The finger in the strawberry park...

Has to be match-up post title of the year? Anyway...three real interesting albums (one of them as a CD, which is pretty rare these days) arrived in the mailbox this weekend and it's my intention to spend some time (a lot of time actually) today, and probably tomorrow as well, giving them quite a few listens. I sort of expect all three of them to be worth the time and effort. In case you're wondering or interested these are the albums (will add some thoughts on each album during the day):

Emerald Park - Absolute Zero
They still write some pretty damn fine pop songs. But the sound is a little more "indie" and less "polished" than on the debut. I like that!

The Finger - I Don't Believe My Eyes
Expecting an album worth of energetic pop songs...this band reminds me a lot of Garbage...in a real positive way!

Strawberry Whiplash - Hits In The Car
Been told that I should prepare myself for "treat". Will be interesting!

"Appetizers":

Emerald Park - Things by afmusic

 I Don't Believe My Eyes by the finger

Another April by Strawberry Whiplash

Hits in the car - part two...

Seems like I beat the promo mail by a few hours, as later yesterday Matinée Recordings mailed out a few more details (including the sleeve) about that highly anticipated Strawberry Whiplash debut Hits In The Car; with the best part being that the super lovely Now I Know It's You has been made available as a free download!
+ Now I Know It's You

Hits in the car...

On March 27 the debut album from noise pop (or so they are labeled) Scottish act Strawberry Whiplash is finally being released by Matinée Recordings, but preorders are already gladly accepted via the Matinée Shop. As mentioned in a few older posts, the album will be entitled Hits In The Car, thus now and forever securing that it will top the list of “the best album titles ever”! New track Now I Know It’s You was uploaded for streaming yesterday and sounds absolutely sweet; not very noisy, just wonderfully sweet. And so does first single Stop, Look and Listen, so odds seem pretty good that this will be more (a lot more) than just a great titled album!

 Now I Know It's You by Strawberry Whiplash

Stop, Look And Listen by Strawberry Whiplash

+ Stop, Look and Listen

ho ho ho...

Ingenuity has never really been one my strengths, so I’m borrowing last year’s title as well as last year’s illustration. I cannot help thinking that this post is somewhat of a contradiction, as I normally don’t shy away from expressing my dislike of Christmas in general. Not that I dislike everything about it, as I’m obviously enjoying the food, the beers (especially) and the days off. But the buying Christmas gifts madness, people “having” to see friends and families (whom we normally don’t care shit about the rest of year), kids acting like little angels etc. make me sick. As if behaving nicely (and spending loads of money on presents) in December gives you the stamp of approval to behave like a dickhead the rest of the year? So yes – I’m no fan and haven’t been since my late teens. That said; I do (of course) enjoy the many great tunes that always pop up this time of year and December offers the annual opportunity (posting them in June probably wouldn't make much sense) to post the best of the new ones as well as some old favorites…

+ I Am Noxious – The Snowman
Apparently published last year, but somehow I missed out on it. About “a snowman and his melting heart” and has a lovely Christmas feel to it!

+ Sleep Party People - Silent Night
Special but really beautiful cover of this ageless classic!

+ I Like Trains - Last Christmas
As I wrote last year: "Finally this classic sounds miserable; exactly as it should!"

+ Liam and Me - Winter Paradise (I Miss You This Christmas)
One of my favorite Christmas tracks...

+ Jmo - Santa, If You Do Exist
Murder Mystery frontman Jeremy has recorded this absolutely gorgeous indie pop Christmas song with jingle bells and jangling guitars...

+ Strawberry Whiplash - Santa Needs A Holiday
...and listening to some great guitarpop while on holiday probably won't hurt...

+ Fireflies - X-mas song
More great guitarpop for Santa!

+ One Weekly Gun - One Xmas Song
Check what I wrote about it three years ago. Should have been a classic by now!

Check back for updates tomorrow, the day after tomorrow...etc...

As previous years the post will be bumped to the top of the page when new songs are added…

Today you could perhaps...

Stream this rough mix of new track Different City by Architecture. Cannot wait to hear the final mix.
different city (rough mix) by architecture!

