THE '80s - VOL. 2

Well, I certainly don't want to go to this well too often (and I won't), but after last Sunday's '80s nostalgia-fest here at a Plague of A., it seemed at least reasonably appropriate to offer a second serving of said nostalgia-fest. In part, this is because the '80s were such a significant part of my now not-so-glorious life (not that it was all that glorious back then, either, but still...). Beyond that, though, with so many bands aping the '80s in one way or another to gain fortune and fame here in the '00s... well... perhaps that's rationalization enough for another 80 minutes of '80s pop poofery.

Please left-click [here] for said pop poofery.

TRACKLIST >>>

01) The Buggles/Video Killed the Radio Star
02) Blondie/Call Me
03) Dead or Alive/You Spin Me 'Round (Like a Record)
04) The Go-Go's/We Got the Beat
05) A Flock of Seagulls/I Ran (So Far Away)
06) Greg Kihn Band/The Break-Up Song
07) ABC/The Look of Love
08) Billy Idol/Dancing with Myself
09) Toni Basil/Hey Mickey
10) Gary Numan/Cars'
11) Yaz/Only You
12) Duran Duran/The Reflex
13) Katrina & the Waves/Walking on Sunshine
14) The Fixx/One Thing Leads to Another
15) Sparks & Jane Wiedlin/Cool Places
16) Modern English/I Melt with You
17) Men at Work/Who Can It Be Now?
18) The Romantics/What I Like About You
19) Talk Talk/It's My Life
20) Tommy Tutone/867-5309/Jenny
21) Alphaville/Forever Young [extended version]

SAY HI TO YOUR MOM

As was the case with the Divine Comedy, Say Hi To Your Mom is essentially a one-man band. In this case, it's Brooklynite Eric Elbogen, and he would like to invite you into his basement bedroom and play his Casio for you. (Okay, maybe it's a bit more complicated than that... but not too terribly much.)

Mr. Elbogen's range may not be all that great, but he hits upon some catchy stuff every now and again, and I can't help looking forward to his upcoming album (supposedly set for release in July). In the meantime...

From the LP Numbers & Mumbles, 2004 >>>
[MP3] "Super"
[MP3] "Hooplas Involving Circus Tricks"

From the LP Ferocious Mopes, 2005 >>>
[MP3] "Recurring Motifs in Historical Flirtings"
[MP3] "Poor Pete is a Bit Self-Conscious"

From the LP Discosadness, 2002 >>>
[MP3] "The Fritz"

THE DIVINE COMEDY

The Divine Comedy is the "nom de pop" of Neil Hannon, an Irishman who deserves a place alongside Jarvis Cocker, Morrissey, and Neil Tennant in the mordant-wit pantheon of songwriters. Like those gentlemen, he is more than capable of joining a cute-yet-cutting couplet with a killer riff or a can't-get-it-out-of-my-head melody.

His latest album, Victory for the Comic Muse, comes out on June 19th. To put it mildly, I have rather high expectations for this one, despite not loving the first song I heard from the record ("To Die a Virgin"). Here are two tracks that I find a bit more promising, as well as my two favorites from his previous effort.

From the LP Victory for the Comic Muse, 2006 >>>
[MP3] "Diva Lady"
[MP3] "The Light of Day"

From the LP Absent Friends, 2004 >>>
[MP3] "Absent Friends"
[MP3] "Our Mutual Friend"

RANDOM SAMPLER

THE WALKMEN >>>

I can only tolerate three of the songs on the Walkmen's upcoming CD A Hundred Miles Off [May 23rd]. You can download one of them at Stereogum. You can download another one of them at Badminton Stamps. You can download the last one of them right here.

[MP3] "Good for You's Good for Me"


REGINA SPEKTOR >>>

I'm liking what I'm hearing so far from Regina Spektor's new record Begin to Hope [June 13th]. Especially on the first half, she seems to have toned down some of her more "eccentric" mannerisms and locked in to at least a handful of memorable melodies. Still, she remains a unique artist - and not for all tastes.

[MP3] "On the Radio"


PRIMAL SCREAM >>>

This is the only song on Primal Scream's upcoming album Riot City Blues [June 5th/UK] for which I'm willing to punch the REPEAT button.

