Camcorder Say . . . Wut?

It's kind of embarrassing to confess we've never owned a camcorder . . . until now. And we're more than pleased it comes courtesy of these Surrey, UK crunchrockers. We thank Emerging Indie Bands for putting us in the frame.

Nancy Sin Again and Again

We can by nature easily succumb to the glum but not while listening to this sunny San Diego duo. Many thanks to Everything, Alright! for the headsup.

Faves from The Active Listener: Paul Messis, Paul Roland, The Diamond Center, The Wrong Society, Salad Boys, & Much Much More

We just received the latest sampler from The Active Listener and have found therein much to please us (Duh). We were particularly gratified to find a couple of Paulsongs we'd recently Songdropped available for name-your-price download. The one cued up first is by Billingshurst's Paul Messis, a fair portion of whose music we've loved and bought. We'd also Songdropped #3 (by Kentishman Paul Roland), and though we were not born in the 60s, we remember them well. We also particularly like #s 1, 6, & 10, although, as always, TAL's Nathan Ford has assembled a very strong package.

Whole Lotta Helicopta

It was kind of hard to find much info on this Boston band, but AllMusic trots out the word "power-pop" (sic) and compares them to Fastbacks and the Replacements, so that's good.

Mind if we share a helicopter-themed song? Thanks.

And another one that's kind of different?

And OF COURSE, the very first downloadable we ever posted, almost nine longish years ago.

Schmokin' Little Band from São Paulo Really Rocket

Not that wild about the bandname, so the fact we're posting the song hints at how much we like it. We're kind of picturing like if Adolf Manilow Spinto had named the song in honor of his favorite missile, kind of thing. São Paulo band do it nice.

No way we're posting Manilow's, but The Spintos'? Sure.

Ringo Deathstarr Bring the Guilt

As if we needed any more, yeh?, yet nevertheless to the contrary notwithstanding, we're mucho excited to hear of the imminent release (Twenty November) of Austin gazers Ringo Deathstarr's next LP, Pure Mood. Here's the first single, available for download (we just now noticed) at Side One Track One.

Nuggets Indeed: Wesley Fuller, Mysterious Clouds, Dupont Circles, Wilding, etc., etc., etc. . . .

Chuffed always sounds like something's gotten rubbed raw, but it hasn't, and we are (chuffed). Why, you ask? Well, remember that brilliant psychpop comp from 1998 called Nuggets, Vol. 2: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond? If not, that's okay because it slipped by us at the time as well, though intimations have wafted usward down through the years.

Well again, the brilliant Nathan Ford and The Active Listener have just released a boffo comp of Nuggets 2 covers called Nuggets 2 Revisited, available at Bandcamp for name-your-price download. It's one of the best comps TAL have yet put out, and they regularly put out doozies. Here are our very favorites, although we loved oodles.









For what it's worth (snide comments welcome), among the oodles we particularly loved are #s 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 19, and 28. They're earable in each widget above. Read more about the original Vol. 2 here and buy it here (o, ye moneybags). Many of the originals can be sampled at YouTube, e.g.:

Music of the Sphere: Black Lips, FIDLAR, T. Hardy Morris, Lunchbox, Persian Leaps, Yung, OBN IIIs, Car Seat Headrest

Here are recent finds we like or love at some faveblogger sites. Many thanks to them.

Black Lips - Freedom Fries - Rollo & Grady

FIDLAR - Why Generation & 40oz. On Repeat - Still in Rock

T. Hardy Morris - My Me - KEXP Blog

Lunchbox - Heaven - Magnet Magazine Blog
The Persian Leaps - Dottie, Queen of the West - Magnet Magazine Blog

Yung - God - Side One Track One
OBN IIIs - 4D & New Money - Side One Track One
Car Seat Headrest - Something Soon - Side One Track One - Here's that previously posted one we like.

From The Active Listener Samplers 34 & 35: The Smoking Trees, Sundays & Cybele, Triptides, Kingdom of the Holy Sun, The Seventh Ring of Saturn

Here are our favorites from the two latest samplers from fabulous blog/label The Active Listener. (It's pretty easy to tell which songs come from which sampler.) Many thanks to that most active of Active Listeners, Nathan Ford. Oh, and all the other free and legals from each sampler are available on each widget, if you don't enjoy frisking from widget to widget.

From Revolution . . . : Sharesprings & Stellarscope

Wanta hear our two favorites from Revolution - The Shoegaze Revival comp? Yeah, we thought so. Go here to check out the other 28 freebies/nypers courtesy of Raphalite Records (UK) and Gerpfast Kolektif (Indonesia, of course).***






***We're kind of enjoying the word "Gerpfast."

Out to the Countryside with "Countryside"

Yeah, cause that's what "Tuath" means in Gaelic, or so we hear. We're not always completely sure what the Galway band's saying word-wise, but that's okay because the instruments and feelings and such are translating/transporting loud and clear. Here are our two favorites from the EP, free and legal via Soundcloud. Click them downarrows to download.

The Whales - Marguerite

We noticed UK band The Whales will be playing Cambridge Sunday night, sharing a bill with Prison Whites and Leeds band Bruising***. That Leeds band's "Can't You Feel" is one of our favorite songs of the current year, and if you want to hear it, please do.

***We'd link you to Bruising's Facebook page, but the headerpic's revolting enough to gag a maggot. (To be fair, leeches, bats, and sharks might well salivate merrily.) Find it if you like. We're glad we heard the song first.