Sunday Driver: What's on my iPod

Discovered a cute blog today: Hey Hey Honeypop!

The best part is that there are podcasts to go with! Here's a link to #6: Dance Around The Livingroom.
The playlist is full of new stuff (for me, and I love it!):

The Blue Minkies - Boyfriend in a box
Sportique - If you ever change your mind
The Andersen Tapes - Cross Country
How Many Beans Make Five - I could well believe that
Professor Pez - Papillon (Escape from Ulfsnes island)
Go Sailor - Windy
The Budgies - I love you (so what should I do?)
Verdurin - Mademoiselle de Ponsac
Dolly Mixture - He's so frisky
The Gentle Smiles - Mando Diao
My Little Airport - My little banana
France Gall - Avant la bagarre

I should post on the indiepop mailing list, but I am too shy and I would hate to be flamed for the lack of indiepop content in my podcasts.
Anyway, this is definitely on my iPod this week! Great job Marianthi!

--------------
Ostrich - Sleepy Angels (track) - can't get enough of the synth.

Arthur and Martha - Ultra Alliance (track) - I posted this earlier, but it's a gem.

Elegant Machinery - Move (track) - happy to hear more from this staple of the 90's synth scene.

KieTheVez - Non-Binary (album) - I am still exploring this long-awaited CD, searching for that one track that makes the album.

Leila - Blood, Looms and Blooms (album) - this album could be compared to Portishead and will take some repeated listens (while in the right mood) to come to any sort of opinion.

Osborne - Osborne (album) - everyone else likes house, and I keep searching for an album I can "love"...the search continues...

Black Ghosts - The Black Ghosts (album) - ex Simian dudes here. This is actually better than anything they did before, but it's rather like they are on auto-pilot.

Neil Halstead was in town on Friday, but I skipped it. The party I was at was simply more interesting. I enjoy his music and I adore Slowdive and Mojave 3, and I have seen him live, so I stayed on at the party where I was the only person with English as my first language!

Arthur and Martha release a perfect song!

One my very dearest myspace finds has done it again...Arthur and Martha have posted a perfect track that keeps the Summer going (for us in the Northern Hemisphere!)! I loved this song the first play and it is just a joy to hear. Give "Ultra Alliance" by Arthur and Martha a listen here: http://www.myspace.com/arthurandmartha and tell 'em who sent you!

They are on Happy Robots Records to boot! How can any Like Sugar listener go wrong with a label with a name like Happy Robots?

NME writes:
"a British spin on The Postal Service, or Aphex Twin remixing the contents of NME’s seminal ’C86’ tape"

Character: Doing the right thing when no one is looking

I try to avoid blabbering about my political views and religious concerns, but this is an exciting time in American politics and, as a Christian, I must not be afraid to share what I believe and the people I support. My own pastor announced the following, only moments ago:

"I have been asked to speak at the Republican National Convention on Monday evening. I view this as an honor and a rare opportunity to serve my country with the gift and message God has given me.

I have not been asked nor will I explicitly endorse anyone or anything outside of a godly character, though people may read into my attendance there. Had I been asked to speak at the Democratic National Convention, I would have accepted that invitation as well. Although these are political events, they are spiritual assignments to me.

My topic is, "Character: Doing the right thing when no one is looking." I would like to get your thoughts on the topic of my speech. Please take a few minutes and click on the link to answer a few questions. Click here >>

I would appreciate your prayers for wisdom and protection, and most importantly, 'A double dose of the Holy Ghost.'

Event: Republican National Convention
Date: Monday, September 1, 2008
Time: 5:26pm pacific / 7:26pm central
Station: Viewable on C-SPAN

A Big Thank-You to 9250x.com

9250x.com has done me a kindness and hosted my latest Like Sugar files. This will allow my iTunes subscribers to continued access to Like Sugar without any fuss.
Persons in the Riverside area of Southern California may want to visit 9250x.com to keep up with the latest goings-on. My mate from 9250x.com says:
"I'm running this site for primarily one reason, so that people in the Inland Empire have a place that they can find out what's happening. I want everything from backyard parties to Reading Rainbow shows to be posted.

