Anticipation

[MP3]: The Cat's Miaow :: Do You Think It Will Snow Tonight?

Yes, yes I do — and I am very excited!

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New Bart & Friends: "A Summer's Dream"

I still tend to go a little crazy for anything and everything Cat's Miaow related, so imagine my excitement when I got a message from Bart (Cat's Miaow, Hydroplane, Pencil Tin, Shapiros, etc) just the other day mentioning two brand new songs he'd recently finished recording?! Not that anyone was questioning it, but he's still very much got it! "A Summer's Dream" sounds like some beautiful mix of Hydroplane and The Go-Betweens and I'm in love with it.

[MP3]: Bart & Friends :: A Summer's Dream

Another new track, "Make You Blush", is available here.

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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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Indiepop Does Indiepop: The Sugargliders & The Cat's Miaow

The Sugargliders' "Seventeen" covered by The Cat's Miaow

Here we go again! A little late today, but to be honest I'm surprised I remembered at all. Today's INDIEPOPdoesINDIEPOP is a case of the cover being far superior to the original – in my humble opinion, of course. The Sugargliders originally recorded "Seventeen" for Sarah Records in 1992. It was their second single for the Sarah (67). Three years later, on their second 7" single, The Cat's Miaow included a beautiful cover of "Seventeen". The single was the second for The Cat's Miaow, and was the very first release of Quiddity Records, which would later release records from the likes of Pencil Tin, Madison Electric, Super Falling Star, etc. Basically, Quiddity were super awesome. Anyway, I said first that I prefer The Cat's Miaow's cover of "Seventeen" more than The Sugargliders original, and that is in fact true. I don't dislike the original by any means, but the cover version – with it's thick veil of reverb – makes me feel like I'm walking through the woods on a snowy day. Being that I wish I was walking through the woods on a snowy day almost everyday, this is something that makes me feel very very good. However, please enjoy both songs, and make your own decisions.

[MP3]: The Sugargliders :: Seventeen
[MP3]: The Cat's Miaow :: Seventeen

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By The Window In The Sky

Photo in cover art by QXZ on Flickr.

I said I was gonna start doing mixes more often, so here we go, another one. I'm particularly proud of this one because I think it flows quite well, and as the cover says, it's very good for a nice walk in the cold morning air. Note that the effect of this mix can be enhanced even more so if it happens to still be dark outside and there is a touch of low-lying fog. If the title of the mix doesn't ring a bell to you immediately, then it surely will by the time you finish it. Um, I guess I don't have anything else to say, I'll let the songs speak for themselves. Enjoy, please!

DOWNLOAD IT!
[ZIP]: By The Window In The Sky (13 tracks, 110mb)

01. Eric's Trip :: Stove
02. The Relict :: Letters
03. St. Christopher :: Crystal Clear
04. Brian :: You Don't Want A Boyfriend
05. California Snow Story :: My Life Is Only A Daydream
06. Nord Express :: This Magic Moment
07. The Cat's Miaow :: Hollow Inside
08. Rodney Allen :: Julianne
09. The Fat Tulips :: My Secret Place
10. Moscow Olympics :: Safe
11. Lorelei :: The Bitter Air
12. Stereolab :: Pack Yr Romantic Mind
13. Yo La Tengo :: Deeper Into Movies

Okay, enjoy please, I love you. Bye for now.

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Summer Cats

When I got a sampler from Cloudberry Records a month or two ago, I threw it the computer and listened to it pretty much nonstop for a while; then I guess I got distracted, because up until a few days ago I had completely forgotten about it. Revisiting it I realized that there's a lot on it that should be mentioned; in due time of course.

The cause for going back to the sampler was Victoria, Australia's Summer Cats. The Summer Cats are a wonderful three boy, two girl indiepop band that love The Cat's Miaow and sound a good bit like the Acid House Kings – all good things. Their songs melodies are soaked in acoustic/electric sunshine and full to the brim with some really brilliant boy/girl vocal harmonies. They released an EP on Cloudberry Records earlier this year, and they've also put out a split 7" with Portland's Eux Autres. I've been listening to their song "Wild Rice," from their Cloudberry EP, over and over again, and I still think it's just completely excellent; and I also still think the beginning reminds me of the beginning of The Orchids' song "Apologies," too. Anyway, definitely give this song a listen.

[MP3]: Summer Cats :: Wild Rice (Really Highly Recommended!!!)

Cloudberry still has a few copies of the EP left.
If you want one, you can grab it HERE.
The split can be ordered from the Summer Cats' MySpace, HERE.

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Tell me why can't it be true

I've been quite an avid frequenter of Fireflies' MySpace for the past six months or so, and now I'm super excited because Music Is My Girlfriend and Lavender finally have some solid plans to co-release a Fireflies record! No exact release date yet, but hopefully we'll have one soon.

For those of you new to Fireflies, it is the one man band of a man named Lisle. He writes all the songs and plays all the instruments and records them all himself and stuff, and he is really good. Obviously influenced by the melancholy indiepop of bands like The Field Mice and The Cat's Miaow, his songs are literally like a dream. When you're listening you feel so at peace, and then when it ends you just play it again because you don't want to wake up just yet. His cover of Air's "Cherry Blossom Girl" is absolutely phenomenal, and in my opinion, much better than the original. I think you should listen to it and then take a nap.

[MP3]: Fireflies :: Cherry Blossom Girl (Air cover) (Highly Rec'd!)

If you like this, you should DEFINITELY head over to Fireflies' MySpace and listen to the rest of his songs, particularly "I Was A Brontosaurus" and "Snowstorm"." Okay, that's it for now, have a wonderful weekend! :)

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Girl of the World: 5 Years Old 7"

5 Years Old 7" [Heaven Records, 1993]

5 Years Old was the third release from Australia's Girl of the World and number 11 for Heaven Records. Heaven Records was started up in 1990 by Matt from the Fat Tulips to release the Fat Tulips' first 7". They went on to release a total of 13 records, including singles from Strawberry Story, The Rosehips, Bulldozer Crash, and, of course, Girl of the World. Information on Girl of the World on the internet is few and far between. I did however find out that guitarist Bart and drummer Cameron from The Cat's Miaow were previously in Girl of the World. So there you go, a tiny bit of biographical indiepop history. Just listen to the single though, okay. Personally, I love the B-side "3,000 ft.", much more than the single's A-side, but hey that's just me.

Girl of the World
5 Years Old
[Heaven Records, 1993]
DOWNLOAD IT (.ZIP file, 9mb)

Tracklist:
1. 5 Years Old
2. 3,000 ft.

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