Letters have no Arms!

This Week in Leaks & Releases (Feb 22)

Steven B. — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 14:28:49 +0000

Another big week for music. Arcade Fire apparently ‘took indie to the next level’ or some shit – ‘changed the paradox’, showed indie kids around the world that they aren’t losers and confused the remaining 98% of the world. After all, you know how much indie kids like it when EVERYONE suddenly discovers ‘their’ band…

It was also Radiohead week, and saw the release of new album ‘King of Limbo’. Apparently they were going to do something in Tokyo, then didn’t. Or did. I’m not really sure and don’t particularly care enough to Google it. So yeah, the whole world is ‘totally getting down’ to Thom and co’s new album right about now. At least until Coldplay release something (ok, that was mean). What does it sound like? I don’t know, you tell me. I think I’ll pass as there are far more interesting things going on in music today (see below).

Speaking of over-the-hill 90s indie rock bands… In the spirit of inclusiveness (you know, now that the line between mainstream and indie has been ‘forever blurred’ and all that. Thank you, AF) and fairness, I was originally planning to listen to the new Beady Eye album. You know, that band with that guy from that other band? The band that made two good albums about a hundred years ago? Yeah, them. Anyway, I got to about two songs in and wondered why exactly I was tormenting myself (it’s not like I’m getting paid to do this) and figured it could only get worse, so went and made some tea instead. Sorry if you were looking forward to that (I doubt you were). I’ll post the only reason we’re still talking about this instead.

Yuck – Get Away

Kinda like early Sparklehorse soundchecking with Cloud Nothings. Makes me want to learn how to drive, rent a car and take a road trip somewhere.

PJ Harvey – England

I first heard a snippet (What a cool word! Snippet) of this on the Guardian’s podcast, in which PJ (do we call her PJ?) told us all about her new album. It’s encouraging (and oh so rare) to hear artists over a certain age and career length still bothering to do something new and relevant. Check it out here!

Architecture in Helsinki – Contact High

Yay! Look who’s back!

“Contact high is a phenomenon that sometimes occurs in otherwise sober people and animals who come into contact with someone who is under the influence of drugs. It involves a supposed transfer of the psychological state of highness. A glossary of drug users’ language from the 1970s describes the term as “a psychogenic ‘trip’ without taking drugs by being close to somebody while he is on drugs.”

Lykke Li – Sadness Is A Blessing

Look who’s also back!

Wavves – Horse Shoes

‘Started fast but it ends so slow’? Kind of, but does so a few times and in no particular order. My Libertines reference is therefore somewhat threadbare. The song is good fun though. Not really about horses (or shoes) though. I think. Anyway, they released this via Twitter. Speaking of which (can’t believe I just did that), I’m on Twitter! Since a few weeks. Follow me so my friends will stop giving me a patronising smirk and a ‘I see you have 37 followers. Wow! Good for you!’ Not to mention the fact that most of those 37 are bands, robots or porn stars.

Click on the rather surprised looking cat and dog to find me. Or click

Welcome Back, Electrelane! We’ve Missed You!

Steven B. — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 10:04:30 +0000

“This summer we’re going to play some festivals, including Field Day in London, and a few gigs. We’re still confirming everything, so will be announcing dates soon. It’s very exciting for us to be playing together again after more than three years, and we’re just sorry that we won’t be able to make it to the US this time. At the moment our plan is just to play live this summer, so we hope to see you!”

[from their website]

Electrelane – Oh Samba

The Power Out (2004)

Electrelane – Bells

Axes (2005)

Electrelane – Cut And Run

Electrelane – In Berlin

No Shouts No Calls (2007)

My Electrelane memory: I was working at the HMV record store in London (Oxford Circus branch), and it was late in the afternoon when someone walked in off the street and, by some beautiful luck, approached only me (of all staff members around) to ask whether I wanted a ticket to see Electrelane at the 100 Club down the road later that evening. Of course I jumped at the chance and went, and as anyone who has seen them will already know, they blew my mind. The next time I saw them was in Athens many years later and only a few months before they split (or went on an indefinite hiatus). It’s good to have you back!