Secondly, I want to support local artists however I can. This site is associated with Digress Magazine, which can print your material and I offer online services for free. If you have anything to do with the local arts scene, including promotions, let me know and I can set you up with one or all of the following:
* NEW! - Web Hosting! I now offer quality web hosting on my server! 100MB of space, PHP, MySQL, E-Commerce (for t-shirt sales!) and Email service.
If you're involved in the art community in the Inland Empire in any way, you get the starving artist's special: Basic Hosting for only $5 a month! (E-commerce is extra)
* Free 5mb Website Space (with a subdomain address, like http://yoursite.9250x.com) - No popups either. Email me for details.
* FREE E-mail address with online mail reader (and POP3 access)
* 9250x.com featured artist space

All for free.. Well, some of it's for free. What a bargain. E-mail me at micah@9250x.com for details, or go to the contact page if you don't have an e-mail program set up.

Elegant Machinery: New Track "Move"

http://www.myspace.com/elegantmachinery has the new track "Move". It's the latest single from the forthcoming album and was released on August 8th, on the German label Out Of Line.

Breaking new ground with this medium

I went through all my zshare links tonight, to see what uploads are still active. And the winners are:

http://www.zshare.net/audio/55312563e966a0/
http://www.zshare.net/audio/12144050c39ca77d/
http://www.zshare.net/audio/152020728d465dbd/
It's a variety! Enjoy.

Exclusive remix of Ladytron's "Ghosts"

....by New York alt-rap collective Blestenation available on RCRD LBL.



From Nettwerk:
Adding to their choice catalog of LADYTRON tunes, RCRD LBL (www.rcrdlbl.com) released an exclusive remix of the Liverpool quartet's single "Ghosts" from New York alt-rap collective BLESTENATION (MC's Werdplay and Various and Producer/DJ Fafu). Blestenation keep the original's organ hum, earthy bassline and chorus hook intact, adding some ghettotech percussion and verses from MCs Werdplay and Various over top... tasteful, but a completely different steez.

The track is available here only and is free!

Catch Ladytron on tour now in Australia or Europe (tour dates listed on their MySpace page: www.myspace.com/ladytron).

Here are a few freshly uploaded tracks to listen to from artists featured on Like Sugar / DJ Talbot mixes:

Levy - End Of The Line http://www.myspace.com/levy
Ostrich - Lukewarm http://www.myspace.com/ostrich71
Lunik - Constant Tourist http://www.myspace.com/lunikband

Cover Me On Friday: DJ Talbot

This week, I cover my own self by posting a mix I did in January 2007. This is a mix I created for the popular Faction 6 collection of podcasts created by DJ Narcolept.
My show was called "CTRL-ALT-F6". This is show 10 and was recorded in January 2007.
I think this was the happiest month of my life and the quality of the mix exemplifies this.
CTRL-ALT-F6 may see a return to Faction 6 soon, so I thought I'd post this mix as a sample of the music you can expect.
Mevio has it now, as does zshare. I will add it to iTunes and Odeo soon.



DJ Talbot’s CTRL – ALT-F6 – January 5, 2007 on iTune’s podcast Faction 6
19 tracks in playlist, average track length: 3:08
Po(p)(d)cast length: 59 minutes 50 seconds

1. Intro - CTRL-ALT-F6 Theme 2.0 (0:35)
2. Reactor Party (Luke Smith mpc mix) - Shitdisco (3:03)
3. Do The Whirlwind (Hot Chip Remix) - Architecture In Helsinki (3:56)
4. Kelly (Cut Copy Mix) - Van She (3:26)
5. Lil Red Rooster vs. The Robodog feat. ADL - Teddybears Sthlm (0:51)
6. Punkdrömmar - Ingenting (2:33)
7. Jealous (Jlab Mix) - Gene Loves Jezebel (3:17) * request
8. Once and Never Again – The Long Blondes (2:47)
9. My Radio (AM Mix) - Stars (5:00)
10. Losing Control - Bobby (3:45)
11. Appetite - Iris (3:20)
12. Fading - Silicone Soul (4:08)
13. Shake The Disease (Tiga Remix) - Depeche Mode (3:47)
14. Across The Meadow - Razorcuts (2:31)
15. Pristine Christine - Sea Urchins (4:08)
16. Velocity Girl - Primal Scream (1:13)

