W♥M (Archive)

What can Brown do for you?

Findlay Brown - Holding Back The Night Findlay Brown Tour Dates 02/12/10 Rockwood Music Hall, Brooklyn Discography [2007] Separated by the Sea [2010] Love Will Find You

Nothing to do with UPS, although I really think that phrase "what can brown do for you?" is lame ... it's cemented in my mind :/

So, if you can't figure it out, today's theme is "Brown".

>>>
FINDLAY BROWN
findlaybrown.com ♥ myspace.com

Having just come off tour with Nouvelle Vague and appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman (you can watch his performance on youtube), I can tell you that there will probably be a lot of interest in this musician.

As you can see from his live performance, has a very big sound backing him up with a brass and wind section. This should be a contrast his "solo acoustic show" in Brooklyn, New York on February 20^th. Also, off topic, but Findlay looked quite nervous and awkward as Letterman stood next to him saying "how great was that" and "tremendous".

So, the most interesting thing about Brown that you should know is that he was a bare-knuckle boxer from Yorshire. He gave up that profession and went onto music in 2007, with his debut album Separated By The Sea on Peacefrog Records. His latest album, Love Will Find You, was just released in January 2010 on Verve Music.

While I do not have his "5-star"/"album of the year" debut album, but I can tell you from reading reviews that the debut album is more folk, while Love Will Find You would fit into a more soul genre. I'm not sure why the switch of genre, but it would seem that was because Findlay was listening to loads of 50s/60s doo wop and soul music due to being stuck with a broken leg (from being run over by a cab driver).

I'd already started going back and listening to a lot of records I'd grown up on, like Elvis Presley, soul music, doo wop, Phil Spector, The Righteous Brothers and the like. I had an idea about making a modern record influenced by the songwriting of the late 50's and early 60's. I just started writing, trying to work out what made a universally great song, like 'Stand By Me. These new songs are the first part of that process.

-- Findlay Brown

He's not kidding when he's referencing Phil Spector, the sweeping orchestra on Love Will Find You will definitely show its influence. As for Righteous Brothers, it's definitely on "Nobody Cared" and "Holding Back the Night".

The most pop song (and easily accessible song) on the album is "All That I Have". The song starts off strong and will leave you wanting more. The following song, "Everybody Needs Love", brings it down a notch due to its slower-paced style of music. In fact, most of the slower songs, like "Teardrops Lost In The Rain" and "If I Could Do It Again", really spotlight on Findlay's voice... which sounds like he's a tender Elvis Presley.

Overall, if you are in love with classic 50s rock 'n roll, you will really love Love Will Find You. You can purchase the album at most retail stores.

UPDATE 2/18/2010: Findlay Brown Tour Dates with Shelby Lynne!

4/22 @ Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood, CA
4/23 @ Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA
4/26 @  Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR
4/27  @ The Triple Door, Seattle, WA
4/29 @ Myrna Loy Center, Helena, MT
5/1 @ Dakota, Minneapolis, MN
5/2 @ Turner Hall, Milwaukee, WI
5/3 @ The Ark, Ann Arbor, MI
5/4 @ Martyrs’, Chicago, IL
5/5 @ Beechland Tavern, Cleveland, OH
5/7 @ Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton, MA
5/8 @ Johnny D’s, Somerville, MA
5/9 @ World Café Live, Philadelphia, PA
5/10 @ The Concert Hall, New York, NY
5/11 @ The Birchmere, Alexandria, VA
5/13 @ The Belcourt Theater,  Nashville, TN
5/14 @ WorkPlay Theater, Birmingham, AL
5/15 @ Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA
5/17 @ Granada Theater, Dallas, TX
5/18 @ Warehouse Live, Houston, TX
5/19 @ St. David’s Episcopal Church, Austin, TX
5/23 @ McCabe’s Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, CA
5/25 @ Belly Up Tavern, Solana Beach, CA

V.V. BROWN
vvbrown.com ♥ myspace.com

Listeners to our podcast will know that I do keep my ears and eyes closely on UK bands. If the UK is any indication of what will be hot here in the US, then fans of pop music will want to check out V V Brown's Travelling Like the Light. Her debut album will finally see its physical CD released domestically, via Capitol Records, on March 30^th, however, I am told that her debut album was made available for digital download exclusively on iTunes (currently on sale for $5.99) since February 9^th. The sale price is actually a pretty good deal, considering that individual tracks are sold at $1.29, so if you're planning on buying at least four tracks, just get the album bundle.

