Love is a Ghost

I started off my day ending most of my words in -tastic with a friend as a joke, but after I listened to this album that Filter sent me... all I can say is that A Shoreline Dream are fanfuckmazetasticly good. And that's no joke. I thought the greatness of shoegaze had gone lost, but it's nice to see such a solid band bringing it back to life. So far I've only given the album one listen, but I'm already in love. Definitely recommended for fans of My Bloody Valentine, Starflyer 59, Low, Ride, and Sigur Ros.

From Avoiding The Consequences, out Sept 19th (pre-order at Filter Store):
Projections
Laying This One Down Now
Love Is A Ghost In America
+ Myspace

And if you have yet to pre-order The Rapture's new album, Pieces of the People We Love, trust me on this one... I finally got to hear more of it, and it's well worth the wait we've been put through. If you disagree, you're gay.

- LB

Boyfriends Come and Go.

Back before I discovered the greatness of sites like this (and far before I even thought of starting this site), I used Myspace as a means of finding new indie bands to add to rotation in my DJ sets. Poingly was one to reply to my blatant use of Myspace as a want ad for music, and sent me a lovely package from the department of Homeland Security. At least that was the shtick, having me scared I was doing something wrong and didn't know it. Well, 2 years and a lazy friendship later (I only see him when I run into him randomly around town), Poingly hands me a nicely packaged full-length CD, and I'm not surprised he chose to title it "I Suck." You see, that's the charm of Poingly. He creates electropunk madness with lyrics of perversion, anger, and self-deprecation... but in an oddly funny way. Not the Marilyn Manson kind of way.

I think if Ed Kaspell and Peaches got drunk together and decided it was a smart idea to copulate, Poingly would be what came out.

Don't visualize that for more than one second or it will cause serious permanent damage.

From I Suck, available now through his Myspace page:
Boy Meets Girl
I Am An NYU Art Student
I'd Like To See You Naked
+ Myspace

Bonus: Mixel Pixel - My Animal (Poingly Mix)

In other news, Los Angeles was nice. Not great, not bad... but just not me. I'll have a whole wrap-up of events along with a playlist from the trip posted before the end of this week. Also, Paul the Anglophile finally broke down and bought another laptop, so here's to hoping he gets back on top of posting about what's over the sea.

Back on track, kids. Back on track.

Sorry, kids.

I'm in Los Angeles at the moment with no time to update yet. Stay tuned for some reviews and videos.

They stumbled and fell.

Can someone explain to me where Razorlight went? Yeah, I'm well aware they have a new release coming out this month... but what I'm asking is, what happened to the Razorlight that Paul (the Anglophile) introduced me to a couple years back? You know, the one with catchy songs that grow on you? Not this reincarnation of Talking Heads meets Pulp that I'm hearing at this very moment. I'm sorry to say, but it's a let down. I don't know if it's just the mixing, or the fact that I had to check to make sure it wasn't a new Everclear album.

I feel horrible giving a bad review ("if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all"), but sometimes you just have to be honest. Don't take my word for it though, listen for your own taste.

From Razorlight, out in the US on 8/22/06:
In The Morning
Pop Song 2006

From Up All Night (the album I fell in like with):
Stumble And Fall
Rip It Up

+ Myspace

Brought to you by the letter P.

Upon first listen of The Passionistas, I was reminded of a band I used to love in the mid 90s... The Sugarplastic. It's not exactly the same, but it's that same style of quirky, fun indie-rock that you can't help but sing along to. I especially love the opening line of Y2K, "Why do we have to die 'cause someone missed a zero?" It's 2 minutes or less of absurd enjoyment per song, and how can you not love that?

From God's Boat:
Wild West
Y2K
The Socialists

And in case you haven't heard it before:
The Sugarplastic - Don't Sleep



The Pipettes are a band that I don't exactly love, but can't get out of my head. "Your Kisses.." has been on repeat in my head (and iPod) for the past week, but after listening to the rest of the album... I can't really back it 100%. It's cute, they're adorable, but it just doesn't feel consistently good. But I'm not denying that it's fun, and I'm not saying they're bad. It's just that some of the songs are a little too kitschy for my taste. I will, however, admit that these two tracks are great.

