Sambassadeur: Always Happy Days

I've expressed my deep love for this superb Swedish band on previous occasions and put my kronor where my mouth is. I tingled to learn a new LP is forthcoming in January on the fabulous Labrador label. Here's the new single.

Sambassadeur - Days mp3

Hmmm, "Days." Now what does that remind me of? Oh, yes, of course, hence a slight but very important diversion. (We're still in Gothenburg, though.)

Days - Simple Thing mp3

MySpace | Thanks to the most excellent Shelflife.

Now back to Sambassadeur.

From Sambassadeur (2005):

Sambassadeur - Between the Lines mp3

Sambassadeur - Kate mp3

From the New Moon EP (2006):

Sambassadeur - New Moon mp3

From Migration (2007):

Sambassadeur - Final Say mp3

Sambassadeur - Subtle Changes mp3

MySpace | Bandsite | eMusic

Nuzzle Muzzle & Pris & BTO, The Treatment, Common Heroes, Tolkien, etc.

Welcome to Powerpopulist, where all talk is small talk, especially when we got our Muzzle on.

Muzzle - Jenna Fine mp3

Muzzle - What a Bore mp3

And just who are - or were - Muzzle? Well may you ask. Please read on.

Muzzle were a 90s Seattle band drummed for by Burke Thomas, aka “BTO.” Thomas – or “Burke” – is a highly talented musical savant associated with a number of bands, including Pris. Pris were the powerpoppin' media through which I came upon him, so to speak. I bought a baker’s handful of their songs back in February, a fact fairly well, if not conclusively, documented here. So when I started hungering for more information on the four-letter word, I arrived here and found these from 2004's The Kiss Off:

Pris - Theet the Moth mp3

Pris - Tightey Whitey mp3

Of course I already had one of those, as documented, but maybe you don't and now we do!

Plus I found these:

Common Heroes - The Rescue mp3

The Treatment - Give It Up mp3

Yummy.

But wait, there’s more (mp3s). (Clicky clicky.)

And if what you really crave is more of the story of the various bands with which BTO has been associated, click here.

And that's all I'm gonna say, for now.

MySpace | Bandsite | eMusic

Music of the Sphere: Elvis C, Sloan, Wellingtons, Seekers, ELO, The Move, Midnight Oil, Rough Bunnies, Elephant Stone, et. al.

We got starry-eyed and laughin' when a wonderful blog we subscribe to, My hmphs, introduced us to the superb antipodean blog, Peter's Power Pop. The tunes below are but a small measure of the treasure that awaits you down under.

First, a few by some groups we didn't know and now want to.

Magic Dirt - Dirty Jeans - Peter's Power Pop

You Am I - Berlin Chair & Mr. Milk - Peter's Power Pop
DM3 - One Time Two Times Devastated - Peter's Power Pop
Ratcat - That Ain't Bad - Peter's Power Pop

Next, a few by some we do.

Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Lip Service & No Action - Peter's Power Pop

The Seekers - A World of Our Own - Peter's Power Pop - long-long-time faves; glorious!

The Wellingtons - Song for Kim - Peter's Power Pop
The Muffs - Really Really Happy - Peter's Power Pop

Electric Light Orchestra - Do Ya - Peter's Power Pop
The Move - Do Ya - Peter's Power Pop
Midnight Oil - Dreamworld - Peter's Power Pop - Peter also has a live version; we saw MO do this one in Austin on the Diesel and Dust tour back in '88. What a night! (eMusic has a bunch of their lps here.)

Finally, here are a few other nice things we found oot and aboot.

Sloan - Coax Me - Six Eyes

Rough Bunnies - Dance With Your Shadow - Swedesplease

The Yes Pleases - Don't Say We're There Yet - Obscure Sound
Alligators - Where Does It Hide - Obscure Sound

Crocodiles - I Wanna Kill - Obscure Sound

Elephant Stone - How Long & I Am Blind & The Straight Line - Obscure Sound - We hope it won't seem officious to mention that back in April we posted a song by Elephant Stone here, along with five songs by Rishi Dhir's former band, The High Dials, all highly recommended.

Thanks to all the hosts!

Friendly Foes: I Wanna Be A BFFOFF

Photo Credit to Jerry Wald

Friendly Foes - Couch Surfing mp3

Friendly Foes - My Body is a Strange Place to Live mp3

from Born Radical,

their 2008 release

on Gangplank Records

We're loving the pure pop of this Ferndale, Michigan outfit.

MySpace | eMusic | Amazon | CD Baby

The Black Hollies Give Good Gloom

The Black Hollies - Gloomy Monday Morning mp3

from Softly Towards The Light, released last week

by Ernest Jenning Record Co.

Maybe we should have waited until mañana to post the above, but what the hey. We've been enjoying this Jersey City band for quite some time now, including this previously posted fave.

The Black Hollies - Paisley Pattern Ground mp3

(That post, this post, and this post have some other nice tuneage as well, if you're interested in that kind of thing.)

