22 posts tagged “labrador”

Ed Harcourt - Sour Milk, Motheaten Silk

Ed Harcourt

ED HARCOURT
edharcourt.com ♥ myspace ♥ twitter

Ed Harcourt is nothing short of amazing when he's playing live, possibly due to his many years of opening up for REM, Wilco, Beth Orton, Supergrass, etc. An amazing multi-instrumentalist, he mostly relies on his piano and strong vocals.

Recently, he composed the score for the "Donnie Darko" sequel S Darko, which I gave it a good review... despite the critics panning the movie. Russian Roulette EP is the latest release, around or after sxsw.

Like many of his previous songs, these songs on the EP tells little stories. I think sometime his personal life shows through in these songs, for instance the musical roller coaster "Caterpillar" reflects the singer's emotions of highs & lows when his newborn daughter Roxy was placed in an incubator.

It's the first song I've written about her. She was a little ill and we waited for her in the hospital for the chrysalis so we could take her home.

-- Ed Harcourt

These are great piano songs, they sometime sound a bit like old fashion television theme songs (accessible to anyone that hears it). There is one mountain folky-ish song called "Creep Out Of The Woodwork", which may be because of the country-sounding intro.

My favorite is "Sour Milk, Motheaten Silk", whose music was inspired by "Cypress Hill and Japanese children's shows". The violins towards the end by his wife, Gita, added a nice touch to the song.

You can get Russian Roulette EP from Dovecote Records, where you can also purchase his last album, The Beautiful Lie. Although it may sound gimmicky, you can get the EP via USB in the shape of a bullet. It's cool!

Harcourt will next appear in London at Standon Calling on August 2^nd.

VERISMO verismetal.com ♥ myspace Verismo - Failure 1 comment Verismo is a New York-based thrash metal trio, consisting of Stephan (vocals/guitars), Vinny (bass) and Tamas (drums). What I thought was funny is that they puke at the "throes of indie bands, experimental rock outfits, and techno-infused acts continue to battle it out for recognition in the highly-competitive New York City music scene" - all too true regarding New York's indie scene. Well metal's still huge all over the world, but it's a question of taste... and personally it's not my cup of tea. But if you like a bit of a harder (but not ear-punishing as some metal bands I've heard) guitar-noodling of Verismo, you can download their latest EP Greed for (ironically) free, if you sign up on their mailing list: FREE - "GREED" EP Friday, July 10, 2009 We want you to have it, listen to it, import it to your iPod, share it among your friends...etc. Remember a full length coming out at the end of this year! Get the EP absolutely free by signing up to our mailing list, 2 options: - Join our mailing list thru our myspace profile. - Come to www.verismetal.com and click on Mailing List.		THE RADIO DEPT. theradiodept.com ♥ myspace ♥ twitter The Radio Dept. - David The Radio Dept. - Deliverance 5 comments From Sweden and our favorite Swedish label, Labrador comes The Radio Dept.'s David EP, released sometime in late June. We've previously mentioned Radio Dept. before and Randy describes This Past Week as: "it's shoegazey, melancholy, a bit subdued, but also lush and really well-layered between the vocals, guitar, keyboard, samples, and drum machine." I think anytime I read layer and drum machines, I just think of lo-fi, but they aren't. They're definitely dreamy in some chases. The single (4 tracks) are a quick listen. The songs are easy-on-the-ears, a little too relaxing with the mostly-instrumental "The Idle Urban Contemporaries". Obviously the main and title track "David" is the best among the songs. However, I didn't particularly care for the Rice Twins remix of "David", which is too jumpy and that use of vocal autotune drives me nuts, in my opinion. It could've been an interesting song if you haven't heard the original mix. But then again, I've mentioned before that I wasn't keen on remixes either. David EP is available now from Labrador.
BRAIN CHILDREN myspace.com Brain Children - Guts The children are Mikey Young and Max Kohane, based out of Victoria, Australia, who spent their years as punks and releasing DIY punk records (under such acts as Eddy Current Suppression Ring and Agents of Abhorrence). A lightning bolt must've hit the both of them as they are drinking their "Fosters" and they became a fishnet-wearing disco superhero duo called Brain Children, complete with the red Brainsmobile. They've just released a self-titled CD/12" and based on the six tracks, it's pretty much what you would expect out of a disco dance/synth band... ultimately sounding like they're from the 80s. There's definitely some bassy funk elements, especially on the "Guts", which I think there are actual girls-vocals on it. Either way, if you like what you heard, check out more at their myspace. It's easy for Australians to order the Brain Children EP directly from their record label Stained Circles (THEY SELL TAPES! TAPES!!! It's like 1986 again). Outside of ozland, you can only order 7" only, and you must use paypal.		GALA galasound.com ♥ myspace ♥ twitter Gala - Freed From Desire The Un-Remix Italian pop singer, Gala Rizzatto, or simply known as Gala, gained a bit of fame over the UK (appearing on Top of the Pops), as well as playing with Janet Jackson and U2, quite a feat. Not really sure what happened, but she moved to New York, leaving her UK record label behind. Her latest release is an EP called Tough Love. This release is really polished, a very professional produced little six-track. For the most part, I love pop music, and since Gala's background is from Italy, she certainly knows her eurodisco music. If you don't like eurodisco, then turn away now, but if you dig Sophie Ellis-Bextor or Kyle Minogue, then you'll love Gala. Pretty soon, you'll find youself dancing uncontrollably to "Freed From Desire The Un-Remix" and "DKOL (Different Kind Of Love)". Watch out for that distinctive yip-yelp she does on "Tough Love". I see that she'll be heading over to Moscow for a live show at the Forbes Club on September 18th. You can follow her on Twitter, which she will occasional take some pictures on her walkabouts.

