
And now the final Best of 2009 post. After an exhaustive review of end of the year lists and some long forgotten playlists from earlier this year, I have culled together a bunch of songs that were simply "off my radar." This includes songs by artists I have never even heard of, as well as some stuff I had read about and downloaded, but then got lost in the gigabytes of my iTunes library. There is a broad mix of tunes here... indiepop, electronicexperimental, psychrockfreakout, southernmetal, synthfunk, and just plain rock 'n' roll. Have fun listening. This is [...]

Hastings Sunrise is easily my most overlooked album of '09. Vancouver's Apollo Ghosts debut is an often humorous and unabashedly sloppy good time. Fast and raw guitars, slow tremolo-infused strums, loose riffing vocals, male/female harmonies and whip-smart lyrics—it's a party where everyone's invited and is having a good time. Fans of the Modern Lovers, Saturday Looks Good To Me, and the Violent Femmes, please take note. Apollo Ghosts - "Land of the Morning Calm" (from Hastings Sunrise ) [...]

Are you fed up with all of the 2009 Year-End Online Music Lists yet? We're not! And clearly, since you're here and all, you're not either. Right on. What you'll find below is a list of our "top" 15 albums released in 2009. What does this mean? Our favorites? The best records we heard all year? Both, yes. These are the bests of our favorite albums that found their way to our ears this past year. The most favorite-bests, the ones we couldn't do without even if we tried. As we did last year , and the [...]
Dec 12, 2009, 3:34am
»78s
Apollo Ghosts und Forest Fire haben den Weg gerade noch rechtzeitig in den 78s-Radar gefunden. Ihre grandiosen Platten "Hastings Sunrise" und "Survival" wären sonst einfach vergessen gegangen. Der Dank geht an Catbirdseat Records, die in ihrem Dezember-Mix nochmals auf Apollo Ghosts aufmerksam gemacht haben und das zurecht. Drei Songs bietet das Label zum Download an [...]

Well, here she is: the last monthly mix of the year. This one, of course, is comprised of many of my favorite songs from 2009. If you want to listen to my other favorite songs from the year, you can go to 2009 Mix Archive page , where, for a limited time, I'm making all the year's mixes available. Enjoy. Apollo Ghosts - "Dobermans" Apollo Ghosts - "Land of the Morning Calm" [...]

Now in its third installment (check out 2008's list HERE and 2007 HERE ), EF's annual Breakout Bands feature essentially whittles down what every well-intentioned and hyperbolic blog, site, magazine (those still around?) and armchair critic under the sun brashly attempts on a daily basis: to recognize what's HOT now and what's about to become even HOTTER in the immediate future. Both a way to celebrate the acts that have transcended the slush pile and truly come into their own in 2009 as well as those future superstars poised to usher in a new decade [...]

Now in its third installment (check out 2008's list HERE and 2007 HERE ), EF's annual Breakout Bands feature essentially whittles down what every well-intentioned and hyperbolic blog, site, magazine (those still around?) and armchair critic under the sun brashly attempts on a daily basis: to recognize what's HOT now and what's about to become even HOTTER in the immediate future. Both a way to celebrate the acts that have transcended the slush pile and truly come into their own in 2009 as well as those future superstars poised to usher in a new decade [...]

Shonen Knife has a song called "Ramones Forever," and that song alone tells you pretty much everything you need to know about the all-female pop-punk trio. On Sunday night at the Biltmore, the long-running Japanese band (now in its 19th year of existence) performed a set of bubblegum surf punk, with nearly every song sounding like a carbon copy of the Ramones . Take for example, the bouncy "Johnny Johnny Johnny," which sounded near-identical to "I Wanna Be Sedated." None of this mattered, however, since the ladies of Shonen Knife were fucking adorable. "Banana Chips" [...]
Hello abonné(e)s du Choix, followers ou facebook-friends ! Comme vous avez pu le constater, le site est indisponible, pour vous et pour moi. La raison étant qu'il a été suspendu par mon hébergeur car il consommait trop de ressources du serveur dont il dépend. C'est un serveur mutualisé, c'est-à-dire qu'on est plusieurs à l'utiliser et pour des raisons qui m'ont été communiquées, j'ai fait péter le seuil autorisé de ressources utilisées pour un seul site ! C'est en partie de votre faute, [...]
As I was perusing Foote's rather excellent Labor Day mix post, I realized that I had some jams that had yet to make it into the wonderful world of the Muffin. I don't think I could dedicate an entire post to each of these songs, but it seemed almost negligent ...
Jul 31, 2009, 2:55pm
MBV

Apollo Ghosts - "Land of the Morning Calm" Apollo Ghosts , makers of My most favoritest album of the year , kick off a Pacific Northwest tour tonight. I predict that they are going to blow away the crowd at every one of these shows, resulting in me quickly selling out of the scant few copies of the Hastings Sunrise LP that we still have in stock at Catbird Recs . Dates: 7/31 - Vancouver, BC - Hoko's 8/1 - Bellingham, WA - [...]

