The Moon: currently band-less?

MP3: The Cardigans - Lovefool
MP3: The Cardigans - Iron Man

IT'S THE CARDIGANS WEEK (sorta) HERE AT FUCK YEAH! GO TEAM!

"First Band On the Moon" is the Cardigans album I listen to the least. It's very great though, and is the one that really set them off. At first, I was against posting "Lovefool" as it is an obvious choice, but when stepping away from the girly hype it brought, it really does stand as wonderful pop song. I know the band distances itself from it, but it's sweet and honest and really brought a great band into people's homes that wouldn't usually find them.

And of course, it's very much worth noting that the Cardigans are badass and metal as fuck, covering a Black Sabbath song for the 2nd time. They choose the seminal "Iron Man" this round, and it is everything a good cover should be. Word up.

Life is good.

MP3: The Cardigans - Rise & Shine
MP3: The Cardigans - Celia Inside

IT'S THE CARDIGANS WEEK HERE AT FUCK YEAH! GO TEAM!

And it wouldn't be a themed week without it starting late: For the rest of the week, we focus on the Cardigans and their albums, except for a couple. Today we start with "Life", the first exposure of them for myself and most of us in the States. I first heard the record from an old girlfriend and later picked it up in the used bin when I lived in Portland, which sparked my deep love affair with the Cardigans.

"Life" is certainly one of the more memorable Summer records for me; anytime while walking that a song from it comes up on shuffle from the iPod, I typically wait for it to end and then start the record from the top. One of the songs featured today, "Celia Inside", was a shuffle track for me which caught me on the perfect day and now when I hear it, it always feels like a perfect day. It almost sounds like a singles collection, which is fitting as some of these songs were their first ever written and re-recorded for this lp. It truly is a shining entry in the pop genre and is as solid an effort as any of their albums that came after.

NOTE!

Just a quick note, as I move to Lawrence, Kansas today, the mp3 blog will be crickets until next week when we bring you a new theme week! I'll try to post something if I get a chance this week, but it doesn't look good. Thank you for your understand, please enjoy the older postings and if you'd like, check out some of our brothers and sisters at the MOG Music Network, which can be found by clicking the badge on the right side. Sweet. Enjoy yourselves friends!

Lykke Li

MP3: Lykke Li - Breaking It Up

"Youth Novels" seems like old news in the world of online music journalism, but in fact the album has not been commercially available in the United States until August 24th. So the following review can be viewed as a rehash, a reminder or, heaven forbid, something completely new. There's nothing wrong with talking about things we love, that's what makes writing about music fun and educational. So with that said, let's talk about Lykke Li's "Youth Novels".

The album opens with what seems like a whisper but is actually part of a bigger bang and once we get to "Dance, Dance, Dance", the tone is properly set for the 50+ minute journey you've embarked on during which, you will be treated by Lykke Li's gentle, confident vocals and songs that'll touch your soul or make dance where you stand. On paper, "Youth Novels" can easily come off as schizophrenic and uneven, but audibly that couldn't be further from the truth. Obviously, you can mostly count on the fact that everyone has heard at least one Lykke Li song, but what is so fulfilling about her music is that they all can stand on their own, independent from the great picture, but still fit into place like one big puzzle. If you loved that one song, check out another. If you hated that one song (why?!), give another a shot and I am pretty darned positive you'll be swayed.

So come next week, make a friend or knock on an old friend's door. Imported the cd? Get the vinyl! Downloaded the cd? Buy it anyway! With school around the corner and Autumn's sweet embrace in plain sight, you're going to need a record to play for friends and close out there. Well kiddo, enjoy "Youth Novels". I do!

"Youth Novels" is released on August 26th from LL Recordings.

{purchase lykke li recordings from insound}

Juliana Hatfield "This Lonely Love" video

I love Juliana Hatfield and cannot wait for "How To Walk Away" coming out this Tuesday. "This Lonely love" is on it, and here is the video. Keep making great records and please play bass and sing with the Lemonheads again someday soon!

