Arcade FireI’ve managed to almost entirely avoid the hype surrounding ‘Neon Bible’. I didn’t download any of the leaks, and it was only a few days ago that I listened to ‘Black Mirror’ for the first time. Since then I’ve only heard one more song from the album. While I like both of them, for some reason I can’t seem to get myself excited about hearing the album as a whole. I suppose I had a similar problem with ‘Funeral’. I only really liked the ‘Neighborhood’ songs and didn’t much care for the rest. I’ll still probably end up picking it up once I find it in some bargain bin though. All of that said, I really like the song below. I’ve given up on trying to draw any deep meaning out of their songs, but the imagery is wonderful, and it’s all presented in a vaguely unsettling way. Is the rest of the album like this?

MP3 – Black Mirror (expired)

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Another Form of Relief favourites will be playing a rather unique gig on April 28. They, alongside fellow indiepop bands Slow Down Tallahassee and Tottie, will be playing as part of Indie Tracks in Ripley. The twist here is that the entire event is centred around the railway. Bands will be playing on the station platform, and between sets, an indie disco will be rocking on a 1950s steam train as it bolts through the countryside. You can get fuller details from the Indie Tracks Myspace.

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The Features are back after being dropped by their record label following their ‘Exhibit A’ album. I actually rather liked that album, although I never gave it quite as much atention as I should have done. ‘Contrast’ is the title song from their first self released EP, a jaunty little number that sets the tone for their newer sound. The EP itself is a collection of five songs that you can purchase for only $6 from their website.

MP3 The Features – Contrast (expired)

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Homo Eclectic has two songs from the upcoming full length album. ‘Kid Gloves’ is fantastic, and I think ‘Stephen’ will be a grower like ‘Soft & Warm’ was. This is probably the album I’m most excited about for this year.

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Ted Leo and the PharmacistsThe new and the Pharmacists record, ‘Living With The Living’, is released next week and would you believe it? Ted is still pissed at the state of the US. Like their previous ‘Shake the Sheets’, it’s another collection of powerful, lyrically direct rock songs. Which means while there is nothing unexpected here, it is another solid collection.

‘A Bottle of Buckie’, awkward sounding title aside, is one of Leo’s finest vocal performances yet, knowing perfectly when to jump from the restrained to the forceful. It’s a somewhat sweet song involving love in Glasgow, even if it’s a little weird to hear Leo of all people singing about Neds with their Burberry scarves.

MP3 Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – A Bottle of Buckie (expired)
MP3 Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – The Sons of Cain (expired)
MP3 Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – Bomb. Repeat. Bomb. (expired)

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I try to not post all that many Youtube videos, but I’m including the music video for ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill’ by below. I am doing this for two reasons:
1. It’s an absolutely fantastic song, but I can’t post an mp3 of it.
2. The video is a hell of a lot of fun.
Judging by the amount of play and acclaim this song seems to be getting, I have the feeling we could be looking at something huge here.