Saturday, September 29, 2007

Now Hear Diss: The Millions


Chicago's powerpoppin’ metallists The Millions have minted a hard-driving followup to their debut album, Million Dollar Rock. In Disrespectfully Yours, due to drop this Tuesday, the band fashion song after song of high energy rock and roll – yes, I said rock and roll – that readily reflects their disparate influences: The Wildhearts, Mötley Crüe, Sugarcult, Marvelous 3, Kiss, Tsar, Butch Walker, Cheap Trick, The Darkness, Sum 41, and Velvet Revolver. Guitar flash and lightning drum fills quickly alert you to the fact that this is not precisely your pop’s pop – though he'd be shaking the Spandex and bobbing the bill-up ball cap to channel the Crüe and the Trick. Anyway, I’m grateful to Matty Favaza of Curly Red PR and Chicago’s fabulous The Krinkles for the headsup and permission to post the title cut and one other from the new, highly entertaining album. Flick your Bics, poppers.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Season's Faves: The Happy Few


With the recent end of summer/winter, we can see the quarter whole and make certain judgments. It was a deeply satisfying season of musical discovery, but among the strong new throng, one group did it best for me: the merry band from Utrecht pictured above and cued up below. I previously effused without (a whole lot of) stint, so won’t do it again. I’m adding a third song to the two already posted. Gordon Gekko had it right, though understated and with different punctuation: “‘Greed’ is good.” Gimme more.

Gettin' Anssi: Snow Coloured Kid

Here's looking at you, . . .
Shortly before my recent temporary lapse of reasons to keep blogging, I directed "you" towards Indie-MP3 to check out the exceedingly pleasing "I Hope You're On My Side," by the Finnish group Snow Coloured Kid. During the lapse I secured permission from one of the fair-skinned juvies, Anssi, to post the song, along with the other below. You can lapp up more at their MySpace site.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Memory Lane: Capes, April Skies, El Goodo, {thunderegg}, Citay, The Bedroom Singer

Here's another little setlist that came together during this night's full moon ramble. As with Sunday's post, I first encountered most of these songs in early 2006. I actually posted a couple of them in this blog's youth but don't see that mattering much.

The Capes (pic)
The April Skies - Three Minute Singles mp3 - Two more terrific downloadables await you at the Bergen band’s MySpace site.
If I Were A Song mp3

There Should Be Wheels on Everything mp3

Click artists' names for more.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Sextet: Red Collar, Five O'Clock Heroes, A-Sides, Sick of Sarah, Most Serene Republic, SOFT

But why wait?
I'm way too excited about the music to spend time on verbiage. Oops, too late.

Red Collar - Witching Hour mp3 - I guess I oughta save this till late next month, but I'm not gonta.
The Five O'Clock Heroes
Skin Deep mp3 - Bend to the Breaks broke 9/18. And of course if I'm gonta play this one, I simply must reprise the excellent:
The A-Sides - We're The Trees mp3 - Silver Storms arose 9/18. Danke, Toolshed.

The Most Serene Republic - Why So Looking Back mp3 - Danke, spin.com.
SOFT - Higher mp3 - Their debut, Gone Faded, appears 10/23.

Click on artists' names for more further exploration.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Around the Blogosphere: Stop the Presses Scruffy the Cat Edition


Post of the Quarter at Retro Music Snob: Boston's fabulous Scruffy the Cat with one of my very favorite songs of the late 80s. Bravísimo, Gary! And while I'm at it, I'll post a few others that had been queueing up. (From the enthusiasm he showed, I'm sure Gary won't mind my breaking Around the Blogosphere tradition and posting the picture he added to his post. Yes, I'm just that confident, not to mention excited.)


Come to think of it, a cover band I drummed in opened a performance with "My Baby (She's Alright)" and played "Fire Woman" later in the same set. Hunh.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Around the Blogosphere: Bram Tchaikovsky, Voice of the Beehive, Records, Stones, Springsteen, Hitchcock, Zevon, Tesco, Joe Christmas, et. al.

Busy, busy Mittwoch.

Bram Tchaikovsky - Girl of My Dreams - Retro Music Snob
Voice of the Beehive - I Say Nothing - Retro Music Snob
The Records - Heather and Hell - Retro Music Snob
The Rolling Stones - Before They Make Me Run - Retro Music Snob - Keef croaks nice.

Bruce Springsteen - Blinded by the Light - Heartache with Hard Work
Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians - My Wife and My Dead Wife - Timedoor
Warren Zevon - Splendid Isolation - Speed of Dark - + 6 more by the late excitable boy
Tesco Chainstore Mascara - Job Is A Four Letter Word - My Little Ghost Friend

Joe Christmas - Coupleskate - Optical Atlas
The Sunshine Fix - The Sound’s Around You - Optical Atlas
Thee American Revolution - Powerhouse - Optical Atlas

Wilkinson Tri-Cycle - 9-5 ’59 - Raven Sings the Blues - Nicely delineates the psych-blues connection
The British-North American Act - Give Yourself a Ride - Raven Sings the Blues
Wooden Shjips - We Ask You to Ride - Raven Sings the Blues - due out 9/11

Humptag Grinfest: Pollard, Springsteen, Kleveland, Brown Recluse Sings, Little Name, New Pornographers

Rock gods be grinnin' on us today. We grin back.

First we have three songs from Crickets, the 56-song, best-of compilation from former Guided by Voices frontman Robert Pollard's Fading Captain series. Thanks to Pitchfork for these.

