Thursday, October 08, 2009

A Desperate Cry For Help

Okay, not actually desperate.

Anyway, frequent commenter David Klein (who does business over at the wonderful Merry Swankster) just e-mailed the following plaint:

"I broke out an old cassette the other day and was digging a song I recorded off WFMU years ago, which I've never been able to identify. It's a pretty chamber pop confection whose chorus is "I spend too much time dre-ee-min'..." It also goes, 'you linger on my mind/like a melancholy song/sad refrain...' Any idea?"

And then this followup:

"I actually got in touch with a venerable WFMU DJ (been there for 20+ years) whom I thought played the song originally, and while he said it felt familiar and thought it surpassingly lovely, he couldn't ID the sucker. I wonder if you'd consider posting it--as lo-fi as it is, the melody still comes through--and seeing if one of your smart-as-heck listeners can enlighten me"

So here's the track. And when David says low-fi he isn't kidding; he digitized it via his cell phone.





So -- anybody know who this is? I haven't a clue, if truth be told, although if I was a betting man I'd say it was a homemade basement demo of some sort.

9 comments:

The Phantom Creep said...

No fricking idea. Sorry.

Dominic Cordisco said...

It sounds like The Cyrkle, but since I don't have their box set, I can't pin it down.

Listen to "It's A Lovely Game Louise" off of their soundtrack to The Minx and you'll see what I'm hearing:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=310652256&s=143441

steve simels said...

Just listened to that Cyrkle song, and I think you're right -- this sounds very, very similar...

David said...

It does indeed sound similar. Now, to nail this thing down definitively. Great ear, Mr. Cordisco!

steves said...

It definitely sounds like the Cyrkle, but I've been unable to find this song on any of the 4 albums I have--Red Rubber Ball, Neon, The Minx OST, or A Collection. (I did manage to reacquaint myself with "Turn Down Day," however.)

I wonder if this might be a demo or a solo project from Don Dannemann?

Sal Nunziato said...

There's a Cyrkle box set?

Dominic Cordisco said...

I was just kidding about the boxset, although the way Rhino puts such things out, who knows.

It definitely sounds like the Cyrkle tho. Very haunting, and a much better song than Red Rubber Ball.

Unknown said...

The lead singer does, indeed, sound like the guy from the Cyrkle (named by John Lennon!), but it also has a Critters vibe to it. Remember them? "Mr. Dieingly (sic) Sad?" They also did a great cover of the Spoonful's "Younger Girl."

David said...

oh man, "Mr Dyingly Sad" has to be one of the worst puns ever perpetrated on the listening public. Now to look into obscure Critters songs....