KulPop

2012-01-07T06:24:00.000-08:00

2011 FAVOURITES:

I always find it difficult to come up with a Top 10 (or 20, 30 or 40) Best Of The Year list. Below is a list of some of my favourite songs of the year 2011 in no particular order. Even harder these days is coming up with a list of Favourite Albums of the year, I've listed a few standouts for me below also. (The list could look messy, didn't have time for proper formatting and adding links).

SONGS:

City Boy - Donkeyboy

Keep The Beat In Your Heart - Smith & Thell

Wonder - The Sound Of Arrows

Hero - Verona

Lisztomania (feat. Jane Hanley) - Edwin van Cleef

In Your Blood - Computers Want Me Dead

Love U More - Sunday Girl

Radioactive (Starsmith Rework) - Marina & The Diamonds

Mirrors (Hey Champ Remix) - Natalia Kills

Hello (Echoes Remix) - Dragonette & Martin Solveig

Between the Pavement & the Stars (Edwin Van Cleef Remix) - Mighty Mouse

Odyssey - Worship

Ice Cold - Echoes

Stereo World - Frankmusik

We Can Pretend - Strange Talk

Singin' (radio edit) - Cosmonaut Grechko

Don't Stop - Tim & Jean

Control - Blackroom

Pyramid - Nightbox

Block After Block (Echoes Radio Edit) - Matt & Kim

Talk To Me - She's the Queen

Keep it to Yourself (feat. Gustaf Spetz) - 047

Society - DVAS

Montage - TMDP

Not In Love (ft. Robert Smith) - Crystal Castles

Satellite - The Tapeaters

Where Are You Now (StardonE remix) - Queen Of Hearts

Live Those Days Tonight - Friendly Fires

Old Skool Daze - FM Attack

Night Is Young - Southern Shores

Galaxies - Owl City

ALBUMS:

Tim & Jean - Like What (Full of amazing feel good pop songs the duo of Tim Ayre & Jean-Christophe Capotorto did well in their native Australia with their debut, should have been a worldwide smash, record company should have got this released everywhere!)

Penguin Prison - S/T (I hope Chris Glover breaks out in 2012 with this record.)

The Sound Of Arrows - Voyage

Spoons - Static In Transmission

Darren Hayes - Secret Codes and Battleships
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2011-10-07T19:06:00.001-07:00

JOHNNY HATES JAZZ REUNITED & NEW ALBUM IN THE WORKS:

The band Johnny Hates Jazz are currently working on finishing up the recording of a brand new album. Best known for their hit 'Shattered Dreams' from their 1988 album 'Turn Back The Clock'. Frontman Clark Datchler has reunited with band member Mike Nocito to record their first new album since 1991's 'Tall Stories' (that album didn't include Clark as he left the band after the first record, then Phil Thornalley joined the band as lead vocalist). In 2010 the band toured Europe and South East Asia and have been working on a new album since that tour.

Some promising news about the album, Clark and Mike recently reunited with arranger and composer Anne Dudley (Art Of Noise) to record a 16-piece string section on 3 tracks for the new cd. Anne, who arranged and conducted strings on 'Turn Back The Clock', will also be adding keyboards to the same tracks. Also working on the recordings are guitarist Dave Munday and keyboard player Pete Watson from HURTS touring band. For the latest information on the new Johnny Hates Jazz album you can follow Clark on Twitter.
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2011-08-12T16:02:00.001-07:00

I'M A HUNTER SEEKING GAME:

Sorry for the absence from the blog world, I guess nothing really inspired me enough to talk about. What is it you ask that has changed that situation ... well it is a band originally from Dayton, Tennessee, now based in Nashville called 'Taxicab Racers'. I heard their amazing song 'Angel Eyes' (listen below) on a television show and was instantly hooked. The song comes from their debut album 'Hunter/Beggar' (produced by Chad Howat of Paper Route) that is available on iTunes and Bandcamp. It is hard to believe that this four piece band consisting of Michael Roddy (vocals/synths), Nate Zensen (guitar), Josh Dillard (drums/percussion) and Adam Newport (bass) are still unsigned.

2011-06-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

PREMIERE OF NEW ECHOES SONG 'THOUSAND SUNS':

Earlier today I was very pleased to feature the "World Radio Premiere" of the epic new song from London electro-pop duo Echoes on my weekly radio show here in Canada. The song is amazing as is everything this duo touches. This is a new track, we will have to wait a little longer for their first 'official' single to be released, let's hope an album is in the works for later this year. Listen to 'Thousand Suns' below.

Echoes-Thousand Suns by Echoes Music

2011-06-14T15:14:00.000-07:00

SOME COOL NEW MUSIC I'M ENJOYING:

Just a note to mention of few newer tracks that I'm enjoying these days. First there are favourites Lo-Fi-Fnk who return with a new single 'Boom' from their forthcoming album 'Last Summer' due out August 17th. Looks like Leo and August have signed with a major label (Columbia/SONY), I hope that will result in more exposure with this release (would be nice if they could match the greatness of their 'Boylife' album).

Lo-Fi-Fnk - Boom (Release Date: 27th June) by lo-fi-fnk

The amazing duo Visitor remix the new Dirty Vegas track 'Little White Doves', check it out below. The original version appears on the new Dirty Vegas album 'Electric Love'.

VISITOR REMIXES by VISITOR

And Echoes have done some fantastic remixes of the new Matt And Kim single 'Block After Block', I really think their 'Echoes Radio edit' is another example of the remix being better than the original track. I can't find a online source to direct you to for a listen just yet for this remix so you'll have to take my word for it.

Blue Satellite is 22 year-old remixer/producer Phil Schwan. He recently released his 'Aurora EP' and I've been enjoying the song 'Aurora Pt 1' the 'Kill The Hero Remix', take a listen below and it looks like you can still download this remix for free.

Blue Satellite - Aurora Pt. I (Kill The Hero Remix) by Blue Satellite

Australia's Nick Littlemore rejoins Peter Mayes and their band Pnau has released a great single called 'Solid Ground' from their forthcoming album 'Soft Universe'. Nick of course has many musical projects including 'Empire Of The Sun' and 'The Sleepy Jackson'.

PNAU - Solid Ground (Radio Edit) by etcetcmusic
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2011-05-18T04:31:00.001-07:00

5TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE KULPOP BLOG:

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the KulPop blog. I was planning to celebrate with a Tim & Jean cd giveaway but that will have to wait until I have the cd in hand. I was also hoping to have an Echoes exclusive but the guys are still working on their new tracks so hopefully that will happen in the next few weeks.

Thanks for checking in and stay tuned for more posts and the contest and exclusive mentioned above.
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2011-04-19T07:23:00.000-07:00

VARIOUS BITS AND PIECES:

photograph by Andrew MacNaughtan

Canadian pop pioneers the Spoons have released their first album of new material in 23 years (first since 1988's 'Vertigo Tango') called 'Static In Transmission' (order here). The band consists of original members Gord Deppe and Sandy Horne along with recent additions Casey MQ on keyboards and Chris McNeil on drums. They've shot a video for the single 'You Light Up' in and around Toronto and are amping up the radio promotion in the coming weeks with a cross country tour in the works. The album is full of strong songs with potential future singles being 'Star Maps', 'Numb' and 'Words Will Smash Walls'. Two other new Spoons songs are available for download using clues from the album artwork.

Tim & Jean had their first album "Like What" (order here) released in Australia on April 1st and it is a solid album from start to finish. These guys create and produce some of the best feel-good electropop on the planet and the album entered the Australian album charts at the number 12 position. Included of course are the hit singles 'Come Around', 'Veronika' and the latest single 'I Can Show You' as well as future singles 'Don't Stop', 'Afrika' and 'Give It Up'.

Darren Hayes has announced that he has signed to Mercury Records Australia and that they will release his forthcoming album. I'm looking forward to hearing the album, especially the material Darren has worked with Phil Thornally on.

Howard Jones has made available the U.K. 12" remix of his hit 'Look Mama' available for fans to download here. He's also announced a project where people can remix some of his early material using downloaded original audio parts, the eventual result being an album release of the best reworked/remixed material.

I'm enjoying the new song 'In Your Blood' from Auckland New Zealand duo 'Computers Want Me Dead'. Check out the video for the song below.

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2011-03-20T15:31:00.000-07:00

MY THOUGHTS ON IMOGEN HEAP'S LATEST PROJECT:

First let me say that I was a huge fan of Imogen Heap during her "Speak For Yourself" era. By that I mean I loved the music on that album and seeing her live many times as she toured that album starting in small clubs eventually moving up to decent sized soft seat venues was a pleasure to experience along with her. The album was innovative, fresh and original and I still enjoying listening to it to this day.

During the recording process for the follow up album 'Ellipse' Imogen did regular VBlogs (video blogs) as the recording progressed letting fans listen to snippets and even asking their advice on different versions of the rough mixes. I did enjoy the video blogs, mostly because I like Imogen as a person and find her quirky personality endearing and I truly wish her great success. That being said I was underwhelmed when I bought "Ellipse", gone was the energy, freshness and originality that made 'Speak For Yourself' so much of a joy to listen to, a blandness seemed to have crept into her music. Had I heard too much of the album as it was created by watching these video blogs and left with no surprises to enjoy upon removing the shrink wrap? I did enjoy a few tracks on the album, those being 'First Train Home', Wait It Out', 'Swoon' and 'Bad Body Double'.

When I was in London last November I decided to go see Imogen at The Royal Albert Hall as I hadn't seen her 'Ellipse' tours of North America and she was debuting the score she composed for a short nature film that fans had contributed visuals for. The orchestrations were generally enjoyable and it was nice to see Imogen so thrilled to be playing in such a grand venue and having lots of family and friends there to experience the night with her. After the film and short intermission came the pop part of the evening as Imogen and band played what would be considered a normal Imogen Heap concert. The focus was on material from 'Ellipse' I felt a lot of her live concert magic had disappeared, possibly due to me just not liking some of those songs. It was an enjoyable evening but the energy and fun I was used to when seeing Imogen live wasn't there.

Now I feel Imogen has let social networking go to far in her plans to record her next album by asking for fan input into the songs as they are created as well as fans contributing audio samples and visuals. Her website says "#heapsong1 is the working title of the first song from Imogen's new album. The album will be completed in roughly 3 years, with a new song released every 3 months as soon as it is completed. Imogen's fourth solo album begins here, with you on March 14th, 2011. You are the spark of inspiration." Is Imogen saying that she no longer has any creative song ideas left and needs the fans help to spark her along? I can't imagine that this is the situation, I don't want to believe that this is the case for an artist who has been such an innovator in the past.

I've watched a couple of her daily live video chats where she goes over the lyrics and music she's done the day before as the song 'Heapsong1' comes together. Fans can write their ideas, lyrics and thoughts live on screen as she talks and she appears to be taking their ideas into her creative process. Personally I think Imogen is treading on dangerous ground with this concept both creatively and professionally. On her site she says "Why am I doing this? Well, there’s so much going on in my life with touring, talks and tech that this was both a necessity coupled with my passion for collaborative, spontaneous and creative projects. I also love the idea of turning the tables in that the seeds of the song begins with you, making a full circle when you experience it as a finished piece." Are some of these fans who's ideas she uses legally now a co-writer and due a portion of the song writing royalties? On her site she says "For those of you who end up in the final 'package' in some shape or form, you'll be credited and paid appropriately (mainly for the middle section 'solo', the images and video content, probably not for samples of rustling leaves or a word... sorry!)" Could a fan argue that a word or a lyric makes them a co-writer and take Imogen to court over their 'contribution'? The legal issues aside I feel it is diluting Imogen's own creative process and am fearful the results may disappoint. I'm all for collaboration but I think this is taking it to an extreme.

Also Imogen plans to release each new song every three months as they are created. Call me old fashioned but what happened to releasing a full album of yet unheard material so fans could be surprised and delighted as they listen to 10 or 12 new songs from an artist they admire? Do fans now need something new from an artist every 3 months to keep them happy? Has today's technology and fast pace made us lose our patience waiting for that next complete album? I realize Imogen has been seen as an internet and social media pioneer, even recently broadcasting a concert from a promoter's living room in South Africa. But is she taking it too far now with the latest chapter in her song writing process involving contributions from outsiders?

