Sunday, January 22, 2006

Playlist Muzorama 22 January















THE CAPESCARLY (GODDESS OF DEATH)
THE SUNSHINE UNDERGROUND - THE WAY IT IS / COMMERCIAL BREAKDOWN
NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB - JERK ME /THE GET GO / JERK ME (7")
CATFISH HAVEN - PLEASE COME BACK /PLEASE COME BACK
PEOPLE IN PLANES - TALK TOO MUCH
SUPER 700 -I LOVE YOU
THE APPARITIONS - GOD MONKEY ROBOT /AS THIS IS FUTURISTIC
13 GHOSTSROBERT J
THE LOVE X NOWHERE - LIFE DIVINE / ODYSSEY EP
FINNELECTRIFY / THE AYES WILL HAVE IT
STONE JACK JONES - SMILE
THE OWLS- AIR
ESTER DRANG - VALENCIA'S DYING DREAM / ROCINATE
PHILIP FOGARTY- SLEEPLESS
SWEARING AT MOTORISTS - LOST YOUR WIG


RADIO MUZORAMA IS BROADCAST WEEKLY ON RADIO FORTUNA (FM106.9 , TBILISI, GEORGIA)PRODUCED BY KOMUNIKATORI

SWEARING AT MOTORISTS

Artist / Band: SWEARING AT MOTORISTS
Song (MP3): LOST YOUR WIG
Album: Last Night becomes this morning
File Under: Indie / Rock /
Label: Secretly Canadian
Info: It is difficult to find information about Swearing at Motorists without pulling up either a Guided by Voices discography or a road rage site. So, the band may have a few things in common with Guided by Voices, including both its members -- Don Thrasher drummed on some GBV stuff and Dave Doughman was GBV's soundman -- and its geography. But to lump them in with their Dayton brethren would be lazy and unfair. Swearing at Motorists sounds like GBV as much as any rock band does. So what? This is simple, unpretentious rock and roll with great pop hooks that's not afraid to make a big noise. There must be something about the middle of the country that gives band members a greater appreciation for melody, harmony, and simplicity. On More Songs From the Mellow Struggle, delicate, almost classical guitar work alternates with driving rock and roll rhythms, resulting in music that is both delicately introspective and raucously dynamic. "I'll Only Sleep" is a triumphant clarion call that harnesses the energy of great rock and roll to prove you don't need a high-tech studio and a giant budget to rock: you just gotta have a guitar and something to say. "Telford to North Main" starts out slow, betraying its big rock finish. Both songs are from the Secretly Canadian release, More Songs From the Mellow Struggle, which was released in 1999. In 2000, Secretly Canadian released Number Seven Uptown, featuring the graceful epic "Talking Pictures" (highlighted by Kelli Byrne's salty/sweet vocals) and the fuzzy pop anthem "Flying Pizza." Then in 2002 the group followed with This Flag Signals Goodbye after touring pretty relentlessly throughout the U.S. and Europe. It's pretty obvious that the constant touring destroyed at least one relationship for Dave, as that's the unwavering theme of the album. Dave, drummer Joseph Siwinski, and several guest musicians navigate a rootsy stripped-down heartbreak album. read more from the source...

PHILIP FOGARTY

Artist / Band: PHILIP FOGARTY
Song (MP3): SLEEPLESS
Album: Short Stories
File Under: Indie
Label: PHILIP FOGARTY
Info: Philip Fogarty hails from County Clare and has a varied musical background. Songwriter, vocalist and instrumentalist, he has worked with Cormac Dunne (The Stunning) and Waterboy Anthony Thistlethwaite among others. His band features Galway's finest with a line-up of drums, guitar, violin and keyboards delivering a powerful yet controlled sound which owes much to his eclectic Irish traditional/rock/industrial roots. Philip's current EP, "Endangered Breed", is a strong mix of rock, industrial, dance and trad influenced songs, blending the elements of fiddle and guitar with industrial synth, percussion, drums and sequences in a backdrop to a unique vocal and songwriting style.
read more from the source...

ESTER DRANG

Artist / Band: ESTER DRANG
Song (MP3): VALENCIA'S DYING DREAM
Album: ROCINATE
File Under: Indie
Label: Jade Tree
Info: Though considered by many to be a relatively new act, Ester Drang has spent the last eight years droning away in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, playing their elegant and arty songs to a dedicated but rather modest following. Convinced it would be a travesty to let these engaging symphonies go unnoticed, Jade Tree signed the band in early 2003, providing a home for their swinging-door guitar lines, hollowed out drum beats and synth-covered yearnings, while allowing the group to deliver their visions with Technicolor radiance. These days the Drang seem to tight-rope walk along the same musical heights as heady experimentalists like Spiritualized, the Sea and Cake or even their neighbors and occasional collaborators the Flaming Lips. But there is of course more here than easy compartmentalizing, and as these four friends from the Bible Belt continue their Quixote-like search for a niche of their own, they do so proving that musical transcendence can lead you anywhere. Even Oklahoma. the source...

