Sweet Coffee

Sweet Coffee are a Belgian band with a laidback sound, and they offer you their new single on their website : Downtown (mp3) Enjoy it !

They'll be presenting their new album Naked City tonight at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels.

Buy Sweet Coffee stuff here

Pinback

Pinback have just released a new album : Autumn of the seraphs. It has an absolutely ugly front cover, but the songs are -once again- quite good !

I really enjoyed their debut back in 1999, which remains their best in my opinion.

Enjoy these songs :

• from their debut This is a Pinback CD : Lyon (mp3)
• from Some voices EP : Manchuria (mp3)
• from Autumn of the seraphs : From nothing to nowhere (mp3)

Buy their albums here

Album of the week : Human race ignition - Tekton Motor Corporation

In 1994, when I visited the Pukkelpop festival for the first time, I saw a Slovenian band that did something no one else ever did (not to my knowledge anyway) : they performed with two heavy trucks among their instruments. Unfortunately, as they had to play indoors in the "Dance tent", Tekton Motor Corporation couldn't do it there, but they did when playing in open air.

Something else they did which was unique and which was the reason I was curious enough to go and see this unknown band, they sampled Formula 1 race cars.

I really enjoyed the concert : it was good dance music ! So I bought their album, Human race ignition, and have enjoyed it occasionally since...

The sounds of the F1 race cars were recorded at McLaren testing sessions in France, Michael Andretti and Mark Blundell being the drivers.

The album has three songs on it, but each song consists of 4 to 5 parts, which can be distinguished quite well. You can listen to Tek I (mp3), which consists of : Cognitive Magnitude, Ignition, Dreams and The Horizon. Each song has race car sounds in it, along with guitars and a lot of techno sounds. This may not be the best dance music there is, but the race car sounds give it that extra spice to make it stand out anyway...

The band only released two albums (Human race ignition with the tracks Tek I, Tek II and Tek III ; Champions with the tracks Tek IV and Tek V !), and they made it to the first Mind The Gap compilation of the music magazine Gonzo Circus.

You can buy the album here (although there seem to be different versions of the same album...). My version of the album was released by Dreamtime Recording (KT 8 11CD).

Next week's album of the week : "This is somewhere" by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

When the 80s weren't that cool : Fiction Factory

Starting today, here's a new thematical series : When the 80s weren't that cool (which was : IN the 80s...)
Our first nostalgic trip brings us to Fiction Factory, a Scottish band which could righteously be called a one hit wonder, as Feels like heaven (mp3) was their only succesfull single, reaching no. 6 in the UK charts and even no. 1 in Switzerland. They released 2 more singles and no less than 2 albums, never to be heard of again...
What I liked in them (I was 12 at that time), was the high voice of singer Kevin Patterson, the poppy melody and the video which seemed to have a candle glow spread all over it...

Fiction Factory - Feels Like Heaven
Uploaded by hakim93200

Buy the single here

Massive Attack

A group's name can hold such high promises that one is almost sure to be disappointed when hearing the music. Massive Attack however has always succeeded in disobeying this observation : they have brought some of the most powerful music I have ever heard. Although I have never really loved their first hit single (Unfinished sympathy), I was blown away by Angel (mp3), Risingson (mp3) and Karmacoma (mp3). I especially have always loved Angel for the way in which the build up in the beginning adds layer to layer, while the songs ends peeling off each of these layers.

Enjoy the songs yourself, and buy music by Massive Attack here.

Rewind the video : This Mortal Coil

You and your sister - This Mortal Coil

How many times have I listened to this song, which I bought as a vinyl single when studying at the university ? The frail voice of the singer and the shaky sound on the vinyl spread their magic all over me.
This is not even an official video to the song, but I love this song so much that I definitely wanted to post it on this series anyway...
Enjoy !

Today's favourites

Two songs stand out currently for me when listening to the radio (and it seems I can hear them almost any time I turn on the radio...)

Back to black (mp3) by Amy Winehouse is the kind of song which makes you realize Amy's got a voice that can really convey a message. She's the kind of girl you'd be afraid to be falling for. To me, she's like the dark side of Lily Allen, and in looks she resembles Janice (from Friends) : somehow I expect here to burst into one of the Janicy laughs any minute... Nevertheless, the song is awesome !

Hard-Fi's Suburban knights (mp3) on the other hand is a sticky song : it attaches itself to the back of your head, and your ears seem to be picking it up all the time. Just like that other great song (Cash machine) by the same band, it's exactly what's pop music is supposed to be : catchy as a cold !

Buy Amy Winehouse music here
Buy Hard-Fi music here

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

This is somewhere, the third album by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, has been released recently. I have only heard this track (Ah Mary - mp3) so far, but I sure like what I hear. The singer's voice stands out and reminds me of Melissa Etheridge. The music tells tales of wide open plains.
The past years they have been almost non-stop touring, opening for the likes of Josh Ritter, Black Crowes, Toots,... They performed live on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, which this video is proof of... Watch, listen and enjoy !


Their future shows include these :

Baltimore, MA : 11th and 12th Sept
Telluride, CO : 14th Sept (2 shows !)
Austin, TXC : 16th Sept
Chicago, IL : 22nd Sept
East Burke, VT : 29th Sept

More info on their upcoming shows here
You can buy the album here

Activity level

... I know it's been low lately, but that'll soon change again, as soon as I get some things straightened out...

Hold on, I'm coming !