My friend in New York has been bugging me about Battles for at least a year, and now the experimental band is out with a new record, Gloss Drop, and the track “Ice Cream” is making the rounds.

Honestly, this is the kind of song that can really grind on me if I’m not in the right mood for it. But if I am, it’s got this odd mix of funky and noisy and slightly goofy. I just needed to put up something that wasn’t mellow and introspective, which is what I’ve been flirting with these days. And I don’t want to make this look like some emo LiveJournal knockoff. No thanks.

Here I was just about to moan and groan about how Fleet Foxes was just one more band I was doomed to miss at this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. I just ASSUMED this was the case, as almost every other current indie darling will be doin’ it in the desert. But when you assume, of course, you make an “ass” out of “u” and “me.”

Meanwhile, this nu folk sensation from Seattle is playing the Fox Theater in Oakland, which is almost as disheartening as Coachella. Not that I’m one of these uber-provincial San Francisco city folk who won’t venture across the bridge to the East Bay. But I’ve heard some pretty underwhelming reviews of the sound at the Fox, which doesn’t exactly make my big toe jump up in my boot, as Little Richard would say.

Anywho, “Helplessness Blues” is not only a really pretty track (and honestly, that can be enough), but the lyrics are really speaking to me at the moment. Which might just mean I have to get out of the house more often. But it’s been so freakin’ cold!

Oh, yes, that’s right. I have a blog. Now I am posting on my blog. Ambition … I has it.

And here’s the dude from TV on the Radio with a side project that’s pretty solidly boogielicious. See what this does for your not-quite-midweek mood.

An interesting collabo, and an even more interesting project. Titled Here Lies Love, Byrne and the Artist Also Known As Norman Cook’s new work is a concept record based on the life of Imelda Marcos (!).

Dunno if Imelda deserves the Evita treatment (some pinoys might blanch at the thought, to say the least), but here’s Mr. Byrne on his website:

The story I am interested in is about asking what drives a powerful person—what makes them tick? How do they make and then remake themselves? I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be great if—as this piece would be principally composed of clubby dance music—one could experience it in a club setting? Could one bring a ‘story’ and a kind of theater to the disco? Was that possible? If so, wouldn’t that be amazing!

Luckily for us, DB chose more compelling cohorts for this concept than KC and the Sunshine Band. Although … is Giorgio Morodor still alive? Google says yes!

Royksopp have released an instrumental version of “Vision One” from their last record, ‘Junior.’ You can get it here.

They’re hoping someone will make a mashup out of it, and I am, too. I love this song, and I’m a big fan of instrumental versions, but Anneli Drecker’s moving vocal is sorely missed, and a distraction would be really useful.

Here’s SF’s Thao Nguyen & crew to try to remind all of us socked in by inclement weather north and south that in an alternate reality we’re all having a ball at the beach.

I think I’m kind of excited.

Public Image Limited! (Back from the grave!)

Faith No More! (Also back from the grave!)

Orbital! (Also too back from the grave!)

Sly and the Family Stone! (Not so back from the grave, but still, whoa!)

Massive Attack managed to put out one record in the last decade, so maybe they’re getting a jump start on the ’10s with this new one, which features another roster of interesting guests, like Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval.

Some are saying the usual Massive Attack elements are on display, but fans who have been paying attention will note the return of Daddy G to the lineup, and not just on paper. Particularly on this track, “Paradise Circus,” you can really tell he’s back on board. This is much less histrionic and bombastic than most of the stuff Robert Del Naja and Neil Davidge have been putting out during Daddy G’s haitus.

I’m man enough to admit that this one had my wrigglin’ me bum a bit. Which is a good thing, ‘cos I tend not to like January very much. Holiday hangover, bleak weather, blah blah blah.

The San Francisco Chronicle/SFGate must be desperate, based on their willingness to let Mike Boehm write about Genesis’ recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and what it might mean for the genre of prog rock at large.

Not that I’m complaining! I was pleasantly surprised by the piece, but being the narcissist I am (and not having been turned to a flower), I have a couple of thoughts …

After soldiering on proggishly but not that successfully for a couple of albums after Gabriel’s departure in 1975, the remaining members cannily transmogrified (uncanny transmogrification having been a core theme of the band’s earlier music) into a cuddlesome, MTV-ready trio led by that endearing, nonthreatening chap Phil Collins.

To characterize Genesis as middling immediately following Peter Gabriel’s departure works great as a dramatic device, but it’s simply not true. Despite being completely dismissed by the press at the time, the band came out with a great record, “Trick of the Tail,” which was not only their most well-produced work to date, but an enduring fan favorite to this day. This was followed by the biggest shows in America of the band’s career.

Also, Gabriel left in 1975, nine years before there was the chance to BE “ready for MTV.” During that time, the band’s shift in sensibilities was far more subtle than is implied here. “Duke,” the record from which “Misunderstanding” is taken, centered around a proggy song cycle that is among their most ambitious work. Even “Invisible Touch” contained the epic “Domino.” So yay for oversimplification.

I get what Boehm is saying about Tull, though. “Thick as a Brick” may be a crowing achievement (and scathing indictment) in the world of prog, but that doesn’t make them a prog band any more than earning a Grammy for Heavy Metal performance in 1989 made them hair metal.

Oh, ELP. Unless you are just shamelessly devoted to prog, it’s hard to not have a love/hate relationship with them. I love “Brain Salad Surgery,” but I think I’d rather hear Jerry Lee Lewis interpret “Six Gnossiennes” than “Tarkus.”

Once during a road trip with some friends I was listening to “Tarkus” on satellite radio when my friend Charin leaned in from the back and simply said “This is the worst music I have ever heard.” I could crashed the car from laughing so hard.

I know why I love prog rock. But I also know why so many hate it. I’ll say this – when estimating “Tales from Topographic Oceans,” it’s better when you stare at the album art. On a REAL album.

I’m kind of disappointed Boehm has dismissed Kansas as an American prog rock band. He should know better, since I know plenty of people whose thoughts of Genesis go no further than “Tonight Tonight Tonight,” and associating Kansas only with their FM staple hits is just as myopic.

But moreover, what about our favorite tuque-wearing trio … RUSH?