Goodbye January!

To celebrate the end of January, I've added a playlist of songs that are currently high on my list. You'll find the player in the sidebar on the right. The plan is to update this playlist at the end of each month - let's see if I stick to it!!

I made a point of adding the songs I highlighted in posts this month (except for the covers... hm, maybe I should have added one of those).

This reminds me a bit of the mix tapes I made my friends in high school, but with much less metal (this month, anyway).

Here are the songs in my playlist for January, 2009:

• Zeigeist - Humanitarianism
• Ayria - Girl on the Floor
• Client - Can you Feel
• The Presets - This Boy's In Love
• Ladyhawke - Magic
• Little Boots - Meddle
• Roots Manuva - Let the Spirit
• Flight of the Conchords - Boom!
• Replica (featuring Client) - Sorry
• Lily Allen - Guess Who Batman

I'm sure it seems weird to post a playlist from the month before, instead of posting songs that will make an impact for the next month. Dude! That's not how it works! I think it's more personal to look back at what made an impact - new discoveries, recent favourites, old friends that made their way back into my life. I'm not here to predict what will be "hot", I'm just sharing things I like.

Enjoy!
<3 bleph

Song in the Cell 090130: Ayria - Girl on the Floor

This week's Song in the Cell goes to:

Ayria - Girl on the Floor

This was a tricky week for picking a song. I already posted the Client video earlier in the week, and have been listening to Client "Sorry" a LOT this week. Unfortunately, the video online for that song is not the greatest (Client B looks wicked, but the editing is off... it's hard editing a recorded song to live footage, I know, but then if it doesn't work, you just ... don't. At least you shouldn't.) Yeah, I'm saving my next Client post for after the new stuff is actually out... I know I'll be all over that!

ANYWAY, I thought this would be a good time to pimp out a couple of my ALWAYS favourites (not just this week favourites) Ayria and Noisescape TV.




Ayria is a band led by one of my good friends, Jennifer Parkin. The music is a mash of pop, electro, ebm-industrial and whatever else her little heart desires. Very danceable, great music! You can catch a listen on her MySpace page.

The video above, a live version of "Girl on the Floor", from her latest album, "Hearts for Bullets", was shot during their Fall 2008 U.S. tour with the Cruxshadows by friends of ours at Noisescape TV.

Noisescape TV is a television and internet show that features bands in a variety of industrial and industrial-friendly genres (hahaha... didn't know how else to put it). They produce quite a bit of the content you see, including the video above.

Hilarity Ensues...

Someone just posted the most hilarious take on And One's "Panzermensch" from Youtube:



Hint: it has to do with misunderstood lyrics, and awesomeness.

Can I be Client Q?

Soooo excited that the new Client is coming soon!!! The video for their new single, "Can You Feel", has been posted on Youtube and is getting me super psyched! It's a pretty cool track. It hasn't hit me like my favourite tracks off of their last album, Heartland, but I think I'll be singing along after a few listens.



(yeah, sorry the template I have can't accommodate HD videos from Youtube. LAME!)

Haven't heard of Client? They're a cool chick band. Scratch that - some people don't like to be called "chick bands". They are cool chicks, though. That's the whole image. They have their uniforms and deadpan stares - not a la Ladytron, think Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" girls, but they don't actually look alike. They even try to go by titles like "Client A" and "Client X", but people usually find out their names anyway. The music is cool electro darkish dance. Some of the earlier tracks were a little electroclashy, but luckily they grew out of that one before releasing Heartland.

Wicked Songs: Lights Go Out, Monkey on my Back

Find out more about Client on their website, or MySpace.

Song in the Cell 090123 : Ladyhawke - Magic

This week's Song in the Cell goes to:

Ladyhawke - Magic

The rest of her music needs to grow on me a bit, but I do find her style to be interesting and I really like her voice. This song, though, just blows me away. It has a great wee retro feel, and the chorus definitely adds impact to the song.




Yeah, so this song doesn't seem to have an actual music video up on Youtube. At least you get to hear the song!. Her website and Myspace are also good if you want more.

Rewind Divine!

Feeling the need for new blood, I'm always digging through blog posts and websites and whatnots.

I recently found my way to a neato site that appears to be called Rewind. Here, bands are featured covering some of their favourite songs of the past. There's also an explanation as to why each band chose the song they chose.

The cover song is not a new concept -- people have been covering their favourite songs for ages, sometimes successfully. What makes this different, for me, is that I keep coming back to this site. Weird, no?

I poked around first to get a Sohodolls track (after being led there by their mailing list), and have now come back after finding a link on the site of a new find, Cruel Black Dove.

A second look at the list of tracks makes me laugh out loud in my wee cubicle -- there are a slew of acts I have only recently been introduced to (specifically, this week's new favourite, Little Boots).

In any case, I still haven't worked my way through this whole magical site. Just thought you might find some gems for yourself.

Either find new bands by checking out covers of songs you liked way back... or see what songs your new finds are inspired by.

Some Highlights:

• Cruel Black Dove's cover of the Psychedelic Furs' "Love My Way"
• Little Boots' cover of Freddie Mercury's "Love Kills"
  
• Sohodolls' cover of Lords Of The New Church "Open Your Eyes"