AHHMAZING! I didn't know the Birthday Sex song. So before listening to the jj's version, I opted myself to listen to the original and after few seconds, I hit the stop button. I expected an awesome cover and indeed, jj delivered it! The Swedish band has no boundaries in creating haunting songs with melodic twist as evident in this track. Who would have thought this song was a crappy hip-hop track. This is probably one of the best cover songs of this year.
I dug out some of my indiepop CD collection while looking for my Club 8 albums and found Blueboy's If Wishes Were Horses. There I was, falling in love with the band like the first time I heard them. Blueboy's brand of indiepop thought me how to smile in any sad situation- it's melancholic, melodic and extremely sweet. I can listen to their music and just float away from reality. It's dreamy, ambiguous, eerie at times but you can sing along after a few listen. Keith Girdler and Gemma Townlet's voices were so charming you couldn't help but smile every time they sing. It's probably one of the best bands Sarah Records ever produced. Sadly, the vocalist Keith Girdler died of cancer in 2004 but his music lives on in the music history.
Below are some favorite tracks from their If Wishes Were Horses and Unisex album. Hit me up a message if you liked it or otherwise.
Clem Castro did the right choice in leaving the now defunct Orange & Lemons and we can clearly see why "creative differences" was his reason to part from the band. Then, he formed The Camerawalls out of hunger for more indiepop action.
The Sight of Love is a summery track perfect for a sunny blue skies day. It features Sarah Gaugler on vocals which sounds insanely sweet, totally different when she sings in her band Turbo Goth. Here, she sounds like Julia Lannerheim of Acid House Kings. Well, most of the female vocalist of indiepop bands sounds the same.
I also love the video for this track! Makes me wanna go to Tagaytag and do some horseback riding. Wincy Ong is such a genius *drool*. The Sight of Love is off of their debut album Pocket Guide To the Otherworld. You can also download the single for free in their official site.
Bloc Party's frontman Kele Okereke solo effort is starting to gain raves from blogs and online communities with the release of his debut single Tenderoni off from his album The
Boxer.
I was expecting to hear a Bloc Party sounding track but Tenderoni is nothing like it...in a good way. It's more dancey rather than rock-driven. It seems that Kele is doing a better job alone. Well I guess Bloc Party's over.
Sorry, I just have to do that out of excitement. This is one of the
things i would like to happen before I die- to watch Club 8 perform live
and sing along with them swaying from side to side with my eyes closed.
Thanks to MODERN
ROCK BUREAU for making this happen. *clears throat* CLUB 8 LIVE IN
MANILA WAAAHHHHAAA!!
I am so excited! totally! Major! I cant wait to hear Karolina Komstedt's
sweet voice and Johan Angergård music ingenuity.It's happening on May
14, 2010 at The Venice Piazza, McKinley Hills
SMX Convention Center and May 15 at the Cebu International
Convention Center (CICC).
For ticket inquiries and reservations
please call (CEBU) 316-3524, 09232707090, 09173283777 (MANILA)
0916-4004343 or 0915-9006954. I am not sure yet how much the ticket
price is but I saw a post that it cost Php1000. Why Not?
To know more about the band and their music
check out their official site and myspace
How about some Filipino indiepop band again? This time, it's Patience Dear Juggernaut. It's quite an epic name but when you listen to this one-man band from Manila, there's only one thing you'd think of- Wincy Ong is hot! No, that's not what I am trying to point out. ;) Patience Dear Juggernaut's music is neat and sweet and simplified with Wincy Ong's voice.
The track, Volcanoes,
The Ones Named After You was inspired by The Cardigans’ Life LP and Swedish artist Solveig Sandes said Ong in his Tumblr.
Patience Dear Juggernaut's debut album Resilience Sweet Goliath will be released soon (please make it sooner) under Lilystars Records.
One fine summer day of 1998, while the 13 year old me was having my MTV fix, the video of Adia by Sarah McLachlan showed up on the screen and made the biggest impact in my teenage life. That's when I started to tear off all my Spice Girls posters in my room and forced myself to become depress so I could totally savor all the sad songs in Sarah McLachlan's Surfacing album. It was also the year when female singer/songwriters with folk-rock influences burst into the airwaves and Jewel, Paula Cole, Shawn Colvin, Fiona Apple and Tori Amos became my BFFs. I can still remember recording songs from 99.5RT and NU 107 into my old cassette tapes of B*Witched and All Saints and my Spice Girls friends (Spice Barkada) hated me for listening to my newly discovered music. hahaha!
