March.

March is going to be awesome. Here's why:

March starts of in a VERY cool way. March 2 is the day when following bands plan to release their new albums:

Rogue Wave - Permalight
Zach Rogue and friends sometimes deliver some great tunes. I wonder if they'll do it this time, too.

These New Puritans - Hidden
These British art rockers have already released this at home to magnificent reviews. Well, I won't skip an art rock album with magnificent reviews!

Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
If you're into cozy folk music (like Fleet Foxes), you probably already know these guys and you should be very unpatient about this one.

Oh, and Peter Gabriel releases Scratch My Back where he covers Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Talking Heads, The Magnetic Fields and Bon Iver among others. I don't know if it's going to be any good, but well, it's going to be......... Interesting!

Then you wait for a week.

And all of a sudden, it's March 9 which is the most awesome day of March, like, ever!

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Beat The Devil's Tattoo
You probably already know how excited I am about the new BRMC album. If not - I'm absolutely stoked. Can't wait!

Frightened Rabbit - Winter Of Mixed Drinks
Scottish indie rockers Frightened Rabbit return with their third album. First single, Nothing Like You, is promising!

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
It's been quite some time since we last heard from Gorillaz. But let's face it: Their debut album was AWESOME, Demon Days was awesome and this one is probably going to be awesome, too. Because Damon Albarn is awesome.

Liars - Sisterworld
I've looked forwards to this one. It's going to be interesting to see if Sisterworld is going to be as good as their last album. The first single, Scissors, indicates a "yes"!

New Young Pony Club - The Optimist
New wave indie rockers New Young Pony Club follow up on their 2007 debut, Fantastic Playroom, which was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Let's see if they can do as well with their sophomore album!

Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
Trashy indie rockers Titus Andronicus also put a new one out. This might be quite fine, in a fragile and sort of ugly way.

March 16:

The White Stripes - Under Great White Northern Lights
The White Stripes release their live album/documentary. I've already posted one very promising clip and I can't wait to see and hear this one!

The Whigs - In The Dark
These American rockers are currently touring with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, they're on Letterman April 1. Their sound reminds me of BRMC, too.

March 23:

Jónsi - Go
Jónsi from Sigur Ros releases his solo album. And it's in English! First single has already been posted here. Let's see how much it reminds of Sigur Ros.

Goldfrapp - Head First
Goldfrapp is awesome. Nothing else needs to be said. She's brilliant!

She & Him - Volume Two
M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel return with more acoustic, folky tunes. This one is going to be just fine, M. Ward always has some good tunes with him.

March 30:

Francis Black - NonStopErotik
Frank Black from The Pixies puts his solo album out. I don't know what to expect here and that's why I'm kind of stoked about listening to this one!

New Deftones.

Deftones have a new one coming out, and they're giving away their new first single for free! Classic Deftones, check it out.

Listen to it right here.
(For a limited time only, I think. I don't know how limited).

Cheers!

The Freudian Slip.

The Freudian Slip are 2 Danish guys playing the rock 'n roll thing. What seperates them from all the other brilliant guitar-drums-garage-rock bands is that this is some pompous shit. I mean, this sounds like a million guitars and the world's strongest drummer. This is garage rock on a much bigger scale with reverb, light Chris Cornell-esque vocals and some brilliant melodic riffs and choruses. Their shiny, brand new album is called Positive/Negative, it came out February 22, and it's really, really cool.

Why Can't I Follow Through?



Selfish People


Cheers!

Freeroll 1.

Oy.

Sometimes we don't only write about cool bands on this blog. Sometimes, there's even free tunes that you can go get! Of course, everybody likes free tunes, so here are two more I found:

Canadian indie band Broken Social Scene have a new album coming out, an album that I'm very excited about getting to hear. Until then, you can get their new single on their website for the charge of your e-mail:

Right here.

Also, Italian indie hipsters A Classic Education have decided to share something with us for free. Here's a digital version of a relatively new 7" featuring two numbers. Scroll down the website and click on the very small link there is. These guys are so indie that they try to cheat you!

Go fetch.

Cheers.

The Dandy Warhols.

