Margot & the Nuclear So and So's -- because you don't always want to dance (B+)

Let's be honest. There's a reason that radio stations play Lady Gaga over Morrissey at a rate of about 10,000 to 1. People would rather listen to upbeat, albeit lyrically lacking songs, than be reminded, quite poetically, about how awful their lives are. This is one of the reasons remixes and mashups even exist. Take a song we already like, inject it with a harder bassline and more persistent drum-kick... and we can make it something we love even more.

Sometimes, however, I feel like relaxing a bit... and I wouldn't be surprised if you do too. If you find yourself in this latter sort of mood, give Margot & the Nuclear So and So's a listen. They have been likened to Arcade Fire and The Decemberists... but I think these comparisons are largely flawed.

Unlike Arcade Fire's occasional grandeur, Margot's music sounds extremely stripped down, even where it is relatively complex and layered. Richard Edwards, Margot's lead vocalist, is also much less crass than the Decemberist's Colin Meloy. While Meloy reminds me more of Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum vocally, Edwards is more reminiscent of a mix between Death Cab's Ben Gibbard and Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst (in my opinion).

Here are a couple tracks from the band's 2008 album Not Animal -- which are songs preferred by their record label Epic. The band also released Animal! -- only available on vinyl -- which included the tracks the band preferred.

Enjoy these tunes.

As Tall As Cliffs - Margot & t...

Broadripple Is Burning - Margo...

Ahh covers...

One of the greatest thing about indie-ish music is that everyone seems to unabashedly cover each other within weeks, sometimes days, of new material being released. Along with mash-ups and remixes, we will try to pick and chose some of the most unique sounding covers that are circulating around.

Here are a few for your listening pleasure:

The Killers - Four Winds (Bright Eyes cover) (link removed)

Very cool cover that replaces violin/fiddle country sound of the Bright Eyes' original with The Killers' own 80's synthesizer sound. Still not as good as the original, but awesome.
Buy the Bright Eyes EP here.

Bat for Lashes - Use Somebody (Kings of Leon cover) (link removed)

Bat for Lashes (aka Natasha Khan) puts together a smooth slow version of Use Somebody during a BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge session.
Buy the Kings of Leon album here.

Ian McGlynn - Mistaken for Strangers (The National cover) (link removed)

It's a very weird thing to listen to a song by the National without Matt Berninger's unbelievably deep baritone voice-- but New Jersey's Ian McGlynn pulls off Mistaken for Strangers by reaching into the ol' falsetto playbook.
Buy The National album here.
Knatterjack - Time to Pretend (MGMT cover) (link removed)
No idea who/what Knatterjack is... but he/they does an above decent job of converting a jam into a chill piece of music. Definitely different... but definitely worth a listen.
Buy MGMT's album here.