Far Away

Retribution Gospel Choir strikes again. In my terms it means they've released a new single, called Hide It Away. While we're at this point, I'd like to say that I always have been fascinated by the idea of double personality (by that I mean two very different personalities). No, don't shoot me, I don't want to say Alan Sparhawk is one of those people… but his music certainly gives this impression. When it's about Low, it's like a calm ocean with no storms. When it's about Retribution... back off, a hurricane is coming!

And this single proves this approach to be right. It's the same noisy instrumental we know that seems to have nothing to do with Low's sound at all (at least at first sight). The same I'll-make-you-stand-up-kicking-your-butt-and-making-you-screaming-out-loud vibe. And even if some of you might think of it as the kind of song you hear for the first time and go "I might have heard this before..." it's nevertheless a nice experience and certainly an interesting hint to the next album.

*photo courtesy of Retribution Gospel Choir official site

Beneath The Veil

Marina and The Dimamonds - Obsessions

Ok, I don't really like her previous stuff, but this Regina Spektor-scented piano song got straight to my heart and it reafuses to leave my taughts. I went to sleep with it in my head two days ago and I'm still repeating the 'we've got obsessions' bit.

Hurts - Wonderful Life

Slow-disco at its best. Get your quirky dance moves on, this is going to be one of this year's most played songs.

Parallel Universe

On 12 January, Owen Pallet will release his third album, called Heartland. It's also the first one released under his real name, and not under the name of Final Fantasy, due to copyright infringements. Hearing he worked with the Czech Symphony on this album made me really, really curious about how it will sound.

If you ever listened to Atlas Sound, then the first name that will come to your mind while listening to this album is Bradford Cox. That doesn't mean their styles are similar to core – it's more about the atmosphere (which is so strange that is actually wonderful). Presented as a concept album, Heartland tells, according to Pallet, a one-side story that implies a farmer named Lewis and a fictional world, called Spectrum.

The story might be difficult to follow at first due to the fact that the music seems to stand out the most, with the vocals left somewhere behind – another thing that contributes to that atmosphere we talked about earlier. Basically, the sound is a mix between classical (remember that little detail about the Czech Symphony?) and contemporary (translated: the electronic sounds). We all know it is difficult to find a good mix, but I'd appreciate Pallet managed to do so, and if you like experiments, then this one will captivate you for sure.

I'd dare to say that phrases like "I love this song" are somehow inaccurate in this context, as every song represents a step in the story rather than just a story on its own. This is an album that it has to be listened entirely, without skipping tracks, if you want to fully appreciate and understand it. But it's worth it.

*photo courtesy of Owen Pallett official site

Public Announcement

The (Hypothetical) Prophets – Person to Person

The (Hypothetical) Prophets were an early 80s French electronica act. And when I say electronica I mean a weird, spaced out approach of instruments that even today seems so hard to emulate. Person To Person is one extremely sexed out track that will make you feel a little buzz just when you hear the word ‘garters’. If you don’t know it, dig it up anywhere you find appropriate. It’s well worth it.

Love Is In The Air

Ladies, gentlemen and Jessica Simpson, I have the pleasure to announce you that soon… very soon (8^th of January, to be more specific)… you'll have the chance to hold in your hands a copy of Adam Green's new album, called Minor Love. The album has fourteen short tracks – and when I say short, I mean none of them is longer than three minutes, not that would be something unusual for Adam Green.

Some of you might have already listened to the sixth track, What Makes Him Act So Bad, as it was released as free download on Green's official site. If you liked that song, you will probably like the whole album as well. It all goes along the same idea of instrumental simplicity that allows the voice to stand out. And while we're here, I'd like to mention that apparently Green tried to play all the instruments on the record, allowing only a few fellows to join him in the studio. Thumbs up for that.

At certain moments, I had the impression I was listening to a friend that took a guitar and started to play in front of me just for fun. By that, I don't want to mean that the sound of the album is bad or unprofessional – it has to do most with the songs' atmosphere, which is cheerful, colourful, and it makes you to completely forget the cold world outside (in my case). There are moments when Green seems to repeat himself, and moments when the atmosphere seems to lose its lightness, but that doesn't count for the album as a whole. All in all, it's a very pleasant experience.