 07/17/2009 00:04:12 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com

The Beat Coffee House ♥ flyer Sydney Wayser - Place De La Bastille Sydney Wayser 1 comment

I went to bed with a headache, and woke up in a worst state. There's no doubt about it, I am old.

My pending list is growing larger, it seriously does not matter how many I review, 10 more will always show up to replace the one album I review. While I will just add music to the list if we get it sent to us, for those inquiring about an address, I will politely discourage them from sending music in. I'm not trying to brag, it is just the state of things: too many bands, too little time.

So to take it easy, I've compiled a few newsworthy items:

SYDNEY WAYSER IN MINNEAPOLIS
I will be attending the Beat Coffee House, this Thursday. I've been to the Beat before, this is quite a tiny cafe and the sit-down atmosphere will guarantee a quiet evening.

Here are is the lineup:

Thursday July 16th @ The Beat Coffee House (All Ages) $7
5:30-6:00 Aria Souder
6:15-7:00 The Dirty Darlings
7:00-7:45 Holly Newsom (Zoo Animal)
8:00-8:45 Sydney Wayser (NYC)
9:00-10pm Bella Koshka

We've mentioned Sydney Wayser before, she just released a second album called The Colorful and will also be performing at The Music Box Theater on Friday, July 17^th.

Nebraska Pop Festival ♥ flyer Mammoth Life - Convoluted I Mammoth Life

THE NEBRASKA POP FESTIVAL The Nebraska Pop Festival is happening August 27^th to 30^th, all proceeds (tickets are reasonably priced, ranges from $5 to $10, or $25 for all four days) will benefit the University of Nebraska college radio station Mavradio. Looking at the indiepop bands on their lineup, they seem really hardcore indie. It's so indie that I honestly haven't heard of any of these bands. And that may be the problem, I feel like I'm not hip enough to attend (also the fact that I don't live near Nebraska). Well for about $1 per band (24 total bands), that is not a bad price to check them out. And who knows? Maybe you'll discover something new.

