The Limes: New Songs

Ladies and gentlemen, your refreshments for the day:

The Limes - Dead Furniture
The Limes - Sao Francisco Waters

* find them on MySpace *
* illustration by Ian DIngman *

New Band: Mimicking Birds

What do we know about them? Their Myspace site describes them as 'lyrical/surf ' and they appear to consist of Nate Lacy, Tim Skellenger, and Aaron Hanson. Though Nate Lacy appears to be the heart, right leg and both hands of the band; he also does the artwork and mostly records alone. They're influenced by 'the Jingle Cats and Crash Test Dummies' (I did always wonder when bands would start citing them as an influence... guess that time has come!). They're signed to Glacial Pace (Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock's label and also home to Love as Laughter) and they go to sleep and wake up in Portland, Oregon. 

 

Their music sounds like cold mornings, imaginary answering machine messages and (dreams of) forests, rivers and the late night glow of empty refrigerators. (And they're brilliant!)

  

Oh and you're about to hear a hell of a lot more about them as they're scheduled to open for Modest Mouse on the following dates:

 

02-22 Oakland, CA - Fox Theater

02-23 Visalia, CA - Fox Theatre

02-24 Hollywood, CA - Hollywood Palladium

02-25 Tempe, AZ - Marquee

02-26 Albuquerque, NM - Albuquerque Convention Center

02-28 Boulder, CO - Balch Fieldhouse

03-02 Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theater

03-03 Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom

03-04 Austin, TX - Stubb's

03-05 Oxford, MS - Lyric Oxford

03-07 Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle

03-08 Miami, FL - Langerado Festival
 

None of which are even remotely close to us, but, as festival season is soon upon us, who knows?

 

 

 Mimicking Birds - Home and Somewhere else...

Mimicking Birds - The Chimney Sweep

Mimicking Birds - New Doomsdays 

  

Head over to their Myspace page now for plenty of other songs!

By the time you hear this tape I will be gone...

...and I won't be back
so don't even ask
cause we all know
and we follow
with our eyes on the sky
and our hands in the snow.

 

 Saturday looks good to me - Hands in the Snow

art by my brilliantly talented friend Iro Tsavala

What I've been listening to the past week and the reason I haven't posted any of it

hooraffes by PETS

Ever since last Tuesday I've been listening to...

> The Happy Hollows! Ever since I first listened to 'Tambourine' I fell in love. Then I found out they're giving their EP for free and fell faster. Then I listened to it and was ready to sell my soul to them. (* We like to exaggerate. It's our thing.) Download Colors or just get the 'Imaginary EP' for free here!

> Love Is All! I need to listen to the whole CD, I know, but I just can't stop playing this song. Download: Wishing Well + buy 'A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night' on cd or vinyl here!

> James Yorkston! In expectation of the quiet, sweet, ordinary, warm and peaceful weekends that I'm hoping the winter will bring. Download: Temptation and buy the album here.

> Miracles of Modern Science! Sometimes it feels like our inbox is full of crap. Other times it doesn't. Download: 524 or get the whole EP for free here.

> The Smittens! How sweet is the new album? No really! On a scale of not-at-all to it-doesn't-get-any-sweeter-than-this how sweet is it? I'd say around sweeter-than-candy. Yeah, that sounds about right. Download: Half My Heart Beats and then buy the album!

> Between the Pine! Their second album will be released on December 16 and you'll be able to get it here. Here's a little taste of what awaits us. Download: Coca-Cola

> My Darling YOU!! I don't know why but for some reason their 2007 EP 'I Will Exclude You With My Body Language' never reached my ears until today. And I really can't tell you how much I love love love love love love love it. I'm sure you will too as soon as you follow the next three steps:
Step 1: Download: Salary to see what I'm talking about
Step 2: Buy the EP here! It's 5 euros/6 dollars (plus if you're lucky enough to live in Sweden shipping is free)
Step 3: Start melting!

And the reason I hadn't posted anything for a week...

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

All I want all I want all I want all I want is to sing about it!

An African-American is president of the United States. Not only that, but a half-Kenyan is president of the United States. Not only that, but in one of the first lines of his victory speech he addresses homosexuals. Now I don't know about you but this makes me believe that maybe - just maybe - we can have realistic hopes for a better future. And all I want is to sing about it.


"...tonight is (...) the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled, Americans who sent a message to the world. (...) It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day."

"Our campaign grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy"

"Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope. That's the true genius of America: that America can change."

"This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old. She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin. And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can. When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can. When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can. She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that 'We Shall Overcome'. Yes we can. A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made? This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment."

Bicycle Records. Bobi Illustrations.

There are two sites we want to recommend to you today.