I'll have to say that this is a really, really fun album. Starting off with "Quick Fix", it made me think of 80s songs like "Mickey" (Toni Basil), because it's kind of mindless music and quirky singing style. What is great about "Quick Fix", as many of her other songs, is that it's easy to follow with its catchy hooks. Example, the "la-la-la" part on "Game Over", the "oh-oh-oh" part in "L.O.V.E.", and "ah-ah-ah" background to "Everybody".

The other thing I've noticed is that I feel like many of her song is reminds me of other things, but I can't quite put my fingers on it. "Crying Blood" sounds to me like "Monster Mash", but they are definitely different songs.... even though the 'mash is too silly.

Like most pop songs, VV sings about love and relationship. Songs like "Leave!" (what a great broken-heart love song!), "L.O.V.E.", "Everybody", and "I Love You", may be obvious, but listening closely to her third single, "Shark in the Water" you hear hints of boyfriend problems.

Travelling Like the Light is a really fun pop album, and I'll recommend it to any fans of modern pop/soul music like Sharon Jones and Amy Winehouse. I think by the time her album's released in late March, that she'll be a house-hold name. See her before she blows up:

02/15/10 Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn
02/18/10 Mar Bar, Philadelphia Philadelphia
02/19/10 Washington DC@DC9 Washington DC
02/22/10 Great Scott, Boston Boston

PS, I would post a VV video, but Island Records disabled embedding all their videos. Which doesn't make any sense to me, but I have read that it's a monetary thing as youtube is partly to blame for not allowing adverts to appear on embed videos.

CHRISTIAN BROWN
myspace.com/christianmbrown

I actually really enjoy Christian Brown's album, When It's Perfect (released in early 2008). The album reminds me of Ben Folds (for the piano) and popsongs from TMBG (for the vocals). What kept me from listening to my review copy earlier? I think it was mostly because of the cover artwork. I know it's silly and shallow, but I guess I do judge a book by its cover.

I don't know much about him, other than that he grew up in Alaska, but currently based out of Iowa. His music uses a lot of piano, it often drives the song. The way the music is played, I can see Brown, in my mind, standing up and bopping and moving and singing with a lot of great energy. Even his loser song, "A Mile Above a Small Town" and suicidal song "Into a Haze", the music is pretty upbeat, all things considering!

As for subject matters, the lyrics seems mature, yet seemingly appealing to teenagers. Things like being boring on a Saturday ("Such Fun"), creating something/love song? ("When It's Perfect"), naivety of love ("I'm Stupid"), they are diverse for a young musician.

The audio is a professionally recorded, you can hear the songs loud and clear, unlike some recent DIY records I have heard recently. One minor complaint I have about When It's Perfect, is that there were a few songs that seems to either fade in or out. When I hear fading, I think I'm only hearing only an excerpt and not the full song.

To hear some of his songs, head over to his myspace.

 02/13/2010 19:40:32 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com

Mass Effect 2 and Demon's Souls

As you know, I like games, particularly RPG. While I can't afford every game that's released, here are some that I recently bought and played.

Mass Effect 2

MASS EFFECT 2
I just beat the game today, pretty awesome. The character interactions and scripts reminds me of Bioware's other game Dragon Age. While ME2 is less role playing and more third-person shooter, I felt that the shooting part is fun, it's not going to get hardcore shooter gamers from picking up the game.

As much as I love playing the game, it seems that the PC version got the shaft with its awful bugs. One of my problem is that you must have a "folder" for "My Documents", otherwise games and settings aren't saved.

