mp3huggermp3huggermp3hugger is an indie mp3 blog based in Ireland. Sometimes it deals with non-indie things like electronica, classic dance and eighties but that is only if its had too much to drink. Articles
James Yorkston - Summer Song
2007-09-19 22:18:00 Seen as it?s gone what better time to listen to James Yorkston?s ?Summer Song ?. A man for every season Yorkston remains curiously sidelined despite a talent of ridiculously gargantuan proportions. Perhaps the world is not ready for another troubadour but maybe next time it could be better served giving the blunt instruments a miss for something altogether more wholesome. ?Summer Song? is taken from the Fife mans? third album and retains an ingenious hold on ones attention no matter how many times you?ve heard it play. The acoustics are certainly nimble but nothing can distract you from Yorkston?s delicate as a snowflake vocals. Of late Yorkston has been making a few visits to Ireland to record material with Galway?s own Adrian Crowley. His label have been busy themselves putting together 'Roaring The Gospel', a collection of Yorkston b-sides and rarities. KDJames Yorkston - Summer SongRate This Tune!Watch The Video To The Hills And The HeathMore Info: Official & MyspaceBuy Album: ...
Akron/Family - Ed Is A Portal
2007-09-19 20:43:00 As crazy as it may seem it is quite possible that the Go! Team?s latest missive (?Proof of Youth?) could make them household names. If this oddity were to become reality then bands as lavishly quirky as Akron /Family could surely bask in the slipstream. For those of us skirting on the edges of the music industry cocking a keen ear to anything that sounds remotely brand new and interesting then ?Ed Is A Portal ? is like manna from heaven. Devilishly assembled by what sounds like an army of musicians (there are only 4 of them) this is a song to brighten up the dreariest of winter nights. Skirting through a mix bag of genres each and every one of its detours blooms into a rollicking good time rather that the expected creative cul-de-sac. Exhilarating, yet never in a way that could become tiresome. KDAkron/Family - Ed Is A PortalRate This Tune!Watch The VideoMore Info: Official & MyspaceBuy Album: Love Is Simple Year: 2007
Charlotte Gainsbourg - Songs That We Sing
2007-09-18 22:22:00 She will probably forever be remembered for who her father is (Serge, her mother is Jane Birkin with whom he ?starred? with on ?Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus?) or by her movie roles (The Science of Sleep, Jane Eyre) but that would be a shame because as well as all that Char lotte Gainsbourg is also a fine music artist. Her 2nd album appeared last year, a full 2 decades after her debut. ?5:55? has some pedigree, the music was directed by Air?s Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel, the lyrics dreamed up by Neil Hannon and Jarvis Cocker and the whole thing was pulled together by Radiohead?s producer Nigel Godrich. ?Songs That We Sing ? was the lead single and proved to be a lush vehicle for Gainsbourg?s elegant and smart vocals. It has huge scope and would clearly fill any movie scene were it to make its way onto celluloid. KDCharlotte Gainsbourg - Songs That We SingRate This Tune!Watch The VideoMore Info: Official & MyspaceBuy Album: [UK] 5:55 [US] 5:55Year: 2006
Channel One - These Roads
2007-09-18 21:05:00 If one was into shoddy category?s for the forthcoming HWCH showcase you could easily lump this lot in with the interesting yet slightly headache inducing Twinkranes and the similarly tailored side project inspired Neosupervital. Chan nel One aren?t always noisy but are genetically programmed to create avalanches of electronically derived pulses. Thankfully somewhere along the way they always see fit to include a hook. The Channel One express has been on the go for 5 years now and they have built up a fair amount of glowing local press. Indications are that they are beginning to prick up some ears from further afield but it is slow progress. ?These Roads ? is laden with influences from David Byrne to Krautrock and straight back home again to My Bloody Valentine. It?s a full on aural assault that starts out with fast tracked guitar parts and ends up in a quickly advancing flow of molten beats. KDChannel One - These RoadsRate This Tune!Watch The VideoMore Info: Official & MyspaceBuy EP: ...
