28 February 2023

Like a ‘Lil Boll Weval

Top of the Pops 28 
 
 

 

Weval is a techno-pop collaboration between Harm Coolen & Merijn Scholte Albers from Amsterdam, Netherlands. Harm is influenced by jazz & house music, Merijn's background is more triphop & rock orientated. Because of their different backgrounds they blend the best of these genres together in their combined work. 

 

Weval - The Weight, Kompact Kompact CD 151, 2019.
decryption code in comments

The Weight
Roll Together
Are You Even Real
False State of Mind
Someday
Heaven. Listen
Couldn't do it Better
Same Little Thing
Silence on the Wall
Look Around
Doesn't do Anything
Heartbreak Television
Who's Running Who

Carry that weight,

27 February 2023

The Air up Here is Rich

Top of the Pops 27 
 
 

 

Mansionair is a synth-pop band from from Sydney, Australia. Their sound features smooth falsetto vocals with crisp reverb-washed guitars, shimmering synths, & lively drums that create their smoky, atmospheric music.

Thing began for Mansionair in 2014 when singer Jack Froggatt accepted an invitation to provide vocals for "Hold Me Down", a synth-pop tune from producer/guitarist Lachlan Bostock & producer/drummer Alex Nicholls. The song was an instant sensation. 

Thus Mansionair. 

 

Mansionair - Shadowboxer, Glassnote GLS-0249-02, 2019.
decryption code in comments

Est.
Alibi
Easier
Technicolour
Heartbeat
Astronaut (Something about Your Love)
Violet City
We Could Leave
Shadows
Waiting Room
Falling
Sierra (interlude)
Harlem
Best Behaviour
I Won't Take no for an Answer
Heirloom

I'd like a box for that shadow,

26 February 2023

It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood

Top of te Pops 26 
 
 

 

The Neighbourhood (sometimes rendered as "THE NBHD") is an American pop-rock band formed in Newbury Park, California, in 2011. The band is composed of vocalist Jesse Rutherford, guitarists Jeremy Freedman & Zach Abels, & bassist Mikey Margot.

Wiped Out! has been described as surf music for street goths & beach bums with bad attitudes. 

 

The Neighboorhood - Wiped Out!, Columbia 88875 15189 2, 2015.
decryption code in comments

A Moment of Silence
Prey
Cry Baby
Wiped Out!
The Beach
Daddy Issues
Baby Came Home 2 / Valentines
Greetings from Califournia
Ferrari
Single
R.I.P. 2 My Youth

There goes the neighbourhood,

25 February 2023

Tonight’s Forecast is for Max Frost

Top of the Pops 25 
 
 

 

Max Frost is the performing sobriquet of singer, songwriter, producer, & multi-instrumentalist Matthew Alexander Frost of Austin, Texas. Not only is Max proficient with multiple instruments, but his songwriting & dynamic voice include elements of surprise. The sounds ebb & flow with fierce fiery fluidity, danceable grooves melt into psychedelics only to dissolve into pop hooks as a guitar solo manifests.

 

Max Frost - Low High Low, Atlantic 536536-1, 2013.
all decryption codes in cmments


Side A -
White Lies
Nice & Slow

Side B -
Glow Long
Suspended Animation
Be Who You Want to Be

 

 

 

 

Max Frost - Intoxication, Atlantic 552137-2, 2015.

Withdrawal
Paranoia
Let Me Down Easy
Blind Fool
$Dreams
Die Young

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

24 February 2023

Brief Interlude

 

Back in October last I posted an old bit I’d written years ago called To EXCESS!! (for Charles Bukowski).

At the very bottom I snuck in a link to "The Most (in Dub)" from the super rare Bukowski in Dub release. 

A friend asked if I could post up that album in its entirety, but I'm sworn not to, but I decided to let slip another track, "Born Into This" from that album. 