From We Are The Pipettes:
Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me
Pull Shapes
+ Myspace

Dsico disco.

Dsico (That No-Talent Hack) comes with a sense of humor and fondness for electro out of Sydney, Australia. He briefly dabbled in bastard-pop mash-ups, most well known for his sample of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in a track aptly titled "Smells Like Electro". I've only recently become addicted to his stuff... especially noting the dancefloor, disco-punk goodness of "I've Danced Enough". You've just got to love a guy who doesn't take himself seriously.

From the City Stirs 12":
When You Gonna Love Me
Morning City Stirs

From the I've Danced Enough 12":
I've Danced Enough
Rescue

+ Myspace

Lullabies and Lowbrow.

Another band who's taking the smarter route and releasing material on their site (as well as their own label), Bel Auburn sound a beautiful mix of their influences such as Radiohead, Wilco, Appleseed Cast, The Notwist, and others. Just from reading about them, they seem like a very geniune band from Ohio who isn't out to stroke their own egos or make the big bucks. They're only about the music, and I like it.

From Lullabies in A & C, out August 14th:
Metropolitan (Watercolor)
Lullaby in A
Burn Unit
+ Myspace

Also, I saw Clerks 2 last week, and I recommend for anyone who's thinking about seeing it... save yourself some money and just wait to Netflix it. The only great thing about the movie was already well exposed in the trailer, and that was Jay's Buffalo Bill impression.

Well that, and these three songs.

Q Lazzarus - Goodbye Horses (From the Buffalo Bill bit)
Jackson 5 - ABC
Smashing Pumpkins - 1979

Speaking of which, Netflix is doing their Roadshow of movies now (I missed Warriors at Coney Island... damn). But tomorrow night they'll be screening the first Clerks at the Red Bank Marine Park in Jersey (just down the road from the Quick Stop), and there will be a Q & A session with Kevin Smith before the movie. If you go, ask him why he wasted money on making a second one. Then ask him if I can get my money back.

We're niteclubbing.

My fellow music obsessed friend and favorite local bartender, Levon, called me last night to tell me he had this CD from a friend of his that I should really hear. Trusting his instinct and superb taste, I walked down to the bar to pick it up. Okay, okay... so I wanted a drink too, but that's beside the point. He explained that it was along the lines of the electropop/indietronic stuff that I tend to like, so I popped it in when I first got home. Needless to say, I really like what Nite Club has to offer, or else I wouldn't feel the need to post it right away. It fits snuggly inbetween Hot Chip, The Presets and Cut Copy in my playlist, with the similiarly soft vocals and new wave beats.

From the EP, available now at CD Baby:
Zen
The Dawning
Collection Agency (Not sure about the title on this one, it came from their Myspace but contradicts what the EP tracklisting says. Whatever it's called, it's great.)

Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto.

I'm holding true to my procrastinating ways lately, but mostly because of the cocktail of things to do outdoors in NYC during the summer. As you can tell, I've recently been attending A LOT of shows, because it's what this time of year is great for. I also recently had the pleasure of DJ'ing at Donny Miller's art show and book signing at the Etnies showroom in Soho, so I couldn't be more blessed with a social life right now. But I'll continue to try and keep you up to date with all the new stuff flying into my ears while I juggle what's happening around me. Please forgive the gaps.


With a heart of data and a fully charged battery, Wolfgang is a robot making music to deal with the emotional sensory overload of love and heartache. According to the "bio", and I quote... "he was developed in 1980 by greedy video game tycoon William Jennings Wellworth as an expensive prototype robot capable of human feeling." "Essentially force-fed huge libraries of The Human League, New Order and the like, it was hoped that Wolfgang would pay Wellworth back in kind in the form of huge record sales and royalties." Apparently it never happened back then, but he was recently found in a crumbling factory in Brooklyn and resuscitated by a loving new owner.

Of course I know it's not true, but the "Short Circuit" like story created to backup the cute and quirky synthpop sound is pretty nifty. I just hope they create a working robot to front the live shows, if they should ever do any.

From the Not In Love (Not True) single, available now at HYPNOTE:
Not In Love (Not True)
Angel Eyes (Lime Cover)