In the latest update from Parasol Records, Jim Kelly shared his picks of the best new music of Scandinavia and Finland for 2006. Here are five songs I particularly liked. Click on each band name for additional information.
. . .are from Worcester, in the English Midlands. They proclaim themselves "proud to be part of the UK’s exploding DIY scene,” and therein lies much of their charm. If you only like perfectly polished powerpop, squeaky clean and sparkly, this might not be quite right for you. If, however, you like it a little off-kilter, original, and in your face, AWWBLOT? could be just the ticket, “the best proto-post-neo-punk-electro-poptart band ever,” as Darkworld Fanzine put it. Powerpoptart? Oh, rahther.
These long lankins are so 2004/1964, so how about a little retro retro? I was looking back through my playlists and remembered them fondly. I did a blog check, and yes, they were and still are being written about. I’m going to play them anyway. They are long of limb and short of song. (7 songs = 18 minutes total on Titbits.) Tallest band in England? Maybe. (Average height, according to Pop Matters: 6’3”.) Essex or London? Both. Trio or quartet? Trio. We seem to see four, but I’m thinking mirror, you know, retro. Suspect album title but perfectly legit, as an alternative spelling. (I looked it up. Certainly do not want to offend. Fussy me.) Here are my three favorite bits. The rest of the album is available for free here.
. . .are basically the solo project of Brooklyn-based Andy Ross. Secret Dakota Ring’s website perhaps best summarizes what this band is all about.
I happened upon The Happies back in February and pretty much got their name. Here’s how the Salt Lake City band are described on their website.
Kristoffer Ragnstam’s MySpace page says he is from “Gothenburg/New York/Hamburg, Sweden,” and his music is just as eclectic. In fact the variegated styles from his U. S. debut, Sweet Bills, can supply blogs and tastes of multiple genres. I’ve selected two earlier pieces that accord well with our little niche and encourage you to visit bluhammock music and the MySpace page for others before buying. Ragnstam originally hails from Kungalv, a town celebrated for its biscuits and cookies. A few minutes’ listening and you could be thinking “sweet.”
The excellent WXPN blog out of Philadelphia recently featured local heroes The Twin Atlas on one of their morning downloads. I was immediately taken with “Fall Away” and pursued the duo to their website, where I found a rich cache of 17 downloadables. It was hard to narrow it down to these four, so if you like what you hear, go hear more. In some of these songs I seem to discern the birth of a new genre: lowfiemocountryfolkshoegaze. Or not. (I’m hoping Peter over at Coast is Clear will translate that into German.)
The great Swedish label is always a gold mine.
Honor, please, the psacred day. Or is that Psaturday? Hard to know for certain. Let’s do it this week with Frisco’s The Brian Jonestown Massacre.
New York City’s The Isles released Perfumed Lands back in August. I was immediately taken by "Major Arcana" and included it on faves lists for friends. Reviewers have drawn parallels to a certain British singer, but surely you are bold enough to decide for yourself? Their MySpace site is here.
Over at Hits in the Car, stytzer/Morten’s musical equivalent of OPEC has been filling the tank to overflowing with high-octane tuneage. The South American refiner/man of mystery, Jose Antonio--aka "J. A."--has piped some 20 songs just in the past five days, so much that the indomitable stytzer himself says it is hard to keep up. I obligingly set my bucket under the pump and caught four—one per wheel—that particularly made my little engine hum. If these don’t start you up—and even if they do—drive over to Hits in the Car and fuel up. Stytzer himself drills 24/7 and is constantly gushing hits, so you are sure to fill your own tank. You will find the latest Jose Antonio product here, here, and here.
Seattle’s favorite apparel-monikered outfit proved in “The Secret of Bethany’s Mouth” and “She Smiles Sweetly” they know how to dress for the occasion. Happily, they’re still appropriately clad, as you’ll hear below. I blew a wad of my first eMusic downloads getting up to scratch with this fabulous psych troupe and can’t recommend them too highly. Released November 14, The Night Races Into Anna is a compilation of rare and unreleased tracks from 1997-2006. Parasol have a couple more freebies, if you're interested, and you can check out a GP's song I previously posted here.
Klas Hermansson and Christoffer Johansson make beautiful music together. Fans have tried to persuade them to add members, but they prefer to be a duo. They work out of Goteborg (curse you, Blogger, for not letting me get that “o” right—okay, sorry, it’s Thanksgiving, I should be nicer. Happy Thanksgiving even if you’re in Goteborg (incorrect spelling, as noted) and other places that don’t celebrate this particular holiday. It is a wonderful time to be with family.) Now, where was I? Oh, yes, MdY! I’ve loved My darling YOU! for months and hope you will, too. So now to the feast.
