Video: Ceremony: "Stars Fall"

By the sounds of this new song, the new Ceremony album is going to be awesome!



P.S. Thanks Ed!

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NYC Popfest spotlight: Dream Diary

Dream Diary

I first heard Dream Diary this past Fall and loved the two Brighter-esque songs they had up on MySpace at that time. Fast forward to now — those still seem to be the only songs they've got in circulation and I still haven't caught wind of any planned releases. As the previous Brighter name-drop may have suggested, the Brooklyn group play twinklingly classic indiepop from the heart! I feel like they should have had something released on Holiday Records by now — seems like the perfect home for them! Anyway, make sure you don't miss them when they play Thursday, May 20 on the opening night of Popfest at the Cake Shop! Until then!

[MP3]: Dream Diary :: Bird In My Garden

Dream Diary on MySpace!
NYC Popfest 2010 on Facebook

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Video: Allo Darlin: "Polaroid"

I'm just now discovering the absolute wonderfulness that is Allo Darlin! Please forgive me for living under a rock and not hearing this amazing song or seeing this fantastic video until just a few moments ago. I think I'm in love.

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NYC Popfest spotlight: Elephant Parade

Elephant Parade

Playing right after Sweater Girls on the first night of the Popfest, we've got Elephant Parade. Estelle (of the wonderful Brittle Stars) and Ido play sparse, hearfelt pop songs with acoustic guitars and minimal electronics. Their first self-released record, appropriately titled Bedroom Recordings, is sweet and sad and well, mostly its all about love — a reasonable enough subject for boy/girl duo singing like they're whispering into each others ears. They're currently at work on a new record, so keep lookout for that; I'd imagine they'll probably be playing quite a few new ones at the show! For now though, check out "For You" from Bedroom Recordings:

[MP3]: Elephant Parade :: For You

Elephant Parade on MySpace!
NYC Popfest 2010 on Facebook

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We Disappear

Transmittens!

I first heard Lawrence, Kansas' own Transmittens almost a year ago when WeePOP! released their first mini-album, Our Dreams. At that time they sounded a bit like the Deirdres, playing lush little pop songs full of bells and what have you. Well, fast forward to the now and they've already got another mini-album out on WeePOP! and this one is called We Disappear. Things are a little bit different this time around, but "catchy little pop song"s would still be a pretty solid descriptor. The album end up being somewhat stylistically split between, well, the songs with synth and the songs without synth. Personally, I think it's the latter that make We Disappear so charming and keep me coming back to it. Songs like "Holiday", "Something Else", and "Blue Whale" are little gems.

[MP3]: Transmittens :: Blue Whale (Very Recommended!)

Buy We Disappear from WeePOP!
Transmittens on MySpace!

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NYC Popfest spotlight: Sweater Girls

L.A.'s Sweater Girls (and boys)

Much like I attempted back 2008, I'm am again going to try to highlight as many bands playing the NYC Popfest this year — especially the ones that are new to me — as I can before the Popfest starts! I'll be moving through the lineups chronologically, so first up will be Sweater Girls from Los Angeles, California!

To my slight surprise, Sweater Girls are not all girls and are infact 2/5 boys (one of which is former Siddeley Allan Kingdom!). They play catchy indiepop with nice female vocals and twinkly leads aplenty. The demos on their MySpace page are wonderful and I'd highly recommended listening to them all, perhaps a few times. Indiepages described them as a "full band Softies" a little while back, which not only sounds a bit like a dream, but is also relatively accurate! They'll be heading off the Popfest Thursday, May 20 at the Cake Shop. I would definitely consider them a "don't miss".

Here's a live video of "Pretty When You Smile":



Sweater Girls on MySpace!
NYC Popfest 2010 on Facebook

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The Hummingbirds: "Get On Down"

Hello, I've been rather hooked on The Hummingbirds lately. How they aluded me for oh so long is one big gigantic mystery, but I sure am glad I have them now.

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The Pastels/Tenniscoats: live!

This video is an entire live set of their show at Point éphémère. If you click the link you can watch it on the original site where it's split into chapters. The video quality is impeccable and the songs sound so beautiful live! So many thanks to Brogues for pointing this out a few days on the list. I've been glued to it all morning, and I'm thinking that some of you may end up doing the same once you check it out.

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Things You Used To Say

I guess I've been a bit out of the loop as I was very surprised earlier this week when I found out about Very Truly Yours' debut LP, Things You Used To Say. The record is due out March 23rd on Skywriting Records, the teeny pop label that has previously released records from Dreamdate and Cloetta Paris. On Things You Used To Say Chicago's Very Truly Yours pretty continue from where they left off with last year's Reminders EP. You can expect ten new slices of their sunny, delicate pop songs topped off with Kristine's dreamy vocals. You'll find that the Camera Obscura comparisons that emerged with Reminders last year are still quite applicable here, too. As much as I'd love to see a bit of a return to the style of their first Cloudberry split, these ten songs are beautiful pop gems of the highest order and I can't wait for it to warm up so I can take them with me on a sunny Spring walk.

[MP3]: Very Truly Yours :: Things You Used To say (Recommended!)

Preorder Things You Used To Say!
Very Truly Yours on MySpace!

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A monthly mix: February!

Please excuse the delay on this one, at least it's finally here! It was originally delayed due to getting settled into my last semester of college, but then the 30+ inches of snow currently keeping me down hasn't exactly helped either. Anyway, enough excuses! If you happen to be similarly and happily snowed in like me then you'll probably find a lot to like about the lush wintery sounds on this mix. If you'd rather be dreaming of Spring, you're gonna have to wait until the next one, because when the snow is coming down I just never want it to stop. Maybe it'll stop sometime, though. For now, here are fourteen mostly dreamy songs. Something old and something new, something noisy and something smooth — and lots of other things! If I were you I would go make myself a snow fort and listen to this in there.

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Tracklist:
01. The Radio Dept. "Heaven's On Fire"
02. The Electric Pop Group "Drawing Lines"
03. Sambassadeur "Sandy Dunes"
04. Sea Dweller "Underwater Town"
05. Chin Chin "Dark Days"
06. My Favorite "Cult Hero, Come Home"
07. Sourpatch "Outer Space"
08. Grenadine "I Only Have Eyes For You"
09. Bouquet "Electric Fluff"
10. The Arctic Flow "Books and Magazines"
11. The Cat's Miaow "Tangle My Shoes"
12. Felt "Mexican Bandits"
13. Veronica Falls "Starry Eyes"
14. Pia Fraus "Deep Purple Girl"

Enjoy!

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