Posted by Ant on Sep 21 2011 to Electronic
I wrote about You Are Plural a few months ago and I’m already repeating them. However, it is a good thing! They have a new EP out and were kind enough to forward me a copy; much obliged, folks, much obliged. However, this isn’t just a commercial cop out, as the new EP, No More continues the wonderful blend of eclectic pop found in their debut Hand it Over, but this time with a slightly harder edge. Perhaps I could say that it’s rollicking? Anyhoo, do check it out on Bandcamp: free, full-track listens and a cheap as chips (literally) download. And I promise, next time we’ll have a new artist!
Posted by Hugh on Aug 2 2011 to Pop
If there’s anything I like as much as discovering new music, it’s rediscovering music I forgot about. Sharing it is fun too! And what’s even more fun that is free MP3s, whee! So anyway, Space Mtn! A great band from California. I posted Hovercraft back when I wrote about them 4 years ago, and it’s just as good as it was then. I Die starts kinda boring, but turns into the most amazing thing ever at about 3 minutes in. I generally just listen to that last 80 seconds repeatedly and am grateful for it! Not sure why I didn’t like that one back then, but that doesn’t matter anymore!
From A Drawing of a Memory of a Photograph of You
Hovercraft – (MP3, 4.1 MB)
I Die – (MP3, 4.9 MB)
Posted by Ant on Jul 17 2011 to Alternative
So I’ve never heard of Danger Mouse or Daniele Luppi (and for the purposes of this post, I will assume you haven’t either), but I’d wager a bet that you’ve heard of Norah Jones and Jack White? The latter of which being half of the White Stripes and the former being, well, Norah Jones? Perhaps that means you think you know what’s coming, given that they have graced a couple of tracks with their vocal talents for the album Rome, but you’d be entirely wrong.
Rome can be best be described as a kind of concept album, made to emulate the the classic scores of spaghetti westerns (most notably, the scores of Ennio Morricone). These old scores had a vivid warmness to the quality of the recording, as well as a brooding, kind of mysterious desert aura to them as well, all of which has been replicated wonderfully in this album. Having said that, the compositions themselves feel modern at the same time, meaning there’ll be something on this release that’ll grab you: I am most fond of Norah Jones’ contributions, as they are substantially removed from her usual repertoire but are still a perfect match for her vocal talents. Even Jack White’s work is good, despite me not being a particularly big fan of his.
So yes! It is certainly an interesting album. As lame as it is to say this, it’s definitely an album that’ll take you on a journey. Oh, and anyone using Google Chrome: check this out.
Downloads
From Rome
Black – (YouTube)
Roman Blue – (YouTube)
Posted by Ant on Jul 5 2011 to Pop
It is time to bust open this place with a dose of rock infused pop stylings! I’m finding it a bit hard to get into a lot of pop these days, particularly what’s coming out of the indie scene. To me, it feels like they’re trying too hard to have this ‘yeah, totally don’t care and you’re gonna hear about it’ attitude, and it comes across as a little pretentious and over the top. Much like my writing. As such, it’s really nice when you hear something and it just makes you bop your head, which is evidently the universal indicator of good music.
The Demos fit firmly in that head-bopping category. It’s just really fun to listen to, or effortlessly listenable to get a bit more technical. Their music kind of reminds me of Beulah’s more upbeat tunes (like Weight of My Tears) with a pinch of the Dandy Warhols for good measure.
Guess what: I actually have an MP3 for you! Gadzooks, it is one of those days, folks. Like a lot of my posts lately, they are also featured on Bandcamp, which means free streaming music or a dirt-cheap downloadable option.
Downloads
From Lovely
Veronica – (Bandcamp – hit Download track and choose a format)
Nervous – (Bandcamp)
Daydream – (Bandcamp)
Posted by Ant on Jun 26 2011 to Folk
Now, eagle-eyed readers might realise that I’ve posted about She & Him before (that sentence is a bit optimistic because I’m not sure we have readers), but they’ve got a new album out now (well, it’s been out for a while now) and Zooey Deschanel is so dang cute that I think I should write about them again. Also, you can’t do anything about it – we’re all about repeated content right now.
Ok, enough frivolities. What I love about She & Him is that lovely old time feel to their tunes. With the follow up album, Volume Two, the trend is continued, but things are a fair bit boppier this time around and boy howdy there’s nothing wrong with that. It feels modern and catchy but incredibly charming at the same time. It’s a little slice of times gone by, but wonderfully fresh at the same time. Can I say it’s adorable perhaps?
From Volume Two
In the Sun – YouTube
Don’t Look Back – YouTube
Posted by Ant on May 19 2011 to Downtempo
There are times where you want to rock out till the sun comes up. There are other times where simple, pretty music is all you want to close out a rough day. You Are Plural are perfect for the latter situation, so fare be warned if you are looking for EXTREME EXCITEMENT with this post.
