Song of the Day

Song of the Day/Week: The Noisettes – I Want U Back

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English rock duo The Noisettes released their third album Contact earlier this week and I pretty much can’t stop listening to it. Probably my favorite track off this record is I Want U Back. Featuring space age rhythm and beats, a catchy chorus and soundtracked by Shingai Shoniwa’s nasally yet fantastic voice, this song just sounds like a hit. I don’t want to make lazy comparisons but it definitely reminds me a bit of Janelle Monae.

Song of the Day: Acid House Kings – This Heart is a Stone

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acid house kings photo

Don’t judge a book by its cover right? (Ms. Moochler, my favorite English teacher in the world, just cringed. She always said one should never start an essay with a cliché and she’s right. Sorry! Chalk it up to trying to write blog posts on uninspired Mondays …) Anyway… as poor form as using a cliché may be, I do think this one rings true for Acid House Kings. When I first saw the band’s name, I immediately assumed it would be some sort of grunge-punk-rock acid-influenced bass-pumping sound machine. Not so. In fact, the Swedish trio produces some of the most gentle, indie-inspired sounds I’ve heard in quite awhile. (Also, 2/3 of the band is family between brothers Niklas and Johan Angergard – always a nice dynamic for a band!)

Speaking of uninspired Mondays, the band’s “Mondays are like Tuesdays” is a great background song for the office-place or anytime (found on the band’s 2002 album titled, originally, “Mondays are like Tuesdays and Tuesdays are like Wednesdays”).

Another favorite song of mine is “This Heart is a Stone.” Coincidentally, speaking of clichés, this tune has lyrics that unabashedly knock down such canned phrases right and left:

“They say your middle name is trouble/But I know it’s Caroline” or
“They say they can smell the drama/But I know it’s No. 5.”

Acid House Kings are celebrating 20 happy years as a band and reissued a trio of albums: Advantage Acid House Kings (1997); Mondays are like Tuesdays and Tuesdays are like Wednesdays (2002); and Sing Along with Acid House Kings (2005). While the band’s sound doesn’t vary from its breathy vocals, guitar-based instrumental, and upbeat sound anyone looking for a nice selection of indie Euro songs can’t go wrong with any of these three.

Song of the Day: Beth Orton – Magpie

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beth orton magpie

It’s been six long years since Beth Orton released new music. That’s a long time. To recap, here are some things that also happened in 2006.

– Winter Olympics happen in Turin. It’s also known as the one that everyone forgot
– Montenegro declares independence, making the show Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego even harder for kids
– Italy wins the world cup after Zidane headbutts some dude
– Windows Vista is released
– Suri Cruise was born
– The Departed wins best picture
– Taylor Hicks was a thing
– Justin Bieber was 12

Here were some songs from 2006
– James Blunt – “You’re Beautiful”
– Justin Timberlake – “Sexyback”
– Nelly Furtado – “Promiscuous”
– Peter Bjorn and John – “Young Folks”
– Hot Chip – “Over and Over”

So yeah, it has been a while. A critically acclaimed singer-songwriter that grew in stature in the late 90s, Beth Orton went on hiatus immediately after becoming a mother. Now that the kid is probably six or seven and the novelty has worn off, she has decided rise from the ashes and grace us with a new tune.

Magpie is the first single off her new record Sugaring Season and it once again features her glorious voice over a simple guitar arrangement that slowly gets more and more interesting as the track moves on. It sounds conventional, but anyone who has heard Beth Orton before knows that there is always more then meets the eye.. like a transformer.

Check it out

Song of the Day: The Royal Concept – In The End

Posted on by Ricky in Song of the Day | Leave a comment

the royal concept

Swedish indie pop band The Royal Concept released an EP not too long ago and it seems to get better with each listen. Sure, it doesn’t really tread any new sonic territories and you can most certainly start listing off supposed musical influences from the opening beats of the first track, but a good tune is a good tune.

The last track of the EP, In The End is a good tune. It’s one of those melodramatic sappy song that’s designed for a montage scene in a rom-com, where the guy is mulling around feeling all dejected about some chick and then has some sort of epiphany (at the 3 minute mark), runs through the rain (it always rains) to some transportation hub (bus station/train station/airport/harbor/spaceport/stargate). Then they confess their love for each other and have an epic makeout scene that is clearly vying to be nominated for that mtv movie award.

Now that the imagery is in your head, listen to this song.