Yesterday was Brian Jonestown Massacre-day so I thought it would be fair if today was The Dandy Warhols-day. The problem is that they don't have anything new out and their latest effort have been sort of dull despite from a few good tunes. But in 2000, The Dandy Warhols released Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia, and that is one damn fine album. Most of it is good, stoned psych pop and when they turn op the distortion knob it becomes brilliant. And right here, you have some of the stronger tunes from Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia:

Bohemian Like You
You might know this one from some commercials. I think that it was Vodafone who used this one in a big campaign once. Nevermind, solid pop tune that shows their great sense of writing pop music.

Horse Pills
Horse Pills belongs with the stoned, distortion-heavy songs on the album. It's a bit silly, but the main riff is hard-hitting in some weird slacker way.

Nietzsche
My favorite tune from the album. Very repetitive and it's fantastic when played LOUD. Good shit!

The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

February 23 is the day of the release of the brand new Brian Jonestown Massacre-album, Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? Brian Jonestown Massacre play psych-pop with loads of inspiration from the 60's and have gone through quite a lot of lineup changes - more than 60 people have been in this band since the 90's, including Sune Wagner from The Raveonettes and Peter Hayes from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Only consistent member is front guy Anton Newcombe who you might know from the amazing dockumentary DiG!, where Newcombe seems like quite a douche. Nonetheless, I personally find BJM's later offerings better than I find the newer things from The Dandy Warhols. Nevermind!

The fighting:



And the music:

Spoon.

I never really mentioned how much I like the new album from Spoon. What makes Transference a brilliant album is the nerve and the solid, solid songwriting that dominates this release. An impressive effort. Here's one of the stronger songs of the album:

Got Nuffin.

Enjoy!

Live on your computer.

Hey there!

Live music is an incredible experience and although it's nowhere near the same, watching live performances on your computer can actually be very satisfying and enjoyable. Here are two examples of brilliant websites:

From The Basement.
From The Basement is created by Nigel Godrich who is best known for his work with Radiohead. These performances have no host and no audience - it's just about the band and nothing else. Acts here include Autolux, Beck, Cold War Kids, Sonic Youth, Queens Of The Stone Age, The White Stripes, Radiohead and Fleet Foxes.

La Blogotheque.
As the name suggests, La Blogotheque is French - it's more indie orientated and not as perfect as the From The Basement-sessions. Among loads of others, here you'll find Grizzly Bear, I'm From Barcelona, Guillemots, The National, Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, Of Montreal, Dirty Projectors, Liars, Beirut, St. Vincent, Caribou, Vampire Weekend, Animal Collective, Handsome Furs, Bon Iver, (drunk?) dEUS, Sebastian Tellier, Efterklang, Sigur Ros, Phoenix, Múm......... Okay, a lot.

The Soft Pack.

Yo.

Alright - today, it's time for some lo-fi indie. The Soft Pack are an American band that has also played together as The Muslims. Their sound reminds me of The Strokes era Is This It?, just more lo-fi and (if possible) even simpler melodies.

Answer To Yourself.

Extinction.

Cheers!

Old album you should totally check out: The Dears - Gang Of Losers.

Canadian indie rockers The Dears released Gang Of Losers in 2006. It charted pretty low, peaking at number 52 in Canada and at number 77 in the UK. The reviews were relatively brilliant, though, it just didn't get the attention it deserved. Because the truth is that Gang Of Losers is a blasts as far as what comes to melancholic, melodic, grandiose indie rock. The melodies here are good and occasionally almost incredible - the opening 5 tunes is one of the strongest opening fives I've heard on an indie rock album. Murray Lightburns fantastic voice carries you through the whole thing as intelligent, dynamic guitar parts and swirly arrangements make for a multi-layered experience. Highly recommended. Oh, tunes:

Hate Then Love.
(mp3)
Death Or Life Or We Want You.
(mp3)
Ticket To Immortality.
(via YouTube)

Cheers!

New BRMC single.

Hey!

Well, better late than never - here's the relatively new single from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. It's the title tune of their brand new Beat The Devil's Tatoo-album. It's sort of a mix between the vibe of Howl and the garage rock of Take Them On, On Your Own. Promising!

Listen to Beat The Devil's Tatoo right here.

Cheers.

No Age.

Today's treat is 4 brand new tune from the punk/noise band No Age. They're working on a brand new album that's going to be released this year. Here, you'll find some tunes from the so-called Daytrotter Sessions. Good stuff! Oh, and if you don't know who they are:



And here are the 4 Daytrotter Sessions tunes:

Welcome To Daytrotter
N.G.F.S
Hard Trash
Depletion

Enjoy!

