SONG OF THE DAY (#189)

'how to swim and live,' by little name

so, take all the best of belle & sebastian, camera obscura, and burt bacharach and then give it murray lightbottom's vibrato and you get something like little name.

every song from little name's debut album, 'how to swim and live,' is like pulling out sun-faded photographs from boxes hiding in the corners of cobwebby attics. it's where the contemporary meet the nostalgic and have a nice laugh over a cup of team. it's where all the girls have bobs and all the boys wear turtlenecks and burberry scarves. it's where everyone has impeccable taste, still buys vinyl, and dresses up for a night on the town. and right now, that sounds like a pretty nice place to live. little name inhabits such world and has invited us along.

the party begins now...

��� little name: how to swim and live
��� little name: for the attention of
��� little name: nobody loves you

SONG OF THE DAY (#188)

'one more chance,' by candie payne

if you not heard candie payne's album, 'i wish i could have loved your more,' by now, you really need to yourself a favor and get on that. i've listened to it a couple dozen times and wow, what a record. she's doing for blue-eyed sould what amy winehouse is doing for old-skool r&b. the difference seems to be that while ms winehouse embraces her darkside and demons, candie payne is pure class. it's the kind of class apparent in pretty much everything she does and the way she carries herself. in the age of the indulgent rock star, candie payne is a breath of fresh air AND a complete joy to listen to.

i really thought 'one more chance' should have been the first single from her album. 'i wish i could have loved you more' is a fine song, even a great song, but 'one more chance,' in my opinion, is a superior record. mark ronson, who seems to take all sorts of flak--why i don't know--does a bang up job on the remix. i can only hope that we'll see ms payne stateside soon. the country is hers for the taking.

��� candie payne: one more chance / video
��� candie payne: one more chance [mark ronson mix]
��� candie payne: ordinary fool ['one more chance' b-side / bugsy malone cover]

SONG OF THE DAY (#187)

'umbrella,' by rihanna & 'umbrella,' scott simons

every once in a while i like to break out my inner homie (is that how you even spell homie? meh. who knows). i get my crunk on, my bling on, my pimped out ride on, my kristal in the cooler on. if i'm feeling super gangsta, i try to wear a grandfather clock around my neck so i can out flavah flav flavah flav. know what i'm sayin? (it's actually more like a pocket watch. who says size is everything?)

so, 'umbrella' pretty much gets my vote for top song outside of my preferred genres of music. the song's power is pretty undeniable. and you know, hip hop and electronica are more like siblings separated at birth. the only difference is that one grew up in europe and the other in the inner city. i mean, really. that's it. so it's not really surprising that the song has some serious crossover potential. and it's not really surprising that someone would cover it indietronica style. granted, i didn't think it would happen this soon, but hey, might as well strike while the iron's hot. and that's exactly what scott simons did. it actually sounds like aqualung covering rihanna, which ain't no bad thing. it also shows that a great song will work in just about any genre. enjoy...and go buy the scott simon version off iTunes. it's only a $1 clam. good deal, that.

��� rihanna: umbrella / video
��� scott simon: umbrella
��� rihanna: umbrella (zax extended remix)

SONG OF THE DAY (#186)

'monster,' by you say party! we say die!

i'm the first to admit that the whole post-punk-dance-alt-rock-party band is pretty much a dead genre. or least it should be. but hey, i'm just a guy with a blog. what do i know? there are some great P-P-A-R-P-Bs bands out there (franz ferdinand, for example), and some really crap ones (the bravery, for example). i'd say that those crazy canucks, a.k.a. you say party! we say die! fall somewhere in the middle. they have some really rockin' tunes and some that just leave me scratching my head and thinking 'why?' but i'll gladly take a couple of doozies for a couple of killer tracks. it's a fair trade, methinks. 'monster' happens to be one of those great tracks. it's a three minute and thirty eight second party.

and apparently the band is banned from the USA until 2011. how did this happen? apparently they tried to cross the border after their visas had already been denied. then they lied. a lot. mr. border patrol didn't take to kindly to that. so they have a petition set up. if you want to type your name on the petition, you can go here and do so. you can also get the full 'banned in the USA' story here.

��� you say party! we say die! monster / video
��� you say party! we say die! poison

SONG OF THE DAY (#185)

'at least i'm honest,' by tiger baby

a bit of free, unsolicited advice: if you find yourself amongst the rhythmically-challeged, here's a simple solution: listen to tiger baby's sufficiently-awesome-to-move-you album, 'noise around me.' results guaranteed after one listen. operators are standing by.

tiger baby is really one of the few dance/synth bands out there who completely manage to avoid all of the cheesiness inherent in the genre, whether it be the music or the image. 'the noise around me' is a lesson in seductive, icy-cool, sophisticated pop. i'm not lyin'. every song (and i mean every song) so-good-it-should-be-a-single. vocalist pernille pang (the second coming of saint etienne's sarah cracknell. which, of course, is nothing but awesome) and keyboard noodlers benjamin teglbj��rg and nikolaj gregersen are, for my money, one of the best things that has happened to synthpop this century. instant fantasy concert proposal: tiger baby opening for goldfrapp opening for saint etienne. sheee-oot! i'd go anywhere to see that show. who wouldn't? (and honestly speaking, in terms of quality 'the noise around me' is every bit as good as goldfrapp's 'supernature.' i realize that's high praise, but it's true).

i absolutely adore this album. if you like your synthpop sleek, sexy and cool, then tiger baby is for you. (and between mew and tiger baby, denmark is racking up some serious cool points.) you can also check out the video for 'girlfriend' here. you can check out a live clips here.

��� tiger baby: at least i'm honest
��� tiger baby: parkova
��� tiger baby: prolusion
��� tiger baby: strangelove (depeche mode cover)