Pele... uhm... the band

Edson Arantes do Nascimento, nicknamed Pelé, is a former Brazilian football player and thought by many to be the finest player of all time. Often considered the complete attacking player, he was completely two-footed, a prolific finisher, exceptional at dribbling and passing, and was a remarkably good tackler for a forward. He was also famed for his speed and kicking strength. Over the course of his career, Pelé scored over a thousand goals and won three World Cups. Since his full retirement in 1977 he has served as an ambassador for the sport. *Note: Wikipedia, as always; click here to read more.

Looky here:



Amazing footballer. On another note, Milwaukee's Pele create perfect instrumental vignettes as expressed by soulful and literate ex-punk rockers, or so says their record label, Poly Vinyl Records, and I would be tempted to agree. Not a famous football player then? Hmm... I guess not.



Pele

Egg
Crisis Win
Black Socks

Also of note: Scott Schoenbeck who was a founding member of Pele. Scott Beschta [of The Promise Ring] joined Pele in order to play keyboards and his addition to the band helped define their meandering sound. Scott Schoenbeck then joined The Promise Ring to take over Beschta's bass duties, as he was leaving both bands in order to pursue solo work. Pele's two remaining members then recruited Matt Tennassen of Paris, Texas to play bass. They split up around the start of 2005 as far as I know. Don't quote me on that one, however.

*Note: [information culled from this page, courtesy of Epitonic]

...more Maritime

Download new Maritime courtesy of their label, Flame Shovel. These songs are off their new album, We, the Vehicles.

Calm
Parade of Punk Rock T-Shirts

Since I've already filled you in on who Maritime are, that's it. Post done. Hope you like the music.

The Promise Ring

As I write this [which is a day earlier than you will have a first chance to see this, due to my use of drafts] I'm listening to the new Drowned in Sound Podcast... go here to see the sub-site dedicated to it, where you can subscribe to it and perhaps get old episodes? If not, then download it directly simply by clicking on this link right here. It's a tad good. Featuring Stars, Broken Social Scene, and Múm - bands of which I am a big fan. But anyway, today I'll post on... hmm... The Promise Ring. In their time they were among the forerunners of the "emo" style [I dread saying that word when I blog. I expect backlash]... But yea, they were. I know next to nothing about them, other than...



...they look like that... and...

"After signing with Jade Tree in 1996, The Promise Ring went on to release a slew of EPs and full-length albums that have seen accolades everywhere from the well-respected pages of The New York Times to the uber-groovy Teen People" - courtesy of Jade Tree Records

"The Promise Ring were one of the most popular emo bands of the '90s, epitomizing the poppier, more accessible wing of the style. Along with Sunny Day Real Estate, the Get Up Kids, Braid, and Jimmy Eat World, they helped bring emo from the punk underground to a wider indie rock audience in the latter half of the decade... The Promise Ring were formed in Milwaukee in early 1995 from the remnants of several other Midwestern emo outfits. Guitarist/singer Davey vonBohlen was still a member of the acclaimed cult band Cap'n Jazz when he started jamming with guitarist Jason Gnewikow (ex-None Left Standing), drummer Dan Didier (ex-Ceilishrine), and bassist Scott Beschta" - courtesy of VH1; click here to read more

and rather irrelevantly:



"A promise ring is a small, inexpensive ring given to a boyfriend or girlfriend, to promise not to court a rival" - courtesy of Wikipedia; read that here

Also of note, as I mentioned before is that both Dan and Davey from The Promise Ring are now in the band Maritime...



The Promise Ring

Electric Pink
The Deep South
Best Looking Boys
Why Did We Ever Meet?
I Never Trusted The Russians
Red Paint
Texas Avenue
A Picture Postcard

Bonus:

Drowned in Sound Podcast #6

Enjoy. Expect a post linking all these bands [The Dismemberment Plan, The Promise Ring, Maritime, Travis Morrison, etc] together...

