A Look Back At 2008!

2008 was a fantastic year in POP!

I lieu of making a classic "My favorite albums of the year" list like I usually do, I decided this year to follow my love of mixes and make a super amazing mix highlighting my favorite songs of the year! This wasn't much of an album year for me anyway, so this works a little bit better. I did a lot of single buying and listening and as I think many will agree, this year – even more than last – the single really made a return! There were great little records coming from all ends of the world and I grabbed up as many as I could. Being that this mix is a look back at the whole year, it's quite a bit longer than any other mixes that I've made. It came to 32 tracks total, so I decided to break into two parts. Thanks to all the pop bands and pop labels and pop shows that made this year so spectacular! So, anyway, I hope you enjoy these mixes as much as I do and I hope you find something new to love!

Part One Tracklist:
01. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart :: Kurt Cobain's Cardigan
02. The School :: Let It Slip
03. Manhattan Love Suicides :: Jonny Boy
04. The Mai 68s :: Lead Me To A Quiet Cell
05. Crystal Stilts :: Crystal Stilts
06. All Girl Summer Fun Band :: Lost
07. The Lodger :: The Conversation
08. Sexy Kids :: Sisters Are Forever
09. Japan Air :: Claire
10. Eux Autres :: The City All To Himself
11. The Raveonettes :: With My Eyes Closed
12. Minisnap :: A Walk In The Dark
13. Bricolage :: Night Falls With Vertigo
14. The Garlands :: David
15. Liechtenstein :: Apathy
16. Tears Run Rings :: Waiting For The End

DOWNLOAD IT RIGHT NOW! (16 MP3s, 114mb)

Part Two Tracklist:
01. The Bridal Shop :: Violation
02. The Airfields :: Happy And Safe
03. Je Suis Animal :: Painted In My Face
04. The Tartans :: My Baby Doesn't Care For You
05. The Andersen Tapes :: Turn To Speak
06. Strawberry Fair :: Why Won't He Answer
07. Ponies In The Surf :: Holes In The Walls
08. One Happy Island :: Temporary Tattoo
09. Love Is All :: A More Uncertain Future
10. Cause Co-Motion :: I Lie Awake
11. The Lil' Hospital :: Nothing Like A Car Crash
12. The Deirdres :: Milk Is Politics
13. Hello Seahorse! :: Won't Say Anything
14. Scary Monster :: Hot Chocolate Girl
15. Fredrik :: Black Fur
16. School Of Seven Bells :: Half Asleep

DOWNLOAD IT RIGHT NOW! (16 MP3s, 113mb)

P.S. At the moment of writing this post I am already realizing a few songs I wanted to include on the mixes but that I somehow forgot to put on it. Heck, I could have thrown the entirety of The Motif's Cross Paths LP on it; I also meant to include tracks from The Lorimer Sound, Nothern Portrait, and Summer Cats, just to name a few... Blast!! Oh well, perhaps now I may do a wee list. The bands that I loved this year deserve it, I suppose.

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Goodbye Indie-MP3

I know I'm a bit late in my goodbye, but I felt it important to mention. In case you don't already know, Indie-MP3 has finally closed it's internet doors. I knew Tom and Trev were getting pretty busy with all their LostMusic dealings, but I had always been oblivious to the fact that Indie-MP3 might one day be affected. I owe a great huge debt of gratitude to what they've been doing over there since 2001. It's in large part to Indie-MP3 – and also Roque's old blog Mira El Pendulo (inspired by Indie-MP3) – that I even got into the fantastic and lovely world of Indiepop in the first place, so for that I am forever thankful! Indie-MP3 will be very missed, but I can't wait to see what the guys have got planned in the future!

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Two if By Sea are so good

Teresa and Lisle! Two If By Sea!

Two If By Sea are, in a word, heavenly. As a band, they are Teresa (The Haircuts, Junebug) and Lisle (Fireflies), who are such a perfect musical match that I can't believe it didn't happen sooner. Their music is – like I said before – heavenly. Their list of influences pretty much much nails their sound perfectly; The Cat's Miaow, The Field Mice, and The Clientele, just to name a few. At the moment I'm completely in love with "Pale As White," with it's beautiful reverbed guitar and endlessly flowing vocal melody. I haven't had a new band melt my heart and sweep me off my feet like this in a while and it's oh so refreshing! I hiiiiiiiiiighly suggest paying their MySpace page a visit and listening to everything they've got up there, because each one is as fantastic as the next.

Two If By Sea on MySpace!

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Christmas Mix! Finally!

Let's pretend he just saw Santa.