This Week In Leaks and Releases (February 15)

Steven B. — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 10:40:21 +0000

This was the week of the Strokes and of the Gaga. Impressed by the former, slightly less so by the latter, it’s also been a great week for live music here in Barcelona. Japanther on Thursday night, Me and the Bees exactly one week later, and Aias on Saturday! (see videos from ALL gigs on my youtube page and photos on LHNA’s Facebook page) Anyway, we’ve got some truly great stuff for you this week… I’ll have to be brief as I’m working on a huge job for tomorrow (bloggers with time, I envy you)!

The Rural Alberta Advantage – Two Lovers

I must say, when I first heard the new album, I was a little let down. Subsequent listens have however changed that initial impression. Definitely a grower.

Beach Fossils – Calyer

For some reason I never really got into Beach Fossils until recently, and I’ve fallen completely and utterly in love with them. They even played here in Barcelona last year and I missed it…

Belong – Perfect Life

Pure perfection. I want to sit in the middle of a dark room and have this song fired at me from all sides (with art from here projected on the walls).

Pete and the Pirates – Winter 1

LHNA saw Pete and the Pirates (with Santa hats!) on a cold winter night back in 2007 (?), on a trip to London and were blown away. Their debut album was equally brilliant, so it’s with some excitement that we greet their return (Head over to Barcelona, would you, guys?). I know it already came out a few week ago but we don’t care cause it rules.

Tip for indie DJs: Try mixing this with ‘Stuck on Repeat’ by Little Boots

HONHEEHONHEE – A. Is For Animal (myspace)

The name of this band was inspired by the sound of a horse. Possibly.

Apparently this (unsigned) band have only been together for ‘a matter of months’ and hail from Montreal. If they’ve already managed to create something as perfect as ‘A. is for Animal’ in that short time, it’s pretty exciting to think what they might do in the future…

It starts all electronically, beep bleepy and stuff, then goes into powerpop overload. Great stuff.

Bonus track:

Panda Bear – Last Night at the Jetty

The Strokes – Under Cover of Darkness

Steven B. — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 20:00:10 +0000

Approximately 1,200,540 bloggers (and possibly a few regular music fans too) just spent the past 30 min desperately trying to get their hands on this song. There’s been so much demand, the band’s website actually crashed (and now seems to be back up).

Yes, there seems to be quite some excitement about this… Enjoy!

The Strokes – Under Cover of Darkness

[Photos+Video] Japanther in Barcelona

Steven B. — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 10:18:09 +0000

Huge thanks to Matt and Ian (and Shellshag!) for the gig and for playing an uber-special post-gig house party set!

Japanther – Surfin’ Coffin

LHNA takes a look at the charts (so you don’t have to)

Steven B. — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 11:43:34 +0000

Apparently rock is dead. Buried. Waiting for someone to stand up and, um, resurrect it. So, while we’re waiting, what better time to dive into the murky depths of chart music!

The last time I did it, I said some positive things about Pink, and I stand by them. I also said something about T.I. but I’m not sure what.

As far as I know, I haven’t heard these songs yet, so this will be my first listen to them.

So, who’s in the charts now? What are t(w)eens hopping about/masturbating furiously to in their rooms in February 2011? What are mainstreamers ‘digging’? What’s bobbing heads on the morning commute? Take my sweaty, nervous hand as we enter… THE CHARTS!

(Full disclosure: Steven has never consciously heard a Justin Bieber song and does not know what he sounds like but he does have a friend who looks a bit like him)

Rihanna feat. Drake – What’s my name?

Well, the easy answer here is of course ‘Rihanna’, but I have a feeling there’s more to it. So let’s have a listen, shall we? Hang on! I KNOW this song. It’s like Destiny’s Child’s Say my Name’s horny little sister. With a rap.