Maritime

I said that one of the former members of The Dismemberment Plan was in Maritime. Turns out, Eric Axelson is now a former member of that band too:

"After a little more than two years of playing in the band, I decided it was time for me to call it a day on touring. I've been on the road a ton in the past 7 years of my life and wanted to stay closer to home. It's been nothing but fun playing with Maritime and we're all on good terms, I just wanted them to be able to tour as much as they felt necessary without me holding them back. Our good friend Justin Klug is taking over the bass duties. You may know him from the band Decibully. Great guy and a great bass player. As for me, I've been playing with friends randomly in D.C. but not trying to start a band, just making noise and enjoying being home."

His involvement in the band is what first piqued my interest in them, but oh well. They're still a very good very soft nice little acoustic-orientated band. Need your interest piqued due to that dull, drab description? Maritime consists of Davey von Bohlen and Dan Didier of The Promise Ring, as well as the new guy.


*Note: Click image for full-size

Maritime

I Used To Be A Singer
Future Is Wired
A Night Like This
Sleep Around

As always: enjoy. Maybe even go buy their albums? - Glass Floor, and We, the Vehicles. You know you should... go visit their website and then go to the shop.

Travis Morrison [and his absolutely Ludacris cover]

I love Google. Like I said, I did have that Travis Morrison cover of What's Your Fantasy? before. Now I can proudly say I have it again. Turns out it's still featured on the website, despite it no longer being linked to. Here you go. Also, since I like him, I'll link to more MP3's from his album Travistan, out on Barsuk Records and described as "a rewarding art-pop risk" [alternative press].



Travis Morrison

What's Your Fantasy? (Ludacris Cover)
Born In 72
People Die
*Note: right-click and save target as on the latter two. Barsuk have done something funny to their links.. I think.

I think you should all download these tracks and then see what you think. After that you can read the Pitchfork review which tore this album apart. To do that go here. Turns out it was indeed less than 1/10. It was zero - 0.0/10.00... impressive. I haven't actually checked out the album myself, but the MP3's I posted are good-listening. Born in 72 reminds me of Josh Rouse... just because of the title, I guess. As well as the very first vocal-line.

The Dismemberment Plan

*Note: Click on image for full-size

The Dismemberment Plan are a bit of a hard band to pin down. An amazingly tight rhythm-section, experimenting with new beats. They sound like a dance band. Are they? Probably not. The vocals change often; sometimes Travis Morrison is emotional, sometimes nostalgic, sometimes sad, sometimes upbeat, sometimes going with the beat and rapping. He even covers Ludacris', "What's Your Fantasy?"... I would upload that MP3 but I lost it in a computer crash ages ago. They have a genuine funk side, reminscent of early stuff by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Maybe that will encourage people to download them. Maybe it will put you off. Don't let it.

The band are often picked as the one band who perfectly defined University life and the aftermath in the same way that the novels Rules of Attraction [by Bret Easton Ellis] or Generation X [by Douglas Coupland] did. This is fairly accurate, in my opinion. The lyrics are super-sharp, super-smart and reflect geniune emotions in a way that new-age-"emo" music can only pretend to. Listen to The City [an ode to a lost-love and the questioning of one's inner flaws] and then you'll understand. Their third album, Emergency and I, is the only one I own of theirs but personally I think it's amazing, so go buy it.


*Note: Click on image for full-size

What do other people say about the band?

"The Dismemberment Plan, the D.C. art-rock quartet that made hip-hop, R&B, samplers, and having fun safe for the basement-show punk set" - Barsuk Records

"[They were] the finest band to come out of Springfield, Va. Often considered a DC band by dint of their proximity to the Nation's Capital - and owing to the fact that in its heyday, the band all lived in town - there was something about the fact that they were spawned in a suburban basement that contributed unique flavors to their sound" - DeSoto Records

