Desastro? Not Quite!!!
2007-07-10 01:48:00
Due to the lack of time I'm still lingering in, I'm just gonna copy Deastro's MySpace-description here. Lazy or not, his songs are really worth listening to, so you better do so! :)Randolph Chabot Jr. started to make electronic music when he was 13 at his home in Sterling Heights, MI. He finished his first album that year despite the ecstatic, aural trauma it caused his mother. He studied youth development in college with the intent of becoming a social worker, dropping out to pursue music full time. He formed an electro band called Veleciraptor, which inspired the ideas for his current synthesized projects: Our Brother the Megazord and Deastro, which try to blur the lines between electronic and acoustic music. All the music is made in Randolph's basement with the help of alot of sampled children's toys and synthesizers. Deastro's "the Young Planets" and Our Brother the Megazord's "Time the Teenage Twister" are set to be released as a 34 song double disc in July of 2007. He is c
Summer Soundtrack
2007-07-16 01:53:00
The Lodger have been lingering around on my harddisk for quite a while now, but it was only with You Got Me Wrong that I got really hooked to them. So last week, their debut album Grown-Ups arrived here. Just in time for summer!The Lodger hails from Leeds, UK, and was founded in 2004 by Ben Siddal. He recruited two friends for bass and drums, and in early 2005, they released their excellent debut single Many Thanks For Your Honest Opinion. Another single (Watching) followed, and the band also started heavy touring in 2006. Later that year, third single Let Her Go was released on Angular Records, and after that, The Lodger disappeared into Alan Smyth's Sheffield recording studio and only came up when the debut album Grown-Ups was finished.When listening to Grown-Ups, I was often reminded of the Lightning Seeds, another band I highly apprechiate. The Lodger's songs are equally catchy and played to the point. There are more guitars here than on Lightning Seeds records, but the result re
Read more: Summer
, Soundtrack
Here Comes The Summer Sun!
2007-07-14 04:36:00
Finally, summer has kicked in. So I'm off to a day at the lake. A great and hopefully sunny weekend to you, too! :)M83 - On A White Lake Near A Green MountainDisillusion - A Day ByThe LakeDirty On Purpose - Lake EffectGreat Lake Swimmers - Moving Pictures Silent FilmsNirvana - Lake Of FireBand Of Horses - The Great Salt Lake
Read more: Summer
Flashback Friday - James Revisited
2007-07-13 02:27:00
Back in February 2005, I wrote about Brit-Pop band James
. Just recently, I came across two pretty good remixes of my favourite James-song Sit Down, and I want to share those with you. Due to the lack of time (and because I probably have a few new readers that haven't read the article before), I'm going to re-post this little bit about James' excellent live album. Here we go:AMAZING!!!There is no other word to best describe their Double-CD "Getting Away With It... Live". Recorded in front of a home crowd on their final tour before the split-up... a last helping, so to say, and wow! What a way to go!22 Tracks on two CDs, none of their hits is missing, the crowd is terrific, and even a break caused by some technical defect wasn't cut out... so this IS a real live one. Starting with the brilliant Say Something, one immediately realizes that the audience will be hopelessly lost in James' music for the next 2 hours! And it goes on... Sometimes, Laid, I Know What I'm Here For... James a
Read more: Friday
, Revisited
Interpol Remixed
2007-07-18 08:46:00
Click here for a remix of The Heinrich Maneuver!
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, Remixed
Biking Through Copenhagen
2007-07-18 03:24:00
What a nice idea for a sunny summer day. But well... Copenhagen
is a bit too far away for me at the moment, so I let Mr. August do the work for me! Join him here:Kristoffer August and his band The Red Apples are - you guessed it - a Danish combo; Morten wrote about them before (read here), and their alternative country-rock is really tasty! They have released their debut album From Under The Sun earlier this year, and apart from that nice video, they also offer some tasters from that album. It's really worth spending some minutes and listen to those wonderful songs. You can buy the album by clicking here, and although it's in Danish, you should find your way through!http://kristofferaugust.dk/http://www.myspace.com/kristofferaugustThe Great Green Ancient Sea (MP3)The Great Longing (MP3)Desert Night Sky (MP3)
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Just Some Stuff...