THE OWLS

Artist / Band: THE OWLS
Song (MP3): AIR
Album: Our Hopes and Dreams
File Under: Indie Pop
Label: Magic Marker Records
Info: Who are The Owls? “Two librarian chicks, the sexiest bass player you’ve ever seen, and a drummer who’s the spitting image of Gary Oldman.” In other words, a little something for everybody. Maria May’s songs welcome you into a unique world that closely and imaginatively parallels reality. Lyrically conversational, she playfully tussles with modern living, infusing soul into the workaday world with a grandeur that at once recognizes and transcends pop-culture. Her supple voice is the kind that elevates words into poetry, and with such intimacy it seems that while singing on stage she is also standing with you in the audience, demurely passing you candy over her shoulder as if she knew it was your favorite kind.Allison’s songs disarm with potent sincerity and vulnerability even as they claw you with a toughness that is immediately engaging. A wolf in sheep’s clothing, her music tumbles forth with a pretty, childlike quality that is characteristically undone by words that may warn of wrath or impending doom. She can inject a love song with an urgency and sense of loss that places not only the song, but love itself in an altogether different category. Intermingling beautifully within these sensibilities, Brian functions as the group’s backbone. Heavily involved in the production and arrangement of the Owls’ music, Brian has been exploring and refining his songwriting talents for more than a decade as the frontman of the seminal pop group, The Hang Ups. This consummate songwriter bores easily and is therefore always striving for music that suprises the ear as well as satisfying it. The songs he contributes are chosen for how they play off what he calls the “the Owls personality.”“That personality has a soberness that allows room for excitement, for the raising of spirits,” he says. “As if out of this grounded nature comes an opportunity to be genuinely uplifted.” When the Owls went looking for the right drummer for their project, they found their man in the mysterious John Jerry. Living in a passionately musical world, John could be found by day building boutique amplifiers, and by night, drumming for alt-country poppers the Ashtray Hearts. John discovered his keen knack for rhythm at an early age, and found in the Owls a fitting vessel for his restrained and elegant style. the source...

STONE JACK JONES

Artist / Band: STONE JACK JONES
Song (MP3): Smile
Album: Bluefolk
File Under: Psychedelic / Indie / Experimental
Label: FictitiousRecords.com
Info: Stone Jack Jones was raised in a coal miner's company house on the banks of Buffalo Creek, W.V. Behind the house rose a canopy of green forest; in the front, a red road and a black creek, winding like a shimmering blacksnake. The woods were the first seduction, and whether by foot or by horse, it was there that he roamed. In this solitude he met the Peacock Man, who would transform his notions of reality, reality at the time being Vietnam raging, no prospects of college, and a draft notice in his pocket. He was rejected from the military because of epilepsy and told to go home. His dad, a fourth generation miner, said, "Don't be a fifth," so the young musician picked up his fiddle and began a life of wandering.Stone Jack Jones traveled the country playing fiddle and guitar, from the hills of West Virginia to Boston, Atlanta, Fort Worth, Baltimore and New York City. Traditional Irish, medieval, punk and country eventually merged into his dark and atmospheric American music.He ended up in Nashville, Tn, and soon met Patty Griffin at the legendary Jack's Guitar Bar, where they spent many a night honing their songs. Stone Jack Jones went on several tours with Patty early in her career, forming what has proved to be an enduring musical relationship. A chance friendship with producer Roger Moutenot (Yo La Tengo, Lou Reed, Sleater-Kinney) began a collaboration that shaped all these different influences and experiences into a distinctive and evocative style. Narcotic Lollipop, Stone Jack Jones' first release, laid the groundwork for his highly praised song style. His second record, bluefolk, is the middle act in a sequence of three planned releases. bluefolk integrates the wide range of his inspirations and features four songs with Patty Griffin, performing with an unusual twist on her vocal approach. It's moody, complex and mesmerizing, from the MLK tribute "Freedom Reigns," to the subtly-veiled antiwar "Bread." Balancing uplifting celebratory dirges and exultant dark songs, Stone Jack Jones unweaves his America.the source...

