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 Phillie'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)

Music of the Sphere: Ride, Superdrag, MBV, Dandy Warhols, XTC, Vaselines, Church, Echo, Elliott Smith, Scarlet Youth, Union Jackals

It took but one stop at Mars Needs Guitars for Merz to top off ye olde loving cup o' tunes. Thanks to him and these other wonderful bloggers.

Ride - Magical Spring - Mars Needs Guitars

Superdrag - Feeling Like I Do - Mars Needs Guitars

My Bloody Valentine - Honey Power - Mars Needs Guitars

The Dandy Warhols - Plan A - Mars Needs Guitars

XTC - Mayor of Simpleton - Star Maker Machine

The Vaselines - Teenage Superstars - AWmusic

Union Jackals - Secondhand News - Mojophenia (pic)

The Church - The Unguarded Moment - Mars Needs Guitars

Echo & The Bunnymen - Do It Clean - Mars Needs Guitars

Scarlet Youth - Wave Goodbye - Mars Needs Guitars

Elliott Smith - A Passing Feeling - Mars Needs Guitars

Post-SXSW Post: Camera Obscura, Telekinesis, Buddy, I Love Math, Great Northern, Orchid Hwy., Morning Benders, Postelles, Conil, You Me At Six

We promised more tunes by SXSW favebands and--surprise!--we keep a promise. True, SXSW 2009 is now one week’s history, and the bands are scattered to winds NSE&W, possibly making this post a bit untimely. Hopefully, you won't mind. Click song titles to hear and/or download songs and artist names to go to their SXSW site.

First Time With Us-ers

Buddy - Is it Cold in Silverlake (advance premix version) mp3 - My sweet Lord if this doesn't resonate of "Flesh Number One (Beatle Dennis)," our alltime favorite by Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians! So fine!

Telekinesis - Coast of Carolina mp3

You Me At Six - Jealous Minds Think Alike mp3

The Postelles - 123 Stop mp3

Conil - If You Really Want To Leave mp3

Repeat Performers

Camera Obscura (pic)

Let's Get Out Of This Country mp3

Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken mp3

If Looks Could Kill mp3

Great Northern

The Middle mp3
Houses mp3
Telling Lies mp3

The Morning Benders - Waiting for a War mp3

The Orchid Highway

Next World mp3

Sofa Surfer Girl mp3

I Love Math

A Good Flying Bird (Guided By Voices cover) mp3

I Remember When I Loved Her (The Zombies cover) mp3

Josephine Street mp3

Music of the Sphere: Church, Hoodoos, Lucksmiths, Super Furries, Ride, Silversun P's, Them, Strokes, That Petrol Emotion, MBV, Long Ryders, et. al.

Welcome back.

I'm so excited about songs I've discovered at some of my favorite blogs, I've decided to point you toward them before posting more SXSW tuneage. I surely hope you enjoy these songs and will thank our gracious host(esse)s. As you'll see below, it's also a pleasure welcoming back into action one of my very favorite bloggers.

The Lucksmiths - Untidy Towns - The Yellow Stereo

Super Furry Animals - Inaugural Trams - The Yellow Stereo

Ride - Sight of You (The Pale Saints cover) - Shelflife Records Blog

Air Formation - Fires - Shelflife Records Blog

Silversun Pickups - Panic Switch - Speed of Dark

The Strokes - Trying Your Luck - Speed of Dark

Flogging Molly - Light of a Fading Star - Battle of the Midwestern Housewives

Smoke or Fire - Irish Handcuffs - Battle of the Midwestern Housewives

Lucky Soul - Whoa Billy - Chromewaves - Hat tip to Morten over at Hits in the Car.

Ex Lovers - Just A Silhouette - Neon Gold

That Petrol Emotion - Big Decision - Snuh

Thin Lizzy - Bad Reputation - Snuh

You ready for this? Well, if not, you better get ready, 'cause Gary's up to his usual cuckoo antics over at Retro Music Snob. (Full disclosure: I found those last two via one of Gary's posts; he didn't mention them, though, so I wanted to be sure you saw them.)