Thanks to Chris Vinyard at Big Hassle Media.

MySpace | eMusic | Amazon

Music of the Sphere

Ye Olde Blogosphere As Rendered Here (For Which, Thanks)

Very nice fare, spoiled only by the lamentable tentfolding of dear merz over at Mars Needs Guitars. (Ya, sure, go ahead and click if you're into that kind of self-abuse.) I do sincerely appreciate all the great music he turned me on to and thank him for doing so. Likewise, thanks to the bloggers hereinafter cited.

R.E.M. - Radio Free Europe - AWMusic
Said The Whale - The Magician (Camilo) - AWMusic
The Beatles - I Need You & Hey Jude - AWMusic

The Beatles - Run For Your Life - Star Maker Machine
Nick Lowe - Rose Of England - Star Maker Machine
Fountains of Wayne - Utopia Parkway - Star Maker Machine

The Weakerthans - Tournament of Hearts - Star Maker Machine
Big Star - September Gurls - Star Maker Machine
Fairport Convention -Who Knows Where The Time Goes - Star Maker Machine

The Kinks - Autumn Almanac - Star Maker Machine
XTC - The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead - Star Maker Machine
AC/DC - Up To My Neck In You - Star Maker Machine

The Shrinking Islands - Swallowed In Grace & Blood Rays - Bag Of Songs
Horse Shoes - Changing Winds - Milk Milk Lemonade
Sunbear - Flutterbye - Mojophenia

Elusive Parallelograms

Elusive Parallelograms - Orange mp3

from And Everything Changes,

released 9 June of this year

Almost a tautology, as I have always found it difficult to express adequately the strange allure of the parallelogram. This Milwaukee band's attractions didn't elude at all, though, and I've already staked out claims to a number of numbers over at eMusic. Would you like to know which ones? No? Okay, 'scool. Go check 'em out if you like. I left the other free and legal mp3 back at the incomparable Rainbow Quartz site, too, so you might want to pay at least two visits presently.

MySpace | Bandsite | Buy

Dog Day Evening

Dog Day - Synastry mp3

from their Elder Schoolhouse EP

We got this tonight and already we're woofin' and waggin'. Thanks to Matt Charlton at Pigeon Row.

We're still very much enjoying these Halifaxers' previously posted songs from Concentration, released earlier this year.

Dog Day - Rome mp3

Dog Day - Happiness mp3

MySpace | Bandsite | Buy Buy

The Love Kills Theory - Suicide Girls mp3

from Happy Suicide, Jim!

Machine-gun drumming and perfectly timed right-to-left-ear action are but two of the weapons in this NYC gang's well-stocked arsenal.

MySpace | Bandsite | Buy Buy

Black Whales

Black Whales - Young Blood mp3

from Origins EP, released last mo.

We dig the way they sound.

MySpace | Bandsite | Buy

lAPPINg up tHe sWIMMERs

tHe sWIMMERs - A Hundred Hearts mp3

from pEOPle aRe sOFt, due 3 Nov.

I mUSt cONFESs to eNJOYINg tHEIr lOWEr cASE/CAPITALs tHINg, tOo.

Thanks to Lauren at Sneak Attack Media.

And we're still enjoying this previously posted number.

tHe sWIMMERs -Pocketful of Gold mp3

MySpace | Buy

And He Made ME Do This

Hush Arbors - The Devil Made You High mp3

from Yankee Reality, due Tue.

MySpace | Bandsite | Buy

D.A.D.

This blast from the past certainly fluffs my pillows.

Another Beauty by The Voyces

The Voyces - Bye Bye mp3

Sure, I recently posted several by these retransplanted Californians, but I just received another by them, and it's quite neato, so I felt you'd want to hear it. Lord hep me if I'm wrong. Click "recently posted" to go to the earlier post for songs, info, and suchlike.

Music of the Sphere: Lush, Jellybricks, Sleepover Disaster, Spiritualized, Elastica, Superdrag, Traffic, Stones, Los Lobos, et. al. . . .

You probably can't (yawn) tell that I really should go beddy-bye, but I've just finished making the rounds of some faveblogs and simply must share the fruits of my peregrinations (which did indeed make me grin). Hope you like the pickins'.

Merzmars has, of course and as always, been munificent. Click and hear for yourself.

Lush - Ladykillers - Mars Needs Guitars
The Jellybricks - Nobody Else - Mars Needs Guitars
The Sleepover Disaster - Tremble & Don't Talk - Mars Needs Guitars
Spiritualized - Electricity - Mars Needs Guitars

Elastica - Stutter - Mars Needs Guitars
Superdrag - So Insincere & Do The Vampire - Mars Needs Guitars
Thurman - English Tea - Mars Needs Guitars
Spider Bags - Que Viva El Rocanroll - Mars Needs Guitars

But others haven't exactly been chinchy either.

