Sprites

To start, apparently, like Pixies before them, Sprites choose not to use the. Fine enough! I checked this out with a visit to their wonderful website, a real work of art by one Susie Gahramani. The website is all friendly and tweedy, much like Sprites' sound. I love grainy vocals, and head-sprite Jason Korzen's definitely fit the bill, reminding me in a way of Mark Kozolek or Nada Surf.

And who doesn't love horror movies? Dropping pop culture references like a genial Quentin Tarantino, George Romero is the track on Modern Gameplay that I can't get out of my head.

Sprites - George Romero
Sprites - I Started a Blog Nobody Read
Sprites - Do It Yourself

sprites.org.uk

Musical Quark: Collectives

Okay, I love the new K-OS track Valhalla. Love it. K-OS is a contributer to the Broken Social Scene collective, which Wikipedia describes as a "Supergroup." I'm also loving Lambchop's Kurt Wagner showing up guest vocals on a track by Morcheeba. Like Lambchop, Broken Social Scene is both a small (1 or 2) group of core members, and a whole bunch of people who also showed up for a particular session. Collectives are a wonderful thing, and the world should have more of them.

To quote the Sprites website:
People have frequently assumed that "Do It Yourself" was written specifically about Barcelona, but its not entirely the case. The song is really just about the difficulty of writing songs with other people, the compromises involved, and the inevitable disappointment. Jason felt so strongly about this that Sprites, the band, was intentionally formed with a changing cast of characters. Not a backing band, but a group of friends who could come together in different arrangements, write songs together, perform, and hang out. Nobody should ever have to be kicked out. The band would never have to break up.

I want to be in a band when I get to heaven; anyone can play guitar!