Husky Rescue

Back in the early days of this blog and well before I became obsessed with posting videos, I wrote about Husky Rescue (you can read that here). Now that I am obsessed with videos and since over the weekend I just saw this superb video for the first time...Husky Rescue gets to join the multi-post ranks of iamamiwhoami, Little Majorette, and New Young Pony Club! You go Husky Rescue!

Track taken from their superb 2010 album "Ship of Light".

Brite Futures - Sophisticated Side Ponytail

I wanna go to the Mall and where a sideways ponytail...oh yes...the sophistication... Oh, Natalie Portman's Shaved Head...who I just discovered changed their name to Brite Futures made this 3 minute gem of blissful magic sugar electropop. It's heaven on record, it was heaven live when we saw them open for CSS...it's heaven still...

Souvenir - Dance It Away

"Dance It Away" is one of my fave tracks off the new Souvenir album "Travelogues" released in February on the fab Spanish label Jabalina. I absolutely love it when this happens to me:

Calm of Zero

Oh sweet heavenly bliss. Calm of Zero is the new project of former Echobelly bandmates, lead singer Sonya Aurora Madan and guitarist Glenn Johansson. Sonya has always been my favorite female vocalist and it's so nice to hear through these new bare arrangements that that has not changed. These are some beauties. It's also great to hear a new version of the Echobelly classic "Dark Therapy". 

 Enjoy the full "Acoustic Sessions 1" EP below and let's hope for a full album soon!

Stars in Coma - Prototype Paradise

A new freE-P from Swedish indie darling Stars in Coma! He has a new album due out very soon. It's called "Midnight Puzzle" and will be released on the lovely newish Italian label Kingem Records. Note for future trivia game shows: I have the distinct honor of being their first ever customer from the US!

Margaret Berger - InDIeVA Alert!!!

One of my favourite inDIeVA's is back! Margaret Berger from Norway! She's taken quite a long break since releasing her very very fantastic pop masterpiece "Pretty Scary Silver Fairy". 

Here's the brand spankin' new video for her first new single in FIVE years, "In a Box"! So excited!!

There's a live acoustic version here...beautiful!!

The Lovely Eggs

I'm quite fond of this playful little ditty by The Lovely Eggs. Definitely not for everyone and even I didn't quite like them when I first heard them, but their fun ways have won me over. It's been stuck in my head since Friday. The song below is from their debut album "If You Were Fruit". They just released a new album called "Cob Dominos" on Cherryade Records. We must check it out!

Little Majorette - Overflow

Pop pop pop perfection! That's how I describe Little Majorette's new single from their forthcoming debut album "Rifle Heart" (due in April). Definitely one of my most anticipated releases for the year. The video is pretty mediocre, but I fucking love this song!!!

El Rey del Mambo y la Reina de Saba

One last Spanish beauty to close out January...

Klaus & Kinski are my current favourite band out of Spain (also holders of my #4 album of 2010 "Tierra, trágalos") and even though I rarely know what they are singing, it rarely matters. This is all-around beautiful...

La Casa Azul - Todas tus amigas

¡Mas español! This video is a trip! What are those girls on?! I'll tell you, a disco pop high!!!

La Casa Azul has a new album ("La Polinesia meridional") coming out this year on Elefant! I can't wait!!! Disco Flamenco!!!

Zipper

I love when bands write such perfect pop nuggets that even our slight language barrier can't stand in the way...



I love the color. I love the lead singer. I love the weePOP! records sticker on the guitar! This is the title track from an EP released on Elefant Records in the later part of last year.

Shrag - Talk to the Left!

'Cos you ain't right!! This is pretty old now (4-5 years) and I remember first hearing it at SF Popfest in 2009...I just couldn't resist... I present...SHRAG!

 

 ps. They released a new album last year "Life! Death! Prizes!".

Selebrities

I love love love this cover!! I also love love love the 80s magic happening in this video!!

Selebrities hail from Ft. Lauderdale but now reside in Brooklyn, not surprising...You can download their debut EP "Ladies Man Effect" from the lovely upstart label Cascine. Follow this link and just throw 'em your e-mail address. Definitely a fair trade for some lovely tunes!

Shine 2009 - Higher

Well, isn't this fun?...

Released on new label Cascine with some other joys like World Tour & Selebrities...I must investigate!