The Zebras - You Look Ready
2007-09-17 21:09:00 I was surprised at how less than chaotic Brisbane felt when we dropped by there a couple of years ago. Despite being one of Australia?s bright lights it?s got a certain rural feel to it, something that the big casino or the man made beach can?t camouflage. Couldn?t pick out a discernible scene either so it comes as all the more surprising that a band as perfect as the Zebras should be born there. Jangle is their weapon of choice and boy are they able to nail a killer tune. Their songs are generally fitted with oodles of chiming chords and seaside buckets stuffed with playful harmonies. ?You Look Ready ? is a case in point, a short yet extremely pleasant exercise in why indie pop will always have an adoring audience. As fizzy as pop has a right to be. KDThe Zebras - You Look ReadyRate This Tune!More Info: Official & MyspaceBuy Album: Worry A Lot Year: 2006
Film School - Two Kinds
2007-09-16 20:16:00 It hasn?t been the best of years for San Francisco's Film School . They say bad things happen in three?s and so over a period of just 12 months the band has had to endure the departure of several members (including guitarist Nyles Lannon), Greg Bertens' mugging and also having their tour van stolen. Probably not the best run in for a 3rd album but indications are that ?Hideout? is set to be a cracker. ?Lectric? has already done the rounds on the blogs and is a fantastically retro shindig that recalls many of the highlights from last year?s self-titled LP. ?Two Kinds? is less pronounced but all the more precious for it. For once the instrumentation is held in check, an organ provides a Cure like atmosphere while Bertens vocals are allowed space to prove how sweet they really are. 'Hideout' was released last week and includes a contribution from Colm O'Ciosoig of My Bloody Valentine fame (in training for the mooted new album?). KDFilm School - Two KindsRate This Tune!Watch The Vid...
Grizzly Bear V The Knife - Heartbeats On A Knife (Parrka)
2007-09-16 11:13:00 Last year I featured a mash-up by Sam Flanagan that pitched the Stone Roses ?Waterfall? with Lily Allen?s ?LDN?. It was hugely impressive with Allen?s giddy vocals perfectly matched by the Roses shimmering chords. When they work mash-up?s can be exhilarating, all the more so if you like the songs being used. Parrka has worked wonders with these two tunes. You?ll more likely know the Jose Gonzalez version of ?Heartbeats?, which stripped away the electronica but there is much to saviour in the original. Grizzly Bear ?s ?The Knife ? is an altogether softer anthem that benefits from getting roughed up a bit by the industrial beats. Initially the lumbering texture might confuse but careful attention reveals a near perfect symmetry between the opposing forces. KDGrizzly Bear V The Knife - Heartbeats On A Knife (Parrka)Rate This Tune!Watch The Video To The Knife's HeartbeatsWatch The Video To Grizzly Bear's KnifeMore Info: Grizzly Bear & The KnifeBuy Album: [UK] Deep Cuts [US] Deep Cuts B...
Chet - By Night Into Paradise
2007-09-15 15:07:00 The best music tends to reveal itself over time. While immediacy is great for Friday nights it?s the ones that requires extra work that will stay with you all week. Chet?s 3rd album ?Fight Against Darkness? is certainly a piece of ear candy that won?t be absorbed on the first listen. What you?ll get straight away though is Ryan Beattie?s infectious whine and instrumentation that is 1 part experimentation 1 part melodious invention. The most noteworthy effort is an epic of 11 minutes known as ?Ships Sink In The Fall?. Better to not start off here though as there is tracks like ?By Night Into Paradise ? that?ll sweep off your feet without the need to lose half of the afternoon. This is as close as you?ll get to a happy song from Chet as evidenced by its giddily frantic momentum. The track is made all the more ebullient by its sweeping brass and Beattie?s incessant chirps and hollers. KDChet - By Night Into ParadiseRate This Tune!More Info: Official & MyspaceBuy Album: Fight Against Dar...
The Harvey Girls - Lazlo, Buddy
2007-09-15 10:17:00 The song as a 6 minute humalong is put through its reflective paces on the Harvey Girls ?Lazlo, Buddy ?. You can just imagine Melissa Rodenbeek, Hiram Lucke and cat breezing through a field of dandelions with this tune whistling through their brains until it finally manifests itself into a melodious drone from their lips. For its duration the world doesn?t change, in fact you could quite literally lose all attentive responses while it ambles right in front of your aural enclaves. That?s not to say it?s not nice, in fact were you to find it an appropriate host it could be quite wondrous. Imagine they dropped the whales and lightly rung bells and put this in its place, it could transform any rejuvenation suite into the coolest wash-the-charts-from-your-hair therapy known to indiedom. The Harvey Girls give most of their precious music away for free so there's an incentive for any would-be entrepreneurs. KDThe Harvey Girls - Lazlo, BuddyRate This Tune!Watch The VideoMore Info: Official ...
