he told there was a part of him missing

We Have Band - Oh!
Hot on the heels of their video for Divisive comes something similar for another track Oh!. Featuring the band members clad in all white, similar to the various colour schemes in the former track, they engage in some sort of contemporary arty-farty dance set to clean crisp lyrics and coloured smoke. It's pretty catchy if you ask me, but sounds all too similar to Divisive.

Perfume Genius - Mr Petersen
I'm not sure how Mike Hadreas came up with a moniker for himself like Perfume Genius, but I sure ain't scratching my head over that. I'm just wondering why he seems to be bruised in many of his pictures. Maybe it's to match his frail vulnerable music, which for this song, I really had to crank up the volume to hear the lyrics. Yet, above all, it's the lyrics itself that strike me the most, barely heard above the elegant pounding of the piano. It's about a paedophile the central character in the song has for a teacher, who uses him in exchange for drugs. But despite all that, Mike Genius somehow manages to make the paedophile sound human and yes, fragile. That's an eccentric but(or and?) brilliant mind at work.

White Hinterland - Amsterdam
Very slow song in which Casey Dienel uses her vocals to steer the song. Subtle layers of synths provide a calming rhythm whilst projecting a very visual soundscape of white trees amidst a slowly rising water level while the moonlight casts a soft glow all over.

will we ever paint the walls

Basia Bulat - Once More, For The Dollhouse
Folksy feel, yet it belies the deep vulnerability that seems to emanate from the lyrics - almost like howls of desperation crying to be heard. Her strong emotive vocals drive this song with panache, along with the bare guitar accompaniment, contributing to the emotional bedlam.

Pearl Harbor - Luv Goon
Sweet shimmery vocals surf on dreamy hazy sounds with washed out synths as one of them coos the chorus. Pearl Harbor is made up of 2 sister, Piper and Skyler, 22 and 15 respectively. Amazing isn't it? They make absolutely harmonious dream pop that dazzle the heart.

Pretty & Nice - Tora Tora Tora (mp3)
You get a bit lost for a moment as the song opens with "the japanese and singing 'tora tora tora' but i don't understand". But as soon as you right your bearings, you realise the upbeat song is flippant and fun. Snappy drumbeats with random lyrics amidst the motley instruments ringing out in the background definitely contribute to the springy mood.

Trentemoller - Always Something Better
First, there's this really bad-ass bassline. Secondly, the haunting sound prolly from the pads. Thirdly, sleek sounding 8 bit synths. I could go on and on, but whatever Mr Trentemoller is doing, he's doing a fantastic job of marrying the vastly different layers in the song into one entity. The ebb and flow is doing the very job of pulling you into the world he has created and pushing you out abruptly, only to bring you back in again.

will you ever understand this decision i've made

Delorean - Grow
A revelation of sorts, this song is definitely a dance of triumph. Candy synths along with a simple yet hypnotic beat plug this song as the music flows like a clear stream, sparkling under the sun. Staying true to their Balearic roots, they deliver a song well-suited for both the ears and the dance floor.

Delorean - Come Wander
Literally, come wander through this melange of synths presented to you by awesome dance pop band Delorean. I notice tthat the first time I listen to most of their songs, the word hypnotic invariably pops up. It's as if you could be induced into moving your legs if you're standing and if you're sitting, to just stand up and move your legs. It's a delirious beat, fresh and bright, capturing the essence of the word bliss.

Midnight Juggernauts - Shadows
A cosmic exploration into the unknown as instruments seem to have powers of their own. A deep bassline coupled with miasmic synths, as Vincent Vendetta coos in this almost instrumental song amidst barely there vocals. It takes you on a journey alluded to "David Bowie if his Berlin Trilogy was a collaboration with Kraftwerk and Faust" (as said by Rolling Stone).

