Time to move on...

After a few days of consideration, I've decided to resign from my job. It has given me plenty of time to maintain this blog, but when you wake up in the morning and feel that you'd much rather jump in front of a train than go to work, something has to be done! What the future will bring I don't know yet, but I'll keep you posted...
+ Morning Runner - Work

Sometimes life is good...

and sometimes it's a long and rather unpleasant uphill climb! Unfortunately today is just one of those days.......
+ Dragonette - Take It Like A Man (RAC Mix)

Myspace Monday Mix...

I’ve understood that Facebook is growing a whole lot faster than Myspace these days, but Myspace still remains my favorite networking and "finding-new-music" tool. Below some of the stuff I’ve learned about in (what seems to be) the "old-fashioned" way.

Anyone remember God Is Going To Get Sick Of Me by Aberdeen City? If so, you might be interested in listening to the new demo track Whose Blood Is It? I know I was!
+ Whose Blood Is It

The Imaginary Orchestra of Mr. Kite keeps recording and giving away new songs, and so does The Papertiger Sound. If you enjoyed the previous works of these two bands, the new tracks certainly won't a disappointment!
+ The Imaginary Orchestra of Mr. Kite – Mind The Gap
+ The Papertiger Sound – A Chorus

Swedish indie pop band Bye bye bicycle shares a new track from the forthcoming EP This Is West. Of course the band hails from Gothenburg!
+ Footsteps

Finally J.A. recommends Spanish shoegazers Then (3 more freebies there). Always great being introduced to a new shoegaze inspired band!
+ Freefall

It's Friday...

Yep it’s Friday and there is one thing that you always have to do on Fridays; check the Flashback Friday post over at Music of the Moment. Especially if you’re a nostalgic, gray-haired, middle-aged creature like yours truly, and still remember, cherish and worship those good old days in the 80's, where you had to buy 3 different 12” versions of every Pet Shop Boys and Erasure single, just to make sure that you had all the remixes (even though you never bothered listening to them). And since Love Comes Quickly by PSB is today’s flashback dish (anyone remember Shep Pettibone?), I once again have to urge you to check out Chris’ string of fantastic posts. Just to prove that I was a fanatic back then, I even bought that baseball cap! I probably believed that it made me look like Chris Lowe?

Speaking of remixes. Norwegian band Lorraine is giving away an extensive MHC remix of the previously unreleased track Beautiful Thing. Quite coincidentally is does sound very Pet Shop Boyish.
+ Beautiful Thing MHC Remix

Frekvens poll...

Go to Frekvens.dk and vote for your favorite track among these five:

Spion - Tynd Is
Northern Portrait - Crazy
Days - Simple Thing
Kind of girl - Poetry Boy
Demons Are Real - Planet of Dreams

The winning track will be played at the Klub Stöj vs. Frekvens event Saturday night!

Two tracks...

Two of my favorite unsigned artists have each uploaded a new or (at least) previously unpublished song.

Lonely by UK indie poppers The Steadies was recorded during the making of the Sunnier Days to Come demo earlier this year, but has remained unpublished until recently. Apparently the band wasn't happy with the end result, but just like the rest of the songs from the band, I think this is absolutely wonderful stuff.
+ Lonely

The super productive UK/Canadian duo The Papertiger Sound has published yet another new excellent track and I cannot help feeling that this band could release a new one every week if they wanted to! That glockenspiel is just lovely and adds a fine dimension to this otherwise quite electronic sounding track.
+ From The Eastern Shore

Another one of those This and That posts...

Frekvens.dk now has a Myspace profile. Check them out and add them to your friends!

Now this is a quite difficult one. Someone has recommended US folk rock band The Instant to me and I really like the band's music (they write some pretty fine tunes), but boy do I find the voice of the lead singer annoying. Is he falling asleep or is he singing through his nose or? I don't know, but those guitars are just lovely and the piano in the end makes it all worthwhile!
+ October

The Tamborines are giving away two new demo tracks. CWB (whatever that stands for) is definitely the better of the two.
+ CWB

Finally a Matinée Recordings double pack. The lovely indie pop label has just released the debut album Saw You Dancing by The Hermit Crabs and a brand new EP by Math and Physics Club called Baby I'm Yours. As you'd expect the promo tracks are just wonderful!
+ Hermit Crabs - Friends Folk Festival
+ Math and Physics Club - Baby I'm Yours

This and That...