Los Lobos - Will the Wolf Survive? - Barely Awake In Frog Pajamas
The Rolling Stones - Play With Fire - Barely Awake In Frog Pajamas
Karen O. And The Kids - All Is Love - AWMusic
Traffic - The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys - Star Maker Machine

Thanks, hosts! Mmwahh!

Golden Bloom Glows

Golden Bloom - E.H.M. mp3

Golden Bloom - Doomsday Devices mp3

from Fan the Flames

released 18 August

Thanks to Janelle Rogers at Green Light Go Publicity. Janelle was kind enough back in the early days of this little blogisode to let "us" post two songs by Golden Bloom frontperson Shawn Fogel. We've been grooving on them awhile now and kinda think you should, too. Janelle also let us post groovers by The Dilettantes, Terrene, and Static of the Gods. They're all still there, so hotchachá, peeps.

Shawn Fogel - Leaves, Corners, Stones mp3

Shawn Fogel - Dead Petals mp3

MySpace | Bandsite | Buy Buy

Chris Richards and the Subtractions: High Octane Additive

Chris Richards and the Subtractions - I Can't Quit Her mp3

Chris Richards and the Subtractions - I, Miss July mp3

from Motor City band's full-length debut

Sad Sounds of the Summer

on Gangplank Records

Yep, straight outta Detroit Pop City comes a debut model fully loaded with hook-laden powerpop. Thanks to bassist Todd for the keys. BTW, sometimes it's nice when an LP's misnamed.

MySpace | Buy Buy

Girl Alliance

Girl Alliance - Frances and the Dancing Fairies mp3

from 3" CD-R split of Girl Alliance and The Librarians - Scroll down to #806.

via Cloudberry

I was hanging out at the fabulous Cloudberry Records site the other day and found many nice ones, including this. Go visit Roque and the gang. You'll be glad you did. (Maybe I've put too many links here to Cloudberry. Or maybe not enough. We'll probably never really know.)

MySpace | Buy

Bear In Heaven: Blessed Mess

Bear In Heaven - Wholehearted Mess mp3

from Georgiabama band's forthcoming October 13 release,

Beast Rest Forth Mouth

on Hometapes

Thanks to Jon Polk at Team Clermont.

MySpace | Buy Buy

Guyded by The Voyces

The Voyces - You Can Never Know mp3

The Voyces - Let Me Die In Southern California mp3

from California to New York to California band's 3rd LP

Let Me Die in Southern California

due September 28

via Planting Seeds Records/Darla

Early did we post on this wonderful band and still very much enjoy the following, among many others.

The Voyces - Kissing Like It's Love m3u

You can find more where that came from at the band's music and lyrics page . We also highly recommend Dan Klein's wonderful fansite.

MySpace | Bandsite | Buy

Darker My Love Loved

Darker My Love - Talking Words mp3


from the California band's 2008 Dangerbird Records release

2

Thanks to NME for making this song available and Fingertips music blog for making us aware.

We're still getting down and dark with the following previously posted ditty.

Darker My Love - Summer Is Here mp3

MySpace | Bandsite | Buy Buy

Wiretree: Good Luck

Wiretree - Back In Town mp3

from Austin band's second full-length,

Luck

Due out October 20

Thanks to Candice, Bill, and Jon at Team Clermont.

MySpace | Bandsite

Perhaps the band won't mind my including the following possible purchase points (clicky clicky):

Physical Album - CD Baby - Not Lame - Kool Kat Music

Digital Purchases - Amazon - Apple iTunes (USA, Europe, UK) - Waterloo Records Online

The Sky Drops Righteous Gaze

The Sky Drops - Swimming with Fishes mp3

The Sky Drops - Hang On mp3

Both are from Bourgeois Beat, which dropped August 11.

We're on their mailing list, and have been for some time now. So thrilled we were when our favorite Delawareans, Rob Montejo and Monika Bullette, let us know of their latest release and let fly the two droplets posted above. Be assured that when they drop, we drop, and listen, enraptured, as previously indicated. Click for more. And in the meantime. . .

The Sky Drops - Million mp3
(The only bad thing about this incandescent beauty is that it eventually ends. But, then, that's what "Repeat" is for.)

The Sky Drops - Now Would Be mp3


MySpace | Bandsite | Buy Buy

Shake Some Action! Deliver

Shake Some Action! - Stand and Deliver mp3

This is the 4th song from Seattle band's 3rd LP. Cleverly and interestingly, they're letting us in on the demo and recording process, song-by-song, as the LP develops. Check it out here. (They've just completed #7.)

And we got pretty giddy when we noticed our favorite SSA! song at last.fm!

Shake Some Action! - Damaged mp3

MySpace | Bandsite | Buy Buy

Music of the Sphere: Smithereens, Cheap Trick, Raveonettes, Simple Minds, Boo Radleys, Force Vomit, Vandelles, Johnny Boy, It Hugs Back, et. al. . . .

