Featured Album Fridays

Nov 27, 2009

Featured Album Fridays / Miike Snow – Miike Snow (2009)

Jon Lim Electro, Featured Album Fridays, indie, Miike Snow, Music Featured Album Fridays, Music 4 Comments

This week on Featured Album Friday, I am showcasing the 2009 self-titled album from Miike Snow – Miike Snow!

(Yes, I’m actually back this time!)

Miike Snow - Miike Snow

Here is the description of Miike Snow from their Last.FM:

Miike Snow are Andrew Wyatt, Christian Karlsson, and Pontus Winnberg. Named after an acquaintance with an “i” added for extra flair, Miike Snow recently signed with Downtown records. Their self-titled debut was released May 12, 2009.

While you may not have recognized Karlsson and Winberg by their full names, you have surely heard their work as production duo Bloodshy & Avant. The duo has written and produced for Kylie Minogue, Madonna and Britney Spears and claimed a Grammy for their work on Britney Spears’ Toxic. Wyatt is fresh off co-production duties with Mark Ronson on Daniel Merriweather’s April release, Love And War.

I’ve had a taste for indie bands with an electro-pop feel as of late, and that is probably what you will be seeing for the next while. Either that, or slow love-ballad-y type bands that pull my heartstrings. Regardless, this is a great album and the stream is below. Enjoy!

Nov 6, 2009

Featured Album Fridays / Har Mar Superstar – Dark Touches (2009)

Jon Lim Dark Touches, Featured Album Fridays, Har Mar Superstar, indie, Music, R&B Featured Album Fridays, Music 0 Comment

Whew! After a brief hiatus, Featured Album Fridays is back! This week on Featured Album Fridays, I am featuring the 2009 album from Har Mar Superstar – Dark Touches.

Har Mar Superstar - Dark Touches

Here is the description of Har Mar Superstar from his Last.FM:

Sideproject of Sean Tilmann of Sean Na Na fame.

Har Mar Superstar is an American singer born in Owatonna, Minnesota.

While remaining relatively unknown in his home country, he has found fame in the U.K. indie rock/dance scene. His musical genre is generally lewd R’n’B music, mixed with electroclash.

He made a cameo in the 2004 movie Starsky and Hutch as “Dancin’ Rick”, a disco dance champion who faces off in a contest with Ben Stiller’s Starsky character.

An interesting album, that’s for sure. I loved the beats the most, and hopefully you guys enjoy it as well. The stream is below, cheers!

Oct 9, 2009

Featured Album Fridays / The Rural Alberta Advantage – Hometowns (2009)

Jon Lim Featured Album Fridays, Hometowns, indie, Music, The Rural Alberta Advantage Featured Album Fridays, Music 0 Comment

This week on Featured Album Fridays, I am showcasing the 2009 album from The Rural Alberta Advantage – Hometowns.

The Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns

Here is the description of The Rural Alberta Advantage from their Last.FM:

Toronto-based trio The Rural Alberta Advantage (Nils Edenloff, Amy Cole, and Paul Banwatt) play indie-rock songs about hometowns and heartbreak, born out of images from growing up in Central and Northern Alberta. They sing about summers in the Rockies and winters on the farm, ice breakups in the spring time and the oil boom’s charm, the mine workers on compressed, the equally depressed, the city’s slow growth and the country’s wild rose, but mostly the songs just try to embrace the advantage of growing up in Alberta.

Wonderful album and gotta give it up to some local flavour! The stream is below and I hope you enjoy.

Oct 2, 2009

Featured Album Fridays / Zero 7 – Yeah Ghost (2009)

Jon Lim Featured Album Fridays, indie, Music, Pop, Yeah Ghost, Zero 7 Featured Album Fridays, Music 0 Comment

This week on Featured Album Fridays, I am showcasing the 2009 album from Zero 7 – Yeah Ghost.

Zero 7 - Yeah Ghost

Here is the description of Zero 7 from their Last.FM:

Zero 7 is a downtempo act comprising Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker from the United Kingdom. The band’s songs feature vocals from Mozez, Sia Furler, Tina Dico, Sophie Barker and José González.

