Discography
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PANDA TRANSPORT
pandatransport.com ♥ myspace.com
According to Panda Transport's biography, they are a Frenchman (Ti) and an American woman (Kat). They play a sort of low-fi indiepop music. Their EP, Monorail was released last month.
What I immediately like about the duo is that Kat's sweltering vocals sometime makes their music sound like a lazy evening at a jazz club. However, the upbeat music can be as fun as on "Monorail" to somewhat silly "Freakshow" (complete with doo-doo-scat).
The one non-Kat song, "Cicadas in Stereo" definitely stands out. I'm also not certain what is being sung on this line: "I want to ____ every single butterfly"? Did I just hear that right?
You can hear their entire EP streaming at their official website.
I will say this, they're cute, and their songs reminds me of one of my favorite band the Would-Be-Goods if they were to go jazz lounge. You can pick up Monorail digitally at usual (itunes, le amazon). Physical CD list can be found here (available last Tuesday?).
Tour Dates 01/23/10
Borders Charlotte, NC
01/30/10 Borders Apex, NC 01/21/10 Paris-Mann Grill Canton, GA Discography
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pariskeeling.com ♥ myspace.com
I will admit that what made Paris Keeling's CD packaging for End Of Ride Revisited memorable was that it came with this cardboard plastic airplane. Which I did put together and had a twirl (it took a nose-dive and crashed).
Paris Keeling's moniker should be obvious when you hear that it's from their two main songwriters, Marty Paris and Kelly Keeling's name. You can deduce this from hearing the introduction on their live track "Head Straight". Speaking of which, I kind of wish there were more live tracks on this album. I think this is the band's strong point, jamming and playing to an audience. You pick up the energy in the vocals, while their studio tracks seems too well-polished and produced.
As suggested by "Revisited", this is the second release of End Of Ride. Based on seeing the tracklisting for the original release, this new version comes with a different track order and contain new songs (mostly at the end of the track order). Two songs were left out of the revisited album, "Welcome" and "Middle of the Road", so I suspect due to the time limitation of the CD format.
It seems obvious to me that singer Paris Keeling's been singing and playing for most of his adult life (a quick biography check tells me that he's played on Alice Cooper's Hey Stoopid, so the guy's been around!).
The new revisited songs started with an aggressive guitar song, "Don't Disturb The Occupants", so I thought the band's new direction would be more hard-rock ... but I was quickly corrected with a 'sensitive'-type song, "Feel", and acoustic-ish "Alive".
The one stand-out track for me is the all-guitar song "I Learned from the Inside", which demonstrate what an excellent guitar player Marty Paris is. As I previously mentioned, I think this band will be at their best by playing live to an audience. They are doing some instores and appearing live at the end of January, check them out if you're in the area.
owlcitymusic.com ♥ myspace.com
Universal Records sent me this promo to listen to last year. At first, I didn't know why they'd do such a thing, I'm actually not a big fan of pop music. And I loathe autotune. But then, as I found out talking to a local blogger at a concert last year that I was told that Owl City is some dude in his basement who lives in Minnesota. We thought that was so weird, considering that Owl City is the hottest/best-selling on the Billboard Top 100 (for "Fireflies"). As it is, Owl City is the stage name of Adam Young.... and his certified "Gold" album is called Ocean Eyes.
So. All of Owl City's songs are autotuned (with the exception of "Vanilla Twilight"?). I guess this is just the state of modern pop music. Just check out all the top forty bands and they're using it. I guess I don't really get it. Of course, I also don't understand the Lady Gaga, who every young person I know is in love with her.
Anyway, I even made a point to listen to Owl City's hit song, "Fireflies". It was OK. I can see why people would like this song about being an insomniac, especially that line "I'd like to make myself believe that planet Earth turns slowly".
If I were to pick some good songs, I did like "Umbrella Beach", "The Tip Of The Iceberg" (for the fading in and out) and "The Saltwater Room" (mostly for the duet with Breanne Duren). Duren's vocals was a nice change of pace, and incidentally I saw last year. I described her as a quiet girl with her Casio keyboard.
Well despite my not-so-fondness of Owl City, it looks like he's doing quite well for himself. He's playing to a bunch of sold-out shows, so if you are a fan, I suggest picking up tickets before they sell out. I am definitely not the demographic for Owl City, but I'm happy to see this Minnesotan doing so extraordinary well.