He’s sounding all sexy and stuff (am I sexual? Yep, you sure are). She wants to explore his talents. I’m pretty sure they’re talking about sex. Oh na na. Oh uh oh oh. What’s my name? Rihanna’s voice is PURE SEX. Oh, hang on, here comes a ‘break’ or a ‘bridge’. Not sure how I feel about it but it definitely adds a little gravitas to the whole thing. Back to the oh na na (catchy). More about a ‘boy’ and going downtown and taking it over. I think he can. Take it over, that is. ***1/2

Ke$ha – We R Who We R

Ke$ha spells her name with a dollar sign, which I can only interpret as pure unadulterated ambition. Keisha? Keysha? Keesha? Nah, fuck that. This is a girl who knows what she wants, and LHNA can only salute her for that. Here we go… dud du du du deh deh hot and dangerous (good start!) hipsters fall in love (those crazy hipsters!), hotpants. Something about glitter. She sounds horny too. Yep: tonight we’re going hard (possible penis reference). We R who we R. Total anthem material. With a few choice bleeps here and there, this could easily become the ultimate children’s party song. Like at a McDonalds or something.

I’ve got that glitter on my eyes
Stockings ripped all up the side
Looking sick and sexyfied
So let’s go-o-o (Let’s go!)

That could work. It appeals to something in me. Not sure what. Possibly my inner moron. ***

Pink – Raise Your Glass

WHOA! It’s Pink again! What are the odds!? Didn’t I just mention her?! Crazy, right? Pink, you’re kinda freaking me out right now.

Anyway, it starts with a guitar (credibility!) What’s the dealio!? Sounds a bit similar to the previous two. Oh, wait, here comes the chorus and it’s really big and exciting and makes me want to dance my way across the living room and kiss myself in the mirror. Call me up if you a gangsta (obviously what she meant to say was ‘call me up if you are a gangster’). Pink is asking someone to raise your glass (who, the gangsta?). This song sounds like it was written by a computer program and isn’t really doing it for me (plus I’m feeling a bit silly about dancing across the room and kissing that mirror now). To quote Bodie from The Wire, “This is some bullshit”. NEXT! *

Bruno Mars – Grenade

Based on the title, I’d venture to say that this song is about a grenade. Is it about Mr. Mars’ time in Afghanistan? Is it a metaphorical grenade? A ‘love grenade’? Let’s listen, shall we?

Bruno (can I call you Bruno?) is clearly a serious artist. I can tell from his intonation. He means it. He’s 4 real. The song starts with Bruno doing some serious emoting. Yep, it’s a metaphorical grenade. It’s about taking bullets and jumping in front of trains and you know, grenades. For love, probably. This is rather soulful. Apparently she tossed it in the trash. His love, not the grenade. That would be dangerous. Again, I’m not really feeling it. I’m finding it hard relating to Bruno. Probably because I wouldn’t catch a grenade for love, as frankly I don’t see the point (not to mention the fact that it would traumatise the poor girl in question for life). Bruno, I mean this in the nicest way possible, but I think you just need to chill the fuck out and dial down your inner emo. She’ll respect you for it. **

Katy Perry – Firework

I must admit I’m slightly apprehensive about this next and final track. Is it about Katy’s willingness to jump on fireworks for love. I hope not. Let’s see…

Oh, it’s off to a good start. For about 10 seconds. Then she sings something about feeling like a paper bag (lost me there). And there’s a chance for you. You have to ignite something (fireworks?). I think it’s about a boy and how, like, he reminds her (Katy) of fireworks (Bang!) The song is clearly building to something, something big…. and there it goes! I was right!!! It’s really big and exciting and exploding (like fireworks!). There are some Coldplay violins or some string shit and it all feels rather… hmm… hang on, that was it! The exciting bit is already over! To be honest I was expecting more of an…explosion (get it?). Instead it just kinda goes on a bit. This song is more like one of those sparkly things they give kids on NYE or stick in your banana split. Kind of exciting and surprising when the waiter brings it to your table but once it has fizzled (is that a word?), well that’s it. It doesn’t leave a huge impression. **

Picture, song, lyrics.

