Club 8 has released their second video for a song off their eighth LP, Above the City, this time for closing track and lead single “Stop Taking My Time”. This video follows a somewhat disturbing one about animal cruelty for album opener “Kill Kill Kill”. Throughout, Above the City is a return to the more dance-worthy beats Johan Angergård and Karolina Komstedt have sprinkled throughout Club 8′s 18-year career. (more…)
Next week is the pledge drive, meaning all of you should tune in to my show from 10pm to midnight PST on Friday, April 12 and pledge your support for independent radio. For my April 5 show, I returned to playing primarily new tunes, opening with the stellar new track by Sweden’s Lars Bygdén, dropping in a pair of tunes by San Francisco post-rock outfit Tartufi, and crossing the pond to Spain for an amazing track by Soledad Vélez. (more…)
I admit, I freak out a bit each time I hear of a new undertaking by Johan Angergård – anything by Acid House Kings, The Legends and/or Club 8. The last on the list is Angergård’s project with Karolina Komstedt, who takes lead on vocals; and they’re back with their eighth studio LP, Above the City. The lead single is “Stop Taking My Time” and it reverts back to the band’s earlier days with heavier electro-beats and catchy vocals. (more…)
I don’t know when the last time vinyl was played on KSVR, but by the state of the record players it may have been quite a while. I dropped by the studio mid day on Friday to make sure the turntables worked properly, then came home and put together a split show. The first half, Halloween-ish songs (even if only in name, some only by their haunting sound) followed by half a show of more dance-y, electronic and remix tracks. (more…)
This show ended up being a bit of a favorites show; we began with a few favorite tracks from the past few years by bands hailing from Sweden including Acid House Kings and their track “Do What You Wanna Do” (which remains one of my all-time favorites). And we continued with several favorites from 2012 thus far — the phenomenal “Ivory Coast” by Pure Bathing Culture; tracks by Cloud Nothings, Exlovers and Gap Dream; and from last year A Classic Education. Also making an appearance were some newbies: a pair of great WOODS tracks off their new album Bend Beyond and a brand new track off the forthcoming Pinback LP Information Received. (more…)
We’ve been doing up the floors in our house, stripping out the carpet, repainting the walls, painting the trim and doors, and laying down a rich brown woven bamboo (hence the lateness of this post and the general lack of posts this week). It’s a project that should add equity to our house and, one day, our pockets. I threw this playlist together Friday morning and set to work stripping carpet from the hallway while it played in the background. (more…)
Stuarto Glasser, host of the All Around the World Music Show, called me up a little after 5pm Friday and asked if I could fill in for him. Thinking it would be a great way to attract a few more listeners I agreed. I headed home and put together a playlist of some of my favorite indie artists from around the world. (more…)
Friday evening was a mad house. Getting into the station wasn’t the issue, as I expect it will be in the coming weeks now that winter is upon us; it was the transition. Transitioning from one on-air personality to another is a bit nerve-wracking. The quarters are cramped, the mic is hot, and you have to do your best not to step on their toes as they wrap their show and you begin yours. And when it’s time to fly, you have to remember which buttons should be lit and which ones shouldn’t.
After the first song, things are fine. It’s just that initial track that likes to pose issue. It did it in late October, and it did it again on Friday. The song eventually hit the airwaves, and we were rolling.
November 4 was all about pop music. Some loud, some soft, some orchestral, some experimental. All good. No surprise, many songs came from overseas — Sweden (an obvious favorite) and Denmark being the most prevalent.
Here’s something a little new for these features. At bottom, I’ll make note of a few tracks, bands and albums from the playlist and include an mp3 for your enjoyment, when available. Typically these will be ones not yet covered on the site.
On to last Friday’s playlist:
“Do What You Wanna Do” by Acid House Kings off Sing Along With The Acid House Kings
“Reaching Through To The Other Side” by My Brightest Diamond off All Things Will Unwind
“The Strangers” by St. Vincent off Actor
“Adelai” by Lohio off Family Tree
“New Colors” by Figurines off Figurines
“Time Stretcher” by Treefight For Sunlight off A Collection of Vibrations for Your Skull
“We Were Wild” by Today The Moon, Tomorrow The Sun off W I L D F I R E
“Wake Up” by Arcade Fire off Funeral
“Echoes” by I Was A King off Old Friends
“Ran Into A Coroner” by Built Like Alaska off Autumnland
“By The Sea” by Summer Fiction off By The Sea (Digital Single)
“Worry A Lot” by The Zebras off Worry A Lot
“Where Have We Been?” by Acid House Kings off Music Sounds Better With You
“Slippery Slope” by The Dø off Both Ways Open Jaws
“To Depart” by Suturee off Among Friends EP
“Welcome Here” by Jeff Hanson off Jeff Hanson
“All This World” by Arco off Driving At Night (7-inch Single)
“The Images We Get” by Sugarplum Fairies off The Images We Get
“Lazy Line Painter Jane” by Belle & Sebastian off Lazy Line Painter Jain (Single)
“A Good Thing” by Saint Etienne off Boxette (Disc 4: Eric Random)
“Western Hospitality” by Club 8 off The People’s Record
“How Come” by Avi Buffalo off How Come (7-inch Single)
End playlist. On to a few feature tracks. The first is from Suturee, a male-female bedroom pop duo out of New York. “To Depart” is off their recent five-song EP Among Friends and it features a little more volume than I remember from their earlier work. It still fits the bedroom pop mold; though, if you have a chance, check out the final track on the EP, “Name Remains”, as it employs a volume more in tune with shoegaze than bedroom pop. Listen to “To Depart” below…
Listen: “To Depart” by Suturee
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The second and last song I’ll feature this week is a brand new one by up-and-coming French band The Dø. “Slippery Slope” is off the band’s second release to hit the states, Both Ways Open Jaws. While not all songs are as punchy and, well, almost indicative of the over-blasted pop side of mainstream music as that of “Slippery Slope”, they’re all very good. This song reminds me of the realm MGMT fit into upon their release of Oracular Spectacular (or maybe The Ting Tings’ 2008 track “That’s Not My Name”). This song could make The Dø blow up. It’s that good, and it’s that accessible to the greater population.
Download: “Slippery Slope” by The Dø
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The problem with so-called best-of lists, is that they are really just a collection of items organized based on experience and time, in that there will be plenty of albums heard the following year and beyond that will hold just as much weight as these we dub as “Best.” So, as of right now, at this particular time in the tail end of 2010 and the first moments of 2011, these albums are the best. There’s no question about it; it will change. My next list (which I’ve started, but may take a while to publish) is dubbed, paraphrase: the best albums I didn’t check out in 2011 for some reason or another. (more…)
Creating a music video, in my opinion, should be about creating art. There are so many intricate elements that should go into a video that are so often left forgotten or, at least, unattended. First and foremost is the song itself — a video must compliment the art to which it is expanding from audio to video. Connecting the two is extremely important. Second is theme. The best videos have some storyline, vague or distinct. Or at least something visually interesting. (more…)