Favebloggers be relentless.*** To wit:

The Smithereens - Behind the Wall of Sleep - Bleedin' Out

Cheap Trick - Surrender (Outtake) & He's A Whore & Oh Caroline - Bleedin' Out

Stiff Little Little Fingers - Strummerville - Bleedin' Out

The Raveonettes - Remember - Dead Flowers

Simple Minds - Don't You (Forget About Me) - Barely Awake In Frog Pajamas

Chariots Of Tuna - War Hero - Milk Milk Lemonade

Johnny Boy - You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Deserve - The White Noise Revisited

Tiny Microphone - You Disappear - indie-mp3

The Vandelles - Chain Walking & Blue LA Strip - Darklands

It Hugs Back - Back Down - Darklands

Maple Leaves - Easy Speak - Eardrums - Scroll down to Scotland; the countries are in alphabetical order.

Force Vomit - Liberator - Eardrums - Don't let the bandname make you hurl in the curl; this is superb toe-hangin', nosewalkin' surfpunk; "Singapore" comes right after "Scotland," if you know what I mean and I think I do.

The Boo Radleys - Lazy Day - Eardrums

Firetop Mountain - How Can You Dance At A Time Like This? - Eardrums - Scroll down to Norway.

Naivepop or Petitfoot - Sunday Morning - Eardrums - Japanese is helpful but not absolutely necessary to enjoying this one. The post also includes info about new Merci Magazine from abcdefg*record.

***And we thank you for that, FBs.

Spinnerette

Spinnerette - Rebellious Palpitations mp3

from Spinnerette

on Anthem Entertainment Group

MySpace | Bandsite | Buy

Shonen Knife

Shonen Knife - Super Group mp3

from Super Group

on Good Charamel Records

My Space | Bandsite | Buy

Hi. (Just sort of wanted to say that. Also, we love Shonen Knife. A lot.)

Two Hours Traffic

Two Hours Traffic - Territory mp3

from Territory

Due to be marked 8 September on Bumstead

Thanks to Jesse at Killbeat.

Previously posted and still being very much enjoyed, both

from Little Jabs:

Two Hours Traffic - Sure Can Start mp3

Two Hours Traffic - Stuck for the Summer mp3

MySpace | Bandsite | Pre-Sale Madness

Throw Me The Statue

Throw Me the Statue - Hi-fi Goon mp3

from Creaturesque

on Secretly Canadian

MySpace | Bandsite | Buy

Wheels On Fire

Wheels On Fire - I'm Turning Into You mp3

from Get Famous

on Big Legal Mess/Fat Possum

MySpace | Bandsite | Buy

Partyy Time with Mission of Burma

Mission of Burma - 1, 2, 3, Partyy! mp3

from The Sound The Speed The Light

Due out 6 October on Matador

MySpace | Bandsite | Preorder | Buy more MoB

We do hope you're not minding our current turn for the taciturn. (And if you're celebrating, well then, huzzah!) It's sure freed us up a bit for posting. We're mainly here to listen to tuneage anyway, not to gab. Maybe that suits you, too. You don't say much either, which is cool (although, sniff, we'd love to hear from you more). Jeez, look at DJ pp blabbermouth in full roar. Sheesh.

Totally Michael

Totally Michael - Winona mp3

from Totally Michael

MySpace | Bandsite | Buy

Free Energy

Photo by Rachel Leah Woliansky

Free Energy - Free Energy mp3


from Stuck On Nothing

Due early 2010 on DFA Records


MySpace | More Info

Lacrosse

Lacrosse - I See a Brightness mp3

from Bandages for the Heart

Tapete Records

MySpace | Bandsite | Buy

The Mountain Goats

The Mountain Goats - Genesis 3:23 mp3

from The Life of the World to Come

Drops 6 October

MySpace | Bandsite

Brown Recluse

Brown Recluse - Contour and Context mp3


from The Soft Skin EP

Drops 8 September


MySpace | Buy

The Revolution Begins Now. (Okay, in a few seconds, but still. . .)

We're going to do a little experiment to see if we can't whittle down the largish backlog of unposted songs we like. Hope you like.

The Raveonettes: In & Out Of Control

We're pumped about dynamic Danish duo - and longtime favorites - The Raveonetttes'***fourth, coming LP, In & Out Of Control, due out October 6 on Vice Records. Thanks to Pitchfork for the "pure" version. Note to Vice squad: Please stop tacking those adverts to the end of some of your promos. Vicious? No. Tacky? A bit. Rest assured, we're gonna buy.

The Raveonettes - Suicide mp3

We're still raving about these previously posted ones.

The Raveonettes - Last Dance (demo) mp3

The Raveonettes - Black/White mp3

The Raveonettes - Dead Sound mp3

My Space

eMusic

***Sharin Foo & Sune Rose Wagner

Music of the Sphere: The Manhattan Love Suicides' "Kessler Syndrome"

We just found out today that one of our favorite British bands, The Manhattan Love Suicides, are splitting up. We'll not do their name, but we're very, very sorry to see them go. By all means, check out the incredible "Kessler Syndrome" over at the Italian blog, Polaroid.