Also, I guess she wrote a memoir that comes out in September. Fuck yeah, count me in!

R.I.P. Georgie James

MP3: Georgie James: Need Your Needs
MP3: Georgie James: Long Week
MP3: Georgie James: Aftermath

Finally, to close out the week, I'd like to take a chance to say goodbye to Georgie James, who called it a day last week. Their "Places" record, which was released last year, was really fantastic and full of great pop songs that prove to still be enjoyable today and show no chances of growing stale. While I wish they were still making more music, they can wear the "we made only one record but it fucking ruled" badge proudly. Good luck with your new projects you two, we'll miss you.

Also, this is our 200th mp3 post and I'm happy that these guys are it.

John now does Title Tracks and Laura still does Laura Burhenn.

Here is the video for "Need Your Needs". Have a good weekend!

When I kissed her nipples she shook

MP3: Tribeca - Her breasts were still small

NOTE: Today's contribution comes from Sweden's friend Matt Giordano. He saw Wilco the other day in my next of the woods, I bet it was radical. Should I have gone? Fuck yeah!

The best feature of box-sets is that you constantly, yet slowly, uncover gems with each occasional listen. The example I have here is from the Labrador 100 box set which was released last year. Tribeca's "Her Breasts Were Still Small" is a proto-pubescent pop retelling in the only way it could properly work, as a slow-burning electronic number. Fuck yeah!

{purchase tribeca recordings from labrador}

TK Webb and the Visions

MP3: TK Webb and the Visions - Teen Is Still Shaking

I liked TK Webb's last record and I loved his work on the first Only Children album. I also like this song, from the upcoming "Ancestor", out September 2nd from Kemado. Should be awesome.

Also, TK Webb and the Visions are going on tour and has quite a few gigs with the (and I can't stress this enough) AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING and totally FUCK YEAH! worthy Witchcraft. So if it comes near you GO. It'll be a great night for music.

Tourtastic:

August 29 - Spark - Syracuse, NY
September 1 - The Czar Bar - Kansas City, MO
September 4 - El Corazon - Seattle, WA *
September 5 - Dantes - Portland, OR $
September 6 - The Great American Music Hall - San Francisco, CA *
September 7 - The Echo - Los Angeles, CA #
September 8 - The Clubhouse - Phoenix, AZ *
September 10 - Red 7 - Austin, TX *
September 11 - Rudyards - Houston, TX *
September 12 - One Eyed Jacks - New Orleans, LA *
September 13 - Drunken Unicorn - Atlanta, GA *
September 14 - Local 506 - Chapel Hill, NC *
September 15 - Rock and Roll Hotel - Washington, DC *
September 16 - Johnny Brenda's - Philadelphia, PA *
September 17 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY *

* w/ Witchcraft & Graveyard
$ w/ Witchcraft, Danava, Akimbo, Graveyard
# w/ Earthless, Witch, The Warlocks, Graveyard, Ancestors,
Night Horse, Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound

Icy Demons

MP3: Icy Demons - Jantar Mantar

Icy Demons released the perfect summer record in "Miami Ice". Perfect for the car, to get a pint to or whatever. Their album artwork is stunning, and I hope to see a lot from these duders in the future. Their music is a lot of fun and really something special.

"Miami Ice" is out now on Obey Your Brain.

{purchase icy demons recordings from obey your brain}

Darker My Love

MP3: Darker My Love - Add One to the Other One

Darker My Love released "2" last week and I must say it's pretty great. Real spacey and crunchy rock music with a couple of stand out gems. "Add One to the Other One" is one of those. The track that follows it is one too, but you'll have to get the record to find that out. Enjoy.

"2" is out now on Dangerbird Records.

{purchase darker my love recordings from insound}

Republic Tigers CONTEST!

Hello friends! I am happy to announce a brand new contest for the Republic Tigers! You can win a signed copy of their new album "Keep Color" and some nifty shirts to boot! All you have to do is say hello to us in an email! Send to unicorntastic@gmail.com with the subject "Hello" and you're in the running!