Hoodoo Gurus - Bittersweet - Retro Music Snob
The Long Ryders - Looking for Lewis and Clark - Retro Music Snob
Them - Here Comes the Night - Retro Music Snob

My Bloody Valentine - Soon - Retro Music Snob

Boomtown Rats - Up All Night - Retro Music Snob
Stiff Little Fingers - Alternative Ulster - Retro Music Snob
Orleans - Dance With Me & Still The One - Retro Music Snob

And now, the best news for last: One of the very best of all music bloggers, Merz, is back in action over at Mars Needs Guitars! (Coincidence that the Snob had that Hoodoo Gurus number? Stars realigning in the 'sphere? Your call.) Go pay Merz a visit, say hi, and begin exploring his incredibly rich musical offerings. I've discovered a wonderful world of music through Merz, but he's just posted a band we've both loved for a long time now.

The Church - Invisible - Mars Needs Guitars

SXSW 2009 - Post Seven: Capsula, Cut Off Your Hands, The Girls, DeBretts, Dressy Bessy, Grates, Manhattan Love Suicides, Happy Hollows, Palomar, PB&J

Yes, it officially begins. . .right about now: the South by Southwest Music Festival. Even from afar we feel the excitement. We've plunged into our archives to pull out some primo offerings for SXSW 2009 bands who either didn't post songs at the official SXSW website this year or perhaps previously made available tunes we like an ooch better. Probably shouldn't keep saying this, but, yes, we have even more, so check back in a day or two. Don't wanta overdo it now, do we? We begin with one of our very favorite bands from last year (back again this) and go from strength to strength. Click song titles to play, artist names to go to their SXSW bandpage. Click here for previous SXSW postings at Powerpopulist.

Capsula - Voices Underground mp3

Cut Off Your Hands - Happy As Can Be mp3

The Girls

Transfer Station mp3
This Is Goodbye mp3

The DeBretts - Hole In The Head mp3 - Don't take the lyrics literally. In fact, we really, really love you--and the song.

Dressy Bessy
Side 2 mp3
Simple Girlz! mp3

The Grates - Lies are Much More Fun wma & asx - Click as needed: Windows - Mac - Click here for free download of Aussies' new Burn Bridges EP.

The Manhattan Love Suicides

Suzy Jones mp3
Last Stand mp3
You’ll Never Get That Guy mp3

The Happy Hollows
Tambourine mp3

Monster Room mp3

Palomar

You’re Keeping Us Up mp3
Woah! mp3

Peter Bjorn and John

Let's Call It Off (single mix) mp3
Young Folks wma

SWSW 2009 - Post Six: Everyday Visuals, Shiny Toy Guns, Heavenly States, Pretty & Nice, Clutters, Lazywall, We Were Lovers, My Sad Captains

(Band might cause problems this go-around.)

So, the big week's here, and so are we: South by Southwest, aka SXSW. For a shut-in such as moi, the main joyride is the cornucopia of songs the festival makes available at its splendid website. As some of you might have noticed, we've already posted a few of our favorites (c. 45), but we've got plenty more to go. Absent the onus of writing these silly little intros, we'd already have posted lots more. We're in this for the music, though, so if you are, too, start clicking (song titles to hear songs, artist names to go to their SXSW page). For the full schedule of bands-cum-mp3s, click here.

The Everyday Visuals - Boom! Boom! Boom! mp3
Shiny Toy Guns - Ghost Town mp3

The Heavenly States - Lost in the Light mp3
Pretty & Nice - Tora Tora Tora mp3

The Clutters - 9999 (Ways To Hate Us) mp3
Lazywall - Back To The Cradle mp3 - Morocckers!

We Were Lovers - Birds of a Feather mp3
My Sad Captains - Great Expectations mp3

The Vines: Melodia

Sydney rockers The Vines are set to release their fourth full-length, Melodia, stateside on 24 March. (According to their bandsite, it dropped down under on 12 July last year.) If this first song is any indication, we're in for some primo, glute-kickin', straight-ahead rnr. Thanks to World's Fair for the headsup. There are plenty of clickables here for continued reading and listening activity. Personally, I'd start with said album opener "Get Out," but, as always, you are the clickmeisters.

The Vines - Get Out mp3 - from Melodia

Bandsite | MySpace | Amazon

Music of the Sphere: Records, Stars, High Dials, Evervess, Longwave, Byrds, Green Day, Dire Straits, et. al.