Key binding is awful because the game doesn't display your new key bindings and only refers back to the default keys. For instance, one major problem I had was "Click on F to end mission". F doesn't work. They mean the melee button (why would the melee button end a mission anyway?).

You have to login to Cerberus Network every time you launch the game. There is no way to disable logging in their network and, of course, on launch day, the server was down.

Demon's Souls

DEMON'S SOULS
I was a bit surprise to hear that the 2009 Gamespot Game of the Year went to Demon's Souls. What was so surprising is that the game was hardly marketed here, I mean I didn't really see any advertisement for the game nor did I read any reviews.... it just sort of got quietly released last October.

Shunsuke Kida - Demon's Souls

So obviously, I wanted to check out this game that everybody's talking about - and trying to get the Limited Edition was impossible, if not too expensive. I had to settle in for a "regular" crap edition, and that was kind of hard to track down a brick and morter store that carried it.

What all the reviewers said about the game is true: this game is brutally hard. You're going to die. A lot.

I have not beaten the game, but I'm pretty far into it. Right now, the stages I'm playing is too hard, and I really don't know where to go. I'm kind of stuck, so right now I'm just grinding to get 20,000 souls so I can buy one point of strength.

For beginners, I suggest leveling up your vitality to 20 or more and then getting the miracle "Evacuate", so you can return to the Nexus anytime without having to find a Nexus point.

WHITE KNIGHT CHRONICLES
This game was recently released, and it's probably my next purchase. While I'm waiting for Diablo III and Starcraft II, these are games coming out that I'm interested in: Heavy Rain (Feb 23, 2010), Final Fantasy 13 (Mar 9, 2010), and God of War III (Mar 16, 2010).

 02/12/2010 19:58:50 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com

News: Apple

It's been a while since I compile some music news at news.weheartmusic.com. The theme of this post is "apple".

THE APPLES IN STEREO
www.applesinstereo.com ♥ myspace.com

I'm not smart enough to understand what the leader of The Apples in stereo, Robert Schneider, is saying on his The Non-Pythagorean Music Scale when he created something new... but what I can tell you is that he's very down-to-earth, as I had a comic book discussion with him. If you are interested in downloading all the tones and beeps from the scale, I've included the embed information on how to get the free download.

The Apples In stereo - What's The #

Anyway, using his new music scale, The Apples in stereo will produce "the first pop song ever written with this new scale" on their upcoming record called Travellers in Space and Time, out on April 20^th on Yep Roc/Simian/Elephant 6. Incidentally, the title sounds to me like it's taken from astronomy-obsessed Patrick Moore.

Of course, with the new record, it means new tour dates. The last time they played, one of my favorite song ("What's the #") was stuck at the encore. I am hoping they continue to have that song on their set.

THE APPLES IN STEREO: TRAVELLERS IN SPACE AND TIME TOUR
Apr 16 - Cosmic Charlies - Lexington, KY
Apr 17 - 123 Pleasant Street - Morgantown, WV
Apr 18 - Rock and Roll Hotel - Washington DC
Apr 20 - Johnny Brenda’s - Philadelphia, PA
Apr 21 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
Apr 23 - Middle East Underground - Cambridge, MA
Apr 24 - Castaways - Ithaca, NY
Apr 25 - Bug Jar - Rochester, NY
Apr 27 - Grog Shop - Cleveland, OH
Apr 28 - The Pike Room - Pontiac, MD
Apr 30 - Lincoln Hall - Chicago, IL
May 1 - Turf Club - St. Paul, MN
May 3 - Turner Hall - Milwaukee, WI
May 4 - Billiken Club - St. Louis, MO

IPAD
apple.com

IPAD

Really, what a crap name.

I really don't understand why people really, really hate this thing. Haven't you ever used your iphone and wished you had a bigger device? I'm sorry, but watching movies on a small screen on your phone is not a great experience.