I personally don't plan to follow along on Imogen's new song writing adventure as I really feel she has lost perspective on the creative process that I admire. I wish her all the best and I may take a listen to the finished songs as they are released but I would prefer that Imogen work on her new album in private (collaborating with other songwriters if she wants) for a year or two and release a full album, not wait three years for this collaborative effort with fans.
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2011-02-27T07:24:00.000-08:00

VARIOUS BITS AND PIECES:

Rod Thomas continues to impress with his latest single under the Bright Light Bright Light moniker called 'How To Make A Heart'. I hope we don't have to wait too much longer for the release of the BLBL cd 'Make Me Believe In Hope'. If you are near New York City look out for some shows around March 10-14th before he heads to SXSW in Austin for more gigs (still hoping he pops up to Toronto for a show while he's over here).

The U.K. pop duo Echoes are prepping for their first ever live gig in London on March 23rd opening for Matt And Kim, tickets and details here (also on the bill is the amazing Penguin Prison). Could this mean that Echoes are possibly going to sign to the Wall Of Sound label??

You can pre-order the forthcoming Tim and Jean cd "Like What" here, the release date is April 1st.

Scritti Politti release 'Absolute (Best Of)' in the U.K. this week and is for sale at Amazon.ca for $10.99.

Human League have released the first proper single from their forthcoming 'Credo' album (out March 21st, order here) titled 'Never Let Me Go' (apparently 'Night People' was just a teaser track??). The best remix I've heard so far is the 'Italo Connection Radio Mix'.

Check out Kid Kasio's new single 'The Reason', great stuff.

Liking the new album by The Tapeaters from Russia called 'Visions', they are opening up for Australia's 'Cut Copy' on their March dates in Russia.

Enjoying the songs 'Houdini' and 'Helena Beat' from Foster The People's new EP 'Pumped Up Kicks'.

Still listening to the Frankmusik song 'Stereo World' from his second free EP titled 'Long Live Frankmusik Vol. 2', EP is available for free download here.
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2011-02-02T07:25:00.000-08:00

TIM & JEAN - NEW SINGLE AND ALBUM NEWS:

Jean-Christophe Capotorto and Tim Ayre who make up the Australian electro pop duo of Tim & Jean have just issued their new single "I Can Show You" to radio in Australia (watch the music video below). You can see some photos from the music video shoot here. It is another pop gem and comes from their forthcoming album "Like What" that is due out in Australia on April 1st and it looks like a North American release is set for May. You can also listen to the title track "Like What" below on Soundcloud.

A free download of Tim & Jean's great cover of Fleetwood Mac's song 'Everywhere' at the Universal Music Australia site, click here. You can also follow them on Twitter.

8 Track 08 by TIM AND JEAN
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2011-01-22T07:40:00.001-08:00

CHECK OUT 'LOW TIDE THEORY' FROM NORTH DEVON U.K.:

Yesterday when I was searching the net for info on a band I came across the site for electronic/synthpop band 'Low Tide Theory', which was a nice coincidence. They have three tracks that you can download from their site and they are all great. The band is the trio of Johnnie on vocals and keyboards, Paul on keyboards and guitars and Chris on bass. They formed in May of 2010 and are currently recording their debut album, someone should sign these guys soon. You can also check out their MySpace site and follow them on Twitter (their official website is coming soon).
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2011-01-19T07:33:00.001-08:00

THE RETURN OF BLANCMANGE AFTER 25 YEAR ABSENCE:

The U.K. duo of Neil Arthur and Stephen Luscombe have reunited as Blancmange and are releasing their 4th album (it's been 25 years since their last one 'Believe You Me'). The album is titled "Blanc Burn" and is due out on March 7th in the U.K. (order here). The reformed group is also doing a small tour of the U.K. in March (tickets and dates here).

According to one website the band has a Canadian connection - "Blancmange supported Nash the Slash on a London club tour in October and November 1980. Nash introduced the band to the Virgin subsidiary record label DinDisc, but they were ultimately signed by London Records, in 1982."
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2011-01-17T12:06:00.000-08:00

BESTRACK REMIX CAPTAIN FUNK'S 'PIECE OF YOU':

Japan's Tatsuya Oe aka Captain Funk has had his song "Piece Of You' remixed by France's Bestrack (loved his song 'Wishmaker' and his remix of Russ Chimes' 'Targa') and the results are fantastic, take a listen below.

Captain Funk-Piece of You (Bestrack remix) by Bestrack

2011-01-12T10:34:00.001-08:00

NEW SCRITTI POLITTI BEST OF CD WITH 2 NEW RECORDINGS:

After a long wait it looks like Virgin/EMI are finally set to release a Greatest Hits package from Scritti Politti. The best thing about this collection is that it contains 2 new songs written by Green Gartside and original member David Gamson called "Day Late And A Dollar Short" and "A Place We Both Belong". No word on if the older material was remastered, I hope it was as the quality of the original cds released in the 80's isn't fantastic. The full track listing is below and the collection is due for release in the U.K. on February 28th, 2011. Would be great if Green and David reunited for a tour, somehow doubt that will happen though.

Scritti Politti - Absolute (Greatest Hits)

1. Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)
2. Absolute
3. The Word Girl (Flesh And Blood)
4. Perfect Way
5. Hypnotize
6. Oh Patti (Don’t Feel Sorry For Loverboy)
7. Boom! There She Was
8. Umm
9. Tinseltown To The Boogiedown
10. Die Alone
11. Brushed With Oil, Dusted With Powder
12. Skank Bloc Bologna
13. The Sweetest Girl
14. Asylums In Jerusalem
15. Jacques Derrida
16. She’s A Woman
17. Day Late And A Dollar Short
18. A Place We Both Belong
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2010-12-23T07:59:00.000-08:00

ANOTHER STRONG SONG FROM U.K. DUO 'ECHOES':

I would say that the mysterious U.K. duo Echoes are one of my favourite new bands and I've only heard three songs by them. I'm hoping they get signed and/or release a debut album in 2011 all on their own.

Below you can listen to and download a seasonal song they've recorded called "Footprints", enjoy.

Echoes - Footprints by Echoes Music

2010-12-19T06:14:00.000-08:00

YEAR END LISTS AND A FEW GOOD NEW SONGS:

I've never been one for year end lists of favourite albums and songs but below is my attempt at it for this year. To me it is hard to come up with a list of favourite albums these days because I rarely listen to an album all the way through anymore which makes it hard to appreciate the lesser known songs. My favourite list is my list of albums due for release in 2011, looking forward to a lot of cool new releases this year.

Before my lists I wanted to mention a few new songs that I really like that I discovered in the last few weeks:

Max Gold - Hold On
Jesse McCartney - One Night
Concept Store - Damn!
Duran Duran - -Girl Panic

Top 10 Albums for 2011:

Prefab Sprout - Let's Change The World With Music
Ellie Goulding - Bright Lights
Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist History
Howard Jones - Ordinary Heroes
DVAS - Society
Fenech-Soler - Fenech-Soler
Bjørn Johan Muri - Airwaves
Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream
Ou Est Le Swimming Pool - The Golden Year
Darin - Lovekiller

Top songs of 2010:

Ice Cold - Echoes
Veronica - Tim & Jean
Come Around - Tim & Jean
Nothing Is For Real - Bjørn Johan Muri
Golden Train (The Royal Palms Remix) - Penguin Prison
The Worse It Gets - Penguin Prison
Not In Love (ft. Robert Smith) - Crystal Castles
Young At Heart (Visitor reMix) - Amy Meredith
A New Word To Say (James Yuill reMix) - Bright Light Bright Light
Cry At Films - Bright Light Bright Light
No Surrender - MadFox
If You Love Me - Joe McElderry
We're All Gonna Die (Have fun)(Diamond Cut Slow Jam Mix) - The Candle Thieves
You Never Leave LA - Teitur
Golden Sun - Fenech-Soler
Bone Will Break Metal - Ginger Ninja
Unspoken (Fred Falke reMix) - HURTS
Start A War - Colin Munroe
Fell In Love with an Android - Simon Curtis

Albums I'm excited to hear that are due for release in 2011

Spoons - Static In Transmission
Naked Eyes - Piccadilly
The Human League - Credo
Tim & Jean -
Penguin Prison -
Bright Light Bright Light -
Darren Hayes -
Keane -
The Feeling -
Frankmuzik -
Lo-Fi-Fnk -
Black Room -
My Friend The Chocolate Cake -
Colin Munroe -
The Gadsdens -
Scritti Politti - Best of (with new tracks) or a full album of new material
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2010-12-03T10:36:00.001-08:00

AUSTRALIA'S 'TIM & JEAN' ARE BACK WITH 'VERONICA':

Things are moving along well for Tim Ayre and Jean-Christophe Capotorto who make up the Australian electro pop duo of Tim & Jean. Their first single Come Around was fantastic and garnered lots of radio play from Australia's Triple J. The band has also been playing more live gigs recently and are scheduled to play the Goodvibrations Festival around Australia in February. The guys have signed to Mercury/Universal so hopefully they will get a decent amount of promotion for their debut album which could be out as early as February of 2011. The guys also have a penchant for doing covers from artists such as Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty and The Dave Matthews Band.

Their new single is called Veronica and is another slice of pop perfection and even has a guitar solo from Jean at the end. It is used in the video (below) of their recent trip to New York, check it out. I must say that their debut cd is highly anticipated by me along with the forthcoming cds by artists like Penguin Prison and Bright Light Bright Light. You can also follow them on Twitter.

2010-11-29T15:26:00.001-08:00

SOMEONE PLEASE SIGN THE BAND 'ECHOES':

I have not found much information on the band Echoes except that they are a synthpop duo based in London. They have done remixes for the likes of Florrie, LIGHTS, and The Good Natured. What I can say is that I love the two original tracks that they have up on there website and have featured both on my radio show. First came the uptempo "Ice Cold" (video above) that instantly got a five star rating in my iTunes. Recently they made available a second song called "It Goes On" that is also fantastic. Hopefully they will get signed soon and release a full album, and a bit more info on who they actually are would be nice.
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2010-11-13T13:39:00.001-08:00

THOUGHTS ABOUT MY RECENT TRIP TO LONDON:

I had an amazing eight days in London England, the highlight being a cool one off concert by Howard Jones at the Indig02 where he played his first two albums 'Human's Lib' and 'Dream Into Action' in their entirety (see my review below). I also managed to see Imogen Heap debut her score to a nature film and concert at The Royal Albert Hall (amazing venue) as well as seeing O.M.D. at the Hammersmith Apollo which was fun (met Paul Humphreys at the after show party which was cool).

I got to spend time with some of my U.K. family which was great and also looked around the fantastic city of London and also had a few super meals at Wagamama's. Had fun looking for cds, especially at the four locations of Music & Video Exchange that seem to still be thriving while many similar used cds stores have closed up shop. Below is a list of a few highlights and great cd buys I experienced on my trip:

Ultimate CD acquired: The new limited edition box set from Howard Jones of the digitally remastered 'Human's Lib' and 'Dream Into Action' albums with bonus disc of live material. I managed to get the set numbered 001 out of a 1000. I also got it signed in silver pen by Howard Jones, Rupert Hine, Stephen W. Tayler, Robbie Bronnimann, Steg and Jed Hoile (bonus points to you if you know the significance of each of these people in the production and release of this box set).

Best gift cd: The talented DJ and label executive Mark Jones from the cool Wall Of Sound label (who recently signed The Human League) gave me the 8 mix promo cd for the amazing new Penguin Prison single 'Golden Train'. Runner up goes to the Duncan Sheik 'Covers 80's' 5 track cd that he sold on his recent tour of the U.K., given to me by the always classy Glenn Kelly who runs Howard Jones' website.