Eliza K. — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 13:36:59 +0000

Presumably, one starts a blog because they have something to say about the music they are listening to. Presumably, a “music blogger” creates a space where he/she can share thoughts, impressions, arguments against the bands they dislike, and justifications for the bands they champion. However, there are these “music blogs” popping up everywhere that have two things in common: 1) Their posts consist of a picture of the album cover or the band (not their own picture), an mp3 of the song (not their song) and the lyrics underneath (not their own lyrics). 2) They never express any thoughts about the music they post, other than the trivial opening sentence “I love this so much” (followed by video, song, lyrics), or “I still don’t get why this is popular” (picture, song, lyrics), or, “I woke up with this song in my head” ( album art, song, lyrics). Let me know if I’m missing something but if nothing personal is being added to the mix, what purpose do these webpages serve? What reason compels an individual to keep shouting at the world “Look at my awesome music collection and admire my music taste! I do not have to justify it, because it speaks for itself!”? I have been guilty, on one lazy occasion or another, of posting a song with the lyrics attached without further comment (a segment titled “From the depths of my external hard drive”). However, I look back on those posts with something approaching embarrassment and regard them as nothing more than in-between-posts, a break from the “writing posts”, kind of like punctuation in a sentence. In fact, the minute it became clear I was going through a writing crisis and was churning out posts that were void of any personal thoughts, I stopped posting all together. What, I thought, is the point of a song-and-picture post that, chances are, is already floating somewhere in the bottomless sea of music blogs? “I’ll post again when I have something I to say.” That took six months.

My goal in writing this is not to criticize those who desire to share the music they love with others. In a way, I feel hypocritical even mentioning this because I don’t see anything wrong with certain kinds of sharing. I upload music on this blog, I write about my personal life in a way that assumes outsider interest where there might be none, I have recently started ‘liking’ bands on Facebook (though I am still uncomfortable with the idea underlying the activity – namely, that listening to these bands puts me into a certain category, or type, of people). However, I believe I do question my generation’s yearning for social visibility, performance and exhibitionism. I certainly deeply mistrust our collective desire for show-offiness and try to learn more about how and why we got here whenever I get the chance. I refuse to engage in certain types of online activities that, to me, cross the line from sharing into narcissism: sharing relationship-related news (as in “just had a fight with my boyfriend, I’m so sad” WTF?), uploading cutesy couple pictures, tweeting my every thought (“just went to the bathroom LOL”), uploading “professional” pictures of myself and, yes, shoving my music taste into people’s faces at every opportunity. Maybe writing about music (as we are wont to do here at LHNA) can be considered narcissistic: after all, you do have to assume that people will be interested in the music you post and in what you have to say about it to keep going. But how fucking self-obsessed must you be to assume that people will continue to be interested in the music you post even when you have absolutely nothing to say about it? Wow.

Okay, music has always been used as a form of establishing one’s identity, a way to gain entrance into a particular subculture. I get that. I’m not naively asking when this happened. Certainly band t-shirts are nothing new (so passé), and branding oneself through music has been the case for many decades (see: “metalheads”, “punks”, “deadheads“, etc.) However: has the act of listening to it always been something one did publicly, as much – or more – for others as for oneself? Do people get encouraged to think that “good” (i.e. acceptable by a certain subculture) music taste equals interesting person? This must be the case. Otherwise why, would people put so much effort into showing that they listen to the right kind of bands? And why, to return to those cursed blogs, would a person who does not have anything to say about music still feel the need to have a “music blog”? It must be because in the era of superficiality merely tainting yourself with the “music-connoisseur” brush is enough. If you say you like a band, that settles it; no one is going to look deeper into the matter. (What they will do is clarify whether they like the band or not.) It must be because being the ‘person who listens to cool music’ is an easily available identity to assume. After all, if you’re not the “music-guy”, then who are you? You’ll have to find something else to make you special, and that something might require more work on your part than posting a song and copy-pasting some lyrics. Oh, no. You better stick to blogging, dear.

Evil Eliza done for the day.

Ooh, except:

The Hood Internet – Sprawl of Glass

I was telling Steven that Arcade Fire’s “Sprawl II” sounds exactly like Heart of Glass just the other day, so I was really glad to see someone else noticed the similarity. Nailed it, dude.