Popaganda 2008

If I was the festival-going type (and had a load of cash), I'd be off to Sweden for the music festival Popaganda. It's held at Eriksdalsbadet, 29-30th of August.
Popaganda will have 20 acts performing. So far the following acts are confirmed:

bob hund
Säkert!
Sebastien Tellier (FR)
Teddybears STHLM
Hercules and Love Affair (US)
The Hidden Cameras (CAN)
The Embassy
Bonde Do Role (BR)
Shout Out Louds
Familjen
Laakso
Florence Valentin
Kelley Polar (US)
Joel Alme
First Aid Kit
Marching Band
Palpitation

Friday:
Säkert!
Sebastién Tellier
Teddybears STHLM
Hercules and Love Affair
Shout Out Louds
The Embassy
Kelley Polar
Florence Valentin
First Aid Kit
Palpitation

Saturday:
bob hund
The Hidden Cameras
Bonde do Role
Familjen
Laakso
Joel Alme
Marching Band

Vapnet posted this (online translator was not helpful; I need to learn more Swedish!):
Vi kommer att spela på Popaganda. På lördagen den 30 augusti, halv tre på dan.

Vi ska även göra vår debut i Norge, på Phonofestivalen i Bergen, den 19 september.

Tänkte skriva "vi syns" men kom på att det är en rätt tom fras att använda inför en konsert. Vi i bandet kommer ju att synas tack vare scen och lampor och sånt, men något möte är det ju inte tal om egentligen. Kanske lika bra det, det vore så nervöst då.

You Buy It!

Spain's Siesta Records has released a compilation titled "Country Music. Songs For Keith Girdler" and the artist line-up is straight out of Like Sugar's play-lists. Aberdeen and Trembling Blue Stars make this a must-buy!

1. St Christopher - "Can't Forget You" (exclusive new song)
2. The Wake - "Crush The Flowers" (exclusive 8 track demo)
3. Pete Fijalkowski - "Downsizing" (exclusive new song)
4. Lovejoy - "Melancholia" (exclusive new song, Blueboy cover)
5. Hal- "Down"(exclusive new song)
6. Trembling Blue Stars - "Soft Evening, Brilliant Morning" (exclusive new song)
7. Louis Phillipe- " Lazy Thunderstorms" (exclusive new song, Blueboy cover)
8. Club 8 - "What I"m Dreaming Of..." (Japan only song from new album)
9. The Clientele - "Breathe In Now" (exclusive new song)
10. The Times - Sold (exclusive mix of song from "E is for Edward"
11. The Would Be Goods - "I Believe You Cassandra"(exclusive new song)
12. Aberdeen -" Baby I Don"t Care" (exclusive new song)
13. Love Dance - "His London" (exclusive new song, Blueboy cover)
14. The Orchids - "The Lost Star" (exclusive new song)
15. Biff Bang Pow! - "Back To The Start" (currently unavailable elsewhere on CD)
16. (secret track) Blueboy - "80"s Diaries"

Read more at Siesta

Cover Me On Friday: 8 Covers!

Too happy! It's another Cover Me On Friday, and this week I recommend heading over to Silence Is A Rhythm Too to check out 8 covers collected in one place! I don't have any of these myself, so I am downloading as I type this. Thank-you SIART!

The Cure - The Perfect Boy

Another 13th of the month and another Cure single is released. I've heard this one on some live recordings and videos, and I was looking forward to it. "The Perfect Boy" was going to compliment "The Perfect Girl", I hoped. The Perfect Girl is one of my Top 25 Cure Songs (could there be less?)! It's in no way a pop song the way A Perfect Girl is....bummer. A single? I dunno. The B-sides have been more exciting of late, but don't let that comment lead you to believe that I think Smith is anything less than the genius he is. The 90's were a low point for The Cure. They are back now and this is a pinnacle.

