Music to drink tea by
Archive for year 2007
Three, two, one..
74 years ago
in Site News
So here I am on New Years Eve writing on my blog where I haven’t posted anything for the past month. There has to be something sort of wrong about that.
No matter though, as we’re heading into the new year with a hopefully revitalised blog. Anyone who visits occasionally will have realised that I’ve been slack with this thing lately. This has been brought on by a number of things. Most of them are out of the way now though, so we should be getting back to normal. I’ve got a brand new layout a bunch of ideas in my head for how I want to take things over the year, and we’ll have to see how many of them actually stick.
So tomorrow we’ll start with the first part of my top 44 songs from 2007. There’s no real reason why it’s 44 anymore than there was a reason for it being 49 last year. After that, I’ll hopefully settle into a format that I have kicking around that will allow for regular updates without draining me too much. Either way, there will be more content than there has been recently, so let’s see where we go from here.
It occurs to me that I never got around to covering any other Great British Hopes beyond Johnny Foreigner. The series would have also included 4 or 5 Magicians, Sky Larkin and Kotki Dwa. Go check them out and take in their awesomeness.
The Hi-Life Companion
14 years ago
in MP3s
The Hi-Life Companion are one of those indie-pop collectives that seem to be very fashionable at the moment. When they sent me their CD they had seven members, but they are probably up to nine or ten by now. Some of them have other bands, some of them don’t, and some of them don’t even know they are in this band.
The band seem to defy genre with each song seemingly influenced by a different style, something which I imagine is inevitable with so many people behind a band. Each style works with varying degrees of success, but it’s You’re The Greatest that works best for me, a snappy (it runs less than two minutes) throwback to joyous 60′s pop complete with the required handclaps and male-female harmonies.
MP3 The Hi-Life Companion – You’re The Greatest (expired)
The Hi-Life Companion’s three song single can be purchased for only $5 from Cloudberry Records.
Laura Sings Liver
44 years ago
in MP3s
It’s amazing what you can find by just exploring the Myspace friends of bands that you enjoy. Last night my route took me from the excellent Sky Larkin to the rather good Kotki Dwa (who will probably end up here soon enough) until I eventually landed on Laura Sings Liver. Or maybe it’s Laura Hocking. I have no idea which the official “band” name is, but it really doesn’t matter.
The formula for Laura Sings Liver is “one girl + guitar + glockenspiel + Audacity, with occasional mechanical interruptions”, which most people will agree is an excellent combination. The songs are simple, usually just the gently played guitar and the words. Which is fine when you have a voice like this. Each song is a remarkably literate little story. Usually when I’m trying out new bands I end up listening to about a minute of a few songs before moving on. Every one of the songs on her Myspace pages had me engrossed from start to finish, something that’s rather rare these days.
MP3 Laura Sings Liver – Strongmen & Acrobats (expired)
MP3 Laura Sings Liver – City Song (expired)
MP3 Laura Sings Liver – Swim Thru (expired)
Laura Sings Liver has not one, not two, but three Myspace accounts, all with songs for free downloads, meaning you’ve got no less than 14 songs to go and download. Make sure you do, every single one is worthwhile.
Laura Sings Liver: Myspace || 2nd Myspace || 3rd Myspace
Great British Hopes 2008 #1: Johnny Foreigner
44 years ago
Great British Hopes will be a recurring feature between now and the end of the year, looking at the best bands on the verge of greatness the UK has to offer.
Yep, I’m awesome.
Here is what I said about Johnny Foreigner back in January:
Their recorded songs sound like they were recorded from the inside of a steel dustbin.
Here’s what I am saying about them now:
Johnny Foreigner are the best band in the country right now.
Which is technically inaccurate as they just flew out to New York, but we won’t be picky about the trivial details. It seems fitting that one of our Great British Hopes should be one of the first British bands I wrote about at the start of the year, and no one deserves it more than these guys. It was almost a year ago to the day that I first encountered Johnny Foreigner, playing second on a bill of four bands to a half empty room in the Dublin Castle. Their live performance blew me away, but their recorded material sounded terrible, hence the above quote.
What a difference a year can make though. Over the past twelve months, a bunch of new songs have appeared, each sounding better than the last. The production values have improved dramatically, as has their ability. The songwriting is far more refined, and even the recorded songs now capture the same reckless abandon that their live show did. The band made the finals of Channel 4′s Road to V contest, has supported Los Campesinos!, Idlewild and probably a bunch of other highly regarded bands.
All of which has led to them finally signing a record deal with Best Before Records, who will be releasing their first proper EP/mini album thing in the next few weeks. The new songs from it that I’ve heard are stunning, even blowing the ones below out the water. Seriously, this band has made me more excited about anything musically than I have been in quite some time. These guys will be huge. It’s only a matter of time.
MP3 Johnny Foreigner – Sometimes in the Bullring (expired)
MP3 Johnny Foreigner – Our Bipolar Friends (expired)
What others are saying..
“..quite incapable of producing anything other than an unholy racket.” – To Die By Your Side
“Very excitable, very inspiring, very potent” – The Runout Groove
Johnny Foreigner’s debut release, Arcs Across the City will be released via Best Before Records toward the end of November. At a guess, I’d say the 26th. You can listen to a bunch of the songs on it at the band’s Myspace. While there you can also download I Like You Mostly Late At Never, their 15 song demo.
Johnny Foreigner: Myspace
New Friends of the Bride: ‘So You Think You Can Dance?’
