Headphones On

The continuing feature where I throw out some of the new things that have shown up in my inbox lately...

Park Hotell - Size of Spain
Park Hotell - Low On Resistance A sob story showed up in my email about stolen turntables, bad luck, the desire for more but not knowing exactly what that more is supposed to be. Somehow I found it endearing¹. Enter Sweden's Park Hotell. I guess last month they released a double EP called The Guest Who Stayed Forever that was half produced by Bjorn Yttling (as in Peter Bjorn and John² eh?). Quite catchy, kind of addictive. I think I'll need to find a copy of the EP. Out of the three bands I'm writing up today, this is the one that has stuck the hardest.

The Seabellies - Song We Don't Speak Of Once upon a time I was one of those people who owned a bunch of Sarah Records, read every zine I could about The Field Mice, etc. If I was still this exact person I would probably be falling all over Australia's The Seabellies. Even tho I am not quite this person anymore, I am still kind of falling all over this song. The chamber pop gets ratcheted up a notch around the 4 minute mark so give this a listen... and don't cut out early.

Figurines - Hey, Girl Figurines were not new to me when this email showed up, in fact I always get them confused with the Swedish band Envelopes. No, I have no idea why, perhaps it's the plural? Anyway, this teaser single from their new record When The Deer Were Blue is definitely engaging (then again so is the new single from Envelopes 'Smoke In The Desert'). I don't suppose I can just leave this as "I like it" without any real rhyme or reason? I do like it better than that new Envelopes song. That's something isn't it²?

¹ Despite the line of the email that questioned my commitment to sparkle motion knowledge of Swedish indie pop, I am not taking offense. I suppose to a Swede my ridiculous love of Eggstone, North of No South, etc is not that unheard of.
² If what it takes to get this band heard is a lot of PB&J namedropping, I say drop away. The guitar jangle around 1:40 of "Size of Spain" is enough to justify dropping anyone's name.
³ That's actually quite a lot considering that Envelopes record was recorded with Per Sunding. For me to admit anything Per has touched might not be gold is um... out of the ordinary.

Buy some: Park Hotell, The Seabellies, Figurines

Posted by Liz at 07:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I get a ridiculous amount of mail sometimes from bands, their management, their pr, whomever, asking me to hear new songs or talk about a tour. I don't necessarily mind this unsolicited mail because every once in awhile a real gem pops up. I do however feel guilty sometimes for how long it takes me to get through the clutter of press releases and mp3s in my inbox. So today I'm setting out to listen to what I can and put up anything I think has something special...

Stars - The Night Starts Here Alright this is a bit of a cheat but to be fair the press release is at the top of my inbox. Of course I love the new Stars single. It's fantastic to hear Amy sounding like Amy again and not like a Neko Case or Emmylou Harris impersonator. Ooh did I just say that? Sorry but the crunchy guitars and keyboards are a fantastic return to form. The timing on an anticipatory mp3 release couldn't be better either... after the fantastic performance I saw from Memphis a few weeks ago I am definitely on a "Yay Canada" high. The new record In Our Bedroom After The War will drop September 25.

Jesse Harris - Feel I was going to pass on Jesse Harris, but when the song ended my itunes immediately went into a Pernice Brothers song and it made me pause. I think my standard for singer-songwriters is a bit unrealistic. After hearing this song a few more times I could see him becoming a hit amongst television music programmers... his sound is pleasant, unassuming, a bit MOR but not bad really. Someone to watch out for and I wouldn't be opposed to hearing the rest of his debut record Feel (which comes out July 10).

Oh No! Oh My! - The Party Punch
Austin's Oh No! Oh My! are back this summer touring and releasing a new single Between The Devil and The Sea. I've been a supporter of the band for awhile now as they were one of the bands that made Lollapalooza worth it for me last year. This new song seems a bit heavy on The Magnetic Fields influence but really, is there something wrong with that?

Rumble Strips - Alarm Clock (Sportsday Megaphone's Stereo Adventure Remix) - m4a Received in an email from Sportsday Megaphone this aneurysm - inducing - tempo remix of a recently posted song by the UK's Rumble Strips. It makes my brain hurt a bit, kinda in a good way.

Sly Hats - Vampire Sips Now we're talking... although to be fair this one was sent to me by a friend. I know very little about Sly Hats other than they hail from Australia, recently played with The SoftLightes and are probably way too wimpy for you to love as much as I do. Oh well, give a listen with an open mind.

more "From The Mailbag" soon...

Buy some: Stars, Jesse Harris, Oh No! Oh My!, Rumble Strips, Sly Hats

Posted by Liz at 02:16 PM | Permalink