eMusic Adds.

Quite the flood of released added today to eMusic (900+). Here are the highlights for power poppers, with a quick one sentence description. All are worth checking out.

Adam Marsland-You Don't Know Me. Acerbic singer-songwriter piano pop.

Bill Ricchini-Tonight I Burn Brightly. What a David Mead/Joe Pernice collaboration might sound like.

Luke Temple-Hold a Match for a Gasoline World. "A very cool mellow, early 70`s styled release that reminds us equally of Paul Simon/Simon & Garfunkel, Donovan, Elliot Smith, Colin Blunstone, acoustic Marc Bolan and Jeff Buckley." - Not Lame.

Man of the Year-A New and Greater Tokyo. Another fine Portland band (cf. Derby) that melds britpop and power pop.

Spiraling-Transmitter. High energy power pop/rock that's kind of like Ben Folds meets the Foo Fighters.

The Cloud Room-The Cloud Room. If you were plugged into the music scene last year, you probably remember their big hit "Hey Now Now".

The Handsome Charlies-Gentlemen Never Tell. Aussies out of Austin (TX), making uptempo pop music that's equal parts Radiohead, XTC and the Pixies.

The Imprints-Sounds of the Aftermath. Indie pop - the Posies meet YHF-era Wilco. And yes, they're from Portland too (I'd like to know what's in the water over there).

CD of the Day, 3/11/06: Truman Falls-Little Happyhells

I normally don't reach back this far for the CD of the Day, but I have to make an exception here. I only discovered Truman Falls last year when I picked up the International Pop Overthrow 8 compilation (a great deal at 3 cds for $16 by the way), and heard their absolutely outstanding track "Last Man on the Moon". It was so good I had to pick up the 2003 full-length, Little Happyhells.

Although Truman Falls is billed as a band, it's really the vehicle for singer/songwriter Simon Rea, who hails from the Isle of Man in England. What you get here is quality singer/songwriter pop, and it's no accident that Josh Rouse has Truman Falls opening for him on his current UK tour. This will appeal to fans of Rouse, David Mead and Joe Kennedy, among others. After a brief intro, Rea gets right down to business with the title track, a breezy number. BBC2's Bob Harris likens him to the lovechild of Burt Bacharach and Harry Nilsson, and he's spot on (as the Brits would say) with this comparison. Other highlights include the Rouse-like "My Beautiful Mistake" and "Buttermouth", the Paul Simonesque "Paper Ann", and of course "Last Man on the Moon", one of those songs that I could listen to on a continuous loop and not tire of. And you can listen to it here, as I've made it my Song of the Day.

Stream 'em at their myspace page, and you can sample them here and here, where you can buy it as well.

New at Not Lame, 3/10/06.

Some interesting new developments at Not Lame today. Before I go into the featured releases, they're offering streaming (and special pre-order deals) for two new releases the power pop community has been looking forward to. First is the Matthew Sweet/Susanna Hoffs covers album, Under The Covers Vol. 1. They have a special pre-order deal here (with autographed booklet), and you can stream it here in its entirety:

Under The Covers Vol. 1

And the other big release is the new solo disc from Jon Auer of the Posies, titled Songs From The Year of Our Demise. The pre-order deal (with a bonus cd of live tracks) is here, and the full-length stream is here:

Songs From The Year of Our Demise

Good stuff. I'm going to have the give the Auer a listen over the weekend.

On to the featured releases. There's a familiar look here with a couple of them: First off, is Stuart Valentine's Melody's True, which was our CD of the Day a few weeks ago. (Note the different album cover on the Not Lame page). Also featured is the new Warren Zanes, which hits the streets Tuesday, and which I've discussed on several occasions. I think only Supraluxe has received more namedrops on this blog than Zanes has. There are also a couple of the new Cheap Trick reissues featured as well.

* As for the stuff that's both new and new to being mentioned on this blog, we start with latest from The Animators, How We Fight. The Animators are not the typical band, incorporating accordion, glockenspiel, and cajon into the mix. As Bruce puts it, "it`s pretty much impossible to say 'Hey, The Animators sound like "XXX" band(s)'", but they do manage to retain a somewhat conventional sound despite some of the unusual instrumentation. The opening track, "Good to Be Here", for one is damn impressive.

They have four songs from the new one streaming at their myspace page, and further samples can be found at the cd baby page for the album.

* Next up is the Norwegian band CoStar and their 2004 release Keep It Light. I've had this one for over a year myself, but I haven't listened in a long time. In situations like this, I use the iPod test: if it's still on my iPod it must be good, because I have all 60 gigs filled and I'm now at the point where I'm deleting to add new stuff. Bruce namedrops The Posies, Elbow, Manic Street Preachers and Oasis, and from listening to some of it again I have to say he's in the ballpark.

You can download 4 mp3s (if you have your browser set to "save to disk" on mp3 links) from the album at their site. The rest can be sampled at cd baby. They actually have a new album soon to be released, titled Fix, and their myspace page is streaming tracks from that album.

* Finally, we have Chuck Maiden's Adobe. There's no truth to the rumor that the liner notes only come in a .pdf file, and I don't think Maiden's an acrobat. Bad software humor aside, Adobe sounds like the kind of singer-songwriter pop that I have a penchant for, with the names of Penn, Finn and Petty thrown about. I missed this one when it came out last summer, so I'm glad Bruce & Co. have found it.

It's also available on eMusic here, where you can get the 30-second sample blitz. And it appears you can stream the whole thing at his site in the media player right at the bottom.

eMusic Miscellany.

First off, I neglected to mention in yesterday's Brokedown piece that The Dutchman's Gold is available via eMusic.

And the rollout continues for The Waxwings, as their second album, 2003's Shadows of the Waxwings, was added this morning.

CD of the Day, 3/10/06: Red Guitar-Beauty Will Save The World

It's time for some power pop and roots rock straight from the heartland of America - Mission, Kansas, the home of Red Guitar. Their brand new release Beauty Will Save The World is turning out to be one of the more enjoyable releases of this barely 2 1/2-month-old year.

Red Guitar seems to be an amalgam of The Jayhawks, The Gin Blossoms, Matthew Sweet and a slower, midtempo Weezer (i.e., "Island In The Sun"). There really isn't a bad track on this album, which came to my attention during a recent wade-through of cd baby releases. Things start off smashingly with "V-Day", which has a bit of "With or Without You" U2 behind the verses, but the chorus is pure power pop. The title track follows with a more modern sound, kind of like Millicent Friendly, for those familiar with that fine 2005 release. "Leave It In Another Day" is a slight bit slower, but with a punchy, anthemic chorus, and "The Sting" is where the "midtempo Weezer" sound is most apparent. And the ones I'm not singling out aren't slouches either; most of the remaining tracks have memorable chourses at the least. Discoveries like these are what make the CD Baby listening marathons worth undertaking.

You can stream the title track and "Leave It In Another Day" at their myspace page, and sample the rest (and buy) at CD Baby. The two-minute samples should be enough to hook you, as they hooked me. If you go to their official site, you won't hear anything from their new album, but you can stream their first album, 2003's Based on a Blue Story, which from my brief sampling sounds pretty good as well.

New Brokedown track on MySpace.

One of my favorite EPs of 2005 (or does 7 songs constitute a mini-album?) was The Dutchman's Gold, the debut from LA band The Brokedown. Although a lot of bands have both power pop and alt-country influences, they managed to create a fairly unique sound of their own that draws from the best of both. They cite Big Star, ELO, The Byrds, Rolling Stones, Wilco, Flying Burrito Bros. as influences, with good reason.

And now they've just put a new track on their myspace page, titled "Baby On My Arm", which sounds just as nice (despite the rough demo mix) as the tracks on The Dutchman's Gold. Listening to it as I type, I'm reminded of "nothingsevergonnastandinmyway(again)" from Wilco's Summerteeth. Do yourself a favor and check out the new one over there, as well as three that are streaming from the EP. Or just grab one or both of these mp3s courtesy of their official site:

Down In The Valley
Sparks

Don't miss out on these guys.

