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2006 - In Review
Posted on 2006.12.27 at 14:10Current Mood:
apathetic
Current Music: A Silver Mt Zion - Born Into Trouble
2006 - In Review
So here we are a year older, a little more experienced, a little fatter, a little more confused. It's hard to say now whether it has been a good or bad year for music, in every year equal parts good and bad will be released, sometimes you've just got to a look a little harder. The true music fan has long since given up on the main stream and with the help of myspace it isn't hard to stumble over some great music, take for instance Long Distance Calling, Ilona or Miaou as a few examples. Also sites like The Hype Machine and 8Bit Peoples allow you to try before you buy giving you a chance to discover bands you may well never have. The contrversial world of downloading has in my eyes continued to help underground music, those with negative feelings toward it should really face the reality that making a fortune from your music is a highly unlikely eventuality and really you should be grateful for the opportunity to receive some free promotion...i could go on.
I've listed my ten favourite records of the year below, as ever i don't get to hear every album released so there may well be some glaring omissions but after all isn't that the point of posting end of year polls to discover what you've missed?
Eternal thanks to all those that have sent promos and demos (email for our address rthblackbitsinbananasbabyspiders AT yahoo DOT co DOT uk) we couldn't do it without you.
Next year is looking very special, the Dirty Three ATP line up is keeping me going through these dark winter days, also i can reveal that the Butterflies of Love will be back in February with their new near perfect album...till next year x
(ps, if you want to add us as a friend on myspace or subscribe to the blog, go here, now!)
The Blow – Paper Television (K)
So here we are a year older, a little more experienced, a little fatter, a little more confused. It's hard to say now whether it has been a good or bad year for music, in every year equal parts good and bad will be released, sometimes you've just got to a look a little harder. The true music fan has long since given up on the main stream and with the help of myspace it isn't hard to stumble over some great music, take for instance Long Distance Calling, Ilona or Miaou as a few examples. Also sites like The Hype Machine and 8Bit Peoples allow you to try before you buy giving you a chance to discover bands you may well never have. The contrversial world of downloading has in my eyes continued to help underground music, those with negative feelings toward it should really face the reality that making a fortune from your music is a highly unlikely eventuality and really you should be grateful for the opportunity to receive some free promotion...i could go on.
I've listed my ten favourite records of the year below, as ever i don't get to hear every album released so there may well be some glaring omissions but after all isn't that the point of posting end of year polls to discover what you've missed?
Eternal thanks to all those that have sent promos and demos (email for our address rthblackbitsinbananasbabyspiders AT yahoo DOT co DOT uk) we couldn't do it without you.
Next year is looking very special, the Dirty Three ATP line up is keeping me going through these dark winter days, also i can reveal that the Butterflies of Love will be back in February with their new near perfect album...till next year x
(ps, if you want to add us as a friend on myspace or subscribe to the blog, go here, now!)
The Blow – Paper Television (K)
Each songs a glowing synth pop jewel, unlike Freezepop who, though they have their time and place, as I get older tend to grate occasionally, maybe a little too twee, instead the Blow give us perfect songs, songs that emit feeling and warmth “when your holding me/ we make a pair of parenthesis/ there’s plenty of space to encase whatever …”songs that’ll make you want to dance but will also carry feeling, subjects you can relate to instead of clever puns about gameboys.
Joanna Newsom – Y’s (Drag City)
I feel there’s not a lot more I can say that hasn’t already been said, I hate it when things get so hyped up, it normally ends in disappointment, however I can say that this is a truly great album, like nothing you will have heard before, it’s a musical vision of immense beauty and scope, go buy it, hire a boat and lose yourself gently drifting downstream as the autumn leaves reflect so perfectly in the still still water.
Johann Johannsson – IBM 1401 – A Users Manual (4ad)
At its most obvious on the fifth and final track Sun’s Gone Dim and the Sky’s Turned Black you may hear Sigur Ros, elsewhere you hear nothing but beauty and gratitude, the slow burning soundscapes sweeping along like on the documentaries you used to watch at school, the clouds whizzing across the sky as it turns from blue to red to black. A flower growing from seed, speeded up, taking in every moment as it sprouts and blooms. Whales swimming in the vast open oceans.