PS, if you were wondering what's on the cover, it is the hotel Burj Al Arab
01/08/2010 00:51:38 ♥ vu (
) ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
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Discography
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Scanners basically got all the right formula for my music taste: melodic, a little upbeat (even dancey), great guitar playing and great lyrics delivered by a girl singer called Sarah Daly.
Since the band's formation in 2004-ish, they've been doing the tried-and-true singles releases. They finally worked their way to their debut album, Violence Is Golden in 2006, all the while opening up for established acts like The Charlatans (a Britpop favorite here) and The Wedding Present.
With 2010 here, Dim Mak Records is releasing their sophomore album, Submarine next month. We have an advance promo that I've been listening to non-stop since December. I knew the instant I heard their opening track, "Jesus Saves", that they had me at "Each picture tells a story/we've seen it all before/it's either death or glory/of casualty of war.".
I believe their first single from the new album will be "Salvation", although an excellent track, I felt there were stronger songs. However, the song does feature some great lyrics like "I'll take you to my grave" (by the sound of the song it's more upbeat than depressing). You can sample a B-Side off their single by downloading the Don Diablo remix of the track on RCRDLBL. I found out about the free track via the Dim Mak mailing list.
I did download the remix and I'll have to say, it's very bass-heavy. The song sounds very different from the album mix, and doesn't really represent Scanners, in my opinion. What I like about Scanners is that they're lyrical, and the remix strips out all of the lyrics and made it into a techno dance song. There's a time and place for that, just not what I like about the band.
The electronic/dance thing does bring up an interesting point though: Scanners seems like a band that balance the electronic/synth and indierock. I really like that about them.
Other songs to consider for my new mixtape will probably be between "Jesus Saves", "We Never Close Our Eyes" and "Sleepwalking Life". There is one strange song called "Half a Mind (Dreamer Forever)" which is really good, except it's fades out suddenly at the end of the song. Kind of fitting for a 'dream' song, I suppose.
2010 is starting off wonderfully with Submarine. If you generally like British music, you'll find that Scanners will fit nicely in your collection. I know you'll probably forget when their album is release next month, so I'll make it a point to announce their touring dates (if any are announce) in the upcoming months. Watch this space.
Update 1/7/09 11am: I just found out that they have a video for "Salvation". I just watched it... Just live footage and someone drawing lines. Kind of uninspiring, in my opinion.
01/05/2010 22:59:06 ♥ vu (
) ♥ myspace.com/scanners ♥ twitter.com/wearescanners
It's a new year and it's bright and sunny and the hateful 2009 appears to be behind us. Also, technically some of 90s Music Monday could be 20 years old by now. That's kind of scary. In a "Face my ever impending mortality square in the face and sob a little" kind of way.
I've still got swathes of that vast tract of hip-hop which remains mineable and, dependent on mood, that may continue next week but for now I'm going with a slightly apropos slice of Cypress Hill, those lovable rapscallions from the cheerily named Soul Assassins collective.
Why apropos? Because the video is filmed in San Francisco's favourite "disorderly house injurious to the public welfare and morals" - the DNA Lounge which is currently shuttered for a month in order to appease the soulless joy-vampires at California's ABC as one of the many skirmishes in the war on fun.
Discography
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Kordan, I’m still befuddled. When I finally sat down for a proper listen of Longing, my immediate thoughts were “where did I go?” and “how long am I staying for?” As I’m sure I mentioned in previous reviews, the power of Kordan lies in their ability to transport listeners to a strange, rich realm of multi-sensory experiences. Perhaps that’s an exaggeration; but for most of us, whose lives are defined by shopping malls, mid-size vehicles, Starbucks lattes, and the occasional wild night of domestic brews and bar darts, Longing feels like a vacation from the mundane. We will never be this hip, but for roughly half an hour we can pretend.
The Longing is essentially an elaboration of Fantasy Nation, Kordan’s first EP released July of last year. Same bag of tricks, that is. Dizzy, spacious sound layers over a steady beat—at the core, dance grooves with an experimentalist complex. Where Fantasy Nation tapped the club vein, Longing searches for the abstract quality of pop music. Listening to the album is like listening as a musician attempts to define city or love or life simply in audio. Of course, this reads pretentious, as does any creative adventure that involves conceptual thought. The reason I’m not harder on Kordan is simple: despite the possible pretense, I can’t imagine the band playing any other style of music than this ultra stylized pretty. There’s truth in purposeful cool, even if it’s easy to spot the GWBs (Girls With Bangs) and BWGs (Boys With Glasses) somewhere in the crowd.