2007-07-17 13:04:00
Never been the biggest fan of Art Brut (I like Emily Kane though), and I guess their latest release won't change that. Direct Hit may be not a bad song, but it just doesn't do it for me. Well...Art Brut - Direct Hit (MP3)Hard-Fi is going to release their second album by the end of August. If you own their debut Stars Of C.C.T.V., you can pop that one into your computer, click here, enter some data (you could be honest and enter your own, but it's not necessary... ;) ), and then listen to the new song Suburban Knights. Or... you could just visit the band's MySpace and listen to it there! I don't think it's their best song to date, and I really hope there will be some better ones on the album...I guess you've read about the free Labrador Summer Sampler already. If you're new to the label, it's highly recommended that you download the over 300 MB fat file here (bring some patience, the server's really slow!). Those who know Labrador already should know that the 68 songs have al
Flashback Friday - Pudding Is Served!
2007-07-20 02:25:00
Today, we travel back to 1979 where in Harrow, London, two guys named Neil Arthur and Stephen Luscombe got together to make some music. Blancmange is what they called their project. Only one year later, they released a first EP called Irene And Mavis, but it was a few months later when they participated on the seminal Some Bizzare compilation album and got some attention. No wonder with other promising bands like Soft Cell or Depeche Mode on the same compilation! Blancmange landed a deal with London Records after that. In 1982, the first single Feel Me was already a minor hit single, but the break-through came later that year with the release of Living On The Ceiling which entered No 7 in the UK singles charts. The first album, Happy Families, followed shortly after. In 1984, Blancmange released their second album Mange Tout, including the hit singles Don't Tell Me and Blind Vision, the latter reaching No 10 in UKs charts. Also on Mange Tout was the excellent coverversion of ABBA's s
Read more: Friday
, Pudding
New Friends From Netherlands
2007-07-19 04:11:00
I have a big list of MySpace-requests to go through. As I don't just want to accept or deny a request, but check out a new friend properly before I take any actions, you can imagine that this is quite time-consuming. But every now and then I get a request that doesn't take much time before I know that we will get along. Here's one of those:Millstone is from the Netherlands
and was founded by brothers Michel and Danny Meijer. Once old enough, their younger brother Wiljan joined the band, and guitarist Paul Kruis later completed the line-up. Their sound is a blend of acoustic and alternative indie-rock, and they remind me a bit of a grungier version of Danish band Saybia (the voice of Danny also has a slight similarity to that of Soren Huss). Other influences - as stated on their MySpace - are Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and Foo Fighters.Millstone has already released some Demos, but are still unsigned. The latest news entry on their official page is from February 2007 though, so t
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Fat Update!
2007-07-23 03:40:00
Lots of new songs have been added to MOTM Hot Tracks. Here's a short selection, and you know where to click to get the rest, don't you? :)August & The Red Apples - The Great Green Ancient SeaBedroom Eyes - (Here's One For You) UnderdogDirty On Purpose - Lake EffectSpion - Tynd IsThe Lodger - The Story's Over
Read more: Update
New Albums In The Making...
2007-07-25 08:12:00
PlacentaSpring has arrived and it has spawned a creative flow in the Placentacamp. First and foremost because we are once again making music andarranging songs in Do-Re-Mi, the home-studio and musical playgroundwhere Anders and Martin had their first rehearsal together and thecornerstone of the creative structure within Placenta was founded. Newsongs are showing up and old tunes are being improved. We are lookingso much forward to present the new material at the concerts we areplaying throughout spring and summer. This material is also a portentof the direction of our musical style and expression. We are indeedbecoming more and more aware of our expression and the sessions Anders,Martin and Steffen are having in Do-Re-Mi at the moment indicates amore atmospheric universe where we are working with more musical layersand textures than before. (29 - 07 - 2007)Placenta - Brittle Eyes (MP3)Placenta - I Never Denied My Weaknesses (MP3)CuriousRecordings for the new album have nearly come to a
Incoming!