The White Stripes.

Amazing video of the opening tune of a live The White Stripes performance. Brilliant.




|

Kasper Bjørke.

Hey there.

Danish electronic music guy Kasper Bjørke releases his brand new album very soon. But you can already stream it right now right here on this Danish website. The site is in Danish but the player is very easy to understand. It even starts playing without you having to press anything!

Cheers.

Essential earcandy: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

The brand new album from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Beat The Devil's Tatoo, is out March 8. That means it's not one ONE SECOND too early to make this post with one purpose and one purpose only: Doubtless appreciation of BRMC. Because, let's face it - dammit, this is one absolutely brilliant rock 'n roll band. With a perfect blend of noise, psych, attitude, brilliant riffs, catchy hooks and some traditional western/country inspiration, these guys have made shit loads of fantastic music.


B.R.M.C was the debut album of, uhm, BRMC and was released in 2001 - they were hyped, indeed, being a part of the garage rock revival that saw the light in the early 00's together with, among others, The Strokes that released the famous Is This It? in 2001. B.R.M.C is a no bullshit garage rock release filled with loads of energy, reverb, swampy guitars, loads of attitude and a load of really good songs. Highlights include the opener Love Burns, the AMAZING single Whatever Happened To My Rock 'N Roll, the psychedelic Rifles, and the simple but cool Spread Your Love.



In 2oo3, the sophomore album Take Them On, On Your Own was released. Reviews were mixed, but personally, I absolutely adore this album and I think it's one of their finest efforts. The sound is better, more dynamic and with more distortion on, well, everything. The songwriting here is extremely solid - heavy, dark bass lines and melodic and occasionally incredibly catchy choruses makes this album an absolute pleasure to listen to. Stop, In Like The Rose, Ha Ha High Babe, Generation, Shade Of Blue, Rise Or Fall and Heart+Soul are all amazing tunes and they're among my favorite BRMC songs.


Howl saw the light in 2005. This time, the songs were hugely inspired by Americana. Blues, country and gospel have all influenced this album - it's pretty different from the style of their first two albums. But it's not bad at all - actually, it's also brilliant! Acoustix guitars are often present here, at the result is a very organic and traditional sounding blues rock album. Ain't No Easy Way, Howl and especially Shuffle Your Feet are great tunes. I must say that in enjoy them more when they choose to rock like few other bands are capable of, but this is a very charming release, it sound perfectly good, and BRMC write fantastis tunes.


Finally, we made it to Baby 81 which is good since this album is absolutely amazing. The songwriting here is AMAZING. All songs are so incredibly well-arranged, well-written and well-played. They've grown as artists here, covering a wide spectrum of genres here - Not What You Wanted is essentially just pop, All You Do Is Talk is an athmospheric ballad, Cold Wind is a dirty acid rocker, but you'll still find the slower, psychedelic rock tunes like Berlin and Took Out A Loan and quicker, more energetic tunes as Need Some Air and Weapon Of Choice. If you're into any kind of rock, you need to check this out. Highly recommended listening!


I don't know what BRMC had smoked when they decided to put The Effects of 333 out in 2008. This one is to be avoided since it's essentially just boring. Instrumental, ambient soundscapes that are more "sounds" than they are "songs". Quite forgettable and definately not worth spending your money on unless you are the biggest fan in the world. I love these guys but this one is not worthy of the BRMC tag. Sad. Go buy everything else first!






Cheers!

Beatles ft. Wu-Tang Clan

Hey there!

Free album, a VERY interesting mashup of Beatles and Wu-Tang Clan. Must be heard:

Stream, download and everything.
(You have to register, but it's free).

Cheers!

Countries you didn't know you loved: Belgium

Oy!

Second country in the row of "Countries you didn't know you loved" is Belgium. And OH BOY, have you been waiting for this. You have been waiting for this. Please say it. 16 bands and artists are in this time - that's twice as many as the last one I did about Norway!


