A Few Minutes On Friday

Ok I'm in such a rush I nearly mis-spelled the post title.

Just a quick little post to point out this little Q&A type doofer with Mr Conor Oberst on Drowned in Sound. There's mention of new Desaparacidos material, unfortunately that it might not happen. Argh!

Anyway, it's quite a nice little piece about Cassadaga and Bright Eyes in general. I'm sure the internet is swimming with other interviews like this, even though Conor says he's trying to "space them out" a bit. But I like Drowned in Sound. And I like Conor, so it's a winning combination!

Conor Oberst talks to Drowned in Sound

Clap Your Hands Say Minus The Bear!

Being *ahem* between jobs has been great for my music collection. Combine lots of free time with brand spanking new broadband and you come across all sorts of exciting bits and bobs.

Today I have discovered a new track from Minus the Bear. Dr L'ling is the first song to appear off their new album, Planet of Ice, due for release some time in August I believe. Now, up to recently I was not, shall we say, au fait with 'the Bear' but I must say this song is rather good. Compared to what I've heard of their earlier stuff (Menos El Oso) it's pretty epic and reminds me weirdly of Cave In in places. Who I've never been a big fan of... but this I like.... now I'm confused. Minus The Bear are doing about a million and one dates in the US, check them out here. I guess us Brits just have to wait our turn, eh?

Anyhoo. Another song I'm enjoying at the moment is a track off the first Clap Your Hands Say Yeah album. I think their 'current' lp was out in January (Some Loud Thunder) but it's Over & Over Again (Lost & Found) that made me want to check the band out. The repetitive guitar 'riff' (if you can call it that!) just got stuck in my head, plus I've always had a penchant for blokes with weird voices. And it contains the line "You look like David Bowie" so what's not to love?!



::mp3:: Dr L'ling - Minus The Bear
::mp3:: Hooray - Minus The Bear
::mp3:: Over & Over Again - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah


You will find links to buy these albums on the official websites:

Minus The Bear official
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah official

Playlist # 2 : Hang The DJ

A few songs to celebrate Stu's debut on the "radio" tonight. 11pm on Forest FM *guffaw*

Pumping On Your Stereo - Supergrass
Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles
Stereo - Pavement
Anything by Radiohead
Transmission - Joy Division
Signals Over The Air - Thursday
Guerilla Radio - Rage Against The Machine
Fade Out/In - Palo Alto
Riot Radio - Dead 60s
God Is In The Radio - Queens of the Stone Age (hehehe maybe not eh?)
Final Broadcast - Statistics
Good Show - Dive Dive ::mp3::
Why Do They Never Play Les Savy Fav On The Radio? - Jetplane Landing (altho I'm sure they didn't play this OR any Les Savy Fav)
On The Radio - Nelly Furtado (sorry I couldn't resist)

Why Do The Never Play Les Savy Fav On The Radio?

Good question.

As waffled about a couple of days ago, Jetplane Landing release their long-awaited 3rd album Backlash Cop on 4th June. I don't know if it's just me but it always seems that crap bands release far too much and guys like Jetplane don't release nearly enough! OK so I'm pretty excited about this coming out. 'WDTNPLSFOTR?' (not a great acronym I admin but it save my poor typo-addicted fingers) is possibly the most ridiculous song I have heard so far this year, complete with cow bells, hand claps, and amazingly silly guitar riffs from Cahir.

If you've not come across JL before I highly recommend you get their debut Zero For Conduct. You can get it on the Smalltown America website and while you're at it pre-order your copy of Backlash Cop. There's also some other great bands you can check out on Smalltown America like Fickle Public, Oppenheimer and The Young Playthings.

Tracklisting for Backlash Cop
Backlash Cop
White Music
Dizzy Gillespie For President
Lungs Of Punk
Why Do They Never Play Les Savy Fav On The Radio? ::mp3::
The Breaks (Part I & II)
Jamerson Used The Claw
Sam Cooke
Climbing Up The Face Of Miles Davis
Us And The Ringside Stars
Hendrix Sur La Lune
Reprise
Song For Sonia Sanchez

JL myspace
JL official

Playlist # 1 : Total Job

"I'm only working here 'cause I need the chuffing money!"

$$$$ - Desaparecidos
Work - Jimmy Eat World
Pictures of Success - Rilo Kiley
Step Into My Office Baby - Belle & Sebastian
Dark [call] Centre Of The Universe - Modest Mouse
Good Fortune - PJ Harvey
Bank Holiday - Blur
Money - The Beatles
In It For The Money - Supergrass
First Day - The Futureheads
Dollars and Cents - Radiohead
Don't Leave Me Hanging On The Telephone - Blondie
To Hell With Poverty - Gang Of Four

Saturday night looks bad to me

Oppenheimer @ Unit 22, Southampton. 14.04.07

Belfast's electro-indie-pop duo Oppenheimer played Southampton's (supposedly) best indie night yesterday. Stu's review for MintSouth will be up on their myspace sometime this week if he actually gets round to writing it up! Complete with a Q&A courtesy of Rocky Oppenheimer.


