12 posts tagged “twee”
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10/22/09
Northern* Olympia, WA
Solo Discography
10/23/09 The Artistery* Portland, OR 10/24/09 Luigi’s Fungarden* Sacramento, CA 10/25/09 Gilman St.* Berkeley, CA 10/27/09 Vacation Vinyl Instore - LA, CA 10/27/09 Echo Curio* Los Angeles, CA 10/28/09 Biko Garage* Santa Barbara, CA 10/29/09 Needles and Pens* San Francisco, CA * with Kellarissa
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What I love about Tiger Trap is that all their songs (from all three singles they've released) is that they're short, they're cute, and Melberg's twittery vocals. Even though the term "twee" (I hate that word) existed since the 80s, I have often thought that Tiger Trap were pioneers of modernday twee-pop.
Melberg would continue her unique songs with Go Sailor and The Softies, sort of simultaneously in 1994. Between the two projects, it was obvious which one seem more important, since Go Sailor quickly went away after only three singles.
The Softies (Melberg's collaboration would be with Jen Sbragia) was more significant, releasing four albums, their last one being Holiday in Rhode Island, available from K Records. The thing about The Softies, is that they were going for that two-vocals harmony thing and their songs are often pretty mellow... unlike their punk-counterpart with the same name (I think they were from the UK).
Since I left the radio station in the mid-90s, I will admit to not keeping up with the whereabouts of Rose Melberg and her various projects (working as a drummer in another short-lived band, Gaze, working with Elliott Smith, The Potatomen, etc). I did know she went solo, or at least had solo records, but I was still surprise to find out that Rose Melberg is back with her third studio album, Homemade Ship, released last Tuesday on K Records.
I was actually pretty excited to listen to the new album, but since my only knowledge of her music were pre-1996, it seems a lot more mellow acoustic than even the softest Softies music. In fact, with all the background vocals by Larissa Loyva, one could mistaken Homemade Ship to be the latest Softies album.
The album seems very personal to me, especially on "Sidewalk" and "Old Days". But I also get the impression that Melberg must really love two other things in life: nature and animals.
In the form of nature, she seems obsessed with water ("we watch the water float you"), moon, wind, ships, and sailing. As for animals, she just doesn't just write about them, but often singing that she is an animal ("Bear in a Cave", "Sharks", crows on "Old Days", raccoon on "Moon Singer").
In some ways, the title track, "Homemade Ship", about being lost due to instruments failure, is my favorite song, because I feel as if Melberg simply isn't singing about sailing, but more about life and where she is.
If you were hoping for the new record to sound like Tiger Trap or Go Sailor, you will be disappointed. If you're already comfortable with The Softies, then I think you'll feel right at home with this very quiet and tender Homemade Ship album.
Can't get enough of Melberg? Head over to NPR to hear "Old Days" as the Song of the Day for August 19th. Pick up Homemade Ships at K Records (LP for $10, cheap!).
09/25/2009 02:35:10 ♥ vu (
) ♥ myspace.com/rosemelberg ♥ krecs.com
| Tour Date
12/28/07 The Anne Bonny W/ T.V. Coahran, and MORE!! - Seattle, WA |
Discography
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The Terrordactyls are a very charming indie band from Washington & New York. It seems that the band is centered around Michael Cadiz, who wrote all the songs off their self-titled album. His partner-in-crime, based in Brooklyn then record his participation and send it back to Cadiz, who then pieced it together. Oh there's also someone named named Terry "Terrydactyl" Setter who "[fixed] everything and making it sound way better".
I only got to listen to the self-titled album, but I did download Hoppy Birthday from their website for free (Hoppy Birthday lists itself as out of 10 tracks, but download only offers 8 tracks... I don't know which one, if any, are missing).
The song that I instantly had to use was purely based on the fact that it's sung with antifolker, Kimya Dawson. I've briefly mentioned her before, so check the related links in this article.
What I love about "Devices" are the kazoos and the finishing-up of each other's lyrics (this method is used on several other songs on the album). My only complaint is that the song is so short!
Other good song to check out is "Shipping", which contain the best lyrics:
My body got messed up on the train.
A case of wine and some boxes of knives fell on my face.
Now, I am going to die.
If you like what you heard, the good news is that The Terrordactyls have a new EP called The Mike Bowers EP. It's coming out on December 15th and is The Pharmacy all-covers EP. Thanks to the band, I got a preview of the EP and it's quite good, so I might have to try and track down the original Pharmacy songs to hear the differences. Of the tracks, I liked "Overcast Summer" the best, mostly because of the harmonies between Mike and Tyrel.