Enjoy,

Uploading Some Big Data

Top of the Pops 24
 
 

 

Big Data is the electro-pop project led by producer Alan Wilkis from Brooklyn, New York.

If you've been following along on this journey, you'll recognize many of the featured arists from other releases.

Big Data - 2.0, Warner Bros. Records Inc. 2-545727, 2015.
all decryption codes in comments

The Business of Emotion (featuring White Sea)
Dangerous (featuring Joywave)
Clean (featuring Jamie Lidell)
The Glow (featuring Kimbra)
Snowed In (featuring Rivers Cuomo)
Big Dater
Automatic (featuring Jenn Wasner)
Get Some Freedom (featuring Dragonette)
Sick for Me (featuring Bear Hands)
Perfect Holiday (featuring Twin Shadow) 
Big Data - 3.0, Wilcassettes WILC005DA, 2019.

Slay (vocals - L1ZY)
Evolution Once Again
See Through (vocals - L1ZY)
Put Me to Work
Unglued
Monster (vocals - Jamie Lidell)
Give Me Life
Evolutional (vocals - L1ZY)
Candy
Live Forever (vocals - MNDR)

When size matters,

23 February 2023

I Got Nothin’

Top of the Pops 23 
 
 

 

alt-J is an indiepop band founded in 2007 in Leeds, England. The band's actual name is the triangle-shaped symbol Δ (the capital Greek letter delta). The band often makes references to triangles (ex. the song "Tesselate" mentions "triangles are my favourite shape"). Alt-J comes from the key sequence used to generate the symbol Δ on an Apple Mac computer: Alt+J.

Δ is: Joe Newman - guitar & vocals; Gus Unger-Hamilton - keyboards; & Thom Green - drums. 

 

Alt-J - Relaxer, Infectious Music 560179-2, 2017.
decryption code in comments

3WW with Ellie Rowsell
In Cold Blood
House of the Rising Sun
Hit Me like That Snare
Deadcrush
Adeline
Last Year with Marika Hackman
Pleader

Alt-NØ,

22 February 2023

Pessimist or Optimist??? Half-dead or Half-alive?

Top of the Pops 22
 
 

 

half•alive is an indie-pop band from Long Beach, California, formed in 2016.

Josh Taylor had previously been lead singer for The Moderates. The band released their debut EP Colour in 2013.

In November 2015, Taylor announced that he had embarked on a seven-month songwriting program several months prior during which he hoped to write 50 songs, a project that would eventually end on December 30. Drummer Brett Kramer, who Taylor had met when they attended the same non-denominational church, joined him on the project. The duo decided to form a band in 2016 while "watching the songs evolve as they were working together." They recruited Tyler Johnson as bassist. 

 

half•alive - Now, Not Yet, RCA 19075-97815-2, 2019.
decryption code in comments

OK OK?
Runaway
Maybe
The Notion
Still Feel
Trust
Arrow
Pure Gold
Ice Cold
Rest
Breakfast
Creature

Either way, glad to be,

21 February 2023

The Air Seems Kinda Different Here

Top of the Pops 21
 
 

 

Foreign Air is an enigmatic electro-indie/alt-pop duo in the vein of Glass Animals. They began as a long-distance project between members of bands including North Carolina’s multi-instrumentalist Jesse Classen of the Bear Romantic & bass player Jacob Michael of Washinton, D.C.'s U.S. Royalty. The two now live & play together in Los Angeles. 

 

Foreign Air - Foreign Air EP, self-released, 2018.
decryption code in comments

Loud Magic
Chakra Demon
Free Animal
In the Shadows
Call Off the Dogs
Echo
Caffeine
Lying
Better for It

Take a breath,

20 February 2023

Oceans Two

Top of the Pops 20 
 
 



Polyenso is an American Indie pop-rock band originating from St. Petersburg, Florida, 

The band is: Brennan Taulbee - lead vocals & keyboards; Alexander Schultz - vocals &multi-instrumentalist; & Denny  Agosto - drums & percussion. 