2007-07-24 04:47:00
The I is a strange thing. The I lives in Oslo, Norway, and The I is on a mission. The I's mission is to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no popband has gone before. The I doesn't release songs; The I discovers anomalies. Yes, The I is quite a strange thing.Nonetheless, us unknowing human beings should listen to The I, for their mission is an interesting one. The anomalies they have discovered so far are eager to be heard, and they certainly won't hurt your listening device. Help The I continue their mission, help them discover more anomalies. Stranger things have happened (I remember a certain comic frog ruling music charts on our home-planet...), so it is crucial that The I goes on, travelling through time and space, maybe one day discovering a cure for bad music. And that's a noble cause to support, isn't it?http://www.thei.no/ (find more anomalies here)http://www.myspace.com/theispaceAnomalies:The I - Treksuit (MP3)The I
Flashback Friday - Tapes 'N Tapes 'N Tapes...
2007-07-26 12:19:00
Was rummaging through some old stuff in boxes lately and came across my tape collection from those younger years. I always loved to compile mixtapes back then, and I still do, except the tapes are now CDs! I remember spending Sunday afternoons in front of the radio, listening to the charts and recording tapes. And of course getting angry when the presenter talked into a song, or it was interrupted by the news or commercials. This always ment waiting another week for another recording opportunity... the days of internet and getting whatever song you fancy in a few seconds were far, far away...When I started buying vinyl and got my first double-tape-deck, I took mixtapes on a higher level. Soon, I had a nice collection of tapes, labelled carefully (by hand, as you can see!), and my relatives started to get mixtapes as a gift regularly. Back then, I wasn't too concerned with the flow of the tape... I've just found a tape where hard-rockers Queensryche sit comfortably between Samantha Fo
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, Tapes
A Northern Relative...
2007-07-26 03:22:00
We're going up north again today, and visit Finland. This is the home of Sister Flo, a five-piece who got together for just a simple reason: writing songs and playing them to other people. Yep, it's as easy as that!Sister Flo released their debut album Boys Of Cat in 2001, and got raving reviews from critics in their home-country. Although the music didn't reach too far outside Finland, there was lots of positive feedback from around the world. The band started touring in Finland, and sold out Boys Of Cat in only five months. The whole album is now available for free on their homepage!In 2002, Sister Flo released an EP called Landcrabs, which again got good reviews from radio stations in Finland. And again, the EP was sold out quickly, and the band played also some venues in Stockholm and London for the EP. Landcrabs is also available on the homepage as a free download.Another EP - Proper Kites - followed in 2004, and later that year, the second studio album Tragicians Hat was rele
Read more: Northern
, Relative
More Than 7 Seconds
2007-07-30 04:46:00
23, to be precise! 23 Seconds
is a Swedish netlabel with the aim to share music (and art and other works, for that matter!). Of course I'm concentrating on the music part, and it is quite a diverse one. Most of the acts are from Sweden, but 23 Seconds also has some Norwegian, Dutch and even Canadian or Australian acts in the line-up. There's a range from Electronica to Pop to Garage Rock to Folk, so I guess everyone should find something to like. 23 Seconds also offers full and free sampler downloads. So head over to their homepage and start discovering some new sounds!http://www.23seconds.org/here are some of my picks:Please - Retrospective Rundown (MP3)(Pop/Electronica/Ambient)Ixtlan - Feedback Baby (MP3)Ixtlan - Groovy Feeling (MP3)(Experimental/Electronica/Pop)Jesse Caron - Popsong (MP3)Jesse Caron - Meteorite (MP3)(Indie/Folk/Alternative)
Lazy Sunday Mix
2007-07-29 04:28:00
Iron & Wine - Boy With A CoinXiu Xiu - Boy SopranoChin Up Chin Up - This Harness Can't Ride AnythingModest Mouse - Whenever You See Fit (DJ Dynomite D Mix)Chumbawamba - Pass It AlongBobby Baby - Bye Bye SnowMonta - Sailor Needs The WindSlut - Reminder (Live)The Boy Least Likely To - Faith (George Michael Cover)Mighty Six Ninety - Leave This World
Read more: Sunday
Another One To Discover
2007-08-02 01:34:00
With so much good music to discover, it happens more than often that I just miss a singer, band or song that I really should have listened to. I guess Maritime is just one of those bands. Now I've heard of the band before, but I never really heard a song by them. But yesterday, I came across two new songs, and they got me hooked instantly! Time to catch up then!Apparently, the band had several line-up changes during their existence, but seem to have settled now. Dan Didier on drums, Davey von Bohlen on guitar and vocals, Justin Klug on bass and Dan Hinz on guitar are Maritime now. Heresy And The Hotel Choir will be Maritime's third album, following Glass Floor and We, The Vehicles. Now I've only heard those songs I've posted below so far, but I guess if the rest of their indie-poprock is as catchy as this, I really should get some more.Maritime will also be touring in 2008 and promote the new album. Keep your eyes on this blog for more information!http://www.maritimesongs.com/from
Read more: Discover
Happy Birthday To Us!