"Sometime in 1999, between the recording of Emergency & I and now, this odd little platypus of a band, hopelessly stuck between categories, suddenly became everything to everyone. This was before nearly 20,000 copies of Emergency & I were sold; before the band started selling out clubs everywhere they went; before said album appeared on innumerable best-of-year (and quite a few best-of-decade) lists; before Pearl Jam asked them to open for them in 14 European cities; and before the Dismemberment Plan's name became a constant reference point in underground-rock reviews of all kinds... The melancholy, landmark Emergency & I showed everyone there are roads left to travel for indie rock and one of the widest goes surprisingly close to Mary J. Blige's existentially haunted house of R&B" - Their press kit, from their site

"The Dismemberment Plan [are] truly, unequivocally, the new new wave... 9.6/10" - Pitchfork



The Dismemberment Plan

What Do You Want Me To Say?
The City
Time Bomb
The Face of the Earth
Ellen and Ben
Superpowers
Pay For The Piano [fan remix]

They made such interesting music; there's something for everyone to appreciate. The funk, the dance, the rap, the indie, the rock, the geek-lyrics, the chic-style. Pay for the Piano reminds me of Bloc Party at the very first break-down sort of bit, when he sings "Everyone here, I need your ears". Ellen and Ben reminds me of early Chilis. The sound is entirely their own however, and that is a truly unique thing.

In case you didn't know, the band have split up, and have been split up for ages, and Travis Morrison's solo album got a rating of less than 1/10 [i think, going on vague recollection] from Pitchfork. But I think they'll be a band I will listen to for a very long time. I discovered them a few years ago and still find them fascinating to listen to. Also, one of the ex-members is in Maritime. Who're good. Discover all about them soon. And check out those novels I mentioned earlier... they are the Zeitgeist...

Click here to read an old tour diary by Travis Morrison [during his time with The Dismemberment Plan].

Oh Snow! Oh My!

So it's snowing. Real, honest, here-to-stay [at least for a day - or two], proper snow. Not even that crappy slushy fade-away-in-five-seconds-so-you-really-should-look-at-it-now snow. Oh No! This is good snow and it's been here for a day and should be here for another day if the news is to believed. Oh My! I'm sitting in the library and though I was listening to Dismemberment Plan, I've now changed and I'm now listening to Jack Johnson and watching the snow-fall. It's a good job I can touch-type. This feels right. This is how life should be. It would be perfect, if only I had more caffeine and more sleep. Anyway...


*Note: A view of snow through the corporate window of opportunity. Or some such bollocks.

Formerly The Jolly Rogers, Oh No! Oh My! are a fantastic band, and perfect - and I mean perfect - for mixtapes. Honestly, I've made like 6 mixtapes in the past while and they've been on about 3 of them, which goes against my own rule that (recent) past artists should not be featured on new mixtapes. The songs are short, and sweet. Although "I Have No Sister" is kind of creepy. Alot of the bloggers feature the songs that I'm not as fond of, so I'm going to feature my favourite songs, ie the one's I put on the mixtape.

Oh No! Oh My!

Oh Be One
The Bike, Sir
The Party Punch
Walk in the Park

If "it's a lovely day for a walk in the park", then you should leave your car at home. It's probably snowed over anyway.



Hope you enjoyed the happy music. Here's a little information from their FAQ:

Q: Will you be playing a show near me anytime soon?

A: The short answer is no, probably not. Greg and Daniel (me) are currently residing in Nashville attending an Audio Engineering school through September, while Joel is still currently located in Austin. We are considering a small tour in October when our schooling is over though. We might possibly take that tour as an opportunity to scout out a new place to live...Seattle is currently winning right now. But send us an email and tell us where you'd like us to play and where you think we should move to!

...slowness of posts.

Last update was the 23rd of February? that's craziness. Well, I do apologise... but. Well. I have no excuse. I'm just lazy... I'll sort it out soon and let you all enjoy the brilliant music I've been listening to lately. Which is... uhm... I don't even know, although today I listened to The Dismemberment Plan. They're class. I also finished a fantastic book just today... check it out:



Yep, go here. So I'll post some music when I get the chance to make a proper post.

No Lies, Just Love.

