Dragibus - 'Tutti Frutti' (Autobus)

I think this is the only recording from the 'children's music' genre, though Dragibus are a pretty demented form of music for children. Three French people, one dressed as a penguin, doing broken-sounding pop songs for kids - why do I have this? I think I met one of these people once, and was enamoured at the fact they travelled to schools and did Sun City Girls covers for kids. I remember there being such a cover on this CD, but I must have imagined it. But we do get Moondog's 'Pygmy Pig' and if H'Art Songs weren't for children what would be? It's a bit hard to get through this disc in one sitting though the vocals are bright, the arrangements quirky, and odd sounds pop in whenever it threatens to get monotonous. At times the singing sounds like Shonen Knife doing 60s ye-ye covers, but that sounds like a derogatory comparison and I don't mean it that way at all. This may be one of those bands that is more fun to be in than to listen to, but the choice of material is decent (it's about half originals and half covers from what I can tell, and has any other band ever presented a Television Personalities song to schools of French youngsters before?) and I am reminded of that recent Portlandia sketch about children's bands (which was funny!).  If I had kids of my own (and I don't, too busy listening to records!) I'd school them on this, for sure. You're never too young to start speaking French, right? 

Air Guitar Magazine - 'Bass is the Place' (Enamel)

Source: got from someone in the band, 2005.

Air Guitar Magazine channel the spirit of the mariachi band that hounds you on the patio of a Mexican restaurant for spare change while you're trying to enjoy your enchilada, perhaps crossed with a bit of momentum-driven late 90s white Midwest rock. With two trumpets, electric bass and a speedy rock drummer they bear no resemblance to Spaceheads, Chicago Underground Duo or any of that atmospheric scrawl - it's all about riffs, snare drum, ride cymbal, and jumping up and down. At times it's a contrapuntal slugfest, with thee trumpets magnetically repelling each other, slightly detuned over the frantic rhythms. Other parts are like the car chase scene in The French Connection - long, relentless, and framed by an overpass. When it gets into a groove there's the very slightest tendency to read a Tarot card, but before long a rawk riff slaps the cigarette into your mouth and turns on the track lighting. The compositions are well-crafted, and makes me wonder what happened to these guys.