ExtraSpecialGood

Aaron Bowen
The Supreme Macaroni Co., Ltd

I’ll admit that I vacillated between “Extraspecialgood,” “Prettygood” and “It’snotsobad” on this one. In fact, it’s all three. Bowen is at his best early on with songs (like “When the Fall of Rome” and “Strawberry Wine”) that blur between gypsy jazz, throwback folk and singer/songwriter fare for a compelling Django Reinhardt-Woody Guthrie-James Taylor ménage à trois. And then Bowen turns into the musical equivalent of that teddy bear who pimps Snuggle fabric softener on TV.

That’s not an insult, believe it or not. It’s just that Bowen largely abandons the early flourishes for more straightforward songs that, like Snuggles the Bear, are soft, cuddly—not light, mind you, just soothing—and pleasantly sleep-inducing. Macaroni has a couple cheesy moments, too, primarily when Bowen strays toward Randy Newmanville, but the bulk of the album is simply great music for a rainy day (literally, in the case of “It’s Always Raining Here”). Minus the standout tracks, it’s still good background music. But background music just the same. MS/aaronbowen
—Nathan Dinsdale

 
Cabuloan
Demo

Cabuloan avoids easy description—other than falling under the wide “experimental” umbrella—with a sound that’s somewhere between what you might hear inside a bizarre haunted house and/or on a soundtrack to a Rob Zombie slapstick comedy. There’s meticulous fretwork and drumming, broken up by the odd gust of tape hiss and screeching keyboard blasts that really underpin (rather than overwhelm) the complicated rhythms. To top it off, Cab closes with the ’60s nightmare “Canisivum-Eek,” a song that boasts a fat beat finer than what most S.D. hip-hop acts have to offer. An overarching cartoonish quality to the music also gives the impression that the band would be a great live act. Considering the love of all things noise that many in San Diego have, there is no reason why Cabuloan should not have an obsessed cult following.
—Dave Tow

Cosmo Speedway
Evolution of the Bicycle

OK, friends, I think we have something here. This is a fun, poppy album full of little jumps, blips, glitches and various electro noises apparently inspired by the original Nintendo game system. The lyrics are sometimes upbeat stream-of-consciousness, sometimes absurdist while the beautiful vocals blend well with the unobtrusive synth beats. The acoustic guitar and piano ballads make for nice interludes between songs on the rest of album, while the last track, “Say What You Mean,” is particularly lovely. Overall, it’s a solid record from start to finish. I don’t know much about the evolution of the bicycle, but I do know that I’d happily ride mine to see these guys play. MS/cosmospeedway  
—Jason Bow

Calico Horse

After opening for several high-profile indie acts recently (Yeasayer, Dead Meadow and Beach House, in particular) Calico Horse offers up its first batch of haunted recordings. At times evoking Blonde Redhead circa Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons or a female-fronted Black Heart Procession playing circus music (yeah, Pall Jenkins produced this bad boy), Calico sounds like a band already on its third or fourth record, instead of its first. The songwriting is mature and fully formed, with Emily Neveu’s gentle vocals and sublime, repetitive piano leading the way through ebullient highs and melancholic lows, often within the span of a single song. Hitting on such a range of emotions without sounding pretentious is difficult, but Calico Horse makes it sound as natural as breathing. Plus, they kick ass live. Here’s one you should definitely keep on your radar. MS/calicohorse
—Todd Kroviak

The Go Duo Sex and Death, Vol. II

You gotta give The Go Duo credit for full disclosure. Their bio says, “We are the best cover band in the world. Or the worst.” Truth is, they’re neither, but they just might be the most original. Anybody can do ironic covers of Whitney Houston and Leadbelly, but not everybody can completely transform a song into something so wholly unique that you forget for a minute what the original sounded like.

Not exactly a twosome, the Duo seems to be more of a collective of UCSD music department grad students. With a few exceptions, most of the more well-known material sounds nothing like the originals. It’s as if they took the lyrics to random songs and just composed new music around the words.

They turn Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” into a Vaudeville rave-up with a Spanish guitar intro. “House of the Rising Sun” and Leadbelly’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” (heard here as “Black Girl”) get a goth-gospel and reggae-inspired makeover, making them nearly unrecognizable. A flute solo for the chorus of “Wind Beneath My Wings”? Why not? A freak-folk version of The Beach Boys’ “Little Honda”? You bet.  They even take a Sir Walter Scott poem (“County Guy”) and turn it into a hauntingly gorgeous tear-in-your-beer country song.

