Oh my, the kid from Witness now has facial hair!

Brand Spanking New Video :: Cath by Death Cab for Cutie


Song :: Cath by Death Cab for Cutie

3 MC's and one DJ

Scary
Here’s a song I knew and loved in the 80’s. Until now, I had never known what Lene Lovich looked like. This is exactly how I pictured her - especially the way she contorts her gruesome face during all those “uh-oh, uh-oh’s”:
Video :: Lucky Number by Lene Lovich


Death by Cardigan
Here’s a song I knew and loathed in the 80’s. Until now, I had never known what MC Miker G and DJ Sven looked like. This is no way near how I had pictured them. Turns out they’re Dutch, mustacheod and all cardi’ied up - who’d a thunk it?
Video :: Holiday Rap by MC Miker G and DJ Sven'


Canadian Content
Here’s a song I used to be scared of. Down right tame these days. Yes, there was a time when the number of punk-rock go-go dancers equaled that of your band members… A fuckin' classic.
Video :: Hawaii by The Young Canadians


Swede n’ Shouty

The indie-snob in me tried unsuccessfully to not like the original, and now Love is All provide the perfect cover - unique enough to stand on its own while ever respectful of the songs roots. Or whatever...
Song :: So far way from me (Dire straits cover) by Love is all

Old Vid

Can't quite figure out why Danderous D never made it to the bigtime. This track sizzles... like bacon! The intro's priceless as well... "rap music combines rhythm and rhyme and song".


Crap Song/ Crap Video


That ain't your daddy's Charlie Chan!

Gag

Since I'm in a MASSIVE rut when it comes to new music... I offer up the recently voted on number one worst cover version ever just because its impossible to ever stop making fun of her. As with most things Celine, dare ya to get past the 28 second mark...

Dance Dance Revolution

Matt's latest...

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Roller skating bliss with FOTC

Ladies love the feel of the wheel...

Song :: Ladies of the World by Flight of the Conchords
Video :: Ladies of the World by Flight of the Conchords

Found the plot

Looks like, with their new album, Coldplay is poised to put to bed all the mocking they have been receiving over the past few years. Somewhat justified mocking I would say (they were trying a little to hard to achieve superstardom and got caught out). But all appears well again... they knew they had to change some things around with their sound and they did. Without going all Radiohead and inaccessible.

The songs from the upcoming "Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends" are surprisingly excellent. Like this one with its propulsive hand-clap beats:
Song :: Cemeteries of London by Coldplay

Hopefully this stuff has some legs (they've fooled me before).

The New Music

Alison Goldfrapp offers up a breezy summer tune complete with breezy skater girl...
Song :: Caravan Girl by Goldfrapp
Video :: Caravan Girl by Goldfrapp


80's-inspired (jam-packed with every stereotypical 80's sound imaginable) tune from the band with the attention-grabbing name:
Song :: Slow Motion Tag Team by Natalie Portman's Shaved Head

dada da da da-da dada da da da-da dada da da da-da...
Song :: Time to Pretend by Mgmt

No one comes to Reseda

The video for Rogue Wave's catchy "Chicago x 12" is quite clever - playing up on the lyrical misunderstandings we all suffer from occasionally. Some suffer more than others! I had this "problem" constantly while growing up and get bugged to this day for believing "Elvira" was "We'll fire up". An honest mistake... on the part of everyone else (I mean, COME ON, check it out!!!)

Song :: Chicagox12 by Rogue Wave
Video :: Chicago x 12 by Rogue Wave


Video directed by Kermit the Frog apparently.

This town ain't big enough for the both of us

New Sparks... Song :: Lighten Up, Morrissey by Sparks

What kind of a crazy-assed world do we live in where it takes me two weeks to find out that Sparks have released a new album? That won’t happen under Obama’s watch! And it is not like I haven’t been looking either since Sparks are better than ever this particular decade. They have existed for 38 years and, more crucially, they have survived 38 years of questionable hair stylings. Not to mention a whole era of prog-rock. Here they are in vintage 80's glory:

Video :: With All My Might by Sparks

Make me invisible

90's ethereal shoegazers Lush have be reincarnated... in the form of Sheffield's Slow Down Tallahassee:
Song :: Electric Sun by Slow Down Tallahassee
Song :: The Beautiful Light by Slow Down Tallahassee

With only ourselves... we are truly free:
Video :: Electric Sun by Slow Down Tallahassee

Ichiban ya

Funny...

Video :: The Japanese Office

Fountains of Soda

For a band that spits out such generic, boring tunes, Weezer at least knows how to hire a video director. The new one for "Pork and Beans" ("I don't give a hoot about what you think"... eghads!) is a Youtube geek's wet dream. They even enticed that crying Britney fella to make a cameo (some free eye make-up would have done it).