Literature 101

Five songs that were influenced by books

1. Boo Radleys – Wake Up, Boo (remember To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee?)
2. Babyshambles – La Belle et La Bete (well, this is obvious)
3. Manic Street Preachers – Patrick Bateman (b-side to their single Life Becoming A Landslide, based on Brett Easton Ellis' American Psycho)
4. The Cure – Killing An Arab (pretty much fanboying Albert Camus' L’etranger)
5. Pete Doherty - Salome (because Doherty is one of the last Wilde-like stars)

A Call To Arms

Mgmt say on their song The Youth that “this is a call to arms to live and love and sleep together’. Very nice thought, one might say, maybe a bit too hippy for my tastes. Delphic drop any sort of reference to any period in time and are a bit more liberal. The opening song on their debut Acolyte points out that this is a “call to all, a call to arms, a call to everything you wanted”. And, in some ways (atmosphere it creates, instruments, way the keyboards are used), in sure feels like a declaration of independence.

Clarion Call is also something like the first song off a compilation. Remember what Rob Flaming said in High Fidelity about good compilations? That the intro song has to grab one’s attention. Well, it does. And Doubt, second in line, takes it one step further, so there, Rob is happy. It bites straight into the idea of broken trust and relationships that are too complex for us to make them work. You know it, sure, the same saccato vocals, same anger, just that now the chorus is not so much of a burst of strangely uplifting energy. It’s more low-key, the chorus, in fact and so the song’s overall feeling is more genuine.

And now we get to the next track you have to add to your perfect mixtape. Actually, cd, cause we live in the modern age. Yes, the third song has to be something low-key to calm the listener, to help him relax because we don’t want to stress him. This Momentary is quite a relaxing experience, it’s really aural and out-of-this-world.

So, by now, we need to get back to the grab attention-set it up-relax scheme. Red Lights is the first proper dance-y track (and remainder of why Delphic got tagged as an indietronic act) on the debut. It’s rather New Order-meets-Kraftwerk and it has a rather ‘whip it’ (no, not the song, just what you do with a whip) vibe and it seems like there are 20 people singing not one.

Acolyte is where Delphic do it The Mars Volta way, electro style: almost nine minutes of epicness and ego boasting and beats taking over every inch of the space around you and sheer keyboard virtuosity. But Delphic are cheeky ones and don’t think that on should be left yo rest after such a song. So they say goodbye to our little scheme and take on Halcyon, Delphic’s grasp of nu-rave. Yes, insane rave beats, guitars riffs and burst of vocal energy are to be heard.

So it’s rather surprising (or rather not) to hear the cold 80s beats of Submission. Yet again, Delphic have a great deal to thank to New Order and maybe a bit of early Depeche Mode. Counterpoint is hyper and it has a great beat repeating itself in the back (which kind of makes it psychotic) and helps understand why Bloc Party are listed as one of their influences. Ephemera is, well, an interlude, an announcement that things are coming to an end. And then there’s Remain or what a beautiful album closer should sound like: dronish a bit, ethereal, perfect for the morning after the big party.

Now We Can Talk

We thought of something fun instead of a boring short message to wish you guys all the best. So here's a talk me and Leilana had about this year in terms of music. See you guys on the 4th of January

Leilana: So how do you feel about this year?

Nancy: It's been an ok year. Not going to use another adjective or word to describe it. We almost saw Iggy Pop and the Stooges but, damn it, Ron Ashton (the guitarist) had the nerve to go dying on us (Lux Interior also had this brilliant idea, so there goes my chance to ever see The Cramps live.) We were this close to a Klaxons gig (my second Klaxons gig), but the fuckers lost their instruments on the way to Bucharest (from Oslo). Oh, and Manics totally ignored this country they once said they love so (cause capitalism isn't in bloom here... as if) and didn't play here this year. Though they did tour the surrounding countries. Damn you, Wire, damn you!

Leilana: I totally understand how you feel about Klaxons, I was about to climb on stage and force them to play á capella. Uh well. Sometimes the force is NOT with you. Besides all of these *missing* concerts, I think it was a lovely year. I had the chance to see Placebo, The Killers, White Lies, Franz Ferdinand, IAMX... It was the best year ever for me. I hope next year will be even better - I'm still waiting for that MGMT album.

Nancy: Yeah, true words you speak. The gigs we did get to see were epic. In capital letters. And Alex Kapranos is the best ever. I mean, he actually watched the other bands that played B'estfest (and I got a photo with the man). And Motorhead and Lemmy's mole were ace. Well, all except the Editors gig. Their live performance lacks something. But what about the albums you've heard this year?