The Manhattan Love Suicides - Kessler Syndrome - Polaroid

And in case you missed them, here are some previous TMLSes we've posted.

The Manhattan Love Suicides

Suzy Jones mp3

Last Stand mp3

You’ll Never Get That Guy mp3

We've bought and enjoyed much of their tuneage at eMusic.

Music of the Sphere: Shins, Besties, Liechtenstein, A.C. Newman, Built To Spill, Yo La Tengo, Flaming Lips, Ceremony, Sonicflyer, Reatard, et. al. . .

Unimaginable thanks for the image.

Still playing catsup. Hope you like. Thanks to the hostmeisters.

The Shins - One By One All Day - Mars Needs Guitars
Liechtenstein - All At Once - The House of Leaf and Lime

Lacrosse - I See A Brightness - indie-mp3
Ceremony - Dream Only of you - indie-mp3 - fabulous fuzz

Sonicflyer - Novocaine & Let's Not Talk About The Rain - Indieball

The Besties - What Would Tim Armstrong Do? - 5 Acts

Wheels On Fire - I'm Turning Into You - 5 Acts

Paul And The Patients - The Other Side - 5 Acts
A Camp - Stronger Than Jesus - 5 Acts
Lissy Trullie - Self-Taught Learner - 5 Acts

A.C. Newman - The Heartbreak Rides - Music for Kids Who Can't Read Good

Built To Spill - Carry The Zero - Music for Kids Who Can't Read Good

Yo La Tengo - Sugarcube - Music for Kids Who Can't Read Good

Jay Reatard - Can't Do It Anymore - Music for Kids Who Can't Read Good

The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize? - Music for Kids Who Can't Read Good

Music of the Sphere, cont'd: XTC, Urge O, New O, Hoodoos, Echo &, Stellastar, Ice Station Zebra, Death Valley zzzs, TMBG, Box Elders, Woods et. al.

As promised in Tuesday's Music of the Sphere post, here are a few more choice sounds found during recent peregrinations amongst my favorite music blogs. Many thanks to the faveblogger(esse)s.

Urge Overkill - Sister Havana - Mars Needs Guitars
New Order - Run - Mars Needs Guitars
Hoodoo Gurus - Bittersweet - Mars Needs Guitars
XTC - Senses Working Overtime - Mars Needs Guitars
Echo & The Bunnymen - Make Me Shine - Marsh Needs Guitars

Echo & The Bunnymen - Seven Seas - Pretty Goes With Pretty
Deerhunter - Little Kids - Pretty Goes With Pretty

Stellastar - Freak Out - Mojophenia
Ice Station Zebra - Waves - Mojophenia

Death Valley Sleepers - Vice & Beauty - Hits in the Car

Adam & Dave's Bloodline - Nothing to It - Bag Of Songs

They Might Be Giants - Triops Has Three Eyes - Speed of Dark

Box Elders - Stay - Raven Sings The Blues
Woods - To Clean - Raven Sings The Blues - Scroll down, svp.
Woods - The Dark - Raven Sings The Blues
The Fresh and Onlys - I Saw Him - Raven Sings The Blues

Music of the Sphere: Velvet Crush, Brendan Benson, Deathray Davies, Dinosaur Jr., Stone Roses, Raveonettes, Velocity Girl, Offspring, et. al. . . .

Hoo Boy, I stay away from my faveblogs for awhile and upon returning, what do I find? Lots, that's what. Such as:

Velvet Crush - Worst Enemy - Mars Needs Guitars

Brendan Benson - Good To Me - Mars Needs Guitars

The Deathray Davies - Low And Silent - Mars Needs Guitars

California Oranges - Run Away - Mars Needs Guitars

Lilys - The Night Sun Over San Juan - Mars Needs Guitars

Dinosaur Jr. - Your Weather & Friends & See You - AWMusic
Billy Talent - Turn Your Back & Pocketful Of Dreams - AWMusic
The Offspring - Come Out And Play (Keep 'Em Separated) - AWMusic + a couple more offspring of The Offspring
Elephant Stone - Bombs Bomb Away - AWMusic

The Stone Roses - Where Angels Play - Dead Flowers

The Raveonettes - The Last Dance (Demo) - Dead Flowers

Soda Fountain Rag - I Wanna Be Your Cat - Milk Milk Lemonade

Meeting Of Important People - Brittney Lane Don't Care - Milk Milk Lemonade

Velocity Girl - I Can't Stop Smiling - Star Maker Machine

But wait, there's more! Coming soon. (Believe that?)

Infinite gratitude to the ever gracious hosts! (Believe that.)