Cosmetics

First, they were good for your face, now they're also great for your ears... Cosmetics hail from Canada and they are so lovely...hints of Siouxsie, hints of Class Actress, hints of Client...mmmmmmmm...They have two 7" singles (one for each song below) and both have lovely b-sides. They were released on the ace Captured Tracks, who will also be releasing the self-titled debut album in March! Yayyyy!!

Still Corners

Beautiful beautiful beautiful...dream...beautiful...love...

Jarvis the Guest

Not sure who these folks are but they were wise enough to utilize the silky smooth voice of pop god JARVIS!! Good song! (I quote directly from the vimeo page below)

"Britpop legend Jarvis Cocker lends his signature vocals to "Synchronize," the kickoff single from Discodeine's first full-length album out February 14th on Dirty / Pschent." Dir. JF Julian
Synchronize is available on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/fr/album/synchronize-ep/id403300514
"DISCODEINE is one of the most anticipated duos, the brainchild of two musical producers to haunt our collective conscious in recent years: Pilooski, an already well-known fixture amongst the Parisian music scene (best known for his “dirty edits” series and his collaborations and remixes for LCD soundsystem, Jarvis Cocker, Iggy pop, Brian Ferry, Nina Simone...) and Pentile, an equally respected musician/producer in his own right (and until now best known for his involvement with Octet and France Copeland)."

Fujiya & Miyagi

yaayyyyyy new Fujiya & Miyagi!!!
Due out on Jan 25 via Yep Roc is their new album "Ventriloquizzing"...beautiful name indeed...

Here is the first video offering from the album, the very very creepy "Sixteen Shades of Black and Blue"...




Also, enjoy the awesome album trailer...

Best of 2010 - The ALBUMS!!!!!!!!!!

Delayed, but still here...my TOP 25 albums of the year 2010. In my Number 1 spot, one of the finest musical creations I've had the pleasure of taking into my ears, heart and soul in a very long time. Truly beautiful.
The rest, just damn good music.

1. The Magic Theatre - London Town
2. Freezepop - Imaginary Friends
3. The Golden Filter - Voluspa
4. Klaus & Kinski - Tierra, trágalos
5. Robyn - Body Talk
6. The Legendary Pink Dots - Seconds Late for the Brighton Line
7. Rebekkamaria - Sister Sortie
8. Chinawoman - Show Me the Face
9. Belle and Sebastian - Write About Love
10. School of Seven Bells - Disconnect From Desire

11. Lætitia Sadier - The Trip
12. Trembling Blue Stars - Fast Trains and Telegraph Wires
13. Allo Darlin' - Allo Darlin'
14. Scissor Sisters - Night Work
15. New Young Pony Club - The Optimist
16. Gigi - Maintenant
17. Blonde Redhead - Penny Sparkle
18. Villa Nah - Origin
19. Duffy - Endlessly
20. Twin Shadow - Forget
21. Sally Seltmann - Heart That's Pounding
22. Husky Rescue - Ship of Light
23. Kelis - Flesh Tone
24. Christina Aguilera & Cher - Burlesque
25. The Felt Tips - Living & Growing

Best of 2010 - The SONGS!!!!!!

Oh, such pop...I think all 34 (the same number of concerts that I attended this year...no coincidence!) are quite the POP...not much in the way of slow jams this year which is weird 'cause I usually have plenty. OH WELL...POP IT LIKE IT'S HOT!!!

These are in loose order...

1. Little Majorette - Bite the Bullet
2. Hot Chip - One Life Stand
3. Rebekkamaria - Corollaceous
4. The Magic Theatre - Silent Snow
5. Champagne Riot - Heart Stab
6. Class Actress - Careful What You Say
7. iamamiwhoami - y
8. Robyn - Dancing on My Own
9. Class Actress - Someone Real
10. Chinawoman - Go
11. iamamiwhoami - t
12. Freezepop - Doppelganger
13. Robyn - Fembot
14. Allo Darlin' - My Heart Is a Drummer
15. Moto Boy - The Heart Is a Rebel
16. Twin Sister - All Around and Away We Go
17. Klaus & Kinski - Forma, sentido y realidad
18. Christina Aguilera - Elastic Love
19. Janelle Monáe - Tightrope (feat. Big Boi)
20. Kelis - Acapella
21. New Young Pony Club - We Want To
22. Christina Aguilera - Monday Morning
23. Craft Spells - You Should Close the Door
24. We Are the World - Fight Song
25. iamamiwhoami - u-2
26. Best Coast - When I'm With You
27. Leslie Hall - Tights Pants/Body Rolls
28. Belle and Sebastian - I Want the World to Stop
29. The Pipettes - Stop the Music
30. The Superions - Who Threw That Ham at Me
31. Villa Nah - Rainmaker
32. Gigi - Alone at the Pier (feat. Rose Melberg)
33. The Bronson Brothers - Mirror Mirror
34. Gram Rabbit - Off With Your Head

Best of 2010 - EPs!!!

