Toronto - When you listen to as much new music as we do, you find that its hard to decided what to listen to. Now I know what you are thinking - boo hoo, Ricky’s bitchin about having too much new music to listen to. But tis true, and sometimes you’ll miss some music and then peeps will be all like ‘What? you didn’t know about Chromeo!?!?’ and stuff. One of the things I have used as a tool to decide what music to listen to is… the band name. Yet. How incredibly shallow is that?

Enter Pete and the Pirates. Who can turn down listening to a band named ‘Pete and the Pirates’? No one. Terrorists, maybe. But thats it. Pete and the Pirates is a 5 piece jangly pop-punk band from Reading, England. As my previous sentence said, they excel in friendly pop-punk brit tunes thats made for nme/radio 1. They have an album out now called ‘Little Death‘ from the label Stolen Records. At first, I wasn’t much into this album, then I checked my last.fm stats and realized, whoa, this was the album I listened to most last week. CRAZY.

Why do I like this album? First of all, its short. The album clocks in at just 36 minutes, so that means I can fit another short album onto it and make a cd-r that holds two albums instead of one (I don’t like keeping original cds in cd wallets, since it seems to scratch it somehow. So I make a backup of original cds when I buy it). This saves the environment, and being as eco friendly as I am, I like this. Look at the Pigeon Detectives album last year, really short and I listened to it to death. Also, having a short album means less of a time commitment. Always a bonus. Besides the length of the album though, its also a very pleasant pop album. The songs are upbeat, mostly melodic and because each song clocks in at under 3 minutes, they get the point across quickly, rip thru the chorus and its over. Leaves you wanting more instead of just berating you with the same riff over and over again. The lyric delivery of Tommy Sanders reminds me of some of the late 80s bands like Inspiral Carpets for some reason.

Familiar bands would include Mystery Jets and Rumble Strips.

Here is a link to a site that looks at other aspects of the album, like, lyrics and stuff:

Cuckoo Press

Here is NME’s Review

Here is a song off their album, called Mr. Understanding

 

 Pete and the Pirates - Mr Understanding [3:15m]: Play Now

Los Campesinos! are a 7 piece outfit from Cardiff, Wales who are releasing their first full length Hold On Now, Youngster… on Arts And Crafts here in North America on April 1st. (digital download available this week via Wichita Records February 25th)

I guess the most obvious comparison for Los Campesinos! would be to Tilly And The Wall (minus the tap dancing). They are fun, they scream, they shout, they’re cute and when the mood hits them, they break out the xylophone to kick you in the junk. The entire CD has a somewhat loose chaotic feel to it, which is likely due to the production tactics of David Newfield of Broken Social Scene fame.

They say you should write about what you know about and it is obvious that these kids know about academia. Lyrically, the whole CD has an academic theme running through it which serves a nice backdrop and context for all the songs which happen to be about being young, being silly, forming relationships and of course, dancing.

The pre-summer release date for Hold On Now, Youngster… (April 1st) makes this a must have for the 2008 summer solstics. Whether you are driving to the beach, hangning by a camp fire or stuck in traffic trying to get to one of the previous two locations, you’ll want to have some Los Campesinos! handy to put you in the mood for getting naked. The Panic Manual does not endorse driving naked.

Track by track review of Hold On Now, Youngster… after the jump

» Read the rest of the entry..

 

 Los Campesinos! - My Year In Lists (2008): Play Now

I was in Rogers Video the other day, recognized a track that was playing on the TV, looked up and saw this video. Best videogame trailer/music combo evar.

The name of the track is ‘Lonely Soul’ by UNKLE feat. Richard Ashcroft.

The Honeydrips are a side project started by singer/songwriter Mikael Carlsson (formerly from the band Dorotea) back in 2003. Yet another great group from Gothenburg, Sweden. Man what is it with this city? It must be something in the Köttbullar.

Although this is a full length LP, it actually sounds like an indie popsters best of compilation. While listening you may notice that many of the tracks sound a little familiar. I’m thinking this may have been done on purpose, as it sounds like Carlsson created this album as more of an homage to his influences such as The Field Mice, The Jesus and Mary Chain and St. Etienne. There’s also an obvious nod to Joy Division with the cleverly titled ‘(Lack of Love) Will Tear Us Apart’.