Feeling pretty good about our close encounters of the heard kind. Thought we'd found enough for one post. "Okay, just one more faveblog," succumbed we to some dark inner pull. First two below made us twinkle with delight we did. Thanks to all the fab hosts. Too eclectic a mix? Click the below to find out. (Writing rapidly undergoing twitterization.)

The Records - Starry Eyes - Music for Kids Who Cant Read Good
Stars - Ageless Beauty - Music for Kids Who Cant Read Good

The High Dials - My Heart Is Pinned to Your Heart - Obscure Sound

Adam & Daves Bloodline - In the Zoo - Bag of Songs
Evervess - Waiting - Dead Flowers

Longwave - Sirens In The Deep Sea - The Music Slut

Autumn Parade - Julia Blue & White Sand- Shelflife Records Blog

The SF Seals - Dock Ellis - Little Hits

Like A Fox - Night Person - 5 Acts
This Is Pop - Ashes - 5 Acts
East Hundred - Slow Burning Crimes - 5 Acts

Men Without Hats - Pop Goes the World - Barely Awake In Frog Pajamas - & others by the chapeauless dudes

Dire Straits - Tunnel of Love & Skateaway & Water of Love & Brothers in Arms - Barely Awake In Frog Pajamas - plus aknother by Knopfler

The Byrds - You Ain't Going Nowhere - Art Decade

Green Day - Emenius Sleepus - Star Maker Machine - Sure, it's listed last and by its lonesome, but that doesn't mean we don't love it.

SXSW 2009 - Post Five: Botticellis, Black Hollies, High Dials, B. Scary, Gramercy Arms, Marching Band, Magic Wands, K. Andrews

We've taken a few days off from this now, so let's head back south by southwest. (I personally would have to climb totally inward, being pretty much exactly sxsw.) Anyway, the following are songs we've posted before but are still very much enjoying. Maybe you missed them the first time around or would like to hear them again? (Middle finger over index.) We've still got plenty of newbies to post, coming soon. Click artist names to go to band's SWSW site, song titles to download songs. Previous SXSW posts here.

The Botticellis - Up Against the Glass mp3

The Black Hollies - Paisley Pattern Ground mp3

The High Dials - Killer of Dragons mp3

Bryan Scary and The Shredding Tears - Imitation of the Sky mp3

Gramercy Arms – Automatic mp3

Marching Band - Make No Plans mp3

Magic Wands - Black Magic mp3

Kyle Andrews – Sushi mp3

Music of the Sphere: Beatles, Stone Roses, Veruca Salt, Lemonheads, P. Curlywolf, Ramones, Box Tops

I've caught flak for these MotS posts, but one of the "great" things about blogging is it takes all kinds. It certainly takes no courage to vouch for the following. Thanks to the everloving Machine for the consistently exquisite stock.

The Beatles - I Will - Star Maker Machine
The Beatles - Two Of Us - Star Maker Machine
The Stone Roses - I Wanna Be Adored - Star Maker Machine
Veruca Salt - Number One Blind - Star Maker Machine

The Lemonheads - Luka - Star Maker Machine
The Lemonheads - Just Like Heaven - Star Machine
Prescott Curlywolf - Mariposa - Star Maker Machine
The Ramones - Cretin Hop & Teenage Lobotomy & Do You Wanna Dance - Star Maker Machine
The Box Tops - The Letter - Star Maker Machine

Music of the Sphere

We've been so consumed with SXSW and such, we've neglected pointing you toward some nice tuneage our faveblogs are hosting, to wit:

Tinted Windows - Kind Of A Girl - Unrescuable Schizo - Carlos/Iha/Hanson/Schlesinger supergroup that's all the buzz right now; well not all of it, bykwim

The Color Wheels - Plain Jane - CYSTSFTS - I previously posted "Green Means Go," so get it here or there, doesn't matter, it's a fun song.
Tigers Jaw - I Was Never Your Boyfriend - CYSTSFTS - The other one starts great but then--horrors--slows way down.

Pete and the Pirates - This Thyme - Dead Flowers

Foreign Born - Escape (New Version) - Dead Flowers

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Contender - Dead Flowers

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero - Dead Flowers

Mando Diao - You Can't Steal My Love & Paralyzed - a PLAGUE of ANGELS - plus a bunch more MD's

Crooked Fingers - Call to Love - a PLAGUE of ANGELS - Several-years fave makes me heart ache. Molotov shoots you several other Fingers as well.