Midnight Juggernauts - Vital Signs
With this video, these guys make weird look cool. (There are some slight resemblances to Muse's Undisclosed Desires video though.) Mystery is the backdrop to which gloom is the driving beat of this song, they talk about closing hearts and shutting down worlds as if there's an agenda for the day at this tribunal. Very interesting song which would pique interest in the more intrepid of ears.

we're bound to wait all night

I was sitting across from the rotating sign
For the Liberty Brass Turning Company

Automatic Screw Machine Products


And brooding about our fathers
Always on the make to make more money

Screw Machine Products Automatic


Tender wounded brassy unsystematic
Free American men obsessing about margins

Machine Products Automatic Screw


Selling every day of their God-damned lives
To some Liberty Brass Turning Company

Products Automatic Screw Machine


Until they were screwed into boxes
And planted in plots paid and unpaid

Automatic Screw Machine Products


- LIBERTY BRASS by Edward Hirsch




Menew - Don't Give Up On Us Now
I've got to give much props to the music supervisor, a certain Alexandra Patsavas, of Chuck. She makes the most awesome song choices, totally apt for the situation, emotions, amplifying everything that the scene is trying to portray many times over. Take this song for instance, it cues at the instance when Chuck is tossed into the van after getting caught. He was utterly distraught at seeing his dad being shot by Shaw and everything seems bleak for Team Bartowski, as he says "There's no one left to save us." A glimmer of hope beckons as Devon asks Ellie if she's ready to do this (to save Team Bartowski), to which she firmly agrees. It's very apt in that while Chuck has all but given up, a glimmer of hope came from Ellie, Devon and Morgan, who haven't given up on saving them.

Miike Snow - Billie Holiday
Here's some Miike Snow who seem incapable of doing anything wrong in their eponymous album. Said track was supposedly exclusively available only on the CD release in Japan. It's got Miike Snow stamped all over it, the electro-reverbs with groovy synths coupled with really poppy hooks.

Broken Bells - The High Road
Broken Bells is a collab between Danger Mouse of Gnarls Barkley fame and James Mercer of The Shins. Beautiful soulful indie rock song, marrying obscure(?) lyrics about drugs with a touch of electronica to produce a charming song that speaks volumes about the prodigious talent these two have.

School of Seven Bells - Babelonia
Definitely a different direction as compared to Alpinisms. While still featuring the hushed lustre of the twins' vocals, it feels more textured and less dreamy, the expansive soundscape serves as a wonderful medium for their vocals to express themselves.

you’ve always been the soundtrack to my life

"I was in the midst of becoming something new. Standing in front of the mirror, I could see the changes in my body. At night, in the stillness, I swore I could hear the sound of my flesh growing. I was about to be clothed in a new self, about to step into a place where I'd never been... Inside that darkness, I saw rain falling on the sea. Rain falling softly on a vast sea, with no one there to see it. The rain strikes the surface of the sea, yet even the fish don't know it's raining.

Until someone came and lightly rested a hand on my shoulder, my thoughts were of the sea."

- South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami



Stars - Wasted Daylight
Extremely liquid vocals, silky and smooth, like hot butter sliding down a butter knife. Courtesy of Amy Millan, also of Canadian mega-collective BSS. Indie pop at it's best, an aural delight.

Telegraph Avenue - Lauralie
With such a quaint name like Telegraph Avenue, which by the way is a street in Oakland, California, and a song name like Lauralie, how can one not fall in love with the song even without needing to listen to it?

A languid intro that immediately soothes one's senses, putting you at such ease you'd start thinking if you were in the clouds. Thereafter, they go all bossa like with a light beat that could put smiles even on the straightest of faces.

Ian McGlynn & The Dead Radio - Digital Killed the Record Store (mp3)
New Jersey-ian Ian McGlynn has a new project titled Ian McGlynn & The Dead Radio. Check out their boppy beats yet sombre lyrics about the death of the record store, infused with a little love lost. Underlying jangly guitars supply the song with an old school vibe and as the ohh-ohh-ohhs make you ponder about the progression of life, for the progression of technology has almost rendered the record store obsolete. Almost.

now look back see how far you've come

Oh dear god, I just fucked up something so serious as my university admissions. Ok more music to calm my nerves.