Math & Physics Club – Math & Physics Club (Matinee) In the world of Indie Pop there is an elite, bands that are capable of writing classic albums that will get ignored by the vast majority yet will bring great joy to floppy fringed boys and flowery dressed hair clip bearing girls, songs they will dance their pants off to in the corner of some grotty indie bar on Friday night, as the “cool” kids walk by not getting it at all, we’re talking bands like All Girl Summer Fun Band, The Aislers Set, Of Montreal, Hefner, Heavenly…if you’d be kind enough please add to these Math and Physics Club.
The Organ – Grab That Gun (Too Pure)
To me this album is closest in sound to the wonderful “On Parade” album by Electrelane, nothing special yet somehow more special than you could ever hope for, in that the songs are not as original as say Bearsuit or maybe Deerhoof instead they are just incredibly well written, beautiful clean guitars, notes picked out rather than chords strummed.
Nathan Fake – Drowning in a Sea of Love (Border Community)
Magical, playful, affectionate and adorable, four words to describe Nathan Fakes fantastic debut on Border Community. Not since Fortdax’s Folly has an album been released that can seriously contend for Boards of Canada’s place on the electronica throne. Here is an album that peaks within 5 seconds and never gets any worse from the breathy intro of Stops right through to the closer Fell.
The Research - Breaking Up (At Large)
Argos catalogue synths battle away with finger melodies and cheap chords, occasionally the kind that would have the 8 bit peoples foaming at the mouth, or conjuring images up of Mates of State should they have secured a sponsorship deal with Fisher Price.
Tarantula AD – Book of Sand (Kemado)
The only way I can describe it is Poodle Rock for the Dirty Three generation, and while that sounds awful I can guarantee you its is everything but. Imagine the scores from the old films, The Vikings and the like, films with Gladiators, red robes and boats rowed by a thousand men, let them paint a pretty yet slightly haunting background, a settled sea stretching as far as the eye can see, the sky blue but with the threat of grey clouds, all cellos and violins, soaring voices like in Paranoid Android before the “kicking squealing Gucci little piggy” riff kicks in, then add the heaviest guitars you can find, sweeping in from afar like a storm of Godspeed or Explosions in the Sky intensity and power, the rain crashing down, physically causing you pain as it makes contact with your skin, then when you think that maybe the quiet loud formula I’ve described is predictable enough the lightning strikes! and here enters the most overblown guitar solo you can find from a man in tight leather jeans but…but played on the Cello!!
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Ballad of the Broken Seas (v2)
Who would have thought that Mark Lanegans rusty voice would compliment Isobels quiet whisper quite so well, a modern day Lee and Nancy.
The Long Blondes - Someone To Drive You Home (rough trade)
Only heard this in the last couple of weeks but that's enough to get it a top ten place, all the best bits of britpop given a 2006 makeover. Songs to make you dance and sing like there's no tommorrow.
Honourable Mentions
Nina Nastasia - On Leaving (fatcat)
Venetian Snares - Cavalcade of Glee and Daddist Happy Hardcore Pom Poms (Planet Mu)
Josephine Foster - A Wolf in Sheeps Clothing (Locust)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones (Polydor)
Danielson - Ships (Secretly Canadian)
Butterfly Crushzine
Albums: -
1. Burial, Burial
2. Scott Walker, The Drift
3. Tom Waits, Orphans
4. Alex Smoke, Paradolia
5. Dave Swain, Istvan Zsolt's Plane Ticket
Singles: -
1. The Knife, Silent Shout
2. Uffie, Pop The Glock
3. Swissair, Your Good Looks
4. Daisy Daisy, Michelle Plays Ping Pong
5. Junior Boys, In The Morning
Norman Records
Albums: -
Beirut- Gulag Orkestar CD/LP (Ba Da Bing/ 4AD)
My Two Toms- Field Recordings and Two CD (Mole In The Ground)
Bibio- Hand Cranked(CD/LP (Mush)
Ral Partha Vogelbacher- Shrill Falcons CD (Monotreme) (I only discovered it this year....)
