Slagsmalsklubben

Or Slagsmålsklubben, if you’re into that sort of thing. Song is called Sponsored by Destiny.

Now, this video was just someone’s interpretation of Little Red Riding Hood and is, from what I can tell, not affiliated with the band.

Oh hey, it’s also inspired by Royksopp’s video for Remind Me, which I may have linked earlier.

Anyway, the music is hot. Full song:

Have I ever mentioned my love of synths?

The Airborne Toxic Event

I’m probably going to get lynched by someone, somewhere. Maybe. Maybe not.

I don’t really like this band. Their single that’s on the radio? Sounds like a chunk of what I listened to in the mid-to-late-nineties. It’s an uninteresting song that treads a well-worn path we haven’t left behind long enough to become fresh again. They are improved when acoustic with strings, but then they just sound like the Arcade Fire got a new lead singer and Owen Pallett stopped returning their calls.

But I’m likely alone here.

Coparck

Coparck – A Good Year for the Robots (link)

Coparck – Thoughts You Thought You Could Do Without (link)

For some reason, I get a real Spoon vibe as I listen to these guys, except softer. I dig.

InnerPartySystem

InnerPartySystem – Don’t Stop (link)

Sass pointed this one out to me, and I’ve been hooked on ‘em since I first heard this. I’m also really digging on Heart on Fire.

Versant Releases Full Demo Track – Hell Yes!!

Man, finally.

Versant has posted a full demo track on their MySpace.

And I’m so in love! Time to grab the mp3 of it…

Plushgun

Plushgun – Maybe Tomorrow

As I’ve said time and again, I’m a sucker for things with a synth. This is light and fun with a good driving sound to it. Quite catchy. There’s a sincerity behind the sound that I rather miss.

Amanda Palmer @ Bimbo’s 365

Amanda Palmer (whom you may know as the louder half of The Dresden Dolls) played the penultimate show of her American tour at Bimbo’s 365 last night with the Danger Ensemble.

I can’t speak on the openers. I wasn’t really there, and when I arrived, there were two women singing about global warming. I spent the time working on two whiskey sours.

But Amanda was a show. Understand what I mean when I say that. Most concerts simply feature a band playing. Occasionally jamming. Some crowd interaction. But this was a complete show. A magician performing card tricks in the manner of a busker pulled from the turn of the previous century opened the scene, warming the crowd with passable magic and bawdy behaviour. Neil Gaiman’s disembodied voice filled the room. A dancing troupe known as the Danger Ensemble adorned the stage in a manner simultaneously entertaining and unobtrusive. We lapped it up.

As I listened — I admit here that I’ve not had a chance to hear her latest solo work, save what’s been on YouTube — I felt a certain odd familiarity to the music. After awhile, she mentioned Ben Folds produced the album. Which explains everything. The moment she said it, I could hear Ben’s influence in the music. This isn’t to say she lacks her own style. More that I could hear his guidance on the record. Their styles are distinct, yet compatible. (My favorite Ben Folds song, Not the Same, for your reference.)

The last show is tonight, in Hollywood. If you have the chance, go to’t.

White Apple Tree

White Apple Tree – Zombies Can’t Dance (better version available through their MySpace, as well as their song Snowflakes)

I found these guys through the friends list of Versant (who really need to release a full track already). Sorry there’s no youtube vid, but the only thing I could find was a live version of Zombies Can’t Dance, wherein the lead’s voice was startlingly reminiscent of Blake Schwarzenbach. I suppose you’ll have to deal with hearing the streaming elsewhere. Sorry.

Detektivbyran

Detektivbyrån – E18 (link)

Also Detektivbyran, if you don’t like A’s with circles over them. Swedish.

Their sound is something like if roaming gypsies stumbled across a synthesizer. And if you recognize the song that’s because the closing measures make up the themesong to Felicia Day’s The Guild.

Music Review: Shiny Toy Guns – Season of Poison

I’m bumming the tracks off youtube at the moment. We’ll see if I’m in the mood to buy it once all of this is done, though from what I’ve heard so far I’m largely unimpressed.

1. When Did This Storm Begin (thumbs down)
I was getting behind this, then Sisley’s vocals hit. It’s not a shot against her, it’s a shot against the song. That chanting-rapping-singing-whatever is not flying. It’s ruining a perfectly good song.

2. Money For That (thumbs up)
Why does this make me think of Christmas? I actually very much like this song. But it’s not at all what I love about Shiny Toy Guns. This is a completely different direction, and while it’s good, it’s not what made this band stand out in comparison to everything else on the scene. I really love this song. But it’s not them. It’s someone else.

And belatedly, I have figured out who else it is, and why I like it. I have absolutely no problem sliding this into the vocals of Jim Adkins. (That’s Jimmy Eat World. Yes, the same guys who sang “The Middle,” the plague of your existence in the late 90’s.)

3. I Owe You A Love Song (thumbs down)
Bland, generic. Clearly written with Carah’s vocals in mind, and Sisley does not pull them off. And what the fuck was with the dramatic key change? Really? Such a bland song.

4. Ghost Town (thumbs way down)
This is just straight terrible. Whatever possessed them to take this sound and run with it, and run as long as they have so far. The only redeeming portion of the song is the promising intro and the bridge.

5. It Became A Lie On You (thumbs up)
This could grow on me. It’s nothing that’s making me sit up and take notice, but considering how things have been progressing, it’s a welcome change of pace.

6. Ricochet! (thumbs down)
I’ve said my piece about this earlier. I’ll say it again. The vocals are obnoxious and it’s repetitive. If there was some sort of break in here (as in Le Disko) it could have been better. Not good, but better. Shame. (Also the video is lousy.)

7. Season Of Love (thumbs down)
Meh. That’s all I can give to this. It’s just… meh. It may grow on me, but it’s not really getting me excited.

8. Poison (thumbs up)
I’m trying to figure out what to do with this song. It’s doing so many things that I can’t latch onto anything, which is unfortunate, because most of the things its doing are good. But I don’t get enough of it to make something of it.

9. Blown Away (thumbs up)
Originally I heard this as When Revelation Calls at the Wiltern. I liked it then, and I like it now.

10. Turned To Real Life (thumbs up)
I liked this better when Carah sang it. For those of you unfamiliar, this song was available on their initial release of We Are Pilots, before the big launch. This is the one which also had Joel’s Theme and Rocketship and their cover of Ritz.

11. Frozen Oceans (thumbs up)
I think I’ve also said my piece on this one. This is a fantastic song and its main failing is that it’s not Carah signing it.

There are so many stories flying around about Carah’s departure from the Shinies. She left voluntarily to be with her husband. She left to do her own music. It was a mutual parting of ways. She was fired. They always wanted Sisley from the beginning. I would love an official fucking story.

Damnit, Shiny Toy Guns. Half of this album is meh-to-bad. And some of the stuff I thumbs-upped didn’t particularly deserve it, but I liked them enough to not thumbs-down them. I’ve just lost a favorite band. Maybe Versant will pick up the slack. I like the demo track sitting there.

I was writing that sentence as I listened. No. Holy shit this is a good track. I’m going to keep a vigilant eye on Versant now.