The Almighty Oracle

Since there’s no way I can go to Coachella, I searched for some interesting festivals closer to home.

So I turned to Rock Werchter that announces Metallica, Coldplay, Placebo and The Killers. Then I remembered that there’s a cool quite new festival taking place less than half an hour away from home : the Main Square Festival in Arras. And big surprise : the website is very similar to the Rock Werchter one, the festivals take place on the same dates and they share Placebo and Coldplay as headliners (so far). Is this some kind of mirror festival thing like Hurricane and Southside in Germany? If that can bring some very good bands, I’m all for it! Especially since it’s so close to home, for once. As for the rest of the line-up : wait and see, I’m only in for Placebo, for now.

The price may be outrageous, but let’s not think about that yet. At least, I already have the days off from work, just in case.

mel :: Jan.31.2009 :: Main Square Festival, Rock Werchter :: No Comments »

I know I’m late on this but I refrain from going to the movies solo and the person I asked to join me for this one actually illegally downloaded it just to tell me how cute it was. And after that people wonder why I never make plans or invite others over. Ok, back to Wall·E.

Making an animation film that starts with 20 minutes without any line of dialogue is original, making robots more expressive than human beings is touching and the ecological message gets through without being forced on anyone. All that with the sharpest animation and cuteness all around.

Love it.

Can I get my own happy ending, too?

mel :: Jan.30.2009 :: DVD Review, Wall·E :: No Comments »

I first heard of Emmy The Great [very modest name - says the one who hides behind The Almighty Oracle] via another music blog that had posted their cover of The Pixies‘ Where Is My Mind?

First Love is their debut full length and features simple acoustic pop melodies with some folk accents here and there. The 13 songs tell stories that aren’t necessarily happy but they’re well built and make the journey enjoyable. They remind me of many good bands and even refer to Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah on the title track, this can’t be bad. See/Hear for yourself :

Tracklist:

1. Absentee
2. 24

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3. We Almost Had A Baby
4. The Easter Parade
5. Dylan

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6. On The Museum Island
7. War
8. First Love

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9. MIA
10. The Easter Parade 2
11. Bad Things Coming, We Are Safe
12. Everything Reminds Me Of You
13. City Song

Pre-order First Love from Rough Trade.
Visit Emmy The Great on myspace.

mel :: Jan.28.2009 :: CD Review, Emmy The Great, First Love :: No Comments »

Emil Svanängen is the mastermind behind Loney Dear. Dear John is his fifth album, still recorded all on his own at home.

Airport Surroundings opens up on a good rhythm and is backed-up by Everything Turns To You and their shared feeling of urgency. The rest of the album flows as a juxtaposition of styles (pop, folk, electro…) and sounds from the 80s that happen to work together to build the Loney Dear typical atmosphere. There’s a certain melancholy, a feeling of loss and abandonment haunting the eleven songs as if they were trying to take some weight off the listeners shoulders.

This isn’t exactly a cheerful album but its first person phrasing about some vague you’s make it very personal but incredibly universal at the same time. The lalala choruses, wonderful melodies and overlaying instrumentalisation make it easy to listen to. And despite some other big releases this month, Dear John is my album of the month without any hesitation.

Tracklist :

1. Airport Surroundings

mel :: Jan.25.2009 :: CD Review, Dear John, Emil Svanängen, Loney Dear :: No Comments »

I’ve been expecting Butterfly Boucher’s second album to come out late 2008, it didn’t happen. Let it be 2009, first half of it, please.

In the meantime, Butterfly is sharing new songs via her myspace and for this weekend she posted a link to a recording of her performance on NPR’s Mountain Stage that includes two new songs [All The Things and Scary Fragile] and a golden oldie [I Can't Make Me] in their best stripped down acoustic guitar + vox combo glory.

Here’s the “title track of the new album” [mountain stage version] :

Visit Butterfly Boucher on myspace.

mel :: Jan.17.2009 :: Butterfly Boucher, Scary Fragile, Song of the Day :: 2 Comments »

While attempting to order my ticket to see Emiliana Torrini live on February 1st, I found this on the ABconcerts website :

First off, why didn’t I know Ladyhawke was touring Europe? [the dates aren't even on her myspace - unless I've gone blind] and then why does the Emiliana Torrini concert sells out just today? I hate this.

To make this post a little happier and less of a personal rant, here’s an acoustic version of Emiliana’s Big Jumps from her session at WFUV :

mel :: Jan.12.2009 :: Emiliana Torrini, Ladyhawke :: No Comments »

A couple weeks ago, a co-worker asked we where I find all these bands no one else has ever heard about. My answer to that was that I don’t find them, they find me. Saying this, I had a special group of talented people in mind : Aria Orion which is the latest project of Jules Gimbrone [formerly of Our Lady Of Bells] and actually Jules’ first attempt at composition. A success? Yes.

Let The Sharp Stone Fly is quite conceptual as it is a narrative album. Continue Reading »

mel :: Jan.10.2009 :: Aria Orion, CD Review, Let The Sharp Stone Fly :: No Comments »

No, it’s not my goal to post a song a day for a month [though it'd be an interesting challenge], it’s Kim Vermillion Boekbinder’s challenge : write a song a day from January 1st to January 31st.

This is a crazy idea but I’m sure it’ll work out well. So far there are 3 songs to enjoy, they can be downloaded here for free. Underwater is slow and piano driven, Mannequin stands on its accordion chords and Bicycle is upbeat with guitar and handclaps. I may have a preference for Bicycle now because I’m looking for happier sounding songs but all three songs are interesting. I’m curious what the other 28 songs will be about and sound like.

Follow Kim’s project on her myspace blog or on Twitter.

Lyrics for Bicycle : Continue Reading »

mel :: Jan.04.2009 :: Bicycle, Kim Boekbinder, Song of the Day, Vermillion Lies :: No Comments »

In 2008, I bought many new albums. Some stood out : Continue Reading »

mel :: Jan.03.2009 :: 2008 recap :: 1 Comment »