Stream/download new track Modern Mess by Digits.
Modern Mess by digits

Watch a few videos of Northern Portrait performing a couple of songs unplugged on their recent excursion to Italy.

Order the perfect new Strawberry Whiplash 7" single Stop, Look and Listen.
+ Stop, Look and Listen

Stream the Ever The Optimist EP by The Kick Inside if you (like me) cannot get enough of jangling guitar pop.
A Matter of Convenience by The Kick Inside

Do a little Christmas shopping at Labrador, who are selling all CD releases for €9 each (including freight).
+ The Radio Dept. - The Worst Taste In Music

...or just do something completely different!

Checking mails...day II...

Kind of depressing. Deleted numerous (which I believe is a nicer term than "shitload of") mails yesterday only to find 52 new ones when logging in this morning...a vicious circle if there ever was one...but here we go again...
+ Sea Weeds - Fall Boi
+ Dempsey - Late Night

not quite from the mailbox, but Matinée Recordings shares the title track from the forthcoming Strawberry Whiplash 7" Stop, Look and Listen.
+ Stop, Look and Listen

The label also shares the thrilling news that a new Northern Portrait release seems to be in the works as well as they are going to release the Azure Blue debut album in December...
+ Azure Blue - The Catcher In The Rye
+ Northern Portrait - Criminal Art Lovers

Back on track, so here's one more from the mailbox...
+ Silver Swans - He Doesn't Know Why (Fleet Fox cover)

...time to take a break...more later (perhaps)...

Shorties...

Boxstr continues being absolutely useless. Seems like it's (occasionally) possible to download songs previously uploaded, but for the past two/three weeks it hasn't been possible to upload anything. Happy I'm "only" paying for two accounts...

Has Champagne Riot called it quits? Looks like it I'm afraid. You'll be missed guys, though I'm pretty confident that we'll soon hear news from Caspar (at least)! Grab their latest (and last?) song Alcohol Kisses for a tweet.
 Alcohol Kisses (demo) by CHAMPAGNE RIOT

The Junica debut EP is out and now available through iTunes.
Living In My House by junica

According to the Matinée Recordings news page, Scottish duo Strawberry Whiplash plan to release their debut album later this summer...intriguingly the album will be called Hits In The Car...
Looking Out For Summer by Strawberry Whiplash

Delay Trees is expected to release a free-to-download EP called Before I Go Go some time during the summer. An unmastered version of the track All Black Left can be stream at SoundCloud (or below).
All Black Left by Delay Trees

ho ho ho...

Yawn! So here's yet another Christmas themed post in the blogger universe compiling endless of useless Christmas tunes. Dull I know, but since I promised to post one a while ago, I definitely intend to keep my word. So today (it's the 8th), tomorrow, the day after and so on, I'm going to scan my mailbox, computer, the www etc. for nice Christmas tunes to share (and will do my utmost only to post the real good ones, meaning that I'm probably going to include several from years before). Will also try to share only what's already available for free (or freebies from previous years) since this holiday season is all about giving and not about stealing bread from people's mouths. Please note that whenever new songs are added this post will be bumped to the top!

+ Liam and Me - Winter Paradise (I Miss You This Christmas)
In my adult life I’ve never really been a fan of Christmas, but in recent years I’ve eagerly been awaiting the arrival of December, just to be able to listen to this song!

+ One Weekly Gun - One Xmas Song
In a perfect world this would be a seasonal classic and included in every Christmas compilation.

+ Strawberry Whiplash - Santa Needs A Holiday
Wonderful track found on the highly recommended The Matinée Holiday Soirée EP.

+ Viola - Wayne Coyne, Be Our Santa Claus
This has to be one of the best titled songs ever!

+ I Like Trains - Last Christmas
Finally this classic sounds miserable; exactly as it should!

+ TIAC - It's Christmas But Not For You
Another reminder that Christmas can indeed be a miserable time for some...

+++

Hits in the car...?

