Shorts...

I’m still not feeling all that well, so words will be few today.

Knut of Eardrums is dealing with health problems. Please go wish him well.

Holiday is coming up and leaving for Cairo on Sunday.

Delay Trees has been signed to Friendly Fire Recordings. A self-titled debut album will be out on May 10.
+ Cassette 2012
+ About Brothers

4,695 mails are this very moment jamming my inbox.

The recent releases of these 5 artists are currently on my radar and I sincerely hope that I’ll be able to write more about them at some later point (if not – I’m really, really sorry!).
+ Starring Me – 1987
+ Stærosaurus – Darwinisme
+ Southern Gothic Tales - Fuck me up with words and wine
+ Code Pie – North Side City View
+ The Oxygen Ponies – Hope & Pray

The William Blakes will be warming up for Arcade Fire when they visit Ballerup Super Arena on August 27.
+ Music Wants To Be Free (Breathe)

New track by Cassettes Won't Listen and new album named KEVINSPACEY due in June.
+ Echoes

+++xyz+++

Various...

Psychic Powers has announced that the band’s stunning debut Infinity will see a physical release on CD via Dryden St. (yay!). No information available on when it's out and how to order it…yet!
+ Brighter
+ Glide

The drooling continues. Check this excellent (and rather classic indie pop) track by Persian Rugs; another band performing at NYC Popfest in May. In May as well the band's debut (?) single Always All will be out on 7" vinyl via Cloudberry Records.
+ Always All

Posted new track 1987 by Starring Me the other day, but what I didn’t know back then was that an album seems to be in the making. I recommend that you follow the band on Facebook and stay informed, instead of relying on my most unreliable updates.
+ 1987

Warpaint shares this remix of Undertow. Pretty weak, isn’t it? But at least it provides me with the opportunity to post the epic original version.
+ Undertow (Javelin Remix)
+ Undertow

Saturday shorts...

Starring Me shares great new track 1987.
+ 1987

Mailbox trivia: Have 4,507 mails in my inbox. 3,722 are unread. A search for “SXSW” creates 447 hits.

MP3hugger posted the glorious Facing the Sun by Treefight for Sunlight yesterday. Grab it!

Mono Noir mailed what has to be labeled “the best promo mail ever”! No! Won't share the contents, but it certainly caught my attention (no money was involved)!
+ Lost Souls

Socio Peruvian pop musician Francois Peglau shares new track Dubai.
+ Dubai

Downloaded my advanced copy of The Blueflowers’ In Line With The Broken-Hearted yesterday. Soooooooo nice!

Various...

Somewhat disappointed that no one has complained about yesterday’s Danish experiment. Perhaps this verifies that no one actually reads or cares about the words anyway?

Via Frank Yang (Mr. Chromewaves) comes the fantastic news that Richard Hawley will have a new album out on September 21. To be called Truelove's Gutter and hopefully the release will be supported by a tour, which hopefully will include Denmark?

Not that many people showed any interest in winning that Starring Me CD, which just made it so much easier picking Johannes as the winner.

Here’s a couple of fairly decent Faunts remixes found in the mailbox this morning.
+ Explain (Home Video Remix)
+ feel.love.thinking.of (Mexicans with Guns Remix)

And just found this remix of Explain by CWL in the mailbox. The remix can be found on the free CWL remix EP.
+ Explain (CWL remix)

I've been falling behind schedule lately and mails have been piling up. So I've been checking some seriously old promo mails and have learned that the talented UK quartet Foxes! released a new 3-track single called Who Killed Rob? on CatCutter Records on June 1. The free to download b-side Albania is an instant winner, and the other two tracks are well...equally fine (stream)!
+ Albania

Parallels...

It has taken 4 years to complete, but finally a new CD from Starring Me has seen the light of day. The band itself calls the release a CD and I suspect that the band (just like me) wasn’t sure whether this 7-track release should be labeled “album” or “EP”, as Parallels runs for just 30 minutes. Which probably is a little less than one had hoped for. Musically there is not much new brought to the table, and the music remains the same dreamy and shoegaze inspired kind, as found on the band’s two previous albums. But I certainly wasn’t asking for or expecting any changes, as I’ve been quite a fan of this band ever since I stumble upon their music way back in early 2006. So keeping things as they are is just fine by me. The CD can be bought from the band’s myspace page for the bargain price of $7.00. The band has been so kind to send an extra copy of the CD, so if you’re interested in getting a copy; shoot me an e-mail. Should I receive more than one e-mail (which I very much hope for, but somehow doubt I’ll get), I’ll pick the lucky winner on Friday.
+ Parallels are Endless

IFPI revisited and more...

