Hearts & Heartaches from eardrumspop on 8tracks.

8Tracks is a website where you can make streamable mixes by uploading music and coverart. My first mix is dedicated to love and lost love, and you can either listen to it above, or go to the mix on 8Tracks here: http://8tracks.com/eardrumspop/hearts-heartaches

Please share the link, FB-like or tweet about it if you like it. You can use the buttons above, if you want to make this as easy as possible. Thanks!

As some of you may know, I am a huge fan of the German label Morr Music. I trust them so much that I KNOW that I will love their upcoming releases. I knew, just by reading Morr’s description of their new signing FENSTER, that this was something I should look forward to.

Quote:
“FENSTER makes de-constructed pop music. Their lyrics are often carefully constructed dream narratives, finding inspiration in the world of ghosts, graveyards. trains, religious imagery, and broken machinery. In their music, they build songs around errors, blending melodic chords with broken beats or minimal percussion. Their instruments range from banjo to synth to inanimate objects, using slamming doors and city soundscapes.”
Unquote.

I was right. Fenster was worth looking forward to. Their music is magical and really interesting. Fenster’s album “Bones” will be released on Morr in March, but you can already get their 7″ single via Bandcamp. http://fenster.bandcamp.com/

Finland’s Burning Hearts released one of my favourite albums a few years ago on one of my favourite labels, Shelflife. “Aboa Sleeping” was filled with gorgeous indiepop-songs, filtered through a thin layer of melancholy, – the same kind of melancholy you can find in some of the songs from Broadcast or Stereolab. That kind of duality between happy and melancholic  is probably why I have always found Burning Hearts’s sound more interesting and durable than all those super-happy and sugary indiepop-bands. I love many of those bands too, but I often get tired of their songs easily.
That’s not the fact with Burning Hearts.

So, can you imagine how happy I became when I heard that a new album was on its way?`I guess you can.
The new album is called “Extinctions”  and will be released on February 21, on cd, digital and a limited edition vinyl-print (500 ex).

In a press release, Shelflife writes
“Extinctions was written as a consequence of many tragic stories that in a way or another touched the band. Quite a few of the songs are dedicated to people or creatures that no longer exist. Even if human tragedies inspired the writing, and death is present in nearly all the songs, the sound remains vivid and full of hope.”

Extinctions is a co-release with another very interesting label, Solina Records in Finland.

Maribel will release their second LP “Reveries” in Japan tomorrow, Germany on Friday and Norway, UK and the EU on Monday February 13th. This is their new video, “You Bring the Sadness”, featuring Emil Nikolaisen from Serena Maneesh. Lovely

A bit later than usual, but here is the weekly “Loved Songs” Spotify list, with new songs in genres like indiepop, indie, folk and electronica from the past weeks. I have also included a couple of old favourites that were added to Spotify recently as re-releases.
If you like this list, please subscribe to it or share it around on Facebook or twitter to show that these are also your loved songs.

Here is this week’s list:

Loved Songs #24

You can also subscribe to the huge and evergrowing “All Loved Songs 2012″ list, where I add all the playlists when they are published. This one is recommended to shuffle… : all loved songs 2012 (made to shuffle!)

This week’s “Loved Songs #24″ are

Golden Fable – Always Golden
Frankie Rose – Know Me
BRILDB107DLX – Boat
Sharon Van Etten – Leonard
The Wedding Present – You Jane
Vaporous Light – Money
The Silver Seas – Candy
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Missionary
The Hooves of Destiny – Sweet Tooth Bird
I'm From Barcelona – Battleships
Envelopes – Sister In Love
Fever Dream – This Waste
Jonathan Johansson – Centrum
Cloud Nothings – Stay Useless
Honeytraps – Morning Light
M.I.A. – Bad Girls
Sofia Talvik – Everyone's Favorite Concubine
Sharon Van Etten – Warsaw
Billy Bragg – Lay Down Your Weary Tune
Princeton – Florida
Goldfrapp – A&E
Lana Del Rey – Radio
Montag – Nova Heart
The Submarines – Shoelaces
Lianne La Havas – Age
Emerald Park – Things
Real Ones & Stein Torleif Bjella – Ei Ørlita Stund
Wire – Kidney Bingos
Iselin andresen – Insomnia
Good Shoes – City By The Sea
Cocteau Twins – Lazy Calm
Keith Kenniff – Daybreak
Musette – Horse Thoughs
Lucas Renney – A Tear In The Sea

It’s Friday, and Friday is playlist-day here on Eardrums Music. I have selected my favourite tracks from last week’s releases on Spotify, and I hope you will do your part of the job, by sharing this playlist on as many networks as you can, and to your personal friends, of course! 