A Hawk & A Hacksaw- The way The Wind Blows CD/LP (Leaf)
Northstation- Wagtail CD (Slow Loris)
Belong- October Language CD (Car Park)
Iliketrains- Progress Reform CD (Fierce Panda)
Jonquil- Sunny Casinos CD (Try Harder)
Man Man- Six Demon Bag CD (Ace Fu)
Max Richter- Songs From Before CD (Fat Cat)
Phelan Sheppard- Harps Old Master CD (Leaf)
Welcome- Sirs CD (Fat Cat)
James Blackshaw- O True Believers CD/LP (Important/ Bo Weacil)
TV On The Radio- Return To Cookie Mountain CD/LP (4AD)
Various- Protest! American Protest Songs 1928-1953 CD (Viper)
Reigns- Styne Vallis CD (Jonson Family)
The Young Knives- Voices of Animals & Men CD/LP (Transgressive)
Sierpinski- Evening Water Project CD (Jonathon Whiskey)
Manyfingers- Our Worn Shadow CD (Acuarela)
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Ballad of the Broken Seas (v2)
Who would have thought that Mark Lanegans rusty voice would compliment Isobels quiet whisper quite so well, a modern day Lee and Nancy.
The Long Blondes - Someone To Drive You Home (rough trade)
Only heard this in the last couple of weeks but that's enough to get it a top ten place, all the best bits of britpop given a 2006 makeover. Songs to make you dance and sing like there's no tommorrow.
Honourable Mentions
Nina Nastasia - On Leaving (fatcat)
Venetian Snares - Cavalcade of Glee and Daddist Happy Hardcore Pom Poms (Planet Mu)
Josephine Foster - A Wolf in Sheeps Clothing (Locust)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones (Polydor)
Danielson - Ships (Secretly Canadian)
Butterfly Crushzine
Albums: -
1. Burial, Burial
2. Scott Walker, The Drift
3. Tom Waits, Orphans
4. Alex Smoke, Paradolia
5. Dave Swain, Istvan Zsolt's Plane Ticket
Singles: -
1. The Knife, Silent Shout
2. Uffie, Pop The Glock
3. Swissair, Your Good Looks
4. Daisy Daisy, Michelle Plays Ping Pong
5. Junior Boys, In The Morning
Norman Records
Albums: -
Beirut- Gulag Orkestar CD/LP (Ba Da Bing/ 4AD)
My Two Toms- Field Recordings and Two CD (Mole In The Ground)
Bibio- Hand Cranked(CD/LP (Mush)
Ral Partha Vogelbacher- Shrill Falcons CD (Monotreme) (I only discovered it this year....)
A Hawk & A Hacksaw- The way The Wind Blows CD/LP (Leaf)
Northstation- Wagtail CD (Slow Loris)
Belong- October Language CD (Car Park)
Iliketrains- Progress Reform CD (Fierce Panda)
Jonquil- Sunny Casinos CD (Try Harder)
Man Man- Six Demon Bag CD (Ace Fu)
Max Richter- Songs From Before CD (Fat Cat)
Phelan Sheppard- Harps Old Master CD (Leaf)
Welcome- Sirs CD (Fat Cat)
James Blackshaw- O True Believers CD/LP (Important/ Bo Weacil)
TV On The Radio- Return To Cookie Mountain CD/LP (4AD)
Various- Protest! American Protest Songs 1928-1953 CD (Viper)
Reigns- Styne Vallis CD (Jonson Family)
The Young Knives- Voices of Animals & Men CD/LP (Transgressive)
Sierpinski- Evening Water Project CD (Jonathon Whiskey)
Manyfingers- Our Worn Shadow CD (Acuarela)
Fortuna Pop!
Albums:-
Albums:-
let's get out of this country - camera obscura
someone to drive you home - the long blondes'sno angel like you - howe gelb
Singles:-
What were the highlights of 2006 for Fortuna POP!?
Pinochet dying. Thatcher next I hope, only more painfully. England not winning the World Cup. God help us if that ever happens, I'll have to emigrate. The American mid-terms. Visiting Peru and walking the Inca trail. Oh yes, these were a few of our favourite things.