With a sound partly inspired by New York avant garde noise maker Glenn Branca, West African Highlife Band guitars and Talking Heads funk, Foals are a fresh blast across the indie rock landscape. But success could take the Oxford band away from the house party scene that bred them, a prospect Yannis views as a mixed blessing.

“There’s a massive difference between gigs and house parties,” say Yannis. “At house parties we just arrive and play – there’s no rigmarole, there’s no barrier. They’re definitely different. I like the way you get to connect and meet people at house parties – I don’t like the idea of the hierarchy of the performer and the crowd.”

- mirror.co.uk


Foals - Miami
An extremely interesting and disconcerting video by Dave Ma, whatwith bodybuilders and women(are they women?) fighting, a bodybuilder and a chihuahua, set to a driving beat and hip-hop-ish funk. The bouncing reminds me of Herbie, if anyone actually ever watched that movie.

Foals - This Orient
Dave Ma has worked closely with Foals on their new album, producing the videos for Miami, This Orient and Spanish Sahara. The artistic direction is very apparent and suits the songs to a T. Kudos to him. Also of note is that he worked with Delphic on their songs This Momentary and Halcyon. On to the song, with a looped melody, this seems like a rock ballad to me which belies the springy intro that goes on to form the underlying rhythm for the song. Not sure if the lyrics "that gives me this western feeling" is meant as a direct contrast to the title.


I wanted lyrics that were more direct in their meaning or if they weren't, they would be more easily capable of instilling meaning and you know, more disciplined lyric writing, cause I think before, I was easy on myself in terms of... it was more of a treasure hunt.

There are themes like heroism, ancestry, the future, heartbreak, drugs and Mike Tyson.

- Yannis Philippakis on "Total Life Forever" via nme.com


Foals - Spanish Sahara
I've reserved the best for the last, and once you hear the song and see the video, it is understandably so. The haunting vocals and enchanting melody imbues this desolation in you, aptly portrayed by the lone man trudging across the vast whiteness, like a white sahara. The subtle 8 bit synths which intensify to a fury in the later half of the song reflects the progression of the song, from quiet and intensely sparse to rock-ish riffs and overwhelming desire.


Brilliant stuff by Foals really, awesome follow up to "Antidotes".

love hides in narrow corners

Oh drats! I missed my blog's first birthday!! %*&£^$*&£^&*"$(&%"^&(*"^$. Well, while I could console myself on the fact that I was actually still in Europe during the actual first birthday, but to think it slipped my mind even after coming back.


Anyhow, on to what has been procrastinated on for too long. Wonderful folks from Holiday for Strings, particularly Pony, dropped an email with a promo of their entire album. Here's what's said about them on their site, "The group's music is a subtle mixture - post rock, kraut rock, pop, disco, and dub music all turn up in their experimental recipes.".

On to the music itself, I have to admit only two songs really caught on to me initially, kinda like instant gratification. With the number of songs available out there, songs that fail to hook you in say the first minute is just tossed out. That's the world we live in - instant gratification. Nevertheless, I'm glad I gave "Favourite Flavor" a listening chance based on how much I liked Two of You and Particles. Their songs are worth the listen as it grows on you.

Particles has that bouncy playful vibe at the start, as they make use of various sounds to provide an almost systematic feel to the song. The rapid beat almost seeming like it needs to etch itself within one's memory, providing a solid foundation upon which the song builds upon. Past that bouncy playful feel, the song develops more into one shrouded in mystery, as if a plan, maybe sinister, is in the works.

Particles is one of the three instrumental tracks, taking it's place as the 5th track on the album, while Shelter Island and I Cry take 7th and 9th respectively. Shelter Island reminds me a little of The xx with the minimalist approach (and coincidentally, Shelter and Island(s) are two individual tracks on The xx's eponymous album). And if I wasn't really paying attention, the tang-ing sound would have really made me think of a certain chinese instrument. Very soothing and pleasant down tempo song, short of being ambient, that I could really listen to over and over. In a similar vein, I Cry is pretty down tempo too and enjoyable, but with it's roots seemingly of the electronic sort.

