Soundcloud...

Nu er låget endelig skruet af blækhuset, så vel kun på sin plads at lade sig indfange af inspirationen? Kan dårligt tænke på et bedre sted at starte end på SoundCloud, hvor nye numre (i massevis qua min seneste inaktivitet) på en perlerække venter på lidt opmærksomhed...

Debut albummet fra engelske Public Service Broadcasting er på gaden og åbningsnummeret (og titelnummer) Inform - Educate - Entertain kan vel bedst beskrives, som en slags "overture", idet nummeret låner lidt hist og her fra albummets øvrige numre. Super spændende og kan kun sige, at jeg glæder mig stort til at få lyttet hele albummet igennem!



Club 8 skriver altså nogle helt igennem iørefaldende pop sange...og så er der vel ikke så forfærdelig meget mere at sige? Måske lige bortset fra, at deres nye album Above the City er på gaden om præcis 2 uger (på Labrador Records så klart)!



Tilhører ikke en af dem, som er blevet væltet bagover af det nyeste udspil fra Daft Punk. Men føler alligevel at det bør nævnes, at Holtoug har lavet et rimelig lækkert remix (house edit hvis nu skal være helt nøjeregnende) af Daughter's cover af Get Lucky, som da bestemt er et lyt værd.



Lidt mere nyt fra Bjørn Alexander Lange (aka Flag White). Som de andre numre jeg tidligere har lagt på bloggen, er det stadig på demo/skitse stadiet, men for dælen der er basis for en solid EP eller måske et album, når alle tråde bliver samlede.



De super sympatiske svenskere fra Emerald Park har en ny EP ude via af-music kaldet Black Box. En noget mere ujævn og skramlet indie lyd end tidligere udgivelsers polerede "sound", men så afgjort et spændende oplæg til det album, som eftersigende (har en svaghed for det ord) skulle være på vej!



Nu er proppen atter af flasken og trådene omkring mig ved at være samlede igen, så vel kun på sin plads atter at lade ordene flyde! Så kig gerne tilbage efter mere, snarest...måske i morgen...måske først når de herlige fridage omkring Kristi Himmelfartsdag (Bornholm - here I come!) er vel overståede!

The finger in the strawberry park...

Has to be match-up post title of the year? Anyway...three real interesting albums (one of them as a CD, which is pretty rare these days) arrived in the mailbox this weekend and it's my intention to spend some time (a lot of time actually) today, and probably tomorrow as well, giving them quite a few listens. I sort of expect all three of them to be worth the time and effort. In case you're wondering or interested these are the albums (will add some thoughts on each album during the day):

Emerald Park - Absolute Zero
They still write some pretty damn fine pop songs. But the sound is a little more "indie" and less "polished" than on the debut. I like that!

The Finger - I Don't Believe My Eyes
Expecting an album worth of energetic pop songs...this band reminds me a lot of Garbage...in a real positive way!

Strawberry Whiplash - Hits In The Car
Been told that I should prepare myself for "treat". Will be interesting!

"Appetizers":

Emerald Park - Things by afmusic

 I Don't Believe My Eyes by the finger

Another April by Strawberry Whiplash

Things...

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.

Things by smaragdrecords

Shorts...

Via The Line Of Best Fit/Something In Construction comes this first preview track (the correct title is Blues and not Loney Blues) from the forthcoming Loney Dear album Hall Music.
Loney Dear - Loney Blues by SICrecords

The William Blakes announced yesterday that the band's new album (and fourth since the debut in 2008) will be out soon. An (almost) unprecedented pace of work and you'll have to be amazed if the album is of the same quality as the first three!
+ Violent God

Spleen United are busy recording their third album (follow the progress on Facebook), but have nonetheless found the time to remix Kenton Slash Demon's Sun.
Sun (Spleen United remix) by Spleen United

Reality Bites from the upcoming two-track single by Emerald Park is absolutely ace!
Emerald Park - Reality Bites by afmusic

Various...