[MP3] "When the Bomb Drops"


TILLY AND THE WALL >>>

I already included Tilly and the Wall's "Bad Education" on my recent "Best of April" mix. Now here comes my second favorite track from the band's latest release [Bottoms of Barrels/May 23rd].

[MP3] "Sing Songs Along"

EDITORS, R.E.M., AND... WAR

Editors' solid, if unexceptional, cover of R.E.M.'s "Orange Crush" sent me running back to 1988's Green to partake of the original. These days, it's easy to forget what a great, dynamic band R.E.M. was back then (and before then) (and even for quite a while after then).

Of course, Stipe's typically oblique lyrics don't have anything to do with the soda pop; they allude to the United States' use of Agent Orange in Vietnam (Stipe's father was a pilot during the war, though I have no idea if he ever dropped that particular chemical).

What with American deaths in Iraq nearing 2,500, it seems reasonable to blast a few more R.E.M. songs that are more than a little bit apt, considering the current circumstances...

[MP3] [SaveFile] Editors/"Orange Crush"

From the LP Green, 1988 >>>
[MP3] [SaveFile] R.E.M./"Orange Crush"

From the LP Document, 1987 >>>
[MP3] [SaveFile] R.E.M./"Welcome to the Occupation"

From the LP Around the Sun, 2004 >>>
[MP3] [SaveFile] R.E.M./"Final Straw"

NOUVELLE VAGUE

A lot of bloggers have been posting songs from Nouvelle Vague's second covers record, Bande a Part [out June 12th], but I haven't seen my two favorites showing up much. So here they be...

[MP3] "Don't Go" [Yaz]

[MP3] "Ever Fallen in Love" [Buzzcocks]

MOTOWN MODERN?

McALMONT & BUTLER

I've recently been trolling back through my mix CDs from the summer of 2002, just to see what still holds up, what doesn't, etc. One song that jumped out at me in a very positive way was "Falling," by Mcalmont & Butler. "McAlmont" is David McAlmont - a guy who sings so high he can easily be mistaken for a woman (or, at least, Antony from Antony & the Johnsons). "Butler" is Bernard Butler, the once-celebrated guitarist from Suede. I've been on a '60s kick of late, so it's probably no wonder that "Falling" sounds so damn great to me right about now.

[One warning: You'll have to crank the volume a bit on the first two songs here, but it'll be well worth the effort.]

From the LP Bring It Back, 2002 >>>
[MP3] "Falling"

From the LP The Sound of McAlmont & Butler, 1995 >>>
[MP3] "Yes"

[MP3] "Diamonds Are Forever"/David McAlmont [w/David Arnold]

THE '80s - VOL. 1

Back in April, a number of MP3 blogs went on a '80s nostalgia kick. One of my favorites - Hits in the Car - was one of them. Seeing as the years 10-19 of my life occurred during that particular decade, I have a certain undeniable fondness/weakness for that period of time, as well as for the music that accompanied it.

So here's an 80-minute '80s mix for you. It's a bit on the obvious side - nothing under-the-radar, no hidden gems. But whether they're just cheesy one-hit wonders or songs that actually hold up to the passage of time, I love each and every one of them.

Left-click [here] for the download.

TRACKLIST >>>

01. INXS/Don't Change
02. Berlin/The Metro
03. Erasure/Oh L'Amour
04. Kim Wilde/Kids in America
05. The Vapors/Turning Japanese
06. Depeche Mode/People Are People
07. Pet Shop Boys/Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)
08. Eurythmics/Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
09. Frankie Goes to Hollywood/Relax
10. Animotion/Obsession
11. New Order/Bizarre Love Triangle
12. Total Coelo/I Eat Cannibals
13. Real Life/Send Me an Angel
14. Scandal/The Warrior
15. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark/If You Leave
16. Human League/Don't You Want Me
17. Soft Cell/Tainted Love
18. Naked Eyes/Always Something There to Remind Me
19. The B-52's/Private Idaho
20. Tears for Fears/Shout

HELLO SAFERIDE

Okay, once more into the Swedish breach (or something like that). Hello Saferide is the official alias for indie popstress Annika Norlin. She has a sound somewhere between Azure Ray and Nina Persson. If the idea of that is in any way appealing to you, by all means give a listen to the following...

