I've been bummed out that last year's Pas/Cal record, I Was Raised on Matthew, Mark, Luke and Laura, didn't get the full-court promotional press it deserved, especially in print, so I'll take any opportunity to recommend checking it out on the Web ... or other means that I can't legally recommend. However, I come today not to praise its genius yet again, but to point you in the direction of the nom de commerce of the nom de plumme de Cas Pascal. It's a nifty (yeah, nifty) little Flash site that gives us a glimpse into Cas' portfolio of jams available for commission, if any enlightened advertiser — automotive or otherwise — should choose to enlist his talents. Highlights of the little site include a "sweetpod" interface where you can shuffle through tunes, including a soaringly lovely cover of "3 is a Magic Number" and a buzzy little number called "Fresh Blood." Good design, charming interaction, solid, pretty music. Go, Internet!
mydearsweet.com

On a related note, Trevor Naud and LTD of la famille du Pas/Cal have released their debut full-length, via the Romantic Air Recording Company, as a free download. Say it with me: "Awww, yeah!" I got the link too late on deadline to give it the time it deserves, but join me there to enjoy the jams
romanticair.com/hgbs

Catching up with PAIK

From the "Damn it, I have to work on Monday"/"I don't wanna drag my ass out to Ann Arbor tonight" file comes news (shocker!) that I missed a gig I may have really dug last week at the Blind Pig. That's when Dark Red — the new (at least to me) project from PAIK-er Rob Smith (guitar and vocals) and acclaimed artist Chris Turner (drums) — took the stage. I'd bookmarked their MySpace jams and spaced out on their steady-motoring psych ("Foreign Silk") and far-out, Deep Purple-ish (hey, I just made a pun!) fuzz ("Story," "FlyAway"). So missing one of their few live shows was a bummer. Nevertheless, do take a moment to check 'em out.
myspace.com/darkredsound

The other branch of the PAIK family tree extends to drummer Ryan Pritts, who, via the miracle of data transmission, checks in from his new locale in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he creates solo sounds under the name Bolmongani. His jams are free-ranging lo-fi goodies that range from chockablock fuzz-punk ("Mergatroid") to deranged folk-pop ("The 6th Way's the Quick Way") to the hypnotic, ever-climbing shuffle of "Gyrotropics Man." Promising, promising stuff from some of the Detroit scene's most enigmatic and creatively driven space cadets.
myspace.com/bolmongani

If this is Glass City's finest, sign me up!

From the "Do Your Best Not to Miss This" file is a heads-up that the Toledo trio Antivillains will be sharing a bill with two of our fair city's brightest lights, Zoos of Berlin and Wildcatting, at the Corktown Tavern next week — Feb. 6 to be exact (plenty of time to plan, right?). Antivillains are centered around the young and vibrant chops of brother-sister duo Ben and Sarah Cohen, with Sam Woldenberg along for the ride

Their MySpace profile lists their "sounds like" as "the remains of the Grande Ballroom" and as romantic — and sometimes appropriate — as that sounds, there's something more here.

They work the melancholy like no one's business — certainly with more authority than most twice their age — giving it a haunted-heart insight and soundtrack quality (in fact, they cover the Bond theme, "You Only Live Twice" — do listen to it) that suggests a holy alliance of Portishead, Beth Orton and Velvet Underground-y goodness couched firmly in an analog duskiness that wouldn't be out of place sharing a stage with locals like American Mars, Sunshine Doray and the Gangplank gang. There's a scant three songs on offer, but they bear repeat listens. You're welcome!
myspace.com/theantivillains