This.
And this.

If you visit the first you'll find the pretty illustrations that embellish this post and many more like them; so stop wasting time and right click-open new tab now!

The second website is the home of a small record label called Bicycle Records, where you can download the latest mp3s and buy the albums of artists such as: Anni Rossi, Polka Dot Dot Dot, Antsy Pants, Yes Please, Luke Temple, Your Heart Breaks, Ghost Mice, June Madrona, Jenny Jenkins, Agent Ribbons, etc.

To give you a small taste:

June Madrona: Serious Baby
"You'll only be a baby for a little while; you're gonna grow."
Antsy Pants: Sleep
"Please, little friend, get in your bed and let the adventures be dreams in your head
Sleep little one, tomorrow's more fun; we'll dance in the rain and we'll sing in the sun"
Luke Temple: You're Gonna Land
"I know they're gonna land; they cannot stay up there forever in the air"

And: totally unrelated but I really really really really like the Dirty Mittens' cover of 'White Winter Hymnal'. Apart from the fact that it's probably my favorite Fleet Foxes song, they did a fabulous job on it. And I never get tired of those lyrics, they're so damn sweet.

"I was following the pack, all swallowed in their coats
with scarves of red tied ’round their throats
to keep their little heads from falling in the snow
and I turned ’round and there you go
And, Michael, you would fall
and turn the white snow red as strawberries in the summertime..."

Head over to Music for Kids Who Can't Read Good for more great covers that were released this year.

Random concept of the day: some songs that really really really should have more listeners on Last.fm

by Marie-Louise Ekman

Alamo Race Track - The Killing
A great song about the Stanley Kubrick film of the same name.

Cave Babies - It'snoteasybeing Green
Joshua from the Watercolor Paintings continuing to make beautiful songs. This time with another band. Plenty of songs for free on their Last.fm page.

Je Reve De Toi - Janeiro
The coolest Brazilian band no one knows about. You won't understand a word, but you'll enjoy the song and absolutely love the 'Eoeoeoeoeo' 2:00 into the song.

Fredrik - Black Fur
I know this curse has been uttered ad nauseam by every indie kid on the planet but here goes:
Damn you Swedish people. Now and forever. Amen.

My body is a cage but my mind holds the key.

photograph by Bettina Rheims

Sara Lov - My Body Is a Cage (Arcade Fire Cover)

New Releases: The Pica Beats, Caw! Caw!, Parenthetical Girls, My Tiger My Timing

I have almost no reservations in recommending the new Pica Beats album to anyone that has any decent taste in music. Granted there isn't anything truly New in it so if you're an innovative/experimental music geek then this probably won't satisfy you. But my God is 'Beating Back the Claws of the Cold' a beautiful thing! The melodies, the instruments, the lyrics, the harmonies... plus there's something very Fleet Foxy but not quite Fleet Foxy about them that I like. The album was released September 23rd on this sweet little record label called Hardly Art (which, incidentally, is the home of artists like Le Loup, Moondoggies and Arthur & Yu). Get your hands on it!

The Pica Beats - Shallow Dive
The Pica Beats - Hope, Was Not a Smith Family Tradition

We've been kindly asked to remove these songs. We can however offer you this one instead:

The Pica Beats - Poor Old Ra

New release also from Caw! Caw! Now this is a band that must certainly live somewhere where it's raining all the time 'cause they're growing and growing and groooowiiiing. And their new EP 'Wait Outside', (which you can get from Slanty Shanty Records) definitely reflects that. I expect even bigger things in the future.

Caw! Caw! - Organisms

I think I'm a bit late in covering the last Parenthetical Girls effort. As with all their albums, I made a conscious decision to take my time with it and not judge too fast. This I've started doing ever since, after ignoring their album '(((GRRRLS)))' for a long time, it turned out to contain one of my favorite songs of 2006, 'Love Connection'. It's been a helpful tactic - given that there's sooo much on there - and it was certainly necessary this time around. 'Entanglements' doesn't strike you as great from the beginning and it's definitely not my favorite of their albums but if you have some patience with it, you are most likely to discover some true gems. Which? Alas, that depends on you and you alone, as every song might turn into a crush for somebody. My crushes are 'Song for Ellie Greenwich" and 'Unmentionables'. Yours?

Parenthetical Girls - Unmentionables

Last on the list, My Tiger My Timing. Now I don't really know much about this band. I know they're from London. And I know that people keep trying to compare them to other bands and keep failing miserably. They've been compared to CSS, Friendly Fires, Hot Chip, The Chap, Architecture in Helsinki, Tom Tom Club, Foals, etc. Now of course it's pretty much impossible for them to sound like all of these in one; if I had to pick one band that they most remind me of I guess it would be The Chap. Though even that's not really fair. Just listen and draw your own conclusions. One thing I know is that they're very catchy and bloodyfuckinpromising - despite the rather awkward band name.