Leilana: The first thing that comes to my mind when you ask me this question is Primary Colours.

Nancy: I hear you!

Leilana: Primary Colours was such a huge surprise for me, as a Horrors fan, but also a very pleasant one. It made me love them even more than I already did

Nancy: Hm, I don't know about the surprise part. I mean, Faris Badwan went on about this shift in sound and how it was sort of the same thing as the transition Cure undertook from Three Imaginary Boys to Disintegration. Although, yes, it does show a far more mature band and some people who really know how to integrate their influences into their music in a way that doesn’t make it sound too fan boyish.

Leilana: I also liked Humbug very much, I think it's a very nice album - but I must say that I became an Arctic Monkeys fan especially due to it, so I might be a little subjective here.

Nancy: It did seem a bit too slow for me. I enjoy my Monkeys short tempered. But luckily, I had Manics and Journal ... What an album it is. Blew me away from the first chord to the last drum beat. It’s so intense. And it also compensated for Battle For The Sun. Complete opposite. What a let down.

Leilana: For me, the Battle For The Sun experience was a strange one rather than a bad one. I remember listening to Bright Lights for the first time and thinking "Is this Placebo?". But I like this album - lyrically is not their best at all, that's clear, but I like the instrumentals a lot

Nancy: Lyrically I wonder if Molko could sink any lower...

Leilana: Well I agree he said goodbye to fuckin' metaphors, but I guess that's what makes this album so sincere to me. But enough about Battle... you were saying something about Manics before

Nancy: Yes. Manics. A band that rarely seem to disappoint me. And here they were again in 2009.

Leilana: A very good album, Journal For Plague Lovers - but words are not enough to describe it.

Nancy: Journal was raw, heartfelt, cathartic, it captured their essence and it had all the answers any Manics fan wanted after having heard The Holy Bible

Leilana: I’m actually listening to Pretension/Repulsion right now

Nancy: I would say it's mandatory to listen to the whole album at least once a day. I don't know, everytime, a new layer seems to unfold, I hear something new each time and I find it so hard to get bored of this album

Leilana: That happens with all the great albums, I suppose. And speaking about albums... Which were the most expected albums that had to be released this year but weren’t?

Nancy: Klaxons seem to fill these shoes as well as gigs that didn't take place

Leilana: What about The Strokes?

Nancy: The Strokes also have a passion for delaying that fifth studio album.

Leilana: At least we have Julian’s album

Nancy: Yeah, four of them did have great solo albums this year. But, you know, it's not enough. We fell in love with The Strokes as a whole, as a concept not with the guitar or drums alone. We need the five of them.

Leilana: That's true

Nancy: There were tones of other bands I’ve been eagerly waiting to hear albums from this year, but discs got postponed etc. Or just bands who needed a bit too much to record a sophomore like These New Puritans or Justice (wonder what those ones are up to). Or bands like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Interpol. I don't care, man, just take out that album already. But then again, hey we got other bands this year, new bands we've only just discovered or new ones that could fill in some gaps. Which were yours?

Leilana: Well... 2009 was the year I realised how amazing MGMT are. I knew them from before, but I wasn't quite a fan.

Nancy: I know, same thing happened to me with The Twilight Sad. To this day I am ashamed I hadn't paid attention to them before. And there were also a bunch of bands part of the new London scene, like Demontré and R O M A N C E. Or albums from Project: KOMAKINO and Spider And The Flies (by the way, another face of The Horrors. A twisted face of the Horrors). And Girls. I mean what a debut album.

Leilana: When I listened to their album, I couldn't believe it was a debut album.

Nancy: Lust For Life was genius. It had the same name as Iggy's song, just that is was about being fucked up and not about fucking.

Leilana: Let's not mention the video for this song. Pure fucking love, pure loving sex. Oh, the videos that impressed you the most this year were...?

Nancy: Man, right here I kind of suck. Most of the bands whose videos I wanted to see had mad (as in “get a new director”) skills. Manics’ Jackie Collins' Existential Question Time was borderline horrible and Cornerstone was downright crap. And here is where we mention The Horrors again. Ok, Mirror's Image was shit (so shit it seemed enjoyable, but it was maybe just all those colours), but the rest of their vids had a sense of sustaining the music, of backing it up.