From the LP Introducing: Hello Saferide >>>
[MP3] "Long Lost Penpal"

From the single My Best Friend >>>
[MP3] "Valentine's Day"

UNION OF KNIVES

Union of Knives is a Scottish trio whose sound has been likened to that of Massive Attack and Death in Vegas. Be that as it may, I just find it dark and catchy and, therefore, irresistible. (And just perfect for this cold, damp Friday night.)

[MP3] "Evil Has Never"

[MP3] "Operated On"

THE WHITLAMS

The Whitlams are an Australian pop group that took almost a decade (as well as the death of one of its members) to gain some sense of recognition and momentum in their home country. Little surprise, then, that they're essentially unknown in North America.

I happened upon these guys with the song "No Aphrodisiac," whose whiskey-soaked sense of desperation and loneliness I find more than a bit beguiling. Many of the band's songs are piano-driven, so I suppose Keane might be a viable comparison. And certain singer-songwriters mine a similar vibe. Josh Rouse, for one. And I swear that lead singer Tim Freedman has a lot of '70s-era, "Laughter in the Rain" Neil Sedaka in his voice. Those of you old enough to remember '70s-era, "Laughter in the Rain" Neil Sedaka can judge for yourselves...

From the LP Eternal Nightcap, 1997 >>>
[MP3] "No Aphrodisiac"
[MP3] "Band on Every Corner"

From the LP Torch the Moon, 2003 >>>
[MP3] "Royal in the Afternoon"
[MP3] "Don't Believe Anymore"

From the LP Little Cloud, 2006 >>>
[MP3] "Keep the Light On"

ANDY WILLIAMS

Let me assure you: this post was in no way pre-planned. Yes, I have a substantial soft spot for Mr. Andy Williams, as he got quite a lot of AM radio play back in the early '70s when I was 1, 2, 3, and 4 years old. Of course, I don't spend a lot of time listening to the man these days, and I have no intention of traveling to whatever-the-hell that scary city in Missouri is where all the old-time crooners go to croak.

What got me on this sudden nostalgia kick was a post over at Diddy Wah that offers up a few of Andy's countless cover songs. I'd like to add a few of my faves to the dapper, hep-cat pot. Trust me, these babies positively swing 'n' sway with giddy goodness.

[This post also gives me an opportunity to try out a new file sharer - YourFile.org. This should work as a left-click here and then a right-click/"save as" on the first page that comes up. Will see if the uploading is a bit more seamless than SaveFile's. Rest assured, though: I'm still going to be using EZArchive as my regular, direct-download provider; having a secondary source just allows me to post more songs, more often.]

[MP3] [YourFile] "The Sweetest Sounds"

[MP3] [YourFile] "Music to Watch Girls By"

[MP3] [YourFile] "More"

[MP3] [YourFile] "Happy Heart"

NOT FROM SWEDEN

(BUT WE LIKE HIM ANYWAY)

CHRIS ISAAK

A quick break in our recent Swedish fixation to throw a bone to Chris Isaak, whose compilation, Best Of Chris Isaak, came out yesterday. I've always thought this guy was a bit underrated (or, perhaps overly celebrated for just a single song and its still-steamy, sand-in-the-butt-crack video).

Clearly, he isn't the most versatile or visionary of music makers, but within his specific niche (and with that great, Orbison-lite croon), he shines just fine.

From the LP Always Got Tonight, 2002 >>>
[MP3] [RapidShare] "One Day"

From the LP Speak of the Devil, 1998 >>>
[MP3] [RapidShare] "Please"
[MP3] [RapidShare] "Black Flowers"

From the LP Forever Blue, 1995 >>>
[MP3] [RapidShare] "Somebody's Crying"
[MP3] [RapidShare] "Go Walking Down There"

From the LP San Francisco Days, 1993 >>>
[MP3] [RapidShare] "Solitary Man"

THE LEGENDS

Our Swedish smorgasbord continues today with the Legends. Supposedly, these folks were a nine-person collective just a couple years ago. Now, they're down to one primary member (Johan Angergard, who's also connected with Acid House Kings and Club 8). Come to think of it, new single "Play It for Today" (March '06) does sound a bit more like Club 8 than previous Legends material...

[MP3] "Play It for Today" [single]

From the LP Public Radio, 2005 >>>
[MP3] "These Old Hearts of Ours"

From the LP Up Against the Legends, 2004 >>>
[MP3] "There and Back Again"
[MP3] "The Kids Just Wanna Have Fun"

THE CHARADE

With summer upcoming, we might as well stay in Sweden for a spell, what with the more abundant sunshine, fewer suicides, etc.

