SONDRE LERCHE

Everything-AND-the-kitchen-sink crooner/carny barker SONDRE LERCHE will drop his fourth full-length album, PHANTOM PUNCH, tomorrow. This time around, he's swinging back toward the free-wheeling pop of his first two records -- cabaret trappings and all.

Last I checked, this Norwegian wunderkind wasn't even 25 yet.

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT, get your ass in gear.

SONDRE LERCHE on MySPACE.

[MP3] "Well Well Well"

[MP3] "The Tape"

[VID] "Say It All"

BEST OF JANUARY

Here is January's rather UK-centric mix. Of course, some Swedes have insisted their way in. The Americans -- few and far between -- will be permitted, but only if they sit in the back. Two-drink maximum. No lap-dances.

[This is a DEERHOOF-, FIELD MUSIC-, and PANDA BEAR-free zone.]

[Also: Trying a new uploader this time around. Please let me know if it's better/worse than RapidShare.]

Left-click [HERE] to download last month's motley lot...

TRACKLIST >>>

01) The Killers/All the Pretty Faces
02) The Cooper Temple Clause/Connect
03) The Apples in Stereo/Sunndal Song
04) The Carny/Man Under the Sun
05) The Cinematics/A Strange Education
06) Idlewild/In Competition for the Worst Time
07) Graham Coxon/Tell It Like It Is
08) The View/Superstar Tradesman
09) Yellowish/Lisa Could Die for Elvis
10) Amy Winehouse/Back to Black
11) Irene/Stardust
12) Detektivbyran/Dansbanan
13) Volvoe/Organized Faults
14) Au Revoir Simone/Dark Halls
15) Electric Six/Pulling the Plug on the Party
16) Consequences/Not Coming Home
17) Director/Big Cities
18) Devotchka/The Last Beat of My Heart
19) Winterkids/All the Money
20) The Electric Pop Group/Walk Away

BRIGHT EYES

[Come back later today to download the Best of January mix.]

The forever-prolific BRIGHT EYES (aka CONOR OBERST) has an aggressive 2007 on tap. First up is the EP FOUR WINDS, whose six songs will be available for purchase on March 6. Shortly thereafter, the full-length CASSADAGA will drop on April 10.

Below, you'll find my favorite track from the EP, followed by my favorite BRIGHT EYES song overall.

BRIGHT EYES on MySPACE.

BRIGHT EYES in concert...

Feb 25 2007 8:00P/Metro/Chicago, Illinois
Feb 27 2007 8:00P/Opera House/Toronto, Ontario
Feb 28 2007 8:00P/Somerville Theatre/Somerville, Massachusetts
Mar 2 2007 8:00P/Bowery Ballroom/New York City, New York
Mar 3 2007 8:00P/Bowery Ballroom/New York City, New York
Mar 5 2007 8:00P/9:30 Club/Washington DC, Washington DC
Mar 7 2007 8:00P/El Rey/Los Angeles, California
Mar 8 2007 8:00P/El Rey/Los Angeles, California

[MP3] "Reinvent the Wheel"

BONUS TRACK >>>

[MP3] "Lover I Don't Have to Love"

GUSTAV & THE SEASICK SAILORS

GUSTAV & THE SEASICK SAILORS first rammed their Viking ship into my life in May of 2005. That's when I first fell ass-over-tea-kettle for their song "Angels Fable" -- which, almost assuredly, came to me by way of SWEDESPLEASE.

I loved the song's simplicity. Its casual, cast-off quality. It sounded like the last thing the boys threw together in the studio that night. Not quite gypsy-folk. Not exactly a sea shanty. But made irresistible by its classy, mariachi-band brass, its shuffling drums, and by young GUSTAV HAGGREN's earnest, striving vocals. At song's end, he seems to express his own one-word evaluation of the group's efforts: "Keeper!". (Though, being Swedish, he may just as well have been saying "Kipper!" -- a salted, smoked herring much beloved by the Swedes.)

Only yesterday did I discover that this particular incarnation of "Angels Fable" is not the one that appears on G&TSS's second album, SIRKUS. The recorded version -- while entirely similar -- chooses to de-emphasize those noble horns, instead playing up the bassline and inserting some honky-tonk piano fills. And, of course, the triumphant "Keeper!/Kipper!" exhalation has gone missing. A pity.

All of that said, if I had heard the SIRKUS version FIRST, then I'm sure that THAT would be the one I'd be praising to the stars right now. Because, as it is, SIRKUS is an excellent record, a more full-bodied and blooded take on Gustav's 2004 singer/songwriter-styled debut, VAGABOND'S POLKA. Both albums are currently available from iTUNES and CD BABY, amongst other places.

