The Quixotic Engineer

Newer readers might not know that The Musical Box was once a proud monthly tradition on this blog. For better or for worse, I’ve been trying to move away from the general mishmash of subjects I used to cover and instead concentrate on exploring video games. However, rules are meant to be broken; here’s some recommended Summer listening.

When I first listened to Future Of The Left‘s “The Hope That House Built”, my first thought was: “that’s the filthiest guitar I’ve ever heard!” Their latest album Travels With Myself and Another is dirty, hungry and excellent throughout. With indie rock tending toward dreamy Pet Sounds pop these days, their heavier sound is both refreshing and distinctive.

Could this trio of teenagers (16, 21 and 19 respectively) from London spark a modern swing / rockabilly revival? I certainly hope so! Kitty, Daisy & Lewis‘s self-titled album consists mostly of covers, but they have a unique contemporary take on the classics. Beyond genre novelty, the band’s sheer instrumental ability shines through, particularly Kitty Durham’s wailing harmonica. This is a band to watch, without a doubt.

Regina Spektor‘s latest album Far was released yesterday, and I assure you it will be playing on repeat at my place for the foreseeable future. A Soviet-born, Bronx-raised folk singer, Regina’s music is defined by its contradictions. Her songs are playful and mournful, traditional and experimental. If “Dance Anthem Of The 80’s” (embedded above) made you smile, I strongly suggest investigating her entire discography.

Finally, the story of Connie Converse is as peculiar as it is heartbreaking. In the 1950’s, this aspiring musician was living in an apartment in Greenwich Village. Her melancholic, thoughtful, feminist music was perhaps too avant-garde for contemporary recording companies, and she was never picked up. Disillusioned, she packed up and disappeared.

However, her private recordings were rediscovered decades later, “unearthed from the bottom of a filing cabinet.” As Lucy Foley explains, her music is remarkable:

This woman wrote her songs before the Beatles showed up. Before Elvis showed up. Before rock ‘n’ roll showed up. Long before the singer songwriter paradigm showed up. Connie Converse was writing songs in the fifties of such intimacy, wit and poignancy that would not be heard in the mainstream until Joni Mitchell came along, a hundred cultural light years later. There’s an uncanny quality in Connie Converse. Her songs go on journeys into yearning, into the uncanny.

You can hear more about this outstanding lost musician on WYNC’s Spinning on Air, and purchase an album from the people who rediscovered her work.

That’s all from me, but if you’re looking for more music check out Nav’s Summer selection over at Scrawled in Wax.