Music Blogs

White Shoes Don't Make it, Quit School, Why Fake It?: This just in: Years of sample schlockery, world music cross-barrier trading, Jobim worship, corny '70s soundtracks and deft touches from the St.Etienne-Stereolab-Cardigans catalog have found their greatest expression in Indonesian pop supergroup, White Shoes & The Couples Company.

At first listen, the Jakarta sextet make what sounds like throwaway pop, the wind-blown offshoot of J-Pop, '70s Brazilian vocal groups and Partidge Family parodies delivered with all the sincerity of a barely potty trained puppy. But White Shoes & The Couples Company--whose sly lead vocalist Miss Sari amalgamates singers as different as Lani Hall and Karen Carpenter--are as ambitious as any group of artists in love with the 1970s can possibly be in this age of irony overload. The group's eponymous debut, complete with lyrics about "touching the sky" and innocent song titles like "Sunday Memory Lane," "Top Star," and "Nothing To Fear" (other titles in Indonesian) is, happily, irony-free. Any group of like minded American musicians would have sick irony ingrained in their genes when attempting such a silly love song soiree, but White Shoes .... embrace their "have a nice day" tune fest with total dedication to their flower-powered, bell bottom-wearing, vocal harmony-loving song cycle. This is pop music to believe in, music that a child would recognize as pure of heart, free of cynicism, as sweet as a nursery rhyme wrapped in pink velour and malted milk balls. While the charming "Tentang Cita" is perhaps most indicative of where White Shoes has been, "Brother John" points their direction forward. A definite nod to Stereolab and the High Llamas, "Brother John" flow/rolls off furiously waltzing Hammond organ figures and typically sweet harmonies, then blasts through a rocking middle eight that recalls Brian Wilson jamming with The Jam followed by a darn near progressive ¾ section topped with sticky strings, spidery guitar, fusion era drumming and harmonies worthy of '60s pop icons The Fifth Dimension.

White Shoes & The Couples Company:  Miss Sari, Rio, Saleh, Ricky, Mela and John masterfully mash up styles like DJ Shadow stoked on happy juice and a fine '70s LP collection. The group's harmonies consistently recall both the Fifth Dimension (again) as well as Sergio Mendes' samba espousing vocal groups of the '60s and '70s, and with a dedication to pop perfection that borders on the scary. Formed in 2002 by Art Institute of Cikini (Jakarta) colleagues-turned-lovers Rio and Sari, White Shoes & The Couples Company have become the toast of American indie media, garnering hot nods from rags both corporate and barely funded.  We at Yahoo! Music award them with our highest honor of 2007: MOST BLOG WORTHY BAND ON THE PLANET : WHITE SHOES & THE COUPLES COMPANY. HOORAY AND UP WITH LITTLE PEOPLE!

White Shoes & The Couples Company: "Brother John"  (MP3, 4:16)

Wilco Watch Out: Butane Variations have arrived! (Goldie Hawn is Still Hot): Riding banjo grooves and dizzy electronic spirals, Butane Variations merge country-fried tunes with disaster laden computer sounds and funky rocking beats. It's like that last moment when your life plays back before your eyes, only the soundtrack to your final gasp isn't Jay-Z or Gwen Stefani, but a weird band who can't decide whether they are electronic, acoustic, or a chamber inspired. Death is funny that way, there are no guarantees that the grim reaper will take song requests during your final seconds on Mother Earth.

Based in Brooklyn, New York, of all places, the six-piece Butane Variations are as sunny/sweet sounding as eggs frying and bacon snapping somewhere in the Appalachians on a misty morning in May. Led by Phil Weinrobe and John-Paul Norpoth, Butane Variations maintain an aw shucks persona, even while wailing trumpet over scalding explosions ("Airforce One"), spinning country rock sirens worthy of early McQuinn and seminal Parsons ("Skyward, Upward"), or oddly mixing Conway Twitty/Simon & Garfunkel vocals and lower east side indie instrumentation with damaged pop portent ("Goldie Hawn"). Wilco make great claims for their pain-on-our-sleeves music-as-art, but Butane Variation simply take from the same place--and do it better. It's fun fun fun, and they even know Goldie Hawn is hotter than her daughter could ever be.

Butane Variations: "Skyward, Upward"  (MP3, 4:51)