Best cd deals: I picked up The Cure's 3 cd limited edition set of 'Disintegration' for 1 pound, along with the 2 cd version of Frankmusik's 'Complete Me' release for 50p. Both in excellent condition and found at a Salvation Army Charity store (also got the latest Courteneers cd Falcon (2 disc version) for a pound at the same shop).

Coolest rarity cd found: A two track early promo cd from Frankmusik that contains the songs 'In Step' and 'Done Done'. Also got neat rarities from Howard Jones (VIP cd from the concert), Starsmith, Bright Light Bright Light, Lo-Fi-Fnk, Veto Silver, and Leni Ward.

Only regret: Not going to see Fenech-Soler on the final stop of their U.K. tour at Heaven on Nov. 10th. This was going to be a late night and I had an early flight the next day so I decided against going.
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2010-11-07T07:09:00.000-08:00

HOWARD JONES HUMAN'S LIB/DREAM INTO ACTION CONCERT REVIEW:

Photo copyright KulPop

Wow, another amazing night with Howard Jones at the Indig02 in London England! I was lucky enough to attend both his 20th and 25th Anniversary gigs in London and last night’s Human’s Lib / Dream Into Action concert was right up there being one of the best HoJo gigs I’ve ever been to.

Howard and band came on stage for the VIP sound check part of the night. Howard explained how the concert came about from the fans requesting it, and how they worked really hard to replicate the sounds from the original recordings. As they had the master tapes back from Warner Bros. for the remastering process they were able to access the multi-track recordings and get to the core of these complex recordings. Howard introduced the band for the evening: Robbie Bronnimann on electronics/sampling and Abelton and Jonathan Atkinson on electronic drums and explained how the set up was all connected together. Howard demonstrated the Roland Jupiter 8 and how it was connected into the Roland Fantom G8. The band then performed ‘Equality’ that was from the Top 3 songs chosen by the VIP voters. After someone shouted out that the backing vocals seemed too loud Howard disagreed and introduced the backing vocalists Lizzie Deane and John Gibbons. Howard explained how the Abelton was synced up with the visuals that were to be projected on the large screen on stage. Stephen W. Tayler who mixed and recorded the HL and DIA recordings is also a visual artist and he had created the visuals that would be featured during the concert (Howard's son Jasper created the visuals for 'Bounce Right Back'). Howard explained that they wouldn’t be performing the songs in the order that they appeared on the albums, but would be mixing them up. The band then performed ‘Hide And Seek’ from the songs voted on for the sound check. Howard then spent a few minutes running through some of his favourite sampled sounds from the first 2 albums that he would be using during the concert. He also explained that the reason for the MAC laptop on top of the Fantom G8 was an electronic crib sheet with lyrics from some of the songs he doesn’t normally perform as well as some musical info he needs. The whole sound check set lasted about 27 minutes and I think everyone felt they got a lot more from Howard during this time than what we expected.

The audience was then treated to a great DJ set by famous and very entertaining DJ Mark Jones who played lots of classic tracks from the 80’s as well as the new single from Penguin Prison.

At 8pm the concert began with Howard performing songs from his ‘Dream Into Action’ album (the complete set list is below). ‘Automaton’ was a great first song and 30 seconds into it I knew that I had made the right decision in spending the money on the trip over to London and it was going to be a magical night. During ‘Assault and Battery’ the video projected was a silhouette of Jed Hoile seated eating with a knife and fork, and at the end of the song his head had turned into a goat/cow like head. For ‘Look Mama’ Howard was joined by producer extraordinaire Rupert Hine on keyboards and backing vocals (he of course produced both Human’s Lib and Dream Into Action). It was a great treat to see Rupert on stage with Howard as I’ve been a big fan of his work for many years. For ‘Elegy” the band was joined by Vicky Matthews on cello (she also performed on the Ordinary Heroes record). ‘Speciality’ has always been a favourite song of mine and was one of the highlights of the evening for me. Before ‘Hunger For The Flesh’ Howard said ‘this song scares me’ and after a false start the song was performed perfectly. The crowd got into singing along during ‘No One Is To Blame’ and the audience loved it when Jed Hoile joined Howard on stage to perform their famous trench coat routine for ‘Bounce Right Back’. The set ended with ‘Like To Get To Know You Well’ and ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ which had Rob Hughes joining the band on stage on saxophone.

After about a 30 minute break the ‘Human’s Lib’ set started with ‘China Dance’ playing to an empty stage and the band came on stage and Howard watched the visuals in the screen behind him. Rob Hughes was back on stage playing sax on ‘Pearl In The Shell’. Howard commented several times during the night how much fun he was having performing a lot of the old songs live again. Robbie came out from behind his racks of gear near the end of 'Hunt The Self' and used a set of drum triggers to play the big tom drums. ‘Equality’ was accompanied by another video featuring Jed Hoile and the set ended with ‘What Is Love’ and ‘New Song’ with Howard playing the famous white Yamaha KX5 keyboard (as seen in the picture above). Howard thanked everyone and all the performers joined him on stage to a final bow and Howard was presented with a huge bouquet of flowers. The crowd started chanting the ‘Whoa Whoa Whoa’ refrain from ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ and after a couple of minutes Howard returned to the stage solo and performed a bit of ‘New Song’ on the Yamaha KX5 keyboard and the audience singing along with him.

So once again it was an amazing night that I will never forget. It was great meeting up with many of Howard’s fans from around the world who traveled to the concert. The good news for all of you who couldn’t make the trip is that Howard's manager David Stopps said the film of the night should be released on DVD in the future for everyone to enjoy.

Set List

Sound check:
Equality
Hide & Seek

Dream Into Action:
Automaton
Why Look For The Key
Is There A Difference?
Assault And Battery
Look Mama (joined by Rupert Hine)
Elegy
Specialty
Dream Into Action
Hunger For The Flesh
No One Is To Blame (DIA version)
Bounce Right Back (joined by Jed Hoile for trench coat routine)
Life In One Day
Like To Get To Know You Well
Things Can Only Get Better (joined by Rob Hughes on saxophone)

Human’s Lib:
China Dance
Conditioning
Pearl In The Shell
Natural
Hunt The Self
Don’t Always Look At The Rain
Equality
Hide & Seek
Human’s Lib
What Is Love?
New Song

Encore
New Song (Yamaha KX5 keyboard acoustic sing-a-long version)

2010-10-30T14:45:00.000-07:00

'MAYDAY' FROM THE DREAM ACADEMY'S NICK LAIRD-CLOWES:

Just came across this on Nick Laird-Clowes website, looks like it's fairly old news. Click here and you will go to the Guardian website where you can download the song "Mayday", a song from Nick Laird-Clowes (The Dream Academy & Trashmonk) with Pink Floyd's David Gilmour on backing vocals and guitar. Wonder if there is a new Trashmonk album in the works?

2010-10-27T15:52:00.000-07:00

SONGS I'M ENJOYING AT THE MOMENT:

Next week I'm off to London for a holiday and to see some concerts, looking forward to the trip. Some songs I'm really enjoying at the moment are:

Crystal Castles with Robert Smith - Not In Love (This cover of the 80's Platinum Blonde hit is my favourite song this week, Smith's vocals fit the song to a tee).

Pet Shop Boys - Together (new single from "Ultimate" hits package)

Joe McElderry - If You Love Me (b-side that is better than anything on his debut album "Wide Awake"

Penguin Prison - Golden Train (The Royal Palms Remix)

Echoes - Ice Cold

Teitur - You Never Leave LA

I Blame Coco - Selfmachine

Gypsy & The Cat - The Piper's Song (Aeroplane Tape Remix)

Strange Talk - Climbing Walls [UK Producer Eliot James (Bloc Party, Two Door Cinema Club) produced this song from new Australian band.]

Far East Movement with FrankMusik - Fighting For Air

Touch Sensitive - Body Stop

Hot Chip. Bernard Sumner & Hot City - Didn't Know What Love Is

Ed Drewett - Champagne Lemonade (Manhattan Clique Club Mix)
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2010-10-11T10:34:00.000-07:00

THE RETURN OF 'RED BOX' WITH THEIR NEW ALBUM 'PLENTY':

The amazing U.K. band Red Box have returned to the music scene after many years and have just released their new cd 'Plenty' on Cherry Red Records. You may remember them from their previous albums "The Circle & The Square" - 1985 (with the singles 'Lean On Me (ah-li-ayo) and 'For America') and "Motive" - 1990. The Circle & The Square was reissued last year by Cherry Red Pop after being out of print on cd for many many years.

Listening to the samples of the 14 tracks they sound great, more acoustic than you might expect with 'Say What's In Your Head' sounding like a possible single in the future ('Hurricane / Brighter Blue' is the first double-single from the project).

Red Box lead vocalist and songwriter Simon Toulson-Clarke has been working on this release for a while and the band has been performing some low key gigs in the U.K. in recent months. The band hope to put on a CD release gig/party in London in late October/early November.

You can download 'Plenty' from iTunes U.K. and Amazon U.K.. There is a limited edition version of the physical cd that contains 6 bonus tracks of new studio material and it can be ordered from Amazon U.K. along with the regular edition CD. A very small number of signed limited edition cds can be ordered from the Cherry Red website.
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2010-09-26T07:26:00.001-07:00

TEITUR RETURNS WITH NEW ALBUM IN OCTOBER:

One of my favourite singer/songwriters Teitur returns with his new studio album titled "Let The Dog Drive Home". It is scheduled for release in Europe on October 4th (order here), and the the rest of the world in January 2011. Preceding the album a new single titled "You Never Leave L.A." will be released. Teitur worked on arrangements on the album with Tróndur Bogason and it was recorded in Copenhagen back in March and on the Faroe Islands in April. Working on the album were: Derek Murphy, Mikael Blak, Nikolaj Torp, Tróndur Bogason, Jonas Bloch Danielsen and some strings, choir, clarinets and flutes. The album was mixed in Oslo by George Tandero. The track listing has changed by one song from what Teitur mentioned on his MySpace page back in February. Back in June Teitur Tweeted "Record comes out in October. Got a lot of setting up to do. We go on tour right away. All over the place. And this record came out great." Teitur has some tour dates coming up in October and November in Europe. Looking forward to hearing the new album and hopefully catching Teitur live in the near future.

01 Feel Good
02 God I Have So Many Things to Tell You
03 Waverly Place
04 Freight Train
05 Betty Hedges
06 You Never Leave LA
07 Stormy Weather
08 Fly on the Wall
09 Let the Dog Drive Home
10 Very Careless People
11 When I Had It All
12 All I Remember from Last Night Is You

2010-09-15T15:22:00.000-07:00

VARIOUS BITS AND PIECES:

Well where to start, I guess some thoughts on this week's MTV Music Video Awards:
1. The host was horrible, she shouldn't be allowed on TV let alone have her own talk show.
2. Pity most of the performances where lip-synched with a snippet of live microphone here and there.
3. Florence and the Machine were okay, I guess I just don't really like the song (at least she appeared to sing live).
4. I thought Curt Smith from Tears For Fears had the best Tweet about the show, it read:
"VMA's psych 101 - interesting that Taylor Swift wrote a forgiving song about @KanyeWest and @KanyeWest wrote a song about @KanyeWest also :)"

Really looking forward to the new Human League album. The title of the ninth studio album and new single from synthpop legends will be revealed on Monday September 20th.

Just came across a cool synthpop band out of the U.K. called Tenek. The duo has just released a new cd titled "On The Wire" and I'm really enjoying it and featured three songs from the album on my radio show this week.

I've been a big fan of Starsmith and a lot of the remixes he has done, and his song "Love In Two" was pretty good. I have to say his new single "Give Me A Break" just isn't that great, and if that is the direction he's going in I likely won't be buying his debut cd, pity.