Swedesplease.net

Swedesplease was kind and posted a link to my blog! Thanks for the traffic! I have no advertising or Adsense on my page, this is just an outlet for me to meet nice girls from Sweden. j/k it's just music and music is my drug.

About Swedesplease, from Swedesplease:
Swedesplease was the first daily mp3 blog devoted to Swedish music. It's gone on to be recognized by Swedish Public Radio, Swedish press, The London Times, The Guardian, The Chicago Tribune and on and on. If Swedesplease has a slant or plays favorites it's a mostly due to an insatiable love of Swedish indie pop, electronica and twee. Most songs posted are free and legal courtesy of the artists and labels.

Be sure to check out Pelle Carlberg's new one, due out August 27. It's called The Lilac Time. Pelle is that unique voice you hear in Edson, as featured in my Faction 6 - CTRL-ALT-F6 mixes: the tracks were "I love you, you imbecile" and "The Caged Bird Sings" . On the new recording he plays most of the instruments himself and has four children!

Bodies Without Organs

Is there a synth band more fun than Bodies Without Organs?


electronordica.com has the best Bodies Without Organs (a.k.a. BWO) coverage. A good introduction to them is the April 2008 release of a singles collection called "Pandemonium".

Here's a silly older video if you've never heard these poppy electronic meatballs:

Conquering America



var det väl eller illa skrivet?

Marco Almera

Anyone know Marco? His site is not active as of 07-28-08. Need to reach him about some artwork permissions.

Like Sugar Popcast 14 goes live

Like Sugar - DJ Talbot - 14 is available now on iTunes, Odeo and Mevio. See also the player in this post.



Track-list:
(fill) Ministry - Faith Collapsing
1 The Faint - The Geeks Were Right (Does It Offend You, Yeah? Remix)
2 Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance
3 Scarlett Johansson - I Don't Want To Grow Up
4 Thermostatic - Dubbelbubbel
5 The Foxglove Hunt - A Concealed Weapon
6 Ashbury Heights - Spiders
7 Sigur Ros - Illgressi (Them Jeans Dance Mix)
8 The Little Ones - Lovers Who Uncover (Crystal Castles vs The Little Ones)
9 Blank & Jones - Consequences (feat. Vanessa Daou)
10 Leigh Nash - Nervous In The Light Of Dawn (Morgan Page Remix)
11 Luxxury - Sable Star
12 The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Gothenberg Handshake (Demo)
13 The Futureheads - Radio Heart
14 Elbow - Mirrorball
15 Louis Eliot - Emily
16 Beborn Beton - Too Emotional
17 De/Vision - A Prayer
18 Potty Mouth Sissies - I Wanna Be An Alcoholic



Direct download:http://odeo.com/episodes/23166799-Like-Sugar-Popcast-14

This link can also be your magic portal to the dimension of All That Is Like Sugar:
http://www.zshare.net/audio/1685858123115c21/

Sunday Driver: What's On my iPod

Sunday Driver: What's On my iPod - this is a combined post for Sunday, August 3 and today, Sunday, August 10.

Louis Eliot - I'm searching like mad for more from him. I treasure my Rialto cds and they never leave my DJ CD case. Monday Morning 5:19 is still a club hit and the acoustic version will break your non-cheating heart.

Thermostatic - Humanizer - After week of plays on the mp3 player, I am not bored. Good modern synthpop. Bonus points for female vocals.

The Little Ones - morning tide; just testing this one out.
According to the BBC, "Their sunshine-infused, optimism-fuelled material is made more poignant by this defiant refusal to be disheartened by a world so jaded.
Every cut apparently only made it to tape if it made the band want to dance." Read, more here.