The albums intro track ‘Strangest Dream’ starts with the gentle pluck of strings and Mikaels heartaching vocals, a song was would fit perfectly with any Jesus and Mary Chain album. Expecting a similar sound with the next track ‘Trying Something New’, you instead get blasted into the cosmos complete with echoy vocals, heavy bass and spacey synths. ‘Here Comes The Future’ finds Carlsson taking a cue from the Field Mice’s dreamy earnestness making this album a perfect twee package.

In a nutshell, the album takes you on a stroll along a path where you’re greeted by fluffy bunnies, whilst being tripped out on those tasty mushrooms you picked at the foot of a dark foreboding forest. A must have for any indie pop fan…and yes, I’m talking about the album, not the mushrooms.

Here’s a little bonus for you loyal readers - to make things a little more interesting, I’ve decided to attach a contest to this post. There is a track on ‘Here Comes The Future’ that copies a riff note for note from a popular New Order song. Name the song on the album, the time the riff starts and of course the name of the New Order track and you’ll find yourself an owner of some really cool twee-related swag. Email me with your answer and the first correct response wins the tasty prize!

4.5/5

 

 The Honeydrips - Here Comes the Future: Play Now

Toronto - When you think of Hayden nowadays, you probably think of Hayden Panettiere, the cheerleader from the show Heroes, whose also dating her coworker Milo (Peter from Heroes). Or you might be thinking about Hayden Christensen, the young Darth Vader. However, if you are a music fan, you are probably thinking of Hayden, the Canadian singer songwriter from Thornhill, Ontario. What does this guy sound like? He sounds like a singer songwriter. Haha. What I mean is, he has that alt country, almost folky sound to him. Lots of acoustic guitar, lots of slowly pace sounds, lots of tender moments and sensitive shit. Imagine a Zach Braff movie, where he plays some succesfful artsy schmuck whos not happy with his life, goes to some crappy town, sleeps with some hot chick ten years younger then he is, and then learns something about himself. Thats singer-songwriter music.

It seems to me that there are two types of Hayden fans, hardcore Hayden fans, and non-Hayden fans. I guess theres no middle ground. Well, now there is. I can’t say I know that much about him, but his recently released cd is pretty good. It’s mellow, and thats the type of music I like to listen to at work. His recent cd is called “In Field & Town” and it is available in your local record shop. He played the Danforth Music Hall a few days ago, and from what I’ve heard, it was a stellar show. Actually, I haven’t heard anything about it, but if you asked someone who went to the show, I’m sure thats what they’ll say.

Hayden also opens for Feist starting in April, in the ‘Artists that only use one part of their name’ tour.

 

 Hayden - More than Alive [2:59m]: Play Now

Sir, Handsom Records (and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) is home to Maybe Smith (Colin Skrapek). Maybe Smith has been making his brand of sample-heavy, lo-fi indy rock for a few years now. Right now Maybe Smith has a free EP, Snowmen & Scientists, available for download on the Sir, Handsome Records website. Have a listen to Mr. Grizzly Bear below. I like it. On Snowmen & Scientists, Maybe Smith samples classic pop songs by the The Ronettes, The Crystals, The Shirelles and others. Mr. Grizzly Bear is a sample of The Crystals classic Then He Kissed Me.

Here is an excerpt from the 2007 year end blog entry that I thought was pretty inspiring:

“Industry folks big and small can complain all they want about declining record sales, but if I can record something in my bedroom, easily release it independently however I choose to do so, and see it virally put smiles on faces from Toronto to Tokyo, then that’s pretty fucking special.” (Colin Skrapek)

Next Show: Maybe Smith is in Toronto for CMW at the Horseshoe on Saturday, March 8th. This is going to be a must see for sure. Get there early, Maybe Smith is opening up the night.

(The Crystals - Then He Kissed Me via Goodfellas)

 

 Maybe Smith - Mr. Grizzly Bear (2007): Play Now