These are the few facts I know about Lulu and the Lampshades. (… and since everything I know is taken from different unconfirmed sources on the internet, I’m not even sure if I know anything at all):

1. Well, I KNOW this for sure: They sound brilliant, got a wonderful name and play a kind of indie/folk/pop with a lot of soul and playfulness, and I want to hear more! I also know for sure that if you are in London on the 5th of July, you may see them play at Bandstand Busking in Northampton Sq. Islington and that I would love to be there…

2. They are from the UK, and I’m not sure but I think they are from Bristol.

3. The band is main vocalist Lulu (who also plays ukulele and melodica + some rhythm-things as you may see in the video below), second vocalist Heloise (who also plays accordian, violin and the same rhythm-things as Lulu), Jemma (who their myspace says is an actual musician, and who plays bass and guitar) and Dan (who is banging sticks and drums and pots)

4. They used to call themselves Helouisa.

5. They sometimes use dancers dressed as lamps on their concerts.

6. Some of them are zombies.

7. Lulu and Heloise have probably played a lot of handclapping games when they were at school…

Watch this amazing performance by Lulu and Heloise:

I think I have found a new favourite band, a band that has such an effect on me that I want to listen to their songs over and over again and I still want more. 
The beautiful songs of Chariots of Tuna  are the works of Ben Morss, who actually started using the bandname almost ten years ago on various indiepop compilations. At the close of 2008, he started the project again, after having played with bands like Cake, Wheatus and the Pilgrims, made two children’s musicals and played piano in Ed Burns’ feature film Sidewalks of New York.

Chariots of Tuna make super-melodic pop songs with 60s influenced falsetto harmonies and very clever arrangements. The music is full of sweet lightness, but there is nothing made easy here. Ben Morss’ songs are full of interesting arrangement-details and it is easy to hear that these songs are made with care and planning, and with a heart that probably beats for music both from our time and from some decades back. Ben makes the songs, but he is not alone in Chariots of Tuna. He is joined by Dan Davine, Shawn Setaro and Rus Wimbish.

I have heard three of their new songs (all available on myspace) and I want more! Can’t get enough of this music…

Here is the wonderful “War Hero” for you:

MP3: Chariots of Tuna – War Hero

Fanfarlo just posted this one on their site, – a cover of “A minor place” by Bonnie Prince Billy.

Today, I would like to point your attention to a couple of free releases from some other good music blogs. Both of these are highly enjoyable and recommended.

Canciones Pegajosas 2 – Argentinian indie pop, – perfect for summer!

The first one is a compilation-EP from our fellow Music Alliance Pact-blog Zonaindie from Argentina. It’s called “Canciones Pegajosas 2”, which should translate “sticky songs 2”. This is in fact one of my favourites this summer, – I love this one, and it is perfect for sunny and happy summer-days. All artists perform their songs in Spanish, and I have no clue what they sing about, but the atmosphere and the melodies in these songs are perfect for me. It’s mainly guitar-based indie-pop with some acoustic elements. The EP features five songs from artists who never have had the chance to record in a professional studio, and the people at Zonaindie invited them to a studio (Baker Street Studios) and helped them to record their songs professionally. All the songs are published under creative commons, and you are free to upload, copy or share these songs as you wish. They are also available in several formats, incl. mp3, OGG, Flac and even multi track versions. I’m impressed!
You can download it from here: www.cancionespegajosas.org or from this shortcut to the zip file: http://www.archive.org/download/cancionespegajosas2/CancionesPegajosas2.zip
There is also a 10 track “Canciones Pegajosas 1” available on the same site.

Here’s one of the songs from the compilation-EP:

Planeador 2.0 – Mi inconsciencia

Deirdre and Conor – playful acoustic folk-pop with great melodies

The second release comes from the fine music site Beat The Indie Drum.

Their netlabel has recently released their 6th release, and this time it’s a 6 track EP with the Philadelphia band Deirdre and Conor , “at our tiny dinner table”. The EP is full of lovely songs where both Deirdre and Conor sings (I guess that is their names…), acoustic guitars, violins/strings, nice la-la-choirs, glockenspiels and “soft” drums. The music of Deirdre and Conor was definitely a nice new addition to my music library, and one I am sure will be played quite a lot this summer. Very good, and highly recommended!

You can get the EP for free from Beat The Indie Drum’s netlabel, here:

http://www.beattheindiedrum.com/?page_id=252

Here is a song from the ep, and a video:

Deirdre and Conor – We should Self Unite

(My cat is just like me these days)

This post is just a “I’m sorry” from me to you. I haven’t been as active on the blog as I would like to, and even though I have tons of material to write about, I just don’t feel for doing it. I’m struck by some kind of summer laziness, and it has lasted a while. I love listening to music, and I love discovering music, but at the moment it’s so hard writing about it. It will get better, I know, but at the moment I will allow myself some laziness… So, there will be posts once in a while, but not every day. Sorry.

Here’s a little lazy favourite of mine, from an album that has followed me on several sunny holidays. It’s from Birdie’s lovely “Some dusty” album, and the song is of course called…

Birdie – Lazy Day

…and when I’m in the mood for lazy day-songs, here’s a classic from one of my absolute favourite bands:

The Boo Radleys – Lazy day (from “Everything’s Alright Forever”, – oh how I love that album!)