Thanks to production magic or magic hands, “Fantasy Nation” and “Tokyo Tears” softened a bit from their EP debut: flavors steeped, mechanics fine tuned, less thrust more lust. Actually, compared to Longing, Fantasy Nation sounds decidedly reduced, as though Eisele and co. were practicing for grander occasions. Such is the occasion. Besides “Fantasy” and “Tokyo,” tracks like “Mirror” and the haunting “Shinjuku” stand out while in sum, the album remains fairly amorphous. Eisele’s distant vocals amidst the instrumental mixed bag keep Longing interesting, but I wonder what’s next for Kordan. Logically, the progression favors total ethereal bliss (as it is, the lyrics seem secondary), but I accept all bets.
For now, the band keeps busy with live shows in and around New York City. Visit their Website / Myspace / Facebook for more information. The Longing is set to officially release in February of 2010. You can preview the album here.
01/02/2010 21:38:20 ♥ lara (
/lara206.vox.com)
♥
kordan.tv ♥ myspace.com/kordantv
There were times when it was just strength of will to get through the most disgusting bits. The Road would become overwhelming but I never felt I was being assaulted like I did with this one.
The book really has two parts: before and after the blind victims are confined to a mental hospital by the government. The second part is the most rewarding part of the novel, but I bet a lot of people give up before they get that far.
The best argument for reading this book is that it will make you think about the concept of blindness on all levels: psychological, spiritual, intellectual, and physical.
Looking forward to 2010. This is the third year I'm making a list of books I must read in the coming year. So far it's helped me to read more than I normally think I have time for. The first year I made an ambitious list of 24 books, last year it was 12. I think I'm going to stick to 12 as a rule. It's not too much pressure and it's psychologically one book per month.
This is what I'm most interested in reading in 2010:
1. Confidence Man-A less well known Dickens novel
2. Rashamon-Been on the shelf and going to see the restored movie in a few months
3. The Catcher in the Rye-Because I should have read this one by now
4. Wanting Seed-Obligatory dystopian novel
5. Wind-Up Bird Chronicle-Because I seem to be reading one Murakami a year and this was the one I intended to start with years ago
6. Hindsight-A book that was seen/mentioned on Lost
7. La Fanu-Because I have to read something creepy every year in October
8. To the Wedding-I've meant to read a Berger fictional work for years
9. The Professor's Wife-I've never actually read anything by Willa Cather
10. Hear of Darkness-Another classic I never got around to reading
11. Castle of Crossed Destinies-Introducing myself to Calvino
12. Body Artist-Another author I've yet to read
I think the theme this year is mostly to read people and books that I've missed or put off.
I'm also going to continue with In Search of Lost Time. I have no idea how many volumes I'll get through so I'm not going to put any pressure on myself. I might finish it or I might just read one more book. We'll see. Just really looking forward to this year's reading list.
I finished my 2009 reading list with a few minutes to spare. New Year's party was at 7 p.m. and I finished the last lines of Swann's Way about an hour before that. I know one of my resolutions for 2010 will be to keep myself from procrastinating and/or getting distracted as much.
It was a good year though. Read 28 books in total and all 12 from my list.
I enjoyed the books I read more this year than I have in quite a few.
Top 5 Picks for the Year:
(In no particular order)
1. Swann's Way by Marcel Proust -- Best use of words
2. On the Eve by Ivan Turgenev--Best bohemian character of all time
3. Choke by Chuck Palahniuk--Most insightful character with issues
4. Atonement by Ian McEwan--Best narrative framework
5. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway--Best philosophical short
Discography
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In 1999, the doomsayers predicted the end of the world as we know it - in the form of computers all over the world crashing because of the so-called millennium bug. It never made sense to me, I mean if it were a problem, couldn't you just change the date ?
I spent the New Year's eve in Vietnam, away from civilization. The next day, nothing changed. Not even an incident. All that scare were for thing. But it wasn't all for nothing, the Y2K bug inspired quite a few things - among them, music, televisions, and books.