CD of the Day, 3/9/06: Chris Staig-Davenport

Having just (re)touted Warren Zanes' Memory Girls, it's kind of fitting that I've selected Chris Staig's Davenport as today's featured disc. Staig, from Toronto, has a very similar sound to Zanes, both vocally and stylistically.

Davenport features a winning combination of power pop, roots rock and singer/songwriter pop. There are also hints of Neil Young and John Lennon as well as Grandaddy's Jason Lytle. Things start off in fine fashion with Staig pleading for a "Rock'n'Roll Holiday", as it's "time to blow up my television/can't make shopping my new religion"; in the next track Staig sings of how he "Fell Off The Wagon", an ode to getting plastered. "All I Need Is You" is a catchy rocker in the vein of the Ike Reilly disc I raved about yesterday, and "Another Year" almost heads into the Rockpile territory mined so well by Terry Anderson (he of the Olympic Ass-Kickin' Team).

He has three tracks from Davenport streaming at his myspace page, and others can be sampled at cd baby, which is of course the best place to pick it up.

My #1 CD of 2003: Warren Zanes-Memory Girls

See here.

Odds & Ends.

A couple of bits of news worth sharing:

* Buva is almost ready to release its first full-length album, All This Humming, next month. Some of you may remember their 2004 EP Daydream, which was well-received upon its release. If you haven't heard Daydream, you can stream it here (click on "media"). And now three tracks from the new one are streaming at Buva's myspace page. I'm enjoying them - very good soft pop, kind of like Matthew Sweet's mellower tunes.

* Ranchero, the debut album from Park Police that came out last year, is available on eMusic as of this morning. Read more about this release here and here. You can stream four tracks here. I give this one a thumbs-up as well.

CD (EP) of the Day, 3/8/06: Kit Ashton-Blindsided

It's not every artist who has the blessing of Paul McCartney. “Brilliant. Great stuff – really beautiful songs,” McCartney said of Kit Ashton after jamming with him at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, where Ashton was a student. He's just released his debut EP, Blindsided, and Macca may be on to something here.

Ashton definitely has the British pop sound down on Blindsided. While opener "You You You" is a quality tune, things really take a step forward with "Take The Strain", which sounds like The 88 by way of Parallax Project, with a bit of Jellyfish thrown in. "Fantastic" is just that, with some Robbie Williams/Supergrass influences to go along with the Jellyfish sound. All in all, a promising debut.

You can stream "You You You", "Take The Strain" and "Indian Stone Blues" at his myspace page, and sample "Fantastic" and "Don't Beat Yourself Up" at the cd baby link.

New at Not Lame, 3/7/06.

First off, they're featuring a couple of releases we've already discussed here: John Carrillo's Von Karma, which was our CD of the Day about three weeks ago, and the new Frank Lee Sprague, in our Kool Kat post last week. As for the rest:

Ross Rice-Dwight. Bruce gives this one an "extremely highly recommended", although it didn't do much for me (I recall passing on this one when it appeared on cd baby). But decide for yourself which one of us is right: Rice has four tracks from the album streaming at his myspace page, which should give you a good idea. And the rest can be sampled at the cd baby page I linked in the parenthetical.
By the way, Rice has some miscellaneous mp3s at his site, including his cover of ELO's "Evil Woman", although none are from the album.

The Confusions-5 AM. I have this one and have given it a few spins. It's pretty good, definitely more power than pop, although there's plenty of both here. The first five tracks or so are kind of garagey, with dirty guitars and driving beats. Things mellow a bit on the first single "Don't Let The World Catch You Crying" (a nod to Gerry & The Pacemakers?), which sounds like late 90s Stereophonics, and on the title track. And no, "How Do You Sleep?" is not a remake of the infamous Lennon tune that ripped McCartney; instead it's a pretty decent poppy number reminiscent of Del Amitri. I'll concur with Bruce's "Extremely Highly Recommended" on this one. Sample their wares at myspace and at the Not Lame link.

The Miniatures-Coma Kid. Wow. This one really sounds good. It's actually from 2004, but I guess it got by us all until now. The Miniatures are a band from Ontario, and this release sounds like it covers all the power pop bases. Bruce's description is pretty much spot on, so click on the link to get some comparisons. Head over to their site right now and select the "click here for mp3 player" link, where you'll hear streams of four excellent tracks. You can also stream an additional two tracks at their myspace page, and sample a couple more at the cdbaby page for this one. These guys rock!

MySpace tracks up for Warren Zanes.

I've mentioned Warren Zanes' upcoming release (due next Tuesday) People That I'm Wrong For a couple of times on here before, so I thought I'd note that he's just put three tracks from the album on his myspace page: "Jr's Bag of Tricks" (a great track that I made available earlier, "Ella's Arms", which was streaming at his site, and "Fool The Moon", which hasn't been previously available and sounds like a nice ballad as I listen to it as I type this. Looking foward to next week. I feel pretty confident that this will also be available on eMusic next week as well, since they carry Dualtone releases.

My #1 Album of 2004: The Ike Reilly Assassination-Sparkle In The Finish

Now that I've dispensed with the top 20 of 2005, it's time for a new recurring feature: My favorite albums of recent years. Off the top of my head, I can go back to 1997, so I'll go at least that far back. Without further ado, here's the 2004 installment.


Wayne Bledsoe of the Knoxville (TN) News wrote this about the Ike Reilly Assassination's Sparkle In The Finish, and I'd swear he was channeling my thoughts:

"Every once in a while, an album comes out of nowhere from someone you've never heard of and becomes your favorite album of the year. "Sparkle in the Finish," the second disc by Libertyville, Ill., native Ike Reilly is exactly that kind of record. Reilly's combination of power pop, Americana and even white-boy hipster rap is irresistible."

Sparkle In The Finish indeed became my favorite album of 2004, and it's a real tour de force. Reilly is an incredibly inventive lyricist, and if he were 20 years younger and black (or even remained white, I suppose), he'd likely be one of the biggest rap stars today. Instead, his gift of verbal facility is used in service of some great power pop and rock songs, with one exception: the rapping "I Don't Want What You Got (Goin' On)", in which Reilly namedrops Chuck Berry, Ludacris and Jerry Lee Lewis over a Beck-like beat and it somehow works. While its verses are rapped, the chorus is killer guitar rock.

And then the power pop kicks in. "Holiday in NY" finds Reilly unable to please his woman and lamenting his buddy's drug addiction (a theme that found its way to his also lyrically clever, but less musically enjoyable, 2005 followup Junkie Faithful) and "Whatever Happened To Girl In Me?" rocks with abandon.

But the real highlights of the album come about midway back-to-back: "The Boat Song (We're Getting Loaded)" is Reilly's kiss-off to all of those who he's found annoying, including himself ("The Willy Lomans of rock'n'roll") atop a great melody. The lyrics can be found here. And then there's the excellent "Garbage Day", in which Reilly meets a girl at a protest outside of an execution and ends up dumping her at "a strip joint in the basement of a transient hotel", set to a sing-along chorus.

Things do trail off a bit after that, with some good but not great tracks thereafter, but the highs on this one are so high that they blew away any shortcomings the rest may have had. Reilly is a true talent, even if he's past the prime age for music stardom.

With this album not being Reilly's latest release, it's not easy finding promotional streams and mp3s. You can stream "I Don't Want What You Got (Goin' On)" from his site, but unfortunately the stream for "Garbage Day", while listed, appears to be disabled. The only myspace page for him is a fan-created one that doesn't stream any tracks. 30-second samples of all the tracks can be found at CD Universe. You can pick it up for as little as $4.79 at the Amazon marketplace, and it is available via iTunes.

In closing I have to quote this reviewer from Pop Matters (who wrote a much better and more in-depth review): "this record kicks my ass like it's Ron Artest and I just threw a beer at it."

Hotel Lights and Waxwings on eMusic

Just a quick note that let you know that yesterday's Cd of the Day, Hotel Lights, is newly available today on eMusic, as part of its Bar/None release.

