chaotisch und charmant: february records

Showing posts with label february records. Show all posts

best for guests. danny (february records)

Danny is the founder of February Records, a label based in Connecticut with a Do-It-Yourself aesthetics and a vast sense of pop, with artists going from acoustic, folk and twee to powerpop and punk pop.
The catalog features artists like Brilliant At Breakfast - an awesome mellow indiepop band from Indonesia, Secret Charisma - from Brad san Martin (member of One Happy Island), Birds of California (with members from Lunchbox) and multiple projects by Tyler Trudeau (The Cavemen Go, Women's Basketball and The Tyler Trudeau Attempt).
Awesome label if you're into obscure bands from all over the world.

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TOP 10 MOST-LISTENED-TO ARTISTS OF 2012

This is not a Best-of-2012 list. I didn't buy or listen to enough new music this year to even begin to put together a best-of list. It seems, that in 2012, I revisited a lot of favorites, discovered a couple new ones, and got nostalgic for my high school days a bit. These artists dominated my playlists in 2012 and at any given time, one of these albums was in my car, on my turntable or playing on my computer. These are my personal Top-10 Most-Listened-To Artists of 2012:

1. LUNA Lunapark (1992) Bewitched (1994) The Best of Luna (2006)

"The Best of Luna" had a permanent place in my car in 2012 and I'm sure my constant playing and singing along to "Bewitched" and "Lunapark" annoyed my neighbors to no end. "California (All The Way)," "Tiger Lily" and "Anesthesia" are some of my favorites on these albums.

2. THE LEMONHEADS The Best of The Lemonheads: The Atlantic Years (1998)
For me, The Lemonheads have always been one of those go-to bands when I don't really know what I want to listen to. This compilation from Atlantic contains so many of the band's best songs. This album was also in my car for most of 2012.

3. PAUL SIMON GRACELAND (1986)

I love pretty much everything about this album and after scoring it on vinyl from a used record store, I listened to it constantly. "You Can Call Me Al" has been one of my favorite tunes since I first saw the video with Simon and Chevy Chase in the late '80s. "I Know What I Know" and "Crazy Love" are also a couple of album highlights.

4. ALLO DARLIN' Europe (2012)
Here's a band that, in my eyes, can pretty much do no wrong. Their self-titled release was one of my best-of-2010 picks. "Europe" is the perfect follow-up and "Capricornia" might be my favorite song of 2012. It was also great to see Allo Darlin' live again this year. They put on such a great show.

5. CAT STEVENS Harold & Maude (1971) The Very Best of Cat Stevens (1990)

I've seen the movie "Harold & Maude" many times and love the soundtrack. However, after watching it again this past summer, I sought out more of Stevens' music and had this best-of compilation on repeat for a number of months.

6. EUX AUTRES Hell Is Eux Autres (2004) Cold City (2007) Sun Is Sunk (2012)

I pretty much love anything put out by Heather and Nicholas Larimer. They had me hooked with 2004's "Hell Is Eux Autres." 2012's "Sun is Sunk" is a great addition to the band's catalog and had me revisiting a lot of their older stuff. I also really love their 2012 WIAIWYA 7", but that came out so recently, it couldn't really be included on this list.

7. DONOVAN What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid (1965) Sunshine Superman (1966)
Donovan's "Catch The Wind" is one of my favorite songs and I've always loved "Sunshine Superman." He got a lot of time on the iPod in 2012.

8. THE 6THS Wasp's Nest (1995)
This might be one of my "desert island" albums. I'm a huge fan of the guest vocalists on these tracks, with Dean Wareham on "Falling Out of Love (With You)" and Mitch Easter on "Pillow Fight" up at the top.

9. THE VELVET UNDERGROUND/NICO The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) Chelsea Girl (1967)

Yes, I realize that one of these is a VU album and one is a Nico solo album. However, this is really all about Nico. I really enjoy the songs she's featured on on "The Velvet Underground & Nico" and that led me to listen to more of her solo work. "These Days" and "The Fairest of The Seasons" are a couple of gems.

10. OASIS (What's The Story) Morning Glory? (1995)

I had this album in high school. For some reason, I sold it in a massive purge of a lot of pretty bad '90s alternative I had accumulated. Feeling nostalgic, maybe, I found it again and it has been on repeat a lot over the last few months. This is one of a handful of "high school-era" albums that got a lot of play this year, including Better Than Ezra's "Deluxe" (1995) and Gin Blossoms' "New Miserable Experience" (1992).

2011. BEST FOR GUESTS. 14 danny (february records)

February Records is a small label based in Connecticut specialized in releasing underground/independent pop bands from the region and from all over the world. As the description on the website says:
"Embracing a DIY ethic and a broad definition of the term “pop,” February promotes a wide variety of music — from punk pop, rock, powerpop and psych to folk, twee and pure indiepop."
Danny is the guy running it and throughout the past year or so, managed to release a small but strong collection of new artists. You can get some of the releases for free. Be sure to check the compilation 'One year of Original Music From February Records', the best compilation of the year.

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"There was so much good music this year — and so much I didn't get a chance to listen to. I can think of at least five albums I didn't get to hear that would probably have made these lists. From what I was fortunate enough to hear, these are the ones that really stood out. It looks like it was a really good year for female vocals, Slumberland Records and Comet Gain. I purposely left February Records releases off the list.