Primavera Sound 2011 announce latest additions to the lineup. Blow our minds

admin — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 13:19:20 +0000

CONFIRMED ARTISTS San Miguel Primavera Sound 2011: Aias, Ainara LeGardon, The Album Leaf, Animal Collective, The Annuals, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Arto Lindsay, Autolux, Avi Buffalo, Baths, Battles, Belle & Sebastian, Berlinetta, Big Boi, The Black Angels, Blank Dogs, BMX Bandits, Caribou, Carte Blanche, Caspa, Cloud Nothings, Comet Gain, Connan Mockasin, Cults, Cuzo + Damo Suzuki, Dan Melchior und Das Menace, Darkstar, Das Racist, Deakin, Dean Wareham plays Galaxie 500, Del Rey, DJ Shadow, DM Stith, Ducktails, Dúo Cobra, Echo & The Bunnymen performing Heaven Up Here & Crocodiles, Einstürzende Neubauten, El Guincho, El Mató A Un Policía Motorizado, Emeralds, Explosions In The Sky, Factory Floor, Field Music, The Fiery Furnaces, The Flaming Lips, Fleet Foxes, The Fresh & Onlys, Games, Gang Gang Dance, Girl Talk, Glasser, Glenn Branca Ensemble, Gold Panda, Gonjasufi, Grinderman, Half Japanese, Holy Ghost!, Incarnations, Interpol, Islet, James Blake, Jamie XX, John Cale & Band + Orchestra perform PARIS 1919 live, John Talabot, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Julia Kent, Julian Lynch, Kode9 And The Space Ape + Kode9 Burial Set, Kokoshca, Kurt Vile & The Violators, La Célula Durmiente, Las Robertas, Les Aus, Lichens, Lindstrom, Low, Lüger, M. Ward, Male Bonding, Matthew Dear Live, Me And The Bees, Mercury Rev perform Deserter’s Songs, Mogwai, Money Mark, The Monochrome Set, My Teenage Stride, The National, Nisennenmondai, Nosoträsh “Popemas”, Odd Future, Of Montreal, Oneohtrix Point Never, Ornamento Y Delito, P.I.L. (Public Image Limited), Papas Fritas, Pere Ubu plays “The Annotated Modern Dance”, Perfume Genius, Phosphorescent, Pissed Jeans, P. J. Harvey, Pulp, Rubik, Salem, Seefeel, Shellac, Simian Mobile Disco, The Soft Moon, Sonny & The Sunsets, Sufjan Stevens, Suicide, The Suicide Of Western Culture, Suuns, Swans, The Tallest Man On Earth, Tennis, Thelematicos, Toundra, Triángulo De Amor Bizarro, tUnE-yArDs, Twin Shadow, Ty Segall, The Vaccines, The Walkmen, Warpaint, Wolf People, Yuck.

See you in three months!!

This Week in Leaks and Releases (Jan 31)

Steven B. — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 12:19:06 +0000

Cloud Nothings – Should Have (taken from Cloud Nothings, out now)

When we interviewed Cloud Nothings frontman Dylan Baldi last year he said the following when we asked him about the evolution of his sound:

There are a lot of more complex ideas and arrangements I want my music to have, and fuzzy lo-fi recording can only make that happen to a very small degree. With cleaner sounding stuff it’ll be a lot easier for me to add subtleties to the music, so if people can appreciate that, I think they can ignore the sound shift

As long as he continues writing songs as catchy and just plain FUN as this, I don’t thing anyone really cares just how clean or not his songs are.

Fujiya and Miyagi – Sixteen Shades of Black and Blue (taken from Ventriloquizzing, out now)

The Dears – Omega Dog (taken from Degeneration Street, out February 15th)

This song wants to seduce you. Buy you a drink, tell you you’re pretty. Tell you a bit about its childhood, show its vulnerable side, maybe make you laugh… before making sweet sweet love to you.

And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead – Pure Radio Cosplay (taken from Tao of the Dead, out February 8th)

Poor old AYWKUBTTOD. Perhaps they should have just called it quits after that 10.0 review. It’s only been downhill from there. One of the very best live bands I ever saw (turn of the century, ULU, London), and makers of two of my all-time favourite albums to ‘get my angst on’ to, where did it all go wrong?