Alphaville are back with a new single "I Die For You Today" and an album titled "Catching Rays On Giant" due out October 22nd.
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2010-09-07T12:27:00.000-07:00

TRU BLOOD SODA POP AVAILABLE IN MONCTON NEW BRUNSWICK:

I was looking for a few of the Graham Hurley Detective Faraday books I need to read to complete the series and came across a store selling the blood orange soda pop "Tru Blood". This is an HBO product of course tied in with the True Blood television series now in it's third season. In the show vampires can buy bottled blood called Tru Blood. These soda pop bottles are done up just like the ones in the show. The bottles aren't cheap, $5.75 Canadian for one bottle (you can buy 4 packs there also). The store selling Tru Blood is United Book Stores at 347 Mountain Road in Moncton New Brunswick. Once I try the soda I will add what I think of the taste.
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2010-08-12T04:45:00.000-07:00

ARE YOU READY FOR A NEW NAKED EYES SONG?:

Photo credit: Allen Eyestone

It sounds like Pete Byrne has almost completed the new Naked Eyes cd titled "Piccadilly". He has a new song called "Ready" that a sample of is available to listen to here.

Blackroom have some new songs available to listen to on their Soundcloud page called "Control" and "Ecstasy". They sound okay but don't excite me like the material they did as Lorraine. They also seem to be playing live a bit more frequently these days, pity it is unlikely they will play any North American shows.
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2010-07-20T10:08:00.000-07:00

CHECK OUT UK'S 'MADFOX':

When I first read about MadFox some blogs described them as a mysterious duo, there was no info on who these guys were. Well it turns out they are Mike Kintish and Nick Ingram who used to be signed to Island Records and were called 'The Yeah You's'. They released one great album called 'Looking Through You' that sounds a bit like The Feeling in places, definitely worth adding to your cd collection.

Well MadFox's demo of 'No Surrender' is still a favourite of mine and I like the other songs on their MySpace page, the sample of the song 'Nothing Else Matters' and the slow song 'Don't You Worry'. They've recently played some live gigs in London and hopefully are recording material for an album release this year (one can hope). For those in the U.K. check out their MySpace site for more upcoming gigs and new tracks. You can follow MadFox on the The Yeah You's Twitter page.
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2010-07-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

2010-06-24T16:27:00.000-07:00

VARIOUS BITS AND PIECES:

Canadian pop music pioneers the Spoons have just joined Twitter, you can follow them here. They are also releasing a very limited edition 2 track cd in July with the new songs 'Imperfekt' and 'Breaking In'. The full-length album is expected to be released by the end of the summer. You can watch them performing 'Imperfekt' for the second time in concert at my recent posting on their gig at Dundas Square in Toronto.

According to a recent Tweet from Howard Jones it sounds like Duncan Sheik will be opening for Howard on his upcoming U.K. Acoustic tour in September.

Irish band Two Door Cinema Club met Prince Charles at the Glastonbury Festival today. They return to Toronto for a concert at The Phoenix Concert Theatre on October 25th, 2010.

I'm really enjoying the following songs these days:

James Yuill - First In Line
The Delays - Unsung
HURTS - Unspoken (Fred Falke reMix)
Villa Nah - Ways To Be
Francis & The Lights - For Days
Kamp! - Distance Of The Modern Hearts
MadFox - No Surrender
:Kinema: - Recreation
The Chap - We Work In Bars
BAKER - Echo
Scissor Sisters - Fire With Fire
Kingz with Jonatha Brooke - Here We Go
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2010-06-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

PASSENGER TO RELEASE NEW CD "DIVERS AND SUBMARINES":

I was just reloading the Passenger cd "Wicked Man's Rest" into my iTunes at a better quality bitrate and checked their MySpace page to find that Mike Rosenberg and band are releasing a new album titled "Divers And Submarines" at the end of June. You can pre-order the cd and listen to three news songs Fairytales And Firesides, Intacto, Divers And Submarines on their MySpace page. Sounds like a slightly mellower/acoustic sound than "Wicked Man's Rest" but the tracks sound great. Mike's vocals remind me of a cross between David Ford and Damien Rice.

The band is just about to tour the U.K. and you can follow them on Twitter if you want.
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2010-06-01T05:29:00.000-07:00

HOLLY BROOK SET TO RELEASE NEW CD:

Holly Brook has announced plans to release a cd titled "O'Dark:Thirty EP". It will contain seven songs from Holly Brook's long awaited album O'Dark:Thirty, and will be released on June 10th, 2010! It will be available for sale digitally and physically via bandcamp.com, as well as other online digital retailers.

I first saw Holly live when she opened for Duncan Sheik in Toronto in 2006 and she was amazing live and I bought her first cd "Like Blood Like Honey". She was also involved in Duncan's "Whisper House" musical and performed in the cast of the first production of the play in San Diego earlier this year.

My favourite song of Holly's still has to be "Heavy". More info at her ReverbNation page.
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2010-05-28T05:32:00.000-07:00

THE SPOONS OUTDOOR CONCERT - DUNDAS SQUARE, TORONTO:

While I was in Toronto I discovered that The Spoons would be performing a one hour outdoor concert in downtown Toronto at the Dundas Square stage. It was part of Dairy Queen's 25th Anniversary of the Blizzard, a touring party that is stopping in 25 cities all across North America this summer. There was a lot of DQ hype before the gig and it looked liked many thousands of mini Oreo Blizzard's were handed out to eager Toronto residents. I got my Blizzard and made a donation to the The Children's Miracle Network.

The Spoons came on stage at 12 noon and played most of their hits in the hour long concert (set list below). The band fronted by Gord Deppe and Sandy Horne still sound great live and had the crowd dancing and enjoying themselves. The band is going to release an album of all new material this year (they recently saw their 1983 "Talkback" album get issued on cd for the first time). They played one of the new songs "Imperfekt" for only the second time live in concert and it sounded great. I had missed the band's recent 30th Anniversary concert in Toronto and was happy to be able to see them live outside on a nice sunny day. After the concert I noticed Gord and Sandy signing stuff for fans behind the stage so I went back and chatted with them and got my Talkback cd signed.

While at University I booked The Spoons and they played Convocation Hall in Sackville New Brunswick during the tour to promote their album "Bridges Over Borders". As a long time fan of the group it is great to see them still sounding great and working on releasing a new album.

All photos copyright KulPop.

The Spoons - Dundas Square, Toronto, May 18th, 2010

SET LIST:

12:02 pm
Intro
Arias & Symphonies
Smiling In Winter
Romantic Traffic
Rodeo
Waterline
Bridges Over Borders
When Time Turns Around
Tell No Lies
Imperfekt (And Real) - new song
Old Emotions
One In Ten Words
Nova Heart
ended 1:00 pm
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2010-05-25T10:28:00.000-07:00

TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB - WRONG BAR, TORONTO CONCERT REVIEW:

Ireland's Two Door Cinema Club ended their North American tour with a gig at The Wrong Bar in Toronto on Monday May 17th. I was lucky enough to get on the guest list to this sold-out show and arrived at the venue before the line up had begun. I noticed the band's bassist Kevin outside the venue so I approached him and chatted and got my copy of "Tourist History" signed by him. I was disappointed to find out that MillionYoung whom I had been looking forward to seeing had all their equipment stolen in Montreal the night before so they weren't performing, just Bad Viens as openers. I went and grabbed some supper and walked back to the venue as the line up of fans had just started. I looked back and saw Kevin and guitarist Sam leaving the venue to grab some food so I went back and got Sam's signature on my cd. Then lead singer Alex joined them on the sidewalk and I got his signature also.

I wasn't overly impressed with Bad Viens from Cincinati and patiently waited for TDCC. When the band came on stage (with the addition of a drummer) they played a tight set with all the songs from their debut album plus a few extra tracks. Highlights for me were "Do You Want It All", "Something Good Can Work", and "Come Back Home" (see full set list below). The band sounded great, my only complaint would be that the lead vocals seemed to get drowned out a bit, maybe it was due to where I was standing that was fairly close to the stage. The guys seemed genuinely happy about the sold out crowd and the amazing response they got, and said they would be back again soon. I could see them playing somewhere like The MOD Club or The Phoenix Club on their return.

Two Door Cinema Club Wrong Bar Toronto May 17th, 2010
with MillionYoung (cancelled) - Bad Viens opened

10:22 pm
1. Cigarettes In The Theatre
2. Undercover Martyn
3. Hands Off My Cash
4. Do You Want It All?
5. Something Good Can Work (got on video)
6. This Is The Life
7. Kids
8. Costume Party
9. You're Not Stubborn
10. What You Know
11. Eat That Up It's Good For You

11:00 pm
Encores:
12. Come Back Home
13. I Can Talk

2010-05-22T09:16:00.000-07:00

a-ha PERFORM FINAL CANADIAN DATE AT MASSEY HALL, TORONTO:

I was lucky enough to catch a-ha in concert as part of their "Ending On A High Note" tour at Massey Hall in Toronto on May 10th, 2010. I have been a long time fan of the trio and decided I wanted to see them in concert and it was definitely worth the trip to Toronto to see them.

I arrived at the venue a bit early and found a crowd of fans around one of the stage doors and heard stories of how they had recently arrived at the venue and that Paul and Mags had stopped to sign a few things for people but that Morten said he would do that later. I was fun chatting with a few fans, one guy had waited for 14 hours at the Toronto airport only to miss them arriving in the city because he waited in the wrong terminal. I entered the famous Massey Hall and took my seat (fifth row centre isle) and waited for the concert to begin after the short set by opener Ray Materick.

Tchaikovsky's "Serenade in C major" started up as their intro music and the large video screen at the back of the stage ran various black and white cartoon drawing images of the band, then Paul, Mags and Morten entered to great applause. They started with the title track from their latest cd "Foot Of The Mountain" and basically played all their best songs in reverse chronological order (see full set-list below). Morten had an early false start on either The Bandstand or Analogue and cracked a smile with Magne once he realized his mistake. The band sounded great and was helped out with a drummer and keyboard player. Morten's voice was in top form which was nice as he has had some problems with it in earlier stages of the farewell tour (he managed the long sustained note in "Summer Moved On" with no problems). A couple of times Magne came out from behind his keyboard to encourage the crowd and even played some drums during one song (Morten also played electronic drums during "Bandtsand"). Mid set the guys got together in the center of the stage and performed "And You Tell Me" and "Early Morning" acoustically without the backing band. Ending with "Cry Wolf" the band left the stage and a nice video retrospective played on the screen, then the band returned to play out the final songs which were "The Sun Always Shines on TV" (during which a montage of old American movies and TV shows was projected on the video screen), "Hunting High And Low" and left the stage and came back to close the show with a great version of their best known hit "Take On Me". I managed to video tape the last song and you can watch it below.

After the concert I noticed a large crowd at the main stage door waiting to try and meet the guys. I walked around to the other side of the building where there was another smaller crowd and a couple of black vehicles waiting so I decided that this was probably the best place to stay and try and meet them. Paul came out first and I got his signature on my "Hunting High & Low" cd booklet. Magne followed and again I got the autograph I wanted. Lastly Morten came out and he said he would sign things first then take photos with fans (he must have spent at least 25 minutes with the fans). Got the final signature on the cd booklet and then thought I might as well get a pic with Morten also so I waited a bit longer and got a photo with him.

It was amazing to finally see the band live and meeting them briefly after the gig was a nice way to end the evening.

a-ha Massey Hall Toronto May 10th, 2010

SET LIST:

8:45 pm - Tchaikovsky's "Serenade in C major" intro

1. Foot Of The Mountain
2. The Bandstand
3. Analogue
4. Forever Not Yours
5. Minor Earth, Major Sky
6. Summer Moved On
7. Move To Memphis
8. The Blood That Moves The Body
9. Stay On These Roads
10. The Living Daylights
11. Scoundrel Days
12. The Swing Of Things
13. And You Tell Me (acoustic)
14. Early Morning (acoustic)
15. We're Looking For The Whales
16. Manhattan Skyline
17. I've Been Losing You
18. Cry Wolf
-- Video Retrospective 10:00 pm
------------
19. The Sun Always Shines On TV
20. Hunting High And Low
------------
21. Take On Me
ended 10:25
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2010-05-21T05:34:00.000-07:00

BACK FROM HOLIDAY IN TORONTO:

Well sorry for the lack of posts, I was in Toronto for two weeks and didn't feel like posting while I was visiting with family and friends. Had a great time, also managed to see a-ha, Two Door Cinema Club and The Spoons in concert which was fun (may post concert reviews soon). Also enjoyed going to some of my favourite restaurants and cd stores. A lot of the used cd stores have disappeared, and the majors are basically down to HMV and Sunrise Records.