For the label in particular it's always nice to reach the end of another year with your sanity intact but in addition to that I guess the 10th anniversary gigs in August were pretty special. To get most of the bands to play over three nights wasn't something we'd attempted before and it's something we might not attempt again for a while. Working with super-nice talented people... i seriously love every single one of my bands to bits, they're all great to work with. The Cannonball Jane single (album too, but especially the single) - a straight down-the-line pop smasher that defied popular opinion of what the label is about. Call us twee again and you'll get a slap. It doesn't make sense for Finlay or The Butterflies of Love and it certainly doesn't make sense for Cannonball Jane so just leave it, ok? Same with the Pete Dale (Milky Wimpshake) solo record... I just
thought it was great to release an album of topical, political folk songs. What else? Setting Fanfarlo off on their road to stardom, and watching a band coalesce around Simon and come to life, all that
talent ready to burn and songs to tear your heartstrings out, as serious and full of life as a Bergman film. Working with The Loves at last and being called up by Marc Riley to ask them in for a session on 6music, then listening in on my laptop at my desk in work and trying not to laugh out loud when they were interviewed. The return of The Butterflies Of Love with their best recordings yet. Punching above my weight again and releasing another Sodastream album full of quiet brilliance. A great european tour from The Lucksmiths, received with ever more fervour on each visit and enjoying themselves too. On the promoting side of things, finding two great venues who are in it for the music not the money in The Luminaire and the Buffalo Bar, the latter host to our monthly Beat Hotel night, more fun every time - Tilly and the Wall playing with two days notice, packed to the
rafters for Monkey Swallows The Universe, the incredible Christmas Covers Party which I still haven't quite recovered from.
What can we expect from Fortuna POP! in 2007?
We're straight in there with what I think is our most ambitious show to date, Sodastream, The Clientele and Shady Bard in St Giles Church in London on the 6th Jan. http://www.wegottickets.com/event/14228 I've never done a show in a church before and it's taking a lot of organising but if it all comes off it should be amazing. Sodastream play a little UK tour taking in Oxford, Newcastle, Glasgow, Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester, and London again at The Luminaire on the 13th Jan with Airport Girl and Monkey Swallows The Universe. Record-wise we've got the new Airport Girl album 'Slow Light' out on the 8th January. This one's going to confuse a few people I think as it's quite a departure from the debut album... far more downbeat and countrified. Good though I think! Then it's the new The Butterflies Of Love album at the end of January, and The Loves album in February. We'll also have another single by Fanfarlo, assuming Atlantic don't snap them up before we get the chance to release it, and an album by The Mountain Movers, Dan Greene of The
Butterflies Of Love's other band. They only do songs about heaven and hell and they're amazing! There's a new Chemistry Experiment album in the pipeline, a Cannonball Jane 12" of remixes by DJ Downfall, Discordia and (gulp!) Ad Rock, and new singles by The Loves, Milky Wimpshake and maybe even Comet Gain. We've got Airport Girl headlining the club in January, Das Wanderlust and The Retro Spankees in February, and maybe the Butterflies Of Love in March. Oh, and I'm promoting a gig for The Orchids on March 2nd at The Luminaire too, which I'm pretty excited about. Plenty to look forward to!
Keytars and Violins
Albums
1. Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
2. Joanna Newsom - Ys
3. Nathan Fake - Drowning In A Sea Of Love
4. The Knife - Silent Shout
5. Lo-Fi-FNK - Boylife
6. Detektivbyran - EP
7. Adem - Love And Other Planets
8. Tap Tap - Lanzafame
9. The Blow - Paper Television
10. Hemstad - Hemstad
Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records
Albums: -
1. How I Became the Bomb "Let's Go" (self released)
Murfreesboro, TN party band that come off like the early 80's Cars meet
Devo's nerd core sound with New Order synth pop keeping it steady. Must be
seen though to enjoy to its' full potential.
2. Boyracer "Punch Up the Bracket" (555)
Jen & Stew get all snotty and punk things up a bit, fuzzed out, and
screeching while still full of good melodies, lyrics that don't rhyme, and
songs that never really push over 3 minutes.
3. Bearsuit "Team Ping Pong" (Fantastic Plastic)
Not sure if it was 06, but I finally was able to import a copy in 06.
Bratty brit pop that combines Huggy Bear, Stereolab, and Sonic Youth in a
blender.
4. Danielson "Ships" (Secretly Canadian)
How can you go wrong when Deerhoof are backing you up? Yelps and cries all
over the place, plus "Did I Step on Your Trumpet" is a near perfect song.
5. the Instruments - "Cast a Half Shadow" (Orangetwin)
Heather McIntosh's voice matches her cello, haunting and dry. You hear the
same sorrow that you hear in Ian Curtis's voice. An E6 collective record
without sounding like an E6 record.
Top 5 to watch in 07
1. Bobby McGees - UK trio that come off like a twee Pogues.Brilliant!
2. Cause Co-Motion - Brooklyn band, but don't hold it against them, they
sound like they should be on Slumberland.
3. How I Became the Bomb - nerdy new wave dance pop with tons of sass.
4. Titans of Filth - Athens , Ga's newest twee band with tons of sex and
religion, like a smarter version of Morrissey raised on Tullycraft.