Blogger has been busy deleting music blogs and the debate rages on. Cannot say I’m a huge fan of these actions, but there are indeed some blogs that deserve all the shit they are (and hopefully will be) getting!

Tetris = Therapy has finished recording their debut album Acquaintances and two preview tracks are free to download. The band is still working on the artwork and more importantly on how to release the album. Be it digitally or on CD, I’m definitely in for a copy!
+ Seasick
+ A Lack of Concentration

This is old news already, but since Sunday the excellent For Tomorrow album by Emerald Park has been available as a free download via bandcamp as well as from webpage of the band’s new label 23 Seconds. Labeled "2010 edition" as two extra tracks has been added compared to the original 2008 release.
+ For Tomorrow

While we’re talking about free downloads, don’t forget to grab the Winter EP by Norway’s Remington Super 60. Sweet and lovely, though shorter than anything I can recall ever hearing before, as the 5 tracks last for whopping 8 minutes and 39 seconds.
+ Old Man

In case you didn't notice, this track by Iiris Viljanen was added to the Copenhagen Popfest post yesterday.
+ Bloodline Together

Shorties...

Getting a haircut today and boy do I need it!

Chromewaves is (once again) my guiding star. Go stream the (utterly brilliant) new track White Russian Doll by Lucky Soul.

Play People will release the single Feel Good on November 23. Still amazed that Playmobil figures are capable of writing such great pop songs!

Picked as "ugens uundgåelige" (track of the week), the new single Hey My Love, Hey Love! by fast rising Danish act Lars And The Hands Of Light is getting massive exposure on national radio this week!

Emerald Park writes in a blog post that "there are great news soon to come". Hate messages like that. Just tell me what it is instead!
+ For Tomorrow

Anyone mailing me to promote Robbie Williams deserves to be shot at dawn!

more?

Looking ahead...

This Monday I mentioned that the past weekend had been quiet and uneventful. Looking ahead I can see that the forthcoming weekend will be anything but. Friday evening I’m planning to attend the Ruined by Martin debut concert at Lades in Copenhagen. Saturday I’m going to a birthday party and Sunday evening I’ll once again be heading for Copenhagen, to finally see the much hyped (but deservedly so) Loney, Dear at Vega. Tickets are still available and with Marching Band being the supporting act this has developed into a “not to be missed” evening for any true fan of Swedish indie pop.
+ Ruined by Martin - Self Assured
+ Loney, Dear – Airport Surroundings
+ Marching Band – Travel In Time

Indie MP3 is back! And it’s not an April’s fool joke! At least so we’re told.

French music blog Absolut Noise, which dedicates its scribbles solely to Swedish music, has posted the track I väntan på Sten by Lerkruka. Especially worth mentioning as the track is a cover of The Pixies classic Here Comes Your Man; but sung in Swedish.

The track At the Mall by Sweden’s Emerald Park “was featured on "Pop on Paper" by Uwe Jähnichen (Radio Blau, Leipzig) and on the Darkhorse podcast show”. Whatever that means exactly? But the band seems happy about it and has thus decided to make the track free to download.
+ At the Mall

I’m currently working pretty hard to get into new Danish psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll quartet Le Cul. The Here’s Our Friend Charlie EP is free to download from Bandbase.dk. Not quite sure how exactly to describe this and The Rock and Roll Report compares the band to a string of other artists, though their comparison to “the youthful elements of Franz Ferdinand” seems fairly reasonable. The do sound like they are having a lot of fun, but I probably need a few more listens before I’m able to join the fun.
+ Back on my Doorstep

Shorties...

Didn’t quite keep my promise yesterday, as no more updates were posted. Instead I finally finished an Støj På Frekvensen post. That was the first of its kind for nearly 3 months.

The Majorian EP is now streamable at Myspace. Well-produced, beautiful and atmospheric are among the first words to jump to mind.