You can pick up the The Mike Bowers EP at Don't Stop Believin', with an added promise of trading cards:
It's gonna have trading cards, guys. Trading Cards.
PS, Useless Journey trivia: I was told their latest singer is Arnel Pineda, lead singer of a Filipino Journey cover band.
PPS, watch my reaction to opening up on the album (yes, I know Andrew WK is not British, I read everything official in a quasi-Morrissey voice):
12/11/2007 23:16:40
vu
my♥posts
www.terrordactyls.com
myspace
Band Members
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Polynya are from North Carolina... and that's pretty much all I know about this band! I thought they were a new band, but I was told that the recording of their debut album took about "4 fastidious years". Which only means that the band were together at least four years ago.
Judging from the photographs of their myspace that they seem like a really close-knit bunch of friends. Their debut self-titled album is only $10, see details on their official website.
So, it seems maybe Luke is the primary song writer and music arranger. It's also interesting to note that two of the band members also DJs at the college station in Chapel Hill (WXYC), so I think they're very well versed in the college music scene.
So the first thing that struck me is how much the singer's vocals (I think it's Amelia) sound like Rose Melberg (from Tiger Trap). Their sound like is a sweet indie pop, with some great harmonies. Sometime Luke jumps in and sings as well, so they have a great girl-boy sound that reminds me of Velocity Girl.
I like the opening song, "Old West", a lot. I think there's three layers of different vocals on this song. It's also best listened to with headphones because there's some music and noise that exists independently on either left or right headphones.
I also remember liking "Sweatshop" a lot. The sound on this song sounds a bit noisy and low-fi, which I liked. You can preview their whole album on their website.
Lastly, can someone explain to me why downloading the album costs much more than buying the physical CD? According to my calculations, if you download the album from Digstation (not to be confused with Diggnation), it will cost you $12.87 - while the physical CD with Shipping & Handling has a grand total of $10. If anything, because there's no cost of pressing the cd, printing the sleeve and shipment, digital sales should be much lower.
So, yes, buy the physical CD is my recommendation by sending an email to 
(image).
If you like what you heard, they are in the process of recording their next album, which I'm told will sound pretty similar to this album.
Watch my mispronouncing of their name on the second video:
Other bands mentioned: Finespun, more detail on their EP later, in the meantime, check out: finespunmusic.com.
12/06/2007 22:02:24
vu
my♥posts
www.polynya.info
myspace.com
Attention Swedishpop lovers! This is Southside Stalkers from Stockholm. They have a debut album called The Sound of Speed, released May 2007.
I don't really know much about them, other than that they're essentially: Sparrow & Indy, both stage names. When they play live, they're joined on stage by Peter, Martin, Karl-Johan (Kojac) and Linus. I should also mention that Sparrow is in another band, Doctors & Dealers.
Since you can already download "Five" and "Deliverance" from their record label (both excellent songs), I've decided to choose "That You're Strange".
This song works very well as a boy-girl song (similar to their "Ukelele Love Song" song about a boy & a girl of how they met each other at a 7-11) and contain a really great sing-along "yoo-oooouu" part.
Other really good song worth listening to are: "Texas Sunshine", which is sung to the tune of a country-western style, and "Wholesome A** F******". As that last song title suggests, it's a song about butt love, but it's done quite straight & serious. I don't even know if that last sentence made any sense. It's a very sweet song.
According to their blog, they've already recorded some tracks for their second album. You can download "Not Able" on their myspace, which is from their forth-coming second album.
11/28/2007 18:34:46
vu
my♥posts
myspace.com/southsidestalkers
Hello Saferide
Live Band Members
Footnotes [1] From myspace.com/saferide |
I really should let someone else (Jason) write about Hello Saferide because everyone seems to know more about her than me. I've only really discovered her recently through another voxer.
Hello Saferide is from Stockholm, Sweden, and is really just Annika Norlin. The name was inspired by "inspired by an intelligent bus driver in a drug-addicted small town" from Willimantic, Connecticut.[1]
Regal Recordings, who's probably most famous for picking up Lily Allen, have decided to release Hello Saferide in the UK, their first 7" single is "I Was Definitely Made For These Times" with "The Quiz" as the flipside. It's marketed as a double A-Side.
Norlin is currently involved in another project, called Säkert!. They are only recording Swedish language-only releases. If you speak Swedish, you can read about them on Razzia Records. (Maybe someone can translate for me).