Hercules and Love Affair – It’s alright (taken from Blue Songs, out now)

Normally speaking, this band wants to take you dancing. It wants to take you to places you never even knew existed, and introduce you to exciting new things and people and share its drugs with you. This (Sterling Void) song is for the morning after, when you wake up cold, alone and afraid, telling you that it’s all going to be alright.

Bright Eyes – Ladder Song (taken from The People’s Key, out February 15th)

Five seconds into The People’s Key and panic already sets in, as some bearded dude (How do I know? I just know) tells us something vaguely spiritual. Demons and evil and the importance of balance; prisms and paradigms and spiritual sunlight, charlatans etc. It’s the equivalent of being handed a stack of flyers on the street by a freakishly cheerful white dude in dreadlocks. Yep, Conor has traded angst and passion and despair and love for spirituality™ and we’re all the poorer for it.

This Week in Leaks and Releases (Jan 21)

Steven B. — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 12:26:28 +0000

Normally I would write a little something per song. Maybe something about the band, maybe an attempt at humour or, failing that, perhaps a song lyric. Unfortunately I’m somewhat under the weather at the moment and the muse isn’t really calling, so instead I’ll just leave you with some stuff we’ve been listening to this week. Enjoy!

Cut Copy – Where I’m Going

Taken from Zonoscope, out February 4

Tennis – Long Boat Pass

Taken from Cape Dory, out now

Doble Pletina – Musica Para Cerrar Las Discotecas

Myspace link

Destroyer – Kaputt

Taken from Kaputt, out January 25

This Week in Leaks and Releases (Jan 14)

Steven B. — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 11:34:08 +0000

Smith Westerns – Weekend

Last we heard of these boys they wanted you to be my girl. Well, not MY girl of course. They don’t even know me (nor do I know the girl), so why would they/I even want that!? It just doesn’t make any sense. At least TRY and pay attention, ok?

Anyway, one can only imagine they since got the girl, only to break up in a crash of recrimination, anger and uhm, hang on, wait a sec… na na na na na a girl like you… goes new song Weekend. Same girl? Different girl? Hard to say. Nice song though.

*Taken from Dye It Blonde, out January 18

Starfucker – Mystery Cloud

I know what you’re thinking: What’s a Mystery Cloud? So I Googled it for you, and found this link.

At around 9 p.m. EDT, a small, bright, silvery circular cloud of light suddenly appeared. Over the next 25 minutes, the cloud appeared to gradually expand and fade, finally becoming invisible to the unaided eye. Those who saw it, wondered exactly what it might have been.

So there you have it. How does it sound? Well, it starts all like tu tu tu de tu tu de tu tu tu tu du du, then a voice sweet as honey comes in and sings about said mystery cloud (probably right after reading the above article), followed by some more tu tu tu tu tu de tu tu tu -> more singing. More tu tu tu, etc

It’s quite pleasant, and makes me want to find a bouncy castle to do some serious jumping. Or drink something warm and sweet. And pet kittens and make a small child laugh. Hey, remember Eple? It kinda sounds a bit like that, just a bit more low key and faster.

Oddly, it ends with a man saying the following:

‘Everybody should do in their lifetime two things. One is to consider death… to observe skulls and skeletons and wonder what it would be like to go to sleep and never wake up. Never. That is a very gloomy thing for contemplation, but it’s like manure, just as manure fertilises the plants and so on, so is the contemplation of death and the acceptance of death very highly generative for creative life. You’ll get wonderful things out of that.’

Kinda makes me feel silly in my bouncy castle now, doesn’t it. Maybe it’s about ‘heaven’… or some other weighty topic. Suggestions in the comment box, please

*Taken from Reptilians, out March 8

British Sea Power – Who’s in Control

This one’s about a naughty protest (do the English know any other way?), and, in a time when we’re being fucked from every possible direction, that might not be a bad idea.

I’m also really enjoying Cleaning out the Rooms, which may or may not be about the plight of chambermaids.

*Taken from Valhalla Dancehall, out this week

Peter, Bjorn and John – Breaker Breaker

Not sure how I feel about this album, as it took me a while to decide on a song I liked enough to post… When in doubt, sometimes it’s helpful to ask yourself a simple question: will it make girls dance (via Franz Ferdinand)? And the answer, I believe, is yes.