Leilana: I suppose you don't even want to talk about The Never-Ending Why from Placebo (that video sucks, kids, just for the record).

Nancy: I think that not even the guys want to talk about it. And if Molko dares claim there's anything good about it, I’m helping him get into rehab and fast. I’ll finance his staying there.

Leilana: By the way, do you remember that I said the video characters seemed to be drawn by some kinder garden kids?

Nancy: Don’t tell me, they were?

Leilana: Yes, I heard it's actually true.

Nancy: Hey, let's make a wish for next year. Ok, a wish that contains several other wishes...

Leilana: Well, I hope 2010 will be better (musically speaking) than 2009. And that means: Klaxons album, Klaxons gig, Strokes album, Strokes gig, Horrors gig, Manics gig… Okay, you got the point

Nancy: And I can add more insane Gaga outfits, better Placebo songs/videos, the demise of La Roux, some Blur gigs, a private party with Klaxons in they homeland of Ibiza and yeah, more gigs for us to write about.

Leilana: Yeah!!!!! So what can we say now? Happy New Year?

Nancy: Happy New Year and an Olsdal for all of you. And if you're nice Santa Wire might give you a degree in politics (ok, in whatever field you want).

Lovely Allen

Nine song titles that mention other bands.

1. The Wombats – Let’s Dance To Joy Division (and we all did so)

2. LCD Sounsystem – Daft Punk Is Playing At My House (any indie kid's wet dream)

3. CSS – Let’s Make Love And Listen To Death From Above (I'm not sure ALL of us did this onew)

4. Pull Tiger Tail – Tom Waits For No Man (I know, stupid pun. But you liked it)

5. Ali Love – Shangri La (yeah, one of those three gals The Horrors love so)

6. George Pringle – I Know Who Mogwai Are Too, Darling (But have you listened to their music? this is the real question)

7. Adam Green – Jessica (as in Simpson. As in 'I know it's tuna, but is it fish or chicken?')

8. Brand New – Me vs. Maradona vs. Elvis (my bet's on Jesse Lacey)

9. Camera Obscura – Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken (Lloyd as in Lloyd Cole and his song Are you ready to be heartbroken?)

Sight And Sound

1. The Road

Instead of writing something about this, here is what the man in charge, Mr. Nick Cave said about its creation: "The movie is about the loss of things, the absence of things, the lack of things. The lack of the wife/mother is present in every frame of the film. The delicate edifice of the film holds the ache of her absence, tenderly and by the tips of the fingers. The music was composed as a direct response to the film. A light, haunting, simple score with a sense of absence and loss at its heart."

2. Twilight: New Moon

Did you have any doubt?! The greatest pie ever made from one artist after another. Everybody gave their best and everybody shined on this soundtrack. I want to thank every artist with a big smooch on both cheeks and one for Alexandra Patzavas as well.

3. 500 Days of Summer

I can’t believe I’m going to use this adjective about a soundtrack but that is what my synapses issue here, this soundtrack is so cute, as in kitty cute. Regina Spektor and The Smiths grace the soundtrack with two creations each, The Temper Trap are mesmerizing and I’ve listened for the first time to Carla Bruni and I liked it. One of the bonus tracks is She&Him’s cover of The Smiths’ Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want. Adorable.

4. Where the wild things are

One of the most anticipated movies of this year (for me) provided as soundtrack Karen O’s musical imagination. When I first heard about her and this movie I failed (mea culpa) to see the connection for such a choice. Failed or not, she pulled it off completely and achieved to expand the childhood/fantasy feeling of the story into the sound as well.

5. Whip it

Drew Barrymore’s movie is a fun badass chick product. The soundtrack is exactly the same. You dive from one cool song into another, I just didn’t know which one to listen over and over again, everything just rocks. Yeah that’s the feeling. The combination of tracks is so diverse and quite atrocious in terms of tempo, but it works. I’m not going to give you any names. Just listen to it.

