Busy Signals

Howard W. Hamilton III has been involved with music for the past ten years or so in one capacity or another - from roadie (and psychic adviser) for Babes In Toyland to founding (and dissolving) his own band, Saucer, music is in his blood. So it was inevitable that he would end up in another band. Although the Busy Signals are definitely not the most conventional band around - it's basically a one-man show, so Hamilton compensates for the lack of other musicians by bringing together a cast of thousands, via the art of sampling. Every song follows the same basic template - layer upon layer of samples are looped around the funky beats in the background and then some keyboards and vocals are added on top of the whole thing. Think Beck crossed with Burt Bacharach (and his '60s kinfolk), with a healthy dose of honest pop music thrown in for good measure. It's an interesting mix because he has a real skill for picking out samples that work well together and he also knows when a song should stop, too - things rarely progress beyond three minutes and that helps to keep the whole thing fresh. This kind of lo-fi pop music is the ideal soundtrack for those carefree summer days to come.