Pretty amazing video for the first single on Röyksopp’s upcoming album Junior. You can pre-order it Amazon.

Via Kottke.

Röyksopp – Happy Up Here

Listen and enjoy. Try to have a guy-on-the-left-type attitude about it, rather than a guy-on-the-right one.

Longwave – Satellites

This is a good song! Also a good picture. There are tons of good pictures of this band on the web. Also their bio on their website is probably the first decent bio I’ve read of any band.

“We knew we had something as soon as there was just the two of us in the room,” says Laura. “We thought about getting a bassist; some people suggested that was the way to go; but we were scared that would dilute what we had. We knew there was something there that doesn’t happen between two people very often. We listened to the sound we were making. It sounded mighty.”

There is something to be said for boy/girl duo rock bands, eg White Stripes, Mates of State, Duenow, The Bird and the Bee. I don’t know what it is though. And then again perhaps not; sometimes good music is just good.

Blood Red Shoes – I Wish I Was Someone Better

This song makes me wish I had a bike. (Also that I lived in a city where you could pedal slowly down the street without getting run over by a taxi.) If there were a Modes of Transport Mix, this would definitely be on it.

The Cool Kids – Black Mags

A Dyno with black mag wheels. Not three-point ones, but you get the idea.

I hope this blog is helping you to find music that you wouldn’t have otherwise! But if you want to take your music game to the next level, you could try moving up one layer of abstraction to The Hype Machine. They’re like a huge mega-blog that aggregates hundreds of other blogs. (Sadly not this one, but hopefully that’ll change soon!)

I’m very impressed with their music player (try hitting ‘play’ next to a track). If you sign up for a profile, you can scrobble those plays into your last.fm profile. Amazing, right? Maybe the web is the new iTunes!

Belle & Sebastian – Seeing Other People

I had to cut this song from my earlier post about The Grates. I think in my future pop song ranking algorithm, a track will get a bonus for each second under 2:45 it is. That’s going to put this song over the top. That and the subtle horn section (?) in the background?

The Grates – 19-20-20

I would be an irresponsible #1 Metric fan not to note that a new album seems imminent. The evidence:

• Their website has changed to color bars
• They’ve been performing new material
• May 1, 2007: Metric Begin Work on New Album
• Sep 10, 2007: Metric’s New Album “75% Complete”

The suspense is totally fine, really. I’m fine with it!

This is the demo mix of their soon-to-be-formerly biggest single. I don’t know what makes it better than the OWU version, but it is. I’ve seen them play in NY four or five times, and it’s notable that they never really nail this song. I think maybe it annoys them that they always get the biggest response on this early, comparatively simple song. You can hear an example of this on Metric Live at Metropolis. Compare that to how they always nail Wet Blanket (probably my favorite song) or Dead Disco. Of course, they usually play this song at the end, right before the encore. So maybe they’re just tired.

Metric – Combat Baby [Demo]

It’s time for some rock! Way too much pop and indie on the blog lately! Show description via Lazyeye.

This is old-school punk, loud and aggressive by way of The Stooges, with geek vocalist Spencer Moody doing his best Iggy impersonation, microphone in mouth, jumping around a stage that was lit ominously by candles lined up along the top of the amps. Energy was high, resulting in the first time I’ve seen an attempt at moshing at the Underground in a long, long time.

Murder City Devils – Press Gang

I think I may have posted this a long time ago—this was one of my favorite songs of 2006! Anyway check out an open love letter to Sea Wolf and these t-shirts seem pretty nice.

Sea Wolf – Black Dirt

So here’s an amazing song from The Wombats. At the top level, this is an off-the-chain pop song on performance-enhancing stimulants. (Its always a good sign when a song starts with a “woo!”-type exclamation. More on that in a future post.)

But there seems to be a lot more beneath the surface; like how it name-checks another artist / classic song, but then it appears to get the whole thing wrong while “celebrating the irony of it all.” After a few verses, it takes a right turn with early 80s drum machine and synth sounds, and starts brilliantly mis-quoting the song in question: “Love will tear us apart” has become “Let the love tear us apart.”

My theory is it relates to the apparent contradictions in the first verse; you’re supposed to “learn from his mistake.” Is it the advice you’re supposed to learn from or the breaking of it? Any why would he break the advice he just worked out? And if the advice is that dancing to depressing Joy Divison songs is a cure for heartbreak, then… well ok I’m confused. But perhaps that was the point?

(Woo!)
I’m back in Liverpool,
And everything seems the same,
But I worked something out last night,
That changed this little boy’s brain,
A small piece of advice,
That took 22 years in the make,
And I will break it for you now,
Please learn from my mistakes.

Let’s dance to Joy Division,
And celebrate the irony,
Everything is going wrong,
But we’re so happy!
Let’s dance to Joy Division,
And raise our glass to the ceiling,
‘Cos this could all go so wrong,
But we’re so happy!

So if your ever feeling down,
Grab your purse and take a taxi,
To the darker side of town,
That’s where we’ll be,
And we will wait for you and lead
you through the dancefloor,
Up to the DJ booth,
You know what to ask for!

You’ll ask for Joy Division,
And celebrate the irony,
Everything is going wrong,
But we’re so happy!

Let’s dance to Joy Division,
And raise our glass to the ceiling,
‘Cos this could all go so wrong,
But we’re so happy!

Let the love tear us apart,
I’ve found the cure for a broken heart,
Let it tear us apart,
(Let it tear us apart)

Let’s dance to Joy Division,
And celebrate the irony,
Everything is going wrong,
But were so happy!

Let’s dance to Joy Division,
And raise our glass to the ceiling,
‘Cos this could all go so wrong,
But we’re so happy!

Thanks Sweets Lyrics

The Wombats – Let’s Dance to Joy Division