news auf cloudberry records , termin für diese schweden ist der zehnte im februar, sahnepoptorte: sad day for puppets - again die zweiten im bunde auf cloudberry sind diese truppe gemixt aus schweden und germans, ihr 2track werk erscheint im märz, dem späten: bonne idée - a dream of you sehr schöne nachricht auch, dass dieser herr nachlegt, seinem exzellenten "proove of love" lässt er ende märz "my hands are on [...]
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Bettie Serveert : "Semaphore" [mp3] from Pharmacy of Love (out March 23rd) Bettie Serveert : "The Pharmacy" [mp3] from Pharmacy of Love (out March 23rd) other Bettie Serveert posts at Largehearted Boy Blue Beard : "Losing You" [mp3] from Looking Towards The Sky: Progressive, Psychedelic [...]

Joanna Newsom - "Have One on Me" (23.02.2010, Drag City) Tracklist: Disc One 1. "Easy" 2. "Have One on Me" 3. "'81" 4. "Good Intentions Paving Company" 5. "No Provenance" 6. "Baby Birch" Disc Two 1. "On a Good Day" 2. "You and [...]

A few days before next month's SXSW Festival here in Austin, there's another festival going on a few hours up the road in nearby Denton. Set to take place on March 11th-14th , the NX35 Music Conferette boasts an impressive lineup with the likes of Midlake , Neon Indian , Pattern Is Movement , Pomegranates , The Black Angels , Via Audio , The Flaming Lips , and many others. Single night all-venue tickets are only $20, with the all-access tickets going for $65. Purchase [...]
After Sunday's Virgin of the Birds videos , these are the Broken Records songs from the New Year's Eve house gig. The stunning Aleko, above, is an exclusive (ZOMG!!!1!), and will be the b-side to their next single. The lads have also begun work on their second album, which will be out on 4AD some time this year, presumably, and we were treated to an exclusive preview of a song from that album, but I am not allowed to show you that on the internet because it's a secret. See - that's why you should [...]
On New Year's Eve 2009, instead of fighting the crowds in the centre of Edinburgh, we decided to take it a little bit easier and stay back in the house. By sheer coincidence Jon Rooney from Virgin of the Birds got in touch to say that he would be visiting Edinburgh and to ask if there was any possibility of doing something, like a live show or a Toad Session while he was over. We were somewhat restricted by the fact that Mrs. Toad and I were only getting back from visiting the Toads -in-Law on New Year's [...]
As many of you are well aware, Denton, TX 2nd Annual NX35 Music Conferette is fast approaching. March 11th-14th to be precise. It is a time of complete wonder and beauty and wonderfully beautiful music all around you. If you missed it last year… well, just don't make that mistake again this year. Many agree that it might just be the best damn thing that has ever happened to this sleepy little town and, really, the general region of north Texas all together. Many more bands have submitted from the previous year, and many have [...]

A very good but nevertheless manageable week in Edinburgh this week, with a couple of extremely good gigs coming at the end of the week, but things being relatively calm until then. I have just about finished editing the videos from the Song, by Toad New Year's house gig. I spent all Saturday mixing the audio (under supervision) and now have four Virgin of the Birds videos and four by Jamie and Rory from Broken Records. All that remains is to check with the bands that they're happy with what I post, because a couple of [...]
Welcome to the live broadcast of the third Song, by Toad house gig. This will go live from about eight or nine pm UK time on New Year's Eve 2009, and there's some sort of chat wotsit to be found here , which Mrs. Toad will be using for the duration of the gig. To find out more about the bands, go to the respective MySpace pages for Broken Records and Virgin of the Birds . The player is below the fold, because it slows the whole page down apparently, so to watch the [...]

You can guess a person's age by their wrinkles, skin tone, voice, laughter lines, sagginess... and how they choose to spend Hogmanay. TEENAGERS: Miraculously immune to the cold, they can be found in mini-skirts and paper-thin shirts, soaking up the great outdoors at a plastic-strewn city-centre street party whilst trying to avoid being felt up by strangers. EARLY 20s : It's time to go indoors for that annual dose of ticketed fun, almost certainly at an overpriced nightclub or awkwardly underpopulated gig venue. [...]