Another great release just added is the 2000 debut of The Waxwings, Low To The Ground. As AMG wrote,

If jangly guitar rock is a dead art form, no one told Detroit's Waxwings. Thankfully, lead songwriter and singer Dean Fertita and his band of merry janglers still keep the faith and hold a torch for the glory days of three guitar and harmonizing vocals as practiced by such rock & roll luminaries as the Byrds, Big Star, and, well, the Beatles.

This really was a good one.

CD of the Day, 3/7/06: Orson-Bright Idea

Mark my words, these guys are going to be next big thing. This LA band is already building a buzz in the UK, where this album is going to be released in May. Lead single "No Tomorrow" is already a smash over there.

According to play.com, Orson play what their singer Jason Pebworth calls simply "two-guitar power-pop", or, equally simply, "rock and roll that girls can dance to". But this is power pop with a more modern sound, and these guys borrow some from Franz Ferdinand and the Scissor Sisters, as well as from some classic influences like the Stones. The album opens with the title track, which is a great power pop tune with its driving beat; "No Tomorrow" is full of sass and has a slinky groove; "Already Over" reminds me of The 88 via Cheap Trick and Butch Walker; and "Tryin' to Help" rocks like TSAR. They then move into danceable territory with the Ferdinandesque "So Ahead of Me" and "Last Night". "Look Around" is the obligatory ballad a la Jet's "Look What You've Done", and then they return to power pop with the last two tracks, "Save The World" and "OK Song", the latter of which reminds me of the Valley Lodge release that was in my top 20 of 05.

As for US availablity, I'm not sure. This album was originally released in 2004 via cd baby (where I picked it up what seems like eons ago), and the page for it remains here. The page says "coming back in stock soon", and you can leave your email with cd baby to be notified when they have it. So perhaps it's a temporary thing, and they haven't pulled it from there as a result of the upcoming UK release. Unfortunately, there are only 3 samples streaming on cd baby, so you'd be better served going to their myspace page, where "No Tomorrow", "Bright Idea" and "Tryin' to Help" are streaming in full, along with a video for "No Tomorrow". But the good news is that you can stream one-minute samples of the remainder of the tracks at their official site.

Currently available or not, I probably won't need to do too much reminding if it's not available until later on, because I have the feeling you'll end up sick of reading about these guys by the end of the year. So do what you can to enjoy their music before the hype takes over.

New David Mead track.

Living up to his promise to make available one track from his forthcoming album Tangerine per week, David Mead now has "The Trouble With Harry" up at his myspace page for your streaming pleasure. This one is a mellow number, complete with strings. I'd give it a 6 out of 10.

Top 20 of 2005 Recap.

The main purpose of this post is to gather all the links for the top 20 of 2005 in one place, so that I can link to it in the sidebar. And of course if you missed any of the previous Top 20 posts, you can get them here:

1. Derby-This Is The New You
2. Okkervil River-Black Sheep Boy
3. Josh Rouse-Nashville
4. Michael Penn-Mr. Hollywood Jr., 1947
5. The Well Wishers-Under The Arrows
6. The 88-Over and Over
7. Catlin Cary & Thad Cockrell-Begonias
8. Graham Cousens-Living Room Sessions
9. Randy & The Bloody Lovelies-Lift
10. Smash Palace-Over The Top
11. Valley Lodge-Valley Lodge
12. Jim Boggia-Safe In Sound
13. Pugwash-Jollity
14. Peter Bruntnell-Ghost in a Spitfire
15. Terry Anderson & The Olympic Ass-Kickin' Team
16. The Golden Apples-Cooler Jets Will Prevail
17. Feel-Invisible Train
18. Sparkwood-Jalopy Pop
19. James Cooper-Second Season
20. Checkpoint Charley-Songs One Through Twelve

My Top 20 of 2005, #1: Derby-This Is The New You

Well, 20 days later, here it is: #1. My top spot for 2005 goes to Derby, a band out of Portland, Oregon who put out a stunningly accomplished debut last February to great acclaim. However, most of that acclaim came around the time the album came out. While I heard and read several saying at the time that the album was "best-of-year" and "top 10" material, it pretty much got the shaft on the Audities year-end poll despite my #1 vote. The only other place I saw it was on David Bash's list at around #27, and by the time I saw it there, I was grateful to see it at all. I know Craig Leve of Snap Crackle Pop touted them, but I never did see his best-of list, so perhaps I wasn't alone, but still a distinct minority.

OK, enough complaining about how this album didn't get the props it deserved, and time to explain why it did deserve them. Simply put, it's an album that pays homage to the greats without slavishly imitating them, and by the time you've finished listening to it, you realize they have their own distinct sound. Who are the influences? Well, you can start in their backyard with fellow Portlander Elliott Smith, and for contemporaries you can also include The Shins and The Pernice Brothers (circa The World Won't End), and for the classics, The Beatles and The Kinks. But they've managed to assimilate all of these influences into something of their own.

The album starts off with the acoustic "Jet Set", which is where the Smith/Shins influence can be heard. Frontman Nat Johnson, who has a voice that reminds me of a less histrionic Ed Roland, sings "maybe it's all right to turn you on/turn you on to something new", which could serve as the mission statement for this blog. This beautiful yet short number is suddenly overtaken by the crashing chords of "Qualities", where the brilliance continues. While at first sounding like Bends-era Radiohead or even good Coldplay, the song then turns to a late Beatles sound in the "stereo afterglow" of the bridge, and then it all comes around again.

And another winner immediately follows with the shuffling "Sunk a Few", complete with handclaps and Revolver-ish backwards-sounding guitars. After that comes "One Reason", which sounds like a great lost Alan Parsons Project track (Johnson does have a bit of Eric Woolfson in his voice as well); "Parade", which features Johnson's best vocal performance of the album; the uptempo "Get to the Feeling" which summons Sloan and borrows their use of fake crowd noise to nice effect; and the rocking "This Conversation", whose cool-sounding keyboard intro has found a place as the bumper music for the Not Lame Podcast. Finally, Derby close with "Pay No Mind", a driving track that's equal parts ELO's "Mr. Blue Sky" and the Beatles' "Getting Better". And when Johnson sings "a photograph is all I have/a photograph is all I have of you" in the fadeout, you're almost sad the album is over. This release also reminds me quite a bit of my current year's #1 to date, Supraluxe (or perhaps the other way around, since Derby came first). If you like that one, you'll like this one as well.

Where to listen? Start with some mp3s here (they're playing SXSW, which is where the first one is from):

Sunk a Few
Qualities

You can stream "Parade" and "Pay No Mind" here. Then hop on over to their myspace page, where you can stream live versions of "Get to the Feeling" and "This Conversation". Finally, you can sample the rest at their cd baby page. You can get it there, or at Not Lame, or a used copy in the Amazon marketplace. I won't care where you buy it, just as long as you do. And Audities, I demand a recount.

UPDATE: Also available via eMusic.

CD of the Day, 3/6/06: Hotel Lights-Hotel Lights

Hotel Lights is the solo project of ex-Ben Folds Five drummer Darren Jessee. And before you think it might simply be a case of Jessee trading on his Folds association, keep in mind that Jessee pretty much wrote the band's biggest hit, the 1998 megasmash "Brick", to which Folds added some lyrics. So it's no surprise that Hotel Lights sounds like the work of a unique artist, rather than a mere sideman.

Unlike the manic Folds, Jessee turns things down a notch or two on Hotel Lights. This is more the lush pop sound of the Pernice Brothers or Elliott Smith than what you remember from the Five, and the first two tracks tell you that you're not in Kansas (or at least North Carolina) any more. "You Come and I Go" is a beautiful mellow 70s AM-type track, almost reminiscent of how Bread might have sounded had they come up in today's indie scene. And just in case such a comparison didn't leap to your mind, the next song, "AM Slow Golden Hit" will make it for you. A great track (which alert readers will note I featured as my "song of the day" a couple of days ago), Jessee namedrops songs like "Rocket Man" and "Walking on Sunshine" while crooning "soft rock on the radio/everything comes 'round again", essentially describing his own sound. He summons up some of the old BFF attitude in "Small Town Shit", while cranking things up a bit on the organ-driven "Marvelous Truth".

