Hello and welcome to THE NEW YEAR! Everything cool? Cool. Let’s get the IP train back a-starting.

And because I simply know that you’re all desperately waiting for the release day of Fyfe Dangerfield’s debut solo album, only a few days to go, here’s a little something to bide the time over – an acoustic guitar + strings session featuring three songs from the album as well as a cover of some song by an obscure boy band or something.

Clicky!

In other news, all the studio cuts heard so far are still pretty awesome. Roll on release!

Jason Lytle, he of previously Grandaddy and now of a brand new solo career, wants to wish each and every one of you (even you grumpy cynical sods) a merry Christmas through the medium of a 7-track instrumental piano EP full of songs with nothing to do with Christmas.

You can download it here and it is indeed very lovely, very beautiful and very wonderful.

In other news, Lytle is also in the process of writing material for his next solo album and he guarantees that “[it] will be the weirdest, most wonderful mayhem” he has made. Should be worth a gander.

2010 is approaching soon. Twelve new months full of brand new music, from old veterans, young bands and complete upcomers. Just to go up-to-date on what’s happening with the artists that pleasure Flint’s tastebuds, it’s time to give a little checkaround to 2010’s possible offers by artists I’m intrigued about. Rumours, confirmed news, it’s all here.

Not keen on the artists I display? Give a sly prod at the other writers, maybe they’ll reveal their musical stalking results as well?

After the cut, a big list of various names.

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Merry early Christmas!

Viola’s December giveaway, a self-proclaimed sequel to their 2004 Christmas single, oozes the sort of wonderful warmth and magical happiness only Christmastime can bring. When the depressed verses switch to the ridiculously, almost tongue-in-cheek lovely choruses where soft drum machines tap-tap-tap along and bells and sprinkles fill the air, the duo manages to perfectly capture the wonderful fluffy feeling of the gorgeous season.

This Year Will Be Different also marks the end of Viola’s 2009 music club. Come January 2010 and we’ll be treated to a whole new year of wonderful little Violabits. I’ll remind you!

MP3: This Year It Will Be Different

It is a good day for people who enjoy good songs and have access to the internet, as two bands about to drop albums next year have now done the fashionable thing and released a free digital sample song from their forthcoming longplayers. And, quite frankly, it’s rather easy to assume that one who likes one of the songs will also like the other one.

Apparatjik is a supergroup (as they will be undoubtedly called) consisting of the ethereally wailing Mew frontman Jonas Bjerre, the cool and silent Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman, Magne Furuholmen of the recently retired A-Ha and a fourth guy who’s details I can’t find anywhere. Together they’ve formed something that’s bound to release something highly intriguing come 2010 and the unannounced release date for the debut album. The guys have released a freebie download called Electric Eye and while it may not be the most obvious sampler song with its eclectically changing nine-minute marathon nature, it definitely perks up the interest.

Bjerre’s vocals naturally bring forth the Mew comparisons because his fairytale lullabying is such an integral part of the Danish prog-pop group, but the music doesn’t have much anything to do with Mew. During the song’s nine minutes the song flicks from synthpop to bombastic guitar rock and somehow bridges the two with a bit that melts them to naturally and organically together. Bjerre takes a fair chunk of the lead vocals but another voice enters the scene halfway through (is that Berryman?) just in time as if to intentionally distant Apparatjik from Bjerre’s day job.

It’s also a very excellent song and if you give this cryptic site your email address, you too can hear it.

In another part of Europe, Husky Rescue are preparing for their third long player Ship of Light that’s due to be released January 25th. The Finnish nature-loving chillout-groove poppers seem to be taking a step into a new direction with the lead single We Shall Burn Bright – gone are the slow pace and ambient soundscapes that practically turn the beauty of Finnish summer nights and winter days into music. Instead We Shall Burn Bright thrusts forward with an almost frenetic pace (in this band’s standards), sounding like a soundtrack for an escape out of a burning forest. Jagged guitar lines, hyperactive organ stabs, layered vocals and melancholy horns bring forth an air of majestic desparation.

Not only is it a brilliant song in itself, but it makes one really interested about the third album. Head onto the band’s official website for another email exhange and give it a gander yr’self.

2010 will be very intriguing.

In a world where most grassroots bands tend to get shrugged off by this rather picky bastard, Squirrelhouse is one of those names that I’ve put in the back of my head. The debut SPQR is, whilst not flawless, a very enjoyable piece of music (and one worth getting a proper review someday when I stop being lazy) and the band has some really great stylistic assets in their arsenal that lifts them a step above so many other groups.