Danish author, blogger and music fan Thomas Ladegaard offers his take on the new Kent album. I especially agree with his conclusion that you need to invest some time, before getting into the album. But also that the investment will pay off nicely in the end!

Ruined by Martin asks us all to vote for them in the Samsung MTV unsigned competition. I don't give much for those kinds of competitions, but since I like Ruined by Martin a lot I think we all should give them a helping hand or at least our votes!

J.A. recommends Swedish indie pop band Basil. Since it's an indie pop band from Sweden you really should know what to expect; and you won't be disappointed. You'll even hear handclaps and violins, so there won't be much to complain about!
+ Vanilla Girl
+ When We Were 21

Call it nemesis; call it what you like. But ever since I voiced my concern about my drowning mailbox the number of promo mails has dropped significantly. And just between you and me...those promo mails are a pretty damn good and quite easy way to find some inspiration, so I really don't mind them at all!

Two small things...

Chris has updated his huge list of Danish Artists.

I've written my second "Støj på frekvensen" post for Frekvens.dk.

Do you blush?...

As promised earlier this week; here's another recently recorded track by Danish trio Us With Millions. I'll stop comparing the band to that ONE particular band, as this new song clearly proves that these guys are fully capable and ready to make a name of their own. The quiet opening part aside, Do You Blush? follows nicely in the footstep of the band's previous works, which probably is the best recommendation I can give! Finally; big thank you to the boys for letting me post this as an exclusive download.
+ Do You Blush?

In the mailbox (those promotion mails never stop) I've found this excellent one by Seattle indie rock/pop 5-piece Siberian. When I listen to those drums, the guitars and the production in general I cannot help thinking of Editors (which isn't necessarily a bad thing!).
+ Belgian Beer and Catholic Girls

The other day Søren over at Frekvens.dk listed the new Maritime album Heresy and the Hotel Choir as the album he listens to the most these days. Since this US quartet was completely unknown to me I was quite thrilled to find (yet another one of those) promo mail in the mailbox this morning, giving me the opportunity to listen to the album. After two listens I especially agree with the quote in the mail that says "If you can't find something you enjoy on Heresy-well, you're probably not listening hard enough.", because there certainly is plenty to like about this fine album.
+ For Science Fiction
+ Guns of Navarone

Mailbox overload...

My mailbox is jammed, cluttered, seeing red, breathing for air and giving its owner all kinds of stress like symptoms. So yesterday I decided to do something about it, and read my way through (at least) a trillion mails and downloaded (roughly estimated) a billion songs, but despite all my heroics I still have 496 mails left in my inbox begging for my attention. As you might have guessed by now, I've done a bit/whole lot of cleaning, deleting and selecting, so below I posted the 10 best songs of the many, many I listened to/scanned my way through yesterday. If you don't like these tracks, you certainly don't want to listen to the ones I deleted! Happy listening!!!

+ The Silver Seas - The Country Life
"For fans of Jackson Browne, Fleetwood Mac, Guster..." (promo mail)

+ Innerpartysystem - Don't Stop
"The keen observer will allow themselves to be dawn in by the anxious beats, pensive blips and ominous thrashing tones..." (source)

+ Peace In Our Time - Some nice and decent thoughts
Swedish one-man project introducing himself to me this way; "I'm a Swedish artist who records some kind of lofi-indiepop in my bedroom." Lovely lofi-indiepop I might add...

+ The Voltarenes - Altona City
"Altona City" is a fine blend of Another Sunny Day's "Anorak City" and Guns'n'Roses' "Paradise City", as well as an ode to a district of Hamburg." (promo mail)

+ Cassettes Won't Listen - Lunch For Breakfast
Found in a mail with the information that "Cassettes Won't Listen announces CMJ closing night performance..."

