Soulful Soul

My beloved friend Juan, who shares the same taste for soul music as I do, sent me this nice video some time ago. I luv those cartoons! 

James Hunter - Carina

Fauna & Flora

If you've traipsed through 2011 so far without seeing the video to Jonny' new single, You Was Me, immediately stop reading and click on the link you just passed, or failing that, let me tell you all about it.

The clip, dropped last May from their self-titled debut album, invites us to a beautiful trip through the Welsh countryside, featuring panoramic views which perfectly accompany the tune's shimmering and summery harmonies. Thus, if you are someone that fall asleep watching nature documentaries on TV, maybe this video may help you stay awake. I love the beat!

Jonny - You Was Me

This Thing We Call Love

This is the perfect tune for those who don't believe in amorousness anymore. BTW, this bloke is riding on the Ferris wheel without turning a hair. I would already be a full blown "three alarm" vertigo attack complete with projectile vomiting (sorry!).

Slow Club - Giving Up On Love

Musical Tipsiness

Let's get some booze tonight (at least musically). I wanna get bevvied!

Saturday Looks Good To Me - Alcohol

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Clarification

I'm off on holiday AGAIN (this time I'll travel a little further, hehe). Thus, as usual, I've prepared a few posts to go up while I'm away, so don't forget about me when I'm gone! It's definitely time to recharge my batteries. I'll come back with my mind full of music to write about. CU soon!

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Dizzy Dazzling

About a month ago, I brought you Ok Go's new HTML video full of some psychedelic look (click here to re-read the post). After doing some rounds on the internet today I discovered this variant of the clip for Passion Pit, Sleepyhead, a super-uber-bombshell song. The thing is that this short film, which shows parts of the human anatomy within a rhythmic dance, seems to have inspired the Chicagoan quartet, contributing also to my mental and physical health, as the original video is quite disturbing to see due to the lights flashing again and again. 


I truly feel great Passion for Pitt (upsss... we're not talking about Brad, are we?) but if the electro-pop band pretended that the video was in line with the title of the song, they're totally wrong. Every time I watch it, it makes me nervous and my head is unsleepy !

Version

Original One

FEISTastic!

Canadian singer-songwriter Feist will give a lot to talk about (and listen to) shortly with her latest piece of eye candy entitled Metals, her first record in four years. 

While we stay tuned for this long-awaited full release, out October 4, we can already hear a snippet of her fourth album, How Come You Never Go There.

Just as a matter of interest, The LP's album artwork was first teased as a paint-by-numbers (click here), and thankfully for those wrestling with arts, there is already available the fully colored-in cover.

Sunday Sun

Hello irrelephanters!

I'm back from the first part of my vacation. Ouch! It does take some adapting to get back into the normal rhythm of life, huh? For me, there's nothing better than kicking back on a Sunday morning sunbathing on the terrace with a weekly magazine, a cool playlist and a cup of vanilla coffee. What tunes would you pick for your perfect Sunday? 

Click the next button to read some curious facts about this day of the week.

Fun For A Fan

I state myself as a Kinda FANtastic FAN!

Pájaro Sunrise - Kinda Fantastic

Find more brilliant tracks by the Spanish band Pájaro Sunrise here:

Popcorn Box Containing Surprise

This video is wicked crappy, IK, but the tune rocks soooo much!

Napoleón Solo - Lolaila Carmona

Successful Shots

Great! Brit-rock band The Rifles return with a series of new songs from their long awaited third studio album Freedom Run on September 20, with lead single entitled Tangled Up In Love out August 16. As far as it's concerned, there's a clear difference in sound, replacing their usual nostalgia with happier and dangerously infectious melodies.

After adding new drummer and bassist (the previous band members had been clashing egos and squabbling about money issues), this outfit is ready to dazzle crowds. 

You can listen to it on SoundCloud.

Tangled Up In Love

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Clarification

I'll be on holiday in the coming days. Didn't want to leave you without the daily post so I thought about writing some stuff in advance and scheduling it (in fact I was already working on that). Nevertheless, due to various circumstances during the week, it was impossible for me to go on with it and the results are no as great as they pretended to be. Sorry a lot.