The Texas band is now preparing to release their second album to the world, with no details announced bar a vague 2010 release date. A preview song, or a single or something, however has appeared. The new song titled Apocalypso carries all the Squirrelhouse trademarks that makes them so lovely: the lively, grooved-out bass that finds it seemingly impossible to ever stop moving around, a regular horn section backing the music and reminding us why more bands should use horns more often, a guitar that may not do anything technically impressive but manages to find the biggest hooks from its subtle patterns, as well as Paul Hanninen’s voice naturally. Apocalypso has an excellent uplifting stroll to it that would make it worth a listen all in itself but when about halfway through the song breaks down into a slow, nigh-anthemic instrumental portion gloriously led by the jubilant horn, the song’s real magic is unveiled. And then it jumps again into the upbeat stroll as if nothing ever happened.

Of course, my awkward 10-in-the-morning rambles are a very bad way to judge anything so listen to it yr’self, either via the mp3 at the bottom of this post or watch the cutely clipshowey video embedded below.

MP3: Apocalypso

MySpace

Another month, another new Viola song.

October’s treat is called “Beautiful Lost Things”, described by the duo as “a song about things lost in life and the ontological dilemmas involved”. Awesome synth sounds and a softly rolling beat accompany most of the track, while the chorus is spiced with one of the most stylish accordion parts this blogger has heard in pop music.

The best way to judge it yourself is of course by listening to it yourself, so click the linky and grab the file.

MP3: Beautiful Lost Things

Everyone who subscribes to Air’s email spam newsletter and who resides in the UK had the chance yesterday to get a sampler mp3 from the French Duo’s upcoming album Love 2, containing clips of about 4-5 or so songs – two which we’ve already heard before, admittedly. Considering the duo most likely has fans outside the UK, time to spread the Love (2). While nothing certain can be said about whether the songs measure up to heavy listening in the future, one thing’s for sure – they’re hell-bent on trying to resurrect the vibe of the gorgeous debut Moon Safari. Whether they’re successful… we’ll see.

In other Air news, the band held an online ‘listening party’ of the new album last night and thus you can probably find some hastily recorded mp3s of the songs online if you want to be a naughty leak-searcher who doesn’t mind lower quality. Then there’s also the trippy video for the ridiculously cute first single “Sing Sang Sung” which you can view here but which can’t be fancily embedded.

More bands should preview their new albums like this, I’ve always liked medleys…

MP3: Love 2 sampler

One of my favourite new discoveries this year, introduced to me by our very own Indiepawsian Mag, has been Alex Brown Church’s Sea Wolf project whose warm, autumnal pop songs with acoustic melodies and stylish string embellishments have delighted my days in the guises of the 2007 debut Leaves in the River and its pre-decessor EP Get to the River Before It Runs Too Low, both excellent recordings. And now, terribly sneakily (okay, it’s not like I’ve watched the band’s news sites like a hawk though so I’m most likely relaying ages old info), there’s info on the band’s new album.

White Water, White Bloom will be released on September 22nd – perfect release date for a band with such an autumnal sound – and you can check the tracklist behind the cut while you enjoy the sight its cover gracing the face of this article. There’s also a new song available for free: “Stanislaus” is a snare-rollingly regal piece that isn’t much of a step away from the previous material: same lovely guitar jangles, same wonderful organ sound, same great vocal melodies. Anyone who enjoyed the debut will definitely like this one and likewise anyone who decides to download this out of curiosity and enjoys it needs to get the previous material. Stanislaus doesn’t seem to be a part of the actual album however so get it while you can.

You can also, if wanted,  already pre-order the new album from the label store.

MP3: Stanislaus

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The much-brilliant Radiohead have released a new song – titled “Harry Patch (In Memory Of)” – downloadable in exhange for a British pound on their webstore as well as fully listenable in 30 second clips. Inspired by the last WW1 veteran and now released in order to commemorate his recent passing away, Yorke has this to say about the song:

“Recently the last remaining UK veteran of the 1st world war Harry Patch died at the age of 111.
I had heard a very emotional interview with him a few years ago on the Today program on Radio4.
The way he talked about war had a profound effect on me.
It became the inspiration for a song that we happened to record a few weeks before his death.
It was done live in an abbey. The strings were arranged by Jonny.
I very much hope the song does justice to his memory as the last survivor.”

The song itself is a beautiful and delicate piece featuring only the mentioned strings and Thom’s voice. A slight nitpicky thing is that as much as I love Yorke’s falsetto, it kinda doesn’t fit in with this particular song. Still, tis a good new song.

You can buy the song from here. The proceeds go to the Royal British Legion.

In other Radiohead news, Yorke and co recently announced that they’ve once again entered the studio, Nigel Godrich in the production helm as usual. Given the long birth process and completely random appearance of In Rainbows it’s very hard to make any sort of estimates when the follow-up is released, but I wouldn’t place bets on ‘anytime soon’.