Unwilling/Not Able has a slow twinkly build up for all of 3 and a half minutes before Magnusson's baritone vocals appear, a solid contrast to the lightness of the build up. But it doesn't last, giving way to yet more repeated synths. Cue complementary female vocals courtesy of Titiyo which seems to add a different dimension to the song. A song which many may not be able to appreciate due to the song clocking out at 8:33, many mainstream songs last 4 plus minutes tops. The whole building up and evolution of the song in that 8:33 is actually a beauty, like an exploration in process, searching for the unlimited end, the horizon. Maybe it's similar to HFS as a band, searching for the identity that best represents them.

Love feels purposeful and yet when singing about something as unfathomable as love as Magnusson intones "love comes when you least expect it", he seems lost and almost like a little boy. But that's the truth of the matter, and the entire song conveys it perfectly. New wave influences are present in Light Years Ahead as the spacious song fills the emptiness around you. Finally, the titular song is almost as much an experimentation as it is an ode to the prog-rock gods.

Go on this exploratory cosmic journey with Holiday For Strings, and let "Favourite Flavor" grow on you. So what's your flavor?

Holiday For Strings - Two of You

Holiday For Strings - Unwilling/Not Able Dance Mix (mp3)

Holiday For Strings - Shelter Island (mp3)

every house not a home but dare do i roam

It's a pretty fine day, and for me a fine day is where the weather isn't sweltering, hot and humid. A layer of stickiness and ickiness all over isn't my idea of fine. So anyhow, I'm just sitting here now wondering how come I never did mention Band of Horses' first single for "Cease to Begin". And where from comes the impetus, but an episode of Fringe?

Band of Horses - Is There A Ghost
It's an awfully lovely song, melancholic and melodramatic all at once. And just how do they do it with two simple lines "I could sleep when I lived alone/Is there a ghost in my house?" - beats me. Nevertheless, I love the eerily random yet curiously funny video where it's an almost literal explanation of the lyrics, and the video slowly evolves to quite the hilarious ending, but amidst all, the female protagonist provides the best of turns.

Band of Horses - Blue Beard
Good ol' slow rock. Grand orchestration with such meaningful lyrics, it makes me feel warm and secretly good on the inside. Ben singing as the song chugs along slowly, allows the lyrics to sink in and come alive in your mind. The white snow outside the house, a blanket of soft whiteness. Neon glow of the bar sign hanging lazily on the outside.

Band of Horses - Neighbor
I've got this attachment to their new songs for some reason. It's like on first listen, you feel as if you've heard the song a million times, and it's buried deep inside your head. Or maybe it's the strong imagery their lyrics evoke. I really love it.

i'm caught up in a storm that i don't need no shelter from

Oh dear me.

During my trip, I was listening almost incessantly to songs from 2009, and listening through my 50 Favourites of 2009 list, I suddenly noticed a band and their songs conspicuously missing. For some reason, I had failed to include DP - astonishing. And as I played their songs, it hit me like a train as I realised my folly. So the more I listen, the more I'm thinking, "Just how did it slip through the cracks?"Useful Chamber was already fantastic, but it certainly got better with time, like wine. I hereby dedicate this song to be my favourite of 2009, extremely belatedly.


Dirty Projectors - Useful Chamber

Deep sonorous thumps resonate while being punctuated by the high hat, almost like a sense of foreboding. However, you're greeted with measured vocals, as the lyrics roll off like rivulets of water sliding down the window on a drizzly spring day. You sit by the window, staring out as the occasional patter hits the window, cup of hot tea in hand, utterly mesmerised by the song as you are with the dance on the window.

You ponder as he hits the highs in the song, and as he speak-sings, the album title being chanted hits you. Subsequently, melodious ahhs and ohhs that feel like honey to the ears permeate the still air, you drown yourself further in the slow but purposeful beats - almost hypnotic.

The random outburst of guitar strumming and drums again causes a small smile to break across the pensive face, just as clouds give way to the glorious sun, warm rays showering the earth.

This is Useful Chamber for you.