The crowd was small but appreciative, especially the more vocal group at the back. It's possible we were the only 4 people who had actually gone with the sole intention of seeing them! You should check them out here -

::myspace::

::official website::

Have a wee listen to my mp3s at the bottom, they are pretty ace.

Hey look he's wearing my Saddle Creek t-shirt, what a clever boy.

The rest of the evening was a bit odd, a case of too many DJs (Soulwax anyone?) spoiling it. There were a few good tunes to dance to though -

• Sun hits the sky by Supergrass


• Patio song by Gorky's Zygotic Mynci


• Australia by The Shins


• Suedehead by Morrissey


• March into the sea and Dashboard by Modest Mouse


• Crystal lake by Grandaddy

Truth be told, Frank Turner did a better job a week last Thursday (5th) when he played Don't stop me now by Queen.

But on the way home we found a slightly dazed looking bloke leaning on a lampost and he gave me one of his sparkly hats. Hurrah for the second hat of fun!




As always here's a few mp3 recommendations. If you like, go buy. Stealing music is decidedly un- groovy and not deserving of the hat of fun.


::mp3:: Oppenheimer - Breakfast in NYC.mp3


::mp3:: Oppenheimer - Saturday looks bad to me.mp3


::mp3:: Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - Patio song.mp3

Buy some Oppenheimer

I woke up with these songs in my head this morning

I really need to think of some post titles that are non-Bright Eyes related or people are going to get the wrong idea...

Anyhoo. I figured even though it's April already I would have a kind of "hurrah for 2007" kind of album fest. Basically these are my favourite albums of the year so far, some from years past (I admit the lack of job has made me a bit lax on buying new CDs recently), and albums I am looking forward to for the rest of the year.

• Wincing the night away by The Shins. This is the silliest album name I have come across in a long time but the music is ace. I highly recommend having a good ole boogie on down to Australia. ::buy::
• The Neon Bible by Arcade Fire. They used 'Keep The Car Running' on Match Of The Day recently which worries me slightly but its still an amazingly crafted album. ::buy::
• This Is My Ship by DARTZ! I have to admit I was a bit confused by DARTZ! at first but after seeing the stage invasion at the Small Town America all dayer last year I realise they are a great band for dancing like a twonk to. Not that I'm saying Dave, Kerryn and Matt danced like twonks.......... or am I?! ::buy::
• Lynn Teeter Flower by Maria Taylor. I'm really loving this and her previous album 11:11 at the moment. Although I'm sure Stu would get freaked out by the debut album title as he always does looking at his watch. Men are weird - beware. ::buy::
• Sleep Is For The Week - Frank Turner. Went to see him play at a local club in Soton last week and in hisd DJ set afterwards Frank played Cake, Dizzy Rascal, At The Drive-In, Weezer and Aphex Twin. It was an odd, odd night to say the least. ::buy::

Other stuff I've been loving recently: Cassadaga & Four Winds EP (duh!), The End Of History - Fionn Regan, Illinoise - Sufjan Stevens, Bring It Back - Mates Of State, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank - Modest Mouse, Pedro The Lion & Tilly and the Wall.

Stuff I am excited about coming out soon:

• Puzzle by Biffy Clyro - I know this probably makes me sound like a dubious teenage indie/emo kid but I'm quite excited about this. Saturday Superhouse may sound like a Jimmy Eat World rip-off but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
• Bakclash Cop by Jetplane Landing - I've heard one song off this so far and it's completely insane and very wonderful. It's called 'Why Do They Never Play Les Savy Fav On The Radio'. Andrew Ferris may have bad Grandad jumpers (Stu's words not mine) but this song is ace!

A Post To Pass The Time

Ok here goes. I'm starting this blog today because I've had a reasonably good day and also I am a bit bored. Not sure if those two should go together so well but hey.

All good things happening music wise at the mo. My Bright Eyes tickets for Shepherd's Bush Empire arrived this morning, new Bright Eyes album Cassadaga arrived on Tuesday. Damn the Easter bank holiday making it a day late. I'm loving it so much it can't be healthy. I'm sure I'll post some more waffle about it later on.

Also grand stuff for July is Truck 10. Ordered tix yesterday so all I need to do now is clean all last year's mud and dead bugs off the tent.

Today I have mostly been listening to:

• Fionn Regan (thanks Dave - you really are the musical guru)
• Bright Eyes Four Winds EP - I finally got hold of the US tracks
• Cassadaga - yeah I'm obsessed, I'll get over it eventually

So here's a couple of the songs I'm listening to at the moment. These MP3s are just to introduce you people to some lovely music. If you like what you here go buy the album and support these artists!

::mp3:: Bright Eyes - I Must Belong Somewhere.mp3

::buy:: Saddle Creek / Amazon

::mp3::Fionn Regan - Put a penny in the slot.mp3

::buy:: Bella Union / Amazon

Enjoy!