FINN

Artist / Band: FINN
Song (MP3): ELECTRIFY
Album: The Ayes Will Have It
File Under: Indie Pop
Label: Sunday Service
Info: Patrick Zimmer is finn. He creates clouded worlds of sound which utter warmth and familiarity. His songs are driven by melancholy and his tender voice comes so close that we imagine feeling his breath on our ear. If finn.’s debut expose yourself to lower education (2003) had appeared like a rapture of the deep, his second work the ayes will have it seems utterly surfaced. Guitar and vocals have been swept to the surface of the sea of timbres. As listener, we’re floating just over the water, in a gulf stream of circulating sounds and melodies. finn.’s music makes you feel like you have arrived at a snug place after a long journey – and be it only a comfy current washing about us temporarily.finn. sends layers and loops into the echo chamber and leaves them there to their own devices. He makes the analog synthesizers vibrate darkly, eliciting the computers human side: strings, brass, softly pulsating beats, they all seem enchanted and wrapped int wool. then again finn. sets down notes almost a chastely as in chamber music, combining them to stirring patterns. A live drum kit provides occasional ground and fleeting foothold. even with all the changes of the sea, the ayes will have it is one thing always and everywhere: pop music!finn has created a recognisable cosmos of sound. here and there memories appear of the names of people who may have inspired him to the creation of this form – or at the very least, names that help approximate finn.’s inconceivable world: the reverberated rush of Sigur Ros, the touching organ of Barbara Morgenstern, the gift of combination of the notwist, the dry humour of arab strap, but also great english pop music from the 1960s till today.
finn. is once again determined to embrace the world from his Hamburg apartment. We’re sure he will have the ayes.
read more from the source...

THE LOVE X NOWHERE

Artist / Band: THE LOVE X NOWHERE
Song (MP3): LIFE DIVINE
Album: ODYSSEY EP
File Under: Indie
Label: Aquarius Records
Info: The Love X Nowhere makes San Francentric music that drops like sparks from the Muni lines on a rainy night. On Odyssey, their second EP, TLXN finds themselves amidst an evolution of shoegaze and dream rock. A big lush one-sound coming forth from guitars heavy with the sway of chorus and delays, analog synth sounds as though from previous incarnations, and solid grooves that never lead the listener astray. Two vocalists who wind their way through harmony and melody, reminiscint of a bridge between Pink Floyd and Slowdive. Quasi-psychedelia like a meandering walk from the Beatles to The Verve or Helio Sequence. The Love X Nowhere. Having nothing in common with terminological inexactitude or planned obsolescence.
TLXN is gabriel leis, brett chulada, michael chulada, yuki kasuya, and adam perry.

13 GHOSTS

Artist / Band: 13 GHOSTS
Song (MP3): ROBERT J
File Under: New Folk / Pop
Album: Cicada
Label: Skybucket Records
Info: At one level this is the sort of comfy-sounding, down-home strummy-guitar song that often does not catch my ear. And yet I know there is a variant of this sort of thing that I like, and "Robert J." from the Birmingham, Alabama-based 13ghosts is a good example of this variant, and I'm sitting and listening and trying my best first to ascertain and then to describe what, to me, separates a non-descript rootsy-country-Americana song from a standout track. The word that arises as I attempt to figure this out is "tension." A song can sound simple and laid-back and yet be suffused with depth and character--and tension is what makes all the difference. How, in this case, is that tension achieved? From the start we hear a strikingly plain acoustic guitar, upfront and exposed, no rhythm section, no steel guitar accents, and it strikes me that in this case the slower rather than the faster strum sounds more vulnerable, more real--tenser.
the source …

THE APPARITIONS

Artist / Band: THE APPARITIONS
Song (MP3): GOD MONKEY ROBOT
Album: AS THIS IS FUTURISTIC
File Under: Rock / Pop / Indie
Label: Machine Records
Info: Stylistically wedged somewhere between The Pixies and The Flaming Lips, the Lexington, KY-based quintet The Apparitions feature two distinct vocalists and a three-guitar sonic assault that is dynamic, angular and full of wiry tension. Wrapping dystopian riddles, whimsical stories and spastic social commentary in sugary melodies and swampy harmonic bliss, The Apparitions deliver a constant barrage of spacey, driving rock that is both immediate and lyrically engaging. The band has finished tracks with long-time producer Duane Lundy for their Machine Records debut, As This Is Futuristic, a cinematic affair bubbling with intense imagery and jangle-hooked melodies.[
the source...

