It warms the heart to see the exposure and acclaim that’s coming to Randy Randall. Randy and his No Age bandmate, Dean Spunt, have grown into first rate indie rockers. Their album, Weirdo Rippers, which is a collection of tracks from a handful of hard-to-find EPs, has garnered them some serious praise. Their success is a marvelous thing to see.

Randy and I worked together years ago at Rocket Video in Hollywood and then again at Amoeba Music. You couldn’t meet a more humble and sweet-natured guy. And dedicated. The reason he’s gotten where he is today is because of his dedication to and love for the music. Indeed, he left Amoeba because his touring schedule kept getting in the way of having to shuck dvds. The hard work seems to be paying off. Weirdo Rippers is making appearances in the upper end of year-end Best Of lists and the cover of the album, which features their L.A. venue of choice and they stage on which they cut their teeth, The Smell, is fast becoming ubiquitous across the indie music blogosphere.

The music is a logical next step in evolution from the stuff Randy and Dean pounded out in their last outift, The Wives. Whereas that was a blistering punk effort, this one leans more towards an atmospherric blend of knife edges and soft breezes. It’s the sort of approach perfected by Deerhunter and the reason why I like the album so much. I love musical contrast, so when I get expansive breathers like “Every Artist Needs a Tragedy” pushed smack up against pounding factory-setting scorchers like “Boy Void” I get excited.

They’re doing well. It warms the cockles of my heart, and as Woody Allen says, “There’s nothing like hot cockles.”

The video below is something I stumbled across over at the Forkcast. It’s part of a series of taped presentations that will be coming from New York music purveyors, Other Music. Enjoy.

No Age: purchase, Pitchfork Review (8.0), label page, Fader article

No Age – “Every Artist Needs A Tragedy”

Melanie Varela is Tender Forever. She’s French (from the fine city of Bordeaux) and has managed to establish some fruitful penpal-ships with some cool artists in the U.S., most notably in Portland. This is her new album. It’s full of smooth vocals, angular melodies and sparkly electronic bits, tossed in together with decidedly lo-fi handclaps and the cute snapping of fingers. It has a careful, deliberate feel (it’s very well produced) and while it never quite feels sparse, there’s plenty of open space to hang out in. Check out the airy “Heartbroken Forever.”

Tender Forever: myspace, itunes, amazon, label page

Tender Forever – “Heartbroken Forever”

The Writers have returned to the table with the producers. So says Variety. There’s a press blackout, which is okay, because that frees up speechifying time for actual bargaining. Pressure’s increasing. One blog lists the names and positions of folks who’ve lost their jobs since the strike began. I imagine it’s much greater than the 400+ names they’ve actually got listed. As for me? I will be arriving in Los Angeles late this week to participate in the strike, so watch out, everyone!

Oh, alright. Truth is, I’m going to crash the annual Amoeba holiday party, but if the strike’s still happening come Monday, I’ll do my best to find out where I can grab a sign. And as reps for the writers and producers play Hatfield & McCoy I thought it would be appropriate to drop one of my favorite Soul Coughing tunes. There are, of course, many faves, but this one sits right up there on top.

Listen while you peruse the Variety poll on the strike (downloads a nifty pdf file.)

Soul Coughing – “Screenwriter’s Blues”

Hey, Folks. The previous week was a test of the new blog. I wanted to see if I could set (and eventually maintain) a rapid, full schedule for the blog. A post every weekday, sometimes two, with plenty of music and a bit of industry chatter thrown in. Seems like something I can do, so expect more.

But not for a week or two. I’m in Australia now, taking in the life Down Under. When I come back I’ll mark the occasion as the official rebirth of sixsquare.com, even though there’s still plenty of work remaining to be done on the site. So stay tuned.

And, oh hell. Why not listen to something from the days of yore? This is not just one of my fave songs from an Australian band, it’s one of my all-time nostalgic favorites:

Men At Work – “It’s A Mistake”