...I never saw the beach

So it turns out I never went to the beach. Instead I stayed home and played computer games. Like Championship Manager 5. Theme Park [SNES Rom - old school is the best school]. Warcraft III. And... I desperately wanted to play The Sims - who knows why? - but still, I never got to becuase I don't have it. Well, now that you're updated... I'll go post another simple post before I do a decent post on Regina Spektor [hopefully?] and a post on Saddle-Creek and Conor/Matt Oberst [definitely!]. So, let's hand it over to Wiredset again...

Many people will have heard of the Mull Historical Society, I definitely have and I've never listened to their music. But their music always crops up in the magazines I read, and the reviews are always strong ones. Thus, you can see why I found it interesting that I was given links to these songs by them. When I say them, I mean him. And him = Colin Macintyre. Here is what he says of the change of name:

“It’s important for me that my fanbase realises that nothing has changed here on a creative front. They are still “The Society” and I’m still from Mull. By dropping the MHS name I’ve not suddenly gone solo – I already was solo.

“What I’m doing, by changing to my own name, is part of the continuation of my creative journey, and I wont be doing anything differently from the way I’ve operated before, except that I think this change will help me grow more as an artist. For some time now I’ve thought about doing this and now it feels like I’ve shed a skin. But I’ll always play songs live from ALL of my previous albums. And maybe it was also time for me to give the real MHS their name back!” Colin

Colin MacIntye

Peculiar
I love you more

the beach is a nice place...

*Note: this isn't the beach I'll be going to.

So for the next few days I shall hopefully be going to the caravan, and thus, no posts. When I come back expect a three-part post on Conor Oberst, and maybe a post on Saddle-Creek. Well, that's all for now. Maybe when I take my laptop to the caravan I'll find some music on it which I just have to tell you about. Hopefully...

Note: I also fixed the time-stamp: It now reflects the time that it actually is where I live. Why am I telling you this? Well, now you can see for example why I was tired when I posted the Aberdeen City track ['cause it was 5:15 AM]... Anyway, I like it telling the right time. Kinda handy. Enjoy. Oh... and I've got EZ Archive working for me. Sweet. Expect to hear No Lies, Just Love by Bright Eyes, very soon.

They flew planes into buildings on my birthday

The subject is a lyric from the song Assassin by Komakino. Good band. But this post isn't about them, 'though you'll see the relevance in a minute. First, sorry about the lack of posts the past weekend, I've been rather busy going out/working. Saw three bands this weekend though... maybe I'll post on them at a later date. So anyways, here's an easy post... easy because all the information was given to me. Yup; emails are indeed great. Without further ado, People in Planes:

Originating from Cardiff, Wales, People in Planes have been receiving major buzz in the US – especially after their tour with The Bravery. People in Planes are putting out their debut album on March 28 entitled "AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE..." which is produced by Sam Williams (Supergrass – “I Should Coco”).

If you want to watch the video [which is rather good] click on this link and it shall stream...

There's also the MP3 on it's own...

And then another MP3...



People in Planes

If you talk too much (my head will explode)
Moth (acoustic)
Talk too much... (Streaming Video)

If you want more... then click here to go to their downloads page where you can stream more stuff. Thanks to WiredSet for the links.

Ni'night

So I'm tired. And have work in the morning. But this song is great. Enjoy it:

Aberdeen City - God is going to get sick of me

Sleep tight.

a list of bands

Below is a list of bands I approve of after hearing at least two tracks of... it will be updated soon, and links will be added for each and every band. Bear in mind it was done a few months back, and features mostly bands on my laptop, not my CD collection. All this shall be fixed, and therefore: this may take a while...

