In House #1685: Jim Noir's Tower of Love; New Birdmonster, Chris Walla Covers Clinic

Given the evidence, Jim Noir must have some kind of encyclopedic musical mind. What else could explaing the young Brit's ability to create a kind of indie-pop mash-up of drum-loops, synths, lo-fi guitar lines, and mini orchestras. It's no wonder that Noir's label info page compares his creations to an exploded jukebox full of ELO, Beach Boys, Sgt. Peppers-Beatles, Pink Floyd, Beta Band, and Supertramp records, with his music being formed from the bits and pieces that resulted. That result is Tower of Love, a fairly lush if slightly uneven record that dares you not to bob your head, ala the Beta Band scene in High Fidelity. More importantly, it hints at what may very well be bigger things to come for Noir, who seems to be just beginning to hone his skills. Tower of Love saw its U.S. release last week on Barsuk after dropping last February in the U.K.

Jim Noir

In House #1685.
Airdate: 8/16/06
Focus: New release from Jim Noir, Tower of Love, plus new music from Headlights, Birdmonster, the Decemberists, and Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla covers Clinic.

BONUS MP3s from today's show-
Jim Noir, from Tower of Love: "My Patch" (MP3)

Bishop Allen, from the July EP: "Click Click Click Click" (MP3)


PLAYLIST

In House PODCAST #157