Monday, August 31, 2009

A monthly mix: September!


Crafted for Fall.

It's monthly mix time again! Just in time for school! I got really excited making this mix because I got to make it seasonally appropriate. Autumn, as some may know, is my number one favorite season of all and it's finally just around the corner! It's just starting to get a little colder at night and that great Autumn smell is just starting to work it's way into the air! There some obviously titled songs (see: MLS and The Castaway Stones tracks), some that just really remind me of Fall (see: Gaze and Pants Yell!) along with a bunch of other new and old tracks that I think you'll find quite fantastic and fitting. I hope that you enjoy it!

Hopefully now that I'll be in more of a set schedule with school, I'll be posting more, too! I've got a lot of great stuff that I want to get up here!

DOWNLOAD IT!*

Tracklist:
01. The Manhattan Love Suicides "Autumn Fades In"
02. #Poundsign# "Coffee Flavoured Friend"
03. Moonpools & Caterpillars "Colossal Youth"
04. Holiday Flyer "Things That Made You Blue"
05. Gaze "400 A.D."
06. Fudge "Pez"
07. Language Of Flowers "Leaving"
08. Tsunami "Water's Edge"
09. The Castaway Stones "Autumn II"
10. The Cat's Miaow "If Things Had Been Different"
11. The Ecstasy Of Saint Theresa "What's"
12. Embarrassing Fruits "Corner"
13. Weed Hounds "Embrace (More Or Less)"
14. Fireflies "Butterscotch"
15. The Magnetic Fields "The Trouble I've Been Looking For"
16. Pants Yell! "Our Turf"

*Apologies for sendspace link, but the file was too big to use drop.io :(

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Apple Orchard: "A Month Of Spring"

I've been loving this new video from Apple Orchard for their upcoming single "A Month Of Spring"! It's supposed to be out on a nice piece of 7" vinyl at yet-to-be-determined date later this year. I'm hoping for sooner rather than later though, because I think this might just be the best thing Ryan and Dale have ever crafted! That guitar line is pretty brilliant, too, guys.



Not content to let a forthcoming 7" be enough, they've also got a fantastic new EP out right now! It's called Leafy Lanes and I'll be mentioning it further later. For now, I'm off to my first day of class. Goodbye Summer!

Apple Orchard on MySpace!

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Friday, August 28, 2009

Higher Than The Stars


Higher Than The Stars

I haven't mentioned the Pains here on Skatterbrain for some time now, I think. That's mostly because I never really said much of a proper word about their debut LP – and I still won't. I couldn't phrase my feelings for it when I first heard it and I still don't believe that my words could do justice to just how great that record has made me feel time and time again. So that's that. For someone with their nose constantly pressed upon on the glass of the indiepop display case at the 2009 store, the Pains have seemed to be perpetually around. Which is great, they deserve it – but it's been a bit tough to keep up with everything Pains in the world, and that's why until now, "Higher Than The Stars" hadn't really done me in. It could be that I just hadn't really listened to it until this morning, but I would be more inclined to say that staying up all night in the rain with my friends on what was effectively the last night of my Summer, followed by a heavy-eyed morning watching the sun come up with coffee in hand and "Higher Than The Stars" blasting as well as it could out of my tiny macbook speakers is what really made it sink in. Contextually, this experience hardly meshes with the song, but those dreamy keyboards and that hypnotic vocal melody are making me feel more than any words possibly could at this very moment. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart fucking matter.

[MP3]: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart :: Higher Than The Stars (<3)

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart on MySpace

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Eggplant


Sweet Anarchy 7" sleeve.

The other day I came across a band called Eggplant while reading the back pages over at I Could Die Tomorrow and after listening to them nonstop and becoming hooked on them, I really can't believe it took me this long to take note of their A+ pop songs. They were from the UK, but had releases on American labels Bus Stop and Pop Narcotic, as well as non-American label, Elefant. Their song "Often I Lie", from the Sweet Anarchy 7", is the quickest, sweetest rush of catchiness I've heard in recent memory. Clocking in at an astounding one minute flat, it practically demands being listened to at least 5 times in a row – at least that's what I've found myself doing. Believe me, it's that good.