Apteka: Polished if not Polish

Wikipedia says, "Apteka is a Polish rock band, founded in 1983 in Gdynia. Their LP 'Narkotyki' won 'Płyta Roku' ('LP of the Year') of Gazeta Wyborcza in 1992. The word 'apteka' means 'drug store' in Polish. . . ." Wikipedia admits, though, its article is but a stub.

I do not believe that is the same psychygazy Chicago band under instant consideration. I could of course ask Adam, who, after all, did give me kind permish to post some songs, but am much too shy for such presumption. All I know is I've been hugely enjoying Apteka's music and thank Adam for said permish.

If you, too, like, you can get the other six (6) songs from their excellent Tour EP by going to the band’s MySpace site or by clicking here. The price is right: free.

Apteka - from Tour EP

Blackout Hearts mp3

Cicada Song mp3

The Sheet mp3

Band Members: Dino, Jesse, Adam, Dave

The Melloncollies: Doggone Good

I am a little out of pocket at the moment, so by your sweet leave will simply share and split. Hope you enjoy this as much (or more) than I. No poochy lips here, that's for sure.

The Melloncollies - Simple Naïve Someone mp3 - from New Yawkers' debut full-length Somme Music release, Goodbye Cruel World - Thanks to Tom Martin at Advanced Alternative Media for bringing it on. There's a lot to click here; hover and discover.

The Delfields: (are not) Ogres

This New Brunswick, New Joisey trio*** serves up pretty pure pop. (Words like “pretty pure pop” are not to be thrown around cavalierly – or roundheadedly – and I don't.) Yes, I said “trio,” despite the presence of two-thirds more personnel in the picture than previously indicated. It might be fun to try and figure out just who’s who and what’s what. For example, I’m thinking that after serving it up/rocking The Octopus into eight-armed limpitude till the early morning light, The Delfields invited Sad Zombie to their favorite field for a bit of grass-tugging. And it worked! Sad Zombie became Very, Very, Very Happy Zombie. That's what I'm thinking.

Or we could just give ear to the pop that Candice Jones at Team Clermont most graciously sent myour way.

(By the way, The Delfield’s logo is an octopus.)

The Delfields - from Ogres
Fawn Fight mp3
Ogres mp3

MySpace | iTunes | CD Baby

***Joseph Fekete (lead vocals/guitar/principal songwriter) & twin brothers Ryan (bass/vocals) and Kyle (drums) Shook

Himalaya

Hej. Heh.

These high-climbing Brooklynites, former members of Philly's The Asteroid #4 and The Three 4 Tens, really know how to psych it to ya. From their debut, Himalaya:

Himalaya - Melt Away mp3

Thanks to Tom Martin at Advanced Alternative Media.

Oh, yeh, heh, I still have these.

The Asteroid #4

These Flowers of Ours mp3

Ask Me About Pittsburgh mp3

The Three 4 Tens - R.U.B.A. mp3

The Well Wishers' Saturday Surprise

I was about to step out of the house but found some jewels in my emailbox and had to post posthaste. We happily featured San Francisco powerpoppers The Well Wishers back in December and now find WW Jeff Shelton is making new tuneage available. Jeff took two unfinished songs from his previous (excellent) band, Spinning Jennies, and polished them into the gems below. The email also had the exciting news that The Well Wishers are demoing songs for their fifth LP, hope to begin recording this fall, and anticipate releasing it in early '10. Needless to say, we wish them well and know their music will return the favor.

The Well Wishers

I Before E mp3

Down mp3

For good measure, here's one of the previously posted songs from that December post. The other two are still there, so go dig 'em if you dare. (Are we coyly, greedily sending you there just to increase our site traffic, build up our number of page clicks, and augment our massive revenue stream? Surely you jest.)

Moving Mountains mp3 - from Jigsaw Days

Humpday Derby: An Horse, Brakes, Bishops, Decks, Coast, (((S))), Koolaid Electric Co., Shoreline Dream, Lower Heaven

Saddle up, friends and neighbors, and let's take a few spins around some groovy tracks. (Awkwardly put, but it's only an intro.) Click colors to hear and see and feel and shell out.

An Horse - Camp Out mp3 - from Brisbane duo's Rearrange Beds, out since 17 March. Many thanks to Marni Wandner at Sneak Attack Media. We're still loving the following previously posted song as well.

Postcards mp3

Brakes - Two Shocks mp3- from Brighton band's Touchdown - You will sometimes find this group's name in triplicate (brakesbrakesbrakes), which can be confusing. Doesn't seem to affect the excellent music at all. We're still very much enjoying the following, which was in our first post of the magical year of 2009.

Crystal Tunings mp3

The Decks - What You Said mp3 - from Detroit darlings' Breath And Bone, due out 26 May

The Coast - No Secret Why mp3 - off Torontans' Expatriate, released in stores stateside yesterday. Thanks to Ian Anderson at Afternoon Records.

We found the following at the superb German site, Coast is Clear, and sincerely thank blogmeister Peter for the headsups. Please note he has more of some of them, so go visit if't please you.