On 23rd April 2001 they released their debut album, Simple Things, to wide acclaim. The album featured collaborations with vocalists Mozez, Sia Furler, and Sophie Barker.

On 1st March 2004 they released their second album, When It Falls. In addition to the three vocalists from their first album, it also featured a collaboration with Tina Dico. In the same year, Binns also co-wrote the Emma Bunton track Breathing from her second solo album,

Their third album The Garden was released on 22nd May 2006 and features José González and Sia Furler. It is a departure from the trip-hop sound that defined their first two albums, Simple Things and When It Falls. The Garden has much more of an acoustic rather than electronic flavour to it.

The Garden is also notable in that it marks the vocal debut of Henry Binns; and while he doesn’t want the record to be defined by such a fact, it does add another personality to the mix. He duets on PlayThrow It All Away, PlayThis Fine Social Scene and PlayWaiting to Die, and sings solo on PlayYour Place.

However, if there is one fact that Henry and Sam don’t want people to be confused by, it is the title of the album, The Garden. Taken from the album artwork, which is a series of collages designed by a friend of theirs, entitled, spookily enough, The Garden, the duo are keen for the album’s meaning not to get lost in translation.

It is quite a departure from their usual downtempo and chill music, but it is definitely a quality album. The stream is below, hope you enjoy!

Sep 25, 2009

Featured Album Fridays / Lights – The Listening (2009)

Jon Lim Featured Album Fridays, indie, Lights, Music, Pop, The Listening Featured Album Fridays, Music 2 Comments

This week on Featured Album Fridays, I’m showcasing the 2009 album from Lights – The Listening.

Lights - The Listening

Here is the description of Lights from her Last.FM:

Lights Poxleitner (born Valerie Poxleitner, 11 April 1987), known by her stage name Lights, is a Juno Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter. She is best known for composing and performing heavily synthesized dream pop music such as the songs “PlayDrive My Soul” and “PlayFebruary Air” and has performed internationally. She recently changed her legal first name to Lights, which was formerly Valerie.

Lights was born in Timmins, Ontario. She was raised by missionary parents and spent much of her childhood in various parts of the world ranging from the Philippines to Jamaica. She is of German and Austrian descent. Lights currently lives in Toronto.

When she was asked about when she wrote her first song, Lights has said “I was eleven, and I learned three chords on the guitar. It was the first time I really learned how to play guitar and I wanted to write a song with them so I went down to my mom and I said pick a number between 1 and 150 and she picked 5 or something, I can’t really remember the number, but I went and opened up the Bible and there was 150 Psalms already written so I went to the number she chose and wrote a song with that and that kicked off the biggest thing of my life.”

Am completely in love with this girl, mostly because of her music! This album is everything I wanted it to be, so I hope you enjoy it – the stream is below!

Sep 18, 2009

Featured Album Fridays / Islands – Vapours (2009)

Jon Lim Featured Album Fridays, indie, Islands, Music, Pop, Vapours Featured Album Fridays, Music 0 Comment

This week on Featured Album Fridays, I am showcasing the 2009 album from Montreal-based band Islands – Vapours.

Islands - Vapours

Here is the description of Islands from their Last.FM:

Hailing from Montreal, Canada, Islands is a 6 piece band founded by former The Unicorns frontman Nick Thorburn (briefly taking the stage name “Nick Diamonds”) and drummer J’Aime Tambeur. Following the untimely disbandment of The Unicorns as they teetered on the brink of breaking through, Islands’ debut release entitled Return to the Sea, with its quirky sounds and refreshing, catchy melodies includes collaborations with members of Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade. This debut picks up where The Unicorns left off and takes the music to new heights without departing from The Unicorns’ unique if sometimes peculiar appeal.