Anyway, I'll BRB soon!

Cheers! :)

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An Odd But Yummy Combination

After spreading his love for Laura Marling to all and sundry (we already saw that he was not the only one - click here -), Beans On Toast, known to his friends simply as Jay, has earned himself a spot in the country-folk scene. The first time I heard the name of this singer I started to laugh. Is there really someone who eats that stuff?

Anyway, despite this weird name, he is one of the few artists to go beyond the realm of love in his lyrics, offering a mixture of political satire, dark humor and open comedy which is played on a humble guitar.  According to him, all his songs contain the same easy chords. Among the many tunes that I like, those that stand out in my mind most are Dirty Paki, where he talks about immigration and cultural diversity, The Price Of Rice, dealing with growing economic inflation, or Fuck The Smoking Ban, speaking about... Well, it's obvious, innit?

Here you have some soundclouds plus a link to his Spotify playlist. I hope you like these Beans On Toast as much as I do.

 Dirty Paki

The Price Of Rice

 Fuck The Smoking Ban 

T.G.I.F.

The acronym T.G.I.F. (Thank God It's Friday) is a popular phrase that highlights the longing and affection that regular working stiffs have for Friday, the last day of the work week in most countries. So people are generally in a good mood and surprisingly productive when Friday rolls around. After all, they have the whole weekend to look forward to. It's no surprise, then, that there are a large number of songs inspired by this day of the week, huh? For this playlist I have selected what I feel are the best.

Music Training In Record Time

Yay! Yesterday one of my big buzzes of 2010 dropped a spanking new second album! From all the current "rabbits' bands", the much under-rated psych-pop-folk Pepper Rabbit is probably my favorite. This L.A.-based but New Orleans-inspired duo released its debut LP entitled Beauregard last fall, landing the chamber-pop group tour dates with Passion Pit, Freelance Whales and Ra Ra Riot.

Now, their sophomore album, Red Velvet Snow Ball, named after a flavor of snow cone, incorporates a total of eleven instruments (including ukeleles, clarinet, analog loops and horns) into its sound. Band member Xander Singh acquired most of the stuff from the vintage music store where he worked and took it upon himself to learn them through self-instruction and YouTube  videos.

Ok, dudes, I don't want to say I was let down when I got the full version of Beauregard, but it's true that I expected every tune to suck me in like Older Brother or Harvest Moon and leave me grinning like I was on nitrous. But alas, that didn't happen. 

Older Brother
Hasvest Moon

Anyway, the new record is both powerful and captivating, being also a solid next step from an already entrancing band. I have some tasters from the record for you, so take a listen now and form your own opinion! 

Murder Room

Lake House

 Rose Mary Stretch

Here you have the entire new album but I warn you in advance that Pepper Rabbit will make you never want to leave.

Party Wall

They must be putting something in the water in Canada, hehe. La Patère Rose stands as another example of a great band to emerge from the collective of Canadian musical talent. Actually I had already posted something from them previously (click here) but I believe I did not give them the recognition they deserve. Thus, here you have another wicked cool song full of funky beats, a little bit of electronic, a slow and mellow piano melody, fun and bouncy tunes that spread a colorful, passionate and sensitive universe. Drawing influence from pop songstresses such as Martha Wainwright, Lily Allen, Béatrice Martin from Coeur de Pirate and Camille, the group creates their own brand of bright and quirky music perfect to accompany a relaxing day in the summer sun. For me, the aesthetic look of this piece is also brilliant.

Although the band announced their official separation earlier this year, we can't wait for the solo album currently being created by lead singer Fanny Bloom. If it's anything like La Patère Rose, we're already fans!

La Patère Rose || PaceMaker

Nothing to Hide

Canadian collective The Hidden Cameras is led by the singer, guitar player and songwriter Joel Gibb and a routing line-up of musicians. Their sound's always been defined as "gay-church-folk music" and compared to some openly gay artists such as Rufus Wainwright, Antony Hegarty and Stephin Merrit, The Magnetic Fields's frontman, who tend to deal with homosexual topics in their lyrics. Indeed, Gibb uses his sexuality as a defiant identity behind risqué songs 'bout taboo sex acts and explicit references to masturbation and anal douching as analogies for immaturity and body obsession, for instance. Despite this marked sexual nature, the band's tracks are not sordid, but contain a provocative sense of humor.