What about GPS and maps ? Oh man, it would be so nice to have it on such a large surface. Imagine playing air hockey or RPG games on it.

I'm really looking forward to getting comic books on it. It has a color screen, compared to the crappy Kindle (which I don't understand why people love their one-trick kindle).

The smart money would be to wait for Gen 2 of the iPad, so... I'm going to wait it out (even though I would love to get the iPad as quickly as possible).

A Star for Ringo Starr (photo credit: Rob Shanahan)

A STAR FOR STARR
ringostarr.com

Ex-Apple Records recording artist, Ringo Starr, finally got his own star on the Hollywood Walk-of-Fame.

You can watch the event the entire Ringo Starr Hollywood Star event on various websites (try ringostarr.com and thebeatles.com).

As you can see from the photo, Starr looks really happy. What I really want to know is what is Ben Harper doing there ?

Ringo's entire 2010 Tour Dates as follow:

June: 24-25 Niagara Falls ONT Fallsview Casino 26 Bethel NY Bethel Woods Center 27 Uncasville CN Mohegan Sun Arena 29 Boston MA Bank Of America Pavilion 30 Westbury NY Westbury Theatre July: 2 State Theatre Easton PA 3Atlantic City NY Caesar's Circus Maximus 5New Brunswick NJ State Theater 6 Lancaster PA American Theater 7 New York NY Radio City Music Hall 10 Atlanta Ga Chastain Park 11 Durham NC Durham Performing Arts Center 13 Clearwater Fl Ruth Eckerd Hall

July: 15 Hollywood Fl Hard Rock Arena 17 Saint Augustine FL St Augustine Amphitheatre 20 Cleveland OH City Lights Pavilion 21 Canandaigua NY Sands PAC 23 Windsor ONT Caesars 24 Hammond IN Horseshoe Casino 25 Prior Lake MN Mystic Lake Casino 28 Calgary ALB Jubilee Theater 30 Spokane WA Northern Quest Casino 31 Woodinville Wa Chateau St Michelle August: 5 Rancho Mirage CA Agua Caliente Casino 6 San Diego CA Humphrey's 7 Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre

I haven't checked ticket prices, but I'm pretty sure I can't afford to see Starr at Mystic Lake.

Oh well, peace and love.

Sweet Apple

SWEET APPLE
myspace.com

The last time I heard about Dinosaur Jr was that they played on "Play"boy.com's music thing.

I'm not sure if the band broke up, but I just found out that singer/guitarist J Mascis is now in a band called Sweet Apple.

You can read more about them on and if you want to hear a song by them, head over to pitchfork.�

�02/11/2010 10:58:38�♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com

W♥M065: Stav Yiannoukas of Bluejuice Interview

W♥M065 [download (13 min, 12 mb)]

Another band soon to be playing on the bill at the upcoming Playground Weekender Festival is Bluejuice. Now, if you’ve listened to any of the recent podcasts, you’re probably familiar with them. Sally managed to get some chatting time with Stav Yiannoukas, one of the bands front men.

Have a listen to find out what’s coming up in the future for the guys, how their recent tour went, what was going on with that giant lizard at the Big Day Out shows as well as who makes their stage outfits (well.... who doesn’t make them).

Also, be sure to keep your ear close to the ground, where ever you are, because as well as an upcoming Australian tour there’s word of Bluejuice leaving Australia and heading elsewhere to play some shows. So be excited!

For more information on what’s going down and to look at their video clips, including the Best Australian Music Video in 2009 as named by iTunes for “Broken Leg”, a blast form the past with “Vitriol” and the new clip for “Ain’t Telling The Truth”, click down here:

www.bluejuice.info
twitter.com/thisisbluejuice
youtube.com/bluejuicevideos
myspace.com/bluejuice

It was a pleasure....
Sally

PS Also Chris Thodey was the winner of the Playground Weekender competition, thank you to all who entered.
____
Download this episode at archive.org. If you want an automatic feed to our podcast, head over to mypodcast and click on the itunes logo (or add manually with the rss).