My Tiger My Timing - This Is Not the Fire

short, bittersweet.

'Temporary Home' by Kelie Bowman

Upon entering Pipas' website/blog the first thing you probably notice is a green header that says:
"Lupe and Mark sing songs that make their world go around. short, bittersweet."
I think that's pretty much all you need to know about them. The rest you'll find in their songs.

The Bobby from 'Chunnal Autumnal' (2002)

What Nobody Does from 'A Cat Escaped' (2002)

Hiding in the Park from 'Golden Square' (2004)

I woke up this morning with boy-girl harmonies in my head

Photo by datahbi

Entire Cities - Coffee

First song on the list an indie countryish gem...I mean a country indiepopish...uhm that is...an indie-folk road-type... well nevermind. In their own words: "My personal contribution to the ol' pigeonhole is 'psychedelic cow punk'; I'm not really worried about it though because I've tried to define the music myself and failed miserably. If I don't know what it is, then how the f*** is anyone else gonna know?" Check out their myspace for more songs.

Orouni ft. Mlie - Panic at the Beehive

Orouni ft. Mlie - Open It In May

Moving on, french pop band Orouni have got a new album and boy is it good! The same sweet French voices that made us love them in the first place are there, plus some really catchy melodies so what else is there to want? We've posted another song of theirs a while ago (that was recently featured on Said the Gramophone) and now we're back with more.

The Deer Tracks - Slow Collision

And last but not least we have The Deer Tracks. We're getting tons of songs and band recommendations e-mailed to us so we try our best to listen to them all. It's not that often that we find something as good as this, though. Beautiful.

BONUS: We got a request for more Watercolor Paintings songs, so here you have an album that I received last time I posted about them (Steven R. M. or Dora K. - can't remember which, thanks). It'll only be available for a short period of time so do yourself a favour and download it!

Things You Can Fight With (zshare)

Skeletal Lamping: 'Puzzling,contradicting,disturbing,humorous...'

 Drip drip drip..., something rather special has just leaked... trickled, dripped, dropped down from Sunlandia: Of Montreal's upcoming album 'Skeletal Lamping', due for release on October 7 2008.

And who better to explain the album than Kevin Barnes himself?

"I wanted to make a record that could truly surprise a listener. to create something that was, in turns, enraging,joyous,discomforting,playful,lovely,unpleasant,freaky,mesmeric...something that came close to capturing the labyrinthine complexity of this human consciousness.

i spend most of my time in a state of mild confusion and pensiveness. i imagine most people do too. this record is my attempt to bring all of my puzzling, contradicting,disturbing,humorous...fantasies, ruminations and observations to the surface, so that i can better dissect and understand their reason for being in my head. hence the title, Skeletal Lamping. Lamping is the name of a rather dreadful hunting technique where, hunters go into the forest at night, flood an area in light, then shoot, or capture,the animals as they panic and run from their hiding places..." (read the original blog post here.)

*

 

Of Montreal - Death is not a Parallel Move

'I feel just like a ghost' 

 

Of Montreal - Touched Something's Hollow 


Why am i so damaged? Why am I so troubled, girl? I don't know how long I can hold on, if it's gonna be like this forever...' 

Unfortunately we've been very politely asked to take down these incredible tracks. 

We can however offer you the following officially approved, and brilliant song!:

Of Montreal - Id Engager

"Ladies, I’m screaming out to you from the depths of this phallocentric tyranny,
My self-concept is awaiting your invasion,
clumsy penetration punishment… oh yeah!

...He predicted the 8-bit empire, now he occupies the blur as well.
When asking why their kisses are sorrowful, remember the howl of our first verse.

I can’t help it if its true, don’t wanna be your man, just wanna play with you…"

Bonus track: Of Montreal - Make Out, Fall Out, Make Up (Love is All cover)


+Pre-order the album at Insound!

I woke up today, and the day didn't really exist at all

see art here

Jay Reatard - Don't let him come back

This city of ours

*** Cara Del Gato - This Town Ain't What It Used to Be ***

*** Emmy the Great - City Song ***

*** Antsy Pants - Big City ***

We're only human. This at least we've learned.

artwork by Anthony Pontius

  

Hooves

In Our Talons

My Oldest Memory

 

(all from Bowerbirds' brilliant 'Hymns for a Dark Horse')

Some hearts are true...

photo taken by Steven 

 

''We want punks in the palace 'cause punks got the loveliest dreams'

A Silver Mt. Zion - Blindblindblind (13 Blues for Thirteen Moons, 2008)

 

' They put angels in the electric chair
Straight-up angels in the electric chair
And no one knew or no one cared
But burning stars lit up their hair
And crawled to heaven on golden stairs

And oh! How we to and fro! To and fro! To and fro!
This is our torched estates
(and we are your sweet mistakes)
And all them vulgar kings on their dirty thrones
Who among us will avenge miss Nina Simone?