Islands plays beautiful pop melodies, intertwined with elements of afro-pop, hip hop, and indie rock, among others. One of the main gimmicks of the band is the recorder brought over from The Unicorns, which is prominently featured in the song “Jogging Gorgeous Summer.” Nick Diamonds rules over the band with an iron fist. Other members include: Patrice Agbokou, Aaron Harris, Alex Chow, Sebastian Chow, and Patrick Gregoire. Return to the Sea, their rookie effort, was released on April 4th, 2006 on the brand new label, equator records, and rough trade in the uk. Digital Distribution handled by Alpha Pup.

On May 20, 2008, Islands released its second album, Arm’s Way, on Anti- Records.

Very melodic and poppy album, definitely worth checking out. Have a listen with the stream below and I hope you enjoy!

Sep 11, 2009

Featured Album Fridays / Bat For Lashes – Two Suns (2009)

Jon Lim Bat For Lashes, Featured Album Fridays, indie, Music, Two Suns Featured Album Fridays, Music 0 Comment

This week on Featured Album Fridays, I am showcasing the 2009 album from Bat For Lashes – Two Suns.

Bat For Lashes - Two Suns

Here is the description of Bat For Lashes from her Last.FM:

Bat for Lashes is the work of British singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist Natasha Khan.

Khan was born in Hertfordshire, England to a Pakistani father and English mother on 25 October 1979. Khan graduated in music and visual arts; while at university her experimental work was influenced by artists such as Steve Reich and Susan Hiller, and she produced multi-media work centred on sound installations, animations and performance. She went on to work as a nursery school teacher, and it was during this period that she began writing the material for her first album. “Whenever I’m writing music it’s a very visual place in my mind,” said Khan. “It has a location full of characters and colours and landscapes, so those two things really complement each other, and they help the other one to blossom and support the other. They are like brother and sister.”

Her debut single, “The Wizard,” was released digitally through Drowned in Sound records and on seven-inch vinyl through Khan’s own imprint, She Bear Records. She then signed to the record label Echo, alongside Feeder and former Moloko singer Róisín Murphy, and released her debut album, Fur and Gold, on 11 September 2006. In 2007, Bat for Lashes parted company with Echo and signed to Parlophone records. Fur and Gold was re-released with the addition of bonus material. A limited vinyl version was released by Los Angeles indie label, Manimal Vinyl in May 2007.

The stream is below, it is a very mellow album that really pulls on the heartstrings. I hope you enjoy!

Aug 28, 2009

Featured Album Fridays / Arctic Monkeys – Humbug (2009)

Jon Lim Arctic Monkeys, Featured Album Fridays, Humbug, indie, Music, Rock Featured Album Fridays, Music 0 Comment

This week on Featured Album Fridays, I am showcasing the much awaited 2009 album from the Arctic Monkeys – Humbug.

Arctic Monkeys - Humbug

Of course, if you don’t know about the Arctic Monkeys, here is their description from Last.FM:

Arctic Monkeys are an indie rock band who formed in High Green, Sheffield, England in 2002. The band consists of Alex Turner (vocals, guitar), Jamie ‘Cookie’ Cook (guitar), Nick O’Malley (bass) and Matt Helders (drums, vocals). Founding bassist Andy Nicholson left in 2006.

Each of the band’s first five singles I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, When the Sun Goes Down, Leave Before the Lights Come On, Brianstorm and Fluorescent Adolescent hit the UK Top Five, but their sixth single, Teddy Picker, only went Top 20. Their seventh single, Crying Lightning premiered in July of 2009 and will be physically released in August 2009.

The band’s rise to success started in late 2004/early 2005 when demo songs which had been handed out in CD form at gigs found their way onto the internet. These demos rapidly spread among message boards and friends leading to a growing fan base for the band, and were collected on the unofficial Beneath the Boardwalk, which the band recognizes on their website. The band owe much of their success to viral buzz via the Internet, and have eschewed typical ‘commercial’ channels, including refusing to appear on the UK’s (now discontinued) Top Of The Pops music program, which was often seen as a gateway to success.