The Bishops - Wandering By mp3 - from Londoners' For Now, available at Not Lame

(((S))) - Mesmerized mp3 - from Ghost - The guitar kind of reminds us of longtime faves The Cult. You? - Peter still has two more gooduns by this here Danish band here.

The Koolaid Electric Company - Untitled #1 mp3 - psuberb psych from Leighton Buzzard band - Peter has another here.

A Shoreline Dream - Hypermode (feat. Ulrich Schnauss) mp3 - Size 18 shoegaze from NYCers' Recollections of Memory

Lower Heaven - Knife mp3 - from Silverlake, CA band's 2008 release Ashes, available at CD Baby - My notes read, "picky atmospheric marcher w/ nice shifts" (That's right, sometimes I just go very, very deeep.) - Peter has two more here.

Music of the Sphere: Fountains of Wayne, Dandy Warhols, Radio Dept. TPOBPAH, Silversun Pickups, Bears, Army Navy, et. al. . . .

Image Here

What a wonderful weekend of music (among other wonderfuls)! Here are some songs we found and liked and hoped you might, too. Many thanks to the fabbloggers who've made them available.

Fountains Of Wayne - Radiation Vibe - Barely Awake in Frog Pajamas

Papercuts - A Dictator's Lament - AWmusic

Dreamdate - 8 Sleeves - Milk Milk Lemonade

The Radio Dept. - Lost and Found - The Yellow Stereo

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Stay Alive - The Yellow Stereo

Sweet Jane - You're Making This Hard - Coast is Clear - J&M Chainish
Ghost Society - Jeremy Parker (demo) - Coast is Clear - glorious gaze

Army Navy - Saints - Coast is Clear

Bears - Wait And See & How To Live - Indieball
Joy Zipper - 1 & Christmas Song - Indieball

Autolux - Robots In The Garden - Indieball

Throw Me The Statue - Winning Speech - Indieball

We're loving this Indieball site, new to us and doing it right. We couldn't figure out the permalinks to the following, though, so here's a workaround. Clicking each link below will get you to a longish page with several posts. Scroll down until you get to the one we're recommending. (If you want to, that is.)

All Girl Summer Fun Band - You're Not the One for Me - Indieball - January 24, 2009

The Dandy Warhols - Now You Love Me - Indieball - October 22, 2008
Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye - Indieball - July 22, 2008

Popfest: Shake Some Action, Pranks, Super Furry Animals, Dog Day, J. Foskett, Monolators, Uglysuit, Alligators, We The They

Thanks so much for popping in. Speaking of which, we'd like to return the favor:

Shake Some Action - I Get Tongue Tied mp3 - As you've no doubt learned elsewhere, this Seattle/Atlanta (and apparently mainly Seattle again) band is letting us travel step-by-step with them as they record their third LP. Visit their blog for fascinating insights into the creative process, not to mention mp3s of the first and third songs from the new album.

Jeffrey Foskett - Thru My Window mp3 - from 2004's Stars in the Sand (and originally the title cut of former Prankster's 1996 LP) - mighty fine powerpop!

The Pranks - from Seattle band's excellent 2008 debut, Modern Communication - One wonders if there's been more than one band by this name.
Modern Communication mp3
Spending Time mp3

The Monolators - I Must Be Dreaming mp3 - from LA quintet's 2008 LP, Don't Dance

The Uglysuit - ...And We Became Sunshine mp3 - from the OK City band's self-titled debut

Alligators - Where Does It Hide? mp3 - from Seattle band's October '08 release, Piggy & Cups

Dog Day - Halifax, Nova Scotia quartet gently raises the woof in Concentration, released just this week.

Rome mp3

Happiness mp3

Super Furry Animals - Inaugural Trams mp3 - from Welsh wizards' Dark Days/Light Years, released last month

We The They - Pastures mp3 - from the Roscoe, NY band's three-song EP, The Shabby Road Sessions - WTT were nice enough to let us post two pleasing poppers in the early days of our blog, and we hope they won't mind a reprise.

Start the Hop mp3
Bear Trap mp3

pppurcha$e$: March Buys

Two months ago we started a little blog called pppurcha$e$ to share what songs we are buying at eMusic, Amazon, etc. You can find our March 2009 purchases here. Hope you find stuff you like. We sure did.

Music of the Sphere: Kinks, Paul Kelly, Cars, Headlights, Brian Jonestown, Atomic Garden, Get Go, Pomegranates, et. al. . . .

We've been kind of naughty lately, what with not posting much and such. Don't worry, though: we're consumed with guilt. Really. Thanks to all the fabulous posterhoster(esse)s for the following!

The Kinks - A Well Respected Man - Setting The Woods On Fire

Paul Kelly & the Messengers - Dumb Things - Star Maker Machine

Brian Jonestown Massacre - Going To Hell - Speed of Dark

The Cars - Touch and Go - Barely Awake In Frog Pajamas

Headlights - TV - Barely Awake In Frog Pajamas - several-years-now fave; glad BAIFP's got 'em turned on; hurry, though!