Lexo and the Leapers - Time Machines mp3
Elf God - Bunco Men mp3

Bruce Springsteen - Radio Nowhere mp3 - Thanks to spin.com for this first single from Magic. Obligatory use of the words "The Boss" is hereby effected.

Kleveland - Jonny is a Klepto mp3 - Portland Oregonians get it done.
Little Name - Tracy & I mp3 - Thanks to Team Clermont.
The New Pornographers - The Laws Have Changed mp3

Clicking most artists' names will snag you more info.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Rogue Wave, They Might Be Giants, The Radio Dept, Club 8, AVO-8, The Go

RW enjoy the unalloyed pleasure of water and electricity.
Hope your week's off to a good start and that these help.
Rogue Wave - Lake Michigan mp3 - I love these earlier Rogue Wavers, too, not to mention the two here.
They Might Be Giants - Careful What You Pack mp3 - Not quite your big bro's TMBG
The Radio Dept - Bachelor Kisses mp3 - Nice Go-Betweens cover
Club 8 - Heaven mp3 - Thanks to Pitchfork.
AVO-8 - Fame - mp3 - This one loads a little slowly, so be patient. It's worth it.
The Go - Invisible Friends mp3 - Thanks to GloNo.

Monday, September 03, 2007

Around the Blogosphere: Ride, Hives, Morrisey, Mansun, Levy, Ackleys, Starky, French Disco, 20-20, Racer X, Blinker the Star, Field Mice, et. al.

Yes, there it is: Ride's "Twisterella," one of the my five favorite songs of the 90s. The other four? All in good time. This haul is a nice mix of past and current, with plenty of old favorites but also some newbies to try on. Oh, and an historic moment: We post our first nonmusical bit. Sacrilege? Mebbe, but the Cheech and Chong is a long-time fave. We will send it to the bottom of the class, in case you're offended.

Ride - Twisterella - Retro Music Snob
The Hives - Tick Tick Boom - Badminton Stamps - Hot. Damn.
Morrisey - First of the Gang to Die - Retro Music Snob
Mansun - Drastic Surgeon - The Runout Groove - For all you cheeky sods. . .

Levy - Matthew - The Yellow Stereo
The Ackleys - Blank Mind Between The Traffic Lights - Can You See the Sunset from the Southside?
Starky - Hey Bang Bang - mp3hugger
French Disco - Avant Garde Bubblegum Factory - Speed of Dark

20/20 - She’s An Obsession - The 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s of Power Pop
Racer X - Driving Me Wild - The 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s of Power Pop
Blinker the Star - September Already - The Rawking Refuses to STOP!
The Field Mice - September’s Not So Far Away - The Rawking Refuses to STOP!

Cheech and Chong - Sister Mary Elephant - Retro Music Snob

Thanks to all the hosts and hostesses!

Happy Labor Day, if you celebrate it in your neck of the woods.

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Around the Blogosphere: Beatles, R.E.M., Primitives, Church, Midnight Oil, Split Enz, a-ha, Ramones, Earlimart, Apples in Stereo, Built to Spill, etc.

I wanted to say a little something about this Around the Blogosphere series. I only do it to point you toward music I either already know and like or am newly discovering and like. I don't pretend to be hosting the music and only use the color coding to help you easily find the artists' names and to give credit to the generous bloggers who are hosting it. My thought always goes something like, "This is good stuff. I'll bet some visitors to Powerpopulist might like it, too." So far no hosting bloggers have complained about my sending them more traffic, but I would certainly cease mentioning them at the drop of a word.

I have been very grateful to the excellent aggregator Totally Fuzzy for letting me update at their blog and by their leave will continue to do so, but only songs that are downloadable from my blog. (I do post such music here, even if lately it hasn't been all that obvious.) At the Fuzzy Crew's request I will no longer be updating the Around the Blogosphere posts at Totally Fuzzy. If you have found these posts useful, please continue to stop by Powerpopulist to see some of what's available in the big, beneficent blogosphere, mainly in the realm of powerpop and indie but also "whatever we like." (You might also consider subscribing to a feed by clicking that orange feeder thingy in the upper right-hand corner.) I totally respect Totally Fuzzy and will abide by the rules and vision under which they operate. I have found tons of great music at TF and look forward to continuing to do so. As indicated, I will also continue to post music downloadable right here at Powerpopulist. My only purpose is to put you in touch with music we all might like.

Soooooo, here's some of what I've recently found. As I've said before, I try and post this information soon after finding it because most of these hosted songs only remain posted for a relatively short period of time, usually one or two weeks. I envy the bloggers who have been able to work out arrangements with the artists and record labels who let them host the music. A score or so artists and labels have allowed me to do so as well, and perhaps the longer I blog, the more I will have opportunities to host music here.

The Beatles - Across the Universe - Retro Music Snob - One of my very most favorites by my very most favorites
R.E.M. - So. Central Rain & Fall on Me & Talk About the Passion & The One I Love - Retro Music Snob - + a couple more
The Primitives - Crash & Secrets & Way Behind Me - Retro Music Snob
The Church - Under the Milky Way - Retro Music Snob

Midnight Oil - King of the Mountain & Blue Sky Mine - Retro Music Snob
Split Enz - Six Months in a Leaky Boat - Retro Music Snob
a-ha - Take on Me - Retro Music Snob
Ramones - Here Today, Gone Tomorrow & Little Bit O’ Soul - Retro Music Snob
Ramones - We’re a Happy Family - Retro Music Snob

Earlimart - Answers & Questions - 5 Acts
The Apples in Stereo - Can You Feel It - BragginBilly
Built to Spill - Mess with Time - Instrumental Analysis
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - American X - Instrumental Analysis
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