Kiss

Daft Punk have been one of my favourite bands ever since I heard 'One More Time'. That's right, not 'Around The World' or 'Da Funk', but 'One More Time'. Okay, so I was late to the party on that one, but hey, better late than never, right? Right? Anyway, here's an MP3 of great beauty for you.

Prince - Kiss (Daft Punk Mix)

These days I get more excited about their Daft Punk's remixes than their original tracks. This mix of Prince's 'Kiss', I got from the delightful Mischief and Mayhem blog. They report it as previously only available on White Label. God bless the internet for bringing us joys that would otherwise be confined to a limited vinyl pressing. Anyway, back to the point. This remix takes the best bits of the original track and throws them onto a stomping electro beat. Little snatches of guitar and vocals here and there preserve the 'recognisability' aspect of the song, but if you ask me, this is pure dancefloor gold.

On a side note, Listening Post have this week published a series of interviews with people in the business talking about album art and how it's changing as everything becomes digitized. They're well worth a read - find them here: 1, 2, 3, 4.

'Til next time...

Duncan

Riding the Rails...

The Besnard Lakes


Montreal Quebecians The Besnard Lakes are not the black sheep, or rather the dark horse as the title might suggest. I mean I have had plenty of people coming into my wee store here in South Africa looking for their album, The Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horse, with much adoration pumping from behind their eyeballs... It's kinda a freaky variety of people who enquire about it, especially if you had to stick them into a room together and not tell them what they have in common... Hmm, maybe it's time for an experiment... Anyhoo...

Consisting of the following folks, Steve Raegele (guitar, vocals), Jace Lasek (vocals, guitar), Richard White (guitar), Kevin Laing (drums, vocals), Olga Goreas (bass, vocals), they resemble a darker, more sinister and western Arcade Fire. Well horses in the artwork and press shots aside look at that one guy with the line dancing outfit...

They're quite a strange beast to tame. When they rock out as they do on You lied to me, they channel My Morning Jacket and even Pink Floyd... With Disaster there's a little bridge a bit more into the song where the string arrangements sounds like Van Dyke Parks was involved. And while they do get their fix of the Beach Boys throughout, especially toward the end of that track, other times, well maybe most times, it sounds like they're strung out on the old Low catalogue... I mean there's plenty of harmonizing between Jace, Kevin and Olga and it's a definite Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker sounding affair.

The baroque psych post-pop is complimented by some spacey drones and I suggest that slow and sadcore folks should take a listen too.
On Devastation they almost spiral out of control with their guitars as much as an Olivia Tremor Controlled Polyphonic Spree with choir intact building revelation upon revelation...

Disaster
You Lied To Me
+ Myspace

Sparrow House


I have no idea where I first came across Sparrow House, I am pretty sure it was on another blog. It's just recently, while busy putting a compilation together, that I came across Blindfold Waltz and figured it's definitely worth posting about...

Sparrow House is 24 year old Jared Van Fleet who's also a member of the indie fantastics Voxtrot. I find this little side-project extremely refreshing, like Ris Paul Ric post Q and not U kind of refreshing. He has a definite knack for writing catchy folk pop dittes and while it's a departure from Voxtrot's main influences, he seems to be very much at home in his bedroom (no i don't know if that's a fact) since his pop sensibilities, like on lullaby creeper When I am gone could be likened to Elliott Smith. Bright, beautiful finger picking permeates and a solo piano adds to the beautiful melody.
On Blindfold Waltz, waltz being quite an effective part of the title with the nice strong strumming keeping the pace, it's the beautiful progressions to the song that makes it stand out. The production has some lovely subtle underlying layers of knob twiddling gadgetry that gives it a nice sheen. Adding the cello and strings just stole my heart though... There's a slight hint of Papa M (David Pajo) in his voice now and again too especially in his phrasing and the lyrics are real pretty. He's quite the lyricist so check it out. I really like this. It's humble, simple and bitter sweet. You will like it too.

Blindfold Waltz
When I Am Gone
+ Myspace

Bonus: ('cause it is so damn skippy! swing it boys!)

The Autumn Defense - Canyon Arrow

Ive known you in the morning with your soft eyes dreaming...
you were the one who could break me with a whisper

So draw a picture of a girl who's going to show me everything we push together's just a piece of something that's already disappeared

- Ri

What The Hell Do I Know?