Approved

Aberdeen City
Amandine
..And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
Antje Duvakot
Arab Strap
Arcade Fire
Arco
Arctic Monkeys
The Arrogants
Beat Radio
Bell Orchestre
Bell X1
Ben Gibbard
Biffy Clyro
Bloc Party
Brand New
Bright Eyes
British Sea Power
Broken Social Scene
Jeff Buckley
Built To Spill
Canasta
Captain of Industry
Pelle Carlberg
The Changes
Mic Christopher
Clogs
Diane Cluck
Coldplay [ Parachutes, mainly ]
The Cold War Kids
Cordero
The Cranberries
Crowded House
The Cure
Kelly Dalton
The Decemberists
Department of Eagles
Lavender Diamond
The Diggs
The Dismemberment Plan
Dispatch
Dogs Die In Hot Cars
Dog Traders
Dolour
Paul Duncan
The Editors
Elbow
Eux Autres
The Fast Computers
Leslie Feist
Final Fantasy
The Frames
Funeral For a Friend
The Futureheads
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Jose Gonzalez
David Gray [ old stuff.. ie White Ladder, Lost Song ]
Great Lake Swimmers
The Greek Embassy
Grizzly Bear
Ed Harcourt
Harlem Shakes
Imogen Heap
Hope Of The States
Travis Hopper
Hot Hot Heat [mainly old stuff]
Hundred Reasons
Idlewild
I'm From Barcelona
Incubus
Interpol
JetPlane Landing
Jimmy Eat World
Joy Division
Junip
Kano
Kings of Convenience
Kite Operations
Last Days of April
Jens Lekman
Ted Leo
Le Sport
Jenny Lewis
Listing Ship
Little Hooks
Lost Patrol
The Lovekevins
The Lovemakers
M83
Juan Maclean
The Manic Street Preachers
Marbles
Maritime
The Mars Volta
Massive Attack
Maximo Park
Tom McRae
Mellowdrone
Malcolm Middleton
Moby [ old stuff ]
Mogwai
Morning Spy
Morning Theft
Morrissey
The Motion Sick
The Mountain Goats
Mum
Mundy
New Order
Nirvana
The Notes and Stratches
Octopus Project
Pants Yell!
Pavement
Pedro the Lion
The Pixies
Point Juncture, WA
The Postal Service
Cat Power
The Promise Ring
Radiohead
Reindeer Section
REM
Reverie Sound Revue
Damien Rice
Johnathan Rice
Rilo Kiley
Josh Ritter
Rogue Wave
The Rosebuds
Josh Rouse
The Rumble Strips
Say Anything
Say Hi To Your Mom
Scissors for Lefty
Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
Sigur Rós
The Smashing Pumpkins
Elliot Smith
The Smiths
The Snow Machines
Snow Patrol
Songs: Ohia
The Southland
Space Mtn.
Sparta
The Spill Canvas
The Spinto Band
Stars
Stereophonics [ first two albums only ]
Straylight Run
The Strokes
Sufjan Stevens
Sunny Day Real Estate
Sybris
Taking Back Sunday
Tapes and Tapes
Test-Icicles
The Unicorns
John Vanderslice
The Voom Blooms
Voxtrot
We Are Scientists
The Weather Machines
Denison Witmer
Wolf Parade

Sometimes you just have to go elsewhere

So, this is the regular feature [well, it will be made regular, soon] - the round-up of the blogs. It won't be monthly, weekly, or daily, [i.e. it's not stringent time-settings]... it will just be whenever enough good stuff comes up. And enough has come up. So here you have it:



Go here [and quickly] to download Mogwai (live) on OneMusic. Very good quality, and since everyone's getting into Mogwai these days you might as well go see for yourself what the fuss is all about. Why should you go quickly? Because it's a large file and Matt [Skatterbrain] seems to have a habit of taking down large files rather soon after posting them. Example: I couldn't get the Sufjan video I wanted to get, just there now. And it's still on the front page. But then, he hosts music [and I don't], so he wins.

Similarly go here to download Two Gallants on Lamacq Live. Well worth downloading, just to hear the band be... let's say difficult by basically making Steve Lamacq sound... let's say silly.

Also, go here and here for Matt's [YANP] brilliant Valentine's day mixtapes [anti-love and pro-love, respectively]. Also go quickly for those since they'll be down soon.

Go here for an excellent post on Jonah Matranga, former singer of Far [a brilliant band I was introduced to a few years ago by a friend on the internet]...

Go here to get the new track from The Streets.