Thus, the albums are pretty advance and innovative, considering that all these songs have organ and guitar arrangements straight out of church and that most indie rockers would rather gaze at their shoes than ever discuss sex, least of all gay sex. In their concerts one can see a zombie chorus, ninja-masked go-go boys doing interpretive stripping, video projections and energetic dancers handing out lollipops to the audience. But Gibb insists his subject matter isn't meant to provoke or titillate. In the past, the band used to perform in porn theaters, art galleries, and abandoned churches (I know, there's a thorny relationship between homosexuality and religion...). Their fifth studio album, Origin: Orphan, was launched September last year, and since then they've moved to a darker psychadelic sound. However, they still manage to bring out their old gay-church-folk flavor from time to time.

What is revolutionary, though, is Gibb's overall approach to making music. He first began creating The Hidden Cameras' songs without any formal training on a four-track that he learned to use in twenty minutes. Since then, he's written, scored, and produced every song, designed their CD covers, directed their videos, chosen venues, promoted shows, and designed staging. This is what's really called an indie band!

Now check out some of the controversial videos from the outfit:

Do I Belong?

Golden Streams?

This one doesn't need any explanations, does it? 

Death Of a Tune

Cupcakes

Clare Wieck is an English-born musician based in New Zealand and as far as it seems, she's got such a sweet tooth. 

Despite the title of the song, You've Got To Go For It, I don't think she put so much effort into devouring the six finely decorated mini-pies from the clip. Honestly, seeing her gobble all the cupcakes in the space of a two-minute-video made me feel a little giddy and took away my hunger. What a way of wolfing them down! In any case, this happy-go-lucky sound is about as yummy as a pastel-topped confection, so yeah, this vid makes tons of sense. 

BTW, the one hiding behind these muffin-eyes is my beloved friend Bülent, with whom I stuffed myself with these little cakes at Brick Lane's Backyard Market in London. At first we felt sad about eating something that looked so beautiful and took so long and we did nothing but taking pics. Oh, it's so sad to see the artfully decorated stuff meet their grisly end... After a while, we started eating them in twos! LMAO.

(Girl) You've Got To Go For It

Music FOR rESTing

Great! Catalan folksters return to irrelephant's world! As I told you in a previous post, there are a handful of amazing Spaniard bands that don't necessarily sing in Spanish (or in English), whose musical offerings close to the more experimental sounds leave no one indifferent. Nobody doubts the music "made in Catalonia" is flourishing. Antònia Font, Mishima, Standstill and Anímic are only some examples. I will continue talking about them in future posts.

Albert Aromir, aka Bedroom, launched his most recent stuff entitled El Fum Blanc last February, containing intimate and minimalist songs, gently strummed and slooow music [it's hardly surprising that he called himself Bedroom], well crafted lyrics and whispering voices within this new music-streaming that cud be called "Catalan minimal-folk". But what I find most compelling about him is his abstract narrative that unfolds like a wonderfully bizarre dream.

Cançó De L' Alba is a haunting and magical track tinged with melancholy, whose vid presents several odd vignettes that have nothing to do with each other. It's like a surreal journey into the woods featuring all manner of strange, even in some cases slightly erotic, occurrences that remind me of Charlotte Gainsbourg and Beck's Heaven Can Wait (click here). I'm predicting that collages of found footage and surreal images will be the new trend for music videos from now on. I get the feeling I always write posts on the same topic! LOL.

The second video I bring you, Els Nens Soldat, is a gorgeous clip that follows an innocent children's play battle through the autumn forest. Erm. What is up with those woods? Why does he have such a fixation with them? Anyway, kids had a ball while recording the short movie, forsho.