02/10/2010 22:49:58♥ sally (/schnitzelsafari.blogspot.com) ♥ bluejuice.info ♥ myspace.com/bluejuice

Two for Tuesday: Phantogram and Hot Chip

Phantogram - When I'm Small Phantogram Tour Dates 02/11/10 Union Hall* Brooklyn, NY 02/12/10 Mercury Lounge* NY 02/13/10 Kungfu Neckties* Philly, PA 02/15/10 DC9* Washington, DC 02/16/10 Treehouse* Columbus, OH 02/17/10 Schubas Tavern* Chicago, IL 02/18/10 7th St Entry* Minn, MN 02/20/10 Drake Hotel* Toronto 02/21/10 Il Motore* Montreal, Quebec 02/22/10 Monkey House* Burlington, VT * w/ Junk Culture Discography [2009] Phantogram [2009] Running From The Cops EP [2009] Bloody Palms (Remixes) [2010] Eyelid Movies Read More Barsuk http://weheartmus... Barsuk are AWESOME!

First of all, I can't tell you how lucky and privileged I feel when we get music submission from some of my favorite record labels. Today (although I suspect by the time I finish writing this, that it will be Wednesday), we have two releases from two wonderful record labels, Barsuk and Astralwerks. And guess what? They sort of similar-sounding bands, being that they're doing that electronic music.

>>>
PHANTOGRAM
myspace.com ♥ twitter.com

Phantogram, as described on their myspace are: a duo of Sarah D. Barthel and Joshua M. Carter of Saratoga Springs, NY. Their music is a mix of organic and electronic sounds, with swirling guitar, spaced-out synths, and chopped up samples and rhythms.

Originally they were known as Charlie Everywhere, but they changed their name to a possible trademark issue. Although I don't know what that would infringe, it does sound like it's some cheesy Vietnam war movie. They signed with BBE Records in the UK, but on domestic shores, they're with W♥M favorites, Barsuk.

I was hoping for surgarly electronic pop like Mates of State, but Phantogram's debut album, Eyelid Movies, sounds more experimental with their sound-warping and music-bending sound. While this might be fun and interesting live, hearing the cuts and repeats on such tracks like "As Far As I Can See" made it sound like my CD was skipping. I guess maybe it didn't translate for me.

Where they absolutely shine is when Barthel takes vocals, turning about half of their songs into dream/indiepop. Songs like "All Dried Up", "When I'm Small", and "Mouthful Of Diamonds" really stands out for me, and I think that's the direction they should be heading in. I can see them being compared to Zero 7 (when they have Sia or some girl-singer).

If you enjoy dreamy indiepop music, with the occasional warps and quirks, you should add Eyelid Movies to check out. If you're a general fan of Barsuk, then Phantogram will fit the bill. Other Barsuk bands to check out: David Bazan, Death Cab for Cutie, Mates of State, Nada Surf, Ra Ra Riot, Ramona Falls, Rilo Kiley, Say Hi, Smoosh (we just talked about them last Saturday!), Starlight Mints, Chris Walla, and The Wooden Birds.

Tour Dates 02/12/10 Academy Glasgow, Scotland 02/13/10 Picture H Edinburgh, Scotland 02/15/10 Rock City Nottingham 02/16/10 Academy Leeds 02/18/10 o2 Academy Newcastle 02/19/10 o2 Academy Manchester 02/22/10 o2 Academy Bournemouth 02/23/10 o2 Academy Bristol 02/24/10 UEA Norwich 02/26/10 o2 Academy London 02/27/10 o2 Academy London 03/06/10 Off Festival Holland 03/07/10 AB Club Brussels 03/08/10 Bataclan Paris 03/10/10 Live Music Hall Cologne 03/11/10 Uebel + Gefaehrlich Hamburg 03/12/10 Astra Berlin 03/14/10 Mousontrum Frankfurt 03/15/10 Cooperative de Mai Ferrand 03/16/10 Bikini Tolouse 03/18/10 Magazzini Generali Milan 04/16/10 Fox Theatre Oakland 04/17/10 Coachella Indio 04/19/10 Riviera Chicago 04/22/10 Terminal 5 NY 04/23/10 Terminal 5 NY 04/24/10 9.30 Club WA 04/25/10 Theatre of the Living Arts Phila Discography [2004] Coming on Strong [2006] The Warning [2008] Made in the Dark [2010] One Life Stand [2010] One Life Stand (deluxe) Read More Astralwerks http://weheartmus... Astralwerks are AWESOME!