WHO'S AFRAID OF Y2K?
geometrid.co.uk ♥ myspace.com
There was a period when I tracked down all the projects that were related to Belle & Sebastian, including The Gentle Waves/Isobel Campbell and Looper. Looper was was basically B&S's Stuart David and his wife, Karn, who actually met via penpalism (as told by their song, Impossible Things).
They did garner a bit of fame through "Mondo '77", a really great catchy "binary"-video gamey song (it's been featured in Vanilla Sky, video games, and anti-drugs commercials). But unfortunately, their third (and final?) album, The Snare did not have any really catchy songs. The ruder and darker themed album was due to David's book The Peacock Manifesto (whos character also appears on the cover and songs of The Snare).
Anyway, in 1999, Looper released a double A-Side called Who's Afraid of Y2K? and Up A Tree Again, which I picked up, among other singles, at a Flaming Lips show (Looper was opening up for the band).
Both are excellent songs, although there were two remixes of "Up A Tree Again". I normally don't like remixes, but these were pretty different from the original album (which actually sounds pretty stale compared to these upbeat mixes). The "singles mix" of "Up a Tree Again" was interesting to say the least, focusing mostly on the "la-na-na-na" section and DJ-scratches, while the Chocolate Layers remix was pretty much only the "la-na-na-na" section.
Looking back, I suppose "Who's Afraid of Y2K?" song was a bit of novelty. Ironically enough, the song was awashed in electronic quirks and beats - all the things that Y2K would've destroyed supposedly.
Currently, Looper's on hiatus. I haven't heard much in terms of a new David novel or Looper release. Most of the recent releases were made free on their website, geometrid.co.uk.
BRAVE OLD WORLD
dccomics.com/vertigo
I thought the concept behind this William Messner-Loebs-written Vertigo mini-series was interesting enough: a group of computer hackers working on a solution to the Y2K bug at the end of 1999 - only to find themselves in 1900.
The series explored some interesting concept, like what would you do, if you had all this computer/understanding of technology, only to be trapped in a world that still operated via candlelight? The women in the comics had it worst, let's face it, women didn't exactly have freedom back then. And if you were doing something strange, you're a witch and killed, etc.
So what's the group to do to try and back to 2000? They had to build a computer, by "inventing" their own technology.
Like I said, a very interesting concept. It sort of got a bit boring towards the end (by the last issue, I didn't really care for the characters so much).
Vertigo comics has yet to collect this in a trade, I suppose after the Y2K fiasco, it probably wouldn't be worth reading. I mean, we all know as fantastic as going back in 1900 would be, it didn't happen - just like the Y2K didn't happen. Still, if you want to re-live what it was like, or what Messner-Loebs was thinking back in 1999.
PREPARE YOURSELF FOR Y10K
Chances are, I'll be dead, so I wouldn't care so much what would happen. Wikipedia thinks it's a problem, but I suspect by the year 10,000, that our computing technology would be so advance, it wouldn't amount to anything.
Until then, have a great New Year. Take care of each other. I'll see you in 2010.
12/31/2009 22:29:36 ♥ vu (
) ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
| W♥M059 [download (51 min, 47 mb)] |
BRITPOPCAST #6: THE GIRLS OF BRITPOP (wave 2)
The show was actually longer, but I'm including more Jarvis-stalking festivities until next week. This week is all about the second wave of girls of Britpop (the first wave consists of Powder, Sleeper, Salad, Echobelly, Elastica). Since we've talked so much about them already, I thought talking about the second wave was a little more interesting.
Second wave:
- Kenickie (Lauren Laverne - all girls band)
- Kenickie, believe it or not, was the only all-girls Britpop
band. There was another band called Fluffy around this era, but they
were more hard-rock than brit-pop. While Fluffy's ultimate was branded
with "eight tits no talent", Kenickie was more loved in general. While
their music is often more polished punk/pop early on, they shifted
their sound to more lounge for their second album. Obviously the band
was still in their infancy ... but eventually broke up shortly after
the second album.