Featured blogs are:

S k a t t e r b r a i n
You Ain't No Picasso
So Much Silence
Fluxblog

...oh! I almost forgot!

That's what Chris Martin [singer of Coldplay] looks like. Now, the thing I forgot to add to my last post was: you should go download some Coldplay songs sung by Benjamin Costello.

Pointless fact: Benjamin Costello doesn't look like Chris Martin.
Obvious Fact: Benjamin Costello covers songs that Chris Martin has sang.
Well-Known Facts: Chris Martin has a child. Chris Martin's wife is Gwyneth Paltrow. She looks like this:




Benjamin Costello Covers Coldplay

The Scientist
We Never Change


*Note: click on picture to go to the Make Trade Fair website.
*Extra Note: I apologise for these posts today seeming like tyrades. I'm not being scene. I just think Chris Martin's Brit Award speech was stupid. Very, very stupid. Like the Brits. Although I felt an obligation to cover the Brits, so I did.

Important Note: I used to like Coldplay, mainly the 1st album - Parachutes, but I also appreciated the 2nd album - A Rush of Blood to The Head. However, their 3rd album - X & Y - reflects their discovery that it is indeed possible to over-produce already formulaic music and still get awards/lots of money for the effort [or lack there-of]. Pity.

The Brit Awards

*Note: Imagine that says 2006.

I realise that this post is a tad late, but frankly I don't care enough about the Brits to post on time... truthfully? I'm currently watching the highlights on TV. Basically, because there's nothing else on, so I thought I'd make a short post on what has come to be one of the most pointless awards in the history of pointless awards. Winners that I care about follow:

Ok, so they were going to follow... but hang on a second!!! Coldplay have now gone down in history as the only band to win Best Album 3 times? Sorry, but, what the bloody hell?!

And, Madonna is not "the superbabe of all superbabes" [quote unquote Chris Martin]... but right, I'm stopping now before I rant.

The Winners:

Jack Johnson - International Breakthrough Act
Kanye West - International Male Solo Artist
Kaiser Chiefs - British Rock Act, British Live Act, British Group
Arctic Monkeys - British Breakthrough Artist
Paul Weller - Outstanding Contribution

Reasons that the Brits are a joke:

a) The Kaiser Chiefs won 3 awards. The band are good-ish, and make catchy-ish tunes, but they don't deserved 3 awards, even if they did start-off on Drowned in Sound Recordings.
b) The award winners I listed make it seem ok. If you look at the full list, you'll see it's not.
c) James Blunt won an award. For the record, I used to like him, until I heard his voice so much that it started to drill holes in my skull. If you listen long and hard you'll realise that he sings in a really really really stupid [read: emotional (read: sarcasm)] voice.

Brit Award Related - Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys - Fake Tales of San Francisco
Arctic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down (video)
*Note: Linked from Domino so click on links.

In other Brit themed news, [The Gorillaz performed lived] Damon Albarn is currently writing a screenplay about the cultural diversity of Notting Hill - quite exciting news; so full story here.
Personal comment: I love Notting Hill [the film]... 'tis a brilliant romantic comedy. And by Richard Curtis [see also: Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral . I recently read "Date Expectations" which "reads like a Richard Curtis" movie. It was also a very good book, check it out, it's by Paul Reizin.



You know it. Go buy it.

*Note: Not artist's websites are linked to in this post: just because.
*Extra Note: I tried to host some good mp3's on Omoola. once again I was unsuccesful. Brilliant.

Intriguing acoustic covers

As promised, here's a post on Benjamin Costello. I was going to do it eventually - the reason I'm doing it now is that I - just this moment - heard his cover of Radiohead's brilliant Wolf at the Door. It's intriguing... like really. It removes the freaky elements of the original, and instead turns them into sadness. Ok, so I'm just looking at his site now, [just this bit, right here] and I actually didn't realise how much bloody music is on it. Jeez. I went to the news page and downloaded everything from there - but I didn't realise [ok, I'm an idiot] that there was alot more on his actual media page. So, am I annoying you with italics yet? Also of interest is his cover of Damien Rice's Older Chests, you'll see why [I was going to explain, but then realised: I already have I'm just going to link you to my favourite MP3's by him, since I actually don't know anything about him. Maybe I'll drop him a line and get an interview?