New cds bought: Keane - Night Train, Tracey Thorn - Love And It's Opposite, Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist History and The Spoons - Talkback (first time issued on cd).

Used cds bought: Colin Munroe - Don't Think Less Of Me, Starsailor - On The Outside, Semi Precious Weapons - We Love You, Yes - 90125, Passengers - Wicked Man's Rest, The Creeps - Blue Tomato and many more (great when you find a sale bin $1 each or 7 for $5 at a place like Neurotica).

Restaurants recommended: Green Mango (730 Yonge Street) - amazing pad thai and curried vegetables, Ghazale's (504 Bloor Street West) - still the best falafal in the city, Eastern Twist (505 St. Clair Ave. West) - still love their curry potatoe paratha wrap, and Ali's Roti (1446 Queen Street West) still making great doubles.
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2010-05-04T15:21:00.000-07:00

VARIOUS BITS AND PIECES:

Interior of Massey Hall

I am off to Toronto soon to visit with family and friends as well as see a-ha live in concert for the first time at the great Massey Hall venue. Also hoping to see Two Door Cinema Club at Wrong Bar if I can get a ticket. I recently discovered MillionYoung who is opening for them so it should be a great concert.

Really love the new demo from MadFox called "No Surrender", definitely a band to keep an eye on.

Howard Jones is touring in North America in October with dates in Florida, New York, Salt Lake City and Toronto (some dates still need to be confirmed). No word on whether it will be the Human's Lib/Dream Into Action albums in the entirety concert or not

Check out Addicted To Vinyl's post on Will Owsley who died recently (he played guitar for the likes of Amy Grant & Shania Twain as well as releasing two albums of his own). They have a great live recording of Will covering the Steely Dan song "My Old School" that is definitely worth getting.

Not sure if I liked the new series "Happy Town" Wednesday night's on ABC but plan to watch it and see how it moves along.
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2010-04-27T14:17:00.001-07:00

BECAUSE THEY ARE ONE OF THE BEST BANDS IN THE WORLD:

I hope Warner Music in North America gets their act together and releases the amazing debut cd from Donkeyboy called "Caught In A Life". Take a look at the short video below to get an idea of what we should be hearing on North American radio.

2010-04-26T09:01:00.000-07:00

JONATHA BROOKE CO-WRITES AND SINGS ON NEW KINGZ SINGLE:

One of my all-time favourite singer/songwriters Jonatha Brooke is featured vocalist on British MC/producer Kingz new song "Here We Go". The song is supposed to be up on iTunes very soon, you can hear it via YouTube below. It appears that Jonatha co-wrote the song with Kingz and I have to say I really like it a lot.

2010-04-09T08:48:00.000-07:00

ONE TO ONE - 'FORWARD YOUR EMOTIONS' FINALLY ISSUED ON CD:

I'm sure we all have albums from our past that we would love to see reissued on cd. One album from 1985 that I've always wanted to own on cd was Ottawa duo One To One's great pop record 'Forward Your Emotions'. Just this past January the album was reissued on cd, great news for fans of this disc.

The band was Leslie Howe and Louise Reny, and they went on to release two more albums as One To One, then formed the band's Sal's Birdland and later Artificial Joy Club. Howe also produced Alanis Morissette's debut dance/pop cd 'Alanis'. Louise Reny is still singing in a Ottawa band Bubbles Cash and the Rhythm Method with members of another great Ottawa band 'Shake The Ghost' (I saw them perform in concert at the legendary Misty Moon in Halifax Nova Scotia back in the 80's, check out a TV performance from them in 1988 below). You can order the Forward Your Emotions cd here. Up for one week is the third single from the album Black On White.

2010-03-23T14:50:00.000-07:00

PENGUIN PRISON RELEASES BEST SONG TO DATE:

Penguin Prison (New Yorker Chris Glover) has been working on his debut album for a while and it will get released through the Neon Gold label later this year. He first caught my attention with his amazing (this is better than the original) remix of Erik Hassle's song 'Hurtful'. He's issued a bunch of songs but the new release "The Worse It Gets" is pure pop genius. It is like a combination of Naked Eyes and Zoot Woman, the best song I've heard in a while.

You can download the song at Asian Dan's blog, definitely worth having (not so keen on the ELOF remix, hopefully Starsmith will do a remix, or Pete Byrne from Naked Eyes should have a go). If this is the direction he moves in I will be first in line to pick up a copy of his debut cd. Hopefully Chris will see the power of Twitter and actually start posting some Tweets on what he is up to. He has a gig in New York City on May 8th, tempted to miss the 2nd a-ha concert I have a ticket to see and check out his live set.
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2010-03-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

TEARS FOR FEARS TO TOUR EASTERN U.S. THIS FALL:

It looks like Tears For Fears will finally be doing a decent tour of the Eastern U.S. with one date in Canada, North of Toronto in Orillia. Below is the blurb from Curt's blog.

Hi all,

Since I've been receiving many messages asking when/where/if we are doing shows in the US this summer I thought I'd give you an update. Here's where it stands: the following lists confirmed shows and TBC shows. Roland and I have signed off on them, but until the last shows are confirmed it's never 100% certain (around 95%). Also be aware that these will not be on sale for a while so don't go calling the venues :) When the on sale dates are announced I'll pass it on.

Aug.12th Detroit (C)

Aug.13th Buffalo (C)

Aug.14th Orillia (Ont) (C)

Aug.16th Boston (C)

Aug.17th Hampton Beach NH (TBC)

Aug.19th New York (C)

Aug.20th Atlantic City (C)

Aug.21st Montclair NJ (C)

Aug.22nd Someone's birthday

Aug.23rd Washington DC (TBC)

Aug.24th Baltimore (TBC)

Aug.26th Atlanta (C)

Aug.27th Charlotte NC (C)

Aug.28th Orlando (C)

Aug.31st Ft. Lauderdale (C)

Sep.1st Clearwater FL (C)

Sep.3rd Myrtle Beach (C)

Sep.4th Norfolk VA (C)

Sep.5th Richmond VA (C)
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2010-02-28T06:47:00.001-08:00

HOWARD JONES PLANS CONCERT TO PERFORM 'HUMAN'S LIB' AND 'DREAM INTO ACTION' ALBUMS IN THEIR ENTIRETY:

In a recent radio interview in the U.K. Howard Jones mentioned he has plans to do a concert later this year where he will perform his two classic albums - Human's Lib and Dream Into Action in their entirety. He has never done this and it will be an opportunity for fans to hear many songs live that they may never have seen Howard perform before. There will likely be some surprises, maybe Jed Holie will hit the stage for some mime as he did in the early days (and at Howard's 20th Anniversary gig).

No date has been announced, if it is a one off gig I would imagine it will be in the U.K., most likely London at the the O2's indigO2 or Shepherd's Bush Empire.
** UPDATE ** It looks like the concert will be held on November 6th, 2010.

In other Howard Jones news Howard has been re-recording three of his classic hits in the same style as his latest studio album "Ordinary Heroes" for inclusion as bonus tracks on the Japanese release of the cd, the songs are: New Song, What Is Love and Everlasting Love. Also 'Straight Ahead' will be the new single from the album Ordinary Heroes, it will be released as a single in the UK on March 22nd 2010.

2010-02-27T10:12:00.001-08:00

'FEAR OF TIGERS' CONTINUES TO IMPRESS:

One of my favourite songs of late is "I Can Make The Pain Disappear" by Benjamin Berry from Greenwich U.K. (originally born in Kobe Japan) who goes under the moniker "Fear Of Tigers". He made his new album "Cossus Snufsigalonica" available for free download and it is a great listen (still available here).

Well now he's gone and done an amazing remix of Boston's "Yes Giantess" song "The Ruins" that is available for download at the Neon Gold blog.

Below is the music video for "I Can Make The pain Disappear", hope to be able to buy a hard copy of the Cossus Snufsigalonica cd soon.

Fear of Tigers - I Can Make The Pain Disappear (video by Dream Boat) from Dream Boat on Vimeo.

2010-02-19T18:47:00.001-08:00

UPCOMING SCRITTI POLITTI "BEST OF" CD MAY CONTAIN NEW TRACKS:

There is a new Scritti Politti cd being released through EMI on March 29th, 2010 titled "Absolute (The Best Of Scritti Politti)" - some info here. I haven't seen a track listing or found information if the songs will be remastered in any way, but have heard that it may contain two brand new Scritti Politti tracks that Green has been working with original member David Gamson. From the bibbly-o-tek website we find the following info - "A source close to the project has informed me that there will most likely be 2 additional new tracks on the new album. “A Place We Both Belong” and “Day Late and a Dollar Short” are names that were given to the tracks by Green and David Gamson as they worked on them together last year. Actual track names are subject to change upon final release."

Let's hope this gets a worldwide release and possibly brings on some live shows.

2010-02-11T05:54:00.000-08:00

CHECK OUT SWEDEN'S 'THE RADIO DEPT.':

I love the track "Heaven's On Fire" from Swedish band The Radio Dept.. You can find it over at Kickin' The Peanuts, definitely worth adding to you collection. Their album "Clinging To A Scheme" is due out this March on Labrador Records, their MySpace page.
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2010-02-03T06:16:00.000-08:00

VARIOUS BITS AND PIECES:

a-ha have announced only three concert dates (Update: extra gigs in L.A. and New York have been added, up to five now) for North America in May as part of their 'Ending On A High Note' tour, and they are in New York and Los Angeles. To say this is a big disappointment is a major understatement, still hoping they manage to add some Canadian gigs to the list. I bought a ticket to one of the New York shows and will plan a road trip to see them if that is the only option.

Speaking of a-ha, band member Magne Furuholmen has teamed up to form a group called Apparatjik with Coldplay's bassist Guy Berryman and singer/guitarist Jonas Bjerre from the band Mew. They have just released their debut cd called "We Are Here", I look forward to hearing what it is like.

Lo-Fi-Fnk have leaked a song of their forthcoming album, the song is called "Marchin' In" and it is available to download from their blog. The song is good, a bit mellow, but it is great knowing that we are getting closer to the album finally being released, 4 years after the amazing 'Boylife' cd.

Nik Kershaw just released a cool solo acoustic album called "No Frills" on Monday. You can order it here from his new nicely redesigned website (and they accept PayPal which is great).

Loving the new Two Door Cinema Club album 'Tourist History'. Favourite tracks are the previously leaked demo track "Something Good Can Work', 'Come Back Home', 'Do You Want It All' and 'This Is The Life'. Check them out if you are a fan of a band like 'Upper Room'.

U.K. band Captain are on a bit of a hiatus (after their second album 'Distraction' ended up not getting officially released by EMI) but a couple of months ago started a new mailing list (sign up here) to try and gauge fan support. When you sign up you also get a free download of an unreleased Captain song called "Back In The Knife Drawer". This track was part of sessions they did in Oxford prior to the recording of 'Distraction'.

Teitur has finished writing his next album and plans to record it in March, hopefully it will get released over the summer.

The Human League have signed with Wall Of Sound Records, hopefully their new cd will be out this year.

I just found the Facebook page of Viv who ran the Thompson Twins Fan Club 'Teefax' back in the day, may try and get in touch to see what she has been up to, hope she is doing well.
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2010-01-27T12:50:00.000-08:00

CHECK OUT DENMARK'S 'GINGER NINJA':

Denmark's Ginger Ninja released their debut album last week titled "Wicked Map" (buy it here) and it is a fantastic record full of rock/pop tunes. The first single is "Bone Will Break Metal" (video below) and the rest of the album is solid with other favourites being "Soldiers", "Crying Shame" and "Sunshine" . The band is comprised of Johan Luth - Drums, Carl Riestra - Bass, Henrik Hamilton - Vocals & Guitar, and Rasmus Søby Andersen - Guitar. No word on a North American release of the album.