The song that I really like (from what I've listened to) is "Long Lost Penpal", featuring Firefox AK (Andrea Kellerman) singing the penpal part. The song is very sad and I believe might be based on actual correspondents.
I
really identify with this song on more than one level. You know, before
the internet, people wrote letters and we had penpals. At the height of
my bedsit days, I had over forty penpals, and I'm still friends with
some of them to this day. Although we don't write traditional letters
anymore.
There is one woman who I dearly miss and wonder what she is doing these days. Her name is Silja R from Finland. She's an artist, loves Sparks and Davie Bowie. This is one of her envelope (I don't live there anymore).
We used to make FBs (Friendship Booklets) and send each other mix tapes. I sometime wish I could get back into letter writings and sending/receiving packages, but with my schedule as of late, I don't think I could have the time (and not to mention the costs associated with postage).
Some of the envelope art that we'd send each other were pretty creative, and I remember spending hours and hours putting just the right touch of hidden words and art. Those were the days, weren't they?
In order to save money on postage, there is a trick we used to do. We'd coat the postage stamps with a small film of glue. When we receive a package, using just a little spit, you can wipe away the canceled ink. We'd then send back each other's stamps and, of course, we'd never re-use the stamps that much, it gets suspicious after a while.
09/22/2007 10:57:38
vu
my♥posts
vu@weheartmusic.com
www.hellosaferide.com
myspace.com
I've briefly mentioned Would-Be-Goods before, but it was really just about a video I made of a crocodile.
Would-Be-Goods started off as just Jessica Griffin (who stole the band's name from E. Nesbit's children book "The Wouldbegoods" (1899).) Her early recordings for él Records had the Monochrome Set as session players because she did not have a full band. They were not an actual full band until 2000 when she was joined in by Peter Momtchiloff, Debbie Green and Lupe Nuñez-Fernandez.
Anyway, their debut album, "The Camera Loves Me", was so popular that it was released three times: 1988, and 1999 (four new songs) and, once again, 2003 (two extra songs).
I had a lot of trouble deciding on what song to showcase. I personally think they're all really good. I've decided to play it safe and picked the title track off The Morning After. Other recommended tracks to listen to: "Richard III", "Velasquez and I", and "Black Pearls Of Polynesia".
PS, as you can see below, Would-Be-Goods have been on numerous compilations. The best one to get is probably the Matinée 50 for the cover of the Lucksmiths' "Southernmost" and Romantic And Square Is Hip And Aware for the Smiths' "Back to the Old House".
DISCOGRAPHY
Clicking on images in the discography will take you to the external source. |
Related Entry: Would-be-Goods - Le Crocodile (Video)
In the meantime, I have trawled through the back catalogues of some older groups to see what I can find. So far the one of the contenders for satisfying my summer sound craving is Swedish group, Club 8. Their chilled-out vibe fits perfectly with sunny days we've been having here in the Lakes.
Formed in the 1995 by Karolina Komstedt (from the band Poprace) and Johan Angergård (Acid House Kings, Poprace), throughout their five albums they offer a blend of mellow twee with the occasional bit of acoustic electronica. Ideally, they even have an EP called "Summer Songs".
According to their website, the summer of 2007 will see the release of their sixth album. I have liked a lot of what they have produced to date so I am hoping I won't be disappointed by their next offering.
There are some free tracks available at their website and at Last.fm. Their albums are available to purchase at Labrador Records and on emusic and itunes.
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I'm From Barcelona are a massive band started by Emanuel Lundgren. I love the city of Barcelona so it was with natural curiousity I purchased their debut album, "Let Me Introduce My Friends" and what a lot of friends Emanuel has! 29 musicians contribute to the majority of the songs on this album. Once again this is twee music and I have yet to speak to Vu to confirm whether it falls into the category of Sissy Music but I hope so.
They recently won Newcomer of the Year 2007 at Swedish national radio P3 Guld Awards.
The reason I mention them here is, apart from the happy summer feel to their music, they have posed the ultimate question "Why do we care if good old Britney wants to shave her hair?" That's right, fans of Britney Spears can find a track dedicated to her at the group's myspace. Unlike a lot of media reports focusing on Britney, in keeping with the positive vibes of the group, this song praises the young starlet. It is due for release as a single on vinyl and itunes later in the year. Their album and EP is available on at their online store and itunes.
Also if you are a budding musician and have covered one of their songs, they'd like to know and if you impress them they may post the cover on their website.
