Does any part of this blog look bothered...?

Go away for a few days and the show's advertised, sold out and tickets going on ebay for four or five times face value. Rilo Kiley's gig at the Carling Academy next week will be the first London date by this band that reallyrather has missed. Reasons why this blog is relaxed and really , honestly, does not to care:

1. the venue is rubbish
2. the new album only comes out the same day as the show so at least half the set will be unfamiliar
3. the prospect of being surrounded by all those Jenny lovers claiming to go way back. But were you there, guys, were you? At the Dublin Castle back in Sept03 when the band played third on a random bill of four; chatting with la Lewis in the bar and getting your copy of Takeoffs & landings signed by the band, fanboy style. Well were you? Thought not. Ha! Like I said, relaxed, phlegmatic, stoical...

The last track on the last covermount CD of the last-ever issue of gone-but-not-forgotten mag Comes With A Smile was by matt pond PA and called NJ holiday. Spool on 18 months and the song has reappeared as Sunlight, a track from the upcoming new album Last light. That this record will be a contender goes without saying. It's predecessor Several arrows later topped this blog's list for 2005 and Emblems was only beaten out by Joanna Newsom's debut the year before. Seven albums in, will Uncut, Word Magazine et al finally catch on to this guy's consistent aceness? Don't hold your breath. Here's Matt & co. essaying Sunlight...

And mpPA fans will also find plenty to like on a new solo recording by Jesse Flavin. Amongst others a regular member of another under-appreciated reallyrather favourite, Carolyn Berk's swoonsome self-analysing project Lovers, Flavin here mixes pastoral picking and driving electric pop...

...and yet another of Flavin's sometime gigs, long-dormant The Good Ship, also shows signs of life. Almost everyone missed this Athens, Georgia outfit's solitary release four years back. Listening to this low-key return, Robert Lomax hasn't cheered up any, which in this case is a good thing. Glistening, literate slo-core folk-rock..or something...
[new music from the good ship]

Blimey, suddenly they're all at it! At long last new music from Mascott aka Kendall Meade and friends. Well, it's just the one song, Costume ball, but hey lets not get greedy. Another lovely souffle of a pop song, slightly different in style from the highlights of the last record Dreamer's book [see rr May04] - things like Kite, The write-up and the title track - but distinctly tantalizing...
[new music from mascott]

And did you ever hear that Biirdie debut? reallyrather suspects you are not alone but Morning kills the dark made this blog's year-end top 10 in 2005 and three-quarters of this indie-orch-pop love-in still stands up [hear here]. Can't say how the follow-up Catherine Avenue will compare; there's four new songs just up on their myspace but will they play? They will not. But maybe Biirdie will sing for you...
[new music from biirdie]

Welcome news from alt-popsters My Sad Captains [go] who will be perking up an otherwise pretty gloomy-looking first day at the End of the Road Festival next month. Actually, on paper there seem to be precious few reallyrather-friendly moments to anticipate. Seems like once again it's Sweden to the rescue: Loney, dear a guaranteed stand-out on Saturday and surely, surely Jens Lekman should be higher up the bill on Sunday. Lambchop are closing proceedings which might help everyone get a good night's sleep but their orchestral manouevres would be better served backing Jens on the string-driven songs from his upcoming new album, Night falls over Kortedala...
[hear here]

Finally, apropos absolutely nothing that's gone before (aside from the fact that they too are Swedish), reallyrather has been enjoying Printer...