[MP3]: Eggplant :: Often I Lie (Waaay Suggested!!!)

If you're into it – and really, you shouldn't be here if you're not – you can head over to I Could Die Tomorrow and download a (pretty much) complete Eggplant discography.

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Thursday, August 20, 2009

Video: Nothing: "My Green Pencil"

While browsing through Elefant's YouTube channel I came across this 1995 video from a band called Nothing and it's the perfect full-steam pop song! – something that wouldn't have sounded the least bit our of place in Slumberland or Bus Stop catalogs of yesteryear. Upon further research I found that they were from Zaragoza, Spain and that they released two LPs and two singles on Elefant between 1995-97. I'm having trouble digging up more than that, but I'm willing to bet Roque will have some light to shed on Nothing. Perhaps I'll make my way over to eBay and see what I can find. For now, listen to "My Green Pencil"!

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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Smittens/Just Joans Split 7"


The Smittens and The Just Joans

The newest 7" release from WeePOP! Records is a real winner! It's an ocean-spanning split single featuring Burlington, Vermont's Smittens and The Just Joans, from Motherwell, Scotland (with love). The two bands have been longtime fans of each other and that mutual love eventually led to this split 7" record with each band covering one of the others' songs as well as an original single of their own! I've had it going since I got ahold of it and let's just say it's a thing of beauty! The Smittens' superb and genuinely moving take on The Just Joans' "What Do We Now?" (which they covered live at this year's NYC Popfest) is probably my personal standout of the four tracks, but The Just Joans' cover of The Smittens' classic "Gin And Platonic" comes in at a close second, sounding about as arresting as a pop song possibly could. Speaking of which, the chorus of "Gin And Platonic" has always reminded me of The Go-Gos' "Vacation" – am I just crazy?

Anyway, to be clear, every track of this record is frankly the kitten's whiskers, so do yourself a big, big Summer favor and grab this one up post-haste! You can preorder it right now from WeePOP!

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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Video: Slumber Party: "Sooner Or Later"

Found this on Youtube last night. It's from SXSW 2000! "Sooner Or Later" is my absolute favorite Slumber Party song, so wehther you already like it or not, you need to watch this video! It doesn't appear to have that many views, but I'll make quick work of that. Notice how they barely move around. Nice.

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Veronica Falls


Veronica Falls

Meet my newest crush: Veronica Falls. Now that they've finally dragged me all the way to the ground and buried themselves inside my heart, I felt like I should post the song that got me, and encourage you, best as I could, to listen to it. Well, I would by no means consider myself a writer, and after reading what Jack had written on Transparent Blog about the band, I felt like nothing I could ever muster would surpass it. So, instead of rambling on, these are Jack Shankly's words:

So this is what the afterlife looks like for the teenage bedroom-buried, cassette-tape entombed legacy of C86, now possessing a new generation of beautiful bookworms after its initial believers let slip their hopeful dreams of forever – a little more world-worn and ghostly palloured than its precursor but clutching the same cosy, sunday morning pop sensibility to its chest all the same. “Found Love In A Graveyard” by London’s sore-hearted collectors of all things group harmonised and unrequitedly in love VERONICA FALLS sees the rosy-cheeked, cardigan chaste pinup of countless 7” single sleeves ago revisited twenty years on and we find her in a strange state – powerlessly possessed in a torn wedding dress, tearing flowers to pieces by the grave of some morbidly handsome beau who jilted her for another world altogether. You get the feeling she’ll pull through though, and by the time the chorus (a real, dead-raising miracle of a chorus no less) drops, the declaration of “I’m Broken Hearted” sounds less the weepy drivel of a person driven to distraction and more a declaration of empowerment and pride. You’ve got to suffer to sing the blues, or something like that.