Due to recent time constraints and the lack of a strong internet connection, I've been noticeably unable to update lately. Even worse, when I finally got my shit together to update last night... I had a fight with those pesky signal bars at the top of my screen who were taunting me with their little jumping dance. Needless to say, they won, and here I am scrambling to get this done beyond the last minute at work. So please forgive me for these brief descriptions today (not that most of you read this, we all know you're here for the hear)... but enjoy this massive audible update.


Illinois (strangely they're from PA, not IL) really know how to write an indie rock ballad for the recently broken-hearted. What Can I Do For You is your sweet "goodbye love" song, for when you realize the end is where you're better off. And then Alone Again brings it home with the aftermath... realizing that you're back to square one once again.

I think this album will be pleasing for both the listeners and the hearers (the "listeners" being those of you - like me - who really listen to the lyrics the first time around, and the "hearers" being those of you who hear the music first). The songs are wonderfully crafted to pull you in, and the lyrics grab a strong hold of your heart until you fall in love... once again.

From What The Hell Do I Know? (buy @ Ace Fu Records):
What Can I Do For You
Alone Again
+ Myspace



I just can't understand why Kevin Hume only has 150 friends on Myspace. This has got to be changed, and I plan to help do so.

As soon as I put on the adorably titled Truth About Ants And Apids, I was immediately swooned by his beautiful Stuart Murdoch-like voice and the soothing folk-pop melodies underlying it. I definitely recommend him for fans of Sufjan Stevens, Belle & Sebastian, and Tanakh. I also definitely recommend you add him to your friends list immediately.

Seriously. Get on it. Shh, you can come back to this later.

From The Truth About Ants And Aphids (buy @ Darla):
Glacier Bay
Towns Where We Live
+ Myspace



I have to admit, when I first got Albert Hammond, Jr.'s new solo album in the mail, I was thinking "Oh great, it's that guy from the Strokes. PFFT, I'm not reviewing this." And then I tossed it on the floor. I finally dropped down the music snobbery a couple of notches, picked the CD back up, and decided to at least give it a listen.

Wawaweewa.

While I will say that it's bound to have the signature Strokes'ish guitars (Hammond being the guitarist and all), the sound - in my opinion - is much, much better than The Strokes. Besides, anybody who does a Guided By Voices cover gets an automatic gold star from me.

From Yours To Keep (buy @ Amazon):
Scared
Postal Blowfish (GBV Cover)
+ Myspace

Bonus: Guided By Voices - Postal Blowfish



Oh, those Aussies. Dappled Cities Fly (the CD I got says "Dappled Cities," but their site says otherwise?) seem to be keeping up Australia's reputation of putting out some of the most talented bands around. I'm seriously considering packing up and moving to Sydney for a year just to see what these people are eating, drinking, and doing that's inspiring such beauty. I'm absolutely in love with the catchy Division'esque drum beat of Beach Song, which has claimed it's spot as my favorite song on the album.

From Granddance (buy @ Amazon):
Beach Song
Granddance
+ Myspace



Patrick Wolf seems to have led a full life already at only 23. He started recording at 11, left home at 16 to run around London freely while playing in a string quartet and forming a group called Maison Crimineaux, recorded 2 albums, and is now releasing quite an impressive 3rd album at just 23. God, this kid makes me feel lazy.

H8 U.

But I'm loving this album. Granted, some of the songs are a bit over the top, but that's what makes it fun. It's like Pulp... but amplified and more flamboyant.

From The Magic Position (buy @ Amazon):
The Magic Position
Get Lost
+ Myspace



Oh pretty, pretty girl indie-pop... how I love you so. I'm running out of words (and time) here, and I really wish I could do Let's Go Sailing more justice. But I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave this up to your ears.

From The Chaos In Order (buy @ Amazon):
All I Want From You Is Love
Sideways
+ Myspace

Love,
Lady Byrd

Brianstorm

Okay, so my promised post last week didn't show up. Apologies for that. I had an absolute blast at SxSW though - if you're interested, then you can find my daily roundups and showcase reviews here.

Back now though, and this week I've been attempting to recover. Part of that recovery process has involved blasting music into my ears at all hours of the day, including the new single from the Arctic Monkeys.

