Twofer Tuesday: Pram's All Full of Pamphlets

Twofer Tuesday today includes one song from L Magazine's list of 8 NYC Bands You Need to Hear: 2009 and another from one of my favorite music blogs. I can't lay claim to finding this music, but I can certainly take some ownership of loving it.

THE SING SONGS



Found this New Zealand-based band through the Music Alliance Pact project on the excellent blog I Guess I'm Floating. Though their sound is more like Boy Crazy or the Clumsy Lovers' non-banjo-driven stuff, what makes "Pamphlet Baby" pack a punch is the tale it tells. Much like The Decemberists' "A Cautionary Tale" disguises a mother forced to prostitute herself to feed herself as a lilting sea shanty, this song takes the sad tale of a mother whose baby dies and wraps it up in feel-good, mellow girlie pop. It's a fun little song, and the video below is delightfully low-budget.



ANAMANAGUCHI



Aubrey and I have remarkably similar taste in music. We even have "super" compatibility on last.fm. So it surprised me when I sent her to the link to "Blackout City," my favorite track from Brooklyn-based electro wizards Anamanaguchi, and her reaction was "it's like LET US BE AS ANNOYING AS POSISBLE/ ughh i loathe it." Clearly, this song's not for everyone, but the combination of jangly guitars and the bouncy electronica of mid-90s Nintendo TOTALLY works for me. What do you think? (Take note of the too-cute music video.)