Say Hi - Dramatic Irony & These Fangs & The Twenty-Second Century - a PLAGUE of ANGELS - + more

Johnny Boy - You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Deserve - Both bars on

Heavy Young Heathens - Drawn From Memory - 5 Acts

Bardo Pond - Lord of Light - Raven Sings The Blues - psych
Mudhoney - Urban Guerilla - Raven Sings The Blues - Mudhoney riff & bassfest

Thanks, favebloggers!

More SXSW still to come.

The Morning After Girls alone

Yo, um. . .Girls?

You might not be able to tell that it's definitely the morning after (like 3:50 or so), but we just found something we had to share before beddy-bye. We were poking around psychoPEDIA's excellent post on "girl" and "girl-named" bands and copped some news that got us very psyched indeed. Several-year favorites (and one of our earliest posts) The Morning After Girls are wrapping up their forthcoming sophomore effort, alone, and plan to tour this year, including at least one performance at SXSW on Saturday, March 21, 11:00 p.m. at Pangaea (409 Colorado St). We merrily tripped over to their MySpace site and enjoyed an excellent song called "Shadows Evolve," only to find it available for free download at their bandsite. We also enjoyed the previewed songs from alone and are quite confident this is going to be one of our favorite lps of the year. Here's the song, along with another one we previously posted from the Melbourne-Tasmania-New York band's self-titled debut. And if you haven't acquired others from said self-titled debut--especially the glorious "Run For Our Lives"--run for yours and get it here.

The Morning After Girls
Shadows Evolve mp3 - from alone
Chasing Us Under mp3 - from The Morning After Girls

MySpace | Bandsite | Amazon mp3 | eMusic

SXSW 2009 - Post Four: We Should Be Dead, Seedy Seeds, Ringo Deathstarr, Sleepover Disaster, Moog, My Fed., Elemeno P, Baddies, Earlimart, Viva Voce

Behold! a few more songs we very much like-to-love by artists scheduled to play at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas next month. Sorry about the generic titles this year for these SXSW posts. Last year it was Franglish and oh-so-chic. This year, well, as you see. (Fortunately it doesn't seem to affect the music.) Click song titles to play songs, artist names to go to their SXSW page. SXSW posts for this and previous years can be found here.

We Should Be Dead - Forget Romance, Let's Dance! mp3 - We bought a bunch of this Limerick band's songs last month, as noted here. (Scroll way down when you get to the page.)

The Seedy Seeds - The Push mp3

Ringo Deathstarr - In Love mp3

The Sleepover Disaster - Funnel Cloud mp3

The Moog - You Raised A Vampire mp3

My Federation - Bus Stop Lovers mp3

Elemeno P - Baby Come On mp3

Baddies – Battleships mp3

Earlimart - Face Down In The Right Town mp3

Viva Voce - Drown Them Out mp3

SXSW 2009 - Post Three: CHOO CHOO, TPOBPAH, Princeton, Golden Dogs, THEART, Von Bondies, Steps, Beat Poets

We continue to explore bands appearing next month at the SXSW Music Festival in the Capitol City. Previous SXSW posts for this and a couple of previous years can be found here. Clicking band names will take you to their SXSW page. Clicking song titles will play songs. We've got a little dog & butterfly thing going here. We'll let you decide which set is which.

CHOO CHOO - A Little Wiser Now mp3 - Yeh, I posted them a week ago, but they're going to be at freakin' SXSW, a mere 60 miles from where I sit!
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Come Saturday mp3
Princeton - The Waves mp3
The Golden Dogs – Lester mp3

THEART – NEWTOWN mp3
The Von Bondies - This Is Our Perfect Crime mp3
The Steps – Dagger mp3
The Beat Poets - Staring Stars Down mp3

SXSW 2009 - Post Two: Asteroid #4, Transpersonals, Magic Christian, Light FM, Higher State, Ugly B's, Geeks, JC&Co., Blue Aeroplanes, Fastball, CKs

We continue with more of our favorite bands appearing at this year's South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas. The full schedule of showcases is here. More such posts will appear here at Powerpopulist in the coming days. Previous SXSW posts, with lots of mp3s, can be found here.