. . .is essentially the solo project of Seattle indie rocker Dave Einmo. Einmo, guitarist in Sushirobo, was inspired by a cache of his parents’ home movies to write a collection of songs that ended up being the album Random Portraits of the Home Movie, released earlier this year. He recruited a variegated cast of musical characters to participate in the project, including The Posies' Darius Minwalla, Sushirobo’s Clay Martin, and on the song “Noisy at the Circus,” Smoosh’s fourteen-year-old singer, Asya. And didn’t I just post a Shins song? And in "Turn a Square," don't they sing "my head's like a kite?" Did I plan this unbeknownst to myself? In the picture Einmo is airborne, but where's the string? Sorry, folks, but sometimes I get like this.
Sub Pop have released the first single from The Shins' upcoming album, Wincing the Night Away. The album is slated for release on January 23, 2007. If this song is any indication, wincing is the last thing I'll be doing. James Mercer could be singing the words from a Wheaties box and I'd listen, with pleasure.
. . .came late to the shoegaze scene just as I am posting them well after their second coming earlier this year. Again, I’m trying to catch up on things I've long wanted to post, and not everyone reading this knows them yet anyway, so why not? Their debut, 44 Down was released in 2002, while the followup, To Where You Are, came out this year, as mentioned.
True, the spoon is my favorite utensil, but that’s quite incidental to why I love Spoon. I love the music. I love the man. I love “Sister Jack.” I love them all.
Go Jukebox! is a new online Swedish label that set up operations on May 1 of this year with a rather unique pricing structure for downloads: they give away the songs for free. No charge. Zilch. Nada. Sweet. They are doing this to encourage other labels to loosen up, while also trying to attract bands to their label. So far they have four. I discovered this during my daily visits to Coast is Clear and Hits in the Car. (Thanks yet again, guys.) Peter and stytzer have divided up the four bands between them and posted two songs by each group. Out of those eight songs, I’ve chosen one, plus one more from the Go Jukebox! site. Please visit CIC and HITC to scope out the other good stuff. Well, what are you waiting for? Go! Oh, um, maybe listen to the two I posted first? If you wanta. No obligation, etc. Right.
I really like these songs but can’t seem to fit them into a thematic organizer at the moment. I’m providing links so you can explore them further. Pictured to the left are The Like Young.
Not yet filled to surfeit by the hoopla over today’s release of the new Beatles reworking, Love? Mourning the mashup of your Beatles faves in the interests of Cirque du Soleil weirdness and Capitol’s lust for a Christmas season kick in the assets? To meet either need, and perhaps others, I recommend an enlightening click over to the always excellent marathonpacks. Eric consistently provides some of the most stimulating insights into music I’ve ever read, so much so that he gets me first to listen to, and second—gasp!—enjoy music I would ordinarily pass right by. He also takes me deeper into music I thought I already knew—like, oh, The Beatles. Earlier this year he posted a riveting discussion of his favorite moments in Beatles music and invited readers to share their own. He included excerpts of the music to illustrate his points. The response was overwhelming, so he added a sequel. Go there and I promise you happy hours that will enhance your enjoyment of The Beatles while prompting you to reflect on your own favorite moments of that magical music. Now that fills me up and leaves me wanting more.
They look so relaxed, and no wonder. Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s The Eames Era reported on their MySpace site last week they are in the mastering stage of their second full-length, Heroes and Sheroes. The band came together in its present lineup in 2003 when singer Ashlin Phillips joined guitarists Grant Widmer and Ted Joyner, drummer Greg Gauthreaux, and bassist Brian Waits to turn The Double Zeros into a quintet. According to Wikipedia, their songs have been featured on the Abercrombie & Fitch website and two t.v. shows, Grey’s Anatomy and Falcon Beach. Thanks to the excellent You Aint No Picasso for the headsup on this pleasingly infectious fivesome. P.S.: They also stated that the new album will have 17 songs and that they plan to rotate the songs available at their MySpace site, so if you like these, absorb them while you can.
