Today's Swell Tune: Reset/Restore

• Band: We Were Not the Savages
• EP: We Were Not the Savages
• From: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• Sound: Everyone uses synth in their rock now, but this one actually uses it for good; rock, synth-punk (is that a thing?)
• Buy it: bandcamp (name your price)
• Facebook: facebook

Saturday Night Remix: 2020

YouTube, fuckers.

into:

Today's Swell Tune: Cuckoo

 

• Artist: Rose and the Howling North
• Album: Cuckoo
• From: Leeds, England
• Sound: Nancy Sinatra scoring Tarantino credits.
• Website: Cuckoo Records
• Social: twitter, myspace

Friday's Forgotten Song: Chick Habit

April March
Album: Paris in April

1995 

Today's Swell Tune: Better Things

• Band: Young Rival
• Album: Stay Young
• From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
• Sound: The Animals. But louder. And Johnny Cash is in the room, for some (awesome) reason.
• Website: http://www.youngrival.com/
• Facebook: facebook

Today's Swell Tune: Mad Dog

Black Lips - Mad Dog

• Band: Black Lips
• Album: Arabia Mountain
• From: Atlanta Georgia, United Satates
  
• Sound: Is there such a thing as "mod punk?" ; lo-fi garage punk
• Website: black-lips.com/
• Social: facebook, twitter, blogspot

Today's Swell Tune: Bad Intentions

Bad Intentions (Single Mix) - Shona Foster

• Artist: Shona Foster
• Album: The Moon and You
• From: Brighton, England
• Sound: Like the Tori Amos of 1992 took a time machine to 1942 to do a number at a nightclub ; piano pop
• Website: shonafoster.com
• Bandcamp: shonafoster.bandcamp.com
• Social: facebook, twitter

Today's Swell Tune: The Great Fire

• Band: Future Islands
• Album: On the Water
• From: Baltimore, Maryland, United States
• Sound: I don't believe I've ever used the word 'breathtaking' in a sentence before ; new wave, synthpop.
• Website: future-islands
• Social: facebook, twitter, tumblr, myspace

Monday Morning Cover: Let's Do It

Joan Jett and Paul Westerberg:

The Original*:

Cole Porter:

*It's preeeeeetty racist, originally.

Saturday Night Remix: Mirrorage

Glasser- Mirrorage 

into:

Glasser - Mirrorage (SUUNS Remix) 

Friday's Forgotten Song: Earth, Sky & C.

I Mother Earth

Album: Scenery and Fish

1996

Today's Swell Tune: Fire!

Baby Baby - Fire!

• Band: Baby Baby
• Album: Money
• From: Atlanta, Georgia, United States
• Sound: Like they put on a Hell of a live show. And like Violent Femmes might have a case against that opening riff... ; They brand themselves "Fun Rock," and I'm gonna ahead and brand an "indie" into that ass, too.
• Social: facebook twitter
• Download free:  here

Today's Swell Tune: Dreamer

Dreamer by elizaveta

• Artist: Elizaveta
• Album: (EP) Elizaveta (full album due Jan 2012)
• From: Born NYC, Raised in Russia. The exact reverse of...
• Sound: I'm just gonna say it--Regina Spektor. Just a lot like that, but a bit synthier; pop opera (has anyone coined "popera" yet? Let's not talk to them, if they do.)
• Website: www.elizaveta.com
• Social: facebook ; twitter
• Video: youtube.com/elizavetamusic

Today's Swell Tune: Baby Missiles

• Band: The War On Drugs
• Album: Slave Ambient
• From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
• Sound: The best Bruce Springsteen song not written by Bruce Springsteen. Or Win Butler. ; indie rock.
• Website: thewarondrugs.net/
• Social: twitter

Friday's Forgotten Song: God Damn Job

 

God Damn Job* (The Replacements)

The Replacements

Album: Stink

1982

*This one goes out to the 1%.