Blank & Jones - The Logic Of Pleasure; the title annoys me. The logic of_________ (insert word that will make you think the whole album is a reflection of this word).
This one starts so well and sputters out. The first half is the album, the second is all filler. I love Stars and the mix of The Night Starts Here is very good. Bernard Sumner does vocals on track two and it's a treat. I need more trance in my life.

Close Lobsters - Headache Rhetoric; I am back in 1988 with this material and I think it stands up well. I could never get over the Smiths break-up!

M83 - Saturday = Youth; this ones taking some time, but it may be the best I have heard from these boys. I keep thinking I'm listening to the Radio Dept.

KLOQ - first listen today and I hear some Nitzer Ebb here! Excellent!

Ashbury Heights - the tracks Spiders will be on a popcast soon.

Neil Halstead - Oh Mighty Engine; twelve new songs from the voice of Slowdive and Mojave 3. Listening because I love his voice and lyrics. The music might not otherwise interest me, honestly. It's the application of his familiar voice to a genre I wouldn't otherwise give any listening time to...oh, and he was very friendly when he was here in San Diego. I am afraid to meet my heroes sometimes...when they are nice, I get more into their music. The cold, distant ones...get shelved often.

Midnight Resistance - I have one track off the Synthpop Club Anthems 5 cd. Todd, label-master over at A Different Drum, is really excited about the full album release,
so I am giving him a plug!

Scarlett Johansonn - I Don't Want To Grow Up - she's a doll and good actress, therefore, she can sing. Mmmmmm.

Cranes - The Forever album found its way onto the player. I guess it's cuz I made a vow before the authority of God, and my wife broke hers. I love her, and I will never lessen that love.

De/Vision - honestly, this German act never leaves my mp3 player. I live for synthpop and De/Vision never fails to fit any mood! "A Prayer" is this week's pick.

The Faint - Fasciinatiion - first listen today. So far so good. Found a remix too: http://www.thefaint.com/streaming/TheGeeks-DIOYY_Remix.mp3

Other musings from my life:

From the creator of Six Feet Under comes a new take on how the undead live. True Blood, Alan Ball's new original series for HBO, premiers September 7 at 9 PM.
Read Alan Ball's point of view. The Academy Award® winning writer and director speaks about fans of Six Feet Under, storytelling, the process of making True Blood, and avoiding the trappings of vampire clichés.

Black Kids, The Foxglove Hunt, Cut Copy - still on the mp3 player. No need to replace these excellent albums. Repeat:shuffle!

I have been playing American McGee's new game "Grimm" and, well, it's a bit of a disappointment! I LOVE the art, but the gameplay is stale.
But did I mention the art? I'll sit through the mindless gameplay for the art.

Here's a video for a song that keeps appearing in my private sets, house parties, etc. Timeless!

I Want To Be All Alone

This song is often in my head when the shit hits the fan. Family drama at the moment, as regular readers know. It's been bad enough that I deleted a post or two because the crap has been heavy. I hate my own father, but that is not compatible with my Christian faith. I forgive and he never changes.

Don't you hate it when....

Huh. I swear I included The Foxglove Hunt in one of my Like Sugar Popcasts, and yet my list of tracks doesn't have 'em on it. G0d, I love the simplicity of this video. Expect to hear the track on Popcast 14.


Also, I can have bad taste on occasion. I like cheesy stuff sometimes. So, be kind and rawk out with me to old fav:


And if you really want to know me, you'll watch this video and see the real me!

San Diego Music Awards - votin' time

SD Music Awards 2008: my lil buddy Edgartronic and the band Starcrossed nominated!