2010-01-19T07:18:00.001-08:00

PLATINUM BLONDE PLAN REUNION CONCERT IN TORONTO:

Canadian 80's pop rockers Platinum Blonde will be inducted into the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame on March 12 at the Canadian Radio Music Awards in Toronto, as part of Canadian Music Week. It also sounds like the three original members Mark Holmes, Chris Steffler Sergio Galli are trying to organize a reunion concert in Toronto in the coming months (there's a good chance it will take place at The MOD Club, where Mark Holmes is an owner). Click here for a recent interesting newspaper article about the band and drummer Chris Steffler.
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2010-01-19T06:49:00.001-08:00

CHECK OUT LONDON'S 'SAM ISAAC' AND HIS SONG BEARS:

I hadn't heard of Sam Isaac until today after I found out it was his song "Bears" that was used at the end of last night's episode of "Chuck" on NBC. The vocals reminded me a bit of Rik Flynn from the U.K. band Captain. The song is the title track from the Bears album that Sam recorded in the summer of 2008 with Dan Swift who has worked with Snow Patrol and Aqualung. I've only had a chance to listen to his songs on his MySpace site and like what I hear.

He also has a connection to Canada, this from his bio "By the time he was in his teens, his restlessness drove him to run away to Canada, where he immersed himself in Montreal's burgeoning scene with the likes of Stars, The Dears, and Broken Social Scene. "Canada came at a point when everything was changing with my relationships and family," says Sam. "Running away to another part of the world and finding myself a new set of friends and surroundings was as romantic as it was inspiring."

James Yuill has done a great remix of Sam's song "Sticker Star And Tape" you can download it from James' blog here.

Bears should be available on your iTunes and can be ordered from here.
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2010-01-10T06:55:00.001-08:00

HUNGARIAN POP STAR "SP" SINGS A SONG IN ENGLISH:

Hungary is not a country I would think of as a hot bed of pop music, but "SP" does seem to be a big star there. Moving away from rap to a more R&B/Dance sound on his third album "Special" (order it here), he is considered a superstar in Hungary. SP is Éder Krisztián 22 year-old who lives in Budapest and has had a hit recently with the song "Kép maratsz" (music video below). On the album he does an english version of one of the songs and titled it "Take Me Back", you can get the MP3 here for one week.

2010-01-06T09:10:00.000-08:00

THOMPSON TWINS UPDATE:

Alannah Currie & Tom Bailey in 2006
Photo courtesy Peter Finnegan

Tom Bailey from the Thompson Twins was recently in New Zealand performing some shows as International Observer, his dub outfit. You can listen to his new album "Felt' here, be sure to listen to the track "Popcorn Slavery", probably the closest things to a new Thompson Twins track we'll hear even though it is an instrumental. Listening to the whole album it reminds me of his output as "Babble".

While in New Zealand Tom was interviewed by Radio New Zealand, and you can listen to the interview here. Some interesting information culled from the interview is that A: Tom and Alannah's son Jackson Bailey who is now 21 DJ's under the moniker "Tapes" and was on this recent tour with his father. He has released music on the Jahtari label and seems to be gaining some notoriety (you can listen to his music at his MySpace page - also his Debut EP out now on Jahtari, digitial or C60 features a cover designed by James Cauty (KLF) who is Alannah's boyfriend). B: Tom has remarried to artist Lauren Drescher who is also qualified midwife. C: Tom recently performed with the project Holiwater in New Zealand.

Jackson Bailey as "Tapes"

Alannah Currie now creates furniture as Miss Pokeno, check some of it out here.

I believe Joe Leeway is still working in California, click here to go to my "Where Are They Now" post from 2006 for more info.
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2010-01-05T10:33:00.001-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR - GREAT VIDEO BY IAN AXEL:

Ian Axel album "This Is The New Year" released today!

2010-01-04T08:57:00.001-08:00

GAIL ANN DORSEY TO PLAY IN JONATHA BROOKE'S BAND:

Photo Courtesy Jonatha Brooke

The amazing Gail Ann Dorsey (solo, David Bowie, Tears For Fears) is currently rehearsing with Jonatha Brooke for her upcoming European tour dates in February. Jonatha blogged about it and included the picture above of her band. I hope Gail also plays some North American dates with Jonatha, would definitely be worth a trip to see them on stage together.

European Dates:

Brewery Arts - Kendal, UK
02/17/2010, 8: 00 PM

St. Bonaventure's - Bristol, UK
02/18/2010, 7:30 PM

Bush Hall - London, UK
02/19/2010, 7:30 PM

Band on the Wall - Manchester, UK
02/20/2010, 7:30 PM

The Stables - Milton Keynes, UK
02/21/2010, 8:00 PM

Musik og Teaterhojskolen - Toftland, Denmark
02/24/2010, 8:00 PM

Train - Aarhus, Denmark
02/25/2010, 8: 00 PM

Jazzhus Dexter - Odense, Denmark
02/26/2010, 8:00 PM

Lille Vega - Copenhagen, Denmark
02/27/2010, 9:00 PM
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2010-01-02T11:07:00.001-08:00

THE RETURN OF MARTHA AND THE MUFFINS:

Canada's Martha & The Muffins return this year with a brand new cd titled "Delicate". The duo of Martha Johnson and Mark Gane recorded and mixed the album in Toronto with producer/mixing engineer David Bottrill (Peter Gabriel). The album is scheduled for release on February 2nd, 2010, and the band has two concerts scheduled for Toronto on February 5th and 6th at the Music Gallery.
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2009-12-22T11:29:00.001-08:00

HAPPY HOLIDAYS & ALL THE BEST FOR 2010:

Sorry for the lack of posts, I guess nothing has impressed me enough recently to write about and I've been busy watching the best series to ever air on network television "I'll Fly Away". It originally aired in the early 90's and luckily I kept the series on VHS tapes as it unfortunately has never been issued by Warner Bros. Television on DVD.

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, hopefully I'll be back with some blogs in 2010.

2009-11-06T09:09:00.000-08:00

VARIOUS BITS AND PIECES:

Well, today seemed like a good day to mention some of my favourite new songs (albums), some that I'm really enjoying on the new iPod Touch and while driving in the car, so here goes.

Donkeyboy - Caught In A Life

This is a great album by Norwegian band who have been opening up for a-ha recently. Favourite tracks are: 'Stereolife', 'Ambitions' and 'Sometimes'. The video for 'Ambitions' is below.

Erik Hassle - Hurtful (Penguin Prison remix) . I really like this remix of a great track, audio below.

Fenech-Soler - Lies, video below.

Monarchy - Gold In The Fire. Not much seems to be known about this U.K. duo, like this demo quite a bit, listen to it on their MySpace page or below.

Nic Chagall - This Moment. Mia Michaels used this track for a Top 10 group routine in the season finale of 'So You Think You Can Dance Canada', watch below. Features the vocals of New Yorker Jonathan Mendelsohn.

Darin's cover of 'Viva La Vida' may not be everyone's cup of tea but I like the take on it and it sounds great cruising along the highway.

Imogen Heap's acoustic cover of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' is quite a nice take on the track.

Honorable mentions to Starsmith's remix of 'Bad Romance' by Lady GaGa, 'A Funny Thing' by Penguin Prison, Ola's 'Sky's The Limit' and Simon Curtis with his single 'Delusional'.

2009-10-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

HOWARD JONES LIVE PRE-RELEASE PLAYBACK OF NEW STUDIO ALBUM 'ORDINARY HEROES':

Howard Jones has been gearing up for the release of his 9th studio album titled 'Ordinary Heroes' on November 9th. This included a limited edition run of 500 copies of a 2 cd version with very special packaging, with the buyer getting a personal dedication as well as getting their name printed in the artwork. This version has sold out but a regular version can still be ordered here.

On November 2nd at 7pm (U.K. time) Howard will being hosting a pre-release cd playback event from his home studio on Livestream. This will be a great chance for fans to hear the new tracks as well as get first-hand anecdotal content as Howard pauses the playback in between tracks to talk his way through the inspirations and influences behind the album. By signing up to Livestream, users will also be able to interact with Howard during the live broadcast using a live ‘chat’ facility. The Howard Jones channel can be found here.

On a personal note Howard just Tweeted today that his Mum Thelma is in hospital, I wanted to wish her all the best for a speedy recovery.

2009-10-03T19:43:00.000-07:00

TEITUR AND JONATHA BROOKE WORK ON NEW NOLWENN LEROY ALBUM:

After reading Jonatha Brooke's recent journal entry I am eager to hear the third album by French singer Nolwenn Leroy. According to Nolwenn's website it is due for release on December 7th, not sure what countries it will be out in. She has been working with Teitur and Jonatha Brooke (two of my all-time favourite singer/songwriters) as well as producer extraordinaire Rupert Hine. Jonatha was over in Sweden recently working on the record, below is a photo of Jonatha with Teitur and Nolwenn from Jonatha's journal. I had hoped to travel from New Brunswick to Maine this weekend to see Jonatha Brooke in concert but was unable.

Photo Credit: Jonatha Brooke

Speaking of Teitur he is releasing a best of collection on October 5th in the U.K. titled "All My Mistakes" (order here, reviewed here) with tracks from his previous albums, and has made a video for the song 'Hurricane' that you can watch here. Another interesting article on Teitur at 'The Quietus' website .

2009-09-11T05:50:00.000-07:00

NEW 'BLACK ROOM' (LORRAINE) TRACK FEATURED ON MYSPACE VIDEO:

Black Room (formerly Lorraine) have added a few videos shot in the recording studio to their MySpace video section. Below is the clip that features a new song by the band. Would still like to see their fantastic 'Pop Noir' album get a worldwide cd release (it's on iTunes but only out in Japan right now as an actual physical cd, order it here.)

BR II

2009-09-03T09:47:00.000-07:00

LOVING AUSTRALIAN DUO 'TIM AND JEAN' AND THEIR SONG 'COME AROUND':

Coming from Australia is teenage electro-pop duo Tim & Jean, Tim Ayer and Jean Capotorto. They have two demos on their MySpace site, the amazing 'Come Around' and 'Like What?'. Someone sign these guys! Jean also has a MySpace site with samples of songs he has recorded under the name 'The Jeanius'. The band doesn't appear to have a Twitter page but Jean does here.

Below is a clip of the guys doing an acoustic cover of the Dave Matthews Band 'Crash Into Me', expect big things from these two.

2009-09-03T09:44:00.001-07:00

VITAMIN Z 'RITES OF PASSAGE' ALBUM GETS ISSUED ON CD:

After such a long time Sheffield's Vitamin Z see their classic 80's album 'Rites Of Passage' issued on cd in the U.S. Lead singer Geoff Barradale currently manages the Arctic Monkeys among other bands. You can order the cd here.

Below is the music video for their song "Burning Flame".

2009-08-29T07:33:00.000-07:00

CLIMIE FISHER GETS THE REISSUE TREATMENT:

One of my favourite bands from the 80's was Climie Fisher. Simon Climie and Rob Fisher (from Naked Eyes) released two albums that have just been reissued by Edsel Records with bonus tracks. Not clear on if they have been remastered, but still nice to have the cds back in print. You can order "Everything" here and "Coming In For The Kill" here.

2009-08-23T06:24:00.001-07:00

THE RETURN OF THE AMAZING 'ZOOT WOMAN':

Stuart Price along with Adam Blake and Johnny Blake are back up and running as Zoot Woman and have just released their new cd 'Things Are What They Used To Be'. The band has a bunch of live dates for Europe in the works, see them and check out the album at their MySpace page. Their cd "Living In A Magazine' from 2001 is still an all time favourite of mine and the new cd returns with a nice update to that sound. This could be my favourite CD of the year and that is only after a couple of listens, FANTASTIC stuff. Buy the new CD here or here. Follow them on Twitter also.