+ Canadians - Summer Teenage Girl
According to the promo mail this is "a band playing indie pop anthems that are catchy, unforgettable and timeless." Sounds more like one of those bubblegum teenage American pop/rock bands to me, but since I (secretly of course) like some of those bands I really don't care about that description.

+ SNMNMNM - Addy Will Know
According to the promo mail "...a band who has always tried to create smart pop music that rocks". Sounds like Stacy's Mom.

+ Robbers On High Street - Crown Victoria
Pretty cool sounding 60's inspired US rock band.

+ Division Day - More Than This
Another week and another nice sounding cover version of a timeless classic by Division Day!

+ The Papertiger Sound - Norfolk
Another wonderful freebie found at the band's Myspace profile.

The end of Port Largo...

Yesterday I received the bad news that talented Danish electro/synth-pop trio Port Largo has decided to call it quits. I've been waiting for news from the band for some time, but this certainly wasn't what I expected. Earlier this year the band re-recorded two tracks for a promotion CD under the guidance of producer Carsten Heller (Nephew, Spleen United etc.) and since the result of that collaboration was pretty good, I thought that the band would soon be picked up by a record label. Sadly this wasn't the case, and the band is no more, citing musical and artistic differences as the reason for the unexpected break-up. As a last kind gesture Port Largo is giving away the two before mentioned promo tracks for free from the band's Myspace profile. Give them a listen and I'm pretty certain that you'll agree that the world missed out on a really great band!

+ Breakdown Into Fiction
+ Another State of Mind

Chopping wood...

The past 3 days the girls and I visited some friends' at their derelict farm in Sweden, where I (when I wasn't drinking beer) spent several hours every day chopping wood. That certainly was great and much needed exercise for arms, shoulders and back, but it also (once again) made it painfully clear that my shape was a whole lot better in the old days, before I became a dad.

Speaking of Sweden, I found the new Kent album Tillbaka Till Samtiden in my mailbox last night. It definitely sounded much better in the car this morning than it did on the computer last week.

Thanks to whoever was responsible for sending me Life Of A Ghost by Blue Foundation. I've been thinking of buying this fine and somewhat Mew inspired album for quite some time now, so getting it this way was a pleasant surprise (I owe you one - whoever you are!).

Pastries, Peppers and Canals is up and running again. Hopefully for good this time!

You DID check out my first post over at Frekvens.dk. Didn't you?

The fantastic new track Rosebud by Danish indie rock trio Us With Millions is now available as a free download. Compared to Band of Horses, but in my opinion this track is better than any track of Cease To Begin. The band has sent me another new track that will be an exclusive download from the blog later this week.
+ Rosebud

Check out new instrumental track by Hits In The Car favorites Panda Riot.
+ Northern Automatic Music

I'm a debutant...

Today I've written my first post over at Danish weblog Frekvens.dk, introducing the readers to 5 of my recent favorite songs/artists. Check out who made the cut!

William and the Lava...

As mentioned a few times before The William Blakes has/have (what's correct?) been busy recording their debut album and last night the first appetizer/preview track finally arrived in my mailbox. I've been quite anxious to listen to the result of the recordings and luckily the new version of Violent God doesn't disappoint. The vocals aren't as dominating or (perhaps) shrilled as they were on the demo (which probably was my only objection) and musically this still sounds like a lovely mix of Arcade Fire and Talking Heads. The debut album will be called Wayne Coyne and I'll keep you posted when I have any information on the date of release.
+ Violent God

"The week of the Lava" is coming to an end now, so this is fifth and finally promo track from All Juice No Fruit. Once again I strongly recommend that you order the album right now as the three boys of The Floor Is Made Of Lava have produced an excellent debut album!
+ You Ain't a Bitch (Bitch)

Mr. Kite in the Emerald Lava Park...