The band's members were all at one point in the post-hardcore band Oceana. 

 

Polyenso - Pure in the Plastic (expanded release), Tone Tree Music, 2016.
decryption code in comments

17 New Years
Where to Grow (Where to Be Born)
I.W.W.I.T.I.W.
Not My Real Life
/// (A Pool Worth Diving In)
Price
Every Single Time
Let it Go
Osaka Son
Moona Festival

bonus tracks -
Soda Pop Fiction
Soda Pop Fiction (instrumental)
Best of Friends
Best of Friends (instrumental)
Not My Real Life (instrumental)
I.W.W.I.T.I.W. (instrumental)

Fiction or real life,

19 February 2023

Walk, Don’t Croll

Top of the Pops 19 
 
 



Dan Croll is a British indie artist from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. He attended the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, where he won the national Songwriter of the Year award from the Musicians' Benevolent Fund.

Here's his second full-length & a set of his singles. 

 

Dan Croll - Emerging Adulthood, Communion Records COMM176, 2017.
all decryption codes in comments


One of Us
Bad Boy
24
January
Sometimes When I'm Lonely
Swim
Educate
Away from Today
Do You Have To?
Tokyo 

 

 

 

 


From Nowhere
Compliment Your Soul
Only Ghost
In / Out featuring Dustin Wong
Can You Hear Me?
Nobody Knows
On Top
Why are You Hiding Away?
Big One
Another Way In

Such sweet disarray,

18 February 2023

Make a Joyful Wave

Top of the Pops 18 
 
 



Joywave is an eclectic alt-pop group from Rochester, NY helmed by Daniel Armbruster. After the success of 2013s 88888 mixtape, they started their own imprint CultCo Music. They released their debut How Do You Feel Now? in 2015. 

 

Joywave - How Do You Feel Now?, CultCo Music D001915892, 2015.
all decryption codes in comments


Somebody New
Carry Me
Tongues featuring Kopps
Destruction
Now
Parade
In Clover
Feels like a Lie
Traveling at the Speed of Light
Nice House
Bad Dreams 

 

 

 



Here's a recent live one.

Joywave - Live 2xLP, Hollywood Records D004097301, 2022.

Side A -
Intro (Live)
Cyn City 2000
Buy American
It's a Trip!
Obsession
After Coffee

Side B -
Every Window is a Mirror
Coming Apart
Half Your Age
Traveling at the Speed of Light
The Inversion

Side C -
F.E.A.R.
True Grit
Somebody New
Ugly Ending (Best Frenz song)
Goodbye Tommy

Side D -
We are All We Need
Tongues
Dangerous (Big Data song)
Destruction
Double Destruction

Wave bye,

17 February 2023

On the Banks of the Thames

Top of the Pops 17 
 
 



Jacob Akintayo Akinoso is a Nigerian born blues-pop indie-soul singer / songwriter now based in the UK.  He performs under the name Jacob Banks. 

 

Jacob Banks - Village, Interscope Records 0602577085123, 2018.
decryption code in comments

Chainsmoking
Love ain't Enough
Mexico
Prosecco
Kumbaya featuring Bibi Bourelly
Slow Up
Grown Up featuring Nana
Keeps Me Going
Be Good to Me featuring Seinabo Sey
Nostalgia
Caroline
Witness
Unknown (to You)
Peace of Mind

It takes a village to raise a child,

16 February 2023

Hot Peanuts or...

Top of the Pops 16
 
 

 

Hot Chip are an English indie band from London, launched in 2000. The group consists of multi-instrumentalists Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke, & Felix Martin, with Rob Smoughton & Leo Taylor filling out the line-up for live performances. 