It's really a great debut, and it actually first appeared in the late summer of 2004 as a self-released disc. They recently signed with Bar/None, who is giving it a proper label release tomorrow, and they're playing SXSW later this month. Here's the SXSW-approved mp3:

AM Slow Golden Hit

Here are some more places to listen: Very high-quality streams of "AM Slow Golden Hit", "You Come and I Go" and two others at their site; a lesser quality stream of "Anatole" at their myspace page, and 2-minute samples of the rest at cd baby. While poring over their site, I notice that they've also just released an EP titled goodnightgoodmorning available here (with mp3s). Yes, I've already sent them my $8.

Blogging update.

Been a slower posting day today, as I've been busy with some other stuff, and I'll be watching the Oscars tonight, so don't expect too much new the rest of the day either. I do have the CD of the Day post for tomorrow in the can, so look for that at its usual midnight time, and I know you're all waiting with baited breath for the unveiling of my #1 disc of 2005, which will also come at its usual time, at about 7:30AM Eastern. I can tell you it will be a properly considered "power pop" release, unlike my #2.

So if you're reading this today, take an opportunity to check out some of the great discs already blogged about in the archives while I somehow hope that Good Night and Good Luck can miraculously beat out Brokeback for the Best Picture Oscar.

UPDATE: Well, there was an upset in the Best Picture category, but it wasn't Good Night. Instead, it was the movie I thought the least of among the five (I did see them all), Crash. It was well-made and well-acted, but thematically it had all the subtlety of a mallet to the head.

My Top 20 of 2005, #2: Okkervil River-Black Sheep Boy

It might seem strange a non-power pop release holds down my lofty #2 position, but Okkervil River's Black Sheep Boy was that good. It's a tough album to categorize neatly: one part Indie, one part Americana and one part Emo. In a similar vein, Conor Oberst a/k/a Bright Eyes broke through last year with this formula, but he sounds like a relative lightweight compared to Okkervil River on this one. In fact, the musicianship and vibe here makes this album sound like a less self-indulgent and less cloying Oberst backed by The Band.

After starting off with the title track, a cover of a Tim Hardin song, frontman Will Sheff and the band rip into "For Real", a rocker that's equal parts Wilco and My Morning Jacket. Other highlights include "Black", another uptempo number; "A King and a Queen" and "A Stone", which really do sound like a couple of lost Band tracks, and the epic "So Come Back, I Am Waiting", which builds to a Springsteenian climax. Here's a review that gushes more than I do about this album.

Grab a couple of mp3s from the album:

For Real
Black

You can sample the rest of the tracks at the amazon page linked above. And if you end up digging this album, I'll note they followed it up later in the year with the Black Sheep Boy Appendix, an EP of leftover tracks from the BSB sessions that's pretty darn good for leftovers.

CD of the Day, 3/5/06: 7 Day Hangover-Blood, Sweat & Beers

With an album titled Blood, Sweat and Beers from a band named 7 Day Hangover, you wouldn't be expecting sensitive singer-songwriter pop. And you wouldn't be getting it either. This Toledo band belts it out and knocks it back in a pop-punk style reminiscent of Butch Walker, Weezer, Jimmy Eat World and Bowling For Soup. Highlights include....aw, hell, just let 'em describe it for you: "This album is a drunk phone call to your ex at 3:00 AM. A pop/rock album filled with catchy songs, hooky choruses, and witty lyrics...mostly about love, heartbreak, and pissed-off-ed-ness."

Pissed-off-ed-ness. You're not going to find that on your word-a-day calendar. Plus, you get lines like "I look like Tommy Lee and drink like a Kennedy". And it's not coincidental that the slowest song on the album is titled "Sober", which actually is a real nice midtempo number. But that's it for "real nice". The rest of it is in your face and rocking.

Get your samples at cdbaby, and have a drink with them over at their myspace page, where three tracks are streaming. You can also get the whole thing via eMusic here. Don't sleep this one off.

New at Not Lame, 3/3/06.

Some interesting new stuff from Not Lame this time around. First off, they feature the Rhett Miller and Jason Collett releases we've discussed here.

Most notable among the new ones is the Japanese import of Roger Manning Jr.'s Solid State Warrior. To say this has been one of the more talked about, if not fetishized, releases since it first appeared via the Weedshare network last year would be an understatement. Well, it's now been pressed onto disc, and is being sold in Japan. As a result, it's going for $34, so you really need to be jonesing for this one. (Apparently it will be released domestically in the fall via one of Warners' boutique labels). Now one of the reasons it's taken me a while to get this post out is that I needed to go back and listen to this one again. At the risk of having my membership card in the online power pop community taken away, I have to say that I wasn't totally blown away by it when I heard it last year. But after seeing Bruce & Co. wax rhapsodic over it last night, I felt it owed it another listen.

For the uninitiated, Manning was one of the key players in Jellyfish. And if you're not familiar with Jellyfish, you might be in the wrong place. After listening to it again, one track after another (my previous exposure mostly came as random songs from it played on my iPod), I have to upwardly revise my opinion of the album. Not $34 upward, but I will describe it as "pretty damn good". Obviously, I hear Jellyfish here, but the other influence I hear is Supertramp, especially in the track "You Were Right". Maybe it's because of the name Roger, but I kept thinking of Supertramp's Hodgson here. There's definitely some vocal similarity, and the way the album moves around from bouncy pop numbers to lullabies to 50s-inspired tunes, I think back to Supertramp's criminally underrated ...Famous Last Words, the sequel to megahit Breakfast In America. My advice: as the fanatics among you probably have already sent your $34 to Bruce, the rest should track down the weed files here. You can listen in full, play the weed files 3 times apiece before they expire, and buy the downloads for $13.75 total (or $1.25 per) if you can't wait for the domestic release in the fall.

*Next up is Radio On, the latest from Toronto's The National Anthem. These guys bring the rock, and the Sloan comparison is somewhat apt; actually, it's what a solo Patrick Pentland album would sound like. You can download three mp3s directly from their site:

Ladies Love The 80's
Sugar Pop
Act Together

You can also sample away at their myspace page. Oh, Canada indeed.

*Todd Stadtman's Only I Can Save You is an interesting animal. I've sampled a few tracks (I'm digging "Jezebel Jones"), and it's certainly experimental indie pop. This isn't the kind of release that's going to blow you away immediately, so I'll reserve overall judgment.

eMusic subscribers can grab it here. Myspace it here. (Wow, I just used "myspace" as a verb.) Samples of all the tracks are available at the cdbaby page. Finally, you can download an mp3 from his site:

I Don't Know Why She's Here

Definitely worthy of further consideration.

*Chris Marksbury's A Little Guitar is a release that I can't find much on beyond Not Lame. According to Bruce, it sounds like "Flamin` Groovies, Little Feat, early Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Rockpile/Dave Edmunds, early Graham Parker & The Rumour, Travelin` Wilburys and pub rockers like Ducks Deluxe(lots!), Kursaal Flyers and Brinsley Schwartz." Check it out for yourself.

*Finally, we have No Disassemble, from a band called Slow Runner. Actually, I've had this release for quite a while, when it was released as a solo album by frontman Michael Flynn. It's the same album, but for some reason has been re-released under the group name. This is pretty decent indie pop, with a variety of influences. The AMG review quoted at the Not Lame page sums it up quite accurately.

Found an mp3 at Salon.com, of all places:

Break Your Mama's Back

Stream that track, and three more at their myspace page.

OK, that's enough for this post; I've been at it so long, I may not be able to recognize my family after getting up from the computer.

eMusic alert!

