Erase and Start It Again.

When Morning Comes.

Craig B and Iain Cook, formerly know as the geniuses behind Aereogramme, released a new, wonderful, quite non-Aereogramme record as The Unwinding Hours. And Solstice played its way right into my Top 10 love songs. Too bad the (animated...) video can't keep up with the song. A 'Hallam Foe'-esque melancholic Glasgow aesthetic might have been too obvious, but still...  

You can just switch to a blank tab to enjoy the song.

Big, Bad, Sunny Sheep.

Portgal. the Man released a video for The Sun, prominently featuring their bass player Zach in a sheep costume.


The awesomeness just never stops flowing from this band.

This Must Be It.

Music television is dead. But that's alright. Music videos can finally go back/become (of course unprofitable) art and genius shot movies that enrich the song. Instead of being promotional tools and, by chance, artworks.
Today's example of what music videos can be: Röyksopp - This Must Be It
 
Röyksopp 'This Must Be It' from Röyksopp on Vimeo.

Young Rebel Set.

Young Rebel Set, the new band on the wonderful Grand Hotel van Cleef label, fit right into the musical scope of this blog. Folk. Indie. Alleged Springsteen & Dylan references. Beards. Hailing from Stockton-on-Tees, they're also something for people who listen to Artic Monkeys, Maximo Park etc. 'because of the accent'. Here's the video for a charming litte ditty called "If I Was":

And! - they're coming to Freiburg on 29.01.10
Young Rebel Set might just blow up or fade away - haven't quite made up my mind. But for now, you can believe the hype.

Drain the Blood.

The Rural Alberta Advantage, probably my best discovery this year, released a video to Drain the Blood today. Apparently it's their first official video. Nice!

Hell.

No, not a commentary on this foggy, tired, late fall Monday. It's the new Tegan and Sara video 'Hell'. I like the tune, haven't made sense of the video yet. Especially of the flower-print-little-house-in-the-prairie-dress-Burqa-esque-thing. But well, here it is:

Hell - Tegan and Sara

Tegan and Sara | MySpace Video

Pretty neat nevertheless.

Lonely for So Long.

This nice new video from Olli Schulz reminds me of my long trip through the night in a Greyhound from San Francisco back to Oregon in 2006. So lonely and yet so wonderful. And I could barely keep myself to singing along to the music I was listening to as well.
The song, 'So lange einsam' is pretty nice as well.

My Will Is Good.

The video might be a bit too cute, but the tune is really nice: Port O'Brien's "My Will Is Good". It's going straight on my imaginary autumn mixtape.

A Bear with Chainsaws for Paws Still Loses.

Once again, Jon Stewart is hilarious when angry - and is right. His commentary on the Democratic Super Majority and the mess in congress:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Democratic Super Majority
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Ron Paul Interview

Happy Birthday, Boss.

Bruce Springsteen turned 60 today. Apparently he celebrated by performing Born to Run in its entirety on the eve of his birthday. What a way to turn 60.
Here is an amazing performace of "Lost in the Flood", one of my favorites from his first album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J..

Psychedelic Zombie Mummies from Outer Space Love Geometric Shapes!

Portugal. the Man released a new video for "Do You".

Portugal. the Man - Do You from Ryan Rothermel on Vimeo.

Weird. Wonderful!

Update: Kanye and i have something in common now..

All Is Love.

So this is the (first) single from the OST of the upcoming Where the Wild Things Are movie.

Charming. Sounds like Tilly and the Wall and Arcade Fire were in the same children's choir conducted by Karen O.

Karen O. & the Kids - All Is Love

For Those Summer Moments.

to the east, to the east/
the road beneath my feet

to the west, to the west/
I havent got there yet

and to the north, to the north/
never to be caught

to the south, to the south/
my time is running out

Frank Turner - The Road

Recession Folk

This recession/global economic crisis is not quite like the Great Depression. Also, the guy I'd like to introduce you to tonight, is no new Woody Guthrie. But his still pretty good: Dan Costello

His new album 'Recession Songs' is available for free ( or as pay-as-you-want). And he did a pretty neat version of Woody's "So Long, It's Been Good To Know You Woody" in a Berlin S-Bahn.

(I found Dan Costello via an achtmilliarden post on exactly the same topic, it's just more eloquent and in German.)

Alive.

The neat video to Alive by the Beastie Boys. Posted just because.
[Plus: I'll probably start a "Monday's Music" series.]

The Importance of Being Idle.

I can't help it - every time I see a reference to Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, I immediately have to think of Oasis' The Importance of Being Idle. One of those (random) associations that's hardwired in my mind.

One of the more recent Oasis tunes I actually like. The video is pretty cool as well.

Enjoy your Monday.

Desire, Sex & Power in Music Video.

Any reader of this blog will have noticed that I'm slightly into music videos. I think they can be so much more than just promotional tools, they can stressor expand the artistic genius of the music or even make a mediocre song really interesting. Though that's mainly true for good, usually indie video.

There are also those other videos, that merely stuff as many scantily clad women and cars, bling and booze in a frame as possible, often degrading women and legitimizing sexual violence. Most they accompany (commercial) rap, but enough rock or electro, techno examples exist as well. Sud Jhally did a good documentary on this topic called "Dreamworlds 3: Desire, Sex & Power in Music Video". I have to say that though I was shocked, the events and circumstances shown sadly didn't really surprise me.

See the trailer here:



Hat tip to Anna.

Note: If you can't view the YouTube Video (my tip is because it used clips from Universal Rec. clips..) then go to the Media Education Foundation site. A full-length preview is also available for home use.

Young Boys.

Seems to turn into a Gaslight Anthem appreciation week. Don't worry, this won't turn into a fanboy blog (or at least to a greater extend), but this is just to great not to share

The Gaslight Anthem performed "The '59 Sound" with Bruce Springsteen. Yes, the Boss himself. At this year's Glastonbury.

via merely thinking.

Speaking of Springsteen references: Simon Indelicate of The Indelicates wrote a pretty interesting, and for the most part pretty good, article against anti-americanism or rather a defense of America.