Original Scores that were worth it:

Twilight: New Moon - Alexander Desplat (fabulous, the only thing besides the image in the movie that is spectacular)

Coco Avant Chanel – Alexander Desplat (he strikes and shines again)

The International – Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek (a great musical trio)

Angels and Demons – Hans Zimmer (not matter what musical note that man throws at me, my ears squeal in delight)

Time To Get Away

As you might've guessed, we're taking a break for a while. Actually, a week. So keep your eyes peeled on the blog cause on the 28th we'll be back with some more posts.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Dream Brother

Newsflash! Spencer Krug a.k.a. Moonface will release a new single in 2010, called Dreamland EP: marimba and shit-drums. "Release" means physical release, on vinyl. Until then, you have the chance to download the song from Moonface's website. Okay, and now you probably expect me to present you the tracklist. Uhm, there's not such a thing. Is just a loooooooooooooong track. And when I say "loooooooooooooong", I mean twenty minutes.

"Twenty minutes? You got to be kidding me; this is not a Pink Floyd song!" was my first reaction. But then I remembered that I actually like Floyd's never-ending songs. So I pushed "play".

The first thing that hit my ears was the xylophone sound. At this point, I would like to say I love this instrument, even if there are not so many songs in my playlist that have a xylo in the background (which makes me wonder why). So in the first minutes I was really busy listening to it. After three and a half minutes, or so, the drums entered. A nice change, and an appropriate one, because it made me realise just in time that this song also has lyrics. And I am really grateful for that, because it gave me the idea to check them. And I read and listened at the same time, until the voice faded and the song ended with the same simple and yet complicated xylophone sound.

My conclusion? This song is really interesting as an experiment, but you have to be in the proper mood to listen to it. Normally, it's not a song you can listen to every day, and certainly not a song you can dance on. But if you want to take a pause and be with yourself, just close your eyes, turn off the light, and listen.

P.S. And when I say "listen", I also mean "pay attention to the lyrics":

"I was hanging out in the tower
The tower overlooked the sea
I saw him blowing on a horn to serenade his woman
He was pushing out the air with his machine
He’s just reading her mind...
I saw him push his fingers through her skin"

You can find the rest of the lyrics on Moonface's official website.

*photo courtesy of Moonface official site

We've Got The Vision

1.The Big Pink – Dominos

Simple, confusing and snow falling down in pink light. I adore it. Made me want to inhale all that air from the video since the first time I saw it. Same angles like The Whip's Trash , yet stands successfully like something cool. And the ice statues shattering, beautifully done. The director of the video, Tim Saccenti, is an amazing artist, a brilliant photographer and image director.


2.Depeche Mode – Wrong

Best video for 2009 my opinion, as a music video and as a short film. I say Los Angeles looks divine in the night, for a city that I hate. That Ford rolling backwards is genius and perfect. And the band’s appearance as passerbys seen by the guy in the car is a divine idea. The video director Patrick Daughters is an icon, regular client of Yeah Yeah Yeahs (among many, he did Gold Lion) and Kings of Leon videos, not to forget videos for Muse, Feist, Bright Eyes, Interpol and many others.


3.Florence + The Machine – Drumming Song

The location is the queen of the video: marble, wood and white concrete – charming combination and architecture! Florence has perfect outfits and the hair’s new shade of red is great. The song fits the location and vice versa. Many applauses for image clarity and palette of colors.


4.Mika – We Are Golden

That room looks like the inside of my imagination if it were materialized, it’s the kind of video that made me want to watch it over and over, discovering a new cool item each time. The song is one of my favorites this year in terms of lifting up your mood and goofing around in the living room - oh yeah, I did!


5.Gossip – Heavy Cross

What can I say, it’s a childhood fantasy image: someone blowing glitter in special/cool lightning. Beth looks atrociously stylish (I used one of my moms golden lipsticks to smooch my bathroom mirror, before I made the weekly cleaning) and the Indian dudes look abstractly fit for the video.


Aside the list:
Kings of Leon – Notion (the superposition of images and tones make the video quite nice).

Madonna – Celebration (editing at its finest and in perfect synchronization with the beat; editing shots with choreographic moves seems for me a killer and titanic work).

Lady GaGa – Paparazzi (video by Jonas Akerlund – he did Pink’s Sober and Madonna’s American Life among others; love the video for Alexander Skarskard and that cool shot in that wood corner and GaGa with the feather hat and film wrapping outfit).

This Be The Verse.

What, you thought an Albums of the year would be missing? Pff, naive people you are indeed.