And after nearly seven years, Sarah McLachlan is back with a new album to be released on June 15th. It's called The Laws of Illusion and I have the first single out of that album. Well, all the researching paid off. Loving You Is Easy is an upbeat track and I can sense she is in a happy mood.
There is only one thing this compilation wants to point out, HE DOESN'T LIKE YOU ANYMORE SO MOVE ON AND GET A LIFE! To my dear friends who have lots of hang ups in life, this mixtape is all for you.
Last Request - Paolo Nutini
Do What You Have To Do - Sarah Mc Lachlan
It's All Over - The Broken Family Band
I Can't Let Go - Acid House Kings
Better Days - Club 8
S
ana - Up Dharma Down
Breakdown - Club 8
bituin - Itchyworms
Still - Macy Gray
A Lack of Color - Death Cab for Cutie
Come
Back Margaret - Camera Obscura
The Special Two - Missy Higgins
Been Here Before - Jeremy Enigk
Drive - Bic Runga
You Were Meant for Me - Jewel
Winning a Battle, Losing the War - Kings of Convenience
It's Over - Milosh
Boo - Pinback
Come Pick Me Up - Ryan Adams
Time Is Running Out - Muse
Nothing Compares To You - Sinead O Connor
I Didn't Understand - Elliott Smith
All the Little Pieces - Louis XIV
Knife - Grizzly Bear
I Know It's Over - The Smiths
Indiepop scene in the Philippines maybe quiet but we have great bands that need to be discovered. Download this collection and hear the true core of indiepop.
Most of the people I know who listen to The Xx testify that Islands is definitely their favorite track from the trio's self-titled album. I couldn't agree more.
The official music video of Islands may look minimal and simple. But if you watch closely, there are a lot of things going on beside the interpretative dance. Though the choreography looks funny, it is effective and hypnotic as you try to wait if there will be something new to look forward to after each loop. And yes, there are slight changes. I also noticed how stylish the mood of the whole video is. The glossy, all black feel never fails to exude elegance and it best represents the song. Me loovve it!
There's something in this track that I couldn't pin point in just one sitting. After a few spin, I realized that Celestica is way too tame for a Crystal Castles song. It's the most accessible track from the band yet and it could be mistaken as one of those house music that Embassy crowd used to enjoy. But dont get me wrong, this particular track is awesome. It's part of the band's self-titled(same as their debut) sophomore album to be released on the 7th of June.
Compared to Celestica, the track Doe Deer brings out the real Crystal Castles sound- chaotic, raw and absolute mayhem. It runs barely two minutes but the beat bangs on and on until the last beat. Take a listen to both tracks and be the judge to which direction you want Crystal Castle to take.
Gold Panda may sound like the cousin of Grizzly Bear, Panda Bear and Minus the Bear(all band names) but he's a totally different music animal. The new release of the London-based producer has a lot of things going on in a very positive way. I love the electronic chipmunk-like vocal that sings "you and me" which can be mistaken as a sitar sample if you don't listen closely. But what the heck, it's an excellent dance-floor-ready song! I can imagine myself slow dancing in an empty dance floor with this track. sheez
I dont know what's so sexy about living in America but one thing is certain, Dom's music is a sure fire summer fave. Hailed from Massachusetts, this trio is getting a lot of blog-love even before they released their debut EP Sun Bronzed Greek Gods. I heard most of the tracks from the EP and it seemed that Dom had fun tinkering their synthesizer. You may define their music as "chill wave" and can be compared with Neon Indian and Washed Out. But what sets them apart from these bands is their shoegaze-tinged sound that never runs out of catchy melodies.
The track that made Dom my recent band crush is Living in America. If you enjoyed MGMT's Electric Feel, Living in America has that same vibe but perkier. You'll also love the track Burn Bridges if you're into lo-fi music.
After Sigur Rós announced their 'indefinite hiatus,' lead singer and guitarist Jónsi made himself busy and released a solo album of epic proportion. Almost every track in his album, Go, can be a soundtrack of any a Disney or James Cameron movie. Montages of a possible scene are in my head while listening to the album. Coming from a band that doesn't do small, Jónsi put much effort in creating the album in a massive scale coz a lot of people were expecting too much and i think he delivered. I didn't skip any track from Go but my faves from the album are Boy Lilikoi, Around Us and the opening track Go Do.
Having a house rager? This new track from Hadouken! might tear-off the roof of your house coz once it's played, i bet you everybody will be dancing. Mic Check is part of their new album For The Masses and I'm loving it to death! If you like Prodigy and Asian Dub Foundation, Mic Check would make your pants wet.