Oh EPs, so short, so sweet...and 10 of you are the sweetest of 2010!!!

10. Cause & Effect - Artificial Contruct Part One
Surprised to hear these guys are still going at it and making sophist-synth-pop.

9. Hari and Aino - All That Remains
Just sweet indie pop.

8. The Dø - Dust It Off
Haven't had enough time to really register this, but I know it's good!

7. The Hundred in the Hands - This Desert
They opened for The Golden Filter this year and it was lovely. So is this EP! Nice electro, nice!

6. Summer Camp - Young
These relatively new cats are quite the catch! Lovely harmonies...do hear their cover of "Christmas Wrapping" if you get a chance. It's bliss!

5. The Superions - The Superions
Fred Schneider has always been very dear to me and it's music like this that makes it so. "Who Threw That Ham at Me" & the remix of "Totally Nude Island" by The Lolligags are superb!

4. Twin Sister - Colour Your Life
Having one of 2010's best pop songs, this young band is already working their way deep into my soul!

3. Wallenberg - Red in the House of White
Formed in Italy, residing in Sweden, the Swedish influence is ever present in this pop mastery!

2. Little Majorette - Bite the Bullet EP
Ahhhh, so near perfection..."Let's Get Drunk" and my current ringtone "Bite the Bullet" are the two super stand out tracks, but you have two others that really showcase some pop loveliness. Unfortunately, there's the just ok "London" right in the middle to keep this nugget from perfection!

1. CLASS ACTRESS - JOURNAL of ARDENCY!!!
Number one by far...holding two of my Top 34 songs of 2010, this is one of the break-out artists of 2010! She puts on a great live show too. I even had a dream about her last night and she was awesome! Her voice is rad, the synthpop beats make you dancedancedance, and when she slows it down, you get all sultry and ooooh, she's good! Get this!!!

Best of 2010 - CONCERTS!!!!

I only went to 34 concerts this year, a truly disappointing number, but that doesn't take away from the fact that I went to some lovely shows this year...and here they are!

10. The Magnetic Fields - Town Hall, NY. March 11.
The last of three MF shows I attended this year, and the 2nd in NY. All three shows were pretty similar but they played "The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side" and "I Have the Moon" at this show and that made it the best.

9. Freezepop - Boardner's, Sept 30.
While the encores may have stunk with dumb covers, the new songs sounded fantastic and they played a whole slew of greatest hits that I wasn't expecting! Plus openers Ming and Ping with their awesome dancing monkey-man warrants extra points!

8. Belle & Sebastian - Hollywood Forever, Oct 5.
Belle & Sebastian live is a joy...Belle & Sebastian live in a cemetery after a rainy day and a screening of "Trainspotting" is bliss. Great setlist too.

7. Perfume Genius - Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever, Sept 28.
My second show in the Masonic Lodge and what a beauty. Sparse piano and keyboards under lovely emotional vocals in one of LA's finest small venues.

6. School of Seven Bells / Warpaint / Cold Cave / The Blow / Best Coast - Los Angeles State Historic Park, Sept 4.
The stand-outs of this year's FYF were easily School of Seven Bells who closed out my night with some synth beauty! Warpaint also rocked us early on and proved they are an up and coming force! The Blow was super amusing 'cept she didn't play "Fists Up"!

5. Cats on Fire - La Cita, May 29.
La Cita was the home of Hungry Beat! Their stage is incredibly small. How these fours dudes played on it is beyond me but they did and they played an incredible set of music! I danced my butt off!

4. The Legendary Pink Dots - The Echo, Nov 16.
A truly beautiful and masterful performance by these all-time favourites. Magic!

3. The Golden Filter - Spaceland, June 4.
I danced so so much at this show, they played all the hits and played them so fucking well...opener The Hundred in the Hands also impressed!

