Sunday sixpack...

A rather mixed bag of songs but these are among the best I've recently found in the mailbox...

+ Crushed Stars – Eyeliner
+ Shake The Baron – Zodiak
+ The Dark Clan & Null Device – Fading Belief
+ Matt Longo – The High Life
+ Loch Lomond – Elephants & Little Girls
+ Surf City – Crazy Rulers Of The World

Shorties...

This one will probably end up being even shorter than yesterday’s post, as the heat in my office is unbearable and my brain simply refusing to cooperate.

Told you that Peter would feature Les Incendiaries! Yes Peter! You might be predictable, but your taste in music is absolutely impeccable!

One Weekly Gun is back writing songs! Will this be a “one week wonder” or will we once again be treated to a new song every week?
+ Is Sex a Thing?

One of my all time favorite bands Cause and Effect has a brand new webpage and celebrates this by giving away a free download of the excellent Dirty 8VA Mix of Happy?

US synth-pop duo Null Device reminds me quite a lot of the aforementioned Cause & Effect and recently I’ve been feasting on free downloads from their bandcamp page.
+ Footfalls
+ Travelogue
+ The Sad Truth

x+x...

Patting (not padding - should have paid more attention in English class 25 years ago; dammit) my own shoulders! Remembered today what I forgot yesterday, so xx has been getting a few good listens today. Hype has to be one of my least favorite words and The xx has certainly been getting their fair share of attention the past few months. Normally this means that I wouldn’t even bother listen to them, just to be able to wave that banner saying “I’m no bandwagoner”. Nothing but stubbornness I know and more than a few times it has caused me to miss out on something pretty good. But luckily this time it hasn’t, and of course this amazing debut deserves all the hype, all the positive press and the zillion (now zillion + one) blog posts it has been getting so far.
+ Basic Space

Spreading faster than something that spreads really, really fast is news about the forthcoming album Bonfires on the Heath by The Clientele. Chromewaves shares his excitement and has more info as well as a few promo tracks.

Lots of people seem thrilled about the Saint Etienne remix of the TPOBPAH track Higher Than The Stars. Quite frankly I’m bored stiff, so I’m really not sure whether people actually enjoy the remix itself, or simply has fallen in love with the thought of Saint Etienne doing the remix? However the original version of the track is simply fantastic and probably better than any song found on the debut album, which is a remarkable achievement as the debut was (and remains) nothing but marvelous. Download both versions at Polaroid (or the remix below).
+ Higher Than The Stars (Saint Etienne Visits Lord Spank Remix)

US electro pop combo Null Device is generously giving away an album worth of music for free via bandcamp. The collection has been named Recursions and features a total of 12 tracks; “six remixes, 2 remakes, one cover, 2 demos and a live recording”. I've quite enjoyed previous releases by Null Device, but I seriously doubt that I'll ever learn to truly appreciate remixes and remakes. Especially I see no point in the remaking of Footfalls, as the original is vastly superior to the new version.
+ Footfalls
+ Footfalls (2009 version)

Off to London...

Thanks to those of you who left a comment on yesterday's post. As always it's great to learn that someone is actually reading the words!

I'll jump the bandwagon and add to the hype, so here's the new track Is There A Ghost by Band of Horses. The band's second album Cease To Begin will be out on October 9 on the amazing Sub Pop Records, which is (another) one of those visionary labels knowing and understanding the importance of giving away a track or two from future releases as "teasers". Judging by the first track one could guess that the new album will be a bit more "rocky", but soon we'll be much wiser. However Is There A Ghost certainly doesn't disappoint (after a few listens), so expectations remain pretty damn high.
+ Is There A Ghost

Want to win the debut album by The Floor Is Made Of Lava? Visit the band's blog and guess who utters "WHO THE FUCK ARE ARCTIC MONKEYS?"! Nice!

Chris explains why we all should donate blood. In a comment I explain why I'll never be a blood donor (it has something to do with needles).

1 2 3 4 is sharing one more track from the band's forthcoming debut album In Your Faith.
+ Coltrane

Charlie Don't Surf gives away the remaining three of four newly recorded tracks over at Myspace. Wonderful stuff!
+ I'm Surprised By Your Eyes

Best news of the day: Northern Portrait joins Matinee Recordings.

Yep - tomorrow I'll be heading to London with 7 of my very thirsty friends, and during our 4 day stay I expect to gather enough information to be able to write a small booklet about beers and pubs in greater London!
+ Null Device - Walk In London (Null Device Brick Lane Mix)

One of the new tracks by Danish indie rock band I Am Bones is called The Main Thing Is To Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing. I think I'll use the title as a quick test the next few days. As long as anyone can say it without stumbling over the words, he's simply not drunk enough! On a complete sidenote - the song (from the band's forthcoming album The Greater Good) is actually pretty good!
+ The Main Thing Is To Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing

Null Device - The London EP

Thanks to Falk I'm currently listening to the 2005 The London EP by US (Madison, Wisconsin) duo Null Device. This is synthpop sounding a lot like it used to back in the 80's. The songs are immediately catchy (with lengthy instrumental passages) and chances are pretty good that you'll be humming them all day. The drumbeats just go on and on and eventually your feet will start tapping along. The entire EP (7 tracks) can be yours for free over at Last.fm and all tracks are definitely worth checking out. More free songs by the duo can be found here.
+ Walk In London (Null Device Brick Lane Mix)
+ Unknowingly (Iris Mix)
+ Travelogue (Hungry Lucy Mix)

The 2003 single Footfalls is pretty cool and highly recommendable as well!
+ Footfalls (single mix)