The contest ends in 2 weeks (that's Sunday, August 24th!) so get on it!

PS don't miss our post below, today has been a busy today. And come Tuesday, I have some exciting news regarding the blog! Stay tuned!

Photographic evidence.

Recently, Anti released the album cover for Jolie Holland's upcoming "The Living and the Dead", and it looks excellent as always. She has always put herself on her album covers, mostly in photographs but once in a drawing. The point is I can't imagine seeing some other design without her in it because she has established this trend so well, it's pretty much set in stone.

Most solo artists do put themselves on the cover, and bands get in on the fun too. I'm not sure which I prefer, because a nice photograph can really tell you about who's craft you're listening to and really set the tone, but there is so much wonderful art in the world to be shared. I guess I could go either way, but it depends on the artist. If I were to personally record and release a record, which choice would I make?

What about you? What kind of album covers do you dig on?

Dungen in moving pictures.

Dungen, a band whom myself and my contributors think are the cat's pajamas, had a recent listening party for their upcoming "4", which comes out in September on the flawless Kemado Records. You can check out the whole thing above or at this link from the radical folks at the Fader, or something special from the cats at videothing right here. Get stoked.

Koufax chime in on the struggle.

MP3: Koufax - Any Moment Now

Koufax is back atcha with tales of class struggle, celebrity, parties, politics and flats (or apartments as we call them) on September's "Strugglers". It's awesome and like all of their albums, it sounds familiar while changing the sound enough to give you a new & unique experience (this one has saxophones!), though at one point you'll swear you're hearing a b-side from "It Had to Do With Love" on "Name of Love".

A half hour later and you'll want to listen to it again. Look out for this new classic from Koufax, you won't regret it. And get the "Any Moment Now" digital single from your favourite digital retailer for only .99 cents with the bonus non-album track "George Michael Issues" which is just as awesome as the album. No runt of the litter here!

Well done Robert Suchan and company. Well done.

"Strugglers" is out September 23rd from Doghouse Records.

{purchase and pre-order koufax recordings from insound}

The Faint

MP3: The Faint - Mirror Error

Fuck yeah, so here we are on the grand new release Tuesday and we've got a brand spanking new record from The Faint, everybody's old friend. "Fasciinatiion" may not be light on the letter 'I', but it is light in the sound. What? It's true, but it's fantastic.

The first 2 songs (that includes single "The Geeks Were Right") will tease you into thinking it's more of the same of their sound found on "Wet From Birth" (I'll let you decide if that's a good thing or not, I know where I stand), but come song number three you'll see the true direction of the album. It's all very subdued, relaxed dance music that sounds iffy on paper but in your ears makes total sense.

I can imagine a lot of energy live when these duders are playing these songs, but in the meantime the dance punks finally have an album for 4AM drives and to soundtrack their slumber. Dig it.

"Fasciinatiion" is out now from blank.wav records.

{purchase the faint recordings from insound}

Mas Y Mas

MP3: Mas Y Mas - Pop Psychology

NOTE: Today's contribution comes from pop princess Matt Giordano. No extra words today, fuck yeah!

Mas Y Mas is a group you'll be hearing a lot of soon. Why? Because they fucking rule the school. They've been playing sporadically all over the East Coast the past couple of years and I hear a national gash slaying extravaganza is in the works. Fathers, lock your wives and daughters (and possibly mothers) because when these lads hit your town your women we'll be screaming "Gimme Mas Y Mas".

"Proud Sponsors of Pepsi" is out now on Sound/Friends and Rock So Tough.

FUCK YEAH: Apache

MP3: Apache - Bullet Train
MP3: Apache - Sugargliding

Now this is more like it: Apache sound like a party, and I would love to be invited. For now, I will keep jamming on "Boomtown Gems", full of plenty of fuck yeah punk rock that sound more like old friends than new acquaintances. This one is for the weekend, bring it to the BBQ and maybe buy the record if you dig on it. I know I am picking up the vinyl soon enough. Highly recommended.

{purchase apache recordings from birdman records}