I Am The Crime
A Fine Mess
Home Compilation Vol. 1
Mar 17th
Just a quick post to give a heads up about a great compilation from Rash Records, called Home. While it’s free of charge to download, you can choose to pay for it as well in order to contribute to the making of the next volume.
This volume is described as “an album of warm home spun charm. This is a wonderfully relaxed and optimistic album with Melodic sounds to the fore. The music on this album ranges from quirky pop and folk flavours, from electronica to latin touches. Johnno Casson (aka Snippet) brings together 15 under the radar artists in a bewitching and refreshing compilation.”
Sound good, yeah? Well then head over here, type in your email address and download it for free or whatever you want to pay.
I Don’t Want To Party (But I Want Popcorn)
Mar 12th
It’s Friday night, I’m bored and feeling a bit down, I ate far too much chocolate earlier (again) and am currently wishing I had some popcorn to snack on as well. But I have no popcorn, only tea and apples, so here’s some good music I’ve been meaning to write about and that deserves your attention:
~ She Sir – “Golden Ways” ~
~ Thrushes – “Crystals” ~
~ Cults – “Go Outside” ~
~ Keepaway – “Yellow Wings” ~
~ Cate Le Bon – “Shoeing The Bones” ~
~ Wild Nothing – “Summer Holiday” ~
~ Active Child – “Body Heat (So Far Away)” ~
~ Philadelphia Grand Jury – “I Don’t Want To Party (Party)” ~
~ The Delta Mirror – “He Was Worse Than The Needle He Gave You” ~
Jen Wood – “Finds You In Love”
Mar 11th
I’ll admit to being a bit unsure about Jen Wood at first. Granted that I haven’t heard any of her previous works, but Find You In Love’s opening track (and promotional mp3) “Pills” has far too much teen-angst for me to take it seriously. Fact is it gives me the image of a 17-year old girl sitting in her room, writing the dear diary-like lyrics in a pretty note book while looking out the window now and then to ponder over why she can’t seem relate to other people her age. And Jen Wood is not in her teens any more.
Luckily the vacuous “Pills” is rather lonely at the very bottom of the barrel as other tracks manage to float higher, some even reaching the surface. “Zeppelin”, for instance is rather nice with it’s autumn-like beauty, as is “Red Sun”, but neither songs are particularly memorable. “Beautiful”, “Trust” and “People Like Us” on the other hand have a more intricate touch to them, sometimes both lyric- as well as melody wise.
The best tracks however are the introspective ballad “Flight”, and the slightly more playful “Beautiful Morning” which actually offers the listener some surprise with its shifts in mood and tempo. But I’m afraid the overall impression I get of Finds You In Love is “girl with guitar feels sorry for herself and sings a bit about it”.
~ “Pills” , “Zeppelin” ~
Sweet Offering from The Sweet Serenades
Mar 9th
The Sweet Serenades‘ new song “Die Young” actually kind of suits their name as it is a sweet (albeit bitterly so) duet with Club 8 singer Karolina about the dangers of falling in love with a one night stand. Apparently it was featured in an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, but what upcoming-yet-already-popular-in-the-blog-world band hasn’t been featured on that show? I just hope The Sweet Serenades don’t suffer the same fate as Imogen Heap who I used to adore but can’t listen to anymore without imagining Marissa and Ryan from The O.C. pouting over whatever injustice their upper-class lives have inflicted upon them (or the SNL skit it resulted in, but at least that one was kind of funny). No, do the song justice and listen to it without having it tainted by the context of some American soap drama. And if you simply must have something to watch while listening, then check out the cute video:
“Die Young” is available on The Sweet Serenades debut album Balcony Cigarettes (a previously posted track from said album can still be found here).
Sparklin’ Saturday
Feb 27th
Sorry sorry sorry! I meant to post this song ages ago, but unfortunately it coincided with my identity crisis as a music blogger a while back.
Atlanta duo La Chansons have gotten a bit of flack in reviews lately but then their kitschy 80s electropop is hardly for everyone. Personally I find them adorable (I’ve featured them here before for a reason, after all) and the new track “Sparklin’” simply cements that opinion. I mean, it’s a cute song about rollerskating, how can you not like that? Plus, there’s quite a bit of tongue in cheek to their sound and image (just look at the album cover for Pete’s sake).
Taken from their sophomore effort, the aptly titled King And Queen Of The Dance Floor, released via Stickfigure Records.