So let's take the four-and-a-half hour drive from Gothenburg to Stockholm to drop in on '60s-styled popsters the Charade. Their new album, A Real Life Drama, will be out June 20th. In the meantime...

From the LP A Real Life Drama, 2006 >>>
[MP3] "A Tough Decision"

From the LP The Best is Yet to Come, 2005 >>>
[MP3] "Monday Morning"

[Hear more from the Charade on their MySpace page.]

SAMBASSADEUR

Seems we haven't set sail for Sweden in a long, long while. Time to rectify that...

The Gothenburg quartet Sambassadeur released their new, four-song EP, Coastal Affairs, on May 3rd. The song "Kate" can be extracted at Hits in the Car and/or Indie Don't Dance. Kate's pretty little sister "Claudine" is a nice cover of a song by New Zealand's the Bats. You can find it below, along with what still ranks as my favorite Sambassadeur song.

From the EP Coastal Affairs, 2006 >>>
[MP3] "Claudine"

From their self-titled LP, 2005 >>>
[MP3] "New Moon"

RADIOHEAD IN COPENHAGEN

Again, recording quality with these is decidedly dodgy. But it's Radiohead, bitches. So deal with it.

<<< All files updated with better quality MP3s on May 10th >>>

[MP3] [YourFile] "Open Pick"

[MP3] [YourFile] "Bangers 'n' Mash"

[MP3] [YourFile] "Bodysnatchers"

[MP3] [YourFile] "15 Step"

[MP3] [YourFile] "Nude"

[MP3] [YourFile] "4 Minute Warning"

[MP3] [YourFile] "House of Cards"

[MP3] [YourFile] "Spooks"

BEST OF APRIL

Per usual, I present my favorite tunes from the month just concluded. And, per usual, I hope you'll find a few you can groove to.

Left-click [here] to grab the tracks.

TRACKLIST >>>

01) Johnny Cash/Ring of Fire
02) The Go-Betweens/Love Goes On! [single]
03) Camera Obscura/Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken
04) The Kooks/Ooh La
05) The Owls/Air
06) Dirty Pretty Things/Bang Bang You're Dead
07) The Dresden Dolls/The Jeep Song
08) Agent Sparks/Choke
09) Smile Smile/Sad Song
10) The Essex Green/Rue de Lis
11) The Glass Family/Swimming in Fiction
12) Tilly and the Wall/Bad Education
13) Matt Costa/Cold December
14) Arab Strap/Don't Ask Me to Dance
15) Silver Jews/Smith & Jones Forever
16) Irving/Heading North
17) The Perishers/Pills
18) The Bears/How to Live
19) The Black Heart Procession/The Letter
20) I'm From Barcelona/Rec & Play
21) Bruce Springsteen/Eyes on the Prize

ASOBI SEKSU

The NYC quartet Asobi Seksu ["Playful Sex" in Japanese] will release their second album, Citrus, on May 30th. The band describes it as "eleven slices of guitar-swirling, sweet-and-sour, bilingual dream pop." Okay, sure, I can go with that. I especially like these ones right here...

[MP3] "Thursday"

[MP3] "Goodbye"

THE FUTUREHEADS

The Futureheads' new LP, News and Tributes, doesn't drop till June 13th, but the song "Skip to the End" has been making the rounds for a while now. I have to say that it rather easily qualifies as the best song on the record. Pretty much by default, then, the following tracks occupy the #2 and #3 slots for me...

[MP3] "Back to the Sea"

[MP3] "Favours for Favours"

LUCKY SOUL

I first wrote about London's Lucky Soul back in December. Shane over at the Torture Garden just posted on them recently and requested that I make the following links come alive like magic again. My pleasure, actually, as I can't get enough of their neo-'60s sound. Enjoy (again)...

[MP3] "My Brittle Heart"

[MP3] "Baby I'm Broke"

ROBERT POST

I went all ga-ga over the Robert Post song "Got None" way-the-hell-back in July of '05. I'd stumbled upon it while combing Beat the Indie Drum's excellent archives [recently updated!] and then subsequently discovered another solid Post song there just sort of squatting in the shadows. So, here they are - the first by request, the second courtesy of my own immense sense of generosity. (Ha.)