Tacoma mini-supergroup Vanilla have brought forth a smart, catchy self-titled album that rewards both casual and closer listening. First, though, Bruce Brodeen of Not Lame Recordings:
"The Jersey Beat Meets The Mersey Beat" as 80s/90s powerpoppers The Smithereens plan a January 2007 release entitled Meet the Smithereens! According to Koch Records, The Smithereens achieved gold and platinum-levels of success with songs such as “A Girl Like You,” and “Too Much Passion." Albums such as Green Thoughts and 11 also charted and were particularly popular on college radio stations. They were eventually pushed off the charts by the grunge movement of the early 90s. The 'reens cite The Beatles as a major influence and have recorded a tribute album that covers all twelve songs on Meet the Beatles!, the Fabs' first official U. S. release. Posted below are live versions of Smithereens hits “Only a Memory” and “A Girl Like You.” The excellent blog An Aquarium Drunkard, where I first read of the upcoming release, also posts one of the best songs from Green Thoughts, “House That We Used to Live In.” I strongly encourage you to go check it out. The Smithereens' MySpace site has live versions of two other excellent songs, “Blood and Roses” and “Behind the Wall of Sleep.” I’m also providing a link to the Amazon page listing most of their albums, some of which can be purchased for incredibly low prices. My favorite, Green Thoughts, goes for one penny plus shipping. I saw them live on the Green Thoughts tour, and they were fantastic. We were right down front. I fondly recall one of my feistier companion's repeatedly placing a Coke can between the feet of the superb, otherwise happy-footed bassist Mike Mesaros. Mesaros didn’t miss a beat in his incredible runs as he unflappably kicked the can away time after time. (My friend is lucky he didn’t get his own kicked.) Only a memory, but a good one.
This one’s been out for awhile but has been haunting me of late. Perhaps it’s by design. Based in New York City, Levy (rhymes with "Stevie") are James Broughel (bass), James Levy (vocals, guitar), Matthew Daniel Siskin (guitar), and David Daniels (drums).
Again with the fun, but with a twist. This Brisbane, Australia trio "are frequently described as fun.” (Wikipedia). “We just wanna have fun and hope other people do too.” (Patience, vocalist). Patience bounces about the stage, even when singing. Except for pounding the skins, Alana is fairly statonary. John plays guitar with, like, his hands. After releasing their debut EP, The Ouch. The Touch in 2005, various good things happened to the band, eventuating in this year’s debut full-length, Gravity Won’t Get You High, which, come to think of it, is generally true. Not particularly fun, but true. The first song comes from their website and is not in mp3 format. I tested it, though, and it worked. No lie, even though my fingers are crossed. Click on the version that suits your comptuer. The second song is a video. I'm developing a gift for the obvious.
For a couple of years now I’ve been regularly visiting mp3 blogs for my own enjoyment, little thinking I might one day have one of my very and not writing down which blog I was getting a song from. Now with Powerpopulist, my little world has changed. Unless a song is widely posted across the blogs, I have tried to be careful to acknowledge where I happen to find it. This past Wednesday I posted several songs new to me and unearthed—no, that sounds dirty—revealed at the superb South American blog, Mira el Péndulo. (And thanks again to Indie MP3 for alerting me to MEP). I just finished going back through MEP's entire two-year archive and can describe it in one word: Wow! I found tons of stuff I’d never heard of, but also precious links to songs I’ve been dying to share. I offer but six and encourage you to visit MEP for more. I’m providing links to the archive pages where each of the six was found. Eye hath not heard nor tongue seen the agonies of leaving behind Tall Dwarfs’ “Meet the Beatle.” (Later, Beatles fans. Have a nice decade.) I go instead with the Dwarfs’ pleasing little squall of sound, “Pirouette.” And these others. (By the way, that's not the right album cover; I just liked this one better. Cheap? Tawdry? Why, thank you.)
It’s Friday night, so naturally I’m tempted toward philosophy. I travel to The Torture Garden to hang out with Shane and Freddy Nietzo for a bit of angsty exi action and what do I find? Fun. Yeah, Fun. And more freakin' Fun. You know, the kind that makes you go hahaha and sing tralala. Or maybe listen to them. As Tralala's bookers put it, this Brooklyn 7-piecer has one purpose only: “to have a good time.” As SONIC Sweden puts it, "man skulle kunna tanka sig ett Spice Girls som vuxit upp pa stora doser Jesus and Mary Chain" So I’m putting it this way: choke me in the shallow waters and let me die laughing and philosophy is just the talk on the cereal box, so let’s PAR-TY!!! Join Shane and me over at the sonically verdant Garden for more of this Fun stuff. Still to be had there: Biker Fun. ("Motorcycle Man") Vroom.
At their MySpace site Economy Wolf describe themselves as “part of an east London based collective of artists and musicians called Trial & Error.” EW are the lupine reincarnation of the group Lions & Tigers. (Music hath the freakin’ power, man.) I discovered them at the excellent Nothing But Green Lights, who predict this group will be big in 2007. It is an act of iron will not to use the same cool band logo NBGL used, but they got there first, or at least before me. In addition to being coolio to listen to, the songs and MySpace site give you the chance to practice your French, English, and sign language.
All right, now we're getting into some of the best music of the century. As I've said of other bands, I know some of you are well-acquainted with the Vancouver indie supergroup The New Pornographers. If even one of you hasn't yet met them, though, it's worth the posting. Zumpano's A. C. "Carl" Newman began the band in 1996, and gradually forged a collection of established indie artists into a powerhouse outfit. Particularly outstanding is female vocalist Neko Case. The NPs debuted with Mass Romantic in 2000, followed by The Electric Version in 2003 and Twin Cinema in 2005. It is claimed the group's name is a birdflip at a televangelist who called rock and roll "the new pornography," although that provenance is in dispute.
