St. Vincent has Taken By Trees and Taken By Trees has St. Vincent

Another sweet female voice is from Victoria Bergsman better known as the former lead singer of The Concretes and undoubtedly even better known as ‘that chick who sings Young Folks’. She now makes music as Taken By Trees and her record called Open Field is very lo-fi. It’s mostly piano or guitar with some percussion and that voice that makes you want to hug her to death like she was a pink mini-dwarf-baby-puppy. Especially when she’s feeling Lost and Found.

Taken By Trees – Lost and Found (mp3)

New Buffalo has St. Vincent and St. Vincent has New Buffalo

I find myself listening to the lovely Sally Seltman, better known as New Buffalo a lot lately. Her latest album 'Somewhere, Anywhere' is a grower, it took me a while to really appreciate it. I wondered why I took that time but I guess the reason is that New Buffalo is a very welcome alternative to the angst, neuroticism and heaviness of most music. The music of Arcade Fire (check here october 6th), Interpol and The National for instance aren’t exactly easy listening. You could always throw in something happy like an Architecture in Helsinki, some New Pornographers or Bonde do Role but sometimes I need something a bit more subtle. New Buffalo seems to specialize in songs of contentment (for example in the song 'I've got you and you've got me (song of contentment)'), comfort, wonder and all around sweetness. You might be wondering what the point to this story is. Well, the point is that New Buffalo doesn't have to feel so alone anymore:

St. Vincent is Annie Clark and used to be in The Polyphonic Spree and in Sufjan Stevens' entourage (but then again, who wasn’t?). Although her music is a bit less subtle than New Buffalo's it breathes the same sweetness when she sighs “what me worry? I never do” or asks John: "marry me John, marry me John (I’ll be so good to you)". How could anyone deny such a lovely voice from such a lovely appearance? Okay, so I could but that has nothing to do with her (I'm going to marry either Elvis Costello or Nick Cave). From the lovely piano play to the ‘pom-pom-pom-pom’s to the handclaps to the lush strings and the modest lyrics, it’s all drenched in an incredible sweetness. Even when Paris is burning she’s dancing (albeit a ‘black waltz’).

Sounding a bit desperate: St. Vincent - Marry Me (mp3)

St. Vincent - Paris is Burning (myspace)

Bad metaphor/good metaphor

You be the judge:

Of Montreal: Gronlandic Edit
‘Let's fall back to earth and do something pleasant
We fell back to earth like gravity's bitches
(Physics makes us all its bitches)’

Katie Melua: If You Were A Sailboat
‘If you were a house I would live in you all my days’

Cold War Kids: Hang Me Up To Dry
‘Now hang me up to dry
You wrung me out
too too too many times’

Katie Melua: If You Were A Sailboat
‘If you were a river I would swim you’

Toranja: Carta
‘É que hoje acordei e lembrei-me
Que sou mago e feiticeiro
Que a minha bola de cristal é folha de papel
E nela te pinto nua
Nua, numa chama
Minha e tua’
['Today when I woke up I remembered
That I’m a magician and an enchanter
That my crystal ball is a piece of paper
And on it I paint you naked
Naked, in a flame
Yours and mine']

Katie Melua: If You Were A Sailboat
'If you were a piece of wood I’d nail you to the floor'

WorthyNonsense: [Unreleased]
'Katie Melua, if you were a musician I’d burn your house, drain your river and nail the piece of wood in question to your glottis.'

Of Montreal - Gronlandic Edit (mp3)
Cold War Kids - Hang Me Up Tp Dry (mp3)
Toranja - Carta (video)

Certainly NOT the only gay in that village

OhmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodOhmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodOHMYGOD! BEST CONCERT OF THE YEAR ALERT! ohmygodohmygodo-*SLAP*...Thanks. I'm okay now.

Swedish Glam-rock band The Ark played their first concert in The Netherlands. Even though it was in a small venue in Rotterdam for about a hundred people they played as if they were on a giant stage playing for a crowd of thousands. They gave it their all and convinced everybody there that The Ark is THE GREATEST BAND EVE-*SLAP*...Sorry, I went of there again.

From the frantic first notes to the fantastic last one their motto was absolutely no decorum whatsoever glam, bam, thank you ma'am! Frontman Ola made Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears look like a conservative librarian with his impressive voice, stage personality, golden jumpsuit and 'controversial' lyrics. Lyrics about homosexuals' right to have children ('Father of a Son'):

And I may be gay
But I can tell you straight away
That Ill become a better father
than All of you anyway...(so listen!)
One day I will become
The father of a son
Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah!

About sexualization ('Tired of Being an Object'):

Well, don´t project your bore
On the girl on the dance floor
She doesn´t at all find
The men´s looks abusive
She doesn´t want your shield
Maybe she´s the one who´s free
Maybe sometimes getting fucked Can be amusing

And even about bare-backing ('Disease'):

If there is disease in you
I want to have that disease too

I can't remember having that much fun at a show. They deserve to be Swedens biggest act. And to be THE BIGEST BAN-*SLAP*...I'll stop now. Promise.

Their break-through single: The Ark -It Takes a Fool to Remain Sane (video)

Their fabulous 2007 songfestival song video: The Ark - The Worrying Kind (video)

Don't Make Fun Of Hera's Tears.

Today the last 30 seconds of this tiny snippet of documentary on Morrissey made me cry.

Celebration - The Modern Tribe (4AD)

The hybrid child of Yeah Yeah Yeahs and TV On The Radio might be the best way to describe Celebration. Though they have released some stuff already, their new album 'The Modern Tribe' caught my attention. Why? you might ask; I don't have an idea.

Nerd-o-fact: David Sitek (TV On The Radio) produced the record.

Here's the video for Evergreen. Be your own judge.

Oh yeah and here's their myspace for more stuff, quite a lot of stuff, actually

In Amsterdam after the trip

It took me four and a half hours of trains, busses and trams to get to the Stars concert last saturday but as soon as they started 'Take me to the Riot' that exhausting journey was instantly forgotten. I was treated to an exhilirating set of songs from their 2005 break-through masterpiece 'Set Yourself on Fire' (please don't), new favorites (or rather favourites) from 'In Our Bedroom After the War', some old songs and the Smiths cover 'This Charming Man'.
Stars are a romantic indie-pop band from Canada (yes, from the Arts & Crafts label) who specialise in narrative songs about the intricacies of relationships. The songs in which Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan both sing parts from a male and female perspective are their trade-mark. Like on 2005's 'Your Ex-lover is Dead' where two ex-lovers meet again and we hear that their thoughts about each other are way off, or 'One More Night', a cruel tale about sex with an ex. The new album has 'Personal', which is sung as a personal ad ("Wanted single F/ Under 33/ Must enjoy the sun/ Must enjoy the sea") and slowly turns crueler and crueler.

Okay, so maybe they're not so much a romantic band as a band that sings about romances.


From 'Set Yourself on Fire': Stars - Your Ex-lover is Dead (video)

Fantastic set-opener: Stars - Take me to the Riot (myspace)

Moving: Stars - Personal (myspace)