Coursing Through The Wires #11 -- Quick Thoughts

1. From the "too bizarre to be a farce" department -- the El Haija Brothers or "Northern Band," rocking the West Bank with their celebration of Hezbollah's Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah. It appears that The World was the first western media outlet to find this, and they offer a raucous 10-minute version (mp3) of the tune along with the 5-minute voice-over report (mp3). I've cut down the 10-minute version to 3:40 for ease in listening -- the full version is only recommended for those into Sufi-trance-like musical experiences.

Listen to Hawk of Lebanon

Side note #1: the original version of the song was about Hamas. Side note #2: the group is now lamenting the lack of copyright laws under the Palestinian Authority -- can we send a mission from the RIAA over there? Or perhaps the Israelis should begin broadcasting Weird Al's latest, "Don't Download This Song," in the kind of audio barrage used against Manuel Noriega or Welsh teenagers.

2. There's a long history of pitting musical contemporaries against each other -- Beatles vs. Stones, McCartney vs. Lennon, Clean vs. Chills, etc. The latest dichotomy in the Brit indie scene appears to be between the Pipettes and the Long Blondes. From the looks of things in my less-than-thorough review of the indie-press, it seems that the Pipettes have the early edge, with their carefully honed (and devastatingly cute) style campaign topping a potent and tasty (if not filling) dose of mutant doo-wop.   

Ever the contrarian, I'm tempted to pick the third option (the Kinks, George Harrison, the Verlaines) if I can just find the right one ... Lucky Soul is a worthy contender in many respects, but their sound veers off into the orchestral category rather than the rock prowess needed to keep pace. Other candidates include Leeds' Sky Larkin or London's Strange Idols (each as championed by the brilliant Indie MP3 blog) -- but they aren't quite ready for the brightest of spotlights.

I think the Long Blondes have more staying power with their early-Blondie-on-acid perspective, especially if they can keep unearthing gems like "Autonomy Boy" (scroll down for the MP3) and "Fulwood Babylon" (currently on the band's MySpace page). I actually drove to Philadelphia back at the end of July and spent an evening at a bizarre indie-kid-dance-club just to see the Blondes, on the strength of tracks chased down through the Hype Machine (sometime before our friends at Idolator offered up their handy guide to the beast) ... stood right up front and was amazed at how the songs just leapt off the stage.  If they do play anywhere near you, please do yourself a favor and make the trek.