Solving The Mystery

As a vintage-lover, I'm totally fond of the awesome retro look on the video for Mystery Jets' single, Dreaming Of Another World, included in Serotonin, one of the best albums of 2010. Certainly, there's a strong attention to the late '60s aesthetic that evokes a sort of intersection of Fellini 's movies. It really fascinates me!! Who wouldn't want to run around a Parisian mansion in heels and mini dresses?

It's interesting to note that two of the band members are father and son. It must be hecka funny but, truth be told, only when pigs learn to fly would I go on tour with my dad, ROFL!

Out Of The Cages!

If you are not familiar with the name Deas Vail, you certainly will spot it in the near future. TBH, I had never heard of them, despite being together as a band for four years.

 

I don't typically go for the indie/emo rock thing. This band, though, took me by surprise cos it's able to interlace sweet sounds with head bobbing rock.

As a matter of interest, in the music video for Excuses from their most recent album, Birds & Cages, all band members were seen wearing an armband with a key attached to it on their left forearm. For them, these keys represent a search for love, hope, freedom and release from all those cages we are just stuck in life (hence the record title). 

Excuses

OK, I'll be clearer. The band is all right, but it doesn't knock me out. Even though, as far as Birds & Cages is concerned, I reckon it warrants at least one listen-through.

1.Cages   
2. Growing Pains 
3. Puzzles & Pieces   
4. The Leaper

Four Seasons

Midlake - We Gathered In Spring

Noah & The Whale - The First Days Of Spring

I'm From Barcelona - Always Spring

Bright Eyes / Neva Dinova - Spring Cleaning

Coconut Records - The Summer

Wild Nothing - Summer Holiday

Kings Of Convenience - Gold In The Air Of Summer

Regina Spektor - Summer In The City

JayMay - Autumn Fallin'

Yo La Tengo - Autumn Sweater

Paolo Nutini - Autumn

Bombay Bicycle Club - Autumn

Mumford & Sons - Winter Winds

The Coral - Walking In The Winter

The Head & The Heart - Winter Song

The Rifles - Winter Calls

Kazooing

Bella Ruse is a duo I've been digging over the past few months and really fell into during my first listen. Despite it's fronted by a former award winning opera singer and they initially started playing as a vocal jazz duet, they wonderfully exemplifies the so-called minimalist folk-pop. Without a doubt, the kazoo sound included in most of their tunes is what makes this band wholly different.

In the last two years they've proven to be a talented hardworking band, recording five EPs and releasing their first full length CD. Bolstered by their success, Bella Ruse is following in the footsteps of  some artists like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Allison Weiss by shunning the record label model and taking part themselves in financial issues. Their full-length album was fan-funded indeed. So that they're always trying to involve their followers as much as possible around what they're doing. Just yesterday they sent us their first video before making it publicly available. They'd already made bedroom/live/awkward clips, but not a real music video until now, hehe.

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Their first album, a short, self-titled EP, was the result of a competition where artists are encouraged to write and record an entire album within a given time period. Bella Ruse didn't achieve the required ten songs, even though they decided to launch this six-song record. Well done!

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This album have a couple of songs from the previous EP in their live forms, as well as their own jazz-folk renditions of couple jazz standards.

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In this first full length album, they serve up eleven well-crafted original songs of enormous imagination and wide-ranging diversity. The initial idea was to include a unique instrument in each track and name the track after that instrument, such as The Melodica Song, The Typewriter Song, The Thumb Piano Song, The Pots and Pans Song and so on. Nevertheless, in the end, the only one carried out was The Kazoo Song, which is actually my fav tune on the record.

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They're always trying to get them out of their box, creating some fresh sounds and giving their fans an album that's full of surprises. This is an acoustic version that was recorded live in public places around Minneapolis, their hometown. And yes, that's an espresso machine in the background!

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This album contains three awsome covers songs of Gumption & Guts, a great fun and almost overwhelmingly infectious melody. Don't miss "the chipmunk track" cos it's wicked hilarious!

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Besides, they released a couple of Xmas albums but I think it's a bit early (or late) to talk 'bout 'em!