Still thinking of what would be the best way to describe the music of The Floors Is Made Of Lava. Indie-party-dance-rock perhaps? Glad that IKEA Did A Job On You is among the promo tracks, as it's one of my favorite ones on the album. In case you haven't ordered it already, you can do it right here.
+ IKEA Did A Job On You

Emerald Park is giving away another track from the band's recently recorded album. In the band's own words the song is "a tribute to the summer, the sunshine and the challenges of a relationship". No words on any release date, but hopefully the rest of the album will be as good as the 4 songs we've heard so far.
+ Umeå

The young kids in the band with the weirdest name The Imaginary Orchestra of Mr. Kite continues to record new tracks. I know they must be so tired of people mentioning Jeff Buckley is the same breathe as their name, but once you've listen to that vocal it's impossible doing anything else. The track itself is excellent and probably my favorite by the band so far!
+ Time Is Just Seconds Away

The Birthday Cake is made of Lava...

I know some of you will find this difficult to comprehend, but there are a few tiny things in my life that are far more important than music. One of those little "things" is celebrating her second birthday today and even though she's a spoiled, ill-bred and self-willed rascal, life definitely wouldn't be the same without her!

Let's make it 3 days in a row! Here's another track by The Floor Is Made Of Lava taken from All Juice No Fruit. I received my hardcopy of the album yesterday and wasted little time giving it a good, loud spin in the car this morning on my way to work. Energy is probably the one word that describes the album the best and I certainly felt all pumped and energetic, when I parked the car outside the office! Order! Order! Order!
+ Sucker Love

Anders over at Frekvens.dk interviews American singer/songwriter Nathan Holscher and reviews his new album Even the Hills. The review is very positive and I can only support that, as Nathan Holscher has released a really wonderful americana/folk rock album. Below two tracks of the album posted with permission.
+ Hard, High and Blue
+ My Sweet

I've just downloaded In Rainbows (I actually paid for it - £5 - since Peter asked) and will give it a few listens today. Not that I care much about it, but I don't want to be the sole person in the universe (or at least in the bloggeruniverse), who isn't listening to it today. And who knows? I could end up being positively surprised?

The Lava keeps on flowing...

As promised yesterday "the week of the Lava" continues, so here's another track from the forthcoming The Floor Is Made Of Lava debut album All Juice No Fruit. I've listened to the album a few times now and it's a highly entertaining and very energetic piece that should be able to kickstart any party.
+ Told Her I'm From Compton

Another album getting lots of spins is Here Come The Floods by The state of Samuel. The album will be out on Humblebee Recordings on October 16 and can be ordered from the label's website for the bargain price of USD 9. Despite running for just 28 minutes the album is another fine exponent of the endless stream of wonderful Swedish indie pop. May the well never run dry!
+ The Residents of Gloom
+ Square Roots

Lovely UK/Candian indie pop/rock duo The Papertiger Sound gives away an old track named Seagrass. I cannot recall the story why the track is/was considered expendable, but I wouldn't mind reading or hearing it again, because the track certainly is far too great to simply be ignored.
+ Seagrass

What's the frequency...

The nice boys over at Frekvens.dk have asked me to join their small part of cyberspace, and I've happily accepted the invitation. Plans are that I shall post 2-4 times per month introducing their readers to the best "hits in the car" of the past week/fortnight. Sounds like the perfect concept to me. Will let you know when the first post is up (probably not this week).

Pitchfork reviews Black Kids and suddenly the number of visitors to this blog increases, because I've mentioned the band a few times. I like their music, but I certainly didn't see this sudden popularity coming. Download the rest of the Wizard of Ahhhs EP here.
+ Hurricane Jane

One more week and The Floor Is Made Of Lava debut album All Juice No Fruit will be out on Tabu Records. The band has sent out a promo mail including download links to 5 songs of the album, so I thought I'd turn this into "the week of the Lava" and post one song each day (Monday-Friday). If you like what you hear, you can pre-order the album right here.
+ Do Your Sister

Swedesplease has added me to the blogroll, so I've returned the favor...

