Written by Fense
Listening to Lithops for the first time, I had the distinct feeling I was watching someone play a video game. It took me back to the days of the original Nintendo. But not the game console, the games themselves. The music is much too advanced for such a system.

Burn To Shine has an interesting manifesto. The people who put these films together gather local bands for one day of recording in a building that is going to be destroyed. For Seattle, recorded January 27, 2007, they chose an ancient house and fourteen of Seattle’s greatest bands, including power names like Ben Gibbard, Eddie Vedder and Minus The Bear.

Written by Fense
When Shawn Fogel made the transformation from a self-titled moniker to Golden Bloom, he gave the world “The Fight At The End Of The Tunnel”. It was a song that fit the pop mold, but also showed a darker side of Fogel. In advance of hearing and seeing the video for “Doomsday Devices”, I was expecting a bit more of the same.

Written by Fense
I often say that Sweden puts out the best indie pop music in the world, but when it comes to the U.S. of A, Ohio reigns supreme. Pomegranates hail from Cincinnati and are one of my favorite new bands of 2008. Their LP Everything Is Alive has remained at the top of my weekly playlist for some time now and, with each additional listen, I come to love the music even more.

Written by Fense
Like Sweden, Norway churns out some pretty great pop bands and one of those is Haakon Ellingsen. Ellingsen’s music is a mixture of pop and folk that is occasionally reminiscent of The Beatles, but not in an distracting or negatively impacting, overtly-influenced manner; maybe a hint of The Polyphonic Spree’s epic nature, as well.

Written by Fense
Each time a new band appears on Labrador Records, I take note. The latest to join the collective is Pallers, an electronic duo out of Stockholm. Pallers follows the current trend of Labrador; with several of their recent releases, the label has been moving away from indie pop and into electronica.

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Sings Like A Priest, the latest from The Sweetheart Parade (MySpace), again sets the stage for a Jason Molina (Songs: Ohio, The Magnolia Electric Co.) reference. Simply put, Joshua Britton’s (or JB) voice sounds mighty like that of Molina; they’re entrenched in a deep emotive folk minimalism. It’s not surprising, however, that JB’s voice has a bit more power — the difference is definitely in volume.

Written by Fense
Mark Mathis is definitely a folk artist, as represented in the twangy (what sounds like a) mouth harp in We Both Was Young opener “Sharecropper Takes A Colored Wife” and dual banjos in “Prenup”.

Written by Fense
The wake of The Blood Brothers demise has actually led to several viable new projects from former members. This list includes Jaguar Love, who released their first LP on Matador earlier this year, and Past Lives (MySpace). Strange Symmetry is the debut EP by the latter, currently out in digital form and slated for physical format release in the next month or so.

Written by Fense
I can wholeheartedly understand the meaning behind Oak City opener “Coffee Is A Cruel Mistress”. Like cigarettes, one can easily become a coffee addict. Unlike cigarettes, I’m hooked on coffee. My other addictions (you could call them shortcomings, but I don’t) include obsessive compulsive alphabetization, abundant record purchasing, and food.