W♥M

The Dead Science - Threnody

Threnody

The Dead Science

So it's not very upbeat, nor poppy. There's something downright spooky about The Dead Science's particular blend of music that almost begs to be labeled spookcore. They take the goth-y, dark themes straight out of a Bauhaus album and combine them with off-kilter, well-played bebop rhythms. "Threnody," in particular, combines Southern jazz with a killer bass-line and barely-there vocals.

Yeah, I know.
Halloween came just a bit early this year...

If you like it, you should check out the rest of this album; it has some pretty spectacular high points, specifically in tracks like "The Ghost Integrity" and "White Train." The Dead Science's music page on their site has three free downloads, and are worth listening to if you liked this track.

-Gus

Arctic Monkeys - Brianstorm

Arctic Monkeys - Brianstorm

Arctic Monkeys

Hot off the press! This was just aired for the first time on BBC's Radio 1 within the last hour. It is the new single Brianstorm (yes, it really is Brianstorm) from Arctic Monkeys to be released on April 16. The album Favourite Worst Nightmare will follow a week later.

This is a FM radio rip.

- Mads

The Good, The Bad And The Queen - Three Changes

The Good, The Bad And The Queen - Three Changes

The Good, The Bad & The Queen

The Good, The Bad And The Queen

Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz), Paul Simonon (The Clash), Simon Tong (The Verve) and Tony Allen (Fela Kuti) are the people behind the project The Good, The Bad And The Queen who released their debut album of the same name in January this year.

All songs are written and sung by Damon so the album does have a certain Damon feel to it. But the people he has gathered for this project are not nobodies but truly musical individualists who add their own unique touch to the songs. Especially, the basslines on this album are typical Paul Simenon (think Guns Of Brixton by The Clash).

The track selected here highlights in particular Tony Allen's unique drumming skills.

Trivia: The album is produced by Danger Mouse who rose to fame in 2004 when he mixed The Beatles' White Album with Jay-Z's The Black Album and put the result online as The Grey Album.

- Mads

Ash - Halloween

Ash - Halloween

Ash

Ash - Got a Beautiful Face

I'm actually a big sucker for promotional cds and stuff like that. Especially if it comes in a custom sleeve or packaging.

A while back, Melinda sent me this really cool Ash promo, it's called "Got A Beautiful Face/Got A Fucked-Up Inside". I have included a scan of the back sleeve and CD.

The title are lyrics from "Numbskull", and with the F-word and all, could never be officially released under that title.

"Halloween" is easily my favorite track. It's about a lonely bus ride to the character's hometown and eventually ended up at a Halloween party.

Most of the content eventually ended up being on the single to "A Life Less Ordinary", but it featured a lame Ewan McGregor and Cameron Diaz on the sleeve.

Trivia: Original title to this song is "Happy Halloween", and this is Charlotte Hatherley's first appearance with Ash. There are two covers on this promo, "What Deaner Was Talking About" (Ween) and Blew (Nirvana).

vu

I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend and/or Girlfriend

Lush - I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend

Lush

Farrah - I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend

Farrah

I have never heard of the original Rubinoos song, but you can download a live version of their hit song from their website.

This is one of my favorite cover!

The Farrah cover is so-so, but the Lush one really kicks it up a notch.

So, who are the Rubinoos ?  Maybe you can tell me, looks like they were formed in 1975 in Berkeley, California.  They seem to have been more popular overseas.

Browsing through their website, it looks like they may still somewhat be together (the site news hasn't been updated since 2003, however).

P.S. The Ramones also has a song called "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend", which is another song altogether.

Vu

Edit: Update 7/4/2007, please also see News: Did Avril Steal 'Girlfriend'?

 July 04, 2007 07:04 PM  vu [email protected]  

Jens Lekman - Maple Leaves

Jens Lekman

Maple Leaves

Jens Lekman

I'm not gonna claim to have the most macho music collection in the world---nay, my playlists are usually devoid of many a hard-rockin', ass-kickin' song. I'll admit it; I'm into the frilly stuff most people stay so very far away from. The fact is, it's pretty hard to deny great musicianship when you hear it. With Jens Lekman, he isn't just letting  you hear it, he's inviting you in to his musically dense, lyrically entertaining music. And that's A-OK with me.