Manic Street Preachers – Journal For Plague Lovers

It’s kind of hard not to regard Journal as a follow-up to The Holy Bible: the lyrics were written by Richey James, the cover is a painting by Jenny Saville, the album has 13 songs. But instead of lines about hate and nihilism, the lyrics are about finding peace with oneself and a strange serenity. It seems James has finally found the answers to the questions he had on The Holy Bible. And where the 1994 album had a suffocating sound, Journal seems to be more of a relief: every chiming guitar, every piano chord, even the harp on Facing Page: Top Left is cathartic. Yes, the lyrics sound like a time capsule but this only adds to the sense of nostalgia and somehow make the loss easier to bear.

The Horrors – Primary Colours

The Horrors are like the 1977 punk movement: few followers initially, many after the initial blow. Critics still exist, people who say these five Southenders just borrow. Sure, the album can be regarded as a tribute to various bands: My Bloody Valentine, Neu!, Jesus and Mary Chain, Joy Division, even Interpol. But The Horrors manage to take each influence, each chord and make them their own and completely fresh. Even when they are paraphrasing The Shangri-Las, use keyboards that remind one of The Who or guitars that are just are suffocating as Joy Division as Warsaw. After all, they are the same music nerds who wrote Strange House and who find references to older songs mandatory.

The Flaming Lips – Embryonic

To say Embryonic is just an album is a huge mistake: this is a statement. Sometimes you might get the feeling it’s just a collection of random songs. But The Lips give you hints to prove this is actually a whole: the lack of traditionally structured songs (verse – chorus – verse), the drums that take over your speakers and the heavy almost stoner rock bass. Some songs turn into a different one half way through (from jazz to ambient music, from noise to electronica), some songs contain references to those before (a chord, a bleep, a line). And this album also has two of the best featurings ever: Karen O (who imitates animals on one track and on another plays with a gun) and MGMT (who turn Worm Mountain into one of the most explosive tracks on the album).

The Twilight Sad – Forget The Night Ahead

This is an album that leaves a hole in your stomach. It’s an album that throws you into a story whose characters are alone, isolated, hopeless. People who, just like the lead James Graham, wish the day would end before it even begins. The instrumental only amplifies the pain and fear. The Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine-styled distorts are almost always there. You also get moments of calm that are there only to prepare you for the storm that’s about to come. And sometimes, the tension grows steadily while sonic elements (a piano, a web of distorts) make their way through the musical structures. And always Graham amazes you with the passion he puts into each story he tells.

Hatcham Social - You Dig The Tunnel, I’ll Hide The Soil

Indie pop taken straight out of the ‘80s, those of Josef K and C86. Stories about crocodiles (Crocodile, Superman) and Lewis Carroll’s monsters (Jabberwocky). Shoegaze-titled songs (Sidewalk) and Morrissey-like ones (I Cannot Cure My Pure Evil). Songs that give you diabetes and lyrics that are as bitter as a lemon. Lost bits of experimental electronica (Superman) and noise (I Cannot...). Songs that have references to the ones before (from So So Happy Making and its hint to Wonderland and the lines of Jabberwocky, to a lost chord). A dazzling British accent. And, most important of it all, the reassurance that nowadays alternative bands make the most delicious pop.

Tender Is The Band

The "fresh blood" saga goes on. This time, the subject of the article is Dick Diver, an Australian band, formed in 2008, and named after the protagonist of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, Tender Is The Night. The band features guitarists/singers/songwriters Alistair McKay and Rupert Edwards, bassist Al Montfort (UV Race, Straightjacket Nation) and drummer Steph Hughes (ex-Children Collide, Home & Hosed co-presenter).

As they are a rather new band, is somehow natural that their songs still don't have what I like to call the oh-my-God-I-know-that-band feeling. Rather than that, their music gives you the feeling of something you've heard and liked before. The instrumentals are very well structured and really elaborated, and fit very naturally with McKay and Edwards' voices.

Two of their most interesting songs are Walk for Room (it has a very nice and cheerful guitar line and it's a strong piece, even if, or maybe just because it lasts less than two minutes) and Biffo (which becomes so creepy at a certain point that it is just wonderful). Both tracks can be found on their Arks Up EP, which has been released at the beginning of this month. And I'd suggest you to keep an eye on them, because this seems to be a very promising debut.

*photo courtesy of Dick Diver MySpace

53rd and 3rd

New York is the birthplace of punk. It’s the place where Andy Warhol and all the pop artists spend their time. Where CBGB’s was and where the ’70 meant more then disco. Hell yeah, we love New York. L.O.V.E. So here are thirteen songs about New Amsterdam.

