THE XYZ AFFAIR  Named after an 18th century diplomatic situation that sparked the 1798 Quasi-War between France and the United States, Brooklyn’s XYZ Affair also have a pretty good grasp on musical history. On their self-released debut album A Few More Published Studies, their sound nods to Big Star’s classic power-pop, but on the rowdy-yet-vulnerable “All My Friends,” the band sounds uncannily like a more falsetto-happy version of Pinkerton-era Weezer — if Rivers Cuomo threw out his charts and graphs of the perfect pop song, that is. XYZ Affair’s video finesse is also a bit Weezer-esque; while the clip for “All My Friends” isn’t quite in the league of “Buddy Holly,” it also plays on TV nostalgia. The band got cast members from favorite Nickelodeon shows, including Salute Your Shorts‘ Danny Cooksey, The Adventures of Pete & Pete’s Michael Marona, Clarissa Explains it All’s Jason Zimbler and most prominently, Double Dare host Marc Summers, to appear in the video. Childhood memories, soaring choruses, and slime — it doesn’t get much better.  Rachel Williams | Written by Avery James | | Wednesday, 13 February 2008 | | It’s often surprising to find out exactly what sort of talent resides in town, sometimes even working at your local record store. Birds Fled From Me is the project of Rachel Williams, a 21-year old singer/songwriter originally from Newbury Park. Williams, the daughter of a classical pianist, writes songs that are generally piano-based, but often include charming, homemade percussive elements and beautiful, multi-tracked vocal harmonies. Her piano playing is highly competent to say the least, but seems to exist only to serve the song itself, an admirable quality in a performer. Songs like “Oh My Love,” and “The Resisted” manage to showcase her considerable instrumental talents without being flashy, but Williams shrugs it off. “I took lessons for a while,” she says, “But I just kind of try to utilize certain aspects of playing that I like, instead of pursuing classical competition.” Her voice, whose affects owe a bit to Björk and Fiona Apple, is also an impressive instrument. Some songs are vocals only, such as the gorgeous “Make a Move,” (off the release Compliments of a Woman, which Williams claims is “sort of a joke album”) and most feature some sort of harmony. “I have the most control over my voice tone-wise and sound-wise,” Williams says. “I’m pretty in control of the piano—when I want to hear something, I can play it. But I’m in the most control when I sing it.” Like most good songwriters, Williams’ subject matter can be playful, humorous and heartbreaking, often all in a single, three-minute pop song. Songs like “The Resisted,” however, can lean more toward the “heartbreaking” side of things. “I find a lot of comfort in storyboarding it,” she says, “writing it into something that seems less of something that has actually happened to me and more just a song that I’m hearing, a song that I play.” | |