Fall in love with Veronica Falls while you can – because as good as these kids are at stealing hearts, they're pretty shit at keeping a band together.

[MP3]: Veronica Falls :: Found Love In A Graveyard (Highly Recommended!)

The will be out soonish on Captured Tracks and it's gonna tear up hearts all across the world and I really just can't wait to listen to it in my room with the lights off.

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Monday, August 10, 2009

The Drums: "Let's Go Surfing" (Knight School version)

The Drums original version of "Let's Go Surfing" was already a much-loved, seemingly perfect Summer jam in my book, but then I found out Kevin of Knight School was remixing and I got really excited. Kevin's version is not too radically different from the original, but it seems to have added the extra bits of sun, sand, and surf that I wasn't even aware the original was lacking until now! The newly added classic clapping chant intro is a super pleasant surprise, too, and I've found myself singing it inside and outside of my head for the past several days. Summer is totally great sometimes. Listen! YOU HAVE TO LISTEN!

[MP3]: The Drums :: Let's Go Surfing (Knight School version)

The Knight School version was made available as a free digital download from Holiday Records. They've got quite a few more fantastic free releases over there, too, including a single from a band I recently fell in love with, Sunshower Orphans. Check it out!

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Friday, August 07, 2009

New World Atlas track: "The Winter Stories"


World Atlas

I've mention World Atlas once before and I'm still as enamored with their songs as I was then. They still seem to be relatively unnoticed, which is unbelievable to me when they're sporting songs like new song "The Winter Stories", which they just posted up on MySpace today! The song is apparently from their EP which is vaguely forthcoming. "The Winter Stories", like the rest of their songs, just tears my pop heart in two. Again, it's impossible to deny the B&S comparison on this one, but also again, who cares? Stuart isn't likely to be cranking out anything like this ever again, so I for one am very grateful of World Atlas' brilliant effort to keep the melancholy coming.

Listen to "The Winter Stories" on MySpace!

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Voxtrot: New single 'Berlin, Without Return...'


Berlin, Without Return... cover art.

Voxtrot. Now that's a name I really haven't considered in quite some time. Thanks to Tom an IndieMP3 for the heads up! I was absolutely obsessed with their early singles back in 2006, but like many others, I was pretty disappointed with the direction of their debut LP and it's following singles. But their back back with a new single, Berlin, Without Return..., and I have to say – it's quite the jam. Hopefully this is a sign of a bit of a "return to form", because I really missed the old Voxtrot and it would be nice to have them back.

Listen to "Berlin, Without Return..." on MySpace!
Order the single from the band's own Cult Hero label.

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Maple Leaves

I just recently fell quickly in love with this Glasgow three-piece and their sugar-sweet pop songs! I've played this song quite a few times on their MySpace page now and after watching the video a few times, I think I'm really hooked on it! Looks like they haven't got any releases out, so hopefully we'll see a Maple Leaves record sometime soon! I need more of these songs before Summer's over!

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Thursday, August 06, 2009

The Raveonettes: "Suicide"


The Raves

The Raveonettes fifth LP In And Out Of Control will be out October 6th and can I just say how excited I am for that date now. I knew the new record was on it's way, but finally hearing a new track from the record has more than whet my appetite for a new Raves album. "Suicide"'s wall-of-sound chorus is immediately infectious and offers a pretty upbeat backdrop to the song's lyrical content. The dreamy vocals are, as always, spot on and beautiful. If there is more where this came from on the album, it's gonna be a real winner. Listen and get excited!

[MP3]: The Raveonettes :: Suicide (Very Rec'd!!!)