Video :: Pork and Beans by Weezer

Summer here kids

It was the first day of shorts n' t-shirt weather here today!!!

Song :: Summer Here Kids by Grandaddy
Video :: Summer Here Kids by Grandaddy


I'm not sure why Grandaddy Jason's guitar playing style never caught on with the cool kids!?!

And Coldplay have a new video out... not that anyone cares. They jumped on the couch long ago. The new song is not too bad though and the video is pretty fresh for such an over-the-top outfit:

Video :: Violet Hill by Coldplay


UPDATE: The first video has been removed. Coldplay currently have an even better/ politically charged version available now:

My red balloon deflates every time I go into the office

Hailing from Portsmouth, The Strange Death of Liberal England (TSDOLE) are - so says TSDOLE - the sound of "an elephant arguing with a mouse!"

Song :: Oh Solitude by The Strange Death of Liberal England
Video :: Oh Solitude by The Strange Death of Liberal England


Also... the brand new video for Angelou features flamboyant hair and flamboyant tambourine.

Chip Chip

Someone standing on a stage, crouching behind a laptop, may not be your average Led Zeppelin fan’s vision of the proper historical progression of live music, but it is increasingly becoming the norm. In bizzaro-land indie circles that is. Plug in an iPod and a Game Boy and you have a full-blown band! Apparently there is a name for the blip-squeak-blooping sounds that emanate from laptop, various electronics and a Game Boy: chip/ bitpop. Sexy huh?

Chip/ bitpop is, at least, what one sixteen year old Swede, who goes by the name of Super Multifaros, refers to his Game Boy creations. The following, particularly fine, example of this music is the best darn thing I’ve heard all week (though I have, admittedly, hit a bit of a dry patch):

Song :: The Factory by Super Multifaros

Super says that, for a wee commission, he will gladly score for you some “hardcore” video game music should you have, you know, just completed programming your very own video game.

To further solidify my geekdom... there is a Bitpop/ chipmusic festival in Sweden in a couple of weeks that looks pretty cool. fsFreak does the theme song to the excellent digital poster:

Song :: About you now by Sugababes, remixed by fsFreak

Pick it up yourself

Here’s a transcript of an actual conversation that took place yesterday between myself and an Actual Eight Year Old (AEYO):

AEYO: “Woops”
Me: “Ahhh, spilled root beer on the floor - great!”
AEYO: “ ”
Me: “Did you want to help clean it up?”
AEYO: “No”
Me: “Is there not any part of you telling yourself ‘I could really help out with that spill’?”
AEYO: “No”
Me: “Well, I guess as you get older you will start to have those thoughts.”
AEYO: “I don’t think so. I don’t now so I don’t think I will when I’m older either.”

On that note, here is a video clip for “Pick it up” from Yo Gabba Gabba. The message is lame... truly lame. I suspect it is immensely popular with the flock of parents looking for that quick fix though. In any event, the groove is infectious and will leave you asking why the heckfire all “children’s music” is not ska-based!

Video :: Pick it up from Yo Gabba Gabba


“Yo Gabba Gabba” gets screamed out a lot around our house. No one has ever seen the program on television, we just like screaming out “Yo Gabba Gabba”…. as anyone would. And what an aswesome theme song it has!

Crystal Castles

In case there is any doubt regarding who the best new band over the past year is...

Song :: Crimewave by Crystal Castles

Here's the first minute and a half of Crystal Castles' "Black Panther":
Video Teaser :: Black Panther (now with 100% more lederhosen)

Swedes to keep an eye on

Gothenburg's Love Is All playing Wishing Well at a train station, Oslo...


#16.1 Love Is All - Wishing Well from Handheld Shows on Vimeo.

Song :: New Beginnings (demo) by Love Is All

Shouty Swede-accented female vocals can only be a good thing!

Best New Music of '08... so far

Okay, I've given "Hey Ma" a week of constant attention in order to rid myself of the bias that comes with judging new material from bands you've grown with over the decades. And I believe I have yet to fully discover just how brilliant this new James album is. This stuff needs to be heard!

Song :: Waterfall by James

"Waterfall" is a tight track and the chorus is "radio-friendly", in an alternative kinda way. Listen to how Tim Booth sings the criticized, not-so-original words "don’t take a phone company to tell you life’s pay as you go"... almost as a sigh. He is in top form here. Signature James guitars, piano and blaring horns flesh out this song. The album is full of this.

"My mirrors laughing at me, says boy are you getting old
There’s so much junk in your life what you’ve got you don’t even know
Don’t take a phone company to tell you life’s pay as you go
I wonder how much of life is set up in utero"

There is a "Hey Ma" rehearsal video and an excellent, fun interview here:
Myspace :: Jamesisnotaperson

One thing though... wherever you are, Tim Booth's 'fro... please come back!