In approaching a new album for the first time, there is often a conflicting duality of emotion. On one hand, there is anticipation — being completely new to an album, one cannot help but be excited about what the jewel case might contain. On the other hand, there is fear — fear that the album will not live up to expectation, or at least live up to either the hype or the band’s prior material. After listening to opening tunes “Noni’s Field” and “Italo”, I was succumbing …

It would be great if life were as smooth and simple as a Jonathan Clay (or Jason Mraz, Howie Day, etc.) song. In a genre like this, what I like to call bubbly acoustic, even the saddest of moments could seem minuscule and easily bearable. Call it a guilty pleasure, but these indie, John Mayer influenced strummers and singers are a much brighter light in the world of pop music than we have seen in, oh, the last ten years at least! (See: boy bands, rap metal, and …

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Now here’s a label I haven’t checked out in a while — Lost And Lonesome Recordings, Australia’s premiere source for great indie pop from down under. This group, The Smallgoods, makes folk music with a light inclusion of simple pop traits. For one, there’s the compounded, harmony vocals, often featuring more than three members.

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I didn’t check out Fugu 1, the debut LP by Fugu, until well after its release. Featuring an impressive lineup of French and European pop artists, Fugu’s music is a blend of pop styles, from the upbeat to the softly melancholy. And, to continue the trend, I’m just now checking out Fugu’s latest.

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I was hooked in the opening moments of this video just like I was hooked the moment I heard Lukestar’s high-pitched, Mew-like vocals. Even the backing music has the punchy, almost orchestrated sound of Mew’s And The Glass Handed Kites. Lukestar (MySpace) hails from Oslo and their recent release, Lake Toba, which hit late September, doesn’t appear to have hit in the states.

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I’m currently in bed. My eyes are half shut and half a bottle of Syrah is settling in my stomach. And in my ears are the pleasant pop melodies of Peace In Our Time (MySpace). Despite my current demeanor, I would not call Peace In Our Time bedroom pop. There’s too much going on — the songs too full of live for the genre of slumber. Even the slower side of Peace In Our Time features percussion too loud and guitars too …

I’ve been in-tune with, and a fan of, Aerotone Records for some time now. Each release they give the world is truly given to the world — they are all free with the option to pay, a strategy that has been in place (to my knowledge) since the beginning. They are what one would call a netlabel. One of their latest releases is Hydrophobia by Entertainment For The Braindead (MySpace).

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Vancougar is the Washington State University (my alma mater) newspaper. While I went to the Pullman campus (whose daily paper is The Daily Evergreen), the Vancougar is the Vancouver, WA campus’ bi-weekly periodical. We are the Cougars, and this year we fuckin’ ROCKED the apple cup. Of course, the two teams playing, WSU and UW, are pretty much the worst in the nation, so there’s not much to boast about winning in double overtime.

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With an emphasis on late 60s, early 70s pop influence, The Rollo Treadway‘s self-titled debut follows a conceptual storyline — the kidnapping of two children. Rather than taking the dark route, it quickly becomes apparent that The Rollo Treadway is packed with upbeat pop gems like opener “Kidnapped” and its follower “Rua Gararu 188″.

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Nick Butcher is youthful but balding; he’s thin with a very natural, normal look. One would hardly expect him to be the mastermind of a minimalist-experimental-electronic outfit. But he is. That his appearance is more fitting for a talegate party than this just goes to show that looks can be deceiving.