 

Hot Chip - Made in the Dark, EMI 5179172, 2008.
all decryption codes in comments


Out at the Pictures
Shake a Fist
Ready for the Floor
Bendable Poseable
We're Looking for a Lot of Love
Touch too Much
Made in the Dark
One Pure Thought
Hold On
Wrestlers
Don't Dance
Whistle for Will
In the Privacy of Our Love 

 

 

 

 

Hot Chip - A Bath Full of Ecstasy (Japan edition), Beat Records BRC-603, 2019.

Melody of Love
Spell
Bath Full of Ecstasy
Echo
Hungry Child
Positive
Why Does My Mind
Clear Blue Skies
No God

bonus tracks (for Japan)
None of These Things
Spell (Superorganism remix)
 
 
 


Found this the other day over at The Swamp while I was working on stuff. Hot Chip mix up their 2008 album Made In The Dark, which celebrates it's 15th anniversary this year. 
 
 
 

One Pure Thought
Don't Dance
Ready for the Floor
Bendable Poseable
Shake a Fist
Hold On
We're Looking for a Lot of Love

Bath time,

15 February 2023

That Man from Lisbon

Top of the Pops 15 - - - Do You Feel it Still? 
 
 



Portugal.The Man is American indie band formed in Wasilla, Alaska in 2004, now based in Portland, Oregon. John Baldwin Gourley & Zach Carothers attended Wasilla High School together & in 2001 started playing music together in the band Anatomy of a Ghost. After moving to Portland, line-up shake-ups occurred. Drummer Jason Sechrist joined & is a pernament fixture. The current roll is: Gourley; Carothers; Sechrist; along with Kyle O’Quin - vocals, piano, & guitar; Eric Howk - vocals & guitar; & Zoe Manville - vocals. 

 

Portugal. The Man - American Ghetto, Equal Vision Records EVR185, 2010.
all decryption codes in comments

The Dead Dog
Break
60 Years
All My People
1000 Years
Fantastic Pace
The Pushers Party
Do What We Do
Just a Fool
Some Men
When the War Ends
 
 
 
 

My daughter Lao is both my fiercest & fairest critic. When she was checking out this post she sez: 
 
     "If you don't share In the Mountain in the Cloud, well, that sucks."  
 
I try not to suck too bad, so...& besides, she's right as usual. So here goes...




Portugal. The Man - In the Mountain in the Cloud, Atlantic 7567-88272-3, 2011.

So American
Floating (Time isn’t Working My Side)
Got it All (This Can’t be Living Now)
Senseless
Head is Flame (Cool with It)
You Carried Us (Share with Me the Sun)
Everything You See (Kids Count Hallelujahs)
All Your Light (Times like These)
Once was One
Share with Me the Sun
Sleep Forever
 
 
 

& now it's time for the music fest... 
 
 
Portugal. The Man - Woodstock (Russian version), Warner Music Russia 563738-2, 2017.

Number One featuring Richie Havens & Son Little
Easy Tiger
Live in the Moment
Feel it Still
Rich Friends
Keep On
So Young
Mr. Lonely
Tidal Wave featuring Fat Lip
Noise Pollution (Version A) featuring Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Feel It Still bonus tracks -
Feel It Still (Lido remix)
Feel it Still (Madasin remix)
Feel it Still (Ofenbach remix)
Feel it Still (Vk.com acoustic sessions)

I berian, you berian, we all berian,

14 February 2023

24 Inch Music

St. Valentine's Day Top of the Pops 14 
 



New York City's Zachary William "Bill" Dess is Two Feet & yes, he has. "I Feel like I'm Drowning" reached number one on the US Alternative Songs chart in 2018. 

 

Two Feet - A 20 Something Fuck, Republic Records, 2018.
decryption code in comments

Intro
You Say
I Feel like I'm Drowning
Felt like Playing Guitar & not Singing
Hurt People
Not a Radio Song
Back of My Mind
Same Old Song (S.O.S. Part 1)

From this 70 Something fuck,

13 February 2023

You’re so Sly, Sir

Top of the Pops 13 
 
 



Sir Sly is an American indie-pop band based out of Orange County, California. The band is made up of vocalist Landon Jacobs with instrumentalists Jason Suwito & Hayden Coplen. 