Arctic Monkeys - Brianstorm (not, as I've seen widely reported, 'Brainstorm')

I never really liked the first Arctic Monkeys album. I dismissed them as Libertines copyists (which I still hold) and got annoyed when they suddenly inexplicably got enormous. In fact the rise of the Arctic Monkeys coincided not in any small way with my growing distaste for the NME. This new track however is considerably more impressive. Bursting at the seams with far more energy than previous singles, and some delightful dance-y influences. The lyrics annoy me considerably less, too. Good work guys - lets hope the album lives up to this single.

- Duncan

The Bad Day Diaries

Above: The workaholic in her native habitat
So life has been flashing by at a frenetic pace for the past two weeks. Barely a moment to look up. I've been trying to get around to writing a story for WNR on this great band I got to chat with during Canadian Music Week a few weeks back, still to no avail. Promises for a new post next week filled with new music from Ada Jane, a Minneapolis three piece you'll be happy to know.

This week though allow me to musically purge the demons of a rough day. It's been one of those days that thoroughly convince me the Gods are conspiring against me. The kind of day that drives you to either start drinking away your anguish or make a new iTunes play list in an effort to uplift the broken spirit...or both... I mean screw it, it's Friday!

So this is the truncated play list I threw together this morning to help me get through another day at the office, or Cubihood as we've lovingly designated our cubic work-area.

It's a powerful thing, the music you love, suddenly if only for a few minutes, the worst day seem a little less horrible, the downpour a little more manageable.

Enjoy.

Beirut - Postcards from Italy
Ted Leo and The Pharmacists - Bomb.Repeat.Bomb
The Joel Plaskett Emergency - Nowhere With You
Cuff The Duke - Take the Money and Run
The Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker - KIT
The Hopefuls - Drain the Sea
Nada Surf - Blankest Year
The Dears - Acoustic Guitar Phase

And for those of you with no plans tonight who reside in the 416 area... otherwise known as Toronto... Why don't you head down to The Mod Club to see an intriguing band play. For their name alone it will be worth the treck to see Holy Fuck play. Yes, that's their name... for real...Not to sure what to think of their electroblend yet... Guess I'll make my mind up tonight.

CA

Update: My apologies about the Joel Plaskett SNAFU. I assure you I changed the file today and it is now indeed working. I plea stupidity.

Lovekevins

Yes! Finally, The Lovekevins has come back to life! They are out with two new songs on their myspace. Although I personally think they are not as strong as their old material it is still worth a listen. If you are not familiar with the Lovekevins you really should search the web for their old songs like "Stop Being Perfect", "Blame the english" or "Soviet.se". They really lighten up the darkest day.

Originating from Malmo, The Lovekevins realesed their first EP, Max Léon, some year or two ago. And now, just before christmas, they managed to realese their second EP "Private life of a cat" which will be followed by a minor tour in Sweden (and hopefully some European neighbours). They are coming to Stockholm mid-april and I really look forward to see them (by the way, I missed that Long Blond concert due to a bloody paper being due).

This is really light, bright and shiny pop music. And why make it complicated if you can handle the basics? With easy catchy melodies and quirky but still somewhat simple lyrics they manage to make basic simple pop-music that makes your day just a little bit better.

Lovekevin will release their new album, VS The Snow, within the next few weeks and Tamagotchi Freestyle is the first single to emerge.

The Lovekevins - Private Life Of A Cat
The Lovekevins - Tamagotchi Freestyle

And an old favourite:
The Lovekevins - Happy Happy
+ Myspace

Electric youth

Sorry for the day-long delay guys. Life and work duties called, and I answered. I promise to not be so negligent next time. Moving on...

As allegedly over-hyped as the Arcade Fire may be, gaining a spot on the Canadian band's U.S. tour almost instantly guarantees one future success in the music biz, as well as a hefty helping of free publicity.


Such good fortune has already befallen Arcade opening band Electrelane, an experimental indie quartet out of Brighton, UK. Comprised of four adorable, wide-eyed dames, Electrelane is a feminine response to the sterile, male-fueled electronic movement of recent years. Set to release its fourth full-length album, No Shouts, No Calls, on April 30, Electrelane couldn't have encountered notoriety at a better time.

Much like Arcade Fire, Electrelane possesses an uncanny ability to combine the sweet with the rough, the rigid with the melancholically beautiful. There are hints of Camera Obscura, early Sleater-Kinney and even Pavement in Electrelane's sound, influences that blend seamlessly with a soft, ever-present drum beat.