Everything I know/Reasons to like him:

a) He likes Radiohead [my favourite band - ever], Death Cab For Cutie, Damien Rice, and others.
b) He shares the same namesake as myself, and Benjamin Gibbard.
c) He does a lot of interesting covers, and some of his own stuff.
d) He promotes the sharing of music, and practises what he preaches.
e) He's damn good.



Benjamin Costello

Just For Now - original
Wolf at the Door - Radiohead Cover
Let Down - Radiohead Cover
Older Chests/Redemption Songs - Damien Rice/Bob Marley Cover
Cannonball - Damien Rice Cover
Lack of Color - Death Cab For Cutie Cover

*Note: I meant to pick the absolute best original [or two] and link to them, but I slept alot last night and didn't get a chance. The original I did link to is very good though from what I remember. Next post will be on like, Bright Eyes, or something like that. Dunno yea.

Drowned in Sound Radio

Here's the bulletin from Drowned in Sound:

----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: DrownedinSound.com
Date: Feb 15, 2006 10:25 AM

Hello Dissers,
As you may be aware over the past few weeks we've launched DrownedinSound Radio, as a weekly podcast, available for free with an hour of new and interesting music. We're still struggling to get it 'officially' submitted to iTunes, so if you've heard it and support what we do, we'd love it if you could mention it in your blog or repost this bulletin. All you need to do is give people a link to http://www.drownedinsound.com/radio

Thank you,
Sean, Colin, Mike and all at Drownedinsound.com
-----------------------------------------------------

I think you should support them, since their podcasts always feature brilliant music, and I've written about them before. I would say more, but seriously, my eyes are closing, so just go, and listen, and I'll go sleep, and leave you with some links.

Obviously they have a MySpace.
Here is a link to the MySpace for Drowned in Sound Recordings.
Here is a link to the MySpace for Drowned in Sound.

Find me on MySpace at this link, right here.

Free acoustic sessions

Barsuk Records have made available their showcase of artists [playing just acoustic guitar, and using their vocal chords] here, in order to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Coalition of Independent Music Stores. These artists include:

Matthew Caws
Ben Gibbard
John Vanderslice
Jesse Sykes
John Roderick

Go here for further information on the songs. I'm enjoying it, hope you do too.

Mogwai give birth to a beast...

As it stands, I only have two albums by Scottish prog-rockers Mogwai. Those two albums being, Happy Songs for Happy People [I believe it's meant to be ironic - how post-modern] and Government Commissions [another clever title for their BBC session tracks]. Both albums are very good - fairly chilled out with nice emotion; sometimes some raging guitar squall, sometimes just meandering vocals loosely hung around a melody in a beautiful way. The thing is, I've never been able to enjoy Mogwai as much as I enjoy other bands in the same niche, like Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Sigur Rós, etc etc. But still, many people love Mogwai and I definitely have no reason for you not to love them. Well, this post continues the post-rock theme and is also appropriate, since they have a new album coming out, called Mr. Beast, which will be in stores March 7th.


*Note: Artwork for Mr. Beast. Click for full-size picture.

Additional info:

a) The band run their own record label, Rock Action Records, which puts out records for bands that sound nothing like them.
b) Apparently they wear trendy t-shirts, like an ancient of theirs, featuring the slogan, "Blur are shite". Interesting.
c) The name Mogwai comes from the film, Gremlins, and means ghost in Chinese. Below is a picture of a Gremlin.


*Note: Scary, huh?

Mogwai

Folk Death 65 - Mr. Beast
Hunted By A Freak
Two Rights Make One Wrong
Superheroes of the BMX - live
Helicon Two - live

Like them thus far? Buy Mogwai CD's, T-Shirts, etc, here. Download more audio here.