Here is the lineup:

Thursday August 27th @ Barley Street Tavern

Start time 7:00PM with end time at 1:00AM (This show is 5 USD at the door)

1. The Argyle Wishlist (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) 
2. The Sleepover (Lincoln, Nebraska) 
3. Magic Crayon (United Kingdom)
4. Honey and Darling (Omaha, Nebraska)
5. The Tinycakes (Chicago, Illinois)
6. Pennyhawk (Ames, Iowa) 


Friday August 28th @ The Waiting Room.

Start time 7:00PM with end time at 1:00AM (ALL AGES SHOW)

1. Spiders For Love (Omaha, Nebraska) 
2. Transmittens (Lawrence, Kansas)

3. Mr. and Mrs. Muffins (Jakarta Indonesia & Seattle, Washington)

4. Talking Mountain (Omaha, Nebraska)
5. Poland (Seattle, Washington)
6. Strega (NYC, New York)

Saturday August 29th @ The Waiting Room.

Start time 7:00PM with end time at 1:00AM (ALL AGES SHOW)

1. Electric Needle Room (Omaha, Nebraska)
2. Jam on Bread (Manchester, United Kingdom)

3. Labrador w/ special guest Dereck Higgins on bass(Copenhagen, Denmark)
4. Mammoth Life (Lawrence Kansas)
5. Thunder Power (Omaha, Nebraska)
6. Cleemann w/ special guest Dereck Higgins on bass (Copenhagen, Denmark)


Sunday August 30th @ The Waiting Room.

Start time 7:00PM with end time at 1:00AM (ALL AGES SHOW)

1. Sweet Pea (Omaha, Nebraska)
2. Probably My Son (Dallas, Texas)
3. Cowboy Indian Bear (Lawrence, Kansas)
4. At Land (Omaha, Nebraska)
5. The Mother Z's (Chicago, Illinois)
6. Darren Keen (Omaha, Nebraska)

Thankfully, I did listen to the mixtape that Matt Beat sent me, and the bands seems to lean towards sugary sweet indiepop. The few bands that I liked right away are Labrador, Transmittens, and Mammoth Life. For more information, you can email NebraskaPopFestival.at.gmail or myspace.

FREE BLOOD DIAMOND MIXTAPE

Lykke Li - Dance Dance Dance (B.S.S. Mix)

Lykke Li

I got a chance to listen to the nicely clubby Blood Diamond Mixtape from Buraka Som Sistema (available as a free download on July 13^th via buraka.tv). The album was conceived and mixed by J-WOW.

I only listened to it once, but it's very thumpy. There's a lot of movie dialogue mixed in the songs, I'm not sure which movies they were taken from, but I think some may have came from the "Blood Diamond" movie that the album's name is taken from. Lots of Afrikana/world music with dance beats, but I was a little surprise to see Lykke Li being thrown in the mix "Dance Dance Dance (BSS Mix)".

Good stuff - and it's free. This is a great promotional for their debut LP, Black Diamond (available on Fabric records in April 2009). So check it out.

Special thanks to World's Fair.

NEWSBRIEFS
Mill City Live is a series of "rock the museum" every Thursday in July and August. Prices are reasonable (the cost of getting into the museum at $5 for none members - members automatically get in for free) and there's catering. The bands on the music series ranges from shoegazing (Gospel Gossip), to bluegrass (Caroline Smith), to salsa orchestra (Charanga Tropical), to "neo-psychedelic" ( First Communion Afterparty), to blues (Butanes).

Since it's museum, expect the atmosphere to be low-key and quiet.... less the paintings starts falling off from the reverb. More details at Mill City Museum.

Put it On is a brand new website catering to fashion designers, artists, musicians, and filmmakers. I quickly look over the music section and it just looks like a mess. I suppose I just need some direction, you know? What bands are good ? I didn't recognize any of the bands on there, so don't bother searching for Lilly Allen or whoever is hot right now.

I randomly found a Spanish band from the Dominican Republic called Xtrema Causa and downloaded one of their song as a test: it was free and it was very quick. Unfortunately, the brief biography and lack of additional links, videos, and (large) pictures, kind of made the website useless for me. I ended up looking up their myspace for more info.