Not surprisingly, this list is filled with EPs by quite a few bands you know and quite a few you probably don't. Of the ones you don't know, many are likely from Washington; a quick count leaves me with five bands, or 1/4 of this list. Many of these bands I consider among the most promising artists to surface in 2009. All are worth checking out, and you'll want to keep an eye on them as we head into 2010. I titled the above image of my cousin Danny [...]

I suspect there's probably loads of stuff going on in Edinburgh this week, but I am in the middle of France, and I will be cooking mixed clams with some fennel and Pastis and star anise in a moment or so, so frankly I can't be bothered looking gigs up for you. You might try this , if you're really keen. As far as I personally am concerned, there is only one real gig this week, and that is our New Year's House Gig on the 31st (no shit, really, the 31st?). Playing will be Virgin of [...]

36. Wild Beasts - All The King's Men The vocals are weird, but there's something about a large chunk of this record which I find absolutely compelling. I love Ben's voice, for starters, and this song probably highlights it better than any other. 37. Virgin of the Birds - Ilona, You Should Still Be My Vampire Attendant Quite apart from the weird start, this is just a song based around a single, simple, brilliant hook. So infectious I simply can't stop humming it to myself. And he's [...]

Let me tell you a story. In 2007 some notable things happened. I attended the annual music festival SXSW (the image above is of myself and The Lovely Sparrows' Shawn Jones, taken by Abandoned Love Records/Virgin Of The Birds' Jon Rooney), I grew a mustache, and I met a beautiful girl named Andi. She was waiting for her uncle (Eno of Spoon) at the Capitol Hill Block Party. We hit it off and ditched the after-party to get a sprite (her) and coffee (me) at Denny's in Ballard (sadly no longer there) at 1:30am. I [...]

The Seattle DIY king (Levi Fuller) returns with his next Ball Of Wax comp. This time, it's themed. Each song is between one and two minutes in length, hence the album's name, Ball Of Wax 18: One Minute Singles . You'll see some FensePost local favorites in there, including Levi Fuller (Mr. Seattle DIY himself), Virgin Of The Birds (pictured), Dandelion Gold, Webelos, Open Fire Choir, and Poland. To celebrate its launch, there's gonna be a SHOW! More on that soon, [...]
yesterday marked the end of my 4th year using last.fm. i've been capturing my complete artist and song charts on december 12th each year to track how my listening habits change over time. in addition to tracking the progression of my overall charts , i also note the top songs and artists of each 12 month period. so here are the 5 artists and songs that i listened to the most from 12/12/08 to 12/12/09… Top 5 artists of 2009 1) Destroyer (723 plays) 2) Guided by voices (400) [...]

This new year Mrs. Toad and I will be avoiding the crowds in the centre of town. We will be doing this for two reasons: firstly, because we're a pair of antisocial misanthropes and second, because we will have a guest from the States who would like to do something musical. The result? The third Toad House Gig, this time going head to head with the nation's most powerful promoters on the biggest party night in the world - bring it on, bitches! Actually, we just wanted to avoid the mayhem in the centre of town, and this [...]

dali's madonna of the birds mp3: virgin of the birds - ilona, you should still be my vampire attendant i am fat and forgetful. fat with music at least. my computer tells me i downloaded every rival way back in july, yet i just "discovered" it for the first time a couple weeks ago. i've listened to the ep over a dozen times since though, so i guess i'm making up for lost time. on tracks 2-5, the singer continually brings dan bejar to mind, both in [...]
The end of the present decade is only days away, so our Frank Deserto has undertaken the massive task of presenting the highs and lows of each year. Today he kicks off this nine-part series with a look back on 2000. Hit us with your memories on 2000 in the comment section! As the clock approached the midnight hour on December 31, 1999, the entire world was aflutter. Some folks were concerned that life on earth would end at the zero hour, while others were expecting the 2000s to be a decade filled with technological innovation, [...]

Before it evolved into "1st Quarter 2010 New Releases", this list was going to be a lot of things, "Top 50 New Releases of 20103, "Top 100 New Releases of 20103, "Top 150 New Releases of 20103 etc., etc. After realizing that a complete list of 2010 upcoming was an impossibility (or a least a gargantuan task I didn't want to take on), I decided to stick with Q1 2010. I've got a lot more info for the rest of the year, (which I plan on eventually posting), but for now, bask in this selective, yet arbitrary list of upcoming [...]