Here's a blurb about the new album from their website: 'Right from the pulsing hook line of “We Won’t Break”, feeding an addiction to emotional melody in “Lonely By Your Side” and “More Than Ever”, then to be shaken up by the pounding stadium electro of “Witness”. Not to mention the pristine pop of “Just A Friend Of Mine” and desperate yearning of “M.E.M.O.R.Y”. “Blue Sea” is a delicate departure, craving escapism, relief and change in order to remedy something. Prominent moments include the dirty, sexy “Lust Forever", "Saturation" and the love and obsession fuelled “Live In My Head”. The cerebral track “Take You Higher” is an almost psychedelic dream as the record takes a breath. Zoot Woman brings with this new album a sound and collection of songs so fresh that still carries the essence of what we know and love.'

2009-08-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

SOME OF 'NEW ORDER' RETURN AS 'BAD LIEUTENANT':

Fans of New Order will be happy to hear that frontman Bernard Sumner, and guitarist Phil Cunningham along with singer Jake Evans have formed Bad Lieutenant. Their debut album, due out on October 5th in the U.K. is titled "Never Cry Another Tear" and the first single is called "Sink Or Swim" which sounds great. You can listen to the single at their MySpace site. As of this coming Friday 28th August, the new single will be made available as a free download if you sign up to the BL mailing list at their website. You can also follow the band on Twitter. Some live dates are in the works and the live band will be fleshed out with Stephen Morris on drums and Tom Chapman on bass. Blur’s Alex James also contributes to several songs on the cd.
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2009-08-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

NEW IMOGEN HEAP MUSIC VIDEO FOR 'FIRST TRAIN HOME':

Imogen has filmed another video for the song, guess she doesn't like this version too much.

2009-08-13T07:11:00.000-07:00

NEW IMOGEN HEAP / MIKA COLLABORATION:

Imogen Heap collaborated with Mika on his new album that has been retitled 'The Boy Who Knew Too Much'. The song is called 'By The Time' and a 30 second clip can be heard below. Sounds good to me, looking forward to both of their new albums.

Also the video for Imogen's new single 'First Train Home' which was directed by Kayne West collaborator Es Devlin will premiere on AOL Music on Monday August 17th.

2009-08-05T10:07:00.001-07:00

NEW 'NIK KERSHAW' TRACK ON CAT NAV BENEFIT CD:

Musician/songwriter extraordinaire Nik Kershaw has donated a very good new song called "What Is" to a benefit cd released in the U.K. titled 'Cat Nav - Guide Cats For The Blind Vol. 4'. The song is available on iTunes Canada and some other iTunes sites around the world. You can also get the cd tracks through Amazon by clicking here. Nik is playing some festivals and dates in the U.K. this summer as well as gigs in Germany and Israel, check his website for details.

2009-08-04T15:01:00.000-07:00

CHECK OUT LIVERPOOL'S 'WAVE MACHINES':

Wave Machines are a foursome hailing from Liverpool and have recently released their funky pop debut cd titled "Wave If You're Really There". The first single 'I Go I Go I Go' is great, and you can download another quality song from the cd titled 'Keep The Lights On' for free here at their website. Follow them on Twitter and buy the cd here.
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2009-07-28T16:32:00.000-07:00

a-ha TO TOUR NORTH AMERICA FOR ANNIVERSARY SHOWS:

It sounds like a-ha will be having a world tour in the next year in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of a-ha's first Number 1 hit, 'Take On Me'. Their album "Hunting High And Low" will be reissued, following info from their website: Magne said in an interview with BBC News, "For the anniversary, we want to do something creative and revisit material in a different way and make something special for the fans." Although the following timeframes and countries are not 100% confirmed, we understand this is the general tour schedule for 2010.
* In November 2009, the European tour will be extended. The band will also add a show in Tokyo, Japan.
* January will bring a-ha back to Australia for the first time since their first world tour, which opened in Perth, Australia on June 3, 1986.
* Fans in South America, Canada and the United States can look forward to some concerts in March.
* In May and June, a-ha will return to Europe and do some festivals.

The band probably played a few dates in Canada back in the 80's but they never returned after that from what I'm aware of. They are one band that I like that I've never seen live, looks like that will change soon!
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2009-07-23T06:41:00.000-07:00

NATE KREISWIRTH'S CASHMERE COMMERCIAL SONG:

Toronto singer/songwriter Nate Kreiswirth has a band called Cancel Winter. From a quick look on his Twitter page he appears to have a day job working in a lab, but also has a career as a writer of songs for commercials. Here in Canada they've been running an ad for Cashmere bathroom tissue with a catchy summer pop song as the theme for a while now. Month's ago I called the company and was told the tune was written by Nate but not really available as a full song. Now the ad has added some text saying that you can download the song from the Cashmere website (click here, you can also listen to the song at this site). I downloaded the file but it doesn't download as an MP3, so you will need to add the ".mp3" to the file and then it should work in your iTunes or media player. The song is called 'Cashmere Daydreams', and it is definitely worth getting, it has the KulPop seal of approval (I will play it on my radio show next week).
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2009-07-20T08:06:00.001-07:00

CHECK OUT AUSTRALIA'S 'RAN/RUN':

I'm enjoying the new song 'Revolutionary' from the duo 'Ran/Run'. Pete Jones and Ryan Walsh are 'Ran/Run', the song reminds me a bit of The Blue Nile, check them out (an MP3 of 'Revolutionary' can be found at Arjan's site). Their new E.P. is due out in August.

2009-07-13T07:49:00.000-07:00

THIS IS A FUN WATCH:

2009-07-13T07:31:00.000-07:00

THE RETURN OF 'A FINE FRENZY':

Alison Sudol (A Fine Frenzy) returns with a follow up to her great album 'One Cell In The Sea' with 'Bomb In A Birdcage', due for release on September 8th (album cover above). I've seen Alison live twice and she is an amazing singer and performer. It sounds like the new cd is a bit more uptempo, she describes the album as "11 infectious, bubbly, fun tracks infused with gorgeous lyrics and danceable beats." The first single 'Blow Away' is growing on me, you can watch an acoustic performance of the song below.

Her cover of Frank Sinatra's song 'The Things We Did Last Summer' is now available for download on iTunes. You can follow Alison on her Twitter page.

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2009-07-12T10:15:00.000-07:00

U.K.'S 'CINNAMON CHASERS' DROP EXCELLENT ALBUM:

Seemingly out of nowhere come U.K. synthpop band Cinnamon Chasers and their (his) excellent debut album 'A Million Miles Away From Home'. Cinnamon Chasers is the solo project of Russ Davies, son of Dave Davies and nephew of Ray Davies, two founding members of The Kinks. The London-based producer creates "a perfect blend of crisp electronics, pop based song structure and melodies with an 'indie' feel". The album released on June 16th on Modus Records is a great listen, I highly recommend it. Up for one week here is the track 'Jetstreams' to wet your appetite. The album is available on iTunes Canada as the regular album and you can also purchase the album as instrumental versions. Follow the band on Twitter also.
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2009-07-11T08:56:00.000-07:00

IMOGEN HEAP 'ELLIPSE' ALBUM COVERS:

Imogen Heap premiered her new single 'First Train Home' on KCRW yesterday (listen here). The song is decent, hope it grows on me the more I listen to it, looking forward to hearing the entire album once it is released on August 25th in Canada. Not sure if following along with Immi's vBlogs during the recording was a good or bad thing as far as hearing the finished product, but I enjoyed her regular updates on the recording process.

Below is a picture of the first version of the album cover that Immi posted on Twitter, followed but what appears to be the finished cover. They made the right choice in switching it, better to see both of her eyes and she has a better facial expression. Don't expect any new vBlogs for a while, follow Imogen on her busy Twitter page.

2009-06-28T06:28:00.001-07:00

DOUGLAS SMITH AND 'HIS ORCHESTRA' MAKE COOL MUSIC PSA:

Photo: Greg Smith

Canadian actor/musician Douglas Smith and his band 'his Orchestra' have made the PSA about stealing music for the American Association of Independent Music (watch it below). He is probably most famous for his role as Ben Henrickson on HBO's 'Big Love' that just wrapped up it's third season, and is also in another band called 'Alaskan Summer' with his girlfriend Ashton Lunceford. Check out both band's MySpace sites to see about buying their cds or downloading them from iTunes.

2009-06-18T09:43:00.001-07:00

NEW JAMES GRANT ALBUM:

One of my favourite band's from the 80's/early 90's were "Love And Money". The band's lead singer James Grant has just released a new album called "Strange Flowers". After listening to the cd I was thinking how similar James vocal style is to Roland Orzabal from Tears For Fears. The cd is a pretty mellow affair but the songs are well written and it is nice to hear the Love & Money vocal sound again. You can order "Strange Flowers" here. Up for a week is the MP3 of the lead track "This Could Be The Day".
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2009-06-11T06:43:00.001-07:00

FERRAS WRITES FOR ADAM LAMBERT:

Ferras has been in the studio with producer/guru Peter Asher and plans to release an EP soon with this new material. Apparently he is friends with Adam Lambert and hopes a song he has written for him with Lauren Christy and Desmond Child will make it onto Adam's album. He also hopes to work with Diane Warren in the coming weeks, once he returns from Vienna with Katy Perry! Just saw that on Twitter on June 7th Ferras said "Spent the afternoon writing with Adam Lambert! Havent seen him since before idol- we're writing a great song. Its gunna be sick ya'll. :)"
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2009-06-09T10:12:00.000-07:00

LOVIN' "OWL CITY" FROM OWATONNA MINNESOTA:

I just recently discovered the sweet pop music of Adam Young and his band "Owl City". I had downloaded the new song "Strawberry Avalanche" and soon discovered the even better track "Hot Air Balloon". Adam's sound is somewhat reminiscent of The Postal Service, but the music and arrangements are much more "Pop music". I could see Owl City opening for Imogen Heap on tour, I think they would go well together and I'm guessing her fans would enjoy his music.

Owl City will be releasing their new album "Ocean Eyes" (order here) on iTunes on July 14th and in stores on July 28th. The band has a large North American tour (dates on their MySpace site) in September/October, very tempted to make a trip to see them live.
UPDATE: I just found out that Owl City is touring with Kate Havnevik and Unicorn Kid, should be worth seeing.

You can listen to "Hot Air Balloon" in the YouTube video below.

2009-06-03T09:33:00.001-07:00

LO-FI-FNK:

Sweden's Lo-Fi-Fnk have a somewhat new website setup and seem to be a bit more active in updating it, check it out here. Some new songs are showing up in their setlists, I hope it means that they will be releasing a follow up to "Boylife" soon.

2009-05-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

ASWAD COVER HOWARD JONES FOR NEW SINGLE:

Reggae greats Aswad have covered the Howard Jones hit "What Is Love" and released it as their new single. Pretty decent version featuring Sweetie Irie, video above.

2009-05-21T09:22:00.000-07:00

NEW SIMPLE MINDS CD "GRAFFITI SOUL":

Simple Minds return with their 15th album titled "Graffiti Soul". You can order it here, the Deluxe 2 cd version here (with bonus covers cd) and the vinyl edition here.

After taking a quick spin through the record I can say hardcore fans of the band will like it, I think it is okay, it may grow on me a bit after a few listens. The first single is "Rockets" (see the video below), I think my favourite track is "Kiss And Fly". Jim Kerr posts that the album has been complete since last year and that "For the moment we give you Graffiti Soul, but believe me when I say that the next one will be even better!", take what you will from that.

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2009-05-20T09:59:00.000-07:00

AMERICAN IDOL PERFORMANCE FINALE - IDOL SONG IS BAD:

I haven't talked much about Season 8 of American Idol on this blog, I have posted comments on other blogs that are following the competition more closely. Last night was okay, but I have to say the the "Idol song" - "No Boundaries" is horrible, plain and simple. The producers and Kara DioGuardi should all be embarrassed that it was used, a very bad case of nepotism. The lyrics are pedestrian and it certainly doesn't have much of a hook, and it didn't suit either Adam or Kris.

Kudos to Randy Jackson for being the only judge to actually critique the performances of "No Boundaries" while to other judges copped out. I look forward to hearing both Kris and Adam's cds, I pity the one that has to release "No Boundaries" as their first single, it is so WEAK!