The main purpose of this post, however, is to get out the word that Gustav will be making his first North American tour, starting next week. He'll be performing solo this go-around, and you'll find a list of relevant dates and places below. It might be a good idea to keep on eye on his MySPACE page as well, as new dates -- and new places -- keep getting added.

After the tour, Gustav promises, he will begin work on his third album this summer. I'll keep you posted.

GUSTAV in North America...

Feb 8 2007 8:00P/Castaways (solo)/Ithaca, New York
Feb 10 2007 8:00P/Revolution (solo)/Clinton, New York
Feb 21 2007 8:00P/Flavour Cafe (solo)/Troy, New York
Feb 23 2007 8:00P/Coffee and Tea Room (solo)/Williamsport, Pennsylvania

Mar 3 2007 8:00P/Jitters Coffehouse (solo)/Southington, Connecticut
Mar 18 2007 10:30P/The Bitter End (solo)/New York, New York
Mar 23 2007 8:00P/Potters House (solo)/Washington, Washington DC
Mar 29 2007 8:00P/World Cafe Live (solo)/Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 30 2007 8:00P/Fredericksburg Songwriters Showcase (solo)/Fredericksburg, Virginia

Apr 1 2007 8:00P/Baja Bean (solo)/Staunton, Virginia
Apr 5 2007 8:00P/Juggling Gypsy (solo)/Wilmington, North Carolina
Apr 6 2007 5:00P/Folks Café (solo)/Wilmington, North Carolina
Apr 7 2007 8:00P/Port City Java (solo)/Wilmington, North Carolina
Apr 13 2007 8:00P/Rime (solo)/Vancouver, British Columbia
Apr 14 2007 8:00P/Denman Island Hall (solo)/Denman Island, British Columbia

From the LP SIRKUS, 2006 >>>
[MP3] [VID] "Something Weightless"
[MP3] "Angels Fable" [demo]

From the LP VAGABOND'S POLKA, 2004 >>>
[MP3] [VID] "Vagabond's Polka"
[MP3] [VID] "Nightlife"

ROYAL TREATMENT PLANT

I've been carrying on a one-sided love affair with London's ROYAL TREATMENT PLANT ever since I first heard their song "You Don't Need Me" back in October of '06. It made my Best Of mix that month, and I still find it a nearly perfect blend of dance/thrash pop/rock.

Turns out, the band has been keeping some other gems up its collective sleeve, and the members were generous/sympathetic enough to throw a bone to this sad-sack, unrequited-love junkie. Perhaps seeing it as the audio equivalent of a pity-fuck, the group agreed to send me an MP3 of their new single "Carry Me" [available from iTUNES and AMAZON.COM (UK) as a four-song EP].

Lo and behold, a signature sound -- in an "empowering," not "restrictive" sense -- begins to emerge. SAM's sharp, staccato, sometimes siren-like guitar. TOMMY T's understated, retro, sense-of-menace synth fills. CHRIS and DJ's rumbling, cymbal-crash rhythm section. And, above it all, frontwoman PRINCESS P's playful yet authoritatively aggro vox -- effortlessly escalating from a coo to a caterwaul.

BLONDIE as covered by SONIC YOUTH? No, not exactly. But if that's enough candy to get you into the smiling-televangelist-man's Caddy, then go ahead and take the bait. The right tunes can make any ride worth risking.

ROYAL TREATMENT PLANT on MySPACE.

ROYAL TREATMENT PLANT on stage...

Feb 2 2007 8:00P/On The TV present GIRLS!GIRLS!GIRLS! @ The Luminaire/London
Feb 17 2007 8:00P/Feeling Gloomy Club Night @ Bar Academy/London
Feb 21 2007 8:00P/The Social, London/London
Mar 1 2007 8:00P/Another Form of Relief/London
Mar 21 2007 8:00P/Industry, London/London
Mar 28 2007 8:00P/Headphones off @ Catch/London
Mar 31 2007 3:00P/Ladyfest @ The Loft/Cambridge

[MP3] "Carry Me"

[MP3] "You Don't Need Me"

[MP3] "Trained"

[MP3] "Funky" [live]

CLINIC

Whether they're the world's biggest M*A*S*H fans or simply bird flu-fearing, the four Liverpudian lads of CLINIC certainly know their way around a gimmick.

They also know their way around a dense, insular sound that seems almost perversely determined to push you away even as it's drawing you ever-closer to its cold, hard heart.

Listening to VISITATIONS, their 2006 album that was just released in the U.S. this past week, is perhaps a bit akin to navigating that hedge-maze in THE SHINING. But not during the daytime, in the fall, with SHELLEY DUVALL (though Shelley Duvall is certainly creepy and then some). No, this would be a nighttime navigation, in the dead of winter, with a freshly-hatched-from-the-cuckoo's-nest JACK NICHOLSON lurching after us with an ax.

