KRISTOFFER RAGNSTAM is yet another artist from the musical hotbed that is Gothenburg, Sweden. I was primarily drawn to this guy through the song "No One Told Me," whose coil-and-spring dynamics have the feel of a straight-ahead, late '70s/early '80s rocker. With a crackerjack chorus to boot....
I didn't really "get around to" THE PRETENDERS until 1984's LEARNING TO CRAWL. "Middle of the Road" and "Back on the Chain Gang" received a lot of radioplay in my part of the world, and, like a lot of people, I found CHRISSIE HYNDE's distinctive purr 'n' growl both arresting and irresistible.
How time flies. It's been 17 years since THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS released FLOOD, their major-label debut and home of their two best-known songs -- "Birdhouse in Your Soul" and "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)."
L.A.'s GREAT NORTHERN released their first album, TRADING TWILIGHT FOR DAYLIGHT, May 15 on EENIE MEENIE RECORDS. I continue to be a sucker for the boy/girl vocals, and co-founders SOLON BIXLER and RACHEL STOLTE are here to provide them. These are crystal-clean, classic-sounding songs -- with lush but uncluttered arrangements. Bixler suggests "headphones in the bedroom" for ideal listening, and I'd have to agree. This isn't "small" music, just intimate.
GREAT NORTHERN on MySPACE.
Well, let's see now.... My favorite band is RADIOHEAD. PULP and THE DIVINE COMEDY aren't far behind. And I've posted at least twice on SERGE GAINSBOURG on this blog. So it seems pretty much preordained that I would take notice of Serge's daughter, CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG, and her well-pedigreed record 5:55.
Hmm... I seem to be having some sort of "pigeon" fixation at the moment....
I don't know much about the Leeds, UK band THE PIGEON DETECTIVES. Until last week, I'd never even heard of them.
Poor Norway. Proud land of fjords, Vikings, and trolls. Yet always playing a distant second-fiddle to their hated neighbor, Sweden. In music, hockey, war, you name it. Come to think of it, maybe we'd better make that THIRD-fiddle. Give Finland the silver. (And don't look now, but Denmark's looking to bogart the bronze.)
I guess pretty much everybody already knows that EDITORS' new album, AN END HAS A START, will be released on July 17. I guess this is pretty much just a reminder, then. Just in case you didn't know. Just in case you're liable to forget.
Never fear, Norwegian duo DATAROCK are here to funk up your Friday. Originally released in 2005, their LP DATAROCK DATAROCK will hit U.S. retail outlets on June 12 via NETTWERK.
Sweden's THE MARY ONETTES hail from Hovslatt. In my neverending quest to educate the world on the geography of Sweden, I am here to tell you that Hovslatt is approximately six miles SSW of Jonkoping and approximately 43 miles SE of Falkoping. So that should pretty much clear THAT up.
We all have our guilty pleasures. That I liked ERASURE in the '80s hardly seems to qualify, to my mind; a LOT of people liked Erasure in the '80s. A lot of people liked "Chains of Love." And "A Little Respect." And "Oh L'amour." Not to mention PET SHOP BOYS. And DEPECHE MODE. Absolutely no shame in it. None whatsoever. And if you insist in saying that there is, then I'm going to take all my Members Only jackets, my lace-less Adidas high-tops, my acid-washed Jordache jeans, and my closetful of peach and aqua Izods, wad them up into a big ball of I-will-NOT-feel-shame-for-my-'80s-existence fury, and shove them up your big, fat, ignorant ass. (And you better believe I'm not going to bother removing the long-handled plastic comb from the back pocket of those Jordache jeans before I do. No, sir. Not a chance.)
I don't normally go in for instrumentals all that much. They can, however, be ideal as opening or closing tracks on mix CDs. Not to mention as the perfect backing music for movie or TV show credit sequences. Apparently, Quentin Tarantino agrees, what with his use of DICK DALE's "Miserlou" to kick open the door on PULP FICTION. And some of you in Canada and the U.S. (and perhaps elsewhere) may be familiar with a Canadian sketch comedy show called KIDS IN THE HALL. The opening titles to that show are accompanied by a song called "Having an Average Weekend," by the group SHADOWY MEN ON A SHADOWY PLANET (also Canadian).
Austin favorite sons SPOON will release their latest CD, GA GA GA GA GA, July 10 on MERGE RECORDS. If you haven't already heard the whole kit 'n' kaboodle elsewhere, perhaps you'd like a little taste of it here. If so, I suggest you hurry up and listen; no telling how long it'll be allowed to stick around these here parts....
Hey, America's neighbor to the north (or south, in my case... sort of) is celebrating Victoria Day today. Considering how kooky and laid-back Canadians are genetically engineered to be, I can only assume that this a festive holiday homage to the woman who founded the famous lingerie catalogue. How aboot that, eh?
I posted on FIELDS in September regarding their EP, 7 FROM THE VILLAGE. I stand by what I said then, so I'm going to say it again now:
This is proving to be the least productive month for this blog in its two-year existence. My apologies for that. Will try to get back on the ball.
Back in 2005, I wasn't one of those bloggers who went over-the-moon ga-ga for LESLIE FEIST. It wasn't that I didn't find her voice fetching; it was just that many of the songs from 2004's LET IT DIE didn't appeal to me overmuch. Hey... it happens.
RICHARD SWIFT has been compared to everyone from RUFUS WAINWRIGHT to RAY DAVIES; RON SEXSMITH to ELVIS COSTELLO. An Anglophile, supposedly. And a bit on the sad side. Sounds fine by me.
Left-click [HERE] for the April mix. Hopefully you'll find it worth the wait....
I'm off to Ann Arbor to drive around and have dinner tonight, so my time is tight. Thus, I must crib from myself:
Plenty of people have heard of Ireland's DAMIEN RICE the past few years, but they may not have heard of his former band -- BELL X1.
London, Ontario's BASIA BULAT categorizes her music as "pop," "folk," and -- far more interestingly -- "melodramatic popular song." "Chamber pop" is another genre that gets mentioned. "Sweet ragtime piano melodies." "Tender-hearted string arrangements." That sort of thing.