AFest last year was a blast! I had so much fun meeting a lot of Asian bands and got to listen to their music. International music festivals here in the Philippines is not as big deal as to other countries. We don't have Coachella or SXSW here to feature international acts in one stage so AFest is the closest thing for us to be exposed to the music outside our dear country.
The second annual Asian Music Festival will once again stage indie bands from Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines on April 14-17 in multiple venues. It will also feature music documentaries by Brooklyn-based director Torsten Meier- Free NYC and The Silence After: The last days of CBGB’s.
This one's for the ladies and alike. I discovered Nate Day at MySpace while randomly searching for new bands to feature. I thought he was a foreign act because of his looks until I found out that he is Manila based. I am not a big fan of screaming kids but his brand of emo is quite tolerable. His music is a combination emo and electronica. Think Fall Out Boy mixed with Postal Service something like that. Before you judge my sensibility, take a listen to this particular track Stop & Start (My Heart). What i like about this song is the jumpy, indiepoppish intro which ruined by his voice but I still like the song, nonetheless. You can check his MySpace and Blog for more info. (i just dont understand his fascination with Selena Gomez and Demi Lovatomy)
Sorry, I just have to do that out of excitement. This is one of the things i would like to happen before I die- to watch Club 8 perform live and sing along with them swaying from side to side with my eyes closed. Thanks to MODERN
ROCK BUREAU for making this happen. *clears throat* CLUB 8 LIVE IN MANILA WAAAHHHHAAA!!
I am so excited! totally! Major! I cant wait to hear Karolina Komstedt's sweet voice and Johan Angergård music ingenuity.It's happening on May 14, 2010 at The Venice Piazza, McKinley Hills and May 15 at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC).
For ticket inquiries and reservations please call (CEBU) 316-3524, 09232707090, 09173283777 (MANILA) 0916-4004343 or 0915-9006954. I am not sure yet how much the ticket price is but I saw a post that it cost Php1000. Why Not?
To know more about the band and their music check out their official site and myspace
This is one of my favorite songs from Club 8 which was my official soundtrack in summer of 2002.
It seems like yesterday when Stars released their In Our Bedroom After The War and it was like 2007. But I didn't actually missed this band because almost everyday, I would loop Midnight Coward and Calendar Girl at least 5 times...each.
The Five Ghosts is Star's 5th studio album to be released at the end of June and you can hear the first track out of that album below entitled Fixed. This feel-good first single has Amy Millan's naive vocals over the layers of synth that add up to that -get-up-and-go mood of the song. You can also download Fixed for free below.
Wow, are we in the future now? "Chevrolet has created the worlds first fully functioning DJ car, with
turntables for wheels! The car, created especially for the Chevrolet." It sounds impossible but no, Chevrolet made it possible.
"When the car is flipped on its side there's a working platform for the
DJ with CD decks, a mixer, and of course turntable wheels!" (so what's next, a microwave with wifi?)
Along with the Chevrolet Spark launch, The Mystery Jets will be part of the tour and will debut some of the new songs from their upcoming album.
What I hate about this band is how Quark Henares and Mich Dulce make me kilig every time they do the lets-pretend-we're-an-item-and-sing-like-we're-in-love acts in their live performances and music videos. They are like the hipster Marian River and Dingdong Dantes love team. I have no idea if they really are together or they are just playing the part but what the heck, it's benta pare.
But what I love about Us-2 Evil-0 is the way they create pop songs- simple and catchy. Just like their new release Our Weekends Dissolve, their follow up to This Mighty Heart Attack which became my Lola's official soundtrack when my Lolo passed away. (heart attack... lolo... you get my joke right?)
Anyhow, this particular song doesn't have complicated musical machinery, no pretentious poetic lines just a catchy pop melody that creams I MISS YOU plus Mitch Dulce's child-like voice. Lovely.
Watch the music video directed by Ramon de Veyra. (At ang Nokia puma-product placement.)
I don't wanna be disappointed with the new sound of Club 8. But knowing how far they've gone before experimenting with tribal beats, I'd commend their musical ingenuity in creating fresh pop music. The
People’s Record is the Swedish duo's 7th studio album following up their 2008 release The
Boy Who Couldn't Stop Dreaming.
According to their official statement, “The
band has traveled to Brazil for inspiration, bought records made in the
70’s in Western Africa, used a percussion player from Cuba and hooked
up with producer Jari Haapalainen (The Concretes, Camera Obscura, Ed
Harcourt). The result is unique mix of Swedish pop melodies and African
rhythms.”
Here's the first song out of that album, Western Hospitality, to be released May 18 thru Labrador. You can download for free here
And I heard, they will be performing in Manila and Cebu this May. This is yet to be confirmed. CROSS FINGERS!!!