2007-08-01 02:48:00
It's Switzerland's National holiday today, which means fireworks, parties and best of all: no work! But before I head off into a whole day of dolce vita, here's a Swiss mixtape. You can find more informations on these bands on last.fm or myspace, if you're interested. Have a good day and Uf Wiederluege! :)Camp - Dramatic (MP3)(Indie/Alternative)Heidi Happy
- Can't You Decide (MP3)Heidi Happy - Back Together (MP3)(Jazzy-Pop)Highfish - 5-0-2 (MP3)Highfish - The Pebbleton (MP3)(Stoner-Rock)Cloudride - Loneliness (MP3)Cloudride - Pain In The Ass (MP3)(Indie-Rock)Serpentine - Ghostkisser (MP3)Serpentine - All Alone (MP3)(Singer/Songwriter)Neviss - All My Friends (MP3)Neviss - Don Quixote (MP3)(Indie-Rock)Frantic - Where Have All The Flowers Gone? (MP3)Frantic - Realize It (MP3)(Indie/Alternative)
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, Happy Birthday
From Spain To Switzerland To Sweden
2007-07-31 04:41:00
Yet another tipp from our Spanish friend J.A.: here's Animasola. This four-piece from Sweden
lists Radiohead, Coldplay, U2 and Mew amongst others as their influences, but in my opinion it's mostly U2 that you will hear on these songs. Nothing bad about that though; Panic and Goodbye sound original enough to stand on their own.There's not much information on the band itself, and my Swedish isn't good enough (actually, it's non-existent!) to read the live-reviews on the website. But I guess if Animasola is at the right place in the right time, they could really hit it big. The songs surely have the potential to please a larger crowd. Hear for yourself!http://www.animasolamusic.com/http://www.myspace.com/animasolamusicAnimasola - Panic (MP3)Animasola - Goodbye (MP3)Animasola - Hint Of A Spark (MP3)
Read more: Spain
, Switzerland
HOT TRACKS Update
2007-08-04 07:25:00
Click the logo to find the following free songs, amongst many others:Evils That Never Came - Can't Afford A SoulMaritime - Guns Of NavaroneMighty Six Ninety - Leave This WorldMono In VCF - Spider RotationYeasayer - 2080Curios - Thrill BPlacenta - Brittle EyesThe Electric Soft Parade - Kick In The Teeth
Read more: Update
Flashback Friday - Followed The Hype?
