Fridays Are For New Finds, Gridlock

Well, I'm off to sit in the fifty year-old parking lot that is the Georgia Interstate System, slowly inching my way down to Sunny Florida to see the family, and hopefully soak up the last few days of warmth before the colder, darker days finally take root here in Atlanta. But before I go, I'll share with you a couple of new finds that hopefully you'll take a minute to check out:


Cataldo
Cataldo - Wedding Cake

Cataldo is Eric Anderson, an indie/folk music maker originally out of Moscow, Idaho, who now resides in Portland, or Minneapolis, depending on how you interpret his myspace page (let's just split the difference and say he's from somewhere on the border of Montana and Wyoming).

I happened upon this guy by random perusal of EYM's oft-neglected inbox of myspace friend requests, which is usually teeming with shameless, unsolicited invites from marginal up-and-coming bands of various degrees of self-delusion. But every so often, I stumble on a shameless, unsolicited invite from a promising up-and-coming band that I actually enjoy and want to learn more about. This morning, Cataldo was one of those bands.

"Wedding Cake" is a bittersweet heart-wrencher about a guy psyching himself up to go the wedding of an ex-girlfriend that you can tell he's not completely over yet. You can tell, because he comes right out and says it, nay declares it: "selfish regret beneath First Methodist I declare to Jesus Christ, and both of His associates." The one that got away, huh, buddy? Ouch. I suggest you take full advantage of the open bar.

I highly recommend checking out Cataldo's website and/or myspace page and listening to the other songs he's put up there. You may just like it. And if you do, why not consider going and buying his self-titled CD from cdbaby or itunes.


Flunk
Flunk - On My Balcony

I just now found out about these guys (thanks to Radio Paradise), but I can already tell you that Flunk is "YANEBIFILW." That's a mnemonic device I just created for Yet Another Norwegian Electronic Band I'm Falling In Love With. Or you could also use "YANEBWWIFIL," if you prefer handling your prepositions in a more gramatically responsible way. "On My Balcony" is a single off their 2004 sophomore album, Morning Star, which I intend to pick up the next time I'm in a record store. If you're lucky, maybe I'll share. [Update: Finally got the album. Check out "On My Balcony" linked above.]

Check out Flunk's myspace page.