Here is this week’s playlist:
Loved Songs #23 

(The playlist is also in text-format below)

You can also subscribe to the “All Loved Songs 2012″ playlist, which will grow and grow during the year. I add every “Loved Songs” playlists to this one every week. It will be huge, so shuffle is recommended…
Here it is: all loved songs 2012

Here are all the songs on “Loved Songs #23:

School Of Seven Bells – Lafaye
Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains – Les Plus Beaux
Hospitality - Eight Avenue
Low Roar – Just A Habit
Porcelain Raft – Drifting In And Out
Chairlift - Met Before
Sleigh Bells - Comeback Kid
The Magnetic Fields – Andrew In Drag
Foxes! – Descartes
Tenniscoats – Kuki No Soko
Laura Gibson - Milk-Heavy, Pollen-Eyed
The Holiday Crowd – Never Speak Of It Again
Grabbel and The Final Cut – Psycho Popsong
Coasting – Portland
Creep – Animals (feat. Holly Miranda)
The Kabeedies – Eyes
Amadou & Mariam – Dougou Badia (feat. Santigold)
Golden Fable – The Chill Pt. 2
DJ Food (feat. Matt Johnson) – GIANT
Stealing Sheep – I Am The Rain
Andrew Bird – Eyeoneye
I Am Oak – Gills
Little Tybee - Boxcar Fair
Those Dancing Days – Spaceherosuits
Benjamin Francis Leftwich – Rebellion (Arcade Fire Cover)
Laura J Martin – Black Caravan
Vessel – Feathers
Chairlift – Amanaemonesia
Foxes! – Alex Badamchi
Michael Kiwanuka – Home Again
Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains – Do you want to dance
The Golden Awesome – Ruby
Lemaitre – Appreciate
Deerhoof – No One Asked Bazan to Dance
Le Muhr – Svensk musikliv
Leonard Cohen – Darkness

Liechtenstein is one of my favourite bands, and it makes me so so so happy to hear that their new album, “fast forward” is out these days on Fraction Discs! I haven’t heard the full 11-track album yet, but according to the label, this album “is a pop gem filled with catchy post punk, jangly guitars, trumpets, piano and vocal harmonies, all arranged and produced with a sensitive touch. The production is crispier than before, emphasizing the vocals and putting focus on the lyrics.”

Sounds good!

Here are two videos and an mp3 from the album, and you can tell me what you think in the comments!

Liectenstein – Ambitions

Shelflife Records has a really interesting release out now, from The Holiday Crowd  Their new album “Over The Bluffs”  is a co-release between Shelflife and New Romantic, and you can order it in various physical and digital formats on shelflife.com.

You can also download a free mp3 of the song “Never speak of it again” for a limited time via Soundcloud:
http://soundcloud.com/newromantic/the-holiday-crowd-never

Saboteur – Laura K from laura kovic on Vimeo.

A few months ago, we released a free digital single on our netlabel EardrumsPop with Laura K, and I am sure many of you have already downloaded it. The single has become one of our most popular releases. I was very excited myself, when the tracks arrived in my inbox, but the single has really grown since I listened to it the first time.  As you understand, I am a fan! The video above is a new stripped down version of the track “Saboteur”, recorded in her bedroom. Hope you like it as much as I do!

Laura K – ePop018 – digital single by EardrumsPop

The fun thing was that I didn’t know that Laura is and has been a member of two bands I have been in love with for some time. She’s a member of Tigercats now, and used to be a member of Little Scout, both amazing bands. Before I knew about her Tigercats-participation, I heard their lovely, lovely song “Jonny”, and wondered who sang those gorgeous vocals. Now I know…

Town Hall is an indie/folk trio from New York City, who have just released their debut-EP “ Sticky Notes and Paper Scraps“. I fell in love with their sound instantly, after hearing Phoebe Ryan’s wonderful vocals on the stunning opening track “Just Watching My Breath”. The vocal duties are split between her and Stefan Weiner, also on this song, where their vocals swirl around each other.  The third member is Jesse Kranzler, whose banjo adds a warmth and a down-to-earth feeling to their songs. In addition, they have been helped by a small orchestra of violins, flutes, cellos and lots of other instruments. Did I say that the songs are lovely, all of them? They are.

You can get their EP via bandcamp for a price of your choice. The mixed media artwork by Alysha Colangeli is also worth spending a few minutes or hours looking at.

Here’s a track you can download, and if you like it, visit their bandcamp and get the rest.

Town Hall – Just Watching My Breath

“

A slow start of the year, but here I am, and I’m back with another “Loved Songs” playlist, the 22nd. I am especially excited about Diagrams, which is the new project from former Tunng-frontman Sam Genders, the new single from Frankie Rose is lovely, and I am completely in love with the new EP from Piney Gir. The playlist also features new goodies from bands like Trailer trash Tracys, Murder Mystery, The Notwist, Vit Päls, Burning Hearts, the Shins and many, many more… I’m a bit disappointed in the new JJ-single, but I have included it here, so you can make up your own opinion.