- Lush (Miki Berenyi & Emma Anderson)
- In early Lush's history, they were two best friends, Miki
Berenyi & Emma Anderson. They were fanzine producers, and started
their own band based on their love of shoegazing music with their EPs
and debut album Spooky. You can hear their love of melodies as
they sing in and out. Of course, when you have two songwriters, they
often clash if they have other interests. In this case, at the time Split came out in 1994, some of the songs were clearly "britpop"esque. Even the naming of the album (Split)
was an indication, between aggressive pop songs like "Kiss Chase" and
"Hypocrite" - the britpop songs would later continue with "Ladykiller"
and their ultimate britpop moment with Jarvis Cocker on "Ciao!" While
I did tend to like the Miki songs, Emma did coin a few great pop gems
like "Shake Baby Shake" (which is about the love of her car).
- When we heard that drummer, Chris Acland committed suicide by
hanging himself, we all knew the band would be split up after this.
And it's true, they never quite recover. I was lucky enough to catch
them before the tragedy and continued to follow to see what the band's
been up to. The last I heard, Emma is in Sing-Sing, which had a great
pop song called "Feels Like Summer".
- Catatonia (Cerys Matthews)
- Since we previously talked about Catatonia in our previous Welsh Britpop bands, I'll only briefly mention them here. The thing with Catatonia for me was that each of their song was either a hit or miss... no inbetween feeling. I either hated or love it. But the songs I really love, I really love, so that makes up for them. I love the way Cerys sings, in fact, all Welsh people have a particularly weird accent to them and it's always a nice earful when you do hear them sing or talk. It's like they're speaking English, but learned it from another planet.
- Favorite songs: "Mulder & Scully", "I Am the Mob", "Karaokee Queen", "Road Rage", "Dead from the Waist Down"
- Theaudience (Sophie Ellis-Bextor)
- This was a very brief band from 97-99, fronted by Sophie
Ellis-Bextor - who went on to have a series of very successful
Eurodisco releases. I must admit, I never followed the band that much
- they arrived a little too late for me. I didn't buy their debut
album (it was never released in the US), but managed to get their debut
single, "I Got the Wherewithal". The song is quite good, and even
their b-side "Penis Size and Cars" is amusingly catchy.
- Bis (Amanda MacKinnon)
- I love this Scottish band. Although they were far too
"kiddish" in their cute unreadable spellings and anime-influence, they
were pretty damn cute and catchy. Songs like "Kandy Pop" topped many
playlist around this time, although in retrospect, looking back, it was
a pretty mindless dum (dumb as in DUM) song. Unfortunately, many
people, including myself, didn't regard Bis as a Britpop band, but
they're often grouped in. My favorite song: "Action & Drama"!
Honorable mentions:
- Black Box Recorder (Sarah Nixey)
- Very catchy/dancey, but not Britpop. Their bassist is Luke Haines, formerly of the Britpop band The Auteurs.
- Dubstar (Sarah Blackwood)
- This British act came out during the birth of Britpop, but they
were far too alternative-dance/electronica to be considered Britpop.
The singer is Sarah Blackwood, who, I reckon the band ditched toward
their later music releases.
- Sneaker Pimps (Kelli Dayton)
- Fluffy
- Republica (Saffron)
- Fat Les (Lily Allen sings on their last single???)
12/30/2009 03:45:48 ♥ vu (
) ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com
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01/02/10 Kitty Cat Klub, Minneapolis
01/08/10 Club Jager, Minneapolis
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Dear Minnesota,
I’ve been a little busy performing Christmas miracles, lunching with the Obamas, and bestowing bad karma. But I wanted to send you a quick note to say I’m sorry. Sorry for the snow. If it makes you feel better, I was aiming for Wisconsin.
Love,
GOD.
Cold, sad Midwest, warm
your hearts this season with a music video.
Inspired by the misery of being on weather lock-down, our friends in
UltraChorus spent the holidays shooting a video for “Margins” (from the
recently released Ultra-Def). The finished product is both wistful and
mildly unsettling (the shaky camera, bright lights, creepy slow walking, and
2:24 – 2:30 reminds me of a dream I once had wherein the unassuming drifter killed me in the end). Check it out!
Also, Minneapolitans, mark your calendars: UltraChorus is playing at the Kitty Cat Klub
this Saturday, Jan. 2nd (2010!).
Visit their Myspace or website for more information.
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/lara206.vox.com)
♥
ultrachorus.com ♥ myspace.com/ultrachorus 

