Well, the website is new, so there's potential, if you think I'm being harsh, check out the website for yourself: putiton.com.

Dinosaur Jr on Playboy

Playboy begins their Uncovered series. As a cover lover, I will be checking in from time to time to see Nina "Cardigans" Persson's A Camp doing "Pyscho" (Leon Payne), Murray "Dears" Lightburn doing "Doctor Blind" (Emily Haines), and Patterson "Drive-by Truckers" Hood doing "Range War" (Todd Rundgren). The series appears on playboy every second Tuesday of each month and limited to just 10 months. Kicking it all off is Dinosaur Jr doing the Cure's "Just Like Heaven".

Their version is acoustic and J Mascis seems to know all the words by heart. The band just released their 9^th album Farm, check out their cover at playboy.com/uncovered.

So, if someone asks you why you read playboy, you can tell them it's for the articles and the music.

 07/14/2009 14:39:54 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com

Little Big Adventure - Happiest Times Little Big Adventure Free Downloads The Hateful Eye EP is available now in Sweden (May 13th), will be available physically in the USA on June 16th. Download the B-Side, "The Hateful Eye", as well as other songs at Little Big Adventure Free MP3s Section

 05/17/2009 12:32:06 ♥ kateg () ♥ littlebigadventure.se ♥ myspace.com/littlebigadventure ♥ labrador 

 11/20/2008 10:20:34  ♥ written by vu ()

Pelle Carlberg - Nicknames (with Karolina Komstedt) Pelle Carlberg Tour Dates 26 Nov 2008 Landet Stockholm 01 Dec 2008 Blauer Engel KIEL 02 Dec 2008 Admiralspalast BERLIN 03 Dec 2008 Subway KÖLN 04 Dec 2008 Feinkost Lampe HANNOVER 05 Dec 2008 Unikeller OSNABRüCK 06 Dec 2008 Sparte 4 SAARBRüCKEN 08 Dec 2008 tbc KASSEL 09 Dec 2008 Asta Wohnzimmer LüNEBURG Discography [2005] Everything. Now! [2007] In A Nutshell [2008] The Lilac Time Read More Pelle Carlberg http://weheartmus... Searching the blogs for a fix of Belle & Sebastian, I found reference to Pelle Carlberg. I instan...

Pelle Carlberg released The Lilac Time last Tuesday with US distributor Darla Records, although the album's been out in Europe since August. We caught up with Pelle in October to talk to him in his homeland of Sweden and he explained a lot of things, so be sure to listen to our interview! I will have to add that some people are hard to interview since sometimes they don't understand when doing radio interviews that they are the person that needs to talk and tell interesting stories - with Pelle that was not a problem at all. My fifteen minute limit for calling internationally went over in no time because Pelle was just so engaging.

Pelle Carlberg - 1983 (Pelle and Sebastian)

1 comment

For instance, he went on to explain "1983" as if someone who's never heard it but leaving out the punchline. Of course, since I have already loved the song, I can tell you that despite his to-do-away with the Belle & Sebastian comparison, that the song sounds incredibly like a B&S song...

I was surprised to find out that all his songs are based on true events, which leads me to wonder about his taxi ride in "Tired of Being PC" or his car problems on "Metal to Metal" or his hatred for a certain airline on "Fly Me to the Moon" (you get the impression Pelle travels quite a bit).

My favorite fun song on this album is "51, 3", which tells the story about Pelle taking a facebook quiz that tells him his mental age is 51. Just the opening line is well worth hearing.

Fans of Club 8 should take note of Karolina Komstedt's appearance on "Nicknames." He was apparently touring with Club 8 and had asked her to sing on the song with him. The song is quite upbeat and punchy, about reminiscing in their teenage years - going out to see old friends and drinking.

