Orange Alert's Music Minute

If music notes were colors, Dim Dim would be the brightest rainbow imaginable. Dim Dim is back with its sixth full-length album, Whip (Audio Dregs) and an obsession for all forms of sonic pop culture. Tossing fistfuls of guitar, ukulele, programmed beats, twisted synth and toy instruments into a blender, Dim Dim hits "liquefy”, and surfs the sonic mixture as it spills across his musical universe. Deconstructing all things known and leaving a trail of brightly colored debris, Dim Dim has turned his back to the norm and rip-shredded a technicolored path to a genre unknown.

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Is there already a genre for slacker surf rock? A lazy, drunk, San Diego Punk who blogs about classic hop, Wavves has recorded another album filled with hazy and distorted melodies. The first album was called "Wavves", and the forthcoming album, due in February on De Stijl is called "Wavvves". It subtle, but still a little disturbing. In fact the two albums have similar covers. Maybe one day Nathan Williams move beyond fuzzy basement rock and blurry skate tricks, but in February we can once again revel in the boredom and the simpleness of youth. Beside any album that features three songs with the word "goth" in the title has to be worth a listen, right?

Listen to: So Bored (mp3)

Early Warning! Lady Sov is back! Lady Sovereign is releasing a new record called "Jigsaw" out April 7, 2009 on Midget Records which is her new independent label that has a global partnership with EMI. She is giving away her new song "I Got You Dancing" on her website and myspace.

Listen to: I Got You Dancing (Link)

From sloppy slacker punks to well constructed and thoughtful indie folk ballads. Or, The Whales have managed to combine the mainstream country pop of Counting Crows with the epic storytelling of the Decemberists. The band's debut album Light Poles and Pines (Seany, Jan 20th) can be omnipotent and epic ("Life and Death at Sea"), painfully reflective ("Rope Don't Break"), or both ("Fight Song"). On "Life and Death at Sea," defeated, raspy lead vocals sink under a whining pedal steel until pulled up by rousing harmonies. In contrast, "Call and Response", the CD's lead single, is a whiskey-soaked energetic anthem with a raucous and contagious rhythm that belies a reflective commentary. And really, that's the secret behind Or, the Whale's draw: their songs are honest, intelligent, and offer a refreshing modern connection to traditional American music.

Listen to: Call and Response (mp3)

Can you imagine a co-ed boy band assembled to create teen pop experimental on a label run by Negativland? Well, you don't have to imagine anymore, meet Poptastic. The basic concept is accessible and humorous, yet buried in the layers of sound is a complex web of mixing, remixing, editing, re-editing, arranging, and de-arranging that continues to reveal something new with each listen. What is interesting is that Poptastic creates music with the purpose of sampling their own music and rearranging it to create a new pop sound.

Listen to: Are You Happy? (mp3)

Erran Baron Cohen (brother of Sacha Baron Cohen and composer of the original music for Borat and Da Ali G Show) released a Hanukkah CD on November 18 called Songs In The Key Of Hanukkah (New Line Records.) On the record, Baron Cohen updates, remixes and expands the music associated with Hanukkah. Based on the work of Erran's brother I fully expected this album to be a joke, but this is seriously an entertaining, sincere, and diverse collection of songs. With everything from hip hop to latin tinged to reggae to r&b ballads, Erran uses all forms of music to his respects to this Jewish Holiday.

Listen to: Dreidel (mp3)

The latest album on the Joyful Noise label is the debut album from The Delicious. It was back in October that I first heard about The Delicious on Daytrotter, and I was captivated by their strong pop sensibilities. If you are looking for good, clean, joyful pop melodies then check out The Delicious' self-titled debut album on January 20th. Also, if you are a fan of Joyful Noise then you need to check out their 2009 Digital Sampler and get a sneak peak at all their upcoming releases.

Listen to: Suspended in Air (mp3)