Makeout Party at Werewolf Club! and News!

At long last, Philadelphia's Scary Monster have finished their first record! After listening to "Hot Chocolate Girl" and "True Love Good Morning" for the past six months it's nice to know I won't have to spend all day listening to them on MySpace anymore. The new record, awesomely titled Makeout Party at Werewolf Club is available for only $6ppd in USA or $5 in person from the band! You can visit them on MySpace or email them at Scarymonsterphilly at gmail.com for more info and how to get your hands on the CD!

[MP3]: Scary Monster :: True Love Good Morning (Yay! yay! yay!)

If you really wanna save a dollar, they'll be playing a few Philly shows in the next couple months that you should really not miss at all.

May 30th 10:00pm at Tritone in Philadelphia
June 14th 6:30pm at the Barbery in Philadelphia (all ages with Tullycraft!)

ALSO! That news I promised...
I've tried to keep it secret for a while, but I figure it's about time to let the cat out of the bag! I'm releasing a compilation CD-R! I'll post the tracklist some time next week perhaps, but it's better than I could have ever hoped! For now, here's a quick photo of the sleeves – freshly screenprinted – I just finished all 150 of them yesterday! I'm so excited, I hope some of you are, too!



Xoxoxo!

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The Garlands EP!

I'm back! Hopefully! I've still got a little bit of the semester left, but I really miss posting and so I'm going to do my best to get back into the regular swing of things around here! As I've clearly mentioned before, I LOVE The Garlands. For those just now being introduced (and shame on you!), The Garlands are Roger Gunnarsson and Christin Wolderth – an indiepop match made in heaven – much like any other band Roger's ever been in. As expected, their debut EP is full of super sweet vocals and gloriously jangling melodies. My favorite of all, "David," might be one of the best pop songs I've heard all year and will bring more than a smile to anyone who, like me, has been desperately clinging onto their small batch of old Free Loan songs, hoping that one day they'd feel that same way again. Like I said, totally in love.

[MP3]: The Garlands :: David (Hiiiiiiiighly Recommended!)

The EP is out on both Cosy Recordings and Cloudberry Records, so I mean, you could buy two if you wanted or you just buy one from one place I guess. In other sort of unrelated news, I have some very exciting news to share with you guys in a day-ish or so... but it's really great I swear!

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Could It Be The Good Old Days?

The new Lodger record, Life Is Sweet will be out soon on good old Slumberland Records! I've listened to it a couple times the past few sunny days here and I'm really in love with it, so I was tickled when I found out there's a new video for "The Good Old Days," the first single from the Life Is Sweet. Hi-five for the color orange?!? Yeah?! Alright!



In other Slumberland news, the second "I Smiled Yesterday" podcast is up now! I haven't listened yet, but the first one was awesome and I've got high hopes. Expect some northern soul, post-punk, some crash pop, and other good things!

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New Liechtenstein single on the way!!

Hooray! Rejoice! There's a new Liechtenstein 7" on the way! It'll be out on Fraction Discs in May and the new single is streaming on their MySpace right now. It's called "Apathy" and it's amazing. As one would expect the harmonies are gorgeous and the vocal melody is really, really infectious. Perhaps more so than "Cravings" – and that's saying quite a lot cause I can't even remember how long I hummed that song last year. Oh, and it's also a bit sadder and slow-going than anything else I've heard by them as of yet, too, which I think suites them real well, especially when the overlapping vocal outro comes in... aw man, so so good!

Go listen to "Apathy"! Like, seriously.

P.S. For anyone in germany, the girls will be playing a show in Dresden, saturday, May 17th!

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This is the rhythm of the night

I plan to start posting semi-regularly again at some point in the near future, but I've been quite busy lately and haven't had the time – or for that matter – been in the mood for writing, so I just haven't.

I did however have an awesome time up in New York this past weekend. We drove up Friday morning for Peggy Pains' Birthday Extravaganza at the Cake Shop. Insect Guide, The Manhattan Love Suicides, and of course, The Pobpahs all played and it was one of the best times I've had in quite a while. The was my first time seeing The MLS and they definitely met what by now must have been some extremely high expectations! And they even did so in about 15 minutes. Stunning, really. They played a new song, "Johnny Boy," which I now really, really want to hear recorded. Insect Guide opened and they were quite fantastic as well. They were pretty Slowdive-y, with lots of layered backing tracks by way of their laptop. They also pulled out a "Freak Scene" cover that I've gotta say, was pretty damn amazing. The Pobpahs were obviously great, save for a uncooperative power strip. They played some new songs, too! "Side Ponytail" might be my new favorite Pains song... infact, I'm pretty sure it is. They also played another new one called "The Tenure Itch" – a song about a bookish student sleeping with her distinguished philosophy professor who’s been coasting along on the coattails of decades old translations of Plato. Amazing, yes? The show was followed by an EPIC 90s Jock Jamz dance party care of DJ Shirley Beans! Too much fun, seriously.

The whole weekend was just totally awesome, and now I just really want to live in New York. It was absolutely wonderful to meet so many people I've only known through the internets for so long.

Well, I suppose that's it for now. I should be posting again soon. I really do miss it quite a lot, but it's just not happening right now.

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All I Find Is Wasted Time

Hello gents and gentlies. I have a spare minute this morning, so I thought I'd try to do a quick post of things before I have to go paint for four hours! First of all, I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. Mine was spent finishing the pile of homework that built up over spring break, so that was a blast. Alright, first item of business would be... new Bridal Shop 7" on Cloudberry! They've got the a-side "Violation" streaming on their MySpace right now and it might just be their best tune yet. I love the way it just kind of explodes into a blast of guitar and drum machine at the beginning, it's so bright and beautiful! Order it over at Cloudberry Records. New Summer cats single coming up on Cloudberry, too, but more on that later...