I've said from the beginning of the Top 10 that Kris is going to win the season and I stand by that prediction today, should be an interesting show tonight.

UPDATE: Nice to see Kris Allen win Season 8 of American Idol (what a jam packed finale). After listening to the studio recordings of "No Boundaries" by both Kris and Adam (Allen's version is better) it sounds a bit better but I still think generally it is a weak song with cheesy/predictable lyrics. This season was full of favoritism and nepotism, they better cut that kind of stuff out next year, just critique the performances and get a better song for the winner to perform.
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2009-05-18T04:46:00.000-07:00

KULPOP'S THIRD ANNIVERSARY!:

Well it has been three years since I started my KulPop blog. My first post was an a variety of things and my first comment came from XOLondon. And my recent post about a-ha's upcoming album release got a bit of notice from other's in the blog world. A few of my favourite posts over the years have been:

My review of The Feeling in concert (and getting to meet them)

What Are The Thompson Twins Up To Now (and one on their cd reissues)

Some concert reviews: Lo-Fi-Fnk, Patrick Wolf, Darren Hayes, Ben Lee, Duran Duran, Adele, Elbow/Air Traffic, and Howard Jones' 25th Anniversary gig.

Thanks to those of you that read KulPop and sometimes leave a comment, I appreciate that.
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2009-05-16T10:18:00.000-07:00

MORE INFO ON THE NEW a-ha CD "FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN":

Above is the cover for the new a-ha album, not sure if I like it that much. Besides the title track single, two songs to be on the album are - "Shadowside" and "What There Is". "These songs probably have a classic a-ha sound, but many of the other songs on the album will be quite different", Magne Furuholmen says. Hardcore fans of the band may feel that they have heard the band's new single before, apparently the verses are identical with those in the song "The Longest Night" - which was on Magne Furuholmen's "A Dot Of Black In The Blue Of Your Bliss" album last year. But the chorus is new. "This is a completely normal way of working. The song was originally written for a-ha, but then things took time, and it ended up on my solo album first. We're also planning to make a new verse for "Take On Me" and re-release it", Magne Furuholmen laughs.

The cd "Foot Of The Mountain" is due out on June 19th (June 22nd in Norway), no idea if a release is planned for North America.

Monday is a special day here at KulPop, check back to find out why.
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2009-05-15T07:07:00.001-07:00

FREE DOWNLOAD OF THE NEW COLDPLAY LIVE CD:

Go here to download the new Coldplay live cd titled Left Right Left Right Left. They are giving away free copies of the cd to everyone who attends a regular concert on their current tour.
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2009-05-08T07:45:00.001-07:00

MIKA TO RELEASE "SONGS FOR SORROW" ACOUSTIC EP:

Mika who will be releasing his new album later this year has decided to release a 4 track EP of acoustic songs called "Songs For Sorrow" to tie in with his small acoustic tour of Europe (dates below, it would be nice to see some North American shows added to this special tour). Mika will also be releasing a limited edition (10,000 copies worldwide) of the EP with a special super high quality deluxe 68 page book and specially commissioned artwork from some of Mika’s favourite artists (for 15 pounds, out June 8th). This EP will be available from his website and also on his tour. I've heard two tracks from the EP and they are fine, not his usual candy coated pop. Mika also has a newly constructed website, he talks about it and the EP in the clip below.

Tour Dates:

June 1st - Berlin Passionskirche, Germany
June 2nd - Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Holland
June 4th - Brussels, Ancienne Belgique, Belgium
June 6th - Milan Franco Parenti, Italy
June 8th - London Sadlers Wells, England
June 11th - Paris Cirque D’Hiver, France
June 12th - Paris Cirque D’Hiver, France
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2009-05-06T07:49:00.000-07:00

RAINY DAY RECOMMENDATION: AUSTRALIA'S DCUP:

I just recently discovered the music of DCUP (Australian musician/remixer Duncan MacLennan). blouse has been championing him for a while now and Hyperbole currently has two "must have" downloads up that I highly recommend. One is DCUP's own track "To Be In Love", and the other is a great remix of X And Hell's song "Monster" (cheeky lyrics and all). He is about to release a cd titled "Style EP" on the Sweat It Out label. You can also get his track "Epic" here.
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2009-05-03T14:49:00.000-07:00

NIK KERSHAW ACOUSTIC GIG VIDEO CLIPS:

Picture By: Darren Coleman / Puttyfoot

Nik Kershaw has been playing a lot more gigs in the last year, with the occasional big retro concert thrown in for good measure. You can check out his upcoming tour dates here. Someone has made available a few songs from his recent acoustic gig in Newcastle . Nik is a true performer and you can see Nik is at ease with his audience and has a great sense of humour. I espcially like his version of Dancing Girls, not what you would expect. Below are the links to a few clips from his recent acoustic gig on MegaVideo, enjoy.

EDIT: The clips seem to have been removed, sorry.

The Riddle

Dancing Girls

I Wish (Stevie Wonder cover, not full song)

2009-05-02T15:33:00.000-07:00

THE BAND "MAKING APRIL" COVERS IMOGEN HEAP:

I had never heard of the band "Making April" until today. I checked out their new album "The Egg Hunt" and found it to be somewhat predictable piano based pop rock, not bad actually if you are in the mood for that sort of thing. It seems they formed two years ago and were featured on MTV Laguna Beach and became one of the Top 10 Unsigned Artists on MySpace (their song "Roses and Butterflies" is edging up to 2 million listens on their MySpace page). I went to their MySpace site and found they do an interesting acoustic cover version of Imogen Heap's hit "Hide & Seek" that you can download from iTunes and Amazon.
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2009-05-02T08:24:00.000-07:00

THE LIGHTNING SEEDS ARE BACK WITH NEW ALBUM "FOUR WINDS":

The Lightning Seeds (Ian Broudie) have reformed and are set to release their first album in a decade called "Four Winds" that is due for release in the U.K. on May 25th (order it here). The album is a fairly acoustic sounding affair, certainly not as "pop" as the band's earlier material. The Lightning Seeds are set to join Motorhead, Brian Wilson and The Happy Mondays at this year's Guilfest on the Ents24 stage on Saturday 11 July.
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2009-05-01T20:34:00.001-07:00

NEW A-HA ALBUM "FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN" DUE OUT IN JUNE:

Norway's a-ha follow up their successful "Analogue" cd with their ninth studio album titled "Foot Of The Mountain" due out in Europe on June 19th. The first single (cover of single above) is the title track and you can listen to it here and a sample of it on the band's newly set up MySpace page, and they have also set up a Twitter page. A-ha had some live dates scheduled for late October in Germany and a November 4th concert at London's O2 Arena, tour dates here.
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2009-05-01T07:40:00.000-07:00

VARIOUS BITS AND PIECES:

Both Ohh Crapp and Poster Girl have features on Troy This!, definitely worth checking out his funky pop music. Looking forward to buying his album, I will be playing "Back That Up!" and "American Dream" on my radio show this Monday.

Ben Lee starts his North American tour tonight in San Diego, promoting his latest and very good album "The Rebirth Of Venus", check out the dates here.

Howard Jones is set to play a trio of album premiere showcase gigs in the UK in November 2009. Taking in London, Manchester and Cardiff, each location has a special significance for Howard. The gigs will include a premiere of Howard's new "Ordinary Heroes" album in its entirety, performed by the artists used in the recording of the album and followed by a full electronic band set including his biggest hits. Special guests will also be included at the London and Cardiff shows. Special VIP tickets will be available at each venue with access to an exclusive after show party attended by Howard and the band. These tickets will be very limited and early purchase is advised. The dates are:

Friday 6th Nov 2009, Indigo2, Greenwich, London
A return to the venue which hosted the fabulous 25th Anniversary concert. Howard will be supported by the talented Nick Heyward.

Thursday 12th Nov 2009, Royal Northern College Of Music, Manchester.
A very special evening for Howard, as he returns for the first time to play a gig at the conservatoire where he studied music and piano before hitting the big time. This will be a very intimate gig with just 650 tickets available.

Friday 13th Nov 2009, St.Davids Hall Cardiff,Wales
In the city where Howard spent much of his childhood, he will perform a concert which promises to be a fantastic finale to the trio of gigs. Howard will be supported by the rousing 95 strong world famous Morriston Orpheus Choir, who will also accompany Howard during the performance of the new album.
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2009-04-29T20:06:00.001-07:00

NEW TALENT ALERT: U.K. BAND "KIDS ON BRIDGES":

British band Kids On Bridges have covered Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing In The Dark” which could be a massive hit. Listening to the tracks on the band's MySpace I think they could be huge, take a listen yourself. Kids on Bridges are a duo that formed in Liverpool, England a couple of years ago and have supported Gary Numan at a Manchester concert. They also have a MySpace site for their remixes.

2009-04-28T12:02:00.000-07:00

ADELE TO APPEAR IN THE MAY 14TH EPISODE OF "UGLY BETTY":

Adele is scheduled to appear in the May 14th episode of Ugly Betty on ABC. Adele will be seen performing a song at a photoshoot in the episode titled "In the Stars" in which Betty, Marc and Matt oversee a photo shoot for a YETI assignment that turns into an impromptu wedding. Also Adele has been photographed by Annie Leibovitz for this month's issue of Vogue.

Adele has written six new songs for her followup to her 2008 debut CD, 19. Her wish list of duet partners is: "I'd love to do a song with Ray La Montagne. I think he's stunning," Adele said. "And also Bon Iver. He has called an album For Emma, Forever Ago and it's the most beautiful album I've ever heard. And I'd love to do something with Alison Krauss. I think she's beautiful."

If I was still living in Toronto I would hopefully be seeing Adele again live at Massey Hall tomorrow night. Below are her scheduled tour dates, on June 28th she performs with her favourite singer Etta James at the Hollywood Bowl, a dream come true for her.

28 Apr 2009 Metropolis Montreal, Quebec
29 Apr 2009 Massey Hall Toronto, Ontario
2 May 2009 Orpheum Theatre Boston, Massachusetts
3 May 2009 Electric Factory Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
5 May 2009 Roseland Ballroom- SOLD OUT New York, NY (with The Script)
28 Jun 2009 KCRW Show @ Hollywood Bowl with Etta James Los Angeles, California
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2009-04-26T20:32:00.000-07:00

IMOGEN HEAP'S NEW ALBUM TO BE TITLED "ELLIPSE":

Imogen Heap is currently on a mini promo tour of the U.S. having listening sessions with media and record company types to start the promotion wheels turning for her next album due out in August, it will be called "Ellipse". Check her day to day musings on her Twitter site. An article about the album is available here.

2009-04-07T20:07:00.000-07:00

IMOGEN HEAP SINGS ON IAMX SONG "MY SECRET FRIEND":

Imogen Heap mentioned singing on a new track called "My Secret Friend" in one of her vblogs (and Twittered about). It was with Chris Corner (Sneaker Pimps) and his IAMX project. The song is on his new cd titled "Kingdom Of Welcome Addiction" (pre-order here, out May 19th, 2009). From a write up about the song: "It's pop-drenched tones wash through the ears creating a moody but infectious mood. It is part Depeche Mode and part Savage Garden." The first single from the new IAMX cd is titled "Think Of England" and is available for free download here.

"My Secret Friend" is up for one week here, enjoy (should help tide Immi's fans over until the release of her new cd).
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2009-03-31T20:04:00.000-07:00

"PHOENIX" MUSICAL GUEST ON SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE THIS WEEK:

2009-03-28T12:37:00.001-07:00

EVERWOOD - SEASON 2 TO BE RELEASED ON DVD (FINALLY!):

Almost five years after Season 1 of the top-notch series Everwood was released on DVD there is word that Warner Home Video is finally releasing Season 2 of the show (that aired in 2003). It is set for a 6-disc set with all 22 episodes (presented in widescreen) and around 40 minutes of deleted scenes. Amazon has it on for a pre-order price of $25.99 that sounds like a great deal (SRP is $39.98). Hopefully it will sell well enough to prompt the release of Season's 3 and 4 on DVD also.