Why do I feel awkward posting about Little Joy?

…look, Little Joy just put out a fantastic album but I can’t help but feel a little weird about talking about any Fab Morreti project. It’s not like he wasn’t talked about a zillion times for his instant rock star looks as a drummer of the Strokes(despite not being a very good drummer) or as Drew Barrymoore’s husband. I mean there comes a point where you go – do I really need to talk about a wealthy guy who so far has won the genetic, marital, and musical lotteries?

Here at SoV -we root for the underdog. The struggling artists, the unheard of geniuses – how can we feature a guy who has bloggers & mainstream media alike camped on his doorstep waiting for him to make his next move? Well the answer is, if you make an album as honest and unpretentious as he just did with Little Joy or as solid as the first Strokes album, you deserve the hype despite possessing a good amount of luck too. Besides, I can’t help but me more taken by Fab’s lesser known band mates when I listen to this.

In keeping with the theme of things I’m embarrassed to post, add to the list the abundance of intimate videos with artists playing acoustically – often times in unconventional spaces. Don’t get me wrong, seeing Arcade Fire play in an elevator or Spoon play in the back of a cab are cool videos but there are soooo many rip offs of this style of documentary format right now that’s it’s almost unbearable to watch. To make things worse, it’s become a bit of a fad and you hear artists featured who don’t translate well at all into the stripped down acoustic environment. The Ruby Suns need that everything & the kitchen sink in their arrangements – that’s their point of view. When you take that away, they just sound like hippies and the art is lost.

…so without further adieu, here is Little Joy playing a few songs off their amazing debut album to a small camera crew filming in a gritty style in an intimate space – and it’s wonderful! By the way, this is the second straight post featuring a Rough Trade artist. They must be doing something right over there at Rough Trade(well, they always are actually)….

Unattainable by Little Joy (DUMBO Sessions West) – I love this woman’s voice. Reminds me A LOT of Vashti Bunyan with a wee bit of Jolie Holland without the twang.

Next Time Around by Little Joy (DUMBO Sessions West) – this actually reminds me of a couple of songs from the fantastic first Band of Bees album(or just “The Bees” in the UK because of the 60s garage rock band called “The Bees” in the US).

Women

…so I love women but now I also love the band Women.  Not a lot out there in the way of videos on the  “interwebs” for these guys except these two poorer quality recordings(that don’t hold a candle to the album versions).  Anyway, if your even marginally into these videos do yourself a favor and pick up the self titled album out now on Rough Trade label in the US and Flemish Eye in Canada.  Also note that SoV’s favorite Chad VanGaalen recorded these guys – actually they are made up of members of his touring band.

Big props to the operators of KOOP’s program “The Great White North” who feature great music from Canadian artists and who turned me on to both Women and Piano.  Those crazy Canadians sure to do like to reappropriate words don’t they?

Black Rice by Women

Camera by Women