Today's Swell Tune: Act on Impulse

We Were Promised Jetpacks - Act On Impulse

   

• Band: We Were Promised Jetpacks
• Album: In the Pit of the Stomach
• From: Edinburgh, Scotland
• Sound: Sometimes a song just seems to be about you...your thoughts...how and what you've been living... ...Screw you guys--it's my blog; indie rock, post punk
• Website: wewerepromisedjetpacks.co.uk
• Social:  facebook, myspace

Boss Stuff on the Interwebs: Wednesday Links 29/06/11

• I've yet to meet anyone with good taste who dislikes Buddy Holly. Hell, I've yet to meet anyone with hearing who dislikes Buddy Holly. Bearly Rambling looks at the new cover album that features Florence + The Machine, The Black Keys, Paul McCartney, Julian Caseblancas, Modest Mouse, Fiona Apple, Lou Reed, and on and on...

• Guerolitomusic has the teaser for the second album from The Drums' portmento. It is all synth, no surf, and that's probably good since the old schtick feels tired, no?

• Music for Ants has put together their second summer mix! Find The Naked and the Famous, Cage the Elephant, Foster the People, TV on the Radio, Generationals, and more stuff like that.

• Little Reviews has nothing bad to say about Centro-Matic's Candidate Waltz. Nobody does, it seems. (francais)

• According to Lindsey at What's Protocol, Dallas Green "has a voice that resonates inside... like a shot of Jameson whiskey". 

• And since eye-rolling is my cardio: James Franco (yes, the actor) is going to be releasing a dance EP and is now in a music video with Kalup Linzy. Because being a pretentious hipster twit isn't a personality; it's a lifestyle. See Stereogum for more.

Today's Swell Tune: Up Past the Nursery

Suuns - Up Past The Nursery

• Band: SUUNS
• Album: Zeroes QC
• From: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• Sound: A barely contained nervous breakdown; experimental indie rock
• Social: facebook, myspace, tumblr, twitter
• Download Free: from Bandcamp

I'm Sorry I Was Gone; Allow Me to Give You a Boner

There are a multitude of reasons that someone might take a break from writing their amateur, low-to-medium traffic music blog. Some are good, some less so, but none of them are laziness.


Initially, mine was a few of life's shittiest scenarios occurring in very rapid succession. Sort of a one-two(-three) combination that k.o.'d me, if only temporarily. For at least a little while it left me utterly uninspired to pay attention to anything as simple and pleasant as an amateur, low-to-medium-traffic music blog. These things do happen.


Soon afterward, it became a more typical case of everything that is adult in life consuming my waking hours and using up the best of my mental faculties.  For at least a little while it left me utterly unable to donate any attention to something as recreational and unpaid as an amateur, low-to-medium-traffic music blog. These things happen, too.


Finally, I found myself caught up in some folly with no function beyond its bizarre culmination in a lost weekend in Montreal. But, for at least a little while, it did lure my attention from anything as personal and enjoyable as an amateur low-to-medium-traffic music blog. For the record, it's only this last one I'm sorry for.


These last three weeks, however, my distractions have been more of the "putting-food*-in-my-stomach-and-a-roof-over-my-head" variety.  You see, as an indirect result of all of the above, and in my typical "because-I-suddenly-thought-of-it" fashion, I've moved from Moscow to Toronto and have had to acclimatize myself.  The natives are very friendly and rarely bite, and my new flat is situated amid lots of good venues in the centre of Canada's largest city. And this should be nothing but beneficial to any amateur, low-to-medium-traffic music blog. You can expect more about live shows, better access to musicians, and photos not culled from flickr. Other than that, I hope to get everything back to normal around here. 


All the e-mails and messages regarding my absence were greatly appreciated. Thanks for sticking around. I owe you one.  


And in that vein, I think you should watch Slow from Twin Shadow. It's not new in the slightest, but I saw him live a couple weeks ago and he had so much raw charisma that pretty much everyone in the joint had a hard on. At least musically speaking. So this should make things up, a bit:

*alcohol and other ingestible substances of questionable moral integrity.