polaroids

the tremulance ~ polaroids (lonely robot, 2009)

the tremulance is jamison who lives and studies in chilliwack, canada. 'polaroids' is his debut album and contains (awesome) electropop tunes that he's been working over the past years. in the beginning there was only sound but after some time he decide to add some voice.
throughout the album it's possible to hear electro, idm, indie rock, folk and shoegaze coming and going... beautiful and original tunes with (sometimes) beats and blips and (sometimes) instrumental interludes. as jamison says: "i like to make electronic songs; some are meant to make you dance, but some are meant to make you feel a little sleepy."
15 songs talking about "nights spent dancing with friends, heartbreaks, missing loved ones, missing the ocean and the now infamous dance trap which actually occurred".
a great balance between experimentalisms and emotional dance floor melodies.



01. we'll settle this on the dance floor
02. i will show you rain
03. smash your keyboards
04. you got the girl (feat. lights)
05. synthesizers make kids dance, right
06. the frustrations of dealing with the socially inept
07. i thought i'd forget you...
08. ...but i overthought it
09. dance trap
10. the sounds i missed out on
11. the smaller things
12. trackless (feat. the emerson letters)
13. where are we now?
14. song for tom fox
15. it still gets dark here far too early

here's the (awesome) video for dance trap



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resolen problemes

sedaiós ~ resolen problemes (gandula, 2009)

sedaiós is from barcelona and started as a duo that used to get together to do everyday things. as they say on their myspace: '... a group to spend time for those moments that seems you're doing something but in fact your just waiting (while you wait the washing machine clean your clothes, boil the water for pasta or download an episode of dexter).' in moments like this, cristian and gaia used to grab their ukeleles and play.
after some time they felt a need for more rhythm and asked jordi (that also plays with joe crepúsculo and la bien querida, among others) to join them... he arrived with a wide variety of maracas and small percussion instruments. the last members to join the band wwere elena, a common friend that played saxophone and wanted to practice and rafa, also in the horns section.
this is their first album and is filled with happy, optimistic and summerish tunes about usual everyday things. the melodies are extremely precious with delicate arrangements. you'll probably get yourself singing 'pa pa ra pa pa' or clapping in almost every song.
they sing in catalan and french (which makes everything even more interesting)... in fact it's possible to hear some melodic references to french chanson in tracks like 'ingrid & humphrey' or 'reveiller avant toi'.
an album filled with a happy naivety or a naive happiness, feel free to choose which one suits you best. urban and yet organic, full of blue skies and clouds resembling smiles.

(ps: it's ok if you feel addicted for 'bam bam', 'resoldre problemes' and 'perdo el cap').



01. els vells
02. bam bam
03. ingrid & humphrey
04. resoldre problemes
05. reveiller avant toi
06. històries, llibres i cançons
07. elena
08. perdo el cap
09. aquesta nit


here's a video taken from the release concert of the album...


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la estrella de david

la estrella de david ~ la estrella de david (el ejército rojo, 2007)

i've talked about david rodriguez before:
1. has a solo project called la estrella de david
2. the guy behind the production of 'romancero', debut album of spanish indie sensation la bien querida;
3. member of indie band los beef
4. has a duo project with (the also great) joe crepúsculo.
well, you can see by the number of music projects he's a very prolific guy.

back in 2006 - if i'm not mistaken - i found a demo from his solo project 'la estrella de david'... and fell in love completely.
i remember that on the winter of 2007 i went on an eurotrip with two friends and, while we were in barcelona, i couldn't stop listening to his songs. in the same year, he released his full lenght.
what i think is wonderful about him is the ability to make music from diferent styles but always with a catalan spirit. and he has been doing it in a brilliant way (musically and lyrically).
david it's in a place on the spanish music scene that can only be taken by him but yet there's a will of never stop, always go ahead and never settle.
almost twenty songs recorded at home, telling what's going on and what to dream about. sometimes looking inside (deep inside), sometimes outside.
a strong mixture of rock and indiepop, lo-fi, disonant sounds, surprising arrangements and (of course) catalunya.



01. tremendas amazonas
02. fin de año
03. no és fácil
04. la chica más guapa de españa
05. no hacia falta
06. pipak jaten
07. tu lo tienes que saber
08. bellísimos
09. música industrial
10. la catalana
11. david
12. popeya es presidente
13. vejaciones en la costa
14. lost of fun
15. mientes
16. felices fiestas
17. tremendas amazonas (versiómn sosegada)
18. la seleción natural

No hacía Falta


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lyssna

avner ~ lyssna (sincerely yours, 2009)

one of the most interesting artists nowadays in sweden. a mix of twin peaks, ambient, shoegaze, pop (of course) and balearic music.
his figure is quite enigmatic... he describes himself as the yellow artist, always showing off yellow stripes on his cheeks. the bare chest also is almost a trade mark.
hard to digest at first but lyssna contains 28 minutes of pop mastery and a song (bed för mig) that could be this summer anthem for its delicious beats.