Since it seems lately that I've been featuring hard-to-find releases, I'm quite pleased to note a release I recently featured is easier to find, specifically for download on eMusic. Now available this morning over there is Divorcee's Music For Cleanup Men, our CD of the day a few days ago. I'm still on the Ds, as they've added 880 releases this morning, so there might be some more to note. Stay tuned.

New Eels studio track.

I've always liked the Eels, a/k/a Mark Everett, but I've never been a huge fan. Last year's double-disc Blinking Lights and Other Revelations made quite a few best-of lists, and I did like what I heard to some extent, but never made it through the whole thing.

Anyway, I'm on their mailing list, and they've just announced a new studio track for download here, so I'm passing it on to those who may be interested. You'll have to pay 99 cents, but at least you're getting a non-DRM'd mp3. You can also preview it by clicking on the "listen" button. The song seems decent enough, although it sounds like he's using Julian Casablancas' microphone.

My Top 20 of 2005, #3: Josh Rouse-Nashville

Despite my less than enthusiastic thoughts about his forthcoming album Subtitulo, regular readers know that I'm still a big fan of Josh Rouse. And last year's Nashville is one of the main reasons why.

Nashville is kind of a career consolidation/summation for Rouse - in other words, it's a greatest hits album of brand new material. Although it doesn't hit the highs of his previous two albums, Under Cold Blue Stars and 1972 (he may never write a song as perfect as "Rise" again), Nashville is solid from the incredibly catchy opener "It's The Nighttime" (complete with pedal steel, perhaps the only song on the album that reflects the album title) to the ruminative closer "Life".

There are so many great tracks on this album: The Smiths-influenced "Winter In The Hamptons", the lush "Streetlights" (which even nods to Journey of all artists with its "streetlights/people" refrain), "Middle School Frown", a confessional that mines new territory (most songs that reminisce upon school days tackle the high school years), and the majestic piano ballad "Sad Eyes", which kicks into another gear once the bridge comes in.

There's the feeling here that Nashville is in fact a summation, as Rouse said goodbye to his native land and has since moved to Spain. If so, it's one hell of a sendoff.

Being a semi-major label release (Rykodisc), the best place to sample it is at the Amazon link above. It's of course widely available from just about any music retailer (unlike my last 2 CDs of the day). Odds are if you're reading this blog you probably already have this anyway. But if for some reason you were on the fence, get off it and get this record.

CD of the Day, 3/4/06: The Latebirds-Radio Insomnia

Today's CD of the Day comes from Finland, home of the Latebirds. Their August 2005 release Radio Insomnia, though, was a Made In The USA affair: recorded at a studio in Woodstock, New York, produced by ex-Wilco member Ken Coomer, and featuring the assistance of these luminaries: Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers), Wayne Kramer (MC5), Ken Stringfellow (Posies, Big Star), and John Stirratt (Wilco). And the pre-Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Wilco sound is evident here, as well as the sound of Stirratt's side project, The Autumn Defense. And yes, I hear the Posies in here as well.

Things start off with the stomping "Set Free The Radio", a plea for good music (like The Latebirds) to be played on the radio instead of "insult(ing) our intelligence". Amen to that. Next up is the lush pop of "Dream Dream", which is where the Stirratt-Coomer influence comes to the fore. Following is the power pop of "Got a Message" (co-written with Coomer), which reminds me of a great Maypops song from last year called "Stuck In First" (that reference may be a bit obscure, but it leapt to mind) and also sounds a bit like Michael Carpenter. Other highlights include the jangly "Falling by the Wayside", and the poignant pop of "Will to Fall".

They're playing SXSW this year and I linked to the mp3 of "Set Free The Radio" back in that series of posts. And here I'll link to it again:

Set Free The Radio

And here's another mp3:

Dream Dream

These two, along with "Got a Message" and the melancholy "Beat The Time" are streaming at their myspace page. And to sample the rest, and to get the band's own commentary on each individual track, visit their site here. The only problem is that I'm having the damndest time trying to find out where this can be bought (I was sent a cdr copy by a european friend). I did uncover the fact that they're trying to work out a North American label deal, and I know it's available via iTunes Finland (but not the US; only their previous album is available here). I guess you can buy/download it here or here, but I don't speak the language nor know what the currency conversion is. Oh well, grab the mp3s, stream the tracks and when I see it released in the US, I'll link back to this post.

Blogging update.

New discs featured on Not Lame tonight, but since the wife and I spent the evening watching Walk The Line on DVD, the post will be up tomorrow as I see a bunch of music I'll need to listen to before weighing in. The CD of the Day, however, will be going up just before, or shortly after, midnight.

New today at eMusic.

A couple of pretty good releases from UK bands were added today.

First off is the self-titled release from the Irish band Turn. This one is highly catchy and melodic, with the standout tracks being "It's About Nothing" and "Sorry's Just a Word". I hadn't listened to this one for a few months, but when reviewing the samples, quite a few of the tunes came back to me, a good sign. You can stream a few tracks from this one (as well as a few from their previous releases) in full at their site.

The other is a 2003 release from Minibar, Fly Below The Radar. Of course, that was exactly what this release did. Nevertheless, it's quite a solid one; Minibar may be British, but they have an American roots rock sound to them, in the vein of The Wallflowers (two of whom produced a few of the tracks), Counting Crows and Tom Petty. Apparently Pete Yorn and Jakob Dylan are big fans of the band as well.

My Top 20 of 2005, #4: Michael Penn-Mr. Hollywood Jr., 1947

First of all, if you're wondering what happened to #5, it was posted out of order last week.


I've been a fan of Michael Penn from the day I first saw the video for "No Myth" on MTV in 1989 (yeah, a video on MTV - they actually used to show them back in the day). But it hasn't been easy. Thanks to label issues, creative issues, and even problems securing the rights to a painting, there have been new Michael Penn albums in only these years: 1989, 1992, 1997, 2000 and 2005.

Being a Michael Penn fan is almost like being one of the cowboys in Brokeback Mountain; every 3, 4 or 5 years you reunite for a burst of intense passion, and then you have to go on with others in the interim. Fortunately, his albums are generally worth the wait, and Mr. Hollywood Jr., 1947 is no exception. A concept album of sorts about post-WWII LA, the album starts off with what has to be one of the top five songs he's ever recorded, the brilliant "Walter Reed". Named after the recently closed military hospital that famously cared for wounded vets immediately upon their arrival back in the US, the song works on so many levels - as a breakup song, as an allegory, and as a history lesson. Other standouts include "Denton Road" (sung from the perspective of a recently deceased watching his own funeral), "A Bad Sign" (written as a political protest but so subtle that you'd miss it if you weren't playing close attention), and "On Automatic", the most catchy, power poppy number on the album that was my favorite song to listen to while driving last summer (and it was easy to do since XM's Hear Music seemed to have it on every day for a stretch).

All of the tracks can be sampled at the amazon page for the album, and "Walter Reed" and two other songs from the album can be streamed at his myspace page. In fact, you can download "Walter Reed" at the myspace page as well. I'll also note that "Walter Reed" had an amazing video shot for it, which I'll briefly make available here. (Warning: 50MB QuickTime download)

So 2005 was indeed lucky to see a new Michael Penn release. Now, it's time to sigh and look forward, I guess, to 2008 or 2009 for the next one. Michael, sometimes I just wish I knew how to quit you.

CD of the Day, 3/3/06: Joe Kennedy-Van Cortlandt Park

Joe Kennedy's Van Cortlandt Park is an impressive debut album chock full of lush, sunshiney pop. Put his cd on, close your eyes, and you can imagine yourself driving along the Pacific Coast Highway with the top down and the AM radio on, circa 1973. So it's no surprise that Kennedy hails from Los Angeles, although he grew up in another sun-kissed area, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Joe's steady gig has been as a sideman for Pete Yorn, and he's about to head out on tour with him again.

Van Cortlandt Park should appeal to fans of Brian Wilson, Burt Bacharach, and a couple of other artists who put out similar albums last year: B.C. Camplight and Dave Dill. There isn't a bad track on the disc, but my particular favorites are "Remember Me" and "11.11".

