
Ever Nalens This isn't quite an introduction as I first said hello to A Sunny Day In Glasgow back in December 2006 , but considering they're far from the same band they were at the time of their first EP, I think we can let it slide. When I first took notice of the Philadelphia outfit, they were a family unit - Ben Daniels on songwriting and instrumentation with twin sisters Robin and Lauren on vocals - with some clear genetic predilection for blending wispy melodies with fuzzy, clattering programming and cut-and-paste production, the [...]

Tomorrow is International Women's Day 2010. It is, according to the event's website , "a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future". The day has been celebrated for over a hundred years and is actually a public holiday in many countries, including China, Russia, Bulgaria and Vietnam. It's not a holiday in Ireland but there are a lot of events taking place to celebrate the day, which you can read about here . The University of Limerick is hosting an International Women's Day Conference entitled "Women & Recession: [...]

... und damit sind wir fast schon in der Gegenwart. Mit dem erstellen unseres Jahresrückblicks 2009 wollten wir nämlich, genau wie mit einem letzten Rückblick auf die vergangenen zehn Jahre, wenigstens warten, bis die 1 an der vorletzten Stelle der Jahreszahl steht. Und das ist ja nun seit drei Tagen der Fall. Konzert des Jahres Schon als ich auf dem Konzert war, wusste ich, dass ich es so schnell nicht vergessen werde: Gisbert zu Knyphausen auf dem elterlichen Weingut in Eltville . Es war einfach ein zu [...]
I've missed far too much music in the past year to make a proper best of list, so instead, here's a list of 22 songs that I've loved from 2009. Listed in alphabetical order, not preference. Even though all of them are bloody good. 4 or 5 Magicians - Preaching to the Converted So 2009 didn't turn out to be the year that 4 or 5 Magicians finally "made it". They did manage to put out their first proper album though, and despite a few missteps, it's an excellent start. [...]
#10 - Emmy the Great - " Absentee " (from First Love ) For a while I was 100% head-over-heels obsessed with this song early this year, around the time I was making a mix for a friend - so I titled the mix "No Stitches" from a line taken from the song. The melody is gorgeous - and though it's strange to count a song about loss among my favorites this year, it's because Emmy completely holds my heart in her hand. #9 - [...]
JP's Blog wishes you a Merry Christmas! If you celebrate it.Belle & Sebastian - 12 Days of Christmas [Alt]The Flaming Lips - White Christmas [Alt]Yo La Tengo - Rock N Roll Santa [Alt] Click the link to read more

Toronto - Albums are such a funny thing. For an album to sound right, you need to have a) the appropriate amount of time b) the right mood c) mark's crazy stereo system most of the time, I do not have choice #c, so I rely on my headphones instead. I use: Grado SR60 when I'm at work. This is because it's very comfortable, and it also bleeds music, so I can subliminally affect peoples music tastes around me. Sometimes people can [...]
In the wide world of promotional videos, performance videos are usually pretty hohum. They're usually filmed as almost an afterthought, something record companies decide to video last minute because they need to come up with a promo video - and quick. So unless I'm really in love with a band, I usually can't warm up to them. Here's the video for Ash 's 'Joy Kicks Darkness', the second ('B') single of their A-Z singles series, directed by Josh Kletzkin. I'm really liking the direction of their new sound: the guitars and [...]
Enjoy their gorgeous collaborative rendition of 'Tracers' in the feature below. MP3: Ash - You Can't Have It All

Blood Warrior - Winter's Day (Demo)(mp3) Blood Warrior ( myspace ) is a side project from Greg Jamie of O'Death , and if that band can best be considered a reckless, moonshine-soaked back porch end-times bonfire blow-out, this one -- for good and ill -- might serve as aftermath. The friends and strangers who haven't staggered away or paired up and fucked off sit circle-round, nursing empties and poking embers, and slap together songs to shield themselves from the dread of daybreak. The strongest moments, among the demos I've [...]

It has been a strange year for music when you consider that the world's biggest-selling new artist lives 25 miles down the road yet has barely had a mention on The Pop Cop or any other Scottish blog. It's also been a strange year for albums. I've probably loved more albums this year than any other but the difference is that I haven't obsessed over any of them. 2009 didn't provide a Boxer or an Alligator or a Funeral, but that doesn't stop me feeling anything other than genuine exhilaration for every [...]
ash - tracers [check out the wonderful 4th single for their A-Z bi-weekly single project. 'tracers' is ash's 'D' release for the month of december] ash feat emmy the great - tracers [tim wheeler invited emmy the great to perform an acoustic version of their current song. we love ash and we love emmy the great, so this is really a nice lil treat for us fans!] http://feeds.feedburner.com/Wo ngiesMusicWorld

John Prine recorded "Christmas In Prison" for his third album, in 1973, two years after he recorded "Paradise." In the interest of actually getting something posted today (sorry for the slack over the weekend) , I won't tell you all about each individual track, but there's a decent amount of variety here, so be sure to get 'em all. As always, I recommend the zipfile. Also, there are a lot of covers on YouTube. ( 1 2 3 4 5 should get you started.) [...]
Finally, I've got round to compiling my albums of 2009. I've got a top 20. Not a top 10 because there's always more than ten records I'd like to mention. Not a top 30 or 50 because there seems little point in grading anything any further. Basically, ten albums I ...

This is a little collection of music which are just some of my favourite Christmas tracks, ranging from classic rock, indie numbers, crooners, jazz tracks and folk duets. This mix has been made to enjoy for an hour or so, but hopefully this will show some of you guys that there can be good Christmas music. Please buy any of the albums that the songs are from (except for the God awful RTL Christmas Fever), they are some of the best of the best. I've added some links to buy a couple of these Christmas album classics. [...]

43. The xx 'xx' (Young Turks) - Spellbindingly pivotal to life's progression. 42. Calvin Harris 'Ready For The Weekend' (Sony) - Yeah, alright. Just stop shoving your face in the videos. 41. Miike Snow 'Miike Snow' (Downtown) - A sweet 'n' nice supplement to a dark day. [...]

Photography by Me! With the pilgrimage complete and honourable mentions dutifully listed and out of the way , it is time to start the list proper-style. Today, No. 35 to No. 17, aka, The Opening Acts! I'm so excited! Are you? What? Why 35? Why 17? Fair enough, question and we've probably got a lot of newcomers around, so let me quickly explain. Tomorrow's mixtape fit the top 16 albums, so starting at No. 17 [...]
Considering its the year I decided to pen 'Thoughts for Tonight'; the self-indulging, British, rant about what's good on this side of 'the pond', it was an incredibly disheartening task coming up with an end of year list. Yet, after much careful deliberation, many re-listens and such extensive hair-pulling, that it looks like I've had [...] Related posts: Thoughts for Tonight: Geddes About five years, in a rather misguided part of... Thoughts for Tonight: Codeine Velvet Club To be underwhelmed by The [...]

While it's fairly common for artists to perform a cover every once in a while, it's much rarer (and more interesting) for a band to incorporate a cover into one of their own songs. Much of the time, the "song within a song" is done to add weight or resonance to the track, reinforce it's meaning, or pay tribute to the original artist. Or they could just be doing it for the hell of it, but if artists can pull it off well, it can make an already good song even better. Here are some of some songs within songs [...]