A Shortened Shortlist

The short list for the Polaris Music Prize has been announced! (I'm going to act all enthusiastic, as if I've been looking forward to this all year, but in fact I only just found out about it. Hush, don't tell).

This starts off a tiny little bit MOR, but it builds up into something very nice indeed. Hey Rosetta, Seeds

I've only heard the first thirty seconds of this so far, and I like it already. Timber Timbre, Black Water

Dancerock'n'roll! Galaxie, Camouflar

It's taking me a while, surprisingly, but I'm getting to really like this band. Arcade Fire, The Suburbs

I hear some Florence Welch in her voice. Austra, The Choke

Well, this is laidback. Good though. Braids, Native Speaker

The other people up for this prize are Destroyer, Ron Sexsmith, Colin Stetson, and The Weeknd, but I'm not keen on them, so there. But good luck to all of 'em!

Mollx

A Midweek Addiction Update

There comes a point, every week-and-a-half or so, that songs that have been playlisted on Radio 6 Music have wormed their way into my head, and I have to share them just so I can make room for more (read: The new Shonen Knife album is almost out. I thus need to clear out my head in order to fill it with Japanese pop-punk)

I'm really rather addicted to this. The Horrors, Still Life

And even more so to this, so her album is added to my mental list. Lykke Li, Rich Kid's Blues

I find this guy/band's music quite interesting. It's not often you find a band influenced by Eastern European folk (which, I'm lead to believe, involves a lot of brass). Beirut, East Harlem

Mollx

In case you're in need of a release date, Shonen Knife's Free Time is out in Europe on July 11. Those bloody lucky Americans (not bitter, at all) have already had it for AGES!!!!

Label Day: Skybucket Records

Well, with name like that, I had to, didn't I?

And this band describes themselves as "The best American band pretending to be a British band influenced by American music since Guided By Voices". Vulture Whale, Thought Eyes 

Feedback, undernourished keyboards, a singer that sounds like the guy from Pavement, and that whole loud/quiet Pixies thing. 13ghosts, Just Got Dead

They're better than their terrible band name makes them sound, don't you worry. His voice also gets less annoying as it goes on. Taylor And The Puffs, Summer's Comin'

There are free songs also scattered around the Skybucket Band's pages. (See 'em? There, underneath the "Other Bands" box).

Mollx

("Patriotic") Music Monday

You may have noticed it's the fourth of July. Happy Independence Day, dear American readers (Don't bother hiding under the desk. I know you're there. MWAHAHAHA!)

Pretty obvious, and I think I may have already posted this (but I can't be bothered checking). The Strokes, New York City Cops

It's very possible that, unlike many poeple, I prefer early Manics to later Manics. Manic Street Preachers (here including Richey Edwards), Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwouldfallapart

Soul music doesn't appear very often on this here blog. This is because I HATE SOUL! (NO! Back off! I'm joking! Joking, man!) Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, This Land Is Your Land

Mollx

AOTS: Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer

The first thing you notice is that their style of everything-but-the-kitchen-sink avaunt-garde electro-rock is still intact; only more so. Synths fade in and out in waves of glitter, bass and guitar lines bounce around and the drums just follow amiably - and that's only in the 4:37 minutes long first track Soldier's Grin. Boeckner's voice is the only grounding force - without him, you get the feeling that it would all spiral out of control. Call It A Ritual is the exact opposite, with slow, stately rhythms and howls of feedback backing Krug's layered threats ("I said, I'll make the decisions, you just drive"). We're back with Boeckner for Language City, who appears to have calmed down following his co-vocalist's ominous efforts, but not by much. It is more understated than the first track, but given how riotous that was, that doesn't say an awful lot. Bang Your Drum goes back to that original mass of twinkling sound, and Krug's leaning towards the weirder side hasn't grown out yet, it seems, and thank god for such small mercies. Following it, California Dreamer does little to lighten the atmosphere. Its energetic refrain, "I thought I might have heard you on the radio/But the radio waves were like stone" is somewhat at odds with the dark, clammy surroundings, but in doing so stands out as a fantastic track in an album of fantastic tracks. Even the albums "weaker" tracks, like Fine Young Cannibals or An Animal In Your Care, aren't even weak in the traditional sense. They're strong growers,rather than inferior songs. AMZ ends on a more immediate note, though, with Kissing The Beehive and its tight, charging rhythms, and the only Boeckner/Krug duet of the album. It sounds more united than the others, tying off the album with a typically anthemic Wolf Parade classic.

Mollx

Song Of The Week

Today's SOTW is a bit of bleepy coolness: Vetiver, Can't You Tell

Mollx

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Sorry, had to get that out of my system. I've got writers block. AGAIN! ALL GODDAMN WEEK!!!

I suppose all the following had to get something out of their systems too...

Love that bassline. Ain't It A Shame
Well, he's living up to his name. I Put A Spell On You
Hope it didn't! Earth Died Screaming

Mollx