[MP3] "Got None"

[MP3] "More and More"

NEW RADIOHEAD (SORT OF)

The bad news: Radiohead won't be releasing an album in 2006. The good news: They're about to embark on their tour, and boots of their new tunes will soon be flooding the Net. In the meantime, Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood played a set on behalf of Friends of the Earth at the Koko in London yesterday. The quality of these resultant recordings is less than perfect, I'm afraid, but Radiohead fans starved for a taste of the new tunes will likely forgive this.

[Had to use SaveFile because EZArchive's been an absolute bitch lately.]

[MP3] [SaveFile] "Arpeggi" [live]/Thom Yorke & Jonny Greenwood

[MP3] [SaveFile] "Bodysnatchers" [live]/Thom Yorke & Jonny Greenwood

[MP3] [SaveFile] "Cymbal Rush" [live]/Thom Yorke & Jonny Greenwood

GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY

It can be tough to get a body going on a Monday, so I thought we'd crank the volume on a bit of semi-punky dance-pop today to get the juices flowing.

Ghostland Observatory is an Austin, Texas duo with a sound somewhere between Daft Punk and the Clash. And if you can't groove to that, then you can't groove at all.

From the LP Paparazzi Lightning, 2006 >>>
[MP3] "Piano Man"

From the LP Delete.Delete.I.Eat.Meat, 2005 >>>
[MP3] "Shoot 'Em Down"

DRAGONETTE

Dragonette is a London-based quartet that opened for Duran Duran during their last tour. They're supposedly working on their first full-length LP even as we speak. And they traffic in exactly the sort of infectious, silly-ass-superficial dance-pop that I feel like blasting from the rooftops today. Thus...

[MP3] "I Get Around"

[MP3] "Shock Box"

DIVISION DAY

I originally wrote about L.A.'s Division Day back in March. Well, their debut album, Beartrap Island, is now out and available for purchase on their website.

The band's been busy as well - touring the Pacific Northwest the last couple weeks with fellow blog darlings Birdmonster. Check out Division Day's MySpace page [here] for more touring info and sound samples.

[MP3] [SaveFile] "Colorguard"

[MP3] [SaveFile] "Hurricane"

THE TELEVANGELIST AND THE ARCHITECT

The Boston collective the Televangelist and the Architect has made its second record, Diaries of the Intelligentsia, available for download [here] for a limited time. They accuse themselves of ripping off Blonde Redhead, Cursive, and Sonic Youth. At times, I hear a bit of Okkervil River in the mix. And maybe some Grandaddy.

Regardless, I'm finding myself vaguely enraptured by a handful of the tracks. You'll find two of them below. You'll find the rest of them by clicking the link above.

[MP3] "The Unconscious Collective (A Tale from Williamsburg)"

[MP3] "The Artificial Intelligentsia"

HAPPY ARBOR DAY!

We're feeling especially festive this SaveFile Friday, seeing as it's also Arbor Day here in the Mitten-Shaped State. Therefore, today's offerings are meant as an affectionate ode to whatever's left of the planet's arboreal splendor.

(BTW, the Mitten-Shaped State's official state tree is the Eastern White Pine. I'm sharing that with you because, secretly, I think you wanted to know.)

[MP3] Pulp/"The Trees"

[MP3] The Rosebuds/"Leaves Do Fall"

[MP3] Bright Eyes/"Loose Leaves"

[MP3] The Cure/"A Forest"

[MP3] Say Hi To Your Mom/"The Forest Scares the Hell Out of Me"

[MP3] Radiohead/"Fake Plastic Trees"

[MP3] Sleeping At Last/"Trees (Hallway of Leaves)"

[MP3] Gordy Boy/"A Hidden Forest" [Bjork/Cure mash-up]

MATTHEW SWEET & SUSANNA HOFFS

Seems like only yesterday (February, actually) that I was highlighting the shiny-happy pop of Matthew Sweet. That post included the song "Magnet and Steel," which featured backing vocals from Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham and the Bangles' Susanna Hoffs.

Well, Matthew and Susanna must have enjoyed working together, because they just released Under the Covers, Vol. 1 - an LP of '60s cover tunes. Not exactly earth-shaking or anything, but some good, clean fun for summer. Clambake!