Lekman's eponymous single from the EP "Maple Leaves" is endearing in all the right ways, and sympathetically funny in all the others. While Jens' wonderfully atmospheric indie-pop isn't quite exactly the music to play on a night out with the guys, it's wonderfully endearing and boppy enough to warrant a listen when you're all by your lonesome.

-Gus

Good Shoes - Never Meant To Hurt You

Good Shoes - Never Meant To Hurt You

Good Shoes

Good Shoes

And the award for worst band name ever goes to...drumroll...GOOD SHOES! Oh, and they might as well get the award for worst record covers as well. And this cover is their best one!

Well, try to ignore the crap band name and cover and listen a couple of times to this. Never Meant To Hurt You is their upcoming fifth single which is to be followed by their debut album Think Before You Speak out in the end of March. This is the demo version.

The band is from London and they are getting getting quite some attention lately in the UK. They play a sort of fast awkward guitar based pop music with a little bit of late seventies new wave added to the mix.

Trivia: The debut album is recorded in Tambourine Studios in Sweden where also the Cardigans and Saint Etienne have recorded with producers Tore Johansson and Per Sunding. The studio is famous for its very dry and crisp sound if that makes any sense to anymore!

Bonus: A total of 13 demos by the band can be downloaded from this savefile link.

- Mads

The Apples In Stereo - What's The #

The Apples In stereo - What's The #

The Apples In stereo

So I was at the Apples in Stereo concert last Saturday. I was standing around and this bookish man (covered with a hat, glasses, scarf, and layers and layers of clothing!) he asked me, "Hey, is that an Avengers T-shirt?".

I told him, yes, and challenged him to guessing who the artist is.

He concentrated and stared and after a few minutes answered, "Is it Gil Kane?" (It was not).

So I told him it was George Perez, and then we got into a conversation about DC and Marvel comics. It was pretty nerdy.

So after a while, I asked him, "Hey, what's your name?"

Turns out, he's Robert Schneider, singer and songwriter of Apples in Stereo.

Too embarrassing. (And who knew he was such a big comic book geek?)

The song I have picked out is from one of their old albums, because I have not had a chance to listen to the new one, "New Magnetic Wonder", which was released a few weeks ago.

The song is quite fitting as it does contain the line:

"I'll see you around, up and downtown. What's your name now? I'll write it down."

As for the concert, they did manage to do "What's the #" on their encore, as you can see on the setlist. The very last song was not Ruby, it was "Tidal Wave", from Fun Trick Noisemaker (and Science Faire).

Trivia: John Dufilho, from the Deathray Davies is now the drummer for Apples in Stereo, replacing Hilarie Sidney (the only girl in the band).

Bonus: More pictures of the show on Flickr at Brody and Steve. You can also download Toronto (20 Feb 2007) and read about Chicago (23 Feb 2007).

--vu

Interview with Adina

 

Andy Ulseth - The Great Blue Heron

Andy Ulseth

This is Adina, guest answerer and artist.

More artwork (details of the Accordian book is called "Electronic Book") at Adina's Other Artwork. More information about Andy Ulseth at myspace.com/andyulseth.

Read the interview on the large image below.

Adina Interview

Broadcast - Come On Let's Go

 

Broadcast - Come On Let's Go

Broadcast

Broadcast

Broadcast is from Birmingham in the UK and could be characterised as a darker sounding Stereolab with a more pronounced sixties/movie feel to them.

 

Come On Let's Go is their 7th single and can be found on their second album The Noise Made By People from 2000.

They have made five albums - the latest The Future Crayon (a collection of EPs/rarities) was released last year.

Nothing else to say about this one except that it is a great track - especially the Beatleish drums. Enjoy!

Bonus: Four tracks recorded live in the studio for KEXP 90.3FM can be downloaded here. And a live performance on the KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic show can be heard/seen here.

- Mads