Distracted.. by (familiar) music.. mostly. But here's what's swept in...

Hey, snow! Coldness! Lost your old woolly gloves? Try the new single from Camera Obscura for size.. there, how snug is that?

'New bands don't really come out of Belfast because of the fact that they are useless' - Think Small chats to exceptions to the rule, pop lovelies Language of Flowers...

'As the sound travels from larynx to lips, it’s impeded by at least three obvious flaws — a slight lisp, a tendency to waver, and consonants that are alternatively dull or overdefined.' Groan.. the LA Weekly gets all ponderous on Joanna Newsom's derriere. (And flaws, as we all know, are the invariably the best bits about most things/people.) But the piece does eventually get a little closer to the point: 'Observe how such intellectually complex, well-structured music is so effective at touching the heart, and shattering it into a million tiny pieces'.. loads more where that comes from here...

...and if you haven't already, check out the q&a with Joanna in the latest edition of Chickfactor...

Here's a cool, more-ish slice of electro-pop from San Francisco's Hey Willpower...
Hey Willpower / Hundredaire mp3

"We hear from people a lot who give birth to our music..It seems to me that’s one of the best compliments we get." Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails you're thinking but you'd be wrong.. 'tis the voice of Hem, Sally Ellyson speaking in a big cover story feature in the latest edition of Playback magazine of St. Louis. 'Simply discovering music like this, finding a band that goes against the commercial grain and weaves its own unique musical tapestry, feels somehow reassuring,' they purr, accurately. Rather generously, the whole feature's available here...

'Oh-h-h ye-a-h-h-h, Kirsten...'
Assured-but-a-bit-safe jangle-popsters The Vessels have shuffled their pack slightly and re-emerged as Brinkman, seen recently opening for The Magic Numbers. They're actually not much different from before.. a bit fizzier, a bit more Crazy Horse-frazzled maybe. It's hardly an inspired new sound but does have a lazy appeal to certain blokish weaknesses.. only reinforced when shaped in the form of paeans to the likes of Kirsten Dunst...
Brinkman / Kirsten Dunst mp3

Actually, Brinkman's sound mostly serves to remind this blog of what was lost with the demise of the Mayflies USA.. what a jaw-slackening guitar-pop debut Summertown was.. still sounds great...

Bunky!!! Crazy name, crazy band? Check out Chuy from their upcoming debut Born to be a motorcycle via Asthmatic Kitty. Some kind of fabness...
Bunky / Chuy mp3

...as is this news from the same source: 'Also, Sufjan [Stevens]’s new record is right around the corner.' That's Record of the Year sorted nice 'n' early, then (no pressure, Sufjan)...

A mini Swedish pop armada's headed this way.. shame it's not The Legends or The Radio Dept, but still...
Suburban Kids With Biblical Names [site]
Mar 14 - London, Beach Club
Mar 15 - London, Metro Club
Mar 16 - London, Barfly
Mar 17 - Brighton, Sweden Made Me
Sambassadeur [site]
Apr 7 - London, Windmill/Brixton
Apr 9 - London, Betsy Trotwood
I know, I know, 'Always bloody London...'

One quarter of The High Water Marks - the singer - is also Scandinavian; another quarter is Jim Lindsay from Oranger and another is Apples in Stereo's Hilarie Sidney. How fruity is that? Find out at the Windmill in Brixton March 6...
The High Water Marks

Since it seems to be guided by the kind of just-so instincts reallyrather is constantly scanning around for, it's pretty heartening to learn that Jeff Bell's nascent endeavour Keep Recordings continues to thrive. It had crossed this blog's mind to fire off a load of questions to Jeff for a sort of 'Heroes of '04'-type feature (the uber-sweet Weepies were also candidates). Never got round to it, of course, but that's ok since Slightly Confusing To A Stranger have had precisely the same idea and what's more they been and gone and done something about it...

[And yes there was supposed to be something else but.. this blog has been.. distracted]