Leanbh - Carousel
2007-09-14 21:25:00 Leanbh (pronounced lan-iv) is Gaeilge for child but it's also the name of another band to appear from county Meath in the last couple of years (also check out the more appropriately labelled (for a Meath band) Ham Sandwich). Leanbh are quite glorious for a couple of reasons. Firstly it affords us Irish the chance to boast about how fertile our local scene is (it isn't) and secondly much craic can be gleaned from the inevitably hopeless pronunciations from non Irelanders. Leanbh may be fresh out of their cots but they've hit the ground running with songs like ?Carousel ? and with an appearance at HWCH on the way it?ll be interesting to hear how Odette Hopkins vocals fare when faced by Ciarán Duignan?s Rollerskate Skinnyesque chord outbursts. In this regard Leanbh should be both seen and heard. KDLeanbh - CarouselRate This Tune!More Info: Official & MyspaceYear: 2007
Hari and Aino - Second Song
2007-09-13 23:42:00 Ok, the name doesn?t exactly roll off the tongue but then who cares when you?ll probably be whistling their tunes for the rest of year. No doubt there's a deep and meaningful behind why this Swedish quintet decided to call themselves Hari and Aino but for the moment we?ll swap idle speculation for overdone superlatives. Yeah, ?Second Song ? is that good, a touch of Blondie and acres of chiming chords will get you far in my book, in fact it?s already made its way onto the cobbled together follow up. Mostly unsigned but getting the royal Cloudberry Records single treatment this is just another reason to believe that at this very moment in time Stockholm, not NYC or London is the centre of the indie pop universe. In this regard Hari and Aino might just be its milky way. KDHari and Aino - Second SongRate This Tune!More Info: Official & MyspaceBuy The Single: Your Heartache and Mine Year: 2007
The Mock Turtles - And Then She Smiles
2007-09-11 23:15:00 You probably already know that the Mock Turtles wrote ‘Can You Dig It?’ but did you know that their lead singer Martin Coogan is Alan Partridge’s brother? Even more startling is the revelation that their major hit was originally a b-side to ‘Lay Me Down’, a pseudo psychedelic effort with an altogether easy charm. The Mock Turtles were an enigma who were capable of bright rays of glorious pop as More About: Smiles , Then
Folk Implosion - Natural One
2007-09-10 21:58:00 Given that Lou Barlow has enough on his hands with the Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh reunions it seems unlikely that he’ll make it a hat-trick with a reprisal of his most successful (thanks to this song) project Folk Implosion. Much of the credit for ‘Natur al One’s chart appearance was attributed to its appearance on the soundtrack to the controversial film ‘Kids’ in 1995 but given that the song More About: Natura , Ural
Grand Pocket Orchestra - Little Messy
2007-09-10 21:02:00 At the end of the month the sound of young Ireland will do its best to light up what has become the annual showcase of local talent known as Hard Working Class Heroes. It’s quite possible that many of the acts will have ceased to exist by next year’s event so over the next couple of weeks this site will try and put its money on the ones that are a good bet to succeed. First up is the trio known More About: Grand , Pocket , Litt , Mess
Rockettothesky - A Flock Of Chestshire Cats
2007-09-09 20:49:00 Jenny Hval is from Oslo. She records under the Rockettothesky moniker and is signed to Trust Me Records who released her debut album ‘To Sing You Apple Trees’ last year. ‘A Flock of Chestshire Cats ’ is sparse, devastatingly beautiful and passes well before you want it to. Hval’s singing is delicate yet buoyed with enough character to suggest she has plenty of other tricks up her sleeve.
The Three 4 Tens - Everyday
2007-09-07 00:22:00 Anyone remember the sixtiestastic glee of Cosmic Rough Riders? Here was Scottish troupe who deserved so much more, capable of producing perfect records full of splendid melodies. But then, I guess it’s happened before with the entirely great yet ultimately ignored genius of Teenage Fanclub. Well here’s another band to get your teeth into if lazy hazy drifting couplets are your bag. The Three 4
People Noise - The Killing Fields
2007-09-05 21:35:00 The Pumpkins newbie not doing it for you eh? Well, perhaps you should be sizing up some of the new kids on the block. Well, not exactly brand new in this case seen as People Noise main man Zeke Buck has been around for a bit with VHS or Beta. Still unsigned but getting there People Noise have nonetheless managed to release their debut album ‘Ordinary Ghosts’. ‘Killing Fields ’ is a prizefighter
Stephen Tintin Duffy - Unkiss That Kiss
2007-09-04 22:22:00 For a time in the mid to late 80’s I spent all my miniscule pocket money on 7" singles. Every Friday without fail I could be found flicking through the stacked plastic circles until one caught my eye. I can clearly remember breaking the heart of the kindly record store clerk in my search for Stephen ‘Tintin ’ Duffy ’s newest single ‘Unkiss That Kiss ’. At that point I had found a new hero, his ‘
Eagle Seagull - I'm Sorry But I'm Beginning To Hate Your Face