2Still continuing to party like it’s 1959, London’s Friends of the Bride are back with yet another top notch single. So, You Think You Can Dance? is perhaps their boldest effort to date, a glorious assault on kids who really aren’t as cool as they think they are. Which is something these guys are fit to decide, obviously being the epitome of cool. Who else but the coolest kids would use the phrase “smack in the chops” these days?
The lavish video can be found below, featuring the band having a hedonistic time playing Scrabble and croquet. Well, that might have been hedonistic fifty years ago, but that’s part of the charm.
So You Think You Can Dance? will be released on 7″ vinyl via Young & Lost Club Records on November 26.
One of the classics..
MP3 Friends of the Bride – Cut Down On My Friends (expired)
Friends of the Bride: Myspace
New Nada Surf: ‘See These Bones’
44 years ago
in MP3s
The Nada Surf rollercoaster is gearing up for it’s third ascent. After reaching a high on their first album, plummeting to earth for their second, up again for the third and dropping for the crushing mediocrity of the last one, they are back for another go. The band is preparing to release their fifth studio album, Lucky, early in the new year. Thanks to the wonders of the internets, a song is already available from it.
Unfortunately I don’t really know what to make of it. Certainly it’s better than nearly everything off of the last album, but it’s still kind of flat. These mid-tempo, mildly rocking numbers seem to be their most common type of late, but they aren’t usually the strongest or most daring. It’s usually the more reflective songs that work best for me, or the ones that really want to rock. And Popular of course, but I can’t see them doing that again. That said, it sounds lovely, creating a richer sound than the band can usually achieve, and it’s certainly stronger than some of their past efforts lyrically.
So what does all this mean for the next album? I have absolutely no idea, but at least it’s made me curious.
MP3 Nada Surf – See These Bones (expired)
What others are saying..
“..an attractive song that will fit well on radio, without sacrificing the band’s musical integrity.” – Puddlegum
“..songs like this go a long way in showing that you don’t always have to do something original, just make sure that you’re really good at whatever it is that you’re doing.” – Side One: Track One
“..a strong track with sweeping melody, really picking up towards its killer ending..” – My Little Ghost Friend
Lucky will be released next year via Barsuk Records.
Some of the classics..
New Jenny Owen Youngs video: ‘Was I’
2It was March of last year that I first wrote about Jenny Owen Youngs on this blog. That was around the time I first discovered her wonderful song called Fuck Was I, a gentle, haunting song about regret. It was one of my favourite songs of last year, despite me never really getting into the rest of her material.
Since then, she has been signed by majorish record label Nettwerk who have reissued her first album, Batten the Hatches. In recent months she has toured the UK, released a split EP with Dave House and recorded a cover of Nelly’s Hot in Here, the video of which you’ll find further down.
Convinced that the original album hasn’t been milked enough, we now have the video for Was I, which seems to be a variation of the original song I wrote about a year and a half ago. To be perfectly honest, I’m not a huge fan of it’s rather non-sensical “What the was I thinking?” chorus, but hey, the violins are still nice.
And here’s the Hot in Here video that I never got around to writing about a few months ago:
Batten the Hatches was released in the UK about a month ago via Nettwerk. Was I is presumably being released as a single, but I have no idea when.
One of the classics..
MP3 Jenny Owen Youngs – Voice on Tape (expired)
New Math & Physics Club: ‘Baby I’m Yours’
14 years ago
in MP3s
Man, these tweepop releases keep sneaking up on me out of nowhere. With Tullycraft releasing a new album with hardly any notice this week, it seems that fellow Seattle poppers Math & Physics Club have slyly snuck out a new EP. Entitled Baby I’m Yours, it’s four new songs (well, three new ones and a new version of an old one) marking their first new material since their debut album a year ago. Is there anything new here? Not at all, but when pop comes this jangly, this sweeping and this melancholy, I’m really not going to argue.
MP3 Math & Physics Club – Baby I’m Yours (expired)
The Baby I’m Yours EP was released last month via Matinee Recordings.
Some of the classics..
MP3 Math & Physics Club – Movie Ending Romance (expired)
MP3 Math & Physics Club – Darling, Please Come Home (expired)
Math & Physics Club: Website
Video: Los Campesinos – The International Tweexcore Underground
2It’s almost as if Los Campesinos! had my checklist of things that make a song great when coming up with their latest single. Sparring boy-girl vocals? Frequent time changes? References to seemingly forgotten twee artists? All present and accounted for.
The song seems to be about a boy who likes twee and a girl who likes hardcore rock, and they come together by combining it to form tweecore? Something like that maybe? I really have no idea, as it’s far too tempting to ignore what the words are actually saying and just shout along with them anyway.
The International Tweexcore Underground will be released this Monday via Wichita Recordings, and will include a cover of Heavenly’s most excellent C is the Heavenly Option as a b-side. Which is the bit I’m most excited about.
Older Los Campesinos!..
MP3 Los Campesinos! – Don’t Tell Me To Do The Math(s)
MP3 Los Campesinos! – We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives
Sunny Intervals
04 years ago
in MP3s
Those scamps at Weepop are at it once again. After putting out some damn fine twee releases (details here), they have just released the debut EP from Sunny Intervals, the side project of Andy from the mighty Pocketbooks.
The ground covered here isn’t that different from Pocketbooks at all, but I’d probably be disappointed if it was. We’re talking lo-fi pop gems full of layered vocals, keyboards and summer adventures in the city. Catchy melodies and vivid imagery is the name of the game here rather than technical perfection, but the ramshackle feel adds a certain charm of its own.
MP3 Sunny Intervals – Sixty Seconds To Fall In Love (expired)
