Nobody plays this anymore...

A while back I came across a band called The Black Keys. I'm not exactly sure when, or how, but these guys quickly became one of my favorite bands. When everyone's looking to the future and trying to make music that sounds like it was made by robots, these guys looked back. It's the kind of blues rock that no one plays anymore, which makes me wonder, why people don't play it anymore.



Dan Auerbach, one half of The Black Keys, has put together a collection of songs he wrote whilst touring called, Keep It Hid. For his first solo effort, and isn't a big departure of style. It sounds a lot like The Black Keys earlier albums, but slightly more polished. Not lo-fi, more medium-fi. Very garage rock, but folky too. Like BRMC meets Josh Ritter. Whatever it is, it's a style nobody really plays anymore, and he plays it particularly well, and that's why it's this week's Album of the Week.

Today's photo comes from Guus Krol. Nice photographer, and (I'm sure) nice all-round man.

Get Indie T-Shirts Before They're Popular!

There are a few different places to get great Indie Shirts on the Webbervers
The one above comes from here, i think it explains the quite accurately my feelings towards humanity. But for the folks out there who would rather be more cryptic about your disgust of other peoples music then perhaps this is more your style



You can get that and i must say a great amount of other fantastic shirts from the aptly named indieshirts. com. There's always the folks out there who really want people to understand that they have the most note worthy shirt in the room. Depending the room this kind thing can either get you a standing ovation or a public hanging, if you wanna try your luck here's the site



Finally the most underrated of T-Shirts... the subtle joke that only one other person in the world is likely to get. this genre is well represented in the world of geeks (a world i'm very much a part of) here is a sample from Think Geek.

Summer is coming (sort of), and it's a great opportunity to let people know how terrible they are for the music they like. Wearing a plain T-Shirt is like saying "I'm ok with your music". Don't risk it!

The Remnants (almost a tv show)

when it comes to story telling in any form media a post-apocalyptic world is something that carries an abundance of possibilities. I've listened to 50's Sci-fi radio shows like X-Minus One and Played Games like apocalyptic Fallout series, and i've loved what people are able to created. Sadly it seems a very underused scenario in most video media with obvious exceptions (Mad Max, Shaun of the Dead, etc.). A little while ago the BBC did a great job of making a post-apocalyptic tv series that was so bad i had wished the human race had been destroyed completely... but thank goodness for the interwebs, this pilot could bring about the start of something that might actually produce a watchable TV show for the genre, check it out:


The Remnants from John August on Vimeo.

Freshly Squeezed Indie Pop

I came across lovely little indie number today by The Orion Experience called Obsessed With You. a very happy and funny song, thought i'd better blog about it before they become to popular to like.



They released they're album Cosmicandy about a year ago and you can listen to the sort of stuff to expect from it on they're myspace page. I think i'll give the album a listen and report back later.

One Season Shows..

I'm not really one to watch TV, generally i find turning on the telly and then choosing what to watch is a distant second my other option. Deciding what to watch and then turning on my computer and watching it... with out being sold something every 10 minuets. Those few times i have been drawn to watch TV have been short lived and here are 3 great shows i love that where sadly cancelled after just one series.


1) Downtown


The summer of 1999 on MTV was actually watched by people other than 15 year old girls with no interest in music. This was the twilight of what has become known "MTV with music" soon i'm sure there will be a trivial pursuit question confusing us all as to the humble beginnings of the most popular reality tv channel. Back then they had Downtown, a unique, surreal and wonderfully animated 13 episode series. It's a perfect cast of realistic no-bodies living in New York City. I loved this series and while you can't buy it, there are recordings out there.
if you can find them.

2) Freaks and Geeks


This short lived creation of Paul Feig has a very special place in my heart. while i can't say that life in an American high school in the late 70's early 80's is anything i can deeply relate to, i do find myself at home with the characters. The 18 episodes certainly aren't enough to fully expore them... the end of this show was like loosing a friend. For those of you who feel the same, you should get your hands on the Books by Paul Feig, it turns out a surprising number of the funniest moment of the series actually happened in Mr. Feigs youth. Including a few others that certainly are best left in the chapter of Superstud entitled "Please don't read this chapter".

3) Wonderfalls


An underachieving, pessimistic, self centred girl find that inanimate objects with faces talk to her and tell her to do things, some times good things (which she's generally apathetic to) somethings oddly evil things, either way things are not the same for anyone involved afterwards. This was a really interesting show with very cool characters. i morn it's 2004 demise. I count my self lucky to have seen it at all, as my girlfriend was the one who put me on to it long after it had disappeared.

In The Pits

All the way over the water, in a little place called Cambridge, Massachusetts there is a little known band you may not have heard of yet, but you will soon... Passion Pit. I came across their EP, Chunk of Change over the weekend and have fallen in love with it.



It's a wonderful mix of indie and that certain 80's electro-pop sound. It's like going back in time, but into the future. I know that doesn't make sense, but listen to their music and you'll understand. They're signed to Frenchkiss Records, a cool little indie label in New York, best known for signing The Hold Steady. Keep an eye on Passion Pit, they might just be the one of the best new indie bands around this year.

Much thanks to Oliver Lopeno for the photo and if you have some spare time, check out his awesome website and awesome music taste.

European Indie...?

Long time, no blog. My little sojourn over to Italy last week made me realise how bad some European music tastes can be. Although Livigno was a little tourist in parts, the music was an unfortunate mix of 80's and 90's poptacular crap. So, all this got me thinking, let's have a little look at the state of European indie, of course aided by our friends at Last.fm.

The tag "European Indie" was made by 8 people so already it's indie, but unfortunatly, none of these people know was "indie" actually means, with the number one on the list being Franz Ferdinand, who aren't really that indie (although the do come from the indie rock scene in the UK). In fact most of the bands on that list fall into that UK indie, but not really that indie, scene such as Bloc Party, Coldplay, The Streets, you can see where this is going. The only non-UK bands on the list, are Peter Bjorn & John, Carli Bruni (wife of the President of France), and psycho-electro-indie-rock band El Columpio Asesino.



The indiest band on the list are Go Ahead, Drink Drink, and indie pop punk band from Oslo, Norway. I have to say, I like the cover art. As for the music, it's not too bad. Reminds me of all the pop-punk I used to listen to in the before times, and is well worth checking out, even if you're not really into this kind of stuff. Even if it does have that overly American sound to it. Apparently their EP is out of May 26th, and I wouldn't mind getting myself a copy. Now, how much is postage from Norway to Ireland...?