DJ Talbot (@djtalbot), returned to San Diego, blogs & hosts an hour-long, semi-monthly podcast of fiercely accessible music, culled from the Internet's freely distributed tracks. Listen to or read my discoveries from the music world of today & yesterday: Synthpop, Post-punk, Indie-pop, Twee, Swedish Indie, Britpop, Electropop, Shoegaze, Gothic Rock, 80's, Punk & Trip-Hop.
I wanted to mention that the entire discography of Labrador Records is available for streaming via Spotify. Click here. With new albums from The Mary Onettes and Club 8 coming soon, it's a good time to listen to earlier material from this important music label.
Revisiting some bands tonight, just to see if anything new has been posted. I thought I'd check out The New Division. I re-fell-in-love with this track. It's exactly what I like: a little electronic, a little guitar, and dreampop vocals.
One of the best aspects of Soundcloud is that you can see what other artists "liked" or added to "favorites". I have discovered so many great tunes by following an artist and seeing what they deem worthy of a favorite. A great example:
I saw that Some Desperate Glory added this song this his favorites, so I listened and then I liked it. Simple. Now I share it here and we are all happy. So, let's enjoy a remix by Some Desperate Glory, shall we?
Here's a new one from Syrian (Italy). Thanks to Todd at A Different Drum for the heads-up. I was a Syrian fan from way back when MP3.com was a thing. I am glad to hear that this act is keeping their early sound.
More beautiful synthpop from London's New Arcades. "Remember The Nights" is a free download via this ep on Soundcloud.
I am still really into this one from Strangeheart. I'll have another track to post as soon as the band finish one up!
I thought I'd share this from LA's White Blush. They find the right balance of electronics with that dreamy female vocal sound. Reminds me of Halou or SPC ECO.
Wow, has it really been 8 years since the last Silver Screen release? Plastilina Records posted this tonight, and I am excited to share this via BandCamp. "Shipping out on or around 02 April 2013". "Really No Wonder" has been on my iPod for a long time, and is a great place to start with this act.
As mentioned in my previous post (I hit enter too soon, or am I afraid of Them?), the music on Utopia is as brilliant as the series itself.
Here's a nice slice, with our Raisin Boy / Arby / R.B. for extra disturbofactor.
Now, you may be scratching your head, wondering how this fits my blog. Well, I pay attention to soundtracks. I also listened to a lot of bleepy bloopy stuff in the 90's (Cevin Key's Download comes to mind).
The second single from The Mary Onettes "Hit the Waves" is out on all digital outlets tomorrow (Feb. 21st). It's taken from the upcoming album out March 12th.
Here's a nice cover of Depeche Mode by Royksopp (I saw this posted here).
The new Shout Out Louds is steaming in full at NPR's "First Listen". Now, don't get it in your head that I listen to NPR. I just happen to check First Listen out for the occasional worthy listen.
I finished Utopia tonight. Loved, loved, loved it! The music was excellent too!
I can't say much about it, as you need to just watch it without knowing what it is about. But, "Holy bloody sweaty bollocks!", it is brilliant!
Very nice! The first release on Soliti in 2013 is the debut
album from Paperfangs: "Past Perfect" (try track 4 for a good introduction to their sound). The Helsinki/Tampere based three
piece discuss the themes, formation and context of "Past Perfect":
"We started planning our debut album in early 2012. Instead of using
our old tracks and ideas, we wanted to build everything from the
scratch. From early on we had a clear vision of making it a concept
album: one about layers and stories that will open up differently to
everyone.
The key word was symbolism: every sound, every word and every image must have a reason to exist.
I began to write the songs in the late spring. On a holiday in an
unfamiliar city I walked in to a small paper shop and bought myself a
pen and a notebook. I sat on a park bench in this city filled with
stories and started writing mine down.The first lines of the album became a mantra, a theme and a key."
In other news, The Mary Onettes (a Like Sugar favorite) have a new album arriving on March 12, 2013 on CD/vinyl/digital. Pre-order here. What's extra cool is the 180 gram vinyl includes a CD!
OK, I try to post a Synthpop for Your Saturday weekly, but I was out of town, so I hope I can make up for the delay with the following suggestions!
More excellent modern synthpop from J.P. Roseand these are available for free download. I love the clear voice here. No gimicky computer effects.
I see that Carl of Some Desperate Glory has teamed up and released a track under the name "Pacific Deep". This is a strong leap forward and compliments the above tracks. I especially like the drum pattern. Lyrics are here.
This one caught my ear after just one play. So many influences at work here. I love it!
Like what you hear here? Drop me a line at djtalbotlikesugar@gmail.com or comment below. Thanks for reading.
RAC are my favourite modern remix team (or at least tied with Josh Patrick). They never wreck a track, but they add flavour to the best values. Here's a perfect example (also a free download):
On February 5thOld English’s album Prose and Kahnswas released, three years after Matt Henderson first began working on it in his bedroom. I have had it since January 8th and it has been in heavy rotation here at home.
In
those three years Old English worked on the album in 6 cities, 3 countries, and their collaborators climbed well above 20. In total there were 27 songs
written for the album. Each song’s survival hinged on how well they
related to the previously completed tracks. New aesthetic elements and
musical personalities were constantly being added, but this process
created a narrative, both lyrically and sonically. It didn’t feel like
three years for Matt. "It felt more like one long day".
The
result is an album that is stylistically varied – with influences
including brit-rock, shoegaze, electro-pop, and folk – all coexisting
without losing any stylistic clarity. The songs are meticulously
detailed, layered, and belong side by side, the way they were written. I am not a reviewer. I just recommend based on 30 years of collecting music. I strongly recommend Prose and Kahns. Have a listen and I think you'll be hooked. Start with "We've Been Here Before" and glide into "Lotteries and Tents"...
Personally, I don't even own a television.
While the country watches football, I enjoyed a nearly empty grocery store. Now, it's time for some music to drown out the screamers that are way too excited about the big game. I don't often post music of this sort, by this is too excellent to not share! The Aussies have my ear when it comes to dance music these days.