A Mix of Known & New (to Me)

The Asteroid #4 - These Flowers of Ours mp3

The Transpersonals - Twenty Twelve mp3
Magic Christian - All The Stars mp3
Light FM - Black Magic Marker mp3

The Higher State - Automatic Motion mp3

The Ugly Beats - Take a Stand mp3

Geeks - GET BACK mp3
JC & Co. – Wonder mp3

Some Long-Time Friends

The Blue Aeroplanes - Jacket Hangs mp3
Fastball - Always Never mp3
The Chesterfield Kings - Up And Down mp3

SXSW 2009 - Post One: Dollyrots, Zolof the R&R Destroyer, Artefacts For Space Travel, Cocktail Slippers, Magneta Lane

I know I sound like a broken mp3 but I really do get excited every year when the Southwest by Southwest Music Festival posts its schedule of showcases, along with hundreds and hundreds of mp3s by artists who will be performing in Austin, Texas (USA) on the dates indicated above. Over the next I don't know how many days, I'll be posting some of my favorites. Some of them are actually old friends, some I've already posted, but one of the great pleasures is coming across bands totally new to me. Clicking the song titles will unleash the music. Clicking the artist names will take you to that particular act's SXSW page, where you can see pictures and visit band and MySpace pages. I hope you find a lot to like. After experimenting a bit, I'm going to do two quick initial posts because some of these groups have long names and I want to be sure and get all these groups included in the LABELS thingies at the bottom of the post. I probably didn't need to share that bit of bloggatrivia, but oh well. Incidentally, SXSW posts from previous years can be found here.

The Dollyrots - My Best Friend's Hot mp3
Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer - Death or Radio mp3
Artefacts For Space Travel – Recoup mp3
The Cocktail Slippers - Give It To Me mp3
Magneta Lane - Lady Bones mp3

The Joy Formidable

After listening to this London-based Welsh band’s music, I certainly feel their name, but I’m also in a quandary about getting it to you and you to them and so forth. I found out about them at AWmusic, who have posted two songs under their own imprimatur. Did they get them at NME, who are posting the entire debut album, A Balloon Called Moaning, here or at last.fm, who have three downloadables here or at a site the band directs you to here? Too many options? May I make a suggestion? Check out the three below, and if you like, follow your muse.

The Joy Formidable - from A Balloon Called Moaning

The Last Drop mp3
Ostrich mp3

Austere mp3

Bandsite

MySpace

Buy

Something New: pppurcha$e$

In various ways I’ve gotten the idea that some of you like some of the same music I do. I guess the main way is that some of you have told me so. This little cosa mia called “Powerpopulist” is only one aspect of my musical experience. I’m also regularly purchasing lots of immensely satisfying music at eMusic, Amazon mp3, Not Lame, iTunes, etc., etc. And since my main purpose with this blog is to put you in touch with music I like and you might, I’ve been thinking about listing the stuff I’m buying each month. Although I only post here songs I either very much like or love, I actually like or love quite a lot of what I'm buying as much or more than what I'm posting.

So I thought I’d try a little experiment. I’ve set up a separate blog called pppurcha$e$, where I’ll post some of my mp3 purchases, with links to the webpages where I bought them. It's very barebones because that's all I have time for these days. I thought about doing it right here at Powerpopulist, but that wouldn't really fit in with my main modus operandi, which is to post full-length mp3s or send you to faveblogs where full-length mp3s are posted. I’ll always notify you here at Powerpopulist when I’ve done a new post at pppurcha$e$. (BTW, um, I've done a new post at pppurcha$e$.)

I’m just a music fan, not an expert. Of course I’ll be following not only my own personal discoveries but the recommendations of Steve over at Absolute Powerpop, Aaron at Powerpopaholic, Bruce at Not Lame, Debra at Power Pop Review, Auditeers, last.fm-ers, etc., etc. Who am I kidding? You know ‘em, you love ‘em, you probably found me through them. (Speaking of kidding, those three Big Kid songs on that first post are pretty splendid.)

