Aleks And The Drummer Cover Blondie for Buffetlibre

Download: Aleks and the Drummer - "Fade Away and Radiate"

One of our favorite nouveau-wave groups, Aleks and the Drummer was one of a handful of groups chosen to cover several new-wave and 80s classics from the likes of Michael Jackson, The Rock Steady Crew, and, relevant to us, Blondie. The duo did a rendition of Blondie's "Fade Away and Radiate." About the song, the group said this:

Why have you chosen this journey back in time in particular?
Probably more of a tribute. I do realize that Blondie is a band, but I love Debbie Harry, and if I were in a room with her, I probably would have to consciously try not to stare. I hate to be immediately superficial, but she's the most beautiful woman ever.

Listen to the song at the top of the post.

Aleks And The Drummer Announce Pop Montreal Set

Aleks And The Drummer Written Up In Pitchfork

Download: Aleks and the Drummer - "I Want To Melt His Eyes" (via P4K)

From the Forkcast article written by Kasia Galazka:

leks Tomaszewska is shy with a slight accent curling her words. But come nightfall, she slips into her shiniest, most rainbowiest gear, adds a little Jackson Pollock facepaint under her eyelids, and chopsticks her Farfisa organ. With an unwavering siren's trill (if sirens existed in Douglas Adams novels), Tomaszewska debuts with her band Aleks and the Drummer. After fiddling with a few bands and her sister's grand piano, the self-trained Tomaszewska--or Tomasczhewvshschszski as she keyboard-mashes on the band's MySpace page, to the amusement of mispronunciation victims--started the band with drummer Deric Criss about two years ago. Where the headbanded Bat for Lashes' Natasha Khan dipped her tribal toe, the equally headbanded, sci-fi Tomaszewka charges with "I Want to Melt His Eyes." The song, a slapdash of frantic with hyper-romantic, is the first track off the band's Dave Sitek-produced EP May a Lightning Bolt Caress You.

May a Lightning Bolt Caress You is really one of the best local releases of the year. Buy it at any of the Reckless'.

Aleks and The Drummer MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

Video: Aleks and The Drummer - "I Want To Melt His Eyes" (Live at Version Fest)

I'm toying with an idea for a post called "The Best Albums of The Year (And Why I'm A Dumbass For Not Having Written About Them)". At the top of the list will be May A Lightning Bolt Caress You by local Chicago-based duo Aleks and The Drummer. Simply put, one of the best things I've heard all year. The whole enterprise sounds like Ray of Light-era Madonna covering Eastern European folk-music using exclusively electronic instrumentation. I found this video, which is a couple of months old, of the twosome performing You standout "I Want To Melt His Eyes" at Version Fest. Watch it at the top of the post. You'll read a review of this record in the next few days, hopefully.

Aleks and the Drummer MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)