On the radio this morning...

The epic It's My Life by Talk Talk



And don't tell me that this useless cover version by No Doubt is even remotely close to the original!



Every morning when eating breakfast the radio is on, and from time to time it does happen that some really fine stuff is aired, thus helping to make the start of the day a good one. The “On the radio this morning” posts are an attempt to make your start a good one as well!

Kings of Dark Disco…

Danish trio Kings of Dark Disco was recommended to me during this year’s Vesterbro Festival and I did indeed spend 5 minutes listening to the band, but at the time I found them to be nothing but a waste of time. However one thing is a live performance, so as the open-minded and adventurous person I am, I decided to give their 2007 promo/demo a listen, to see if I somehow had ignored the band’s qualities completely at the concert. So I listened and then what? Well – the band isn’t exactly the biggest revelation or reinventing anything, but their music is a fast paced and catchy mix of house, disco, electro pop, you name it, which should be able to kick start any party. And I’m not reluctant to admit that I most likely would have found the concert a bit more interesting had I known the music beforehand or maybe been a tiny bit more drunk than I actually was at the time.
+ Dark Disco
+ Death Discotheque

Acceptable in the 80's...?

One cannot help wondering if this fascination/appreciation of the eighties has gone a little too far, when a band records a cover version of a Shakin’ Stevens track? However the music/sound of Swedish duo Cloetta Paris has an almost tongue-in-check novelty to it, so perhaps (hopefully) their cover version isn't meant to be taken too seriously? If you happen to be so fortunate to no longer being able to recall the original by Michael Baratt Shakin' Stevens, look no further than Youtube to find the video. But newcomers must be warned. Not everything in the eighties was great and certainly not every artist of the decade is worthy of a revival!
+ Cry Just A Little Bit (cover by Cloetta Paris)

New kid on the block (blogroll)...

The guys behind Danish blog emodreng & indiepige have decided to put it to rest and instead the enterprising lads have launched a brand new blog - sohott.net. Several writers have been invited to join the show, so expect more updates, more music, more news, more gossip and well, just about more of everything. Should be interesting!

Back up in gear...

Things don’t get busy very often around here, but when they do, it’s serious business. Hopefully things are back to normal now, so blogging can once again be top priority!

Thanks a lot to Steven of Letters Have No Arms for creating the new banner!!

The Eardrums’ Summer’s Here Compilation Vol. 1 & 2 have been posted. Impressive stuff!

And Labrador has posted their Summer Sampler 2008 containing 30 tracks. Some of the tracks have not been available as free download before. Just like last year, this seems to be more than their server can handle (it's incredibly slow).
+ [ingenting] – Släpp In Solen

Chris is either busy or simply doing his best turtle impersonation?

Seems like Doves are busy recording their fourth album. Lost Souls was great, The Last Broadcast phenomenal but Some Cities was quite a disappointment. So I'm anxiously crossing my fingers and hoping for a return to form.

The new EP What You Get For Being Naive by Swedish duo Indurain is out now on Plastilina Records!. This is the kind of catchy and charming indie pop that some of us have grown to love!
+ The Moment
+ The Light

One Weekly Gun is taking a break.

Bluevox+++

Trying to kill a couple of hours at work today, I was sniffing around Myspace, and suddenly I came across the Argentinean multi-person indie pop band Bluevox. And you probably know how it is? Any band claiming to sound like Belle & Sebastian simply needs to be checked out. So I did what I had to do, and soon found myself listening to some absolutely lovely chamber pop. The band lists itself as unsigned, although it does seem like the band has been signed by the label Where Did You Find Him? However this US based label has yet to release anything, but if the website is to be trusted the first release will be a limited edition CD-R by said Bluevox. No information has been posted for a while, so it will be interesting to see when (if?) it will be released! Time will tell?
+ There's Something
+ It's All Over Now

Another band set to release an EP on the aforementioned label is UK duo The Painted Word. The excellent self-titled track posted below could probably be described as a psychedelic inspired electronic pop song?
+ The Painted Word

The new single Up To Your Neck by Diefenbach is now streamable at Myspace. Sounds unmistakably like Diefenbach, which probably isn't a bad thing. The follow-up to the 2005 album Set and Drift will be released around October 1.

4 tracks from the new Dan Wallace album Reattachment are free to download at Myspace. Impossible to label, but certainly requires some work getting into.
+ Go Ahead

Earlier today Coast is Clear posted the track The Great Escape by Norwegians Cold Mailman (what a horrible name). But a great tune which has just been added to my current favorites list.

