One thing which has arisen from the mp3 blog revolution is the ability of some labels to realise what a valuable potential marketing tool they have at their disposal. This is mainly indies it has to be said and that's understandable really.
I get a number of requests from labels to "plug their wares" and have to turn many down because the music does not fit the indie genre or that I think that they are not very good. I must admit unsigned musicians who e-mail me get generally get their links blogged despite the quality of music or genre because, hey, in all honestly they need the help.
One such plug that has come my way is the record label of Abandoned Pools who describe them as "awesome". Normally that would set my alarm bells ringing and I would avoid it like the plague but I have to say that the band are quite good although not awesome as you would be lead to believe. Well maybe not yet anyway!
The track supplied comes from their "Reverb EP" and is an extremely catchy indie-rock number but it's the vocals that inspire you to listen this track. Good strong stuff.
Abandoned Pools - The Catalyst
You can listen to more tracks at the band's website which is very nice looking it has to be said!
If you want a plug feel free to e-mail me but remember this is an indie or alternative blog and I am sure the people who visit these pages are not interested in dance or hip hop!
поздравления с днем рождения
четверг, 25 ноября 2010 г.
Weekly Roundup
Firstly an update on Edwyn Collins who has now contacted the MRSA virus in hospital. He has been battling the bug for a few weeks and indie mp3 wishes him well in his recovery.
I have been sent a few e-mails the past couple of weeks from bands after a plug and will round them up here.
Yasumi Okano from the band Xinlisupreme writes to say that they have posted a free web mp3 single on their site. Titled "Zouave`s Blue" it comes in two mixes and i can only describe it as noise pop. Not my bag but I am sure others will like it. The band also plan to release an entire album online on July 11th so kudos to them for that. You can download the single from here.
The Commercials are a US band seeking UK exposure. I downloaded " If I Don't Come Home Tonight" which was melodic indie rock. You can download it and another track from the band's Pure Volume page. Alternatively you can stream them here. The band are looking to play some dates in the UK. If you are interested let me know and I will pass the details on.
Brian, a member of the band The Hypertonics writes to say that they have posted their entire mp3 catalog and the reasons for this are explained on this page. I have listen to a few tracks and they are not bad. You can download their entire archive in a zip file too or you can head direct for the mp3's here.
Finally Christine from Skipping Stones records invites you to listen to C86 inspired indie pop from bands on the label. These include The Besties, an excellent band who I have featured before and The Charade. Members of The Charade may be known to you as they are also in The Shermans and Happydeadmen. Both tracks below are well worth a download and so are the many mp3's on the Happydeadmen site linked to above.
The Charade - Monday Morning
The Besties - Pirate Song
I have been sent a few e-mails the past couple of weeks from bands after a plug and will round them up here.
Yasumi Okano from the band Xinlisupreme writes to say that they have posted a free web mp3 single on their site. Titled "Zouave`s Blue" it comes in two mixes and i can only describe it as noise pop. Not my bag but I am sure others will like it. The band also plan to release an entire album online on July 11th so kudos to them for that. You can download the single from here.
The Commercials are a US band seeking UK exposure. I downloaded " If I Don't Come Home Tonight" which was melodic indie rock. You can download it and another track from the band's Pure Volume page. Alternatively you can stream them here. The band are looking to play some dates in the UK. If you are interested let me know and I will pass the details on.
Brian, a member of the band The Hypertonics writes to say that they have posted their entire mp3 catalog and the reasons for this are explained on this page. I have listen to a few tracks and they are not bad. You can download their entire archive in a zip file too or you can head direct for the mp3's here.
Finally Christine from Skipping Stones records invites you to listen to C86 inspired indie pop from bands on the label. These include The Besties, an excellent band who I have featured before and The Charade. Members of The Charade may be known to you as they are also in The Shermans and Happydeadmen. Both tracks below are well worth a download and so are the many mp3's on the Happydeadmen site linked to above.
The Charade - Monday Morning
The Besties - Pirate Song
Another Sunny Day
I was browsing through the links seeing where visitors to the blog had come from and I noticed this one. Apart from the kind words some of them said about the site scroll down to the bottom where you will find some Another Sunny Day Tracks including "Green", "I'm In Love With A Girl Who Doesn't Know I exist" and of course "You Should All Be Murdered".
As you may know Another Sunny Day were on Sarah Records. Someone last year kindly sent me the whole catalogue on mp3. I was thinking of running a series of Sarah tracks just like the Postcard one I recently did. Any requests? (except for the Field Mice who recently have had their back catalogue re-issued and The Orchids who I believe will be having a compilation out in due course). If so leave them under the comments.