1. Velvet Underground - Waiting For The Man

2. The Wombats - Moving To New York

3. Ryan Adams - New York, New York

4. The Strokes - New York City Cops

5. !!! - Me And Guliani Down By The Schoolyard

6. Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side

7. LCD Soundsystem - New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down

8. Leonard Cohen - Chelsea Hotel No.2

9. Le Tigre - My My Metrocard

10. The Moldy Peaches – New York City’s Like A Graveyard

11. The Pogues - Fairytale Of New York

12. Interpol - NYC

13. Sophie Ellis Bextor - New York City Lights

Grey

Remember the video for New Young Pony Club's Ice Cream? Yeah, that video from 2007 that gave a whole new meaning to the word 'eyecandy'.

And here we are, end of 2009 the girls and guy of NYPC are back, but now nu-rave is dead and mood are darker and colours turn into shades of grey, blacks and whites. And maybe Tahita should reconsider dying her hair black again. Blonde's not really her thing.

Lytle Christmas Carol

Grandaddy. Oh how I loved that band. There are already three years since they decided to break up, but silly me still hopes that, one day… Ah, enough whining, that wasn't the purpose of this article. I just wanted to let you know that their ex-singer Jason Lytle just released a Christmas album. And, because it's a Christmas album, it comes as a gift. Yes, darlings, you heard well. This album is free. Free as in "have no remorse, my child; you can download it without paying".

For a moment, I thought I saw Heaven. But then I looked upon Jason's site. There, he described his album as it follows: "I set up some microphones in my living room and recorded about 35 minutes of improvisational piano music". "No vocals?! Oh, how can that be?! That's unfair." However, I still downloaded it, because I am a human being and because human beings are curious, and because it's about me and I am a very curious human being and… whatever, you got it (I hope).

As I was listening Lytle playing piano, I just closed my eyes and thought about snow and fire and a Christmas tree and that beautiful Christmas atmosphere. It seems pathetic, right? Maybe it is… but sometimes I think that the only ones who can be really happy and carefree on Christmas are children. We, the others, are just too preoccupied to buy gifts and food and ornaments to actually feel the atmosphere. We have just moments. Listening to this album might be one of those moments for you. Of course, you will forget about it until next Christmas, but its purpose has been fulfilled.

P.S. For those of you who are more interested about the music thing that the whole Christmas thing: Lytle is working on a new studio album. Stay tuned.

*photo courtesy of Jason Lytle official site

Arks Up

Late Of The Pier – Blueberry

It’s The Beatles-meets-Bowie-meets-Horrors-remixing-skills. A yummy piece until the very last drum beat, the very last insane guitar chord. The last 30 seconds or so are completely off the hook.

These New Puritans – We Want War

One of the weirdest out of the post-punk revivalists, yes. But that’s what makes them so insanely lovable. Kick-ass drums, cold chants, prog-rock hints, swords unsheathed. Oh, what the hell, in short an amazing and mind-blowing orchestration. Judging by this track alone, These New Puritans sophomore will be EPIC.

Delphic – Doubt

It’s New Order-ish, it’s strangely reminiscent of Foals’ math-rock, has bits and pieces of bleepy electro and, despite its coldness and angst that invades the speakers, it is so uplifting. Fingers crossed these guys will get shortlisted on BBC Sound of 2010. They are well worth it.

Dick Diver – Walk For Room

This Aussie band is completely adorable (even when they say ‘fuck’) and utterly brilliant. And this song is an instant classic, a perfect gem of magic lazy pop. It also has one of the cutest guitars solos (well, sort of) we’ve heard in a while.

The Underdogs

Spoon make catchy, infectious music. Their sound is easily recognizable: you know whose song it is from the first chord. And now, seriously, why reinvent the wheel when what you’re doing is so great?

And here’s Written In Reverse, the first single off Spoon’s upcoming album Transference. It has Spoon’s typical guitar line, but it’s a bit messy and the jazzy chords make it feel like an improvisation that is held together by the piano alone. Remember Cold War Kids? Yeah, they were massively influenced by Spoon’s tunesmith and this song here is only further proof. Let’s not forget Britt Daniel’s magnificent voice and lyrics plus the passion he puts into spitting every line. And just as you think it’s all over, they hit you again.

And guess what? Only 42 days until the new album’s released.