Is this nemesis? Just hours after writing that IFPI/Blogger hadn’t removed my re-post of the Doves remix, I received a notification that another post had been taken down. I assume you’re now awaiting a post of rage and anger, but apparently my previous post didn’t help, so why bother? And since the post in question is from February and not something removed from the “front page”, it is somehow easier to live with, though I still find it difficult to accept that they did it without contacting me first. However it does puzzle me somewhat that the post taken down is one of those “emptying the mailbox” ones, where I post various promo tracks found in the mailbox. But perhaps I should have read the mails more carefully, though I doubt very much that any of them said that I wasn’t allowed to post the track or only posting it for a limit period of time. I know I keep the songs up for quite a long time (maybe too long), but since I’m in the third or fourth wave of bloggers receiving the promo mails, the songs have most likely been posted by several other (and much bigger) blogs. So the songs are already out there, and the 5-10 extra downloads caused by me not removing the download links cannot really be what’s ruining the industry. Can it? But I’ll soldier on, though some guidelines would be much appreciated.

I’ll definitely be standing right in front of the stage when Danish quartet C’est tout Martine are playing at Start! Festival. Completely unknown to me a couple of days ago, but the band’s naive yet absolutely lovely indie pop tunes (sung in Danish) have charmed me away. This year’s line-up just keeps looking better and better and still plenty of new bands left to be checked out.
+ Faa Et Liv
+ Vender Tilbage

Superb Danish folk rocker Cody is now in New York and for the next week he and the band will be playing a number of gigs. Simply too great to miss!
+ There Is A Light (Live)

A new 7 track CD by Florida shoegazers Starring Me will (hopefully) be out in May.
+ Parallels are Endless

Saturday morning quickie...

Simply cannot think of a better to start the weekend. US shoegazers Starring Me has (finally) published a brand new recording, which according to the band has been 3 years in the making. Well worth the wait me thinks, as Parallels Are Endless, just like most of the band's previous tracks, is dreamy and utterly beautiful with that heavenly female vocal in the background. Close your eyes and let yourself drift away on a puffy cloud, while you're dreaming that the band's third album is being released tomorrow!
+ Parallels Are Endless (320 kbps!)

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

Listening to a few new albums......

Starring Me - Starring Me
The 2003 debut album from the US shoegaze/dream-pop trio Starring Me. I cannot say that I expected all that much of this album, because it was more or less "added" when I bought the other album by the band. But so far it's been impossible to let go of it and several songs have made me reach for the repeat button. Beautiful melodies and wonderful female vocals make this a really fine dream-pop album. What a surprise!
+ Find A Diamond

Starring Me - Perfect In The Night
The 2005 follow-up from the band pretty much follows in the footsteps of the debut as the band reamains true to the shoegaze/dream-pop genre. The songs may be a bit noisier than and not quite as immediate as the ones on the debut, but this is still another very fine effort from this vastly underrated band. The entire album can be downloaded for free at the band's webpage.
+ Stay
+ Comet

Purplespace - Broken Bells
Purplespace is a side project created by John Hashtak of Starring Me and I've previously described the music as a bit more electronic than we're used to hear from Starring Me. Listening to the album a few times doesn't make me change that description, but unfortunately I experienced the album as a kind of "bumpy ride". It does indeed contain several good songs, but also quite a few that are easily forgotten. Hopefully a few more listens will change this!
+ The Journal

The Oxygen Ponies - The Oxygen Ponies
The highly anticipated debut album from the NY singer/songwriter Paul Megna (a.k.a. The Oxygen Ponies) is pretty much everything I hoped/expected it would be. The songs are all mellow and utterly beautiful, and are probably enjoyed the best in a quiet moment with the eyes closed.

Starring Me...

Starring Me, a 3 piece band from Florida, released their second album Perfect In The Night in 2005. The entire album is available as a free download from the band's webpage and the songs vary quite a lot, although the description of the album given by the band leaves you with an impression that it was meant to be a kind of romantic concept album. The band happily mixes Dreampop, Indie, Emo and once in a while you get the feeling that they have been listening to quite a few shoegaze bands as well. The production isn't flawless and not every song is top notch, but still it was quite a pleasure working my way through the songs. As always when I find good stuff like this, I'm puzzled why such a band hasn't been able to reach a much wider audience.

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Losing My Balance [MP3]
Carousel [MP3]
Yellow Purse [MP3]