The cd has only been released in the UK (I was fortunate to have a friend over there send me a copy), and can be sampled at his UK label page. Joe plans on releasing it in the US soon, perhaps through CD Baby, and is working on making it available via iTunes. Of course you can buy through an online UK retailer, but if you don't want to spend the $20 USD it'll probably end up costing, Joe has advised me that if you drop him an email, he can send you a copy in the US at a much more reasonable price.

He's also working on a new album, and from the two tracks he's put on his myspace page, it might end up being even better than this one. "Slow Down", in particular, is nothing short of brilliant, the kind of song I could listen to all day. And so can you, as I'm making it my song of the day, so just click here to have it immediately stream.

eMusic Disc of the Day: Gary Reynolds & The Brides of Obscurity-Instant Happiness

Here's a good one to grab off eMusic - Not Lame had featured this disc just a week or two before we started this blog. Indie-Music.com wrote "this is the album Lennon, David Bowie, and the Electric Light Orchestra would compose if locked in a studio together." I've been enjoying it myself as well, and the one track that sticks with me is the ballad "Elijah".

You can save a few eMu downloads or check them out if you're not a subscriber, by getting these downloads from the band site:

Instant Happiness
On The Radio
The Food Song
Elijah

All in all, an impressive debut. And of course, you can buy it at Not Lame here.

The Other Half goes back to The Drawing Board.

The other night, we noted that Not Lame was featuring a 2001 release by a band called The Other Half, which really sounded good from the samples. And then we noted that we couldn't find anything on them online.

Well, thanks to helpful reader Art Bang, I now know that The Other Half broke up and the two guys behind the band, brothers Justin and Brandon Tapp, reformed as The Drawing Board. And they can be heard (and downloaded, since they've enabled those links) at their myspace page. They have an EP out already, and a new full-length in the works. The myspace tracks are from the forthcoming full-length, and they sound very good. It'll be worth your while to take a few minutes to head over there and stream and/or download them.

My Top 20 of 2005, #6: The 88-Over and Over

If anyone in the independent power pop world is going to make the breakthrough into the mainstream a la Fountains of Wayne, it has to be LA's The 88. And the vehicle for that potential breakthrough is their outstanding 2005 release Over and Over, and its leadoff single, "Hide Another Mistake", one of, if not, the top tracks of the year.

It's quite possible you've heard these guys already - they've been featured on The OC four times, and have quite an impressive resume of TV and movie appearances, as you can see for yourself here. And while this gaudy list of credits may owe in part to their location and perhaps a who-you-know type of deal, they're worthy on the merits as well. It's almost as if they were created as the result of a lab experiment that set out to build the perfect (or at least quintessential) power pop band. 60's influences? Beach Boy harmonies, Kinks riffs, Beatlesque melodies? Check. 70's influences? Glam rock a la T. Rex, some Queen as well? Check. Modern power pop/rock influences? Jellyfish, The Darkness, even some Fountains of Wayne? Check.

Another thing The 88 does well is to incorporate piano into their tracks without being simply a "piano pop" band. The guitars rawk as well, and the perfect marriage of the two comes on the brilliant "Hide Another Mistake". The chrous itself is a microcosm of the band, begininng with "I've got the west coast sunshine/but it don't mean a thing" sung over a rock piano with a Beach Boys sound, before moving without a blink into a Fountains of Wayne-ish middle part with synths, and then finally ending in Queen/Darkness territory with a falsetto vocal, all in the space of about 10 seconds. This is the type of song that immediately goes into heavy rotation in my head upon the mere act of reading about it, rather than hearing it, a measure of how irresitible it is. (And I suppose it can be considered something of a "hit" as well, given that it has over 83,000 plays at their myspace page.)

But it's not all about one song. "Nobody Cares" is a Kinks-ish stomp complete with handclaps and all; "All Cause of You" mines the same territory with some great rollicking piano; and there's even a power ballad titled "Head Cut Off".

The best place to sample it is at the myspace page linked above, and the rest of the tracks can be heard in 2-minute increments at cdbaby. eMusic subscribers can download the whole thing here.

And make sure you don't miss the very, very cool video (complete with aerobics-dressed babes) for "Hide Another Mistake", which can be found here.

CD of the Day, 3/2/06: The Cheap Seats-Fly Low, Icarus

Sometimes when I'm researching my cd of the day, I come across someone who says it better (or at least the same) as I would, so I'm just going to quote directly from Style Weekly, which had this to say about The Cheap Seats' Fly Low, Icarus:

Sounds like: A band that will have you at hello if you’re a fan of canny popsmiths like Nada Surf, AC Newman and Fountains of Wayne. The Cheap Seat’s debut EP, “Fly Low, Icarus,” is a collection of sometimes-playful, sometimes-pensive songs about anything from romantic interludes at the zoo to young arsonists and lonely grandmas. Singer/guitarist Nick Woods has an ear for finely tuned lyrics, whether it’s quietly dreading the end of a relationship or secretly crushing on a friend’s kid sister, but “Stacy’s Mom” it’s not.

Other than calling it an EP (it's a 9-track album) and a misplaced plural possessive, I have to agree with this 100%. Of the artists mentioned, I'd have to say the Nada Surf is closest sonically, although The Cheap Seats seem to be a bit less brooding.

Here are some mp3s for your downloading pleasure, courtesy of the Seats:

Service and Parts
Albuquerque Arson
Caroline, Yes
Try and Fail

If it's streaming you prefer, they have a presence at myspace. Best place to buy is at the Baby. Bob Uecker would be proud.

Supraluxe Podcast.

I think it's been a whole 30 hours or so since I posted about Supraluxe, so I must be slipping or something. Anyway, they're the sole featured artist on the latest Bit Jobs For The Masses podcast. BJM is billed as "an independent music podcast with a British accent", and today's show features "Blue Sky", "Sugar Chalet" and "Run Rabbit Run". Do have a listen.

I've been toying with the idea of a podcast of my own here (I would have to get a decent mic first), although I'm not sure I have a voice for radio (a face for radio, yes). After hearing this smooth British bloke, I'm a bit more daunted.

Record day.

With still a little over three hours to go, we've already broken our single-day record of 210 visits to the site (not that I'm the kind of blogger who obsessively checks his site meter stats or anything). Thanks to all of you who have been stopping by, and tell your friends (and enemies) about us! Time to go watch Lost now.

New at Kool Kat Musik, 3/1/06.

Here's what's new over at the Kat:

George Prentice-Long Story Short.

This one looks interesting - Prentice says he's influenced by The Beatles, Marshall Crenshaw, Todd Rundgren, and Cheap Trick. And from listening to the four tracks on his myspace page, he does sound like he has the roots rock version of power pop down pretty good.


Frank Lee Sprague-Fulton Avenue

Frank Lee Sprague is about as retro as they come, which is something the titles of his last two albums, Merseybeat and Cavern, convey pretty clearly. On this one, it sounds like Frank is moving away from Liverpool 1962 to somewhere in California in the early 70s, as he goes acoustic here. 4 tracks can be sampled at the cdbaby page for the album, but make sure you buy it at the Kat, where it's $3 less.

Also new at the Kat is the new Vandalays EP, which has been well publicized in this space, and is a keeper, and a limited collection (498 copies) of odds and sods from Swedish popsters Paste, titled 10 Years of Waste.

Man, there's so much good stuff being released out there. The good news is that with real estate values at all-time highs, you can probably take out a home equity loan and buy them all.

UPDATE: One more added at the Kat: The Innocents-Pop Factory: "With their spot-on harmonies (sometimes early Little River Band-sounding), jangly guitars and hook-filled gems, they often come across as the Aussie answer to "Shake Some Action"-era Flamin' Groovies!" Sounds interesting.

eMusic Disc of the Day: Waltham-Waltham

If you missed out on this one when it came out last summer, there's no excuse now. Waltham's (from the Mass. town of the same name) debut album is capital-"P" (as in Power) Pop/Rock. The usual analogs (Cheap Trick, Superdrag, Weezer) apply, but these guys put a fresh spin on things. Plus they get bonus points from me for their ode to a girl named "Joanne", finally giving me a rock song that shares the name of my lovely wife.

