Screw the Viagra; these tunes are guaranteed to to give you Norwegian wood. A little blast of audio/visual nostalgia -- complete with high-flying falsetto -- to help you welcome in November....A-HA on MySPACE.
[MP3] [VID] "Take on Me"
[MP3] [VID] "The Sun Always Shines on TV"
[MP3] [VID] "Stay on These Roads"
JOSH RITTER was born in Moscow, Idaho. He is quite obviously influenced by BOB DYLAN and BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN. He is not as gifted/talented as Bob Dylan and/or Bruce Springsteen, but that's okay; I am reasonably certain that he is aware of the fact that he is not as gifted/talented as Bob Dylan and/or Bruce Springsteen.
Twenty-six-year-old Staten Islander INGRID MICHAELSON has got this 21st-century, Internet-&-iPod-dominated marketing-thing licked. At least three of her songs have been featured on "Grey's Anatomy." And one of them ("The Way I Am") has appeared in TWO separate television ads (Old Navy and Chevrolet).
For what seems like forever now, rumors have been rife regarding a new RAVEONETTES record. Well, those rumors are on the verge of proving true. LUST LUST LUST will descend upon Europe on November 12. As for North America... AMAZON lists a March 4, 2008 date. So maybe that means something, or maybe it don't.
In April, I had this to say about NICOLE ATKINS:
The good news is: I've been enjoying the hell out of Swedish band MANDO DIAO's album ODE TO OCHRASY -- to the point where I'd begun to pencil it in as a finalist for my Top 10 Albums of 2007. The bad news is: It turns out that the LP was released in Sweden in 2006, thereby making it ineligible for this year's list. Dagnabbit. 
The youngsters amongst you may well have no idea who/what DIONNE WARWICK was/is. A few may know that she's related to WHITNEY HOUSTON (they're cousins). A few may remember her for her unfortunate foray into TV hucksterism (Psychic Friends Network, anyone?). Then there was her well-intentioned-but-ultimately-insufferable 1986 charity single ("That's What Friends Are For," with ELTON JOHN, STEVIE WONDER, and GLADYS KNIGHT). Finally, some may recall that she was the original host of the cheesy-in-the-extreme '80s music-charts countdown show "Solid Gold" (Arsenio Hall was the show's FINAL host).
Thirty years ago, it wasn't the U.S. and U.S.S.R. that ruled the world; it was the BEE GEES. And ABBA. And it was the Boy in the Bubble/Vinnie Barbarino suddenly going white-hot on the Big Screen.
An unexpected find, via eMUSIC....
SEA WOLF is the creation of ALEX CHURCH, founding member of the L.A. indie outfit IRVING. On his full-length debut, LEAVES IN THE RIVER, the songs tend toward straightforward, folk-oriented pop. The production is clean and uncluttered, and there's a nice undercurrent of gray-skied, winter chill to keep things grounded. On this gray-skied, hinting-at-winter-chill evening, I'm digging the vibe.
Just look at all those hippies up there... doing all those perverted, hippie things. Turns the stomach, doesn't it? Where have you gone, Richard Nixon? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you....
Here in the Mitten, folks know a thing or two about downsizing. Apparently, the people of the Pacific Northwest do as well, seeing as the Seattle band once known as SAY HI TO YOUR MOM have been compelled to jettison a full 60% of their words and 64% of their letters (67% if you count the spaces). The times are tough. Tight-fistedness is next to godliness. Somebody, buy these guys a vowel (or four).
The music of MATT POND PA is like a pair of old, comfortable shoes. For this, PITCHFORK felt compelled to rip Mr. Pond & his posse a new a-hole. I, on the other hand, am inclined to be a bit more generous. Guess I just have a thing for old, comfortable shoes. (And Pitchfork can blow me.)
From Brooklyn (home to this morning's LES SAVY FAV), we're taking I-87/AUT-15 north to that tres French mecca de musique exotique, Montreal. Here, we look forward to rendezvous-ing with up-and-coming, psychedelic pop-thrashers -- comment vous dites? -- HOT SPRINGS.
LES SAVY FAV. I'd heard of them. Didn't know the proper way to pronounce them... but I'd heard of them.
Please left-click [HERE] to download the third installment of THE '80s series.
Since this is destined to be an '80s sort of day, we'll kick things off with SIOUXSIE of SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES fame. Of course, she used to go by SIOUXSIE SIOUX, but -- 11 years after banishing the Banshees -- she has apparently decided to sacrifice the "Sioux." What's lost in Dr. Suessian alliteration & whimsy is made up for in economy, I guess is the idea.
It's always nice to be able to give a local act a little promotional push. Not that Detroit's BLANCHE needs much of one; their song "What This Town Needs" has been hellcattin' its way across cyberspace for quite a good little while now.
Even in their native UK, RIALTO was one of those blink-and-you-missed-'em Britpop bands. From 1997-2002 they achieved some minor chart success with a couple of their songs and were dropped from their record company (twice) for their trouble.
A couple weeks ago, I started banging the drum for the then-upcoming release of KENT's TILLBAKA TILL SAMTIDEN. At the time, I'd only heard first single "Ingenting," which sounded sufficiently cool to be promising (even if it never quite found that extra gear that might have taken it someplace truly special).
In certain parts of the world, at least, garage-rocking, Swedish neo-punks THE HIVES have a new album out. THE BLACK AND WHITE ALBUM won't be available in the U.S. until November 13.
In which we continue and complete Friday's retrospective on THE DIVINE COMEDY....
Yet another Sunday, yet another collection of classic '60s pop as delivered by iconic female vox. Though she shuffled off her mortal coil nearly a decade ago, DUSTY SPRINGFIELD is eternal.
THE DIVINE COMEDY is the nom de pop of NEIL HANNON, an Irishman who deserves a place alongside JARVIS COCKER, MORRISSEY, and NEIL TENNANT in the mordant-wit pantheon of contemporary songwriters. Like those gentlemen, he is more than capable of joining a killer riff with a cute-yet-cutting couplet.
For some reason that passeth all human understanding, I had convinced myself that the band MARITIME originated from some northern European nation. Taking their nautical name as both cue and clue, I logically deduced that they must make their home in Copenhagen or Oslo; Helsingborg or Gothenburg.
As a general rule, I don't make a habit of posting on artists that I don't like. I mean, why the hell would I? This is MY blog, after all -- one of the very few things in this world that I can actually call my own.
Canadian singer-songwriter RON SEXSMITH is a lot like his mother country -- chronically and criminally underappreciated.
