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| Tuesday 15 April 2003: Do Something Pretty
I've discovered another site thanks to Think Small. It's called Do Something Pretty and it features a lot of single- and album-reviews (including Of Montreal's latest album). There's also an interview with Serafin, plus a couple of other bands.
MP3 Of The Day: Jack Drag - Crazy
Jack Drag is the pseudonym of Jack Dragonetti, a singer/songwriter who sounds like the lo-fi version of Eels or Sparklehorse on a few tracks and tends to Olivia Tremor Control and Neutral Milk Hotel on the next song. The album Soft Songs LP: Aviating is full of simple acoustic songs, like The Mountain Goats have been producing for the last couple of years too. (AllMusic Entry)
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| Monday 14 April 2003: More links added
I've added several new websites to my links-page. Most of the new links are websites of bands, because artists like The Shins, Eels, Ash and The Dandy Warhols were still missing. If you have an interesting link, please send me an e-mail.
MP3 Of The Day: Ash - Burn Baby Burn
I was surfing on Epitonic.com today and I came across this song. The Irish band Ash debuted in 1995 with Trailer. The next year they released their best album so far: 1977. After the cd Nu-clear Sounds in 1998 they finished Free All Angels in 2000, from which the song Burn Baby Burn came. In Holland it didn't really get any attention, but it became a hit in England. (AllMusic Entry)
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| Sunday 13 April 2003: Singles and Albums-charts updated
My weekly charts are updated again. The highest new entry at the singles-chart is Serafin with the song Things Fall Apart, at the albums-chart it's Shootenanny by Eels who enters the chart at the highest position.
MP3 Of The Day: The Walkmen - We've Been Had
I've already placed an MP3 by The French Kicks last Friday and today I have an MP3 by another band from New York, who are in the same genre as them. The Walkmen also sound a lot like Interpol and Calla, two bands that are based in the Big Apple too. You can also see the video for We've Been Had here. (AllMusic Entry)
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| Saturday 12 April 2003: Google and Yahoo
I've added my page to several search engines today, including Google and Yahoo.
MP3 Of The Day: Jeremy Barnes - Maremaillette
Jeremy Barnes is known as the drummer of Neutral Milk Hotel, Bablicon and The Gerbils. He also played on albums by St.Thomas, the Saddle Creek-artists Bright Eyes and Now It's Overhead and Elephant 6-bands Circulatory System and Of Montreal. His brother Kevin is the singer of the last band by the way. Last year Jeremy released the cd A Hack And A Hacksaw on the Cloud-label. The bands named above give an idea of the sound of the record, which features collaborations with members of Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, Circulatory System and Of Montreal. (AllMusic Entry)
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| Friday 11 April 2003: Serafin's debutalbum
The debutalbum No Push Collide by the British band Serafin will hit the stores in July. The cd is produced by Dave Sardy and is being released on the Taste label, which is also the home of Muse, Vega 4 and new signing Shed Seven. You can already download the videoclip for single Things Fall Apart (release 5 May) here.
MP3 Of The Day:
The French Kicks - Close To Modern
In relation to the new album that is going to be released Taste removed all of the Serafin MP3's. So as an alternative an MP3 by a completely different band, The French Kicks. In 1999 the New York-based band debuted with a self-titled EP. In 2001 they released the Young Lawyer EP, which was followed by their first full album One Time Bells in 2002. The album featured the song Close To Modern. (AllMusic Entry)
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| Thursday 10 April 2003: Arie Romeijn (Get Records) passed away
If you are a record collector, the most interesting street in Amsterdam has to be the Utrechtsestraat with shops like Concerto and Get Records. The last one has an almost unapproachable supply of alternative music. Although I personally rarely buy cd's there (too expensive), it's always nice to nose around for rare albums. Unfortunately the figure-head of the store, Arie Romeijn, has passed away after only getting 47 years old. He was buried yesterday. If you speak Dutch you can read more here.
MP3 Of The Day:
Pretty Girls Make Graves - Speakers Push The Air
Some reasons to listen to Pretty Girls Make Graves:
The band consists of former members of The Murder City Devils and The Beehive.
The band is signed by the Lookout label, that also have The Cost, The Pattern and Ted Leo & The Pharmacists under contract.
The band sounds similar to Fugazi, At The Drive-In (and Sparta too) and Modest Mouse.
Finally, the band is named after a Smiths-song. (AllMusic Entry)
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| Wednesday 9 April 2003: No news
I really have nothing to say today.
MP3 Of The Day: This Beautiful Mess - Cacophonic
Yet another small Dutch group that suddenly has an entry at AllMusic. Too bad though that the references vary from U2 to The Wannadies (it's all from Europe so it has to sound the same). At least Radiohead is mentioned, because that has to be one of This Beautiful Mess biggest influences. (AllMusic Entry)
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| Tuesday 8 April 2003: CD Collection updated
The CD's I've bought this weekend are now on my record collection page.
MP3 Of The Day: The Black Keys - Thickfreakness
After The Raveonettes, The Kills and The White Stripes there is a yet another the blues-rock duo, called The Black Keys. I've completely missed their debut The Big Come Up last year, but the album Thickfreakness, could become one of my favourite CD's of the year, if it maintains the level of the titlesong on the entire record. Just like the Stripes, the Keys exist of just a singer/guitarist (Dan Auerbach) and a drummer (Patrick Carney) and it's not strange that the Keys sound a lot like the more bluesy tracks of that band (like Ball And Biscuit of Elephant). They also have large similarities with The Kills, but the Black Keys do have a real drummer. (AllMusic Entry)
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| Monday 7 April 2003: New charts, new cd's
I've updated my weekly charts today, I had no time for it yesterday because I was at the Mega Record- and CD-fair. The singles still have the same number 1, but the highest position on the albums-chart is taken by The Mountain Goats this week.