HOT CHIP
hotchip.co.uk ♥ myspace.com

"Hot chips" as recently explained to me, are what the Aussies calls French fries. So it's no surprise to me that Hot Chip are an electronic band from London.

I have had HC on my radar since their sophomore album, The Warning, which was probably released in 2006. That was pretty much the year that they were getting all the recognitions, even getting nods from the Mercury Prize (hint: they didn't win) and the Grammy (hint: they won).

For some reason, a copy of Made In the Dark, their 2008 album, did made its way to my iTunes, but I never got around to reviewing it.... so it's with much deserved that I'm reviewing their latest album, One Life Stand, out Tuesday, February 9^th, on one of my favorite label, Astralwerks. And just to give you an idea, Astralwerks' releases are a "who's who" of amazing music: Kylie Minogue, Empire of the Sun, Bat for Lashes, Beth Orton, Sia, Sebastien Tellier, Kings of Convenience, and Chemical Brothers.

So first off, since I had previous albums to compare them to, and maybe I'm wrong, but they seem a lot more polished than The Warning. That album sounds to me like they were trying to be Röyksopp and LCD Soundsystem, while it sounds to me that their latest effort, One Life Stand, sounds more "pop". As if they're taking their cues from Death Cab for Cutie and Postal Service.

While it's expected that electronic-dance bands are going to be some digital manipulation of vocals, but I really feel that autotune is like "doping" in sports. I didn't "I Feel Better" for that reason, but all is forgiven, because the rest of the album doesn't use autotune.

My favorite song on this album is "Thieves in the Night", but I see that they've decided to go with "One Life Stand", probably because it's the title track. The "emo" song on the album is "Brothers", which I suspect is really about singer Alexis Taylor's baby brother, rather than the song being completely fiction.

Unfortunately, I feel that older music fans might be discourage from picking up Hot Chip, for looking like they're music for young hip people. So attending live shows might be awkward. You know what I'm talking about, being the only 30+ person in a sea of 16-20 fans. Well, you can always secretly buy their album (and might I suggest getting the One Life Stand [the Deluxe Edition] instead of the regular edition?).

02/10/2010 01:14:00♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com

The Joy Formidable - A Balloon Called Moaning

The Joy Formidable - Cradle The Joy Formidable Tour Dates 02/10/10 Flower Pot - Camden/Kentish Town London -- FREE 02/26/10 Molotow* Hamburg, Germany 02/27/10 Postbahnhof * Trap Berlin, Germany 02/28/10 Gloria * Cologne, Germany 03/02/10 Atomic* Trap Munich, Germany 03/03/10 Nachtleben* Frankfurt, Germ 03/14/10 Ruby lounge  Manchester 03/15/10 Korova  Liverpool 03/16/10 Bodega  Nottingham 03/17/10 Cockpit Leeds 03/19/10 Portland Arms -- Cambridge 03/20/10 Academy 2  Birminghan 03/21/10 Academy 2  Oxford 03/22/10 Audio  Brighton 03/24/10 Electric Ballroom  London 03/25/10 Joiners  Southampton 03/26/10 Start the Bus Bristol 03/27/10 Barfly  Cardiff 03/29/10 Roadmender Northampton 03/30/10 Academy 2 Sheffield 03/31/10 Academy 2  Newcastle 04/01/10 Central Station  Wrexham 04/03/10 King Tuts  Glasgow 04/04/10 Madhatters Invereness 04/05/10 Snafu  Aberdeen 04/06/10 Fat Sams Dundee 04/17/10 Loop Festival Granada 05/01/10 Mercury Lounge New York City * w/ The Temper Trap Discography [Aug 2008] Austere [Dec 2008] A Balloon Called Moaning (Japan) [Feb 2009] A Balloon Called Moaning (reissued) [Feb 2009] Cradle (Double 7" single) [May 2009] Whirring (7" single) [Nov 2009] First You Have to Get Mad (live) Read More The Joy Formidable http://weheartmus... I generally like more established bands, as you may have probably figure out why I never do cove...