Found this update on Scottish duo Strawberry Whiplash over at the Matinée Recordings news page: “The band is currently working on songs for that all-important debut album which may or may not be called ‘Hits In The Car’ when it finally sees release.” I obviously know that the naming of the album will have absolutely no connection to a blog run by yours truly, but I still cannot help thinking that it would be awesomely cool!
+ Picture Perfect

The wonderful Under Your Skin by Danish indie popsters Forgotten Fields On Fire is BandBase track of the day (today). Check out the duo’s banner, which is a rather colorful version of one of my favorite paintings!
+ Under Your Skin

We probably all know what it’s like stumbling upon an old song and then spend the rest of the day listening to it ten times (at least) as well as speculating, how come you haven’t listened to it for ages? Exactly what happened earlier today, when I came across this Beirut “classic”.
+ Postcards From Italy

The Matinée Grand Prix...

The Northern Portrait debut wasn’t the only album included in that parcel I received from Matinée Recordings on New Year’s Eve, and though I make sure to get my daily dose of Criminal Art Lovers it’s high time to listen to the rest of the contents. First “pit stop” is the compilation The Matinée Grand Prix, which contains 11 brand new recordings by some of the label’s finest. Normally I shy away from these kind of releases, as the quality of the entries often vary at little too much for my liking (bands seem to be "saving" their best efforts for their own releases). But be it the new track by Northern Portrait (which of course is downright wonderful) or the last song (ever?) recorded by The Lucksmiths, there really doesn’t seem to be one weak moments on this one. The Strawberry Whiplash contribution is exactly as noisy as expected, The Electric Pop Group shows that the “pop” is there for a reason, Clay Hips does indeed deliver their best Pet Shop Boys impression and on it goes! So basically what I’m saying is that “Grand Prix” is an absolutely amazing collection of indie pop tunes and darn close to being the perfect gateway to the genre as well as the Matinée roster.
+ Simpático - Australian Idle
+ Cats on Fire - The Hague

New layout...?

I spent a little time today working on a new layout for the blog and if you're interested in seeing how things are progressing, you can check it right here. All inputs are welcome; positive or negative (especially).

Probably old news, but learned today that Magic Arm will be supporting Camera Obscura at Loppen (Copenhagen) on September 30 (and the rest of the band's European tour as well). Obviously I was hoping that Northern Portrait would get that job, but since everything I’ve heard by Magic Arm so far is really interesting, I’m seriously looking forward to become a lot more familiar with the experimental electronic pop universe of this one-man project.
+ Daft Punk is Playing at My House (LCD Soundsystem cover)
+ Bootsy Bootsy (Real Doll remix)

Speaking of Northern Portrait. I checked the Matinée Recordings news page today, but still no news to be found on the band's debut album Criminal Art Lovers. Instead there’s plenty of info on the new Strawberry Whiplash EP Picture Perfect including the mighty fine title track as a free download. Ordering the EP will cost you a measly fiver (USD), so what exactly is stopping you?
+ Picture Perfect

Listening...

It’s time to work my way through some of the many new CD’s recently found in the mailbox.

This is the complete list of today’s “menu"…comments to be added during the day.

Midnight Movies – Nights EP
2 of the 6 tracks are the band's versions of Night in White Satin, which I would have no problems living without (especially the one sung in French). However the remaining 4 tracks (2 new ones + 2 remixes) are simply excellent alternative rock tunes (with some shoegazing influences) and easily makes the EP worth the investment.
+ Should Have Known

Soundpool – dichotomies + dreamland
+ Do What You Love

Elika – trying got us nowhere
The debut album by Brooklyn duo Elika might only contain 7 tracks, but it pretty much has everything one should expect from a debuting shoegaze band. Musically the band doesn't distance itself from the rest of the pack as the duo combine the typical electronic soundscape with pretty female vocals and noisy guitars. But since everything is woven together by some real well written tunes, the album certainly indicates that this isn't the last thing we'll hear from Elika.

I've done a bit of shopping at Matinée Recordings and if you're into lovely indie pop, I can only recommend that you pick up these 3 extraordinary fine EP's. They'll cost you 5 buck each, and with the current USD rate everyone outside the US should pick up a copy today!
Bubblegum Lemonade – Ten Years Younger EP
+ Ten Years Younger

Strawberry Whiplash – Who’s In Your Dreams EP
+ Who's In Your Dreams

the electric pop group – sunrise ep
+ I Could See The Lights