. . .rest this briny bunch o' bucs quicker’n ye kin say, “Jack Sparrow.” Oh, aye, they’re cute. Just look at the picture. Coy, cuddly, quirky. But "apparently things aren't ever as they seem." There’s something far more sinister at work here. I will quote from their MySpace site.
From Zion, Illinois comes exciting news for present and future fans of the quintessential powerpop band, Shoes. For me, the concept of “powerpop” now antedates the band, but it is from their music that I date my own conscious experience of the genre. In my small town, I missed their nationwide debut, Black Vinyl Shoes (I made up for it later), but their second lp, Present Tense, released in 1979, was and continues to be one of the seminal musical experiences of my life. I really have to hold myself in check here. I love this band, as do many, many others. Read about their career in Allmusic, read an interview of band member Jeff Murphy here, but mostly listen to the two songs posted below, go sample and buy their music (links below), relisten to your own collection, and prepare for the good news.
. . .to notify me (and probably thousands of others) of a huge collection of free mp3s at their website. I chose the following for your consideration. If you would like to take a listen to others at the site, click here. Note: Ric Menck was a founding member of Velvet Crush. You can click on the band names for further songs and information.
Friends with and sponsored by fellow Welshpersons Super Furry Animals, El Goodo’s eponymous debut album was released overseas by the Furrys’Placid Casual Records in late 2005. Empyrean Records finally released it in the States last month. You get anticipatory clues of the sound from the title of the first song posted below. I won't recite all the influences; you'll hear them. The band’s name comes from the Big Star song, “The Ballad of El Goodo.” Oh, and the album cover kind of clues you in as well. Flashback City.
I glanced, was transfixed, and next thing I knew, this Champaign, Illinois trio had me bagged. Careful, peeps.
Strange that on the very day I post a song by The Ropers, the nets are ablaze with news of the first Slumberland releases in several years. It will not take long of a listen for you to figure out which pronoun The How are echoing. Their logo is chockful of clues as to who it might be as well. The arrows, a little rearranging of the letters, and voila! Wonder who's happier, Matt or Jack? Etc., etc., etc. . . .
The digging’s been good the past two visits to Rainbow Quartz, so let’s lend an ear to these recent finds. Again, click on the band name for details and other songs.
I highly recommend a trek over to Teenbeat Records for some very nice musical hooch. The home of The Rondelles also fronts The Ropers, three-fourths of whom are former members of Lilys. "You Have a Light" was on The Ropers' debut full-length, All the Time, released by Slumberland Records in 1995.
Okay, I admit it, I've been on a bit of an Apples in Stereo bender the past couple of days. There, I've said it. Marbles was primarily a solo project started by Big Apple Robert Schneider back in 1992, the year before The Apples were formed. Released in 2005, Expo was the first Marbles album since 1997 and exhibits the charm and quirkiness that generally characterize Schneider's work.
The Last were another of the great late-70s/early 80s bands that didn't get the fame they deserve. Rising out of the L. A. club scene alongside 20/20, The Plimsouls, and The Knack, their 1981 debut L. A. Explosion, is packed with the power and the pop. Original label Bomp! reissued the album in 2003, from which come the following. Their MySpace site has four more songs, including the insanely catchy "This Kind of Feeling." The album and, of course, individual songs are available at eMusic. While at eMusic, check out "Century City Rag," a sort of "Well-Respected Man" for the Reagan-Thatcher era.
First off, you can tell from this picture from their website that Wilmington, Delaware's The Spinto Band have guts, lots of guts. They didn't quite know how I got it--and frankly, neither do I--but they kindly gave this newbie blogger permission to post the unreleased "Look at the Floor" for one week. Since who-knows-when, I've been grooving on this great, great song. According to their MySpace site (where you can also listen to more songs, including the terrific "Oh Mandy,") they'll be in Bordeaux this Monday, Spain the rest of the week, and then head back through France, Holland, and Belgium before ending up in Philadelphia for a New Year's Eve show at Johnny Brenda's. Thanks, Spintos, for letting me post this personal fave.
Look back down at that Apples in Stereo video, if you dare. The drummer is Hilarie Sidney, now-former wife of the balding singer-guitarist Robert Schneider. Hilarie and Norwegian Per Ole Bratset joined forces to form The High Water Marks, which in 2004 released their debut album, Songs About the Ocean. It will be no surprise to learn that the music of THWM bears a marked resemblance to TAIS's, which for me is all to the good. I hope you’re getting all of this because there will be a test. May your marks be high.
