I met artist David Langley a few years ago when I traveled to see Big Star in St. Louis. Since then, we’ve become friends and collaborated on a few projects for the website. Being a collector at heart, I wanted to see what level of interest a series of limited-edition prints would generate. What you see below is the first print in what I hope will be a series of many.

Until then, realize that I’ve seen your walls and they would certainly look much better with this print framed on them! Christmas is right around the corner as well. Unique gift for the music lover on your shopping list? Indeed! Here’s how to get one before they’re gone:

Size of print: 8″ x 10″
Quantity available: 100
Price per print: $20.00 + $4.00 shipping for US orders.

PayPal Payments: artoflangley@gmail.com

Check or money order: David Langley
Payment address: 4268 Juniata St. Louis, MO 63116
E-mail David for international shipping quotes: artoflangley@gmail.com

I’ve had this band in the pipeline since, jeez, it seems forever. It’s actually strange to get to that point in your ‘blogging career’ - as it were - where you are receiving band tips on such a regular basis and in such quantity that opening your mailbox is simultaneously exciting and completely overwhelming.

Ceci wrote about a Sunset song about a month ago (well, she didn’t actually write about it per se, but it was in one of her Friday Five posts) and my friend Elhaam had passed a few tracks onto me some time ago, but I’ve only recently been able to give the band my full attentions. Though I should have moved on it with greater haste, because when Elhaam is legitimately excited about a new band, you know it’s good.

That’s all well and good for me, but since you probably don’t know my friend I figure I’ll have to persuade you to give the band a chance. The trouble is a lot of writers with far greater talent than me have said really brilliant, head-on things about this band, so I’m going to have to get creative because I hate to merely quote other people.

All I can say is that these tracks encompass you completely. The music wraps itself around you in a way few bands can manage. Nothing here is built around a ‘catchy’ lyric (not that I’d want to dismiss the lyrics, either) and there’s no hook to pull you in, yet you can’t help but find yourself entranced. Maybe an indie rock lullaby might give you some idea of what you’re dealing with. Either way, download and enjoy.

MP3: Sunset - Diamond Studded Caskets
MP3: Sunset - Man’s Heart Complaint
MP3: Sunset - Dear Broken Friend

- Sean

The sophomore effort from Sleeping In The Aviary, Expensive Vomit In A Cheap Hotel, will be released via Science of Sound on October 14. Those familiar with the band’s debut release Oh, This Old Thing? shouldn’t be expecting a serving of the same sounds. “I think it would be boring to make the same record over and over again,” says Elliott Kozel (guitar/vocals). “I want to surprise people with each album that I make.”

The majority of Expensive Vomit In A Cheap Hotel was written in the aftermath of tragedy. “Everybody’s Different, Everybody Dies” was written the same week a coworker of Kozel’s died of a brain aneurism on his way to work. An old friend also died of a drug overdose that very same week. The first song I’ve shared below was written while Elliott was in the hospital caring for his sick Mother.

While their debut album drew comparisons to Buzzcocks, Nirvana, and Violent Femmes…the new album offers songs that tap the Neutral Milk Hotel and Dylan vein.

The band plan to follow the release of the album with an extensive tour of the States which will include a stop at this year’s CMJ festival.

Download: Sleeping In The Aviary - “Write On”
Download: Sleeping In The Aviary - “Gas Mask Blues”

Our friends at betterPropaganda are celebrating their 5th anniversary! To celebrate the event, they’ve taken the time to carefully compile the site’s 100 favorite albums and artists. A new selection will be posted daily from each list until they reach #1, naturally.

The site has also compiled their Top 50 labels from the past five years as well. This is what I personally think you should take interest in. Clicking on this link will bring you directly to the site’s favorite labels list. When you get there, select a label like say…oh…Domino. You’re going to be given the option to play a 31-song sampler from the label. The sharper crayons in the box will definitely get where I’m going with this, but I’ll spell it out for those who don’t…there’s 31 songs from the label that are legally available for your downloading pleasure. Don’t believe me? Here’s a personal favorite I snagged as proof: Animal Collective - “Water Curses”

Stop with time on your hands, there’s playlists from 50 labels to go through!! Making a point of wishing them Happy Anniversary when you do!