You know Jean Claude Van Damme. You know waffles. You know beer. You know Hercule Poirot. And you know chocolate. Then you think that you might know Belgium, but that's not enough! Belgium simply has one of the most interesting music scenes in Europe and maybe even more than that. Most of the music could be described as rock and generally with a heavier, more stoned touch than most other countries in the world. Well, allow me to take it away:

dEUS
Alright, let's kick this off with one of the most succesful bands in the history of Belgium. (DRAMATIC.) dEUS happen to be one of my favorite bands of the last two centuries - multi-layered clever artrock with songs written by God himself. (DRAMATIC.) Or, at least it sounds like that. Their two first albums are almost just plain weird but you'll find those brilliant ideas if you just listen enough. The next two, though (The Ideal Crash from 1999 and Pocket Revolution from 2005) are masterpieces as far as what concerns layer-on-layer-produced artrock songs written by God himself. Fantastically amazingly brilliant albums, must-haves in every record collection if you ask me. Their latest album is called Vantage Point, it's from 2008 and all of a sudden, it's NOT multi-layered Artrock anymore! But still it's absolutely brilliant, the songwriting is just as sharp as it has always been and now they even seek new territory. My favorite album of 2008. Seriously, you NEED to check out this band. They are the saviors of Artrock. (DRAMATIC.)

The Hickey Underworld
2009 was the year of the release of the self-titled debut album of The Hickey Underworld. It's offerings was noise-rock with lots of nerve and brilliant melodies. Most of the time, the vocal was screamy, the guitars were insisting, the bass was heavy and the drums were tight as hell, as heard on the fantastic single Blonde Fire which I posted very early on the blog, partly because of its amazing video and Mystery Bruise. But it also worked when they surprised - as on Future Words that was filled with pop hit potential and Blue World Order, a ballad that somehow just fits in on the album. It's going to be really exciting to follow these guys in the future. And Detectief Van Zwam from the mighty and late Openyourarmsandwelcome blog says they're awesome live! I think that there's a lot of potential in here - we've already heard some of it. UPDATE: Future Words now also has an AWESOME music video, same style and instructor as Blonde Fire.
Creature With The Atom Brain
One of the laws of music sounds: A band with somewhat of a connection to Queens Of The Stone Age is a fucking awesome band. Nobody has ever proved that wrong - neither has Creature With The Atom Brain. Frontman Aldo Struyf has been doing work with Mark Lanegan who we all know likes to drop by and say hello when Queens Of The Stone Age is around. CWTAB has made two albums, Transylvania from 2009 which is not that good and I Am The Golden Gate Bridge from 2008 which is amazing and really worth checking out. The music is stoned-out rock music with a production that's pretty "indie" as in "not really 8 distorted guitars playing at the same time".

Radio Infinity
Sweat-dripping. Tight. Dirty. Monstrous. Stoned. Cool. Brilliant. These are some of the words that I'd use to describe Radio Infinity - a stoner rock trio consisting of ex-members of Millionaire and Vandal X, among others. These guys are two album into their career, their first one, Radio Infinity, is really good and their second, Derail To Innovate, is absolutely fantastic. What you get here is rock in its purest form and nothing more than that - but Radio Infinity does it so well it's rude to ask for more. A must-hear.
A Brand
Probably the most famous glam rock outfit in Belgium, A Brand have had a fair amount of succes in their home country. And it's well-deserved. Their earliest album, 45 RPM, is not really that glam, but a tune as Riding Your Ghost is very entertaning. The second album, Hammerhead, though, is brilliant. Well-produced, filled with good rock songs and well, some glam attitude in there as well. 2008 saw the release of Judas, an album that didn't really hit me as hard as Hammerhead and 45 RPM, though. But still an interesting listen that is not too demanding.

Evil Superstars
Evil Superstars may be considered as legends on the Belgian music scene. They released two albums, the absolutely crazy Love Is Okay in 1996 and the stunning stoner-indie-acid adventure Boogie-Children-R-Us in 1998. Led by Mauro Pawlowski and featuring Tim Vanhamel (who joined when he was 15), these guys are just.... I don't know what to say, really, this is such an experience to listen to, it's amazing. Also, they made a song called "I Can't Seem To Fuck Things Up". Well, they could. Indeed.
Mauro Pawlowski
Well, this guy basically IS the Belgian music scene. Or, to but it in a better and less insulting way - Mauro Pawlowski has been almost everywhere on the Belgian music scene. He founded Evil Superstars. He has played in several bands with former dEUS members Stef Kamil Carlens, Craig Ward and Randy Trouvé including Kiss My Jazz, Pawlowski/Trouvé/Ward and The Love Substitutes. He's playing with Bum Collar. And in a jam band called IH8CAMERA. He has toured as guitarist with a Belgian dance group, Ultima Vez. Oh, and now he's the guitarist of dEUS! And that's not even half of it - I think this guy gets up early in the morning. His diversity as an artist is huge: from artrock to pop to jazz to weird acid rock to avantgarde guitar noise. There's really something to dive into here, and most of it is really, really interesting and brilliant.