For those who want to sample, they have a myspace page here, and some additional songs streaming on their main site page, where you can also download "Cheryl" and "The Fix" if you click on the "audio/video" link.

My Top 20 of 2005, #7: Caitlin Cary & Thad Cockrell-Begonias

This release isn't power pop - not even close. In fact, I'd almost hesitate to call it alt-country either; it's almost more traditional country, in the vein of George Jones & Tammy Wynette or Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris. Whiskeytown alumnus Caitlin Cary and solo alt-country artist Thad Cockrell's Begonias is a worthy successor to the great music produced by those classic duos. Now the song that sucked me into this album is the anomaly: the rocking "Second Option", in which Cockrell does a better Ryan Adams than Adams himself is doing these days, making it sound like a long-lost Whiskeytown track.

But the rest of the album is stunning as well, from the cover of Percy Sledge's "Warm and Tender Love", the beautiful "Please Break My Heart" and the poignant "Two Different Things". It won't be for everybody here, but if you're inclined to like alt-country, as well as traditional country (as opposed to most of today's homogenized "contemporary country"), this one can't be passed up. The Amazon link above is the best place to sample.

UPDATE: Forgot to mention that this album is available on eMusic!

CD of the Day, 3/1/06: Divorcee-Music For Cleanup Men, Breakdown and Inbetweeners

This one flew under the power pop radar when it was released last June, which was a shame. Hailing from Minneapolis, Divorcee has drawn from various pop and rock influences to craft a consistently engaging album. The first thing you'll notice after listening to them is that lead singer Ryan Seitz sounds more like he's from Manchester than Minneapolis. His voice is something of a mix between Colin Meloy, Liam Gallagher and Cotton Mather's Robert Harrison, and there is a real BritPop feel to this one. I even hear some solo Jeff Lynne and Jason Falkner in the mix as well.

Opener "Brand New" sounds at times like Bends-era Radiohead, "Say" is a midtempo number in the vein of Oasis' "Don't Go Away", and they crank it up Sloan-style on the stomping "Blow Me to Pieces". Even the finale, "Outro" (which one would think is 30 seconds of instrumental noodling based on other songs with the title) is a 5-minute anthemic masterpiece. There is one mp3 available for download at their site:

Brand New

That track, plus two others from the album (and one older track) are streaming at their myspace page. There are some used copies going for about $5-6 at the Amazon marketplace, or you can buy it new for $10 at their site. This Divorcee deserves custody of your ears for at least 40 or so minutes per week.

New at Not Lame, 2/28/06.

Interesting batch of releases featured tonight. The big news is that AbPow favorite Justin Levinson is one of those featured. And speaking of Mr. Levinson, David Bash has informed me that he's been invited to play International Pop Overthrow Boston, thanks in part to our bringing Justin to his attention.

Also featured is the new Vandalays EP we spotlighted last night, and the writeup includes some of our comments on the EP.

Moving along, most of the rest of the featured discs are 2-5 years old. The release by The Other Half from 2001 really does sound great. Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to find anything online about these guys. I have found info on at least three other bands calling themselves The Other Half, including a 60s psychedelic band, a "modern rock" band that compares themselves to Matchbox 20 (on cdbaby and myspace), and a North Carolina punk band. So that makes at least four other halves out there, which to me seems like a mathematical impossibility.

Darin Murphy's Haunted Gardenias is another interesting blast from the recent past (2001). Fortunately, Darin is a little easier to track down online, and this page will yield mp3s from the album, as well as a previous solo effort and what he calls "Fab Fourgeries", about half a dozen Beatles covers he's recorded. Very cool stuff. And he's a multimedia renaissance man; according to his bio, "His uncanny Lennonesque vocals recently landed him a job on Broadway in the new musical LENNON, opening spring 2005." He has a myspace page as well.

Next up is Patrick Storedahl's Ink Block Fingerprint. I'll have to dust off this 2004 release which I have put away somewhere, but there are five mp3s available (with lyrics) at this page. All the tracks can be sampled here.

I could have sworn that Bloom's O Sinner was featured on the main page last year, as I recall tracking it down as a result (I know I didn't find it on cdbaby). This band from Gainesville, FL (Go Gators!) definitely rawks, in an 80s kind of way, and they have a sense of humor too, with song titles such as "Only God Can Stop The Drum Machine Now" and "Don't Tell a Dead Man How To Die". Samples of all tracks can be found at cdbaby, and it's available via eMusic as well. I will note that they were another research nightmare, with at least 3 other Blooms (but not this one) appearing on myspace.

Top 10 of 2006 (so far).

One of the problems with year-end best-of lists is that stuff released early in the year inevitably gets short shrift, what with fading memories and latter year releases being more prominent at the time. So to try and avoid that malady, I'm putting out a best-of list for 2006 right now at the end of two months, and I'll update it at the end of every month thereafter. So without further ado, here's my best of 2006 to date:

1. Supraluxe-Supraluxe
2. Rhett Miller-The Believer
3. Travis Hopper-All The Lights In The City Tonight
4. David William-One Way Ticket
5. Copperdown-Something True
6. Justin Levinson-1175 Boylston
7. The Minus Five-The Minus Five (aka "The Gun Album")
8. The Green & Yellow TV-Sinister Barrier
9. Phil Ayoub-Schoolbus Window Paper Heart
10. Gary Henson-The Coast Is Clear

You'll notice the only one not featured on this blog so far is the Minus Five, which has been getting plenty of its own press. You can sample it here.

Absolute Powerpop on MySpace.

I've started a myspace page for the site. I don't plan on doing much there, but one feature that it'll make it worth your visit is my "song of the day"; MySpace allows you to stream one song from another member at a time, which automatically starts playing upon loading the page. (I've put a link to it over on the right hand side of the page, for handy reference.)

Today I'm streaming Supraluxe's "Love Sweet Love" (only because they're not streaming "Blue Sky" over there), and I'll try to put up a new one each night before I go to bed, usually around midnight. These songs may be from albums I've featured on the blog, or they may not. You'll just have to find out for yourself. And if you like what you hear, click on "view" on the music player to go right to the band's myspace page.

UPDATE: Rich from Supraluxe put up "Blue Sky" (talk about responsive), so that's the song of the day. You can still stream "Love Sweet Love" at their page.

My Top 20 of 2005, #8: Graham Cousens-Living Room Sessions

Back last week when I was giving the new Josh Rouse album the stinkeye, my main complaint was that in many spots, it was too stripped-down. I made the comment that "I'm not normally a big fan of acoustic music (although there are exceptions, if the songs are really good)". Here is the exception. Graham Cousens' Living Room Sessions is pretty much Graham and his guitar, and the whole thing was recorded on his PowerBook. If you had told me that before I heard it, I probably would have run away screaming. Thankfully I heard it first, on the recommendation of a friend.

What sets Cousens apart from your garden variety coffeehouse performer? A keen sense of melody, a warm and inviting voice, and some great tunes. I've seen it written that Cousens sounds like a happier Eric Matthews, and I'll buy that. He also sounds like early solo McCartney, Emmitt Rhodes, with some Matthew Sweet and Tom Petty included for good measure. The opener "Julia" sets the tone well, a jaunty number in the mode of "I've Just Seen a Face". "Comfort Me" jangles along reminiscent of Petty's "Wildflowers", and two of the slower numbers, "When I Was Around" and "Emily", are so pitch-perfect that I could listen to them on a continuous loop all day long. (And I'm not kidding - I've already played "Emily" three times while composing this post.)

It also appears that you can download the whole thing for free at his site by clicking on "Tracks". I almost feel a bit guilty for providing this link, because this one deserves a purchase rather than a download. But he's provided this on his site, so take him up on the offer, and if you like it, don't make him regret doing so by buying it. Only $11 at Kool Kat. Or, if you only want the download, but want him to make a few bucks, it's available at eMusic as well.