I hope you’ll find this useful. These purchases represent all kinds of things: bands that are new to me, followups on bands I’ve posted here at Powerpopulist, filling in gaps in my collection, following recommendations from friends and enemies, etc. The newbies are usually based on 30-second samples, so occasionally I’ll later scratch 'n sniff and wonder what caused that mindfart. I have found, though, that for the last couple of years, something like 98-99% of my purchases have been right on the money. The thousands of songs on the playlists I’ve built are a sheer joy to hear, as song after excellent song flows through me. By the way, just because I only list a couple of songs from an album doesn't mean I don't like other songs on it. In some cases I already have some of the songs, maybe I'll buy more later, etc. I'm simply showing what I've bought.

It took several hours to get that first post set up. I assume as time goes on, I’ll streamline the process. Knowing myself, I might not be able to “keep it up” forever. For one thing, someday I'll probably die. I don’t usually ask you for feedback (even though god only knows I’d love to get more) but in this case I really would like to know if you find this useful. If even a few of you like it, then it’s worth doing. So please leave a comment or write me an email and let me know. It’s not like I have to do this or anything. I’m getting no kickbacks from any of the vendors, no tax breaks to cheat on, no big ego boost, etc. I’m just saying, “Here’s what I bought; maybe you’ll like it, too.” Perhaps you’ll find it timesaving and musically enriching, who really knows? If you do find it useful, I’m considering working back month-by-month, adding previous months' purchases.

One other thing. Up there in the Powerpopulist banner, it says, “WHATEVER WE LIKE.” That “we” includes YOU. Please let me know what you are finding and recommending. I'll gladly check it out.

Happy Sun Day with Dead Heart Bloom

With a name like “Dead Heart Bloom,” you’re not going to explore fields of mountain flowers, bright sunshine, and the like, but pictures and music like that above and below. Okay, wait, scratch that, ixnay on the owersflay, mkay? Actually what you’re going to find is a wonderfully diverse range of mood, muse, and means, from heavyish riff to folky pick. There is, for the most part, a pleasingly dark solemnity holding things in check. Serious dude that I am, I kinda, like, dig that, ya know? I’ve known Dead Heart Bloom for awhile, (blogger cred riff checkoff), but it took a happy visit to the excellent AWmusic to get us heart-to-Heart. AWm has two excellent songs (one of which I’m posting) and news of more—much, much more. As I discovered, DHB offer up their entire catalogue for free downloading activity. Yesterday I saw a blogger make fun of bands that do that, so I made fun of the blogger (internally, that is; he’s actually a swell blogger at a swell blog, but I just had to get it out of my system somehow or ‘tother). But I ramble.

Here’s a few facts. The band began in 2005 as a one-manner. Boris Skalsky, former bassist, singer, and keyboardist of Washington, D.C. band Phaser recorded a self-titled debut in 2006 and eventually recruited phormer Phaser guitarist Paul Wood, bassist Nathan Goheen, and drummer John Hadfield, along with various guests who help out in concert and in the studio. (You could be reading all of this at the bandsite, but there you are, or rather here.) The four songs I’m posting aren’t necessarily representative—diversity, as I said—but they’ve certainly made my sunny day, and more to come, bud. I usually post fast ones first and calm down; this set builds.

Dead Heart Bloom
New Messiah mp3 - from Dead Heart Bloom
Is This The Way? mp3 - from 2008's Fall In EP, as is:
Come Back mp3
There Is No Mercy mp3 - from 2008's Oh Mercy EP

Bandsite

MySpace

Amazon

eMusic

STOKED & STEAMING with CHOO CHOO

I received a very nice email from Dan Choo wondering if he could send me a shipment of “Steam Powered Garage Pop!” When I realized Dan meant the debut album by the Bern band CHOO CHOO, I had to tell him that would not be necessary. You may well be asking yourself, “Why, pp, why??? Why did you have to tell Dan Choo that would not be necessary?” Well, I’ll tell ya: I told Dan that because I had already been to eMusic and bought eleven of the tracks on CHOO CHOO’s self-titled debut album. Eleven out of Eleven tracks. Every song. 100%. There wasn’t a song on the album I did not buy. Ponder that in your hearts.

