New video from the Greek "version" of White Lies; Personal...I know I'm bashing them quite a lot for be a little too inspired by the aforementioned band, but I cannot help liking them quite a lot as well...the song can be downloaded for free from the band's Facebook BandPage (or below)...
The Approval has finally reached 1,000+ "likes" at Facebook and celebrates it by sharing a video for the unreleased track Three Words. Check the few words I wrote about their debut EP; they do write some fine pop song and definitely is another band to keep a close eye on, though perhaps still a little too "boy bandish" for my taste (though this obviously has more to do with them being "poster boys" than it has to do with the music)!
Here’s a new Danish band to keep an eye on. Still They Don’t Believe Us is fronted by ex-The Imaginary Orchestra of Mr. Kite frontman Lars Villumsen and judging from the band name I was expecting it to be a least a little The Smiths inspired. Well it turned out they are not and instead sounding not at all unlike abovementioned IOOMK, though perhaps less Jeff Buckley inspired. As always I'm not quite able to nail the right words to describe the music, but I do think it sounds interesting and definitely a band that I’ll be monitoring closely in the future.
Mentioned the new EP by The Holiday Crowd earlier today. Just found this (unreleased?) remix of standout track Painted Like A Forest over at SoundCloud that I “simply have” to post. And while you're at it, why not check out the video for Pennies Found as well; yet another brilliant track of the EP (actually they are all brilliant!).
Think I’ve been quite disciplined recently and done my best deleting mails from the inbox. Still the number has now reached and rapidly surpassed 10,000! Ten-thousand (or 10,103 to be exact)! Suck on that for a moment. If I spent one minute on each, it would take me a little more than 168 hours or exactly a week checking them all. So if you’re still awaiting a reply; forget about it and move on…
As always one of the big challenges, when your mailbox is cluttered like this, is to spot the important ones from the “spam”. Experience does help though, as there are some “safe bets”. Like for instance news from Shelflife Records that (almost) always equals good news. And in this case it certainly is, as the label has just released (co-released with New Romantic) the Over the Bluffs EP by The Holiday Crowd containing 7 ace guitar pop songs.
+ Never Speak Of It Again
Not all too happy to write this, but I do think that the new single by The Mary Onettes is a slight disappointment. But as it says in the promo mail: “Gone are the echoing reverbs, the 80's guitars and the big, splashing drums...”. That might explain some, though hopefully I just need to listen to it some more?
+ Love's Taking Strange Ways
Should have but haven’t mentioned that Jonathan Johansson will be playing at Koncertkirken in Copenhagen on February 10. Have (of course) bought a ticket, but have yet to find out if I’ll actually be able to go, as both kids are going to parties that evening… Jonathan Johansson - Blommorna by HYBRIS
Chorus Grant will release their/his(?) debut album Chorus Grant and The Villa Nova on February 14 through Speed of Sound/A:Larm. A 33 seconds teaser video for the album closer Blood Brothers has been uploaded and sure promises to be a dark/sinister thing! Not sure when the full version of the video will be up (my best guess is February 14 as well), but will of course post it as soon as it’s published...
This is a match made in heaven! Azure Blue remixes Jonathan Johansson and as expected the outcome is absolutely fantastic! Starts after approx. 38 seconds...
Stream/watch new song from Sleep Party People. A Dark God Heart is from the forthcoming album We Were Drifting On A Sad Song and doesn't indicate that we should expect any major changes to the sound on the debut. But since the debut was downright brilliant, why would anyone want things to change anyway? The video is sad, dramatic and perhaps a bit morbid!
Just found this nice dreamy one by Sylver Tongue in the mailbox...not much info available (except that she's being promoted by Anorak), so I'll just let the track speak for itself...
Watch (after the commercial) Azure Blue perform a live version of Seasons on Swedish TV (TV4 - Nyhetsmorgon). The track can be found on the debut album Rule of Thirds and was one of the finest (if not THE finest) pop songs released last year!
Listening to new Danish duo Crystal Voyager is a really interesting, but at the same time slightly schizophrenic experience. Of the four demo tracks that are now streaming at SoundCloud the first three are very 60’s inspired (think Pet Sounds), while the final track Take My Shades suddenly turns out to be greatly inspired by the dark electronic sound of the late 70's, early 80’s (think Joy Division). But according to Jakob, who makes up half of the duo and also the second half of Forgotten Fields on Fire, this is one of the advantages of being a new band/side project, as no one is expecting anything and you can more or less “go” anywhere your inspiration takes you. So for now there will be no “red thread” in this project and the duo will continue recording whatever they feel like. Or at least I’m hoping they will carry on, as this definitely is something that should get beyond the demo stage and evolve into something more than just a side project!
First time I heard the name Wowser Bowser I couldn't help thinking that this had to be a novelty act. But it's not. Actually Woswer Bowser writes some pretty good pop songs; despite the horrible band name! Someone somewhere (cannot recall where) compared them to Shout Out Louds. Which actually is a pretty good (that's lots of actually and pretty good's) comparison! Check them out!
Sweden's Emerald Park has posted a brilliant new track Things for streaming. Slightly Joy Division inspired me thinks and really not sounding like anything on the debut, though it's been a while since I listened to that one. From the band's sophomore album Absolute Zero which will be out March 30.