SUPER 700

Artist / Band: SUPER 700
Song (MP3): I LOVE YOU
Album: When Hare And Fox Had Fun
File Under: Indie Pop
Label: cutting edge recordings
Info: gordon raphael (producer of the strokes)
... they are called Super 700, and I suggest you say this name over and over to yourself unless you want to be late for one of the most stunning and futuristic bands I have heard in years. Their un-earthly yet natural singer is called Ebadet, who – along with her twin sisters – fronts this totally new-sounding group. The three sisters blend their voices in a magical, almost unbelievable way, while the keyboards, drums, bass and guitar perform high-level tricks and create a rolling power similar to if the early Talking Heads were actually born and raised in an African tribe. It’s body rocking atmospheric music to hypnotize the ears, and the skill level of the musicianship, songwriting and singing is probably just a bit unfair to those of us mere mortals. I can’t say enough good things about Super 700 (go on, say it three more times) and I pray that I can record with them when I get back home to Berlin ...
the source...

PEOPLE IN PLANES

Artist / Band: PEOPLE IN PLANES
Song (MP3): TALK TOO MUCH
File Under: Indie Rock
Label: Wind-up Records
Info:
The great chasm for any musician is the distance between what they hear in their heads and what reaches listeners' ears. Unless you're a band committed to either effete esoterica or stage-humping feral lunacy, your success largely depends on how well you reconcile the purity of your musical ideas with an audience's need for hooks and melody. This is what makes People In Planes so welcome: their music is equally ambitious and pleasing. The band's debut: As Far As The Eye Can See is a richly atmospheric, sometimes challenging album that doesn't stint on inviting melody and anthemic choruses. In other words, this five-piece band from Cardiff, Wales traverses the long distance between visionary flights of imagination and simple rock pleasures as easily as, well, people in planes.
Yes, the band name -- even that was created with a sense of equilibrium, guitarist Peter Roberts explains that "it's quite a wacky image, the idea of the whole globe being such a small place and people floating around the world in these little tin cans," but also hastens to add "it's essentially a cool-sounding name, really." He continues, "I like the image that people in planes aren't exactly where they came from, and aren't quite where they're heading to yet. It's a nice representation of how people are always unwittingly on a conveyor belt, taking them through time to their destiny."
Things weren't always so well balanced. People In Planes started out with a penchant for the abstract, and armed with more ambition than skill. "We were trying to make esoteric music when we were really too young to really pull it off," Peter says, "Our ideas were a little beyond our abilities."
Peter explains the transformation evinced by tracks like "Falling By the Wayside," with its haunting chorus and plaintive, acoustic beginning, or the stirring "For Miles Around," simply: "We happen to write better songs now than we did before." But to really understand how People In Planes arrived at As Far As The Eye Can See, you have to go back to when he and singer Gareth Jones were young pals on a family vacation together, and how the record that made them want to be in a band eventually made them a better one.
read more from the source...

CATFISH HAVEN

Artist / Band: CATFISH HAVEN
Song (MP3): PLEASE COME BACK
Album: PLEASE COME BACK
File Under: Indie
Label: Secretly Canadian
Info: Hailing from Chicago, IL, Catfish Haven is George Hunter (vocals/guitar), Miguel Castillo (bass), and Ryan Farnham (drums). The band's name is taken from the Missouri trailer park that George Hunter grew up in. The band describe their music as, "Soulful howling over an acoustic guitar turned way up. Hopeful yearning for better days echoed through amps and a drum kit." Secretly Canadian will release "Please Come Back" CDEP early 2006, tracklist provided below, and a proper debut full-length late-spring of 2006. Catfish Haven will soon appear on Bloodshot's 10th Anniversary compilation CD this fall, joining the likes of My Morning Jacket, Richard Buckner and Crooked Fingers. Catfish Haven MP3s are listed below, provided are two demo versions of songs that will appear on the EP. read more from the source...

NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB

Artist / Band: NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB
Song (MP3): JERK ME
Album: THE GET GO / JERK ME (7")
File Under: Wave / Electronica / Indie
Label: Tirk
Info: We're shy Ponies and we don't like to give much away as you'll see from our website but the story so far is Tahita and Andy formed NYPC in 2003, we released two singles on Tirk records which lots of people seem to love. We found Igor, Lou and Sarah to play live with us and have rocked a few venues in Europe so far. read more from the source...