Slightly disposable, but surprisingly satisfying, you can’t deny the originality of The Go Duo’s unoriginality. I can only hope they at least consider making some of their own tunes, as they have both the musicianship and avant-garde outlook to be something bigger than what they claim to be. Or claim not to be. In the meantime, send me Vol. I!
—Seth Combs

Marcelo Radulovich
Mercurio

Although highbrow electro-acoustic experimentation isn’t a steady staple of my musical diet, Mercurio will probably have me second-guessing every time I pass over a Robert Fripp album. Clever, beguiling and compulsively listenable, Radulovich crafts a sonic playground atop the avant-garde pavement laid by Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa and Faust. His playful, Dada-inspired wordplay isn’t an entirely new concept, but the way it’s contorted into foreign, glitchy noises with the use of computer technology suits the inventiveness of his soundscapes perfectly. If you’re looking for traditional pop songs, go elsewhere. If you’re looking for something fresh and deeply inspiring, Mercurio will be your muse. MS/marceloradulovich
—Todd Kroviak

Marquez!
Marquez! EP

Somebody find this gringo a translator! Then again, you could speak Swahili with a Chinese accent and still be moved by these four stunning songs. Hailing from San Diego and Jalisco, Mexico, Marquez! might sound like The Mars Volta had the latter been influenced by Radiohead and U2 instead of King Crimson and Parliament, but that’s an overtly augmented attempt to at least classify what this duo is doing. Truth is, vocalist Jared Wardle-Armijo and multi-instrumentalist Paolo Cesar Zuniga play a magnificent brand of Spanish rock that’s as original as it is melodic.
Wardle-Armijo’s gorgeous falsetto opens “Maquina Plena” in English, but the song quickly segues into a sublime Spanish chorus and guitar attack that sounds like an OK Computer outtake. And with words lifted from Pablo Neruda and a Spanish guitar solo that’s succinct and unindulgent, “Reina del Jazz” might be the most heartbroken thing I’ve heard in years. 

This EP’s only fault? It’s too short. Marquez! might be too out there for Mexican rock radio and too, well, Spanish-speaking for American alternative stations, but I’d still love to see these guys take their rightful place alongside Café Tacuba and El Azote in that small circle of rock en espanol acts that are truly making art. A fine discovery, a rare treat and a stellar example that good music truly does transcend language barriers. I’m not likely to find myself more excited about a local band than I am right now. MS/marquezmusica
—Seth Combs

OAKS bravo!

San Diego, meet your new metal kings. In the tradition of sludge-slingers Karp and Big Business, OAKS have come to provide the soundtrack to your next bongload. And if you don’t smoke, this trio will still drink your ass under the table, draw a dick on your face with permanent marker and proceed to have sex with your girlfriend on the kitchen table while blasting Ace of Spades. With bludgeoning riffage, airtight drum fills and a shit-kicking backwoods vibe, OAKS are what would happen if The Melvins made an album of Lynyrd Skynyrd covers. Two words: totally awesome. MS/oaksmusic
—Todd Kroviak

South Psycho Cide Demo

It really is hard out here for a pimp. At least insofar as breaking new ground in gangsta rap is concerned. I mean, there are only so many ways you can possibly say that you will kill a bitch (cop, snitch, Wal-Mart greeter, etc.) if you have to.

Everything about South Psycho Cide (the name, for starters, and song titles like “Product of Tha System” for seconds) suggests this three-song demo would be more of the same stupid dope-slanging, cap-popping, riding-on-dubs rehash. It is. But it’s also pretty bangin’. 

Maybe I’ve seen Hustle & Flow too many times (probably) or listened to way too many local demos lately (definitely) but, after suffering through a monotonous line of singer/songwriters, I’ll admit that SPC appeals to my basest hip-hop instincts.

This has less to do with the lyrically stunted rhymes and more with the gritty delivery, complemented by production that adheres to the usual beats-gunshots-sirens formula but also ventures into samples, distortion, guitars, drums and electronics. The tracks aren’t air-tight—again, old dawgs rarely learn new tricks—but they’re inspired enough to make me want to take a Louisville Slugger to the office printer. MS/spcp
—Nathan Dinsdale

Transfer Sunken Eyes EP

Gun + fish + barrel = Transfer. The band is already among the most established bands in San Diego and has already raised eyebrows for their October tour of the U.K. after receiving airplay on BBC Radio 1. That said, Sunken Eyes is the sound of a band on the verge of breaking into the mainstream. And with good reason. The production, songwriting and musicianship are all excellent, and the boys have charisma to spare—a crunchy Americana version of Doves, if you will. Although I’d be lying if I said they were personal favorites of mine, Transfer should continue to keep San Diegans (and soon the rest of the country—no, the world) swooning for a good while. MS/transferband
—Todd Kroviak

The Vision of a Dying World
Skelephone Call from the Eastern Side

Vision open their second EP with the rollicking “Darkness,” drenched in three-part harmonies, starts/stops and guitars that go from chugging rock to the moon and back again. The band’s live energy comes through like few studio recordings do. A rockin’ western shuffle take on Daniel Johnston’s “Held the Hand,” the Mexican sway of “On the Nature of Our Worth” and fun horns on “Skelephone Call” all blend together to make a great piece of rock ’n’ roll. Country harmonies and psychedelic melodies with otherworldly lyrics sound heavenly, but a line like “Nothing fucks you up like the truth” brings you back down quick. This six-song disc firmly places Vision as one of the best groups in town. MS/thevisionofadyingworld
—Adam Gimbel