2. Class Actress - The Echo, Nov 5.
Our darling Class Actress was stuck opening for the shit band Small Black. That didn't stop my Rocks and I from getting front and center stage and dancing and smiling and being in heaven! Her VCR prop was priceless. Talking to us ever so briefly right after her set to explain why she couldn't play "Someone Real" (which I made Rocks yell out) was so amazing! I had Elizabeth Harper's hair on my face bitches!

1. Kelis / Robyn - The Music Box, July 23.
Two divas sharing one stage (though never together). Kelis really did win my heart this night with a non-stop (literally) pop barrage! And even though Robyn wasn't the better player that night (the encores really did bore me), she still played an awesome show, "Cobrastyle" was flippin' brilliant and I danced so hard! Next time Robyn, you play me "Konichiwa Bitches", or else!

Best of 2010 - VIDEOS!!!

Now, I watch even less music videos than I do movies so this is unfortunately a pretty short list...but still magically delicious!! 

7. The Superions - Who Threw That Ham at Me 

Fred Schneider is awesome and this song from his new side-project's EP is truly yumminess! Whenever a song/video can teach me a new move to shimmy on the dancefloor, you know it's gotta be great! DISCO GARBAGE CAN EVERYBODY!!!!

   
6. Klaus & Kinski - Forma, sentido y realidad 

A true piece of art & storytelling.

  
5. Hot Chip - I Feel Better 

This video is hilarious...and kinda scary.

4. Allo Darlin' - My Heart Is a Drummer 

It is very difficult to get any cuter than this in a video!  

3. Goldfrapp - Alive 

Goth heavy-metal dancers, satanic worship, Xanadu, neon glitter glow blood, leg warmers & Alison Goldfrapp!! Those are a few of the simple ingredients needed to make a kick-ass video!!

2. iamamiwhoami - y 

It's hard to pick just one video from this brand new amazing powerhouse of musical awesome magical awesomeness, but this seems to be the best summation of everything they've done thus far. So great!

1. Darren Hanlon - All These Things 

It's very difficult to be cuter than Allo Darlin' did earlier, but Mr Hanlon manages to make it happen in this, my favourite video of the year! Heartwarming loveliness!!

Best of 2010 - FILMS!

I figure I can venture out of the music realm just a little to post my TOP 10 films of 2010! I don't go to the movies much, so this is pretty limited, but all of these movies are sure winners!

10. "Black Swan"
I still don't necessarily get it or care much for the storyline, but it's shot extremely well and the performances are ace, especially the camp mastery of Winona!




9. "The Social Network"
Nice insight into the history of that demon who is a part of most of our daily lives. Plus a nice score by Mr Trent.




8. "Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields"
While I sorta hoped for more detail, this is still a lovely look at one of thee greatest musicians of all time...and now that we know he's in LA, let the stalking begin!




7. "Red"
Helen Mirren with a shotgun in the snow...Helen Mirren with a chain gun in a parking lot...Helen Mirren with a pistol in the kitchen...enough said. If Helen Mirren would have entered the movie sooner, this could have been movie of the year!




6. "Winnebago Man"
I'd never seen the youtube clips or heard of the Winnebago Man before seeing this at a free screening. It's a fantastic and very funny look into this man's life after Winnebago dumps him, he secludes himself in the wilderness and unbeknownst to him, becomes an internet star.




5. "Machete"
Really, it's just fun.




4. "TRON: Legacy"
Computers are scary! Nicely done, not cheesy like I expected. Daft Punk does a lovely job handling the music.




3. "Inception"
An extremely well-made, thought-provoking, beautifully-shot, well-acted mind-fuck.




2. "Burlesque"
While the acting is quite lacking, everything else just makes me want to Burlesque dance and be happy! Xtina gave me the chills a couple times with her vocals...the man guy is sexy...Cher is just Cherrific!! With an Xtina and Cher duet, this would be #1! "Soundtrack of the Year"!




1. "Rabbit Hole"
While Xtina gave me chills through song, the actors in Rabbit Hole sent even more chills and more often through their moving performances alone. No bells & whistles, just straight emotion and it's awesome.

Who Threw That Ham at Me???

Oh helllll yes!!! Nothing better to cure a somewhat sickly me than a great new dance courtesy of the always awesome Fred Schneider!! DISCO GARBAGE CAN!!!! My newest and most favourite dance move!!!



I just found out about The Superions last week thanks to my darling Rockstar. They already have an awesome EP out on Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records and have just released a very non-traditional Christmas album called "Destination Christmas!" on Fanatic Records!
I MUST HAVE!!!