Next, brand new – and excellent – EPs from both Northern Portrait and The Electric Pop Group are out now on Matinee. Northern Portrait's The Fallen Aristocracy EP is just perfect classic jangly pop songs. The lead track "Crazy," in particular, reminds me quite of The Smiths... could be the guitars, could be the vocals, maybe both?! The Electric Pop Group's Sunrise EP treads most of the same ground as their self-titled record from last year (very late 2006, rather), but, to me, that's quite alright because it's the type of ground that would have likely secured them a spot on Sarah Records in a different time. "This Is A Town" grabs me the same way "Walk Away" did just months ago, which means it wont be letting go for a while. They're both only five bucks each! Go get 'em!

Then there's The Sound of Arrows. Don't know too much about them, but they're Swedish, and they've got an new EP on the way on Labrador, and apparently they're leading Swedish pop into the next decade... we'll see about that, bur for now, I'll definitely say that this is some pretty fun stuff! The EP's title track "Danger!" sounds like some brilliantly dancey blend of Jens Lekman and Saint Etienne... which as anyone could imagine, is an amazing combination! The EP will be out May 7th! For now, listen (and dance) to "Danger!"

[MP3]: The Sound of Arrows :: Danger! (Hiiiiighly Rec'd!!!)

Finally, in less recent news, I've been listening to "Sickening" by The Sweetest Ache almost completely on repeat since I woke up today. What an amazing song it is...

[MP3]: The Sweetest Ache :: Sickening (Very Highly Recommended!)

Have a lovely day!
xoxo

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NYC Popfest 2008!!!

The best four days you'll have this year!

NYC POPFEST 2008 is finally kicking into high gear! And I'm so excited! I've been waiting for what has felt like forever for some "official" Popfest updates and I've finally got some!!! A partial list of bands has finally been confirmed this past week, and here they are!

The Besties (NYC)
The Cannanes (Australia)
Cats on Fire (Finland)
Dent May & His Ukelele (MO)
Friday Bridge (Sweden)
From Bubblegum To Sky (NYC)
The Hermit Crabs (UK)
Love Is All (Sweden)
Mahogany (NYC)
My Teenage Stride (NYC)
Oh! Custer (Sweden)
One Happy Island (MA)
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (NYC)
Pants Yell! (MA)
Tullycraft (WA)

Now, I don't know about you, but good god that is one hell of a lineup so far! I have to say, at the moment, I'm probably the most excited for Cats On Fire and The FUCKING Cannanes!!! And of course, The Pobpahs will be awesome, as will Pants Yell!, and as will everyone else... and LOVE IS ALL... Love Is All, wow...

I know I didn't quite succeed last year, but this year I think I'm going to actually try to do a post on each band, leading up to the Popfest! And I'll actually be there this year! I can't wait to meet everyone I've yet to meet, and dance forever with them. I'll keep you updated on band updates and etc, although you can also do that yourself by being friends with the NYC Popfest on MySpace! There's also word of some Popfest warm-ups coming up in April, so keep your eyes peeled for updates, updates, updates!!!

xoxo

P.S. You should head over to Alex's wonderful, wonderful blog to find her also posing with her Popbpahs/Pgrams split 7" (Everyone should be doing this, by the way!!!). I don't know if I've linked to her before actually, until now, but her blog is really really great and awesome and is one of the few that I still read constantly these days... so you should be reading it too!!!

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The way we are now, it's alright,
So don't tell me it's the last night of our young lives...

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As Farrrrrrrrr as I Can Seeeeeeeeeeee

Hey! Surefire Broadcast just recently put up a few new songs on their MySpace. Is this really worth an entire post, you ask? Yes! – and I will tell you why. One of the new songs, "Stars," is probably my new favorite SFBC song! Lisa and Rodney's vocal harmonies at the end are just TOO perfect, and as always, the distortion is just right. You should really definitely go listen to it immediately!

Surefire Broadcast on MySpace

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My Heart Beats Outside Itself :: A Mix!

Photo in the cover art by Speakelabs on Flickr.

Hello again! Sorry I've been kind of awful at updating lately, but hey, I've got a new mix today– so that's cool... right? It's just ten tracks – fairly short – but I spent a lot of time arranging it and I think it's quite a nice listen from beginning to end. Some nice jangly guitar, some sweet solos, some lovely glockenspiel – it's all here! If i had to pick a favorite song on the mix, it would probably be between "Trust Me" or probably "Popkiss," though I have been pretty obsessed with Minisnap lately (thanks Kevin!). You should still listen to it all in order though! Alright, well, I hope you like it! Tell your friends! and your mother! and her mother! and tell the dog! and tell the neighborhood butcher! tell the whole town!

Tell me which song that the title of the mix comes from and you'll win a cookie and a glass of milk to dip that cookie in, along with a bib to catch the milk run-off :)

DOWNLOAD IT!
My Heart Beats Outside Itself (.zip file, 10 mp3s, 62mb)

Tracklist:
01 Hearts On Fire :: The Sultry Day
02 The Brilliant Corners :: Trust Me
03 Sportique :: It Couldn't Last Forever
04 Would-Be-Goods :: Casanova 92
05 Minisnap :: In My Pocket
06 Confetti :: Whatever Became of Alice and Jane
07 Hari and Aino :: Seasons
08 Blueboy :: Popkiss
09 Horowitz :: I Need A Blanket
10 Wild Carnation :: The Lights Are On (But No One's Home)

Bye!

Oh and P.S. there's something very cool in the works.
But hush hush about that for now!

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