The seriousness of Electrelane's musical style and material belies the all-girl group's inherent silliness: The band's default Myspace photo is a hilarious family portrait of the ladies decked out in matching yet contrastingly colored overalls.

You can't fake fun like that, which is precisely why Electrelane deserves every bit of publicity it's getting right now, as well as the full attention of your hungry ears.

From No Shouts, No Calls (Buy @ Too Pure):
To The East
+ Myspace

You gotta save my Soul

London based trio Little Barrie formed in 2000 with vocalist and guitarist Barrie Cadogan, bassist Lewis Wharton and Wayne Fulwood on skins and on backup-vox duties. They released a handful of singles for small labels like Showdown and Stark Reality and then got signed to Genuine Recordings and began laying down the foundation for what would become their debut proper, We are Little Barrie. Oh, and it even got produced by freakin' A-Girl-Like-You-indie-pop-legend Edwyn Collins!

I first heard about them when I got sampled with that album of theirs as a buyer for another music shop. (You know, one of those crappy big overpriced stores that have 80% crap and the 20% good stuff is marked up twice as much as those other soulless titles on hand.)
Delving in rock, blues, soul, and funk it really hit a soft spot with me, but something somehow was lacking or missing. There was no real staying power, it was fun to listen to when the mood would hit but it would easily be forgotten soon after.

With their new album, the title rather aptly named since they went through an apparently tumultuous time and ended up having to recruit new drummer, Billy Skinner, we see them standing on erm, firmer ground... On Standing Your Ground, they bring the funk like Soulive does... Well that is if Soulive was a garage band similar to the Sonics round the time of the splendid Motown era and the members grew up on their parents' Jimi Hendrix, Cream and Traffic collections. Like a Delta Temptations experience, or perhaps a way looser more poppy Rare Earth?

That with this new album they are on Wall of Sound also makes sense if you think about The Bees (before they became A Band of...) and their cover of A Minha Menina that was a Wall of Sound (sunshine hit me) single... You know, the winning recipe of taking a rock band with a funky sound that sprinkle tightly jammed grooves with hooks to boot and then production wise fatten up the basslines.

Love You kicks out the jams in almost a rockabilly fashioned version of Jet's Are you gonna be my Girl , just with a lesser bpm. I would probably start dropping it on the dancefloor inbetween The Count Five's Psychotic Reaction and The Detroit Cobras' cover of Hey Sailor. Pretty Pictures pretty much follows suite but with more of a Sons and Daughters feel adding a great surfy tremelo and slide, while We Know You is a lofty Hendrixesque Castles made of Sand type lullabye. The album as a whole is way more consistent than the last and already has me eagerly antcipating thier next. Top notch!

Love You
We Know You
Pretty Pictures
+ Myspace

Give me a microphone
and I will sing my soul

- Ri

Gentle Touch

I am sorry for my absence last week but I am swamped with projects at uni and unfortunately it is the same for this week so here is a short post for an old favourite of mine.

About a year to late but I will not let that stop me. Gentle Touch did certainly not get the attention they deserved when they released their self-titled EP last year. Gentle Touch make music that Ian Curtis indeed would be proud off. It is not too bold of a statement to say that this would probably be the kind of music the late legend would be making if he were born 25 years later (and maybe turn out to be a bit more cheerfull of a person).

Gentle Touch makes epic music, full of longing and desire. The dreamy music and beutiful vocals make a perfect match so just sit back and enjoy. They were quite busy touring last summer but unfortunately I haven't seen any news about them for a while. But that is no reason for me to keep these great songs from you is it? When you start listening to the songs they will probably hit you as quite harsch but just listen. Soon you will be struck of the dreamlike melodies and hopefully fall in love just as I did.

Oh by the way, this weekend I will hopefully go and se The Long Blondes concert in Stockholm so you can look forward to some pictures and a review.

Gentle Touch - Memories
Gentle Touch - Smedby
Gentle Touch - Fascination
+ Myspace

Time is on your side

I'm pretty worn out from traveling and the daily grind, so in honor of that, this week I bring you a band that pays homage to those tired times - both in name and in song.