Sad to say that I'm slightly underwhelmed by the four Celestial remixes that Music Is My Girlfriend is giving away for free today. I love the original tracks and cannot see why they had to be remixed; though getting them for free is obviously very nice and generous!
+ Lake Como (remix)

One-two-three clicks over at Myspace and I suddenly find myself listening to Icecold Kisses by Swedish electro/synth-pop duo Ostrich. Not groundbreaking in any way, but this really is a nice, sweet and catchy synth dominated tune.
+ Icecold Kisses

News from Starring Me...

Wonderful US shoegaze trio Starring Me has published two new tracks from the band's forthcoming album that will be released later this year or early next year (not sure, but I believe it will be named 11th Hour). If you're not already familiar with the band, you really should download all the tracks of the band's excellent 2005 album Perfect in the Night for free right here!
+ Goodbye
+ Since They Left

st famous...

Via Torr comes word on st famous; the new band of ex-Geneva front man Andrew Montgomery and Keris Howard of Harper Lee . Wonderful news as these are exactly the atmospheric and dreamy kind of songs I love to listen to on a tired and quiet Friday evening while sipping red wine (and the girls are sleeping). I loved Further (the Geneva debut) and if these recently recorded songs are any indication of what a future st famous album might sound like; I'm all set (though as Torr points out; this IS more electronic that Geneva). Information is sparse, but I believe that the band is unsigned, so only time will tell if the world will ever be able to listen to an album. The music is described by the band itself as "Cocteau Twins-meets-early New Order-meets-early OMD-meets the guy who used to sing in Geneva-meets him out of Harper Lee". Says it all; doesn't it?
+ Tired and Emotional
+ Lazy Opera

4 songs...

I've mentioned Manchester quartet Kni9hts several times before in the blog and I'll continue doing so as I honestly believe that this must be the best unsigned band in the world today. Despite all my worries the band itself seems very confident that they will be signed any day soon and why shouldn't they be that? All of the 12 demo tracks (that's already an album worth of songs) I've heard so far are just excellent and sounds like something Doves would have been proud of recording! Below what I believe is a new demo track.
+ Day of the Dove

Indonesian quartet Sunny Summer Day must be the nicest band on the planet. The band members are always friendly and always appreciating the interest and blog mentioning. Add to this the charming indie pop the band creates, and you cannot help simply loving this band!
+ Blue Light Pollution

Finally the mere result of a few hours spent the other day listening to songs found in the mailbox. Lots and lots of garbage and the only decent ones were the two tracks posted below. Both of them rock along nicely, so they are definitely worth a listen, though I'm still baffled by the low quality of the rest of the stuff.
+ Dog Day - Oh Dead Life
+ The Forms - Knowledge in Hand

Steam Train to Utopia...

Last night I finally received a message that I've been eagerly awaiting for quite some time now. DAMPFBAHN!'s ambitious project has been completed and 9 remixes of All Is Swell are done and ready, and have been published at the band's remix page (these are the days of Radiohead, so all the remixes are obviously free to download - a bit more information on the remixes/project can be found there as well). In the band's own words "It's a wonderful compilation of remixes of our song All Is Swell. Ranging from beautiful to bizarre!" and who am I to disagree? It certainly is quite a bumpy, but at the same time a highly entertaining, ride listening your way through all of the remixes. Have to admit that I simply love this concept (who doesn't love getting a string of new remixes for free?) and sincerely hope that other bands will get inspired to do the same!
+ All Is Swell - Zvook Mescalin
+ Hank Swelliams remix - Forest and Crispian

First single/teaser from the forthcoming Skywriter album has been published. I have no idea of what the album will be called or when it will be released, but several concert dates this fall have been announced, so hopefully something is brewing (just received info that the album won't be released until some time next year). The lyrics are dark/pessimistic, but listening to this really catchy track is still very uplifting indeed, as it promises well for the album. Finally big thanks to the band for letting me post the track!
+ Craving Utopia

Truth telling Mapmaker...