If you like indiepop and don't already own The Lilac Time, you can get it via Darla Records or Labrador. I will have to mention that I have bought things from Darla, and with the more obscure indie bands they may list it but it doesn't mean they have it in stock. This was very annoying when several packages I have ordered in the past end up missing one or two items. To be fair, they did not charge me for the missing items, but still, don't list CDs that you do not have in stock! I haven't ordered from them recently, so they might have changed the way they display what you can or cannot buy. Also, I'm sure with recent products, such as The Lilac Time, they should have them in stock - not to discourage you from ordering, of course.

As a bonus, here are our previous Pelle Carlberg songs we've used in the past:

Clever Girls Like Clever Boys Much More Than Clever Boys Like Clever Girls 7 comments

Go to Hell, Miss Rydell 3 comments

Pelle Carlberg - Rocket Man

Links: pellecarlberg.se myspace.com/pellecarlberg darla.com labrador.se

 10/20/2008 00:32:08  ♥ written by vu ()

G Tom Mac - Cry Little Sister [2008 Caveclub Video Mix] G Tom Mac The Boxing Lesson - Dark Side of the Moog The Boxing Lesson Clever Girls Like Clever Boys Much More Than Clever Boys Like Clever Girls Pelle Carlberg 7 comments Pelle Carlberg - 1983 (Pelle and Sebastian) Pelle Carlberg 1 comment

Our massive show! Playing around with boosting up audio, so let me know if it's too loud or you prefer the softer sound (I'm doing a lot of audio editing in post). I really love this episode, so be sure to check it out.

We Heart Music Radio #28, special thanks goes to G Tom Mac, Christina of Ariel Publicity, Paul Waclawsky, Ryan of The Loyalty Firm, Pelle Carlberg, and Christian of Labrador Records. Music used in the show includes G Tom Mac, The Boxing Lesson, People in Plane, Pelle Carlberg, and Hello Saferide. If you would like to appear on a future We Heart Music Radio show, please contact . Thank you for listening.

Subscribe to our show at podcast.weheartmusic.com, via RSS Feed.

Download this episode (49 min)

Download excerpts of our shows at W♥M Excerpts.
Download individual segment (expires in 7 days):

• G Tom Mac
• Boxing Lesson
• Pelle Carlberg

PART ONE: G TOM MAC
gtommac.com ♥ myspace.com/gtommac
G Tom Mac, aka Gerard McMann, answer some of these questions:

• His involvement with The Lost Boys (both movie!)
• Embarrassing moment: thinking the "Thou Shall Not Fall" part was sung by a woman
• "Cry Little Sister" song and "Thou Shall Not Fall" album
• Fan reactions to live tour, new 2009 tour dates coming soon

He will be doing these upcoming tour dates:

30 Oct 2008 Virgin Megastore Hollywood CA Los Angeles, California
01 Nov 2008 Draculas Ball / Shampoo Nightclub Philadelphia, PA

PART TWO: THE BOXING LESSON
myspace.com/theboxinglesson ♥ myspace.com/loyaltyfirm
Paul of the Boxing Lesson talks about:

• His band, including their drummer in Federal prison (yikes!)
• Video of "Brighter", 6000 photographs! Read more at rockpark.com
• new sound vs old sound
• Possible brand new EP?
• "Dark Side of the Moog" to be next video

Check out their new tour dates!

25 Oct 2008 The Backyard: The Final Weekend Austin, Texas
01 Nov 2008 House Party w/ Belaire! Lubbock, Texas
02 Nov 2008 Trunk Space w/ Belaire Phoenix, Arizona
03 Nov 2008 Luxury Wafers Recording Session Van Nuys, California
04 Nov 2008 Beauty Bar San Diego w/ Belaire San Diego, California
05 Nov 2008 Silverlake Lounge w/ Belaire Silverlake, California
06 Nov 2008 The Copper Rhino Modesto, California
07 Nov 2008 The Cellar Door Visalia, California
08 Nov 2008 Partisan Merced, California
10 Nov 2008 Spaceland Silverlake, California
11 Nov 2008 Plush w/ Dead Confederate & Mostly Bears Tucson, AZ
13 Nov 2008 The Percolator El Paso, Texas
12 Dec 2008 Emo’s w/ Girl in a Coma Austin, Texas
13 Dec 2008 The Mink Houston, Texas