 

Sir Sly - You Haunt Me, Cherrytree Records B0021460-02, 2014.
decryption code in comments

Where I'm Going
Ghost
Gold
You Haunt Me
Found You Out
Nowhere / Bloodlines Pt. I
Inferno
Leave You
Floods
Too Far Gone
Helpless / Bloodlines Pt. II

Yes sir,

12 February 2023

Hand Me Down that Maeson Jar

Top of the Pops 12 
 
 



Matt Maeson grew up in Norfolk, Virginia. His parents were juvenile delinquents who later became "musicianaries". He was banned from listening to secular rock music on the radio until he was a teenager. He first performed at biker rallies & prisons with his parents' ministry.

Matt's song "Cringe" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in August 2019, the longest running number-one single by a new artist that year. August 2020, Maeson returned to number one on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart with "Hallucinogenics", which went on to top the Billboard Rock Airplay chart one week later. 

 

Matt Maeson - Who Killed Matt Maeson, Neon Gold, 2019.
decryption code in comments

Cringe
Grave Digger
Me & My Friends Are Lonely
Straight Razor
Tribulation
Twenty Twelve
Put it on Me
Hallucinogenics
The Hearse
Cliffy
Unconditional
Mr. Rattlebone
Cringe (stripped)

Roll out the welcome Matt,

11 February 2023

It’s a National Habit

Top of the Pops 11 
 
 



Grand National was a London indie pop duo made up of Lawrence 'La' Rudd & Rupert Lyddon. 

 

Grand National - Kicking the National Habit, Sunday Best Recordings Sbestcd3, 2004.
all decryption codes in comments

Drink to Moving On
Talk Amongst Yourselves
Playing in the Distance
Boner
Peanut Dreams
Cherry Tree
Coming Round
Daylight Goes
North Sound Off
Litter Bin 
 
 
 
 
 
Grand National - B-Sides, Remixes, & Rarities, Sunday Best Recordings sbestcd15, 2007.

Your Rules Obey
Sixty Seven Up
Leaves
Rabbit Faces
Strange Magnificent Noise
Lay Me Down
Criminal
Playing in the Distance (The Glimmers' Glimmmix)
Rub Your Potion
Talk Amongst Yourselves (Sasha Remix)

Talk amongst yourselves,

10 February 2023

Liberty is a Broken Bell

Top of the Pops 10 
 



American indie duo of artist-producer Brian Burton (better known as Danger Mouse) & James Mercer, the lead vocalist / guitarist for the indie rock band The Shins. 

 

Broken Bells - Broken Bells, Columbia 88697 55865 2, 2010.
all decryption codes in comments


The High Road
Vaporize
Your Head is on Fire
The Ghost Inside
Sailing to Nowhere
Trap Doors
Citizen
October
Mongrel Heart
The Mall & Misery

 

 

 

 

Broken Bells - After the Disco, Columbia 88883 77161 2, 2014

Perfect World
After the Disco
Holding on for Life
Leave it Alone
The Changing Lights
Control
Lazy Wonderland
Medicine
No Matter What You're Told
The Angel & the Fool
The Remains of Rock & Roll

Ring my bell, ring my bell...

09 February 2023

Filling in for the Missing Bob Moses...

Top of the Pops 9 
 



Subbing here today is the Australian trio Crooked Colours: Phil Slabber - vocals, guitar, production; Leon Debaughn - keys, production; & Liam Merrett-Park - drums. Enjoy the game. 

 

Crooked Colours - Langata, Sweat It Out! SWEATA014, 2019.
decryption code in comments

I'll Be There
Do it Like You
Heart String
Just Breathe
I C Light
Hold On
Langata
Mirror Ball
Never Dance Alone
Lose Someone

Colour nice now,