Apollo Ghosts , makers of My most favoritest album of the year , kick off a Pacific Northwest tour tonight. I predict that they are going to blow away the crowd at every one of these shows, resulting in me quickly selling out of the scant few copies of the Hastings Sunrise LP that we still have in stock at Catbird Recs . Dates: 7/31 - Vancouver, BC - Hoko's 8/1 - Bellingham, WA - Friendship City 8/2 - Seattle, WA - Chai House 8/4 [...]
by kevin diamond Summer may or may not be here, depending on the day. I spent a 4th of July in the epic sunlight of a far away island, and it sure felt like summer. Today, gray clouds converge above a morose borough. Can we blame them? Summers contain endless joys and subtle pains: Freewheeling shards of sunshine, and crispy skin burnt by that sun's same rays. A week ago I saw a rainbow. Last night a full moon. Mother nature has many faces and she shows them [...]

Heartbreak Tango begins with a carefully curated mix, featuring 23 tracks both new and classic. Highlights include new music from The Radio Dept,. The Very Best, and Dappled Cities, as well as permanently great songs by Paul Simon, former Hot Chip drummer Grovesnor, and much more. Complete Tracklist after the jump. The Heartbreak Tango Mix is released every Monday. The cover of this week's HKTM was taken in Slieve League, County Donegal, Ireland, in June of 2008. Download Complete Tracklist: [...]
Jun 5, 2009, 4:31pm
MBV

MP3: Kurt Vile - "Freeway" MP3: Apollo Ghosts - "Scott, Painter" MP3: George Washington Brown - "A Good Year" MP3: Apollo Ghosts - "Little Yokohama" MP3: Little Girls - "What We Did" MP3: Sisters - "Glue" MP3: Jail - "No Mindless Love" MP3: [...]

Here's the new Catbirdseat Mix for you; as always, grab 'em below or go thru the mix link in the sidebar. Kurt Vile - "Freeway" Apollo Ghosts - "Scott, Painter" George Washington Brown - "A Good Year" Apollo Ghosts - "Little Yokohama" Little Girls - "What We Did" Sisters - "Glue" Jail - "No Mindless Love" [...]
Click here to view the embedded video. Best new artist this year; most exciting band to come down the pipes in a few. Check out Catbirdseat for more deets on getting your hands on their excellent record Hastings Sunrise. It's a beautiful day out and I've decided to enjoy my vacation back in Boston by hitting some golf balls; plus I'm a little wrecked from the amazing Viva Voce show last night. They tore up Great Scott's and represented Portland well.
May 29, 2009, 11:30am
MBV
Apollo Ghosts "I Won't Support Your Love" The Jarvis Cocker song featured here last week examined the inner life of a terrible boyfriend, but this track by the Apollo Ghosts comes at the same topic from a perspective more of us are likely to share: The friend or sibling who struggles to be supportive of someone whose taste in suitors is extremely and consistently poor. I can't imagine anyone reading this has ever not felt exactly like this about someone or other at some point, or all the time. The song is simple and direct; [...]
Apollo Ghosts "I Won't Support Your Love" The Jarvis Cocker song featured here last week examined the inner life of a terrible boyfriend, but this track by the Apollo Ghosts comes at the same topic from a perspective more of us are likely to share: The friend or sibling who struggles to be supportive of someone whose taste in suitors is extremely and consistently poor. I can't imagine anyone reading this has ever not felt exactly like this about someone or other at some point, or all the time. The song is simple [...]
May 28, 2009, 4:10pm
MBV

Apollo Ghosts - Hastings Sunrise Out now on Catbird Records In addition to the brand-new Apollo Ghosts' Forgotten Triangle EP , Catbird Records is also offering a very-limited edition (100 copies) repressing of Hastings Sunrise , on 180g marbled vinyl (CD and digital also available). MP3: Apollo Ghosts - "Dobermans" / "Land of the Morning Calm" Stream: Hastings [...]