Heavily edited list of nominees (go to the site to see all categories, m'kay?):

Song of the Year
Grand Ole Party (at left) - Look, Young, Son
Jason Mraz - I'm Yours YAWN
P.O.D.- Addicted
Slightly Stoopid - 2am
Switchfoot - This is Home
The Muslims - Extinction
The Night Marchers - Who's Lady R U
Tristan Prettyman - Hello

Artist of the Year
Angels & Airwaves
As I Lay Dying
B-Side Players
Grand Ole Party
Greg Laswell
Peter Sprague
Switchfoot
Tristan Prettyman

Best New Artist
Calico Horse
Fing
Hotel St. George
Revolution 89
Smart Brothers
The Silent Comedy
Wild Weekend
Writer

Best Cover or Tribute Band
40 Ounces to Freedom
Cash'd Out (at right)
The Corvelles
Electric Waste Band
Midnight Ramblers
Rockola
Stepping Feet
The Baja Bugs

Best Alternative
Alfred Howard & the K23 Orchestra
Buddy Akai
Mr. Tube & the Flying Objects
Republic of Letters
Scarlet Symphony
Spell Toronto
Swim Party
The Drowning Men


Best Pop
Anna Troy
Anya Marina
Christopher Dale
Get Back Loretta
Gregory Page
Ryan Ferguson
This Holiday Life
Wendy Darling

Best Rock
Deadline Friday
Dirty Sweet
Reeve Oliver
Roses on Her Grave
The Creepy Creeps
The Muslims
Transfer
Truckee Brothers

Best Club DJ
DJ Artistic
DJ Edgartronic
Gabe Vega Oh, Gabe. C'mon, step aside now ; )
Ikah Love
Junior hard worker
Mario Orduno lol!
Rashi
Shark Attack never heard of him/her

Best Electronic
Drew Andrews
Fantastic Magic
Gamma Gamma
Lights On
Manuok
Qu 'est-ce Que C'est
Starcrossed (PLEASE VOTE FOR STARCROSSED as heard on Like Sugar
The Album Leaf

Best Pop Album
bill - End of the Hits
Dave Humphries - And So it Goes...
Dynamite Walls - The Blinding Lights Above
Emery Byrd - Mrs. Young Versus the Modern Ones
Joanie Mendenhall - On A String
Matt Curreri & ExFriends-Joy of Life
The Fascination - Self Titled
The Modlins - With Friends Like These

Best Rock Album
Arm The Angels-Haunt this Town
Circa Now - 100 Watts
My American Heart - Hiding Inside the Horrible Weather
Sleeping People-Growing
The Muslims - Extinction
The Night Marchers - See You In Magic
The Sess - Agendum
Transfer - Sunken Eyes

Best Alternative Album
Apes of Wrath - Plastic Fake and Frozen
Delta Spirit - Ode to Sunshine
Grand Ole Party - Humanimals
Hotel St. George - Yippee!
Scribe Amidst the Lions - Sunken Cities
Swim Party - Pixie Dust on the Blood Range
The Burning of Rome - Death Pop
Vision of a Dying World - Skelephone Call from the Eastern Side

Best Hard Rock Album
Benedictum - Seasons of Tragedy
Canobliss-Liberation of Dissonance
Hostile Combover- Escalpe from Wount Island
Invictus - Here's to Curiosit
Magnoliablack - In Falling Matter
Oaks - Bravo!
Sirhan Sirhan - Blood
Underminded - Eleven Eleven

Best Local Recording
Bedford Grove - Welcome to our Side of Town
Cindy Lee Berryhill - Beloved Stranger
Jane Lui - Barkentine
Leyva-Singled Out
One Drop - Mission Blvd.
Sayvinyl-God Forbid
Sweet Tooth - s/t
Tom Griesgraber-Sketchbook

Album of the Year
As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us
Augustana - Cant Love Cant hurt
Louis XIV - Slick Dogs & Ponies
Pinback - Autumn of the Seraphs
Slightly Stoopid - Cronchitis
Steve Poltz - Traveling
The Night Marchers - See You In Magic
Tristan Prettyman - Hello...X

VOTE HERE: http://www.sandiegomusicawards.com

Tragedy for Greg Laurie

One my most beloved pastors, Greg Laurie, lost his son Christopher last week in a car accident. I came across an L.A. Times story about the local impact here.
I hope this attracts more people to the Harvest Crusade.

The Proof

See, I went out. I am an awful photographer, sometimes. Here are my friends, all comfy in the V.I.P. room! Thank-you, May for the invite!