The hungry and the hanged, the damaged and the done
Striving 'long this spinning rock tumbling past the sun
Get through this life without killing anyone
And consider yourself golden

Lost a friend to cocaine, couple friends to smack
Troubled hearts map deserts and they rarely do come back
Lost a friend to oceans, lost a friend to hills
Lost a friend to suicide, lost a friend to pills
Lost a friend to monsters, lost a friend to shame
Lost a friend to marriage, lost a friend to blame
Lost a friend to worry and lost a friend to wealth
Lost a friend to stubborn pride and then I lost myself

I love my dog and she loves me
The world's a mess and so are we
She tumbles long green muddy fields, sick with joy and glee
And as she dreams sweet puppy dreams whimpering gently
There's fresh meat in the club tonight

God bless our dead marines!
Someone had an accident above the burning trees
While somewhere distant peacefully our vulgar princes sleep
Dead kids don't get photographed
God bless this century!

When the world is sick can't no one be well?
But I dreamt we were all beautiful and strong' 

A Silver Mt. Zion - God Bless Our Dead Marines (Horses in the Sky, 2005)

 

Some! Hearts! Are! True! Some! Hearts! Are! True! Some! Hearts! Are! True!

1 2 3 Dance!

Letters Have No Arms says:

• Dance to Car Stereo (Wars) - Who Likes Nick McKeena? !!!

[mash-up ft. Lil' Mama, Modest Mouse, Slim Thug, Beastie Boys, the other Boys (*sigh* the Backstreet ones dude!) etc]

1 2 3 GO!

It Is Finally Time to Tell the Story

'It Is Finally Time to Tell the Story' was written by Dave Eggers I would guess sometime in 2004 (and is kind of relevant what with all this elections-talk in the U.S.). Find it in 'Short Short Stories'.

 

'Yes, it is finally time to tell the story about the sheep from that one island whose name is forgotten but which rhymes with Godiva. There were too many sheep on this particular island, so some of them got on a boat and left for Spain. In Spain, however, they were not welcomed. Everyone in Spain, waiting by the shore for the boat to come in, had expected something more unusual than sheep. When the gangway was lowered and the sheep descended, the Spaniards said many things to them, the overall gist of which was 'Go back to your island, sheep, and send some gila Monsters or Komodo dragons.' It is well known that the Spanish have always longed for gila monsters and Komodo dragons and perhaps some of those child-sized ancestors of Homo Erectus everyone's talking about. So the sheep set sail again, this time looking for Franz Josef Land, which they'd heard had a balmy climate and universal health insurance. But when they arrived, six months later, they found neither. Franz Josef Land was desolate, treeless, and obsessed only with wireless internet access. So the sheep set sail again, this time landing in Montana, which no one - no one but these seafaring sheep - realized had a deep-sea port. They walked around Montana for a while, but found the people to be unfriendly and with very poor taste in music. Everywhere they went, they heard Thin Lizzy and Bachman Turner Overdrive, and though the sheep enjoyed much of the music by these bands, they actually preferred early King Crimson and later XTC. So they set sail again, this time looking for - you know what? Hold on a second. Wait one damned second here. The author of this irrelevant narrative just woke up, momentarily, from a self-induced mental coma, and now something is worming into his consciousness. It couldn't be. Did that really happen? Did we really elect Bush again? Holy fucking shit. Screw the sheep and pity us Americans. Have we ever wanted pity before? We have not, but now we do. Shower us with pity as we cloak ourselves in shame.'

 

And now music.

Shotgun Jimmie - Bedhead

Belly Boat - Little ('Dear Robert Hanoy', dld full album here)

Belly Boat - City ('Dear Robert Hanoy', dld full album here)

Perhapst - Quote ('Perhapst', order it here)

Just for one day

Picture: Markie69

The Magnetic Fields - Heroes (Bowie cover)

This is where we are. Don't be frightened. This is where we are.

'Do you think when I die I'll be alone in the room with the yellow walls?'

• Ravens & Chimes - This Is Where We Are
• Ravens & Chimes - Archways
• Ravens & Chimes - So Long Marianne (Leonard Cohen Cover) 

Let the Arcade Fire comparisons stop, please.