*From Gimme Some, out March 29

Cage the Elephant – Shake Me Down

I don’t know this band. From what I gathered after a quick look around the internet, I’m not supposed to like them though, so I thought I’d have a listen anyway, with an ‘open mind’ and shit.

Shake me down,
Not a lot of people left around,

So starts this song by Kentucky band Cage the Elephant…

In my life, I have seen,
People walk into the sea,
Just to find memories,
Plagued by constant misery,
Their eyes cast down,
Fixed upon the ground,
Their eyes cast down

I’ll keep my eyes fixed on the sun

…it continues.

Turns out it’s about drugs. Or rather about no longer doing them. Serious stuff. It makes me feel inspired. It inspires. Makes me want to punch the air and/or high-five someone.

*Taken from: Thank You, Happy Birthday, out this week

LHNA’s 50 Favourite Songs of 2010

admin — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 20:53:30 +0000

2010 was quite a year. It saw graduations, festivals, a move from Athens to Barcelona, the discovery of a new city, a slight, um, slowing down of our blog activity, a World Cup, many flights (17 for me), three festivals and a lot of great music. So, without further ado, we present to you:

So, how did we compile this rather fantastic list, you ask? Easy, we consulted our trusty last.fm profiles (see the bottom of this page for our individual profiles). We then each chose our top 25 and added it to the following list.

(in alphabetical order) p.s. fixed the links that didn’t work yesterday

Allo Darlin’ – Kiss Your Lips (also: Dreaming, If Loneliness Was Art)
Arcade Fire – Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) (also: Rococo, The Suburbs)
Beach House – Take Care
Belle and Sebastian – I Didn’t See It Coming
Big Boi – Fo Yo Sorrows
Broken Social Scene – Texico Bitches
Caribou – Odessa
Cloud Nothings – Strummin
Club 8 – Isn’t That Great (also: Shape Up!, Western Hospitality)
Coma Cinema – Sucker Punch
Coolrunnings – Mental Illness
Crystal Castles – Doe Deer (also: Not in Love)
Darren Hanlon – All These Things
Delorean – Stay Close
Efterklang – Natural Tune (also: Modern Drift, I Was Playing Drums)
Emeralds – Candy Shoppe
Gigi – Alone at the Pier (with Rose Melberg)
Gorillaz – On Melancholy Hill
Harlem – Someday Soon
Hot Chip – Take It In
Japanther – Surfin’ Coffin
Lali Puna – Rest Your Head (also: Remember)
Les Savy Fav – Let’s get out of here
Male Bonding – Year’s Not Long
The Magnetic Fields – You Must Be Out Of Your Mind
Nana Grizol – Cynicism
Of Montreal – Coquet Coquette
Paperfangs – The Fastest Planes
Perfume Genius – Learning (also: Look Out Look Out, Mr. Peterson)
Reading Rainbow – Wasting Time
Robyn – Dancing on My Own
Salem – King Night
Small Black – Despicable Dogs
Stars – Fixed
Teenage Fanclub – Baby Lee
Tennis – Marathon
The Almighty Defenders – Bow Down and Die
The Drums – Down By the Water (also: Best Friend)
The Felt Tips – Dear Morrissey
The Just Joans – Stuart had a dirty book
The National – Bloodbuzz Ohio
Tamaryn – Love Fade
These New Puritans – Drum Courts/Where Corals Lie (also: the whole album)
Trembling Blue Stars – No More Sad Songs (also: the whole album)
Tunng – Weekend Away
Two Door Cinema Club – Something Good Can Work
Wavves – Post-Acid
Kanye West – Lost In The World (feat. Bon Iver)
Wild Nothing – Summer Holiday (also: Golden Haze, Live in Dreams)
Woods – Til the Sun Rips

If you have Spotify, you can listen to (most of) these songs here!

