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Did you catch that Saturn car commercial? That song is by England's Noah and the Whale. They seem to be blowing up with a ton of sold-out pre-ticket sales of their UK shows.... so be sure to get there early for the free shows they're doing here in the states. A little information about the band: their name was taken from the film The Squid and the Whale and its director, Noah Baumbach, so I think this is a very new band (since I think the film was released only a few years ago).

As it, I came across Sweden's Anna Ternheim in association with El Perro Del Mar, who apparently they are going on tour together in May (with Lykke Li). And just in time, for America to catch up on Ternheim, Universal Music released a self-titled EP and Halfway To Fivepoints , which collects some of Ternheim's best known songs together. I wish they'd use a different cover artwork for Halfway To Fivepoints as it is exactly the same as her second album, Separation Road

The Voxtrot show was alright, they seem to be having a lot of fun on stage. I was told that the last time they were here (on a Monday), that there was only maybe 12 people there. This time, they have a pretty packed venue, which made them really happy. The most memorable part is when the girls from Au Revoir Simone joined on stage (see picture) for their final song. They're still on tour, promoting their album, which was released 22 May 2007 (Morrissey's birthday!). Here's the rest of their tour dates:

Someone recently asked me who the Pixies were, which really surprised me, because they are one of the most influential alternative rock band in the late 80s/early 90s. I came to know them through their wonderful, song "Here Comes Your Man" from Doolittle. Pixies - Allison Pixies - Allison 4 comments My friend, Shawn, at the time, had become a huge fan and had bought most of the Pixies' releases at the time (Doolittle to Trompe le Monde). I borrowed his albums and I can't say that I really got into it, you know, but I do love a few of the tracks. Particularly, "Here Comes Your Man" and maybe even some of their other hits such as "Monkey Gone to Heaven" and "Allison" (okay I really love this song a lot).

This song was a huge hit for the Cyrkle in the 60s. It's a very pop song/jangly song, and I love it. Note: this song was co-written by Paul Simon of Simon & Garfunkel. I have included S&G's version of Red Rubber Ball here... although there's never been an official studio recording, this live version is just as good.

The sound quality is really good, it seems to have been taken from a radio broadcast. The original concert performance was taken from Utrecht, Holland. The CD lists "July 1, 1991", but real Morrissey nerds will tell you that, in fact, the concert took place on May 1st.[1]

I've been following Julia Marcell's progress on Sellaband since July of last year. That was when I stumbled upon her Sellaband page and ordered her Storm EP. The EP contained a riddle that I couldn't solve so I was never able to "open the gate" on her previous website. Since joining Sellaband, she's been gaining "believers" (657 to be exact) and has raised enough money to record a full-length. Today marks the release of her debut album, It Might Like You, and is also Sellaband's first release by a Polish artist. As a promotion for the past month, she's been posting short teasers on Youtube that are quite... umm... uhh... well... just watch them. There are two versions of the album; the regular edition Accordion Player Accordion Player 1 comment with all the tracks and a limited edition with extra goodies that includes a twenty-three minute video documentary on the making of the album, "Billy Elliot" music video, the five video teasers, the album as mp3s (so there's no need to wait for the tracks to encode), and photos from the recording session. The website for the album includes a feature where you can create your own cover by allowing you to draw on a square portrait of Julia. Quite an interesting idea.

Undoubtedly, the most influential folk singer/songwriter is non other than Bob Dylan. And what a great time to be a Dylan fan, he's just released his latest Bootleg series, The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs - Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006, last Tuesday, and in a few weeks a (fan?) documentary Inside Bob Dylan's Jesus Years: Busy Being Born Again also comes out.

What's coming up as far as review goes, which I'm excited about is: Gossip's Music For Men. I've previously fell in love with Beth Ditto's gospel-yet-boogie-dance version of "Careless Whisper". Their new album is pretty awesome. The full review will go live next week. In the meantime, I've picked out either "Pop Goes The World", "2012" or "Love and Let Love". The craziest thing: Music For Men will be released digitally on June 23rd, but the physical CD won't be available until... wait for it.... OCTOBER! I have never seen such a long wait for the CD version for a major release. Usually it's only a short month before the plastic discs comes in.

Nouvelle Vague is a French musical collective led by musicians Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux. Their name is a play on words, meaning "new wave" in French. This refers simultaneously to their "Frenchness" and "artiness" (the '60s new wave of cult French cinema), the source of their songs (all covers of punk rock, post-punk, and New Wave songs), and their use of '60s bossa nova-style arrangements ("bossa nova" being Portuguese for "new wave"). On their first album, Nouvelle Vague, the group resurrected classics from the New Wave music era, and reinterpreted them in a bossa nova style. The songs were stripped back to acoustic arrangements with lithe shaker rhythms achieved by gathering a parade of chanteuses from all over the world (six French, one Brazilian and one New Yorker) to cover bands including XTC, Modern English, The Clash, Joy Division and The Undertones. The various female singers on Nouvelle Vague only performed songs they had never heard before, to ensure that each cover would have a unique quality.