CD of the Day, 2/28/06: David William-One Way Ticket

Edinburgh, Scotland's David William proves he has the pop goods with his extraordinary debut album One Way Ticket. If I didn't know better (and I suppose I truly don't), I'd swear this was Neil Finn putting out an album under a pseudonym. Not only does William sound like Finn (at least as much as anybody this side of Shane Nicholson), his songs have the effortless pop grace of Finn's best work.

Apparently those like me who troll CD Baby for the next exciting new thing agree with this assessment, as the first batch of discs they received have sold out in about three days' time. I'm not even going to bother to get into describing individual tracks - they're all that good. But here's two you can download directly:

Satellites
Come and Go

Then go to this page and stream the rest of the tracks in their entirety. And then you'll just have to give CD Baby your email address so they can notify you when they have this one back in stock, because you'll be wanting it - badly.

Either I'm getting way too easy to please (lately at times I feel like I've been gushing like a slightly more articulate version of the Chris Farley character on SNL who could only say "you are awesome" while interviewing McCartney), or 2006 is shaping up to be an incredible year for power pop. Two months in, and I'm already building a top 10 that's going to be tough to crack.

EP of the Day: The Vandalays-Happy Ever After

Having already made a Seinfeld reference today, I suppose it's fitting that my EP of the day comes from Chicago's The Vandalays. Happy Ever After is the sequel of sorts to their 2004 release (re)begin, billed as the first power pop concept album. (Not sure whether or not they beat The Breakup Society's James at 35 to the punch; that power pop "concept" album bears a Feb 13 2004 release date, at least according to Pop Matters.)

In any event, Happy Ever After is a nice 6-song blast of power pop, kind of somewhere between Cheap Trick and Barenaked Ladies, with a touch of the Smithereens thrown in. Things start in fine fashion with the outstanding "Tracy", and "I'm Not Sleeping" and "Out/In The Night" keep the momentum going. But the highlight is the midtempo "Ramona", which jangles like there's no tomorrow.

The best place to sample it is at cd baby. Now when are The Von Nostrands going to release an album?

New stuff at eMusic.

Here are a couple of interesting releases just added to eMusic:

Badfinger-Say No More. The final studio album released under the Badfinger name, from 1981. I've never heard it, but hey, it's Badfinger.

Hector on Stilts-Same Height Relation. I picked this one up last year, it's not bad. A little quirky, off the power pop beaten path, but worth a listen.

Master of My Domain.

I've registered the domain name www.absolutepowerpop.com as well, and it redirects to this Blogger site. So if you find yourself needing to manually type in the address for this site, you can save yourself the "blogspot". There is a small ad, however, at the bottom when you're redirected via the non-blogspot address.

My Top 20 of 2005, #9: Randy & The Bloody Lovelies-Lift

Randy & The Bloody Lovelies' Lift was one of the truly special and unique releases of 2005. I was quite happy to see it be featured by Not Lame the other night, as this album deserves all the exposure it can get.

But while Not Lame used contemporaries like Ben Folds and the Argument for comparison purposes, Lift takes me back to the sophisticated piano pop and distinctly English-influenced pop that was commonly heard in the first half of the 1970s. The piano men most in evidence here as influences are Randy Newman and early Elton John, and I even hear some Gilbert O'Sullivan and Leo Sayer (the Leo Sayer of "Long Tall Glasses" that is). There's a bluesy, almost cabaret-style undercurrent to many of these tracks as well. And the vocals here remind me of Chris Rea circa "Fool (If You Think It's Over)". All in all, piano pop doesn't get much more tuneful and sophisticated than Randy Wooten & Co. have managed here.

There are so many great tracks on this album that I almost feel I'm slighting some by pointing out others. But particular standouts are "Pop" (as in "I'm about to"), "Isabella" (featuring a great slinky piano groove), "Red Carpets" (the outstaning opener), the early Elton-influenced "New Disguise", and the beautiful ballads "Wondrous Things" and "Blue Horizons". If what I've described is remotely your bag, do your best to scrounge $13-15 from your couch cushions, break open the piggy bank, or dip into your child's college fund and pick this one up.

And make sure you check out their site. Let it launch, and watch the amusing Kiev character in the hotel lobby. Just make sure you click on him and select "shut up" when you stream the album, which you can do so there with a few well-placed clicks. You could start at the beginning, but go right ahead to "Pop", one of my top 10 tracks of the year. If you're put off by Kiev, or can't figure out how to shut him up, go over to their myspace page, where you can stream "Pop", "Wondrous Things", "Blue Horizons" and the also-outstanding "Twilight Kids".

Oh, and did I mention that you can get this album via eMusic? One more reason to subscribe if you haven't already.

CD of the Day, 2/27/06: David Stanley-Finding My Way

Another disc I enjoyed last year was David Stanley's Finding My Way. Stanley falls more into the singer-songwriter category, but he can put some power into his pop as well. At times he reminds me of Neil Finn ("The Kissing Tree", "Sad Girl"), but on others I hear some Michael Carpenter ("Brand New Beat", "Counting The Days"). There really isn't a bad track on this album, although it's a bit on the short side (8 tracks plus a "radio edit" of "The Kissing Tree"). I suppose it's a case of quality over quantity.

The best (and really only) place to sample it is the cd baby page linked above. The only place I'm finding it online is at iTunes. His site is about as bare bones as it gets, and the myspace page for David Stanley yields a 19-year-old in Largo, FL (a few miles to my SW) with a Ferris Bueller fixation.

CD of the Day, 2/26/06: Archer Avenue-We Watched The Headlights; We Watched The Stars

Archer Avenue is a band from San Antonio that produces a style of alt-country inflected power pop that we've heard from fellow Texans like Rhett Miller and the Deathray Davies. Perhaps the reviewer who compared them to a mix of the Old 97's and the Gin Blossoms had it down best.

Their brand new release is We Watched the Headlights; We Watched the Stars (dig that semicolon in the title). Things get off to a raucous start with the rocking "Cops Don't Care"; "Radio" is cut from the same cloth; "Breakdown on N. St. Mary's" is where the alt-country influence is most profound, and they dial it down a notch on the fine "Cars and Airplanes".

If you go to this page, you can stream the full album (for a limited time, they say, so hurry up and get over there). It's not available via eMusic (yet), but Left of the Dial (nice nod to the Replacements), an EP of theirs that contains three tracks from the album along with three others, is on eMu here. Best place to buy the full-length, if not directly from the band, is at CD Baby.

My Top 20 of 2005, #10: Smash Palace-Over The Top

Philly's Smash Palace is a veteran band that keeps cranking out great albums over the years. Once signed to Epic back in the late 80s, Palace has hit its stride over the past seven years with three quality self-released cd's, capped by the very late 2004 release (close enough for me to count it as '05), Over The Top.

Over The Top was pretty much the best jangle-rock album of the year. Standouts on this one abound, from the opener, "Steal Her Thunder" to my favorite "Juliet to Me". The level of consistency from track-to-track on this one is what makes it a true keeper. If you're a fan of the classic janglers, from The Byrds to Tom Petty, this one is a must-buy.

And there's good news - I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance. (Sorry, couldn't resist). Actually the good news is that the album is available on eMusic here, as well as their previous two releases. Their official site has four full streams from Over The Top, including the two I singled out above. And you can buy it at the usual power pop retailers.

But wait - there's more! (I really have watched too many commercials in my lifetime). Palace is releasing a brand-new best-of album covering their three latest releases, along with two brand new tracks: "Like I Do" and "Thinking About Her", with the latter being streamed at their myspace page. The best-of is to be officially released in May, but if you email Smash Palace's Stephen Butler and ask him real nice, he'll sell you an advance copy now.

Also note that Mr. Butler produced the MezzRow disc that was our most recent CDotD, as well as playing on and co-writing several of the tracks. I knew there was a reason that disc jumped out at me.