2007-08-03 02:42:00
We don't go back too far this friday. It's just a little slice in Brit-Pop history, and not really the most important one, but I've decided to let you know about it anyway. There were tons of new bands during the Cool Britannia era, but I think Menswear was the best example of what will happen when the hype-machine goes into full throttle!Here are some facts about the band:- Menswear signed a record deal after only their fifth gig- Menswear were paid £500'000 as a publishing deal after only having written 7 songs- Menswear were featured in Select magazine and Melody Maker before they had even released one song- Menswear appeared on Top Of The Pops one week before their first ever single was released, making them the first band to appear on the show without having released a recordNow you could think that Menswear must have been a real stand-out band, but at least musically, they weren't. Their best chart success was with fifth single Being Brave, which peaked at #10; the album Nu
Read more: Friday
Quick Tipp: Chin Up Chin Up
2007-08-07 08:44:00
What's the name again? Chin Up Chin UpWhere are they from? Chicago, IllinoisAnd who's in it? Jeremy Bolen (vocs, guitars), Nathan Snydacker (guitars, vocs), Greg Sharp (keys, vocs), Chris Dye (drums), Jesse Woghin (bass, vocs)How long have they been around? Since 2001 when Bolen and Snydacker founded the bandAny releases? We Should Have Never Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers (2004) / Chin Up Chin Up EP (2005) / This Harness Can't Ride Anything (2006)What do they sound like? Indie-RockCan I listen to some of their stuff? Yes, just scroll down a bitAnd where can I buy their albums? Visit insound.com for your needs!http://www.chinupchinup.com/http://www.myspace.com/chinupchinupChin Up Chin Up - This Harness Can't Ride Anything (MP3)Chin Up Chin Up - We Should Have Never Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers (MP3)Chin Up Chin Up - Virginia, Don't Drown (MP3)Chin Up Chin Up - Collide The Tide (MP3)
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Swiss Tool
2007-08-06 05:57:00
It's kind of difficult to describe a band when you only know a handful of songs, and it is even more difficult if the band plays ProgRock. Most prog-albums should be heard in one go, and in the excact song order. From what I've read this rule also applies to Prisma's debut album Collusion. My copy of the album hasn't arrived yet, but I have decided to introduce you to the band anyway.First of all, I have to mention that Prisma is a Swiss
band. As you might know, I don't write about Swiss bands too often (which is a shame, really...). But Prisma deserves to be heard as their sound feels very international, and it is not too hard to imagine that they could be a big act outside of the borders of our little country...Prisma has been around for a couple of years now. They started touring in 2002, and competed (most of the time successfully) in quite a few newcomer contests. This led to various engagements as openers for some well-known Swiss acts like Gotthard or Favez, or for Norwegia
Flashback Friday - It's All About Network
2007-08-10 02:24:00
Today, I'm gonna give you some links to blogs that have been an inspiration and a source to long-forgotten music for me. Many of my Flashback Friday
-posts wouldn't have happened without the contribution of these fine people. So thank you all, and keep up the good work! :)Born Again 80s has a new Weekend Mix, and some classics from Level 42, Erasure and Kraftwerk amongst many others. And don't forget to visit his brilliant forum!Dreamtime Mix offers Dodi's remixes of Spandau Ballet's Gold, and you can also find more Remixes of Simple Minds or Bryan Ferry on his blog.DJ Shooter always compiles some cool remixes. The latest ones are a 80s Fun Mix with Blondie, Taylor Dayne or Duran Duran in it, or the Cool Ass Mix with the Blow Monkeys, Laura Branigan or Yaz. Go and get them!Visit The Lost Turntable to read about some impressions of the Lollapalooza Festival. His rantings about Do's and Dont's is very funny, and he's soooo right about it!!!Bandit's B-Sides, Rarities & Mixes
Some Impressions
2007-08-09 06:59:00
Switzerlands 3rd-biggest fun-fair was supposed to take place this weekend here... until now, it's not sure if it will happen or not:Here's where the river bursted its banks and flooded the area:A smaller river runs between our fabrication buildings; usually, you can see down to the ground of the canal. Today, almost all of the 3 meter deep canal was filled!It's still raining, but the forecast says it will stop soon. Let's hope they're right!!
Read more: Impressions
So Much For Summer...