It's a...

Yesterday afternoon I had the great pleasure of meeting up with Avi of It’s a Trap for a beer and a chat, as he paid Copenhagen a short visit. A great blogger and a very friendly bloke! Read more about his visit to Copenhagen.

Angmoh has posted information on the Munich debut album. And a few mp3’s as well.

moi Caprice will release their fourth album this autumn (no title yet) and in November/December the band will be touring Denmark to support the release (source). December 12 the band will be playing in Helsingør, so I guess this means that I’ll have to skip one of the Christmas parties (plenty of those in December anyway).
+ For Once in Your Life Try Fight for Something You Believe In

A new track by Death Valley Sleepers has been published and as always this is great stuff. Really should get signed, so we can get a decent release.
+ The Golden Mud

This week’s track by One Weekly Gun is a homage to John Linell. That makes it 23 songs this year.
+ Dear John

Someone mentioned UK duo The River Detectives in a mail yesterday, thus reminding me of one of the most underrated bands in the world. Saturday Night Sunday Morning has to be among the 10 best songs ever written (probably a couple of 100 songs on that list!), so please do check out the video (unfortunately the first few seconds are missing).

Monday...

It’s Monday and I’m tired. Plain and simple and I’m absolutely certain you know exactly what Mondays like these are like!

A Classic Ecucation has just released their debut 5 track 12” vinyl EP. Logically it's named First EP and it features everything recorded by the band so far. It's a 300 copies limited edition and it can be ordered from the band’s webpage. Of course you’ll get a free MP3 download link as well. Did I mention that the EP is good? Well I did now!
+ Victories At Night

The new single Song For by Earlimart was added to the current favorites this weekend. A lovely little pop gem that one!
+ Song for

A new Støj på Frekvensen post has been published.

Everyone else is doing it and now the turn has come to Kent. The Punks Jump Up Remix of the new single Vy Från Ett Luftslott is free to download from the band's webpage.

Every Streetcar...

Some of you may (or may not) recall that I picked Michael Møller’s solo debut album Every Streetcar's Got a Name, An Album About Sex and Desire as my favorite album of last year? The past few days I’ve renewed the friendship and once again I’m in complete awe. Rarely have I listened to an album so beautiful, so honest, so heartfelt and so remarkably close to being flawless. It didn't exactly take the world by storm, when it was released, but I'm not quite sure if the world knows exactly what it's missing? I honestly doubt that this post will open the eyes of the world, but I stubbornly insist at giving it another try.
+ Tennessee
+ All The Girls I Lost In The Fires

Have you downloaded the RAC remix compilation from Stereogum? I'm ashamed to admit that I haven’t, but I most certainly will tonight!

The entire 8 track Demo C by The Antique Toys is now free to download from Last.fm if you like. It's good stuff!
+ Am I Alone?

I'm not very good at watching movies anymore. Inspired by my post two days ago, I tried to watch The Italian Job the other night, but only managed to stay focused for about 10 minutes. I will probably try again tonight, and that opening sequence is still beautiful (and quite dramatic).

Eardrums is making a summer compilation.

Chris is "left to his own devices" today.

Sometimes music doesn't have to be that complicated. I was cleaning out my mailbox when I came across this lo-fi gem by Thos Henley. Described as "folk-psych-pop music on Eastern european instruments".
+ Summer of the Thames

The Mirror Lounge...

The Mirror Lounge is not a new band, but for the time being it’s a highly inactive one. Instead the two band members Stefan and Michael are busy focusing on their recent project Northern Portrait. But despite this connection; don’t expect lots of jangling guitars or any of those short sweet pop tunes that Northern Portrait writes in bunches from the hands of The Mirror Lounge. Instead this is as grandiose, majestic pop music as you’ll ever hear. But rest assure. The songs are still incredibly catchy, sounding like Scott Walker and Richard Hawley having the best of times teaming up with Chris Isaak. One album called Les Elegantiers was recorded and released digitally in 2006, but it seems like it’s no longer available (the links are dead). I’m told that a limited edition of the album might end up being printed someday, but there are no official plans yet! But luckily 4 songs are free to download from the band’s webpage, and I urge you to quickly grab all of them, as this is highly recommendable stuff!
+ So Suddenly
+ Don't Hunt Me Down
+ Drifting into a Secret Area (simply gorgeous)
+ Returns