I'm not sure that you wish I was here, but I have come all this way...

Ok so perhaps I'm biased, but these days there's nothing more exciting than a new My Sad Captains song, let alone several, or a whole EP. Ok maybe the feeling of summer finally starting makes a pretty close runner-up (or the cute guy I keep running into at the cafeteria), but when I first played the Resolutions EP I knew this would be my highlight of the day/week/month… While amazing at first listen, it's the kind of music that still gets better every time (and fabulous to accompany you walking around town, I've noticed, especially with tram rides too).
Definitely means more than I could put into words, or pay for with money, yet it's completely free, so you've got no reason to miss it!

---> http://mysadcaptains.bandcamp.com

Saw this interesting new song on youtube too, can't wait to find this on a future release!

It's such a twisted life, so hold me tight

Another band I feel needs a lot more attention is the New Zealand duo French for Rabbits. Their debut EP Claimed by the Sea was released just a few weeks back. Somehow I must have come across them when the faded nautical artwork caught my eye. But that's not the only form of beauty to be found here, soon I discovered the music is beautiful too: a perfect mix of folk and dream pop with lyrics full of longing for something lost, for new places to go, and perhaps for a little piece of safety in a world becoming crazier by the day. Brooke's soft vocals add to the intimate feel, and besides… you just can't go wrong with songtitles like "The Cats"!    

You can listen to the entire 6 track EP on bandcamp, and if you enjoy it buy the digital version or order a physical copy (with instant download - always a great option).

homepage (info, pictures, shows)

bandcamp (listen/buy)

mp3: French for Rabbits - Claimed by the Sea.

No, love's not enough, love is the excuse for it all

One of my favourite new discoveries in 2011 was Red Shoe Diaries with their EP When I Find My Heart…, released as an edition of 300 on Fika Recordings, a 10" EP in a beautiful handprinted sleeve, complete with instant download, peach tea and a caramelised apple cake recipe. Looks like it's still available so you better hurry to get one, you might regret it if you end up missing out. Described as "five friends from Nottingham, UK, who write pop songs for messed-up grown-ups", I thought this might just be the right thing for me, and it is. 

Also available (for free!) is the Debut EP and a new lovely little wintery track I'm going to post below. Comparing bands doesn't always seem to make a lot of sense to me, but somehow they remind me a little bit of The Cavalcade, so if you like them you might like Red Shoe Diaries too, also the chances are pretty good if you like Belle and Sebastian, California Snow Story, and perhaps every now and again find yourself wishing that Voxtrot were still around. Most certainly Red Shoe Diaries are a band that make you listen to the lyrics more closely, which I always enjoy when it happens - check this post's title (a line from "Fossil Fuels") or also brilliant (from "The Love You Read About"): "You've got no reason to kiss me, keep your lips to yourself" - this makes me smile nearly every time!   

I think they deserve way more attention, so make sure you give them a try and spread the word.

Buy the 10" EP When I Find My Heart
Get the Debut EP for free
Try Red Shoe Diaries - San Francisco Snowglobe

In my room with a view I will leave things to keep you occupied because it's colder here than it's outside

2011 has been a good music year and even though I've never cared much about making yearly top 10 lists and the like, I've still been wondering which of the new albums I've enjoyed this year would be my favourite. Well that was before I had my copy of Fight Less, Win More in the letterbox. I've always really liked My Sad Captains, ever since I found their early version of "Bad Decisions" on some blog (sadly I've long since forgotten where, but thank you to whoever you are), had the pleasure of going to a few gigs, and waiting for the second album had felt like an age. With "Orienteers" and "The Homefront Pt.II" available as free songs on their homepage, I instantly got the feeling they had moved on from the more poppy sounds of the earlier days and I wasn't quite sure what to expect, although I guess I was expecting a lot. The more I played these two songs, the more I fell in love and when the album finally arrived I was quite excited.  

