cassette work is the fact it is, once again, a utilitarian release. The beat, while dropping out at times to allow melody to take center stage, remain rather simple and repetitive four four drumbeats. This gets ones head nodding and then Little Spoon doesn't let up. This cassette has a mission to make you move. There is fun poetry here in the lyrics, interesting tonal experimentation, beautiful digital vocal harmonies, good transitions and enough song diversity to keep me interested ... but the glue that keeps it all together is a focus on the beat. Even on a song like "We are Both Adults", which is notably more serious and somber than the rest of the release, has a drumbeat that keeps your head nodding. It doesn't break your neck (it's not trying to) but it is consistent.

This music is best when the harmonies are really pushed to their fullest digital capabilities, like on the cassette finale, "There is Something Over That Hill". There's still a computer loop rhythm that sounds like MUM, but here the vocals delay, merge into chorus, loop and the whole song ends with the rest of the song elements dropping out as the vocals infinitely fade out chanting with divine glory.

This is a fine release and good for the summer season. Diverse, inviting, mellow without being lazy, dance inducing without being aggressive and with lush, stoned vocals. Check it out.
Listen to it here on their bandcamp:
http://littlespoon.bandcamp.com/album/girl-friend-forever

--Jack Turnbull

MESSY SPARKLES/TREEHOPPING "MESSYHOPPING" c40 (MJMJ Records)

  It is my own personal opinion that split releases, especially those of the modern punk and indie varieties, generally involve two painfully similar sounding bands or artists, may or may not even share band mates, and rarely offer up any sort of real contrast, or even slightly varied styles.But, every once in a while two rather similar musical entities do find one another, they do the dance, and you end up with something totally worthy of flipping a hundred times.MJMJ Records (Twomichaeljordans) has recently done so, by bringing Messy Sparkles and Treehopping together.This brilliant looking/sounding split cassette is filled with delicate and brightly colored shapes and sounds.
  Messy Sparkles is a Texan named JD Paul (also co-owner of MJMJ), but by listening his full-bodied and quite tropical pop mastery, you'd think he was backed by at least a handful of talented musicians.He's quite the rhythm machine, laying down fairly intricate and textured beats, and building up a skyscraper of rich guitar and trickling synth melodies on top of them.Not so different from recent Animal Collective output, with the occasional steel drum swagger and deep vocal hymn, but with a scattered, yet charming diy/bedroom production.His voice is a bit juvenile and slightly off key, and after a few listens, I've realized that this wouldn't actually work any other way.His tunes are youthful and full of life, filling your speakers with nothing but good vibes at all times, and I can't get enough of this side.A very pleasant surprise indeed.
  Gainesville's Treehopping fills their side with a similar blend of shimmery island-pop, complete with dense, organic drums, and layers of fun guitar interplay.This kind of sounds like Surfer Blood's more tender and staggering moments, without all the power chords and verse/chorus/verse formula.You'll most likely hear a bit of Broken Social Scene's orchestrated guitar weaving, and tightly wound percussive bounce.There's a really nice syncopation going on between the spot-on drums and punchy bass, and they both keep things moving along at a solid pace, without being too overbearing.Fragile keyboard melodies are scattered all over the place, with a wide range of tasteful soft-synths floating throughout the songs.The vocals are for the most part sincere and tuneful shouts, with some well executed group harmonies and choruses.The recording quality is just right, and everything in it's place, without sounding "polished".These acts really complement each other in a big way, and I absolutely recommend this to anyone looking for some good vibes.
TWOMICHAELJORDANS.