Emerald Park is giving away the title track of the For Tomorrow album for free over at Myspace. Or at least so they say. And no - I’m not implying that they are lying or anything, but Myspace continues playing tricks on me, so no songs are downloadable for me, even though the artists say otherwise. But I’ve been given permission to post the track instead, and since it’s arguably the best one off the album, I’m absolutely delighted to be able to share it with you.
+ For Tomorrow

As mentioned last week, Spejderrobot unsuccessfully tried to give away a remix of the Mercury Rev track Butterfly’s Wing. Apparently they grew tired of the “no-service” policy of Myspace and found somewhere else to host the remix.
+ Butterfly's Wing (Spejderrobot remix)

Shorties...

No more Majorian EP's left to give away.

The self-titled download-only debut EP by Tellus About The Moon is out now on Letterbox Records. This is Indie pop at its yummiest.
+ Nomore

The Christmas songs have started floating in, but I refuse to post a single word about Christmas before December 1. Well – I just did. Didn’t I?

If you have plenty of time and want a good read (in Swedish), I recommend the blog 50-listan. Several writers (including Tobias and Frans of Emerald Park) have compiled lists of their 50 favorite albums. The list has been in the making for more than 2½ years, but it’s almost completed now.

This week's track by One Weekly Gun track is dedicated to Nicolaus Copernicus. Inspired by this incident.
+ We love Copernicus

More later...

Champagne at Emerald Park...

Two very interesting new releases by two Scandinavian artists have been spinning merrily in the office today. Sophomore album For Tomorrow by Sweden’s Emerald Park has been on the radar for quite some time now, and it will finally be released November 14 by small German web label afmusic. Ever since I featured the band for the first time back in September last year, a constant stream of fine new demo recordings and mixes of older tracks have been floating our way, which for my part helped to increase the expectations. Expectations are always difficult to deal with, but For Tomorrow just doesn’t leave any room for disappointments, as the album’s 12 catchy and well-produced (by Ola of Moonbabies) pop songs gives us far more than we could realistically hope for.
+ Pasadena
+ Lights of Sunday

The Shelflife webpage has been given a much-needed face-lift and the US label celebrates this by releasing the eagerly awaited Paris and I EP by Danish one-man project Champagne Riot. And this little gem containing 6 irresistible pop songs once again proves that Shelflife only signs the very best.
+ Scandinavian Warfare

Shorties...

According to an article today (it’s in Danish, but read it here if you like) several nightclubs have successfully kept troublemakers away by not playing hip-hop and rap. Now you draw your own conclusions, but shitty music attracts...

In his blog yesterday the infamous Myspace founder Tom claimed that the download links for free tracks are back again. However I have yet to find one downloadable track, but am seriously looking forward to whenever things are back working properly again.

Biker Boy doesn't seem to be able to make the download function work, so he has posted download links for October Song as well as the remix of the track done by House of Primates. The firewall at work doesn't like the links, but I hope they are working!?
+ October Song
+ October Song (Remix)

Great service! Slow Shark Records has mailed me a copy of the debut album We Are Popular by The Holiday Show…nearly 3 weeks before it’s released!

Hits In The Car favorite Pete White has added two newly recorded tracks to his Myspace player as well as a lovely new version of Hand Signals.

October 10 at 10am a new and vastly improved version (so we're told) of Gaffa.dk will be launched.

Here’s the brand new video for the beautiful Värnhem by Emerald Park.

Feeling better...

though not as great as I hoped I would. But still fine enough to continue the catching up I began last week.

I have a really soft spot for Swedish quartet (one-man project?) Tower of Foil and new freebie single Everlasting is yet another quiet and lovely piano dominated piece. And if you don’t know this already, the entire back catalogue (well almost) is free to download from the band's webpage as well!
+ Everlasting

UK quartet Kni9hts is (in my humble opinion of course) one of the best unsigned bands in the world and new track Abyss does nothing to change my opinion. This is another band giving away the back catalogue for free and one band that should have been signed ages ago!
+ Abyss

Those music playing Playmobil figures calling themselves Play People have recorded a new track and like the ones before it's a infectious little pop tune. And after all it does seem like that there were some truth to those Cloudberry Records rumors I started a while back.
+ Square One

Ola of Moonbabies has produced the excellent new track Istanbul by Emerald Park and at times one can be lead to believe that it's a new track by Moonbabies rather than an Emerald Park track. But does it really matter when it's this great? Free to download as it's featured on the afmusic Various Artists - 25 sampler.
+ Istanbul

The Weekend is (almost) upon us...