5. Faintest Ideas - Swedish pop band that are taking up where the touring
Boyracer left off.
What were the highlights of 2006 for HHBTM?
Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records had it's best year yet in 06, besides a perfect Athens POPFEST, and a great CMJ Showcase, we released some of our best records yet; the Love Letter Band, Russian Spy Camera, Baby Calendar, Casper & the Cookies, M Coast, & Sarandon. We also were able to get a big chuck of the catalog on line as well.
What can we expect from HHBTM in 2007?
Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records has loads of plans for 07. First we are hoping for a SXSW Showcase, another Athens POPFEST, another CMJ Showcase, new records by Ideal Free Distribution, the Velcro Stars, the Smittens, Poison Control Center, Casper & the Cookies, Keith John Adams, the Lolligags, Red Pony Clock, and Fishboy. We also have a 7" singles club in the works, another round of the Happy Happy Birthday to Me CD compilation series, another DVD music video comp, and working on getting the bands on many of the other popfests that are going to take place. It's going to be huge 07 for us.
Robots & Electronic Brains
Albums:-
Jerry Reed, When You're Hot You're Hot
Art Giraffeungal, Balloon Animals
Various, The Soft, Smooth, Luxurious Sound Of High Quality Recordings
The Baker Boys, The Baker Boys
Various, African Rebel Music
Early Winter Recordings
Albums
nalle ? by chance upon waking
james yorkston ? year of the leopard
auto da fe ? the spectre
hawk and a hacksaw ? the way the wind blows
jack rose ? kensington blues
Singles
benjamin wetherill ? orange and silver
bonnie prince billy ? cursed sleep
david thomas broughton ? anchovies
peter, bjorn and john - young folks
richard harris ? mcarthur park
Current favourite 5 shirley collins songs
just as the tide was flowing
poor murdered woman
the sweet primeroses
false true love
the cherry tree carol
What were the highlights of 2006 for Early Winter Recordings?
getting to release the James William Hindle mini-album, and hearing lots of nice stuff back from Plan B, Mixing It (radio 3) and many others...Eggstock 2006, Green Man Festival...
What can we expect from Early Winter Recordings in 2007?
to be released on 08/01/2007, David A Jaycock solo album.....Big Eyes/Big Eyes Family Players contributor does his own thing...stunning stuff, truly....maybe a new James Green solo album and an Early Winter Music #2
compilation...oh and maybe some more t-shirts...the others went in a flash....
Brainlove Records
Albums:-
Singles:-
Miss The Occupier
Albums:-
Mogwai - Mr Beast
Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
Long Blondes - Someone to Drive You Home
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
James Dean Bradfield - The Great Western (don't care!!)
Singles:-
Long Blondes - Once and Never Again
The Martial Arts - Murry and Audree
CSS - Alala
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gold Lion
Amy Winehouse - Rehab
Gramophone
Albums:-
1. Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies
2. The Knife - Silent Shout
3. Swan Lake - Beast Moans
4. Espers - Espers II
5. Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds
Lardpony
Albums:-
1. my psychoanalyst - i need radical backup (cowboy democracy)
2. pants yell! - modern drama (asaurus)
3. mj hibbett and the validators - we validate! (artists against success)
4. islands - return to the sea (rough trade)
5. darren hayman - table for one (track and field)
a hundred miles off - the walkmen
fingertips and mountaintops - darren hanlon
Compilations:-
kids at the club - various artists
tropicalia: a brazilian revolution in sound - various artists
lloyd, i'm ready to be heartbroken - camera obscura
beautiful despair - comet gain
pull shapes - the pipettes
nights of the living dead - tilly and the wall
steven ****ing spielberg - bearsuit
I Wish That I Could See You Soon - Herman Dune
Myspace
love tbc - the grave architects
Myspace
love tbc - the grave architects
many small hands - the leaf library
What were the highlights of 2006 for Fortuna POP!?
Pinochet dying. Thatcher next I hope, only more painfully. England not winning the World Cup. God help us if that ever happens, I'll have to emigrate. The American mid-terms. Visiting Peru and walking the Inca trail. Oh yes, these were a few of our favourite things.
