Another big post for you… I always start out with a list of music and links collected through the last days, and when I start working on those, I find some new ones, and then the post will be 99 % new ones and 1% of the ones I had saved to give you… I guess that might be good, - but my “to-do”-list is just growing insanely that way… Ok, let’s start:
This is one of my finest finds this week:
METAL HEARTS
PHOTO: METAL HEARTS
Metal hearts - socialize
AND
Metal hearts - foothills
- from labelsite
Simplicity at its best. Goodnight songs for the indie people. Give it some time, and let those fantastic, simple words towards the end of “socialize” flow over you. Then, socialize.
Metal hearts from Baltimore, USA, play a kind of calm, experimental indie leaning towards folk and post-rock, if you can imagine. Never too experimental, - just very good music. And don’t be scared of the “metal” word in their name, - this is absolutely not metal.
If you like this one, take a moment to watch their wonderfully fine music video for the song “foothills“. The band recently released their album “socialize” on suicidesqueeze records.
btw: I just realized what a terrible mistake it was to start the show with “this is one of my finest finds this week”, because now you probably think that the rest of this post is just crap. I’ll tell you a secret: It isn’t.
PHOTO: ASSEMBLY NOW
Assembly now - out on 24s
-from bandsite
Assembly now are a 4 piece London indierock orchestra that might be something big soon, especially since NME showed them some interest in one of the latest editions (the last week of march). In my ears, they take the common british indiepop a step further. If you visit their bandsite (link above), you can listen to their full demo and download it. Nice guys. They should do something about those freaky mugshots, though…
PHOTO: CAMERA
Camera - bump into beats
- from bandsite
This is the first single from Camera’s debut album “This is Camera”, released recently. The band was originally started in 2002 in Pittsburgh, PA, but they got their two latest members in august 2005. From the press release, we can read that “The band embodies a sound characterized as invasion-influenced pop. As original as it is classic, the band’s bounce and smooth harmonies freshen up a timeless pop structure.” It’s definitely bouncy! Fun music.
PHOTO: LETTING UP DESPITE GREAT FAULTS
letting up despite great faults - movement (demo)
- from bandsite
5 piece band from Los Angeles. LUDGF play a kind of smooth indie-electronica-pop, with a quite large instrumentation for a band like that: Cello, mandolin, double bass, guitars, bass, vocals and the electronic stuff. According to their website, there will be an EP out soon, and I can’t see that they have released anything else yet. If I’m wrong, punch me in the nose and explain what’s right. If you are a non-violent type, like me, just drop that nose thing. Please.
Stereo 21 - free drinks
AND
Stereo 21 - twice
- from myspace
Got to put in some great stuff from Norway here too, you know. STEREO 21 come from Bergen, and play indie/shoegaze/noisy rock. Their new EP “look what you made us do” is out just now.
Check out their new video for “free drinks” on their website.
PHOTO: CERTAINLY, SIR
Certainly, sir - jealous jacket
- from myspace
Certainly, sir are an electronic popband with fantastic melodies and sounds, from Allston, Massachusetts. They sound in some ways similar to bands like Postal Service or the norwegian Erlend Öye’s (Kings of Convenience) electronic works. Ben Gibbard from Postal Service/DCFC sings on one song on their album “TAN!”, released on the japanese Rallye label late last year.
PHOTO: THE ELEPHANTS
The Elephants - Ann
- from myspace
The Elephants are from Copenhagen, Denmark, and most of their songs are sunshine-indiepop like this, with charming boy-girl vocals. My favourite is their perfect pop song, “caroline knows” (which I think you may find on one of the first eardrums mixtapes), but this one’s a fine one too.
PHOTO: MARYBELL KATASTROPHY
Marybell Katastrophy - Hey Frank
- from myspace
More danish music. Some of you may have heard about Tiger Tunes already, - they were some bloggers favourites a while ago and got quite a lot of publicity. Now, TT has a temporary break, and some of the bandmembers have started to work on their own solo projects. Marybell Karastrophy is Marie Højlund’s solo project, and it may develop to be as interesting as TT or more than that. She has a demo out for sale on her website right now, “4 songs”, where this one is also included. I am always fascinated when vocalists seem to take out all their emotions in the vocals, like we (or maybe just I) can hear on the magnificent chorus on this song. I like it…
Komatrohn - smalltown boy
- from bandsite
Anyone remember this one? “Smalltown boy” was once a hit (and now a classic) from Bronski Beat/ Jimmy Sommerville. This cover is from the swedish electronic project Komatrohn, which I believe is a one man project featuring Tomas Nyström.
PHOTO: THE TINY
The Tiny - mother
- from myspace
The Tiny say their “music is music for ordinary people, with odd characteristics”. That might be me, sometimes. Sometimes not. I’m sometimes ordinary with odd characteristics and sometimes just odd with ordinary characteristics, so sometimes The Tiny works well and sometimes not. I have always been on and off about this band. There are some things I really, really love, and some things I have more trouble with. What I love is Ellekari’s voice and what I have trouble with is Ellekari’s voice. Understand, no? She has a very special, intense voice that is absolutely intensely beautiful for me sometimes and other times not. It’s not a quality-question, - absolutely not, - because I see the quality also in songs I have problems with, and I see that - in the right mood - I might be really into some of those songs. So, the problem is probably me, not The Tiny. They are from Stockholm and their new album “Starring: someone you like” is out this month. I’ll probably buy it and listen to it a lot, especially when I’m in the tiny-mood. This song works for me every time. It’s just fantastic. What a song, what a voice, what a band! Visit their bandsite too!
PHOTO: LAB PARTNERS
Lab partners - Love don’t care
- from sxsw
Tight walls of sound, groovy and filled with catchy guitar riffs. Other people call it droney space rock or “kind of” shoegaze or something. Anyway, the band is called Lab Partners. They hail from Dayton Ohio, and have been around since 1998. More on their website.
PHOTO: SOME BY SEA
Some by Sea - things we carry around
- from sxsw
I guess I’m not very kind if I call them “the poor man’s Death cab for cutie”, because this band has really grown into somthing very good over the last years. When I first heard them a while ago, I liked them quite a lot, but at the same time, I couldn’t free myself from the thought of Ben Gibbard and Death cab for cutie. And Death Cab does Death Cab best. Now, however, Some by Sea sounds quite like a band called…some by sea, and they are good. (…and they still sound a little bit like DCFC, don’t you think?…)
The amazing pilots - all my wasted days
- from sxsw
I can’t remember if I have posted this here before, and I’m too lazy to look it up, but the song is fantastic and the album is fantastic and I curse the one handling the mail between UK and Norway for breaking the cover on my Amazing pilots-CD. The amazing pilots are from Dublin.
Ok, I guess that is enough for now. I can’t promise you another big post for at least a week, but I do have some serious goodies in my “to do”-list, so check back in a couple of days or so. Remember that Eardrums has its own newsfeed that you may use in your favourite RSS/ATOM-reader. That way, you will always be updated instantly when there are new posts here at Eardrums. You find the RSS/Atom-feed in the sidebar at the eardrums frontpage. ALSO: Remember to join us at last.fm, where we have a new eardrums listening group. Link for this is also in the sidebar. Then, I’ll leave you with the music. Now I have got some fishes to feed and some breakfast to eat. Bye, then!
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