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Saturday, June 30, 2007

Video Premiere: Operator Please - Just A Song About Ping Pong

It’s a bit strange. The day before I left for the UK back in April, I posted this song as my favorite from new Australian band Operator Please. Now, a week before I leave to go back to America, the video’s been released with nearly 500,000 views on youtube. This is gonna be a hit, folks… no doubt about it. The great thing is, the song is amazingly fun and the video’s even better. Definitely one of the best videos I’ve seen in awhile.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Nom de Guerre - Slack Vs. Lame



"Stay bitter, follow the quest for glitter"

I was promised music that has been compared to Blur, Queen, The Beatles, Madness and Abba when I downloaded this song, so naturally I was excited because that's quite a list of greats. I'm not sure if Nom de Guelle (french for "name of war") have quite reached any of their inspirations yet, but their music is definitely fun and catchy power pop. The trio just released their first album (the simply titled La La La), and promise a "dizzying musical journey." It remains to be seen just how dizzying it is, but based on the strength of this track, I'd say that they're off to a good start. This is definitely for fans of piano based, power rock.

Nom de Guelle - Slack Vs. Lame (mp3) (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Buy the album here!)
Young Guns: 2007

In addition to sharing with the world my favorite bands and artists, I like to think that I help in breaking new talent as well. Last year, I was among the first to feature bands like Alphabeat and Lucky Soul on a regular basis and watched proudly as they released their debut albums.
So, this year, in what I’m hoping will become a yearly feature, I’m proud to spotlight three of my favorite discoveries of 2007 so far. Not to say that there won’t be more added in the future, but for now these three are the bands/artists I’m looking to break. None have released a full length album yet (well, at least one that's distributed by a label), but all three have projects in the works. Most importantly, all are prime examples of unique, colorful pop that deserve a place on the radio.

Gender



I was overwhelmed when I discovered this duo’s new single, If I Was A Girl. It’s incredibly fresh and edgy… just what the pop charts need. I was happy to find, upon listening to other tracks from their catalogue, that it wasn’t a one-off. Gender focuses on catchy electronic based pop music with plenty of sexual ambiguity and glam attitude. Myspace

Pikko



I was lucky enough to be formally introduced to this singer through her live performance, which was in a word, stunning. Fusing soft 80’s inspired electro pop with her unique vocals and worldview, Pikko is unlike any other singer out there right now. I think she describes it best in explaining her work as a “blend of modern dance, art, electronic music and stage excess.” Myspace

Napoleon



A huge eleven person band (according to their website) from Sweden, Napoleon is on a quest to bring back old Motown Soul and mix it with 70’s and 80’s pop, with fantastic results. The combination of front man Johan Barrett’s husky lead and the gorgeous, shimmering background vocals of the band’s female singers is undeniably great. Kitchen sink pop doesn’t always work, but in this case it’s a revelation. Myspace

So what does it mean to be an Alienhits Young Gun?

These three acts will get regular coverage on Alienhits, including reports on new music videos, album/single reviews, and updates on news. Plus, look for all three to have a permanent home on the sidebar very soon.
Helena Josefsson - By Your Side



"If you could just show me that I count"

I am somehow convinced that this song is a cover of an older classic, yet I’ve found no proof of this. It just sounds so incredibly hit-worthy, yet it was released at the end of last year and somehow I missed it. Most of you will probably know Helena Josefsson as the female singer in Per Gessle’s duet (Hey Mr. DJ) Won’t You Play Another Love Song, which was a minor hit in Sweden last spring. On her debut album, she’s an incredibly pop-minded singer who dabbles in all sorts of genres. By Your Side is probably her more dancey side, and it’s the one that I prefer. The vocals on this, as well as the soaring chorus, are beautiful. It has that strange quality of being a straightforward pop/dance track, yet still retaining a certain singer/songwriter edge.

Helena Josefsson - By Your Side (mp3) (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Buy the album here!)

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Moto Boy - Blue Motor Bike



"I like the sense of falling, and I like the sense of you"

This track is absolutely, drop dead gorgeous. It's just dripping with beautiful synths and amazing, almost operatic vocals. Best of all, it comes from Pikko's keyboardist, who is just now starting to release some solo stuff. The album's not due until September, but for now we can enjoy this, his debut single. It hearkens strongly back to the college synth bands of the 80's and if, like me, you were upset that more recent band Elkland only released one album, you'll love this song because it sounds a lot like their stuff did.... with one important difference: it's Swedish. This, of course, means that the melody is flawless.

Moto Boy - Blue Motor Bike (mp3) (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Buy the album when it comes out!)

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Marit Bergman - Tomorrow Is Today



"And I will take you all the way"

Taking a break from all the spanking new music on this blog lately, I'm posting a track from all the way back in the tender year of 2004. The reason for this is that I recently had teh pleasure of seeing Marit Bergman live in concert and was incredibly impressed. I only knew her from her two latest singles. How I managed to be oblivious about all of her past work is beyond me, but better late than never. This is the lead track off of Bergman's second album, Baby Dry Your Eye, and it's an overblown, rollicking piece of anthematic pop. Hearing this live was, I believe, the first time I entered the proud cult of Bergman, and I don't think I'll be leaving anytime soon. For the uninitiated, I swear this will absolutely blow you away. For those already in the know, bear with me. I've got another brand new track by a brand new artist tomorrow.

Marit Bergman - Tomorrow Is Today (mp3) (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Buy the album here)

Monday, June 25, 2007

Video Premiere: Gender - If I Was A Girl

Here it is folks, hot off the press, the latest video from Gender for their brilliant single (in fact, one of the better singles you'll hear all year), If I Was A Girl. The clip's a fantastic example understated humor and creative storytelling. Like the band, it's very different from most promos out there. And, it proves that subtitles should be a staple of music videos everywhere.

Three random thoughts...

New single For Reasons Unknown has completely reminded me of what, despite what others might say, an amazing album The Killers' Sam's Town is. Simply epic, that track is.

Speaking of great albums, every warm-blooded creature needs to read this. I agree with every word and I only wish I could have written it so eloquently.

Why, after two months of being suitably underwhelmed, am I now suddenly in love with this album?
Lip Service - Flies



"I'm just sugar, sugar for the flies"

Lip Service are on Dead Frog Records, home also to one of my favorite bands, The Callahan. Both their single title and record label have rather unpleasant sounding names, but don't let that put you off. Otherwise, you'd miss a fantastic electropop number in the same vein as The Sounds, New Young Pony Club, and Surferosa. I won't call their sound terribly original, but it is a lot of fun. I don't know a lot about them, which leads me to believe that they're a fairly new band. The boy/girl vocals work very well on this track and the lyrics are quite interesting. When was the last time someone compared themselves to "shit for the flies" in a pop song?

Lip Service - Flies (mp3) (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Buy the single here)

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Video Premiere: The Lovemakers - Wine & Dine

I'm so excited that The Lovemakers, who released one of my favorite albums of 2005 and were one of the first acts ever featured on Alienhits, are back with this new single off of their upcoming EP. It's a great track aimed firmly at the dancefloor, while the video looks like some money was thrown behind it. Well, more money than their previous ones, at least.