2007-09-03 21:51:00 In what is as close as you’ll get to an mp3hugger exclusive (thanks Matthias) here is a track from Eagle Seagull ’s (see also Eagle*Seagull eager googlers) forthcoming sophomore ‘The Year of the How-To Book’ and I’m sure you’ll find it pretty nifty. Boasting a smattering of likeable ingredients it goes all seductive towards the finale to leave the sweetest of bitter aftertastes. ‘I'm Sorry But More About: Hate , Face , Agul
Verve - All In The Mind
2007-09-03 20:34:00 You may or may not know it but Wigan’s most famous band had recorded their best work well before ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ made them stars. In fact if they’d put a full stop after a raft of early EP’s and their miraculous debut ‘A Storm In Heaven’ then they could have attained the aura that surrounds the first Stone Roses album. Back then the drugs certainly did work and often manifested itself in More About: Mind , Verve , The Mind
Band of Horses - Is There A Ghost
2007-09-03 08:24:00 Mentioned this tune last week so it’s about time it got the full treatment. Band of Horse s released their debut album ‘Everything All The Time’ just last year but they’ve wasted no time in bringing out its successor ‘Cease To Begin’. Things have changed a little in that short space, Mat Brooke has left to pursue his own dream with Grand Archives (their ‘Torn Blue Foam Couch’ is one of years best More About: Ghost , Band Of Horses
The Blakes - Don't Bother Me
2007-09-02 20:14:00 I’m a sucker for a nicely delivered jangling riff and so 10 seconds was all it took of ‘Don’t Bother Me’ before I was sold. According to the Blak es all the song has to offer is 2 chords and a vibe. This very trick served the Strokes pretty well for a couple of albums so the Blake s shouldn’t worry too much. Made up of brothers Garnet and Snow Keim and Bob Husak on drums they give off a distinctly More About: Lake
Uzi & Ari - Don't Black Out
2007-09-02 11:45:00 When will Thom Yorke return to basics? Not for the longest time hopefully if he can inspire acts like Uzi & Ari (named after the kids in the Royal Tenenbaums) to produce stunners like this. ‘Don’t Black Out’ is multi-dimensional effort relying on the twin props of electronica and indie rock to propel its dark vision. Ben Shepard’s singing is the main thrust that offers a swish combination of the More About: Lack
The Medalist - Less Is More But I'm Not Sure
2007-09-02 11:14:00 ‘Less Is More But I'm Not Sure’ is what the Medalist decided to call it and at 1 minute 36 seconds we might just about nod in agreement. For the short time it buzzes along the thrills are plain to see; whether it be the softly tilted chords, the close harmonies or Jonas Hägglund’s indie boy vocals. That name should tell you that they come from the current home of all things indie pop Sweden. The
Emma Pollock - Adrenaline
2007-08-30 15:19:00 In what seems like an eternity since her band broke up (2005) we are finally going to get a chance to hear Emma Pollock’s first post Delgados album. Even though it was completed last year 'Watch The Fireworks' will only get an official release next month. If you are familiar with Pollock’s previous work you will no doubt be enamoured by her fabulous vocals. They are both fragile and feisty and More About: Adrenalin
The Frank & Walters - Time We Said Goodnight
2007-08-29 23:59:00 Whilst falling in love with Band of Horses newest cut ‘Is There A Ghost’ I smelt the sound of something familiar. Those guitars while altogether fantastic recalled a memory from closer to home. It took a couple of days and then finally I copped it. ‘Time To Say Goodbye’ is the perfect closer for any Frank s show as those choppy guitars suddenly lose the will to stay in control and throw caution More About: Alter , Walter
Starky - Hey Bang Bang
2007-08-29 20:58:00 Is this how it ends? Looks like it was over before the fuse was lit for Sydney’s great hopes Stark y. This despite their arrival at a major label and the release of their faultless double A-side late last year. While Dappled Cities may be capable of taking up the slack it does seem disappointing that a band that is capable of delivering effervescent wonders like ‘Hey Bang Bang’ should More About: Bang Bang
The Dodos - Trades and Tariffs
2007-08-28 21:26:00 Meric and Logan decided that a change of name was required. So they made Dodo Bird disappear and opted instead for the zanier but not entirely different the Dodos. Together the San Francisco lads push a sound you wouldn’t expect from such few numbers, it’s a full listen thanks in the main to Meric Long’s impressive list of instruments. For his part Logan Kroeber lays down some impressive beats More About: The D , Riff
Electrelane - To The East
More articles from this author:2007-08-27 20:53:00 Ok, it may not sustain those early thrills for its entirety but Electrelane ’s ‘To The East ’ is one mighty jaunt into the realms of sonic caviar. The all girl group from Brighton took to Berlin to write their new album ‘No Shouts No Calls’. Their stay coincided with the world cup and it’s influence can be heard on songs like ‘Five’. ‘To The East’ is the album’s lead track that initially cuts a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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