Cançó De L'Alba (meaning "dawn song")

Els Nens Soldat (meaning "soldier boys")

Umlauted Vowel

Thanks to a follower on twitter, I recently stumbled upon a precious little gem from Chile, a duo under the name of Dënver, whose electro-pop music and intimate lyrics have been blowing my mind this week. Dënver's palette is broad enough to lend their most recent album, Música, Gramática, Gimnasia, a rich and luscious sound, especially in the way their songs gradually lift, building up to an emotion that can become too much to bear.

In any case, dudes, for me the best part are their video productions. I got immediately hooked on the particularly intriguing kinda road movie for the track Lo que quieras, which evokes a perfect mixture of melancholy and perversion; and the erotic but sweet messy scenes from Los Adolescentes (my uberfave one), with a similar aesthetical approach to El Guincho's clip (AGAIN !).  I have literally watched this over sixty times in the past two days. I can't stop, I won't stop. 

Gold medals for this band. Seriously, I urge you to go for it!

Lo Que Quieras

Los Adolescentes

Anyone For Tennis?

All the albums that have a great story behind them tend to have a special charm. That is precisely the case with Tennis, a husband and wife twee-pop duo comprised of Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley, who met while studying philosophy in college. The two planned that upon graduating, they'd sell their collective possessions and buy a small sailboat to spend the next year living aboard and traveling exclusively under sail.


Spurred by a seven-month sailing trip, the couple started writing songs as sort of a soundtrack for their experiences. After their return to land, they felt inspired to craft their stories into charming, simple and sunny songs reminiscent of the 70s. Cape Dory, their debut retro-pop record, was launched in January of this year. The video for Take Me Somewhere seems to attest to this awsome year-long adventure tour. Ouch, I feel sooo envious...

Take Me Somewhere

Marathon 

Long Boat Pass 

Cape Dory

Darling Marling

With a little bit of country twang in her soft voice, harmonies that haunt you, and melodies that stay inside your head for days, it's no wonder Laura Marling has already steadily secured her position as one of the most exciting musical talents of her generation.

Since her emergence onto the London music scene back in 2007, this Brit bird has been quite the busy bee, except for 2009, releasing an album every year. As part of a very youthful and vibrant folk scene, she quickly rose to prominence along with friends Mystery Jets, Noah & The Whale, Mumford & Sons, Jamie T and Johnny Flynn, among others.

1. Noah & The Whale - 5 Years Time

2. Johnny Flynn - The Water

3. Mumford & Sons - Devil's Spoke

4. Mystery Jets - Young Love

When she debuted in 2008 with Alas, I Cannot Swim, the resounding notion was that she was not only a strong songwriter but also wise beyond her years. I mean, she wrote the album when she was only 17 years old. And now, at age 21, she is readying her third album, A Creature I Don't Know. Originally proposed as the latter half of a vastly ambitious plan to release two full-length albums inside of a year, the follow-up to I Speak Because I Can will finally see the light of day on September 12, after the singer ditched half of the songs and started from scratch.

This forthcoming album bears all Marling's trademarks within ten impeccably crafted lyrics and soaring melodies. I'm sure she's going to send shivers  down your spine after listening to  her first new single, Sofia.
The track starts slowly and her voice goes from delicate and tender whisper to brooding and powerful murmur with a rousing crescendo, sometimes all in the very same sentence.

Listen now to get a sneak peak at the new release and tune in to more of Laura Marling's music at Spotify. 

Sophia

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For those interested in gossip, keep reading.

Before Laura Marling was a solo singer-songwriter, she was a backing singer with Noah & The Whale. She started singing with the quintet after Emmy the Great left. Back then she was dating the lead singer and guitarist, Charlie Fink, who also produced her debut album. Their relationship ended shortly afterwards, and Noah & The Whale released their own sophomore LP called The First Days of Spring, which explicitly documents Fink's heartbreak. Meanwhile, Marling started dating Marcus Mumford, of Mumford & Sons, who played on her follow-up album, I Speak Because I Can. As far as it seems, they are still living happily ever after.  Looks like they broke up over half a year ago.

She seems to be the poster girl for England's nu-folk movement, huh?

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