THE SUNSHINE UNDERGROUND

Artist / Band: THE SUNSHINE UNDERGROUND
Song (MP3): THE WAY IT IS
Album: COMMERCIAL BREAKDOWN
File Under: Indie Pop
Label: City Rockers
Info: The Sunshine Underground are four likely lads from Leeds. They hail from sunny Shrewsbury originally but are all now based in the northern city famed as the birthplace of Peter Sutcliffe. Their names are Craig Wellington, Stuart Jones, Daley Smith and Matthew Gwilt.They are 22,22,24 and 22 in that order. Their records come out on CITY ROCKERS. They have a record out called PUT YOU IN YOUR PLACE. It is available as an extended mix which could be mixed by DJs with skills. It is not a remix, however, and features no additional production. It is entirely possible that they are going to be really big. Like all straight up Northern lads they like drinking and girls and occasionally some drugs, particularly if someone else is holding.This may change in the future as Craig has been loathed to return the pink and blue Marc Jacobs polo shirt he was loaned for the video.He’ll be demanding champagne on their rider next.The band still own almost no equipment and have begged, stolen and borrowed all their gear up to now. read more from the source...

THE CAPES

Artist / Band: THE CAPES
Song (MP3): CARLY (GODDESS OF DEATH)
Album: Hello
File Under: Britpop
Label: hard soul records
Info: Things are changing very quickly these days. You could call it a revolution, you can call it an invasion – call it what you will, The Capes -- alongside like-minded Brits Bloc Party, Maximo Park, British Sea Power, et al. -- are rapidly catching the public’s ear. We call it a rescue. With all the stealth and superhero qualities associated with the band’s namesake, the South London quintet burst upon the scene at a time when the UK music industry had turned a deaf ear to the typically bohemian, sleazy art-rock coterie in favor of sounds coming from northern regions like Manchester and Glasgow. Soon thereafter, however, The Capes and fellow art school bands like Bloc Party, Clor and Art Brut were causing quite a stir:
read more from the source...

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

PLAYLIST MUZORAMA 8 JANUARY 2006




















THE ROBOCOP KRAUS - ALL THE GOOD MAN
THE KILLERS - MR BRIGHTSIDE / HOT FUSS
HOT HOT HEAT - GOODNIGHT GOODNIGHT / ELEVATOR
MAXIMO PARK - THE NIGHT I LOST MY HEAD
THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES - A ROOM WITHOUT A VIEW/A ROOM WITHOUT A VIEW
MERCURY REV - VERMILLION / THE SECRET MIGRATION
LOGH - FELL INTO THE WELL / A SUNSET PANORAMA
MOONBABIES - WAR ON SOUND / WAR ON SOUND
OKKERVIL RIVER - FOR REAL / BLACK SHEEP BOY
VEDA - THE FALLING KIND /THE WEIGHT OF AN EMPTY ROOM
THE CONSTANTINES - LOVE IN FEAR / TOURNAMENT OF HEARTS
LAURA CANTRELL - 14TH STREET/ HUMMING BY THE FLOWERED VINE
NADA SURF- DO IT AGAIN /THE WEIGHT IS A GIFT
SUFJAN STEVENS - CASIMIR PULASKI DAY / SUFJAN STEVENS: ILLINOIS
MAXIMILIAN HECKER -
HELP ME / LADY SLEEP

RADIO MUZORAMA IS BROADCAST WEEKLY ON RADIO
FORTUNA (FM106.9 , TBILISI, GEORGIA)PRODUCED BY KOMUNIKATORI

PLAYLIST MUZORAMA 1 JANUARY 2006

HOT HOT HEAT - MIDDLE OF NOWHERE / ELEVATOR
HARD-FI - CASH MACHINE
EZRA REICH -I NEED A MOMENT ALONE / MILKSHAKE ARCADE
CRYSTAL SKULLS - NO ROOM FOR CHANGE / BLOCKED NUMBERS
BIFFY CLYRO - MY RECOVERY INJECTION
AZURE RAY - NOVEMBER
BRITISH SEA POWER - PLEASE STAND UP/OPEN SEASON
CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH - IN THIS HOME ON ICE / CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH
LOGHDESTINY MANIFESTO
CLEARLAKE - I WANT TO LIVE IN A DREAM (REMIX) / WONDER IF THE SNOW WILL SETTLE EP
COCTEAU TWINS - HEAVEN OR LAS VEGAS (EDIT) / HEAVEN OR LAS VEGAS
ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN - STORMY WEATHER
GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS - MOVING PICTURES SILENT FILMS / GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS
ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS - YOU ARE MY SISTER
22- PISTEPIRKKO - HEY MAN (BEATBOX MIX) / ELEVEN- DEMOS

RADIO MUZORAMA IS BROADCAST WEEKLY ON RADIO FORTUNA (FM106.9 , TBILISI, GEORGIA)PRODUCED BY KOMUNIKATORI