[MP3] "Alone Again Or" [Love cover]
[MP3] "Different Drum" [Stone Poneys/Linda Rondstadt cover]

[MP3] "Daylight" [Matthew Sweet w/Delerium]

[MP3] "We Close Our Eyes" [Susanna Hoffs]

TEXAS

[This post was originally intended to run on April 12th, but a combination of accumulating health issues and booze-infused blackouts resulted in an unexpected, two-week shut-down for your humble host. Said health issues still linger; said blackouts are sure to resurface. In the meantime, though, I'll do my best to maintain at least semi-regular updates.]

This week's sweet, single-malt-whiskey-soaked sojourn in Scotland comes to a close with the very-American-sounding Texas. Fortunately, this is not some chewin'-tobacco, country-western collective from Texarkana; it's a semi-sleek/semi-soulful pop band from Glasgow. They've never seemed to get a hell of a lot of love from anywhere but the UK, and not even there so much anymore.

So let's go ahead and throw them a pity party....

From the LP Careful What You Wish For, 2003 >>>
[MP3] "Broken"
[MP3] "Careful What You Wish For"

From the LP The Hush, 1999 >>>
[MP3] "Summer Son"

From the LP White on Blonde, 1997 >>>
[MP3] "Black Eyed Boy"
[MP3] "Halo"

SECRET MACHINES

New York City's (by way of Dallas) Secret Machines release their second album, Ten Silver Drops, today. I like them; don't love them. But here, per usual, are my favorites from them thus far....

From the LP Ten Silver Drops, 2006 >>>
[MP3] "All At Once (It's Not Important)"
[MP3] "Lightning Blue Eyes"

From the LP Now Here is Nowhere, 2004 >>>
[MP3] "Light's On"

LOS SUPER ELEGANTES

The L.A.-based, Mexican-Argentine pop duo that is Los Super Elegantes just wants you to get off your asses and dance. Defy them at your own peril.

[MP3] "Porque Te Vas"

[MP3] "Panadero"

[MP3] "Sixteen"

[MP3] "Forever"

ARAB STRAP

Well, we had such fun visiting Camera Obscura yesterday that we decided to stick around Scotland for an extra day or two. Today, we're going to hang out a bit with the lads of Arab Strap. Their new album, The Last Romance, came out in February. Alas, I only liked a few of the songs on it, two of which I'm offering up to you...

[MP3] "Don't Ask Me to Dance"

[MP3] "Speed-Date"

CAMERA OBSCURA

I liked but didn't love Belle and Sebastian's last album, The Life Pursuit. Perhaps, in my old age, I'm just becoming more and more difficult to please. Hell, what am I going to be like when I'm 90, cranky, constipated, yet gamely gumming my tapioca? The horror, the horror.

Whatever the case, looks like I'm going to have another chance to be delighted/disappointed by some Scottish pop when Camera Obscura release their latest CD, Let's Get Out of This Country, on June 6th. If this first song is any indication, I should be leaning toward "delight."

From the LP Let's Get Out of This Country, 2006 >>>
[MP3] "Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken"

From the LP Underachievers Please Try Harder, 2003 >>>
[MP3] "Keep It Clean"

From the LP Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi, 2001 >>>
[MP3] "Eighties Fan"

[MP3] "I Love My Jean" [2005]

APRIL MARCH

I had planned on posting about April March right on the cusp of March 31/April 1, as would seem appropriate for fairly straightforward reasons. Alas, other posts prevailed, and the little lady from California has been relegated to a relatively random SaveFile Friday. Which is all the better, really - as I will feel no guilt in offering up an extra song or two for this weekend's conspicuous consumption.

April March - born "Elinore Blake" - is a bit of a mystery. She's been releasing music for about 15 years now, but she can't be bothered to operate her own website, and she obviously has significant interests beyond music. Painting, apparently, is one. And she was a writer and animator for cult fave Ren & Stimpy back in the '90s.

As for her music, much of it is French in character and, more often than not, language. She seems especially drawn to '60s-styled Europop and clearly has an appreciation for Serge Gainsbourg. But non-French-speakers (or understanders) should not shy away from sampling these not-so-delicate confections. "Charm" knows no language barrier. And "cute" is as timeless as the tides.

[Left-click, per SaveFile usual...]

