Thursday, February 28, 2013

*Heart* Good Music

 Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos
Camera Obscura are to release their new album, Desire Lines, in June. Read more and view concert dates at 4AD here.

New video by NZ artist Junica. The track is on iTunes here. Facebook page is here.


Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos
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.






 


Sunday, February 24, 2013

Synthpop For Your Sunday

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.






Thursday, February 21, 2013

New Arcades ep and more

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.


Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Silver Screen

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.

The numbers are boring, I like the art.

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 Mary Onettes "Hit The Waves" Single

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!




Monday, February 18, 2013

Paperfangs debut "Past Perfect"

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!


Sunday, February 17, 2013

Synthpop For Your Sunday

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. Rose and 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.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

New Ocean Blue

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Listen to the new single from The Ocean Blue's "Ultramarine" over at Stereogum.

Obligatory Valentine's Day post. No, really this one is from a man to his wife.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Shoesynthdream

Shoegazers Laboratory Noise have made their satisfying new ep available for free via Bandcamp:



Be sure to read the comment from SubPop regarding this new, yet not new one from The Postal Service:


All cats Girls are Grey:



Thursday, February 7, 2013

The Killers "Runaway" (RAC Remix)

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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):






Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Old English release "Prose and Kahns"


On February 5th Old English’s album Prose and Kahns was 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"...
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Sunday, February 3, 2013

Lost In The Crowd

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.


Screw it, here's more Aussie goodness:

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Synthpop For Your Saturday

Quality 80's-inspired synthpop from Only You.


Here are a couple other tracks/artists that grabbed my attention recently: