Sunglasses at Night, I don't need Light

So before I get started - two comments so far about Spotify.

First, to Spotify - please fix your applications.  They shouldn't crash so often.  This is your lifeblood - even if you have to lose money at it, get your programming talent on it or you will bleed off users.  Spotify, you need to REALLY improve the social networking capability, it's more than just interfacing with Facebook and being able to spam someone with songs, which I pity the poor mp3 bloggers once the promotion guys get their spotify user name!  Add things like "trophy rooms", skins, stuff users and fans can create and invite their friends to look at.

Second to all the bands, especially those who don't put their music up on Spotify (or RDIO).  Forget it, it's too late.  ACTA/SOPA/whatever ain't gonna save you.  You are missing a great opportunity with Spotify.  The APP development capability should be exploited by bands and labels.  Think about it - you can make an app that provides bonuses to your users if they buy merch.  For instance, I buy a t-shirt and I get a new skin or I get something like a sticker or trophy (and ).  What if you get a trophy if you listen to the entire output of an artist.  Or a buck off the vinyl album - which you buy through the spotify interface direct to your merchandiser site.  The possibilities right now are endless.  The first band or label to do this is going ride the first wave in.

Now, onto the tunes of the week.  These come from my current "Heavy Rotation" list.

"Orange Blossom" - Gardens & Villa.  Although I guess the big song off this is "Black Hills", I really like this one much better.  It's got a slow jam, e-drum feel to it but doesn't sound dated at all.  The singing is great as well.



"A New Town" - Field Music  - A great song off this new album called Plumb.  Has a sort of soul feel to it with a great 80 funk bass line.  There's also a water pipe played by a percussionist I suppose.  It's there in the background and gets a solo in the final seconds. A new town is not enough.  There's some other nice cuts on this album I may get to.

"Just A Song About Ping Pong" - Operator Please - Fast snot punk, well recorded, not much else to read into it except that it's just a song about ping pong.  We need more songs about ping pong.

"Caught Me Thinkin - Bahamas- This is another slow-ish jam.  Bahamas kind of lives up to its name.  You expect this light pop to be playing at some beach dive - perhaps New Jersey because the lead up to the bridge has a sort of Philly Soul chord progression.  Nice almost plucked guitar hook enlivens the lead-in to the verses.

"American Daydream" - Electric Guest - the second cut I like from this four song EP(? - at least from what I can tell).  Another smooth pop thang with an extra slinky chorus, fat, wet snare sound.  Love it.

"Cool Bitch" - Trevor Childs - while girls write songs about how guys are jerks around them, guys write songs idealizing the women they then ignore/belittle/cheat on.  This has also been mashed up to some Miami Vice cuts so gives you an idea of what to expect.

Arder / Bailar - Tigres Leones - this is the a-side of a single from this Spanish band.  It's kind of simple and lo-fi but has mucho spirito and reminds me of stuff I used to do in the '80s.

"Jealous" - The Super Orchestra - Majestic teen-weeper with a creepy stalkerish vibe and musical climaxes - everything but the key change - "If I can't make you want me / I'll make you look at me"... well hopefully whomever is the object of the song-writers affections has heard this song at least.

"This Is Not A Song" - Islands - Clever, sad-alt broken-hearts club song sung with typical perfection by Nic Thorburn.  Comes from their new album.  This is the song that the girl puts her feet on top of your shoes and you dance real slow.

River Boat - The Soft Hills - Alt-folk with what sounds like a found Moog doing the dirty work of providing a verse answering song hook.  More saddy sad musik - what is wrong with me this week?

And Then She Walks Away - Good Shoes.  Not usually fan of the pop-punk sound and almost put this album into the do-not-listen-anymore pile and then this number comes up and kind of redeems them (rest of the album still is kinda shitt...er not to my liking).  But this rocks alright even if lawyers from The Strokes might want to investigate theft of their sound.

My Soldier - Highasakite.  Norway chick who is a cross between K. Bush and Bjork and takes her name, I guess, from Blister in the Sun or maybe that Nickie Minaj song, haha.  As you might surmise, this is a song from a girl to her soldier.  Again, SAD.  Didn't even know Norway had an Army.  Love the brittle recording/producing approach to this song.  It's almost like the aural equivalent of creme brulee.