[MP3] "Chick Habit"

[MP3] "Cet Air-La"

[MP3] "Mon Petit Ami"

[MP3] "La Chanson de Prevert"

[MP3] "Tu Mens"

[MP3] "While We're Young"

AGENT SPARKS

Agent Sparks are a Los Angeles-based indie pop-rock quartet. I heard them first with the song "Choke," which, to my ears, has a bit of a Mass Appeal-era New Pornographers vibe to it. Could be that infernally infectious male/female vocal thing.

"Choke" appears on Agent Sparks' debut EP, Not So Merry, which can be purchased at Immortal Records or at their website. While you're there, you can also pre-order their upcoming full-length CD, Red Rover.

The band will be playing shows in California, Arizona, and Texas throughout April. You can check their tour dates and listen to some more tunes on their MySpace page.

[MP3] "Choke"

[MP3] "Polly Anne"

THE FINALS

The Finals are a young band from New Jersey that plays unapologetic power-pop songs - big, fat, catchy choruses and all. They released an EP, Long Story Short, in 2004, and have a full-length, Plan Your Getaway, upcoming on Immortal Records.

You can hear more of their stuff on their MySpace page.

[MP3] "They'll Never Know"

[MP3] "It's Always Something"

THE BLACK HEART PROCESSION

San Diego's the Black Heart Procession will release their new LP, The Spell, May 9th on Touch & Go Records. I've only been able to give it a cursory listen thus far, but I seem to be liking it less than their "breakthrough" 2002 effort, Amore del Tropico. Gone, for now, are the salsa accents that lightened the mood (slightly) on that disc. In place, as always, are the BHP's dark, moody soundscapes and Pall A. Jenkins' distinctive, through-a-glass-darkly crooning - wedged in some desolate neverland between Lambchop's Kurt Wagner and the Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne.

From the LP The Spell, 2006 >>>
[MP3] "The Fix"
[MP3] "The Letter"

From the LP Amore del Tropico, 2002 >>>
[MP3] "Tropics of Love"

From the LP 1, 1998 >>>
[MP3] "Release My Heart"

THE SOUNDS

[I swear, between the semi-regular Blogger and EZArchive glitches, as well as two days last week where my broadband went out, as well as half a day today without electricity, it's really become a bitch-and-a-half trying to keep this blog updated on a timely basis. Fuck the world.]

So I'm going to keep this short and sweet, since the wind is still whippin', my specific inch on the power grid is forever temperamental, and I have to go see what the big whoop is about a couple of cowpokes pokin' each other where the sun don't shine.

Today's band is the Sounds. They're from Sweden. They're slick. Super-slick. Not lo-fi in the least. They obviously grew up listening to Blondie, Joan Jett, and the Go-Go's. They can be rather seductive in small doses. Here's a small dose....

From the LP Dying to Say This to You, 2006 >>>
[MP3] "Painted By Numbers"
[MP3] "Night After Night" [uptempo version]

From the LP Living in America, 2003 >>>
[MP3] "Living in America"
[MP3] "Rock 'n Roll"

GOMEZ

I've been able to track down most of the songs from Gomez's new album, How We Operate, via various Internet sources. (Of course, if you were of a mind to, you've probably done the same.). The record is being released May 2nd on Dave Matthews' ATO Records. (Perhaps not coincidentally, the Gomez title track sounds like it could be a Dave Matthews Band song, at least on the verses.)

The following tunes are proving the most promising (for me), thus far....

[MP3] "All Too Much"

[MP3] "Tear Your Love Apart"

THE ZUTONS

I missed the big Zutons-mania-thing that (apparently) accompanied the release of their 2004 album Who Killed the Zutons?. I seem to remember hearing *of* them, but I'm almost certain that I never heard any of their music. Or, if I did, it certainly didn't make much of an impression. Later, when Scissor Sisters experienced *their* relatively big mania-thing, I think it's entirely possible that I mistook them for the Zutons. Oops.

Regardless, the Zutons' new record, Tired of Hanging Around, comes out April 17th on Deltasonic Records. As it happens, it's not exactly my cup of tea (maybe a wee bit too hippy-dippy/white-boy funky for me).

Here are a couple of the songs that I liked more than the rest of the songs. (Lead single "Why Won't You Give Me Your Love?" is one of the better ones as well.)

[MP3] "Secrets"

[MP3] "You've Got a Friend in Me"