MushrooMusic

Halloween, Alaska - You're It

2005-08-30T18:45:00.000+12:00

The Band: Halloween, Alaska is a four-person band from Minneapolis. Their genre could best be described as indie-electronica. Their music is very mellow but not so much that it puts you to sleep. Great music for just chilling out to, preferably on your own.

The Song: You're It is a really pretty song. James Diers, lead vocalist, has a gorgeous, smooth voice. This song would fit perfectly on a mix CD for your girl/boyfriend - it's a love song but it's not cheesy or tacky, but slow and mostly instrumental.

The Album: Their self-titled debut came out about two years ago. Their new album is set to come out September 13th.

The Website: www.halloweenalaska.com

Clicking on the title of posts will let you download the mp3s reviewed.

Louis XIV - God Killed The Queen

2005-08-29T16:40:00.000+12:00

Now that I've got your attention...=P

The Band: Louis XIV hail from San Diego and play retro-rock.

The Song: God Killed The Queen is the first single from their first full-length album. Rockin' good song!

The Album: The Best Little Secrets are Kept.

Trivia: This song was played in one of the episodes in Season 2 of The OC. The show's gone downhill since about 2/3's into the first season, but they have a bloody fab music supervisor, I reckon.

The Website: www.louisxiv.net

OK Go - Invincible

2005-08-28T03:28:00.000+12:00

The Band: OK Go are from the States and play power-pop that's seriously catchy. They're made up of 4 guys who are all around thirty, though they look, sound, and perform like college guys.

The Song: Invincible is from their upcoming new album.

The Album: OK Go released their selftitled debut album in 2002, which remains as one of my favourite CDs. Their new album, titled Oh No will be released on the 30th of August, for which I have been impatiently waiting for the past two months! Check out both, as they are fantastic!

Trivia: OK Go recently played at Lollapalooza, a big music festival in San Francisco. It shows that they are really starting to become "big"!

The Website: www.okgo.net - go to the "video" section and watch their A Million Ways video clip. Hillarious! Check out the "OK Go Ping Pong Instructional Video" clip as well.

Blue Foundation - End Of The Day (Silence)

2005-08-27T02:50:00.000+12:00

Well it's been quite awhile since I updated this blog! The last time I tried to post, the file hosting server I use for the mp3s was down, and then I had exams, which finished on Thursday! Hurrah!

The Band: Blue Foundation are based in Denmark, though the DJ in it is Japanese. They are a trip-hop band. Trip-hop is basically a style of music that combines hip hop beats with electronica, usually with female vocals over it. Written down, it sounds a bit odd but actually it's really cool - quite dark and broody.

The Song: End Of The Day (Silence). The lead singer's voice is gorgeous, and the mixing by the DJ sounds really nice too.

The Album: Sweep of Days is their most latest album, but they are working on new material, so watch out for a new CD soon!

Trivia: The female vocalist also has two solo albums by the name of Flunk. The most recent one is titled Morning Star. I think it is pretty nice too, though I prefer Blue Foundation.

The Website: www.bluefoundation.dk

The Thrills - The Irish Keep Gate-Crashing

2005-08-04T18:37:00.000+12:00

Ahh...a nice, sunny song to listen to during the bloody freezing and whimsical Auckland winter. The Thrills are an Irish band and they apparently sound a lot like The Beach Boys. Well, I've never heard any of their songs so cannot comment. To my ears, The Thrills sound like summer, happiness, warm temperatures.

Since no-one seems to get that CLICKING ON THE TITLE OF POSTS WILL LET YOU DOWNLOAD MP3S, I would like to remind y'all ;)

www.thethrills.com

Spoon - Sister Jack

2005-08-03T16:37:00.000+12:00

In my opinion, the latest offering from indie rockers Spoon is their best yet. Well, better than their older album anyway. To be honest, I didn't like Kill The Moonlight too much, save for a few songs.

The new album is titled Gimme Fiction, and upon hearing it the first time I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. After their last album, my expectations weren't very high. I had a listen a demo of one of their new songs before this album was released, and liked it at first. After a few more listens, I had it stuck in my head.

Anyway, today's mp3 is called Sister Jack and it is a bloody good song. Also check out the 'I Turn My Camera On' music video on their excellent site.

http://www.spoontheband.com/site.html

PS: ARGH!! Just found out that Spoon will be playing in Australia in September. Stupid New Zealand! Why don't any nice bands come here?? =(

The Go Find - City Dreamer

2005-08-02T18:15:00.000+12:00

The Go Find is a German indie electronica band (I am guessing, because their record label is based in Germany). Their debut album, Miami, has been on heavy rotation in my iPod for the past few months.

It's a shame that this band is not getting the recognition it deserves as they are fantastic - I have not gone more than a few days without listening to at least one of the songs on this album since I got it, and that's saying something as I have over 2100 songs on my iPod.

You can have The Go Find playing in the background while you do your homework, while you're driving, etc. It's a nice album to chill out to. The songs aren't very wordy but you will soon find yourself singing along.

Today's mp3 is of City Dreamer, one of my favourites from this cd.

www.thegofind.com

Imogen Heap - Headlock

2005-08-01T16:21:00.000+12:00

I Love Imogen Heap! A lot of you have probably heard her song 'Hide and Seek' on the season finale of The OC. Her new album 'Speak for Yourself' was released on July 18th in the UK, and will be released in the US on August 3rd, so hopefully New Zealand will not be too far behind.

To describe Imogen Heap's music in one word would be this: sophisticated. It is a blend of soft electronica, lounge, and her gorgeously unique vocals. Her songs are mostly upbeat, but she has a few slow songs here and there.

If you are not familiar with Imogen Heap, chances are, you won't know about Frou Frou either. No, it's not the name of a poodle. It is a French word for the sound of rustling silk, and a collaborative effort with Imogen and her music producer husband, Guy Sigworth. The album is called 'Details' and rose to number 7 on the Amazon.com charts and is in my Top Ten list of most played albums.

I've only heard part of her new album and 'Headlock' is one of the best songs. I downloaded it last night and have played it 17 times already! The sound quality is not too good, but the song is great. Click on the title of this post to download the file.

Enjoy!