Here’s the list, and if you like it, please spread it around to your friends, on twitter, on Facebook, anywhere…

Loved Songs #22

 Just a very short post this time:

Here is the last “Loved Songs” Spotify-playlist of 2011: Loved Songs # 21 - 33 tracks.

I hope you enjoy it, and please spread it around by clicking on the social network-buttons on top of this post, or by just telling your friends about it. Thanks!

If you want to listen to ALL the loved songs from 2011 in one HUGE playlist, this one is for you:
all loved songs - Shuffle-play is recommended. This is 643 tracks, and it will take 1 day to listen through them all…

Well, I always promise myself that I won’t do a best of this year, but I end up doing something that looks quite like a best of-list. I listen to A LOT of music in a lot of different genres, and I always find it difficult to range albums from 1-10 or even 1-100, so here are the albums I have enjoyed the most in 2011. Why should there be only one winner, when there are so many great albums and bands out there?
There are also lots of other bands that I would love to add here, but they haven’t released an album yet, so this is my way of narrowing it down… 

In 2011, I have listened to music a bit differently than other years. I have started walking a lot, and I listen to music with headphones, often on shuffle, and often more upbeat music than what I usually listen to. This has some influence on my list as well. The music on my list is in many genres, both indiepop, folk, electronica and experimental/neoclassical.

Here are my favourites listed by when I heard them first/when they were released (some may have been released properly later, but I may have listened to an advance promo). What are your favourites?

My absolute favourites are in italic, but all these albums have made an impression on me.

(My fav songs of the year should be somewhere in this huge “all loved songs”-Spotify playlist collected through the year: all loved songs)

JANUARY
The Andersen Tapes – as I write “today” ten times
Minks – By the hedge
The Babies – s/t
Brave Irene – s/t
Dark dark dark – wild go
Deerhoof – deerhoof vs evil
Hannah Peel – Broken wave
Seabright – dark city EP
Zoey van Goey – propeller versus wings
Agnes Obel – Philharmonics
Casa Murilo – Lifting Ships
La Bien Querida – Fiesta
Sister Crayon – Below
Tape – Revelationes
Cloud Nothings – s/t

FEBRUARY
Hong Kong in the 60s – My Fantoms
Jenny Hval – Viscera
John Olav Nilsen & Gjengen – Det nærmeste du kommer
King Creosote/Jon Hopkins – Diamond mine
La Sera – La Sera
Mary Me Young – In Pearls and gold
PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
Psychic Powers – Infinity
The Radio Dept – Passive Aggressive
Ringo Deathstarr – Colour trip
Shrag – Ghosts before breakfast
Tune Yards – Whokill
Prefuse 73 – One word extinguisher
Young girls – young girls
Girls Names – Dead to me
Mylittlepony – Making marks
Help stamp out loneliness – s/t
Kids on a crime spree – we love you so bad
Epic 45 – weathering
Vetiver – The errant charm
Dustin O’Halloran – Vorleben
Mechanical Bride – Living with ants
Fred i Son – Diu que no sap que vol

MARCH
Acid House Kings – Music Sounds better with you
Amor de Dias – Street of the love of days
Beach Fossils – What a pleasure
Bill Wells/Aidan Moffat – Everything’s getting older
Craft Spells – Idle Labor
Dignan Porch – deluded
Found – factorycraft
Fredrik – flora
Glyphs – glyphs
Hauschka – salon des amateurs
Johan Heltne – Sara
Kakkmaddafakka – Hest
The Ladybug Transistor – Clutching Stems
Let’s Whisper – The shortest days
MJ Hibbett – Wonderful Wednesday
The Pains of being Pure at heart – Belong
Stars in Coma – Midnight Puzzle
Syd Lane – Hypatia

APRIL
Lake – giving and receiving
Razika – Program 91
Sara Lowes – Back to creation
Various – Love letter to Japan
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – s/t
Smith Westerns – Dye it blonde
Sbtrkt -Sbtrkt

MAY
Baths – Pop music/False B-sides
Brown Recluse – evening tapestry
Comet gain – howl of the lonely crowd
Cults – Cults
Fleet foxes – helplessness blues
the Leisure Society – into the murky water
Solander – Passing mt. Satu
Son Lux – We are rising
Tiny Microphone – Home
Woods – Sun and shade
Various – For Nihon
Emmy the Great – Virtue
Cat’s Eyes – Cat’s Eyes