Here are few more downloads to toss on your iPod courtesy of our friends at betterPropaganda:
Download: Starfucker - “German Love”
Download: The Walkmen - “In the New Year”

Green Label Sound is pleased to announce their second release. “Daylight” is the new single from Matt and Kim. While the single is available to download exclusively on their site, it would be silly to offer free advertising and not share the single here wouldn’t it? Yeah, I thought so too.

Green Label Sound is supported by Mountain Dew. The new music program was designed to showcase and support independent artists. A forthcoming tour is in the works which will allow indie bands to showcase their live performances to much larger audiences.

“Who doesn’t love free stuff?! Free quality shows? Free quality music? We love for our band to be able to do these things for people. GLS is making it possible, and at a much larger level then we’ve been able to do before,” said Matt of Matt and Kim.

Download: Matt and Kim - “Daylight”
Download: Matt and Kim - “Yea Yeah”

Photo: Lynn Goldsmith

Todd Rundgren is slated to release his first full-length studio album in 4 years. The album is titled Arena and will hit store shelves in the UK on September 29th (Cooking Vinyl) and in the States on September 30th (Hi-Fi Recordings).

“Arena is a definite return to riff-oriented guitar rock,” says Rundgren. “It’s supposed to make you reflexively pump your fist and wave a lighter in the air.” Those interested in hearing a track from the album should visit his Myspace page.

Rundgren will follow Arena’s UK release date with four rare UK concerts. “The concerts will be a straight-ahead, guitar-rock extravaganza,” assures Rundgren. “We can’t afford the flamethrowers yet, but we’ll make up for it with aggression.”

UK Tour Dates:
Nov 6 - Manchester Academy 2 - Manchester, England
Nov 7 - Edinburgh Picture House - Edinburgh, Scotland
Nov 22 - Norwich Waterfront - Norwich, England
Nov 23 - London Kentish Town Forum - London, England

Click here for tickets.

Download: The Nazz - “Open My Eyes”
Download: Todd Rundgren - “Hello, It’s Me”

The letting go…
Category: Blogging

Today has been strange,lovely and strange.
For some reason I feel a bit emotional.
I don’t know why,it is probably just a small piece in the puzzle of letting go.

“I hate the way” is out tomorrow in the shops and on Itunes.
Excited as I am,I also feel a bit strange.Its like I have taken it to where it needs to go,I know every beat and line, every word and every glitch,and now I have to stop holding it so close, and let other people into its 10” circular plastic grooves.

Maybe my emotions are secretly down to a bit of relief,that this song that I wrote on a toy keyboard one night in Croydon, has stuck with me for so long,through thick and thin,maybe I am just relieved that it has finally made it out of my bedroom and onto a shop floor somewhere…
for me when I wrote it,the concept of that was,and still is to a certain extent, beyond all my wildest dreams and just totally incomprihendable.

I thought to my self today,even if I never sell a single copy, even if it just sat on a shop floor gathering dust,and then ended up in a bargain bin,I will still feel happy that after so many years of struggling with it,it eventually it did make it out of my bedroom and to somewhere else in the big wide world,where ever that place maybe.

SO I guess this is me handing it over to you guys,make of it what you will…
I am still not exactly sure what it is myself.
What ever it is,I hope you enjoy it.
Handle With Care
Polly x

This is from Polly’s Myspace blog and is exactly one of the things that makes her stand out as an artist - please get out there and support her music. I believe without a doubt she is the brightest, most exciting alternative female singer/songwriter we have produced since Kate Bush. The single is available from Mute Records and iTunes, or you can follow the links from Polly’s Myspace page!!!

She is also playing live at the following venues and is wonderful live!

24 Sep Luminaire London
27 Sep The Walpole London
28 Sep Big Sur London
2 Oct Concrete & Glass @ The Strongroom London
3 Oct Bar Academy London
6 Oct MOHO Live Manchester
25 Oct Amersham Arms London

For those attending the Luminaire gig the first 50 people will get a signed 10″ Vinyl of the new single “I Hate The Way” ,everyone at the show gets a free CD demo of “I’ve Got A Heart”. So if you have pennies in your pocket get along there even I dont have the signed 10″ Vinyl!

MP3: Polly Scattergood - Nitrogen Pink

- Mark

In 2004, The Silent Years were founded and released their first EP
“Stand Still like a Hummingbird”. Hailing from Detroit and heavily
influenced by Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley, The Flaming Lips and Sunny
Day Real Estate, The Silent Years are a real DIY band. The band has
created all of their own artwork, their website, and even hand made
their stunning debut video for “Someone To Keep Us Warm” for their
self-titled full length debut album in 2006.

