Henric De La Cour - Grenade

Grenade takes some heavy heavy Depeche Mode inspiration and runs it through a shoegazing filter to stunning results. Simply a great single. The B-side, a punky goth'ed up cover of black metal legends Venom's Harmony Dies is also cool. This delivered on clear vinyl with a great cover? Me gusta.

But the best thing is the video. It's a real contender for video of the year and takes one part corpsepainted synth-king and mixes him with some of Sweden's best beach-volleyball players for an epic standoff in Portugal. The result is brilliant.

The School - Never Thought I'd See The Day

Finally The School released their comeback single. I'm a huge fan of their first album, Loveless Unbeliever, which offers shimmering indiepop that draws heavily on Northern Soul and 60s girlpop while still sounding fresh. Never Thought I'd See The Day sounds familiar to anyone who heard their first album, yet more assured. While none of the four tracks are a match for the best Loveless Unbeliever tracks the EP offers 4 slices of cute, retro indie pop that is guaranteed to leave a smile on your face.

EP highlight Where Does Your Heart Belong also got a nice b&w video! 

Hi blog!

It's amazing how the end of a five year long relationship and serious illness in the family can zap away the inspiration to blog.

Anyhow. I should try to get back into the record-blog saddle again. Here are a list with 12 of my favourite songs from last year to tide people over. Links only where I could find songs in decent quality...

M83 - Midnight City
After School - Shampoo
Les Demoniaques - Teenage Lust
Invasionen - Martyrskap
Brown Eyed Girls - Sixth Sense
The Devil's Blood - The Thousandfold Epicentre
Nicola Roberts - Cinderella's Eyes
iamamiwhoami - ; John
Mariachi El Bronx - Poverty's King
Girls' Generation - The Great Escape
Amanda Mair - Doubt
Lykke Li - Sadness Is A Blessing

And my six favourite 2011 albums

PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
The Devil's Blood - The Thousandfold Epicentre
Invasionen - Saker Som Jag Sagt Till Natten
Nicola Roberts - Cinderella's Eyes
Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
Girls' Generation - Girls' Generation (the Japanese album)

Ahead of the Lana Del Rey curve...

My apologies if what I'm about to say sounds a tad hipsterish, but when it comes to Lana Del Rey I was way head of the internet. Already back in December last year I posted about her, and the magnificent Diet Mnt Dew, hoping she would resurface. It has been slightly surreal to see her blow up over the summer and become something of a phenomena. And slightly depressing as many comments seems more focused on her suspiciously large lips, her video aesthetic and her first release under her real name, Lizzy Grant, than the songs themselves. My stance is that I don't care if Lana is someone Lizzy invented because she wanted to, or if Lana Del Rey was invented with the help of managers and she's a "product" (Really? We're still going on about authenticity? It's 2011. Get over it). What I care about is that Blue Jeans sounds like a David Lynchian take on Chris Issak's Wicked Game. Video Games is an amalgam of pop culture in 2011 set to some stunning orchestration.

When Lana's first release was announced to be a 7" picture disc I instantly pre-ordered and today it reached me. Nearly a year and a half after falling for her voice, I finally had something tangible in my hands.

 

The most anticipated album of this year?

Last Friday a lovely little note laid in my mailbox. My package from Amazon had finally arrived! For some strange reason the package was not delivered to either the small convenience store 10 minutes away or any place in the nearby larger city. Instead they chose to deliver it to a small town half an hour away that I never pass in my ordinary life. Post logic for the win?

Anyhow, inside was one of my most anticipated album of 2011 in its glorious special edition box! This is the back of the box. And the front?

 It is folk-queen Laura Marling's A Creature I Don't Know, her third album.

Here next to the special edition of her first album. I realize I lack the special edition of her second... E-bay, here we come!

The box opened. My anticipation for this album was high before I heard any songs, but once the bait-and-switch of Sophia was released it sky-rocketed. The first three minutes, fragile melodies of glass searching their way towards the sky, wouldn't be out-of-place on her previous album. And then the band kicks up a bluesy groove, transforming what was an ethereal song into rollicking country-rock.

The picture disc vinyl is a mirror anamorphosis with the guitar slide doubling as a viewer! Also included is the album, a bonus DVD, a poem and a digital download code. As for the album itself, it seems to be the rare beast that only gets better the further along it plays. The beginning with jazzy tones is a little weak but the last half, starting with Led Zeppelin III-esque The Beast effortlessly showcases every facet of Laura's brilliance.

Personally, I blame Dachau for this.

I got a friend who has raved about Low every now and then. Upon finding this album on sale at the local record store I quickly asked him and asked if this would be a good starting point to the band. The reply I got was "Not really...", but by then my mind was already made up. Drums and Guns it was! 

The album strikes a very percussive, minimalistic tone that matches the cover. Experimentation with glitchy beats and guitar feedback. Some of the songs even remind me of Einstürzende Neubauten in their slower moments. Which is a good thing. I'm enjoying Drum and Guns quite a bit, it's a very singular album but they work hard on exploring as many aspects of that one sound as possible. 

Favourite tune is the last track, a beautiful hymn of distortion called Violent Past. 

Post for the leftovers.

Here's some records I've picked up over these last months and never gotten around to make proper posts for. Shame on me!

Quite easily the best Swedish pop album (alongside Lykke Li) of the year, this far.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong

In which TPoBPaH indulge their inner Siamese Dream fandom. Good indie.

Remember Just Dance? Before Bad Romance, before Pokerface, before all the crazy interviews, outfits, stage shows? Seems like so long ago now, doesn't it?

Some cheap 7"' picked up second hand. XTC, Kate Bush and a weird Japanese band that sounds a tad like Beach Boys!

Perhaps the best looking album cover of 2011, thus far? Good too, Raveonettes embrace their inner goth mixed with the usual 50/60s rock and Jesus & Mary Chain influences.