ordained or not, i don't care...

i cannot stop listening to bishop allen. if you're a fan of loney, dear or like bright eyes but hate that feeling of impending suicide then please check out bishop allen. in all honesty, bright eyes isn't the best comparison. if you like poppy fun, but don't want to feel immature for it, click here and you can download "click, click, click, click," a song so full of charm and inventive pop that it practically begs you to put it on repeat. which is actually a problem because every song on the broken string is worth listening to over and over. the entire album plays like a backdrop to any wes anderson movie (only no french).

in 2006 they released one ep a month and you can go their website and order any of the 12 eps in addition to two full lengths (july is the most popular if you're looking to buy, followed by september).

they just released a blog post announcing that they're planning on having another full length ready for release in 2008. anyone else feel like an underachiever?

From Svergie With Love...Part 1

for some time now, sweden has been quietly creating seriously good indie rock. sure, the hives and the sounds are great and i know everyone can whistle along to peter, bjorn and john but just beyond that you'll find a veritable treasure chest of indie waiting to be listened to (did i really just write "veritable treasure chest?).

and to be fair, paul (cafe sound man currently living in vanuatu-new zealand-australia-japan-china) is the one who really brought my attention to it.

so here's a quick rundown and a few hyper links from now, you'll be as caught up as i am (and there's definitely more to uncover, these are just the bread crumbs at the start of the trail; have fun gretel).

i. loney, dear -emil svanängen is bonafide. he just finished touring with athlete and also with andrew bird. that says enough. his new album "sologne" is out now and available at graywhale (go to the nice one, not the jerk ones) or on itunes.



ii. i'm from barcelona - the upside: tons of friends singing along together. downside: had a song featured this season on grey's anatomy.



iii. the shout out louds - those of you with more money than me probably caught the shout out louds as main support on the interpol show that played in the venue a few weeks ago. for the rest of us though, you'll have to settle for just buying their cd or juicing from your friends' itunes. anyway you get it though, it's good stuff. to be fair, about half is amazing and the other half is just good.



look for part two soon...part two will feature glen hansard & marketa irglova, juvelen, asha ali, and the kissaway trail.