For the label in particular it's always nice to reach the end of another year with your sanity intact but in addition to that I guess the 10th anniversary gigs in August were pretty special. To get most of the bands to play over three nights wasn't something we'd attempted before and it's something we might not attempt again for a while. Working with super-nice talented people... i seriously love every single one of my bands to bits, they're all great to work with. The Cannonball Jane single (album too, but especially the single) - a straight down-the-line pop smasher that defied popular opinion of what the label is about. Call us twee again and you'll get a slap. It doesn't make sense for Finlay or The Butterflies of Love and it certainly doesn't make sense for Cannonball Jane so just leave it, ok? Same with the Pete Dale (Milky Wimpshake) solo record... I just
thought it was great to release an album of topical, political folk songs. What else? Setting Fanfarlo off on their road to stardom, and watching a band coalesce around Simon and come to life, all that
talent ready to burn and songs to tear your heartstrings out, as serious and full of life as a Bergman film. Working with The Loves at last and being called up by Marc Riley to ask them in for a session on 6music, then listening in on my laptop at my desk in work and trying not to laugh out loud when they were interviewed. The return of The Butterflies Of Love with their best recordings yet. Punching above my weight again and releasing another Sodastream album full of quiet brilliance. A great european tour from The Lucksmiths, received with ever more fervour on each visit and enjoying themselves too. On the promoting side of things, finding two great venues who are in it for the music not the money in The Luminaire and the Buffalo Bar, the latter host to our monthly Beat Hotel night, more fun every time - Tilly and the Wall playing with two days notice, packed to the
rafters for Monkey Swallows The Universe, the incredible Christmas Covers Party which I still haven't quite recovered from.
What can we expect from Fortuna POP! in 2007?
We're straight in there with what I think is our most ambitious show to date, Sodastream, The Clientele and Shady Bard in St Giles Church in London on the 6th Jan. http://www.wegottickets.com/event/14228 I've never done a show in a church before and it's taking a lot of organising but if it all comes off it should be amazing. Sodastream play a little UK tour taking in Oxford, Newcastle, Glasgow, Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester, and London again at The Luminaire on the 13th Jan with Airport Girl and Monkey Swallows The Universe. Record-wise we've got the new Airport Girl album 'Slow Light' out on the 8th January. This one's going to confuse a few people I think as it's quite a departure from the debut album... far more downbeat and countrified. Good though I think! Then it's the new The Butterflies Of Love album at the end of January, and The Loves album in February. We'll also have another single by Fanfarlo, assuming Atlantic don't snap them up before we get the chance to release it, and an album by The Mountain Movers, Dan Greene of The
Butterflies Of Love's other band. They only do songs about heaven and hell and they're amazing! There's a new Chemistry Experiment album in the pipeline, a Cannonball Jane 12" of remixes by DJ Downfall, Discordia and (gulp!) Ad Rock, and new singles by The Loves, Milky Wimpshake and maybe even Comet Gain. We've got Airport Girl headlining the club in January, Das Wanderlust and The Retro Spankees in February, and maybe the Butterflies Of Love in March. Oh, and I'm promoting a gig for The Orchids on March 2nd at The Luminaire too, which I'm pretty excited about. Plenty to look forward to!
Keytars and Violins
Albums
1. Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
2. Joanna Newsom - Ys
3. Nathan Fake - Drowning In A Sea Of Love
4. The Knife - Silent Shout
5. Lo-Fi-FNK - Boylife
6. Detektivbyran - EP
7. Adem - Love And Other Planets
8. Tap Tap - Lanzafame
9. The Blow - Paper Television
10. Hemstad - Hemstad
Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records
Albums: -
1. How I Became the Bomb "Let's Go" (self released)
Murfreesboro, TN party band that come off like the early 80's Cars meet
Devo's nerd core sound with New Order synth pop keeping it steady. Must be
seen though to enjoy to its' full potential.
2. Boyracer "Punch Up the Bracket" (555)
Jen & Stew get all snotty and punk things up a bit, fuzzed out, and
screeching while still full of good melodies, lyrics that don't rhyme, and
songs that never really push over 3 minutes.
3. Bearsuit "Team Ping Pong" (Fantastic Plastic)
Not sure if it was 06, but I finally was able to import a copy in 06.
Bratty brit pop that combines Huggy Bear, Stereolab, and Sonic Youth in a
blender.
4. Danielson "Ships" (Secretly Canadian)
How can you go wrong when Deerhoof are backing you up? Yelps and cries all
over the place, plus "Did I Step on Your Trumpet" is a near perfect song.