ALBUMS

5. VERONICA FALLS S/T (Slumberland) (link)

4. CAT NAPS WHY DON'T YOU WHISPER? (self-released) (link)

3. GOLD BEARS ARE YOU FALLING IN LOVE? (Slumberland) (link)

2. DUM DUM GIRLS ONLY IN DREAMS (Sub Pop) (link)

1. COMET GAIN HOWL OF THE LONELY CROWD (What's Your Rupture?) (link)

RUNNERS-UP

5. POCKETBOOKS CAROUSEL (Oddbox) (link)

4. FIREFLIES AUTUMN ALMANAC (Happy Prince) (link)

3. GIRLS NAMES DEAD TO ME (Slumberland) (link)

2. SEAPONY GO WITH ME (Hardly Art) (link)

1. WILD FLAG S/T (Merge) (link)

EPs

5. TINY FIREFLIES CHANGE (Little Treasure) (link)

4. KIDS ON A CRIME SPREE WE LOVE YOU SO BAD (Slumberland) (link)

3. BURNING HEARTS INTO THE WILDERNESS (Shelflife) (link)

2. BRAVE IRENE S/T (Slumberland) (link)

1. CHALK AND NUMBERS HE KNEW (self-released) (link)

gipsy paw

Eastern Phoebes ~ Gipsy Paw (February Records, 2011)

Let's talk about an acoustic indiepop love. The kind that makes you want to spend all afternoon under a tree (or building a treehouse) in your backyard. A perfect scenario would have eastern phoebes on branches but in case they don't migrate to where you live, well, the least you can do is having Eastern Phoebes (not the bird but the band) playing.
Meg Bayley and Rick Kattermann are from Long Island and their music might be the cutest thing coming from there nowadays. Their songs are gracious, gentle, light and fun. There's something from the 60's when it comes to melodies and something from 90's twee in melodies and in the way they express their ideas.

Gipsy Paw is their latest release (it was released on February Records last month).

You can get Gipsy Paw, 2 previous homemade eps and a full lenght on their bandcamp! All artwork is made by friends...

(don't miss 'Gipsy Paw' and 'I'm Gonna Bite Your Head Off When I'm Done Making Love To You'... homemade gems, they are!)

01. Old Toronto
02. Combat Missile Diploma
03. Gipsy Paw
04. Lebron's Lament
05. I'm Gonna Bite Your Head Off When I'm Done Making Love To You

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city lights fade

The Whatevers ~ City Lights Fade (February Records, 2011)

Once a Girl/boy duo and now a four piece band, The Whatevers are back with more lovely tunes. Five to be more precise and this time they have joined forces with (also lovely) February Records. This small label has been building quite a solid catalog. And if that weren't enough, a lot of their releases are given away as free downloads. Don't you just love that?
The Whatevers also are building a strong career and have come a long way releasing singles on Holiday Records, on their bandcamp page and now on February. They are also part of the line-up for Indietracks this year which is "a pretty big deal for us", quoting an email Michael sent me a few days ago.
In case you haven't heard of them before, here's the description on February's page for the release (fun reading, folks):

Mike and Kate met at school. Kate had shaved her head to shock the locals. Mike had just split up with the only other indie punk girl in their small town, so it was natural they would become boyfriend and girlfriend. Kate would buy the NME and Mike would buy the Melody Maker and they would swap halfway through the week and cut the pictures out and practice interview techniques for the day they formed a famous indie band. Mike was in a band called Sparkling Tarts and they played at the local youth club with Kate’s band. After they had broken each others heart for about 15 years, Mike finally had enough songs and they formed The Whatevers. Al was one of their biggest fans, so they asked him to join the band.

The Whatevers sing mainly about their relationship history, radical leftist politics, not being able to get out of bed and conversations about sex that they have had at bus stops.

'City Lights Fade' delivers lo-fi indiepop in its purest state: simple melodies covered by melancholic, fun lyrics and funny music names. The last track is a cover for 'Anne Boleyn', from Eux Autres. When asked - in our interview - about doing covers, The Whatevers mentioned that they'd like to cover Eux Autres but haven't heard back from the band by that time; apparently Eux Autres read the interview and contacted The Whatevers, saying that - of course! - they could do the cover. So, yeah... if you ask me, I'm really proud 'chaotisch und charmant' might be part of this song.

01. city lights fade
02. everything but the kitchen sink drama
03. the second best of the whatevers
04. why girlfriends are better than guitars
05.anne boleyn (eux autres cover)

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one year of original music from february records

Should've talked about this amazing compilation two months ago, when it was released... but hey, first things first. February Records is a small independent record label based in Connecticut, it was created a year ago and features independent artists from different music backgrounds but with a strong sense of indiepop and DIY connecting them all.

The compilation is a free download and is some sort of celebration of the first anniversary of the label. What a celebration, I say... I think the last time I got this excited with a compilation was when The Leamington Spa volumes were released.
'One year...' has 19 songs: one song for every artist/release of the first year of the label's existence (14 artists) and 5 songs from artists that'll have music released in 2011.
Americana, lo-fi, powerpop, dreampop, electronic, bubblegum, 60's driven pop... there's music to every kind of ear.
Highlights:
opening track 'I Thought You Wanted To Know' by Secret Charisma and its beautiful guitars;
'If Monday'd Never Come' by Brilliant At Breakfast with the cutest vocals ever and that sweet indonesian sense of indiepop melody;
'Westbound Train' by Two If By Sea, the most intimate song of the release with whispery vocals and calm electronic base;
and 'Indian Lunch Buffet' by Women's Basketball. A powerful song to jump and sing along; also holds the best verse of the compilation "The only two things that would make me feel ok today: an indian lunch buffet and your freaking face".
Really, if you had to listen to only one compilation for the entire year, 'One year of Original...' should be IT.