And really, the album turned out to be so much more than what I had expected. The first few days, weeks I found it difficult to even play anything else, I always wanted to go back to this wonderful album and play it all over again. Anyone following my listening habits must have thought something was wrong with my player, I'd left it on accidentally or otherwise had gone crazy. Every song on this album reveals its special magic the more times you play it: "Resolutions" is an obvious favourite with the beautiful lyrics and melodic turns, "The Homefront Pt. II" somehow strangely seductive, "Little Joanne" has these really sweet vocal harmonies and "Threes" a song to go back to when it's very late at night but for some reason unknown to yourself you don't want to go to bed yet.
I love both the indie pop sound of the earlier days and this new, perhaps more unique direction. At the same time My Sad Captains have managed to avoid a mistake many bands make when they try to be more experimental, like losing melody or emotion. Instead, along with great melodies and a lot of emotion (the good kind, hidden between the lines), there are more little details to each song, skilful instrumentation (the drumming is excellent!), and of course the vocals: There's just this little something in Ed's voice that touches me every time (I can't quite put my finger on it but I have a feeling it has something to do with this fragile notion that first hit me in 2009 b-side "Made Your Mark").

My Sad Captains official site
My Sad Captains blog
Try My Sad Captains - Orienteers
and/or My Sad Captains - The Homefront Pt. II 

And I see you sleep, I see you sleep next to me

It's been a strange and rainy summer, and perhaps an even stranger autumn, although remarkably less rainy. I've been thinking about the blog a lot (honestly), but things always got in the way. Mind you, I managed to see Pulp play twice, both times too fantastic and surreal to begin trying to put into words. 

In November I've put all my writing energies towards a story that seems more or less stuck for now, probably I've picked the wrong theme at the wrong time, but it was worth the experience anyway. While I'm waiting for an idea to save this story or a new project to turn my hands to, I might as well continue the blog (and hopefully manage to keep going throughout life's other distractions).

The strangeness of the cold and dark late autumn days is captured perfectly in Amor de Días' album Street of the Love of Days. The band, that is primarily Alasdair MacLean of one of my all time favourites The Clientele, and Lupe Núñez-Fernández of indie pop duo Pipas, quietly worked on this beautiful debut over the course of three years. The result shines with rich imagery, bilingual lyrics and varied soft instrumentation.I really love the sound of both their voices on this album, especially when they mix as beautifully as they do in the haunting "Dream (Dead Hands)". I'd still like Alasdair to continue with The Clientele as well, but in the meantime, make sure you give Amor de Días a listen. (And yes, I know it's winter now, but hey - there's "Wild Winter Trees" with the line which gave this entry its name, and sometimes makes me stop breathing for a moment).

Amor de Días official site
Try Amor de Días - Bunhill Fields

It rained all through July

The first of August and the first time the sun came out in what... three weeks... four weeks? I had this line stuck in my mind all day: "It rained all through July", which seems just so apt - I don't think I've lived through any July this rainy in all of my life. It took me a while to figure out what song it was, but when I remembered I immediately knew this should be my second post.

Probably my favourite album of 2010, I've played Summer Fiction so much I don't think anything ever made it up my listening stats that quickly! The brilliantly charming Chandeliers has already become an indie pop classic. It always puts me in a good mood, and the rest of the album fits around it perfectly: "The album loosely follows a young girl’s coming of age but reads like the journal entries of the guys who fall for her throughout her life."

The Chandeliers single is still up for free on Bandcamp, complete with b-side and demo.
Summer Fiction official site

Summer Fiction on Bandcamp

Try Summer Fiction - Chandeliers

Four years on and still in love

It's been nearly four years now since I first listened to a Fireflies song and instantly fell in love. It was the start of a fascination that has only kept growing since. It's also been nearly four years since I first intended to begin writing here. So how come I never got around to it? There are many answers to this question, still deep in my heart I would not know why. Several Fireflies albums, EPs and compilation songs later: all of them lovely and dreamy and best described in Lisle Mitnik's own words: "I try to craft each song into a tiny snow-globe-sized universe you can curl up in and get lost for a little while."
He has recently compiled a collection of demos and unreleased songs called At Home, which is available via Bandcamp at a price of your choice. What better moment could I wait for to finally write my first post?

You can find most Fireflies songs on Bandcamp, some of them are free downloads.

Fireflies - At Home
Try Fireflies - Butterscotch