Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions - Clear Day [mellow pop]

Hope Sandoval is both the lead singer of the prominent-in-the-90s dream pop band Mazzy Star and a solo musician. My exposure to her music is best characterized by the term 'second-hand', in that I seem to hear (and really like) covers and remixes of her music prior to hearing the originals (and even prior to knowing she was the original artist). This has happened a total of three times and I think I've blogged all three of those songs here, so that's certainly quite the string of coincidences (the three songs are "Suzanne" by Asobi Seksu, the Gui Boratto remix of "Paradise Circus" by Massive Attack, and "Fade Into You" by Stumbleine).

So, why not give her music some credit, finally. Ha. This is "Clear Day" from her solo/collaboration album with The Warm Inventions, Bavarian Fruit Bread, released in 2001.

Club 8 - Football Kids [indie pop]

Some more indie pop from Sweden, heard this around the time of the Sambassadeur entry. Club 8 is a duo from Stockholm and have been making music since 1995. "Football Kids" is from their 2007 album The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Dreaming. Very simple, very nice.

treasureseason - Ocean Beach [dream pop, chillwave]

Another reading week will start right after I finish the two tests this week ...and part of me has already vacated my typically chaotic headspace. Although I don't have any plans of going anywhere warm and sunny, the prospect of doing it does seem to do some good.

This is "Ocean Beach" by London-based treasureseason, consisting of a mix of British and Swedish members, from their eponymous 2012 release.

Beach House - Forever Still [dream pop]

Watching this video really adds another level to the appreciation I have for Beach House's music. Just being able to connect the music to the actual people creating it seems able to infuse a sense of energy into the otherwise more sterile process of simply listening. Too bad, looks like they were in town back in October. 

Background info on the video here. Order of songs is "Wild", "The Hours", "Wishes", and "Irene".

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

That was some gnarly snow storm... what better way to commemorate this than to put up a few songs about snow! Hopefully that's the end of it... I need to go downtown to study tomorrow v_v.

"White Winter Hymnal" by Fleet Foxes from Fleet Foxes [2008]

"Through The Snow" by The Depreciation Guild from Spirit Youth [2010]

The Sunshine Factory - My Sugar Cane [shoegaze]

Heard this song a while back and finally got around to listening to the rest of the album. The Sunshine Factory are a group from Alabama that have thus far released two albums that have received critical acclaim.  This is "My Sugar Cane" from their 2011 album Sugar.

Fleeting Joys - The Breakup [shoegaze]

Speaking of the cyclical nature of my listening, it seems like my preferences are arriving back around to the shoegaze genre. It has probably been a few months since I've really listened to anything in this genre. Coincidentally, I'm also finding it less enjoyable than it was a few weeks ago to sing as a form of catharsis. Maybe it's more than mere coincidence.

Anyway, here's one fresh from /r/shoegaze (from where 90% of the shoegaze entries come): "The Breakup" by Fleeting Joys, a duo from Sacramento consisting of John and Rorika Loring. This is from their debut 2006 album Despondent Transponder.

Sambassadeur - I Can Try [indie pop]

I really like Swedish music I come across. Really, there's just something very nostalgic and comforting, in the stuff I come across anyway. Even their bio descriptions tend to present various landmarks in a warm cohesive manner.

Sambassadeur's members first came together while they were students studying at Göteborg (Gothenburg). Since then, in 2003, they've released a number of EPs and LPs. This is "I Can Try" from their 2010 album European.

Black Light Burns - The Colour Escapes [industrial rock]

As I was browsing Billy Talent videos on Youtube, I came across their 2009 set for the Rock AM Ring concert in Germany. Another artist that came up in the related videos section was Limp Bizkit, whom had also did a set at the Rock AM Ring in 2009. Last I had paid attention to that band was when they were announcing that Wes Borland was leaving the group so it was surprising to see him doing his thing on stage characteristically decked out in body paint and accessories (the original line-up had reunited in 2009).

Outside of Limp Bizkit, Borland has been involved in a number of projects, most notably being industrial rock group Black Light Burns. Their latest album was released in 2012 titled The Moment You Realize You're Going to Fall and they have another one slated to come out sometime this year. This is "The Colour Escapes".

Billy Talent - Stand Up And Run [rock]

For the past while I had mostly been revisiting the bands of my mid-youth, namely Our Lady Peace, Matthew Good, and Billy Talent. Listening to these albums around a decade after their release, I wonder what kind of an impact that these albums would have had on my life had I actually bought albums back in the day. Would I been more inspired in the realm of music? Would they have pushed me to invest at least some of that abundance of free time of yesteryear into musical endeavours (instead of Starcraft and Guild Wars)?

Well, anyway, I guess it's about time that I revisit this nice little corner.

This song is "Stand Up And Run" by Billy Talent from their 2012 album Dead Silence" (for whatever reason, they decided against titling it "Billy Talent IV"). Although Billy Talent released their first album in 2003, they had been together prior to that under the name of Pezz beginning in 1993. They eventually changed their name after receiving legal complaints from some American group (now defunct), which had apparently coined the name first. So, I guess this makes it their 20th year together.