Best of: Local (Spanish & Catalan songs of 2010)

Best of: covers

We loved the awesome cover album “Wish I’d Kept a Scrapbook: A Tribute to Tullycraft” (The Smittens – Sweet (Tullycraft Cover) / Math And Physics Club – Superboy & Supergirl (Tullycraft Cover))

We also liked:

And finally, a big shout out and truckloads of virtual love for the people behind Primavera Sound/Club for making our lives that much more fun!

Happy New Year, everyone!!!

From the depths of my external hard drive: On Coming From a Broken Home

Eliza K. — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 18:37:44 +0000

“…and women-folk raised me
and I was full grown before I knew
I came from a broken home

Sent to live with my grandma down south
when my uncles was leaving
and my grandfather had just left for heaven , they said

And as every-ologist would certainly note
I had no strong male figure right?
But Lily Scott was absolutely not your mail-order, room-service type cast black grandmother
I was moved in with her; temporarily, just until things were patched,
’til this was patched and ’til that was patched
until I became at 3, 4, 5,6 ,7, 8, 9 and 10
- the patch that held lily Scott who held me”

“…and I was hurt and scared and shocked when Lily Scott left suddenly one night
and they sent a limousine from heaven to take her to God, if there is one.”

“And this ain’t one little cliché about black women and beeing strong
Cause – hell – if you’re week, you’re gone.”

“I came from what they called „a broken home“
But they ever really called it „a house“ they would have known how wrong they were
We were working on our lifes and our homes
Dealing with what we had, not what we didn’t have
My life has been guided by women
But because of them – I am the man.”

Gil Scott Heron – On coming from a broken home (part 1)

Gil Scott Heron – On coming from a broken home (part 2)

Merry Christmas from Letters have no Arms!

admin — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 23:53:04 +0000

Don’t say we never give you anything!

Julian Casablancas -  I Wish It Was Christmas Today
Nurses - Winter
The Russian Futurists - It's Not Really Cold When It Snows
Arrah And The Ferns - Bundle Up
The Windmills - When It Was Winter
Belle & Sebastian - Winter Wooskie
Mercury Rev - Endlessly
Au Revoir Simone - The Winter Song
Colin Clary - Meow Meow
Casiotone For The Painfully Alone - Traveling Salesman's Young Wife Home Alone On Christmas In Montpelier, VT

And here are a few we posted over the past years:

Sufjan Stevens – It’s Christmas! Let’s be Glad!
The Hives & Cyndi Lauper – A Christmas Duel
The Raveonettes – The Christmas Song
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – All I want for Christmas
Darlene Love – Christmas (Baby please come home)
The Lisps – The Winter that I Missed
The Raveonettes – Christmas (Baby please come home)
John Prine – Christmas in Prison
Low – Just like Christmas
Action Biker - Frosty Snow Winter
Lois Casino -All I Want for Christmas is You 
The Smittens -Magpies and Eccles Cakes
Pajaro Sunrise -Salt and Spoon
The Airfields - Icing Sugar
Piney Gir - Of All the Wonderful Things
Slow Club – Christmas TV
Seabear – We Like Winterclothes
The Layaways – O Christmas Tree

Look out for our Songs of 2010 list next week!

NEW: Bright Eyes – Shell Games

Steven B. — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 22:46:31 +0000

There was a time that the release of a new Bright Eyes song would be a pretty damn big deal to me. Bright Eyes soundtracked a pretty unhappy period (Bright Eyes and angst, now there’s an original combination) for me back in London at the beginning of the decade and has had a special place in my heart since. Unfortunately that excitement has long since passed and been replaced by, well, hesitation. Maybe it was everyone calling him the ‘new Dylan’, maybe it was his dabbling in ‘spirituality‘ that did it, but the fact remains that Conor Oberst/Bright Eyes hasn’t done much to excite me for some time. Which is probably why I waited a full 12 hours since this new track appeared on the internet, and have only just worked up the courage to listen to it.

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It probably won’t make my top tracks of the year list but isn’t bad at all. And if it means Bright Eyes go on tour and play ‘the old stuff’, all’s forgiven.

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Let me know what you think!

Bright Eyes – Shell Games

Taken from upcoming album The People’s Key, out in February.

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amazing drawing by Natalie Toms