PART THREE: PELLE CARLBERG
pellecarlberg.se ♥ myspace.com/pellecarlberg
Talking to us from Stockholm, Sweden, Pelle let us know about:

• Edson, his original band
• Lilac Times nodd to Stephen Duffy's band and his garden at his home
• Secrets of 1983 (Pelle & Sebastian) explained
• The story behind his duets, Ida Maria with "I Love You, You Imbecile" and Karolina Komstedt (Club 8) on "Nicknames"

Pelle is getting for a brand new tour:

22 Oct 2008 Teater Scenario STOCKHOLM
01 Nov 2008 Westgarth Social Club MIDDLESBROUGH
02 Nov 2008 NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE Head of Steam NEWCASTLE
03 Nov 2008 Deaf Institute MANCHESTER tbc
04 Nov 2008 UWIC Howard Gardens CARDIFF
05 Nov 2008 Bristol Cooler BRISTOL
06 Nov 2008 Brixton Windmill LONDON
26 Nov 2008 Landet Stockholm
01 Dec 2008 Blauer Engel KIEL
02 Dec 2008 Admiralspalast BERLIN
03 Dec 2008 Subway KÖLN
04 Dec 2008 Feinkost Lampe HANNOVER
05 Dec 2008 Unikeller OSNABRüCK
06 Dec 2008 Sparte 4 SAARBRüCKEN
08 Dec 2008 tbc KASSEL
09 Dec 2008 Asta Wohnzimmer LüNEBURG

Links: www.weheartmusic.com podcast.weheartmusic.com

 07/16/2008 19:33:38  ♥ written by vu ()

Pelle Carlberg - 1983 (Pelle and Sebastian) Pelle Carlberg 1 comment Read More Pelle Carlberg http://weheartmus... Searching the blogs for a fix of Belle & Sebastian, I found reference to Pelle Carlberg. I instan...

Ryan previously mentioned mister Pelle Carlberg in context to Belle & Sebastian. I've actually never thought Carlberg sounded that much like B&S, but with this latest single "1983 (Pelle & Sebastian)", I am proven wrong.

Sure, the song is about Carlberg's youth and his run in with some hooligan, but if you look beyond that, you'll find that he really apes the B&S-style really well.

Let's take a look.

The Title
This is pretty obvious, the nod to Belle & Sebastian. The title and song refers back to Pelle and his friend Sebastian.

The band B&S have several songs about characters called Belle & Sebastian. For instance, what casual B&S fans might not know is that there is a hidden track on the 3.. 6.. 9.. Seconds of Light EP, I think, called "Songs for Children" about two singers, Belle & Sebastian ("Belle and Sebastian on the radio, playing songs for children"). Plus Murdoch wrote a song about a fictional "Belle & Sebastian" on their debut EP, Dogs on Wheel.

By the way, anyone can tell you that Belle & Sebastian's name comes from a French children's book and television show, Belle et Sébastien.

The Year
Nostalgic reference to a certain year. While Carlberg keeps referring back to 1983, Stuart Murdoch, the primary writer of Belle & Sebastian, has a habit of using references to years, like 1975 & 1995 in "The State I Am In", 1990 in "Electronic Renaissance", 1972 in "Me and the Major", 1982 in "She's Losing It", etc.

The Music
Feels like feels like early B&S (when they weren't so Christian), especially if you listen to Carlberg's singing style on this song. It is quite similar to Murdoch's Scottish folkiness.  In fact, if you didn't know this was a Carlberg song, I'll bet you can fool people into thinking this is the latest single from Belle & Sebastian.

The Breakdown
There is a speaking part in this song, just half imagine Stuart David taking over this part, talking about the past. David is known for his speaking parts on such songs as "A Space Boy Dream" (the original version of this song is from his Looper project) and on "A Century of Elvis" (a song about David's dad and, er, Elvis).