London's The Sleeping Years is a new project for Dale Grundle, someone you may or may not recognize as the former singer-songwriter behind UK outfit Catchers. Born in Northern Ireland, a place renowned for its rich poetic history, indie folk artisan Grundle is a lyrical force to be reckoned with.

But let's not give into cultural cliches just yet: Grundle's voice is surprisingly devoid of that signature Irish brogue we've come to expect from geographically similar acts. There is nary a whistle-y, Cranberrian harmony to be found in Grundle's musical repertoire. In fact, quite the opposite: His staccato vocal style and vibrant wordplay begs comparison not to Dolores O'Riordan but John Darnielle of Mountain Goats fame. You know, if he had a kid with Nick Drake.

In a little over a week, Grundle will give birth to a baby of the musical variety, in the form of the Sleeping Years's debut EP, You and me against the world. It's a fitting title for this concise yet powerful freshman effort, which is fleshed out by five tender tracks, some acoustic and some pitch-perfect pop masterpieces. Each one is like a slice of heaven: Soft, sweet and of course, a little dreamy.

You and me against the world will be limited to 500 copies, each of which is lovingly crafted by - gasp! - actual human beings. Numbered and signed by Grundle, and designed by Pika Pika, these specials CDs will feature printed lyrics, a wrap-around card sleeve and hand-stitched cloth covering. The packaging alone is reason enough to nab a copy; the contents are reason to cherish it for years to come.

From You and me against the world (Buy March 21 @ SleepingYears.com):
You and me against the world
Dressed for rain
+Myspace

We're not. No.

Time has escaped me today, so I'm afraid this isn't a long post. I thought I'd quickly share with you a couple of remixes of the new LCD Soundsystem single 'North American Scum'.

LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum (Onastic Dub Mix)
LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum (Ian St. Laurent's South Philly Scum Mix)

The first of the two is more clubby and less lyrical. The second remix is an extended (and improved, in my opinion) version of the original.

Fuller post next week, I promise, from SxSW!

- Duncan

Meet The New Royal Sons

I should preface this post with a short geographical lesson for my non-Canadian friends who decide to read this most recent musical rant.

Right or wrong, Canada has two internationally-known music "hubs" so to speak. These being Toronto and Montreal. If you were to draw a line from British Columbia on the West Coast and Nova Scotia on the East Cost, these two areas would fall in the centre. It's the most densely populated area in the country, and any band will attest to this, the most fertile grounds to tour in. While there are far more interesting things happening outside these two "meccas" in my opinion, it is the nature of the beast that most bands at one point or another will migrate to one or both of these places either permanently or temporarily.

One area of the country that I fell in love with last year during my first ever trip out there was the East Coast. A collection of smallish provinces where some of the people with the largest hearts you'll ever meet live. They're a breed of down-home lovely people, those East Coasters, and it's no wonder their music is equally lovely.

With native bands and artists like Sloan, Mat Mayes and El Torpedo, Joel Plaskett and a slew of others, the region is not short on talent.

One of my favorite bands du jour hails from Halifax, Nova Scotia. A snappy, happy five-man-band called Their Majesties.


According to guitarist/vocalist Andrew Erskine, the band first came together while he and Daniel Girard and Brian O'Reilly (both guitars, keys and vocals respectively) were in high school. "One summer Brian got an acoustic guitar and we decided we should start a band based on that. None of us had any real experience," he says. "We played songs, they were generally pretty bad."

With bassist Panos Giannoulis and their original drummer they were known as The Porcelain Gods. A cheeky thing, I think, to name your band after a synonym for the crapper. "Pretty terrible band name," says Erskine. "But we thought it was cool at first. we didn’t know what it meant. we were young, we were innocent. then we found out what it meant and we made a few changes."

One being the addition of current drummer Niall Skinner, and then the name change to Their Majesties. What inspired the choice?

"We liked the idea of having something pompous in the name. Not seriously, like nothing serious about it, but we always thought it would be kind of funny to hear 'please welcome to the stage their majesties.', " Explains Erskine. "But it also secretly fuels our massive egos."

Here I should explain that Erskine speaks with an unmistakably East Coast dry witt; subtly sarcastic and articulately funny. Much like the sound of Their Majesties. Lands Where Tales Are Tall is the band's 10-song collection of uniformly catchy and exuberant songs. It always tows the line between retro rock and suburban white-boy soul, quite successfully. The songs resonate with complexity that never seems haughty or over-produced.