I’m a singles guy. I mostly buy singles, songs that I very much like-to-love. One song at a time. I’m tired of shelling out $16.00 for an LP and liking only one or two songs on it. (I think that works out to either $16.00 or $8.00 per song, something like that.) So when I say I bought all eleven songs on CHOO CHOO’s debut, it means I very much liked-to-loved (mostly loved) every freaking song on the album. Maybe I’m belaboring this point an ooch, I don’t know. Now that I’ve gotten up a head of steam, I can’t seem/don’t want to slow it down. Wooo-woooooo. . . . Chugga chugga chugga. Etc. But perhaps you now see why I had to tell Dan Choo “no”? Merrily, with a twinkle in my heart and a song in my eye, I just said “NO” because with equal, nay, building merriment, I had already said, as I listened to each song, “Yes, yess, yesss, yesssss, oh God yessssssssssssss. . . ." Etc.*

And with equal merriment, I thank Dan Choo (guitar/vox) and his sister/brothers, Lili Choo (organ), Sam Choo (drums/vox), and Yan Choo (bass/vox), for their delicious, heady Steam Powered Garage Pop! and for letting me give you a couple of belts thereof.

CHOO CHOO - from CHOO CHOO

A Little Wiser Now mp3
Your Heart is Breaking Down mp3

MySpace
eMusic

iTunes

*I was recently rejected for the third time by The Hype Machine. I was told my blog isn’t welcome to the machine because it isn’t like other blogs where the bloggers write with passion about the music they love. So I’m working on that.

The Lovetones' New Dimensions

Aussie poppsychers (or psychpoppers, your call) The Lovetones are set to release their fourth LP, Dimensions, on 24 February. (It dropped Down Under in November.) If the dreamy comp track down under is any indication, Brian Jonestown Massacreer Matthew Tow and crew are set to take us on a groovy li'l trip indeed.

The Lovetones - from Dimensions

Journeyman mp3

Bandsite

MySpace

eMusic

last.fm - Many full Lovetones tracks are available for sampling.

BTW, head TBJM head Anton Newcombe apparently does a remix of "Journeyman" on the forthcoming LP, previously ID'd above as Dimensions. [It's called "Journeyman (Anton Newcombe Remix)."] Of course, it might just be named in his honor; information at this point is hazy.] Whatevs, this is pretty much all the excuse I need to repost the following.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre

Seer mp3

Cold to the Touch mp3
Yeah-Yeah mp3

Music of the Sphere

It's awfully nice to see Gary back in harness at Retro Music Snob. He's also got a sort of Son of Retro thing going at Rock God Cred (see below). We thank all of the hosts and hostesses for so generously plying us with fine tuneage. Click anywhere on each of the following to be whisked away and feted. Oh, and in case you're new here, Retro Music Snob is kind of an ongoing Music of the Sphere-type blog. When you get to any of the RMS posts, Gary will direct you to the website where the song is to be found. I hope you don't mind clicking an extra time or two. If you do, then don't.

The Beatles - Girl - Retro Music Snob - Once at the target site, scroll down to the comments for "Girl on the Wing" by The Shins.

The Smithereens - Maria Elena - Retro Music Snob

Teenage Fanclub - The Concept - Retro Music Snob

Elvis Costello & The Attractions - (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding - Retro Music Snob

Devo - Girl U Want - Retro Music Snob

The Stone Roses - I Am the Resurrection - Retro Music Snob

My Bloody Valentine - Strawberry Wine (Alternate Version) - Retro Music Snob - This is lightish MBV.

Billy Bragg - Waiting for the Great Leap Forward - Retro Music Snob

Blue Öyster Cult - (Don't Fear) The Reaper - Rock God Cred

America - Sister Golden Hair - Keep The Coffee Coming
World Party - Put the Message in the Box - Barely Awake in Frog Pajamas

Skylight - As You Leave - Milk Milk Lemonade - part of Casey 'n' Michelle's excellent Size 16 shoegaze post, as is the next one
Summer Jets - 50 Reasons - Milk Milk Lemonade

The Von Bondies - This is Our Perfect Crime & C'mon C'mon - a PLAGUE of ANGELS
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Young Adult Friction & A Teenager in Love - a PLAGUE of ANGELS
The Friends - I Fell in Love With a Ghost - a PLAGUE of ANGELS
Faded Paper Figures - Logos & Being There - a PLAGUE of ANGELS