Clever Girls Like Clever Boys Much More Than Clever Boys Like Clever Girls 7 comments

Go to Hell, Miss Rydell 3 comments

Really, what this comes down to is that "1983 (Pelle & Sebastian)" is a really good song. I kind of wish he hadn't made such a blatant tribute with the title "Pelle & Sebastian" as this would draw comparison between the two.

Look for Pelle Carberg's latest album, The Lilac Time out on August 27^th on Labrador (Sweden) and Twenty-Seven Records (USA).

Here are previous songs from Carlberg.

Links: pellecarlberg.se myspace.com/pellecarlberg labrador.se twentysevenrecords.com

 07/03/2008 00:17:54  ♥ written by vu ()

Leslies - Take A Look

Leslies

1 comment

Labrador Records (labrador.se) once again turned to Pirate Bay to help distribute their Labrador Summer Sampler 2008. If you remember, they did the same thing last year after their servers crashed due to a high volume of demand.

If you already use BitTorrent, then downloading it from Pirate Bay is easy enough, but unlike most people, I don't use the torrents. Instead, I had to get the files from a friend. If you're in the same boat, regarding not using bittorrent, I have made the free sampler available for download: sendspace.com/file/2yaj76 (154 mb).

Please note: I am acting under the assumption that Labrador wants as many people to download their sampler as possible. So please share this with your friends.

Although compared to last year's massive 68-track-sampler, this year's new 30 tracks is smaller... but it is still a lot of music to listen to. Since we've covered many of these bands (see corresponding links to previous W♥M articles), I was more interested in the bands I hadn't heard of: Leslies, Caroline Soul, and Johan Hedberg. Although Leslies previously appeared on their 2007 Sampler ("Dear Friend"), this is the first time I paid attention to them due to their poppy "Take a Look" song.

In other news for this past week, we find Devo asking "Are We Not Toys?" after suing McDonald's for using their likeness in one of their McToys. CNN reports that "Kid Rock Was Only Kidding" when he told people to "steal everything". This tells me a lot about Kid Rock fans if he had to EXPLAIN that it was only a joke. Duh?

DMX is arrested (again), "Fly - The Musical", Adele won some awards and people seem to be happy she doesn't want to kill herself like Amy Winehouse, and you also found out that Kanye West LIKES TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS, DUDE! His defense blog on the whole Bonnaroo fiasco comes down to the venue's ability to setup the stage and that Pearl Jam was an hour late. That's right, Vedder is a slowpoke.

See links below for news source:

Kanye West Defends Self at Bonnaroo http://www.kanyeu... I am sick of negative people who just sit around trying 2 plot my downfall... Why???? I unders...	'Steal everything,' Kid Rock jokingly urges fans http://www.cnn.co... Story Highlights The Detroit musician posted a "special announcement" on YouTube last week In th...	McDevo: McDonald's Sued By Devo Over Happy Meal Toy http://consumeris... The band Devo is suing McDonald's over a toy which bears a striking resemblance to the bands trad... 2 comments
`The Fly' opera is buzz of Paris season - Yahoo! News http://news.yahoo... The new incarnation, with tenor Placido Domingo conducting a score by Oscar-winning composer Howa...	British singer Adele stands apart from the pack - Yahoo! News http://news.yahoo... NEW YORK - It's hard not to think of Adele, the newly minted British blue-eyed soul singer, with...	Rapper DMX arrested again in Arizona - Yahoo! News http://news.yahoo... LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rap star DMX was arrested for failing to appear in court and other compl...

Links: www.weheartmusic.com www.labrador.se

 06/30/2008 21:39:08  ♥ written by derek ( / www.pegritz.com)

Irene - Out Of Tune Irene Sounds Like The Beach Boys http://weheartmus... The Beach Boys - Little Saint Nick I can't overlook the fact that this winterly Christmas song ...