Atomic Garden - Gift (Sugar cover) - Milk Milk Lemonade
Screen Vinyl Image - Fever - Milk Milk Lemonade
The Very Sexuals - Bowie Eyes - Milk Milk Lemonade

Pomegranates - The Bellhop - CYSTSFTS
The Get Go - When Good Friends Tell Bad Lies - CYSTSFTS

Little Girls - What We Did - Raven Sings the Blues - garagey
Thee Oh Sees - A Flag in the Court & Ruby Come Home - Raven Sings the Blues
The Unrelated Segments - Where You Gonna Go - Raven Sings the Blues - garagey
Tonto and the Renegades - Little Boy Blue - Raven Sings the Blues - Animalsistic
The Tree - No Good Woman - Raven Sings the Blues - "Louie Louie" riff

Nine Black Alps - Buy Nothing - 17 Seconds - big, bold, & very unpowerpoppish, in case you need to know that

Mister Loveless - Good Story - 5 Acts
Fires of Rome - Set in Stone - 5 Acts

The Sounds' New Sounds Sound Sound

We've been enjoying this wavey Skåne län, Sweden quintet** for several years now and are quite excited their new Original Signal Recordings LP, Crossing the Rubicon, is due to launch 2 June. We've posted several by them previously; sadly the links have gone silent. You can stream some at their MySpace site and buy lots of mp3s here. Speaking of Sweden, please heed Jon Stewart's exposé on the dangers of socialism. Shiver. . .

The Sounds - Dorchester Hotel mp3 - from Crossing the Rubicon

**Maja Ivarsson (vox) - Jesper Anderberg (keyboards) - Johan Bengtsson (bass) - Fredrik Nilsson (drums) - Felix Rodriguez (guitar)

I Need Fab Pop: Okkervil, Orchid Highway, Death Valley Sleepers, Faraway Places, Black Moth Super R, Shortwave Set, Seldon Plan, Salim Nourallah

And now, Episode 680 of the continuing story of "An Introvert Goes Public." Typalyzer says my blog is the work of an ESFP. Half of that ain't me, though. I'm an INFP and I'll cower defiantly before anyone who says otherwise. But, ahem, such nattering's not why we're here. Here's why we're here, and darned excited to be so:

Okkervil River - Pop Lie mp3 - from Austinites' CD single Pop Lie, due out 21 April - and in case you missed it previously:
Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe mp3

The Faraway Places - The Sun Goes West mp3 - from Angelenos' Out of the Rain, the Thunder & the Lightning, due out 12 May

Death Valley Sleepers - Seaside mp3- Thanks to Morten at Hits in the Car for the headsup on this excellent song. Morten assured me main Sleeper and fellow Dane Tobias Winberg (pic) would not mind my posting it. If this is in fact untrue, I will unhappily remove the link. The fact that Morten has posted all 15 known DVS songs suggests Tobias is probably down wid it. So if you are, too, go get 'em. Well, okay, here's one more we previously posted.
Black Pearl mp3

Black Moth Super Rainbow - Born On A Day the Sun Didn't Rise mp3 - from Eating Us, due for ingestion on 26 May - I resisted previous blandishments from the robotic voice, but this song's downright. . . cuddly; onward to the flame! Thanks to Andy Silva at Shurefire for winging it our way.

The Shortwave Set - Harmonica mp3 - from London/Southeast UKer's second LP, Replica Sun Machine

The Orchid Highway - Time For a Change mp3 - from Vancouver band's self-titled debut

The Seldon Plan - Lost and Found and Lost mp3 - the first single and title cut from Baltimore/Washington band's forthcoming LP, due out 26 May - other LPs available here

Salim Nourallah - It's Not Enough mp3 - from Dallas dude's Constellation, released last month

Elephant Stone: Smooth Sailing Anticipated

Rishi Dhir (vox, bass, sitar, geetar [sic]), formerly of The High Dials, and his fellow pachydermoliths* are set to release their debut LP, The Seven Seas, on 5 May. The picture gives a clue as to what to expect. The title cut, streamers at Elephant Stone's MySpace site, and other tracks we've heard suggest this could well be one of our favorite albums of the year. Thanks to Jesse at Killbeat Records for shipping it our way.

Elephant Stone - The Seven Seas mp3 - from The Seven Seas

And in case you missed our previous postings, here are a few by Rishi's sometime band.

The High Dials

The Holy Ground mp3
Desiderata mp3

Our Time is Coming Soon mp3

Fields In Glass mp3

Killer of Dragons mp3

*Bobby Fraser (keys) - Robbie MacArthur (geetar, bass) - Stephen Venkatarangam (geetar, backing vox, sitar, flute) - Richard White (geetar, backing vox) - Chris Wise (drums)