The band’s debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, holds the record for the largest first week sales of a debut album in the UK (in its first week, it sold more than the rest of the Top 20 albums combined). The album sold over 360,000 copies in its first week, but lost the title in November 2007 to Leona Lewis’s album Spirit.

Nothing to really say but… what a wonderful album. The stream is below, hope you enjoy!

Aug 21, 2009

Featured Album Fridays / As Tall As Lions – You Can’t Take It With You (2009)

Jon Lim Alternative, As Tall As Lions, Featured Album Fridays, indie, Music, You Can't Take It With You Featured Album Fridays, Music 1 Comment

This week on Featured Album Friday, I am showcasing the 2009 album from As Tall As Lions – You Can’t Take It With You.

You-Cant-Take-It-WIth-You

Here is the description of As Tall As Lions from their Last.FM:

After coming off the road in mid-2005, following months of touring in support of their Triple Crown debut, Lafcadio, Long Island-based band As Tall As Lions – vocalist/guitarist Daniel Nigro, guitarist Saen Fitzgerald, bassist Julio Tavarez and drummer Cliff Sarcona – spent more than half a year channeling their energies into crafting an album that would not only realize the lofty ambitions of these four young men but define them as a band, once and for all. The resulting self-titled album – released August 8, 2006 on Triple Crown/East West – provides dramatic evidence that they met this self-imposed challenge, and then some.

As Tall As Lions’ journey toward maturation began in casual fashion, the original version of the band forming around Fitzgerald while the members were still in high school. During the next few years, they endured the lineup changes and artistic roadblocks many young bands experience before taking their present, permanent form. But they still had some growing to do.

“When we started doing Lafcadio, we really didn’t understand what we were getting ourselves into – we were just kids” says Nigro. “We had made a couple demos, put them on the Internet and, after a couple of days, we had record labels calling us ready to sign the band. We all thought this whole band thing was going to come too easily after that. We dropped out of college and made As Tall As Lions our priority. At first, it was a tough adjustment. We’d never been on tour before, and getting used to life on the road was draining. I think we’ve all grown up a lot since then, and our attitude has changed for the better. We put everything we had into this new record and are extremely happy with how it came out.”

Fantastic album, the instrumentals and vocals are just a perfect match and it was so easy to listen to. I hope you enjoy, the stream is below!

Aug 14, 2009

Featured Album Fridays / Brendan Benson – My Old Familiar Friend (2009)

Jon Lim Brendan Benson, Featured Album Fridays, indie, Music, My Old Familiar Friend Featured Album Fridays, Music 0 Comment

This week on Featured Album Fridays, I am showcasing the 2009 album from Brendan Benson – My Old Familiar Friend.

Brendan Benson - My Old Familiar Friend

Here is the description of Brendan Benson on his Last.FM:

Brendan Benson is a Detroit, Michigan born musician and singer-songwriter. He plays guitar, bass guitar, keyboard and drums. He has released three solo albums and is a member of the band The Raconteurs.

His music is typically labeled as power pop, though he doesn’t completely agree. His major musical influences include The Cars, David Bowie, Electric Light Orchestra, Elvis Costello, The Kinks, Robyn Hitchcock, Paul McCartney, and Todd Rundgren.

His debut album, One Mississippi, was released in 1996 on Virgin Records. The album featured several contributions with Jason Falkner and gained many favourable reviews in the music press but failed to sell in sufficient numbers and Benson was dropped by Virgin.

It would be another six years until Benson issued the follow-up, Lapalco. Again the critical plaudits poured in but this time the record enjoyed a certain degree of commercial success.

While touring this record Benson played the Reading and Leeds Festivals and finished his Leeds set with a performance of the track “Jet Lag” featuring guest appearances from Meg White of The White Stripes along with members of The Datsuns and Soledad Brothers.

In 2003 Benson re-released his debut album along with bonus tracks including the unreleased six track extended player, Welfed Boy EP, featuring songs from a demo session with Falkner.

I really liked the upbeat feeling of most of the songs on My Old Familiar Friend, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. The stream is below, enjoy!

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