There is no one named Irene in the band Irene. In fact, until recently, the band was just one guy: Tobias Isaksson, a.k.a. Bobby. But in 2005, when Isaksson wanted to play some of the songs he'd written live, he recruited some of his pub-friends from Göteborg, Sweden and what do you know? Shortly thereafter they were signed to Labrador Records and put out their first album, Apple Bay, in 2006. Now they have a new album out, Long Gone Since Last Summer, and listening to it has once again affirmed an opinion that I've long held: nothing bad ever comes out of Sweden. Seriously. I've never heard a Swedish band I didn't love...and Irene is very easy to love.

Irene - Stardust

Irene write '60s beach-bum music a lá The Beach Boys, the Dave Clark Five, the Buckinghams, and so on. Their songs are short (rarely long than 3 minutes), delicious little Sweet-tarts of sound that do not mess around with long introductions or instrumental wizardry or fancy studio production (most of the instruments are recorded live, much as bands were recorded in the early days of rock). Apple Bay is only 24 minutes long but packs more weight and musical mastery than most overblown pop-rock records recorded since 1990. The songs are all catchy sing-a-long numbers featuring jangly guitars and--get this--a horn section backing up Isaksson's mellow, Elvis-esque voice. How often do you hear a horn section in any music these days?! Long Gone is simply more of the same. Irene aren't trying to break new ground here, folks: they've found a type of music that they love playing, and they do it well. You can practically hear the sunshine in the music and feel sand gritting between your toes as you listen to it.

Links: www.irene.nu myspace.com/ireneswe

The Sound Of Arrows - Danger

The Sound Of Arrows

1 comment

A couple of months ago I saw an announcement that my favorite record label, Labrador Records, had signed a new band called The Sound Of Arrows. Since I love just about every band on their roster, I was quite excited about this. At the time, Labrador released an mp3 for the track called "Danger!", which I immediately put into heavy rotation in my playlist.

A few weeks ago the debut release from The Sound Of Arrows was finally made available. They are touting this as an E.P. but it's basically the title track, "Danger!", plus two b-sides, four remixes, and "intro" and "outro" tracks. I'm normally not a fan of remixes, but the ones on this E.P. are not too shabby. Also, the b-sides, "A Very Sad Song" and "Winding Roads" are really quite good.

The Sound Of Arrows is a duo comprised of two Swedish lads, Stefan Storm and Oskar Gullstrand, who now live in Stockholm. Together they have differing backgrounds: house music and classical. I think a bit of each comes across in their music. In Labrador's original press release they said "The Sound of Arrows treat their own songs like remixes and will present their releases almost like mixtapes. Their approach to music bare some similarity to Saint Etienne around 'Foxbase Alpha' or The Avalanches, but they never end up sounding like either." I can't wait to get their full-length album, which is due out later this year.

 May 29, 2008 4:50 AM  Randy my♥posts thesoundofarrows.com myspace

Club 8 - Heaven

Club 8

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It's been a while since my last post, but I figure it's about time I got back into it. Vu's beat me to the punch on Sambassadeur. I was going to talk about their sophomore album, which was released late last year. It's quite good, so go check it out if you like Swedish pop music.

W♥M has mentioned Club 8 before, but I thought we should re-visit this fine band from Sweden. Their latest album release, "The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Dreaming", is one of my favorites from 2007. The duo is comprised of Johan Angergård (formerly in Poprace, currently in Acid House Kings[W♥M] and The Legends[W♥M]) and Karolina Komstedt (formerly in Poprace). The combination of Karolina's beautifully delicate vocals and Johan's instrumentation create what i consider to be a masterpiece of pop music. The album drifts back and forth between songs that are light and melancholic, and others that are more upbeat and happy. The band also shows off a variety of influences, including subtle hints of gospel and country in some of their tunes. Their top-notch songwriting and production really shines as well, due in part to the fact that these two are seasoned veterans when it comes to making wonderful pop music. This is, after all, their sixth album... and what a great one it is.

The song I'm including here is "Heaven", the second single to be released from "The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Dreaming".

 Feb 4, 2008 8:00 PM  Randy my♥posts club-8.org myspace.com/club8