No drinking this weekend I swear!

UK singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner will release his debut album Hand Built By Robots on April 29 in the US, and as an appetizer a 3 song iTunes exclusive EP is now available including the gorgeous Dream Catch Me. When I mentioned the song for the first time earlier this year, I borrowed the quote “that was one sensitive guy with at guitar” and listening to that track again, I clearly recall why I thought the quote was spot on. More interestingly the album (which spent two weeks at no. 1 in the UK album chart back in August last year) will be out in Denmark on April 7 – the day after he plays a concert at Vega in Copenhagen.
+ Dream Catch Me

US psychedelic pop band Midnight Movies will release a digital EP called Nights on Tuesday (March 11) on New Line Records. The promo track Should Have Known leaves a fairly OK impression.
+ Should Have Known

Swedish indie rock band Emerald Park is giving away a new track called A Higher Loss and despite the band claiming that it's noisier than usual, it still very much bears that typical Emerald Park/Moonbabies Ola sound.
+ A Higher Loss

A brand new edition of Støj på Frekvensen is up.

Shorties...

Eardrums has an excellent post on the first EP by Celestial frontman Andreas Hagman's new project Northern Fields. I’m also the happy receiver of a copy of the EP and just as expected this is just fabulous Swedish indie pop.
+ Rye Fields

It hasn’t really snowed this winter, so you still have to wait for my traditional posting of Snow Fell (It’s Night) by The Consultants. That band is no more, but lead singer Marisha is in a brand new band charmingly named Rattus rattus (the Latin (?) name for Black Rat). Their stuff seems to be rougher and less melodic than The Consultants.
+ Wes Anderson

Emerald Park is sharing a lovely new track named Värnhem. Despite the Swedish title it’s in English, so rest assure.
+ Värnhem

Danish music blog Börneblogger is a new addition to the blogroll.

Today Peter introduces us to the completely unknown but nonetheless pretty darn good French indie rock band Skymobil.
+ For You

Lots of mails on various Keane covers went back and forth yesterday, and I honestly was surprised how busy the trio has been recording other artists' songs. Not all covers were as well-made as this one of She Sells Sanctuary (note: not a video; just some photos accompanying the song).

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

Soft Amateurs...

Soft City is the new/the most recent "project" of Kicker songwriter Phil Sutton. Helped out by a few well-reputed colleagues like Laura Bridge (ex-Harper Lee) and Gareth "Jona" Jones (Wintergreen) he has recorded a 3 track demo EP called The Soft City. As one could expect this is nice indie pop with those jangly guitars and you can grab all three tracks for free over at IndiePages. Now relocated to NY and looking for new bandmates!
+ The Soft City

The debut album Hongu Kongu by Scottish 6 piece Amateurs is released today on Letterbox Records. The two tracks on the free download-only single that was released in January were nice indie pop tunes with lovely male/female vocals, so the album could very well be something I should check out!
+ Things You Only Know When You Don't Drive
+ Cool By Me

The friendly boys from Danish alternative rock trio Heartbreak Disco has a new EP out. The band will now start promoting their music and the up-tempo and quite catchy title track Tomorrow certainly will/should help the band gaining some attention.
+ Tomorrow

According to the band itself, the new track The Commonfield by Emerald Park "might need a few more minutes in the oven". Judge for yourself, but I think it's absolutely gorgeous as it is and really see no point in changing anything. It takes just a few seconds of listening before you realize that it must have been produced by Ola from Moonbabies. New (and superb) mixes of the older tracks Open and Lights of Sunday are available at Myspace as well.
+ The Commonfield