~ “Sparklin’” ~
Chew Lips – “Seven”
Feb 26th
I haven’t been sure whether or not to feature Chew Lips here, as I got over their album Unicorn pretty fast. It has all the element for me to enjoy it: electro pop with female vocals, good hooks and so on, but I found a lot of the songs to sound too similar to one another, leaving me with a rather blurred impression of the album as a whole. I do still enjoy the song “Seven” though, and since they have a pretty cool video for it plus are offering the mp3 for free, I figured why not share it:
~ “Seven” ~
Balmorhea album, tour
Feb 23rd
Balmorhea (pronounced bal-more-ay) are releasing their new album Constellations today which follows their previous releases All is Wild, All is Silent (2009) and Rivers Arms (2008). I actually haven’t had a chance to listen to it yet but if the free song “Bowspirit” is any indication, I think I’m gonna love it. Acoustic instrumental and very down to earth, “Bowspirit” offers you a bit of peace of mind despite its sometime melancholic sound. To put it simply: it’s beautiful.
Tour dates
03.17 • Red Bird SXSW Showcase – Central Presbyterian Church (Austin, TX) %
03.19 • SXSW – Western Vinyl Showcase (Austin, TX) ^
04.01 • Feinkost Lampe (Hannover, Germany)
04.02 • Magnet (Berlin, Germany)
04.03 • Jaz (Rostock, Germany)
04.04 • Roepaen (Ottersum, The Netherlands)
04.05 • Paradiso (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
04.06 • Curieuze Neuze (Gent, Belgium)
04.07 • Cellule 133A (Brussels, Belgium)
04.08 • Bardens Boudoir (London, England)
04.11 • Captain’s Rest (Glasgow, Scotland)
04.15 • Werkstatt (Chur, Switzerland)
04.16 • Bad Bonn (Düdingen, Switzerland)
04.17 • Alte Landi (Vinels, Switzerland)
04.20 • Societäts Theater (Dresden, Germany)
04.25 • Ekko (Utrecht, The Netherlands)
% w/ Hauschka & Dustin O’Halloran, ^ w/ Ola Podrida & Sleep Whale
~ “Bowspirit” ~
A Hand In Heaven
Feb 21st
~ Jonathan Johansson – “En hand i himlen” ~
Why am I posting this? Because I’m somewhat in love with this song today, that’s why. The Fredrick Carlsson remix is still available here.
Crime Waves
Feb 18th
~ Paul and the Patients – “Tiny Red Light” ~
A very good song, but perhaps a bit too commercial as I instantly can imagine it being used in any prime time American teen drama (maybe it already has, what do I know?). But since I like it very much, I’ll overlook that. Nice contrast between male and female vocals. Kinda Snow Patrol-ish?
~ Mirrors – “Look At Me” ~
This is so deliciously 80s/New Romantic to me. And this trio hails from the home of New Romantic – Britain – so they should know what they’re doing. Lush and cheesy, all at the same time. Synthesizers and electric drums, ahoy!
~ Hancock Basement – “We Started Something” ~
One listen and you’ll be singing “No no no no no, it don’t mean nothin’!”, I swear. Upbeat indie-pop from Australia that’s hard to resist. A catchy, feel-good song. From their self-titled EP.
~ Best Coast – “Wish He Was You” ~
Surf pop is something I usually don’t listen much to; the noisy, jangly guitars and abstract vocals usually give me a headache no matter how good the hooks are (and they’re often really good). Best Coast isn’t much of an exception, but this song I really like as it manages to have that cute surf pop sound without splitting my eardrums in half.
~ Dag för Dag – “Ring Me, Elise” ~
The gritty guitars, infectious chorus and the female singer’s Swedish-tinted accent while belting in English is what makes this track completely awesome.
The Actors
Feb 16th
US trio The Actors compare their sound to “Daft Punk and DJ Shadow, Talking Heads and MGMT – hell, even Scott Walker and Blur”, but I’m not so sure if I agree. A mixture between Talking Heads and MGMT is a fair comparison, but they are too soft for the likes of Daft Punk and I’m not sure where Blur comes into the picture other than perhaps in some of the guitar riffs. Personally they make me think more of a re-vamped version of The Cars.
Originally started as a one-man project by singer/bassist/keyboardist Phil Maves, The Actors soon expanded into a trio when drummer Justin Ward (who later left the band and was replaced by Robbie Hammet) and guitarist/keyboardist/singer Dan Leech joined in. Their debut EP Anticipate Heat – which was co-produced by Mark Pistel (Consolidated, Hercules & Love Affair) – was released in late 2009 and could very well thanks to the tracks “Heat In The Street” and “The Skydiver” help the band pave their way in 2010.