It's almost an amazing feat, however, that the album was even finished. Fraught with bizarre misfortunes, including the near cutting-off of Daniel's finger while he was also working in a grocery store at the time.

Before heading to Ontario this month for their current tour the band was once again in the studio and I'm pleased to report, no digits were harmed in the recording of this new material.

The band puts on a hell of a live show, I recently saw them play at The Drake Hotel in Toronto and will most definitely be bringing more people along to check out their next Residency Gig at the swank Toronto spot.

For those of you who might be in the area and desire to experience the large, inspiring adjectives that describe Their Majesties' live performance first hand... Check them out here:

Mar 9th, 07 - Brantford, ON @ The Ford Plant w/ The Meligrove Band, Brent Randall and His Pinecones, Laura Peek and the Winning Hearts
Mar 11th, 07 - Toronto, ON @ Whippersnapper Gallery ALL AGES allcaps.ca showcase w/ Brent Randall and His Pinecones, Laura Peek and the Winning Hearts
Mar 12th, 07 - Toronto, ON @ The Drake Hotel
Mar 14th, 07 - Montreal, QC @ The Green Room w/ Brent Randall and His Pinecones, The Just Barelys
Mar 16th, 07 - Sudbury, ON @ The Townehouse w/ BA Johnston, Statues
Mar 17th, 07 - North Bay, ON @ Evolution w/ BA Johnston, Cottonfoot, Statues
Mar 19th, 07 - Toronto, ON @ The Drake Hotel
Mar 22nd, 07 - Peterborough, ON @ The Montreal House w/ BA Johnston, Statues, The Sweet Homewreckers
Mar 23rd, 07 - Guelph, ON @ The Albion Hotel w/ BA Johnston, Statues
Mar 29th, 07 - Toronto, ON @ The Drake Hotel

In the mean time check these tracks out...

Emergency Band Meeting
Highspeed
Wayside
+ Myspace

And because I was so excited by the lovely Mme Amy's post earlier this week about yet another band of Halifax-bred boys I adore... here is a little extra treat and personal favorite:

Coax Me

- CA

Cabin Fever

Cabin fever has slowly been filtering through various venues the last few days in Jo'burg and Pretoria in a big way! You see the Cape Town duo Cabins in the Forest have been touring in our parts spreading their gospel armed with conviction and acoustic guitars and with more relevance than most of the current neo-folkies contemporaries making their rounds put together...

Inbetween Dave Matthews/Tim Reynolds guitar wizardry and duel Jeff Buckley Devendra Banhart croonings, they resemble a more conscious and rustic (Matthew) Van der Want & (Chris) Letcher. Gary Thomas was classically trained and sports a degree in jazz and hails from Durban. Together with self-taught Cape Town local Andy Jamieson, their playing, virtuosic in nature, is a homegrown brew of Tananas and Peppino D'Agostino with bluesy natures and almost reggae stomping seeping through the woodwork. On Short Sighted there's a definite Leroi Moore-style sax grooving along and with the live Safety Flare you can hear for yourself how even though their technical skill is of the highest calibre, they are still relaxed in their improv jams, making for an appetizing performance every single time.

Their gig last night at my shop was my personal favourite, since the relaxed and intimate setting suited their sound perfectly and I am truly sad to see them leave our side of the world... for now.

Check it out:

Gameshow
Short Sighted
Safety Flare (live)
+ MYSPACE

Spencer Tricker


Student bard and New York to Florida frequent flyer, Spencer Tricker, tries to avoid getting a real job in a most succesful way... Elliott Smith style basement and bedroom recordings shares a lot of common interests in his plaintive yearnings. There is a gentle Jeff Buckley guitar waltz in Sleepwalker while Oblivion reminds me of the mostly underrated James Iha solo stuff. It even comes complete with short outbursts of signature Smashing Pumpkins guitar. It could well be that Mr. Tricker had the softer moments of Pisces Iscariot on repeat too.

There's something striking and beautiful in his simplicity, his arrangements as sparse as they may be at times, accompanies his voice beautifully. He mentions Sondre Lerche as an influence which is definitely evident and I secretly hope he manages to avoid the common rat race so maybe one day in the future he can deliver something with his very own Faces Down Quartet. That would be rather swell...