If anybody has any suggestions of good and new summer songs, please let me know! - Ryan
i've been listening to a lot of folk and kiddie music lately, so naturally i thought it would be something of one of those genres that i'd write about next. this morning i received a message from a friend on myspace which changed that. he informed me that keith girdler of blueboy had passed away. i wept as i read the eulogy. being more of a lilith fair/lollapalooza/80s new wave girl in high school, i only became a fan of blueboy about 4 years ago. when i first was introduced to them, i would lie in bed listening to keith's soft, beautiful voice for hours on end. i'd become lost in my own little kennie world, thinking of the great teen novel i'd write someday and how i was going to incorporate the music of blueboy into it somehow. keith's lyrics moved me. i empathised with his feelings of heartbreak and loneliness. i knew absolutely nothing about his real life prior to reading his eulogy, but i felt absolutely certain that i could be friends with the person who penned "boys don't matter" and "so catch him", both of which can still cause me to shed a tear or two in my more emotional moments. since i believe that the aforementioned songs show keith at his best, i'll share them here with you. also, i post "answered prayer" from a band called feverfew that keith girdler was in prior to blueboy.
~kennie
So obviously no surprise here, but I do have a few stuff from Keith Girdler, which I'll include here. He's been in such bands as the Snowdrops, Lovejoy, Arabesque, and Beaumont. He's still probably most known and admired for being a "Sarah Records" band when he was in Blueboy.
Sarah Records, as you may or may not know is the definitive tweepop record company. They were established in 1987 by Clare Wadd and Matt Haynes. Their last release was SARAH359 in July 1995 for Battery Point LP, a compilation of Blueboy, Ivy (the Sarah band), Aberdeen, Boyracer, etc. For trivia's sake, the first Sarah number is SARAH1 for The Sea Urchins' Pristine Christine 7", released in January 1998.
Before you weep, Sarah Records went on to become Matt Haynes' Shinkansen Records. Some Sarah Records artists went on to Shinkansen, including Trembling Blue Stars, Blueboy, Cody, and Field Mice.
Links:
I first heard the parcles on my local college radio station 90.7 (which is broadcast out of Fresno State) many years back. Anyway, there was a DJ there named Bad Andy. His was the show I tuned into the most. I heard this song called "green means go" and it was awesome. A couple of days later he played another song "snappy new haircut" and it sounded a lot like the other. The band was called The Parcels and I was smitten. I looked them up and found that they had just broken up! Anyway, I recieved the album "Have a Go with The Parcels" as a gift and it always manages to make me happy. "She's a Good Witch" is my favorite. There is also an ep called "oh, what a busy day", but it is sold out and I have never even heard it! Even though they are broken up and have been now for around six years, I still wanted to share them here. The Parcels are a super cute twee pop trio.
They were:
christian elton - guitars and vocals
aj naito - drums
melissa wysocki - bass and vocals
From what I've gathered, aj doesn't drum anymore. He's into acting and has been at it for a couple of years now, mostly indie and student films. He's also done some music videos, but wouldn't reveal which ones. Ooh, I wonder which they are! Anyway, he seems really nice.
I got the most info out of christian. After the parcels split, he started another band called the dares, but they only played two shows. After the dares split he and two other members formed a "poptronica" trio called home economics. they tried to shop around their demo, but nobody seemed interested so they split as well. He quit playing for awhile, but has recently started playing in two other groups. He currently plays bass for PANDA RIOT (poptronica) and he's starting a new band with his own material that should be picking up where the parcels left off (sort of)! Woo! Their still unnamed though.
As for melissa wysocki. I'm not sure exactly what she's up to but she's been in a few bands it seems. One I'm sure of is called the snow fairies, but they just recently broke up as well.
I know that it wasn't necesary to gather all this info, but I really liked the parcels, I had forgotten about them and I wanted to know what they were up to. If you wanna buy "have a go" you can get it at Shelflife Records. I hope everything linked up alright.
Adios!
The Pastels are from Glasgow, Scotland. They've been together since 1982 (!!), their recent works includes the soundtrack to The Last Great Wilderness in 2003 and music production for 12 Stars in November 2006. Currently they are just a trio: Stephen, Katrina, and Aggi.
Don't let this great duet fool you, I honestly don't think Stephen is a good singer at all. His voice cracks and whines on their early songs (it's AWFUL), but for some reason, he's not half-bad on this song, "Nothing to be Done". I believe that is Annabel (Aggi) singing the girl part - which reminds me a lot of Hope Sandoval.
PS, I just found out that a band called Love Is All covered "Nothing to be Done" (their latest EP cover art is in their profile). Being a cover lover, I really want to hear their version of it!
