Chosen Music: Licorice Roots, John Parish and Wolf People

Licorice Roots, Strangers in Marshmallow Boots (Daisi Records)

With their seventh album, just one year after Glimpses of Greenwood, the Licorice Roots are just as strong and sunshiny as ever. For those unfamiliar, imagine the lovechild of Daniel Johnston and Marc Bolan jamming with the Spiders From Mars. Three years after Magnet Magazine named the Roots "one of the most underrated bands of the past ten years," their tin-jangling pop is no less enjoyable. With frontman Edward Moyse’s off-kilter vocals and distorted aluminum guitars, these songs have an eerie, toxic sweetness. Listen long enough, you’ll develop super powers or diabetes, but though they’re sticky and sweet, Licorice Roots always taste delicious. A definite find.

Strangers in Marshmallow Boots is available now. For more information, visit the band’s website.

John Parish, The She, a Chinese Soundtrack (Dreamboat Records)

Soundtracks are tricky. Few can be affecting without backup from a film’s visual drama. But although listening to the She, A Chinese Soundtrack feels slightly incomplete, composer John Parish’s sparse, melancholy tunes will inspire self-reflection, even if you have nothing to reflect on.

The shorter bits use woodwinds, brass and even a banjo to suggest something significant is happening. (Perhaps a Chinese girl is making a decision?) Longer compositions build tension with pounding, almost tribal, drumbeats. (Perhaps a Chinese girl is overcoming obstacles?) You’ll wonder about the context of these tracks, sure, but not their intent.

Contributions from Chinese artists Hang on the Box and Tia Zhen round things out along with a Feist number, but Parish’s tracks are the main event.

The She, A Chinese soundtrack drops February 14. Click here to listen to a sample of the album.

Wolf People, Tidings (Jagjaguwar)

With the Middle Eastern scales, reverse delay effects and trippy, trippy imagery, psychedelia is a potential musical minefield. Even when at its height in the groovy, drug-fueled ’60s, there wasn’t any real formula. Fast forward to today and most attempts tumble into parody, but by adding just a few novel elements, Wolf People gets the flower child stamp of approval. Mixing some folk-rock and R&B into their groovy base, they’ve created a streamlined psychedelia that, ironically, is both believable and marketable. Tidings will brings you to a hazy, familiar place; you’ll wish there were brownies.

Tidings goes on sale February 23. Visit this site for a list of the band’s shows.

What do you think?