01. en gul värld
02. känslor
03. du & jag
04. bed för mig
05. jenny
06. besatt
07. lämnar
08. ljuset



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walkin' under trees

acorn boys ~ walkin' under trees (holiday records, 2009)

(probably) the first release by holiday records, this new indiepop label that releases, every friday, a new single for our downloading pleasure. as they say on their website: "holiday records is a bunch of old friends keeping in touch by recording songs about the times we had together, and new friends writing songs about other things..."
well, just the engagement of making it happen makes me love them...
acorn boys is a previous band from jacob, now on horse shoes and the drums; and justin, on church library.
they've only recorded two songs and left one unfinished and decided to stop working together due to differing opinions on music.
"in the spring of 2006 justin was packing up his recording studio and moving from orlando back to ohio. it was a stupid idea, but acorn boys never would have happened without it. the night before he left he sat down with jacob and together they wrote a song that people claim is "the greatest song ever written." justin quickly pulled his recording gear out of it's packed boxes and in less than two hours they finished recording the song "walkin' under trees." (from their myspace)

'walkin' under trees' is a beautiful pop song with acoustic guitars, three keyboard notes and a slow paced percussion that gives an ethereal mood to the song.
'we'll always have each other' comes with guitars, beats and a wonderful melancholic melody that reminded me of princess niko.
a bit of 80's indie rock and sarah records, a bit of 90's indie pop and flirtations with balearic sounds (specially on percussion sounds) and heartfelt electropop. lovely...



01. walkin' under trees
02. we'll always have each other

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i'm happy now

palpitation ~ i'm happy now (hide & seek records, 2008)

palpitation comes from sweden and apparently is a duo. the members are you and me. i'm happy now is their first release and they couldn't have started better: 22 minutes of dreamy and urban melodies made of a combination from indiepop and twee-ish guitar hooks.
programmed drums, keyboard, bass and guitars are the main instruments along with a rough female voice. at first, i didn't like the voice because it didn't "fit" with the melodies but that's probably because i'm used to hear this kind of melodies with cute, soft and whispered voices. if you feel the same i tell you that this feeling disappears on the second listen.
the melodies are, at least, addictive with a great combination of beats, claps and guitar hooks (sometimes resembling a more lo-fi the radio dept). in fact, i think some of the songs would make a lot of kids go crazy on the dancefloor.
amazing album that takes you for a walk in the big city at night, then the clouds from where you fall straight to the club for some dancing...



01.i'm happy now
02. next stop tennessee
03. too soon to give up
04. can i blame you
05. shelter
06. this is it
07. i lost and died
08. red white golden stripes


here's a lovely video taken from the live series from the amazing swedish music site psl


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dizzy

lunch money ~ dizzy (squirrel mechanic records, 2009)

sometimes i get myself thinking about how different my childhood would be if i listened to some bands i know nowadays... always wanted to experience the feeling of a poppy-catchy song when i was 6 or 7 years old.
well, to fullfill this gap from previous generation, lunch money was created. this trio makes indiepop for babies, children and parents to have fun together! isn't wonderful?
it all started in the "late 90's, an almost comically morose indie pop group called the verna cannon once performed for an audience of 7-year olds (at the request of a teaching assistant friend). surprised and a little perplexed by the rather melancholy concert, one little boy earnestly remarked, "your music makes me sleepy." and while the band got many an appreciative chuckle over the comment, singer/guitarist molly ledford also walked away thinking she would like to play for children again with a new band project directed at a younger audience". (taken from their myspace).
the band's name comes from the first taste of childhood independence and power.
dizzy is their second album and is full of adorable tunes... but don't get me wrong when i say that their music is for a younger audience, you won't hear them singing that the sun is yellow and the sky is blue or things like that, following the path of some idiotic songs and tv programs for children.
the album starts with 'i love my library', an ode for librarians and books. then comes 'everybody's coming to the zoo', one of the best songs about zoo i've ever listened... throughout the song they ask if 'were you there when...' and all the things the animals do.
the best song is 'it only take one night to make a balloon your friend', a delightful song teaching you what to do to become friends with a balloon.
'cause it only takes one night to make a balloon your friend/ when you first get them they only want to fly away/ but it takes one night to make a balloon your friend /and in the morning they're always happy to stay' and later on 'balloons are shy and might hide on the ceiling for the rest of the day/ but in the morning they'll be sitting and waiting to play'.
all the songs are filled with a twee-ish mood... you'll hear whistles, harmonicas, banjos and mostly guitars. the album is an affectionate and energetic salute to childhood with lyrical complexity swirled in like chocolate syrup.



01. 5'7''
02. i love my library
03. everybody's coming to the zoo
04. somehow a frog finds a pond
05. it only takes one night to make a balloon your friend
06. are you a rabbit?
07. dizzy
08. ate too much of my favorite food
09. at the river
10. wake up, world
11. tiny dinosaurs
12. a cookie as big as my head

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