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Maribel: "Deflowers"


Maribel

I now realize I was perhaps a little late on the train, but over the past couple months, Maribel's Aesthetics LP has easily become one of my top three favorite records of the year. It could even be my favorite, who knows!? Anyway, I seem to have a different favorite song off the record every week and this week I'm a little obsessed with "Deflowers" – and here it is. I think to think of it is Maribel's "Soon", but labels aside, this is proof of their stunning ability to know exactly how to write a damn good dancegaze tune. Those guitars do terrible things to me.

[MP3]: Maribel :: Deflowers (Highly Recommended!!!)

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Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Brilliant Colors WNYU Session


Brilliant Colors outside in July.

SF's Brilliant Colors, who just so happen to be one of my favorite new bands, stopped by the WNYU studio back on July 17 for an interview and a four-song live session. I just recently got a hold of the session recordings and I thought I'd share them here, as I'm sure I'm not the only one who wanted to get my hands on them! Out of the four songs played, two are unreleased ("Short Sleeves At Night" and "Yell In The Air") and the others ("Over There" and "Highly Evolved") appear on their first and second 7"s, respectively.

[ZIP]: Brilliant Colors on WNYU, 7/15/09 (21mb)

If you haven't heard them yet, I'd highly recommend picking up their recently released 12" on Captured Tracks, which compiles their both of their now-sold-out 7"s.

I also have the interview from the session if anyone is really dying to hear it. Just ask.

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Monday, August 03, 2009

A monthly mix: August


August!

Being that August the last month of Summer, and that Summer is slowly coming to an end, I felt like this month's mix should sound like a recap of the feelings of Summer. So, what came to be is this 16 track mix of mostly dreamy, sun-soaked pop songs of primarily lazy tempos. I think it illustrates the lazy, hazy days of Summer quite perfectly. I hope you like it, and I hope it makes as much sense to you as it does to me. The fact that the July mix is still on the front page of this blog is a pretty good signifier of exactly how lazy I was with Skatterbrain this Summer. I expect to return to posting a little more regularly come Fall – when my life gets a little more organized again.

DOWNLOAD IT!

Tracklist:
01. The Clientele “An Hour Before The Light”
02. Red Letter Day “Hibernation”
03. Alsace Lorraine “Summer Days At Home”
04. Felt “The World Is As Soft As Lace”
05. Belle and Sebastian “Ease Your Feet In The Sea”
06. The Shapiros “He Said She Said”
07. PO! “Fay”
08. Brittle Stars “This Trip”
09. Clock Strikes Thirteen “Dead Fish”
10. Saturday Looks Good To Me “Caught”
11. Cocoanut Groove “A Dream Of Two Summers”
12. Madison Electric “Another Autumn”
13. Laura Watling “Good Times Never Last”
14. Burning Hearts “A Peasant’s Dream”
15. The Imaginary Friend “Brighton Beach Postcard”
16. Brighter “Killjoy”

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Saturday, August 01, 2009

Masha Qrella: "I Talk To The Trees"

I listened to Masha Qrella's new LP Speak Low last night on a whim and now I'm finding myself kind of mesmerized by it. I don't know if it'll be lasting, but at the moment I'm pretty hooked! This is a live video of the record's first track, "I Talk To The Trees", and it's just a really, really good song as far as I'm concerned. Speak Low was released in June on Morr Music. You should get it.

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Cause Co-Motion!: Because Because Because


Because Because Because EP

I had not fully taken in Cause Co-Motion's recent Slumberland EP Because Because Because until this past week, but indeed it seems today's most fantastic crash-pop masters have nailed it yet again. Cause Co-Motion's best weapon has always been their relentless, reckless energy and I'm glads to see it's still very much intact – even their "slow" songs pack more steam than your average pop bands speedy songs. Gary Olson's work on this record has done wonders for their recorded sound, as well. The reverb is way deep and the guitars ring out for years and years. The EP's lead-off track, one of their "slow" songs, is the one I'm most impressed with here. You should here it! Get the EP from Slumberland Records.

[MP3]: Cause Co-Motion! :: And You Wonder (Very Highly Rec'd!)

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