Altar Boy Blue
Sleepwalker
Oblivion
+ MYSPACE

And play for the day with a slight hint of nostalgia...

Phoenix - Playground Love (cover)

Daydreamer believer
- Ri

Better Late Than Never

Before I begin, I'd like to apologize for my absence last week. Work overload and creeping illness made it difficult for me to give you guys the goods. However, this week I've got a couple things up my sleeve, mostly in honor of SXSW, which begins this Friday in cool kid capitol of the world, Austin, Texas.


When I was in ninth grade, I harbored a borderline unhealthy obsession with Canadian indie pop group Sloan. In the span of a few months, my best friend and I attended two of the band's concerts and even managed to weasel our way into a long conversation with unofficial bandleader Chris Murphy about Jim Carrey movies.

Though I can't say I hold Sloan - or any band, for that matter - at the same level of psychotic esteem I did during my teenage years, the quartet will always hold a special in my heart. That being said, it makes me really happy that not only does the group have a relatively new album chock-full of happy-go-lucky hits, Never Hear The End Of It, but that the Toronto export will also be on board at this year's SXSW festival.

A little later-years Lennon, a bit AC-DC and a whole lotta '70s Steely Dan, Sloan's latest is charmingly catchy and unapologetically un-cool - much like its partially bespectacled creators. That's what I will always love about Sloan: The foursome has never tried to be anything but itself, which can only be lovingly described as refreshingly unpretentious.

Though Never Hear The End Of It has been out since the latter portion of last year, the album's relevance lives on thanks to its mammoth, 29-song tracklist and Yep Roc's recent online series, "30 Days of Sloan," a behind-the-scenes collection of videos counting down to Sloan's rapidly approaching SXSW performance.

You can watch the goofiness ensue here and stream the entire new album on Sloan's website. "Who Taught You To Live Like That" is especially noteworthy.

Buy Never Hear The End Of It @ Yep Roc
+Myspace


In other news, Blonde Redhead is gearing up to release its much anticipated follow-up to 2004's critically acclaimed Misery Is A Butterfly. The multilingual threesome will also begin touring again March 14 at SXSW.

If the title track is any indication, 23 promises more lush, atmospheric soundscapes and Kazu Makino's predictably gorgeous but unintelligible vocalizing. I know I can't wait. If you live in Atlanta and are a Blonde Redhead fan, mark your calendars: The trio is set to play Variety Playhouse May 4.

From 23 (Buy April 16 @ 4AD)
23

Keep bootscootin,
Amy

Something New is Something Old

Sorry, I'm a little late with this post today. Okay, try a lot late... but for good reason! I had plenty of video game playing to catch up on, as well as promoting my new monthly party starting this Saturday at St Jerome's.

Now that the last task of promoting is done, it's time to move on with your daily dose. But please forgive me if it's not as in depth as it could be. I'm running low on juice here, and it's late. Shooting zombies takes a lot out of a girl.


Don't judge this book by it's cover, as the name instantly implies something of a dark and gothic quality... which it is not. Dead Heart Bloom is Boris Skalsky, a hippie-bearded man who creates beautiful psychedelic and pop influenced songs that will linger in your ears. I hate to give this release such a generic comparison, but I definitely have to say that I hear a heavy Beatles influence. And who doesn't love the Beatles?

You can download the album in it's entirety for free here, but I definitely recommend purchasing album for the artsy packaging... if not for supporting the wonderful artist alone.

From Chelsea Diaries (buy @ store):
Who Will You Love
New York City Heat
+ Myspace


I meant to review Dean & Britta's new release some time ago, but it got left behind at my office... and I don't actually go to my office that often. Shame, shame... it's no excuse, I know. But I'm definitely regretting not getting to this sooner. It's an astonishing record. Within the first 4 seconds of the first song, Singer Sing, I knew this was going to be something worth sitting down for.

If you don't know about Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips already, I should inform you that both are former members of Luna. Also, Britta was once the singing voice of 80s cartoon icon - JEM (as well as starring in Satisfaction with Julia Roberts and Liam Neeson).

All the previous accomplishments aside, this album is the accomplishment that was waiting to happen... like an exotic fruit waiting to ripen. They've been getting comparisons to blonde/brunette duo Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra, which I agree with musically. But I also think they have a bit of a Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot quality to them. Perhaps it's the beauty and wispiness.