This is music that revels in dead ends. Blind corners. Everywhere you turn, the sense of impending doom and deja vu is overwhelming. Depressing. Deadening. Don't go into the light, Carol Anne! But never mind; there's no light to be had. And no SCATMAN with a Sno-Cat to save you.

(How 'bout that. Turns out this entire post was just an excuse to get in an entirely irrelevant SCATMAN CROTHERS reference. Odd. Very odd.)

CLINIC on MySPACE.

CLINIC in the UK, US, and CA...

Feb 3 2007 7:00P/The Social/Nottingham, Midlands
Feb 4 2007 11:00P/Optimo/Glasgow, Scotland
Feb 9 2007 7:00P/Concorde 2/Brighton, South
Feb 10 2007 7:30P/Club Academy/Manchester, Northeast

Mar 2 2007 8:00P/Troubadour/Los Angeles, California
Mar 3 2007 8:00P/Noise Pop/San Francisco, California
Mar 6 2007 8:00P/Black Cat/Washington DC
Mar 7 2007 8:00P/Johnny Brendas/Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 10 2007 8:00P/Middle East/Cambridge, Massachusetts

Mar 11 2007 8:00P/La Sala Rossa/Montreal, Quebec
Mar 12 2007 8:00P/Lee's Palace/Toronto, Ontario

From the LP VISITATIONS, 2007 >>>
[MP3] [VID] "If You Could Read Your Mind"
[MP3] "Jigsaw Man"

From the LP WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL, 2004 >>>
[MP3] "Anne"
[MP3] "Thank You (For Living)

From the LP WALKING WITH THEE, 2002 >>>
[MP3] "The Equaliser"

From the LP INTERNAL WRANGLER, 2000 >>>
[MP3] [VID] "Distortions"

SIERRA SWAN

Watch your backs, PHOENIX and ZAPPA families, and make way for the silkily alliterative, friend-of-the-Earth-monikered SIERRA SWAN -- a young, up-and-coming California singer/songwriter who has already collaborated with a couple of the music biz's most respected song stylists. (Oh, and, just to solidify her family's standing in the wacky, terrestrial/ethereal name-game: Ms. Swan's sister is also a singer... and is named "Planet.")

Sierra Swan began her music career at the age of 16 -- writing songs and playing coffee houses in the San Fernando Valley. Before long, Atlantic Records came a'callin' with a contract, and the beginnings of a bright, promising career seemed all but assured.

Alas, in that oldest and most cliched of cautionary tales, artist and record label did not see eye-to-eye on the artistic-vision thing, and Atlantic dumped her like detritus. (No doubt TORI AMOS -- who lived the same exact tale with the same exact record label some ten years before -- can sympathize.)

Then, as so often seems to happen, a professional setback was enjoined and eclipsed by a personal one -- with Ms. Swan's mother taking seriously ill and passing away in February of 2003. It was at this emotional low ebb that Swan met songwriter, producer, and just general "uber-guru" LINDA PERRY. Before long, the two were writing together -- a partnership that would eventually yield 2005's LADYLAND, Sierra Swan's first album.

From the beginning, this collaboration had a kismet quality to it -- not just because the two proved to be so compatible as composers, but because their voices have a definite, kissing-cousin quality to them. Swan's may not be quite as over-the-top rough-and-tumble as Perry's was in the latter's 4 NON BLONDES days, but there's a seductive scratchiness to her purr that adds a welcome heft. Think: FIONA APPLE. Or -- on some of the poppier numbers -- one of Perry's previous proteges: PINK. (Also, the sometimes-playful, sometimes-darkly-intense piano figures that animate many of the tracks tend to evoke Ms. "UNDER the Pink" -- Tori Amos.)

As yet, Swan isn't the most accomplished lyricist you're likely to hear, but what she lacks in literary polish she more than makes up for in tell-it-like-it-is emotional punch and irony-couching-anger honesty. Obviously, having Linda Perry at her side is a pretty effective creative crutch. And, just for a little added assistance, AIMEE MANN co-writes and lends vocal support to the suffers-no-fools kiss-off, "Get Down to It."

Turns out, then, that Sierra Swan has a lot more going for her than that silkily alliterative name of hers. But even so: River, Rain, Summer, Liberty, and Leaf... watch your backs. Dweezil, Moon Unit, Diva, and Ahmet... eat your hearts out.

[SIERRA SWAN will be playing THE HOTEL CAFE in Hollywood at 10:30 PM on January 31.]

SIERRA SWAN on MySPACE.

[MP3] [VID] "Don't Say"

[MP3] "Just Tell Me"

BONUS TRACK >>>

[MP3] "It's a Merry Time"