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!

Cull me morbid, cull me pale

PETA activist Morrissey has once again decided to boycott touring Canada in protest of our country's continued involvement in sealing. In response to the Canadian government's purported statement that the slaughter is necessary because it provides jobs for local communities, Mozzer noted that the "construction of German gas chambers also provided work for someone – this is not a moral or sound reason for allowing suffering." Morrissey has called for his fans to boycott Canadian goods, saying that Canada has "placed itself alongside China as the cruelest and most self-serving nation." Coincidentally, tonight I had yummy Chinese food served up from a Canadian restaurant. So I'll have to start my boycott tomorrow then.

Song :: Meat is Murder by The Smiths

Hey Ma! Where are you?

Today is new-album-release-day for James as their first output since the reformation gets unleashed on the world! Not quite... unless you live in the UK "Hey Ma" is not yet available (predicted Canada release is two weeks away). The seemingly long-gone practice of holding back foreign release dates (and watching loyal fans pay triple for imports) is not all that long-gone apparently. Congratulations music companies... just when we all thought you couldn't get your heads up your asses any further...

So, today, I bought the excellent Crystal Castles instead. Not quite in the same genre as James, this Canadian electronica duo's sound is more video game than the soaring anthems James has to offer. The video for Air War is listed as a fan creation but its pretty near spot-on and suitably creepy in its own unique little way...

Video :: Air War by Crystal Castles


Song :: Air War by Crystal Castles

So I meet you at the cemetry gates

Just your typical 15-year-old-loner-girl-meets-mr.-popular-at-pet-cemetery type video (actually, the John Hughesian theme and imagery are typical of an M83 project):
New Video :: Graveyard Girl by M83

Just your typical citizenry visiting the airshow type video:
Video :: Truck by The Octopus Project


Just your typical Canadian indie band hanging out on the cracking ice sheet singing your typical indie song featured in your typical Freddie Prinze Jr. drama type video:
Video :: Your Ex-lover Is Dead by Stars


Song :: Cemetry Gates by The Smiths

My wandering days are over

The new Juno soundtrack gets released next week on iTunes. Yeah, more Belle & Sebastian exposure to the masses. Well, the indie masses at least. Who, of course, already know about B&S. So never mind.

Song :: My Wandering Days Are Over by Belle & Sebastian

Pogo-a-Go-Go

Today I was soooo excited to go to the office that I put me on a spanky new white suit, coiffed my 80's hair and left the gas guzzler at home...

Video :: Happiness by Goldfrapp


Song :: Happiness (Metronomy remix feat. The Teenagers) by Goldfrapp

Excuse me while I go and ice my knees...