bellafea

bellafea is a duo that hails from north carolina. they just released an ep "family tree" that is, well, quite excellent. listening to thorn bird one can't help but think "hey, they've listened to blonde redhead" (which, really, can only be a compliment) but then they take the song in different directions and, well, pretty quiet directions at that. i look forward to hearing more.

jeff hanson

awfully busy these days. anyhow, jeff hanson's first album son sort of kept under the radar, which was very unfortunate for those who missed it. simply excellent stuff that sounds a bit like elliot smith if elliot had sung like a girl. no, jeff is not a girl. his new self-titled album treads much the same water as his previous effort but is perhaps slightly less poppy. perfect music for sunday mornings and thursday afternoons. highly recommended.

other stuff sticking to my cd player. the norwegian shining. on the label rune grammofon that is single handedly saving norway from the bottom seat on the list of interesting countries. the shining really can't be described without making them sound awful - words like prog, fusion, etc. pop up in my head so it was with great trepidation that i pressed that play button. but hot damn, did this stuff blow my mind! definately not the stuff i listen to normally but this one won me over. rune grammofon also deserve for their covers, see some here: http://www.boomkat.com/promotion.cfm?id=2. then there is red sparowes. another surprise. contains members of neurosis, isis and, uh, some other band. if you like mono, or mogwai, then this is something you must check out. stunningly beautiful and loud.

oxes

i hadn't listened to the oxes in a while. so i did. i still love them. and then i also have a soft spot for red martian. though they sound nothing like the oxes.

pony up!

yet another montreal band. this one actually counts as its member my former hair stylist - i guess that is my brush with fame! [pun not intended at first but i'm leaving it like this]. anyhow, quite nice. jangly guitar pop probably goes a far way to describe the bands. at any rate, their s-t ep is promising - except for an apparently unhealthy obsession with matthew modine, which is really the only blemish on the 7 song ep. above, great pop fun. check out their website: http://www.ponyup.ca/

les georges leningrad

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i never liked the name of this band - i was expecting some sort of russian folk punk or something (which actually sounds kinda fun) - so i never checked them out. that was probably a mistake. but not my only one so i'm not going to feel too bad about it. oh, well. this is of their sur les traces de black eskimo. they call it post-punk electro but in the end is sounds a little industrial - but with a sense of humour.

the talk

i quite like this. from the album like magic in reverse that is out in about a month or so on the north carolina's moRisen label. something to look forward to if the rest of the album sounds like this.

j & lou

who would have thought? dinosaur jr. is reuniting for a few shows. i'm not sure how i feel about that. but then again dinosaur jr. always just sounded like one long guitar solo live and you would never have guessed how great their albums were from seeing them live. at any rate, this should keep lou from releasing more crap for a little while. here is one of their best.

mary timony

well, well, mary timony (and her ex-outfit helium) seemed always a little underrated to me. and any polvo fan that hasn't checked helium out should be ashamed of themselves b/c of ash bowie's role. anyhow, mary has a new album coming out soon and although bowie is absent we should be in for a treat nevertheless.

kitchens of distinction

the first time i heard interpol on the radio i thought "cool, they are playing the kitchens of distinction." digging out my kitchens' albums and listening again to them after years of gathering dust of course makes plain that i must have been drunk. yet, there are certainly strong similarities in place. i guess the kitchens were lodged somewhere between shoegazing and the wedding present and, yes, their music hasn't aged terribly well - mostly thanks to the sound on the albums, which seems a bit thin. however, it is somehow easy to imagine how the albums would sound if they were recorded today - they would sound a bit like interpol! above, a sample from their love is hell album and here one from strange free world.