Fine Danish 5-piece Majorian has just finished recording an EP that is going to be called Truth Telling Peekholes. The title track is available as a "teaser" and it's an absolute cracker. This beautiful melody starts out quietly for the first minute and a half, giving you the impression that this will be a mellow and acoustic sounding track, but then it picks up the pace with the drums and an almost Keane/Coldplay inspired piano. Dominating the track (and getting all your attention) is the wonderful voice of lead singer Maria, which at times sounds like it's another instrument added to the mix. Oh well - I suck at these descriptions. Just check it out - it's absolutely gorgeous! It really is!
+ Truth Telling Peekholes

The 4 Danish youngsters in The Imaginary Orchestra of Mr. Kite are currently busy recording and new track The Mapmakers Dream is the first result of the band's hard work. This time it sounds a little less like Jeff Buckley (the inspiration is still there) and instead more like they are trying to create an experimental mix of two of the band's other inspirational sources; Muse and Radiohead. Still sounds great and very promising!
+ The Mapmakers Dream

Sometimes I just accept Myspace friend requests without really knowing anything about the band/artist (always hope to check them out at some later stage). So when I accepted the request by Topboy-500 I didn't know that this was another project involving Thomas of Volvoe. In his own words the songs by this alias will be the ones that turn out to be too fucked up or too different, but still cool in their own odd way. This one (a very laid-back electronic track with vocoder vocals) is certainly not too fucked up, perhaps too different to become a Volvoe track, but definitely very cool!
+ I am Snow

Two remixes...

Today is one of those dreaded days at work, where I have way too much work to do, so unfortunately I only have time for this short one...

Judging from the number of downloads; I believe that Club Thing by Yoav must be one of the most popular songs I've ever posted. Personally I still think it's an excellent track, so I was quite delighted to find this very cool RAC remix of the song in the mailbox this morning.
+ Club Thing (RAC Remix)
+ Club Thing

Another RAC remix received in the mail recently is this charming version of You're Alright by Norwegian twee/folk-pop duo Jeremy. I've previously posted the brilliant Make Love Not War by the band and an album should be in the making.
+ You're Alright (RAC Remix)
+ Make Love Not War

Catching up...

As much as I like to think I'm the centre of the Universe, the World seems to have no problems whatsoever continuing its 24 hour schedule when I'm on holiday, which makes it painfully clear that it actually manages pretty well - even without my presence. So because of the world's lack of cooperation it just never fails that I find myself drowning in mails, messages and CD's whenever I return from being away from home (and the computer) for more than 72 hours. So once again this is one of those catching up posts!

Messages indicate that we'll soon be listening to new songs by The William Blakes and Us With Millions.

Ruined by Martin has launched the new website and gives away the new brilliant track Kaiser Star for free!
+ Kaiser Star

J.A. now has a Myspace profile. Hurry up and make him your friend!

emodreng & indiepige interviews Oliver North Boy Choir and posts the band's remix of the DAMPFBAHN! track All Is Swell. The remix is absolutely superb and I've asked (and been granted) permission to post the track myself. The vocals have been re-recorded (must be Camilla singing) and the track has that wonderful trademark ONBC sound. Speaking of DAMPBAHN! remixes - below another really cool version of the same track done by Body Lotion and the Bloody Hands. The title of the track has been changed to All Is Hell and contains new (and quite morbid) lyrics about a baby killed by a rattlesnake!
+ All Is Swell - (Oliver North Boy Choir lummertmix)
+ All Is Hell - (Body Lotion and the Bloody Hands)

Assasin has posted two new instrumental tracks. Still this doesn't sound like Phonovectra at all and dreamy post-rock is probably a good way to describe the new ones (never been good at this)?
+ Pause Between Friends
+ White Light

I believe every blogger knows this: You receive a mail from someone saying that you've posted his music some time ago and he'll be happy if you'd care to mention his new album, and your first reaction is; WHO? So you check back and realize that you've actually mention this guy before (in my case it was September last year). Then you check your computer and find that you haven't deleted the song you posted back then. Finally you listen to it and you're very surprised that this is a really great one (in my case it's an electro pop song that at times sounds a bit like New Order). In my case (for the third time) I don't know why I've forgotten about Chris Price, but now I'm certainly looking forward to hearing his debut album - Post Pop Parade.
+ And She Was