Being a huge Morrissey/The Smiths fan, people often ask me: "What's your favorite Morrissey song?" My absolute favorite song is "Jack the Ripper". Casual fans might not be hip to this song, as it's somewhat of a rare song. So, it's time the tale was told on "Jack the Ripper"! The song originally appeared as a B-Side on his single, Certain People I Know (Dec 1992). Like numerous fans at the time, I was collecting all the formats, CD Single, 12" and 7" (sorry, I never bothered trying to get the cassingle!). I bought the single at a record store in Berkeley, California, called Mod Lang, but I think at the time they only had the CD version.

Fred and Marion are a real couple in their band, The Lovers. They're currently based out of Sheffield and play off French stereotypes, such as they all dress in French maid costumes and love their wine and sex. All the songs I've heard from them seem to be about sex, actually. For instance, "Christmas Tree" is not about a Christmas tree, or is it? They seem to be a cross between Stereo Total, Pulp (This is Hardcore era), and Gravy Train!!!!, so if you like either of those bands, you should enjoy the Lovers. I only mention Pulp, because Jarvis Cocker wrote three songs for them.

DJ duo, Rob & Eric, of Thievery Corporation are doing an amazing job on their latest release of Radio Retaliation from ESL Record. This record came out of nowhere for me, even though I will acknowledge that I did read the press release in early August. They were even in the news for announcing ways to connect to their fans via the iLike application for Facebook. While it's nothing new, regarding social music, it's still worth noting.

My brother made me listen to the Faint.The only reason why I like them is that they sound so much like Information Society (and they are a band dear to my heart).There's that familiar keyboard/new wave sound that is all the rage these days.Anyway, I thought Agenda Suicide is the best song off their "Danse Macabre" album. You'll probably disagree.

Sure, everyone knows that Björk was previously in The Sugarcubes, but did you know she was previously in many other bands? I will be spotlighting some of her early bands, I won't go into a lot of details, only the more famous ones (since many of her early bands did not have official recordings). The first major band that featured Björk is Tappi Tíkarrass (which rudely translates to "Cork the Bitch's Ass"). They're a funk/disco/jazz band in the early 80s. They did not stay together too long, only lasting three years and managed to released one album, Miranda (1983). Their one major claim to fame was appearing on a TV documentary called "Rokk í Reykjavík" (1982). The documentary features 19 Icelandic band and a 2-disc soundtrack was also released the same year. KUKL - Dismembered KUKL - Dismembered After Tappi Tíkarrass broke up, many of the members, including Björk, went on to join KUKL ("Witchcraft").

Verve Remixed is a series of albums released by Verve Records centered on the concept of classic Verve tracks, remixed by contemporary electronic music producers and DJs. The series has proven to be very popular, both with fans of the original recordings and with younger generations of music listeners, many of whom are exposed to the classic jazz and blues artists for the first time. In addition to the albums that include the remixes, each volume of the series has a companion album titled Verve Unmixed, containing all of the music in its original form. The three original Verve Remixed albums are also available as a boxed set, The Complete Verve Remixed Deluxe Box, along with a bonus album, Verve Remixed Plus. These compilations have proven popular with several retail and restaurant chains as background music, including Banana Republic, J. Crew, and Legal Seafoods.

I was originally going to write about Portishead, and somehow I mentioned Massive Attack, and then I started thinking about them, and I guess I'd much rather write about Mezzanine than Dummy. Now if that sentence just confused you, those respectively are the landmark albums of Trip Hop, a style of music that emerged out of the UK in the early to mid nineties. Instead of being influenced by the contemporary style of britpop, trip hop essentially took hip hop beats and slowed them down. It's kind of like Houston style Chopped and Screwed rap, except the vocals aren't slowed down with the music, and the whole result isn't as murky. Both genres are influenced by dub music, with sampling being essential. Somehow trip hop later became a subgenre of techno, which makes sense, considering that the UK at the time had a less vibrant rap scene than it does now.

NEW YORK, NY, MARCH 20th, 2008 -- With a remarkable 40 year career that has time and again redefined the boundaries of rock, musical pioneers YES have announced 2008 tour dates to take place this summer. Marking the first national tour for the band in over five years, the 26 date jaunt will bring the iconic band’s virtuosic musicianship and exhilarating live shows to amphitheatres and arenas across North America. The tour will kick off July 12th in Quebec City and wrap-up on August 22nd in Los Angeles.

Lykke Li releases Little Bit EP on said Tuesday, and Buster called her album, Youth Novels: Pretty much flawless. With a perfect balance of catchy sweet pop tunes, and depressing slow jams, it's going to be one of the best albums of 2008... if not the best. Those are some pretty bold words. Now, I actually listened to just one of her b-side, "Dance Dance Dance", and I'll have to say that it's actually pretty good. She has a very sweet voice, a little bit creepy, and I'm even going to refrain myself from saying "me lykke". She's currently on tour with fellow Swedes, Anna Ternheim (read more) and headliner, El Perro Del Mar, who we've previously mentioned, many, many, times, throughout the US.

Tuesday From old English, meaning "Tyr's day." (God of Combat) Band Names: Til Tuesday, The Real Tuesday Weld and Tuesday (From Austria) Songs: I don't have too many Tuesday song, the choices I have are Metallica's "Tuesday's Gone" and The Acid House Kings' "Mondays are like Tuesday" and The Moody Blues' "Tuesday Afternoon". Since I don't want to be sued by Lars, we're going to have to go with AHK. We've already mentioned AHK several times now.