Holy Moly Merry Christmas!!! So, um, sorry about saying I would put this up last Thursday and then actually putting it up five days later, but Christmas picked a bad time of year to take place. If it wasn't finals week and I didn't have a handful of finals projects due I might be able to better take in the abundant cheer that the Christmas season brings. Oh well, at least I've got next week. So, instead of studying for a History of Modern Design exam I bring you Jangle Bells: An Indiepop Christmas! Now, not only is it an incredible play on words, but it is also a very festive, and very enjoyable holiday mix! This mix is a lot more varied than last years, and a bit more interesting, too. There's definitely some of your standard indiepop fare, but there's also the beautiful vocal harmonizing of The Free Design's "Christmas Is The Day," the dancefloor stomp of Thee Headcoatees' "Santa Claus," "Mr. Scrooge" from girl-group, The Orchids, and yknow, much more. So download away and I hope it makes your Christmas just a little bit poppier!

[ZIP]: Jangle Bells: An Indiepop Christmas (12 MP3s, 50mb)

Tracklist:
01. The Cannanes :: Six White Boomers
02. The Aislers Set :: The Snow Doesn't Fall
03. Boyracer :: Every Day Is Christmas With You
04. The Free Design :: Christmas Is The Day
05. The Specific Heats :: Winter Fashions
06. Thee Headcoatees :: Santa Claus
07. The Orchids :: Mr. Scrooge
08. The Raveonettes :: The Christmas Song
09. Betty & The Cavaleros :: Love Will Come Back To You
10. The Garlands :: Christmas Song
11. Velocity Girl :: Merry Christmas, I Love You
12. The Lucksmiths :: The Thought That Counts

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Okay, so I've been getting a fair amount of emails concerning the compilation CD... Well, the short answer is that it's done! It is actually done!!! It's ready to buy and everything, but I haven't made it available to buy yet because I'm gonna be heading home for an extended holiday in a week and I wont be able to mail anything out while I'm there – not to mention that after these last few weeks of school, I just want a break from everything! So, as for the long answer? Expect to be able order one come early to mid January! I promise this time! :) It's funny because they still have "June 2008" screenprinted on the back... oh, procrastination!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

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Crystal Stilts: "Prismatic Room" Video!

The Crystal Stilts' debut LP Alight of Night will go down as being one of my very favorite records of the year. It's become my go-to record for walking around the city this Winter and it's given me even more appreciation for how well tremelo and reverb work together when covered in fuzz. When I saw them back in October they were amazing and life-affirming and damn well blew Vivian Girls right out of the water. But anyway, they've just released a brand new video for "Prismatic Room." I kinda wish they would have made a video for a different song – "Crystal Stilts" or "Bright Night" perhaps – but the video is dreamy and blurry and beautiful, just like the song, so I really cannot complain. You should definitely watch it and enjoy all the 8mm goodness.



Crystal Stilts on MySpace!
They're heading overseas in February. There's lots of dates on MySpace.

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Hey! Christmas Mix coming up later! Get really excited!

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Sharesprings

Sharesprings are a brilliantly noisy pop band from Jakarta, Indonesia. I came upon them on MySpace a couple months ago, probably. I'd planned on mentioning them way earlier – as they're awesome – but they fell through the cracks. They're self-described "tweegazers" and their influences include Yo La Tengo, early My Bloody Valentine, Rocketship. They bring together breathy, reverbed-soaked vocals and noisy, swirling, reverb-soaked guitars to create beautiful soundscapes built upon catchy pop melodies!

They've appeared on several compilations and self-released their Ceiling Blossom demo earlier this year. Here's a song from that demo – it's called "Unclouded" and I'm pretty sure you'll love it! It reminds me quite a bit of early Ride with those ringing guitars and that vocal melody – and just wait until the end when the feedback starts flaring up! Ahh, fantastic!

[MP3]: Sharesprings :: Unclouded (Very Highly Recommended!)

Sharesprings will be part of the Supersonic Sound Fest Tour in Indonesia starting off December 19 in the band's hometown – and capital of Indonesia – Jakarta. The lineup includes other great bands like Astrolab, MellonYellow, Sarin, and The Milo – just to name a few. A poster with the rest of the bands and the dates can be found HERE! If you happen to be in Indonesia, you should definitely check it out!

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Everything With You Video!

I haven't got a lot of time between class to truly explain how much I love this video, and I've gotta get back to sketches, but I highly encourage you to go watch it RIGHT THIS MOMENT!!!



P.S. Christmas Mix soon! As Colin would say – Yow!

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