The Black Box Revelation
Here's your badass rock 'n roll duo on their way to the top. The 2008-release of their debut album, Set Your Head On Fire, was hugely succesful. PIAS (former known as Play It Agian Sam) released their debut album, they've toured with dEUS and Eagles Of Death Metal and the MLB club Pittsburgh Pirates bought the rights to the song I Think I Like You. The music is very energetic, young, raw and fresh and it's an absolute pleasure to listen to. Their new album is called Silver Threats, and I think it's going to be released very soon.



Tim Vanhamel
Tim Vanhamel was the guitar player in Evil Superstars, he has played guitar with dEUS as well, and he has played with Eagles Of Death Metal, too. And he's not done yet. He put a solo album out in 2008 and it's truly great and fantastic - you'll find rock, pop, psychedelic, ballads, an acid rocker, an orchestra and LOADS of great, great melodies. Yes, I AM trying to recommend this. He's an amazingly talented songwriter with a fantastic sense of quality - this guy hasn't made anything I don't like yet.

Mint
I've only heard one album from these Belgian electrorockers, but I must admit that it's pretty damn good. It's called Hinterland and it's from 2008. Highlights are the fantastically rocking/keyboarding? Giving Blood To Machines, a driven anthem that blends rock and electro perfectly. Also, the Oasis-like Hinterland, a beautiful ballad, is brilliant. The whole thing is very well-produced and it sounds perfectly fine. All in all a good listen for those who can stand out some keys in their rock songs. Looking forwards to hearing what these guys will do next!

Guernica
These guys are actually not in a band anymore, I just found out. That's a shame, 'cause I'd love to hear more than just an EP from Guernica. The EP, Who Are Your Songs For, was very thrilling and a fine study in dEUS-like artrock. Now I'm sad.

The Germans
Although the name of the band is WRONG, these guys have at least got something right - they definately know how to make a great melodic noise-rock tune as they proved on their debut album Elf Shot Lame Witch. A tune like Waiting For The Band deserves at least 50 times the attention it got. A highly enjoyable listen that I really liked because of the raw, metallic sound and the indiepop melodies that sometimes were played. Other times it was just plain weird freakshow. It was produced by Boris Wilsdorf from Einstürzende Neubauten and that can actually be heard - there's definately some industrial noise in there. Definately worth your attention.

Soulwax
Two guys doing the electronic thing with lots of inspiration from rock music - actually, their first two albums were rock-orientated post-grunge and then it has turned over to a more Justice-like electro with rock attitude. Some of you might know them as 2 Many DJ's where they're doing bastard pop. Well, if you're into Justice or other Ed Banger-bands, Soulwax are definately something you have to check out.


Madensuyu
Belgian duo, drums and guitar - they're kind of doing the rock thing, but not as The White Stripes, Black Keys or Black Box Revelation. There's something in here that I can't really explain - it's just just your classical three-chord quick punk explosions that often dominates this kind of genre. There's something underneath here - something dark and slightly depressing about these guys - it's definately an interesting listen.

Triggerfinger
Triggerfinger are a badass rock 'n roll trio. Their sound reminds me a little of a more stoned but still hard hitting AC/DC. It doesn't require too much of your brain capacity but it's a really good listen and if you just want some ballsy rock music, this is highly recommended. This band sure has a lot of great energy and I guess these guys may be quite a fantastic experience live.

The Van Jets
The Van Jets are a band with a sound they characterize as "glam rock 'n roll", and they're not all wrong here. Dirty and radio friendly at the same time, these guys hit that 70's rock 'n roll spirit in a brilliant way. They sound like a young A Brand with more energy, and that's not a bad thing at all. They have a new album coming out here in February and I'm definately going to have a listen or two.

Well, that's all I could come up with for now. I think you'll have enough lovely music for quite some time here.