2007-08-09 02:24:00
It has been raining yesterday and all night here, and lots of rivers here in Switzerland have flooded the land. Thousands of firemen are working since hours to keep the havoc as low as possible, but there have already been major damages. In the city where I work, a building already collapsed, there were power outages, and the old wooden bridge, one of the trademarks, is in danger of being swept away. Check the pics below (the bridge is on the left side):This is how it usually looks like.This morning, about 1 hour ago.Latest news says that the situation is at least a bit stable now, and the water isn't rising much more. Also, it should stop raining later in the day. I guess the proportions of the whole situation will become clearer only in the next few hours. As it is, my office is on the second floor, and has power, so it's back to work for me now. And I don't even feel sad about that...Strawberry Switchblade - Deep Water (Live)The Rainbirds - Water Water WaterFutureheads - Danger O
Read more: Summer
Mixed Bag Of Stuff
2007-08-08 03:26:00
A really nice song from Sweden's The Honeydrips.The Honeydrips - Ah, Karolin (MP3)Another Swedish act, The Tough Alliance, offers a cool electro-pop-tune.The Tough Alliance - Don't Close Your Eyes (MP3)Danes Saybia have put a new song from their forthcoming album Eyes On The Highway on their myspace. It's not there for long, so make sure you listen to the quite great Romeo!Mighty Six Ninety has a video for Mistakes Like These. The albums sounds great, btw. Buy it here or on iTunes!Mighty Six Ninety - Leave This World (MP3)Check out Morten's post from today where he writes about the many many suggestions from our Spanish friend J.A.. He's just unbeatable in digging out great new bands!That's all for now, maybe some more stuff will come up during the day! :)
Read more: Mixed
, Mixed Bag
Blog Holiday
2007-08-13 08:15:00
I've got lots of work this week, and I also have to organize a weekend trip for 15 people for next weekend, so I really won't be able to put up a proper post this week. Therefore I've decided to take a blog holiday until next week. I've got a few things lined up for you, so if I can find some time this week, I will use it to prepare and polish that stuff. If all goes well, I'll be back here on August 20th (probably with a big hangover from the weekend...); hope you will visit me again then! For now, accept this little mixtape, and maybe visit some other fine blogs you can find on the blogroll over there! ;)Walter Trout And The Radicals - Work No More (Solo) (MP3)Prince - Let's Work (MP3)Def Leppard - Work It Out (Live) (MP3)Sunshines - Long Holiday
(MP3)Jet - Holiday (MP3)
Fresh Horses
2007-08-20 12:07:00
I've prepared this little thing about a Canadian band for my return to blogging, so here we go. I've read about Rock Plaza Central in a forum recently, where someone mentioned it to be his album of the year. And this was in July! So of course I got curious and did a bit of research. I've found out that the band resides in Toronto, consists of 7 members and has already released three albums, the latest one - Are We Not Horses
- in 2006. Apart from that, information about the band is rather scarce. But there's enough music to get into Rock Plaza Central, and in my opinion, that's the best thing to get to know the band!If there's any comparison that comes to my mind, it's the following: imagine Band Of Horses with a full orchestral backup, and you're almost there. There's enough folk and country influences as well, and it makes a very good blend. The music might sound a bit askew at first, but you'll soon realize that it's just this quirkiness that makes Rock Plaza Central som
Flashback Friday - The Girls Are Back In Town
2007-08-23 15:07:00
I've planned for a long time to write about the Pet Shop Boys on Flashback Friday
, but I just couldn't figure out where to start. There's so much to write about those two guys that it would fill pages and pages of this blog. So instead, I'm gonna do something else. I will review some of their best songs, and there's no better one to start with than their first smash-hit West End Girls
.Written in the early 80ies by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe aka Pet Shop Boys, West End Girls was all about London's divide between working-class East End and the more cosmopolitan West End. Some claim that it's not about London at all, rather about Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, where Tennant attended a boys school in the East End, and talked a lot about the girls school located in the West End. Thruth is... I don't know!There are some historical references in the lyrics; for example "From Lake Geneva To The Finland Station" refers to the train route that Vladimir Lenin took when he was smuggled to Russia in
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