From Back Numbers (buy @ Amazon):
Singer Sing
Words You Used To Say
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Speaking of Serge Gainsbourg, I couldn't help but mention a recent addiction of mine - Charlotte Gainsbourg's The Songs That We Sing. Such a beautiful example of her father's influence, and part of a surprisingly great album for a talented actress. I obviously haven't been paying attention, or else I would have known about her music before. I guess when you have such acts as Air and Jarvis Cocker backing you up, you have no choice but to be heard.

From 5:55 (buy @ Amazon):
The Songs That We Sing
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Love,
Lady Byrd

Dorian Small

Dorian Small and his backing band are having a great time. They managed to pack VZD's in Oklahoma City last night with more people than it's seen in a long time, and they were just the support act. Dorian's got a record out, too. It's called 'Contradictions' and on it acoustic pop melodies mesh smoothly with samples and plenty of synth, much like Simple Kid or Brendan Benson, or perhaps a less stoned Beta Band.

Dorian Small - Ragged Armageddon

Clocking in at a brief two and a half minutes, Ragged Armageddon serves as the introductory track to the album. Showcasing the acoustic/synth duality in Dorian's sound nicely, this track feels to me like the sort of thing that'd be perfect for a festival. With any luck, the weather will improve enough for Dorian to play an outdoor show before I head back to the UK in May.

Dorian Small - Belly Of a Whale

Really bringing out the Beta Band influences, Belly of a Whale is vaguely political. It's not hard to get what Dorian's talking about when he sings 'You manufacture war machines, you turn us into refugees'. About 3 minutes in, however, the fairly standard verse/chorus structure upto that point breaks down into an slow instrumental build-up, twisting and reverbing with electronic wurbles and squelches.

I think Dorian Small's got a lot of promise. Have a listen to these songs, and if you like 'em then you can buy the album from CDBaby here, though currently they're out of stock. You can visit Dorian's MySpace site here.

Duncan

Complete or Completing

Oooohhhh... Myyyyyyy... GOSH! Annuals released a UK only EP and it completely didn't even cross my radar! Ish! And it's got the the exclusive folk jam of Ease My Mind on there!


Now see, Annuals' Be He Me (Ace Fu) was one of my fave albums of last year alongside Evangelicals' So Gone...

You could even say they are my favourite Canadian band that's not really Canadian. They are in fact from Raleigh, North Carolina and are comprised of 6 rather fantastic individuals revolving around the formiddable frontman Adam Baker. The rest of the cast aways and cut outs (a rotating commune of multi-instumentalists throughout a performance) are Kenny Florence (Guitar), Zack Oden (drums/guitar), Nick (Donzel) Radford (drums), Mike Robinson (bass), and (the pretty pretty) Anna Spence (piano/synth).

What grabs me and puts me to shame at the same time is the fact that they are all in their early twenties, none of them a wisper older than 22. This youthful bunch of musicians' sound is a sprawling tapestry of Pet Sounds style layer upon layer of beautiful melodies interwoven with samples and the like. Be He Me was a busy but perfectly produced album, a headphone junkies' wet dream. Influences are a dash on the hopes of ever pinning them down... An all too familiar animal powered collective striking a perfect balance between pop and experimentation.

With an explosive mix of Islands, Evangelicals, Broken Social Scene, The Flaming Lips, Grizzly Bear and Sufjan Stevens, they inject and eject throughout the course of the album in such a fluid fashion that they create a sound of their own in the end. Something familiar yet new and refreshing... Anthemic moments abide with mighty Arcade Fire proficiency, and the gleeful shouts evoke something of a mix between Tim Kasher (of Cursive) and Evangelicals' Josh Jones. Of course they also keep good company, touring with the likes of Blonde Redhead, The Walkmen and Aquaduct.

To top it all off are the lyrics, portraying intense emotion from a creative genius in the making, where Adam strikes an intensity that completely renounces his age.

So if you have not yet discovered this band, go now and rediscover a sound that's been long out of wack with your collection and fuse the gaps with their offerings so you can restore the balance. It will be well worth it I promise!

Ease My Mind (from Big Zeus)

Bonus:
Brother (from Be He Me)
Bleary Eyed (from Be He Me)
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It's show time, with drinks to spill.
Hear my mouth, I've got the sounds
to send you back home with peace of mind.
- Ri