5. the Instruments - "Cast a Half Shadow" (Orangetwin)
Heather McIntosh's voice matches her cello, haunting and dry. You hear the
same sorrow that you hear in Ian Curtis's voice. An E6 collective record
without sounding like an E6 record.
Top 5 to watch in 07
1. Bobby McGees - UK trio that come off like a twee Pogues.Brilliant!
2. Cause Co-Motion - Brooklyn band, but don't hold it against them, they
sound like they should be on Slumberland.
3. How I Became the Bomb - nerdy new wave dance pop with tons of sass.
4. Titans of Filth - Athens , Ga's newest twee band with tons of sex and
religion, like a smarter version of Morrissey raised on Tullycraft.
5. Faintest Ideas - Swedish pop band that are taking up where the touring
Boyracer left off.
What were the highlights of 2006 for HHBTM?
Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records had it's best year yet in 06, besides a perfect Athens POPFEST, and a great CMJ Showcase, we released some of our best records yet; the Love Letter Band, Russian Spy Camera, Baby Calendar, Casper & the Cookies, M Coast, & Sarandon. We also were able to get a big chuck of the catalog on line as well.
What can we expect from HHBTM in 2007?
Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records has loads of plans for 07. First we are hoping for a SXSW Showcase, another Athens POPFEST, another CMJ Showcase, new records by Ideal Free Distribution, the Velcro Stars, the Smittens, Poison Control Center, Casper & the Cookies, Keith John Adams, the Lolligags, Red Pony Clock, and Fishboy. We also have a 7" singles club in the works, another round of the Happy Happy Birthday to Me CD compilation series, another DVD music video comp, and working on getting the bands on many of the other popfests that are going to take place. It's going to be huge 07 for us.
Robots & Electronic Brains
Albums:-
Jerry Reed, When You're Hot You're Hot
Art Giraffeungal, Balloon Animals
Various, The Soft, Smooth, Luxurious Sound Of High Quality Recordings
The Baker Boys, The Baker Boys
Various, African Rebel Music
Early Winter Recordings
Albums
nalle ? by chance upon waking
james yorkston ? year of the leopard
auto da fe ? the spectre
hawk and a hacksaw ? the way the wind blows
jack rose ? kensington blues
Singles
benjamin wetherill ? orange and silver
bonnie prince billy ? cursed sleep
david thomas broughton ? anchovies
peter, bjorn and john - young folks
richard harris ? mcarthur park
Current favourite 5 shirley collins songs
just as the tide was flowing
poor murdered woman
the sweet primeroses
false true love
the cherry tree carol
What were the highlights of 2006 for Early Winter Recordings?
getting to release the James William Hindle mini-album, and hearing lots of nice stuff back from Plan B, Mixing It (radio 3) and many others...Eggstock 2006, Green Man Festival...
What can we expect from Early Winter Recordings in 2007?
to be released on 08/01/2007, David A Jaycock solo album.....Big Eyes/Big Eyes Family Players contributor does his own thing...stunning stuff, truly....maybe a new James Green solo album and an Early Winter Music #2
compilation...oh and maybe some more t-shirts...the others went in a flash....
Brainlove Records
Albums:-
1. Joanna Newsom - Ys
2. The Knife - Silent Shout
3. TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain
4. Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds
5. Jeremy Warmsley - The Art of Fiction
Singles:-
1. Danielson - I'm Slow But I'm Sloppy 7"
2. Final Fantasy - Young Canadian Mothers EP
3. 586 - We Got Bored
4. Best Fwends - The 2nd 7"
5. The Like - What I Say & What I Mean
Miss The Occupier
Albums:-
Mogwai - Mr Beast
Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
Long Blondes - Someone to Drive You Home
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
James Dean Bradfield - The Great Western (don't care!!)
Singles:-
Long Blondes - Once and Never Again
The Martial Arts - Murry and Audree
CSS - Alala
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gold Lion
Amy Winehouse - Rehab
Gramophone
Albums:-
1. Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies
2. The Knife - Silent Shout
3. Swan Lake - Beast Moans
4. Espers - Espers II
5. Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds
Lardpony
Albums:-
1. my psychoanalyst - i need radical backup (cowboy democracy)
2. pants yell! - modern drama (asaurus)
3. mj hibbett and the validators - we validate! (artists against success)
4. islands - return to the sea (rough trade)
5. darren hayman - table for one (track and field)