JUNE
Army Navy – The last place
Biosphere – N-Plants
Butcher the bar – For each a future tethered
Conquering Animal Sound – Kammerspiel
Oh Minnows – For Shadows
Seabright – feel good
Seapony – Go with me
Teruyuki Nobuchika – Sonorite
Butcher Boy – Helping Hands
Säkert – Säkert på engelska
Little Dragon – Ritual Union
Crystal Stilts – In love with oblivion

JULY
The Advisory Circle – As the crows flies
Big Troubles – Romantic comedy
Brilliant Colors – Again and again
Catnaps – Why don’t you whisper?
Folly and the hunter – residents
Moustache of insanity – album of death
The Nocturnes – Aokigahara
Pallers – come rain come sunshine
Release the sunbird – come back to us
Soft Metals – s/t
Widowspeak – widowspeak
William Fitzsimmons – Gold in the shadow
Lucy Wainwright Roche – Lucy
Soley – we sink

AUGUST
Bart & Friends – Stories with the endings changed
Benjamin Francis Leftwich – Last smoke before the snowstorm
Big Deal – Lights Out
Dark Captain – Dead Legs & Alibis
Dum Dum Girls – Only in dreams
Emily & The Faves – s/t
Grimes – Geidi Primes
Hello Moon – Only count the sunny hours
International waters – 1994
Parker Lewis – Pengar & Leenden
Peggy Sue – Acrobats
Pocketbooks – Carousel
Snowblink – long live
Someone still loves you boris yeltsin – tape club
Wisdom Tooth – Somnambulist
Veronica Falls – s/t
Lanterns on the lake – gracious tide, take me home

SEPTEMBER
Lizard Kisses – Tiny Island Teeth
Mara Carlyle – Floreat
Oblako Lodka – s/t
Slow Club – Paradise
Tiny Ruins – Some were meant for sea
A Winged Victory for Sullen – s/t
Spectrals – Bad Penny
Real Estate – Days
Modular – Sinfonias Para Terricolar
Wilco – The whole love
Promise and the monster – red tide
Giorgio Tuma – In the morning we’ll meet

OCTOBER
Bombadil – All the rain promises
Gospel Music – How to get to heaven from Jacksonville, Florida
Wake the president – Zumutung!
Jonathan Johansson – Klagomuren
Crystal Fighters – Star of love
The Hardy Boys – British Melancholy
Mayer Hawthorne – How do you do
Team Me – To the treetops
DJ Shadow – the less you know, the better
LAMA – Endless repeats
Herostratos – Featherweight

NOVEMBER
Goldmund – all will prosper
High Highs – High Highs
Blouse – Blouse
Doldrums – Empire Sound
Anna Ternheim – The night visitor
Loch Lomond – Little me will start a storm
The Sound of Arrows – Voyage
My Sad Captains – Fight less win more
My Brightest Diamond – All things will unwind

DECEMBER
Azure Blue – Rule of Thirds
Bears – Greater Lakes
Standard Fare – Out of sight, out of town
Dillon – This silence kills
Austra – feel it break
Should – a folding sieve
Hans Appelqvist – sjunga slutet nu
Big Fox – Big Fox
Kathryn Calder – Are you my mother?
Misophone – Songs from an attic

Well. so we’re close to Christmas, and every year, the same thing happens. The stress drains my energy-levels, and I go straight down. Those of you who have followed the blog, know about my health problems. It’s been good for a while, but now it’s not that good…
I have just moved to a new apartment, which is stressful, the Christmas-stress is here, and stress is really bad for me.

To those of you who have sent me emails or promos recently, – I am sorry, but I have probably not even opened them. I have downloaded some zips from the promo-mails of some of my favourite bands, but the zips stay unopened on my desktop. I try, but when it’s like this, I just don’t care much about anything else than trying to get through the day. So, sorry!
I will take a break now from blogging, – again -, and hope to be back, full of energy in the new year.

Have a lovely holiday, and a perfect new year!

Last Friday, I was in the middle of moving to a new house, and even if I had made the weekly “Loved Songs”-playlist, I wasn’t able to post it here. So, here is a 2 hour long “Loved Songs” playlist with loved songs from this week and last week. Since I’m still moving, it’s not my priority to make a text-version of the list this time, – sorry. The playlist includes goodies from the new  indiepop-Christmas-supergroup Sunturns (with members from My Little Pony, Monzano, The Little Hands of Asphalt, Einar Stray and more), Ice Choir, High Highs, Azure Blue, Sulk, The History of Apple Pie,  Ride, SoKo, Summer Fiction and loads more. Some people have already subscribed to the list while I made it, but this is a new version, so please check it out anyway.

Here it is:

Loved Songs # 20

Because I’m busy with other things – which also drains my energy levels – I may take a Christmas-break after this post. I have a couple of posts up my sleeve, and they may or may not appear before 2011 becomes 2012. I hope you will have a wonderful time until we meet again!