Not to say that this boy + girl group are dreary. You Are Plural have some of the most soothing and soft tunes I’ve heard in ages. It’s not really the type of music that you could listen to at any instance, but when the moment strikes, it is pure heaven. It’s elegant, pretty, and quietly moving; a blend of classical instrumentation with a smidgen of electro-pop underpinnings, all tied together with male and/or female vocals (and no, that doesn’t mean the singing is androgynous: it just means that sometimes it’s a male singing, sometimes it’s a female and sometimes it’s both).
Yet again, I have no downloadable media, but the entire Hand it Over EP is available to stream as well as buy for the most agreeable price of $5. They also allow you to download it in whatever format you like, so if you’re a crazy audiophile with a thing for lossless audio formats, then they have your back.
Posted by Ant on Apr 17 2011 to Indie
Since I can never dredge up enough material to put together a mix, I’m forced to post about artists, even if they only have one good tune. Not that Kimbra doesn’t have more than one good tune in her; it’s just that she hasn’t released anything else yet!
Having said that, the tunes I have for you today are rather lovely. The first, Settle Down, is eclectic and almost unidentifiable by genre, but I’ll take a stab at it anyway: a bit of old fashioned soul and jazz mixed with a smidge of RnB, followed by some good old fashioned pop slatherings. But perhaps I’m entirely wrong.
Kimbra is an up and coming artist hailing from the land of the long white cloud (New Zealand!) who’s debut album, Vows is due this year. I can hardly wait!
Downloads
Settle Down – (YouTube)
Two Way Street – (YouTube)
Good Intent – (YouTube)
Posted by Hugh on Dec 19 2009 to Pop
There was once a wise man who said, it is not the holidays without a holiday song from My First Earthquake. As you might imagine, that wise man is me. Their videos are as strangely enchanting as ever, and I will be sure to post last year’s holiday song on Christmas. As always, you can download the song freely, so have at it! But watch the video first, because otherwise it is for naught!
Downloads
Holiday Sweaters – (MP3, 5.2 MB)
Holiday Sweaters – (YouTube)
Posted by Ant on Dec 2 2009 to Pop
Since everyone has decided to get off their kiester and post again, I figured I might as well do it too! After all, I like being cool.
Now, apparently there are bands that I think everyone has heard of, but that idea does not mesh with reality! At least that is the case when I referred my good buddy Hughster to the lovely tones of Nouvelle Vague. Granted, people out there in blog land may say otherwise, but I don’t really know them so it means NARY A THING.
Anyhoo, Nouvelle Vague are a great French outfit who take a bunch of old, popular and seemingly random tunes and cover them. The frosty thing about it is though is that the singers they get onboard to cover the songs have never heard the songs they’re covering before, which, instead of ending in a complete disaster , actually sound great! It’s rare I’ll find a cover version to be better than the real song, but Master & Servant on their latest album, 3, completely beats out the Depeche Mode original. Sorry guys! As well as that, there’s a brilliant version of the Violent Femme’s famous Blister in the Sun, which is a heck of a lot funkier than the original.
Downloads
From 3
Master & Servant – (MP3, 3 MB)
Posted by Doug on Nov 28 2009 to Classic
Though they seem to be the biggest thing since sliced bread over in England, if you ask nearly anyone in America about Madness, they will probably respond, “Oh, they are that poppy English band that did our house!” This is extraordinarily unfortunate, as they have quite a significant body of work, spanning various genres and being generally awesome. I know I was personally a bit surprised when I first realized their association to 2nd wave ska, but after I had finally been introduced to One Step Beyond, it was pretty obvious that any hype about them has been completely deserved.
They had a few less interesting releases in the few decades between their ska era and now, but with 2005′s Dangermen Sessions, they not only had brought back the ska, they also brought back to quality, reviving my excitement in the band. And if anyone knows me (though you wouldn’t know it from my posts on here), I am all about the ska, so it makes even more sense that I’d give such a hoot.
And then they come up with a sprawling concept album, bereft of ska (except for a few moments where it sort of seeps in the cracks) — and wouldn’t you know it, I like it even more. The Liberty of Norton Folgate is a fantastic piece of work, full of unexpected genre changes (pop, polka, rock?) and more energy than can strictly be accounted. And even if the thing was awful, the beautiful ten-minute-long title track alone would carry the record. Of course, it doesn’t have to, with tracks like On the Town and NW5.
Downloads
From The Liberty of Norton Folgate
Clerkenwell Polka – (YouTube)
On the Town – (YouTube)
The Liberty of Norton Folgate – (YouTube)
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