After touring heavily in the UK and the US playing dates with “The
Akron Family,” “The Kooks”, “Aqueduct,” “Motion City Soundtrack,”
“The French Kicks” and “Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltsin,” vocalist
Josh Epstein enlisted the help of keyboardist and violinist Cassandra
Verras, drummer Ryan Clancy and bassist Michael Majewski formerly of
the acclaimed Detroit band Rescue to help round out their sound. They
headed back to their studio to self-record their sophomore album, “The
Globe” in which they combined simple and sweet melodies with sharp and
powerful bursts of emotion via instrument and vox. Adding to the
intrigue are the multiple tempo changes and playful dynamics that are
delivered like an amusement park rollercoaster. Chris Coady who has
previously worked with artists such as “TV on the Radio,” “Grizzly
Bear,” “Architecture in Helsinki” and “Blonde Redhead” was invited to
mix the album and add the last touch to the masterpiece.

Lead singer Josh Epstein describes the concept of album as the following:

“We were watching the film ‘Powers of 10′ which they used to show
in middle school science classes. In the film, the camera starts out,
framed on a couple having a picnic. Every 10 seconds, the field of
view expands by a power of ten — the picnic becomes Chicago, Chicago
becomes North America, and soon you’re seeing the Earth in the context
of its solar system. This got us thinking about the similarities
between mankind and all other components of the universe. An atom is
to a cell, as a cell is to a man, as man is to the Earth, as the Earth
is to the universe etc

The Silent Years are about to embark on a major tour Stateside including a whole heap of dates with The Envy Corps. Yet again another jewel that I have to thank Fiona for!!!

MP3: The Silent Years - Open Up Our Eyes

- Mark

Mt Sims, a.k.a Mount Sims, a.k.a Matthew Sims is an LA-based DJ/producer/musician extraordinaire. I first caught wind of him through a track off his debut album Ultra Sex, called ‘How We Do’. It instantly got stuck inside my head, and it was full of all the right nuances to set it apart from the plethora of electroclash we were all drowning in back in ‘02. He even ended up DJing at a club that I also spun at. In ‘05 he released Wild Light, which expanded his sound beyond electronic influences, and it helped clue me in that the guy was no one-trick pony.

He seems to have distanced himself even more from that original sound on his latest record, Happily Ever After, due out October 21st on Hungry Eye Records. The release date’s proximity to Halloween seems particularly apt, as the tracks I’ve heard so far definitely fall in a similar category as Bauhaus and 80’s-era Japan. It’s definitely comforting to hear an artist legitimately expand his sound without losing that special something that brought him to your attention in the first place. Nicely done Mr Sims, I’ll be looking out for this one!

MP3: Mt Sims - The Bitten Bite Back
MP3: Mt Sims - How We Do [From Ultra Sex]
MP3: Japan - Still Life In Mobile Homes [From Tin Drum]
MP3: Bauhaus - The Sanity Assassin [From Crackle]

- Sean

The Zombies recently announced that they will perform legendary 1968 album Odessey & Oracle in its entirety for the very last time in the UK April 2009. I was lucky enough to catch the band perform this summer and it was absolutely incredible! If you have an opportunity to catch this show, do yourself a favor and be there.

The band are scheduled to play the following UK shows – Glasgow ABC (April 21), Bristol Colston Hall (April 23), Manchester Bridgewater Hall (April 24) and London Hammersmith Apollo (April 25). Tickets for all four concerts go on sale from 9am on Thursday 25th September. Ticket Hotline: 08700 600 100. Book Online: www.ticketweb.co.uk.

When the band originally played the 40th Anniversary concert for the album at Shepherd Bush Empire earlier this year, the shows were attended by several of Britain’s rock n roll royalty including Paul Weller, Robert Plant, and Robyn Hitchcock.

“As their voices soar in the middle of ‘Hung Up On A Dream’, it’s real shivers-down-the-spine stuff……timeless” - The Independent

“You could hardly credit it had taken 40 years to reach this seminal moment, which deserves to be ranked beside Brian Wilson’s remarkable comeback for its impeccable artistry and uplifting power” - The Scotsman

One you’re probably familiar with:
Download: The Zombies - “Time Of The Season”
One you’re probably not:
Download: The Zombies - “This Will Be Our Year”