Staying with a friend in Perth, my last stop before flying home (via Singapore), so I have regular internet access. Yay!
Anyway, currently I’m listening to the mixtape Fall Out Boy released to pimp their upcoming album and to promote people voting for Obama (both album and election on November 4) - Welcome to the new administration is available for free download. It’s not just teasers for new FOB songs, but also a number of other bands from the Decaydance label, like Panic at the Disco, The Academy Is…, Cobra Starship (all three of which I saw in concert on Wednesday, yay!) and others.
My favorite track by far (and constantly on repeat these days) is Cobra’s cover of Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” - Gabe Saporta singing “I Kissed a Boy” has all the catchiness of the original and none of the questionable lyrics (seriously, there’s nothing empowering about the original, imo, on the contrary): www.sendspace.com/file/66ehvw
You can download empires’ album from their website for absolutely free and 100% legal, and I very much recommend it! They say that it’s got something for everyone, and they’re absolutely right.
Pretty. Odd. (including weird punctuation, despite Panic having dropped the ‘!’ in their bandname) is just what the title says, especially if you expected something similar to its predecessor (which was one of my favorite and most-listened to albums of 2006). Instead you get a crazy mix of styles and instruments, whirling through the past 100 or so years of music, every song markedly different. And boy, do I love it! Because they kept what I enjoyed most - the sense of fun, of whimsy, and lyrics that make you want to actually listen. Oh yes, I’ll be bopping along to this CD for a long time…
For your listening pleasure:
Behind the Sea: www.sendspace.com/file/0j4cw4
From a Mountain in the Middle of the Cabins: www.sendspace.com/file/urdfmb
Just watched The Bubble, a movie by Israeli film maker Eytan Fox - beautiful, it shows the life of young people in modern Israel and Palestine by telling a love story between two young men, one an Israeli from Tel Aviv, the other an Arab from Nablus.
It also has a great soundtrack, including one of my favorite Bright Eyes song and covers by famous Israeli singer Ivri Lider:
Bright Eyes - First Day of My Life (video):
www.sendspace.com/file/40ash6
Ivri Lider - The Man I Love (video):
www.sendspace.com/file/b74ch3
Ivri Lider - Song to the Siren:
www.sendspace.com/file/nnr5j0
I had iTunes create an automated playlist of all tracks I had added in 2007. Then I went through the 2000+ files, picked the ones that had a special meaning (and fit onto 1 CD) and put them in chronological order. They’re not all newly released, but they’re (mostly) new to me and I love them for different reasons. I hope you’ll like them, too!
Apparently, since the information services in Switzerland changed their number earlier this year, a lot of stupid people have been calling the fire emergency number instead - so much so that the firemen of Geneva decided to do something about it: A rap song, complete with video!
I’ve been following the blog Yellow Stereo, which links to some pretty awesome music - and most recently I saw a couple of links for downloads offered by interesting bands:
- Bedroom Eyes, a Swedish one-man-combo, offers both of his EPs
- The Format, an Arizona pop rock band, is celebrating the first anniversary of their album ‘Dog Problems’ by giving it away for free (until July 16)
Also, Fingertips is a blog specialising on legal mp3s.
My brother, not usually a music geek, introduced me to a fun new British artist today: Mika, apparently the latest big thing in pop. He’s being compared to Scissor Sisters, and the two certainly share a sense of humour and love of fun. Also, at times he sounds like Queen’s Freddie Mercury, which is A Very Good Thing, in my book.
I’ve only listened to his first album, Life in Cartoon Motion, once so far, but my preliminary favorite is ‘Ring Ring’: www.sendspace.com/file/1mn9u1 (mp3, 3.3mb)
You can find the photos from my recent trip to Lisbon with Sibylle in my travel log. I definitely can recommend visiting this charming city!
Also, Sibylle and I gave Taptim tickets for Swiss band Plüsch for her birthday. The concert was lots of fun, as they sure know how to rock a crowd, a bit surprisingly so for a somewhat cutesy dialect pop band… Surf the photos (mostly various combinations of the three of us) using the ‘<-more' link on the right.
I filmed a 30 seconds clip of one of my favorite songs, 'Heimweh', which will forever be linked in my mind with being stranded in a tiny train station in Japan... Rightclicksave, please (7mb, avi)!
However, I wish I had filmed the leadsinger’s lewd and hilarious impression of Shaggy in a reggae interlude during a love song… I’ll never be able to look at a teddybear (the name of the song) the same again! *g*