You do know that Sally and I geeked out on Welsh Britpop Bands, right? And you know I have been following this Welsh trio called The Joy Formidable since their first single, back in July 2008. I'm happy to report that they are about to set on a headliner tour through the UK for 2010, including a much anticipated sold-out show in Cambridge on March 19^th.

I finally got a hold of their debut album, A Balloon Called Moaning, for review and it's very indie fuzzy rock. The album is quite short too, about 30 minutes. I had to listen to it five times to just get the understanding of it (lastfm is logging me at 40 listens).

The Joy Formidable - Austere

Their debut single, "Austere", certain stood out for me with that chorus and chaotic rock, combined with the beautiful voice of singer Ritzy Bryan. Their latest single, "Whirring", also found on the album is more or less uses the same blueprint.

The one that that didn't seem to belong on this loud rock album was "9669", featuring dueling male/female vocals (possibly from bassist Rhydian Dafydd?). Though that was quite different, the rest of the album remains on track.

My favorite song is actually their second single "Cradle". It sounds like a really good live track because of the flood of lyrics at the intro: "I can't see what he says what he means, I can't say what he means when he says that I pretend that I'm pretend that when all I want to see is the end of this."

Although the 8-track "mini-album" is really short, I think the best part about it is that the album was re-released on a special "A3 Sheet". That's what the British are calling it, but to me it's just a big fold-out poster with the CD inserted on one of the square. I think it's cool, and I'm pretty sure everyone that's seen it thinks so too. I've included a photograph of this really interesting package. The best part is, if you've bought the original release, you can get the poster sent to you for free - details on bigcartel.com.

Fans of melodic loud indie rock music should want to see them on tour and pick up the poster/CD packaging for A Balloon Called Moaning.

 02/09/2010 06:38:20 ♥ vu () ♥ thejoyformidable.com ♥ myspace.com/thejoyformidable

Music Go Music

Music Go Music - Light Of Love Light Of Love Tour Dates 02/09/10 Hoxton Bar & Kitchen London 02/11/10 HMV Next Big Thing Festival Discography [May 2008] Light of Love (Single) [Aug 2008] Reach Out (Single) [Jan 2009] Warm in the Shadows (Single) [Oct 2009] Expressions

Music Go Music have been getting a lot of great press, especially coming off a Franz Ferdinand UK tour - and they are heading back for two dates in London. A reader asked me to look into them and after checking out their live performance on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic, I was hooked.

This band's sound seems to be influenced by 60s pop and ABBA-esque melodies, as I have previously mentioned on our podcast. Of course, I hadn't done any research on that podcast, I thought only the Swedish were re-inventing 60s pop, but apparently so are Americans, as Music Go Music are based in Los Angeles.

Formulaically, Music Go Music got everything right for me. "Repeating" band name for memory, check (you really have to hear my theory or read about it.) Danceable melodies, check. Lovely girl singer/lovelier voice, check and double check.

Between the three singles (featuring very similar legs artwork), I'm more drawn to their first single "Light of Love", mostly for that "whoa-whoa-whoa" chorus. It is the first song I've heard from them, so the song has a soft spot in my heart.

"Reach Out" is good, but it seems to lag nearly one minute (2:49 to 3:43 mark), before that "galloping" disco sound picks the song back up. Maybe that boring minute is there to remind me of how awesome the rest of the song is ? Apology to the guitarist for playing that solo.