The series will be run on the main site and not the blog!
As you may know Another Sunny Day were on Sarah Records. Someone last year kindly sent me the whole catalogue on mp3. I was thinking of running a series of Sarah tracks just like the Postcard one I recently did. Any requests? (except for the Field Mice who recently have had their back catalogue re-issued and The Orchids who I believe will be having a compilation out in due course). If so leave them under the comments.
The series will be run on the main site and not the blog!
The Delgados Split
Chemikal Underground issued this announcement today concerning The Delgados.
"The Delgados, influential figures in Glasgow's independent music scene for over 10 years, have announced that they are to amicably disband. The reason has been put down to the departure of their bass player Stewart Henderson who informed the band in the New Year that he did not wish to make another album. The Delgados have always been known as uniquely collaborative songwriters and as such, it was decided that the band could not continue without all of its original members.
The Delgados leave behind them 5 critically acclaimed albums including The Great Eastern, Hate and last year's Universal Audio. Their two principal songwriters Emma Pollock and Alun Woodward will be pursuing individual projects and drummer Paul Savage will continue production duties at the band's Chem19 Studios in Hamilton.
The four friends will continue to run their record label Chemikal Underground in this, its 10th Anniversary year, with releases scheduled for Malcolm Middleton, Mother & The Addicts and Arab Strap. They are extremely grateful to everyone who has supported The Delgados over the course of their career".
"The Delgados, influential figures in Glasgow's independent music scene for over 10 years, have announced that they are to amicably disband. The reason has been put down to the departure of their bass player Stewart Henderson who informed the band in the New Year that he did not wish to make another album. The Delgados have always been known as uniquely collaborative songwriters and as such, it was decided that the band could not continue without all of its original members.
The Delgados leave behind them 5 critically acclaimed albums including The Great Eastern, Hate and last year's Universal Audio. Their two principal songwriters Emma Pollock and Alun Woodward will be pursuing individual projects and drummer Paul Savage will continue production duties at the band's Chem19 Studios in Hamilton.
The four friends will continue to run their record label Chemikal Underground in this, its 10th Anniversary year, with releases scheduled for Malcolm Middleton, Mother & The Addicts and Arab Strap. They are extremely grateful to everyone who has supported The Delgados over the course of their career".
Edwyn Collins (Update)
Edwyn Collins' wife, Grace, says the singer is "doing well" despite suffering a second brain hemorrhage last week. She has again thanked fans for their support following the singer’s brain haemorrhage last Sunday.
Grace has also answered queries from fans posted on the site about where to send flowers. She states he's not allowed flowers where he is receiving treatment but goes on to write, "Your thoughts and best wishes are more than enough and one day he'll read them all. Grace and the family"
In a previous message she revealed that Edwyn underwent an emergency operation on Friday. She wrote: "He has come through it as well as can be hoped for, and is continuing to fight. Thank you for all the loving thoughts. It means a lot.”
A short statement from his management last week was previously the only information available. It read:
"Edwyn Collins suffered a cerebral haemorrhage on Sunday night and has been in hospital since, where doctors are trying to stabilise his condition. As soon as we will have more information we will let you know."
Grace has also answered queries from fans posted on the site about where to send flowers. She states he's not allowed flowers where he is receiving treatment but goes on to write, "Your thoughts and best wishes are more than enough and one day he'll read them all. Grace and the family"
In a previous message she revealed that Edwyn underwent an emergency operation on Friday. She wrote: "He has come through it as well as can be hoped for, and is continuing to fight. Thank you for all the loving thoughts. It means a lot.”
A short statement from his management last week was previously the only information available. It read:
"Edwyn Collins suffered a cerebral haemorrhage on Sunday night and has been in hospital since, where doctors are trying to stabilise his condition. As soon as we will have more information we will let you know."
Dýrðin
Dýrðin or to give them the English name they have given themsleves, Catchy Tunes Inc, hail from Iceland. Magnús from the band writes that their music is like that of the All Girl Summer Fun Band. He adds that "...our music is very similar to them, happy and naive". I also think that there are hints of Talulah Gosh and Saint Etienne about the band as well.
The band sing in their native language but for the unadventurous out there don't let that put you off as it is a lovely sounding language when sung and adds a certain charm to the lovely little pop tunes they make. They have five demo mp3's available on their site. My favourite is 17 júní which sounds very jolly. Knowing my luck it's most probably a gloomy song!