As I already mentioned, there was a Mega Record- and CD-fair in the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht. I've bought 11 CD's (of which 2 compilations) and 27 singles (of which 1 EP and 1 album sampler). Here's a list of all my purchases yesterday:
CD's:
Archers Of Loaf - Vee Vee €1
Brendan Benson - Lapalco €4
Caesars Palace - Cherry Kicks €5
Fireside - Fantastic Four €1
Guided By Voices - Universal Truth And Cycles (Promo) €4
Hazel - Are You Going To Eat That €1
Nova Mob - Nova Mob €1
The Plan - The Plan €5
Reef - Replenish €1
Compilation CD's:
London Calling Vol. 3 €1
London Calling Vol. 5 €1
Singles/Samplers/EP's (prices range from €0,33 to €1):
The Bluetones - Marblehead Johnson
The Bluetones - Slight Return
Dodgy - The Melod-E.P.
The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster - Celebrate Your Mother
Elastica - Line Up
Elastica - Waking Up
Elf Power - Naughty Villain/Great Society (Promo)
Gonzales - Take Me To Broadway
Halo - Cold Light Of Day (Promo)
Halo - Never Ending
Haven - Til The End (Promo)
The Jeevas - Ghost (Cowboys In The Movies) (Promo)
Leaves - Catch (Promo)
Leaves - Race
Longview - When You Sleep
Matthew - Streams
Mull Historical Society - The Final Arrears
Nada Surf - Hi-Speed Soul (Promo)
Nada Surf - The Way You Wear Your Head (Promo)
Ozma - Songs From Rock And Roll Part Three (Promo)
The Raveonettes - Attack Of The Ghost Riders (Promo)
Serafin - Day By Day (Promo)
Six By Seven - I.O.U.
Sparklehorse - Sick Of Goodbyes (Promo)
Spoon - Jonathon Fisk/Stay Don't Go
Stiltskin - Inside
The Wannadies - Hit
MP3 Of The Day: The Mountain Goats - No Children
The new number 1 in my albums chart is Tallahassee by The Mountain Goats. John Darnielle has made a habit of releasing more than one cd per year. Sometimes he does his trick all by himself, but on Tallahassee he's backed up by Peter Hughes (ex-DiskothiQ). (AllMusic Entry)
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| Saturday 5 April 2003: School for Journalism
I was in Utrecht today for the selectiontest for the School for Journalism. They tested the students' knowledge about news and understanding of the media. I've also had to write a curriculum vitae and an argumentation. I thought I did well, so hopefully I can wander around in the second-nicest city of Holland on a daily basis next year.
It's my mother's birthday today so I would just like to say congratulations. Congratulations.
MP3 Of The Day: Tullycraft - Pop Songs
Or Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend's Too Stupid To Know About, like this name-dropping song is fully called. A small selection of the pop songs of which your new boyfriend is too stupid to know about: The Lemonheads, The Halo Benders, The Bartlebees and last but certainly not least Neutral Milk Hotel. No, he'd rather listen to Weezer (not bad as well), The Breeders and Green Day. Tullycraft consists of the rhythm-section of Crayon and the guitarist of Wimp Factor 14. (AllMusic Entry)
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| Friday 4 April 2003: Weekend in Utrecht
Tomorrow I will be in Utrecht for a selectiontest at the school which I hope is going to be my next: the School for Journalism. I will also be in Utrecht on Sunday, but I'm at the Mega Record- and CD-fair in the Jaarbeurs then (which means you can expect an update on my record collection page soon).
MP3 Of The Day:
Maximilian Hecker - Fool
This German was playing covers by Oasis and Tocotronic on the Hackesche Markt in Berlin until a few years ago. Now he has released his second album. The CD Rose is full of beautiful popsongs, of which Fool is also brought out as a single by the Berlin Kitty Yo label, also home of Gonzales and Peaches. (AllMusic Entry)
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| Thursday 3 April 2003: Archives online
My weblog- en MP3-archives are now up and running.
MP3 Of The Day: Incense - Starlet
I was planning on putting a song by Incense on the site last week. This Dutch mixture between Sonic Youth and Mogwai was opening the Motel Mozaïque festival then. They released their second full-length album On Top Of Wings We Walk this year, as follow-up to their debut Approx 45 Mins. The great song Starlet is coming of their debut and it features samples and a great guitarsolo, like Incense use quite often. (No AllMusic Entry)
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| Wednesday 2 April 2003: Radiohead album not finished
The leaked tracks of the new Radiohead-album Hail To The Thief aren't completely finished, according to producer Nigel Godrich. He said on the official Radiohead messageboard: "It's the rough mixes, some tracks not even finished. Not really what I'd want the world to hear, frankly." If you're still curious, you can download the full album at Idioteque.it or with a random peer-2-peer program, like Kazaa Lite.
MP3 Of The Day: Jason Falkner - Love Poisoning
Jason Falkner may be a name that doesn't ring a bell by a lot of people, but this singer/songwriter has build up a impressive career until today. He once played in bands like The Three O'Clock, Jellyfish and The Grays, but he releases solo-albums since 1996. Last year he also featured on a lot of albums as a guest-musician: Sea Change by Beck, Lapalco by Brendan Benson and Lost In Space by Aimee Mann, but to name a few. The Soft Boys-cover Love Poisoning is downloadable from his website this month. (AllMusic Entry)