Their latest single is "Warm in the Shadows", a mini-epic of a song at nearly 10 minutes. Fans of Eurodisco, like myself, will love this song for its mindless big beat and bass. Especially with singer Gala Bell's vocals, you can play this song to someone and tell them it's Blondie - and they'd believe you. If you don't believe me, check out the song as a free download from their record label.

Music Go Music - Just Me

If I might suggest, their fourth single* should be "Explorers Of The Heart" and not "Just Me"? I can see why they'd perform "Just Me" on Face Time, as that song works as a live song... To see more videos from Face Time, head over to their youtube.

I also wanted to mention that some of their songs are very complicated, like layers of electronic synth, disco sounds - but it doesn't sound dense or unlistenable. In fact, quite the opposite.

Expressions is out now, you can get it from their record label, Secretly Canadian. If there were a band that would make me leave my Winter hibernation, it would be for Music Go Music, so I'm eagerly waiting for them to come to Minneapolis!

* I suspect releasing four or five singles from an album of nine songs might be stretching it.

 02/08/2010 00:19:06 ♥ vu () ♥ musicgomusic.com ♥ myspace.com/musicgomusic 

Die Antwoord - Enter The Ninja

Die Antwoord - Enter The Ninja

For those who don't frequent BoingBoing, you'll have missed a little something going Jazzy Jeff last Friday. This time it was Die Antwoord, and 'twas the interwebs, and the band's servers, getting all shook up. Not to miss out on the hype, here's part of the reason - their track Enter The Ninja.

For once I won't pretend to know jack about the Afrikaans, zef-rap hobos, so I'll just point ye towards the old BoingBoing post and the band's website. Just err, don't all go downloading at once, eh?

- Enter The Christopher

W♥M064: Brody Update and Playlist Part 2

W♥M064 [download (49 min, 45 mb)]

Sorry for the double-wammy podcast, but this is part two of the Playlist show.

Laura Marling - Ghosts

Brody is our guest host, updating us on some of the shows he's been seeing: Alberta Cross and Daredevil Christopher Wright. He is heading over to New York for a visit, stalking Laura Marling and Citizen Cope. Plus, an event that he's organizing on February 23^rd at the Fine Line Cafe.

Details below:
18+ Show!!
Cover $7 for 21+ / $10 for 18+
Now, Now Every Children - Just got back from tour with Paramore in Europe
Gold Motel - Greta from The Hush Sound
Total Babe - Just played in the current studios last month

Brody's song of choice is The Dodo's "Fables".

Also, what Vu's been listening to: Looper, Baxendale, Music Go Music, Belinda Carlisle, Tilly and the Wall, Reverend and the Makers, Helium .... and rediscover Spandau Ballet!

Download this episode at archive.org. If you want an automatic feed to our podcast, headover to mypodcast and click on the itunes logo (or add manually with the rss).

�02/07/2010 03:56:26♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com

W♥M063: Playlist (Part 1)

�� W♥M063 [download (43 min, 39 mb)]

Sally and Kristen reveal what they've been listening to lately. In part two, we cover our ears as Vu tells us what's hot on his ipod.

 

Icehouse - Electric Blue

Sally: "stuck in the 90s", Motown music, Franz Ferdinand, The Jesus and Mary Chain, 80s music, Hall & Oates, Huey Lewis the News, and Icehouse.

Kristen: Pulp (obviously), Florence and the Machine, John Barry, At the Drive-In, The B-52's, Richard Hawley (Longpigs), New Order.

Also update on Playground Weekender. Reminder that you can win a pair of tickets by simply sending an email to [email protected] with the subject header of "Playground Weekender" and you'll be entered into the contest. Please note that it ends February 10^th.

Download this episode at archive.org. If you want an automatic feed to our podcast, headover to mypodcast and click on the itunes logo (or add manually with the rss).

�02/06/2010 12:15:06�♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com