Perhaps you've noticed the new video by Tempomatador I posted earlier today? Tempomatador frontman Mikkel Max used to sing in EPO-555 as well, which has to be one of the most underrated Danish bands ever. But to get to the point...here's an old video by EPO-555, which, though very different musically, just like the Tempomatador one, is slightly weird and highly fascinating! And 8 years on Le Beat's On Fire is still one heck of a song!
Check the debut video from Tempomatador in which the band performs the song Sværmeri in "the kingdom of death". Slightly weird and highly fascinating at the same time.
Two quick recommendations sent my way by the always reliable J.A.
Probably no coincidence that one of the tracks by Sweden’s Alpaca Sports is called Just For Fun. You certainly get the impression that they had a fun time recording their catchy, charming indie pop songs. Just for fun by Alpaca Sports
One man project Athletes hails from Denmark and though you could probably call this indie pop as well, it’s a bit noisier, less catchy (at least when compared to the abovementioned Alpaca Sports), wonderfully dreamy and oozing of coolness. Anyone with a soft spot for Sarah Records should love this. Fall Apart by Athletes
Stream/download new acoustic demo track from much hyped Danish act From Sarah. The final version will be included on the band's debut album, which is to be released in April. Sounding less like Kashmir, which I personally think is a good thing!
Check this rather funny video by Murder Mystery for their track I Am (If You Are). The band's EP Problems containing 6 tracks and 15 minutes worth of gorgeous indie pop will be digitally available on January 16.
My initial reaction when I saw this was; can my favorite remixer improve on a song that is ridiculously close to being perfect? Not quite sure if he could, but need to give it a few more spins (streams)...
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock under living in a cage, you should know by now that The Shins premiered a new song the other day. So I’m not pretending this to be some sort of “breaking new” post, but instead rather a “yet another blogger posting the same shit as everyone else” kind of post. However as a blogger I do believe (at least I think I read that somewhere ages ago) that it’s important to voice your opinion from time to time. Also even though, your opinion can be summed up in one word; fantastic. Or perhaps maybe two words; bloody fantastic. So basically what I’m trying to say here is; the new song by The Shins is bloody fantastic and by no means just a “simple song”. Period!
Check this new track by Greek quartet Personal. Vocals are fine and the tune is pretty catchy, but they probably need to change something radically, unless they forever want to be labeled "White Lies light".
+ Love or Fate
In case you missed out on it when I posted it last year; Check the video for first single Prayer as well and the White Lies comparison becomes even more evident!
Voice sucks. Plain and simple. I cannot emphasize enough how seriously I hate those "become famous overnight" TV programs. But as much as I hate to admit it, Voice does have its few bright moments. Some of the songs performed by the contestants have been pretty OK and have saved me for some hard work and introduced my oldest daughter (she's 9 years old) to a string of new songs and artists (yesterday she asked if I could put some songs by The Raveonettes on her iPod touch). Finally these two performances by the four coaches are absolutely smashing; no matter the surroundings!
Check out new single Nothing Will Grow by Little Jungles. It's incredibly cool (the lazy way of saying that I'm not quite sure how to describe it, but it's really infectious and I really, really like it)...trust me! Watch/stream it below or download it via bandcamp (name your price).
As written a few days ago; no New Year's resolutions, but it's my intention that I will try to check out more of the stuff arriving in the mailbox this year than I managed to last year. Since I've made these kinds of posts several times before, you ought to know exactly what you're getting. Some great music (at least I hope you think so as well) and next to no writing...
Check this new track by Greek pop/rock act The Finger. Not ground-breaking in any way, but boy they sure know how to write seriously infectious songs! A debut album is on the way!
Still tired. Work still sucks. So there's really nothing new to tell. Enjoying some old favorites from previous years, while trying to get myself going and get some work done. Not easy. One of the tracks included in today's playlist is Beatrice in the other World by Crushed Stars from the wonderful album Convalescing In Braille. Not sure if I'm allowed to post it for streaming, but since it's one of the most beautiful tracks I know and an absolutely perfect fit for today's mood, I've decided that I'm going to post it anyway. So please don't shoot me; just tell me to remove it...OK?
Here we go; the first post of the New Year. For a couple of minutes I was thinking of simply reposting last year’s post, because it basically says what I want to say (again). Summed up that is:
a) Work sucks
b) No New Year’s resolutions but...
c) I will try to keep this blog alive for another year
d) I will try to stop whining
e) Work sucks
Happy New Year and hope a few of you will stick around for 2012!
All words in this blog are written by me. It’s a blog about music. A music blog! About music that I like and artists I care for. Things have to be relevant to me. Not necessarily to anyone else. I’m Danish. I live in Denmark. I write at a lot about Danish music. And a lot about foreign music as well. Artists and labels not afraid of sharing music are the coolest. In the past I’ve been getting invaluable recommendations from José Antonio (J.A.) and Rodolfo; and still do! Big thanks to Steven of Letters Have No Arms! for designing the previous banner! Thanks to Ryan of Rikers for creating the current one! Songs for download are sometimes uploaded by me. But only when I have received permission from the artists/labels OR the songs are legally available for free elsewhere.
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