Dýrðin - 17 júní
The band sing in their native language but for the unadventurous out there don't let that put you off as it is a lovely sounding language when sung and adds a certain charm to the lovely little pop tunes they make. They have five demo mp3's available on their site. My favourite is 17 júní which sounds very jolly. Knowing my luck it's most probably a gloomy song!
Dýrðin - 17 júní
Bands To Discover
I have been recieving plenty of e-mails from bands and artists seeking exposure or from fans pointing me in their direction. I am happy to help out but I am getting so many these days that it's hard to dedicate a post to each and every one. So hopefully these bands don't mind a smaller push than the ones I normally give by rounding up some of them here.
First up are Starflower. This lot hail from Finland and their music is very reminiscent to shoegazing or the likes of rockier indie bands such as the Catherine Wheel. They have four tracks for downloading including the track How come the days seem so long? which I have enjoyed. A word of advice to the band. Tag your files properly or no-one is going to know who you are!
Face Parade have written to me before but their earlier e-mail must have been caught up in my spam filter. They write that "....We're a New York based band that has been compared to Pavement, The Velvet Undergroud, Broken Social Scene, and Modest Mouse." Their site is one of the best designed I have seen for a while and they have several mp3's for downloading. I gave "Sun For Everyone" and "Backfire on The Desert Shot" a listen and it has encouraged me to try and download some of their other tracks in future. Again another band that needs to tag their tracks correctly.
The Babylon Cowboys play a rockier sort of music compared to that I am normally used to listening to. Not my bag to be honest but you cannot help but be impressed by the vocalist's voice. It's incredibly strong. Judge for yourself on the track "Reflection".
The Blue Van have an annoying site designed in Flash. They are Danish and state that they make music inspired by the likes of The Small Faces, Cream and The Pretty Things. I downloaded a track from their new album "The Art Of Rolling". I can't link to it as you need to supply an e-mail address (let's hope they do away with that as it put's people off) but "Revelation Of Love" is what's described here in England as Pub Rock. That's not an offensive term by the way as it describes rock mixed with R&B, a bit like Dr Feelgood. Its enjoyable but easily forgettable as well.
I have saved the best (in my opinion anyway!) to last. Santa Dog hail from the west country in England and say that "....We're a new independent Bristol based band, female-fronted, heartfelt delicately fried guitar pop." And who am I to argue with that? They have made available a track called "Delicate", the title track of an EP release. It's a wondrous track and is very much in the vein of the Throwing Muses. Soon as I find out where the EP is sold it will be in my grasp. The site is very beautiful to gaze at - very 4AD-ish too!
Don't worry if you have e-mailed me and you have not been covered yet. Another round-up will take place soon.
First up are Starflower. This lot hail from Finland and their music is very reminiscent to shoegazing or the likes of rockier indie bands such as the Catherine Wheel. They have four tracks for downloading including the track How come the days seem so long? which I have enjoyed. A word of advice to the band. Tag your files properly or no-one is going to know who you are!
Face Parade have written to me before but their earlier e-mail must have been caught up in my spam filter. They write that "....We're a New York based band that has been compared to Pavement, The Velvet Undergroud, Broken Social Scene, and Modest Mouse." Their site is one of the best designed I have seen for a while and they have several mp3's for downloading. I gave "Sun For Everyone" and "Backfire on The Desert Shot" a listen and it has encouraged me to try and download some of their other tracks in future. Again another band that needs to tag their tracks correctly.
The Babylon Cowboys play a rockier sort of music compared to that I am normally used to listening to. Not my bag to be honest but you cannot help but be impressed by the vocalist's voice. It's incredibly strong. Judge for yourself on the track "Reflection".
The Blue Van have an annoying site designed in Flash. They are Danish and state that they make music inspired by the likes of The Small Faces, Cream and The Pretty Things. I downloaded a track from their new album "The Art Of Rolling". I can't link to it as you need to supply an e-mail address (let's hope they do away with that as it put's people off) but "Revelation Of Love" is what's described here in England as Pub Rock. That's not an offensive term by the way as it describes rock mixed with R&B, a bit like Dr Feelgood. Its enjoyable but easily forgettable as well.
I have saved the best (in my opinion anyway!) to last. Santa Dog hail from the west country in England and say that "....We're a new independent Bristol based band, female-fronted, heartfelt delicately fried guitar pop." And who am I to argue with that? They have made available a track called "Delicate", the title track of an EP release. It's a wondrous track and is very much in the vein of the Throwing Muses. Soon as I find out where the EP is sold it will be in my grasp. The site is very beautiful to gaze at - very 4AD-ish too!
Don't worry if you have e-mailed me and you have not been covered yet. Another round-up will take place soon.
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